Chapter Thirty-five.

~~~Third Person, Heavens of Xandar~~~

~~~July 1942~~~

"It's immense, that mountain," Isaiah's comment reached the others in the cockpit of the plane, besides him, there was also President Roosevelt, the scientist Francis, and two dozen men among members of the secret service, scientists, army generals, or documentarians.

His plane had entered the Xandarian sky more than six hours ago, and covered by a row of gray clouds that did not let the sun's rays pass through, its members could only enjoy the beauty of the Bone Mountains, the bone-white mountain range and the highest and most extensive mountains in the world, leaving behind the Andean range or Everest.

"We've been flying over it for over five hours, it's possibly the largest mountain range in the world," one of the scientists replied to Isaiah, thrilled at what he was seeing. Until just two months ago, everything their eyes were seeing was hidden from the world, at least until Japan broke through a barrier and had a sea fight with the country's forces.

Or at least that was what the news media said. And while Xandar had shown itself to the world two months ago, and several things had happened since then, things that had changed the world landscape, such as the sale of the Panama Canal, the withdrawal of U.S. forces in the Pacific, the beginning of Xandar's entry into the war landscape by initiating naval battles in the Pacific.

And if that were not enough, the constant defeat after defeat that Japan was suffering, which had forced it to withdraw its expansion and fight to avoid losing its newly conquered territories that were closer to Japan.

While the plane was getting closer and closer to Xandar, the capital of the kingdom with the same name, those scientists were still writing in their notebooks while watching from the windows of the plane, but one of them, only had his eyes closed, while moving the fingers of his right hand on the palm of his left hand, as if he was typing something.

The scientist Francis, unlike the rest of his group, seemed to be in an introspective moment, and since he was a man of color, he did not draw the attention of the other people, and perhaps that was just as well.

After another hour, the mountains surrounding Xandar began to come into view in the distance, with their high peaks rising into the sky and the Gates of Dawn grabbing all attention, even from the sky.

And without warning, the plane was surrounded by four wyverns, all of which let out little roars and gurgles, "It's..."

"It's strange," a scientist finished Isaiah's sentence, watching the beautiful beasts streaking across the sky with great attention. "A creature of that size could not be able to soar, its body is too big, and its wings, though large, could not be able to hold its full weight in the air, it is as if it violated the laws of physics."

"Well gentlemen, you'd better assume that from now on, Xandar is a place about which practically nothing is known, so it's better to expect anything than to be surprised and act awkwardly later," Roosevelt commented, giving a hint of complexity to the matter.

~~~Xandar, Arcane Center~~~

"Mr. President, good to see you again," Peggy Carter greeted the leader of the group at the gates of the Arcane Center, the place where Project Rebirth would be launched, and checked to see if Dr. Erskine's research was all it was cracked up to be.

After the plane arrived at Xandar, and its landing on a runway designed for wyverns landing at the large magic and enchantment research complex that belonged to the witches and Evokers, the group immediately mobilized to begin the process, as Azrael did not want to delay the matter any longer and wanted to concentrate on Japan.

Steve wore his military uniform and was standing behind Peggy Carter, who had traveled with them at the beginning. Witches guarded the place at every important corner and watched the foreigners with rustic and extremely serious looks.

Azrael had ordered them to be on the lookout for any means of dispute or out of control that might arise between the natives and the Americans, which the witches were not amused by, as they did not enjoy being around people who were not Xandarians.

"Miss Carter, I see you are still beaming," Roosevelt returned the greeting, then focused his gaze on Steve, "and you young man must be Steve Rogers, Doctor Erskine's chosen candidate."

"Yes sir, he trusted me, and I will not let him down, I wish to serve my nation," Roosevelt nodded, pleased at the fervent response on Steve's part. "And Mr. Stark and Doctor Erskine?"

"They are inside in the facilities they occupy for the project, both are leaving all the preparations ready to kick off once the king arrives," Peggy commented, starting to walk inside the huge complex.

"I thought the king was already on site," one of the documentarians expounded, causing Peggy to let out a sarcastic laugh, "he is a king, and, therefore, he will never arrive when you expect him."

The walk lasted about ten minutes, and they eventually arrived at a huge room, where chairs were set up in a glass-enclosed gallery overlooking the center of the laboratory, where Dr. Erskine was going over the final details with Howard.

"Good morning," greeted Dr. Erskine when he saw the group arrive, greeting the chairman and leaving the scientist Francis to address Howard about the Redstone's energy use.

"The capsules that Steve and soldier Isaiah will be using are now ready, the serum is prepared and the facilities are specially made for the process," Erskine prepared to continue explaining. The doors to the lab were opened.

From inside, a group of six men could be seen entering the place, dressed in medieval armor and carrying swords, they stood three on each side of the door, waiting.

Soon, eight men dressed in black armor and masks on their faces burst into the laboratory, and behind them, Azrael walked closely followed by Valka and Isabella. With five witches behind them.

"Before you, His Majesty the King, Azrael Jaesyrian, and Queens Isabella Farwan and Valka," one of the Unsullied introduced Azrael and the queens of Xandar, as everyone in the room, either by protocol or mimicking each other, bowed.

"Your Majesty Jaesyrian, it is a pleasure to meet you at last," Roosevelt walked over to Azrael and extended his hand, but respecting some distance as he noticed how the Blood Riders grasped their Arakh.

"President Roosevelt," Azrael returned the greeting, and shaking his hand with Roosevelt's, he noticed the others gathered around.

Roosevelt was unable to continue with any kind of conversation, because Azrael immediately began walking in the direction of a tall, wide dais, followed by his escort. Not caring to engage in conversation with the U.S. Army generals, or the scientists.

"Steve, Isaiah, please remove your shirts, watches, bracelets, and shoes as well," Howard spoke after verifying with the scientist Francis that all was well with the energy thing.

And explained to the two test subjects the necessary measurements for the project, without further delay, both men walked to the capsules and climbed into them with the help of the assistants.

"Are you feeling all right?" Dr. Erskine asked Steve once Steve was settled in his cabin, "It's a little big but otherwise comfortable."

"Not for long boy, by the time we're done, you'll outgrow this booth." Dr. Erskine promised, reassuring Steve about the process. "Are we ready Howard?"

"The batteries are full, and the Redstone transmits unparalleled power every second, if we had done this in Brooklyn, we would have left the population without electricity for four days." Touching his palms as if they were flies, he then walked over to the control console.

"All right, can everyone hear me?" Dr. Erskine spoke into a microphone, broadcasting his voice to the entire lab, and seeing that everyone was paying attention to him, he nodded and continued speaking.

"This you will see, gentlemen, is the union between two sets of research, my original serum, and the intervention of the Witches of Xandar, which, under the approval of King Azrael, we have been able to complete what will go down in history today, as the birth of the supersoldier."

"Both Private Steve and Private Isaiah will be injected with seven vials of the serum in total, which will be applied to their bloodstreams and which will act immediately at the cellular level, with the Vita-Rays driving the process and activating some key components of the serum."

As he finished, Dr. Erskine looked up at the dais where Azrael stood, and seeing Azrael nod to him, he called the program to order.

"Without further delay, the project will commence in five... four... three... two... one," as he reached the countdown, Howard activated the lever that turned on the Redstone, which immediately sent power at sky-high volumes into the capsule batteries, which heated the Vita-ray inhibitors, which got the capsules to start glowing from the inside.

"That's 50%. 60%. 70%," Howard reported as he steadily increased the concentration of Vita-rays as Steve and Isaiah began to scream in pain.

"RRRRAAHHH!"

"ARGGHHHHHHHHH!"

The cries of pain alarmed the scientists, Agent Carter and Dr. Erskine. Who flashed frightened and fearful looks, with Peggy shouting, "Turn it off! Turn it off!"

"Steve, are you there?" Howard banged on the window of Steve's pod once he climbed up to it, shouting his name in search of a response that spoke to his condition and whether it was safe to continue.

"Isaiah, are you all right!" Dr. Erskine instead went to check on Isaiah's condition, only to receive shouts from inside both pods asking to continue with the project.

After receiving approval, Howard returned to the control panel and increased the concentration and Vita-ray radiation producing the bright light.

"80%. 90%. That's 100%!"

They had reached 100%. Howard lowered the lever and turned off the power transmission offered by the Redstone, causing the inside of the capsules to stop glowing, while scientists went to the capsules to open them. They were in for a surprise once they did.

The skinny asthmatic had disappeared and was replaced by a 6'4" supersoldier. Dr. Erskine and Howard helped Steve out of the pod while Peggy rushed to help Isaiah out of his.

"We did it, we did it," commented Howard amazed and proud of his work, seeing the incredible physical appearance of both Steve and Isaiah and seeing that his preparations and sleepless nights had paid off.