Chapter 6: Cap's Recap And Aftermath

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Captain America's (POV)

I have experienced a lot of changes in my life in recent months, and it's still difficult for me to make sense of it all. Sometimes, when I consider the power I have and the responsibility that accompanies it, I can't help but question why I was chosen for this position. Dr. Erskine told me that it was because I was one of the few people left who possessed both a pure heart and a smart mind, and who always tried to do what's right. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve my country and make a positive impact, but I sometimes wonder whether there are others who are more deserving of this power and who could do a better job of changing the world for the better.

In the end, I was just a weak boy from Brooklyn who knew my weakness all too well and I knew that I was nothing special compared to the true elites of the army. I still remember what my mother used to tell me when I felt down in the dumps.

"Why the long face, son? Did those boys from the other block bully you again? Don't let their words get to you. They envy your intelligence and the kind and brave nature of your heart. They can never be as happy and courageous as you are. They say those mean things just to make you feel bad about yourself. Always remember that you should never let anyone change the person you truly are. Keep pushing forward with the intelligence of your mind and the compassion of your heart. One day, you'll make a difference. Don't let the world break your spirit, and never lose hope."

My mother always knew how to make me feel better and it was thanks to her kind and loving words that I am who I am today. I always wanted to be like my father Joseph Roger, who fought for his country and died a hero in The Great War. I also missed him a lot and was always sad that he couldn't be with my mother and me, as I grew up.

I am grateful for my best friend and brother-like figure, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes. He has always been by my side whenever I got into trouble, and without him, I wouldn't be here today. When I was younger, I would stand up for what was right, but because of my weak body and bad health, I would often get hurt. Bucky helped me because he admired my courage and determination to fight for what's right. He supported me when I needed it the most, and I will always be thankful for his friendship.

When I was only 18, my mother died of tuberculosis, and it left me feeling incredibly sad. However, she had always taught me to be strong and never give up, no matter what challenges came my way. I decided to take her advice to heart and kept moving forward, even when it seemed impossible. I refused to let my problems get me down, and I held onto my dreams with all my might.

When the Second World War broke out in 1939, I was only 21 years old. Witnessing the large-scale suffering of people during the war, I felt the need to do something heroic like my father. I saw an opportunity in 1941, to help more people by joining the American army to fight against the Axis Powers. But despite my repeated attempts to convince the recruiters, my weak and sickly body prevented me from being enlisted in the army.

Then came that fateful night in 1943, when I went with my friend Bucky to the Stark Expo to celebrate his achievement of joining the 107th Infantry Regiment to serve in the War. As we strolled around the exhibition, we saw Howard Stark's failed attempt to showcase his flying car of the future. However, while looking around, I saw another chance to join the army and help people in need. Bucky tried to warn me that I would go to jail for lying, but I was determined to follow my heart and help others. Before parting ways, Bucky said his goodbyes as he was leaving for his deployment the next day.

While I was waiting for the doctors to come and check my health like they always did in the recruiting centers, I noticed that the doctors were taking too long and thought that the army finally found out that I was lying about who I was on the recruitment papers. When I was getting ready to run away before they came to arrest me, I saw two soldiers walk into the room I was in and thought I was too late.

It was only after someone else entered the room, that I began to calm down a little. The man instructed the soldiers to leave, and then he asked me a few questions. I answered truthfully and was thrilled when he told me he could give me a chance to help in the war if I passed the test for Project Rebirth.

I was sent to Camp Lehigh to undergo training with other recruits for the program called Project Rebirth. There, I had the chance to meet Peggy Carter, an incredibly strong and confident woman who never let anyone tell her what she could or couldn't do. Despite being surrounded by soldiers, Peggy stood out and showed everyone that she was just as capable as any of them, if not more so.

After 8 weeks of training in Camp Lehigh and having proved myself to everybody else even to the stubborn Colonel Chester Phillips, I was chosen to be the first to participate in the Project Rebirth experiment. Before the day of the experiment, Dr. Abraham Erskine came to my room and told me why he believed I was the perfect choice for the project.

He said to me, "Steve, I want you to know that I have always believed that it was a mistake to have created the Super Soldier Serum. After I saw what had happened to Johann Shmidt, the person who used my Serum, I began to think that if you're the strongest man in the room and have a bully mentality, bad things will happen and it will all be because of me. I chose you for this experiment because I believe that even with all your faults and weaknesses, you are inherently a good man who will never forget about his upbringing and will always have respect for those weaker than himself. So, whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man."

That night, he gave me the confidence to endure what was to come and to stay humble no matter how powerful I became. When the day of the experiment came I was driven to where the procedure would take place and was able to talk with Peggy. We talked about our past and how we both never gave up on our dreams no matter how much the people around us tried to bring us down.

Upon reaching our destination, I was led to a secret lab hidden behind a false wall inside an antique shop. As soon as I entered, I saw a room full of important people, ranging from generals to senators, who had gathered to witness the result of the experiment. Howard Stark was also present, helping out with the preparation of the experiment. After being given a shot of penicillin to try and ease the pain, I was placed inside the machine that would turn me into a Super Soldier. However, the experience was excruciatingly painful and lasted for what felt like hours. Finally, I emerged from the machine as a completely different person.

After undergoing a medical procedure, I became stronger, faster, and more durable than any human being I know. However, my happiness was short-lived as something tragic happened. Dr. Abraham Erskine, the doctor who gifted me with my new strength, was killed by a spy from a group called Hydra. The spy pretended to be one of the senators at a meeting and managed to complete his mission. He then tried to steal the last sample of the serum that made me superhuman, but I stopped him using my new abilities. Unfortunately, the serum was destroyed in the process. However, before Dr. Erskine died, he advised me to continue being a good man. So I decided to join the war effort and do what I could to help.

I had always dreamed of aiding on the frontlines but I was surprised to find myself portraying a fictional superhero called Captain America instead. My responsibility was to use my newfound strength to promote war bonds and help finance the American soldiers fighting in the war. Although I wasn't thrilled with my new role, I felt content knowing that I was doing my part, no matter how small it may have been. Also, it was during these few months of traveling around America, that I lost my virginity to one of the showgirls traveling with me, never got her name though.

I had settled into a routine until November 1943 when I was deployed to Italy near the frontlines. Although my initial task was to boost the morale of the soldiers, I later learned that the 107th Infantry Regiment, where my close friend Bucky was stationed along with other Allied forces, was attacked and captured by Hydra. With no apparent help coming for the captured soldiers, I decided to take matters into my own hands and rescue Bucky and the rest of the soldiers. Fortunately, I wasn't alone in this mission. Peggy and Howard Stark offered me a lift to the Hydra stronghold, better equipment to help with my plan, and an upgraded shield to aid me in my mission, which Howard personally gave me.

Infiltrating the stronghold, rescuing the soldiers, and making a grand escape was an experience unlike any other. It required me to use all of my intelligence and strategic skills to ensure that everything went smoothly until the very end. Despite facing some challenges along the way, I was able to succeed with only a minor hiccup. One of the unexpected incidents that occurred was meeting the Leader of Hydra himself. However, what was even stranger was that he also happened to be the first and last person to use Dr. Erskine's old Super Soldier Serum.

During my conversation with him, I finally understood why Dr. Erskine was so scared of his creation. His first success turned out to be a monster - a man named Johann Shmidt, who called himself Red Skull. This was a perfect example of what happens when people focus only on their superiority and believe they can never do anything wrong. It's a lesson on how things can go terribly wrong when we ignore the importance of empathy and humility.

In the end, we failed to reach a consensus on our values, and after a minor altercation with Red Sull, he fled, vowing to meet again before detonating his base and everything in it. However, I managed to secure some documents and a map containing details of other Hydra strongholds, which could provide an opportunity to destroy another base before they relocate any crucial intel. Fortunately, I had already rescued the Allied soldiers before getting hold of the valuable information.

Upon arriving at the Allied base with the rescued soldiers and crucial intel on Hydra, I rushed to Colonel Chester Phillips's tent. I urged him to assemble a small team of elite and skilled soldiers to launch an attack on the Hydra base before it was too late. The following day, I was joined by my best friend Sergeant James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, Sergeant Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury, Corporal Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader "Dum Dum" Dugan, Private Isadore "Izzy" Cohen, Private Gabriel Jones, Private Dino Manelli, Private Robert "Rebel" Ralston, Private Jonathan "Junior" Juniper, Private Percival "Pinky" Pinkerton, Private Eric Koenig (a former Nazi, now defector), Private Jim Morita, Private Jacques "Frenchie" Dernier, and a British nurse named Pamela Hawley. Together, we formed a very unique team that would launch a decisive strike on the nearby Hydra base.

Later that day, at 23:30, we flew over to the Hydra base located deep within enemy lines and parachuted into the forest adjacent to the fortress. Upon sighting the stronghold, Sgt. Fury and I devised a plan to launch a two-pronged assault on the castle simultaneously, from the front and the back. Our offensive strategy entailed the demolition of the castle gate and the back wall, allowing us to penetrate the base and engage any Hydra soldiers we encountered. We employed the most potent weapons we had at our disposal, including the pilfered Hydra energy guns we stole on yesterday's raid.

I followed the plan to the letter, but I couldn't help but notice a trio of individuals with unusual appearances. They appeared to be attempting to create a diversion and escape using the Hydra battle agents. Given that these individuals could be the masterminds behind this base, I took it upon myself to pursue them and prevent their escape, unlike to how I failed to prevent the Hydra leader from escaping yesterday.

During a chase, I saw the group of people appeared to also be superhuman and were running faster than any ordinary human. They didn't care about Hydra soldiers who stood in their way and threw them aside. When they reached a wall and were about to escape, I threw my shield to stop them. That's when they noticed me and the youngest of the group started shouting at the others. As I was getting closer, the young man pulled my shield out of the castle wall and threw it back at me with surprising speed and force.

Upon succeeding in stopping the shield with much effort, I noticed that two of the three individuals in the group had already fled the scene, leaving only the young man behind. Without hesitation, I hurled my shield towards him, catching him off-guard, but to no avail. Eventually, he overpowered me and threw me to the ground, and we both kept a safe distance from each other. After I got back on my feet, the young man attempted to confuse me by portraying himself as the victim while making me out to be the bad guy who attacked him without provocation.

When it seemed that he would try to continue to buy time for his allies I stopped him and attacked him again, hoping to finish the fight quickly so I could chase after the two who had escaped. However, he turned out to be a better fighter than I expected. Despite being young, he was very skilled and beat me quickly. He also caused me the most pain I have ever felt since gaining my superhuman abilities, and eventually knocked me out by hitting me in the face with his knee.

I woke up after a few minutes and instead of finding out that the young man had successfully escaped, I saw him tied up in front of me with all my allies pointing every weapon they had, at him to make sure he didn't have any funny ideas of escaping again. After a bit, I calmed down and asked Bucky what happened.

With a big smug smile, he said, "You got your ass handed to you by a 15-year-old kid, that's what happened." That seemed to get a few laughs out of the group. After they stopped laughing, Bucky turned back to look at the kid and then asked me seriously.

"Now tell me, how did America's Super Soldier who was supposed to be the strongest, lose so badly against a 15-year-old teenager?"

I also turned to look at the young man straight in the eyes and said, "That's something I would like to also find out."

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Hey there, it's great to be back with another chapter! This time, I'm excited to share that I've set a new personal record for the most words in a single chapter. Now, I know that some of you might think that this chapter was unnecessary since Captain America's origin story is already well-known. However, I believe that his character deserves a proper introduction, rather than just a simple "Captain America arrived and saved the day". I also wanted to do justice to his role in the story before he met Uriel. In the end, this chapter turned out longer than I expected, but I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! If it's not your cup of tea, no worries - I appreciate you taking the time to read it anyway. Thanks for your support, and I can't wait to share more with you next time!