Captain America: Brave New World Quiz

Answer: Serpent

In New Hampshire, the newly-elected U.S. President, Thaddeus Ross, hits the stage. The news, in reports that evening, indicates his unique perspective, being one of a handful of figures who, in spite of a world that has been in need of certain heroes like Captain America, has had unique bones to pick with the concept. Sam Wilson watches this from a bar, listening as the former U.S. General, referred to as a 'Hulk Hunter', is criticized for being too severe in dealing with Bruce Banner who, at one time, destroyed part of Harlem in facing off against the Abomination. Doctor Betty Ross, since then, became estranged from her father.

Five months later, somewhere over Oaxaca, Mexico, Captain America flies in to take on the mercenary forces of Serpent, arriving before SEAL team can show to support him. On the ground, he vows to get the hostages out, even though the government is there to secure a stolen canister; he leaves that to the SEALs. The catch is that Serpent isn't alone. Sidewinder, the head of the organization, is present in the facility. As soon as Sam arrives, however, Sidewinder manages to slip out, escaping to the nearby chapel while the canister is rushed away. He pursues while Joaquin Torres - Falcon - secures the package.

Unfortunately, while Sam has his hands full fighting off Sidewinder's goons, Sidewinder gets away.

Answer: The Celestial Island

Stateside, President Ross lays flowers at his wife's grave and ponders the first hundred days of his tenure in office. His most important to-do is the new treaty he's been working on. In the meantime, he receives word that the package acquired in Mexico is headed back to the States; the mission was a success for the most part. Sam, still in the compound, wonders why they held the hand-off in such an open spot.

Sam has to compliment Torres for his work on this mission, but his training still has to commence in earnest. As a reward, he brings him back to Baltimore to meet former super soldier Isaiah Bradley, 'the forgotten Cap'. It's back in Baltimore that Sam gets called up by the President, something that irks Isaiah greatly. As he notes, as long as Sam responds to 'Thunderbolt Ross', Captain America doesn't work for the people anymore. Sam argues that as long as people see him, as Captain America, near the President, it'll give people hope. In the meantime, they all have an invite to the White House - Isaiah included - for the Celestial Island World Summit. It's a visit of the utmost importance.

The trio, delivered to the White House in a limo, is quickly split up. While Torres and Isaiah take their time going in through a wave of photographers, Sam is asked to meet with the President. None of them know they're being watched by someone via hidden cameras.

Answer: Adamantium

Sam is brought into the Oval Office to speak to President Ross in person and it's there that Ross thanks him, explicitly, for retrieving the canister-- it may have saved his Treaty proposal. More than this, his actions have given him a bit more clarity in his vision for the future, and because of that, he wants Sam to rebuild the Avengers as the new Captain America. The country needs this, he says, and a lot of time has passed since he pushed for the Sokovia Accords. Sam is leery about this, fearing that they will disagree on the fundamentals, but Ross reminds that they can get to that later. He has time to think on it.

Eventually, the guests of the White House are brought together for a presentation, and President Ross stands before them to discuss the Celestial mass that emerged from the Indian Ocean. Countries rushed in to research and exploit this new island, and though they disagreed on the approach to this, what they found was one of the most important discoveries of the millennium - a more resilient material even than vibranium that they now refer to as adamantium, the most versatile substance in the world. The most refined sample dredged up so far was stolen from a Japanese facility, but it was, since, reclaimed by Torres, Sam, and the SEAL team in Mexico. With his treaty, Ross says, they can produce and share adamantium for the world's benefit.

During Ross' speech, the song "Mr. Blue" plays over the speakers in the room, and this sets off a reaction in several of the guests, Isaiah included, sparking long-dormant programming in their brains that puts the President at risk. He's escorted out, but Sam, Torres, and other Secret Service members are able to intervene. Isaiah leaps from the building and races out on foot before he comes to his senses, surrounded by all manner of special forces. He's apprehended, much to his dismay, before Sam is brought back to the Situation Room.

Ross keeps Sam there to talk but kicks everyone else, save for Ruth Bat-Seraph, his security advisor, out of the room. Ruth believes that the event was a coordinated terrorist attack, but Sam doesn't believe this could be the case. He offers to investigate, but Ross refuses this. In fact, he rescinds the offer to work together with him at all; that expired when Isaiah tried to kill him. Ross gives Ruth the authority to put this situation to bed. Sam is done.

Answer: Their cell phones

Investigating on his own, Sam speaks to Isaiah in a maximum security prison, attempting to reconstruct his day to get to the bottom of the event. The catch is that Isaiah has no clue how he got from the East Room, watching President Ross' presentation, to the park where he was apprehended.

Torres manages to break into the White House's CCTV system to bring up the footage from the night of the event, and it's through this that he and Sam discover something odd - a series of flashes from Isaiah's phone and the phones of several other 'activated' shooters. Coincidentally, Ruth Bat-Seraph finds the same oddity when she pores over the footage.

Sam can't help but revisit the idea behind Mexico; it seems like they were set up to find the canister and be at the White House for the event. It might be that someone is watching them. As Sam hangs up, he turns the corner in his vehicle and is caught out by Sidewinder. A battle between the two ensues while Sam is without his suit, but Sam manages to get the upper hand, knocking out Sidewinder as his phone begins to ring. The man on the other end congratulates him, but warns that he won't like what happens next.

President Ross, meanwhile, makes an attempt at damage control by speaking to heads of state from other nations in the effort of protecting the treaty. They can't proceed, however, until the Japanese Prime Minister is on the line.

Answer: Camp Echo One

Sam reunites with Torres at their headquarters and the pair use Sidewinder's cell phone to track the mystery man's call. In the meantime, a handful of other important tidbits come to light. First, it appears that Ruth Bat-Seraph trained in the Red Room and is, as such, an ex-Black Widow, making her quite the dangerous figure. Secondly, in rewatching the footage from the event, it appears that Isaiah intentionally avoided shooting the President; he could've easily hit him with a clear shot. Thirdly, when the cell phone is tracked, it leads to a call having been made in a forest in West Virginia known only as 'Camp Echo One'. He and Sam pack their gear quickly and head out immediately.

Ruth Bat-Seraph heads to the prison to speak to the men from the supposed terrorists, but she arrives just as one of the guards shoots and kills a cell of them. Before she can get anything out of him, the guard turns the gun on himself as well. All that's left when she's the last one standing is the sound of The Fleetwoods' "Mr. Blue" on the guard's walkie-talkie. She places Isaiah into solitary to ensure the highest degree of safety she can.

On Air Force One, President Ross heads to Japan to speak to the Prime Minister directly. He asks about Sam, and his team is aware of the fact that he's gone off-the-grid, so Ross asks that he be brought in; he can't have a loose end screwing up the treaty negotiation. En route, Ross receives a call that's co-opted by the man responsible for the terrorist attacks. Ross knows the man-- he's helped him a lot over the years - but it's time for Ross to pay penance for his betrayal. After the call, he calls Ruth and tells her to drop everything. Camp Echo One has been compromised.

Answer: Gamma radiation

Reaching Tokyo, Ross insists to Prime Minister Ozaki that the treaty is of the utmost importance, but the PM isn't buying the intent behind the diplomatic visit because he intelligence agencies believe otherwise. Ross has to call out the fact that if he'd stolen the sample, he never would've used Captain America to retrieve it.

Arriving in the middle of nowhere in West Virginia, Sam and Torres suit up and proceed into the wilderness to find the surface of Camp Echo One. Swiftly, they head to the door, hack their way in, and sneak through before both the guards pass on patrol and the cameras wake up. Inside, down the elevator, they find an empty prison and, beyond that, a laboratory. The unnerving part is what they find inside-- photos of the activated assassins, diplomas for one 'Samuel Stearns', and file folders pertaining to President Ross and a mysterious pill he's been requisitioned to take several times a day. Torres uncovers optogenetic data for the 'soldiers', deduces the "Mr. Blue" mind control trigger, and starts to acquire the info from the computer, but the discovery is a short-lived victory.

Samuel Sterns, the man responsible for the plot, reveals himself to the pair, indicating that he's surprised to see them. He does admit to the situation, having hired Serpent to hold the Adamantium and set up his dominoes. It all seems like a plot to kill Ross. After all, Ross had him imprisoned at Camp Echo One for nearly two decades, a consequence of becoming much too smart after being enhanced by an onslaught of gamma radiation. Ross got into the highest office in the United States because of him. But that's not why he's doing all of this. He leaves Sam and Torres to fight his mind-controlled soldiers as he departs.

Fortunately, before they're set upon by another wave of bad guys, Ruth arrives on the scene, there to intercept Sterns. She admits they were right, but despite this, orders have come in from the President to apprehend Sam and Torres for trespassing. Worse still, the FBI sent to retrieve them has been infected by Sterns' control. The trio manages to escape in Ruth's vehicle, though narrowly.

Answer: Heart disease

Ross, realizing that there's an intelligence breach, decides it's time to act to counter whoever is sabotaging his treaty, but time is short, especially with Prime Minister Ozaki bound for the Celestial Island. As Ross' alarm goes off, he loses his temper, striking and cracking a marble table with his fist before angrily calling in Strike Group Five. If all countries are vying to occupy Celestial Island, then America must be the one with their hands on the adamantium, even if that means war.

In Norfolk, Virginia, Sam brings Ruth and Torres to a makeshift terminal that will allow Torres to break into Sterns' systems and prevent him from setting off his mind-control triggers. While Sam has one of his men look into the mysterious pills from Camp Echo One, he heads in to talk to Sidewinder who demands full immunity for all he knows. Sidewinder settles for less to protect his skin, revealing that Sterns was infected years ago, a consequence of being in Harlem when Bruce Banner went on a rampage. When Sterns was found in the wreckage there, Thunderbolt Ross captured Sterns, upped the gamma that infected his blood, and made him into a one-man think tank. Ross must have told Sterns he'd be free when he became President, but that never happened. As such, Sterns formulated this plan, dividing the world over adamantium and setting Ross up to start a war. The real issue is that President Ross is already on the USS Milius bound for the Indian Ocean.

Celestial Island is where Sam and Torres head next, arriving to meet Ruth and intercept Ross. Sam is upfront about the situation at-hand, revealing that Ross is being played. In private, he asks if Ross has been feeling like himself lately. After all, Sterns has his data. The truth is that President Ross' heart was failing and Sterns was the only solution. The pills that Sterns was making have been keeping him alive, and he's needed to stay alive not just for America, but to maybe, someday, prove to his daughter that he's changed. Now, Sam says, he can act on it.

Answer: Bucky Barnes

Unfortunately for Sam and President Ross, Sterns finds access to a phone in the U.S., and he's still able to send out his song to activate his military sleepers, and some of them are flying jets at Celestial Island. The men are informed that two of the U.S. F-18s are firing on the Japanese fleet, not to incur damage, but to provoke, and they're not responsive to orders. Sam and Torres take to the skies in their gear to stop the pilots themselves while Ross tries to deescalate the situation with the Prime Minister directly.

Ross doesn't make much headway with Ozaki, and worse, Sterns taps into his headset at that moment to rub in his revenge plot, aggravating the President for giving him false hope towards his freedom. He insists that all the rage behind 'Thunderbolt Ross' is still in there, waiting to be let loose, but Ross is certain that Sterns has tricked him this whole time. All he needs to do, Sterns says, is stop taking the pills, but he knows he won't. Instead, he tells Ross to rip apart the fleet with his bare hands and kill Captain America. Before he can take things any further, he receives word that the fight outside has come to a conclusion; the rogue pilots have been neutralized, but Torres has been injured in the attack. He survives, but heads to the hospital in critical condition, out of commission while Sterns remains at large. Ross, bringing himself back under control, calms down to speak to Prime Minister Ozaki once again.

While Sam watches over Torres in the surgery theatre he's met, unexpectedly, by Bucky Barnes, who seems to stop by at the right moment to give his support. Sam comments that he wishes that he took the super-soldier serum like Steve and Bucky did; everything seems much bigger than he is. And on top of all that, Ross asked Sam to start the Avengers back up. Sam thinks that Steve made a mistake in giving him the shield, but Bucky notes that not even Steve could save everyone he loved. Before Bucky departs, bound for a campaign fundraiser, he reminds Sam that everything is going to be alright.

Elsewhere, Sam's contact discovers the truth about the composition of Ross' pills. The minute he does, however, Sterns arrives and kills him, stopping his heart with a high-frequency soundwave.

Answer: The White House

At the White House, President Ross receives word that the facilities have been swept and screened in advance of his upcoming speech. When he's left alone, he picks up his phone and makes a call, reaching out to his daughter, Betty, who he didn't think would answer. He asks if they could see each other soon, and she agrees. As Ross proceeds to take the podium in the Rose Garden and prepares to speak to the press, he calmly begins to talk on creating lasting peace.

Elsewhere, Sam is found by Sterns who, interestingly, asks for a few moments of his time. With the Indian Ocean plot foiled, Sterns volunteers to turn himself in to get what he wants - for the world to see who President Ross really is. All of this, Sam already knows, was about destroying Ross' legacy, but the 'how' of it is still a mystery. While Sam is aware that the pills were the key to this, the truth is that Sterns used them to create a monster much in the same way that he was turned into a monster all those years ago - with gamma radiation. Each pill has slowly fed more and more of it into his bloodstream, and his reliance on them is the only thing holding him at bay.

While Ross takes questions from the press and takes pointed questions about the conspiracy behind the adamantium, he starts to get more and more nervous, unable to keep his emotions at bay. The crowd catches wind of Sterns being apprehended and it all comes to a head when a recording of Ross and Sterns' earlier conversation plays over the speakers. It's perfect timing; Ross' alarm goes off and he finds himself unable to overcome the rage building inside. Before the crowd, he transforms into the Red Hulk. Seeing himself in a reflection, he begins to lash out, destroying part of the building while his own Secret Service opens fire (to no avail).

As Sam touches down on the White House lawn, he realizes that Stern's planning and calculations were correct. He got what he wanted, and President Ross was played.

Answer: Yes

The fight against the Red Hulk is hard-fought as it appears that this empowered version of the President is both resistant to being attacked and much stronger than anyone could anticipate. As Sam attempts to fight back with all of the tools at his disposal, he warns away as many extra forces as he can; Red Hulk has a tendency to fight back with the very weapons sent to bring him down. Sam calls in Ruth to clear Hains Point, luring the President into the greenery there, further away from the public, and it's his only chance to break through. There, in the cherry blossom-lined streets, he tries to remind Ross of the times he used to walk through with Betty, appealing to his emotions. It doesn't much work.

It takes a lot more fighting, even to the point of destroying much of Sam's gear, before Sam can get any leg up in the fight, impaling Red Hulk on one of his wings and incapacitating him in one final blast. But eventually, the fight comes to an end. He reminds Ross one more time that he can change, and if he does, he can prove it to his daughter. It's enough to revert him back to normal.

As Ross is taken away to a hospital, Sterns is taken to a secure facility. Though Sam needs to get checked for injuries as well, he instead heads to get Isaiah out of prison. In the weeks to follow, talks continue with regards to adamantium. Talks about the treaty are eventually resumed (and the paperwork ratified as The OzakiRoss Accords) and the White House is eventually restored, but with all of this said and done, President Ross resigns his position, instead voluntarily placing himself into the Raft as penance for his actions. It is, perhaps, the only place that might be able to keep him held in to prevent any further harm. As Sam departs, wishing Ross well, the former President is met by another guest, his daughter, who seems eager to reconnect.

Sam checks in on Torres who, recovering in the hospital, awakens groggily and apologizes for screwing up. Sam confides in him that all of them make mistakes, and the pressure put on them to be heroes is immense. Torres admits that it's because of Sam that he wanted to be a hero. It's fortunate, Sam notes, because the world needs the Avengers.