Second Sphere

Angel rezni

"I ended the winter soldier program once before. I have no intention to leave my work unfinished. To do this, we'll have to scale a ladder of lowlifes." Zemo explains, going back to the objective at hand.

"Well, join the party. We've already started." Sam says.

"First stop is a woman named Selby. Mid-level fence I still have a line on. From there, we climb." Zemo tells us, "Do you still have good contact with her?" He asks me.

"Not particularly." I say through gritted teeth.

The next stop is a private airport.

"So all this time you've been rich?" Sam asks as we walk up to a plane.

"Why do you think I accepted the help." I mutter.

"I'm a baron, Sam. My family was royalty until your friends destroyed my country." Zemo switches to Russian, "Hello, Oeznik."

Oeznik, the butler responds in Russian, "Welcome, gentlemen."

"Old friend." Zemo says and they hug, kissing each other on the cheeks. He turns to us, "Please."

We settle in to the plane, Bucky and Sam facing each other while Zemo and I do the same.

After we take off Oeznik brings Zemo a flute of champagne, "Apologies, if that's a little warm, the fridge is out. But I will see if there is some good food in the galley."

Zemo switches to Sokovian, "If it doesn't pass the smell test give it to them." He nods to Sam and Bucky.

"Watch it Zemo." I say in Sokovian as well.

Oeznik laughs, "It's good to have you back sir."

"You don't know what it's like to be locked in a cell. Oh. That's right. You do." Zemo says, trying to get under Sam's skin.

"Why don't you tell us about where we're going?" Sam asks not playing into Zemo's hands.

"I'm sorry. I was just fascinated by this. I don't know what to call it, but this part seems to be important. Who is Nakajima?" Zemo lifts the smaller red notebook out of his book.

Bucky lunges forward, grabbing Zemo by the neck. "If you touch that again, I'll kill you." He let's go, taking the notebook back.

"I'm sorry. I understand that list of names. People you've wronged as the winter soldier." Zemo continues to pick away at the subject.

"Don't push it." Bucky warns.

"I've seen that book." Sam says. "It was Steve's when he came out of the ice. I told him about Trouble Man. He wrote it in that book. Did you hear it? What'd you think?"

"I like '40s music, so..." Bucky trails off.

"You didn't like it?" Sam asks shocked.

"I liked it." Bucky says.

"It is a masterpiece, James. Complete. Comprehensive. It captures the African-American experience." Zemo adds.

"He's out of line, but he's right. It's great. Everybody loves Marvin Gaye." Sam continues.

"I like Marvin Gaye." Bucky says trying to end it.

"Steve adored Marvin Gaye." Sam keeps at it.

"You must have really looked up to Steve. But I realized something when I met him. The danger with people like him, America's super soldiers, is that we put them on pedestals." Zemo says, finding another bone to pick.

"Watch your step Zemo." Sam warns.

"They become symbols. Icons. And then we start to forget about their flaws. From there, cities fly, innocent people die. Movements are formed, wars are fought. You remember that right?" Zemo asks. "As a young soldier sent to Germany to stop a mad icon. Do we want to live in a world full of people like the Red Skull?" Zemo shakes his head, "That is why we're going to Madripoor."

"What's up with Madripoor? You guys talk about it like it's Skull Island."

"It's an island nation in the Indonesian archipelago. It was a pirate sanctuary back in the 1800s." Bucky explains.

"It's kept it's lawless ways. But we cannot exactly walk in as ourselves. James, you will have to become someone you claim is gone. And our little dove here, will have to be my personal angel rezni once again."

"What's that mean?" Sam asks.

"It means angel of carnage." I say bluntly.