//------------------------------// // Super Soldier: The Longest Yard // Story: A New Brand of Freedom // by Spettro138 //------------------------------// Going into the hidden chamber, Steve and Dugan came across a grisly scene of blood and gore from former Hydra scientists that had been maimed and disemboweled by the escaped experiments. The smell was positively revolting as Steve's eyes watered profusely in protest. He was forced to steel himself to keep down copious amounts of sick. In the corner of the room, he found another one of the escaped experiments. Their hearts froze when he saw what the experiment was doing. Firebrand was being levitated over a pool of blood while the experiment was draining the foal of his life. Ice turned into a blazing fire as Steve roared with fury and launched himself at the man. He impacted shield first against the cybernetic helmet of the experiment as its head was knocked back. Tearing at the various tubes, wires and plating, Steve became near animalistic as he started violently punching the experiment, determined to make it feel as much pain as it was still able to. Dark red blood spurted out of the experiments mouth, staining parts of his cowl. Realing back for another punch, Steve used all of his strength and smashed the former human's skull against the wall until it finally went limp. Even then, the super soldier would not allow his rage to subside. "Cap! Cap! CAP!!!!" Dugan shouted. "STEVE, THAT IS ENOUGH!!!!! Steve tried to go in for another punch at the corpse, but Dugan would not allow him to have the satisfaction. "Rogers, he is dead. Save your energy for the rest of Hydra. Please bud, I don't want your boy to see you like this. Let me be the one to do some bloody damage. You need to be the shining hero in all of this," Dugan pleaded. "Doing this kind of stuff is a really slippery slope." Steve just looked back at Dugan and then to Firebrand, and then back to the corpse he had created. After a few seconds, his breathing slowed down as he finally came back to his senses. All he did next was stare at his blood soaked gloves as his hands started to shake. Dugan just smiled empathetically as he leaned his cannon up against the wall and used one hand to grab ahold of Steve's wrists. The action seemed to help as Steve's shaking stopped. "S-Sorry," Steve muttered fearfully. "When I saw what he was doing to Firebrand...I just snapped." "That's good! The squirt may not be human, but you've got yourself a good parental protective instinct there." Dugan applauded. "Just be careful to shove that back in when you're done with it. Or else you might do something you might regret." "It sounds like you have experience," Steve added. "I just figured you were the strong, silent type." "A bar story for another time maybe," Dugan dismissed. "Right now, we gotta get the squirt out of here and find Falsworth. It looks like both of them are gonna need a medic by the time we get out of here." Steve thought for a moment as he gently picked the barely conscious Firebrand. The little foal started to tense up slightly, but calmed down when Steve stroked his golden mane softly. He began humming a tune he used to know from his grandfather years ago. As he hummed the tune, it almost felt as if the notes themselves weaved a spell on the entire room. Dugan believed at the time that tiredness was playing tricks on his eyes, but he could swear that the various lights and shadows in the room started to dance and move as if they were alive. Like the scene of a cozy cottage in the dead of winter, some of the images created by the song felt warm and merry like a comforting fireplace, but others felt darker and colder than the most treacherous of blizzards... "Alright. Let's find that elevator and see if we can find Falsworth." Steve stated as he placed the sleeping foal back into his harness. "Let's just hope we don't run into any more of these things," Dugan said with disgust, referring to the Screamer. Dugan and Steve went off in separate directions towards the exit elevator, so as to split the attention of any enemies that might be waiting. The last obstacle Steve had to cross was a wide rickety hanging bridge made of steel slats and boards. Thankfully, the bridge help up just enough for the man to cross without much problem at all. For a moment, it seemed that everything would be smooth sailing as Steve drew closer and closer towards the elevator. Suddenly, three Juggernauts bursted out of another passage, firing upon the escaping heroes. Machinery and various archiving machines exploded in a fiery blast, shaking the narrowing tunnels of the cavern. A couple of loose rocks were shaken from the walls, falling down on Steve and the Hydra soldiers. Steve was forced to quickly switch between dodging, attacking and protecting Firebrand from the falling debris. "I'll keep them busy Dugan! You get that elevator working!" he cried. "If you think I'm leaving without you, you're crazier than Zola," Dugan said as he ran out from another branching path. Pulling the lift open, Steve handed Firebrand off to Dugan who reluctantly took him in one arm while holding the cannon in the other. "Its the only way all three of us will get out of here. We need both ends of the shaft secured or they could trap us inside," Dugan just looked at him with an expression that Steve couldn't read as they were forced to quickly dodge out of the way from another volley of shots. "Good point. Alright, I'll get up there with the kid and send the elevator back down. We'll see you topside." Dugan relented. Steve held the enemies' attention as Dugan sprinted into the elevator and pulled a lever. The large doors of the shaft closed with a solid clunk as Steve could hear the elevator begin to ascend. A nearby gate was blasted open, sending pieces of metal and chunks of the cavern wall flying all over the antechamber. Three hulking wardens and over thirty armed Hydra technicians came out, presumably survivors escaping from the experiments that had gotten loose. "Its the American! Shoot him now!" one of the technicians barked. The soldier in question was forced to flip behind the remains of an archiving unit to protect himself from the barrage of grenades that were being lobbed at him. For a few minutes, he was forced to do the same thing, ducking around the room looking for cover. Soon enough though, the giant grenade launchers of the Wardens began to overheat, giving the man the opportunity to go in for the kill. Taking as much time as he could, Steve thinned out the outer ranks of the agents before the Wardens could reload. Thankfully, the Wardens did Steve's job for him as their own robotic need to kill him outweighed their obligations to their comrades. Their own grenades managed to decimate the surviving Hydra forces with a few well placed mis directions on Steve's part. Looking for an opening, Steve saw that their balance seemed to falter whenever they tried raising their grenade launchers high enough to create a reaching arc for their shots. With a well placed aim, Steve took a chance as his shield bounced around close to the floor and collapsed the Wardens legs, forcing them onto their backs. He leaped onto the chest of the first one and knocked him out with a kick to the head. When he tried to finish off the second Warden, a stray technician tried to catch Steve by surprise by clubbing him in the back of the head with his rifle. Dodging to the side, Steve tripped the technician with an outstretched leg, sending him falling on top of the Warden. His grenade launcher went off by accident, causing a violent explosion of flesh, metal, and smoke in the narrow passage. Both of his new adversaries were killed instantly, allowing him to move on to his last target. However, while he was busy with the other three, the last of the Wardens found an opportunity to push himself back on to his feet. "Oh come on," Steve groaned. "Hold on down there Cap, the elevator is on its way. I managed to make it top side with the squirt," Dugan said reassuringly through his earpiece. Now that the Warden's attention was on Steve fully, he tried charging at the super soldier with his giant claw. The narrowness of the walkway made it almost certain that he would hit his mark. Steve barely had enough time to hold his shield up against himself as he found himself being tackled by a hundreds of pounds of metal. The force sent him flying back fifteen feet on to his back side, knocking the wind out of his lungs. It was a bitter feeling, like breathing in a beehive of hornets that attacked every inch of his insides. He had to force himself to move out of the way, before the Warden could fire upon him with another grenade. There was an opening in the railing as he painfully rolled out of the passageway and back into the main part of the antechamber. Forcing his arms up, he deeply breathed in and out to normalize the air in his lungs. It did the trick as a few seconds later, he pushed himself back up on to his feet. The Warden stumbled his way back out into the open area where Steve was waiting. The man took the advantage of the Warden's dazed state as he rushed in and delivered a solid uppercut, sending it to the floor once more. The Warden tried to attack Steve with a swipe from its giant claw, but he managed to hold it back long enough for him to finally neutralize the last Warden with a stomp to the face. "Your limo is waiting for you Cap," Dugan called. "See you soon!" "Thanks Dugan. Just keep your eyes on Firebrand until I meet back up with you alright?" "Will do Cap." Limping across the room, Steve made it back to the elevator shaft which opened up for him once again. He stepped inside and pulled the lever, beginning his ascent back up to the surface. Steve was met once again with dark surroundings, matched only by a few stray rays of light and shadows that flickered around every once in a while. He leaned up against the wall of the lift and tried his best to rest his muscles and mind for as long as the duration of his ride permitted him to do so. The constant clicking and whirring of the elevator helped Steve clear his mind of all distractions and worrying thoughts. Breathing and achieving serenity was all he cared about in the present moment. It felt relieving to do as the pain from his most recent battles seemed to dull in intensity. In that moment, there was no past, present, or future, there was only the darkness around him, and his peace. Suddenly though, his peace was interrupted as his communicator sparked to life again. "Hey Cap, I've spotted some goofy looking Hydra activity up here. I'm gonna bring the kid with me to check up on something. When you get up here, just start looking around. Madame Hydra and Falsworth should be around here somewhere." "Okay Dugan, just be careful. Firebrand needs medical attention and too much excitement might make his condition worse." Steve said firmly. "Don't get into any big fire fights if you can safely avoid them." "I'll definitely try, but no promises!" Dugan chuckled. His communicator shut off again as he was left to the silence of the elevator. Soon enough, the elevator started to slow down as two large doors opened up at the top of the shaft, and Steve hopped out back up on the surface of the castle and back into daylight once more. The area he stumbled on to appeared to be a large garden courtyard. It was filled with all manner of topiary, hedges, flower bushes, and trees. The combined scents from the plants made the area smell fresh and invigorating. If it wasn't occupied by Hydra at the moment, Steve might have considered spending some time wandering among the various plants and shrubs with Firebrand. On the other side, he could make out a familiar group of people coming out of a side passage. It was his friend Falsworth being forced along by Madame Hydra and a group of Juggernauts that were following alongside her. "Falsworth!" Cap cried. The green uniformed buxom woman turned her head toward where Steve was standing and started laughing maniacally. "So close and yet so far eh, Captain?" Madam Hydra cackled. "Where's your little runt? I hope he didn't croak after our little examination of him." Out of nowhere, a volley of laser blasts started decimating her entire squad of guards. It startled her into grabbing Falsworth by the neck to use as a human shield. "Schnell! Schnell!" she barked. Looking up to where the shots came from, Steve found Dugan holding up his cannon over a balcony. Firebrand was sitting on Dugan's shoulders still out cold from his previous injuries. The sight calmed Steve's nerves, thankful that his trust in Dugan was not misplaced. "I don't have a clear shot at her Cap...go and get her will ya? So we can finally get the heck out of here!" "Consider it done," he said with his eyes narrowed. Madame Hydra disappeared back into the castle on the other side of the courtyard, forcing Steve to give chase. Before he could start though, a giant black aerial craft came gliding over the walls of the castle and begun firing endless amounts of shells. The spread of the bullets was so wide that Steve's shield was almost unable to block all of them. "DUGAN! ABOVE US!" "I saw it! You got to keep moving! I'll find a place to leave the kid for you to find once I have a free moment," Dugan called back from over the balcony. Firing shot after shot seemed to be the correct strategy, as the attack craft took its attention off of Steve and onto Dugan. Before long, the constant firing damaged the craft into a smoldering piece of metal. It ceased firing and weakly made its way off in another direction, giving Cap an opening to make his way across the courtyard. "Go and get her! I'll drop off the kid somewhere safe inside and then I have a score to settle with the cannon that shot us out of the sky," Dugan growled. As soon as Dugan ran off, Steve moved on down the steps into the main part of the courtyard where he ran into another platoon of Hydra grunts. Aside from a few shocks and smacks, Cap dispatched the group with relative ease and sprinted over to the other side. Coming up and around, Cap found the last of Madame Hydra's guards that had stayed behind to guard the entryway back into the castle. Now that he had a wider area to fight in once again, Steve's options were no longer restricted. Throwing his shield, he leaped in and pulled the Juggernaut's shield downwards. Pushing himself over it, he used his momentum to create a reverse axe kick down into the giant's helmet. At the same time, his shield impacted against the back of the Juggernaut's neck, instantly incapacitating his large opponent. Steve flipped back up on to his feet and picked up his shield, fully ready for whatever was waiting for him inside Zemo's Castle.