//------------------------------// // Rescued by the Right Soldier // Story: A New Brand of Freedom // by Spettro138 //------------------------------// One year later Austria. A beautiful country that has come under the control of tyrannical forces. All life in its urban and rural areas is under constant watch and iron-fisted control. However, its dark forests continue to be wild and unchecked. In the midnight hour of one of Austria's most dangerous forests, not much can be heard or seen. The stray hoot of an owl or the scratching of some wild cat are the only things that break the silence. This night, however, something else is sneaking from tree to tree as if it is searching for something important. A humanoid form that is trying its hardest to stay out of sight. This shadowy form is the newest American super-soldier, Steve Rogers. Just three months ago he was turned into a political tool for the US government to advertise the war effort, but tonight, he was on a mission that he technically was not allowed to be on; Sneaking into enemy territory to save hundreds of men that have been captured as prisoners of war for the evil Hydra. First things first though, he had to find any sign of the secret base where they were being held. After a few hours of looking, he was not having much luck finding anything among the dark trees of Austria. Suddenly, through the thick fog and the dense brush, he was able to make out bright spotlights and a tall fence. To his left, he could see a long line of enemy vehicles coming down a dirt road. Seeing an opportunity, he waited until the last transport vehicle was in front of him and leaped inside. ...Where he came face to face with two armed Hydra soldiers. "Fellas," he greeted nonchalantly with a nod. By the time the soldiers registered what had happened and tried to jump on Steve, he had already knocked both of them out cold and pushed them out of the vehicle. When he was certain that he was alone, he waited silently inside until the transport stopped. Two minutes later, he could hear another soldier approaching the back of the truck. Steve simply lifted his shield, and when the soldier lifted the flap... He bashed him in the face, launching him thirty feet backward into a wall. As soon as he jumped out of the truck, he remembered to make sure to stay out of sight. Ducking and dodging through the facility, he used the numerous tanks and transports as cover from the spotlights and officers patrolling the perimeter of the complex. He had a few close calls trying to avoid sight, but he was able to narrowly avoid detection by sliding under a tank or jumping behind a crate. He then jumped over a tank and onto the roof of a building within the complex. On the other side, he finally found an unguarded back door where he could sneak in without being seen. On the inside, he ran down a corridor and found another leading to the main room of the complex. Through the viewing glass of the door, he could see another guard on the other side. 'Darn, I can't get let myself be seen just yet.' he thought. 'This might be kinda mean, but I gotta get past this guy. He knocked on the door, drawing the guard over to him. Just as the guard opened the door looking for whoever it was, Steve smashed his head with the door and punched him in the face knocking him out cold. Running through the main room, he found a table among the many missiles covered in what appeared to be cartridges filled with an unusual glowing blue energy. He picks up one, considering giving it to the genius Howard Stark to analyze it. Making his way through the building, he made it to the second level where he finally found where most of the troops from the 107th Infantry were being held. He found another guard watching the cells and when his back was turned, he took him out, causing his unconscious body to clatter onto the bars, gaining the attention of the prisoners inside. When he began to search the guard's body for the keys to the cells, the prisoners got up on their feet and looked at him, unsure of who or what he was. His clothing and costume underneath certainly perplexed them as they weren't sure whether or not to take Steve seriously. His highly noticeable shield certainly drew their attention as they watched him rummage through the grunt's clothing and pull out the keys. "Who are you supposed to be?" one of the prisoners asked clearly confused. "I'm...uh...Captain America," he mumbled. "I...beg your pardon?" one of the English soldiers questioned. Ignoring the question, he continued looting the guard's body until he found the keys to the cell doors. He then ran down the stairs to the bottom level and released all of the captive soldiers. A rather tall soldier with a thick handlebar mustache and a black bowler stepped out of his cell and into the hallway, watching Steve unlock all of the cages. He was rather impressed with the act until a Japanese-American commando stepped out of one of the cells, which caused him to raise his eyebrow. "What? We taking all of them?" he asked Steve in a snarky manner. The commando walked towards the man with a vaguely irritated look and pulled out his dog tags. "I'm from Fresno...Ace," the commando retorted. "Is there anybody else fellas?" Steve interjected as he guided them down the hallway. "I'm looking for a Sergeant James Barnes." "There's an isolation ward on the top floor, but no one has ever come back from it," the English soldier replied. "We also heard that they are keeping a child there, but nobody is sure why." 'Hydra is kidnapping kids now?' Steve thought angrily. 'These bastards need to pay. Gotta get to Buck first and then bust the kid out if I can.' "The treeline is Northwest, eight miles past the gate. Get out fast, and give them hell," he commanded. "I'll meet you guys in the clearing with anyone else I can find." Steve turned to go, but one of the other soldiers couldn't contain their curiosity. "Wait a minute. How are you gonna get out? Do you know what you are doing?" "Yeah, I've knocked out Adolf Hitler over 200 times," Steve replied so nonchalantly. He then left the other soldiers in the hallway, staring at him with a blank expression, trying to process the beyond bizarre response. In the facility's security office, Johann Schmitt was tending to a daily inspection of the complex, making sure everything in his factory was in proper working condition. He was just about to leave the room when he noticed something off on the security screens. Taking a closer look, he saw dozens of men spilling out of every exit into the outside of the complex. Before he knew it, explosions began appearing on the screens, along with the men slaughtering his own guards. "What is happening?" he asked himself with moderate concern in his voice. When he began to hear banging and gunfire right outside the building, his concern, turned into fear. He began pushing a few buttons, flipping through the other cameras in the complex and saw that it was happening everywhere. After scrolling through each of the cameras, one of them captured something that caught his eye. A soldier was beating down each of his men with raw ferocity and strength the likes he had not seen before. Zooming in, he saw something that made his eyes widen. The soldier was carrying a large shield emblazoned with stars and stripes. That coupled with the large A across his helmet, he immediately knew who this man was and what he had to do next. Schmit moved to another part of the control panel where he began flipping various panels and pressing large red buttons, beginning a dozen countdown dials scattered about the room. Dr. Arnim Zola rushed forward, trying to stop Schmit from destroying all of their work. "No! No! What are you doing?" he asked desperately. "Our forces are outmatched Arnim," he replied calmly as he motioned to the screen. "Go and collect your things along with the other treasure I picked up in Norway." When the doctor saw the shield-wielding soldier on the screen, he dashed away to retrieve his research and Schmitt's new pet. Steve finally made it to the highest level of the complex where he was able to look out over the whole inside of the factory and saw just how severe his situation was becoming when the alarms began to sound. 'Damn, I need to get Bucky and that kid out of here soon, or we'll all be goners.' he thought. Sprinting at breakneck speed, he found himself going into another dark hallway. One of the doors on the left had a large padlock which he proceeded to break by bashing his tin shield against the mechanism. The heavy door slowly opened with a creak as he walked inside, keeping his guard up for anything suspicious. The room seemed to be filled with various control panels and data machines of different sizes. Steve didn't know too much about science, but from what little German Dr. Erskine was able to teach him, one of them appeared to be scanning energy readings from some kind of four-legged creature. In the middle of the room was a large steel container, with only a small pane of viewing glass to see what was inside. As he started to approach, he began to hear the crying of a small child coming from inside. His instincts kicked in as he rushed to the door and looked for a way to open it. "Hang on kid! I'm here to get you out of here. Er...or if you live around here (Oh jeez, I hope I don't botch this too hard.) Bleib auf Kind Ich bin hier um zu helfen! Steve could hear babbling sounds from the other side, which lead him to believe that the child must have been only an infant. He found a small mechanism sticking out of the container and pulled it as hard as he could. The lever slowly clicked downwards as the door began to open. The inside of the container remained dark, not allowing him to see whatever where the child was. "Come on, it's alright. You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm here to take you home," he said in the softest, kindest voice he could muster. "Is it okay if I can see you?" After another babbling sound, Steve could slowly see a small figure stepping out of the dark and into view where he could see him. However, what he saw then completely confused him and intrigued him at the same time. It appeared to be a small red horse with a golden mane. The head was too big and the body to be a normal horse though. Then there was the addition of the tiny horn that protruded from the pony's head. 'A unicorn?' Steve desperately tried to rationalize. The bulky form told Steve that this little pony had to be a male. On his flank was some kind of mark: A smile engulfed in flames. Steve's confusion and apprehension immediately ceased when he saw how cold and scared he was. Damp streaks below the little one's eyes from intense crying only made him want to help the red pony even more. Steve then stretched out his hand and smiled at the little pony, trying to coax him over. "Come on little guy, I'm not going to hurt you." The pony sniffed the air and slowly walked over to him. As soon as the pony was only a few inches from him, he stood there for a moment looking at Steve, and then leaped into his arms and began crying profusely into his leather shoulder pads. He knew he had to hurry before the complex exploded, but he felt he had to wait there for a moment, allowing the little pony to cry as much as he wanted to. Lady Luck appeared to be on his side when after two minutes of holding the colt, he fell asleep in his arms. Steve angled his arm and his shield to comfortably cradle the little toddler as he ran out of the room. Out in the hallway, he found a short chubby man with a lab coat holding a large folder filled to the brim with various papers. When the man turned his head and saw Steve, he broke into a run and disappeared around the corner. Steve carefully ran down the hall to keep the pony steady and inside the room, the scientist came out of. Off to the left was a restraining table where his old friend strapped down and covered in various cuts, bruises, and burns. He showed clear signs of dehydration, exhaustion, and starvation, no doubt from weeks of torture. The man seemed delusional and spoke something over and over again incoherently as if he was forced to. "Sergeant James Barnes. Serial Number: 325I749" He was joyful beyond reason to find his friend alive and well. "Bucky," he said as his voice broke. "Oh, my god!" Steve put the shield down and carefully put the still sleeping colt down on it and proceeded by ripping off Bucky's leather restraints with one hand like they were wet pieces of toilet paper. He grabbed the man's face and looked him in the eyes in an attempt to pull him back to reality. "Hey! Hey! It's me. Steve. Come on buddy, come back to life." "Steve?" the man said tiredly as a smile began to grow on his face. "Come on." "Steve" He quickly grabbed the pieces of the leather straps and a spare lab coat lying nearby and made them into a makeshift harness for the little colt which he placed around his waist and placed the little colt inside. Going back to the table, he carefully picked Bucky up, trying to support both of their weights. "I thought you were dead pal," Steve said joyfully. "I...thought you were smaller," Bucky squeaked out clearly confused as he looked up and down Steve's new form. Just then, Steve heard another explosion outside, which drew his attention to another room. Inside had a large map of Europe that covered one of the walls entirely. On it was multiple markers placed on different locations throughout the continent, no doubt other sites where Schmitt's Hydra bases were located. Steve reached down with one hand and grabbed his shield, before making their way back out into the hallway to make their escape. "What....happened to you?" Bucky asked in a dazed manner. "I joined the Army!" Steve replied excitedly. When they were down on a lower level, Bucky was finally able to properly walk again. He steadied himself against a wall to properly balance himself. "Did it hurt?" he asked as he grabbed his arm in pain. "Just a little," Steve replied honestly. "Is it permanent?" "So far!" "And uh...what about the little guy?" he asked pointing to the sleeping red colt hanging off of his back. "Schmitt locked him up, I busted him out." "Huh. Neat," was all Bucky could muster as he continued trying to catch his breath. The former taller friend of Steve was too tired to care about anything, let alone a strange alien red pony. Rational questions could come later as his thoughts went to his friend, how he got here, and how they were going to escape. A few seconds later, they felt the entire facility going up in flames, which caused both of them to quicken their pace to a breakneck sprint. They finally made it out to the catwalk where they saw every bomb and warhead in the factory blowing up in a fiery chain reaction. The noise no doubtedly woke the occupant he was carrying as loud wailing began to blast right in his ears. He pulled him out to try to calm him and the sight of Steve's face seemed to make him feel a little better. "Don't cry kid, it's going to be okay." he insisted comfortingly. "I know you're afraid, but I promise you. Nothing is going to happen to you. You are coming home with us." "He is?" Bucky asked bewildered. "Yes, he is," Steve replied firmly. "I'm not leaving him in Austria. That's for sure." It seemed like he wouldn't understand him, but the little colt quickly nodded and gave him a tight hug, babbling something with a small smile that he couldn't understand. They ran out to the railing and found that the fire and explosions had reached them. The only way left out was another catwalk, leading to the other side of the facility. The duo ran up another staircase and out onto the catwalk, where a slimy voice called out to Steve. "Captain America! How exciting!" Steve looked across the way and found a tall man with jet black hair giving a large suitcase to the scientist he bumped into in the hallway. He didn't know why, but he immediately knew that this had to be the infamous Johann Schmitt. After a second of quiet encouragement, the colt allowed Steve to pass him to Bucky where he saw him step forward towards Schmitt. Who saw fit to step forward towards Steve himself. "I am a great fan of your films!" he continued. "So...Dr. Erskine managed it after all! Not exactly an improvement....but still....impressive!" Steve replied with a powerful sock to his face. "You got no idea buddy!" he growled. The colt began to giggle seeing the display. Schmitt unfortunately was completely unfazed as he held his cheek for a moment and with a sadistic smile, he attempted to return the punch. "Haven't I?" But was stopped by Steve's shield which gained a new dent instead. Steve tried reaching for his gun to finish him off but received a right hook to the face which knocked him onto his back. Schmitt tried to approach him, but Steve knocked him away with a solid kick to the gut. Dr. Zola pulled a lever adjacent to the catwalk, which made it retract and separated them from each other. "No matter what lies Erskine told you, Stephen....you see I was his GREATEST SUCCESS!" Schmitt proclaimed as he grabbed his neck as if he was pulling something off of his face. When Steve looked more closely, it appeared that his skin was peeling back, revealing something red underneath. Slowly but surely, he ripped his face off like a mask and revealed another more grotesque one underneath. Red like freshly spilled blood and bony like a bare skull. "You don't have one of those do you?" Bucky gulped. "You are deluded Captain," Schmitt stated. "You...pretend to be a...simple soldier, when in reality...you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind." To punctuate his point, he threw his "human face mask" into the fire watching it immolate and burn to ashes. "That little one you have taken from me is the next step to our evolution and power that I intend to take back in due time." "Fat chance of that you goose-stepping kraut!" Bucky roared while holding the colt who was cowering at the sight of Schmitt's new face. As he was saying this, Schmitt began walking away into a nearby elevator to make his escape. "Unlike you Captain, I embrace evolution proudly! Without fear!" "Then how come you're running?" Steve retorted. It was already too late though, as Schmitt and Zola already left. Steve considered going after them, but another explosion shook that thought out of him as he remembered he had a best friend and a child he had to help escape. "Come on let's go. We need to get out of here before we go up in smoke too," Steve said nervously. He looked around and found a steel beam that reached over to the other side and to a door that leads to the outside. They made their way over to the beam and proceeded to cross it. "Let's go. One at a time," he said with fear in his voice. "I'll take the kid, you get to the other side." Bucky handed the colt off to Steve who was happy to be back with him, hanging in his makeshift harness as he giggled with glee and clapped his hooves together. Steve watched Bucky slowly inch his way to the other side of the beam. Before he was halfway through, they noticed that it wasn't stable. So he slowed his advance until he was close enough to jump. Grabbing onto the railing before the beam fell, he pulled himself up back onto the catwalk, only to realize that Steve had no way across. "There's got to be a rope or something around here!" he exclaimed to Steve. "JUST GO! GET OUT OF HERE!" Steve cried in desperation. "NO!!! NOT WITHOUT YOU TWO!!!" he roared back in defiance. Not having any other options, Steve used his strength to bend the railing back to give him a big enough space to jump across. Provided that he could do so. He stepped back a few feet and then looked back at the colt. "Close your eyes little buddy okay?" Steve said softly to him. "This is gonna get just a little scary." The pony simply nodded violently as he closes his eyes tightly and buried his face in his hooves. Steve then ran as fast as his legs would allow him to go in a short distance and launched himself clean over the hundred-foot gap. 'I wish I had a better plan than this!' he thought frantically. When he was only halfway across the gap, it seemed for a moment that he wasn't going to make it. Little did he know that a red light began to spark from the colt's horn and suck up the fire from the exploding warheads around them. The last thing Steve and Bucky remembered, was the colt yelling something at the top of his lungs. "KA-BOOOOOOM!" ....Before they were launched out of the factory windows a thousand miles an hour and on to the hard ground outside with a powerful explosion.