When Steve Rogers appeared in the video, Natasha Romanoff was stunned, while Tony Stark shot up from his chair in disbelief.
"How is that possible? Didn't he crash into a glacier with a fighter jet seventy years ago? How could he still be alive?"
Sitting back down, Tony's expression was complicated.
Although he had already come to terms with his father in his heart, the words Howard Stark used to compare him to Captain America seemed to echo in his ears once again.
Wanda Maximoff didn't feel as shocked. After all, she wasn't American. The people in her base had always spoken of Captain America with gritted teeth, but to her, he was just another name.
At this moment, however, Wanda's eyes were fixed on Linen on the screen.
In the video—
"I've made an appointment with Loki to go to Pompeii in 79 AD. He left an Infinity Stone for me there!"
Hearing that, Natasha frowned.
"Pompeii in 79 AD? The destruction of Pompeii?"
"That's right," Linen replied calmly.
"Then how are you planning to get there?" asked Steve, who was still leaning casually against the door frame. "That was over two thousand years ago. Are you going to travel back in time? What is this, Back to the Future?"
Before Linen could answer, a sudden shout echoed from the monitor.
"Hey! Is anyone there? It's Scott — I'm not dead yet! Hello? Can anyone hear me?"
The three of them turned their attention to the screen.
A second later, Steve turned to Natasha.
"Is this a video from five years ago?"
"No," she said seriously, standing up. "This is live footage."
With that, Natasha quickly walked out of the room.
The video paused there, and an emotionless mechanical voice echoed through the theater:
[The video has ended. Everyone may leave the theater within three minutes.]
Hearing the system's announcement, Nick Fury stood up, his expression serious. He immediately chose to exit.
Although the video had been short and contained no big battles, the amount of information it revealed was enormous.
He needed to record everything while it was still fresh.
One after another, the others also chose to leave the theater.
Only Wanda lingered for a moment, glancing one last time at the big screen before finally stepping out.
Inside the Hydra base in Sokovia.
"Come in," Wanda said absentmindedly.
Still lost in thought about the video she had just seen, she barely looked up when a knock came at the door.
"Why aren't you asleep? It's late," said Pietro, entering the room. He raised an eyebrow at his sister, who was sitting on the bed in a daze.
"I just..." Wanda began, then stopped abruptly as her heart skipped a beat.
When the spoiler system was bound to her, it had explicitly stated that she was forbidden to reveal its existence to anyone.
So, she quickly changed her words and smiled faintly.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about our past."
"Don't dwell on it too much," Pietro said gently, walking over and ruffling her hair. "No matter how much you think about it, what's done is done—"
Before he could finish, Wanda slapped his hand away, pouting.
"Pietro, I'm your sister!"
"But I was born twelve minutes earlier than you—"
"I'm still your sister!"
"Fine, fine," Pietro laughed helplessly. "As long as that makes you happy."
He didn't mind her insistence. As long as she could smile, that was enough.
"Alright, Pietro, go get some sleep," Wanda said softly, pushing him out of the room.
Once alone again, she lay back on her bed.
Her thoughts drifted between Linen, who appeared in the video, and Tony Stark.
Damn it… why didn't he die from palladium poisoning?
Meanwhile, at Tony Stark's villa.
"I want to know right now — is that Steve Rogers in the video really still alive?" Tony asked sharply, staring at the screen where Nick Fury and Natasha were connected through the shared communication feed.
Natasha turned to Fury, curiosity in her eyes.
Fury was silent for a few seconds before finally nodding.
"We just recovered him from the glacier not long ago. Using S.H.I.E.L.D. technology, we managed to thaw him out — but he's still in deep sleep."
As he spoke, Fury briefly explained what had happened.
After confirming the truth, Tony smirked.
"Wow… never thought that old antique would actually become an old popsicle. Tsk, I can't wait to see his face when he wakes up and realizes seventy years have passed."
Hearing Tony's tone, Fury frowned.
"Now's not the time for jokes."
"You saw the video just now. It was short, but the amount of information was enormous. In the future, over four billion people on Earth will die!"
Fury's expression darkened.
"We have to find out what caused it — and what exactly that 'snap of fingers' Linen mentioned really means."
He looked from Tony to Natasha.
"Tony, Natasha — it's one thing if we don't know the future. But now that we have this spoiler system and still can't prevent that disaster—"
"—then it's our responsibility," Fury finished grimly.
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