As an added precaution, Steve quietly contacted Bucky through his radio in the event of a catastrophe. Nothing could be left to chance when it came to dealing with Johann Schmitt. As far as Steve was concerned, Schmitt was infinitely more dangerous than even Hitler himself. His bodily enhancements as a result of an incomplete super soldier serum not withstanding. The kinds of people that he surrounded himself with even more so. They were not only scientific geniuses, they were devout and faithful to the Skull completely as one practitioner would be to a religion. To them, he was their god and would do everything in their power to please him. Men like Schmitt could charm people into becoming slaves of his will, without so much as using an ounce of physical force. A man like that needed to be stopped, and Steve was beginning to wonder how far he might have to go to do that.
"Bucky, we found the Red Skull, I'm going in..."
"I wish I was there. Keep your eyes open Steve," Bucky warned. "He will be heavily guarded."
Silently switching off the radio, Steve noticed how many soldiers and technicians stood in between himself and the Red Skull. It was almost an inevitability that he was going to be detected before he could even get a chance to get close to his adversary. They seemed to be doing regular tune ups on their vehicles and inspections of their equipment. Everything in this area seemed to be shoddily constructed. As if any sort of mess up could send it collapsing into the abyss of the chasm at any given moment. Giant industrial sized fans were placed all over the cavern as if to provide some level of cooling to whatever experiment required so much heat. Large barbed wire fencing covered the edges of the maintenance areas, either to protect the workers from falling into the cavern below or to keep them out.
Taking a more stealthy route, Steve scaled the wall, grabbing on to any pipe or piece of scaffolding that had reached over from the other side. He made sure he was at least thirty feet above anyone's line of sight until he shimmeyed across the room. Carefully turning around, Steve aimed behind a large stack of crates where a technician was inspecting goods. Launching off with his feet, the duo silently dove to the ground and landed on the soldier's head with a smack. The impact killed the soldier, and gave Steve a cushion from the fall.
"That was quite the jump huh?" Steve whispered to Firebrand. "Let's hope there aren't any others waiting for us."
The colt however, was not listening to a word Steve was saying. All of his attention was on the two men, merely five hundred feet away, that had caused him so much pain. A voice in Firebrand's head began to whisper pleasing things; promises that made Firebrand feel dirty, but good all the same. The voice was cold, but comforting and sickly sweet, like a blast of cold air on a hot summer day.
"Dim your fire...and let me cool your heart my prince...I can make you a king, my king...and so much more..."
It was so familiar, but the colt could not remember why exactly. Not that he even cared at this point. Every second he listened to the voice, the angrier and more hatred he felt. Never noticing that his fire red fur was losing its color.
Steve found a catwalk leading up and around the entire cavern towards the Red Skull's position. As soon as he stepped on to the metal of the walkway, he could immediately pick up a vibration coming up through his feet. It was subtle and hardly noticeable, but still there, causing Cap to look down into the abyss below that was obscured by a thick fog of steam and smoke.
"There's something down there, something massive," Steve said to himself out loud. "I'll bet they must be bringing the Sleeper to life already! We must have stopped the power too late. Got to get to the Skull now!"
Heading towards the next level of the catwalk, Cap discovered that the ladders had been pulled up to prevent anyone from proceeding any further. He could easily make the jump, but if his fingers slipped, the duo would be in for another painful plummet thousands of feet down into the cavern.
As if reading his thoughts, Firebrand covered the man in an eerie pale blue glow and silently lifted him to the next level without uttering a word. Steve tried to thank him, but Firebrand still remained silent and tense.
On the next level up, Steve found another stack of crates which provided him with a launching point to reach the top most platform. He landed on another section of the catwalk which looked like an alternate viewing platform for the officers stationed at the castle. Swinging from a pole to another beam holding up the catwalk, Steve finally came to the other side, ready to end the Red Skull's reign.
Schmitt and Zola were overlooking the machinery of the entire operation with pride, drinking in the fruits of their accomplishments as Steve started to make out what Zola was saying. The titanic Iron Cross following closely behind to protect his supreme masters.
"...As you can see, the thermal plant draws power from the Earth itself, more than enough to power the entire facility. It can be diverted to activate the Sleeper as well, should that become necessary. A model of efficiency and ingenuity if I do say so myself--"
"I have come a long way Arnim, waste my time at your own peril."
A Hydra officer walked up to Zola and presented a titanium canister with a large handle lock sticking out the top of the device. Reaching out with glee, Zola turned the lock which released a mechanism, opening the canister with a release of a fine vapor. Inside the canister was a small glass vial filled with a viscous blue liquid, which he carefully pulled out of the device.
"Herr Skull, may I present to you, with my compliments, the perfected Super Soldier Serum. A small amount to be sure, but from this, I am certain we can synthesize much more."
"At last!" Schmitt breathed out with a sense of accomplishment. "With Erskine's Serum, I will be that much closer to achieving godhood."
The Red Skull extended his hand closer to the vial, determined to take this new power for himself.
When out of nowhere, a deadly spear of ice shot through the air and shattered the vial into a million pieces. Schmitt's hand was frozen solid as a result, sending him into a screaming fury. He turned towards where the shot came from and scowled in rage.
"YOU!"
Steve was confused for a moment, when he saw the blast fire off before he could launch his shield. Turning his head, he took in a horrifying sight.
Firebrand standing there ten feet away, seething with a cold fury. His fur, now a bright cyan, encrusted with frost, his mane now a glistening silver, flowing in the wind. His eyes were the most frightening of all. They were black as obsidian, cold and lifeless. The mark upon his flank had disappeared, replaced with an image of a grim crown, constructed of needle like icicles. His horse shoes had darkened, and detached from the foal harmlessly, as if they no longer recognized their owner.
"Firebrand!"
The colt paid him no mind and continued to stare down the Red Skull .
"You made the serum from his blood, I will give you more, FROM HIS CORPSE!"
Zola ran off to safety, away from the cavern and the inevitable conflict that was to come.
"IRON CROSS! This time, you may kill him. Painfully. Bring the child to me alive and unspoiled." Red Skull bellowed.
The mech clicked and whirred to life as it deployed a giant cannon from its soldier and launched a barrage of sonic booms. Barely with enough time to lift up his shield, the boom nearly shattered his ear drums, sending waves of pain going down his skull. Iron Cross started to glow a dull red as it dashed across the catwalk and leap to the other side. The catwalk violently shook underneath Steve's feet. For a moment, he feared the platform would collapse under the weight of the mech. The mech rushed Steve much faster than the machine should have been able to and went for a swinging punch. Cap ducked under and tried to follow up with a punch of his own. Iron Cross's right hand caught his fist and started crushing it.
"Auf Wiedersehen" Iron Cross said coldly.
"As you can see, Dr. Zola gave my faithful servant a new ability, thanks to the child's extraordinary DNA. Iron Cross! Keep them busy while I awaken the Sleeper!"
Steve realized what he was talking about and widened his eyes.
'Zola must have gotten Firebrand's DNA to the Skull,' Steve thought. 'I didn't think he had enough time to implement it into anything.'
"Your pitiful trinkets do not intimidate me Schmitt, and they will do nothing against my new pet," a booming voice said through Firebrand.
"Firebrand?" Steve asked tiredly. "Wh-What's wrong with your voice?
The colt only responded by turning to him with a deranged insane smile that horrified him.
"Then perhaps bringing the mountain down on your precious Captain will!" Red Skill growled.
Pain started to course through his arm as he felt each bone start to break. Iron Cross used his other fist to pound away at Steve's body, which knocked the air out of the soldier almost instantly. With each consecutive hit, Steve could feel a number of major bones break in his body. His lungs were desperate for air, his heart was beating like mad and his spine felt as if it was being pelted with steel beams. Reaching for his his shield in desperation, Cap used the edge and sliced at the rubber joint connecting the mech's torso to its legs. It made the mech release its grip for a moment, allowing Steve to escape its grasp. The entire machine faltered, giving him the chance to beat away at its weak joints. He could see Schmitt over at a panel on the other side of the chasm, attempting to activate the infamous Sleeper below.
"You'd best hurry Captain! The transfer is complete!" Schmitt mocked.
"We can't have an ant like you causing trouble for me now can we?" the presence in Firebrand barked.
Steve watched as Firebrand floated over to the other side to confront the Red Skull. Schmitt saw this and quickly called reinforcements to his side.
"Hydra! Your master calls for your assistance!" the Skull bellowed.
A hundred troops came pouring out of a nearby passageway and across the catwalk fully armed. Firebrand just smiled evilly and dashed through the crowd of soldiers.
Iron Cross looked over to Firebrand and started scanning him with his large red eye.
"Im Fohlen festgestellte Fremdpräsenz: Befriedung empfohlen." Iron Cross shouted to his master.
"A foreign presence you say? This day is filled with many exciting developments it seems!" Schmitt cried with insane joy. "Any who damage my prize will suffer a fate worse than death by my hand!"
"Foreign presence?" Steve asked himself. "...Oh no."
When six of the soldiers tried to grab Firebrand, he jabbed one of them with his horn. They screamed as they were almost instantly turned into a cold statue.
The display startled the soldiers and stopped them in their tracks, afraid to move any closer.
Firebrand cackled and violently shattered the statue, showering the troops with projectile pieces of stone. Many of them were knocked out or killed by the makeshift weapon, giving the more powerful colt a chance to continue his assault. He summoned a spear of ice and turned five of Schmitt's men into a kebab. The spear was coated red with their blood, making the scene even more grisly. One tried pouncing him from behind, but was impaled through the neck with an icicle, gurgling on his own blood before collapsing dead.
"Firebrand? What are you doing?" Steve cried fearfully.
"Your pet is under my control, bug" the voice said sadistically through Firebrand. "I think I'm going to keep him."
"Who are you?" Steve asked angrily. "Let him go!"
"All in good time little man, all in good time," the voice lied. "Little Firebrand is providing me with so much amusement. My vessel must deal with these pitiful little soldiers who think themselves true conquerors.
The Red Skull saw how bad things were becoming for him on both fronts and snarled with rage. Iron Cross was being used as a punching bag for the Captain, and the possessed colt was throwing his elite men around like ragdolls.
"I AM COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY INCOMPETENTS! Very well, Captain...I suppose it is only right that you die by my hand. Then I will promptly deal with this one who dares to challenge my superiority."
Steve's attention was taken away from Iron Cross as he saw the Skull pick up an incendiary grenade launcher and start shooting over to where he was standing. The mech took this opportunity to backhand the man, sending him flying into a steel beam thirty feet away. He knocked into the beam with a solid bong that rung through his entire body, as if he was inside a giant church bell. His head was pounding wildly and his spine felt wrenched. It knocked the air out of his lungs, forcing him to his knees for a moment to gasp for oxygen.
"Oh this is something I hope your countrymen will see!" the Red Skull said manically. "Captain America, bruised, broken, bleeding. In a word: DEAD!"
Forcing himself to move, he had just enough time to react as he saw the glowing red Iron Cross dash at Steve with a long metal blade protruding from its left hand.
"Ich werde deinen Kopf wie ein Ei zerquetschen!" Iron Cross growled metallically.
When the mech slammed into the metal beam, Steve took advantage of Schmitt by kicking the robot into the direction of his grenades. Two exploded against Iron Cross' exoskeleton rupturing the outer shell of his armor and causing some serious damage. Cap went in for a series of punches in kicks to vulnerable parts of the robot while he was staggered. Parts of Iron Cross began to spark and sputter as more damage was added from each explosion. Steve tried climbing the robot to get out a crushing blow to its eye, but the robot swiped him off with the flat end of its own shield.
"A-A-Auf D-D-Die K-K-Knie A-A-Amerikaner!"
The mech was so severely damaged that even its voice box had been impacted. The damage seemed to be affecting the robot's motor functions as well. Unfortunately for Steve, that only made its actions more erratic and unpredictable. Firebrand's magic within Iron Cross made it glow brighter and brighter until it started to flail wildly and charge at everything in sight, including the support beams that kept Steve's platform up. Dodging was turning into a painful effort, after repeated bashings in the body by the metal behemoth. He could feel the bruises beginning to form underneath his thick uniform.
Metal began breaking and coming apart at the seams as the entire platform was almost at the point of crumbling apart from the constant bombardment of Iron Cross' clumsy attacks. Cap knew that it wouldn't be long before he would be in lethal trouble, so his mind began to race, searching for a solution.
He waited until the robot charged in his direction and then held out the edge of his shield like a blade. The robot gutterally growled as he dashed straight for the super soldier, intent on running him through. Steve remained in his path of attack, keeping the mech believing that he was too tired to move. At the last possible moment when it was mere inches away, Steve ducked under and leaned to the side, allowing his shield to cleave through Iron Cross' rubber waist and clean through, cutting it completely in half. The ruined robot crumbled to to floor in a heap.
"Ha! The Sleeper stirs!" the Red Skull cried. "You've failed Captain. It's ALIVE! ALIVE!!!!"
In the mists below, the cavern began to rumble and shake the facility up to the very foundations of Castle Zemo. Steve looked down through the grate and saw the clouds of steam and smoke start to shift. Two giant bright glowing green eyes pierced through the fog, sending a twinge of terror down Steve's spine.
A giant metal arm the size of a skyscraper reached up through the fog and grabbed on to the rock wall of the cave. Everything began to shake even more until the structures within began to collapse and fall down into the dark. The massive figure started to climb the wall and slowly emerge from the shadows.
The fabled Sleeper was truly a sight to behold, for all those who were lucky enough to be present for its rebirth. It was easily as tall as the very castle that lay above them. Steve could only imagine that its lower half made it even bigger than that. Its rounded head was easily the size of a small house
The possessed Firebrand uncaringly dropped the last body of the soldiers "he" had been slaughtering and looked down into the cavern with great interest.
"What might this be praytell?" the presence asked himself with glee. "Such a magnificent creation! Such power! A creature such as that would make an excellent enforcer for my coming armies."
"Yes, a creation that is mine alone to command," Red Skull said as he shot the colt with a tranquilizer.
Firebrand pulled the dart that was jabbed into his neck and started to feel dizzy. "he" tried charging Firebrand's new magic into a lethal attack, but couldn't build up enough magic as he fell on to Firebrand's horn, canceling out the spell.
"You dare--" the presence asked angrily.
The powerful tranquilizer worked quickly as the colt fell unconscious once again only a few seconds later. As the presence lost its control of Firebrand, his arctic blue fur and cold silver mane started to dissipate into a swirling white cloud of ice and snow. Ice melted in place of warm flesh as his natural red and gold fur returned to his body.
"Don't be a fool Schmitt! That thing will kill all of us!" Steve cried as he was being tossed around by the shaking.
The Skull picked up Firebrand with his other still intact hand and gave Steve an evil look before dashing off towards the exit.
"You are half right you fool!"
"DROP HIM YOU SLIME!" Cap roared hatefully.
After grabbing the foal's deep black horse shoes, Steve launched himself off of the massive remains of the destroyed Iron Cross and landed with a thud on the other side.
He didn't even register that the walkway was collapsing behind him as he pursued the Red Skull. Catching his enemy at the moment was no longer his first priority. Spinning into a mighty throw, Steve threw his shield at his enemy's shoulder and dislocated it with a loud crack. He cried out in agony as he was forced to drop Firebrand. The colt hit the grates with a clack and fell behind the fleeing Schmitt. Before he realized what had happened, he had already reached the exit passageway on the other side of the cavern.
Pieces of the ceiling gave way before Steve could reach Firebrand and the Skull, breaking the catwalk from its mounts and separating the three from each other entirely. Steve turned his attention to Firebrand who had just narrowly missed the rocks by only a few feet. The unconscious foal slid down the broken section of the catwalk, in danger of falling to his death. Steve ran as fast as he could force his legs to go and launched off of the edge of the last standing piece of the walkway. Reaching out, Steve tried reaching for Firebrand as he fell, but was caught off guard, by a swipe from the Sleeper who had just found its newest target after waking up from centuries of slumber.
The last thing Steve saw before falling into the darkness below was Schmitt picking up a metal claw carrying a brilliantly blue cube that shined through the pitch black like the first star of evening time.
Johann Schmitt looked back at the sight behind him with a sense of relief in believing his greatest adversary was finally going to perish, but also bitter feelings as the same may happen to his second greatest resource. His ticket to unlocking the secrets of a new race, filled to the brim with unlimited magical potential. He looked at the hand the colt had destroyed with his unforgiving ice. Or rather the ice "he" had attacked him with. The man took to the idea that it would have to be amputated and replaced with cybernetics. Whomever it was, Schmitt knew that it had to have been someone powerful. In what way, he could not fathom. However, he would do everything to find out what had given the colt such an extraordinary boost of power.
Whatever or whoever had taken control of the colt was a wild card in his ultimate plans. A wild card that he had to either turn to his advantage, or destroy without mercy.
Meanwhile, in a secret lab not far away...
Arnim Zola knew that the Captain would not remain dead for long. He had proved far too brilliant and resourceful in his own right to be so. Defeating not only Baron Strucker, but also their elite Madame Hydra and their prized war bot Iron Cross. Zola had a back up plan in case this would come to be. His latest breakthrough in his life long project Master Mann. This time however, he had something new and powerful to ensure its complete success.
The doctor ran into the lab, and across a number of bridges and narrow pathways to reach his destination. Stone walls and metal structures would not keep Hydra safe for long. The Sleeper had shaken the foundations of Castle Zemo right to its very core and it would only be a matter of time before the entire facility along with all of its assets would be completely destroyed. His anxiety and disappointment in the thought made him trip over himself more than once while he dashed through long sterile hallways.
Zola came to his destination, in the form of an experimental auditorium where he could freely test his latest inventions. Coming up to a long control panel that surrounded the entire auditorium, he quickly typed in a combination into a nearby keypad. Hoping beyond all hope that his latest creation was still intact and ready for deployment.
A panel in the middle of the room hissed as it opened upwards, revealing a display case containing a suit of armor. A suit of armor that would lead Dr Arnim Zola to the next step in his evolution. Soon he would be free of his weak mortal shell, in place of something much more powerful...
Next Time: When Trumpets Fade (part 1)