"I feel like a million deutschmarks!" Medic said as he looked over at the library. "All of zis..."
The German spread his arms and smiled at the sight. An entire section on things like "Medicine", "Biology", "Chemistry" and "Hazardous materials" were there, just waiting for him. Grabbing several large, thick books on the subjects, the German bookworm set them down, intent on reading the first one on "Hazardous plants in Equestria". He beamed wide like a man who had just received a paycheck.
"Trude... Erica... you two are witches right?" Twilight asked as Erica took a look around and Barkhorn sat down besides a table.
"Yeah! Why?"
"Then I have these for you." Twilight replied as she tossed the two each a pair of gloves. "They'll help amplify your magic."
"Amplify our magic?" Barkhorn asked quizzically.
"You see... when Sanya was here and she had this... she told me it allowed her listen to further distances than normal. Also increased her shield size too... I really don't know much about any parts. Sorry. But I think you two might find them useful in case you need it."
"Well... thanks." Erica said as she put them on, her familiar beginning to manifest the moment she slipped them on. This caught the attention of Bucky as she saw the tips of her hair turn black for the second time. Though the first time they met, the man wouldn't have noticed it due to the fact he was a bit busy directing a healthy dosage of RAGE at Barkhorn.
"I like this." Erica smiled as she took the gloves off and placed them in her pockets. "Thanks Twilight! Sanya said a lot about you. Said that unicorns can use magic!"
"That's true."
"Can you show me sometime?" Erica asked. It wasn't the same as witch magic. More arcane in nature from Sanya's understanding which made it an even more "Must-see" in the eyes of the Karlsland witch.
"Alright... alright..." Twilight said. Not every day some pony (or in this case, something) asked for a demonstration on her magic. She was more than proud enough to give her a good show. "What about you Trude?"
"Huh? Oh... um... no thank you. I have to um... do things." The older girl said as she looked over to Erica. Somewhat in amazement that Erica was ACTUALLY EXCITED over something that wasn't sleeping. Taking a look back, she found her MG42s and nodded partially to herself, partially to the unused weapons.
"What are you going to do Barkhorn?"
"Nothing... nothing..." Trude said as she put them away. "I'll be outside if anyone needs me."
"There is a track not too far from here if you're looking for that kind of stuff." Twilight suggested.
"Thank you... that'd be appreciated." Trude said, wanting to put some space between her and Bucky. If she stayed however, she would have realized Bucky would excuse himself as well. The same would apply to everyone else, except for Erica, who wanted to see a magical demonstration by Twilight and Medic, who was too busy on reading a book to find out exactly how he can conjure up some nasty chemicals to put in the syringes his syringe gun fired.
"Hey Trude..." The voice called behind her as she made her way to the track which Twilight pointed out. The girl gave a small sigh of frustration.
"What do you want?" She asked rather viciously. Turning around, she took a good look at the man. His uniform looked as though he was wearing the flag of Liberion. The shield slung on his back looked ridiculous to be honest, though with the pistol shouldered at his waist and the manner of which he conducted himself, this man was a seasoned soldier. Someone she could give her respect to.
"Kid... calm down." Steve said in the most reasonable voice he could conjure up. "I just want to talk."
"Then say it." Barkhorn snapped.
"Look... back there in the forest. I am sorry about that thing with Bucky."
"Yes... what's his problem?!" Trude asked, the difficulty to keeping her voice down was rising by the moment. "Did I LOOK like one of those men he was going after?!"
"Uhh... yeah actually. Trude... there's some things you may not understand too well... but Bucky and I both are pretty old. We may not look like it, but we're both have about a century's worth of time on us. Slade's got just slightly less. My point is... when were you born?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Okay. I was born on July 4th, 1920." Steve began. "When were you?"
She gave a sight before saying.
"March 20th, 1926.... wait a second... how are you about one hundred years old?"
"It's simple. Where I am from... we're already in the year 2014. The same goes for Slade. By rights however, Slade would be younger than you. Except he's not, he was born in 1934."
"Okay. Why are you telling me all of this anyways? You really think that your friend cares about my birthday?"
"Of course not. But when we fought in our war Trude... we weren't fighting aliens. We were fighting each other, but more importantly, what matters to Bucky and myself is that we were fighting the Nazis. They weren't just ordinary bad men... they were the worst type of people spawned on the planet. I couldn't stand them, and neither could Bucky... they came from a country called Germany. Or your world's Karlsland."
"So... he's racist? Typical of Liberian." Gertrud breathed. Liberians did have a superiority-complex... but that was just the minority. Of course, that's usually the case with racial stereotypes.
"No... he holds a grudge. If you know what he's gone through, you might understand. At the end of the war, I crash landed a plane that HYDRA launched to stop them from destroying my country. I survived... but I slept for 70 years. Bucky was not as lucky. He fell from a train, lost his arm. His body, was found by HYDRA. They brought him back to life, and as their own assassin. Their own super-soldier to use against the free countries of the world. It wasn't until recently he came to. You might be interested in this part... I know Erica would be, but HYDRA during the war managed to harness the power of Odin. The Norse god."
"I am expected to believe gods truly exist?" Barkhorn asked skeptically.
"We didn't exactly believe girls could ride on broomsticks or use propeller packs... or Striker units... whatever you call them. And look at what's right in front of me. They didn't believe we could put a man on the moon... but we did it."
"You... landed on the moon?" Barkhorn asked with disbelief.
"Well... I DIDN'T. And I actually wasn't awake to see it, just got to read and watch about it. I even thought it was impossible myself. But you know what? It happened. And let me guess... in your world, you see a lot of girls who have things like enhanced strength and magical abilities... but you don't see MEN with those kind of things either right?"
"No..."
"And look at me. Look at Bucky. Look at Slade. One day... something tells me you might even get to meet some others. Tony... they call him Iron Man. Thor.... my friend Bruce... all the others. They're all impossible from any man's standpoint. But they exist... and now, within our infinite universes... anything is possible."
"That's all nice... discussing this with you. But why are you telling me this? Isn't this about how Bucky hates my guts for... the HEINOUS CRIME of wearing a uniform that LOOKS like the ones his enemies wore? You seem okay with it."
"I am... but Bucky went through a lot more than a seventy year snooze. I don't care what happened to him... or how much he might hate anything that has to do with the Nazis, but I think you two and maybe... what's the right way to word this... become friends?"
"You're not trying to make a move on me for him are you?" Barkhorn asked. Oh dear... he likes me?! That... that schwein! He thinks..
"Course not. I just want to... allay some of the tension between you two." Steve continued. "He's a good man Trude. And I know you're good too. And I see it in you... you went through a lot too haven't you? Your sister... Chris..."
"How do you..."
"Sanya told us a lot." Steve smiled. "She was a good friend too. But she was a good friend of Slade's... maybe the best he's had in a long time. And you want to know how those two first met?"
"How?"
"Sanya broke one of his ribs." Steve chuckled at the memory. Almost hilarious... though Slade's reaction... not so much...
"And how did Slade react?"
"Knocked her senseless. He told me some point later that it was some fighting technique he uses... called "Ultra-stun" which is a way that he can knock someone out with seriously hurting them. I was actually worried he might have killed Sanya... Even meeting like how they did, Slade saved her life... and Sanya did the same for him. I always wonder why he did it..."
"Maybe they just became good friends?"
"Slade not only threatened to leave anyone who was too slow behind, but he's also not exactly a person you want to bump into on a Friday night. You know what he does for a living? Kills people. Anyone. Anyone who get's a bullet in the chest that'll give him a paycheck, he'll kill them. Been doing it for almost 50 years, and still hasn't showed a sign of wanting to stop. He's stone cold... but even he opened up. I am certain you and Bucky would be A LOT easier."
"I guess..." Barkhorn said uneasily. Sanya spoke a lot about Slade... told everyone about how much of a great guy he was and about how his past was so "lonely".
"But I digress... I hated that man first day we met. Still probably do a little bit. But you know what? I think I can call him a friend that I can ask for a favor sometime. Not that I need anyone with two bullets in the chest."
"What about those HYDRA people?"
"Their leader is mine." Steve said darkly all of a sudden. "I know him more than anyone else. There is not a single SOUL that can be more insane, more vile, and more ruthless."
"What... some blood feud?" Barkhorn joked, lighting up for a moment.
"You can put it that way." Steve said. "Just stay out of my way once I catch up to him. But forget about this whole thing about how Bucky wants his revenge and how I want to finish some unfinished business. Want to do a few laps on the track?"
"I think I can take on a very old man." Trude smiled.
"Package is here sir." Rumlow said as he listened to the sounds of quiet sobbing that resonated from within the steel cage which had air holes positioned on the top. "What now?"
"We get ze gems." Schmidt said as he looked over to Strucker. "How many more do you fink ve need for zem to... divert zeir attentions?"
"Already done herr Schmidt." Strucker replied. "Ve are ready."
"Gut... then we begin. But... vhy not play it safe? Though ve caught them by surprise... our enemies vill be ready. Let's strike where they are unsure... and until zeir precious elements are totally exposed, we can just valk in, and take it all. Unnecessary losses is beneath me Strucker."
"Very vell then."
"Ve vill need zese men when we rule the world." Skull smiled nastily underneath his mask.