TFATWS: THE NEW SUPER SOLDIERS
by Gunman
Disclaimer: I do not own Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Evangelion, Loki, The Black Widow, or any of their characters.
Summary: Sam Wilson is chosen to be the first super soldier of the Nagel Serum.
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Chapter 3
The First Candidate
Natasha Romanoff stood in the middle of her old safe house. She was amazed it was still in tact, and that it hadn't been taken over. It was a concern to her, since it had been little more than five years since she had been here with the other Avengers when they had been outlawed by the government. Even if it was located between Hightown and Lowtown.
Sam and Bucky were escorting Helmet Zemo and Wilfred Nagel into different chairs in what appeared to be the living room, while Shinji laid the unconscious Georges Batroc on a couch.
"Is it safe?" Romanoff asked as she pushed the mysterious dark-skinned man, who was still zip-tied, into a third chair.
"I have scanned the entire room. No bugs, security devices, or motion sensors. And there appears to be no one watching this safe house." Rei said as she finished scanning the room with her own security devices.
"Not any more." Yelena said as she, Alexei and Melina stepped into the room. "We took care of them for you."
Natasha smiled as she saw her 'family'.
"Thanks for coming." she said.
"Thanks for calling." Yelena said.
Sam and Bucky were a little shocked to see the 'other' Black Widows and the Russian super soldier. Even though they had seen them on the street fighting against those criminals.
"You called them?" Sam asked Natasha.
"The rest of the Avengers were busy. I figured we could use all the help we can get." Natasha said.
"Okay." Sam said. "Strange bedfellows, indeed." he muttered.
It was then that Melina and Alexei noticed the several other people in the room. The unconscious form of Georges Batroc lying on a couch, his hands bound by the strange young Japanese man who had defeated him. They noticed a pale-looking man in a white coat seated in a chair on one side of the room, and the man named Helmet Zemo who was responsible for bombing the Vienna Accords some years ago, who was sitting in another chair on the other side of the room. They also noticed an unknown man with dark-skin, black eyes, dressed in a green and purple clothing which seemed odd to them, sitting in yet another chair.
"And who are your other guests?" Melina asked.
"Well... you probably recognize Batroc over there. The man in the white coat is Wilfred Nagel, a scientist. That's Helmet Zemo from Sokovia over there. And as for this other guy... no clue. We were about to interrogate him." Natasha said, pointing out each man.
"I'll tell you nothing!" the dark-skinned man said.
"Why do they always say that?" Alexei asked as he rolled his eyes.
Melina just shrugged.
Natasha looked over and saw Shinji and Rei going through the satchel that the mystery man was carrying. She noticed the shocked expressions on their faces. Curious, she wandered over to them and her own expression turned shocked as well.
Spread out on the table before them were 20 vials of blue-colored super soldier serum, obviously taken from Nagels lab... and seven small plastic boxes, inside which were plant-like objects that seemed to be glowing purple.
"What are those?" Natasha began to ask, pointing to the strange-looking plants.
"Heart-shaped herbs. And there's only one place they could have come from." Shinji said.
"Wakanda." Rei said.
"But I thought the heart-shaped herbs were all burned by Erik Killmonger." Natasha stated.
"According to Okoye, all of them were." Shinji said.
"So... the question is... how and when did this guy get them?" Sam asked.
"Maybe we should ask him." Bucky said.
The group looked at the dark-skinned man who seemed to shrink under their gazes. Natasha moved towards him.
"Rei, put everything back in the satchel. Guard it, don't let it out of your sight." Shinji said as he turned to the man who had stolen everything.
"Of course, Shinji-kun." Rei replied as she gathered up the objects.
"Who are you and how did you get those herbs? And how did you know about Dr Nagel's lab?" Natasha asked.
"Why should I tell you? You'll just kill me later." the man said.
"Oh, there are far worse things than death." Natasha said.
"Torture?" the man asked.
"Unless you like pain." Alexie said.
"I'm pretty sure he doesn't." a new voice said.
The group suddenly paused when they noticed two men suddenly standing at the far side of the room.
What's more, they were standing next to a wall. A blank wall. No door or window near them. So how had they managed to get inside the room without all of these professional heroes, spies and super soldiers without notice?
It was Natasha who noticed that the man in the chair, the one they were about to interrogate, looked very nervous. As if he knew these men.
The first was a middle-aged man in a fine black suit with brown hair and steel-gray eyes. He looked on the wrong side of 40, but Natasha could tell he was much older.
The other man was younger, but had short-cut blond hair, a faint mustache and goatee, also dressed in a nice suit, though his suit was brown and not black like the other mans.
"Who are you?" Bucky asked, clearly unnerved as to who these men were that had just appeared out of nowhere.
"My name is Agent Mobius of the TVA. This is Agent Paradox." the younger man said, introducing himself and his associate.
"Mobius?" Shinji asked. 'As in a mobius strip?'
"Paradox?" Rei asked. 'As in a contradiction of possibilities?'
"What's the TVA?" Sam Wilson asked.
"You... did get my email, right?" he asked, looking at Natasha.
Everyone looked at Natasha, who looked stunned.
"You were the one who sent that information to me? About Dr. Nagel and the super soldier serums here in Madripoor." Natasha asked.
"I did. You have the serums, and the herbs, right?" Mobius asked.
Rei clutched the bag with the items in question.
"We're not here for that. We're here for him." the other man, Agent Paradox, said as he pointed to the man in the chair. "Hello, Tommy."
"At least you didn't catch me. I can hold that over your heads." the now-identified Tommy said with a sassy tone in his voice.
Natasha stared at the pair. Clearly they knew each other.
"Tommy Tomorrow. We've been looking for you for a while." Agent Paradox said.
'Tommy Tomorrow?' Bucky asked, wondering what kind of alias that was.
'Mobius...Paradox...Tomorrow?' Shinji wondered. 'And what is the TVA?'
"Care to tell these nice people what your intentions were?" Paradox asked Tommy.
"I wanted to use those serums and those herbs to create my own army. An army with the potential to conquer the world." The man said.
"Makes sense." Alexei said with a nod. "But you got caught so easily. Why didn't you take some of them yourself?" he asked.
"I got caught before I could." Tommy huffed.
"Of course. But... we can't allow that to happen. Either of that to happen." Agent Mobius said. "We'll take him from here." he said to Natasha and her friends.
The Russian spies and agents looked at each other in confusion. The Avengers also looked a little shocked, like wondering how they assumed to have the right to just take their prisoner into custody.
Who were these men? Where did they come from? How did they know all this was happening here in Madripoor?
"You got a warrant or something?" Bucky asked.
"And who are you, exactly?" Sam asked. "I mean, what is this TVA?"
"The Time Variance Authority." Agent Paradox said.
"An inter-dimensional agency dedicated to preserving the time-lines of all reality." Natasha said, which caused everyone to look at her strangely.
"Bingo." Agent Mobius said as he pulled Tommy out of his seat and placed a new set of cuffs on his hands.
"How do I know that?" she asked, surprised by her own words.
"You were created using the Infinity Stones. As a result, you know things that are not part of your natural world. This will only help you in future." Agent Paradox said.
"Right." Natasha said, as she silently waved the other Avengers off.
Melina and Yelena, however, picked up on the 'Created Using The Infinity Stones' bit, and made a mental note to ask Natasha what the agent meant by that.
"Wait, so... these guys... are from a secret agency... outside of time and space?" Sam asked, clearly confused by all this.
"Yes. Not another dimension, exactly. It's... much more complicated." Natasha said.
"And you know about it... because of the Stones." Shinji said.
"Apparently."
The group looked at Agent Paradox as he approached Natasha. "Here. Consider this compensation in exchange for your prisoner." Agent Paradox said as he handed a vial of purple liquid to Natasha, along with a piece of paper.
"What's this?" Natasha asked as she accepted the items.
"A special vial of super soldier serum, and the name of someone who might need it." Paradox said. "And this." he said, handing a device to Sam Wilson. It looked like a high-tech beeper.
"What is this?" Sam asked.
"Something that will help a certain African-American super soldier who was poorly mistreated by his own government for years." Paradox said with a smile.
Sam looked at Bucky, Shinji looked at Rei, Nagel and Zemo looked at each other, Alexei and Melina looked at each other and Yelena just looked on as the pair of TVA agents grabbed Tommy by his two arms and escorted him right towards the far wall... right as a glowing red door appeared. The trio walked through it and then the door disappeared shortly after they walked through.
"Did they just..." Alexei asked, shocked at what he had just seen.
"Walk through a glowing red door into another dimension? Or time?" Melina asked. "Yes, I think they did."
"Okay. That was little weirder than traveling through time. Sort of." Shinji said under his breath. Even though he and Rei had traveled from their own universe to this one thanks to the 12th Angel, they eventually came to realize just how much power was needed to punch through the barriers of different dimensions. To see three people just so casually walk through into another dimension like walking into another room... was just surreal.
"You know, it was a good thing I got blitzed five years ago." Yelena said. "Otherwise, that would have seemed very weird."
"You and me both." Alexei said.
"I didn't." Melina said. "Thanos SNAP wiped out everyone... except me, and gave me grey hairs, damn it!" she huffed.
"Uuugghhhh." a voice caught everyones attention.
They looked over and saw that Batroc had woken up. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked down at his wrists and legs, both bound by Zip-Ties. He then noticed the group looking at him.
"What did I miss?" he said snidely.
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(Unknown Location)
"You're telling me Batroc is missing, Nagel has been taken, and the Lab has been cleaned out?" The Power Broker asked, irritated at what she was hearing.
"Yes." Karli Morgenthau said.
"And the serums?" she asked.
"Gone."
"What about the computers?"
"All information was downloaded. Empty."
"And Batroc?"
"Missing in action."
Sharon Carter, a.k.a. The Power Broker, looked at the zip-drive in her hand. She had taken the liberty to download a copy of Nagel's work several days ago, as a precaution. However, this was before Nagel had made the breakthrough to create the super soldier serums that were taken from his lab. Which meant that this incomplete formula was all but useless. Unless someone smarter than her could complete it.
Karli Morgenthau was upset as well.
Donya Madani, also known as Mama Donya, was a woman who had helped and cared for Karli and many others after The Snap. For five years she cared for those who had lost people they cared for, who had cared for them, and they saw her as a material figure.
However, after The Blip brought everyone back, the over-crowding of people became a serious problem. Specifically, refugees and migrants who had survived The Snap were able to find jobs and places to live. But then everyone who had died came back, and these people lost their jobs and were forced out of their homes and put in resettlement camps and repurposed buildings by the Global Repatriation Council, in countries like Latvia.
This became a problem as Mama Donya had developed tuberculosis living in those camps.
Karli and several others had come to Madripoor to find a cure for her, as the GRC was failing to help the many people who were in those camps.
"Do we know who is responsible?" Power Broker asked.
"We managed to get a picture from the CC-TV cameras." Karli said as she brought up the computerized images on a laptop she had with her.
The Power Broker looked at the images.
"Romanoff. Barnes. Wilson." she said with slight annoyance as she recognized the trio. She saw Nagel on the monitors, and one Helmet Zemo, and a third dark-skinned man whom she didn't recognize that had apparently robbed and shot both Nagel and Zemo. She noticed a young Japanese man with brown hair and blue eyes, but also a young albino woman with blue hair and red eyes, both dressed in outfits that made them look like sidekicks to The Black Panther and Captain America.
She didn't know them either.
"Find them." she ordered.
"Right." Karli said.
Once they were gone, Sharon Carter opened up a drawer in her desk and pulled out two other zip-drive disks.
The one she had contained information about the super soldier serums that Nagel had been working on. But these other two disks contained information on the other two serums. Specifically the ones created by the US military and used on Emil Blonsky and the Zola formula used on James Barnes.
Two imperfect super soldier serums, and one incomplete, and now she had three of them.
The bloodwork from Rogers was gone, used up on those now-dead Winter Soldiers in Siberia.
The bloodwork from Bradley was gone, stolen by this mysterious man and most likely in the hands of Romanoff and the others.
The zip-drives she had were all but useless, though there was the chance they could be combined in order to make something just as powerful. However, that was potentially more dangerous than anything else.
And if she had heard right, the mysterious heart-shaped herbs of Wakanda could give someone the same physical abilities as a super soldier. While her information had originally come from Erik Stevens, a.k.a. Killmonger, via a book written in Wakandan script she had found in his personal possessions, it was not possible to acquire them.
Which meant another potential super soldier serum was out of her reach.
She wondered, of course, what a group of 'super panthers' would be capable of.
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(Safehouse)
"Okay... weirdness aside..." Sam started to say.
"The problem is what do we do now?" Bucky asked.
"Well, we need to take Batroc and Zemo and hand them over to the authorities." Natasha said.
"What about Nagel?" Sam asked. "With his knowledge and everything... the world governments will be fighting over him like he's their next Messiah."
"And if they all get their hands on the super soldier serums..." Yelena started to say.
"It'll be ten-times worse than anything we've already seen." Natasha agreed.
Shinji and Rei had laid out the 20 vials of super soldier serum, and the seven plastic boxes that contained the heart-shaped herbs on the table. They also had the vial of purple serum and the weird-beeper that Agent Paradox had given them.
"There are too many people out there that we can't trust with this. World leaders, politicians, military scientists." Bucky said.
"So, what? Destroy them?" Yelena asked.
"No! We can't! That would... be such a waste!" Melina argued.
"Perhaps, but... who can we trust with these serums?" Rei asked.
"There is only one alternative." Shinji said.
The group looked at each other with baited breath.
"We need to find good people to give them to." he said.
"What about the herbs?" Rei asked. "Technically they belong to Wakanda."
"Then... you can return them to T'Challa personally. He can decide what to do with them." Natasha said to Shinji.
"That would be a waste, wouldn't it?" Bucky said, off-handedly. "From what I understand, they had an entire garden of these... before they were burnt by Killmonger... and only the king of Wakanda ever got to have one. To make himself the Black Panther."
"But... don't they have a new bunch of serums to make new future Panthers?" Sam asked.
"Yes. But..." Shinji sighed. "That's a separate matter."
"What about the Nagel serums? You said we need to give them to good people." Alexie said.
"That's true." Sam said.
"So... who?" Yelena asked.
Rei picked up one of the vials and handed it to Sam Wilson. The others just looked at Wilson, like they were wondering what he would do next.
"What? Me?" Sam asked.
"Steve Rogers chose you to be his successor." Rei said simply.
"Yeah, but... I'm... I'm not sure I'm the right guy to... represent America!" he said, somewhat hesitantly.
"It is not about representation. Do you know why Captain Rogers was chosen?" Rei asked.
"Steve said... that Dr Erskine chose him... because he was a good man." he said, remembering their previous conversations while they were searching for Bucky, after the fall of SHIELD.
Now that he thought about it, he wondered how that whole mission would have gone, if Shinji and Rei had been there to help fight against HYDRA before they launched those carriers.
"Captain Rogers would not have chosen you if you were not a good man." Rei stated.
Sam took the vial, but just looked at it, like he wasn't sure what to really do with it.
"She does have a point. And I trust Steve's judgement." Bucky said.
"Steve wanted to save you, even though you didn't think you were worth it." Sam said to him.
"I know. But... that was the kind of guy he was." Bucky repeated.
Sam couldn't argue that point.
While this was going on, Nagel and Zemo were watching with interest. Zemo wasn't sure this was a good idea, but there was obviously something he was missing.
Nagel wanted to see if his serum would really do the job. While he was confident in his work, he had yet to see it in action. That is, to see if someone who used it would be elevated to the same physical level as Steve Rogers.
As for Batroc... he was trying to figure out how to get away. Maybe steal some of those super soldier serums for himself and his employer. And those herbs... if they belonged to Wakanda... they might be worth something as well.
Suddenly, a figure appeared behind him and punched him square in the jaw.
WHACK!
Melina just looked over at Alexei, who had socked Batroc into unconsciousness.
"What was that for?" Melina asked the big Russian.
"He was getting ready to run." Alexei said simply. "Probably would have tried to steal the serums."
Melina just shook her head. He was probably right, but still...
"Alright." Sam said as he handed Natasha the vial. "Would you mind?"
The redheaded nodded to Sam in acknowledgment.
Sam sat down in a chair as Natasha took the vial and jabbed it into his arm. Fortunately, the serum could be injected into a person via the personal injection system that Nagel had also designed and built.
Within seconds Sam could feel the burning flow through his entire body.
"Is he going to be alright?" Bucky asked Dr Nagel.
The doctor looked up at the former HYDRA assassin warily before he replied.
"He should be. The serum rebuilds a persons genetic structure, making them stronger, all the way from their bones, their muscles, even their internal organs. The original serum used on Rogers had some sort of machine to help accomplish this. The serum used on Private Bradley in 1950 was administered via an injection. The process is still painful, but... a strong person could easily survive it." Nagel said. "And hopefully it will be everything I worked for."
"Is that really a good idea?" Zemo asked. "Creating more super-freaks?"
"Are you saying that because of what happened to your country? Your family?" Yelena asked.
"My family died because of what Stark did. What he created." Zemo snapped.
"You mean Ultron." Natasha said.
"Yes. The world was in enough turmoil... because of those politicians who recruited HYDRA scientists, thinking they could control them, which eventually corrupted SHIELD, made things worse in the world. And then New York happened. Aliens from another world. And then Stark created that robot that wanted to wipe out mankind. Things have only been escalating since those aliens attacked Earth. Super freaks like The Hulk, the Twins from Sokovia..."
"Created by HYDRA." Natasha added.
"Created using alien technology they got from SHIELD." Zem said.
"While it was infiltrated by HYDRA." Natasha added.
"Semantics." Zemo said. "But those other Winter Soldiers... they were given the serum, and they were corrupted and became worse. They attacked their own allies. They had to be locked up."
"Of course they did." Rei said. "But the serum does not corrupt people. It amplifies everything inside a person. It makes them stronger, but their personalities become stronger as well. Good becomes great, bad becomes worse. That is why those HYDRA assassins attacked their own allies, because to them, killing was as easy as breathing. The serum merely enhanced those qualities and desires inside them. Steve Rogers was chosen because he was, is, a good man."
"She's right." Bucky said. "Steve Rogers was the best man I knew. Smart, courageous, and loyal to a fault. Still is. It's why he wanted to save me even when I was under HYDRA's control."
"Which is why we won't have issues with Sam." Natasha said.
"But there is still an issue of the other serums." Yelena said. "What are you going to do with them?"
Natasha sighed as she picked three of the serums off the table and walked over to her 'family'. She then gave one vial to Yelena, one to Melina, and one to Alexei. The trio looked stunned at this.
"You're giving us the super soldier serums?" Melina asked.
"Just three of them. We'll find other candidates for the rest." Natasha said.
"And... why give this to us?" Yelena asked. "We're not exactly good people, like you claim Captain Rogers is."
"You aren't like Steve Rogers, but you aren't bad people. I trust you." she said with a smile.
The trio looked at Natasha, stunned by this.
"You trust us... even with our pasts?" Alexei asked.
"All the things we've done. That you know of." Yelena said.
"That's an awful lot of faith you're giving us." Melina said.
"You aren't saints, but you're not villains or monsters. I wouldn't have called you to help me if I didn't trust you. So..."
The trio of Russian agents and soldiers just smiled.
"But what about the rest of them?" Melina asked, meaning the other serums.
"We just need to find good people to give them to." Natasha said.
Bucky looked Sam, who seemed to be breathing much easier now. He looked calm and relaxed.
"Sam? You good?" Bucky asked.
Sam looked up and smiled at the cyber-armed former-assassin.
"Yeah, man. I am." he said with a grin.
Sam then stood and, right in the middle of the room, preformed a hand-stand. He then lifted his right arm up off the floor, holding himself up with only one hand. He then lifted his hand up, so that he was balancing himself on his fingers. He then started doing push-ups with his fingers.
"I think it's working." Shinji said.
"Now you're just showing off." Natasha said with a smirk.
"Incredible. Perfect strength and balance." Melina gasped.
"And just so you know... this is my weak hand." Sam replied to the Black Widow.
"And I'm sure you could do this all day, but..." Bucky said.
"Right." Sam said as he jumped off his hand and landed on his feet. He looked at their prisoners and then to the rest of the heroes. "We need to go."
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Authors Notes:
So, here it is. Sam Wilson is now a super soldier, which I really felt the writers in the 'Falcon and the Winter Soldier' missed a good chance, especially when they destroyed all those super soldier serums.
It was such a waste. But while part of me understands why they did that, I really felt that Sam would have made a good super soldier like Steve Rogers.
Instead, we get John Walker who kinda failed to be a 'good man', which is in tandem with the comics.
The character of 'Tommy Tomorrow' is one of the lesser variants of Kang the Conquerer, which was meant to be portrayed by Jonathan Majors. And we get to see Agents Paradox and Mobius, and the heroes know about the TVA now.
And there is another little mystery for them to figure out... about Natasha.
Next time, expect guest appearances by T'Challa, Tony Stark and Isaiah Bradley, and the other person Agent Paradox mentioned.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Please read and review.