Come To The Dark Side, We Have Sexy Cars

Shen left the church building and moved towards Red Skull's 'Schmidt Hydra Coupe'.

This six-wheeled V16 Hydra Schmidt Roadster is the kind of sexy that makes kids wanna be villains rather than do-gooders.

Its slick classic exterior masks a futuristic interior built using HYDRA's best underground 'alien' tech. It is equipped with state-of-the-art radio technology, toolboxes for futuristic gadgets, and an extra engine in the back.

This roadster earned its title of 'the fastest car in the world' from its V-16 engine, an exotic ginormous airplane engine that sends power to all six wheels.

There's no denying that this Retro-Futuristic vehicle is the Ultimate Villain Ride for World Domination.

A soldier stepped forward and opened the back door for him. He stepped in and sat down in the most luxurious and comfortable seat while holding the Tesseract in one hand and the broad sword in the other.

"Return to the nearest base," Shen stated calmly.

As his personal chauffeur drove towards the HYDRA base in Norway, Shen took the time to go over his plans once more. He knew that he had absolute command in the organization at the moment by impersonating Red Skull but, that didn't mean that he was as good of a leader as the former.

Confidence is half the battle which, he could easily emulate but the rest... Shen closed his eyes to think of a long-term solution. He not only had to become a charismatic, confident leader, but also a competent one. He started to recall all the books he had read that could be helpful in this endeavor, starting with 'The Art of War by Sun Tzu' and...

As it turns out he hadn't really read many leadership self-help books since he hadn't planned on using a shadowy organization for World Domination. He moved on to works of fiction, books, comics, mangas, anime, tv shows, movies, games, history, he pulled them all from his memories and analyzed each and everything.

He compared different characters, their qualities, their actions & reaction, successes & failures, and after sorting through, he learned from it all.

He then pulled up the 'Evil Overlord List', always refer to the evil overlord list, and then started to update and improve it according to his needs.

With all this done, he let out a slow controlled breath and opened his eyes. He had done all he could for now and everything else, he would wing it using his enhanced big brain and superior analytical abilities.

[A/N Please don't make me list out all the books, movies, anime, etc. as I don't have enhanced memories. I tried, believe me, I tired. Code Geass, uhh... Voldemort... hahaha]

HYDRA's Norwegian base was located in the southeast part of the Scandinavian Mountains. It was built in a strategic location amongst dangerous terrain.

After entering the mountain range, the car passed through a secret tunnel leading to their final destination.

As the coup slowly came to stop, a HYDRA soldier quickly came forward to open the door for him. Once out, he could see soldiers of the entire base assembled in an orderly manner. They snapped to attention in uniform motion and yelled out, "Hail Hydra!"

Seeing this, Shen let out a barely noticeable smile and replied in a commanding voice, "As you were."

"I need an update on everything that happened here while I was gone," he said to no one in particular while looking straight ahead with absolute confidence.

He didn't know how Red Skull had operated this base or whom he had left in charge. He could only improvise using the information he gathered while infiltrating the other locations.

"Yes Sir," the soldier who had opened the door for him moved forward.

As he was about to open his mouth to continue, Shen raised his hand up and said,"Debrief me on the way to my office."

He gestured the soldier to lead the way and followed along. Turns out, Red Skull hadn't really left anyone in charge here. Most of the soldiers and agents were deployed either on missions for the war or various secret operations. Everyone else in this base simply followed orders and did what they had to do like cogs in a well-oiled machine.

While listening to the report, he took in the details of this soldier. He was a typical German youth, blond hair, blue eyes, tall and sturdy. His young face was full of admiration and fanaticism. Shen could clearly see that he admired 'Red Skull' and would follow probably jump off a cliff if asked.

Once they reached 'his' office, he looked around observing the details, and asked, "What is your name, soldier?"

"Günter Gerhardt, Sir!" the young soldier replied with excitement as if it were the greatest honor he's ever received.

"Very well, Günter, you will report directly to me from now on. That's all for now," he said and waved him off, signaling him to leave.

As the excited soldier took his leave, Shen began to sort through the documents in Schmidt's office one by one. After a period of understanding and careful deliberation along with Günter's report, Shen had basically grasped the situation of the organization, their personnel, along with every past, current, and future operation. The true strength of HYDRA was finally revealed to him.

What started out as the secret scientific branch of the Nazi Schutzstaffel was turned into an absolute powerhouse under the leadership of Red Skull. Although on the surface they developed weapons for the Third Reich, the core research team directly under him was conducting research on occultism and advanced alien tech. They had successfully created 'underground black technology' years beyond anything available in this time and era.

The base in the Alps which was given to him by Hitler was the only known headquarters of HYDRA on the surface. By now, countless secret bases were established all across Europe. The organization had a vast intelligence network all over the world and a legion of soldiers equipped with the best, advanced armor and weaponry.

It suffices to say that the only reason they 'lost' in the original work was due to Captain America. 'Lost' being used in the loosest sense as even then, they were only stalled... after all, "If a head is cut off, two more shall take its place." They eventually infiltrated all the important organizations in the world including S.H.I.E.L.D and the World Security Council.

By this time, Schmidt had developed a sense that HYDRA was superior to the Nazis and sought to find a weapon that would overthrow Hitler.

He made extensive plans to separate HYDRA completely from Nazi Germany and start his own conquest of the world.

After countless, fruitless research, he directed his attention in a different direction. He starting looking through history to find the greatest weapon ever known to mankind, and finally, learned of the Tesseract, which was lost on Earth from Odin's Vault. Schmidt then began searching for it, knowing it would give him the power to defeat both Hitler and the Allies.

This set in motion the following sequence of events, with Schmidt being killed and Shen gaining both the Tesseract and control of this hegemony.

Unlike Red Skull, Shen had no intention to lead HYDRA into a fight with the entire world. What he needed to do now is consolidate his power.

Against the Allied powers, Hitler's failure is inevitable, and Hydra wouldn't be able to escape the fate of being targetted. Thinking along these lines, Shen carefully looked at the map of Norway on the wall.

'Cut the losses' he thought.

In the original movie, many HYDRA bases across Europe were targeted and destroyed under the lead of Captain America and the Howling Commandos. It would be no different now since the allies would not let HYDRA go. But he could make use of the situation to his advantage.

With the upcoming defeat of Germany, many of the HYDRA's bases in Europe would soon be left defenseless. He would first evacuate all the important resources and personnel from these bases to significantly reduce the losses.

He would then use these locations as 'sacrifice' to lead them astray. He would have to stage and arrange these locations to look important with fake documents and whatever else necessary. This would give them their major victory against HYDRA and appease their anger.

With the defeat of Hitler, Nazi Germany, and 'HYDRA', the allied powers will be too busy celebrating their victor to look underneath the underneath... the underneath.

To this end, Shen was ready to give up more than half of HYDRA's existing bases and retain only the three most concealed and strategically placed locations, including the Alps Headquarters.

Still looking at the map on the wall, Shen began to analyze and run simulations to optimize the steps for the 'evacuate and consolidate' plan.

Norway is located at the northernmost point of Europe, in the western part of Scandinavia, with a long and winding coastline from north to south. Although it has a superior geographical location, it has weak national power, a simple domestic situation, and a population of less than 3 million.

With HYDRA's strength, they would easily be able to control and run the entire country from the dark.

The Scandinavian Mountains run through the entirety of the country, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Arctic Ocean to the north. The mountains are steep, with most parts covered by glaciers, while the rest are closer to the coast.

There are many fjords connecting with the Atlantic Ocean that are hidden and difficult to find, making it the ideal place to build a new and improved, secret Headquarters.

After dispatching manpower to conduct field surveys, Shen chose a tall and steep mountain near the west coast in the northern part of the mountain range.

This top-secret base will serve as the new Hydra Headquarters, accommodating all the core departments, and most of the military forces of the entire organization. Its scale will far exceed anything built before.

After the location was selected, a large number of resources, equipment, and personnel were mobilized, and construction commenced in full swing.

At this time, Dr. Arnim Zola had also arrived in Norway from the Alps headquarters upon being called. Dr. Zola is HYDRA's top scientist specialized in biochemistry, genetic engineering, mechanical engineering, and other minor fields.

His capability spoke for itself, as in 1937, he had already invented an advanced exoskeleton battlesuit, which could virtually turn a soldier into a one-man battalion.

Throughout the movies and comics, he has proven his loyalty to HYDRA time and time again. It was due to his efforts that the organization was revived again after the war and almost succeeded in taking over the world.

Although that was the case, things could change unexpectedly in reality. So, he decided to keep the scientist closer, by assigning him as his 'Right Hand Man'.

Zola had originally joined the weapons research department because he was already terrified of Red Skull. By assigning him this new 'trusted' role, it would serve to motivate him further with the stick and carrot approach.

Besides, this would also make it easier to keep an eye on him and watch his every move. Although Zola is a brilliant scientist, Shen is a genius in his own right. So he wouldn't allow him to make any 'smart' moves and carry out secret machinations as he did with S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Have all the equipment been shipped, Dr. Zola?" Shen, who was sitting behind the desk, asked coldly.

"All the equipment for studying the Tesseract has arrived, the rest will be delivered soon," Zola replied.

"Then start your research, I hope to see the results as soon as possible, don't let me wait too long," Shen's deep and cold voice passed through his ears, making him shudder.

"Yes...yes, I'll go right away," he stammered and turned around and leave.

"You forgot about this," Shen stated as he pushed forward an old box on the table.

Shen had tried putting Tesseract into his storage space but found that it wasn't possible at all.

He hypothesized that it could be either be because of the enormous energy generated by the cube exceeding the carrying capacity of his space, or because of the powerful space stone which holds absolute dominion over the fabric of space making his own powers look like a joke. It could very well be a combination of both.

He had called upon Dr. Zola for the research because, in the original work, he had successfully harnessed the energy of Tesseract, and even developed advanced energy weapons.

Although he could do it himself, it would take a lot more time. The best perk that comes with being a leader is delegation. After Zola makes some headway in the research, he can always build upon it and move forward in any direction he wants. Besides, he will be watching Zola's every move.

After Dr. Zola walked out holding the box, Shen picked up a document on his desk with the cover titled: "Super Soldier Project."