Outside Budapest, Hungary.
A medieval castle brooded over the dense, fog-choked forest. During World War II, it had served as a heavily fortified Nazi stronghold. The Allies had supposedly purged it completely after the war's end.
They had missed a few things.
Hydra operatives operating within the Eastern Bloc had quietly slipped back into the region, fortifying the ancient stone and establishing it as their new operational headquarters. They hadn't chosen the location for its strategic vantage point. They chose it because the absolute truth of Hydra's origins was buried deep beneath its foundations.
Peter's deduction had been entirely correct. Richard Parker had traced the genetic anomalies of the Taranto spiders directly to a similar underground structure here in Budapest. That investigation had led him straight into Hydra's deepest, darkest secret.
In the castle's interior courtyard, an elderly, bald man sat at a wrought-iron table, calmly sipping tea. He wore a crisp monocle over his right eye and a heavy, slightly worn black military greatcoat. His right arm was not human. It was a bulky, crimson-red metallic prosthetic—the infamous Satan Claw.
"It appears Arnim failed to live up to your expectations, Zemo," Baron Wolfgang von Strucker said, taking a slow sip from his porcelain cup.
Baron Helmut Zemo sat across from him. He didn't touch his tea. "Shouldn't we say that you failed to properly bury your tracks, Strucker? You invited Fury's hounds right to our doorstep."
Strucker smiled thinly. Most of the global intelligence community assumed Zemo was the supreme leader of Hydra. In reality, Strucker had been the one quietly maneuvering their vast, subterranean network for decades. Alongside Madame Viper, Strucker and Zemo formed the true supreme triad of Hydra, holding authority that eclipsed even Alexander Pierce's sprawling influence in the United States.
Strucker set his teacup down. "So. Richard Parker's son and our old rival, Captain America, are both converging on us?"
"When the Captain went into the ice, you were nothing but a child, Strucker," Zemo sneered. He stood up, adjusting his gloves. "We need time to relocate the temple. We should have initiated this protocol the day I eliminated Richard Parker."
Strucker raised an eyebrow. The assassination contract for Richard and Mary Parker had originally been assigned solely to the Winter Soldier. But Zemo was famously paranoid. He hadn't trusted the brainwashed asset to execute the job cleanly. Zemo had boarded the flight with him. The Winter Soldier had slaughtered the flight crew, but Zemo had personally pulled the trigger on the Parkers.
Nick Fury knew none of this. S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence only confirmed the Winter Soldier's presence on the plane.
"We have been prepared for this contingency for a long time, Zemo," Strucker said, pushing himself up from the table. "We are simply waiting for the exact moment to strike. Come. Let us take one last look at our temple."
The two men walked in silence. They entered a heavy, retrofitted industrial elevator. The gears ground harshly as the cage descended over seven hundred meters into the solid bedrock.
The doors scraped open.
This was the true origin of Hydra.
The cavernous underground temple was littered with the skeletal remains of ancient Hydra elders, their bones still wrapped in rotting ceremonial robes. Strucker and Zemo stepped over the skulls without a second glance. They stopped at the center of the chamber.
A colossal stone idol loomed over them. The statue depicted a monstrous, serpentine body. Eight additional serpent heads branched out from a central, vaguely humanoid torso, forming a horrifying nine-headed beast. A heavy, oppressive malice radiated from the carved stone. Anyone standing in its shadow could feel the crushing weight of its intent.
This was Set. Tiamat. Leviathan.
He was an Elder God, a primordial force existing on the exact same cosmic scale as Gaia, Oshtur, and Chthon. Gaia had attempted to erase his bloody existence from human history, twisting his legend across different cultures until he was remembered only as a mythical seven-headed sea beast.
In the dawn of the world, Set had devoured his own kin. He became the first demon god, hoarding supreme power. Hydra had built its entire philosophy on his example: seize the latent, unrecognized power of ignorant mortals, and use it to forge an empire of absolute rule.
"The ignorant masses have no concept of how terrifying their collective power truly is," Strucker murmured, staring up at the stone serpents with genuine reverence. "A select few realize it, yet they foolishly believe they can guide that power against us. They are pathetic. It is quite amusing."
Zemo scoffed. "Spare me your mythological fanaticism, Strucker. I am sick and tired of these ancient ghost stories. Hydra's ideology is painfully simple. Plunder the strength of the weak. Strip away the power they don't even know they possess. Convince them they are helpless mortals, and establish absolute order."
Zemo turned his back on the statue. "The Red Skull tried to conquer the globe with brute force. It was delusional arrogance. Zola thought he could mathematically guide humanity into submission with his precious algorithms. Also pointless. Look outside, Strucker. The world has already gone completely mad."
"And is that not our greatest opportunity?" Strucker asked, a dark smile pulling at his scarred face. "The world is incredibly dangerous. Humanity suffers daily. The Avengers? The X-Men? One day, the public will wake up and realize their colorful heroes are entirely powerless to actually save them. So, our task is simple."
Hydra would protect humanity. But the price of that protection was absolute surrender. As supervillains escalated, as alien threats rained from the sky, and as mutants pushed the evolutionary boundaries, Captain America and his allies would inevitably fail.
When the breaking point arrived, a terrified world would beg to be bound to a war machine. They would seek out a ruthless, uncompromising violent authority to shield them from destruction.
"Unrestrained fear breeds a demand for unrestrained authority," Strucker whispered, his eyes locked on the idol. "Hydra's only job is to provide the final push. We instill true terror. They will naturally surrender their freedom. They will beg to become our slaves. And we will ascend as the Set of the new world."
Zemo rolled his eyes. He walked back toward the elevator.
"Do whatever you please," Zemo said, his voice cold and flat. "But before you reshape the globe, I am going to kill Captain America with my own two hands. I will dismantle everything he defends. I will look him in the eye and tell him his precious freedom is worthless."
Zemo stopped at the metal grate. He looked back at Strucker.
"I need Jim Hammond," Zemo demanded. S.H.I.E.L.D. knew the original Human Torch had gone AWOL from Madripoor, but Hydra still possessed the codes to reel their asset back in. "I want to prepare a proper surprise for the Captain."
Strucker's smile widened. "I imagine Rogers will be thrilled to see another World War II comrade. Right alongside Bucky Barnes."