The tanks were still lit ablaze by the time they exited the cathedral back into the cold mountain air. Clouds were rolling overhead, sending a sign that the weather was about to take an icy turn for the worse. On each side of the plaza, they lit the entire area in a red glow, as the flames cracked and sparked with each gentle breeze that blew through. The breeze carried the echo of many disturbances that were happening all over the Castle. Another clue to that effect were towering clouds of inky black smoke billowing high into the sky, placing the mountain in a miasma of toxic fumes. All of this and more gave the duo a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs that things were about to take a turn for the worse any minute now.
The plaza was dead silent; not a single sign of activity or any sign of life whatsoever entered into the place. If Zola and The Sleeper were nearby, there was no way to tell where they were hiding. Let alone how one could hide a massive titan of metal on a mountain top. Thinking more and more however, Steve answered that question himself. If they weren't able to see it, they would have to hear where the Sleeper was going to emerge from the ground. It had not yet broken through to the surface and would create a massive amount of destruction burrowing through.
"Firebrand. I got an idea," Steve stated. "Try using those ears of yours. We need to get a fix on the Sleeper's location."
"My ears?" the colt inquired.
"Yeah, just listen for any really loud noises or rumbling in the area."
"I can try."
Firebrand closed his eyes as his fuzzy red ears perked up, rotating around for the slightest hint of the kind of sound that Steve was talking about. It was almost as if they were a second pair of eyes, how expressive they were. When Firebrand's ears suddenly stopped, his eyes opened up again and he turned back to his father.
"I hear a big tumbly rumbly back down the way we came from daddy," Firebrand said.
"I guess we have to do a bit of backtracking then. Ouch." Steve lamented sarcastically. "We're backtracking a lot on this mission aren't we?"
"No open world levels for us," Firebrand babbled. "Lazy designers."
If the foal's statement didnt confuse Cap first, he looked off in a random direction like he was addressing a group of people.
"Regardless," Steve replied to break the awkward tension. "We should probably hurry up and find the Sleeper before the planes get here."
Steve activated his communicator again and tuned the frequency to his nearby comrade just outside the perimeter of the castle.
"Rogers to Morita. Bucky and Dugan are on their way out with Falsworth. Listen carefully, we've got a really big target to hit. Tell the Colonel I need bombers inbound as soon as possible."
"Copy that Cap, I'll get him on the horn right now. What's the primary target?" Morita asked.
"You definitely won't believe us even if we told you," Cap laughed grimly. "You'll see it. Stay alert with the artillery and tell Dugan to be ready. Firebrand and I are gonna need everything that we've got."
"More boom boom sticks! More splodey pineapples! More pop balls!" Firebrand cried maniacally.
"Yes sir!" Morita replied cheerfully.
"Hey, don't give him any ideas. Jeez!" Steve laughed as he shut off his communicator.
They were unfortunately pulled out of their happy moment as the voice of Zola rang through the night air from an unseen speaker somewhere nearby.
"Your efforts are futile Captain, I am everywhere." the voice said coldly. "You should have escaped with your friends, Stephen. Now I have no choice but to destroy you and take back the child. I assure you, he will be better in my hands."
Firebrand was beginning to get annoyed at hearing Zola's voice, but he just simply remained silent to let Steve think about the battle ahead. As they went back in the direction they came in though, Firebrand felt that familiar demonic cold fury trying to sneak its way back out again. Trying to coax him back with promises and false hopes. It made him feel guilty just thinking about any of them. He shook his head and concentrated, as he staved off the feelings and thoughts for the time being.
Cap found plenty of handholds and swing bars left to make his way back without any problem. The deafening silence only made the atmosphere that much more heavy. The constant bombardment of Zola's jeering and insulting only made things feel that much more worse for the duo.
"Call your flies Captain, their buzzing and bombing are at best a minor annoyance. You only bring them to their demise that much quicker. My power is now beyond your primitive understanding. You cannot hope to stand against it."
The impending battle weighed heavy on their minds as they pondered all of the events of the past two days leading to the climax of their first real mission together. Every pain, every laugh, every thought, every moment of sorrow. It was all precious to the both of them. Steve was glad that Firebrand decided to disobey him back in England. A few dozen hours ago, he would have scolded the colt harshly for doing any of this, but now, he wouldn't have traded these experiences for the world. He was starting his path to fulfil what Dr. Erskine wanted for him. Not to be a perfect soldier, but a good man. More than that even; a good father for his new son. The feeling gave him a new sense of strength. Even Zola's mad ravings were no longer phasing him.
They found themselves back out in a more open area of the castle where they brought down a tower carrying a massive anti aircraft cannon not a few hours earlier. Another loud speaker activated, but this time, Zola's voice was soothing and inviting. So arrogantly sure of his own victory, so as to give one last boast.
"Count yourself lucky, Stephen. Tonight, you will bear witness to the birth of a new world order. Come and join me in the main courtyard. I have saved you a front row seat."
"You really love to talk don't you?" Steve rebutted in reply. "That's going to be a problem going forward."
Firebrand pointed down the steps and towards a set of double doors leading off to the left. Presumably, that was in the direction of the courtyard that Zola was taunting them towards. Steve laughed at himself when he looked over the balcony and saw just how much collateral damage that him and Firebrand had caused on the way to the chapel. He could only imagine that before the dawn arrived, everything around them would be completely wiped from the face of the earth. He went down the stairs quickly, around the rubble from the destroyed anti aircraft cannons and towards the door. Steve reached for the handles to open the double doors, but just before his gloved fingertips touched the brass handles, he stopped.
Once they set foot inside, they knew there would be no going back. Cap turned to the foal in his harness and lifted him up and set him on the ground for a moment, much to Firebrand's confusion.
"I won't lie bud, this is a huge risk we are taking here." Steve said grimly. "Once we go out there, there's no telling what is going to happen."
"What do you mean papa?"
"You've already seen a lot of destruction and death around here and taken it well enough without any problems. At least, not many problems. Bad things are gonna be happening in there no matter what we do. Our friends might get hurt really bad. I just think you should be prepared for that."
Firebrand looked down to the dirt with an uncertain look on his face, trying to comprehend what he meant. He enjoyed much of the excitement that came with fighting the bad people who had hurt him and his friends, but he never really stopped to consider what was really happening. It confused him as he sat there on his plot, but Steve knew they didn't have any time for a philosophical discussion. Not then and there at the least. He slung him back in with one hand and tightened him back down.
"You won't fully understand any of this for a while bud, and I'm kinda glad you won't." Steve replied in a forced happy tone. "I just don't want you to get blindsided like I was when something bad happens."
Firebrand didn't know what to say to any of that. The only thing that went through his mind was he only could hope that he understood what he was saying before it was too late.
"Okay. I'll try not to," Firebrand replied softly.
Steve kicked in the door and found himself back inside one of the many corridors of Castle Zemo. It was well furnished like all of the others with all manner of portraits and paintings from local artists adorning the walls. The door to the courtyard on the other side was only a few hundred feet at most. Yet, his fear and uncertainty played tricks on his mind. As he was fixated at the door on the other side, the hallway almost seemed to triple in length as if it was stretching out. It gave him a momentary feeling of vertigo that he had to shake out of his head.
He progressed forward, being comforted by Firebrand's presence on his back. It gave him a strange comfort, especially knowing what was coming. Tightening the strap on his shield and adjusting his gloves, psyching himself up to be ready for anything as he finally kicked through the last set of double doors to the main outside courtyard of the castle. Or at least what used to be it.
A familiar robot was there to greet him on a massive walkway that encircled a smoking crater that may have been a very beautiful topiary garden at one point. The lone robot on the balcony overlooking the crater was the only one that Steve and Firebrand could see, but he figured that more soldiers had to be close by. The biting wind began blowing violently through the castle as if to signify the daunting battle that was sure to come shortly. Cap could only wonder how much longer until a full on blizzard would arrive.
A squadron of four fighters flying overhead, gave Steve the signal that the Allied invasion of Castle Zemo had begun. Firebrand let out a squee of excitement as he watched the fighters flying around in unison, firing away at parts of the castle.
The robot's single eye on its head lit up brightly as it stood up straight and started walking forward. Its chest opened up to reveal another screen carrying Zola's smug face.
"The castle is in ruins, your work here has been buried under tons of rock and rubble, its over Zola!" Steve snapped.
"How wrong you are Captain. My victory is only just beginning."
"All those people...the ones you killed...tortured...turned into monsters. And for what?"
"For what? For this! One learns just as much from failure as success." Zola said matter-of-factly. "My goal should have never been improving flesh, I see that now. Rather leave it behind all together. You had your body altered. Improved. Now I have improved upon you, with thanks to advancements your little friend has helped me with. The two of you are but footnotes on the evolutionary path...ones that will soon be very extinct."
"If this is your idea of a body, you are sicker than I thought."
"You small minded fool. A body is merely a casing. My true power resides in my mind...in what it controls. LET THE SLEEPER RiSE!!!!"
The ground began to shake violently like an earthquake as a massive metal arm the size of a building erupted out of the ground. It climbed out without any effort, revealing the metallic black titan in all of its horrifying glory. Its torso up to its head was easily five stories high and its fingers were the length of school buses. Clicking and clanking, its hands flexed and clawed at the air, as a show of intimidation to its enemies.
Steve's eyes widened when he saw what was running through the robot to power it. A familiar warping, pulsing red energy that ran through its entire body like molten blood. It was Firebrand's magic flowing through the entire length of the robot. It gave off a fearful aura of rage and hate, that was trying to make the duo flee in panic. Its head was a massive dome with two piercing green eyes spread far apart that loomed down at all three of them like a giant. Its first demonstration of power made Steve's stomach sink to his feet.
The Sleeper's eyes extended outwards and slid along a track going up its forehead, until they were pointing upwards. It made a sound like it was charging up for a shot and fired a steady emerald green beam into the sky. It sliced through three bombers, causing them to helplessly dive to the ground in a smoking heap.
Watching the planes fall to the ground and explode, made Firebrand feel sad and angry. He did not know why at the time, but at the back of his head he knew that it had something to do with what Steve was talking about. What he would have to deal with all the time while traveling and fighting with him.
"Hahaha! Impressed little one?" Zola taunted. "Your magic is quite the powerful energy source! It meshed with the power of the cube almost perfectly. With some slight difficulty. Once you are back in my hands, you will make Hydra's Tesseract Arsenal virtually invincible."
"My red magic is in there? Red and Blue...That makes purple right daddy?" Firebrand asked. "A Purple and Green army sounds silly."
"Oh God, just imagine if that color scheme catches on..." Steve quipped.
"SILENCE! Behold the glory the is the Sleeper and be in awe!" Zola commanded. "With its new power, your allies will fall even faster than the two of you!"
Zola tried firing off a grenade from his wrist, but Cap bounced it back to him, blowing it in his face. It made the Zola-Bot stagger as Steve leaped forward and used the edge of his shield like an axe. Zola tried countering with an uppercut to the gut, but Firebrand had Steve's back by launching a horseshoe into his right leg servo, collapsing the robot to its knees. Cap struck the side of the robot's head, knocking it sideways. The act seemed to anger Zola as he expelled a magnetic wave from his other hand that tried pulling Steve's shield away. The wave was much stronger than the Screamer's telepathic abilities and it tested Cap's endurance to a new degree. Firebrand lent a hoof by pulling back with his red telepathic field and kept the shield steady.
Zola tried to close in for a strike by getting closer, but Firebrand saw it coming and recalled his horse shoe, knocking the bot onto its knees on the way back. The wave was interrupted with that action as Steve regained his footing and swung his shield upwards like a golf club, sending the Zola-bot sprawling.
"You are too late Captain!" Zola spat rebelliously. " Don't you see? I have transcended flesh. Destroy my housing and I will simply find another."
"You can only run for so long, and we will always be there to stop you Zola," Steve proclaimed.
Zola tried swiping at Steve with a claw as he was on the ground, but he blocked it easily as he went in and ripped open the Zola bot's chest. With a swift strike with his shield, the screen was shattered, and the bot was destroyed, holding back Zola's attacks for the moment.
The two turned their attention back towards the Sleeper who was busy firing away at the invading planes.
"Those planes won't stand a chance Firebrand. We got to get its attention somehow." Steve panicked
"An artillery strike maybe?" Firebrand offered. "Have the mortars and cannons on the ground fire away at its eyes while we have some of the planes bomb its head as a distraction?"
The eloquence of Firebrand's speech made the foal cover his mouth in surprise and confusion.
"How do I know all of that daddy?"
"Beats me." Steve laughed. "You must have been a Commander in a past life. But that's actually not a bad idea. We're gonna have to find two range finders to take out its eyes and blind it.
Steve turned on his communicator momentarily and relayed the plan to his friends on the hill. They assured them that two of the planes had extra bombs and they would follow along with the plan.
He turned it off and they ran down a ruined side path a few hundred feet until they found the first range finder. Carefully aiming it at the left eye of the Sleeper, he locked in the coordinates and burnt out the apparatus.
"Morita, I got the coordinates locked in! Now tell our boys to drop a few bombs to distract it! Then fire away at its ugly eyes!" Steve barked into his communicator.
"Aye, Aye, Captain!" Morita replied. "One distraction with a side of blindness coming up!"
The two only had to watch for a minute as two planes broke away from the main group and started dropping bombs all around the Sleeper, some hitting its shoulders. That gave Morita and Gabe the opening they needed as they fired away and shot out one of the robot's eyes. The eye exploded in a cloud of green dust and smoke as the remaining eye slid back down the head and looked down at the duo, clearly angered.
They ran back along the path back towards the balcony as the duo shouted and jumped around to draw the Sleeper's attacks away from the planes. It rotated its torso to keep its sight fixed on the both of them as they moved around.
"Down here you ugly science project!" Steve jeered. "Over here!"
Both felt their irises shrink in fear as the Sleeper replied by slowly raising its arm and clench its fist before slamming down inches in front of their faces, smashing through the balcony. Steve barely moved out of the way and moved on to another pathway to escape death. The Sleeper began firing its green death ray at the both of them as they flipped, jumped and launched around the ruined walls of the castle's courtyard garden. Each time, the beam fired within mere inches of zapping the both of them to dust. Firebrand tried keeping away the beams that came too close by smacking them away with his horse shoes whenever he could.
Cap found a smaller balcony leading inside that he pulled himself up on and leaped inside to safety. He found an empty dirty hallway leading further down filled with nothing but bricks and electric lights. Unfortunately, the safety wouldn't last as the building began to shake. Steve had to concentrate for a moment to keep his balance before sprinting down the corridor before the Sleeper could bash in the walls of the castle. As the corridor started to collapse around them, Steve sprinted to the door on the other side, feeling himself launch off of the tips of his toes with every step. He felt like a linebacker in many of the games that Bucky would take him to.
The soldier smashed through the double doors on the other side and into another emptied out room with a ruined wall that had a view out over the courtyard where the Sleeper had been rampaging. Inside however, Steve found a familiar site that made him grit his teeth in anger. Another Zola Bot that had been laying in wait for them to appear. Its head expanded up and its eye lit up like a beacon, blinding both.
"Damn, I'm really starting to hate that trick!"
Zola tried charging while they were stunned, but Steve used his other senses and leaped up high to avoid a swipe. While still airborne, he back side kicked the Zola Bot square in the eye.
"Keep switching bodies all you like Zola! We will smash every last one of them." Steve said.
As if to answer him, four Hydra grunts came bursting through the door and surrounded them.
"You are welcome to try...pity you only have the one." Zola sneered.
The four grunts tried charging into him, but Steve bounced his shield off of one, going of to the other three in a pinball like fashion, knocking each one to the ground. Firebrand blasted a magic grenade at Zola which pushed him back. Gas flooded into the doorway of the next corridor, blocking the way forward as two more grunts wearing gas masks came through. Using one of Zola's double fist ground pounds against him, Cap used the impact to knock the two grunts away and sending them smashing into the walls out cold. Three of the four previous grunts got up and moved in on Steve while Zola closed in from behind.
He was pushed back to the balcony where he had to watch his footing carefully or risk falling into the chasm below. Firebrand loosened his harness with his mouth and jumped out, ready to assist Cap at a moment's notice. He jumped out at the right moment as two of the grunts hammered away with their batons from both sides. Steve struggled to concentrate on both as Zola approached. Firebrand shot one of his shoes at the third grunt trying to sneak in from behind and knocked him over the railing. The colt began to panic as Zola got closer and Steve was still struggling with the two grunts.
He looked down to their shoes and had an idea as he quickly untied them with his telekinetic grasp and tied them together. Before Zola got too close, Steve used a burst of strength to push the grunts off and send them sailing as they fell over each other from having their shoes tied. At the last split second, he caught Zola trying to knock him off the railing with a hammering strike. He lowered his shield in time and the arm got sliced off on the edge of the shield.
"Daddy charge!" Firebrand commanded.
Steve didn't question why, but he instantly what the colt meant as he knelt down and pushed off his feet like pistons, charging forward with his shield held vertically in front of his face. His shield struck the Zola bot head on as it sailed into the opposite wall, breaking through and into a room on the other side. The soldier didn't hesitate as he rushed forward and picked up the downed Zola bot and ripped open its chest, breaking its screen and tossing it aside like a pile of garbage.
"The Sleepy is firing again!" Firebrand cried.
He didn't even take a breath as he ran back over to the balcony to see what Firebrand was yelling about. The Sleeper had its eyes pointed skyward again and was starting to charge up its laser.
"Its targeting the planes again! We can't let it draw a bead."
Firebrand shouted something and drew Steve's attention to a rocket launcher mounted to the balcony in the next room. Presumably for defense against invaders coming into the castle. For their purposes however, they were going to have to modify it. He snapped the mountings of the launcher in half so that it would be pointing upwards. Without losing a beat, he started firing at the face of the Sleeper to draw its attention on the two of them.
Rocket after rocket, they blasted at the chin of the giant, sending streams of light and smoke careening into the air. Each one exploded harmlessly against the Sleeper's chin, but it was enough to pull its focus back on them. Its remaining eye slid back down to stare down at the duo as it lifted its arm and prepared to crush them. Steve grabbed Firebrand and began to prepare to make a run for it.
"That's right, down here! Eye on me Cyclops!"
When the Sleeper charged up its beam and aimed at them however, Steve held his ground, knowing he wouldn't be able to dodge what came next. Firebrand however had a different idea in mind.
Firebrand's magic and the Sleeper's own power coalesced inside the robot's head, flowing like water to its remaining eye. The combining energy created a spiral of red and green light that spun faster and faster as it focused into the eye, quickly building power. Firebrand's horn lit up on its own as the Sleeper finally fired off its spinning beam of light. As the beam came towards him, the colt jumped in front and stood up on his hind legs with his forehooves crossed. The colt closed his eyes, expecting to be blasted into dust.
"Firebrand!!!"
Firebrand heard an impact against his hooves and a sound like a giant church bell ringing followed by a steady hum. He didn't feel dead but the colt couldn't know for sure. Through his eyelids, he could see a bright green glow and feel something warm against his face.
"Firebrand, you might want to open your eyes pal!" he heard Steve shout insistently.
Risking it, he opened his eyes and saw something terrifying. The Sleeper was still firing its beam straight at him. The only problem for the robot is, it was being blocked by the foal's shoes. Even more than that, the black shoes were starting to glow a bright green and steadily glowing brighter and brighter. The beam began to split apart as it made contact, turning into two separate beams that were absorbed into different places. Firebrand's magic split off from the robot as it was drained away and flowed right back into his horn. His ebon black shoes, now pulsing, radioactive green were getting heavy, even for the colt as he struggled to stay on his hind legs. Before he fell, the Sleeper ran out of power for its beam and charged up for another shot.
Firebrand stared down at his shoes in amazement as they pulsed a bright neon green light, giving off a small cloud of steam in the cold air. They were heavy but with a little effort, he raised his left forehoof and held it in front of his face.
"Thanks for the assist pal," Steve said. "Let me take over for this one."
Another beam was fired a few seconds later at Steve's shield, hitting with a bang as he kept a solid footing on the balcony.
"Shield, don't fail me now!" Steve bellowed.
His muscles strained and screamed for relief as he pushed against the mighty strength of the Sleeper's power and used his adrenaline to push through the beam and smack it back like a baseball.
The beam ricocheted off of his shield and was fired back into the Sleeper's remaining eye, blinding the robot for good. It reeled back as if it was in pain, now both of its eyes blazing with fire.
"Just like what Ma used to tell me..." Cap started.
"You'll shoot your eye out, kid," Firebrand finished.
Steve activated his communicator again and relayed the good news to his ground forces.
"The bot is blind. That should buy you a few minutes! Fire and I will handle Zola."
The Sleeper leaned its head down towards them and started sending sonic blasts at the building they were in, trying to collapse the building they were standing in.
"We got its attention buddy. Let's get out of here before we get flattened into pancakes."
The colt nodded in agreement and leaped back into his harness as Cap dashed down the hallway and outside while Firebrand kept looking at his horse shoes.
Steve spotted an entire squad of grunts and soldiers on another balcony close by waiting for the two of them. The hallway was blocked off at the end by a collapsed doorway, but the wall to their right led out to plenty of handhold and flag poles to climb over to the other side. Leaping forward to the first flag pole, he swung off and ran through a corner to the next one, launching off and finally making a three point landing down on the last balcony where Zola's last bot was waiting for him.
"Nowhere else to run Zola! Even a mind as twisted as yours needs a body to survive," Steve growled.
"Perhaps I will take yours before I take back the Child, its annoyingly durable. KILL HIM YOU FOOLS!"
Over a dozen grunts in full armor charged at them at once, and Steve knew they would overwhelm him. He pulled Firebrand out and held his shield down just like before during their fight with Madam Hydra and Firebrand knew what to do instantly. Swinging both hooves down onto the shield, it was supposed to only create a shockwave to knock them back. Instead, with his hooves supercharged. it created a wave of green energy that blasted outwards in all directions and vaporized all of the grunts in one fell swoop. All that was left of them was glowing green dust.
"What? Impossible! The child never had this power before!" Zola shouted.
"He learned a few tricks."
Zola roared in anger and began firing rapidly at everything on the battlefield, trying to keep the two away from him. Steve just charged forward and tackled into the Zola bot's abdomen, lifting it a few inches off the ground and pushing it to the ground. It made him retreat after shooting a grenade at their faces point blank range. Steve backflipped a yard backwards to avoid the explosion, giving Zola a chance to get back up on his feet. He charged forward with a double ground pound that knocked Cap over. Rolling to avoid a follow up strike, just inches from his face, he leaped back up on to his feet. Firebrand helped give Cap an opening by charging up a shot from his horn and blasting the Zola bot right in the eye.
That gave Steve the chance he needed as he went into a leaping side kick to the side of the head and pounded away relentlessly at Zola's torso. It had taken enough punishment as Steve ripped open its chest to reveal the face of an enraged Arnim Zola.
"STOP! YOU CAN'T! I AM SUPERIOR! I AM TRUE EVOLUTION!" Zola wailed.
With one last strike with his shield, the screen shattered, turning off the robot.
"If you're evolution...I'd rather go extinct."
Firebrand laughed as they turned their attention to the last threat in the whole of Castle Zemo. The Sleeper.
It was just standing there, looming down at them with its empty black sockets where its imposing green eyes used to be. Part of Firebrand felt bad for the giant as it pawed away at its face, pathetically, but he knew they had to destroy it before it could cause any more harm. He looked up and down the length of the robot to look for anything that might help them. He caught something glowing hidden just under its head, being somewhat blocked off by a piece of its chest. Firebrand tapped Steve on the shoulder and pointed up to what he was seeing.
"Good eye little buddy. No pun intended." he thanked. "Dugan, Firebrand spotted something useful on the Sleeper. We need you to expose its neck!"
The communicator sputtered for a few seconds, but they heard Dugan's chipper voice come in loud and clear not a moment later.
"You got it Cap! Let's light em up boys!"
A mortar shell and a 50 caliber shot were fired off and blasted open the Sleeper's chest, revealing three thick power columns. All three columns were packed with cells containing Firebrand's magic and more of the robot's power source.
"Those cables...that has to its weak spot!"
Feeling the entire world slow to a halt, Steve concentrated all of his instincts and physical energy left into aiming his shield right at the Sleeper's neck.
"Firebrand. As soon as I give the signal. Hit the bottom edge of my shield as hard as you can." Steve said firmly.
"Okay!"
The colt hopped out and stood on his hind legs at the reads as Steve steadied his arm and leaned over into a launching position. Reeling his shield arm back, he tensed every muscle in his body for this one swing.
"NOW!" Steve shouted.
As soon as Steve's arm began to move like a fulcrum, Firebrand smacked the back of the shield with all his strength and the disc flew off with a bang, like a bullet out of a gun. The shield arced and cleanly sliced through all three cables with ease as if they were made out of wet tissue paper. It was almost too fast for him to catch, but he caught his shield on the return before it could hit him.
The Sleeper's head exploded into green fire and fell off while its body began to die and slump down. Its chest ruptured open, sending a blaze of green smoke and fire showering skyward. The duo just watched as it fell back down into the cavern it climbed out of, like a demon being sent back to the lake of fire whence it came. The crater began to glow a blinding red as the entire castle around them began to rock and shake. Steve knew they were officially out of time. They had to abandon the castle.
As soon as Firebrand was safely back in his harness, Steve went off like a shot through the castle trying to find any way out. He ran faster than he had ever run in his entire life. Faster than any normal human should have been able to. His blood pumped through his veins faster than sound, enhancing every sense in his body as he sped through collapsing corridors and falling tunnels of rock, wood, mortar, and metal. Firebrand helped him stay focused as he blasted away any falling rubble from behind while Steve used his shield to bat away any rubble from the front. What was really taking only a few minutes felt like hours as he ran back through the castle that had troubled him for the past two days.
Steve knew there was only one way left out of the castle and neither of them were liking it. The Skull's dirigible docks below that stuck out far into the canyon separating them from the rest of their friends. It only took five more minutes to reach it at top speed as they could feel the entire mountain beginning to explode behind them. Fire and brimstone were on their tails as Steve sprinted up and around a spiral staircase leading up to the docks and vaulted over railings for a short cut. The edge of the docks was finally within reach. He had no idea if he was going to survive it, but he hoped that his shield and his body would hold up from falling two thousand feet to the valley below.
From the outside, a massive tower of green light could be seen piercing into the sky where the Sleeper was finally destroyed. Captain America's Howling Commandos were cheering victoriously at their accomplishment while waiting for their two heroes to return.
As Steve ran across the last catwalk, Firebrand felt a familiar tension began to build up in his body and into his horn. The colt's horn started glowing brighter and brighter as his headache began to get worse and worse. The castle blew the mountain away as Steve launched off of the last catwalk and into the canyon as Firebrand finally couldn't take the tension any longer. His eyes opened and they glowed like a lighthouse and the colt released every ounce of power at once.
"KA-BOOOOOOOM!!!"
Back on the separate peak, the Howling Commandos saw the castle collapse and the mountain side blow open like it was a volcano erupting. They reeled back from the blinding light of the explosion and stood back up when it was safe enough to look.
"If Rogers and Firebrand were still in there..." Falsworth breathed out fearfully.
"They got out," Bucky harshly interjected.
Dugan looked at the younger soldier sympathetically and shook his head mournfully.
"Buck, that explosion removed that mountain from the face of the earth." Dugan replied sadly. "You should really prepare yourself for the possibility that-"
"HE GOT OUT!" Bucky snapped back.
After that, they were all left in awkward, but a gloomy silence as they watched the fire on the separate mountainside blaze out of control and begin destroying whatever was left. Bucky found his eyes wandering down towards where the Red Skull's zeppelin docks once were and saw something glowing floating through the thick clouds of black smoke. He narrowed his eyes carefully, wondering what it was. When it finally came out, he recognized what it was instantly as his heart leapt out of his chest.
"THERE!" Bucky shouted.
The commandos looked over to where Bucky was pointing and they couldn't believe their own eyes.
It was Captain America and Firebrand, floating safely over the canyon in a big glowing red bubble. It touched down on the edge of their mountain peak and the bubble disappeared. Firebrand seemed to slump in his harness with exhaustion as Steve thanked him and proceeded towards them. Both looked tired and beat up, but they had a proud and triumphant look in their eyes that the Howling Commandos would remember for many years to come.
All six of the commandos cheered, hooted, and cried into the air with glee as they clapped and headed over to meet their leader who had come back safely.
"Well done, both of you." Falsworth congratulated. "The two of you really are an unstoppable fighting force."
"Never doubted you for a second!" Dugan lied cheerfully.
"You did it Cap," Bucky said with a big goofy grin.
"The POWs?" Steve asked hopefully.
"In the forest. We got them all out."
"Then you did it. You got those men out. You saved their lives. And every one of them is a key to winning this war. They were here for months. They saw Zola's experiments...worked as slave labor on his assembly lines...heard the details of Hydra's plans. Hydra didn't bother keeping secrets from them because they weren't supposed to survive. Each men we bring back to the SSR is an intelligence gold mine. Thanks to them-thanks to all of you-we'll be ready for whatever Hydra throws at us from here on out. We're that much closer to finding the rat holes they hide in. And we're booking ourselves to come back to Europe...at the head of a full invasion force."
All of the Howling Commandos felt themselves welling up with pride and excitement just thinking about all of the possibilities.
"You did it. We all did it. Now come on...fall in soldiers. Let's get those men home."
"SIR YES SIR!" they chanted.
"Sir yes sir!" Firebrand repeated. "Can we have some chocolate cake when we get home sir?"
The others just laughed as they followed behind their Captain into the forest, fully prepared for whatever the new World War had in store for all of them.
Meanwhile, in an undisclosed Hydra base, Arnim Zola turned off his mind transfer device in disappointment and unhooked himself as his master the Red Skull approached him from behind. He looked down at the scientist with a blank face of indifference.
"I trust you've had your fun Arnim. Now stop wasting time on failed projects and get back to work. I assure you. We will see the both of them again soon enough."
Next Time: Regroup and Respite