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This is a Fan's version of the origin of Captain America. Great story for a Captain America movie. Enjoy! Part One Part Two Part Three Discuss on the Captain America Message Board 
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Captain America Part One Part Two
By Bryn T. Jones The scene opens in a dark, rainy, old European brown stone city, where the winding streets are made of cobble-stones that are worn in ruts that once were beaten by carriage wheels from the not too distant past. The streets are soon filled with the roar of engines and the pounding of marching feet. Soon a black Mercedes rolls into view, surrounded by marching troops wearing arm bands with swastikas. They all wear gas masks. Behind the Mercedes is a Panzer tank. The black car stops and one of the soldiers opens the door. A tall man in a black leather SS overcoat steps from the car, his jackboots landing firmly on the cobble-stone road. As he comes into view, his face is covered with a mask, like a fright mask used by some tribal chief in Africa . The men step back in fear of this high ranking officer. “I want the doctor,” he declares. “Get him for me. Kill everyone else.” Soldiers rush through the buildings, seizing people and breaking down doors. Inside a small room a bearded man with thick, black hair and dark, piercing eyes gathers papers into a brief case hurriedly. A clean cut man urges him along. “Come Doctor, you must hurry,” he says, “they will be here any minute.” The doctor stuffs the last sheet into his brief case and stands up, fear and determination sharing equal parts in his eyes. “They must never get my work!” the doctor states. The clean cut man removes a .45 from his belt and makes sure it is loaded. He pushes the doctor out of the room and they descend stairs. The troops are not far off, and they are coming closer. Screams puncture the night. They reach the street and run through dark alleys. Spot lights shine around them and they constantly duck back into shadows to avoid being seen. Finally, their paths are cut off. Every way they turn there are troops. More screams pierce their ears. Marching feet come closer. “Go,” the clean cut man says. “Get down under the street. I’ll hold them.” As the doctor climbs down into a man hole, the clean cut man rushes the troops and fires his gun. He runs out into the street and comes face to face with the masked SS officer. He drops his gun involuntarily. The officer places a cigarette with an extender in his mouth and bites down. A mist of red gas comes out of the extender and fills the clean cut man’s face. He falls back, screaming. His shadow is cast up on the wall nearby where we see his head shrinking to the size of a skull. Returning to his corpse, his face is now a skull whose skin has dried thin and red. Cut to a busy New York grocer where a thin man named Steve Rogers works cleaning the floor and stocking produce. A couple burly men walk up to the store front and pick up some fruit and begin eating. The owner of the shop tells them they have to pay for it. The men shrug him off and start to walk away. Steve steps up in front of them, blocking their way. “You have to pay for that, even if it is with government paper,” he says. “Whose gonna make us?” the bigger of the two says. The big man throws his shoulder into Steve, knocking him to the ground. The second man kicks Steve, pounding the air out of him. The owner rushes over to Steve and helps him up. “You shouldn’t try to be a hero,” the owner tells him. “It’s not worth it. That’s what got your father killed.” “They stole from you, and you can’t even pay the rent.” “Don’t worry about me, Steve. I’ll fix them on their next hair cut.” The two chuckle at the joke and return to work. That evening Steve walks home with his news paper bag and stops to pick up the evening edition. The front cover reads: Red Skull wipes out Polish town. Steve’s face tightens with anger as he reads the story about the number who died. “You gonna read that you gonna pay for it,” the news stand owner yells. Steve stands up and starts down the road waving papers selling them. Later, as he returns to his small apartment, he runs into his friend Arnie Roth. They go back to his apartment to listen to the radio shows together. They discuss the war and the Red Skull. Steve wants to do something, but can’t. He has to take care of his Mom, who is sick, and he is too weak to do anything. Arnie doesn’t want to be involved. It is just a European war and they can fight it out. Steve feels that if you have the power to stop a wrong, you should. That night, as Steve brings a meal to his mother in her bed, she calls him over. She tells him that she doesn’t think she’ll make it through the night. She tells him how proud she is, and tells him to stand up for people like Arnie. Steve wants to run down the hall to a neighbor who has a phone to call the doctor. She pleads with him to stay since she doesn’t know how long she’ll be alive. He is conflicted at the door of the room, but turns and stays at the bedside. He holds her hand as she tells him about his father and how much she looks forward to seeing him again. She tells him that while Steve didn’t inherit his father’s brawn, he did inherit his heart. “And your soul,” Steve tells his mother. She passes on that night. Steve heads down to the enlistment office as the doctor is taking his mother away. He stands motionless, staring at the recruitment center. He feels he has nothing to stay for, so he rushes into the office to enlist. He is told he’s too frail to be of use in the war effort and is told to go back to work in the city. He tells them that he has nothing left to stay home for and that he should be the one to choose if he dies on the battlefield. Nonetheless, he is turned away. Later, after signing papers for his Mother’s funeral arrangements, he trudges home. A man is waiting for him at his apartment door. The man tells him that he knew Steve’s father. He tells him that there may be a way he can serve. Steve tells him that he’s reconsidered and that he needs to tend to his friend Arnie, and help at the store. The man gives him a card and tells him to come down to the office if he changes his mind. Steve can’t stay in his empty apartment, haunted by his mother’s empty room, so he goes for a walk. Arnie is on his way back from the store with some bread when some bullies stop him and smash his bread. Steve runs over to help, but gets beaten as well. He tries to help Arnie up, but Arnie refuses the help. “I don’t need you to watch out for me!” he says. Arnie believes that Steve’s strong views are attracting the bullies to him, too. He tells Steve to stay away from him and his family. Hurt, and alone, Steve finds himself walking to the recruitment office where he signs up with General Philips for the secret program. Once at the nondescript warehouse, things happen quickly. Steve is introduced to secret agent Peggy Carter, and Nick Fury. They are the intelligence officers overseeing the program. He is introduced to the only other recruit who signed up and stayed so far. His name is Owen Masters, a young school teacher from New Jersey . The other recruits opted out of the program because it could cost their lives. Steve and Owen are given a chance to leave. They both decide to stay. That night the two of them stay up talking about world events and their reasons for joining the program. Steve feels a kinship to Owen that comes from being in an isolated and dangerous place. When morning comes they are put through countless tests. They are pushed to their physical limits. Finally, they are introduced to Dr. Erskine. He tells them what the program will be. They hope to prove that a single formula can restructure genetic material to fix birth problems, or boost physical health. The experimental formula could heal palsy victims, or cure paralysis. The formula could also increase muscle to the peak of one’s potential. It could also unravel the genetic formula and kill the subject. Steve volunteers to go first. The experiment is observed by a number of high ranking officials. Steve takes the oral part of the formula, and then Dr. Erskine gives him the injection. He then puts Steve under vita-rays that help to stabilize the reaction in his body. Before their eyes, Steve’s body appears to develop muscle tone. At the end, he appears to have been given a brand new body. Then, one officer stands up and fires a gun that he has smuggled into the experiment. Owen looks over astonished at this development. The bullets start to fly, and Nick Fury curses since he didn’t carry his gun in, too. “I can’t let the Reich get this formula,” the man declares. Owen leaves the room quickly. Steve shakes his head to find that Dr. Erskine is jumping in front of him to save him from getting shot. The doctor takes the bullet. Steve runs over and grabs the man from the observation booth. Steve forces the gun out of his hand, and then they smell smoke. Fire has started from a stray bullet. The man rushes from Steve’s grasp and trips on a live wire, electrocuting himself. Later they look for Owen, but he is gone. The plans for the formula are gone, too. Nick and Peggy find evidence that the officer had been made to serve the Red Skull and that Owen was a sleeper agent. End Part One Part Two Part Three Discuss on the Captain America Message Board
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