Chapter 13!

The air inside the lab was thick with the scent of burning metal and ozone. Machines hummed, their blinking lights casting flickering shadows across the room. Howard Stark stood with arms crossed, eyes locked onto the figure before him.

The Emperor.

A man who defied all logic, all understanding. Stark had met geniuses, inventors, and visionaries but this manwas something else entirely. The way he carried himself, the way his golden eyes seemed to see through everything, unsettled even him.

Howard Stark: "So… who the hell are you, really?"

The Emperor sat, his expression unreadable. He had lived countless lifetimes, but now, for the first time in centuries, he faced a world where he was the anomaly.

Emperor: "A man out of time."

Howard raised an eyebrow. "That's Steve's line."

Emperor: "Captain Rogers is a soldier fighting a war. I am something else entirely."

Howard scoffed. "You speak like you've seen the rise and fall of nations."

The Emperor leaned forward, his golden eyes burning with something ancient.

Emperor: "Because I have."

Silence hung between them. Peggy Carter, standing nearby, studied the Emperor with a sharp, calculating gaze.

Peggy Carter: "You speak as though you've lived for centuries."

The Emperor didn't blink.

Emperor: "I have."

Howard exhaled, rubbing his temples. "Great. First super soldiers, now immortals. What's next? Aliens?"

The Emperor remained silent.

That silence spoke volumes.

---

The Revelation

Howard chuckled, but it was a hollow sound. "You know something, don't you?"

The Emperor remained still. He had walked through the ruins of fallen empires, seen the desperate eyes of dying kings. But what he saw now was different. This world was changing in ways even he could not fully predict.

Emperor: "You are on the precipice of something far greater than war. You believe this conflict is the peak of human struggle. It is not."

Peggy Carter frowned. "Then what is?"

The Emperor's gaze darkened.

Emperor: "This war is merely the opening act. Soon, the battlefield will no longer be dictated by men alone. Gods, monsters, forces beyond your comprehension will shape the future. And you will find yourselves standing at a crossroads, one where humanity's survival is no longer in its own hands."

Howard and Peggy exchanged uneasy glances.

Howard Stark: "You're talking like a damn prophet. You expect us to believe that?"

The Emperor slowly stood, his presence casting an invisible weight over the room.

Emperor: "Believe what you will. But know this your time of being the dominant force in this world is ending. And when the true storm comes, you will wish you had been prepared."

Peggy: "Then tell us how to prepare."

The Emperor studied her for a long moment.

Then, at last, he spoke.

Emperor: "First, survive this war. Then, gather those who will not break when the world does. You will need them."

With that, he turned and walked toward the door.

Howard Stark: *"Wait, where the hell are you going?"*

The Emperor paused, glancing back over his shoulder.

Emperor: "To the frontlines. There is a soldier there who may yet shape the future."

And then, like a shadow swallowed by the night, he was gone.

---

The Frontlines of War

Eastern Europe, 1944.

The battlefield was chaos. The sound of gunfire, the roar of explosions, the screams of men war had not changed in all his lifetimes. But something was different here.

He could feel it.

Something unnatural.

He moved through the battlefield like a ghost, bullets bending away from him, unseen by all. Then, he saw him.

Steve Rogers.

The Captain moved like a man born for war faster, stronger, sharper than any human should be. He tore through Hydra's forces with precision, his shield a blur of motion. But it wasn't just his strength that caught the Emperor's attention.

It was his will.

Even with gunfire all around him, Steve never hesitated. Never doubted.

A man worthy of something greater.

The Emperor stood atop a ruined building, watching, waiting.

Then, in the distance, he felt something else.

A presence.

Red Skull.

And the power he wielded… was not of this world.

The Emperor narrowed his eyes. The war was far from over. And now, it was no longer just a human war.

It was something far greater.