Can't get enough? Why not read ahead?
Visit my P@tr3on or K0‑fi ''Isopuff'' page and unlock +20 extra chapters and daily updates!
Your support means the world to me. Check it out and enjoy the story even more!
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
"Devil Fruits?"
Steve Rogers' brow furrowed, a look of utter bewilderment washing over his face. He blinked, completely derailed by the phrase.
'What kind of fruit was that? Was it some bizarre, cross-bred organic health trend unique to the twenty-first century? Like kale or acai, but worse? More to the point, what the hell did a piece of grocery store produce have to do with giving Peggy a second chance at life?' The Captain was completely thrown by Nick Fury's cryptic pitch, the sheer absurdity of it making him wonder if he was finally losing his mind.
"Nick, what exactly are you talking about?" Steve asked, his voice hardening into a serious, no-nonsense tone. He crossed his arms, his posture stiffening. "You know I've been out of commission for seventy years. My head is already spinning just trying to catch up with smartphones and the internet. You're going to have to be a lot more specific than that."
"Don't worry, Rogers. Take a breath, and let me lay it all out for you," Fury replied smoothly, completely unfazed by the Captain's growing impatience.
With the practiced ease of a man who dealt in impossible secrets daily, Fury proceeded to explain the concept of Devil Fruits from top to bottom. He detailed exactly what they were and the extraordinary, reality-bending powers they granted anyone who ate them. But as the explanation went on, the only response he got from the legendary hero was a skeptical, humorless scoff.
"Nick, if you think I'm so bored that I need you coming down here to spin fairy tales for my amusement, then congratulations. You've had your fun," Steve said, a sharp, dangerous edge of irritation bleeding into his voice.
Nobody liked being treated like an idiot, and Steve was no exception. To his 1940s sensibilities, it sounded like the absolute height of absurdity. A magical piece of fruit that granted superpowers upon the first bite? In what version of reality could such a thing possibly exist? It sounded like something out of a cheap comic book. It was utterly ridiculous.
"Coulson," Fury called out casually, entirely untouched by the Captain's skepticism. He gestured to the quiet man who had been standing like a shadow by the door.
Coulson stepped forward, his polished dress shoes clicking softly against the concrete floor. He positioned himself right beside one of the few intact, heavy canvas punching bags hanging between them. He looked Steve dead in the eye, his expression completely neutral, yet entirely confident.
"Captain, I should probably give you a fair warning," Coulson said, his voice polite but firm. "What I'm about to do is going to challenge everything you think you know about science, medicine, and reality itself."
Steve sighed, giving a dismissive wave of his hand. "Save it. I've traded punches with a megalomaniac whose face was a literal red skull. I've watched a glowing alien artifact dissolve my friends into thin air. Trust me, Agent, there is absolutely nothing you can show me that's going to blow my mind."
"Fair enough, Captain... let's see how this compares," Coulson chuckled softly.
He didn't make a grand gesture. He didn't yell. Instead, with a sharp, effortless snap of his wrist, a column of vibrant pink fire erupted from his bare palm. The flames didn't burn his skin; they just danced hungrily over his fingers, casting a surreal, neon-pink glow across the dim gym.
Steve's expression froze. The dismissive remark died in his throat, and his cynicism instantly fractured into pure, unadulterated surprise.
"What is that?" Steve's eyes locked onto the dancing fire, the vibrant pink light reflecting in his pupils.
'A magic trick,' he immediately thought, his mind scrambling for a logical explanation. 'Yeah, it has to be. Some kind of advanced S.H.I.E.L.D. tech hidden in his sleeve, or a chemical compound.' Rationalizing the phenomenon, the Captain's features relaxed back into a guarded, defensive calm. He wasn't about to let them think they'd shaken him.
"I don't know what kind of optical illusion you've rationalized this as, Captain, but I can assure you, you're wrong," Coulson said. It was almost eerie how perfectly the agent read the soldier's mind. "The anomaly you are looking at right now isn't a parlor trick. It is the manifested power of the Devil Fruit Director Fury just mentioned."
"Oh, really?" A trace of sarcasm crept back into Steve's voice, though it lacked its original bite. "So this miraculous fruit gave you the ability to play with fire? S.H.I.E.L.D. brought me a human matchstick?"
"No. The fire is just the delivery mechanism," Coulson corrected smoothly. "Its real effect... is this."
The moment the words left his lips, Coulson thrust his hand forward, driving the pink flame straight into the heavy canvas punching bag hanging beside him.
*Fwump!*
Steve braced for the smell of burning canvas, but it never came. The fire didn't scorch or burn the material. Instead, the flames sank directly into the fabric, wrapping the entire bulky bag in a surreal, glowing pink aura.
Steve could only stare, completely caught off guard. He had assumed it was some sleight-of-hand illusion, but a cold spike of doubt was beginning to creep into his chest. Stage magic required gimmicks, mirrors, and pre-rigged props. And Steve knew for an absolute fact that this punching bag wasn't rigged. He had been beating the hell out of it for the past three hours; he had felt the density of the sand, the resistance of the heavy seams. It was nothing more than standard-issue military canvas.
*Flash!*
Within two seconds, the pink light flared intensely and vanished. And with it, the heavy bag simply ceased to exist.
It didn't fall to the floor. It didn't tear open or spill sand. It was just gone, dissolved into thin air.
Steve stood there, utterly dumbfounded, his highly trained tactical mind completely stalling as it tried to compute the sudden blank space where a hundred-pound bag had been hanging just a heartbeat ago. The iron hook above it was still swinging gently in the empty air.
"So... that's the power of a Devil Fruit?" Steve finally managed to choke out after a long, stunned silence. His throat felt dry. His every instinct screamed that this was impossible, but the empty, swaying hook was undeniable proof staring him right in the face.
"Exactly, Captain," Coulson nodded, adjusting his cuffs as if he hadn't just broken the laws of physics. "The specific fruit I consumed is known as the Return-Return Fruit. It allows me to reverse the chronological timeline of any object or person I target."
Coulson gestured to the empty space. "Just now, I regressed that punching bag by exactly eight years. And since that specific model left the factory less than eight years ago, winding its internal clock back that far meant erasing it from existence. I sent it back to a time before it was ever made."
Steve felt a cold sweat break out along the back of his neck. The implications were dizzying. "You're telling me... you can reverse time?"
'It was madness. Reversing time was a concept reserved for late-night science fiction radio shows or comic books.' But looking at the empty space, the protests died in his throat. 'If Coulson could undo a punching bag, what could he do to a person? What could he do for Peggy?'
"Bring in the asset!" Fury's commanding voice sliced through the stunned silence of the gym.
He clapped his hands twice. A moment later, the heavy reinforced doors slid open again, and two S.H.I.E.L.D. tech agents wheeled a large, metal kennel into the training room.
Inside the enclosure lay an incredibly ancient Shiba Inu. The poor dog was completely lethargic, sprawled across the cold metal floor without even the strength to lift its chin. Its muzzle was entirely white, its breathing shallow, and its vital spark was clearly fading by the second. It was a creature at the absolute end of its life.
Steve was a sharp man; he instantly put the pieces together, realizing exactly why Fury had ordered an elderly animal brought to the floor.
"You're going to use it on the dog?" Steve asked, his voice shaking slightly with a mix of awe and sudden apprehension. "You can actually reverse the timeline of a living creature? Take it from the literal brink of death and force it back?"
"Precisely, Captain," Coulson replied, his quiet confidence never wavering.
He stepped up to the enclosure and raised his palm. With another effortless movement, he conjured a fresh cluster of vibrant pink fire and sent it striking through the bars, hitting the ancient dog square in the chest.
*Fwoosh!*
Within moments, the pink aura completely enveloped the canine. As the light pulsed, a radical, breathtaking transformation unfolded right before them. The brittle, matted, graying fur softened into a bright, thick coat of gold and white. The frail, stiff limbs filled out with sudden, youthful muscle and boundless energy.
In a literal flash, the dying old dog was gone. In its place stood a bounding, insanely energetic little puppy, yapping happily and wagging its tail so hard its whole back half shook.
It wasn't an optical illusion or a trick of the light. The entire rejuvenation process had occurred right in front of Steve's enhanced, super-soldier vision, clear as day. He had tracked every shifting cell, every expanding muscle.
"This... this shouldn't be possible," Steve murmured, his voice barely a breath.
Driven by pure instinct, he unlatched the kennel door and reached inside, gently scooping the ecstatic puppy up into his massive hands. He scratched it behind the ears, watching it enthusiastically lick his fingers in sheer, dumbfounded awe.
At that exact moment, Steve felt his entire worldview shatter into microscopic pieces. His old-fashioned, 1940s sensibilities couldn't even begin to process the cosmic miracle he was currently holding.
"So... the Devil Fruits are real?" Steve whispered. He was forced to accept a terrifying, beautiful reality that defied everything he had ever been taught about science, nature, and the boundaries of life and death.
"You've seen the evidence with your own eyes, Captain," Fury said, stepping forward. His voice dripped with absolute, unwavering certainty, anchoring Steve back to the room. "So tell me, Steve... do you still think my offer to give Peggy Carter a second chance at life is a joke?"
Steve felt his throat tighten painfully. His chest heaved as his breath hitched, the puppy squirming happily against his shirt.
Never in his wildest, most desperate dreams could he have imagined that Nick Fury possessed the power to strip away the decades and make Peggy young again.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
Next Chapter: The Captain's Choice and the Scientist's Betrayal
Next Next Chapter: Peggy Carter, Twenty Once More!
Next Next Next Chapter: Two Captains in One Frame?
Visit my P@tr3on or K0‑fi ''Isopuff'' page and unlock +20 extra chapters and daily updates!