HIATUS

MOMENTS BEFORE ERIK SHOWED UP:

A man probably in his late 40's could be seen staring intently at Loki's scepter. He had a freshly shaven head and beard. The most eye-catching thing about his appearance would the eyeglass he wore on his right eye. This man is none other than one of the Chief Commanders of HYDRA, Wolfgang Von Strucker. While Alexander Pierce is currently in-charge of HYDRA's operations in America, Von Strucker was the man that headed the European sector. The man was thinking about the things he needed to do now that HYDRA has been push into the light.

At a young age, Von Strucker was gifted with a brilliant mind. After studying at HYDRA Preparatory Academy, Daniel Whitehall assigned him to work in the Particle Infusion Chamber. A project with the end goal to make a supersoldier that could surpass Captain America. The project was designed to be better than Garrett's centipede soldiers, who were unstable and could survive only for a few weeks. Years of planning was put into the project. In fact, Daniel Whitehall genetically engineered a baby while still in the womb of her mother to become the new leader of HYDRA and be the one to use the Particle Infusion Chamber upon the child's maturity.

But the project was put on hold during the invasion of New York. Von Strucker read the reports about Loki's scepter and the power it holds. He became fascinated with it and he immediately told Alexander Pierce that he wanted it. Pierce agreed to deliver it to him and once in his hands, he immediately began his work. Together with Doctor List, his right-hand man, they began experimenting with the scepter in HYDRA's hideout in Sokovia.

They were able to make weapons similar to the ones the Red Skull made during World War II. Doctor List considered this a huge success but Von Strucker did not like this success. For him, making weapons similar to what the Red Skull made was insignificant. He wanted to achieve something greater.

Due to the current civil unrest in Sokovia, Von Strucker ordered Doctor List to gather some rioters who would like to volunteer in his experiment with the end-goal of achieving powers just like the Avengers. The rioters thought that with abilities just like those of superheroes then their government would listen to their pleas. So the volunteers went in droves.

But one by one all those volunteers died, only living behind two individuals, a set of twins.

"Sir, I think I have something that you need to see", a HYDRA guard said to Von Strucker. This broke Von Strucker from his own thoughts and he followed the guard to the command center of the base.

Inside the room, from the largest computer screen, he could see a man walking towards their base. The man wore a robe-like attire of old. The man's face could not be seen due to the hood of his robe blocking the view to his face. The man walks in a leisurely manner with his hands behind his back.

"...I think it's a monk, sir...", the guard said to Von Strucker. The person in question was still on the outskirts of the base but the guard found this somewhat weird. A monk walking in Sokovia? That's something you don't see every day, if not ever.

Von Strucker looks at the person in question and for a while, he was in deep thought. As if he was trying to recall something. Then he suddenly had a serious look in his eyes and said, "I want you to send guards there now! I want that man dead!".

The people in the command center were shocked. They didn't think that one person could rattle Wolfgang Von Strucker. But none the less, they were skilled HYDRA agents. They immediately did their jobs and ordered the perimeter guards to immediately kill the man.

They watch on screen as the man was quickly surrounded by 3 black vehicles. Without a moment's delay, one HYDRA guard shot the man. But the unexpected happened. Instead of seeing the man fall on the ground dead, a mirror wall appeared in front of him. The guards that were sent were shocked, this was something that hasn't happened before.

To break them from their stupor, Von Strucker shouted commands at their comms, "FIRE YOU ASSHOLES! USE EVERY SINGLE MAGAZINE YOU HAVE AND KILL THAT MAN!".

All the guards got their bearings back and immediately began firing.

"TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!" "TA!"

The smoke and smell of gunpowder were in the air but it was useless. All their bullets would be stopped by a mirror-like wall protecting the man. Once every single one of them emptied their magazine, they suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.

The monk claps his hands together and something sort of magical happened. All the bullets that were scattered in the ground began to transform and change into butterflies. The butterflies had this golden-like glow and they began to fly in the air. The butterflies maintained a close distance between the robe-wearing man. Never going any further than 5 meters away from him.

The guards watched in awe at such a display of ability. The man then took a step back and with his body, he pushed the mirror-like wall towards the HYDRA guards all the way to the HYDRA base a few hundred meters away from him.

"What the hell?", Von Strucker said with shock in his voice as he looks around his surroundings. The walls had a mirror-like texture towards them. This was proven by the fact that if you go closer towards the wall you could see your own reflection.

Realizing the situation that they were in, Von Strucker immediately ordered all the HYDRA agents in the base to reinforce the guards that were sent previously. When he saw the monk he thought that his attire looks familiar. It only took him a few moments to realized that the intruder wore the same attire as those people who help the Avengers in the battle of New York. That was the reason why he was rattled. His base has been compromised and he didn't like the idea of his base being siege by multiple individuals with abilities that could be labeled as magical.

The man on the screen then conjured a 2 feet mandala circle between his hands. The mandala circle started spinning on its own until it eventually reached a speed similar to that of a chainsaw.

The man then controlled this weapon and he sent it towards the HYDRA guards who wanted him dead. The guards became scared and they started to run. The man wasn't one of those kind-hearted monks depicted in stories. The man brought death with him and he was giving it to those who didn't want it.

HYDRA agents were trained to fight ordinary men, not individuals with 'magical' abilities. One of the guards was fast enough to get inside one of the vehicles they used previously and he intended to use it to return back to base. But the intruder controlled the spinning mandala and just like a hot knife cutting through butter, the reinforced car stood no chance as it was being shredded into pieces.

The car was then engulfed in a fiery explosion.