Night fell over New York, shrouding the city in a comforting blanket of shadow. Leo returned to the sanctuary of his garage workshop, the metallic tang of oil and solder a familiar scent. He closed the heavy door with a quiet, decisive thud, securing the lock and effectively sealing himself off from the mundane world of Jenny and George.
His gaze settled on the square block of raw, crystalline Vibranium resting on the steel shelf—a prize that was equal parts power and existential threat. Leo approached it, his movements fluid and focused.
With a gentle exertion of his power, he sliced off a perfect, square third of the block, roughly fifty centimeters on each side, and placed it back on the shelf. The remaining two-thirds—a cold, dense, glittering mass weighing approximately 200 kilograms—was all that concerned him now.
Leo placed his hands flat on the larger section of the prize. With a careful, controlled pull to his side, the rectangular silver metal block rapidly thinned and stretched, yielding under his molecular command. It didn't melt; it simply reorganized, seamlessly forming a perfect, one-meter-diameter circle that silently surrounded Leo, resting just inches from his feet.
Next, he took out the Palladium Mark II Arc Reactor. The sleek, pale blue energy signature inside confirmed his estimate: it still held about half of its tremendous original power. He held the reactor in his left hand, its warmth a stark contrast to the cold, dead Vibranium ring on the floor.
Leo swiftly stripped off his upper clothes, revealing a torso that was now far more defined and well-proportioned than his thin frame of a few months ago. The regular, intense training and the ample nutrition provided by Jenny and George had paid off.
Furthermore, he was consistently growing, now comfortably standing at 1.4 meters tall—a significant change from the child who had first emerged from the sea.
He calmed his mind, sitting cross-legged in the center of the Vibranium ring. With a soft, deliberate click of the light switch, the garage plunged into absolute darkness.
Only two sources of light remained. The intense, contained white-blue luminescence emanating from the reactor in his hand, and, far more surprisingly, an ethereal surge of golden orbs that erupted from the surrounding Vibranium ring.
This was the nexus he had anticipated. The surging golden orbs resembled tiny, incandescent droplets of pure energy. They didn't float aimlessly; they were magnetically drawn to him, merging instantly with Leo's skin and burrowing deep into his body.
Simultaneously, the reactor in his hands began to scream under the duress of his command, emitting countless bolts of raw, searing electricity. These bolts didn't shock him; they wrapped around his arms like white-hot plasma conduits, piercing into his flesh.
Leo could feel the dual energies warring and merging within him. The raw, refined electrical power of the reactor was overwhelming, strengthening his musculature and his central nervous system.
But it was the Vibranium's energy—the golden light—that was truly transformative. He felt a special power slowly sprouting within his body, an innate resilience and reinforcement that was deepening the very core of his power: Iron Bones.
A faint, mesmerizing purple light—the visual representation of absorbed kinetic and sonic energy being neutralized and stored—appeared on the Vibranium around him, swirling and flowing over the surface as it began to willingly relinquish its stored cosmic essence.
Golden orbs of light continued to emerge, an endless, subtle stream. The feeling of his internal structure gradually growing stronger, more dense, more powerful, made Leo forget about the passage of time, plunging him into a meditative state that transcended physical existence.
He only returned to awareness when the reactor in his hand completely lost its blue-white light, becoming a cold, inert chunk of metal. Simultaneously, the two hundred kilograms of Vibranium beside him lost all their golden and purple shimmer, becoming completely dull, grey, and lifeless. The metal was now exhausted of its inherent cosmic energy.
Leo slowly opened his tightly closed eyes. They flashed with an internal golden light that subsided as quickly as it came. The digital clock on the garage wall told him it was already noon. He had been training for nearly twelve hours.
This training session had lasted far longer than his original fixed schedule, and the sheer volume of special energy contained in that 200-kilogram block of Vibranium had drastically exceeded his most optimistic estimations.
Looking at the dull metal plates around him, now stripped of their cosmic essence, he touched them lightly with his finger. They broke instantly into several brittle, inert pieces, falling to the ground like common slag.
The molecular structure, stripped of its internal stored energy, was now fundamentally unstable. He quickly gathered the pieces and placed them in the scrap bin—no longer Vibranium, just useless metal.
He then looked at the remaining, untouched Vibranium on the workbench and began to carefully consider his next steps.
Leo glanced at his invisible System Attributes. His physical Defense had increased slightly, but the pure number for Metal Control remained stagnant at 21.
However, the internal efficiency of his Iron Bones enhancement level had increased by a startling 2%, which was equivalent to the cumulative effect of five or six days of his previous, much less potent training methods. The Vibranium was the ultimate catalyst.
After temporarily re-storing the remaining Vibranium securely, he got up, stretched his limbs—the internal clack of his super-dense bones no longer audible—and went to the kitchen.
He turned on the small TV to watch the news while preparing a quick lunch.
The female television presenter was standing excitedly at the entrance of Stark Industries. "Two hours ago, Tony Stark, the legendary Iron Man, announced plans to hold a new Stark Industries Expo right here in New York City to mark the start of 2010! This will be the first time Stark Industries has hosted such a colossal industrial expo since 1974, promising to bring together the world's greatest thinkers and inventors..."
Leo was not entirely surprised. Ever since Tony had publicly revealed his identity as Iron Man, Stark Industries' stock had skyrocketed, and now the entire world, except for a few government skeptics, seemed to be praising Iron Man as a genuine, flawed, but undeniably effective superhero. Tony was basking in the limelight, and the Expo was the perfect stage.
"Oh, right," Leo remembered, checking his phone. "I made an appointment with Peter today."
An hour later, Leo arrived at Peter Parker's modest home. It was still the holiday break, but Peter, who was only eight years old, was diligently doing his homework in the living room, a stack of comic books precariously balanced on the armrest of the sofa.
"Peter, come on, your big brother is here to take you out to play!" Leo called out, stepping through the open doorway.
Aunt May poked her head out of the kitchen, her face covered with a bright green facial mask. "Oh, it's Leo. Thank you for taking him out. You two little guys, be careful on the subway!"
Peter put down his pencil and ran over excitedly, grabbing Leo's hand and pulling him out the door.
The two took a bustling bus route to the Captain America Memorial Hall in downtown Brooklyn.
Leo selectively ignored the overwhelming display of red, white, and blue, and the countless American flags that greeted him as they entered.
This was Leo's first time visiting this particular monument, and he knew that, in just over a year, once Captain America was discovered frozen and thawed in 2011, this place would be drastically transformed into the Captain America Return Memorial.
Peter was practically vibrating with excitement. The countless comic books, cartoons, and idealized elementary school lessons about Captain America had cemented him as the quintessential hero in the hearts of all American children.
These nationally recognized and heavily encouraged superheroes, Leo mused, probably had a far more profound, almost spiritual impact on adults who hadn't found much fun or meaning in their childhood—people like the dedicated, idealistic Agent Coulson.
Upon entering the venue, the first thing Leo saw was Rogers' idealized, handsome face filling an electronic screen. The massive subtitle read: 'A Symbol of the Nation, A Hero of the World.'
"Captain America's story is a story of honor, courage, and sacrifice," an electronic loudspeaker continuously broadcasted, detailing the origins of Steve Rogers, the scrawny kid from Brooklyn, as well as some of his sanitized, special war exploits.
Many children were running around inside the building, playing tag and shouting, and Peter quickly rushed off to play everywhere, his excitement uncontainable.
Leo followed the guided steps and came to the central, quiet exhibit: the full-size portraits and uniforms of Captain America and his legendary Howling Commandos . Beside him was a detailed biography of James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes: '...Barnes was the only member of the Howling Commandos to die for his country, a true patriot.' A screen played a continuous loop of a grainy black-and-white video of a skinny Rogers and a protective, charismatic Bucky together.
In an adjacent screening room, a 1953 interview with Agent Peggy Carter was playing on a loop, recounting Rogers's almost impossible feat of breaking through Hydra's defenses to save more than a thousand American soldiers.
Leo stood in the darkness, recalling all the hidden information he had absorbed about Captain America. Rogers's parents had died early; he was utterly alone, with only Bucky as his self-appointed protector. He was born physically weak, plagued by a litany of illnesses: asthma, arrhythmia, high blood pressure, scarlet fever, and chronic weakness.
He had repeatedly submitted false information to enlist in the army but was rejected every single time, often leaving him frustrated and beaten up by bullies. That was why his iconic catchphrase, "I can do this all day," was never about arrogance; it was about an indomitable will that refused to yield, even when his body failed him.
Even with a life like that, when the secretive Dr. Erskine asked him the crucial question, 'Do you want to kill the Nazis?' Rogers' answer was pure: 'I don't want to kill anyone, I just want to end this war.'
Yet, when he finally underwent the experiment and emerged as the first super-soldier—strong, healthy, and perfectly capable—the US military immediately relegated him. They made him sell war bonds, become an idol trainee, and join a ridiculous dance group on tour.
Leo realized the truth: Captain America's rebellion against authority didn't just begin during the events of the Civil War. It started here.
Both he and Agent Carter believed they could do more than smile for cameras and sell propaganda. Rogers eventually broke free, demonstrating his incredible combat and tactical abilities, finally winning the position of combat team leader.
Bucky stayed with Rogers through it all, even before the experiment, and his simple words, broadcast on the loop, perfectly summarized their relationship: 'That short guy from Brooklyn, just like me, never gives up when he's in a fight; I have to keep an eye on him.' It was a friendship rooted in shared struggle, not just shared heroism.
Just then, Peter rushed over from the side, grabbing Leo's hand with unexpected strength. "Leo, let's go back now! I'm starving! I want to eat a double cheeseburger with extra pickles."
"Come on, I'll buy it for you," Leo said, his internal analysis clicking off instantly, replaced by the warmth of being a big brother.
The two left the solemn memorial hall. Leo looked back one last time, a fleeting moment of contemplation for the old soldier who had been sleeping for seventy years. He was looking forward to meeting the man who was both the perfect moral compass and the perfect revolutionary.
That evening, Leo brought fifty kilograms of the remaining raw Vibranium—the untouched portion that still glowed with cosmic potential—to Tony's garage workshop in Malibu, as promised. However, the place was empty.
Tony's hurried figure was nowhere to be seen, lost in the chaotic preparations for the Expo. Leo simply placed the heavy Vibranium block directly on the most visible workbench, right next to Tony's collection of classic cars, knowing it would be impossible to miss.
He also found the replacement Arc Reactor, already prepared and clearly marked with his name, sitting on the small desk Tony had assigned him.
Days passed by in a blur of activity, Tony's hurried, chaotic figure never stopping, constantly in motion, either designing the Expo or meeting with government officials. Leo never got a chance to speak to him directly, nor did he ask how the initial fifty kilograms of Vibranium had been handled—he trusted Tony's scientific curiosity and discretion.
During this time, Leo made two more silent, stealthy trips to the giant port of Salvador in Africa. Both times, he found no trace of Ulysses Klaue.
The massive Aurelia cargo ship was gone, and the entire dock area was eerily quiet, the armed guards replaced by local port authorities. Klaue had indeed quit the region, at least temporarily, his organization shattered and terrified by the phantom theft.
With his immediate, external threats on pause, Leo poured his immense mental capacity into his scholarly work. He had been intensively studying the ancient, mystical books he had brought back from Kamar-Taj.
He had successfully translated nearly all the complex Sanskrit writings using Google Translate as a baseline, quickly learning the nuances of the ancient language with the full force of his enhanced 21 Mental Strength.
The books spoke of dimensional travel, astral projection, and the Aura—a term they used for the cosmic energy he controlled—and the secrets of the multiverse were finally beginning to open to him.