INT. MIRA'S OFF-GRID LAB – DEEP NIGHT
The lab now resembles a twisted surgical theatre three glowing pods hum low. Super Soldier Serums lie chilled in metal trays. Blueprints and biomimicry diagrams cover the walls like war maps.
MIRA D' RANN configures one pod her focus surgical, distant. The screen beside it flashes a perfect match: Subject DNA matched: Tharan / John Walker.
GRAVIK enters, boots echoing like a war drum.
GRAVIK
"Three pods, serum ready, and the world still thinks they have control.
You, Mira... you're more terrifying than any warhead."
MIRA
"I've made three more replication systems. The syncing time is faster, better now. Give me a Skrull and a subject, and in hours... they
become them."
She holds up a glowing vial the new serum. Gravik gives it to THARAN, who injects it without hesitation.
GRAVIK
"Now go back to them. Let them see their Captain. Smile. then break the illusion where everyone's watching."
The door hisses open. Two elite Hand members walk in with restrained prisoners.
One: LEMAR HOSKINS – battered, angry, breathing heavily.
The other: YELENA BELOVA – blood trickling from her brow, defiant, muttering cursing in Russian.
HAND COMMANDER
"As you asked. Two of their 'heroes.' Also... our scout recovered this."
He tosses down a damaged Ronin mask.
GRAVIK
"Excellent. Barton's old face. A symbol of shadows. We'll use that."
Gravik circles the prisoners like a vulture.
GRAVIK (to Yelena)
"You're not just famous... You're
loved. That makes your fall poetic."
He looks to Mira.
GRAVIK
"Mira, have your new Skrulls ready.
Zorak you pick two. The best at emotional mimicry. I want even their closest friends fooled."
MIRA (a shadow of doubt in her voice)
"Replacing people is one thing. Replacing symbols… is dangerous."
GRAVIK (leaning in, voice sharp)
"We're not replacing them. We're destroying them. From the inside."
A cold silence.
GRAVIK
"While Mira perfects her art…
we'll use their faces to turn allies into enemies."
He signals Zorak.
GRAVIK
"Begin Project Divide. And Hunt. Tonight, a new Captain returns. And next? Yelena Belova betrays her own."
As Gravik exits, the Ronin mask lies on the table. A Skrull reaches for it.
SMASH TO BLACK.
Location: Government Facility Conference Hall – Live Broadcast
(Military base, tarmac area. Bright sunlight. Soldiers gather as "Captain America" walks toward them confidently with "Winter Soldier" (Zorak in disguise)behind him. The mood is hopeful but tinged with confusion.)
Commander(uneasy):
"Welcome back… Captain. I see you've brought in the Winter Soldier. But wasn't it kill on sight from central command?"
Captain America (Tharan/Skrull)(calm, cold smile):
"I've served under men who gave orders before listening. This isn't that time. I want to speak to my people. They deserve to hear the truth together. Set up a conference. Now."
INT. A Few Hours Later – Inside the National Conference Hall, Washington D.C.
(Packed room. Media crews, government ministers, high-ranking military officers. Banners of the U.S. flag, Cameras rolling live across all networks.)
Captain America (Tharan)steps onto the stage confidently, his shield gleaming under spotlights.
Captain America (voice steady, authoritative, simmering with contempt):
"When Steve Rogers carried this shield, he stood for sacrifice. Unity. A promise that we would fight for the people no matter the cost."
"We lost teammates, families, entire years of our lives. We fought gods, monsters, tyrants... and we won. Not for power. Not for glory. But for you."
"And what did we get in return?"
"A fading headline. A thank-you speech. A memorial statue in a park no one visits covered in bird shit and forgotten flowers."
"The world clapped... then quietly rewrote the rules without us. Signed treaties in marble offices. Traded our blood for politics. And now the same people who begged us to save them dare to question if we still belong?"
(beat. Eyes scan the room coldly.)"We bled to unite the world. And now? It's time the world remembers what it cost to be safe."
"We are not symbols. We are not puppets. We are not finished."
"And we will. Not. Stop."
The City Mayor, flanked by security, walks toward the stage. Calm but sharp in his words.
Mayor(firm, unflinching, voice rising):
"John Walker or whoever the hell you really are I don't know if you're trying to ignite a movement or just throwing a tantrum in a costume. But this?"
"This isn't Captain America."
"Steve Rogers earned that shield with honor, with humility. You? You're a place holder. A cheap imitation dressed in history you don't understand."
(steps forward, tone sharper)"You talk about sacrifice like it's a receipt. Like we owe you something. That's not patriotism that's a god complex wrapped in this mantle"
"The world doesn't need a louder Captain America. It needs a better one and it's sure as hell not you."
"You think people should bow to you because you bled once? That's not service, that's a god complex."
(He steps closer. Dead silence. The audience holds its breath.)
Mayor (grabbing the edge of the chest star insignia):
"And you don't deserve to wear this."
He rips the star clean off Tharan's suit.
The camera lingers on Tharan's face the false Captain America as he stands beneath the blinding lights of the breathing grows heavier. More...
jaw clenches tight, the muscles twitch.
A faint green flicker pulses at the corner of his iris alien energy bleeding through the illusion.
But he swallows it stays in form.
Like a man choking on rage and restraint.
City Mayor (closer now, voice rising):
"You think this shield gives you power? You're just wearing a dead man's legacy parading around like a hero. You're a fraud. You're not Captain America. You're a mistake."
Tharan doesn't flinch. But the audience does.
His fists curl.
Suddenly without a word, without a warning he swings.
A sickening crack echoes through the microphone as his fist connects with the mayor's face.
The mayor crashes to the ground like a felled tree.
Gasps erupt. Someone screams. The press steps back. Security reaches for their weapons but freezes in disbelief.
Tharan drops from the stage like a beast descending onto prey.
He unslings the shield slowly, deliberately. The sound of metal brushing across leather is sharp, dreadful.
He raises it above his head.
SLAM.
The first blow lands square on the mayor's chest. Bone shatters.
SLAM.
The second caves in the side of his skull.
SLAM.
By the fourth hit, there's nothing left of the man's but pulp and broken cartilage.
By the sixth, blood coats Tharan's hands, the shield, his chest.
He stops not out of mercy, but because there's nothing left to hit.
The room is silent. Not reverent terrified.
Cameras are still rolling. Livestreams broadcast horror around the image:
"Captain America" bloodied, feral, monstrous standing over a murdered mayor.
Children watch it. Families. Soldiers. Survivors of the symbol just broke.
Tharan turns his head toward the audience.
His eyes still green.
He doesn't excuse. No threat.
The moment the blood splatters from the mayor's crushed face, the conference room erupts in chaos.
A deafening scream cuts through the gasps. Reporters back away, microphones trembling in their hands. Audience members rush for the doors, some dropping their phones, some frozen in stunned horror.
The cameraman doesn't even cut the feed the murder is broadcast live
INT. Conference Room – After the Mayor's Brutal Murder
The hall is paralyzed. Gasps echo like thunder.
Cameras keep rolling, but no one dares stains the marble floor. The shield drips stare frozen as the imposter Captain America vanishes backstage.
For a moment, it's pure silence...Then chaos.
Reporter1 (off-camera, whispering):
"Is this... a terrorist attack?"
Reporter2 (shaking, to the live feed):
"This is not a stunt. This is not scripted. Captain America the government's appointed hero just murdered a city official on live television."
Panic erupts in the crowd. Some run, others try calling loved guards rush the stage, one checks the mayor's pulse and backs away slowly.
On-screen ticker updates live across global networks:
"BREAKING: Captain America Kills U.S. Mayor During Public Address"
Social media explodes:
"WTF DID WALKER JUST DO?"
"Captain America is a murderer?"
"No way this is real is this a hack? A clone?"
"Who the hell is even in charge anymore?"
In homes, bars, phones, and airports the same footage loops.A national hero, unprovoked, smashing a man to death.
News Anchor (shocked):
"At this moment, there is no confirmation from the White House, but what we've seen today may represent one of the darkest public betrayals in modern history."
The public doesn't yet know about just see a man they trusted a symbol turn into a monster.
INT. NEWS NETWORK STUDIO – NIGHT
The backdrop is sleek and modern. Lights low, dramatic. The anchor, a sharp, respected journalist named Diane Crell, sits across from Gravik appearing as a poised, composed man in his late 30s. Clean suit. Charisma in his silence.
On screen Text:LIVE – WORLDWATCH TONIGHT
Diane Crell (host, on air):
"Tonight, we welcome a figure you might not know but you will. Gravik, a former security analyst, whistleblower, and depending on which corner of the internet you believe something much more. His videos have been quietly making the rounds online... but the impact? Unignorable."
(She looks into the camera.)"So, let me formally introduce Gravik. A man who claims to know what the rest of us were never meant to hear."
Gravik(smiles faintly):
"Thank you for having me, Diane."
Diane:
"Gravik, let's start with the obvious. You've accused the Avengers some ofthe world's most celebrated heroes of orchestrating a shadow war behind the scenes. That's... a big claim."
Gravik(calmly):
"It's not a claim. It's a fact that's been redacted, buried under medals and sound bites. When gods battle in the sky and aliens rip through cities, who counts the bodies on the ground?"
Diane:
"You allege specifically that they weren't just protecting us. That they were planning something... darker?"
Gravik:
"Let me put it simply. Heroes don't detain civilians in secret facilities. Heroes don't make backdoor weapons deals with alien races. Heroes don't test unapproved tech on human populations."
(He glances at the monitor.)
Gravik:
"Roll the clip, please."
SCREENPLAYS – MONTAGE:
Scene opens with an old, rarely seen Stark interview dark room, whiskey glass half full, Stark visibly tired.
Tony Stark (archival, uncut):
"You stop selling weapons, you stop the war? No. The war doesn't stop. It just changes hands. Peace... is just branding. You either profit from it or get buried by it."
Cut to:
Satellite footage of a small Middle Eastern town scorched, crumbling, Stark drones flying overhead, dropping anti-tank rounds.
News voiceover (doctored):
"Black-market variants of Stark Tech linked to 3 rebel coups in underdeveloped nations."
Followed by:
Footage of a child soldier holding a weapon stamped with a broken-down STARK logo, standing amid the wreckage.
Overlay (red, corrupted text):
"STARK INDUSTRIES LEGACY: 1,002 Unauthorized Sales – 0 Apologies."
Soft audio in background:
A desperate mother shouting in a language we don't understand translated subtitles appear:
"Iron Man's fire took my sons."
VISUAL:
Faded WWII reel of Steve Rogers giving orders to soldiers, cut with brutal real-life war imagery bombed-out villages, crying children, scorched earth.
An American flag burns slowly in the background, then glitches into static.
DEEPFAKED AUDIO Steve Rogers (voice slowed slightly, colder):
"You think freedom is given. It's taken. Earned... through strength."
VISUAL:
Black-and-white image of Steve raising his shield above a subdued man edited to remove the context. The shield slams down hard cut before impact.
DUBBED DIALOGUE (deepfaked):
"Some times the world doesn't need peace. It needs to remember who's in charge."
A doctored photo of Steve shaking hands with a corrupt general (fabricated), overlaid with the SHIELD logo turning red and cracking.
Footage of American tanks rolling through foreign streets, with patriotic speeches playing faintly under screams and fire.
GRAVIK(voiceover during montage):
"Your first Avenger was never a symbol of peace. He was a weapon wrapped in a flag."
NEW FOOTAGE STAGED by Skrulls:
A video of a Captain America-like figure shouting at civilians, dragging someone by the collar, screaming:
"This country gave me power. That makes me the law."
VISUAL:
The shield soaked in blood slowly spins on pavement.
TEXT ONSCREEN:"HE CARRIED THE SHIELD TO PROTECT FREEDOM BUT ONLY HIS."
Nick Fury – The Phantom Deterrent
Surveillance footage of Nick Fury pacing inside a secured SHIELD bunker.
Fury (shouting):
"We need a failsafe! A planetary-level deterrent even if it's nuclear, even if it's off-world. Build it!"
Cut to: Images of a scorched jungle village. Civilians fleeing.
Footage shows a
failed weapons test, falsely labeled "Operation Polaris." SHIELD logos partially visible.
Voiceover: "Unconfirmed sources say SHIELD approved tactical tests of unlicensed weaponry near the Congo Basin."
TOP SECRET AUDIO – TOWER ROOM FILES, CIRCA 2016
Audio plays mixed voices (deepfaked to sound like Stark, Fury, Natasha, and Cap):
"We need to keep the population blind." "Peace doesn't come without fear."
"If they trust us, they won't ask questions."
"So we become the necessary evil."
Laughs.
Accompanied by video clips of blank meeting rooms, with just enough shadow to suggest someone's speaking.
Diane Crell (Host, whispering):
"My god…"
Diane(shaken):
"These... these are disturbing."
Gravik:
"That's the point. The line between fiction and truth has been erased by the very people you cheered for. And now that they've gone missing or rogue the chaos they left behind is ours to face."
Diane:
"Then who exactly are you, Gravik?"
Gravik(leans in slightly):
"I am one of many. Born from a project buried in SHIELD's classified vaults. Enhanced. Augmented. Abandoned."
(beat)
"They called us prototypes. Soldiers without names. Assets without rights. We were told it was for peace. But peace was never the goal."
Diane(stunned):"Are you saying SHIELD created you?"
Gravik(firmly):
"Yes. We were their insurance policy. Their secret Plan B if the Avengers ever went too far. They trained us. Broke us. Then left us to rot."
Diane(serious):
"And now?"
Gravik(coldly):
"We hide. We wait. We endure. And we watch the same people who threw us away dress up in costumes and call themselves saviors. We're done waiting."
Diane(blinks, careful):
"Are you threatening the Avengers?"
Gravik:"No. I'm telling the world what they really were. The age of masked gods is over. It's time for truth."
Graviks lowly turns toward the camera.
Gravik(direct, calm):
"This isn't a war. Not yet. It's a reckoning. And every lie has a cost."
"We don't wear don't hide behind gods, shields, or billion-dollar satellites. We walk among you because we are you. We bleed like you. We've lost like you. We don't know exactly what the Avengers are planning next and that's the scariest part. But we do know this: Whatever they're building... it doesn't include you. But we're still protect.
To stand between you and the next 'world-saving disaster.' Even if the ones we're standing against... used to be your heroes."
Cut to Diane visibly unsettled.
"We'll be right back after this."
FADE TO BLACK.
INT SAFEHOUSE – NIGHT
Dim lights flicker above, casting long shadows on cracked walls. On the table, satellite maps, an old tablet, and a single glowing tracker pulse with life.
G'iah (quiet, focused):
"She's there. The signal's faint, buried under shielding tech. But… she kept the tracker. That means something, doesn't it?"
Talos stands behind her, silent. Watching. Processing.
G'iah (turning to him):
"I know she was manipulated. I know Gravik twisted her vision. But she isn't like him. Not entirely. She was kind once. Curious. Brilliant."
Talos (soft, burdened):
"Brilliance can be dangerous when it's misled. And kindness… doesn't always survive war."
A moment of silence. Then
G'iah (gently):
"Do you ever wonder if we failed her?"
Talos (slowly):
"I wonder that every day."
G'iah:
"We asked Mira to be loyal… while we let her believe she was alone. No people. No home. No choice."
Talos (voice cracking just slightly):
"I thought keeping you both safe meant keeping you apart from the fight. But the fight found you anyway."
G'iah:
"Then let me fight now. For her. For us."
She stands. A storm rumbles faintly in the distance. Talos steps forward, putting a hand on her shoulder. A rare softness in his eyes.
Talos:
"If you go, there's no promise she'll listen. No promise she'll comeback."
G'iah (holding back tears):
"She doesn't have to. I just want her to know... someone still believes in her."
Talos (quietly):
"Then go. And if she falls… let it be knowing her sister tried to bring her home."
A long pause. Their eyes lock. Then the silent nod between soldiers and between father and daughter.
FADE TO BLACK.
INT. MIRA'S NEW LAB – NIGHT
The lab hums with eerie silence. Machines blink in steady rhythms. Screens flicker. One central monitor plays a paused, grainy recording.
ON SCREEN: Tharan, disguised as Captain America, drenched in blood… standing over the Mayor's mangled body.
The clip plays. The shield rising. Falling. Screams. Gasps. Blood on the lens.
MIRA, alone in the room, stands frozen. The glow from the monitor reflects in her eyes wide, trembling. Her breath catches.
She slowly lowers herself into a chair. Hands shaking. A deep, buried part of her mind finally catching up to the truth.
Mira (soft, horrified):
"This wasn't the plan... This isn't what I built it for..."
Her voice cracks. The room feels colder.
Mira (barely a whisper, choking on guilt):
"What have I done...?"
Her reflection on the monitor stares back at her warped, distorted, like the conscience she can no longer ignore.
CUT TO BLACK.
End of Part I
The characters and elements depicted in this story are adapted from Marvel Comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All names, organizations including but not limited to S.H.I.E.L.D., Skrulls, Captain America, Nick Fury, and Avengers are the intellectual property of Marvel Studios and Marvel Comics.
This work is an independent, creative reimagining a tribute crafted by a fan, with deep respect for the source material and the impact these stories have had across generations.
No affiliation or official connection to Marvel Studios, Disney, or its subsidiaries is intended or implied.
This is a fictional reinterpretation. Events, dialogues, and portrayals are part of an original narrative created for storytelling purposes only.
"To those who still believe stories can save the world, reshape it, or even whisper truths that history forgot… This was for you."
A Renewed Story by Prosit Ray
Written in the echoes between silence and betrayal.