- "Give in to your rage. I'm taking your legacy as we speak. Come on, Ross. You're almost there. You can rip their fleet apart with your bare hands and kill Captain America. Let the monster inside you out."
- ―Leader to Thaddeus Ross[src]
The Ruination of Thaddeus Ross' Legacy was a complex revenge plot by Samuel Sterns to destroy the legacy of President Thaddeus Ross, due to Ross enslaving him and using him for labor with a false promise to free him.
Background[]
- "Once Ross discovered how useful I could be, he kept me here for sixteen years, turning my mind to solving his problems. My solutions brought him the highest office in the country. If I wanted Ross dead, he'd be dead."
- ―Leader to Captain America[src]
In 2010, Grayburn College professor Samuel Sterns collaborated with Bruce Banner in an effort to cure Banner of his transformation into Hulk. While their efforts ultimately failed, Sterns was accosted by Emil Blonsky, who desired the same power as Hulk for himself. Blonsky forced Sterns to administer Banner's blood to him, which mixed with the Super Soldier Serum already in Blonsky's system to trigger his transformation into Abomination. Driven mad with his newfound power, Abomination struck Sterns into one of his computers, knocking him down and causing some of Banner's blood to drip into a wound on Sterns' head. The introduction of Banner's blood into his body caused Sterns' head to begin deforming, while Abomination went on a violent rampage that only ended when Hulk defeated him in battle.[2]
In the aftermath of the Duel of Harlem, Sterns was found by men led by Seth Voelker and taken into custody by Thaddeus Ross, who ultimately scapegoated him for the entire affair. As a result of his mutation from Banner's DNA, Sterns gained superhuman intelligence that proved useful for Ross' ends, so Ross imprisoned Sterns in Camp Echo One for use as a personal think tank. Over the following years, Sterns created weapons for the military and aided Ross' ascenscion through the ranks of power, ultimately masterminding the strategy behind Ross' winning 2026 presidential campaign. Throughout this time, Ross subjected Sterns to further infusions of gamma radiation to continually increase his intelligence, at the cost of worsening his mutation. Ross kept Sterns compliant with promises of a pardon, but with his growing ability of prognostication, Sterns determined that Ross would never keep his promises and began plotting revenge.
Ross later suffered two heart attacks and realized that he was dying of heart disease. Desperate to prolong his life so he could redeem himself in the eyes of his daughter Betty, Ross turned to Sterns, who developed special pills to treat Ross' condition. However, Sterns secretly tainted the pills with gamma radiation in preparation for executing his revenge in the future.[1]
Ruination[]
Skirmish at Catedral de Santo Ramos[]
- "You think SERPENT got played?"
"What are they saying?"
"Same thing. Contract was anonymous. Fifty mil to steal the canister en route to Japan. Show up here and meet the buyer." - ―Dennis Dunphy and Captain America[src]
Samuel Sterns, operating anonymously, got into contact with the mercenary group SERPENT, now led by Seth Voelker under the codename Sidewinder. Sterns commissioned SERPENT to steal a sample of the newly-discovered element adamantium that had been mined from Celestial Island by Japan, and instructed them to meet him at Catedral de Santo Ramos to complete the sale, offering payment from a CIA black fund.
However, unbeknownst to SERPENT, the sale was a ruse and Sterns never intended to show. The theft and subsequent taking of hostages at the cathedral prompted Thaddeus Ross to send in Captain America and Falcon, who thwarted SERPENT and recovered the adamantium. Sidewinder slipped away, however, while Captain America fought Copperhead. While his henchmen were detained, Sidewinder escaped and set out in search of the buyer, angered that his time had been wasted.
The theft of the adamantium, despite its recovery, fostered distrust between the United States and Japan, as Sterns planned.[1]
Attack on President Ross[]
To be added[1]
Attack on Sam Wilson[]
- "You must have made up with the buyer. Get him on the phone, let me see if I can resolve this."
"Resolve this? The buyer told me everything. He mentioned that if you survived the grenade there was a seventy-seven percent chance you'd try to talk me down. Hmm, look at that." - ―Sam Wilson and Sidewinder[src]
To be added[1]
Assassination of President Ross' Attackers[]
To be added[1]
Infiltration into Camp Echo One[]
To be added[1]
Battle of Celestial Island[]
To be added[1]
Assassination of Dennis Dunphy[]
- "I take no pleasure in your death, but I can't have you calling the Captain."
"Who are you?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm the hero." - ―Leader and Dennis Dunphy[src]
To be added[1]
Arrest of Samuel Sterns[]
To be added[1]
Duel of Washington, D.C.[]
- "And to recall that our last President turned into a bright red-superhuman monster who nearly destroyed this city."
- ―Valentina Allegra de Fontaine to United States Congress[src]
To be added[1]
Aftermath[]
- "But I have to say, it wasn't nothing to see you take full responsibility for your actions. Give up your office. Accept your sentence."
"I had to let the country move on." - ―Sam Wilson and Thaddeus Ross[src]
To be added[1]