The six headed HYDRA

by Malcolm Merlyn

Chapter 35

The two guards Strucker had posted would meet their ends being hit so hard upside the face, their skulls fractured and became misshapen. In the eyes of Trudy, everything was happening in a red haze. The only thing she saw was her sister, upon the medical bed in the room, her blood being sipped out by some heinous machines created by the devil himself. She scarcely cared to as much as look around the entire room as she bolted to help Chris, her hand making contact with the operating bed.

The massive jolt from the shock was large enough to throw her back. The pain was the only thing that snapped her back into reality as she looked at the device. Little by little, it was killing her sister. And yet, for all the strength she possessed within her body, she would be powerless against it. Her good sense slowly edged back into her mind as she realized that whatever prevented her from freeing her sister was like all things electricity related. It had an off-switch. Somewhere, hopefully in here, she would be able to find it. The sounds of the footsteps within the room told her that Bucky had made in in.

"Help me get her out... there must be a switch... or something... somewhere... in here!" Trudy rasped out, her injuries making themselves more and more dire as she realized a broken rib, several cuts and scrapes and possibly a few more nasty injuries were far more deadly when added up together.

"Help?! Zere's going to be no way that can help you or your sister now!" The Karlslandian (German) accented voice boomed as Trudy felt something metallic strike her right up against the back of her head, her world began to spin as she turned around looking at the elderly man who was attacking her. In one hand, he carried a staff that radiated and hummed of arcane and magical power. His other arm, was like Bucky, not a real arm. Instead, a red prosthetic that pulsed and oozed with vile intent.

"The lord only helps those who help themselves." Trudy retorted as she struck the baron with incredible force, that was only countered by the capabilities of the Satan claw. The staff came rising up once again as she was hit upside the head, her mouth trickling blood. Knowing that a hand to hand battle with Strucker would only end poorly, Trudy reached for Rumlow's gun seeing that Strucker wasn't armed with the exception of the staff. Much to her surprise, he pointed the staff straight at her.

The blue bolt came out in a flash, she hardly had enough time to raise her shield which hardly mattered. Her shield was only about strong as she was, and currently, with a broken rib it certainly was the opposite as steadfast. The protection shattered, and with it, Trudy felt herself being thrown up against the wall, her world in a haze as she could hear her own heartbeat. Struggling to rise, she did so much to Strucker's and her own surprise.

"Impressive. I saw Herr Rumlow break your rib, and I watch as you take a second beating today. You truly have strength Frau Barkhorn."

"Strength... it comes from one thing." Trudy smiled mirthlessly as her hands slowly clasped around her gun. "Will. The will to act. And it's strength that decides who's the winner."

"I see." Strucker nodded. "But in this case... it's only a case of who's faster."

The smoke from the Satan Claw slowly billowed out as the gunshot echoed around the room. For a moment, to Trudy, everything was at a standstill until she looked downwards. At her gut was a bullet hole which blood streamed out of. The world suddenly grew dark as she crumpled to the ground, her heartbeat grew loud enough for the world to hear as she took a last look at the bed which held her sister.

"Not like this..." Trudy gasped out as she struggled to rise. Strucker hardly even as much as intervened as he watched with an amused smile.

"Let's see if will stops you from bleeding out." He laughed. "Just as it will stop your sister from bleeding out I am sure. It will do nothing! Will is nothing! The will to act?! It's nothing! Who ever believed it was a fool!"

"Will was what allowed me to survive your experiments... Baron." Bucky's voice called out from outside. The Baron turned around, staring deeply into the eyes of the Winter Soldier. The eyes... those damn eyes. It made him shudder. His smile grew wider and wider.

"Herr Barnes! I see my monster is still ze monster I intended him to be." Strucker smiled wickedly as he held his staff towards the Winter Soldier. "You are my greatest creation! And at the same time, you are my greatest victory."

"Victory, Baron? When I am about to kill you, I will make you chew on those words." Bucky spat, his fists clenching tightly.

"You can kill me Herr Barnes. You can cut me up in a thousand pieces, you can devise whatever fate in your most heinous of all imaginations, and in the end... I will still have won. Do you know why you fool? Because I stole from you your soul. I know right now, there's little chance of me destroying your body, but the day I stole your soul I won. I stole who you were, I took it from you. You became the Winter Soldier. HYDRA's assassin. Though Captain America made much effort in placing you back on your original side, I still took one thing. Who you are. Your purpose. I took from you James Barnes and turned him into a monster. Even know, how do the people of SHIELD think of you? As a war hero? A hero who fought against HYDRA and it's so-called Tyranny? Or as a tool of HYDRA? An unstable man that would kill anything near him? What about even your friend? Does he even trust you?"

"He's my friend. SHIELD is my new organization, and they know. They know... they know what happened." Bucky retorted. "Steve is my brother, and you... you are my target. And make no mistake, I will make you scream."

"I will look forward to it. As I curse you and your name, you will only have to remember that I took your purpose. Your life became meaningless, and that is why I won. I stole the purpose to your life. But enough talk, let's see if you are truly as good as I intended you to be!"

The fact a bullet had slammed right into Bucky's shoulder, he hardly as much as noticed as he continued to approach Strucker. The older man swung the Chitauri scepter at him, which only got caught by the cybernetic arm of the Winter Soldier who wrenched it out of the Baron's hands and proceeded to beat the older man until Strucker was nothing more than a bloody pulp upon the ground. Kicking him once more, Bucky was almost surprised his foot didn't go right through Strucker's ribs.

"Very good... very good..." Strucker wheezed as the Satan Claw gave a small whirl. "But you see Herr Barnes, just like how I used you against your friends, I use your own weapons against you as well. Ze doktor zat accompanied you? His genius? Now helping HYDRA as well."

His injuries faded in a heartbeat as the sounds of progress pushed it's way into Strucker's bloodstream. His former grievous injuries, faded into nothing as his face distorted into a mask of fury. It was as though he grew younger with the push of a button as he swung his fist at Bucky. Ordinarily, he wouldn't even as much as noticed getting hit from a regular person but this time, he was knocked backwards a hefty deal for a man that was probably older than he was. And that would be saying something.

"You see... HYDRA developed a serum that would extend my life. But I developed a serum that made it so that I it would extend my youth, and my strength. Perhaps not as strong as you, or Captain Rogers, but good enough, ja?"

"I'll show you good enough." Bucky snarled as he kicked Strucker down and began to slam his boot down upon the man's chest, every rib breaking echoed throughout the room to which Strucker only shrugged off. The sounds of the Satan Claw's medicine flowing into his stream could be heard, and if that was the case, his injuries would heal much faster than the pain could even register.

"Allow me to show you something." The Baron commented in between getting his ribs broken. Without warning, a red glow covered his body and he threw Bucky straight off of him. A second red crackle emitted and the Satan Claw glowed bright red as it swung straight at the Winter Soldier's face. As he flew backwards, Bucky could taste the blood within his mouth as he got up, wiping it off. An idea popped into his head as Strucker gave him a beatdown, attempting to smash his face into a pulp which Bucky countered, not easily, but enough so that he could think on what to do.

His bionic Arm wrapped around the Satan Claw, and his organic one punched Strucker across the face. The blow would not hurt him, as the effects of the ubercharge would render him invincible to harm, but it would disorient him long enough so that Bucky could make his next move. The Ubercharge could prevent things from Damage... but it didn't exactly stop things from moving around... maybe...

Pinning the Baron to the ground, he smashed the Claw again and again with his bionic arm while making sure to keep raining down the blows from his real one. The effects of the ubercharge will have to wear off some time, and in this state, Strucker could hardly retaliate. Nevertheless, Bucky still found bloody gnashes forming at his chest area but regardless, he clenched his teeth and continued until the Uber wore off.

With that, he gave the Satan Claw a mighty smash. Again. Again and again.

"Grah... what have you done?!" Strucker roared as he managed to unseat Bucky who was about to lunge. Despite his age, the Baron was quite fast and managed to retrieve Trudy's gun. The two shots straight to the chest slowed the soldier down, but it would do little to harm him as the Baron retreated away. Bucky could have easily caught to him, if he hadn't nearly slipped on something on the ground. Something red, and something very slippery.

Blood. Strucker's?

No. Trudy's.

He almost gave a gasp at to how much blood she had lost, and amazingly, she was still alive, crawling towards Chris' bed. Delirious from the blood loss and at the door of death. In this time, Strucker had managed to make quite the distance as he got up to the stairs where escape awaited. He attempted to take another shot, only to realize there was no more ammunition. Bucky turned right at the man, his face an angry mask of fury as he approached him.

"Come..." The Baron gasped as he readied a knife. "Take your revenge."

"You told me that you stole everything." Bucky stopped as he looked over at the operating table. A familiar liquid was within two of the syringes. "And you told me that you won. You took my meaning... and that was how you did so. The meaning of life was gone, so why am I even alive? But I'll tell you something."

Bucky stopped for a moment as he picked up the syringe, and knelt down by Trudy.

"The meaning of life isn't meant to be found. It's not meant to be kept." He continued as he reached out at Trudy's wrist. The medicine entering her bloodstream and her injuries disappearing in a heartbeat.

"It was meant to be made."

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That ending