"That's Captain America, right? I've heard all the gossip, but tell me straight—did he and Director Peggy Carter ever, you know…?"
Cough cough "You know?" Fury blinked. "What's 'you know'?"
Dante gave him a flat stare. "Obviously, I mean—did they ever go stargazing?"
"Ohhh. Stargazing. Got it."
"What did you think I meant?"
"I thought… I thought they went driving together."
"…Pfft."
After a while, Dante finally dropped the teasing and got back on task.
"So this photo—you want me to go bring him back, right?"
"Exactly. Since you already know about Steve Rogers, you understand he's a Super Soldier. With the serum in his system, he didn't die from the cold. He's in a suspended state—hibernation, basically. And even though his aging was already slowed, freezing nearly stopped it entirely."
"Right, but as far as I know, the Super Soldier Serum just makes him stronger than a peak human, yeah? And with the FBI now rocking both the X-Men and Star Team, is bringing him back really that urgent?"
"I get what you're saying…" Fury nodded, his single eye briefly softening with something like nostalgia. "But Steve Rogers isn't just muscle. He's a symbol—a moral compass. The spiritual totem of the Bureau. He reminds us that even when we're walking along the abyss, we can still move toward the light. That's why we need him."
Dante nodded. No arguments there.
Captain America was all about moral fiber and old-school values.
If you were picking a Superhero to be your friend and didn't have any weird edge-case requirements, Cap or Superman were the safest bets in the multiverse.
Superman was a god with both power and restraint.
Cap didn't have god-tier strength, but he was the kind of guy who would jump on a grenade for you without hesitation.
Especially when it came to leadership… Cap had something even the Kansas Boy Scout didn't.
And besides all that, Fury had another motive.
The FBI had been taken over lately by mutants and gods—literal gods.
And as the agency that once prided itself on being the first line of defense for ordinary people, they were starting to feel… outnumbered.
Bringing back Cap was a symbolic way to tip the scale a little.
"To that end, I've decided to assign one more agent to accompany you on this mission," Fury added.
"Oh?" Dante perked up. "A beautiful older sister? Please tell me it's Commander Hill. Or Mockingbird. I'm easy."
"You're easy? That's great."
Fury's expression suddenly lit up with evil glee.
Dante squinted. He saw it—the twinkle of pure schadenfreude in Fury's eye.
Fury pressed the comm button.
"Alright. Come up."
One minute later, the door to the Star Team office opened.
Dante turned expectantly.
Hill? Mockingbird? Even Quake would've worked!
But instead, in walked…
A slightly balding man with a warm smile and the aura of a tax accountant.
"Hello, Agent Dante. I'm a Level Seven Agent. Name's Phil Coulson."
"Ah… Hello."
Dante deflated like a tire, slumping onto the couch and leaning weakly against Hela—who was still scrolling through his phone.
Hela didn't mind. She casually put one arm around his waist.
"Hey," Dante muttered, "you're getting really good at this."
"In the Asgardian army, many offered themselves to me," Hela said with a straight face. "Although for some reason, they were always fearless warrior women… who eventually became my personal guard."
Dante rolled his eyes.
Oh, great. She's a lady-magnet too.
But unlike how he treated Fury, Dante knew he should probably show Coulson some basic respect.
So he stood up and extended a hand.
"Pleasure to meet you, Agent Coulson. I heard you used to serve under Fury back in the day. That must've been… rough."
"Director Fury was one of the most exceptional agents in the Bureau," Coulson said with a smile.
"I still am!" Fury cut in, immediately offended.
"The current standout agent would be Dante," Coulson said kindly."
The man's warm, almost dad-like aura somehow made his receding hairline feel distinguished.
Dante was momentarily stunned.
How could a middle-aged man be a little handsome without being greasy at all?
Aura. It's a real thing.
"Alright, enough mutual flattery," Fury snapped.
---
As expected, once Dante was done dunking on Fury, the System couldn't resist joining in.
[Ding: Mission 'The Perfect Frozen Man' has been issued]
[Mission Brief: Dear Star Team Captain, under Director Fury's orders, travel to the polar glaciers and rescue Captain America. Warning: the North Pole has more than just permafrost… strange things are buried in the ice.]
Dante stared blankly at the mission prompt.
He knew it.
There was always a twist.
But what the hell could possibly be hiding in the North Pole?
Cthulhu?
Wouldn't be that weird, actually. Both Marvel and DC have dipped into Lovecraft stuff before.
But if it really was some ancient tentacle god, then the divine Big Sis sitting next to him could probably flick it into another dimension.
So… manageable threat level.
Still, this mission didn't seem like it was gonna bring out too many new characters.
Maybe if he brought Hela along, the plot might… evolve?
While pondering this, Dante boarded the Airbus with Agent Coulson.
Waiting inside were Ada and Harley, freshly returned from combat training.
The second Hela stepped onto the craft?
Both Ada and Harley locked eyes on her.
A demon queen and a chaos clown, both staring daggers.
Every once in a while, they would glance at Dante like they were mentally measuring his coffin size.
Dante sat bolt upright, eyes fixed straight ahead.
He didn't know how dangerous the North Pole would be.
But he did know.
Nothing out there was more dangerous than being trapped in the same metal tube with two jealous women.
(To be continued.)