But they had no choice but to believe him. After all, so far, no one knew that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. No one knew—meaning that besides their own people, absolutely no one else could possibly know.
Therefore, there was no other possibility: this Captain America Rogers had to be one of them.
So, Crossbones and the others, despite their shock, believed his words.
The thought that Captain America was actually on their side made them feel, for some reason, that their chances of victory had increased. A wave of trust washed over them.
If Captain America were on the enemy's side, it would be a truly desperate situation. But if he were one of them, it brought an immense sense of security.
Immediately, they handed the case containing the Mind Scepter to Captain America. He took the case and walked out, a smile spreading across his face.
Clearly, Captain America Rogers had achieved his goal. Of the three Gems they had come for this time, they had already secured at least one.
However, this would also lead to a very serious consequence: the collapse of the entire timeline. Now that Captain America Rogers was being recognized as Hydra, the subsequent consequences were all too obvious.
Yet, the current Captain America Rogers was clearly not thinking about any of this.
As for Captain America Rogers, who was watching from outside the screen, he was completely bewildered. Why did he know about Hydra? And how did he manage to trick them into handing over the Mind Scepter?
*Hydra Captain!*
The crowd instantly recalled the concept Lin Feng had mentioned in his diary—that Captain America Rogers was actually a Hydra agent. This seemed to be a confirmation.
If that wasn't the case, nothing would make sense!
Including why Captain America knew about Hydra in the first place. After the Battle of New York, Captain America should have been coordinating disaster relief, but he wasn't. Instead, he appeared here to seize the Mind Scepter. There were too many inconsistencies.
Therefore, this had to be another parallel timeline—a timeline where Captain America Rogers was actually the Hydra Captain.
They had seen so many of these timelines that they had grown numb to it.
This was completely different from the previous video, where they saw Captain America Rogers unaware that Alexander Pierce was Hydra. Thus, this could only be a brand new timeline.
But the most frustrating part was that their own timeline was clearly not a normal one either. Their timeline had already diverged drastically from the original one due to Lin Feng's appearance and the influence of his diary.
In other words, they no longer knew what the correct timeline should even look like.
Even though they had already surpassed the point of the Battle of New York, they were still completely in the dark. After all, in their timeline, the Battle of New York had been much easier, and they had never allowed Hydra to take the Mind Scepter. They had known from the very beginning exactly what the Mind Scepter was and how crucial the Mind Stone it contained was, so letting anyone else take it was out of the question.
Under these circumstances, many of their actions and the situations they faced in their own timeline were no longer a reliable reference. They had no way to compare their own experiences to determine what things were actually like in other timelines that hadn't been tampered with.
The video continued to play. Before they could think any further, they saw Captain America Rogers step out of the elevator and come face-to-face with another Captain America Rogers. This was clearly the Captain America Rogers from the Battle of New York. He could only say helplessly, "This is just too ridiculous."
Meanwhile, the Battle of New York Captain America spoke into his earpiece, "I've found Loki! He's on the fourteenth floor!"
Everyone instantly understood what the problem was: Loki had just disguised himself as Captain America Rogers, and that event had already been recorded in the timeline.
So, the Captain America Rogers from the Battle of New York immediately thought of Loki. Otherwise, how could there be two of him in this world? It was simply impossible.
He never even considered the possibility that this could be himself from a future timeline.
*Two Captain Americas?*
Everyone was dumbfounded. This was a scenario they had never even imagined.
"Is it Loki in disguise?"
Thor, who had been silent until now, couldn't help but speak up.
The Captain America from the Battle of New York had just said he found Loki. Could this be him?
Moreover, Thor knew very well that his brother had the power of transformation. If that were the case, it was highly probable.
Perhaps there had been a brief instance where Loki escaped on the Sacred Timeline; after all, they weren't entirely sure if such a thing had occurred.
Still, everyone braced themselves. Captain America fighting Captain America—that sounded like it would be quite a spectacle.
"I am not Loki, and I have no wish to harm you!"
Endgame Cap set down the briefcase containing the Mind Stone. But clearly, he knew his own nature all too well. From the moment he was discovered, a fight had become inevitable.
*Boom!*
The fight broke out instantly, neither side holding back. From the very start, Endgame Cap was the one taking the brunt of the damage.
"I can do this all day!" Battle of New York Cap declared.
"Alright, I know!" Endgame Cap groaned, his face contorted in a grimace of pain. He struggled to his feet, panting, "I know, I know!"
These were his own words, after all. He had used this same stubborn resilience to wear down countless enemies, but he never imagined he'd one day be the one on the receiving end. It was a massive headache.
The two then engaged in a stunning display of hand-to-hand combat. Since they were the same person, their skills and abilities were nearly identical.
The fight remained a stalemate as they grappled and tumbled from the air, eventually crashing to the ground.
As they fell, Battle of New York Cap spotted a pocket watch with Peggy's photo that had dropped from Endgame Cap's person. He picked it up, glanced at it, and asked, "How do you have this?"
Just as Endgame Cap tried to seize the opportunity to snatch the Mind Stone, Battle of New York Cap blocked him, even managing to lock him in a chokehold.
Just as he was about to pass out from the chokehold, Endgame Cap came up with an ultimate move—a trump card that, for Captain America, was as devastating as a nuclear weapon. He shouted, "Bucky's alive!"
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Battle of New York Cap immediately let go and urgently asked, "What?"
Then, without a moment's delay, he was punched by Endgame Cap and instantly mind-controlled by the Mind Stone he had just snatched.
After all that, Endgame Cap picked up the pocket watch, held the Mind Stone, glanced at his own fallen body on the ground, and remarked with a sigh, "Truly America's Ass!"
The outcome of the Captain America versus Captain America battle was clear: the Endgame version was far more cunning, knowing exactly how to use Bucky to shake Battle of New York Cap's resolve.
It seemed he was the one who knew himself best!
"Wow, this Hydra Captain is so ruthless," Coulson said, speechless. "Or is he Loki? But he doesn't seem to have Loki's fighting style."
Agent Hill couldn't help but comment, "I have to admit, he really does have America's Ass. You've been training hard, haven't you?"
Captain America Rogers, the century-old man, blushed furiously. He desperately wanted to say that he hadn't worked out—or rather, that he hadn't *specifically* trained for this. But there was no helping it; after being transformed by the Super Soldier Serum, his body had long since evolved toward a perfect human physique.
As for "America's Ass" or whatever—that was just a side effect. He'd never specifically trained for such a thing.
However, seeing the mischievous grins on everyone's faces, he realized that the nickname "America's Ass" would probably follow him for the rest of his life.
*What a lifelong stain on my reputation,* he thought.
It was the kind of dark history that would be thrown around as a joke, just like how Thor and Loki had been tossed around by the Hulk.
"So, here's the real question," Tony Stark spoke up. "Is this Captain America actually Loki, or is it the Hydra Captain? If it's Loki, how does he know about Hydra? I find it hard to believe that Asgard's second prince would be interested in a terrestrial evil organization. But if it's the Hydra Captain, why would he be standing next to another Captain America?"
The group was now riddled with doubts. There were too many anomalies in the video, especially the presence of two Captain Americas, which left everyone utterly bewildered.
"I think it might be Loki," Thor said. "As you all know, he can cast illusions, so there's a high possibility he impersonated Captain America to deceive the Mind Stone."
"No, I actually don't think it's Loki," Captain America Rogers said after a moment of silence. "He doesn't have that kind of skill. I think it might be Hydra Captain. For one simple reason: he can change his appearance to look exactly like me, but he can't imitate my combat techniques. I'm certain that person's fighting style is derived from the same lineage as mine. So, if there's any possibility, it can only be Hydra Captain. This also explains why he knew Bucky was still alive—because they might have been working for Hydra at the time, so it's normal for them to know each other."
"But if this is Hydra Captain, it doesn't explain what's going on with the other Captain America," Coulson said. "Both of them are Captain America, and their fighting styles are similar."
"Could it be travel, like how Doctor Strange travels?" Black Widow Natasha asked. "Is it possible that in the parallel universe where that Hydra Captain is from, Hydra developed a machine to travel between parallel universes, allowing him to travel through time and space and arrive in this timeline?"
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(End of Chapter)