"The elements of Harmony, magical artifacts of untold power. Guardians, of the powers of the gods! And they will be mine. And then... the worlds! HAIL HYDRA!" - Johann Schimdt AKA The Red Skull
[CURRENTLY IN NEED OF COVER ART] [Multi-crossover]
As HYDRA, Odin Allfather and Princess Celestia soon found, there wasn't just one universe. No... there were many, hundreds, thousands, millions. Countless realms and planes that were so alike yet so obviously different. Equestria however, was not just a place that was unique amongst the countless realms, but also, a place that was a doorway to others. From one universe to another, one would have to go to Equestria first.
To any conqueror that sought to build the vastest empire possible, it would be necessary to control Equestria.
And to Red Skull, he was this conqueror. Not only would "local resources" aid him, but once he was done, he would have the power needed to launch an endless campaign that would make him a god amongst gods.
Fortunately, Princess Celestia wasn't about to let this happen.
Gathered around a massive machine that formed a huge ring, was hundreds of doctors, scientists and armed men who all gazed upon it intently. Within the room, the massive ring hummed while several men prepared another device in front of the ring. Said device resembled more like a weapon than anything, though perhaps, when one had to tear down walls between separate realities... it could be considered a weapon.
On the balcony, one man watched the process. Behind him, hung draped along the walls was a flag that depicted a red skull with six tentacles coming out of the bottom. The skull gazed upon every man and woman within the room, like how Hades watched with equal attention to every soul in the underworld.
"Gateway is now opening. All personal... standby." The voice on the intercom blared as the "gun" began to fire. The threads of reality began to slowly tear and giveaway as a lone man was shoved up against it. Gingerly, he took a look and turned back to his officer who shot him the death glare. This really wasn't that convincing when the portal looked like Satan's mouth threatening to swallow him whole. A death glare from Schmidt however, was a bit more convincing. Carefully, he stepped in.
The ether door crackled, stirred and aced as thought it was about to explode. Prudently, every man and woman who was downstairs found the closest thing to hide behind. No one really was too keen on going anywhere close to what could be described as a "stable black hole" which that term, applied from a HYDRA scientist of all people, really would not be enough to convince anyone this thing was even remotely "safe".
But as luck for the Skull and for HYDRA would have it, the gateway stabilized and grew calm once more as a long figure walked out. The man who had went in came out just fine. One of the doctors down below turned around to face Schmidt before giving him a nod.
It was time. Everything was in order and preparations was ready. HYDRA would have the power of the gods that they were denied seventy years ago. The portal was soon enlarged, as a literal army would soon be moved through. HYDRA was on the move.
Widow would make sure to use he last sentence in her report as she finished snapping the photos. Silently, she snuck out of the fortress back to the coast where a boat awaited to take her back to the US. The many thousands of voices would echo through her head.
[SHIELD headquarters, New York City, Captain America's office.] "So... ARE YOU SURE you want this guy to work with you?" The image of Tony Stark asked Steve or as he was more well-known as, Captain America for what seemed like the umpteenth time.
"Yes... I want him on my team..." Steve said irritated. His currently non-existing team because most of them ended up defecting towards a certain organization... "Come on, how many times are you going to ask this? I am not going to change my mind."
"I know... I know Cap... but I am just not sure. This guy was sent to kill you just two months ago and now you're okay with him working with you?"
"Yes... because this guy is also my best friend about 70 years ago." Steve said as he sat down. "And I sure as hell want to work with him again. Besides Tony, why do you care? Don't you have better things to do than ask me questions? They already ran the tests and all, he's fine now."
"Well... fine... but if you need anything... just give me a call... if you know how to." Tony smirked as he cut the connection. Steve gave a deep sight. Two years... and he STILL has no clue on how to use his smartphone. Whatever. Right now, he was supposed to meet Bucky and Coulson. After the umpteenth mental checkup, it seemed as though SHIELD was ready to have Barnes as an agent... though anyone who put two and two together from the new guy and the HYDRA assassin probably would have some serious trust issues that involved things like stun batons, guns and any makeshift bludgeoning or stabbing instrument. When we considered said new guy/former HYDRA agent not only has super-human abilities but a cybernetic arm that actually put him on par with things like Stark in his power armor, anyone attempting to attack Bucky usually had their day ruined in ways that involved a trip to the hospital.
But that aside, Bucky now sat within the conference room, his metallic arm was visible for anyone to see... but anyone at the moment was just Cap as he sat in, fully suited up and with his shield, as though dressed for a fight. The same applied to Bucky who was wearing a Type III ballistic vest.
"Door's locked." Steve said as he shut it and bolted before sitting down. Quickly, Bucky closed the shades and tapped the red button on the table. The projector turned on to reveal the faces of Coulson and Fury.
"Greetings Gentlemen." Fury began. "I see that sergeant James Barnes is back on the right side of the war."
"Indeed I am sir." Bucky said as he sat down. "So... what do we do now against those Goose stepping bastards?"
"Well... first off... this isn't 1944..." Fury began. Man... did BOTH of these people live in the past or something? Even today... not either one of them had a clue to how to even as much as change a thermostat. At least... that's what he heard. "So like I was saying, HYDRA is well... um... how do I say this?"
He hesitated for a moment as he stared at Cap, and his "report" about what happened when he was driving a shipment of CONFIDENTIAL.
"What Fury is trying to say is that... well... your report Cap..." Coulson began. "I know that practically no one believed you..."
"Except me." Bucky cut in.
"Right. But the thing is, one of our operatives took these photos at HYDRA's headquarters and...."
The picture of the massive room with the gateway was projected upon the screen as Coulson and Fury's images both shifted to make room. Sure enough, it did look an awful like the one the Teseract had made when Loki made his way to earth. The difference was, it was bigger... MUCH bigger.
"Seems HYDRA must be planning something huge." Steve commented as he took another look. "Where does it go?"
He already knew the answer to this however...
"I think to a little girl's coloring book." Fury said. "Well... that's not all. Remember your "car accident"?"
"That gem? Yes I do remember." Steve said. "What happened to it?"
"First off... we know you got it hidden under your bed Cap... so don't even try." Nick said with a look of disapproval which caused a snigger from Bucky. "But as of now... we need a way to get into... whatever it was you were in. And fast. I don't want to find out the hard way what these HYDRA guys have been planning."
"Understood... but the thing is... how do we work it?"
"We got that part covered. Dontcha worry Cap." Coulson said with a grin.
You know... sometimes... being wanted alive may actually be worse than being wanted dead. Especially when the person sent to hunt you down wasn't too picky about how badly he was going to hurt you. Especially when all he needed you to be was alive.
And that was the predicament for a drug kingpin when on his grounds, he a man sneak in. A man in a black and orange suit of armor who was armed to the teeth.
Deathstroke.
The two silenced pistol shots ran out, dispatching both guards in an instant upon the entrance as Slade made his way in. Activating his tactical vision, he took a careful look around. They had spotted him. Regardless... things would only be more interesting that way. The door opened to reveal several armed guards. From here, he could take them out easily with his sniper rifle... but what fun would there be in that?
He watched as the men hid behind some shipping containers, oblivious to the large crane overhead. A well-placed shot from his sniper rifle would send it crashing down upon them, killing several of them. The slightly quicker ones managed to get away, but by then, the masked mercenary was already upon the with his sword as he ran a few unfortunate individuals down. Those who weren't killed outright had the good sense to run, while a few bolder (or dumber) of the men tried to stay and fight. This would end badly for all of them as Slade moved at speeds that was disorienting for the lesser man and had a lightning fast reaction time. Not a single one of the bullets would come close to hitting as the assassin came upon the guards, the sword flashed and several bodies dropped to the ground. Chuckling to himself, the assassin kicked open the door, sending it flying several meters and actually crashing right into a pair of men, the sheer force of the flying piece of metal would break several bones.
Moving out, he spotted the elevator... of course, actually using the elevator would be asking for it. No... breaking open a hole on top, he used his grappling gun to move quickly through the shaft until he reached the top. His mission would be waiting. Placing several shaped charges upon the door, he jumped back onto the other side and pressed the trigger.
As predicted, they wouldn't be expecting the door to have come straight in upon them, taking the opportunity of the confusion and carnage, Slade jumped right into the opening, even without his tactical vision, he probably could have just as easily as listened to the panicking voices to discern their general decision. They all went down in moments to his swords. When the smoke cleared, the room would be full of dropped bodies and Deathstroke who proceeded to the door as he readied his swords and kicked the door open. The remaining guards tried to do something... but only ended with them getting a blade ran right through them before any of them could even as much as react. And there he was, the lone frightened drug lord, by his desk screaming incoherent things in Spanish as he shot his gun at Slade.
There was the sound of metal hitting metal. Two halves a bullet hit the ground, cut in half by Slade's blade who looked back at his target who's mouth was open and was backing against the wall. From behind him, a section of loose masonry fell out place and landed right between his legs.
Fortunately for him, Slade wasn't here to kill him.
Unfortunately for him, Slade wasn't exactly told not to give him a vicious beating.
"Jeta is finished." Slade said as he threw the man to the two ARGUS agents. Numerous fractured ribs, both arms broken, both legs broken and several instances of internal bleeding. How this person was still alive... it was a mystery to Waller and her subordinates as she looked at him.
"I'll check that off." The woman said as she looked at Slade. "Twelve down... a few hundred more to go. I've transferred the funds to one of your offshore accounts on this one."
"Thank you. Pleasure doing business." Slade said. Whether or not he was sarcastic in the last part, it was anyone's guess. The moment Waller and her men turned in the other direction, Slade would be gone, already on a plane heading back home to a safe house in Gotham. Five hours later, and he would be home.
It had been a good week. The guy in the bat costume wasn't going to be bothering him any time soon with most of his contracts being out of town... though who said he wouldn't be able to get any work done here in Gotham? Most of it would hardly warrant the attention of batman. He considered taking a drop to the iceberg longue. Cobblepot always claimed that his men could beat Slade in a brawl, so far, out of their 400 or so bets, Slade had won every single one. How Cobblepot hasn't gone broke from this type of awful gambling was a mystery to just about anyone.
Sitting down in the mostly empty dining room, the man made himself some dinner as he looked a photo. An old one that had him and his family in in it. At the time, he looked not much different how he looked now, just that his hair was brown and not silver. The many decades wouldn't have any effect upon his body, except for his hair.
"I see you still may have a heart after all... assassin." The voice said coming out of nowhere. "Never knew you would miss those people this much."
"Mhm." Slade said as he was hardly surprised. Though... the sound of the voice was quite familiar as he turned to face the dark blue alicorn. "What do you want Luna?"
"What do you think?" Luna asked rather grimly.
"I never knew overgrown child toys needed people with two bullets in the chest this often." Slade said. "It's only been three months."
"Then you should see this." Luna said as she tossed the file to Slade containing snapshots of various men dressed in what highly resembled SS uniforms. "Equestria seems to have a big thing on it's hands once again. No dragons."
"Perfect. So... you want these people dead?"
"Stopped... by whatever means necessary. If lethal force must be applied, than so be it." Luna said. "What say you? If it may motivate you, Steve Rogers has agreed to help."
"Well... I always wanted to see that magnificent son of a bitch again." Slade commented as he thought of everyone else. "Just him?"
"He's brought a friend from what our sources say. But other than that, it's all we have as of now."
"In that case, I'd like to be paid this time." Slade said. "Perhaps in advance."
The tip of Luna's horn glowed as bags of cash fell straight onto the ground.
"Satisfied?"
"Indeed." Slade said as he looked over at the dead presidents. "Where do we start? And who needs to be dead?"
[USA, Gravelpits] Medic took another drink of his beer as he looked over at his office and place of work once again. A doctor drinking... somewhat ironic, wouldn't anyone agree?
He had been... somewhat depressed for the following weeks. Potential breakthroughs that were made from his research? Went up in smoke. Literally. Blood samples of a meta-human? Gone. Samples of various plants and animals with medicinal value? Also gone. Big book that was the basis of his research? Burned and useless. And all those potential breakthroughs he could of made? Any value, knowledge and science he had collected? Gone.
He hadn't been this frustrated since trying to build the medi-gun. Getting up, and throwing away the empty bottle, the German decided now was not time to act like Demoman on a bad day. Right now, he could potentially salvage things in the ruins of his labratory... or maybe even make another advancement in medicine WITHOUT things like witch blood, magical plants or rare animals. Opportunity awaited the proactive.
This really couldn't have been more literal when he walked into his lab, and found Engineer with the large gem he had kept in a box upon the fridge.
"Engie? Vat are you doing?"
"Hey Doc! Remember when we teleported the bread and it got some strange mold?" Engineer said. "That mold which turned us into one helluva big monster?"
"Yes... BE CAREFUL VITH ZAT." Medic practically screamed as he made his way over. "Vat are you trying to do anyvays?"
"Imma teleport it!" Engineer said as the machine began to whirl it was ready. "I've been teleporting things like water, other types of food, and building materials! It's just so good we got this big diamond here to try out!"
Wait a second... exactly what would happen if you put a teleporter inside another teleporter? Would it...
Medic didn't exactly want to find out.
"Vait... NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Medic screamed in slow motion as he jumped for the crystal right before Engineer dropped it into the teleporter. Medic however... still landed on the teleporter. With the crystal. He disappeared after that.
"Doc?!" Engineer asked in disbelief for a moment. But at that same moment, his PDA began to beep and both ends of the teleporter exploded into scrap metal. "DOC!!!" _____________________________________________________
"Ehh.... Vhere am I?" Medic asked himself as he rubbed his head for a moment. He could of sworn he just saw what could be described as the streets of an old fashioned town, but that scene faded away in almost as much as time as it took for him to realize it was there. In his hands was the large glowing rock. He took a look around to realize he was in a room of sorts that could be described as a dining room, only thing it was, it was pretty much empty except for the table, and what he could assume was a device of sorts upon said table. But that really was not the important detail. What was the important thing was the dark blue alicorn standing at one side, and the tall one-eyed man who had several bags with him at the other who both looked at him with mixtures of surprise.
"Medic?" Slade asked with disbelief. "How did you get here?"
"Ehhh... vat... vere am I... Herr Vilson?" Medic asked with equal surprise as he looked back from the crystal to Luna and Slade. "How... vat?"
"Strange..." Luna said as she eyed him suspiciously. "I was supposed to meet with you afterwards... how did you get here? And besides... that crystal is only supposed to send you to Equestria..."
"Eh... eh... I don't know!" Medic said quickly. "Vait... did you say meet vith me?"
"Yes... I was supposed to. Equestria once again needs your help Doctor." Luna said. "Though... it's a good thing that both of you are here now that we can quicken things up."
"But wait... he doesn't even have any of his ge....gear?" Slade asked as his eyebrows both made odd shapes at the fact that Medic just pulled a Medi-gun right out of his pockets. Ummm... what?
"Good fing I alvays keep a few spares!" Medic chuckled happily. "But... I am ready. Ja."
The fact that he implied he had more on with him raised quite a few expressions of surprise from Slade and Luna. That aside however, it only made Luna's job easier.
"Very well than." The Princess of the night said as she took a look at Medic. "Before we get started, is there anything you would anything you expect to receive at the end of this?"
You can expect Medic's joy to find out he could just have easily replaced all his lost work... by defeating one of the world's most powerful terrorist organizations...
Without further ado however, Luna's horn lit up and they all disappeared in a flash. When they were done, the trio found themselves standing within Canterlot throne room which currently, since it was about 3:00 AM local time, was mostly deserted.
"So... where's sunbutt?" Slade asked as he laid down his bags. Being in a two-piece suit really wasn't ideal for getting into fights unless you happened to be a certain Frenchman.
"Not here as of now. There are the guestrooms which I recommend you all to stay down in."
Before Slade had even as much as a chance to state about 50 million reasons why staying in a castle full of magical ponies was a "NO WAY" for him, Luna was already done explaining.
Raynor wasn't here. That ship he had? It got sent back with him to his own world. So essentially... unless Slade REALLY wanted to spend the night in a tree like he did on this island one time for about two years, he was going to have to handle a bunch of rainbow colored ponies...
Lian Yu doesn't seem so bad right about now... Slade grumbled within his mind as he set his bags down on a table within the large room made just for a being of his relative size. To be fair, it was pretty comfortable... too comfortable. The bed? Felt like he was going to sink through it. The decorations? Reminded him of a dollhouse. Everything else? Exactly the way he HATED things.
Pushing aside the fact that he was now once again in his personal hell and thoroughly beginning to have second thoughts about this contract, the man opened the bags. The Deathstroke armor which he wore was set down upon the table as he got out of his two-piece and put on clothing that he didn't really care about before getting dressed and suited up. Even though he still hadn't a clue on who he was fighting... he decided, maybe now was a time to take a "stroll" through the woods.
No one happened to have noticed the large bipedal creature that moved amongst the rooftops as it made it's way quickly down the mountain and down to Ponyville. The Everfree forest... this would bring back many memories.
Armin... Raynor... that spaceship that they bunked down in, Steve.... and of course... that Zebra thing which he ended up knocking senseless after it's incoherent riddles and rhymes...
Rhymes and riddles... he hated those. Especially when they reminded him about someone he knew. The guy in the batsuit could probably relate.
"I am telling you Erica... it should not work! How on earth could it work?!" Gertrud Barkhorn (Or Trude, as her friends called her) stated for what seemed like the umpteenth time. One week... they've been having this conversation for an ENTIRE WEEK. How the heck was some big rock going to send them into a magical land of talking ponies? It was insane! It was stupid! It was...
"Possible!" Erica said again as they were having their rather childish argument. The blond girl had managed to coax Sanya into giving her the crystal to play around with in hopes that they could probably get to Equestria. No matter how much her bookworm of a twin, Ursula tinkered with it however, they never seemed to have gotten it to work, which was quite the letdown for anyone that believed Sanya's story. By anyone that believed Sanya's story, I mean everyone... except for Trude.
Barkhorn sighed. There really was no trying to reason with anyone now was there? Deciding now was a time to adjust her new uniform rather than continue this conversation. Erica had a matching one that she had received along with Trude's. To be honest... Barkhorn really liked this new uniform. Comfortable... looked aesthetically pleasing, and had an air of a soldiery feel to it. Exactly how the girl liked to feel.
Upon the table the pair sat at was a pair of MP40s and three MG42s. Being physically strong, even for a witch thanks to her ability, Trude could easily fire and operate two LMGS with just one hand each while packing along enough ammunition to get the job done. Erica, not having the same type of strength amplifying abilities, would be good with just one of the firearms, though she would keep a few sidearms just in case things get hairy... which speaking of which... an air raid siren began to go off... which was noticed by the two witches as they grabbed their weapons with Erica's hand just getting on her striker units when it happened.
What wasn't noticed, was the strange glow of the crystal... it only was when the bright light engulfed both of them, causing their current surroundings to fade and melt away as the two were consumed by the light.
You would think that the first thing to do after being engulfed in bright light during an air raid was things like check to see if you hadn't been blown up and gone to heaven/hell because you find yourself at a different place now... right?
For Erica... now would be the ideal time to rub it in to Trude.
"SEE! WHAT DID I SAY?! IT DOES WORK!!!" Erica said with a bit more energy than necessary. "ARIGHT!"
"What the hell... where are we?!" Barkhorn asked with disbelief and shock as she took a look around. They were a forest of some kind which clearly was not Folkestone, Britannia since... well... they were on the coast just a few moments ago. Now... it seemed like they were worlds apart to where they once were.
None of them would realize how literally that last statement could have been interpreted for a while.
"So... um... where are we again?" Erica asked after her initial hype...
"I thought you knew!" Barkhorn replied irritably.
"Hey at least we know the crystal works! Somewhat..." Erica said. "Though... I am not sure we're in Equestria... I mean... I am expecting some talking horses and... WHERE IS MY RAINBOW COLORED PONY?!"
Calm down... Barkhorn thought. If she was only this energetic about keeping her things clean then there'd be no such thing as problems between the pair. Taking a look around, Barkhorn carefully scrutinized her surroundings. Forest...
"You think you can find a way out?" Erica asked as she unslung the striker units. "If not... maybe I can find us a way out with a Birdseye's view?"
"That might be for the best." Barkhorn said as she took a look at the woods as Erica put on the Striker units over her legs and took off. She shouldn't be long. Taking the time, Barkhorn found a nice, large rock to it down on and to contemplate on what had just happened. So... if what Sanya had been saying was true... shouldn't there be a lot more talking horses? And magic... how did unicorn magic work again? Did it really work like Witch magic, or was it far more arcane? Sanya didn't mention much about it... she never really got the chance to see but from what Trude was told, after they had finished killing some dragon, Sanya was able to see her parents again through magic.
Does this means that she could see Chris again? She hoped she could... She wished nothing more than to see her sister again.
"Look... there!" The voice of a man whispered amongst the shadows as a group of men crouched within the foliage. They spied a lone girl in a grey uniform that resembled a SS uniform from the second world war... which in turn wouldn't look all too different from the gear a good portion of the members of HYDRA currently wore. Of course...there were still many distinctions that one could easily tell apart.
"I thought there weren't supposed to be any other people here!" One of the soldiers whispered. "What the hell is that then?"
"Another person?" A rather dense soldier suggested. Ignoring the rather dumb suggestion, another man pointed out something rather interesting. The uniform looked just like the one the SS used during the second world war... so did they go back in time? But from what the Skull had said... there weren't any humans in this world...
"What do we do?" Another soldier brought up.
"What do you think? No witnesses... human or not human." One of the soldiers said as he drew a long knife and slowly began to sneak up upon Trude who kept looking ahead as she was deep within her thoughts.
"My head hurts." Bucky commented as the two landed in what appeared to be a forest. Outskirts of the Everfree forest if Cap wasn't mistaken... the place that actually wasn't infested with mythical creatures and ACTUALLY resembled like an actual forest.
"Happens." Cap said nonchalantly as he walked by and pulled out his compass. "Okay... if I remember this place right... I think we should be going... that way!"
"Alright then. You lead, I follow." Bucky said as he took out his assault rifle. "Listen... we should be on guard. If HYDRA is here, than you know what that means."
"Like old times you can say." Steve said as he took out his pistol. Peering at the ground for a moment... "Hey Bucky.."
"Yeah what?"
"Look... that bush... undergrowth..."
"Prints... trampled... someone went this way." Bucky said.
"She's taking her time." Barkhorn grumbled to herself as she sat down. The pair of MGs that was slung over her back was evident to anyone who viewed her behind, which currently, constituted for a group of men that the witch was currently unaware of. "Maybe this forest is bigger than we thought... that'd be bad."
She continued on with her idle thoughts as she sat on the rock. So... Sanya's story must have been true after all. Why did she care though? It's not like she really was into things like rainbow colored unicorns to begin with. She had her duties as a witch and a soldier, but here she was, in the middle of nowhere in a place that by right shouldn't even exist! Good thing Sanya did mention there were ways of returning, or Barkhorn may have been in deep... though evidently, Erica clearly made it evident that she wouldn't mind being a place like this. Sighing to herself, the girl stood up for a moment to stretch her legs. That was when she heard the snap of the twig.
To the HYDRA soldiers that had been hiding within the foliage, everything seemed to have been in slow motion. The soldier sent to kill the lone target just had his cover blown as his target turned around, revealing the face of a young woman, maybe about eighteen, nineteen. Though... the look in her eyes... something about it...
Didn't matter. Their man rushed her with his knife drawn, blade poised to strike a fatal blow. Nobody could have seen what came next.
The girl moved fast before blocking the would be blow by catching her attacker's wrist, the knife wrenched out of his hand and dropped harmlessly to the ground. Many would have expected him to take a fist into the face, a few others would have expected him to be flipped over in the moments that followed.
She would do better than that. A strange, blue glow began to encompass her as a pair of canine-like ears literally popped out on the top of her head. The man who had his wrist grabbed by his would-be victim was having quite a hard time pulling away, she had an iron grip. His heart pounded against his chest as he began to panic, wanting nothing more than to be free of the tight grip which felt like it was shattering his wrist.
Be careful to what you wish for.
He was thrown. Literally just thrown several meters, maybe. The moment he hit the ground, he didn't get up. A careful observer would have noted that the sheer force of his flight had broken his neck... even if he hadn't landed on quite a few rocks.
"Holy... KILL HER!" A panicking soldier cried out as they pulled out their weapons. Vaporizer rifles, blades, or just anything that they could their hands on. But Barkhorn was already ready as she readied her MP40 and opened fire.
It was just an ordinary SMG. But when imbued with the powers of a witch, getting hit by a single one of these bullets was equal to being hit by a grenade launcher. The bullets blasted limbs off to anyone unfortunate enough to get hit, the rounds would instantly kill anyone that had been hit within any of the torso areas as 32 rounds of magically empowered bullets flew out of the SMG, leaving a trail of blood and mutilated bodies in it's wake and very few survivors. Anyone who was smart decided to run at this point. Anyone who was too scared, or to brave stupid decided to stay.
It did unnerve her that people were trying to kill her, but at this moment, the witch began to have what we would call a "fight or flight" response. Judging from how much lead she had pumped into the HYDRA soldiers and how she had killed a man by throwing him quite the distance, we could all assume which response she took. A large brilliant blue bolt flew by her as it struck a tree from behind her, turning the once mighty oak into a pile of dust. She tried firing her gun, only to her dismay, be met with the sound of a click. Regardless, she quickly drew her sidearm, an Astra 300, and began to fire the rounds, cutting down but three of the remaining soldiers who both drew long knives.
God damn... how were they getting their asses kicked by one person?! One person?!
"Those were gunshots!" Bucky announced as he listened to the sounds of a fight as he began sprinting in the general direction of where he heard the gunshots. Guns at the ready. "Quick, over here!"
Cap tried to say something, but would barely have time to have his lips move as Bucky took off. He would find that he would have quite some trouble catching with Bucky, even though his friend wore quite the heavy ballistic vest.
Meanwhile, amongst the tree tops, a shadowy assassin moved swiftly as his keen senses picked up the sounds of battle.
_______________________________________________
Bucky tore through the foliage and vegetation that blocked his way like how a wrecking ball tore down anything that got in it's way as he ran at speeds that his superhuman physiology allowed. His assault rifle in one hand, his bionic arm at the ready, he was ready. If HYDRA really was here, than he had a score to settle... and plenty of questions that needed to be answered. Finding the site of the battle, the man found a good hiding spot as he observed the fight.
There was quite the number of bodies. Maybe eight or nine, all of them looking as though they'd been hit by a low yield explosive weapon. Another body was several meters away from the fight, a good scrutiny would reveal the body had died from impact, the HYDRA soldier had died from a broken neck... though the dead guys weren't what interested Bucky. It was the people fighting.
Three... well... now two HYDRA soldiers, and a young woman in a grey SS jacket... well it LOOKED like a SS jacket, but it had quite a few differences. Namely missing the insignia and any signs of a swastika, though the iron cross was still prevalent on the collar... and... okay... why wasn't she wearing any pants?
He pushed that thought aside when he saw the mystery woman grab one of the HYDRA soldiers, and literally fling him several meters. The sounds of several bones snapping from his impact echoed throughout the forest.... well... that's one thing explained. The last man would go down with a hefty blow to the face that literally sent him flying, if he didn't have at least a few shattered ribs, Bucky's name was mud then.
Had this been any other person who just gave a beatdown to a bunch of HYDRA soldiers... Bucky may have been willing to be slightly more reasonable, slightly more amiable.. but the uniform. It was flat out offensive to him. Looked just like the ones the Nazis wore...
"Put the gun down miss." Bucky's voice shot like a bullet out of a barrel. The young woman spun around quickly, her gun aimed straight at his head.
"Who are you?!" She asked, her voice showing no signs of wanting to back down and holding a slight trace of a German accent.
"Put the gun down." Bucky said firmly. "I'll shoot."
"I'll shoot." Trude replied as she aimed her gun at him. It looked like he was wearing some kind of body armor, though that would hardly matter with a magic imbued bullet.
Time stood a standstill as both of them pulled their triggers while Barkhorn raised her shield. Without any amplification from a Striker unit, the shield was fairly weak at best, but it would save her from getting shot dead by the bullets. Her own aim however, wasn't as good as Bucky's as it hit a tree. The stout oak exploded as though it had been hit by a grenade.
Damn... that must be one helluva gun. Bucky thought. Though what surprised him more was the disk of ether that protected his would-be victim. And the fact that... she had canine ears... or maybe it was that she lacked pants. Or maybe all three.
If guns weren't going to work... than certainly he could do it the way he was going to enjoy it. With superhuman speeds, he rushed the young woman who hardly had time to react. His regular arm swinging a heavy blow at her gut. She would have enough time to react as she countered his blow.
That punch felt like being hit by a bullet as Barkhorn dodged aside to avoid being hit by the other arm. She had just the chance to take a look and see that it was... shiny? It would take a while for her to realize that it wasn't a real arm. Whoa...
Her awe really was pushed aside by the fact that she was being attacked by a man that possibly could be stronger than a witch... now that's something that wasn't very common. Striking back, she sent a heavy blow at Bucky, who dodged aside, her fist connecting with a tree which was turned into splinters by the blow. She felt his leg connect with her gut as she staggered back, the wave of pain shooting through her body. She retaliated by throwing a flurry of hits at his chest and gut area. He blocked them all, but the labored breathes he took indicated they hurt. Badly.
It was a good thing for Bucky that his opponent wasn't too well versed in hand to hand combat or he may have been in trouble. How this young woman hit like a bulldozer, he had no clue. All he knew was that he was going to win, regardless how strong this woman was as he swung his leg which sent her off balance. Her mouth opened to give a gasp of pain, and a few droplets of blood. She staggered back for a moment, her face an angry mask of rage as she drew out a long knife from her side. a Kampfmesser 42... he would have recognized that blade anywhere. His train of thought would however be temporarily broken as she swung quick blows at his face, each swing resounding with an angry swish.
It was going to be a bit ballsy, but he was willing to chance it. As the young woman poised herself to stab down, he waited for the blade to come down. The moment it did, his metal hand reached up, grabbing the blade and his attackers hand and kicking her to the ground, the knife left her grasp. Acting quickly, he grabbed his own knife and pinned her down with his metal arm, good thing he had one facet of strength over her as she squirmed and struggled but failed to break free. However, it wouldn't be that easy as when the knife came down, it his hand was caught by one of her hands. Positioning himself so that his knee and body weight kept her down, Bucky put all his might into the blade, but as both hands went up to stop him, he realized this was quite the difficult task.
Her eyes... burned of cold defiance. A refusal to lose this as Barkhorn fought her life. But she knew that whoever he was, whatever he was, he was stronger. Far stronger than she was as she felt her strength beginning to slip. Her opponent was as though he had just started.
She began to mouth words to herself. If this was the end... so be it. Her only regret was that she would be leaving Chris.
Fortunately for her and her younger sister, she wouldn't be.
The voice that called out stopped him from killing her.
"Bucky!"
Bucky stopped for a moment, but that was all Barkhorn needed to shove him away as she rose to her feet. She tried doing more, but a grappling gun wrapped itself around her, dragging her back.
"Easy now kiddo." A voice called. A man in a suit of armor that looked heavier than a medieval knight. From in front of her "Bucky" stopped for a moment to stand up as he looked at his companion. A man dressed in a costume that somewhat resembled the flag of Liberion (their version of America). The star... the colors...
"He tried to kill me!" Barkhorn cried out indignantly as she felt herself held back by someone who was perhaps, even stronger than Bucky.
"Steve! The goddamn uniform! She's a fricking kraut! What the hell man?!"
"Bucky.. .calm down. You really think HYDRA and her are one the same side?" Steve said as he tried to calm down Bucky. He took a careful scrutiny at Barkhorn for a moment before acknowledging the other man.
"Good to see you again Slade." Steve said. "You... think..."
"No doubt about it. She's a witch."
"And so what?! What do you people want?!" Barkhorn asked angrily as she broke free of Slade's grasp.
"I am sorry... we may have gotten off on the wrong foot." Steve said calmly... the same could definitely not be said for Bucky's attitude towards Barkhorn however. "My name is Steve Rogers... what's yours?"
"Gertrud. Gertrud Barkhorn."
That name sounded awfully familiar...
"Alright. Well this is James Barnes... he prefers being called Bucky." Steve said. "And that's Slade... or if you happen to be on his bad side, he's Deathstroke."
"Yep." Slade said. "Let's get a move on people. If it's anything like how we were last time, I reckon we got another man."
"Erica you mean?" Barkhorn suggested. The mere mention of the fact there may be two of them caused Bucky to cringe visibly. Though Steve hated the very sight of the uniform himself... he kept his emotions in check. Slade almost seemed to be paying no mind. "She went to look for a way out... she'll be back any moment now and..."
"Hey Tru... um..." The voice called out. "Who are these people?"
"Actually hold on for a second..." Steve began. "Why aren't you two wearing any pants?"
The fact that the new girl wore what could be described as a jetpack for your legs (except... it was a propeller pack) mattered to everyone except for Barkhorn (for obvious reasons) and Bucky who happened to be in a fit of silent rage that would have made the Hulk proud.
He glared at the two girls, his mind filled with a myriad of rage and confusion. The other guy, the man underneath what vaguely resembled a hockey mask seemed alright. They had been briefly introduced, and from what Steve said about this Slade... he was a skilled assassin and fighter, having met Steve just a month prior (or for Slade, two months prior). Having served in the US army in a war after the second world war ended, Bucky wouldn't have too much trouble liking this new guy, even after hearing he was a hired gun and an assassin. After all, isn't that the same thing a good portion of SHIELD agents were anyways? Like him and Steve, Slade was a living relic. 80 years old, having been born and living when the second world war happened, it was truly surprising to hear how Slade was in many ways, superior to the even the most skilled soldiers in existence in every shape and form. Perhaps even better than Bucky and Steve. Bucky would keep a mental note to test the latter. He was liking this guy.
Though... the same couldn't be said regarding Erica and Trude the moment he laid eyes on the uniforms... or maybe half the uniform since it lacked pants for whatever reason that he may or may have not wanted to know. They were speaking with Slade and Steve whatever they were talking about, Bucky didn't care. Thoughts of him stepping forward and snapping Trude's neck and then murdering Erica jangled through his mind as he tried to possibly comprehend why the hell, his best friend, Steve Rogers, Captain America, one of the men most devoted to stop the Nazi regime could POSSIBLY tolerate being within a five foot radius of anyone who wore those uniforms... those damn SS jackets. From in front of him, Trude shot him a quick glance. She was beautiful really, but it was her eyes that he only noticed. They were laden with hatred and anger as he saw that her hand hadn't left her gun this entire time. He smiled inwardly.
"What are you looking at?" He spat out venomously. The girl only looked back, refusing to answer, despite how badly Barkhorn wanted to lash out at him again.
"What's his problem?" Erica asked as she turned back to take a look at Bucky and then at Trude.
"Kinda hard not to be pissed off after getting into a fight don't you think?" Steve asked, doing his to ignore the uniform. Sure... it wasn't an SS uniform, it wasn't even a GERMAN uniform due to the fact that Germany didn't exist from where she came from. Neither did things like Nazis, HYDRA or Hitler, but even then, the memories were enough to stir up a small well of anger within him at the thought of things he saw back in the second world war. These two seemed alright though...
"Well... yes... it's probably not the best way to meet someone new." Erica said, her eyes hooded over as though she was half asleep. She yawned for a moment as though she'd been sleep deprived... Anyone who knew her well would know this was not the case. "So... by chance... your name isn't Steve Rogers now is it?"
"It is..." Steve said.
"Whoa... wait... so that must mean..." Erica turned back to face Slade. "You must be Slade Wilson."
"Yep."
"SO IT DOES EXIST! AND WE'RE HERE!" Erica shouted happily with enough energy that was slowly reminding Slade of a certain pink pony. "This is awesome!"
"And lemee guess... Sanya must have told you about us right?" Slade asked. The memories of the silver haired girl went back into his mind.
"You bet! She even had a picture! And Trude STILL didn't believe her! Though... who's that guy?" Erica asked. "I don't remember seeing him on the photo..."
"That's Bucky. He's an old friend of mine." Steve said.
"And hold on... apparently... you're almost 100 years old?" Erica continued.
"96 to be exact. Bucky is the same. And Slade's like 80 as of now."
"I never knew a bunch of old men could fight this well..." Erica smiled rather impudently.
"I could probably kick your ass any day of the week." Slade grumbled underneath his breath. It was only his hair that indicated his age, Steve and Bucky on the other hand, no one could even tell by looking at them.
"Yeah... cute kid. I didn't know they sent infants to fight in wars." Steve shot back. Barkhorn could have been described as a young woman... though the term "girl" would definitely be stuck on Erica. Even now, despite Sanya's explanation to him regarding that a witches' power manifested and stayed at a young age, it still didn't sit too well with him on the average age of most of humanity's "soldiers". Slade on the other hand, didn't seem to have a problem with it. Or at least... seemed not to have.
"Oh right... let's see you two old relics take on a Neuroi." Erica smiled sweetly. Truth be told... the man called Steve (who had a pretty awesome uniform) didn't look that old... hell.... he looked like he was in his early twenties! The same went for Slade, who's age only showed in his hair, giving him the appearance of a man who was in his late 30s to early 40s.
"I took out a plane once by jumping on it. I am certain with a bit of C4s I can take on your average alien invader any day of the week." Slade joked mirthlessly. He still had to jack Airforce 1 sometime within his very long lifespan if he intended to finish everything off his bucket list.
"Sanya said many things about you. Eila did too!" Erica continued. "Same for you Steve... though Eila never met you."
"Eila huh?" Steve grinned mischievously as he looked over to Slade.
"You say it, and I am going to beat you to death with your own shield." Slade growled. Most people would have probably pissed themselves at a threat along these lines, especially if it came from a guy nicknamed "Deathstroke". If you happened to be Captain America however, you took this with a grain of salt.
"Right." Steve grinned. "C'mon Eila. We got some work ahead of us."
"And what would that be?" Barkhorn asked as she caught up with the conversation and stopped glancing back at Bucky, who was busy giving her and Erica (who was blissfully oblivious) the deathglare.
"An old enemy of ours.." Steve said darkly as they went up the mountain to Canterlot.
"You get a lot of work done." Schmidt said approvingly as he stood on the top of a massive submarine that was easily the size of an aircraft carrier. Powered by stolen energy sources from Stark industries, it was surprisingly easy to keep such a large machine working and maintained at all times.
"Indeed we do. Indeed we do." Strucker replied as he stood at the top of the submarine with his commanding officer. At the heart of the underwater ship would be the necessary things required to harness the powers of the elements. Said elements would have yet to be acquired at the current moment and the device itself... had yet to be tested to whether or not it could withstand such power. Power that rivaled things like the tesseract, which HYDRA now lacked the luxury of access.
"So... when do you plan on acquiring these elements of Harmony, Herr Schmidt?" Strucker asked as the pair continued to look onwards at the Equestrian coast.
On the pilot's seat of the quinjet, was another man of American origins. A former agent of SHIELD and formerly of STRIKE. Following his last battle, the man had been burned badly by an explosion, though had managed to survive through perhaps a combination of luck and stunning display of human resilience. The wounds however, would leave his face marred for a long time, marred but not unrecognizable.
Though at this given time, that's exactly what he needed to be. Unrecognizable.
Rumlow grinned nastily underneath as the chopper sped to it's destination. Behind him, Reaper and the other detachment of HYDRA agents stood at the ready. Firearms, blades and vaporizer weapons all too revealing among the large crowd.
"Vat... how did you get in here?" Medic asked rhetorically as looked at the specimen within the jar of liquid. A certain bread-like organism with plenty of sharp teeth and tendrils...
The angry little self-aware beauty mark only hissed and attempted to chew it's way out of the glass containment jar, it absolutely HATED it's current handler.
"Alright you little fing... I am putting you on zis table and..."
Coo*
"Archimedes!" Medic cried out in surprise as the little bird began to peck at the glass jar, causing the bread organism to hiss angrily at the white dove, who in return, continued to pecked at the jar, as though wanting to eat the rather disgusting and very appetite-destroying creature within. This of course... the German doctor paid almost no mind to as he sat down to look at the book on the living beings that existed within Equestria. What he was looking for? Any creatures or plants with medicinal value. Taking out his pocket book, he carefully wrote down every last specimen, intent on not losing it AGAIN.
Elsewhere in Canterlot, the entire royal guard was on high alert for rather obvious reasons. Everywhere, the guardsponies patrolled vigilantly, ready for trouble. However... what no one truly knew was that their unknown enemy wasn't really interested in Canterlot. Rather... they would be interested in a tree down by the Everfree forest (which prudently, the royal sisters had also placed a guard detachment upon it, a DAMN big one as one could expect). As of now, they could only wait.
Nothing seemed out of place... until a strange flying machine began to hover across the skies. This would be spotted by no one however... until it would be too late.
To most of the royal guard and civilians within the main hall, it was just a normal day... that lasted for until there was a loud crashing noise that sent debris and rock everywhere, injuring several, killing a few. It was as though a dragon had once again burst it's way into Canterlot castle. Only this time, what had came barging straight in wasn't exactly a dragon, but was just as dangerous as several two-legged creatures jumped out of the wreckage of their flying machine. Humans, as some of the ponies would remember.
The gunfire and laser-fire that erupted from the mainhall would attract much attention as HYDRA's assault team came in, any pony that wasn't quick enough to leave at the first sign of trouble would either be filled with lead or vaporized.
"Like an army of children's toys!" Reaper or Eric Williams commented as his blade found it's way at a pony's throat, cleaving it's head straight off.
"Not a challenge whatsoever." Crossbones or as he was known, Brock Rumlow agreed as he fired his assault rifle straight at the largest crowd of ponies, the bodies dropping to the ground for every round he fired. A lone guardspony attempted to charge the man with a blade that was held with it's magic, only to be hit upside the head with a rifle-butt, sending him flying a couple feet. Another pony tried to do something similar, only instead, this one had wings and a Wonderbolts uniform instead of a horn, and rushed straight at him. Hooves at the ready to deliver a crushing blow. Crossbones would send this one.... SOARING!
There was the sound of an angry buzz and a strangled, gurgle of a scream.
Rumlow looked up as did Williams to see the HYDRA soldier, an arrow lodged right in his throat as a thick red liquid bubbled to his mouth. He fell down upon the ground, slowly, and painfully did he bleed to death as he choked upon his blood. Another soldier fell over, screaming in agony as another arrow... only it wasn't an arrow rather a huge oversized syringe lodged itself into his knee.
"What the hell.... OH SHI..."
Like an angry swish, the massive syringe that shot forwards was merely inches from taking his head off. Had it not been for some quick reaction times and perhaps, a hint of luck, Rumlow may have had his head taken off as the syringe imbedded itself in their crashed chopper, burying itself in the metal a good few inches.
"Get him!" Crossbones ordered as vaporizer shots and bullets began to fly into Medic's general direction. Reaper however, was already making his way up, moving at speeds that seemed almost impossible man of his age. Every arrow that Medic sent at him would seem to make it's mark, until at the last moment, the assassin just managed to get out of the way, closing the gap between him and the doctor, his blade-like arm raised over his head, ready to swing down upon the German doctor. It was barely just blocked by Medic's amputator as the doctor retreated, his foe, though older enhanced by bionics would make him far stronger and faster. Out of the corner of Medic's eye, he saw the HYDRA soldiers, planting charges at various places within the room. They intended to bring this place down.
Normally, being paid to stop them, he would have made every effort to put a saw through their spinal cords, only this time, he was occupied by this... thing.
Luckily for him, he wouldn't be occupied for two long. Reaper gave a small grunt, before almost comically, flying back. Slade's grappling gun had latched unto him. And now, there was the sound of metal hitting something, or rather someone, before Reaper came flying back and hitting the wall painfully. It was remarkable to how quickly he recovered though.
"Cap?! Remember me?!" Rumlow asked as he took off his mask, revealing his scarred and burnt face.
"Oh I sure as hell do." Steve growled as he fired a shot from his pistol. Though none of his shots would make their mark, it didn't matter as he rushed at the treacherous STRIKE agent, throwing a swing at him that would have shattered his skull had he not moved out of the way. Throwing a vicious punch at the Captain's gut, the man hardly seemed fazed as he aimed a kick at Rumlow, sending him sprawling several feet before he got up, blood trickling from his mouth.
"Didn't know how you managed to get him back! But it's not going to... ugh... matter!" Rumlow grinded with every syllable and every grunt of a blow landing on Cap and a blow landing on himself.
"He's my friend. And he's back on the right side now." Steve said as he hit Rumlow again, sending him staggering backwards.
"That hurt..." Rumlow taunted as he grabbed a broken piece of a metal pole, swinging it at the Captain who jumped back, evading every swipe.
"There's another one... look!" Erica pointed out towards the hole that the first chopper had made into the wall. "There's more actually!"
"We got company then." Barkhorn grumbled as she grabbed one of the MG42s, the MG spewing out a stream of bullets as it effortlessly shattered one of the chopper's into scrap metal, though the arrival of two more would give HYDRA another mob of reinforcements. She barely had time to raise her shield as a brilliant blue bolt came straight at her, the powers of the tesseract shattering the disk of ether she had erected and sending her right on her back. Groaning in pain, she heard a small humming sound, before having possibly the best feeling ever wash over her. Looking up, she saw the man dressed like a doctor, he was... healing her with some kind of arcane device.
"Thanks." Barkhorn said as she got up.
"Ja." The man replied, his accent far heavier than her's. "I am fully charged!"
"What does that mean?" Barkhorn asked. She wouldn't get a verbal answer as she soon saw her gun begin to glow. The moment she fired them however...
Imagine a machine gun that fired bullets with such power that it was like being hit by a grenade launcher. Now imagine something at three times that power. Anyone as much as caught near an impact would be killed outright through sheer blunt trauma. FROM A BULLET THAT DIDN'T EVEN HIT THEM.
"We got more of them!" Erica said again as she tossed the other MG42 to Barkhorn before grabbing her MP40.
"Thanks for saying!" Bucky called out sarcastically as he grabbed a HYDRA soldier, throwing him several meters with his bionic arm before sending out two bullets into the chest of another. Damn krauts...
"We're getting totally wiped here!" Rumlow called over the coms as he saw Reaper take a fist right to the face. Prudently, the bionic assassin retreated to where Crossbones was.
"Then let's get out of here." The man replied as he jumped out of the hole in the wall, landing straight on top of another waiting chopper. Rumlow followed. Grinning wickedly, the scarred man grabbed his detonator. And pressed the trigger.
"What's that?" Erica asked as she heard the beeping noise.
"Holy shi... CLEAR OUT!" Slade yelled at the top of his lungs as the room was consumed in a ball of fire.
Crossbones looked back at the castle. Looked just like something straight out of a fairy tale... save for the fact now it was in quite bad shape thanks to few well-placed charges. Grinning wickedly, he went on the radio.
"Crossbones to Red Skull... mission accomplished."
"Good job." Schmidt replied. Though... the question persisted.
"Ow..." Erica groaned as she got up from the explosion, shaking off bits of rubble and dust the same way a wet dog would shake itself to dry itself. She took a look around at the once magnificent hall of Canterlot castle, which was now a just an empty room, devoid of all the things that once made it grand, and now littered with dead bodies, rubble and parts, while being stained with things like blood. She took a look around, getting to see her first pony... which unfortunately, happened to be semi-conscious and groaning in pain. Painfully picking herself up, she went to look at the small horse, her eyes filled with sympathy for the creature's pitiful predicament. Elsewhere, Barkhorn got up from behind the upper floor, the stairs had partially collapsed, but that wouldn't stop the spry young woman as she leapt down to see Erica was okay, who was at the moment, intact.
Another groan would issue from within the room, and Captain America would rise from the rubble, digging his way out of a massive hunk of stone that no ordinary human could have ever hoped to lift, let alone lift almost effortlessly. Gasping for a moment, the Captain looked up around him. Trude was with Erica, Medic was huddled behind the balcony. Though he couldn't see Slade or Bucky, he knew the two would be okay, after all, who else would have the super-human durability of a brick wall?
"Everyone okay?" The Captain asked as he got up upon some rubble. EVERYONE was okay judging from the chorus of "yes" and "fine" that came back at him. But EVERY PONY was not. Seeing a member of the royal guard trapped, the Captain made every effort to get him out, his superhuman strength would allow him to do without as much as breaking sweat. Where Erica was, Medic made a point of healing the pony. Many would have though he was doing this out of the kindness of his heart... though many people would probably be rather wrong about that. He was merely testing to whether or not the Medi-gun would work on Equines, which at the current moment, from the Pony's rapidly healing wounds. It was working.
"Fine... just fine." Slade said as he leapt down from his former vantage point (and place to not get blown up) and landed right besides Cap. "Hey Barnes, you alright?"
"Fine." Bucky said as he tossed aside the corpse of a HYDRA soldier, his mask had been torn straight off, his face was the mask of fear of someone who had met a grisly end. Indeed, the massive stabbing wounds that were all over his body would be proof of Bucky's angry vengeance against the organization. "Damn... those two got away."
"We're all just lucky no one got hurt... too badly." Steve said as he looked over at everyone else. No ONE got hurt badly... didn't mean NOTHING didn't get hurt badly. Which sadly, was the case for several members of the royal guard, many of them were dead. There would be nothing anyone could do about it, not even the best doctor in existence...
"Good job my friends." The skull said as he sat down, facing away from the men he spot to and at the glass. Or rather, not the glass for on a submarine, that would have been VERY, VERY hazardous. Instead, it was what we may call "Transparent alumni". Three times stronger than steel and just as see-through as glass, it made for quite the good view... though it was doubtful a man called "Red Skull" cared too much about an undersea view. As of now, he was caring more about the damage Reaper and Crossbones had dealt to Canterlot castle. Why they did such a thing... both still had no clue. Of course, how could their less minds possibly comprehend?
"Eh... just a question sir." Rumlow said after Skull told him that he made it clear they weren't going to know about his master strategy. "You know how most of HYDRA is either German... or Japanese right?"
"Ja."
"So... why is everything written in English? And why are the controls of the Valkyrie written in English when you're the pilot?"
FLASHBACK TIME.
[1944. alps, HYDRA headquarters]
"Sir... why are these controls in English? Zola asked as he looked over the Valkyrie. "We are all German...
"Are you QUESTIONING my GENIUS INTELLECT doctor?! Skull replied indignantly.
"Well... no... but it doesn't make sense to why we're making EVERYTHING in English... like the city names on the bombs too!
"Do not question my genius!"
BACK TO THE PRESENT
"Dr. Zola was a brilliant scientist." Skull began rather quickly. "But he had his faults."
"Ah." Rumlow replied. "Things are easier for me at least sir. What next?"
"Wait. I'll tell you when ze time is gud." Skull said as he turned his chair around to face with Reaper and Crossbones. Speaking of which....
"There was nothing you could have done about it, Steve." Princess Celestia said as she saw Cap finish zipping the body bag. Something... something just pissed him off... maybe a little bit extra when you consider that HYDRA had just broken in Canterlot, killing everypony in sight with no reason, and no explanation. Perhaps... it was done just for that sake only. Just for killings sake. Whatever the cause, HYDRA wasn't about to get away from this.
That's how the Captain felt at least. Slade on the other hand was hardly paying attention as he sat by the ruined staircase, twiddling his thumbs. If anyone here knew the assassin as well as he knew himself, then they'd know that he was contemplating on exactly how to kill these HYDRA... whatever they are so he could finish this contract quickly. However... as the old saying went. Know your enemy as you know yourself and you would not have to fear the outcome of a hundred battles.
"So... Cap..." Slade began. "What exactly are we dealing with?"
"HYDRA." Bucky answered for him. "They were a Nazi organization that formed just before the war started." He stopped for a moment to both shoot Barkhorn and Hartmann a tentative look. Those uniforms... the accent... the weapons... all made him sick to his stomach. "Anyways... they started as an SS research team, but apparently even after the fall of Germany, they're still here and around."
"Yeah... sounds about right." Steve said as took a look at Medic who was busy fiddling with a vaporizer rifle which had also cut Bucky's eye. His distaste was clear as day.
"Relax... he may be crazy and German, but I doubt he's one of your HYDRA... or whatever they're." Slade said reassuringly. "Hell... he wasn't even one of... well... them."
Somewhat reassuring, but still didn't make Bucky feel too much easier as he looked back over to Trude and Erica who were conversing in Karls (German). Arguing apparently.
"What are they talking about?" Steve asked Medic as he paid attention to their conversation.
"Apparently... vell... one of zem must have lost a bet. It zeems as though that ze bet was regarding vhether or not Equestria had existed." Medic grinned. "I take it that Aleksandra must have told her friends about zis..."
"I am surprised people actually believed her." Slade said.
"I am surprised people DIDN'T believe her. Aren't they all witches and stuff?" Steve asked.
"Witches?" Bucky asked with disbelief.
"Yeah... you saw the canine ears right? It's called a familiar... something about help with magic." Steve said as he tried to remember the things Sanya told him. "Eh... fill me in Slade."
"They're also superhuman too." Slade continued. "Enhanced strength, ability to create a shield of magic, imbue their magic with their weapons and also an additional ability. Sanya's was to hear extremely long distances as well as radio waves. I think that one..." He stopped to point at Barkhorn. "That one's is extra enhanced strength."
"How do you know?" Bucky asked.
"Sanya was pretty damn strong for some her size. But she couldn't flip a man over so fast it sent him flying and broke his neck." Slade grinned. "I miss that kid."
"I still don't see why we're working with a bunch of krauts. What... did Germany run out of men to fight their war?"
"They aren't Nazis." Steve continued. "Apparently Adolf never even existed."
"Well... that's good."
"Not really. Instead of Krauts and Japs, you get aliens."
"Well...."
"And apparently, witches, AKA girls with magical powers ranging from 12 to 20 are the only VIABLE methods of dealing with them."
"That's pretty messed up..."
"It is... and lemee guess... even after me telling you four times, you only start believing me now..."
"Yeah... I thought I wasn't the only one that wasn't right in the head..." Bucky sniggered as he took a last look at the pair who had stopped bickering. The uniforms though... it was making him sick. It felt offensive, it looked offensive, and it pissed him off. A World War II veteran who had given his life for freedom... it pissed him off. Sure... they weren't sieg heiling or goose stepping... it didn't matter.
"Celestia... what do we do now?" Steve asked the Princess of the sun as he took a look at the destruction and carnage HYDRA caused for one last time.
"Do whatever is necessary. I am going to be pulling troops back to Canterlot however to defend it better."
"Just saying Princess... I think your warhorses aren't exactly ideal for defending anything..." Slade said as he looked over at the guards. They had discipline... as well as the battle skills of a girl scout troop and the tactical competence of a trained monkey. ALL OF THEM COMBINED that is. Of course, the mercenary said this out loud. And repeated it to the face of the guard commander.
"Then would you like to change that?" Celestia asked Slade with a smile.
"If you insist." The mercenary said with a wider smile. "Get me all of them down to whatever training grounds you have, and I'll give you REAL stallions."
"What's his deal?" Erica asked as she finished her argument with Trude.
"Nothing. Just that the words "royal guard" is about to be same as with "punching bag"." Steve chuckled.
"Well... okay." Erica yawned. "I am tired."
"Maybe you should check out Ponyville... I am certain you can have a place to stay. We have to clean this mess up anyways." Celestia said as she took a look around and sighed before turning to Steve.
"You got it." Captain America replied. "Come on guys... I think we got a couple of peop, I mean ponies who might be happy to see us."
"Oh no.. you are not..."
"I am Slade... I am..." Steve chuckled. He was going to go on.. until a pink blur popped out of nowhere and literally jumped on him.
"OHMYGOSH... YOU ARE BACK! THIS...IS... AWESOME! HEY... YOU TOO!" Pinkie said as she looked at Slade, who was currently confused on how the pink horse had violated quite a few laws of logic. Before he could as much as react... she had jumped on him.
"Good to see you again Twilight... and... is that....?" Captain America began to say or rather, tried to say something... except he was merely lost for words at the new (and rather, pretty flamboyant) building within the outskirts of Ponyville that looked JUST A LITTLE out of place for some "rural" and "backwater" community.
"The new home of Princess Twilight Sparkle!" Spike announced proudly to Cap who was busy looking at the thing. Probably behind the Heli-carrier... this would be the second most AWESOME thing he'd seen in quite the while... though he had to admit it. It did look a BIT overdone. Crystals?! Really?! Maybe you should move up north if you really want to look like you fit in place.
Of course... he was a soldier, not a fashion commenter. Besides, that was the job of one of the local resident's anyways. Looking at everyone else... Bucky was still having a hard time comprehending everything that was going on, not big surprise there. Medic was just being Medic... fairly uninterested in the building or the glamor of it, rather, at the material. Slade of course... didn't give a damn. Erica was drooling... and Trude was somewhere along the lines of Bucky's reaction.
"This is awesome!" Erica commented, practically jumping up and done. Jeez... this kid.
"Calm down kid." Slade cut in curtly. He considered using some of the sleeping gas on this one...
"You wouldn't want her to." Trude whispered. After all, this man wouldn't have a clue to how hard it was to drag Erica out of bed early in the morning. Her attention diverted for a moment back to the... how was she going to describe this? Tower of crystal... that was just in front of them. If she was going to be perfectly honest with herself... than this thing was actually pretty darn amazing... and here Trude was... believing that Sanya had somehow made all of what she said up!
And... there was Erica's voice in the back of her head...
"Okay. So good news or bad news everyone?" Twilight asked as she faced the six humans standing in front of her.
"Give us the good news Sparkler." Slade grinned, his smile spreading wider with Twilight's clear sign of irritation.
"Okay... good news it is then." Twilight said with an indignant huff. "You guys can stay here... there's enough space."
"That's nice..." Erica said as her eyes lit up with a smile. "But... what's the bad news?"
"You have to share the basement... all of you."
Ummmmmmmmmm.................
"On the bright side again though, the basement is actually pretty big. I do store a lot of old books down there though." Twilight continued. By "old books" she meant the ones that didn't go up in flames with that whole Tirek thing. Which in turn meant that basement would be quite spacy which was good when you have to accommodate about six different people. Of course... there weren't exactly no concerns on the whole matter despite the apparent space.
He would keep it between himself and Steve... but sharing a room with a crazy german doctor... and two girls in SS uniforms wasn't going to sit well with him. Though Steve would have similar qualms to the whole "SS getups" thing he kept it to himself. Since Nazi Germany didn't exist, he probably wouldn't have any problems with them... probably... though Bucky... taking one look at the way Bucky cringed and then took a tentative glance at both Erica and Trude probably showed exactly how he was thinking about this whole thing. Slade? Slade didn't give a damn if the way he reacted gave any indication. Neither did Erica or Medic for that matter. Though... Trude clearly had a problem... no one would be able to tell what it was. For now.
"Well... I guess since that's all said and done, if you have belongings... put them downstairs. Just... try not to blow the place up... okay Medic?"
"Ja...ja..." Medic said. After explaining his story to Twilight... let's just say the lavender alicorn was a bit more hesitant on renting out a room to this clown. Opening the door, the doctor was the first man down.. and somehow producing all of his belongings from his pockets, which included four various medi-guns, a jar containing a bread monster, at least a dozen various types of saws and syringe guns, a crossbow, and some other things. The doctor was good.
How he managed to store these things in his POCKETS was a mystery to just about anyone. Of course... wait till anyone listened to how Heavy carried a minigun in HIS pockets.
"Bed's too soft." Slade grumbled as he placed his mask down on one of them. "A bit too small too."
"Well... they're like four feet tall tops." Bucky said as he watched Erica practically jump on one of them as though it was a swimming pool full of greenbacks. When four of the six people here were over six feet tall... it was going to be a problem for them. For the two people not over this height... lucky dogs...
"I like this!" Erica said, being the only one who's bed was actually larger than her. "It's perfect!"
"That's cause you're like five feet." Steve grumbled as he felt his bed. "Damn... feels like sleeping on water."
"Too soft." Bucky agreed. "Too small too..."
"That's the price for being over 6 feet." Slade joked mirthlessly.
"How are you so tall anyways?" Erica asked as she sized herself up with Slade. Standing at roughly five feet opposing to the assassin who was well about 6' 5''. It was like a bear comparing itself to a squirrel.
"He's American." Bucky answered as he sized himself up with the mercenary who stood a good inch over him.
"Indeed I am." Slade grinned. "I believe that's Liberian if we were from where you came from."
"LIBERION." Erica corrected. "Though how does a relic like yourself still manage to fight?"
"Because I am a war experiment of the Korean war... which you have no idea what that it is but that's okay. Being a war experiment... I get things like enhanced strength... enhanced senses... enhanced everything as well as an extended lifespan. The same goes for those two over there." Slade gestured towards Bucky and Cap. "Those two? They're about a hundred. Still got to turn 81."
"So... your country ran out of boys to fight with?" Erica teased, rather blissfully oblivious to Bucky's hidden desire of wanting to strangle her. "Besides... old men can't fight now can they?"
"I can kick your ass any day of the week with both hands tied behind my back." Bucky spat out. "Want to see?"
"Easy there tiger..." Erica chuckled. "Just a joke... no need to get upset."
Something tells me he's not upset about the joke.. Barkhorn thought as she saw Bucky "calm down". It did unease her however... that one... Bucky...
She never met a man stronger than a witch. And not just any witch... HER! Her power allowed her to boost her strength and endurance beyond the capabilities of any regular witch.... and yet... he was stronger. Maybe in just one arm... and even then... without enhancing or amplifying her strength with the use of a Striker unit... she wasn't exactly fighting at her full potential. Regardless, it was impressive how an "ordinary" man was stronger than a witch.
It would take time to realize he was far from ordinary. Though what she realized immediately was that the other two, Steve and Slade were both just like one another. "Super soldiers" they referred to themselves. Being able to bend steel with bare hands, take bullets or knives straight to the chest and walk out alright, and support a few tons with their bodies.
Heh... what the militaries of their world would have given for men like them. She took a look at Medic who was busy fiddling with some foreign device. Best doctor he ever met, Steve had described him. Though with quite a few screws loose. She looked back at Bucky and Slade who were placing several boxes upon a table he propped up.
"Customized eh?" Slade looked with approval as he looked at the sniper rifle. "Looks neat."
"It is. Magnetic mines, regular proximity mines, assault rifles, SMGS, LMGS, you name it. Quite the armory you got."
"Same for you pal." Slade continued as he looked at Bucky's grenade launcher. "Why carry all this with you huh? Planning on starting another world war?"
"Funny... I can describe you the same way. One assassin to another?"
"One assassin to another." Slade said pouring himself and Bucky a small glass of hard liquor. He always kept a canteen in case he needed a drink.
"Cheers." Slade said. "You want some Steve?"
"Sure."
"Death to HYDRA." Bucky said as a memory began to pop up in his mind. The one who had done this to him... Baron... Baron... wolf... Baron... wolf... what was his name?
The trio drank.
"Wolfgang Von Strucker" The man said as he entered the room containing a large and arcane device. "So... sir... I assume this can harness the power we need?
"It will but it's missing something." Schmidt said as he took a look. Off to the side there was a... a um... chair?
Looked kind of like a medical device... though if you knew the Red Skull well enough, you probably wouldn't take any medicine he gave to you.
"And what would that be?"
"Though I haven't come this far for safety. Raw energy like this will be the death of all of us. I need a means to make sure this doesn't happen. Magic, the raw power of it is quite unstable. However... I thought of a way to... stabilize it. Our men are retrieving just the means to do so now.
He looked over to the portal that had been opened to the room. His men would be arriving shortly.
"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.
If Schmidt was to have been completely honest with himself, he wasn't exactly sure whether or not this thing that HYDRA had ended up making would have even worked in terms of stablizing raw magic energy. The powers of the tesseract when used by HYDRA even when dubbed "safe" was still dangerous enough to the point that no one in the right mind would have as much as a tiny fragment of it would send anything that wasn't nailed down in at least a ten foot radius flying. So... when dealing with an alternate power source, the Red Skull wasn't exactly too keen on coming THIS FAR for things like safety, but he wasn't too interested in getting vaporized either. So... he obviously would have needed a safety net. In short... a little field test if you could call it that.
As every volatile compound would have it's own stablizer, his stabilizer was currently in a cage besides the machine. A rather large (in terms of the subject's size) operating chair was placed besides the device, where if one would look at the center, was a piece made for specifically containing the six elements of Harmony. As of now however, a mundane gem from a certain city made of crystal was placed in. Though it's magical abilties would be mere pittance compared to the power of some of the most powerful magical artifacts in existence, it would perhaps be good for a test.
Rumlow took a look at what would be the stabilizing agent of the raw power that HYDRA was about to harness. Or rather... it would be more accurate to say this was going to be their source of the means to allow them to use raw magic to power their means of conquest without having anything backfiring upon them. Like how a windmill refined wheat, this... thing would allow them to refine magical energies, granting them the ability to create a vaporizer rifle without blowing themselves up in the process.
Maybe... maybe... he felt somewhat bad for it. IT would have to be alive during the process of which they were harnessing the powers of magic... and mind you, this process was probably going to be very painful. Especially when it required the subject to be donating a portion of their blood flow every time to the device. He took another look at the subject, how Schmidt and Strucker referred to her as an "it".
It... was a her. A small girl, perhaps no more than 9 or 10. She was only semi-concious at the moment which was good when they strapped her in, unknowing what was going on. At her wrist was a patient wristband that read the name:
"Christiane Barkhorn"
Rumlow took a good look at the patient again as he made his way down... she looked familiar... only he had no clue to where to place her. He didn't remember too much about meeting anyone that looked like her or could have been any relation. Whatever...
He made his way down as the men finished strapping her in, though one could easily debate to whether or not that was neccessary since it hardly looked as though their specimen would make any resistance. Two large needles pierced her wrists as they sat her down, the red liquid began to flow.
"So... what's this all for?" The scarred man asked as Strucker grinned nastily at the procedure while Schmidt sat back, not really caring too much on all that was going on save for the fact they were getting their job done.
"Raw magic is quite unstable." Strucker began as the crystal was placed in. "So... we do need something to stablize it. Luckily for us... we found just the thing."
"A little girl?"
"Not just any kinder..." Strucker began. "She is... a vat do I call it... a fledging vitch... if I may... one who has not yet discovered her power... but still has the potential to be of use to us."
"So... she is a witch?" Rumblow asked with disbelief. "As in..."
"Ja." Strucker cut him off, knowing perfectly well what he was going to say. "You see... getting a vitch who has manifested her powers already vould be rather difficult. Ze kinder have a tendency of being several times stronger than most men... so... we picked one zat hadn't found it's powers yet. Right here."
"So... why did you have to go all the way to some alternate universe to get a witch?"
"Zey don't exist in our vorld Herr Rumlow. Only in a certain one under assualt by fierce aliens. It's a paticular vorld." Strucker said as Schmidt made his way over. "Mein Herr... Warum gehst du nicht zu erklären?"
"Imagine a place where ze Führer never made his place among Europe. Where foreign creatures try to take the earth as their own. The only defense against such a fierce threat are young girls with magical powers. Zeir are SOME... males, only a few. But zat doesn't matter. Vat matters is zat vith zis vitch... ve vill have ze power zat HYDRA needs to launch a campagin beyond mortal comprehension. I could expect however... zat not everyone vill be receiving HYDRA's advance poorly... suppose... a vorld zat is in need of some new advances could surely take us well? Like zis one? Or another vorld under assualt by vicious giants? Ve... have ze means to rule all now.... but of course, if zis verk. Doctor... begin ze test."
The test begun as the lever was pulled. The blood that had been drawn soon mixed with what could be described as an ether or energy contained with a special kind of transparent container. They would have plenty of blood left over for perhaps hundreds of more crystals, and as of now, they had only drawn perhaps... a few tea spoons worth of the liquid from their hapless victim.
The Red Skull grinned wickedly as he held up the finished product. A blue glow issued from the device he held, like the core of a vaporizer rifle. The scientists and doctors looked over at what they got. A large bag of crystals was soon brought in.
"Don't exhaust our patient just yet... save zat for ze elements." Schmidt ordered as held up the finished product. They could make more vaporizer weapons now... and with those weapons, they would weild the power of the gods themselves.
"Okay... okay..." Trude huffed as she wiped sweat from her brow and took a greedy gulp of water. With a scowl, she said the words. "You win. You win."
"Beaten by an old man huh?" Steve chuckled as he sat down by the grass, not a single bead of sweat coming off his head. "You're not bad kid. Better than that guy I run with every morning."
"You lapped me like eighteen times."
"Well... I lap him like thirty times." Steve chuckled. "Again kid you're not bad... but can I ask a question."
"Sure." Barkhorn replied.
"Why don't you wear any pants?" Steve asked. Granted... it's not like he was getting distracted or anything... though someone one of these days is going to get the wrong idea.
"Remember that device that Erica was wearing when we all first met?"
"Yeah. A striker unit..."
"Witches have to go pantless to operate it, or it doesn't work properly. To keep everyone at least SOMEWHAT prepared, everyone tends to wear shorter pants. Though... I suppose where you are from, the women wear longer pants?"
"Yes... and that when we first met, Sanya also wore a skirt... and stockings... so you and Erica both running around without anything... well... down there was a bit... odd..." Steve said. Don't get him wrong... he wasn't in the least bit interested in women who were at least 80 years younger than he was and neither was anyone he knew of... though Bucky had taken it a bit of the wrong way. Something about "prancing showgirls" he had described them. Speaking of Bucky... guess who was coming right here?
You can tell by Barkhorn's reaction that she wasn't liking it too much. Though Bucky's expression would never say it, the sight of a young woman in a SS uniform AND being pantless was enough for the normally calm guy to want to go break something. This usually would have been said person that had incured his wrath had it not been the fact that said person by default would put up one hell of a fight.
Tough witch. Bucky thought to himself as he looked at Trude, the canine ears hanging out from the top of her head would make this statement take on a whole new meaning.
"Hey Bucky." Steve smiled at his friend who smiled back, doing his best not to look at Barkhorn, Barkhorn's uniform, or the fact she was pretty much in her underpants.
"Whatcha up to."
"Just had a footrace." Steve said as he looked around at the multi-colored horses on the track which were intently gazing at the strange new creatures in town. (Well... not really new... but the strange creatures that are back now!). A few were snapping photos, few others had hushed conversations and a certain mint colored unicorn was busy drooling any muttering something about hands.
"What's running gonna do to help?" Bucky began. "Shouldn't we begin practicing on how we're going to knock Skull and his goose steppers into tooth paste?"
"Of course..." Steve began. "You using that arm of yours?"
"What... you expect me to fight with one arm?"
"Okay... I'll grab my shield." Steve said as he gingerly walked away, before throwing a good hard stare at Trude and Bucky's back. Bucky however, was too busy looking at Trude.
She was rather beautiful that one... from the way she hung her hair, to the way her face was...
Why was he thinking this now?
Turning those thoughts out of his head, the man looked at Barkhorn who stared back. His cold blue eyes met her brownish ones, two hazel gems set within the mask of a goddess.
That damn uniform made him want to break something...
The two made eye contact each other once again as Bucky mentally imagined himself strangling the young woman while Barkhorn to had similar thoughts. Though he stood over a full foot taller than her, it would hardly be disuading in the slightest as she recalled their encounter in the forest, and his little comment that he thought she hadn't heard.
"Prancing showgirl." Barkhorn muttered underneath her breath.
"What was that now?!" Bucky asked, he wanted nothing more than to punch her. She deserved it. The goddamn uniform, the way she spoke. Some young girl playing soldier? What? Did Germany or whatever they call it run out of MEN to fight with? Or was she one of those overly fanatical types.
Didn't matter. He just wanted to...
"Prancing showgirl." She spat out. "You think I didn't hear you?"
"Right... right..." Bucky began. "What... you some kind of comfort battatlion for the men? Or did your country run out of ACTUAL soldiers?!"
"I am a soldier." Barkhorn replied, her voice dripping with pride. "And I don't think any man or woman can say otherwise. What are you then? Your country ran out of able-men so they sent a man in with one arm?"
"The US has endured. Endured against everhy threat imaginable as well as goose steppers like yourself." Bucky replied. "You're a soldier kid? That's a joke. You know what you are? You're just a tool that the goverment uses. You think you are a soldier? You know what being a soldier means? You have a thankless job. No one knows who you are, but yet you must fight, fight for freedom, fight for what is right, and fight oppression. Do you do that kid? No... I know that you sit back at home, pampered with your friends and hiding behind the gifts of magic. Have you ever seen a friend die in your arms? Have you ever received a de-stabalizing injury? Have you had to hold a dear one in your arms, comforting them as they slowly whitered away while you did your best to try and let them at peace? You're not a soldier. Just a pretender with an outfit and a bad attitude."
Funny... Barkhorn received all of these at one point... her family... Chris... getting shot at one point by a LASER... it pissed her off.
Enough for her to throw a punch right at Bucky's face.
Even without any form of magical amplifiers, Barkhorn was already marginally stronger than Bucky, the strength of his cybernetic arm surpassing the witch just by a little bit. With them... especially with the one's that Twilight had made, she was probably strong enough to pick up a grind tank armor into dust with her bare fists. As much as she would have loved to do the same to Bucky... she couldn't help but hold back as she threw her punch, the force of the blow sending the man back several yards. Any lesser man would have had his neck snapped or a fracture in the skull from sheer force.
A super-soldier made by one of the world's most brilliant scientists? Nah. He just got up as though he'd been hit in the head with a dodgeball. Wiping blood from his mouth, Bucky sized up with the young woman. Standing over her by one whole foot, and having years of experience as an expert assassin and a soldier, he could easily offset Barkhorn's superior strength with mere experience. Besides... basics hand to hand training in 1939 in a world where people didn't even fight each other certainly wasn't the same of having the several advanced fighting techniques being literally shoved into your brains from a world where humans blew each other up on a daily basis.
But something told him... that this little kraut right here was holding back. Really... her height was literally the most unimpressive thing about her when she stood a WHOLE foot beneath him. That aside however, she was holding back. If she hadn't been... then wouldn't Bucky be probably lacking a face right now?
Deciding to himself, he would hold back too. You never strike a lady in the face... but the same can't be said for anything about the jawline. The vicious uppercut he swung with his regular almost knocked Barkhorn's shoes off as she staggered backwards, surprised she still had all of her teeth. A kick right into her gut sent her on to her knees as Bucky readied himself a last time, a blow to the top of the head that would send her into a rather unpleasant snooze. To be honest with himself... when his arm was caught, he really had this one coming.
For some reason, it felt awfully familiar as he found himself smashed against the ground, then the other ground, then the other as he was swung back and forth, leaving imprints within the grass. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt like hell as he thought it would. The grass almost felt soothing to an extent, until he realized he was being slapped against it like a bug on a windshield. Stretching out his mechanical arm, he stopped himself from face planting into the grass once again. From the leg that Barkhorn had grabbed, he swung her right onto the ground, leaving her facing upwards to the sky as her back hit the ground. She gave a small gasp of surprise as she struggled to recover and rise, only to be pinned down by Bucky by the neck. Knowing that his opponent was far stronger than he was, but definitely not more durable, he wrapped his hand around her neck, cutting off airflow and hoping that it would cause her to lose consciousness.
It was a small distance. Not enough to gain much force, but it was all that was necessary when all things considered, she still hit like a train. She had aimed for his gut... though maybe her fist swung a WEE bit low as it struck Bucky right in his weak point, causing him to cry out audibly in pain. It got the opposite effect of what Barkhorn had actually wanted however, as now Bucky's entire body was now right on top of her, about to smother her as his face went dangerously close to hers, the two almost as though they would lock their heads together. She hadn't exactly noticed it, but cunningly, and even with a pain no mortal could possibly bear, Bucky had actually removed both of her gloves. The first time when he was busy choking her, the second time when he took a fist straight down below. Somehow... he felt as though he still might be having kids despite what most men would have believed if they saw what had happened.
"Eh... guys... what are you doing?" Steve asked as he looked at the two. It was just then when Bucky realized how... badly positioned he as he realized the way he was on top of Trude. The fact that his head had dipped downwards almost gave the appearance to Steve the two had been making out. And if Barkhorn had been slightly taller, or if Bucky had been slightly shorter, than he might have also been thinking of other things that didn't just involve kissing.
He had been pissed just a few moments ago, and chances are, so had Trude been. But as of now, he took one look at the young woman to see the blood flushed straight to her face as she scowled at him, trying to push him off, which was a lot harder now when he not only weighed more than your average human, but that Trude wasn't exactly strong enough anymore to turn him into toothpaste with her bare hands now that she lacked the gloves.
He scowled back. The uniform... the uniform... which did a poor job of covering her rather hefty assets that had been brushing against him the whole ti...
Why was he thinking about this...?
Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he got up, his weak spots aflame with pain as he tried not to bend over in pain, which inevitably happened. Steve could only watch in confusion, haven't not been around to see the whole thing.
Though every other pony had....
"And that's how magic works!" Twilight said as she stopped her lecture. She took a look back at Erica who was currently slumped over in her chair, snoring gently.
"Gah...." Twilight thought to herself as she looked at the sleeping witch.
"I tink you a bit too boring frau Sparkle." Medic said as he looked over at Erica. "You know... giving lectures in such a vay... zere's no vay you could have made anyone vant to listen!"
"You got a better way of getting people to listen?!" Twilight asked as she recalled the whole thing with Rainbow Dash. Of course... learning about unicorn (or in her case, alicorn) magic wasn't too important since she wouldn't be using it... EVER but still... was it at least not an interesting subject? That SHE had even insisted on hearing upon?!
Boy... Twilight thought. She must have been the most boring pony on earth to have sent someone off to sleep this quickly! But that aside, she nudged Erica a bit to try and wake her.
"Fifty more minutes... Mom..." Erica mumbled in her dream-like state as she yawned rather loudly.
This one must have slept more than Rainbow Dash....
"Slade? You're here too?" Steve asked as the merc showed his face around the track, by now, whatever attention that they had gotten was now beginning to dissipating, everything reaching it's climax when the scuffle between Bucky and Trude broke out.
"Heard you all were having a party, and I wasn't invited." Slade said with a tone of mock injury. "Okay now... I always wanted a rematch Cap."
"If I remember last time... I won."
"Not how I remembered it. Besides... I was holding back."
"Funny... so was I." Slade said as he looked at Steve's shield. Dressed in his full suit of armor, along with the mask, the man looked dressed to kill, which was exactly the point if he actually wanted to look the part. Ballistic staff? Check. Swords? Check. Guns? Check. Other gadgets? Check.
"Then... no holding back?"
"No holding back." Slade said as he took out his staff. "Let's start.. .and hey kid... I was watching your fight."
"What about it?" Barkhorn asked. She looked back at Bucky with an expression that couldn't exactly be described with words. Hate? Respect? A new found liking? Regret? Annoyance? Every possible emotion in the human capacity.
"You really never fought once in your life have you?" Slade asked.
"What do you know about it?!" Barkhorn snapped, a bit angry that some old guy was belittling her abilities. She was a WITCH for crying out loud.
"I've been doing my job for about 65 years... and I've been fighting before I was even considered a man." Slade said as he took out his staff. "Watch how a master does it."
"Yes... watch how I am going to kick his ass." Cap said with a grin.
Bucky and Trude just watched... somehow even after attempting to smash his face in just a moment ago, Trude wasn't exactly TOO upset with being awfully close to him. He was a rather good looking fellow... maybe if only his personality matched his looks then he might be quite a great guy...
"Damn Steve... he totally kicked your ass this time." Bucky smiled as he helped his friend up. Even given the hefty beating he had taken, a guy who was 6' 4'' didn't really need anyone to help him, especially when said guy also had regeneration powers that allowed him to shrug off gunshots. Though at this moment, Captain America was wondering what was worse, getting hit by Slade when he was trying, or getting shot. Slade of course, was thinking of the same thing, only difference was that he got to experience this a lot less than Steve had. A steel chest-plate and layers of Kevlar would do well against knives and bullets, but when faced against a guy who hit so hard that it would leave dents in cement walls, it would hurt like hell if he took any hits. He had managed to do well with his countering to Steve's moves, but a few marks of where he had been careless would be there for all to see until Slade took the time to fix it. Wiping blood from his face, he looked at Steve, who currently had his face messed up so badly, it was partially unrecognizable.
"You've been practicing?"
"Hell no... didn't try last time." Slade said as he recalled quite the hefty beating he received. This time, with all his equipment and 65 years of combat experience unleashed, it was amazing how the Captain had actually managed to give him quite the good fight, despite his relatively minimal experience when compared to Slade's.
"Right... right..." Steve said as he got up and placed his foot on his shield, sending it right up to his hands. Slade's hands still shook from hitting the shield with his staff a bit too hard. It felt as though that there were teeth within his fingers that were chattering non-stop. He looked over at Bucky and Trude.
"Don't think we're done here. It'll take an hour before everything is gone... right Captain?"
"Yeah." Steve said as he glanced at his rapidly healing injuries. "I still gotta try Trude on for size."
"You beat me in a race Rogers... you won't beat me in a fist fight." Trude said rather confidently as she put her gloves on. The canine ears manifesting the moment she did.
"Don't sound so sure about that kid... just because you could probably turn him into glue by punching him doesn't mean you'll actually hit him." Slade said as he sat down on a rock before taking off his gloves, his knuckles had been busted and were beginning to heal. That shield... reminded him of Nth metal. "Besides... why don't you try hitting his shield? See how much you like that."
She did hit it... and boy... it was hilarious. As though she had ran into a giant slingshot, Trude went sailing back quite a few meters, about as far as she could have thrown Steve actually.
"Does using your magic also give you the brains of a dog too?" Slade quipped sarcastically, having not actually expected for Barkhorn to ACTUALLY punch Steve's shield. Barkhorn got up, eyes wide with amazement at the shield.
"What... how?"
"Long story short... this thing doesn't break." Steve grinned proudly. "You got your own shield too... can I have a shot?"
Barkhorn nodded as she called upon the ether, the blue disk manifesting itself right in front of her. She made note that it was slightly larger than normal, kudos to the gloves that Twilight had given her.
Readying himself the Captain brought his fist back, and sent it crashing forward. Though the shield buckled and shook, it did not break, though the large cracks within the disk of ether was plain enough for anyone to see. If Steve tried, he could easily kill any man with his bare hands, something that'd he done quite a lot during the second world war... though it was something he couldn't help but feel disdain upon at such a messy (and let's not forget inhumanly painful) method of snuffing someone out.
"Too bad the men back where I am from aren't like you." Barkhorn smiled as the shield disappeared. If the ENTIRE mundane armies of the world was like him... the Neuroi would probably be a joke.
"Humph." Slade grumbled. "Until you rip off a plane door with only a single hand, I am not impressed."
"Okay... I'll do it the next time HYDRA shows it's face..."
"Um... guys..." Bucky began as he looked up into the skies.
"What is it Bucky?" Steve asked.
"Funny... you know that thing about HYDRA you just mentioned?"
"Yeah... um... what's that?"
He pointed right at what could be described as an entire squadron of quinjets.
"YOU PACKED A ROCKET LAUNCHER?!" Slade asked annoyed as he ran back to the... well... not treehouse anymore. More like crystal house.
"No!" Bucky replied. "DID IT LOOK LIKE I had a rocket launcher?!"
"Damn it! How the hell are we supposed to take them down?!" Slade brought up as the four ran back to Twilight's house.
"You know Slade... now would be a good time to demonstrate that plane door thing!" Steve began as they reached the house, opening the door and practically tripping on each other to get into the basement.
"I can rip off the door... not fly you idiot!" Slade said as he opened the basement door and set foot within. What happened next was somewhat a mess as Slade fell backwards, right onto Steve, who fell right onto Trude, who in turn fell down right on top of Bucky as though someone had played a game of human dominoes.
"Ugh... what the hell... watch where you're going kid!" Slade grumbled in his irritated voice as he got up, seeing Erica who was currently in half a uniform and her underpants, armed to the teeth and carrying those propeller packs he had seen earlier.
"Scuse me...!" Erica said as she ended up stepping on Steve's leg, Trude's chest, and Bucky's face causing him to plant right into the carpet as a barefoot went right into his face, making a beeline to the door before putting on the striker units.
"Everyone can hear me?" Erica asked.
"Just me!" Barkhorn commented, being the only one who had any form of communicator on her as of the moment. "What is it Erica?"
"Just doing what I do best." Erica grinned as she took off.
"What the hell is she gonna do?" Bucky asked as he grabbed his sniper rifle from downstairs.
"Doing what she does best..." Barkhorn grinned as she saw Erica prepare the MG42...
A single bullet was essentially a RPG round when in the hands of a witch... so... imagine 1200 rounds per minute...
One could hardly fathom the HYDRA pilot's surprise when he saw that one of his wing-men getting torn to ribbons by a hail of bullets. Not even a hail really, seemed as though the few that did blew off entire chunks of plane as though some extremely high caliber weapon system had hit home. Turning around... which would take him quite some time when compared to Erica, he looked at his target... a girl with what could be described a jetpack... only for your legs. If he'd looked closer... he might have been distracted with the fact she wasn't wearing any pants.
"What the hell?! Fire!" The man said as the four quinjets rolled in for Erica. Though she was far slower than her larger opponents, she had the advantage of maneuverability and not being a whopping large target for her enemies as the machine gun fire totally whizzed by her, not even coming close to hitting her. Firing again, she sent another quinjet out of the sky, Raising her shield, she saved herself from a burst of machine gun fire that while probably wouldn't have harmed her person, would have come dangerously close. She took note of her rather large shield, large enough to encompass a fairly large area as well as her entire body. The machine gun fire however, came at quite the rapid rate as it quickly began to crack the shield. Staying on the move, it would take time for Erica to realize that the high-tech jet could actually lock on to her, effectively tracking her movements. Good thing she quickly destroyed the one quinjet that just did leaving two more for her to go.
One of the aircraft swung back, locking straight onto her from a distance. The pilot within grinned nastily as he got his lock on before pressing the trigger.
It surprised Erica to see all the missiles and rockets that flew her way, but also surprised her a bit more to realize that they could actually track and follow her. To her dismay, she realized they were faster than her... far faster. But thankfully, not more maneuverable. This gave her an idea as she began to look for the closest target before approaching. The pilot within focused on her, Gatling gun firing away, as the missiles came in from the sides, enclosing upon her from the front while machine gun fire buzzed around her.
The missiles came just in front of her... just between her and the plane...
"STURM!" The girl called out. The missiles, being small in size... stopped from the powerful gust of ether wind, some of them even sprawling off in different directions. The quinjet... being larger in size was slowed, but not stopped. This would not save it from the missiles that weren't moving forwards or the ones that were headed straight for it and attempting to turn around to hit their original target. A few of them even locked on to the quinjet's heat trail, sealing the fate of the plane which was already screwed beyond belief.
Boom.
The remaining HYDRA pilot's jaw dropped. The camera within the quinjet recorded this all... and rather than die here... he flew right to base... Erica would not bother to pursue, he was fasteri n his plane.
Schmidt would want to see this. Their job had already been done anyways, as those jets were returning from a trip. They had finished firebombing a city called "Manehattan" the name of which earned the ire of the Red Skull.
It wouldn't be long before Schmidt decided to make his move.
"Fascinating." Schmidt commented as he took a look at the recording of Erica. "So... zis is ze power of a vitch?"
"Took out everyone else sir." The pilot said as he looked at his boss who gazed again at the video feed intently, paying much close attention to Erica when she blocked the bullets with her shield, as well as caused some missiles to collide with their unfortunate shooter who was blown to bits. "Don't know what the hell this... thing... even was."
"A vitch no doubt." Strucker replied for him. "Ze girl zat ve took vas also a vitch... zough... not yet powerful enough to defy us... but just enough to give us vat ve need..."
"Zis power however..." Schmidt began as he look at the video again and again. "It could be great use to us... ja?"
"Indeed sir." Strucker said. "Vich is vhy I had taken ze liberty of... taking zis..."
Clapping his hands together, the door opened and two men came in, both holding a box. If a certain god of thunder had been here today, he would have thought that from the red glow that emitted from within, it was containing the aether. Upon opening however, instead of a fluid force within, it was a bright beautiful red gem that had Erica or Trude been here, they would have recognized it instantly as a Neuroi core.
"Ve now have ze means to replicate zis core." Strucker told Schmidt as he looked at it intently. "HYDRA's power will grow, grow and grow."
"Sir? I don't follow." The pilot said as he saw too late, Schmidt drawing his pistol.
"You don't need to." Schmidt said as he pulled the trigger, and looked at the pile of dust he had ended up creating. "I do not tolerate failure."
"Indeed you don't." Strucker agreed as he took a look at the core. "Vhen ve replicate zis... ve vill have ze might zat not even Odin may have possessed."
"Odin didn't need it. Ze crown jewel of Odin's treasure room gave him what he needed. But now zat ve have ze means of waging higher forms of war in just more zan one way..."
"HYDRA will be invincible." Strucker smiled. "Ze world will be ours..."
"Ze world vill be MINE... herr Strucker... you work FOR me... not vith me..."
"Right... mein herr. Hail Hydra."
"Hail Hydra." Schmidt said as he eyed the baron carefully. The old devil was smiling, rarely a good sign for anyone maybe except for Strucker himself.
"Manehattan... thousands dead." Luna said, her voice dripping with the fires of hate and vengeance. "This... this HYDRA has been attacking civilians... for perhaps nothing more than just cruelty's sake."
"Steve Rogers has told us much about them." Celestia said. "They had attempted to seize control of their world at least twice in the past, having planned many years in doing so. They are a force to be reckoned with, as they wielded the power of the Asgard."
"Asgard? You don't mean..."
"Odin Allfather, the tesseract. I am referring to Asgard sister.. HYDRA at one point tapped into the power of the Asgard and produced weapons of unspeakable power during their war on earth. I wonder..."
"If they managed to have somehow acquire the tesseract... than what do you think that they are planning to do with things like the elements of Harmony?!" Luna suggested. "If they managed to get hold of the elements, it would be disaster for everyone!"
"Luckily... there is little evidence suggesting that HYDRA knows of the elements... it seems to me they're here only for conquest's sake."
"Are you sure?"
"I am indeed... though I have moved guards away from the tree of harmony, I'll make sure that the guards posted are still large enough in number to repel any attack."
They'd repel any attack alright. Just any attack that wasn't made by one of the most ruthless and powerful organizations of the face of the planet since Nazi Germany. HYDRA would make sure to harass Equestria for the many days. Despite the best efforts that would be put on by Celestia, Luna, Steve and the others, it would soon become clear that six humans couldn't possibly an entire country. But perhaps... six humans would be what it took to bring down a powerful terrorist organization...
"And back in where I come from, I have over 200 aerial victories!" Erica said with a smile as she stretched herself alongside the windowsill, a glass of chocolate milkshake in hands as she took a sip at the sweet drink. She faced across to Steve, who nodded and smiled, and Bucky who looked as though someone had punched him in the gut.
"Yeah... if you're combat effectiveness matched your discipline, you'd be the best soldier on the planet." Barkhorn breathed as she took a bite out of the cake, her eyes lighting up at the sweet taste of chocolate that was but a holiday for her taste buds. Normally, the strict and disciplined young woman wouldn't allow herself too much niceties. Today however, she'd make an exception after much nagging from Erica, she had given in. Perhaps Erica was right every once in a while about something. Like these cakes... which Erica was stuffing herself with, while Barkhorn ate moderately and Rogers paced himself, eating slowly and relishing the taste. Bucky touched nothing, save for a cup of coffee which he drank slowly. He hardly spoke at all, only speaking when spoken to and exchanged few nice words. Something that Steve was doing in excess.
"Now that I think of it... I knew a German that was like you..." Steve said slowly as his brain began to think of the name. "Erica... you said you got nicknamed "Black Devil"?"
"Yeah! Friends gave me the nickname... it's a bit... flamboyant. I like it."
"There was an ace in the war I fought in. His name was Erich Hartmann. The Russians nick-named him the "Black Devil"."
"I thought Russia was your world's Orussia..." Erica said as she scratched her head.
"Simple... because he was their enemy."
"Enemy? Wait... so YOUR world REALLY did fight each other? So... actually... I don't understand... how did some painter come into power?"
"Excuse me?"
"Apparently... a man called Adolf Hitler seized control of Karls... I mean Germany. And it's kind of strange... for us, he fought in the first Neuroi war... and is currently a pretty famous painter. He actually made good money by decorating the Emperor's palace... too bad most of it got destroyed when the Neuroi attacked. Painted many things about Ostmark... or Austria... I don't really know what all the hubbub about his paintings really is about. I've seen better from a guy who attended Vienna's academy of fine arts."
"Humph... so she is the world's best ace? And Hitler is a world famous painter? What next then?" Bucky began. "Germany and America holding hands?"
"That's actually what is happening..." Steve whispered awkwardly.
Well... damn....
Changing the subject, the topic of Germany would naturally get Bucky back to HYDRA, which would get him back to topic on what their next move was.
Actually... a good question was.
WHY THE HELL WAS HYDRA EVEN HERE?! Apparently... Princess Celestia didn't know. Luna didn't know either or Twilight. Which effectively eliminated and potential people who knew about this all the way down to just HYDRA. Steve MAY have considered going back to where he came from to find someone to interrogate, but that wasn't exactly an option as of now. So it begged the question... why was HYDRA even here?
The question wasn't exactly something that could have been easily solved here at lunch in Sugarcube corner, and they certainly wouldn't have time to when Slade radioed everyone in. He had spotted several transport choppers headed for the Everfree forest. From his assumption, they would be looking for something. What that "something" was... no one knew.
Perhaps they could have had an idea if Medic's notes regarding Litvyak's blood sample hadn't been burnt, and a quick glimpse at what the organization was doing to Chris...
"Why to the Everfree forest of all places?" Slade asked as he activated his tactical vision, looking for any telltale clues to where HYDRA may have went. "A few more clicks north of here, and we'll find our nine-headed serpent."
"Well Medic mentioned that there's a lot of things having medicinal value here." Steve replied. Said doctor was currently absent who was back at the tree house working on... something... whatever it was, everyone had been dying to find out for almost eight days, though the doctor wouldn't say a word to anyone. Just lock himself in the attic and refuse to come out unless he REALLY needed to go the bathroom, or grab a bite to eat.
"That guy's more crazy than any HYDRA scientist I've met." Bucky muttered.
"Man's probably smarter than all of them put together." Slade commented as he kept tracking HYDRA. "They invented laser beams to kill people? How original. That man invented a laser beam that heals people."
"At this rate, he might as well as find a cure to death." Steve joked rather seriously. Peering at Medic's notes the other day... it looked as though HE WAS ACTUALLY PLANNING THAT. "I respect that man."
"As long as he wasn't some god damn goose-stepper, I am fine with him." Bucky said. Truth was... he WASN'T fine with Medic. He was anything BUT FINE with Medic. The heavy German accent, the random bouts of insanity, and perhaps the way he conducted himself and his research gave Bucky rather jarring memories regarding to Nazi Germany and HYDRA. Truth be told, he wouldn't have been surprised if Medic had quite the number of skeletons in his closet...
He would be surprised at how literally that last sentence could actually be taken.
"He's a bit creepy..." Erica commented. "He was asking for my blood the other day... Steve... is he a vampire or something?"
"Vampire? No... not to my knowledge..." Captain America replied. "I mean... he asked for my blood too..."
"Did you give to him?"
"You think I trust that screwball with my blood?"
"No."
"Exactly. He wanted Slade's blood too... obviously, Slade didn't give it to him. Though... Sanya did give him some of her blood... what he did with it, I don't really want to find out. I am glad that guy's on our side and all, but sometimes, he just makes me feel VERY uncomfortable."
The story of how Bucky was feeling with half of the people he was currently working with....
"He does seem maybe a bit crazy..." Trude began. "But I don't think he means any harm. Besides... why would he come all the way here to help peo... horses that he..."
"He's getting paid." Slade chuckled. "He's a merc. I am getting paid as well."
"Wait... you two came here because you were going to get paid for this?" Barkhorn asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes... I make a living this way... so does Medic." Slade said. "Though I am certain Captain Star-spangles and his pal here came out of the goodness of their hearts right? Fighting oppression and tyranny! And Nazis..."
"The story of my life." Captain America muttered. To be honest... he still had unfinished business with Rumlow and with various treacherous agents of SHIELD. Bucky too from the way he spoke had some unfinished business with this baron... whatever his name was that he seemed unable to remember. Besides... even if a few vendettas weren't being held, they would have had to come here anyways to stop HYDRA. Though... what were the reasons that Erica and Gertrud came here? They weren't getting paid... at least not from what Trude implied and surely no one had a personal thing with HYDRA since they didn't exist now... right?
It wasn't really his business... so he stopped thinking about it. Though... Slade would give him more than enough reason to drop what he was thinking.
"Heat signatures indicated that HYDRA landed down there..." Slade said as they arrived in a massive chasm. He looked down.
The sounds of vaporizer rifles and machine gun fire filled his eardrums.
"It's a total massacre down there." Bucky commented as he took his binoculars, in his hands, he gripped his SCAR tightly, looking down at the sight of the "battle" that was horrendously one sided and in the favor of HYDRA. The very prospect of that thought caused him to grip his gun so tightly, his knuckles hurt.
"Think we can take all of them?" Erica asked as she readied her MP40 and took a casual look around. Down in the chasm... was a tree... a tree with six very familiar jewels to Steve and Slade.
"Not yet... there's something I think we're missing here... Slade... you remember last time how some huge dragon was after these things called the Elements of Harmony?"
"I see them Captain... it looks like these HYDRA guys are after them." Slade said pointing at the tree, a retrieval team of sorts was gathered around it, attempting to take the elements whilest the rest of them kept the large royal guard contingent busy... though it was clear to anyone that if this "fight" kept up, that "large" royal guard contingent wasn't going to be so large anymore. Judging from all the bodies on the ground, Celestia really took defending the elements quite seriously. It was rather surprising to just about anyone she still had this many guards posted at the tree, even after spreading them out to defend Equestria against HYDRA.
"Think we can manage to pull this one off? Doesn't look like HYDRA's got a lot of guys down there... I count maybe fifty."
"We can take them..." Erica said as she loaded her SMG with a grin. "That... the guy in the mask... and that one in the hood..."
"Brock Rumlow..." Steve murmured. "Looks like he's doing more of HYDRA's dirty work."
"So... what do we do?"
Simple..." Bucky said, cutting off what Captain America had wanted to say. "Slade... you're the best shot. Cover us."
This SOUNDED like the beginning to a plan right? RIGHT?!
Only thing was... he stopped talking here, grabbed his assault rifle, and jumped straight down to the stone steps and practically charged HYDRA. So much for a good plan...
"Well...." Slade began, as he fired the first shot off from his sniper rifle. "Aren't you guys gonna help him?"
"God damn it Bucky..." Steve muttered as he found a good place. "You two... Barkhorn, I want it to snow bullets on them. Got it?"
"Gotcha." Trude said. "Any place you want me to be?"
"Anywhere that's going to do the most damage." Steve grinned. "Erica, with me."
"Gotcha!"
"Let's move!"
"Like fighting a bunch of overgrown children toys!" Eric Williams (AKA Reaper) commented as his kick sent a pony flying, straight into a mob of other members of the royal guard which knocked them aside like ninepins. The only real issue that HYDRA faced when tasked against this midget army of warhorses was that there seemed no end to them. If anything... THEIR slogan should have been "cut off one head, two more will take it's place" considering that's literally the situation Reaper had actually found himself in just a few moments back.
"Doesn't matter. We got this." The man underneath the skull mask commented as his long stun baton swung across, hitting a pony aside as though he was a golf ball. Turning around, he grinned as he watched the royal guard, so unyielding in their duty, despite how futile the fight was. Kinda reminded him of someone...
A bright blur of a red and blue shield flew in, and hit one of his men senseless.
The problem about this place was, the wasn't a whole lot of cover. To Captain America, who had an invincible shield, this really was no problem. To two witches who could call upon the ether and shield themselves from enemy gunfire? This really was no biggie. To a guy standing all the way back with a sniper rifle? Hah... like they even knew he was there.
To Bucky who was wearing a Ballistic vest that would be like tissue paper when faced vaporizer rifles, and only somewhat useful when faced against assault rifles. In short... Bucky was at a disadvantage when he found himself charging HYDRA's lines. A tactical vest may save someone from one or two bullets, before said someone got riddled into Swiss cheese. Maybe he should have thought this through a BIT more...
Nah... acting quickly, the soldier threw a literal belt worth of smoke grenades, engulfing HYDRA in the mist. Having packed a pair of thermal goggles, the man put them on quickly as began to do what he did best a he unloaded on HYDRA, cutting down three of their soldiers in a heartbeat, and injuring several more... It would have been rather quick and easy fight for him actually, though it seemed that HYDRA did in fact come prepared when Reaper with his own thermal goggles jumped at him, kicking him so hard that it sent him skittering back several yards while out of the corner of his eye, he saw the approaching of three more choppers. HYDRA must have REALLY wanted these crystals...
Bucky would have been in trouble at this point, had it not been for the hail of machine gun fire, that was to anyone who was caught in it, more like a hail of rocket launcher fire as a single bullet tore a man in half. A literal hailstorm of bullets was absolutely devastating as what could be described as small craters in the ground, causing HYDRA to scatter in various positions. Due to the lack of cover down within the chasm just outside of the cave containing the tree of Harmony, it was easy to see why HYDRA was torn to shreds by the withering fire that Barkhorn provided, a blue shield of ether protecting her from mundane bullets... though she began to wonder whether or not the approaching man in a heavy suit of armor and with two glowing guns attached to the undersides of him arms would do anything. Naturally, she didn't exactly want to find out as she backed up, pelting the enemy with machine guns as the shield held against the bullets.
The loud screech of the vaporizer cannon, and the shield shattered...
Okay... so that's what it did....
Barkhorn didn't exactly have time to contemplate on the wonders of the Vaporizer cannon as she was thrown on to her back, the sheer force of the explosion not only shattering her shield, but sending her flat on her back. A second shot and she'd be...
CRACK*
The heavily armored man slumped down, a hole in his helmet as he awkwardly fell, ensuring panic from the HYDRA soldiers as they searched for the sniper, rather than fire at Barkhorn in the few moments she would allow herself to remain vulnerable. Getting up, she grabbed one of her dropped machine guns and opened fire, "bullet proof" vests would do little as the bullets tore gaping holes within their targets, dropping many bodies.
Rumlow grunted with frustration as he radioed in the retrieval team. Turning around, he saw Reaper pre-occupied with Barnes, while Captain America was figuratively turning anyone who happened to have been within a six foot radius of him into soup while near him, a small blond girl with an MP40... (where did she get that relic?) who somehow, with that SMG was turning men LITEARLLY into soup whenever they got hit. Behind her, another girl of average height with not one... but TWO LMGs in hand as though they were recoilless. Instead of just filling men with holes, she was BLOWING HOLES IN THEM. It was as though someone had given her miniaturized grenades and shoved them into mundane firearms... or rather... dated firearms when all things considered, it was a pair of MG42s and a MP40 that was tearing his men apart.
Slinging his two stun batons for now, he drew his pistol... no one had been paying attention to him yet... taking a look he aimed his gun... at Steve's unprotected back, Erica's unprotected back, or Trude... who happened to have had him in her peripheral vision... subtly, Rumlow aimed his weapon at the young girl with the MG42s... the uniform made him vaguely think about Nazi Germany's SS divisions... though that didn't exactly matter since Nazi Germany wasn't exactly existing anymore. He was about to pull the trigger on her, until he heard it.
click* click* click*
She was out of ammunition... well... it was time to do something he always had to. He spun around, aimed it straight for the back of Captain America's head... and pulled the trigger. Only to have, the moment he fired, his gun was shot straight out of his hands by a sniper, and a man in quite the costume as well as a hockey mask appeared out of nowhere, as though he had JUMPED all the way from the top of the chasm.
"Shooting a man in the back?" Slade taunted. "Exactly what I can expect from the likes of you..."
Steve would have snorted at this. Really? A guy who kills people for money lecturing someone else about things like martial pride? Then again... Slade always gave his victims a "fair chance" for a personal challenge.
"Who the hell are you?" Rumlow asked as he took out his stun batons as Slade drew his swords.
"You may call me... Deathstroke." Slade began... and he got kicked in the back.
On the inside, he slapped himself for trying to showboat on this one. Turning around, he brought his swords up to block the massive scythe like blade of Reaper, looking back, he saw Bucky contending with a whole mob of HYDRA goons, probably the reason this joker managed to get all the way on Slade.
Rumlow chuckled to himself as he turned to face behind him. Looks like their ride was here and the retrieval team got the...
Bang* Bang* Boom.
"What the fu..."
He was lost for words as he just recalled what happened.
1. Captain America see's the incoming chopper. 2. The girl who had the LMGs see's it too. 3. Captain America throws his pistol to her. 4. She starts... glowing? And has canine ears apparently too. 5.She shoots the gun. 6. Two bullets... and the chopper goes down as though it got hit by a rocket launcher.
"How the hell?"
"Magic." Erica chuckled as she looked at the look on Bucky's face. It seemed as though everyone had decided to put the huge brawl they were having on "pause" as Bucky found himself looking over at the chopper wreckage as he grabbed someone by their face, the same time as the thugs around him just gawked at what happened.
Reaper was having trouble coming up with what the hell just happened... it didn't matter as the moment he stopped, he had hit with the full force of an airplane as Slade kicked him across the chasm.
Rumlow was lost for words... he looked at the gun... then the chopper... than Barkhorn... then...
"Nice shot Barkhorn." Steve commented. "Okay... where were we? Right..."
And fight was back on "play".
"Give us another god damn Chopper!" Rumlow screamed into his transponder. "And have it at the top of this goddamn hole!"
The retrieval team had the things they were looking for in one briefcase, and judging from the way that they were treating it, it was pretty important. The only problem would be how everyone was buried in HYDRA's seemingly endless supply of goons.
Everyone except for Barkhorn, who squeezed off the last bullets into the retrieval team, causing Rumlow to have to pick it up himself, grabbing it and running. Screw Reaper and the others, they can make their own way out.
But as he ran, "Barkhorn" made pursuit... Barkhorn... wait a minute...
If that other girl they had... who they were using for her blood was called Christiane Barkhorn... then that meant... Barkhorn...
They were sisters....
He looked back at his pursuer, and put the other part of the puzzle together.
She was a witch.
This was going to be interesting as he turned around still holding the briefcase.
"Hey kid... you wanna know a good idea?"
"What?!" She asked angrily, fists at the ready.
"You know... I suggest you run. Besides... this shouldn't be your fight anyways..." Rumlow reasoned. "You know kid... how old are you now? 18? 19? Don't throw your life away... besides... I am certain there's a someone in your life who would rather have you alive than dead."
"This is my fight..." Trude said intently, a hint of menace within her voice. "I was sworn to protect others from anything... be it Neuroi, or men like you."
"You really think you're going to win kid? You really think so? HYDRA is more powerful than you can imagine, you don't know what you're dealing with now do you?"
"Do I now?" Barkhorn asked as she lunged at Rumlow. Fortunately for him, he was able to side-step from her blow as her fist connected with the edges of the chasm instead. The blow caused the earth to shudder and rocks to rumble.
Damn... so this is a witch with powers... no wonder Skull wanted one that didn't have any. He thought as he took the briefcase and hit her in the back of the head, causing her to stumble and nearly trip before regaining her footing and turning around. Dropping the briefcase, the man took out his stun-batons and swung them at Trude who ducked and weaved.
Heh... whoever taught her to fight must have also been from the 40s as he swung the batons, connecting right with her gut causing to cry out in audible pain.
"Hey kid... you know something... Barkhorn is it?! Lemee tell you first off... this ain't..."
Two hands grabbed the two batons, despite being "gloved" whatever material that Twilight used to make them with really did not stop the flow of any electricity.. heck it seemed they were even more vulnerable to electricity than a human body. Despite the fact it hurt like hell and almost caused her muscles to go haywire, the witch managed to grab both batons, before bending both of them in half with nothing but her bare hands. The two gloves slid off by themselves, turning into little better than rags. Useless.
"That must have hurt." Rumlow quipped. His mouth was rewarded with a blow to the ribs... damn... Cap must have hit this heard... the crack of the rib was the most obvious sign that he shouldn't have been messing around. Swing his fist, he connected with Barkhorn's face, sending her back. Again, he swung another blow, which was blocked by Barkhorn who being stronger than him, was able to keep his arm from connecting. Regardless it did pull them closer together, to which Rumlow headbutted her causing her to stagger back. Not giving up, the witch struck again. Blocking the blow hurt like hell, but it would stop him from having a split nose or missing teeth. Knowing exactly what to do, he punched her again, causing her to stagger for a moment. It would be all he needed as he grabbed by the arm, and flipped her over. The loud snap echoed throughout the chasm as he twisted her arm in a way that normally would have been impossible...
She cried out in pain alright. But even then, Rumlow barely noticed the movement of her hands as she grabbed unto her knife, sinking it right into his upper leg, causing him to scream like a girl.
"Little bitch!" Rumlow spat out as he aimed a vicious blow at Barkhorn's face, knocking her out stone cold. The knife in his leg was pulled out, at the price of a ton of blood and a lot of dignity. Taking a look at the unconscious witch, he thought of driving the blade into her neck... until a better idea struck him.
If she really was that other girl's sister... than maybe she'll really want to see this...
Making his way out of the chasm, he limped out. Amazingly... Reaper had gotten away too, though he was missing his blade-arm.
"You're late."
"Shut up.... I got the package." Rumlow said as he made his way in.
Grinding on her teeth to stop herself from crying out in anguish, it took all of Trude's willpower not to release her hold onto her own teeth, in fear that the moment she opened her mouth, she'd scream loud enough for the world to hear.
"You got messed up badly kid." Slade commented as he examined the broken arm that hung in the makeshift sling before taking out a syringe and injecting the witch with the numbing medicine. "Maybe you shouldn't be taking on world class assassins when all they taught you was basics CQC."
"I only lost because I wasn't strong... enough." Barkhorn muttered as she sat down in the library, waiting for Medic to finish up with whatever he was doing. "I'll be ready next time..."
Slade was about to say something, but lost the oppurtunity when the door to the basement swung open, and the doctor came out, with...
A sandwich?
"Doc?" Slade asked quizzically as he looked at the shiny plate with what would appear more to be Medic's lunch than some form of way he would heal a broken arm. "The patient here has a broken arm... shouldn't you be using that healing beam of yours?"
"Just eat." Medic replied as he sat down and pulled out his notebook. "Eat."
"In case you haven't noticed... we got a problem with someone's bones... not their stomach..." Slade sighed. "What the hell is that thing for?"
"Just eat ze damn thing!" Medic ordered, growing somewhat impatient.
"Why can't she eat after, it's not like..."
He was about to say something, until he saw Trude pick up the rather tasty looking meal, and take a bite. Her eyes light up for a moment, most likely not at the taste, as delicious as the sandwich may have been, but rather at teh fact that the moment she finished taking her first bite, her other arm began to twitch and move slightly, before removing itself out of the arm-sling. Broken arm evidently healed, by eating a sandwich.
"Did I say you were the best doctor I've ever met?" Slade commented as his one eye grew to the size of a dinner plate. The only other person who was watching, happened to be Erica, who in an instant, went from her usual bored look to as though someone had magically healed a broken arm with two slices of bread, a slice of ham, bologna, lettuce, tomato and cheese. In short... WHAT WAS THIS SORCERY?
"Next time... do not question my genius!" Medic practically announced to the world. "Frau, you are gud now... but take better care of yourself."
"Danke herr doctor." Barkhorn said as she examined her now healed arm, which functioned good as new. Her mind smoked of the man in the skull mask who had done this to her, and mentally, she plotted exactly what she was about to do about this. \as much as the girl would love to play herself as a disciplined soldier, she was not immune to the many bouts of senseless rage at times which she went through. Right now, being a good example.
Slade studied this intently before smiling a bit. That looked in her eyes said it all. Revenge. What a fickle gambit it was, either ending with total satisfaction or complete disaster. Slade would have his own questions, as to whether or not CQC in the 1940s really was comparable to apex fighting skills of the modern day and age. Sure... she had superhuman strength at her side, but the guy in the bat costume had long proved that it didn't take superpowers to take down some of the biggest and baddest boys on the block. Slade had proved it too when he jacked the plane, only thing was, it is less impressive when your body is physically capable of brushing off knives to the chest or tearing apart plane doors with only one arm.
"You thinking something kid?" Slade smirked. The rage in the young woman's eyes was clear to even a novice in trying to figure someone's emotion out by looking at them.
"Yes..." Barkhorn snapped. "I'll find him... and he's going to pay."
"Revenge huh?" Erica commented. "I am out."
"What are you looking at?" Trude snapped at Slade who was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Admit it kid... you never really fought for real with your hands have you?"
"And how do you know?"
"The fact that you can turn an ordinary man, or even metahumans into toothpaste by hitting them just once or twice spells out you can easily get fights done... only thing was... you lost. You know how kid? Let me answer for you. I watched you fight and even fished your unconscious body out of there. You have strength but... no skill... no discipline. To say you fight like a girl would be a complement... oh wait."
He grinned inwardly despite putting up a "I am disappoint" expression. He could almost taste her fury at this point. Also quite the thin skin he might add, for someone who prided themselves on "discipline". He still got a few more nerves to get on.
"And you know what? It's going to happen again and again until you learn what discipline REALLY means." Slade grinned. "I learned all those things when I was younger than you were and didn't exactly have things like magic at my side."
"If you're so disciplined, skilled, and if your half as smart as your mouth... why don't you teach me then?" Barkhorn half asked, half taunted. "Or are you just all talk?"
He was talk alright... but certainly not all talk and no bite...
"You sure about this?" Slade asked, a bit taken back. Normally... when someone told him he was "all talk" it usually ended with an impossible feat and maybe an unconscious body but this time... she was goddamn serious about this. She wanted to learn from him?!
"Yes." Barkhorn spat out.
"Then you better prepare yourself... I am not afraid to hit a girl... and that's going to be happening... a lot." Slade said, his voice dripping with menace, but a bit feeling an ounce of respect for the witch. She really was serious about this. "Tomorrow, I got to Canterlot to get Princess Sunbutt's warhorses into proper shape so they don't have the tactical ingenious of a potato. You are going to come with me so you do not have the fighting skills of one of these overgrown child toys."
"Very well." Barkhorn said as she went out back to do pull-ups.
"Well... she's going to be in for it." Steve said as he sat down outside of Twilight's new home with Applejack, Fluttershy and Twilight. Bucky sat with them. Even after being in Equestria for over a week, the soldier still had no clue to how to react with to the miniature and rainbow colored horses, except for comment occasionally on how their names vaguely sounded like ice cream flavors.
"Ah just hope she'll be okay. Poor gal fighting those dirty varmints and getting one of her arms broken!" Applejack commented. "She sure is a real stubborn one... that one..."
"And that Slade is such a big meanie!" Pinkie commented, not forgetting all the times Slade had described her with less than pleasant adjectives and the countless number of times that he had pulled a Deathstroke, which for the first few moments, Pinkie sense was unable to detect. A DELAY IN PINKIE SENSE... "Why isn't he nice like you Steve?"
"Slade's got his reasons for being a cold bastard... his wife shot him for christ's sake... and it's his children all hate him... but he's not all that of a bad guy despite how much I want to knock his teeth out. He saved Sanya's life last time, and something tells me it wasn't for no reason."
"Well... that's awfully nice of him." Fluttershy commented.
"Oh he sure as hell wasn't doing that out of the goodness of his heart." Steve continued. "He probably has a lot to atone for... gotta start somewhere eh?"
"Part of the reason he's probably even here." Bucky commented.
"We both know that we're only here because we have unfinished business." Steve shot back.
"What? You mean that..."
"Whoa... hold your horses for a moment... just because I have some unfinished business with HYDRA doesn't mean I wouldn't come here if you REALLY needed me... it just gives me an extra reason to be here."
Let's be honest... the star spangled man REALLY wasn't too into talking horses...
"Same goes for me... though I honestly doubted something like this existed... then again, you told me you doubt we existed... I always wanted to meet a talking horse..." Bucky began but stopped talking as he watched Trude in a training bra and her "pants" do pullups outside. He considered his comment about "prancing showgirls" again... only to realize that when dealing with horses... they probably didn't give a wooden nickle. That... and the fact she NEVER wore pants...
Was it him... or no matter how hard he tried to turn away from Trude... he always kept looking back?
"Speaking of Trude... what does she and Erica get in all of this?" Steve asked.
"They never asked for anything... Medic and Slade both asked for money at the end, but she and Erica both said nothing..."
"Damn... now that's..." Bucky began to say SOMETHING.... only to remember that goddamn SS uniform that left a bad taste in his mouth.
He wondered for a moment how much a uniform truly meant about someone... or how much someone meant for the uniform they were wearing.
He took a glance at his best friend for this question.
"Come in." Schmidt said as the bell to his stateroom rang. He was expecting Strucker on probably some useless update about how they were terrorizing a bunch of cartoon horses, or that they had just shipped some weapons back to HYDRA island, or maybe even that construction of a factory in a remote location on the coast of Equestria had been finished.
It was not Strucker. Rather it was, a man in a skull mask. Crossbones, as the Red Skull had nicknamed him. Though he was known colloquially as Brock Rumlow. The man in question at the moment had actually never believed the rumors that the Red Skull literally had a Red Skull... but he was starting too now as he saw Schmidt without his mask. The Red Skull glanced back at him as though he was waiting for something, which he was.
"Report." The man asked in his usual voice.
"Um... eh... we got those elements of Harmony for you... sir..." Rumlow said uneasily. The fact that his boss ACTUALLY had a Red Skull still came off as a shocker, always dismissing those stories as rumors. On the desk was the mask that was Schmidt's "actual" face.
"Gud... gud..." The former SS officer replied as he took out a bottle of rum and poured himself a glass for both himself and for Rumlow. "Anything else?"
"Well... now that you mentioned it sir... Um... Captain America seems to be onto us... it would appear as though he is working with these... um ponies. In addition, The Winter Soldier has also seemed to have um... "caught on" about his true identity and is now working with Captain America."
"I assume zat is not all?" The skull asked, almost as though he knew all the details about Rumlow's report.
"No... it's not." Brock continued. "There was also another man. They called him... Deathstroke. It's unconfirmed, but from our intel, he's a master assassin. Best of the best.... from whatever intel we could also gather, the man has also been enhancements have similar effects to the ones used upon you, Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Intel also suggests that this guy is here for the money, that those rainbow horses must have paid him off to do their dirty work. Other than that, this guy is highly dangerous, and had actually defeated Reaper in a one on one."
"I see..." The Skull began. Good thing HYDRA had a rather infinite reserve of wealth when dealing with these types of men...... of course, Rumlow would still have a few more things to mention if his intel was correct. It involved... magic.
"Lastly sir... there were these two girls... if I got their names right, they were both called Gertrud Barkhorn, and Erica Hartmann..."
The skull already knew this... but he still hadn't believed it until now. Especially considering he knew, personally two men... two rather familiar men...
"Now... I dunno too much about the second world war... but there were these two men..."
"Gerhard Barkhorn and Erich Hartmann." The skull cut in. "I knew both men. Gerhard refused to take Strucker's offer, and even began to expose information about HYDRA after the war. Good thing he took care of that. Hartmann never as much as got a chance to... well... accept HYDRA's generosity... you don't need to speak any more herr Rumlow. These two frau are witches. Their universe's replica of the greatest aces of ours... humph... I wonder..."
"What is it sir?"
"Christiane Barkhorn is having her blood harvested to fuel... our cause. You see... ze reason zat I decided not to get a vitch zat has her powers is zat they are... difficult... given mundane veapons, zey can bring ruin to even the greatest of all things in little time."
Magic did do wonders for them... such as give them superhuman strength that'd easily rival soldiers of the Serum or any variations, whether or not it was the imperfect one, the one given to Rogers, or the one Zola used upon the Winter Soldier. The major advantage any supersoldier would hold over a witch however was, while a witch was more durable than the average human, they didn't enjoy the same benefits Johann, Bucky or Steve would in terms of accelerated healing factor, being able to take a dozen times the usual punishment a human could take before succumbing to injury or a slowed aging process... perhaps even immortality. On the flip side, Skull couldn't exactly create shields of ether, preform magic or make a mundane pistol a personal grenade launcher. Neither could Bucky or Steve.
"Tell ze doctors vorking vith ze vitch... zat I vant a blood sample." Schmidt ordered as Rumlow nodded. "By ze way Herr Rumlow... how much do you know about a vitch?"
"Um... I used to think they were old hags on broomsticks... that kid of urban legend type of thing... I never exactly figured they'd been girls playing the army... and army that's also lacking pants I would like to throw out..."
"A cultural... thing..." The Skull replied, having trouble on exactly how to describe it. "In that regard, you aware of why the nations of ze world... vell... zeir world uses kinder to fight their wars?"
"I dunno..."
"You see... zere is an enemy zat only magic can counter. A vitch only has her powers through age twelve to twenty. To fight zis enemy... a race of aliens called ze Neuroi... ze nations of ze world relies on vitches... but let's forget about ze vitches... you see... ze Neuroi are a race of aliens with two things as far as I am concerned... weapons not unlike zat ze Tesseract can provide... and amazing regenerative properties upon zeir machine like forms..."
Inwardly... Rumlow knew EXACTLY where this was going. Sample retrieval time now wasn't it?
Worse... turns out... HYDRA already built one.
And... guess who got to be on testing sight?
"Thanks for coming too." Slade said as he sat besides the train, smiling inwardly at the fact that every horse except for Twilight was crowded on the opposite end of the car. They had all this space just for themselves... which was a good thing considering Slade's head actually scrapped the top, as did Bucky. Trude wouldn't have much of a problem with her height, which was frankly short. Standing at roughly 5' 4'' she was easily overshadowed by both Slade and Bucky, who were respectively at the 6' 5'' and 6' 4'' marks. Did it bother her one bit?
Nah.
Did having Bucky here bother her one bit?
HOLY SHIT... YES.
She almost would have considered sitting with the group of horses who all stared at them with views of wonder, horror or a mixture of both. Apparently, having someone who wasn't your own species on a train was considered strange to them...
Then again... when even the shortest among you stood over a foot taller... it can be easy to see why most of them would be unnerved. There was the occassinal foal however, that wandered up to Trude who frankly looked the least likely to rip some pony in half, ironically enough, she could probably tear the train in half with bare hands if she was wearing any form of magical amplifiers.
"So... how long's the ride?" Slade asked impatiently as he looked out the window, remembering that time Sanya took the late train to Canterlot, and he practically just hitched a ride. He didn't recall it to be too long, save for the fact how Sanya actually told him about how she had a family that cared for her... a lot... and maybe it was for the better Slade left out any details when referring to any of his own. Things like domestic issues with firearms, mirakuru, self-mutilation, unintended mutilation etc. wasn't exactly a way to build friendships. Not that he would have cared for most people... but finding someone who looked awfully similar to Rose in her childhood was more than enough for him to start caring.
Pushing the though about how Sanya eerily resembled Rose, the mercenary looked over to Bucky who was wearing about as much facial expression as a brick aside from fidgeting with a sniper rifle, which grabbed many looks of fear from the other passengers. Rather prudently, Trude had come unarmed, which was probably the reason if any pony approached them, it was starting with Barkhorn. Someone in layers of armor and a hockey mask did exactly spell out the words "Mr. Nice Guy" and neither did another big guy with a SNIPER RIFLE in hands. Not that anyone around here really knew what a sniper rifle was, but... most horses were smart enough to put two and two together. Especially those who had heard about the organization called HYDRA.
"So... you got a family?" Slade asked Bucky as he continued to play with the rifle.
"Me? No.... My immediate family is dead... extended probably died with them after the war. When you are about 100 years old... there isn't many people left that you know too closely..."
Trude's canine ears would have perked up if she heard this...
Immediate family dead... extended family dead... how very like her own predicament... except...
"But you know what?" Bucky continued. "Rogers may as well as be my brother. We've known each other since we were on the streets. We got into messes together, we ate together, hell... we did every possible thing together. The war separated us alright... but you know what? Not one of us missed any part. I was a bit too busy being out of my mind... he was a bit too busy being frozen... That aside, the guy's a brother to me."
"I see... brother's in arms?"
"Brother's in arms." Barnes nodded as he looked over at Trude, who was staring at the ground. Her mind raced about her little sister, Chris. She liked horses did she? How badly Trude wished her younger sister was here... she could truly enjoy herself for maybe once in her life... the thought brought her heart to ache.
"What about you?" Bucky asked back to Slade.
"My family is either dead, crazy, or perfectly happy without me. I can assure you... none of them ever want to see me again..." Slade breathed. "I am not really missing out anything when I know for a fact three out of the four members of my immediate family want me dead."
"Man..."
"My fault all the way. Adeline, my wife got sore with me after something went wrong. A group of thugs kidnapped my son Jericho... tried to save him. Did... except Jericho got a slit throat. This ended with Adeline divorcing me and sending a bullet through my eye.... but wait... it get's better. You know what I do for a living?"
"Kill people? Not really different from what I do..."
"Yeah... except this type of killing... I really don't care who wants someone dead. I just want the cash... you see... Jericho sort of decided... he wanted to be a vigilante of sorts..."
"And you two are fighting?"
"We are fighting... enemies." Slade breathed. "My son Grant died before Jericho and I were truly done. He wanted to be like dad... so a bunch of Japanese men replicated this thing that would be SIMILAR to what they used on me. They called it Mirakuru, miracle. Thing was... it made Grant insane... destroyed him from the inside out. I wasted two years of my life trying to avenge him for the people I believed to have killed him. In the end, I was just too blind to see that Grant had killed himself, and it was because of that Jericho was convinced to join the people whom I had made enemies with."
"Well..."
"I could start on Rose... but I'll stop speaking now." Slade said as he looked over at Trude. She knew Sanya right? And she probably heard him mention quite a few times how much Sanya looked like Rose in her childhood. This probably meant it was a good time for him not to say anything.
"So kid... what's your story?" Slade asked.
"Well..." Trude began nervously. It would be a long train ride. "I'd rather not..."
"Alright kid... alright. But like it or not kid... I know you may not trust... some of us..." Slade said, trying not to look into Bucky's direction. "But you know... some of these people are going to be like a family to you..."
Oh... joy.
"But I wouldn't worry about it. I don't get attached to people anyways." Slade said, brushing off what he had just said.
"You almost moved me there Slade." Bucky said rolling his eyes. "That was ALMOST inspiring."
Words could not describe how much of a horrendous liar Slade was at this moment. Barkhorn however... realized this.
"Hey Slade..."
"What kid?"
"Mind if I call you Eila from now on?" Barkhorn asked with a small chuckle. Her mood beginning to lift slightly.
"What the hell?! Get up!" Steve said as for the umpteenth time, he attempted to rouse Erica from her slumber. The girl only responded as the usual.
"Fifty... more... minutes... dad..." Erica mumbled in her sleep. Everything about the bed just made her want to continue to lie down within it's comfort and warmth. While it's softness would have made Captain America feel like he was trying to sleep on water, to Erica, it was perfect as she fell asleep in no time flat, while the Captain felt as though he was sleeping on air. Almost with disbelief, the old soldier looked at the sleeping girl.
"Kid... I... you know... for a bunch of soldiers... you don't seem to act like soldiers! Well... at least you don't. Trude does."
"What...ever... Trude... just seventy more minutes..." Erica said in her sleep, partially oblivious to what was going on.
"You know... zis much sleep is not gud for your health..." Medic reasoned as he walked over. "Besides... Herr Rogers can't do all ze heavy lifting."
"Good thing we got someone with strength along those lines... only thing is... that someone is too lazy to get up in the morning..." Steve grumbled. You see... Erica had shot down four Quinjets. The closest one had been wrecked in a nearby field to which they could easily salvage anything from it though. Steve had gotten most of the work done early this morning, only to find out he had hit jackpot. Not being really a man of the modern era, he didn't have much of a clue to what he was looking at in the back of the whole jet, until it had slowly come to him. That quinjet... HAD AN ENTIRE SERVER IN THE BACK. What only made it better was that the server was hardly even scratched. If someone could manage to get in it, (Slade probably could) then they could easily find out what HYDRA was up to. Only problem was... moving the server.
You see... he had superhuman strength and all, but even HE found it to be a terribly difficult task. Naturally, Medic had followed him to the site of the crash and offered to help. Problem was, while Medic being physically powerful in his own regard, was still only human at the end of the day. This meant that they needed another person with superhuman strength. Naturally, they would have asked Bucky, Slade or preferably Trude. Unfortunately, all of them were gone. Which left a certain someone who was still sleeping back at Twilight's library to be able to do the job...
Erica. Who was currently out cold as though she was a college girl having a hangover...
And this annoyed the hell out of both Medic and Steve. That was just when the inner drill sergeant within a soldier just stepped into Steve...
You see... he wouldn't exactly hit a girl. Or drag her out of a bed. Or even touch her if she didn't want to be.
But there was this thing drill sergeants did... that didn't involve them beating any snoozer into bloody ribbons. No sir... he was going to like this a lot better.
Good thing they got working pumps here.... there were few times when Captain America decided to play a joke to get laughs out, but this was going to be one of them as he filled up the bucket of water and entered the basement. Medic crouching on the top, sniggering. He couldn't wait for the reaction. It did take a while.... voices... and a....
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A distinctively male voice called out.
Wait... wat?
Did Steve somehow manage to drop it on himself... or did he just stub his toe?
In any event, the German was curious to see what had gone on. Going downstairs... he looked at the sight of the bucket on the ground, the water just forming a small pool. Steve was a few steps back blushing to the point of becoming beet red. Taking a look at what he saw... Medic decided to awkwardly backpedal up the stairs, pretending he saw nothing but he could hear Steve's voice loud and clear.
"Why...why... why aren't you wearing any pants?!" The soldier asked as he tried not to look "down there". The term "pants" could be used VERY loosely in this regard... but jokes aside... Steve couldn't have felt more awkward as he felt everything possibly wrong was happening in this situation as he did his best to keep his head up. It was actually a pretty easy thing to do, considering the fact he was over a foot higher than Erica.
"What... I am not wearing pants?" Erica asked obliviously to the situation. The fact that Steve was 96 years old didn't really seem to bother her, or the fact that he was a man... "Oh... well..."
Putting on her "pants" the girl looked back to Steve, who was actually rather quite furious for reasons that was somewhat of a mystery to her. If she'd been a man (and maybe slightly older) Steve would have slapped her across the face.
"I hope you do realize... there are OTHER people here..." Steve said angrily. "And you do..."
"Has anyone told you how much you sound like Trudy when she's upset?" Erica asked dismissively, "Okay... okay... I am coming... sheesh... Shirley doesn't act like a bunch of grumpy old men... oh wait..."
"I am not that old... physically..." Rogers grumbled as Erica made her way up the stairs. Now then... to get that server... One of these days, he really needed to have a chat with whomever though that having girls run around in their underpants was a good idea...
"Training is mediocre..." Slade commented as he looked over the unconscious forms of the Canterlot royal guard. "Tactics share the same genius of a potato. Nothing changed really from last time I was here huh?"
"Well... you think you can do better than?!" The angry royal guard commander asked after watching Slade turn a company of his best horses into jello.
"That's why I am here." Slade replied curtly as he looked to Trude and Bucky, both of which looked bored out of their minds. Watching Slade turning about a hundred ponies into unconscious bodies really wasn't anything too exciting...
"Hey kid..." Slade looked up. "Come down here. Show these ponies how they do it in Karlsland."
"With pleasure..." Trude began as she readied her fists and jumped down. The canine ears manifesting upon her head as she readied herself before circling Slade for a bit. Granted... he was pretty old... but that didn't mean anything about his skill...
She learned the moment when the ballistic staff swung at her, reaching up to catch the staff, she did to avoid getting hit by one end. The other end was promptly thrown at her which resulted in her catching it with her other hand. Big mistake as Slade's head came forward, butting his shorter opponent back.
She could taste blood trickling down from her teeth as she growled a bit... almost like a dog..... would have freaked most people out... though Bucky couldn't help from smiling as she saw Barkhorn swing a heavy blow at Slade, only to be countered and kicked right in the gut. This happened probably three times over, only ending with different ways to how Barkhorn got the worse end of things. If Bucky was right about this... Slade wouldn't even be as much as touched.
He would be proved correct, as he watched Barkhorn, dazed beyond belief attempt to swing at Slade. He merely grabbed her arm, and twisted it back. Of course... he wouldn't break it. But he would do it enough so it hurt.... a lot.
If you couldn't tell... the way Barkhorn was screeching like a scorched puppy should give you an idea on how.
"Kid... we got a lot to work on..." Slade said as he pushed Trude aside who shot him a look that was 30% pissed off, 10% terrified, 20%amazed and 20% Gertrud Barkhorn. "Hey... Bucky... wanna give it a go?"
"You're on. You won't be holding back?"
"You're a big guy." Slade commented as he scrutinized Bucky. Slade was a bit taller... but not by much. Maybe by a single inch, which was hardly noticeable considering how big Slade and Bucky actually were, both of which who commonly find themselves towering over the average person.
"Good." Bucky said as he readied his cybernetic arm, watching as Trude got out of the way, gingerly licking her wounds. "You okay?"
"What's it to you? You'd probably be breaking my arm."
"Nothing... nothing... just checking." Bucky grumbled. Right now... one thing was on his mind. There's a certain word that rhymes with witch which Bucky would be describing her... it could be taking literally when considering those dog ears...
[Meanwhile]
"Okay... we tested it sir." The radioed voice of Rumlow crackled to the Red Skull as he sat within his headquarters, the massive underwater submarine.
"Good job." Schmidt commented. "Tell them I send our faithful doctors my thank you."
"Any chance on field testing it sir?"
"Strucker is on that... right?"
"It is my verk..." Strucker's voice called a bit indignantly.
"Gud work nevertheless." Skull commented as he put his mask on. "We'll test it soon... for now, I got other duties to attend to."
He left his room, and entered the labratory downstairs to take a look at the young girl strapped into the medical chair. Good thing that mere drops of her blood could stabilize enough magic to make dozens of vaporizer rifles or she would have been dead long ago... it was amazing that even after all this blood loss, she seemed to have actually Regained consciousness if anything. Then again... the handlers were extra careful in making sure she didn't bleed out.
"Why are you doing this? She asked weakly.
"Hush." The skull replied as he looked over her. "I promise... someone you love with all your heart will be coming for you, my dear.
She fell back, weak from the constant blood loss that HYDRA put her through. Christiane's eyes never left the Skull as he stayed in the room.
"Ze Neuroi... we can test to see if it works." The skull said with a wolfish grin. The factory would be getting to work now.
"You're good. I am better." Slade commented as he took a look at Bucky, who's superhuman physiology was still in the process of fully repairing his body. As of now, he still had a black eye, several bruises, and a few broken ribs in the process of healing themselves. All of which would be gone by the next day.
"I still think what you did there by disabling my arm was a low blow."
"You don't win fights by playing nice." Slade shot back. "Besides... would you rather have me breaking your real one?'
"Like you can!" Bucky smirked. "If I wasn't fighting you with one arm the whole time, I could have kicked your ass."
"That'd be the day." Slade commented as he thought of all the people who had said things like that in the past. The list went on and on, every single one of them, the fight had always been swift and one-sided.... but there have been exceptions. The best one just happened to have been, the guy in the bat costume. That was a man who deserved all the respect in the world... even he hadn't managed to defeat Slade by himself.
Slade mused for a moment, if the guy in the bat costume wasn't so full of his own "self righteousness" and "justice doesn't kill" then it was a good question to whether or not Slade could win. He knew better than to think that such a skilled and intelligent fighter was fighting at his peak in the times they met... The difference between them was easy. Slade always fought to kill, unless he didn't feel like it. But the guy in the bat costume? He held back. Chances are, if he was who Slade thought he was... then this was a man with unlimited resources... and yet... he still holds back. Few men deserve the respect he deserves, no matter how deluded he may be.
"Besides... I fought bigger guys than you." Slade said again. "Tell the US government that it takes more than just a pair of thugs with superhuman strength and tried and true tactics to win their wars. They need things like discipline... they need to think out of the box, and they shouldn't be two guys who think that they can win wars by playing fair."
"You always struck me as the type of person who'd stab his enemy in the back." Bucky mumbled.
"Only if the person isn't worth my time... besides... who needs knives? I got a sniper rifle." Slade went on. "If I can't savor a good fight, then I think we should just finish it nice and quick."
"Right... you know... I am not big on hired guns and all... but I think you'd make a good teammate... if you actually weren't in this all for the money."
"I am not. A man needs some excitement in his life doesn't he?"
"Great... so you're here to kill people?"
"No... I am here to FIGHT people." Slade said. "But I fight to kill. I don't enjoy the killing pal... that's sick. I enjoy the fighting. Isn't that right Trude?"
"Huh? What?" Barkhorn asked taken back.
"How much you like your job?" Slade asked.
"It's... I like it. I like it." Barkhorn replied slowly, wondering exactly how Slade was so easy going with people he was busy beating senseless just minutes prior.
"Now kid... you never killed another man before have you? At least... not before coming here." Slade asked again. "But you fought many times... right?"
"Yes...." Trude said slowly. A few hundred dead Neuroi would be the testament to that... but admittedly, she never dropped a body before until coming to Equestria. Thinking about it gave her a sick feeling in the stomach, to the fact that these were PEOPLE. Perhaps bad people, perhaps some of the worst people that would ever exist, but they were still human. They weren't mindless aliens who sought out to eradicate human life. Murdering another man made her feel uneasy, but in the end, she reasoned to herself. It was either going to be her, or them. "Why are we talking about this?"
"I dunno... James was interested in my job." Slade quipped. "Why do you judge anyways? Don't you have enough skeletons in your closet?"
"I am fighting for what's right Slade. I don't have anything against mercenaries but I sure as hell don't like them too much. If they didn't pay me to crack HYDRA's skulls, I wouldn't care. I'd still not stop until everyone of those damn krauts were dead."
"You might offend someone with that word." Slade commented. Rather, Trude was oblivious to the use of the word, having never heard it once. "Is it really justice you want? Or are you in here because... someone... wronged you in the past? And now you want to kill them?"
Damn.... how did he?
"And what do you get out of this kid?" Slade asked turning to Trude.
"I never thought of anything actually... if anything... I am actually worried about a few things..."
"Comrades back home?"
"Them? Oh... there's no need to worry about THEM. They got everything... but I am worried about Chris... what's she going to react when she finds out her older sister disappeared? She just barely recovered from a coma. The rest of our family is dead...."
Almost as though it was against his will, Slade just regretted what he had said to Trude and this entire conversation. Granted, he wasn't one to care about other people's misfortunes... but no matter what... it was awfully hard even for a man who killed people for a living to not feel at least a twinge of sympathy... and...
"You got one thing going for you kid." Slade said, wiping any emotion from his face. "It's heart. Doesn't matter that you fight like a girl... but if you have the will to do so... there is nothing you can't do. Training is nothing Trude. Discipline is nothing. It's just will that's everything."
"Motivational speaker huh?" Bucky smirked.
"I was a Colonel in the military... it was my job." Slade smirked back.
"So... how was Canterlot?" Steve asked as the two got back.
"They fought about as well as a pack of stuffed animals." Slade commented as he set his things down. "And for the record... I beat Bucky too now. Maybe you both should try."
"Three old men fighting?" Erica asked. "That'd be fun to watch."
"I really want to slap her right now." Bucky commented aloud as he glared at the young girl, who smiled impudently at him. These two...
"I could probably beat him up." Barkhorn raised her voice regarding Bucky.
"That's not how I remember things kid." The Winter Soldier commented. "Besides... I think me... being an expert assassin and all wouldn't lose to someone who fights like a girl..."
"Will you stop saying that?!" Trude asked irritably. "What's wrong with you anyways? You have something against..."
"Just an old saying back at home..." Slade said. "It's nothing to be offended about kid... because I bet telling someone that from where you come from is a compliment.... hey... you wanted something Steve?"
"Yeah... I found a HYDRA server." Steve began as he nodded to Erica, who pulled it up with a grunt. Pulling it out from the quinjet was harder than carrying it, though seeing a small person carry a large piece of machinery was still pretty amusing. "What's that thing you do... with computers?"
"Hacking?"
"Yeah... whatever that is..." Steve said as he watched Slade pull out his "smartphone".
"You can do that with that little thing?" Captain America asked with disbelief.
"Cap... it's not actually a smartphone. I built the thing myself." Slade said as he brought the "phone" close to the server, the screen of sorts appearing straight out like a hologram, not something unlike that of STARK industries. "We this a cryptographic sequencer... it's just one of the many things my phone can "be"."
"Some kind of super-computer of sorts?" Bucky asked.
"In a smart phone." Slade said as he looked at Trude, Erica and Medic. "What?"
"Vouldn't a computer be... um... larger?" The doctor asked. Being from the 60s... their computers were roughly the size of a fridge.
"That's the beauty of 2014. We can make things smaller... much smaller..." Slade grinned as he began the hack. "So... what are we looking for?"
"Where the jet Erica shot down was headed." Steve said.
"Okay then. I'll get that for you... I guess we head to the fun part afterwards?" Slade asked.
"Like old times..." Bucky commented. "Hey Steve... mind if we talk downstairs?"
"Sure thing pal." The Captain said as he went downstairs, watching as the Winter Soldier closed the door, so they wouldn't be heard.
"You know how you mentioned Erica reminded you of Erich Hartmann?"
"Yeah?"
"Gertrud Barkhorn is..."
"Gerhard Barkhorn. The other top German ace in the war." Steve said. "I did my reading you know... but what is it? Something on your mind?"
"Listen... Medic... I don't know that guy much... but he feels kind of off..."
"Relax Bucky... he's not a Nazi... and he wasn't one. He lived through the war.... told me that it was rather unpleasant. I trust him... you should too. He's a good man, even though he might be crazy... like... very crazy."
"Okay... but then there's... Erica and Gertrude... you know... those uniforms... I still can't get past them..."
"Neither can I." Steve commented. "But as long as they don't go around goose-stepping or sieg-heiling, I think I am fine with them."
"Just because they don't do that... you know what Erica told you. Hitler is a painter. How do we know their version of Germany isn't some kind of tyranny like the Nazis? How do we know that the reds didn't take over and..."
"You're overthinking it Bucky. The Kaiser is still in charge, Adolf is some random painter, and they're actually allies with the USA... or USL... what's wrong with the two anyways? I know I still feel the whole "girls playing soldiers" thing is wrong... but that's from our point of view. Where they're from, she could probably take you on if you hadn't been... well...."
"If HYDRA hadn't turned me into their own personal super-soldier." Bucky said grimly. Baron... Baron... Baron something... "You know how I feel about..."
"Germans? Bucky... is this what everything is all about? Because someone is from 1944 Germany, you have trust issues?"
He said nothing... because the truth was... Bucky did have problems. Only recently had he recalled the events of his life, and even now, the man was bitter over the second world war. That's not to say... Rogers wasn't either. His bitterness would be more directed at Hitler and HYDRA, rather than Germany as a whole.
"Just because they're German doesn't mean anything... not even German actually. Karlslandian if I have the word right. Bucky... they're not bad people. I've spent enough time with Erica to know that. Hell... she acts more like some schoolgirl in 1944 than someone who should be a soldier. She's a nice person and frankly... how can you not like her for being herself?"
"Okay... okay.." Bucky said as he went back upstairs.
Steve looked at his friend's back. Rather unsure to whether or not Bucky got the message. The phrase "one ear in, one ear out" should be coming to mind right about now.
"Hmmm." Strucker leaned over to the body of the dead pony as the HYDRA scientists began to dissect it.... or rather, began to finish dissecting it. The corpse had been in HYDRA's possession for quite a while. Elsewhere in the "medical" facility, organs, blood and other samples were stored in jars and containers, shown for all to see.
"That's quite ze discovery." The baron commented as he grabbed one of the glowing vials containing a green fluid. "So... vat is this again?"
"Well sir... I have no name for it yet... but I think it can be accurately described as a form of "super-steroid"." The scientist said. "You see... when injected in constant supply a subject, the body will grow and grow and an extremely fast rate mainly in muscles and density. On all our test subjects so far... we must keep the subjects in constant supply of this "super-steroid" or the effects wear off... withdrawal symptoms are... quite nasty...."
"Hmmmm..." Strucker began to plunge into deep though as he grabbed the clipboard to view the notes. "Interesting... but you mentioned two more... what's the word... variations?"
"Yes sir... this type of super-steroid comes at the price of having to use it constantly. However... we've managed to derive two more serums from the blood of these equines. Another one... I have no name for currently is a serum that once injected into the blood-stream. It stays there permanently unless cured. However... there is a defect...."
"And that would be?"
"Subjects if not sedated first will die... and those who survive tend to lose their sanity... we've so far got cases of what can medically described as "schizophrenia". This got so bad that we actually had to terminate three fourths of the test subjects. A no easy task mind you... it appears that these serums can make a man bullet proof."
"Good... good... we'll have to improve upon these then. So... what's the last formula?"
"It was.... well... perhaps the most potent out of all three of the serums we've devised. We can turn men into savage giants with this... miracle. Hulking brutes... berserk... insane... almost invincible. Just what HYDRA needs to win a war... our only problem is having the subjects retain their sanity, speech and intelligence."
"Then get working on it. This may be even more potent that the one Erskine used on Schmidt and Rogers." Strucker ordered, pulling closer, he whispered the next sentence to the doctor. "By ze way doctor... make sure ze Red Skull does not know about this."
"Will do sir." The doctor nodded with a wink. "Hail Hydra."
"Hail Hydra." The baron replied as he walked out the door to give his report to Schmidt. Unbeknownst to him, a large owl-like creature was watching him, the factory, and HYDRA. It's eyes narrowed at the sight of the notes and the experiment. The creature continued to frown, as it's fertile mind raced to formulate a plan as it took out a device from a belt at it's waist.
He looked over at the notes again to confirm, before deciding to wait for his cue.
"Just like old times..." Steve beamed as he sat at the back of the truck, taking a tentative glance at the driver who was currently oblivious to what had gone on in the back. He took another look back at the dirt road, watching the four unconscious bodies that lay there, no one seeming to notice them at all.
"What do we do once we get there?" Bucky asked as he grabbed a silencer. "It's not like we can just waltz in through the front."
"Well... I didn't just get us a location now..." Slade began with a grin underneath his mask. "I also got us things like the guard schedules, flight plans, and shipments. That's how we knew some poor suckers were going to be here for us to hijack. Besides... this truck isn't carrying anything. The two guys in the back? They're just passengers, the driver is hardly going to care if they turn up missing. We just lie low for a minute, and we slip out."
"Hope you're correct." Medic commented. "Ze absolute last ting ve need is for zem to find us all here...."
"Indeed doc... that'd terrible. But that's why I got a safety net." Slade smiled as he held up his "smartphone". "I can hack into their factory's network, and can cause... well... anything I want. General chaos if you like. For example... one press of a button, and I can send there men scrambling into the parade ground because well... someone THOUGHT a fire broke out... or maybe... I can send all these idiots to the hangar... because someone MADE IT SOUND LIKE there has been a fuel leak..."
"So... if you do that... you can cause the alarm to sound?" Erica asked scratching her head. "What if someone thinks that the alarm sounded because we broke in?"
"Doesn't work like that kiddo. HYDRA is high-tech enough to have pre-recorded messages in case of "emergencies". I press this button... and the announcer won't shut up about how there was a fire in one of the hangars until I tell it to." Slade explained. "You don't have these things in 1944, but try a few decades and you might have things like it."
"So... this is technology from the future?" Trude asked.
"It is. HYDRA is all about producing advanced weapons to conquer the world." Steve explained. "You have things like lasers, advanced missile technologies and aviation technology. To put this into perspective, try imagining fighting a war with things like rifles and bullets, while the enemy uses weapons that can vaporize you instantly.... wait..."
"The Neuroi uses lasers... you have to be really lucky to survive one of those... right Trudy?"
"Shut up." Trude grumbled. "Besides... being a witch, I don't think it's that much of a problem when we have things like magic on our side. It's not going to matter if someone, no matter how strong, how resilient or how quick becomes a pile of dust. That's typically what happens with the Neuroi..."
"You know... if we somehow could get our hands on whatever HYDRA is making and give it to the people back home... the Neuroi wouldn't be a problem anymore..."
"Or... maybe even just turn the entire regular army into um... I think the right term is Übermensch." Barkhorn said. "I am certain when the men can push their own tanks or even pick them up... I think the war would have been more than just won."
"When I give the signal, we move..." Slade said as he activated his tactical vision. "Everyone know's where they're going?"
The plan was simple really. Erica and Slade headed to the factory's production zones to plant charges. Steve and Gertrud would head to the servers within the factory to attempt to deduce where HYDRA's base of operations were and/or any other things that could be gained from HYDRA. Medic and Bucky would go to HYDRA's storage and labs, destroying anything that HYDRA was making. After this was all done, everyone would meet up, steal a plane or find a way out. And then boom. Done.
"We are due to send these weapons back to HYDRA island." Reaper commented as he watched the vials of blood being transported out to be sent to the production facilities which would help produce more vaporizer rifles for HYDRA back at home. Taking a look at the young girl strapped into the chair, who was currently barely conscious as usual, losing blood in large amounts wasn't exactly something that was good for someone.
"Poor kid." Reaper quipped as she listened to the labored breathes of Chris, who's eyes flickered through semi-consciousness. The door opened as Rumlow stepped in.
"My shift. You're off."
"Good." The hooded assassin replied as he exited the medical facility as Rumlow took a seat to keep an eye on Chris.
"Be quiet... you got that?" Slade asked as he placed the charge right within the container of weapons. "You got my back?"
"You betcha!" Erica replied as she cocked her MP40. "But you know... I don't think anyone's coming in here..."
"Better safe than sorry." Slade commented as he placed the charges down. They would have less than eight minutes to get this done before he estimated the next shift would arrive. Judging from his tactical vision... eight minutes might actually be stretching it. All he could do is work fast, hope Erica has his back, and hope everyone else works just as quickly.
"Everything good Trudy?" Steve asked as he took a look at his flash-drive, Shield slung on his back and a silenced pistol in the other hand. He took another look at Barkhorn who was knelt downwards.
"Yes... sneaking around isn't really my thing."
"Not my thing either." The Captain said. "I'd rather sock the bastards in the face..."
"I'd rather be fighting Neuroi..." Trude commented as she finished scrutinizing the dead soldier. If the soldiers back at home really could have been as strong as Steve, the war probably would have been landslide. She took another look at the huge human-shaped dent in the ground. "I hope they don't notice this."
"Hopefully not..." Steve said, recalling how he had picked up the soldier and slammed him against the earth, killing him instantly. "Okay... according to Slade, we have eight minutes."
"Eight minutes to..."
"Sneak in, get the data, and then level the place. Once the next shift arrives... getting out is going to be pretty difficult..."
"How do you get data on that little thing anyways?"
"Slade showed me how... he just told me to download everything." Cap replied. "I done this before... sorta..."
"I take it this kinda of stuff is your thing?" Bucky asked as he looked at the two dead guards, both with two large syringes in their necks.
"Ja. A type of neurotoxin that I've developed. Field testing it today..." Medic said as he pulled out the needles. "I... vill still need ze needles...."
"Well... I don't have all day. I got a lab to destroy."
"By chance Herr Barnes... you tink zey vould have any..."
"No way doc... We can't have any of those... things leaving that lab." Bucky said. "Luckily... our route leads to the hangar... and I got quite a solution for how we're going to deal with the lab."
"And how do you plan on zat?"
Wielding torch? Check.
Gasoline? Almost got it.
Method of transporting Gasoline into the room? Check.
Incendiary bullets? Check.
Within the rooftop of the factory, the Owl creature continued to watch the movement's of one and all with it's "Detective vision". Well... wasn't this perfect? It looked as though his "cue" had gotten here early. He cast his gaze back on the holding pens where various subjects of the serums HYDRA had created from the Equestrian bodily fluids were being held.
Venom... Mirakuru... Titan....
It seemed as though the blood of these horses had properties that could allow it to be... changed... into these chemicals. Chemistry... not the study of matter, but rather the study of change.
And Thomas Wayne Jr. was quite the expert in the study of change. He waited a few moments before the pieces fell into play.
"Oh... I think you best hurry." Erica whispered as she took a gaze around. Her words merely confirmed Slade's suspicions who ironically, despite having a far better idea of what was about to happen, was way more calm than the girl, who was starting to behave not unlike a frantic guard dog.
"It's fine... I am almost done." Slade reassured as he placed another charge down. The sound of a few soldiers conversing the background was getting closer and closer while his tactical vision began to confirm the presence of more people. Placing down the last charge and readying his detonator, he gave a thumbs up... and turned around to see the back of Erica's head, who was facing towards a group of men that were just awkwardly staring at her for a moment.
"Auweh." Erica muttered as raised her shield the moment the triggers were pulled, the machine gun bullets bounced off the shield of ether as Erica raised her weapon and began to fire the 9mm rounds at the surprised guards that had whipped out their weapons. Though protected by things like flak jackets and ballistic vests, it would provide little protection when the weapon being fired was on par with an automatic grenade launcher.
Normally... she didn't kill other people. Though Erica had seen the bodies of dismembered soldiers many times at the hands of the alien invaders she put up with on a daily basis, she never thought she'd see the dead bodies of men that she had killed herself. It was unnerving, but as she applied the same reasoning to war, it would be either them or her. It was surprising to see how coolly Slade could do his job to, especially here as she took a tentative gaze at her older companion, who had taken out a staff of sorts which if she was honest, would either look terrifying or completely silly given Slade's idea of a costume and weapon. What happened then was more of the latter than the former as he leaped right in front of all the men who were all too eager to fill them up with lead, and just rushed them.
He wasn't even hit once. Receiving fire from perhaps as much as 6 people, and they couldn't even hit him. He made a beeline right at them, and when he reached them, it happened so fast, no one besides from Slade would even have as much as a clue to what happened. All there was were screams, metal hitting flesh, and bodies hitting the ground.
"Our cover is blown.." Slade growled in frustration as he looked over at his phone. "Hey Blondie, you got any good ideas?"
"Umm... we get out of here?"
"That's the alarm!" Barkhorn commented as Steve began to work on downloading all of HYDRA's information. She took a frantic gaze around to see what may have caused the alarm to have sounded. So far, with the four HYDRA workers who all had their mouths duct-taped and being trapped in a few steel girders which Cap and Trude had both bent out of shape to accommodate for them, it seemed unlikely they had anything to do with it.
"And that means we got to hurry... good thing I am done... and..." The Captain paused for a moment as he looked out the window of the server room, taking a look at the many guards that flooded into the room at the sound of the alarm "... oh shit..."
"This isn't good... you think we can fight our way out of this?" Trude asked as she grabbed a pair of MP5s the guards had carried with them... something familiar about these weapons...
"I dunno... how many times does it take for one of their vaporizer rifles to break your shield?"
"Just... one..." Barkhorn replied sheepishly. Thankfully, it seemed as though dozens of vaporizer rifles flashed through the crowds below them.
"This is going to be rough..." The captain commented as he grabbed an assault rifle. Though he rarely used guns besides from his pistol, he was fairly proficient in their use, being better than most when it came to handling and firing firearms. His finger slid onto the trigger as he took aim. "Let's see if we can try not to..."
"HEY LOOK! OVER THERE!" Someone called as he raised his weapon, aiming straight at Roger's head.
"To hell with that..." Rogers groaned as he saw the men approach them. He squeezed off a single bullet. The sound of the gunshot a body falling to the floor echoed around the room as all heads turned to them. Okay... maybe that wasn't such a good idea...
"AWAY FROM THE EDGE... AWAY FROM THE EDGE..." Steve cried as the bullets and vaporizer rounds came flying up.
"How we getting out of this?!" Barkhorn asked as she saw men beginning to get up on their level through at the sound of the *ding* from the elevator.
"Don't worry! I've done this before countless times it's just that..."
A second alarm begin to sound before Captain America could finish his sentence. This wasn't an audio-recording...
"Warning..." A woman on the announcer said into the intercom over the "perimeter has been breached" recording. "All containment chambers have been breached. All available personal all to report for re-containment... this is not a drill."
"That's not u...." He stopped talking. "What he hell is that?"
Barkhorn took a look at the monster, or rather monsters for a single moment, their grotesque forms causing her face to turn into a mask of unfeigned disgust. Perhaps at the fact that the grotesque, mutated bodies of the test subjects that HYDRA had injected with TITAN, or the fact that the dozens of soldiers down below were instantly murdered in unseen brutality, few of them would even have as much as a chance to retaliate against the monsters. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the railing, her eyes were caught by the presence of a vaporizer rifle, it's ominous blue glow had caught her attention.
"Those things... I don't think I'd take any chances with them." Steve said as he grabbed his shield. "Trudy... you thinking what I am thinking?"
He wouldn't need an answer as Barkhorn already had the vaporizer rifle at the ready, she gave a small nod anyways.
"I go down there, you cover me... got it?"
"No way... if you're going to thrust yourself into a pit full of monsters, I am not going to just cowardly sit back and watch you get yourself torn to shreds. Super-soldier or not, those things are... they're an abomination..." Trude said slowly. "They're dangerous... I am going to go down with you. Besides..." She said with a smile as her familiar began to manifest. "I am stronger anyways."
"Suit yourself." Steve said as he jumped down from the second floor, right into the pit of TITAN infused soldiers who were busy venting their berserk rage and fits of insanity upon their former comrades, who's corpses had been mutilated or squashed. Those who were still alive make their way to the exit in a hurry. Most wouldn't get very far....
"Who ze hell left ze experiments out?!" Strucker asked angrily as he barged into the security section of the medical facilities. To his surprise and shock, the two men tasked with the control of every door in the area was dead, murdered brutally, one of them had been beaten to death by bare hands, his assailant obviously possessing superhuman strength while the other had been torn apart with what Strucker could assume to be razor claws. The baron's eye squinted for a moment... before looking closely at the ground... a small trickle of blood... elsewhere a razor sharp owl-shaped shuriken could be found embedded in one of the dead soldiers.
Following the blood trail, the baron turned a corner that held a sign. "Medical lab --->"
Knowing immediately what was going on the baron drew the sword at his side as he ran to the facility, his rage steamed out from his nostrils, fogging over his monocle. This intruder sure had a sense of humor that was lost on Strucker. He wanted the information regarding to the serums HYDRA produced from the equine blood? So how to do it? By releasing those crazed individuals that had been injected with the serums.
The baron soon made his way to the medical facility right where all he kept the notes regarding the serum that HYDRA had produced. He found exactly what he hoped he wouldn't find.
Everyone, scientist, doctor or soldier with the exception of the patient had been murdered brutally. Either with an owl shaped shuriken in his neck or having been slashed apart by what could be described as claws. A look at the cabinet containing the notes would indicate that the cabinet had been opened with the correct code, not forced open by what Strucker would expect a creature of herculean strength to do so, seeing as that one of the dead soldiers had a broken back.
His sharp senses would pick something up that something... or someone was behind him. Attempting to skulk away or perhaps kill him stealthily. It didn't matter as the Baron spun around and readied his sword. He gazed at the owl-creature intently, carefully noting that it wasn't an owl-creature at all, rather, a man in an owl costume. That hardly made Strucker care, having been used to things like freaks with some outrageous costume. What he cared about was the briefcase the owl-man had in it's hands.
"You did zis?" The baron asked, his sword keenly pointed at the owl-man.
"Indeed." Owlman replied. "And it'd be in your best personal interest to walk away right here and right now. "After all, don't you have other business to attend to?"
"No... I don't. You can give me back ze notes you monster... or I vill personally enjoy cutting you up."
"Get in line."
"As you vish..." The baron said as he lunged forward at the owl-man. Sword at the ready. Even despite his age, the baron was no pushover in combat. Only thing was... Thomas Wayne Jr. was perhaps one of the most lethal fighters in existence. The baron soon found this out when he would be unable to land a single blow on the owl-man. The talons of the owlsuit came out, and came straight down upon the Baron's arm, severing.
He would hardly have any time to react before a heavy blow sent him into the wall, the old man beginning to rapidly lose consciousness. Not before however calling for help...
"Reaper...reaper..."
Owlman grinned wickedly, considering for a moment whether or not he wanted to finish the baron. He decided against it, this wasn't his business quite yet....
Unbeknownst to Owlman as he made his exit by blasting a hole in the wall, someone had been watching him. Chris flipped through her bouts of semi-consciousnesses as she watched the owl-creature make it's way out. Her view cut off when the man in the cloak arrived to help his baron. Unbeknownst to Strucker however, there was a certain man that was watching him, and a certain man who was growing very, very eager.
"Be careful sir.. that wound..."
"I know about zat vound!" Strucker spat out indignantly. "Ze girl... ve'll need her to be alive for HYDRA's plans! Reaper... do you have..."
"I do..." The hooded assassin said as he took out a certain red-gauntlet from his cloak, the moment it was placed near Strucker's arm, it was attached on. And from doing so, it seemed that all the blood-loss and injury that Strucker had sustained just didn't matter in that second. Looking over at the Satan claw, the baron smiled. He considered long ago using this on the Red Skull to usurp HYDRA... but then again, that was something that he could easily expect Schmidt to expect and plan for.
Strucker and Reaper entered the medical facility, and began the process of deactivating the restraints that held Chris. He didn't notice that gasoline was slowly seeping into the room until it was almost too late. The sound of the door opened and the sound of the lock caused the two to jump up.
Bucky looked inwards. Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker. The man who did this to him. He grinned nastily at Strucker and his henchman as the flame was ignited. The door was quickly sealed by Medic, though it was highly debatable that it was even necessary. It would be doubtful the two would walk through the fire and manage to survive. That happened to have been the case for most of HYDRA.
"Hello Strucker..." Bucky smiled angrily. "You remember me don't you? You destroyed me. You destroyed who I was and now... how about I return the favor?"
Had Bucky known that Chris had been in there... it would have been doubtful to whether or not he would have even as much as locked the door in on Strucker and Reaper. But now, he walked away with Medic. The glass to the room was bullet-proof and blocked off by a flame.
It was just so good for Strucker and Reaper (and Chris) that the Satan claw allowed for superhuman strength....
"Don't shoot." Schmidt said as he looked at the pandemonium that ensued on the lower levels of the factory. Just moments ago, a babbling scientist had told them that they had created an army of "mutants" that would be used as super-soldiers for HYDRA when the time came. The reason that Schmidt, having not been informed of ANYTHING along the lines of what these men were doing, was that it was meant to be a "surprise." Said scientist could be found down in the lower levels now, flung down evidently by someone who did not appreciate this "surprise." Behind the Red Skull, Rumlow could be seen with a sniper rifle, aiming it straight down. Behind him, was a dead body. A crazy man that had been babbling about "voices". The Red Skull decided to euthanize this poor fellow by wringing his neck.
"Sir?" Rumlow asked as his marred face turned to his boss, who's real features were hidden under a mask. "Are... you sure about that?"
"Do not question me..." Schmidt said as his sharp eyesight focused around the young woman in the SS uniform. In her hand was a Kampfmesser 42 , a weapon that the Skull would easily recognize. He raised an eyebrow as he watched the mystery woman stand along with an old friend of his, as the pair began to take care of the rampaging mutants downstairs. He was hardly surprised at things like Captain America beating some eight foot monster of a man in hand to hand combat... but it was rather awing when a mundane looking pistol blew holes in it's target as though it was a weapon of much higher caliber. He listened to the two converse over the din, realizing who it was that was down there as they continued to fight.
"Gerhard Barkhorn..." Skull smiled as he said the name. True... true... her name was GERTRUD BARKHORN but did it really matter? Those names were similar... so was the uniform, and the ethnicity judging from her minor accent. It seemed as though what he had suspected was right... that there were hundreds, maybe thousands of parallel worlds to be discovered. He recalled Gerhard's death. A man of high standards, but boldly refusing HYDRA's offer to be apart of their organization and foolishly attempting to expose them as still being functional after the apparent death of the Red Skull. Strucker had him killed in a "car accident". The Red Skull continued to ponder for a moment at the prospect the second best pilot in the second world was had somehow been turned into a young woman with canine ears and superhuman strength. Her sister's name was Chris... yes... the very girl HYDRA had been using to produce vaporizer rifles. What a good thing to mention...
"I'll be damned..." Rumlow commented as he sat Trude size her up against another TITAN injected specimen. It was surprising to see the young woman lunge at the much larger creature, tackle it the ground before driving her knife into it's skull. Trude, while being of above average height for her time period, was by standards of today to be pretty physically unimpressive.
"Ze powers of magic are real after all." Skull commented as he turned away. "I'd do wish to meet Captain America again though..."
"How are we going to get him to get back up here?"
"Simple. His friends are up here." The Skull commented as he saw Bucky approach in the distance on one side with Medic, while on the other, Slade and Erica walked into view. The soldiers around them were told not to shoot. A single bridge would lead to their side... just like old times. From his own end of the level, Skull had a good view of Strucker approaching them with his new toy. The Satan Claw.
"We ought to meet the others now." The Captain said as he sent two bullets into the skull of the last TITAN specimen. "That ladder!"
"Let's move." Trude said as she climbed the ladder, gingerly looking back at the dead bodies down below. Her eyes began to lock around an awfully familiar aircraft.... it looked familiar... being all black... it seemed dormant...
She just didn't know where to place it... her transponder would give her indication that Erica had already made it up to the top floor. Slade was just finishing some... thing... that apparently had had to do himself.
If she was to be frank, she never imagined she would actually test her magic on a human being. The sturm had cleaned off the entire catwalk, sending everyone falling down bellow. Armed with her MP40 that she carried, she walked across to meet up with Trude before something, or rather, someone caught her eye.
"Ah... Erich Hartmann! I alvays vanted to meet you again!" Scmidt said with a grin as he at Erica, who only grinned cheekily back, not worried in the slightest despite the fact she had about more than a dozen firearms pointed at her general direction.
"Who are you again?" Erica asked with confusion. "Nice uniform by the way."
"I am Johann Schmidt... or Ze Red Skull depending on who you ask... but answer me Erica, why do you fight with... with... zese ponies? Why do you possibly gain from doing so?"
"Nothing I guess... what is there to? I've never asked for much... never needed much." Erica continued. "Okay... what do you want?"
"I would ask you to join me... join HYDRA... you see... we've known each other in the past before... granted... you weren't exactly... like this..." Scmidt began. "But I see you don't lack any of ze skill you had when we first met... imagine Frau... to have everything you would ever want... everything... anything..."
Erica paused for a moment... as thought to contemplate his offer.
Nah.
"Nah." Erica replied impudently. "I think I got a better idea..."
She pointed her weapon, the SMG spewing bullets at the Red Skull who to Erica's surprise, managed to avoid every single bullet though the same wouldn't be said for the men behind him, all of them being torn apart by what seemed like grenade launcher blasts.
"Nice try..." Skull taunted. "I see you aren't as sharp on the ground as you were in the skies."
"You haven't got a clue..." Erica smirked before rushing forward and hitting him right in the face.
"Do I now?" Skull asked as he rubbed his "nose" for a minute before swinging a heavy blow at Erica who had raised her shield. Though his fist would not penetrate the ether protection, it would cause it to crack and split much to Erica's surprise. And that was simply on his first try. The flurry of blows afterwards would shatter the protection, and a heavy kick would send Erica flying backwards, hitting a wall.
It would be Skull's turn to be surprised to see Erica would get up from that. He mused for a moment, considering planting a bullet or two between her eyes before someone else caught his attention. A good friend of his had decided to come along, and with him, another man of the past trapped in a woman's body. From the other side came the Winter Soldier, and a man dressed in a doctor's garb. Quickly, the Red Skull stomped down upon the cat-walk with all of his superhuman might, causing it to break and fall down in the level below.
"Captain America!" Red Skull called out as he was joined by Strucker and Rumlow. "I see we meet again!"
"Schmidt..." Steve growled as he readied his shield. "Or should I say... the Red Skull?"
"The red sku....?" Erica was cut off by Schmidt reaching for his face... only to realize it wasn't a face. It was a mask... and with that realization, she saw him tear off the false face off, revealing his true face... or rather, his skull. A literal red skull that glared back at them.
"So... tell me Gerhard... and you too Erich... why do you fight for ze Americans? Are you not true Germans? Why not rejoin your true comrades, and with us, we will build HYDRA into something greater... some that not even ze Führer could hope to achieve! We could build ze fourth reich! And with zat... anything... power, vealth... it could be yours... think about it..."
"I think I made up my mind already..." Barkhorn said as he glared at Schmidt and crew. "You don't care for your country... and besides... I am not German. I am Karlslandian. If Gerhard was a true man of his country, than I know he refused your offer... and for that, you had him killed. Isn't that right? You are just monsters..."
"HYDRA has a tendency to create monsters as vell Gerhard... or should I say Gertrud? For example... vat if I told you a man amongst you... nearly killed Chris?"
"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?!" Trude snarled viciously.
"It's simple... we kidnapped your sister..." Strucker grinned wickedly. "Don't worry Gertrud... she's still alive... but just moments ago, she vouldn't have been... not from fault of HYDRA of course, but from one of HYDRA's creations... isn't zat right Herr Barnes? You seem to love killing people with fire... would you like to see ze world burn?"
"The hell you talking about?" Bucky asked. "Unless your name is Chris, WOLFGANG... then I don't think there was anyone called Chris around here. If you aren't going to burn here, I guess you'll just have to burn in hell later then..."
"Quite devious wasn't it? You locked me in a room and set it on fire..." Strucker began, a slow smile spreading on his lips as he watched Trude's face of anger turn into one of horror and shock. "I'm certain you are a gut man Herr Barnes... you wouldn't have reserved such a sadistic fate for anyone... sweet and innocent... surely you wouldn't dream about burning kinder to death now?"
"The hell you talking about?" Bucky asked as he raised his gun. "Listen... I am sick of listening to you. Come over here and fight like a man..."
"In due time Herr Barnes!" Schmidt said, the red skull most unnerving to Erica and strangely fascinating to Medic. "I have a reckoning as vell... but for later... after all, don't you plan on destroying zis facility?"
The trio disappeared behind the door, leaving the five alone. Not a word was said...
"Is... is this true?" The sob of Barkhorn's voice asked, she turned to Bucky, her eyes watering with grief.
"Is what true kid?" Bucky asked curtly. "You okay there?"
He jumped back at her reaction, as did just about everyone.
"NO I AM NOT OKAY... THEY HAVE MY SISTER YOU DUMBASS!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she held onto the railings, holding them on tight as though she was going to lose control of her body. "THOSE MADMEN HAVE MY SISTER!"
"Yeah... yeah... don't worry... we kill them and get your sister back... no worries..." Bucky said dismissively at Trude's obvious distress. Great... a kraut with a temper tantrum. He looked over to Cap, silently asking for support only to realize that his friend's face was a mask of shock as well.
"Bucky... HYDRA had Trude's sister here..." The captain said silently.
"Here? As in..."
"In this facility..." The captain continued, watching as Barkhorn's grief spilled onto the catwalk forming two small pools of salt water. "And... they were... um... holding her in one of the medical facilities... I notice that there was a fire in that section... did you..."
Realization slapped Bucky harder than Hulk when pissed off as his former expressions of annoyance and ire were replaced by shock.
"No... you... you're not saying..."
"You almost killed Chris..." Barkhorn spat venomously... "YOU ALMOST KILLED BY SISTER YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Her familiar manifested, with the magic-amplifying gloves that Twilight had given her, a single blow from her could probably go through tank armor, and it was directed straight at Bucky... the fist never made it's mark as she slumped over. A sleeping dart lodged right into her neck. A man in an orange and black outfit standing right over her.
"We got bigger problems..." Slade began. Man... if you looked at him, you would have wondered if whether or not he just had been hit by a car or something... "We need to get out of here... now..."
"Why?"
"The bombs had begun their timer." He said. "And I know just the reason. There is a monster that has been here."
Owlman.. The mercenary whispered to himself in his mind.
"We got less than five minutes!" Slade said as he led everyone into a headlong sprint for the closest exit. Luckily, he had passed the hangar rooms of HYDRA where they had been keeping their toys.
"You REALLY have to knock her out?!" Medic asked as he half carried, and half dragged the unconscious Barkhorn who was out cold as coal. Not exactly being the strongest man on the team meant that even carrying a fairly light person was somewhat of a challenge for him.
"You really would want to somehow reattach Bucky's head back onto his shoulders?" Slade retorted. "Unless you got a way to bring the dead back to life, be glad you aren't putting his head in a jar of preservatives..."
"Yeah... about zat..." Medic began as Slade pried open the hanger with his bare hands.
"Forget it doc. Let's just get the damn plane and get out of here." Slade said as he forced the door fully open with a little help from Cap. This entire time, Bucky did not say a word, only just stared at Trude, who was currently out of the game, perhaps for quite a while. He didn't so anything, just stared at the ground for a moment as he did a rather slow run to the plane.
"Anyone got a goddamn clue on how to fly this thing?!" Slade asked. "Steve! I thought you said you flew a plane before!"
"I don't understand German!" Steve said as he looked all over at the controls which were of course, labeled in German.
"But didn't you say..."
"Besides! I crash-landed the thing, not flew it!"
"You got to be kidding..." Slade said. "Ummm... eh... god damn it!"
"Move along alte!" Erica said rather impudently. "I got zis...!"
"You flew a plane before?"
"Duh!" Erica exclaimed as she jump started the quinjet. "I am in the Karlsland airforce! Besides... even if there are things I don't understand... it's all there to read! I really like this plane by the way...!"
"Yeah... tell that to SHIELD!" Steve commented. "Just get us off the ground!"
"I need a co-pilot!" Erica commented. "Slade... can you?"
"Sure kid..." Slade said as he hopped in. "Just so you know... I actually never flew a plane before."
"Who cares?" Erica asked awfully calmly for someone who had just hopped into a plane from about 70 years into the future and was fiddling around as though she had all day to play with all the controls which in reality, she had less than a minute to get the quinjet in the air before they were blown up. The fact that everyone was screaming at her to hurry up normally wouldn't help anyone either right...?
And the engine roars to life. Way to go Erica!
"Okay... let's get the hell out of here!" Steve said as he looked out the window watching as they escaped the HYDRA factory. A beeping sound would catch his attention. "Hey... what's that?"
"Radio? Looks like your friend the literal Red Skull wants to talk?" Slade asked as he began to fiddle with the machine, just thanking his lucky stars that Schmidt hadn't done something like rig the plane with explosives. That would have been bad... real bad...
"He wants to talk now?" Erica asked. "Maybe he thinks we're one of his lunatics... hey..."
Smiling, the witch's hand went for the radio, opening up the channel to listen for what Red Skull might have to say. With luck on their side, maybe Skull would be saying some awfully sensitive information on the channel that was meant only for the ears of his pilots...
Of course. Luck wasn't on their side.
"Ah... Captain America! I hope you are listening to this broadcast! It'd be a shame if you weren't!" Schmidt's voice taunted from over the radio, causing the captain to sigh and roll his eyes as he gripped his shield tightly. His face read the simple expressions of things like How the hell was he still alive? And of course, "Once I get my hands on that bastard, I am going to beat him red, white and blue.
"Guten Abend! Herr Schmidt!" Erica replied into the radio rather cheerfully as she gestured for Slade to take over. Thankfully... the mercenary had already read over the controls despite all of them being labeled in German, or not labeled at all. Having flown a plane when serving in the military gave him the experience necessary, though when certain things were swapped around and when some controls and labeling were written in German (a language he did understand, though was only mediocre in) it took him slightly longer than he would have liked to learn the ins and outs of this plane. He gave a small sigh of disapproval at Erica answering the radio, wondering exactly what she intended to say.
"Ah... Erich Hartmann! It is a pleasure speaking to the greatest pilot of my time, I'd rather have spoken to ze greatest soldier. Neverzeless, I think you and I can talk." Skull replied, not sounding at all disinterested in Erica replying. The fact that he referred to her after "Erich" was beginning to grow rather irritating... but that was something Erica could mope about later if she found the time to.
"Yes... I think we can... you see... you have Trudy's younger sister you Dämon" Erica replied as her tone began drastically more serious, more grim and somewhat menacing. "I do suggest you give her back..."
On the other end, Skull would have burst out into laughter if he saw that Erica was actually trying to threaten him. Seeing her physically of course, was hardly even threatening. Especially when all things considered, Erica stood well over a foot under him and had the semblance of some school girl with a happy-go-lucky attitude. Not to mention, her lacking of pants gave her the appearance of an underage Hure. But her voice had the solemn ring of someone who wanted to be threatening, who wanted to kill him... so nothing different from a few hundred other people.
"Oh please Frau... I was hoping you'd be thinking of more practical things. Like ze Americans you align yourself vith. What possible good do you get being vith zose men?"
"Nothing at all Schmidt! Except you see... we're not alike. If it's really true that someone like me fought with you in a war, I doubt they were doing it out of reasons concerning only himself." Erica replied with a yawn. "Like I said... give Trudy her sister back or else..."
"Or else what?" Skull asked over the end.
"I am going to find you Skull... and I am going to throw your corpse into whatever hell you crawled out of." Steve said, his voice oozing with malice and hate. "You really outdone even Adolf."
"Typical of an American. Preach peace vith one hand, and thirst for blood on ze other. But... let's not get ahead of ourselves now are ve? I do appreciate ze flattery, but as of now, I vill make HYDRA 1000 times ze empire zat ze Führer promised! Ze day of our reckoning vill come Captain... but not today. Just remember zat vhile I embrace ze powers of being ze ubermensch, you allow yourself to be a weapon of lesser men."
"Coward." Erica spat out. All those times listening to Trudy's soldier lectures were beginning to give her some rather great ideas. "You kidnap Trude's sister and don't even have the courage to face the consequences? And you call yourself a man? Much less a super man? You lack ideals Herr Schmidt. That's why Herr Rogers will always be better."
"He's a pawn to lesser men. If he wanted... Captain America could have ze power of ze gods! I proudly embrace what I could have as your precious American friend huddles away from power like a frightened tier huddles away from a fire! And you Frau Hartmann... and your freund Gertrud! You of all people should understand vat it's like to have ze powers of beyond human! Yet you allow yourselves to be slaves of lesser men. Pathetic.... vhen ze time comes, I vill enjoy killing all of you."
"You are a slave to your own greed and ambition, Skull." Cap said before he cut the line. His mind brooded of exactly how he intended to kill the Red Skull, and for keeps this time. Huh... he must have been spending way too much time with Slade if he was imagining things like stabbing him to death.
"Is Trudy going to be okay Herr Wilson?" Erica asked as she looked at Gertrud's still unconscious form, and Bucky sitting opposite of her, completely silent.
"She will be kiddo." Slade said. "But we need to focus the task at hand."
"Getting Trude's sister back." Bucky said almost automatically. "Then... I kill Strucker and we burn HYDRA to the ground."
"The skull is mine." Rogers said grimly as his hands tightened around his shield, wondering how well he would use it to beat the HYDRA leader to death. "We have unfinished business."
"I guess I get all his thugs. Figures." Slade mumbled as he caught Erica's rather worried glance. "What's wrong kid?"
"Nothing... nothing..." Erica said with a smile. What the hell was wrong with these people? Weren't the "supermen" supposed to be BETTER than the ordinary men? Wasn't that the philosophy that the supermen were better than regular men? Who were fit to lead others to a golden age? That they were inherently good men? And yet... with men like Schmidt, who was disturbingly to be of origins that was his world's version of Karlsland, his actions said nothing about what it would be like if the ubermensch theory. A man that cared only for himself and would gladly burn the world to ashes so he may stand over it's ruins. Was Slade any better? A sell-sword motivated only by greed? Or Bucky? Who in his blind vengeance nearly killed Chris? And what about Herr Rogers?
Maybe he was the only saving grace to Nietzsche's theory, and the only good example. A man motivated out of righteousness and a sense of duty. What if... what if Nietzsche's theory of a superman was real... and that a superman was truly not a good thing? That a superman would make the world bend knee to him, as he relished the spoils of war?
"Herr Rogers?" Erica asked as she switched with Slade to continue flying the plane.
"What is it?"
"What's it like to be an... an ubermensch? A superman?" Erica asked as she took a glance at him, finding a good place to land.
"What do you mean?" Steve asked. "And please... do not call me that."
"Why?"
"I'am only as good as the worst part of me... and the worst part of me is still only human." Steve replied. "I am no different from Skull, Slade or Bucky. Skull is truly the worst example of what it's like to have power. Slade values his gift... I think..."
"You have no idea how glad I was when I got shot right in the eye..." Slade quipped.
"Okay... and I am certain Bucky is happy over being alive..."
Oh I am happy alright... happy that I'll rip off Strucker's arm and beat him to death with it.
"And you know what? I can make a difference as this... so-called superman." Steve said as the quinjet began to land. "And Erica, you have a gift too. Magic. You'll make one hell of a difference. You're a good kid... Trude is too. In my world, both of you fought for your countries and not for yourselves. Skull only cares for himself and for power. Now I am certain Slade cares more than just getting paid..."
"Go rot in hell Cap."
"Hey... hey... I am just stating facts." Steve chuckled. "And besides... he wouldn't have been bothered to come here if he was a completely bad person now wouldn't he? Bucky and I are just a like. Bucky only made a mistake, he's only human after all and you cannot blame him. If you want to blame anyone, blame the Red Skull."
He finished, and with this, he looked outside to see Twilight's library out in the distance, before getting up and gently picking up Trude's unconcious form.
"Why the hell is she still asleep?"
"I think I used the wrong tranquilizer...." Slade smirked as he looked at the label.
"What's wrong with everypo... everybody?" Spike asked as he looked out the window, watching as Bucky sat down upon the grassy hill staring high at the stars. Trude had said nothing since she had come back, only sit down in a rocking chair, and just do a thousand yard stare ahead, nothing could get her out. Occasionally, her eyes would water as tears began to slowly crawl their way down, dripping down upon the carpet.
"A lot of things." Erica commented as she looked over at Slade and Medic, the former of which was sharpening one of his blades, while the latter experimented with his strange machines. She had heard stories of mercenaries. Men with little loyalty to their cause, save for the money they would be paid. Being the most intelligent doctor in existence or possessing generations worth of fighting skill would never compensate for that. Taking a look over at the Captain, he was nowhere in sight. Probably outside to console with his friend...
For some odd reason... his friend did seem an awful lot like Trude. Impulsive as hell... tries to keep their cool... but whereas Trude nearly got herself killed due to her rashness... it seems as though Bucky would more likely killed someone else from his rashness. Certainly, whatever HYDRA must have done to him must have been atrocious, but... what he did...
He looked back at Trude, who hadn't said a word since she regained consciousness. Walking over, she decided now would be a good time to help console her friend, who looked as though she was about to fall to pieces.
"You okay pal?" Steve asked as he watched Bucky, who was currently sitting down upon the grassy hill and looking straight up to the stars, as though his eyes wanted to reach for the stars themselves. For the entire trip back, he had said almost nothing and hardly even as much as made any indication that he even existed. He had become distant... like a ghost.
"Steve... remember when we first met Schmidt?"
"Real life? Yeah. I was quite surprised he had a literal Red Skull." Steve chuckled, causing Bucky to smile a bit. "You know... this guy makes Adolf's plans look like they were drawn in a coloring book."
"I always thought where we were now is comparable to a coloring book." Bucky laughed humorously again. "Remember how I asked you whether or not YOU had a red skull as well?"
"Yeah... and I checked... trust me... I don't have one." Steve joked as he tugged at his own cheek.
"Steve... jokes aside, I almost killed Trudy's sister." Bucky said as his tone grew serious. "I... I think whatever HYDRA did to me... I am starting to become like..."
"You start thinking like that, and you'll actually become like that maniac." Steve said solemly. "Red Skull is a war criminal and just another mad dog. We put him down, and this time, we do it for keeps."
"Hopefully..." Bucky replied. "Steve... all that time being HYDRA's "Winter Soldier", sometimes, I feel like I am still that assassin... that I am still not who I truly am."
"Nonsense Bucky... who you are, doesn't change. It's just what you are that's your decision." Steve said. "We've made our decisions. We're going to fight HYDRA."
"Rousing speech about liberty and justice for all?" Bucky grinned sadly.
"You got that right."
"Well... let's hear it from Captain America."
"Trude..."
"Leave me alone Erica." Trude sobbed as her mind was flooded with thoughts of her sister. "I... I..."
"You've done nothing but sulk in that chair for the past few hours. Maybe you should get some sleep..."
"Does it LOOK like I can get any sleep?!" Trude asked irritably. "I find out that a bunch of lunatics have my sister for god knows what?!" Am I EXPECTED to be able to get rest? And find out that Bucky almost killed CHRIS?!"
"You know... he had no way of knowing." Erica continued. When Trude said nothing, it only confirmed Erica's hunch on what, or rather, who Trude was so upset about. "It's just those... those HYDRA people."
She said nothing, only continuing to sulk in the chair as her mind flooded with Chris, and what she may have had to endure in the tender mercies of what Steve had described as "terrorists" and "nazis". To this day... she still had no clue what the latter was, though Bucky seemed to associate both her and Trude with that word. Unless it was some racial slur for their world's version of Karlsland, she had no clue.
"You know... you always give me this soldier talk every day at breakfast." Erica said as she watched Trude, who looked downright pathetic at the moment. "How would Minna feel if she you like this? Would she think of you?! What would Chris think about her older sister? What would Chris say? How would EVERYONE feel? Miyafuji? Charlotte? Everyone else? They'd think you were downright pathetic. Get up and get your head back in. We have a fight to win... and it's not just some coloring book that's at risk. If what the Red Skull says to be true... then EVERYONE, and EVERYTHING is going to be at risk. As of now..."
"As of now..." Slade cut in. "The Red Skull used Chris to test whether or not her blood could be used as a stabilizing compound on raw magical energy. Unfortunately for us and everyone else... that works. And now, the Adolf-wannabe now wants to harness the power of the elements of harmony so that he can do god knows what."
"Umm... what are the elements of harmony again?" Erica asked.
"Nothing special." Spike said as he walked in carrying a stack of books, totally oblivious to the context of the conversation. "Just the most powerful magical artifacts in existence."
OH GOD.
"Currently... Red Skull is located off the coast of Equestria within a massive submarine underneath the ocean." Slade explained. "We're going to need a plan. A damn good one."
"What's that name you gave to Rogers?" Erica asked.
"The star spangled man with a plan." Slade groaned. And he thought some of the monikers he had come across were bad.
[HYDRA headquarters, off the coast of Equestria, three hundred meters beneath ocean surface."
"Ve stop here." The captain ordered to the crew within the bridge. Dressed in a HYDRA uniform of another era, the captain looked over behind him to the screen that showed him the face of the Red Skull. "Ve are ready."
"Good." Scmidt commented as he turned around to face Chris who was strapped down as various tubes entering major veins drew blood out of her. Slowly, but surely. From behind her, the elements of harmony sat, slowly blinking to life. The Skull smiled as he turned around at the dormant... what can be described as a plane-like object behind him. It was completely black in color, with underlying shades of light red. It appeared to be "sleeping" in a sense.
"It vasn't JUST a vitch that we got..." Strucker smiled as he looked at the Neuroi. "In 1944 of their vorld, ze nations of ze world stand together in a pitiful alliance against an alien threat. Had it been HYDRA in their postion, ve vould have not only just took control of all zese invaders, but used zem to conquer."
"And zat is what we will do. Ze Neuroi may be terrifying their vorld... but zey are only pawns zat may be manipulated by ze greater powers of HYDRA." Skull continued as he watched Strucker for a moment. The old devil was sly... cunning. Granted... wrestling power away from the one HYDRA worshiped as a god among men was impossible to put bluntly... but if accidents were to happen... Strucker could potentially find himself at the top of the food chain again.
What Strucker was doing back at the factory... Skull didn't know. In truth... he probably wouldn't want to. And that... right there, is one huge statement. Of course, the lost of a "key" installation was merely a minor setback. He would have to make sacrifices in order to get his primary enemies out of his way.
Captain America. The Winter Soldier. The Mercenary that had accompanied them. Gerhard, Erich, and some random doctor of superior intellect to the ordinary man.
Sitting back, the skull wondered for a moment... where a mercenaries TRUE loyalties lay.
"If we are to somehow manage to take on a few thousand neo-nazis with lasers and... whatever the hell it is that they use, the power of a goddamn Nordic deity, it's probably obvious that if we tried to do it ourselves, we'd be going on a one-way trip." Slade said as he sat down with everyone else. "Now... if you don't mind... I'd rather be alive when I get paid... and preferably, not missing any organs either."
"Still after the money huh?" Steve quipped as he placed his shield upon the table. "Alright... how are we going to do this?"
"Well... for some knucklehead with a shield who still lives in 1944, you managed to get me some important data. You got me a layout of Adolf wannabe's submarine, you got me exactly what he plans to do, his numbers, his weapons, his everything. But more importantly, you got me a location of where he is going to be. At all times... the submarine is located off the East Equestrian coast which will be easier to find once I can get my "phone" locked on to any signal, radio chatter, or anything they might have down there."
"So... okay, that's nice. What's the catch?"
"Catch is... you don't exactly feel like taking an entire SS regiment right? Because that's exactly what you'll be doing if we go in like a bunch of mindless thugs for some neo-nazi organization. I don't really think I want to become swiss cheese or a dust pile... so I am about to say it..."
"Vait... Vhy is this a bad thing again?" Medic asked.
"Yeah... am I missing something here?" Erica scratched her head.
"Want to know exactly how awful the Equestrian royal guard actually is at doing their job?" Slade asked. "Bad enough to the point where they're worse then low budget mall cops."
"I don't know what that is." Erica replied. "What's a "cop" anyways?"
"Cop? You know... the police?"
"OH!" The blond girl replied as she chuckled. "Right... they use that term in the US right?"
"Yes. Anyways, what Slade is trying to get across is that we can exactly rely on these warhorses to get the job done... no offense Twilight."
"None taken... besides, only my brother can get things done the right way. Don't even get me started this one time with the changelings..."
"I guess I shouldn't. The hard thing isn't going to be sneaking into his submarine..."
"Can you please explain to me how that isn't going to be HARD?!" Trude asked irritably. "What are we going to do? Swim a few hundred meters underneath the water? And even then, how do we get in without looking like we just broke in from the outside?"
"Oh quite easy... you know what an aircraft carrier is? Because Herr Skull decided that his submarine can carry planes too... now then... what's that thing we got in the back..."
"Don't you think he's going to figure out that, that was the exact..."
"Oh yes... I am counting on it. That's why we steal another ride."
"But how? Certainly HYDRA doesn't have another airbase?" Medic asked skeptically with a few bits of hope. HYDRA's research on science was quite advanced for an organization that was still using the same things they were using back in the 40s. Those vaporizer rifles...
"No... they don't." Slade rolled his eyes. "Apparently, that was their first establishment on this planet and probably their only after they decide that... well...." He rolled his eyes at the statement he was about to make. "They're going to harness the power of friendship and build the fourth Reich."
"So... we jack a plane... what then?" Bucky asked. "We fly in... but why do we need the royal guard?"
"Oh simple. I am going to program a bug into the submarine to make it run aground. Once that's the case, chances are... we're not exactly going to stand a chance against an entire SS division are we now? That's where the royal guard comes in... and... yeah... so... I think I am going to head into Camelot... or Canterlot... tomorrow and do my best to... well... try to make the most out of things... those lasers HYDRA use make mincemeat out of whatever magic they use... and don't get me wrong... but I those warhorses of theirs can do a bit better in the field."
"How are we going to jack the plane anyways?"
Step 1: Jump out of plane going at about 800 miles per hour and grab onto enemy plane. Easy enough... Just make sure it's not a chopper we're jacking or we're going to get turned into meatloaf. Step 2: Grab onto plane door. Remember to use one hand to hold onto the plane, or you may become a human pancake. Human pancakes taste VERY bad. Step 3: Open plane door out with one hand, while holding onto plane so you do not get a one way ticket. Oh right... try not to get turned into swiss cheese or lasered to death in the meantime. Step 4: Somehow board the jacked plane with everyone else. Have fun jumping. Step 5: ??? Step 5: PROFIT!
"You're going to JUMP out of a plane to grab onto another one?" Trude asked with disbelief. "Now these are jets we're talking right?"
"Yeah."
"So... the turbines..."
"It'll be fine kid." Slade said. "I done it many times in the past. You should see the looks on their faces if you land on the windshield." Slade chuckled. "Hey... those jetpack... legpack... whatever the hell they are... think you can pry a door open?"
"I think I'll let Trude do this one." Erica said looking over at the older girl. "My question is... how exactly are we going to do this? All they have to do is give the word to Herr Schmidt that we're stealing a plane and we're canceled."
"Let's be honest Slade... swimming onto a submarine is far less risky than jumping out of a plane at who knows how high..."
"You wanna drown or something?" Slade retorted. "That sub is OVER 600 meters deep. You packed swim trunks? Diving gear? There's no way in hell we can pull that off..."
"He's got a point..." Erica began. "Besides... I think Trudy can open a plane door in mid-air... right?"
Right?
"If that's settled... fine..." Steve said. "I am just not so sure about jumping out of a plane onto another one."
"Don't worry Captain... I got this... and hopefully Trudy's got this. By the way kid, you coming again with me?"
"Yeah."
"Alright then. So here's the rest of the plan...."
"HYDRA grows nearer in completing it's weapons." Luna muttered grimly as she met with her sister. "I am watching them. Their leader... the Red Skull... is as intelligent as he is formidable."
"Indeed." Celestia commented. "I never imagined there'd a race like his."
"What, his skull? That's actually red?"
"No. HYDRA. Had they met Discord, they would have been sworn enemies. Agents of supreme order against a spirit of supreme chaos. They intend to control everything, everyone."
"But Discord would have abhorred murder." Luna replied. "In the end, he was hardly more malicious than just a trickster. It was merely a talk of... "scale" of his pranks. We all know we both got sick of him, when he would never end with his pranks and "jokes"."
"But HYDRA, there something else. The fact that they are in possession of the elements of harmony is... oddly fitting. They may not have the kindness... generosity... honesty... laughter... magic or even loyalty that harmony has... but merely, form a ruthless government that only seeks to control... and control."
"That's not harmony at all then..."
"I don't know what that is... but it's something awful enough for many to abhor." Celestia continued. "It's time I spoke with Twilight and her friends."
"On what?"
"In the case that the elements are retrieved, we need to find a better way of containing them... you heard about the Everfree forest?"
"It's beginning to... "invade" again?"
"Yes... the signs have started. We need to find a way to stop the spread while the humans fight it out."
Luna stopped for a moment, not to think like she would on a usual conversation with her and Celestia, but rather to contemplate. Humans... humans...
"What do you think of them?" Luna finally asked.
"Think of who?"
"Humans."
"Well... they eat meat... something not too strange..." Celestia began as she thought of the Griffins. "They also..."
"They seem to be the only race in existence that has a tendency to war with themselves..." Luna began. "That's all I know. Even the war-courting Asgardians never as much as bore arms against one another."
"They fought for order too... but not this kind of order. This... this is Tyranny. And it must be crushed, no matter what. Odin himself deplores such a form of governance to the worst."
"That may be true... but back to the subject of war... you know how poorly suited the royal guard is for any conflict."
"Perhaps... many years ago, they would have quelled such an invasion. But now... they're merely shadows of their former glories and strengths. When was the last time a pony was given a cutie mark in the carnage of war? No... that's something that Equestria, and this world has long forgotten. When the Dragon King rose from his grave, the world would have trembled at his claws had we not acted."
"Aye... worse yet are these... HYDRA. Steve Rogers seems to hate them."
"Old foes... as with James Barnes. Unfinished business as the two describe. They remind me... of us."
"How so?"
"They seem to stand out as gods amongst their own kind. If ponies measure strength in magic, we measure it out physically. And those two humans are perfect examples of what it's like to be at the top."
"They still may be harmed, by their own weapons."
"Just like how we can too."
"That other human... Slade Wilson..."
"What about him?"
"You trust him? He is nought but a kern. His loyalty lies only where there is wealth to be had. We both know all too well that he accepted this out of greed."
"Only time can tell."
The pair stopped talking for a moment, as they watched downward at the parade ground, where the thousands of royal guard members were being shown off. If only their looks were as good as their fighting skills, HYDRA may have been wiped off the face of the planet. Sadly... those days were long a thing of the past.
"Too bad I can't do that with a pistol." Captain America commented as he watched Erica fire off enough two rounds from his pistol. The bullets ripped through the target dummies with little effort, despite the fact that the Captain had made sure the same put in would stop high caliber sniper bullets, let alone tiny bullets of a pistol.
"Too bad I can't get shot and live to tell my friends about it." Erica chuckled as she fired another round. "I like this gun. This is what you use in 2014?"
"Yep. I missed my old one... but hey, this one does the job just fine. I mainly use my shield though." Rogers replied as he pulled out the old, red white and blue bulwark against oppression, tyranny and Nazis with lasers. "This shield? It's made of this thing called Vibranium that makes it invincible and..."
BLAM BLAM*
"Jesus Christ Kid!" Steve exclaimed in surprise, feeling as though a battering ram was shoved right into his shield despite the fact that only two tiny broken bullets bounched off.
"Hey... you did say it was invincible..." Erica smirked. "Trudy tells me you can throw the thing at people, and it comes straight back."
"Yeah... it does that." Steve continued. Physics... maybe Tony could explain if he was here. "Oh and by the way..."
"What?"
"NEVER... EVER...SHOOT ME...WITHOUT TELLING ME..." Steve said as he grabbed Erica and placed her a top a table with about as much effort as he needed to lift a finger. "YOU THINK THAT'S A TOY?!"
"So... wait... I can shoot you if I tell you first? Sweet!" Erica snickered despite her current circumstances. You know... most people would get the message when a 6' 4'' guy grabs you by the collar of the neck. Said message would probably be... "Never shoot me again, or you may end up suffering from critical existence failure."
Obviously... Erica found this funny. Allow me to said to say this again. SHE FOUND IT FUNNY. And you know what? Steve did too.
"Okay... but seriously..." Rogers began, trying not to laugh. "Do not shoot me.... EVER. AGAIN."
"Okay... okay... big guy..." Erica giggled at Roger's moment of rage. She sized herself up with him. Even though he was well over a foot over her... Meh... I could probably take him on in a fight... big doesn't mean strong does it now? "So... how are we going to break into a submarine again?"
"Slade's insane idea... not mine... hey... where is Slade anyways?"
"He took the train this morning to go to Canterlot." Erica replied. "Trudy went with him... practically begged to go with him... for whatever reasons... I dunno... he agreed... almost didn't..."
"Whatever." Rogers said as he threw up his hands in apathy. Unless Slade decided to go on some crazed-gunman spree or decide that HYDRA would give him a better paycheck, Rogers couldn't really care less about what the old mercenary wanted to do.
"So... now that's done with... anything else?" Erica asked as she sat upon the pile of rocks that Cap had placed her on. Even then... he was STILL taller than her despite the good boost she had. Perhaps if he was from where she was from... the Neuroi would probably have as much trouble from the normal army as they would from witches... Brass would probably kill themselves just to kiss the ground he walked on... and... he probably would get a ton of women swooning over him. Of course... on the topic of men, Erica didn't really care as of now. The one thing Trudy would probably approve of her, was the fact that she didn't give a bent mark over things like relationships. The same obviously couldn't be said for some people she knew... and the same couldn't be said about what gender... but that was something for another time.
"Hmmm..." Cap said as he put his hand to his chin. "I was going to go on the track again, you're welcome to join me."
"Sure... it's boring here anyways. Medic always won't shut up about wanting my blood... he's not a vampire now is he?"
"No... he wants my blood too... and Slade's... and Bucky's... and probably Trudy's too...." Steve said as he rolled his eyes. "Don't mind him. Just mind what he probably wants to do with the blood..."
"Drink it?"
"No..." Cap said as he did a facepalm. Let's see... he could... make super soldiers? We already got enough crazy doctors running around doing that. Make witches? OH GOD.... MAKE MAGICAL SUPER SOLDIERS?! Yeah.... maybe Thor may need to be called if THAT happened...
"Who taught you how to fight?! Your grandmothers?!" Slade asked part rhetorically, part seriously as he sent the royal guard sprawling into his peers, knocking them down like bowling pins as they all landed in one undignified heap upon the ground. "You there! Your supposed to stab with the pointy end!"
Can these overgrown dolls not fight any better? Slade groaned inwardly as he looked at the unconscious heaps around him. If THIS was what he was going to be forced to rely upon against an entire SS division armed with lasers and the power of Odin, something told him that he probably would have about three extra seconds of time to live with these horses covering his back.
"No strategy... no skill... no strength... to say you all fight like newborns would be a compliment!" Slade spat out at the total incompetence of the royal guard. THIS WAS EQUESTRIA'S DEFENSE FORCE?! No wonder they needed someone who could actually fight down here for a change, or they probably would have been turned into dragon food a few months ago... and now, they'll probably end up becoming dog food and glue with the Red Skull showing up.
"This is bad..." Luna sighed, looking over as Slade laid a beat-down upon AN ENTIRE COMPANY. "Please tell me sister, after 1000 years, THIS IS NOT WHAT THE ROYAL GUARD TURNED INTO?!"
Yeah....
Celestia gave no reply, as Luna continued to sigh in frustration. A thousand years ago, the royal guard could probably make mincemeat out of any other force on earth, (with the exceptions of the dragons, Tirek, Discord and Nightmare Moon) but those were all gods in their own right. Faced against any mortal threat, the Equestrian royal guard easily could have wiped them off the face of the planet.
Today? They were ceremonial. And probably a step above completely useless.
"Hard to believe he accomplishes all of his feats without magic, and only with skill. Just pure skill." Twilight commented. "Trudy... don't you use magic?"
"Yes... I use magic..." Trudy replied awkwardly as her thoughts of her sister briefly snapped away as she came back to reality. "It allows me to enhance my strength further."
"Like an earth pony's magic makes them stronger than most other ponies." Celestia commented. "And every witch has her own unique ability?"
"Variations to every ability... but more or less somewhat unique." Trude replied as she saw Slade send the last guard into the wall. "Well... the army here doesn't lack discipline... that's good... I have yet to see any strategy... but I am afraid..."
"They aren't exactly the best fighters in existence." Luna replied. "Mind if I try to make a fool out of this showboat?"
"He'd probably beat you actually... hard to believe isn't it?" Celestia replied. "I do recall him being present at the death of the dragon king, and it'd be wise not to underestimate his abilities. He's far stronger than most members of his race."
"Well... so am I..." Trude commented as she jumped off the edge and into the arena. Quickly, she slipped on her gloves, watching as Slade's solitary eye from his mask narrowed for a moment as she stood facing him.
"You sure about this?"
"Positively."
"Just because you're a woman... do not expect me to hit you any less harder."
"I wouldn't count on it... considering how you met Sanya anyways. I take it you probably will still end up holding back?"
"I've been fighting for longer than you were breathing. If I didn't hold back, this would be terribly one-sided."
Not going to give in to his taunts, Trude merely acknowledged the fact that she was going to be fighting him. With that, she took a deep breath and held her fists up, circling Slade who had his staff down, and was exposing himself to a strike, almost as though that was what he wanted. Perhaps... if she kept a cool head, she could win... she was stronger after all.. now if she could...
TWACK*
"Deep in thought Trudy? Don't let your mind wander." Slade cautioned as the young woman got up, rubbing her head furiously after Slade's blow to her head. Giving a raged snarl, the young woman rushed forward, delivering blows that probably would have went through the lesser man's chest. Imagine her surprise when she found her fist was unable to move forward, caught in midair as Slade's hand warped around her wrist.
With a mighty heave, she found herself thrown against the ground with enough force to knock her daylights out.
"Didn't know you were here." Steve said with a smile as he saw Bucky. Completely oblivious to the fact that right next to him, Erica's smile had vanished almost instantly at the very sight of Bucky. She maintained a straight face however, but did her best not to make eye contact with the hundred year old veteran with the bionic arm.
"I was running... and lapping literally every horse I came across... shouldn't they be lapping me?" Bucky chuckled at his own god-awful joke. He looked over at Erica, who averted her eyes from his gaze. The familiar remainder of Chris echoed within his mind as he looked over at Erica.
"She's a runner?"
"No... but she makes .22 rounds turn into grenades." Steve replied.
"I bet Skull would have killed someone to get something like.... that..."
Judging from the look Erica just gave him... you can imagine what awful choice of words he seriously must have used.
"I think I am going to um... go for a run..." Cap said as he slipped away...
Wiping blood from her mouth, Gertrud Barkhorn looked over at Slade again, who still hadn't broken a single sweat. It had only been less than a couple minutes, and Trudy couldn't help but think that her face probably looked downright pitiful. Attempting to rise, though the aches and pains in her body stopped her, she looked over at Slade, one of her eyes was closed with blood.
"I think you should try again." Slade said as he took a seat at a bench in the ring. "Here, have a sandwich."
Hardly being able to pick up her lunch, it was an amazement to Trudy that she herself was still able to chew. The moment the bread passed through her mouth, she felt the pains in her body dull. Before she even knew it, her wounds disappeared, and she felt nothing. Looking over herself, even her uniform, which had practically been in shreds ten seconds ago, had been magically sewed back together as though a skilled seamstress had gotten to them.
"Before anyone asks... in case you don't want to end up like her... I suggest you all try to improve." Slade announced to the semi-conscious bodies around him. "Okay... who still has fight in them?"
NO ONE.
Except Trudy...
And you can imagine how badly, just about everyone felt for Trudy as Slade got up again, his staff ready.
"You know... I think you got about one good thing about you..." Slade smirked as he watched his far younger, and less experienced opponent ready herself. "Then... I think you fight like a girl."
She charged right at him.
"Hey it's you again!" Steve said with a wide grin. "How's my favorite fast slowpoke?"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!" Rainbow Dash raged in furious indignation as she turned around. "You asking for a beating?"
There were few things Steve found hilarious when things like HYDRA were involved. But as of now... this was one of the many things that managed to tickle his funny bone as his mind began to go about how a rainbow-colored horse was threatening to beat him up.
"Alright you... I am just messing around." Cap said with a smile as he watched Erica speak rather uneasily with Bucky. His smile slowly faded away as he thought of Bucky, who was probably even less comfortable with Erica than Erica was with him. Why don't they wear pants again?
"So... you just..."
"Want a rematch pal?" Steve asked with a grin. "There's no one on the track today in case I want to make you look bad."
You can just imagine Dash's reaction.
"I AM GOING TO BEAT YOU SO BADLY..."
"...that you're having trouble standing up." Slade commented as he watched Trudy devour what would probably be her third sandwich. Good thing he had plenty more. "Are you ENJOYING getting your legs broken or something?"
"No pain, no gain." Barkhorn replied as she wiped blood from her mouth.
"I think you should at least know how to fight right now then. You still fight like you have no clue to what you're doing." Slade replied as he twirled his staff around. "Are you all taking notes?!"
"YES YES YES!" Anyone watching replied frantically as Slade readied himself... again. If someone actually wanted to be his punching bag, that's fine. But at this point? This was getting boring. Really boring.
"Last time okay? And please... make this somewhat satisfying..." Slade said rolling his good eye. "Ready?"
"Ready."
"Before we start... why do you want to do this?"
"For my sister." Trudy replied.
"Oh... I see..." Slade smiled wickedly. "That guy too... Rumlow I think his name was... I bet you're taking this rather personally aren't you?"
"And... I win again." Cap replied. "The peop... ponies here call you the fastest flyer in Equestria. I guess that doesn't apply to the ground now does it?"
"Shut up!" Rainbow Dash panted as she watched the other two humans... and the three fillies staring at them. Wait... three fillies?
SCOOTALOO WAS WITH THEM?!
And... she... and she saw her lose?!
Oh sweet Celestia! This was terrible... this was going to be...
"Too easy!" Slade taunted as his staff struck Trudy in the gut. "You want to get better?! You want to help your sister?! It's going to take more than just brute strength and the mindset of a two-year old to win!"
Every word was given extra meaning with every blow of Slade's staff. Inwardly, despite the fact that Trudy was literally no challenge whatsoever, he couldn't feel but at least a small surge of respect for the young woman as she tried again, and again. Maybe... a little push?
"Hey kid..." Slade said as he stopped his beatdown for a moment. "You know why your sister got injured? And got knocked into a coma?'
"Because of the Neuroi?!" Trudy shot back... wasn't it obvious?
"No... it was someone's fault... not some alien's..." Slade said as he ducked away from Barkhorn's blows, countering one of them and sending her staggering back.
"It was mine! Just like how I wasn't there to protect her against the Neuroi, I wasn't there for her against HYDRA!"
"No kid... HYDRA... totally your fault. The Neuroi? That was probably your parents' fault."
The look on Trude's face when she heard that. With a growl, she lunged force and hit him again. He did manage to counter her swing, but boy did it almost seem to echo throughout his bones. He pushed her backwards, and swung his staff at her.
She caught it. Inches from her head, she caught it. With strength that easily surpassed even Slade's she practically picked it up, along with Slade on the other half, and in a mind-boggling fast motion, slammed him straight into the ground, the very arena and even castle trembled from the blow.
"I felt that one kid." Slade said with a slow grin as he got up instantly. "Well done."
"Wha... what?" Trude asked as her angry expression turned somewhat confused. "What?"
"Don't take what I said personally kid. I am sure your father was a real man if he really did die. Only meant that he laid his life down for his daughter, and there was probably nothing more he could have done." Slade began. "You on the other hand..."
"It was my fault?"
"Indeed. You're terrible... you know that?" Slade chuckled half seriously, half jokingly. "But at least you got will."
"What's will going to do? I think I got more knowing a few things from you..."
"Training is nothing." Slade said in a low and menacing tone as sweep from his staff sent Trudy right off her feet. The moment she was got up, she got kicked down again. When Slade's staff came down, she made every effort to block it, catching it with her hands. Only this time, she found herself being lifted high into the air and flung down with enough force that she felt like she broke every rib in her body. Of course... Slade would be a little slow in feeding her this time. Maybe just to tell her a few things.
"The training is nothing! The will is everything! The will to act!" Slade said as he kicked her ribs in once more. "If you have will! You will stand! That pain you feel?! It's only in your mind! Stand up... or I will leave you here, broken and useless. Just like you will be. Just you WERE! Just like how I would have been had I not overcome the total destruction of my body!"
With that... slowly, but surely, Trude rose. Covered in her blood, and various ugly bruises, she rose.
And that was when, Slade made sure that he didn't accidentally beat her to death.
"Oh hi, Medic!" Steve called out cheerfully as the German approached him. "What's up?"
"Trouble Herr Rogers."
"HYDRA?"
"Ja... but not zis moment... you see... I've been analyzing zeir weapons and all..."
"Nasty things. Can turn a man into a dust pile with just a single shot." Steve said as he watched Rainbow Dash scamper off somewhere. "But you know... that Uber-charge of yours..."
"Zat's vat I vanted to discuss..." Medic groaned. "You see... ze ubercharge can vithstand any force in ze world... but ze problem is... zis ting called knockback..."
"I... I... I don't understand."
"It's going to be a big problem Herr Rogers." Medic said, as he began to explain that the concept of "Knockback" while wouldn't actually physically harm anyone under the Uber's effects, but would immobilize them and render them helpless if they were constantly knocked about like a bowling pin. This meant that Medic was going to have to make improvements... for example, merging the uber-charge with the effects of the quickfix.
This brought up another problem.
If he were to accidentally negate the invincibility factor... then the fact that a vaporizer rifle kills anything instantly would mean that would be useless too...
But he had an idea around this.
He just needed Erica...
And Erica's blood.
Upon the top of a balcony, the Red Skull made his way to the top, looking down at the massive hangar of his submarine, and the thousands of soldiers along with HYDRA's warmachine, all in one place. A magnificent sight nonetheless. Opening up a bottle of champagne, he poured himself a cup along with Strucker. His second in command was smiling, though he full knew well that the old devil was probably unhappy with the results of this all. Even if HYDRA got what it wanted, Strucker would not get what he wanted. To Schmidt, he couldn't have given a single Deutsch mark on whether or not he could feed Strucker's ambition. If he became a problem, he could easily deal with it.
"Tomorrow... HYDRA stands supreme over all of reality!" The Skull began to his men. "We will be borne to godhood, upon the Jörmungandr! The weapons of our enemies, will be powerless against it!"
"Many of us will die!" Skull continued. "But for every one plane they shoot down... hundreds more will take rain death upon them! If they cut off one head... two more will grow to take it's place... Hail Hydra."
From the tidal wave of voices that hit him, Skull could hardly care less no matter how much his minions were motivated. He didn't really need the men on this submarine when in truth, he had millions more back on his planet. But right now... one thing mattered. One thing mattered A LOT.
The Jörmungandr, a massive black and red aircraft that hung slept within the HYDRA submarine. With it's immense size, it already drew fear from it's enemies.
But size wasn't much. Especially when your massive contraption could literally make unmanned drones out of thin air, regenerate from any type of extensive damage and better yet, fill the air and ground with the fury of the gods themselves.
And best of all?
Skull was in total control of it. The power of the Neuroi, was now at his command.
"They call that a high G maneuver... I think..." Bucky commented as he watched Erica move in the skies upon her striker units. Best described as a jetpack, except for your legs.
"Yeah... too bad she isn't half as fast as the jets that HYDRA and SHIELD have developed."
"Didn't matter if I remember correctly. She brewed up a storm. Literally. Besides, if things go rough, I am certain she'll shoot down everything HYDRA throws at us before they even manage to get out of the hangar."
"I wonder how Erich Hartmann may react to meeting himself... and I wonder how Erica would react to meeting herself."
"I'd think Erich would probably think that was his granddaughter he was meeting." Steve chuckled as Erica came down. "Hey kid... you gonna give Medic your blood now?"
"I said later!" Erica hollered down as she got down to the ground, a few hints of nervousness within her voice. "Besides... why can't he have Trudy's blood?"
"Because Trudy is busy... you're the only one who stays back down here with everyone else." Steve groaned irritably. "Listen, he's been wanting to do this for three days now. Please do not give me another reason to put him on hold again. We only have two days left until..."
"Great! So why not get Trude's blood then?" Erica replied nervously, noting that Steve was inching closer to her on one side, while Medic seemed to be steadily getting closer.
"Cause he's going to need time to process the whole thing and do whatever scientific mumble jumble it is that he does to get the effects done. Come on kid... it has to be today..."
"No... no... please... stay away... I'd rather not... how about..."
"Okay Frau Hartmann. We're going to zis ze easy vay... or ze hard way. You can choose." Medic said as he slowly readied a syringe filled with a sleep inducing drug. At this rate... they were going to have to duct tape her down if he wanted to find a means to counter HYDRA's vaporizer rifle.
"Umm... NO NEEDLES!" Erica screamed as she bolted the moment Medic lunged at her with the needle. Instead, he lost his balance, causing him to get a mouth full of dirt as he tripped and fell. The blond girl running faster than a dachshund chasing a badger as Steve bolted after her. Despite the fact that he never expected her to be too fleet, she gave one hell of a chase as she ducked and weaved, always finding a good place to make sure Steve would lose her long enough so that she wouldn't have to go through the NEEDLES.
"God damn it!" Steve groaned as he considered grabbing Medic's crossbow and planting a tranquilizer in her back. "Come back here!"
"NO WAY! Get that crazy doctor away from me!"
"He's not crazy! I don't think..." Steve shot back, not really sure about Medic's mental state. Not that it mattered, as all he wanted to do was just get the goddamn witch blood for Medic, which truth be told, wasn't really something he wanted to do, but the German doctor had made it clear that it was entirely necessary.
"Stay away!" Erica said again as she found herself cornered against the fence along the track.
"Goddamn it Erica! Do I have to duct tape you to the ground for a fricking shot?! Just stop being a baby and get over here!" Steve practically begged as he inched closer. Why he didn't just knock her out with his shield, he didn't know. Maybe because hitting little girls was beneath him, despite the fact that Erica would be more than capable of doing some damage to him... which was exactly what she did as she tried bolting THROUGH him.
Needless to say, while Steve probably got all the wind knocked out of him. It was a lot worse for Erica as he dragged her to the ground. Pinning his knee against her back, he did his best to hold her down without causing the young girl any pain despite how much she probably deserved it right now.
"Medic... you better draw her blood before I decide I want to do something drastic..." Cap grunted as Erica flailed around on the ground. Pinning both arms to the ground, Cap got to realize how strong a 5' 0'' girl that weighed around 100 pounds could be when you gave them things like magic. Good thing that was stronger. "Okay... listen... STOP STRUGGLING DAMN IT."
"NO NEEDLES... NO NEEDLES!"
"I'll... I swear kid! Okay... fine... I'll give you candy if you take this shot! Just stop... struggling!"
"Candy?" Erica asked, her movements stopping. "Well... why didn't you say so?!"
ARE YOU @#$%ING SERIOUS?! was Cap's general reaction to what Erica just said. ALL OF THIS... NONSENSE... AND SHE AGREES WHEN I OFFER HER CANDY?!
"You know... I'd expect you to be happy from not having to put up with that..." Bucky commented as he saw the look on Steve's face. "Alright Medic... I think you should probably do your thing before she changes her mind."
"Ja."
"Getting better." Slade commented as the spear almost scratched him. The same spear that he had just caught in mid-air. "But still... not up to par."
He flung the weapon back at it's thrower, the member of the royal guard shuddering and gasping in shock as the tip buried itself deep in the wall right next to him. Paying no mind to the fact that the horse was only two steps from pissing himself, Slade turned back to Celestia and Shining Armor, who had just returned from the Crystal Empire one day ago.
"Not great. But not the worst bunch I've had to deal with. I hope that your warhorses get put up to higher standard next time. But... I don't care. It's good for business no matter what."
"Humph... just in here for the money Mr. Wilson?"
"You bet." Slade replied to the white unicorn that wore the decorative armor set. "You wouldn't know how to fight would you?"
"I do... but I am certain if I use my magic, you'd be turned into dust in a few seconds."
"Yeah... right... besides... if you only rely on magic, you're going to be in a world of hurt once you're without it. That's why I never rely on my toys... just myself."
"Mhm. How about I show you what the Captain of the royal guard is capable of once the time comes?"
"I'd love to see. Hopefully you're better than these thugs. I suggest you hire better guards... like me! I could always use the extra money once retirement comes."
"Like you're ever going to retire." Trudy commented. "So... I am ready."
"Ready? Good. Try not to go down in 4 seconds." Slade replied as he tossed away his weapons and helmet, revealing his silver mane. Though they had been together for weeks now, it still surprised Barkhorn to find that Slade was actually eighty years old, and that despite his age, he still fought better than hundreds of men put together.
Slowly, with her fists raised, Trude shuffled forward, fists at the ready. She didn't know why Slade allowed her to do this, maybe as HIS way of saying "sorry" for breaking her ribs on a daily basis, or maybe it was because he just wanted to get punched in the face for once. What was the point of this anyways? It's not like Slade even as much as reacted as much to taking a sock to the jaw, he was always braced well for it. Even as he grunted from every blow that connected with his body and face, Slade hardly as much as showed he was in any amounts of pain. Her last blow would knock him backwards, but he never seemed to lose his footing.
"You see Trudy... preparing yourself for a beatdown is usually the difference between getting knocked flat, or just having to deal with a small hurting." Slade said as he wiped the blood off his face. "By the way kid... remember that fight with that guy? Crossbones as he called himself?"
"He did break my arm..."
"Experts call it a takedown. Beware of those, since they're a great way of crippling an opponent before he has much time to fight."
"You think you can teach me one?"
"I already did several times. You were on the receiving end every time." Slade said as he clapped his hands. "I have to say, you seem to have a high tolerance for pain."
"I've been shot before... it's not like breaking an arm is much of a new experience." Trude replied. "Besides... you've been doing it for the past few days... I think I lost all feeling in my limbs."
"Then take the day off for tomorrow. You're going to need it." Slade replied. "I have a feeling you intend on saving your sister?"
"Yes... I am going to do it myself. She's my sister... and..."
"Don't need to finish kid." Slade replied. "I know how you feel... but understand that Adolf Shitler isn't exactly the winner of the best morals contest. Make a wrong move... and she may get a slit throat."
"Then... what should I do?"
"Be careful. That's all. You can save yourself a lot of grief." Slade replied. "But all that is really important? HYDRA? Just do what you're best at. Save your sister... be the hero... whatever... I don't care. I am only here to kill people."
"May I ask... why?"
"Cause... it's good for business." Slade replied. "You're here to help your sister... Erica... I don't care actually. Medic wants some things for his research, Captain Star-spangle and his pal just want to kill some more krauts... pfft... they just want to heroes."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Being a hero? You get a thankless job. I learned that back in my early days. Besides... no one even truly cares about what you do. The sad thing about life, is that everyone is in it for themselves."
"That's not what Sanya would say if she ever got to see you again." Trude replied as she thought of what Bucky had said earlier when they first met.
"Well.. Aleksandra just happened to deserve living more than I did." Slade replied as he tried his best not to think about Rose. "Besides... I don't want to be a hero. Being a hero is bad for business."
"You sure this is a good idea?" Erica asked for the umpteenth time as she placed her Strikers within the confines of the Quinjet along with a manner of other things that were including but limited to high yield explosives, HYDRA uniforms (Courtesy of the fine workmanship of a certain white unicorn, though she did make many comments to how a mixture of awesome and terrible the design was), a flare gun and a flash drive.
"What's wrong with it?" Slade asked as he put his mask on.
"What if they radio for help? We'll be canceled then."
"No we won't. I rigged our plane was electronic countermeasures. They'll disable the radio AND the radar of the suckers who are going to get it." Slade explained as he readied a grappling hook. "Alright then what else?"
"I finished ze project I vas working on." Medic said as he unveiled his new medi-gun. "I still have to field test it."
" Well, look on the bright side, you'll get plenty of chances to do that once we get there." Bucky commented as he readied his gun. "So... I suppose our plan is to sneak in?"
"Trojan horse style." Steve commented as he looked at his shield and then to the pile of guns which Slade had laid out. "You recommend one?"
"For you? Totally redundant." Slade commented. "But let me tell you... the Beretta M9 isn't as good as the Desert Eagle."
"Really now?" Cap asked as he watched Slade place the shiny magnums upon the crate.
"Oh he's right." Bucky commented. "Those things can tear through bullet-proof vests without much issue. But I am more of an Assault Rifle guy then a pistol guy. My two cents is that you use the MP-2. You get the fire-rate of an SMG, and the small size of a pistol."
"Alright... alright..." Steve thought for a moment.
"Why don't you try something larger?" Erica asked as she placed down an unfamiliar weapon with a blue glow. "It seems that HYDRA was nice enough to leave some heavy weapons for us in the their aeroplane. These things look nice... I tested it out myself, and actually left a whole in the ground the size of the plane."
"Then why don't you keep it?"
"Huh? Why? You're a big guy. Besides... I prefer SMGs in these circumstances." Erica grinned as she held up the MP-40 which by this point and time to most, was a relic from another era. Regardless... the spray of 9×19mm Parabellum rounds were more like AA rounds as they hit the ground with enough force to tear apart airplanes, let alone kill people. "Wanna see what happens if I use my magic on THAT thing..."
"Well... I am not touching it." Cap commented stubbornly, watching as Slade examined the weapon.
"It's a damn good gun... why not?" Slade asked. "Hey kid... you find any more of these?"
"Yeah... I'll get them."
"So... something Captain Star Spangles doesn't seem like?" Slade asked. "Fire-rate is pretty good. It's the same firerate as a semi-automatic rifle, and we got the killing power of an RPG."
"Regardless... I am not touching whatever HYDRA makes."
"Oh... right... you gonna give me a speech about your "morals" and how we're supposed to be better than the Fourth Reich?"
"No. You probably wouldn't listen."
"Well... that's one thing you got right. There's no reason not to use a good gun Cap. We don't win wars by playing "nice". You know they ended the second world war? The United States?"
"We made Hitler blow his brains out?"
"No... we dropped two bombs on Japan, killing about 200,000 people. We sure as hell took a page from the fuhrer and as a result, we won without having to force ourselves to lose any more men."
"You never struck me as the type of person who cared about his brothers in arms..." Cap said slowly.
"There's a lot you don't know about me, Steve." The mercenary continued as he watched Erica come back with a load of vaporizer rifles. "I may tell you all something familiar. Anything goes south? I am leaving you behind. That may be a lie... that may be what I'll end up doing. Regardless... it's good to meet another soldier... maybe a deluded one who's still a thug for his government... but hey... reminds me of a few people I know."
"Uh huh. Well... I guess it's also nice to meet reality's biggest jerkass." Steve rolled his eyes. "So... don't get yourself killed this time."
"Don't worry. I want to stay alive for payday. Hey... aren't we missing someone?"
"Where's Trudy?" Bucky asked. "I haven't seen her for the entire day."
"Five hundred... Five hundred and one... Five hundred and two..."
"Hey Trudy." Bucky's voice called to her as she watched the young woman do her pull-ups.
"What do you want?" She huffed as she continued hardly paying attention to her.
"Listen... I was thinking maybe you should get some rest."
"Rest? Getting rest? Not a chance." Trudy replied. "In case you haven't realized, I haven't gotten any sleep ever since two weeks ago..."
You know? That night where Bucky almost killed my sister?
"I know why." Bucky said rather redundantly as he sat down looking at the young woman in the Luftwaffe uniform. "Yeah... it's my fault. Okay?"
She was astonished to say the least. Almost as much as she would have if someone had taken a rock, and squeezed water out of it.
"Umm..."
"I nearly killed your sister. I know... I know..." Bucky said flatly. "I am... I am sorry. And you know what else? Ever since we met... I don't think I've ever acted the right way towards you. And that's for reasons... I am not even going to bother to try explaining. It's probably something you never dealt with and something I never knew I'd see myself being."
"Well..." Trudy said slowly. "I... um... I..."
"Okay. We know those two." Steve said as he went to go see Twilight after he Bucky had left. "You know Twilight... there's been some... tension... between them."
"Yeah... I realized. Those two are UNEASY around each other... I mean... they've been living here for weeks. I can tell."
"Yes... and I am here to ask you about it actually. I was wondering... I mean... well... you know you seem to have a good idea of this whole "friendship" thing... I was wondering if you can somehow... um... ease tensions between them."
"Well... how do you want me to do that?" Twilight asked. "I can go to my sister-in-law... Cadence... she can use magic to make two ponies... or in this case... humans fall in love..."
"Nonononononononono.... not fall in love." There are about a million different reasons to why a relationship between them would NEVER work.
"Then... what?"
"Just you know... become friends... something mild."
"Well... okay... tell you what. I'll fix up a minor love potion between them. Not enough to have the two falling in love, but just enough so that they become friends?"
"Alright... alright... sounds good."
"Just the thing Steve... you sure these two absolutely CAN'T STAND one another?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. Because the thing is... love potions are used to... how am I going to say this? Either to "fix" relationships or enhance them."
"Yeah... and?"
"You see... in the case that Gertrud and Bucky might not be the "enemies" you perceive them to be... well... you don't want them hopping into bed with one another do you?"
"Of course not... besides... I doubt Bucky would..."
"Maybe... we should just focus on the important thing." Trudy said for the last time. "I just need to get my sister back."
"In that case... I promise you... we'll get Chris back from HYDRA. Okay?"
"Let's see... titanium cable ties of up to 500 feet?"
"Check."
"Wait... how are we going to open the door again?"
"By pressing down on the handle! How else?"
"Let's see..." Erica began as she continued to fly the quinjet. "A trio of lunatics actually crazy enough to do this? Check. Why can't I just get in close with my strikers, and I dunno... force the door open then?"
"Alright... how do we get in?"
"Umm... I pick you up?"
"Yeah... not a chance." Steve grumbled as he attached the cable onto himself. "Alright, so we got to be fast. Red Skull might be nuts, but he sure as hell isn't stupid. He see's a broken window or bullet holes in the plane and it's game over."
"Gotcha." Slade replied as he opened the plane door, the massive gusts of wind slapped him straight in the face, yet he hardly as much as flinched. "It's easier than it sounds! It's my third time doing this!"
"Mhm... alright... on my mark boys... 3... 2..."
"Boys? I am older than you by over..."
"Shut up and jump!" Trudy shouted over the din of the sky. Deciding not to keep talking, Bucky jumped out, followed by Steve and Slade.
He jumped into the icy blast, his static line unhooked and he ain't gonna jump no more!
His static line was probably the least of his worries from the icy cold of the skies and the fact he was going to be hitting a plane, or rather, attempting to catch a plane when he would be falling at at around 200 m/s. If he was just a tad too slow... he'd have a nice 30,000 foot drop. If he landed at the wrong place, he would be incinerated almost instantaneously by the jet engines. Or... worse yet. If he landed improperly, he would make a nice pancake upon the hull of the quinjet, if he was extra unlucky, he would crash through, and probably kill Slade and Steve in the process. Without a parachute, the task was daunting on a good day. Good thing he got himself drunk before doing this...
Oh wait...
Can't get drunk.
"Got it! Everyone okay?" Erica asked over the radio as she monitored the blips that represented her comrades that had just jumped out of the plane.
"Captain America checking in!"
"Deathstroke. Bored... but alive."
"Winter Soldier, alive and ready."
"Alright boys... you know the next step." Erica grinned. "Good thing I can get a nice view of it..."
She swung the jet down right behind the HYDRA quinjet seeing three figures all gathered around the back door.
3... 2... 1...
She wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it herself. But the sounds of metal creaking were all over the transponder as she got a view of the three tearing the back door open, the grunting of fatigue and exertion echoed with it, but no one, no one as much as faltered.
You can almost imagine the looks on the faces of the people within.
"So... how do ve do step two again?" Medic asked as he looked in-front. Chuckling rather sadistically at the sight of a screaming soldier thrown down a 30,000 foot drop. He turned around to see that they too were opening their door. "Vait... ve're not jumping are ve?"
"Oh of course not!" Trudy explained. "Let's see doctor... we got the striker units just in case.I am going to ferry everyone over."
"Are you sure you can carry me Frau Barkhorn? I may not be heavy... but I am not..."
"Just stop being a baby and grab a hold of Trudy.... okay... that sounded wrong. Just grab hug her real tig.... just hold.. okay. Forget it. Just let her carry you across."
"Vell... um..." Medic stammered as Trudy grappled around him in a really awkward embrace before being thrown into the cold gusts of air. "Vait... vait... AUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHH... I AM FLYING! ZIS IS AMAZING! YAAAAAA..."
"Alright... alright... calm it doc." Slade nodded as the German was deposited inside, watching as Trudy turned around for Erica. He did a good job of not looking... as did Steve... but Bucky on the other hand...
"Hey pal... head up. Head up."
"Huh? What...?" Bucky snapped back into reality as he averted his gaze from "down there". Maybe being a foot taller than someone who didn't wear pants made it so that... it wasn't as noticeable... but when at the same height... it's awfully hard not to look at the fact Trudy only wore underpants "down below".
"Okay. I got Erica." Trudy commented as she deposited the younger girl inside. "What do we do now?"
"First... we do this." Slade replied as he pressed his trigger. The abandoned jet exploded into a million pieces. "Now then... step two... see these dead guys?"
"Quinjet-616 is back." The man on the operator signaled as a man sat around the landing zone. The backdoor opened, revealing a lone man in uniform much to the confusion of the guy on deck. "Just in time too..." He said to himself. "We're about to submerge."
"Hey... where's everyone else?" Someone asked. His tag read "Bob".
"It vas only just me zis time. No co-pilot either." The pilot replied. His thick German accent rather evident.
"Well... okay..." Bob commented as he saw the man push down several crates. "What are those?"
"Veapon shipment. Help me put zese in ze storage room."
"But... the list never said anything about..."
"Are you questioning my authority Herr... Herr BOB?!" The pilot spat out angrily. "And worse yet... are you questioning ze authority of Herr Schimdt?!"
"Okay! Okay! Okay! I'll help. Sheesh. No need to be such a jerkass... I'd think you were on of the guys trying to kill us if you weren't the pilot."
"Ja...ja...ja... shut up and help me."
"Okay. They're in here. God... you happy now?"
"Ja..."
"And so are we." The sinister voice called from behind. Before Bob knew it, something metal had wrapped around his neck and he was pinned against a man. A very big man with a rather nasty disposition towards HYDRA agents.
"What do we do with him?" Erica asked as she got her weapons. The Luftwaffe uniform from 1944 was rather confusing... though the fact she lacked pants was distracting. Regardless... maybe Bob would have been able to get a better view if he wasn't busy getting strangled from the mass of angry supersoldier right behind him.
"This." Trudy swung her fist, the teeth went flying straight out. Good thing HYDRA offered full-dental insurance... oh wait... no they don't.
"Don't forget to dispose of this joker." Slade reminded as he picked up the unconscious heap and tossed him in one of the crates. "I still think we should have killed him."
"You can go do that later." Steve said as he looked up. "If I get this right... there vents are large enough for a man to walk in?"
"Only one problem. Once they submerge, we'll be chest deep in water. Hey you two... I hope you're good at swimming..." Slade commented as he opened the large ventilation grate from under them. The long winding tube would lead right all over the submarine. "You're going to be doing that a lot once we submerge."
"Seriously?" The two witches groaned as Steve jumped in.
"Hey... you know what? 70 years later, your average person would be tall enough to walk through this. Have fun both of you." Slade chuckled as he jumped in.
"So... how long till we get there?" Erica asked as they trudged through the vents.
"We'll get there when we get there. Now then... everyone know what they'll be doing...?" Cap asked as he readied his shield and his gun.
"I get to upload a virus to HYDRA's mainframe. Get them to run aground upon the beach." Slade said as he tossed a flash drive up and down. "And... it looks like I part ways with you guys here. See y'all around."
"Good luck." Steve told him before smiling slightly. "But if you die... you will not be missed."
"That's not news. But if Captain Star-spangles dies... then I hope your friend there is ready to take over!"
"Don't plan on dying today." Steve grumbled as he made the turn. The sounds of a siren blared from all over the submarine. "Damn... they're submerging."
The water slowly began to seep in as it was soon level with the boots of everyone. Steadily, the level of the liquid rose and rose until the group had begun to wade through the water. Trudging ever more slowly as the water grew higher and higher. It wasn't long before the water was up to Steve's chest, which was also grazing the area of Medic's neck and unfortunately, meant that Trudy and Erica had to tread water, while their taller companions waded through it.
"Augh... too bad it's salty..." Erica commented as she spat out a stream of water, causing Medic to spin around angrily when she accidentally soaked him in the back of the head. She smiled sheepishly, as she continued to tread water as the water level grew higher and higher, until it stopped at Medic's chin much to the German's relief.
"Here... lemee help you out a bit." Steve offered as he picked Erica up, settling her on his back much to the delight of the witch.
"Thanks big guy." Erica smiled happily. "But you know... I can swim."
"I know. But I think I owe you a lift."
"Really? I shot you... or your shield rather and you're not angry?"
"Not really. About time the big guy gives the little guy... or girl in this case a hand." Steve looked back. "By the way... if you shoot me again... I swear to you, I will drown you."
"It's alright. I can swim." Erica replied as she enjoyed the ride from Steve's shoulders. "You know... is everyone as tall as you are?"
"Nope. I am just extra tall... but I know that I think we as a people have probably grown at least 2 inches."
"Alright.... alright..."
The idle conversation really wasn't much in the ears of Bucky, who currently had his eyes on Trudy though taller than Erica by about two inches, was still within the uncomfortable phase of having to tread water, a difficult task when all things considered, she was carrying quite a lot of weight. Quite the marvel when someone 5' 4'' is able to carry two LMGs with hardly any signs of fatigue.
Maybe it was now time to take a page from Cap.
"Need a lift Trudy? I can carry you over the waterline."
Barkhorn was totally taken back at the offer from the look on her face. She never expected that the big guy would offer HER help. HER of all people.
"Celestia. I am getting near the mainframe of the submarine. You got your army ready?" Slade called into the transponder as he trudged through the water, sword at the ready.
"Yes. You run aground that machine of theirs, we can handle the rest."
"Good. Good." Slade replied. "Deathstroke out."
"A boat that can go underwater? That's... I got to add that in my notebook!" Twilight commented as she scribbled it down.
"Ah... we'll just wait for them to come up. I got some flank-kicking to do! Besides! Those good for nothing... whatever they're called took the elements!"
"And we're going to get them back from those varmints."
[Cargo room]
"Did the guy on the last shift... did you see him?" Rumlow asked as he entered the cargo room, moving a box that felt a little to heavy.
"No, I didn't sir. When I entered, he was gone. From my understanding, he went off to go help move some cargo. A weapon shipment evidently."
"Weapon shipment? We're getting things from the other side? Huh. I have to check with Schmidt for that." He continued as he moved the box with his subordinate. "If he's slacking on the job, I swear, I am going to kick his ass off this sub."
"Doesn't this box feel a bit too heavy?" The HYDRA agent commented. "I thought we were shipping weapons, not... whatever is in here."
"It must be a damn big gun." Brock commented as they placed down the box rather roughly. "Whew. Now I am going to find that guy, and kick his ass for not..."
Cough*
"Huh? Did you hear that?"
"Yeah... who's there?" The agent asked into the dark room, his flashlight at the ready.
Cough*
"Again! Wait a second... it's coming from..."
The box.
Prying the container open, the two found it. The guy on the last shift, who's name was Bob. Who currently was knocked senseless.
"Sound the alarm." Rumlow said as he turned to his partner before phoning the bridge. "Schmidt. They're here."
"Alright. Erica and I will go off to grab the elements." Steve said. "So... that means our stop is here. You make your way to the armory. Make sure that they aren't able to get to it so that the Royal Guard won't have to put up with the power of Odin."
"Alright then." Bucky nodded with Medic and Trudy who was still on his shoulders.
"Alright buddy... time to get off." Steve urged as he reached high, and was just able to grab a hold of the grate. "We're located currently in a janitor's closet, or whatever you want to call it so I doubt anyone will find this."
With one mighty pull, the steel grate came down and Cap grabbed the edges of the opening and pulled himself up. Grabbing onto Erica, he pulled her up as well.
"Good luck Steve."
"You too Bucky. You as well Medic. And you Trudy. I promise... if I find her, I'll get your sister."
"Thank you."
"No problem." Cap nodded as he opened the door to the closet they were in. "Come on Erica."
"Alright. Let's get this show on the road." The blond girl grinned as she put on the gloves, the dachshund ears and tail manifesting upon her body. "So... where are we headed?"
"Just follow me." Cap said as he opened the door and took a look out. Good. Empty. "And now then... this should be helpful. Remember... if we get caught... we're going to be in deep trou..."
"Red Alert. We're on red alert. All non-essential personal, please prepare to repel intruders. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill."
"Oh GOD DAMN IT!"
"Shit... that's the alarm!" Bucky groaned as he tore off the grate and got out, deciding that now, subtlety was going to be thrown right out the window. The four HYDRA agents around him were rather surprised when some guy burst out of the ground and then proceeded to knock them senseless. Helping out Medic and Trudy, Bucky grabbed his assault rifle.
"Alright people. Plan B time." The Winter Soldier commented as he kicked down the door. "The armory is this way!"
Firing into the hallway, the big man continued to move his way down with Medic healing him. Normally Trudy would probably be interested in cutting down her sister's kidnappers. However, her attention was focused on a map of the submarine's layout.
"Zey're here, Herr Strucker." The doctor said as he walked up to the baron.
"Good... good. Unleash the experiments!" The baron ordered. "Perhaps it is now our time, to do our second, and more controlled test."
Corpses littered the hallway in which Slade had made his way through. The fight they had put up was meager at best as he began to make his way to the bridge. Judging from the radio chatter of HYDRA, it's unlikely that he'll end up facing the literal Red Skull. Besides, he didn't have too much interest in fighting him. Cap had stated many times, he wanted to personally kill the former Nazi, probably some blood feud between the two.
"You should run." He taunted as he looked over at the two soldiers that barred his path. When they were a second too slow in making their decisions of either running away, or holding their ground, the assassin had already pulled the trigger to his desert eagle sending two bullets in the chests of the two men. Chuckling to himself, it's like the thugs that are being hired to do the dirty work get worse and worse every time. Probably because all the smart thugs decided maybe it was time to go do something legal rather than been on the hit-list of an assassin or the guy in the bat costume. It seemed that where these people are from, the same could be held true if they were this awful. Inwardly, that brought up the question. HOW ARE CELESTIA'S ROYAL GUARD UNABLE TO BEAT THESE GUYS?!
Finding the door the elevator, the assassin made special care in how he was going to do this. Elevator's were a no-no. A deathtrap if he was caught in one. Putting in his destination to go up to the bridge, the assassin pulled open the grate on top and jumped up, standing a top of the elevator while he readied himself. The ding* and the pause would tell him exactly what he had suspected as the two men with vaporizer rifles walked in, evidently confused at an empty elevator. Perhaps these guys were only as stupid as they looked.
Jumping down, the assassin slammed their heads together, knocking them both out before grabbing their guns. Those guns... he liked them. The men that were in the hallway would be of little issue as Slade got to field test his new toys. He was liking them already when he turned the group of guards into a dust pile. When he was about to enter the bridge, the door opened. A familiar hooded man with a large blade accompanied by two guards.
"I've never met anyone so tired of living." Reaper commented as he readied his blade.
"You'll never meet anyone as dumb as yourself. You can be sure of that." Slade replied as he decided to humor the less worthy assassin and pull his katana. But first, to make sure those two guards won't be an issue, he planted two bullets in each of their skulls, watching as they dropped to the ground forming pools of blood. "Last time, I was merciful. You only lost your arm. The one that wasn't real. This time... you will lose your head."
"Let's not be hasty now. You think even if you beat me, you'll make it out alive?"
"Yes."
"Be real, you fool. The Red Skull will kill you. He's already won. But maybe... I can propose a counter-offer to what those overgrown children toys are offering you?"
"Speak up. I am listening."
"How about you work for us, and we promise you a piece of the pie?"
"Hmmmmm... let me propose my counter-offer. Your head on my staff. You know why? I don't break deals."
It had taken a while, and frankly, it had also taken about four bullets to the chest, but thanks to a tactical vest, an enhanced physiology and the best healing device in existence, Bucky and Medic had managed to take the armory. Not just that, but also had managed to kill everyone in the armory.
"Vat do ve do vith zese veapons?" Medic asked as he examined the blow glowing rifles.
"Simple. We destroy them." Bucky commented as he planted C4s across the place. "Hey Trudy... mind helping me with this?"
No reply.
"Trudy? Come on... Trudy?"
She wasn't there. In fact... it seemed she wasn't even anywhere close by much to the shock of both Medic and Bucky.
"Vait... vhere... vhere did she go...?" The doctor asked in disbelief, surprised that she managed to get the slip on them.
"Oh no... don't tell me... don't tell me..." Bucky groaned. "Medic... can you meet up with us outside?"
"Outside?" The German echoed.
"The royal guard is going to get ripped apart. HYDRA may have lost at least half of it's toys, but if they really managed to get these weapons from where I think they got them from, then they're going to need your help."
"Alright zen. Vat vill you be doing?"
"I am going to help Trudy. She's going to do something totally dumb... and I guess I'll hope on the band wagon."
"You have no skill, no strength, to say you fight like a girl would a compliment." Slade taunted as his blow sent Reaper right against the wall. Deciding to make some enjoyment out of a normally unexciting battle, the mercenary allowed the lesser assassin to regain his stance, blood trickling out of his mouth as he gave a growl, lunging forward as he took many failed swipes at Slade, who avoided every blow with ease.
"You call yourself an assassin?" Slade asked with mock disbelief as his staff came back up, knocking his opponent back once again. "You're an embarrassment. An embarrassment to anyone who takes up the mantle."
"Don't you dare mock me!" Reaper roared as he sent a heavy blow at Slade who did block the blade, but received a foot in the gut, causing him to stagger backwards. Reaper moved forward, swinging violent blows at the older assassin, intent on smashing him into pieces with his heavy blade. Much to his surprise, he did not even come as close as to hitting a hair of Slade, but instead, got a foot right in the mouth as he was sent back again.
"Come on now. I decided not to use my swords. You should at least make this somewhat interesting for me." Slade quipped as he sent a flurry of blows at Reaper with one final kick that sent the assassin against a wall. "Get out of my sight. You're not an assassin. You're not a mercenary. You know what you are? You're a joke. I am not getting paid to kill you specifically... so why don't you take this time to get out before my less nice side takes over."
Seeing the older assassin turn his back, Reaper took one last time to lunge at him right at the assassin's back.
He spun around in record time, sending his staff right into his gut, causing Reaper to go flying backwards into the elevator shaft. An ominous beeping throughout.
Explosives?! Did he plan all of this?!
He didn't get to think further as the cable snapped and the elevator went falling down, the massive explosion shook the entire elevator shaft as the ball of fire threatened to pour in, just narrowly missing the opened way.
Chuckling to himself, the assassin pried the door open to the bridge finding the remaining crew members and the Captain who was in the process of lighting a cigar for himself. A few rounds of the desert eagle took care of everyone with the exception of the captain. Moving forward, the assassin approached the captain who's bladder just failed in containing his piss. Grabbing the cigar, he took it from the Captain before removing his helmet and having a smoke.
"My ship now." The mercenary said as he inserted the flash drive into the main computer. The last thing the submarine's former captain would notice was the sound of a knife being drawn. Lighting the cigar, the mercenary sat down for a moment before finding a way to get out.
The experiments have been released!
That wasn't the exact way Trudy had thought of her situation in her mind, but it was pretty close as she looked ahead at the man who was busy wrenching a maintenance pipe right out of where it belonged. Screaming like a maniac, the Mirakuru experiment lunged forward swinging the pole like a maniac, totally oblivious to who he was hitting as he knocked aside his own comrades like ninepins, hitting someone so hard that the pipe even bent a bit. When Trudy was his next target, the young woman was already ready. The gunshot was the last thing the Mirakuru injected soldier would hear as his body was dismembered by the power of a single .22 caliber bullet.
More of them would pour in however, and while her gun would come in handy, she would find herself out of bullets. Didn't matter. Raising her fists, she prepared herself as she sized herself up with the last two Mirakuru injected soldiers. One of them gave a loud, insane roar as he charged forward hitting right into Trudy's shield spell, and then her knife. Much to the young woman's surprise, a knife to the chest didn't kill him, but that hardly mattered as she found something that would. The lead pipe which someone had intended to bludgeon her with.
"Yes... yes... kill him!" The voice of Baron Strucker along with his image taunted on the screen. "You vant to save your sister fraulein?! Come on! I'll be waiting!"
Through the red haze, Trudy scarcely heard him as the second Mirakuru soldier charged forth and almost hit her upside the head, which most definitely would have ended poorly for the witch had she been the same person two weeks ago. Ducking down despite having hardly a window of time to avoid the blow, the young girl punched him twice in the ribs, the sounds of the bone snapping was hardly noticed by her as she leaped upon him, intent on choking the life out of him. His neck broke much sooner as the girl applied all her strength.
"Ah yes... you're so close now!" Strucker taunted. "Come! You think you can save your sister?! More I say! More!"
Clenching her teeth and growling, the witch looked up, groaning outwardly and seething inwardly as the massive wave of Mirakuru, Venom and Titan soldiers were literally dropped right out of a steel container. It could have easily gone poorly for her, being unarmed. But it didn't. Because the moment the container opened, a few heads exploded one after the other. Behind her, Bucky fired his sniper rifle, knowing full well that only headshots would be fatal. Regardless, he didn't as much as miss a single bullet.
"Trudy! Wait!" The Winter Soldier coaxed as he jumped down from his vantage point, the witch being totally oblivious to him and his words, only thinking about her sister and her kidnappers. There it was up ahead. The room that contained Chris.
Without warning, a steel door dropped between the hallway sealing Bucky right out and Trudy in.
"Hey kid!" A familiar voice called out. "Remember me?" Crossbones taunted as he prepared his two batons. The regular type, that were meant for beating someone to death with.
"How could I forget?" Trudy growled as she raised her fist and pulled out her knife.
Steve fired a few shots from his gun, grunting with grim satisfaction as he heard the two bodies drop, while besides him Erica had gotten her hands on a Fn Minimi, sending roughly twenty bullets a second at the entire room, each and every single bullet packing the killing power of cannonball. Anyone who wasn't behind at least something that had the protection of tank armor was turned into soup within moments. The bodies dropped to the ground, mutilated pieces of flesh that Erica did her best not to look at. Dropping the LMG, she scanned the room one final time, if they weren't dead, they were running. The sound of a gunshot confirmed Steve had indeed slain the final agent of HYDRA.
"Hold on!" Steve said as he watched Erica run over to the device which held the elements. Powering down the machine first, the Captain got down on all fours, scanning the area carefully as a police dog sniffed an area for evidence.
"What's wrong?"
"Schmidt wouldn't just leave his thugs to defend this... there might be explosives." Steve looked around, his suspicions remaining unconfirmed.
"You sure about that? He left like enough men to go fight a war. Besides... I don't see any mines..."
"When we're 70 years in the future kid, there's more than one way to set a trap." Steve replied as he looked at the six gems within their spots. Only one way to be sure. Standing far back, he flung his shield at the element of Magic.
To his surprise, it just slid out.
No explosion.
No shock.
No hidden trap whatsoever.
"What?"
"Hello! Captain America?!" The familiar voice called out as a man in a HYDRA uniform entered upon the upper level, looking down at the pair. "I see you brought Hartmann with you! Would you like ze elements of harmony back? You can have zem."
"What's your game Schmidt?!" Captain America shot back as he his pistol was aimed right for the head of the Red Skull.
"My game Herr Rogers? What game? I've von!"
"You? Won?" Erica smirked as she placed the elements into a sack. "Looks more like you lost. Your submarine is on a course to getting run aground and your men are all scattering and fleeing like Mäuse beim Anblick einer Katze."
"Ah yes... Frau Hartmann. My men... my submarine... my warmachine. But they longer matter. They matter about as much as those trinkets in which you are placing in your bag. You are friends with Gertrud? Or should I say Gerhard? He, and she, they were both like you. Fools! Unable to see the true power ahead of them! My organization offered Herr Barkhorn the powers of the gods! He turned his down like the fool he was."
"And you had him killed." Erica replied as she aimed her gun at the skull. "I think it's time you come down here, perhaps they may give you a military tribunal..."
"That'd be too good for him." Rogers growled. "Why don't you come down here so I can plant a bullet in your red skull?"
"As much as I vould like to beat you until you are nothing but a lifeless pile of flesh... I have more pressing matters." The Skull said as he turned around, but not before he pressed a trigger causing two containers to fall into the room. The sounds of the inhuman roaring echoed within as the Skull casually left the room.
"Oh for @#$%'s sake." Steve groaned as the two giants approached him and Erica. Raising his shield, he braced himself as Erica pulled out her knife.
The fact her fists actually created dents in the walls made Rumlow uneasy, though the fact she was trapped in here meant that if she wanted to fight, he'll give her a good one. It's not like this is going to turn out like that time when he "trapped" Rogers in an elevator. Humph. That was a disaster. HYDRA trapping Captain America in an elevator? More like HYDRA being trapped in an elevator with Captain America.
Swinging his baton, he was fairly amazed at how Trudy's was able to grab it and wrench it out of his hand, making a point of breaking the bludgeon in two with her bare hands. His other baton got him as far as the last, with the weapon being turned into a bent piece of metal. Deciding to try something new, the HYDRA agent backed up a bit, looking for an opening. His opponent looked back, he could see it in his eyes.
If he didn't kill her, she would tear him apart like a guard-dog on an intruder. And if he wanted to kill her, he needed to do it fast. The steel door was strong, but he could already hear the sounds of the Winter Soldier tearing it apart with his cybernetic arm. If he could somehow...
His train of thought was broken was the uppercut sent him skidding a good few feet. It was a good thing he hand managed to knock her knife away, or he wouldn't have doubted Trudy slicing his head off with a knife that was only about five inches in length. Getting up slowly, his opponent approached him casually.
"You must be enjoying this." He replied as he broke his feigned weakness and punched her straight in the face, the force of the blow knocking on off her feet and onto the ground. He intended to bring his foot down upon her neck, but she caught him way before he even came close, forcing off.
"I am going to kill you. I am going to beat you to death." Trudy breathed as she rushed Rumlow. The sounds of bones and muscle hitting upon each other echoed throughout as Crossbones thanked the lord that this thing called Kevlar was invented, and he had made sure to clothe himself in it. If that hadn't been the case, he probably would have broken both his wrists by now. His kick sent her wobbling backwards as he took the opportunity to strike at her shoulders, forcing her down upon her knees. He could have ended it there and then, but the sound metal being pried open caused him to turn around quickly to see if the WInter Soldier had already made his way through. It was this second that Trudy regained her stance, hitting him in the gut. His body crumpled to the ground, and he felt himself being lifted by the neck. The pressure beginning to build upon his neck. He lashed out at her, again and again, but Trudy's grip did not as much as falter.
To his surprise, she let go and her fist came right into his face, his teeth went flying straight out of his mouth as he looked upwards to Trudy, who evidently meant the part about beating him to death. Knowing she wouldn't fall for a fake opening a second time, he gave her everything he got, surprised at how well the young woman was able to react to all his strikes as she blocked them all with relative ease. His only opening was when Trudy decided to retaliate, which was hardly an opening if you could even call it that but it was enough to stun the witch temporarily, which gave Rumlow the time he needed to kick her straight into the wall. Grinning to himself, he preformed his beat down, his smile widened as he heard the sound of a rib cracking along with another, and another.
His smile faded, the moment the hand shot up and grabbed his arm. The young woman, bloodied and battered glared at him, her eyes. Her eyes. They were the thing of nightmares. That was the only detail he could ever recall as she twisted his arm in a fashion that caused him to find himself face on the ground. The sound of the snapping echoed throughout the entire submarine. Before he could as much as cry out in pain, Trudy had flipped over. Just with one blow, she shattered the tactical vest he'd been wearing, and probably every rib in his body. The crack of the ribs would mix within the sound of a metal gate being pried open, creating a symphony of wreckage as Bucky made his way in, watching without a comment as Trudy stood over Rumlow who was broken and beaten.
"Come on kid... finish me..." Crossbones' marred form rasped out. To be frank, in his current state, dying was a far better option than perhaps being made a cripple for the rest of his life.
"I got better things to do." Trudy replied as she wiped blood from her face before limping away, relieving Rumlow of his firearm.
"Bitch... I knew she didn't have it in her." Crossbones wheezed silently to the Winter Soldier who stood above him. "Come on now... James Barnes... we all know why you're here."
He remained silent, staring at his former ally with cold eyes.
"Baron Von Strucker... he took you. He turned you into this thing you are now. He stole from you everything. Your life, yourself, and everything you stood for. He took away the meaning... the meaning of your life. And you're here to repay him for that aren't you? You're here so you can have your revenge." The broken man coughed, a true miracle he wasn't dead yet.
"I am here. Here for to thank Strucker for taking everything." The Winter Soldier replied coldly as he reached out a knife, and swung it dangerously close to Rumlow's face. "But you? A quick death is too good for you. Your dying. I can't savor every last bit of pain you will endure you damn traitor but I guess I'll know you were suffering. You want to help these Krauts? Go burn in hell with them."
"Ha... Strucker created a monster. And he still has his..." Crossbones coughed. "What about that girl huh? What about that other girl? They're "krauts" too. You going to kill them when this is all over? That Chris girl we've been using? Draining her blood? She's German too. You going to kill her as well?"
He didn't reply. Only walked away, leaving Rumlow to his fate. No matter how much the man taunted, wheezed and senselessly screamed after he was out of earshot, Bucky did not turn around. Not once. No. It was all behind him now. He turned the corner, expecting to find Trudy.
He was surprised at how quick someone with a broken rib can actually move.
"That was amazing!" Erica smiled as the pair ran up the stairs, totally oblivious to the scope of the situation. "You got both of them!"
"Shut up and move faster! If Skull get's away... I don't want to see what he's planned!" Cap commented as he held his shield in one arm, and his gun in the other. "We kill him, and this is all over!"
"Right behind you." Erica nodded as she ran with her bigger friend. "Umm... we have company."
"I know that. We're going to go right through them." Steve said as he braced himself from behind the shield. The dozens of men were all lined up with vaporizer rifles and machine guns. "Stay behind me."
"No need. One step ahead!" Erica smiled as she opened her mouth. "STURM!"
The whirlwind which swept the halls sent men and weapons flying like leaves on the autumn gale clearing the path for the two of them.
"Looks like we're good! Wait... are we back to the hangar?"
"I don't remember... what... the..."
In the center of the hangar, the massive trap door opened revealing an aircraft of immense size that glowed black and red. The moment Erica clasped eyes on it, she went white as a sheet.
"No... way..."
And right in front of them, was the Red Skull, making his way up inside his flying fortress with a grin.
"No... just..."
"We got to catch it!" Steve shouted as he jumped down, running after the massive aircraft which was already on it's way out, he looked over to see the many quinjets that were just ripe for the taking.
"You grab one of those planes!" Erica shouted as she ran to the room where they had left the boxes.
"What are you doing?!"
"Going to grab my strikers! We're going to need those!"
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.
Strucker had gotten away with both himself, and the Chitauri scepter. The thing was, both Trudy and Bucky both didn't even realize this as they were looking around at Chris, who's blood was still being sipped right out of her body to power the weapons of HYDRA.
"I tried... there's... there's something that prevents me from getting to her!" Trudy panicked as she paced around as though she had ants in her pants... panties... Judging from Chris' breathing and the way she seemed to hardly notice that her sister and some random 6' 4'' guy was right in her face, it wasn't too hard to tell that she was nearing death. It seemed that whenever someone got too close to the operating bed, it would give that someone a nice good shock that was actually strong enough to throw most people back. Bucky and Trudy both found this out on a personal note, and all the scrubbing around the room hadn't helped in the slightest.
Bucky looked over at Chris.
He had tried. The electricity pushed him back again and again when he tried to reach her. But as Slade had once said, training and strength was nothing. It was merely the will to act. Well then. And if Life's meaning isn't so much found as it was made, then it was time he found a meaning. About a week ago, he nearly killed Chris. Time to save her life.
Pushing forward, the electricity assailed him from all directions, yet his enhanced physiology held it's ground as his boots practically dug into the ground. Knowing that his organic arm wouldn't even make two inches before being thrown back faster than the speed of light, he reached forward his prosthetic one hoping that what he thought was going to happen would happen. The bionic tore off the straps that held Chris within the operating bed along with the syringes that slurped her blood before finally. The moment both the straps and the bonds were removed, the shocks stopped and Chris was free to be left out.
The problem was, judging from the hum of machinery powered down, Bucky realized that his prosthetic arm, which would provide him strength to levels on par of those with Tony Stark would now be a ball and chain as he got to experience for the second time how heavy it actually was when it wasn't operating. That issue however, could wait as he gently gave Chris the second syringe. If HYDRA derived it from whatever medicine Medic was making, than they did a damn good job of copying it as Chris woke in moments, her eyes wide at the sight of her sister.
"Schwester?"
"Es ist gut , ich bin hier." Trudy replied in her native tongue as she clutched Chris tightly, tears of joy escaping her eyes as she held the last person she truly loved to the core. "Ich bin hier."
"Wer ist er?" Chris asked as her wide eyes stared into Bucky's. The century old veteran's heart melted at the sight and at the words that followed from Gertrud's mouth.
"Ein Freund . Ein guter Freund."
The sounds and (shockwaves) of a submarine being runaround began to make itself felt.
"You are the craziest man I have ever met!" Erica commented as she flew the quinjet right behind the Jormungand which fired it's lasers upon the smaller craft which for Erica, a skilled and experienced pilot, the incoming fire wasn't too difficult to avoid.
"I don't care who or what I am! You do this... you fly right up close to that thing, and I am going to blow a hole in it! Once I jump in, get out of this and put on those... whatever those are and I want you to shoot down that jet! If Skull get's away in that, we're going to all be shoulder deep in trouble!"
"Alright then! You asked for this!" Erica replied over the din of flak and laser fire as she swung as close as possible. From below them, a chain of islands was down below which meant that if Cap somehow missed his target and fell, he could at least swim to safety if hitting the water at terminal velocity didn't mean him getting turned into human pancake. She took a ginger look as Cap jumped out, without a parachute over the flak and laser fire and landed upon the Jormungand. The C4s were thrown down, and the hole was blown. Erica had contemplated on helping him, until realizing that Herr Schmidt and Steve weren't just enemies from opposing armies. If they both survived this day, then it was likely that the pair would dedicate their entire lives in destroying each other.
"Good luck Herr Rogers." She spoke over the transponder while she grabbed her Striker units and a MG4 which had been left in the Quinjet. It was a shame to see such an advanced plane go down and crashed into some forest within the islands, but there was hardly any time for sentimental feelings when she had flak, missile and laser fire to worry about. She sent a hail of bullets upon the Jormungand. If she couldn't destroy it, she would have to slow it down.
"We have to get out of here!" Bucky announced as he cracked open a weapons locker taking out a SMG while tossing Trudy one as well. "Listen, we have to make our way to the hangar!"
"Yeah? And then what?!" Trudy asked as Chris followed.
"There's an opening. This is a big sub! We'll have to jump out! Hopefully, the water won't be too deep!" Bucky cried as he kicked open the door as he sprinted through the long winding halls which was quite spacious for a submarine. Then again, considering this sub was probably larger than a helicarrier, it was only reasonable to include such large corridors.
Said corridors not only had alarms blaring, but now had soldiers thrown all around them as from the outside, the sounds of lightning and magic erupted. With luck, Celestia's royal guard would be keeping HYDRA occupied, but even with that, there were probably hundreds of crewmen that had yet to get out. Well. Wasn't that the purpose of these SMGs? Opening fire, the Winter Soldier cut down two as the rest got behind whatever cover that may serve them and returned fire. To that, Trudy raised her shield causing the bullets to bounce off harmlessly while Chris hid behind Bucky, the super soldier was as stout as wall and as solid as iron as he turned around to see the young girl crouching behind him. His grip upon his weapon tightened as his arm hung uselessly. Despite only using one arm, he seldom missed his shots. He glanced over at Trudy, who more or less had the equivalent of a vaporizer rifle as everything in front of them got turned into soup in seconds. It hadn't occurred to Bucky that he was just doing the clean up but that was exactly what was going on. Making their way to the hangar was a piece of cake. In fact, the doors were already open. The only issue was, the submarine didn't run aground on the beach, it ran aground on a rock formation which meant that land would be a hefty swim away...
Only when they actually jumped, did Bucky realize how hard it would be to swim with a hunk of metal weighing him down.
Chris could swim pretty damn well. The problem was, the same thing couldn't be said for Bucky as the remains of a tactical vest, a ton of ammunition, firearms and a hunk of now-useless metal began to weigh him down. He made every effort to continue in the general direction of where he needed to go, but this didn't stop him from sinking as only now he realized he weighed a ton.
Chris was by far a competent swimmer. She only made it to the beach faster was because her sister had given her quite substantial help and practically leashed her all the way there. Seeing Chris was safe, Trudy breathed a sigh of relief until she realized she was missing something.
Bucky.
The cybernetic arm of the Winter Soldier had once provided him strength that pushed his already superhuman strength into farther levels. When left useless, it was only dead weight and when attempting to swim to a fairly distant shoreline, that was going to be the death of him. Literally. The fact he was wearing the broken remnants of a Kevlar vest and carrying enough ammunition to start a third world war, that really wasn't helping as with his good arm, he struggled to remove the vest only to find out that his arm alone was causing him more trouble than if he had actually kept his guns. Holding his breath wasn't hard, but as he sank down, he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep his breath up forever.
He was just on the edges of consciousness when he saw Trudy.
The medicine Bucky had given her preformed wonders. With the gloves, Trudy found herself able to carry Bucky all the way to the shoreline, which admittedly was no easy task considering how heavy the Winter Soldier actually was. Only when they were close to their destination did she realize that the entire time in which she had carried him back to dry land, his head was almost always underwater.
Panic gripped her as she milled about, not knowing what to do. She had heard about CPR, but never had been trained in it or had actually been called to preform CPR. As such, she had little clue to what she was doing when she placed her hands upon Bucky's hard, almost armor-like chest. Taking a deep breath, she began compression only to realize they had no effect a moment later. Taking another deep breath, the young woman struggled to remember what the next step of CPR was which to her dismay, she did remember. It was a good thing Chris was the only one here.
Opening his mouth, she placed her's right onto his.
Coincidentally, he wake up that moment, throwing up about gallons of water right into her mouth. Had anyone been watching, they most definitely would have agreed that the two had been kissing. Judging from the fact that Trudy was practically spreading herself on top of Bucky, it wouldn't have been unreasonable to think they were doing something extremely indecent.
His eyes snapped open to realize that he was locking lips with Trudy. The young woman didn't even know how to react, as she just stared back. "Deer in headlights" type of situation as the two just stared, realizing that their mouths were connected. Chris just watched, confused at what her older sister was doing, and coming to the conclusion that he really was a good friend. Good enough for you to make out with on a beach when you were alone. Sorta.
There was one other observer. And it was that one other observer that caused Bucky to cease staring and get up in record time as his eyes burned holes in that man's skull.
Bob literally wet himself when he saw Bucky glare in his direction.
"Okay! Okay! I promise! I'll leave! Just don't kill me! I wasn't watching you have..."
"Give me a better reason to why I am shouldn't kill you right now." Bucky threatened as his arm conveniently reactivated. Looks like someone was going to be in quite the beating. Bob was too scared to as much as run as Bucky picked him up, and slowly, drew his fist back, fully intent on smashing the HYDRA agent into a bloody pulp.
"Was hat er getan? Warum ist er dabei, ihn zu verletzen?"
"Weil er ein sehr schlechter Mensch. Und es ist, was sie verdienen." Because he is a very bad man. And it is what he deserves.
"Aber er hat nichts schlecht gemacht."
Bucky hesitated for a moment as he dropped the agent. A little German girl had successfully convinced him not to break the man in two who was currently sobbing and shivering like no tomorrow.
"I see you again, I will rip you in two. You understand?" Bucky asked. "Now get lost before I change my mind."
"Y-yes sir...!" Bob nodded as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him.
"Trudy. It's not over yet. A good portion of HYDRA managed to get away." Bucky looked. The pain of getting shot multiple times gripped him as he did his best to ignore his wounds. He would regenerate from them, but he wouldn't do it quick enough so that his injuries wouldn't effect his performance.
"I'll help them. Get Chris to safety."
"You know I can't just sit a fight out..."
"I don't care that your some Übermensch who can survive five bullets to the chest. You're hurt. And chances are, you'll need the help more that Chris does. Now go. I'll help them. You take care."
Grudgingly, he knew she was right. Crooking a finger to Chris, the super-soldier led her to safety as he cast a tentative glance at Trudy, who returned it. Their eyes met for a moment.
She's cute.
Skull's henchmen were of no issue. The broken bodies that littered the calls of the jormungand were proof of this as Captain America swung his fist so hard, it caused a man to get knocked right out of his socks in addition to a broken jaw. The door that separated him and the bridge had been sealed, but it would do little to prevent him from getting the Schmidt as he pried it open with his bare hands.
"Come at last Captain America? I vas just enjoying a martini!" Schmidt snickered as he finished his drink and got out of his chair.
"Enough talk. We have unfinished business." Cap stated as he pointed his gun at the Red Skull.
"Ah. At last! My death will not bring you victory Captain America. Cut off one head, two more will grow to take it's place."
"I am here to win the battle. Not the war." Steve commented. "But I am going to need a little gratification than planting a hole in your head."
With that, he crushed the pistol with his hands, much to the bemusement of the former SS officer.
"You're going to fight me?"
"No. I am going to beat you to death."
"Ah! Americans! You wage peace with one hand, and talk war with the other!" With that, the Skull bolted at Captain America, swinging down his fists. The Captain side-stepping every last blow as they made dents within the structure of the plane. The shield came up, smacking the skull right across the face which sent him back, but caused little harm as he threw his fist back, the blow catching Captain America right across the face, a stream of spit and blood came right out as he kicked Skull in the gut, sending the HYDRA leader flying towards the plane's controls.
From the outside, Erica watched as the Jormungand stopped shooting for some odd reason. Not willing to pass up the opportunity, she peppered the Neuroi with machine gun fire, striking the bridge unknowingly, tearing a massive hole in it.
It seemed rather convenient when Cap happened to punch Skull at the exact time.
Erica would get a grew view of someone falling right out of a plane.
It was amazing to see how much of HYDRA had actually managed to get out of the submarine, and it was even more amazing to see how Red Skull somehow fitted TANKS onto his submarine. TANKS. A good portion of them were the armor used by HYDRA during the second world war, that had survived. Even now, the superior weaponry of the armor was still more advanced than even those of today.
To Medic, it was a mystery to what was more amazing to him. The fact that HYDRA somehow stuffed tanks onto a submarine, tanks with weapons that were centuries ahead of their time, or the fact that Princess Celestia's army had somehow weaponized the weather and was raining down lightning bolts upon HYDRA's ranks. Even then, the battle would be a long and costly one as the German found himself more busy than he had ever been. Aside from the occasional strikes of lightning, all other means of countering HYDRA's armor columns had proven useless, with the royal guard having much surprise to machinations of the former SS division.
"Grah." Medic hissed as he an exploding body left blood and guts all over him. "Vhere is everyone ven I need zem?!"
Besides him, he saw Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie. Using Twilight as a machine gun. By cranking her tail, the unicorn would fire out darts of lethal energy upon anyone who was unfortunate enough to get hit. He grinned slightly at the rather unconventional weapon which was fairly amusing. He contemplated on giving them his kritzkrieg, but decided against it as he saw the magic splash off the sides of a tank that vaguely resembled a King Tiger or a Tiger II. It could have ripped an entire division of Celestia's army to shreds, had it not been for the magically charged bullets that hammered into it's sides. The entire machine backed and buckled, as though it had been hit by the cannon of a battleship before exploding into flames.
"I swear... I saw that tank before." Trudy commented as she looked at the panzer.
"Looks just like a Tiger II, ja?" Medic commented as he peered across his cover. "Zey have an entire panzer company that is currently being supported by several Infanterie battalions. "How zey manage to put zis many men on a boat, is a mystery to me."
"I think we should worry more about they can do with those weapons then how they somehow placed all those men and tanks onto a submarine." Trudy commented as she picked up a fallen machine gun that vaguely resembled a MG42 in shape, though hummed and pulsed with arcane energies. "This might be useful."
"Ja. But ve're only going to get torn to shreds by those panzer. We need a..."
"Need help there?" The cheery voice of Erica called from behind them with Steve Rogers in her arms. Placing down the big man, she grinned at them. Striker units and machine gun at the ready. "They got enough of those tanks to send the Neuroi back to whatever abyss they crawled out of if we could get a hold of them."
"We're destroying every last one." Rogers stated firmly. "Clear?"
"Yeah... yeah... okay. What's the plan?"
"We're going to need air support from you Erica. Those tanks can shred entire divisions of her majesty's warhorses at this rate. But careful, they're packing enough vaporizers and missiles to knock a thousand planes out of the sky. I am going to lead a charge. Trudy, I need you to help me. Medic, you're with us. Attend to any injured."
"Jawohl." The German nodded as the healing beams wrapped around Trudy.
"By the way... where's Bucky?"
"He was injured so he's sitting this one out." Barkhorn explained. "Let's do this!"
From across the beach, a man in a tattered HYDRA uniform watched them. You see... it'd take more than just a simple fall to kill Schmidt.
"Commodore, prepare your forces. Zey're going to advance." The former SS officer radioed as he grabbed his vaporizer pistol. "It's time I settle ze score."
The brilliant blue bolts that came from the rifle shattered the tank as though it's armor, which had rendered all previous weapons useless, as though it was tissue paper. HYDRA knew how to make a good gun.
He didn't like beating a man to death. Unless if it was someone who truly deserved it (Red Skull) but in this moment, there was no other alternative. His fist came crashing down, shattered the neck of his foe who had attempted to attack him with a knife. Captain America only grunted in disapproval at such a means to eliminate a target. In the distance, a sniper rifle cracked and some poor sod fell to the ground. Slade had apparently set himself up in a convenient location.
"Scratch two." The mercenary chuckled over the radio as the bullet bounced right off of a fallen gun and straight into the neck of a HYDRA soldier. There was only one man who could have done it better but that was hardly something to bat an eye about. His second bullet was targeted straight at one of the tanks, landing straight at where he believed to be the area the pilot sat behind. The machine didn't come to a stop the moment the bullet hit home, but if one listened closely, there would be the sound of what vaguely sounded like a drill. A moment later, there would be a splatter within the tank and the driver's brains adorned the interior.
"You got a huge wave of them coming. I count at least a hundred." Erica radioed as a strafing run sent several men careening to safety or their deaths.
"Don't worry." Slade radioed over as he watched the bulk of the royal guard charge straight at them. Shield spells risen, spears down, pegasi at the front. "Looks like we're about to have a really good show."
"I wasn't talking about them..." Erica radioed again. It took the mercenary some relocation to actually see it, but once he did, even he felt a small wave of uncertainty.
"Jesus Christ! I am coming to help you myself."
"ETA Erica? And what was it?" Steve asked as he ducked behind cover, drawing his gun.
"A TON OF MEN. They got those lasers and machine guns and rocket launchers! Coming your way!" Erica commented. "I can't get close enough without getting shredded by ground fire!"
"Damn!" Rogers commented as he took a look. "Eh... and great. We're cut off. Ummm... eh..."
"It's okay Herr Rogers. I got ze solution right here!" Medic commented as the medi-gun's beam attached right onto Trudy. "Frau Barkhorn, burst out of cover now!"
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Trudy shouted as she saw the hundred, no HUNDREDS of soldiers coming this way.
"Just do it! Ready your gun and your shield!"
"ARE YOU SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING?!" Trudy asked as she pointed the vaporizer cannon straight at the incoming men. The bullets, rockets and lasers were already flying right about now.
"I HAVE NO IDEA! " The crazed scientist screamed at the top of his lungs as he flipped the switch.
Trudy took one look at her shield. One look.
It had expanded so large, it was more like a wall than a shield now. And what was even better about it was that no matter how many rockets and lasers seemed to hit it, it didn't even as much as budge. Looking down at her weapon, she looked at the glow. And fired a shot.
It was just one shot, but it tore up perhaps dozens of men at once. She grinned for a moment before holding the trigger down. The hundreds or so bolts of energy derived from the Tesseract tore through every man as a battleship shell would tear through rotting wood. There were tanks behind the men, and when hit, they exploded in such an incredible fashion, that they went sky-high in the air. It all only lasted 18 seconds, but to Trudy, it seemed as though eternity was slowing passing away as the explosions consumed the entire beach. Her mouth was agape with awe at the fact hundreds of men, in an instant had become nothing but piles of dust.
"Wow..." She commented. Though she had a warm feeling, she only sat herself done. So this is the power of the future. Where with a press of the button, hundreds of men could be obliterated in mere seconds. It was like the power of the Neuroi, but given into the hands of men. She felt tired all of a sudden and sat down. Medic decided to rest with her, as he took a deep breath. Giggling and speaking to himself. Slade didn't rest, only turned his back to look at what was going on behind them.
And this power, felt like it didn't belong. That it never belonged.
"I don't believe it. But looks like we punched a hole in their army." Slade smiled. "Let's finish the job."
"You've already destroyed everything." The voice called out. "I have my revenge on you now."
That voice, was unmistakably... Schmidt's.
Cap didn't even have a chance to raise his shield. All he saw was the vaporizer pistol that was flipped out, and the trigger about to be pulled.
As well as the bullet that sank right into Skull's shoulder, and him tumbling straight off the ledge, and into the ocean.
"Bucky?" Steve commented in surprise at his friend, who was clutching his chest and held a smoking gun.
"Medic?" The Winter Soldier rasped weakly as he collapsed on the sand, a small trickle of his blood trailed from the beach-line.
"You idiot!" Trudy screamed in frustration. "Didn't I tell you to..."
"She's safe Trudy." Bucky replied in a stronger voice as he got up upon the ground as his multiple wounds began to heal. "Thing was... wasn't safe for me. I need a doctor. Besides... I couldn't just sit this one out."
"Yeah...yeah...yeah... alright. Neo-Nazi is dead, his army is destroyed. Can we go home now?" Slade asked.
"Not yet. There's still a few loose ends we got to tie up." Steve nodded as he recalled his conversation with Twilight.
"Besides..." Bucky began as he got up. "You ever tried steak? There's this really good steak joint by where I live. We should go there when this is done."
Happy Halloween: Have some randomness. IDIOCY AHEAD
"Pass the whiskey." Floyd Lawton AKA Deadshot asked as the glass bottle of booze was passed right to him. Popping the cork, the sniper took a long drink. "Ah... this is the stuff. What's this place called again?"
Character's Cornerclub.
"In Asgard, there are often contests of strength, speed, skill... and of course... who can consume the most mead in one sitting or one gulp." Thor grinned as he placed a barrel of the strong drink right besides the counter. "Tell me assassin, will you challenge me?"
"I got nothing better to do." Deadshot commented. "You're one. If you really are some viking god... you'll probably wipe the table with me."
"Hey everyone! I baked pumpkin pie for everyone!" A cheery voice called out from a cute girl of Japanese origins. "Umm... what are you drinking?"
"I was told this was an R-rated joint." Lawton slurred as he downed his fourth gulp.
"I will have some of this... pie! But first... Thor must vanquish his foe in a drinking contest!" The Asgardian commented as he took a deep whiff of the pastries. "Another!"
"Another..." Deadshot slurred. Five huh? Thor was already on his eighteenth. At this rate he was going to...
The assassin collapsed right onto the ground. Thor stood triumphantly over him as he finished his twentieth beaker of mead before taking an entire pie from Yoshika. "Smells ripe!"
"Thank you sir... um... what should we do about him?"
"Ah, leave the drunk guy be kid. He's drunk." A texas-sounding man with a prosthetic arm walked in carrying a box full of liquor. "So... you really the god of thunder?"
"Indeed mortal! And I am willing to prove it! On the battlefield or at the festivities!" Thor mumbled with a mouthful of pumpkin pie. "By Bor, this... is... ANOTHER!"
The crash of the breaking plate caused Yoshika to jump, looking at the god of thunder strangely for a moment.
"Does... isn't..."
"You know... those plates are expensive!" A certain white unicorn commented. "Mr. Odinson... how inelegant you look! A prince acting in such a fashion?! Unspeakable!"
"Humph. So it appears even horses have snobby types?" A bored looking man wearing a green cloak asked. "Can't seem to avoid those types anyone where I go."
"You'd think horses couldn't talk wherever we went. Humph." A big guy commented as he walked in. "Alright boys and girls... in case anyone asked what I brought, I got this old book containing the most boring campfire stories ever, and... booze."
"Do you all just drink you free time or what? Honestly! Do all the men in the future act like drunkards?!" Another snobbish voice called out. A short blond girl with glasses with a minor trace of a french accent.
"I don't." A rather uptight frenchman commented. "You see mademoiselle not all men or women truly act with the proper grace as we should. My name is Spy by the way. And you are?"
"Huh? Oh..." Perrine looked up awkwardly at the taller Frenchman. "Perrine. Perrine Clostermann. How do you do today monsieur?"
"Very well. Such elegance you conduct yourself with." Spy nodded and smiled as he looked over at the people that were joining this... mess... People such as a crazed American patriot, a black scottish cyclops capable of consuming nigh-infinite amounts of liquor, a one-eyed man with a fairly moody disposition and a young woman who had quite the appetite.
"Hey GUYS!" A certain man in a red spandex outfit began. "Hey YOU! YES YOU! A cookie to anyone who can name these people from descriptions alone!"
"Okay. Who invited him?" A certain elderly assassin asked.
"The Author did! Duh!" Pinkie Pie said as she burst out of nowhere. "See... the Author invited everyone!"
"What's she talking about?" A man in a business suit asked as he walked in, grabbing a martini. "Okay. Surgical operation is done, I no longer have shrapnel about to go to my heart. Now then, what's all the menu? I am... oh... Pumpkin pie huh? Thanks for baking some kid."
"Welcome!" The maker of said pastries smiled. "I am going to make some more if you don't mind me."
"Yes. GET BACK IN THE KITCHEN." Deadpool snickered.
"Jesus Christ, what an asshat." Slade groaned. "Okay. For real. Who the hell invited this joker?"
"A better question would be... WHO DIDN'T INVITE ME?! I mean come on fellas! Who's the only one awesome enough not to have a movie made within the Avengers canon and still be included in all of this!?"
"Does... does anyone know what he's talking about?" A sharp Bostonian asked as he sat down next to a red headed girl in a WWII styled uniform with a wild smile and a hefty chest. "Hey Baby... you ever seen me with my shirt off? It's quite the sight you know..."
"You know... what he just said in that sentence is pretty terrifying. Terrifying enough to include in a Halloween story..." Pinkie Pie muttered slowly. "Yikes Scout, that's... that's pretty creepy."
"What? How is that creepy?"
"She's 16." Slade commented. "And you're 23."
"Says the man who had a mistress that was the same age!" Deadpool commented over a few beers. "Come on Slade! You know how women are! You love them just as you love your wine! Sixteen years aged!"
"Son of a bitch..." Slade grinded through his teeth as he grabbed a glass bottle and broke it underneath the table.
"Things just got really weird..." A super-soldier with a prosthetic arm commented as he sat next to a young woman in a Luftwaffe uniform. "Slade... I never knew you were also a..."
"Hey. Hey. She was my mistress. That meant she wanted to."
"Okay. But still..."
"Forget it. I am going to try to get myself drunk now." Slade grumbled as he grabbed some mead from Thor. "Forget this all happened and... wait... how did I get here again?"
"Cause the Author silly!" Pinkie Pie jumped. "This is a Halloween special!"
"What's Halloween?" Armin asked as he shook his head.
"IT MEANS CANDY! LOTS AND LOTS OF CANDY! AND MORE CANDY! AND..."
"Hey doc..." Engineer began at Pinkie's rambling. "You don't happen to have any horse-sedative on with you do you?"
"Nein..." Medic said as he shook his head regrettably. "Vasn't zis suppressed to be Halloween party... so vhere are all ze scary things?"
"Herr Doctor..." A girl who looked just like Erica rushed forward. The only difference was that she wore glasses. "Remember when you and Herr Conagher told me I could study the teleporter?"
"Ja. And what?"
"You know how you told me not to put any bread in it?"
"Oh no..."
"Well you see... um... Herr Doctor... Frau Lucchini and a... um... blue horse decided to teleport bread..."
"Oh no..."
"And I think... they teleported about 3 tons worth of wheat... oh wait... 30 tons..."
"HOW DID THEY GET ALL THAT WHEAT?!"
The rumbling noises indicated that it didn't really matter.
"BREAD! I TELEPORTED BREAD!" Rainbow Dash laughed manically as Breadzilla appeared out of the ground. "Oh wait a minute..."
"YA BLEEDING IDIOTS!" Demoman screamed over the roar of the bread monster. "Lads! Lassies! Help me kill this thing!"
"Odin's beard! That monster!"
"Jarvis! Suit! Now!"
Bullets began to fly. While in the distance, a single man looks at you. And smiles through his mask.
"Well guys happy Halloween!"
"And you... can go @#$% yourself." A familiar voice called. A voice of a certain one-eyed assassin who currently had a hockey mask and a chainsaw.
"Hey a hockey mask! It's not so different from your regular one.... OH MY GOD... HE CUT OFF MY ARM... YOU SICK BASTARD... OH MY GOD... MY ARM! MY ARRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"
From the distance. Discord. Out of nowhere.
"Hmm... I got to videotape this... oh wait... I have an idea..."
Snap*
"Tee-hee. You see boys and girls... I just love Zerg Rushing."
"You know the thing about Chaos? It's fun..."
"Glad you agree!" Discord said. "Now then... show me a magic trick! Make a pencil disappear!"
There was a reason to why Erica was banned from kitchen duties back where she was from, and proof of that could be seen (and tasted) when she helped Twilight prepare the meal for everyone's last day in Equestria.
Steve just looked at Medic, who had excused himself which much to the surprise of everyone, had came back with medical equipment and began to poke at his meal, constantly mumbling to himself that he saw it move. The black... mess... in the bowl didn't LOOK alive, but who knows... it looked more like Erica had scraped dirt in a bowl that... umm... what was this she said?
Oh right. Salad. Charred Salad. HOW?!
"I think Frau should... maybe... not be in ze kitchen... has... has she destroyed anything yet?"
"Who knows? Judging from the fact Sparkler and that lizard haven't come out yet... I can assume that her cooking killed them." Slade said with a rolled eye. "Why did you come back Doctor? You should have ran while you had the chance."
"Actually... I came here to do you all some favors... you see... I analyzed zis... substance... and I do believe zat it may either be conscious... have medicinal value or be toxic. As such... if you may all give me your plates... zat vould be great."
As one could expect, everyone was more than willing to give Medic the samples to which he could use to either make new medical discoveries, new species discoveries, or probably create a new deadly toxin. Most likely the third. He filled his bags, and cleared the plates just in time before Erica got back with the main course which looked like tar. Yes. Tar.
"Wow... done already? I didn't know it was that good..." Erica smiled as she saw the shiny clean plates. "Oh. And punch for everyone!"
"I think that's the only thing that'll be fit for human consumption." Bucky said as he leaned over to Steve as the purple liquid was poured into various cups.
Simple. If Bucky and Trudy both saw them lacing their drinks after we poured them... they'd probably think Slade wanted someone dead. But of course... just easing the tensions here... nothing weird. Would the two realize that beforehand, their cups would be specifically picked out, and were smeared with the potion Twilight had brewed?
Steve took one final moment to glance at the awkward looks between Trudy and Bucky. (And Chris, who was thankfully very oblivious to what was really going on, and seemed not to notice that Erica's cooking probably would violate every quality control law in every existence.)
Everything was ready... now the two would just have to drink...
Slade took one look at his food. One look.
"Hey everyone." He began in a loud clear voice as he took a glance at the nearest window. "What's that?"
All heads turned into the direction he pointed in. Seeing nothing, heads were scratched and odd looks were thrown around.
"What's what?" Twilight asked as she scratched her head with a hoof.
Turning around, it had turned out that Slade had pulled a Slade. He was gone, the open window's curtains simply blew in the wind.
"Looks like he had something to do." Erica shrugged, blissfully unaware of the true reason why Slade had decided to run even faster than if Doomsday had just popped up in the room. "So... who's wants dinner?"
Gingerly... Steve raised his hand knowing that superhuman immune systems were probably not going to save him this time. Bucky and Trudy just stared at each other, totally oblivious to Erica's question. Hopefully, the potion would have worked. Oh it worked alright. It certainly took things to the next level. If Steve looked into Bucky's thoughts, he probably would have wondered if he didn't accidentally go a website the guys at work pranked him him to do so.
"Excuse me for a moment..." Bucky mumbled as he went downstairs.
"I am... I am going to go with him..." Trudy blushed as she left awfully quickly, leaving Steve, Erica, Chris and Medic as the only humans left in the room. While Chris ate heartily, much to the suffering of Medic and Steve's guts, Erica returned to the kitchen to make "desert". Spike and Twilight just looked at their food, before the former grabbed some gems and the latter grabbed hay.
"Medic... can I ask you not to eat anything?"
"You don't have to ask Herr Rogers." Medic mumbled as he dumped his bowl's contents into another bag labelled "specimen 2". "If you do show any signs of... death... I'll do my best to heal you."
"What's wrong?" Chris asked the two men as she dug into the black ash-like... substance, surprisingly not choking or DYING from the clearly inedible food.
"Nothing... nothing..." Steve said as he ran to the nearest window to throwup. "Listen, I am gonna go take a look at Bucky and Trudy."
"You do zat. I vill dispose of zis mess."
Thanking the doctor, the big guy got up and walked down to the basement, opening the door just a creak before silently walking down. Okay. He wasn't sure... but were those...
He heard what sounded like a small gasping sound. It took him just a couple moments to realize what was going on before he slowly backed up the stairs. Closing the door without a creek, his hand smacked upon his face so hard it threatened to leave a mark.
[What was really going on]
"Hey..." Trudy smiled awkwardly at Bucky as she approached him.
"Hi..." He replied as he saw her edge closer to him, her beautiful form quite noticeably in the darkness of the room. He felt a beat of warmth well up within him as she sat down next to him.
"Back there... with HYDRA, and Chris... I... I still haven't thanked you..."
"And I still haven't thanked you for fishing me out of the ocean." Bucky replied as he sat down, hearing some... noises. The sounds of a shirt being unbuttoned. He hardly had control over his own mouth as he said it. "You're cute."
She blushed and giggled, as though it was something she had expected him to say. Her hand strayed to his neck, before coming down and feeling his armor like abs, smiling in admiration before tapping on them gently.
"No wonder you can survive bullets." She teased, watching as Bucky slowly undressed himself as he placed his arm around her, his actual arm. The warm touch of it was soothing, alluring her to sleep before she realized that his lips were centimeters away from her's. Like a snake upon it's prey, they shot forth, his lips locked with her's as his hand came up to caress her face gently. She didn't object, she couldn't object, and obviously, she wouldn't object. She closed her eyes for a moment, allowing him to caress her until she realized that his hand was heading towards her forbidden regions.
Not yet.
"Wait... Bucky..." Trudy said quickly as she broke her lock from his lips, her hands shooting out to grab his. "I... no... just..."
"Okay... okay." Bucky nodded as though he instantly understood what she meant. His hand came up again, they rested atop her head, stroking her back and forth.
That was when her familiar manifested, and she gave a gasp.
"That... that felt so good..." Trudy breathed. "Please... do that again."
Rather awkwardly, he did so, almost bursting out in laughter at Barkhorn's reactions getting patted on the head. But he obliged her, smiling as she descended into a state of almost pure bliss. The rest of the night would be spent that way until Bucky's hand literally grew too tired to pat her to which Trudy was more than eager to snuggle with him. Exactly the reason why everyone decided not to sleep downstairs.
"It's okay. We still got our uniforms..." Erica reassured to Trudy for the umpteenth time. "Why can't we wear them again?"
"Because some people may get the wrong idea around here." Steve replied. "I told you. Here, we fought each other. Dressing up in a SS uniform is going to get you beaten up... or worse."
"What's the SS again?"
"I'll explain later. But it's the same cloth that HYDRA was cut from." Steve explained, knowing that would be enough to convince Barkhorn why they shouldn't wear their uniforms. He had provided the two with clothes from the closest Kohl's. The thing was... both of them found it odd apparently that women wore pants. Yes. It was apparently odd for them that women wore pants.
And here was where he explained the concept of well... um... the less reputable ways of making money, and how said people of the trade dressed. The two didn't seem to believe him at first, but grudgingly, the pair agreed to wear pants this one time. This one time. Medic could only sigh, good thing Scout wasn't here.
"Seven." Steve said to the waiter as the group entered the restaurant. It was hallowed grounds to him and Bucky, they commonly picked up lunch here seventy years ago. Now, they were doing it again.
"Uh name?" The manager asked as he squinted at Steve and Bucky for a moment.
"Eh... Steve Rogers..." Cap whispered, ready for the firestorm. It turned out this place had "avengers-eat-free-policy" like every other establishment in New York. This really was more of a curse than a blessing when it meant that now, Cap (and Bucky) would have a few hundred pairs of eyeballs staring their way.
"Looks like someone's going to have autographs to sign." Slade grinned as he sat down, adjusting his suit while the patrons who brought their children all marched up with various objects ranging from Captain America comic books to baseballs.
Steve felt himself losing his appetite once more, and that was quite something to talk about when he hadn't eaten for the majority of yesterday for obvious reasons as he took one look at the dozens of people.
"Can't a guy grab lunch without being swarmed by a few hundred children?" Cap asked himself in total despair as he looked at the line that had formed around him. Bucky too, got attention, but not as much as Cap who had to deal with a fanbase that might as well as called itself HYDRA. Sign one autograph, two more will take it's place. Besides their table, the waiter looked at the three German girls who were picking their teeth and Bucky, who was beginning to regret offering to pay for the meal.
"Where... where did those three put all of it?"
"Beats me." Bucky shrugged deciding not to ask for the bill. The empty plate, or rather PLATES indicated that Trudy did enjoy the meal thoroughly. As did Erica, and as did Chris. Steak huh? Deciding that money really wasn't that important he scooted closer to Trudy, his arm finding itself around her waist, to which she smiled at him, making no objections. "You got the photos right?"
"Yeah. I got the photos. You have colored cameras here?"
"Yep. I am surprised that they have HD cameras, but somehow mysteriously lack washer machines."
"They have electricity... but why do they only use candles?"
"Beats me. Electric bill too high?" Bucky laughed. "Oh right..."
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled a pair of light blue envelopes, handing one of them to Trudy.
"So... I don't really know how this works, and I think I am going to test it later, but apparently, even though I am... well... in an alternate UNIVERSE... I can write letters to you? That's apparently how this works..."
"So we can keep in touch then?" Trudy smiled. "Well... that'll be nice."
"Yeah. I was wondering... could you stay... for a while? Since you can seem to go at any given moment..."
"I would but the thing is... duties... and... I have Neuroi to fight."
"Damn..." Bucky sighed as he looked at Trudy again. They only met weeks ago, and yet... he felt as though she was his entire future. Being with her for as long as possible was exactly just what he wanted... if only...
"But you know what? I'll write to you." Trudy smiled.
"Send me pictures." Bucky replied. "And I promise, I'll see if I can't get you something nice."
"Alright... alright..." Trudy giggled. Erica would make sure to document this in the deep corners of her mind to tease her older friend later on. All the while, an awfully particular man walked up to Captain America. You see... he was a MAN, not a kid. And apparently, he wanted an autograph. (He was also drooling... which was quite frankly disgusting but...)
"Ca-ca...ca-..." Deadpool sputtered as drool left his mouth, holding up a pen and paper.
"Are you okay?" Slade asked as he looked over at the guy. "You got hit on the head hard or something?"
"What the hell is wrong with this joker?" Slade asked. "Hey Asshat, go away. You're making a mess."
"NO WAY. NOT UNTIL I GET MY AUTOGRAPH. NO NEED TO BE A DICK YOU KNOW!" Deadpool raged insanely.
"Did... did you get your Autograph Mr. Wilson?" The Driver to Deadpool's car asked as the merc with the mouth slipped in with a wide smile on his mouth.
"You bet Bob! Oh and thanks for flying that plane."
Bob really wasn't sure if Deadpool was joking or what. "Flying" consisted of crashing a plane right onto a rock off of the coast of Manhattan. I guess that was the most he could have done since Deadpool pulled him out of a little girl's coloring book... only to be teleported into a crashing plane. Fun. Bob didn't really have TOO MUCH skill in flying, only read "Flying quinjets for dummies" which was one of the requirements of getting into HYDRA. And by read, Bob obviously didn't read the book. Screw book, I want my dental care... which HYDRA... didn't offer. Hey, at least they offered regular insurance... just without the dental insurance. Besides... who would want to have a HYDRA dentist look at your teeth anyways? Nazi dentists were pretty bad from the understanding of the public... but now that he got his pink slip, Bob now needed a new job that offered benefits. Deadpool was willing to take him under his wing as his sidekick, the only thing was "dental insurance" probably meant fist to the face if he screwed up.
"Alright Bob, let's head on home, have a pizza, a few beers, and... um... hmm..." Deadpool stopped. "Okay. What do we do after throwing a really wild party?"
"I dunno..."
"Great! I guess I'll take a look at what the Author is planning! Perhaps some people may want to know! Besides. When do I get to be a main character in one of these? Okay. Bob. Write this down. Tell the author the following things. First. I WANT TO BE IN A STORY. AND SOON. WHY DOES MY ASSHAT OLDER BROTHER GET TO BE IN TWO ALREADY?! NO ONE LIKES HIM ANYWAYS."
Eh... wat?
"So. You brooding again huh?" Steve grinned as he found Slade hours later, standing on top of a roof. "You hate this place?"
"My general opinion on most things." Slade replied as he turned around to find everyone else. "Listen Steve... this isn't over. HYDRA, whatever Mr. Fourth Reich was planning, what's coming is going to be a few billion times worse."
"I honestly don't see what's going to be worse than HYDRA finding a way to cut into different DIMENSIONS. They'd literally be the masters of every world they come across."
"No. There is someone worse. Someone far worse. Someone perhaps bad enough to outdo goddamn Nazis."
"They sought to eradicate entire POPULATIONS. What can possibly be worse than HYDRA or any remnants of the Reich?"
"Owlman. And the Crime Syndicate." Slade replied.
"Owlman?"
"Owlman. I mentioned a bunch of people I knew from "work" right? Think of them as the same thing as that little circus you and you friends run. They stop crime, terror etc... enforce justice... do good... bake cupcakes... yeah. You get the point. I broke into their headquarters and read the files. A man known as "Owlman" was on the list on their Top 10 people-we-better-kill-but-not-literally-since-we-don't-do-things-that-way."
"They don't kill?" Cap asked as he scratched his head. "As in... not at all?"
"Trust me. They find Red Skull, they'd rather bring him to the courts rather than put a bullet in his head. Funny right? A flawed way of enforcing justice. But I don't give a damn about justice, what I do give a damn about is some psycho-maniac who managed to devise a way to shatter reality."
"What now?"
"Owlman. He not only built a bomb that was able to shatter planets, but found exactly where to detonate it. The thing was, I found him weeks back. When we were at that weapons plant. He was there."
"Was he the thing that kicked your ass? You looked like you ran into a train."
"I wouldn't push it." Slade growled. "But he isn't a pushover like those thugs Schmidt hired. If he really is anything like the man who I think him to be, he is perhaps the most dangerous man in existence."
"So why are you telling me this?"
"Because if he is in Equestria, then he's found something he wants. I don't know about you, but I like living, and I do want to stay alive. So..."
"You plan on stopping him."
"I do. But I hope I do get a bonus for my time." Slade grinned. "You'll help if I ask?"
"Sure. Don't need to pay me if this guy is half as bad as you say he is." Steve nodded. "Alright Slade, let's get you where you belong."
"Alright then. By the way, good seeing you again. We had fun, right?"
"Well... I never knew Barnes would get a woman." A group of silent gossiper's in SHIELD's base of operation's commented as they watched the big man redecorate his office, the first thing that would be noticeable was the picture of himself and Trudy, standing besides an excellent view of the statue of liberty. The young woman (for the picture only) was dressed in a light blue polo shirt and a pair of jeans, her hands around Bucky in a rather awkward fashion of how someone 5' 4'' attempted to wrap their arms around someone that was 6' 4''.
"You hear? She's German." Someone else nodded and grinned as the crowd looked upon Bucky continue to redecorate his office. "Can you believe it?"
"That relic getting a German girl? Now that's great. Remember how what he said about having to work with Kreuz? Oh wait. That's right, he didn't say anything. He just outright refused to work with that guy because oh no... he was German! And now... his girl is Deutsch? That's great."
"Old relic huh? What about Rogers? He got anything against Germans?"
"No. But Barnes is still living in the past. You see, he still calls HYDRA "Krauts", "Adolfs" and "Jerries". Maybe someone should explain to him that HYDRA is a worldwide organization. By the way, who's the girl? She looks cute."
"How old is she? She looks cute. And pretty young. Maybe 18? 19? How old is lieutenant? Like..."
"Um... 97." Someone said as they did a hasty calculation, watching Bucky finish the rest of his housekeeping work. Just as anyone could expect, instead of a computer like most ordinary people, Barnes had a typewriter, just like Captain Rogers.
"You think they um... you know..."
"I can hear everything you're saying." His voice called out to them, causing the group of men to jump. "You know, barrack room gossip was what got you kitchen duties to scrape every pot and pan with a toothbrush. So you all better beat it."
As expected, that got the crowd to disperse rather quickly. Perhaps it was over the terrible nightmare of orders having to clean frying pans with a toothbrush from someone who lacked the authority to give such orders, or maybe the fact this was the same person who had punched a HYDRA agent through the chest on his first day of work.
"People these days." Bucky mumbled to himself as he sat down on the typewriter. Okay. He had been in a few relationships in the past but how to tell a woman you cared? A woman who lived VERY far away. Who also spoke a different language... and um... he looked over to the record sitting in the corner. The cover of the song... hmmm... he heard it before, song was German in origin right?. The song was "Lili Marleen". What were the lyrics again?
"Too bad you don't have a lantern." Steve said as he entered the room.
"I know." Bucky mumbled as he listened to the song. Turning the record off, he began to sing himself. For a man that never sang once in his life... that wasn't too bad... In fact. To Steve, it was AWFULLY FAMILIAR when Bucky sang. He could have been on STAGE... and maybe done PROPAGANDA... related things...
"Okay. What's one of those recording things called again? Okay. Whatever. I need one."
"You plan on singing to her?"
"I wrote to her just yesterday. The thing works. Now I want to test if it would work if I could send her something. You know... Christmas... her Birthday... etc."
"So you want to send her a song?"
"Yeah. Okay. Grab me one of those recording... things... and a sheet of paper." Bucky began. "Hey. You used to sing around the campfire all the time. Mind teaching me?"
"I don't know that song though..."
"No. As in, teach me. How to sing?"
"You were pretty good... so why not..."
"Goddamn it Steve, just teach me."
"Okay. Okay. Sheesh. You really committed to this?"
"Hell, I'd break into Stark's tower and send myself over if I could. Don't quote me on saying that."
"Twas there that you whispered tenderly... That you loved me.."
"He has a nice voice." Erica grinned widely as she watched Trudy listen to the recording for the umpteenth time. "You missing him?"
She didn't reply. Only smiled and listened to the sound of Bucky's voice over the... whatever it was he used to record his voice. It had taken a few times for her to understood the ins and outs of some device that would be invented in 70 years, but he did at least leave a note on how to work it.
"So... you missing him?"
"Sure. I'll say it. Yes." Trudy replied. "You happy now?"
"VERY." Erica smiled. "So. Whatcha gonna do when the war is over now?"
"You ask me this at least once a month. The answer is the same."
"The same huh? Where's the part about meeting a Liberion* and having lot's of children with him?" She triggered mischievously, watching the look on her friend's face as she comprehended those words. (Alternate world's USA)
"ERICA! That is not appropriate talk right now!"
"Maybe not right now, but hey, say in two or three years, when this war ends, I am certain you wouldn't mind... heh... leaving. And maybe having plenty of children? It's not there'd be a war anymore. Besides, even if there was Neuroi, they could just ask your future husband or your children. Now the first thing to do is have children..."
"Erica. I swear..."
"Swear what? You're going to have kids with him?"
OH GOD DAMN IT.
Much to what Trudy would say, the idea of having kids with Bucky didn't sound too bad. He had lived through this time period, and had even hinted at that he wouldn't mind staying with her if given the opportunity. On the flipside, once the war ended, if Trudy can somehow make her way to him, that'd be nice. They didn't exactly have to worry about laser firing aliens where he came from and the fact it was seventy years ahead of where she lived meant that she'll be bound to meet some exciting new things.
She didn't know why, but she all of a sudden felt an inability to take Bucky off her mind. He came up everywhere. Okay. Maybe that was because she had a photo of the herself and the big guy right on her dresser but... that's beyond the point. She missed him already, and it hadn't even been two days since. She recalled how he had wanted well... to seize an opportunity back then.
Too early. Just too early. Perhaps later. Later. When she didn't have a war to fight, or a country to be responsible for... then... perhaps...
She looked over at the photos. The ones with a certain Cyan pegasus giving a young girl a ponyride. She was quite happy then and hopefully, she was still the same way. Trudy wondered if a girl like Chris could be happy if it hadn't been...
Well... that's actually quite ironic.
Her thoughts once again turned to Bucky. A feeling in her gut told her that she'd see him again.
"Good evening Gentlemen." A calm, smooth baritone spoke over the meeting table that sat three other people. The silver-grey cloak that fluttered around in the open window as he made his entrance. "I apologize for being late, because I have made a discovery." The Owlmask seemed to twist as the wearer beneath made a smile that would have caused hell to freeze.
"This better be good, Tom." A low growl came from a man in dark hood. "So what is it this time? Another government that you bribed? Another politician you killed? Or another billion dollars you wired into the Syndicate's funds?"
"Even better Oliver." Owlman said as he continued to smile. "You see, I have found the means of unlimited energy."
"Energy. The lifeblood of our world. Without it, we'd die. You believe that the Syndicate's legitimate business should be to monopolize the energy industry?" A matter-of-fact voice spoke from a man in a doctor's garb of African descent. His plaque on his suit read "James Pierce".
"What's the need?" The only woman at the table brought up. "We could just go to war with the world, and they'd surrender to us. We're already quite rich."
"And who says we can't get any richer?" Owlman asked rhetorically as he placed what appeared like a small gem upon the table. A gem that glowed and pulsed with otherworldly power. "Much effort was taken into acquiring this sample. This is what happens, when even the most mundane of all objects is powered by a source referred to as, "The Tesseract". An anomalous object that was discovered by an SS division from another era, and another world."
"Another world huh?" Oliver Queen commented as he removed his hood. "So, you going to give us more Star Trek nonsense, or you got the facts this time?"
"Indeed I do, old friend." Owlman continued as he placed a small device upon the table, the projection materialized into the air depicting several orbs. "Every single sphere you see here represents an "Earth. Every earth is vastly different from one another. In this earth, we are rich, we are conquerors and we are feared." Pointing to another one, Thomas Wayne's voice turned from monotone into hidden contempt. "In this one, we are rich, but we are defenders, and we are loved. Here, we don't exist. Earth is hundreds of years in the future, and battling an alien menace. Here, there was a great mistake, and humans left the planet. Here, earth in 1944 is under siege by aliens, here, we were never born. Here, fish never crawled up to land, here, humanity is almost extinct, under attack by giants from all sides and here..."
"Mr. Wayne. With all due respect, may you please continue with your... theory... and whatever it has to do with the benefit of the Syndicate?" Dr. Pierce interrupted courteously.
"I was just getting to that. You see, each of these earths belong in a universe. Everyone of these universes belong in the third dimension. But... there is one world which intrigues me. It is not earth, it is not any planet in the solar system, and in all my time of searching, I believe it's unique. The world is colloquially known as "Equestria"."
"Equestria? Interesting name. Tell me Mr. Wayne, does it involve horses in any way?" Dr. Pierce asked as he straightened his tie.
"Indeed. The... um... inhabitants are primarily... um... horses. Small midget candy colored ones..." Owlman stated rather awkwardly.
"Sounds like a Saturday morning cartoon." Superwoman commented as she sat back in her chair.
"That's beyond the point. You see, very few worlds in my time of searching are unique in their own respective universes. There are countless copies of our solar system, but in one place, I discovered not a world, but a realm referred to under the term of "Asgard" by it's inhabitant. It's populated by super-powered beings the abilities of those on the former world of Krypton. Someone leave a note for Ultraman on a future agenda we may have. However, even Asgard remains within a universe. This world, this Equestria does not. Equestria, seems to be contained within it's own universe. Call it the smallest pocket of reality ever."
"So. Enough super-science and get to the point." Superwoman began impatiently. "What's the big idea?"
"The big idea? A surviving fragment of the Third Reich known as HYDRA managed to discover some "Elements of Harmony" that would provide limitless power to anyone who could harness it. Artifacts such as these are rare in number, I have only managed to locate about twenty in all known existence. There is however, one thing. If there is a such thing as Elements of Harmony, would it be unreasonable to presume there are things known as Elements of Chaos? Unstable sources of energy that could be catastrophically destructive, and not require much process to harness? The elements of Harmony required HYDRA to invest extensive resources in. These elements of Chaos should not."
"Okay. Assuming all this nonsense makes sense, and is real..." Oliver, or as he was known here, Black Bowman began. "How the hell do you even know these "elements of chaos" exist?"
"Because Ollie. I've already found them." Owlman said as he slumped into his chair, watching the look of surprise on the archer's face before it curled into a smile. Typical of his friend, insulting him one moment, giving him his full support the next.
"Well then. So. What do we do?"
"Simple. There are many ways we can... continue business in Equestria. Consider this a large investment by the syndicate. The local population... can be useful as raw materials... Oliver. How many venom buyers do you have on a daily basis?"
"Too many to count."
"Good. We can enlarge business this way." Owlman grinned. "Profits up by 5000% by my estimation."
"Very good. Very good." Mr. Queen nodded his phone began to ring. "Yeah in a minute." He answered.
"This operation is undoubtedly going to be large scale. Much preparation must be taken into this." Dr. Pierce began. "Mr. Wayne, have you the means of travelling to this "Equestria", assuming that it does exist. Forgive me for having... my doubts."
"I'd think I was... what is the term? Batshit insane if I had heard this coming from someone else. Oh wait. But nevertheless, I do have both the means of travelling there, and I have already assembled the resources necessary. I would ask for some aid on your part, after all, what good are the thugs and made men if we don't employ them?"
"Very well. You have my support." Dr. Pierce nodded.
"I am in." Superwoman, grinned.
"If there's money, then I am coming too." Oliver nodded. "Meeting adjourned?"
"Meeting is adjourned. Our headquarters located in Central City's STAR labs will have the means of sending us in. Johnny Quick, has no qualms with us using his assets, only that we give him a piece of the pie once we return." Owlman continued as he rose from his seat. In the next moment, Black Bowman had already disappeared into thin air. Dr. Pierce simply walked out, leaving him and Superwoman, or rather, Mary Batson.
"You really aren't planning on expanding business or conquering some world are you now?" Superwoman began as her boyfriend turned to the glass window.
"Who said I was? I am only said we could with such resources." Owlman continued.
"So. What are you really planning to do?"
"You see. I discovered somewhere in an alternate universe, an alternate me decided he wanted to destroy all reality."
"I can see you doing that. I can also see myself doing that as well."
"Well. It'd be quite boring to explode reality now wouldn't it? I got a better idea. I am going to plunge reality into chaos." Owlman began as he opened his device once again. "Imagine a world, where the laws of physics don't exist. Where things just... happen. Where anarchy reigns supreme." '
"I never figured you to be an agent of chaos."
"Chaos. Order. What is the difference? As long as I can be in control, it will be quite... amusing. The world bows to the ground at your every step, as constructions of constructions of things from your own personal image spring from the ground. Ah. I shudder at the very thought." Owlman said as his grin slowly widened, the glass that reflected his face had a small crack, which then grew larger and larger the longer he stared into it, before the window completely shattered.
"So. You take control of worlds, what then?"
"There's so many possibilities isn't there? For one, I think I'll start by repaying my faithful friends. I am certain Oliver would enjoy endless wealth and women. He does enjoy wine too. And he loves his wine just like he loves his women."
"Sixteen years old and locked in the cellar?"
"Indeed. How about we... drown him gold? And then lock him in the same cellar with all his women? But no. Oliver is a good friend. I think it'd be more fun to see what he does with the power. It'd be far more entertaining watching him destroy himself."
"And what of Ultraman? Power Ring?"
"I'll think of something. Something. But if it get's too boring, I really will just destroy reality." Owlman continued.
"And... what about us?"
"I'll have something really... nice... planned." The man in the Owlsuit nodded as his girlfriend leaned in to kiss him on the lips.
Business. That was the perfect way to describe things like Mann Co. A perfectly legit business that sold rocket launchers, military grade ordinance, Star Trek level ordinance and Skyrim level ordinance to two nine man teams, a story of eighteen lunatics who try endlessly to destroy each other. Of course in the Dustbowls of the US, Mann Co. now had it's competition.
Gray Gravel Co.
The story of Medic's not once, but TWO mysterious disappearances now began to catch the attention of the CEO of Mann Co.'s one (and only) competitor in the industry. This led to the question that Gray would try his best to answer.
Where the hell was he going?
This question would be answered. A robot spy would return later, a detailed report given on flipping through Medic's journal and notes, he had gone to a place known as "Equestria" by the usage of magic. Hmmm Magic. That could be useful. Attempting to bribe Merasmus with cash wasn't working too well, as his reply only happened to be sending roughly 400,000 dollars worth of robots straight into some bumper call slaughterhouse. In short. The answer was no. Wizards apparently never took bribes. Humph.
So Equestria. How to get there now? Analyzing medic's notes further would reveal a large "gem" that had first sent him there. A gem to which the doctor still kept in his lab. While it'd hard, if not downright impossible to smuggle such a large rock out of the place, would it not be impossible to break off a piece and then analyze it? Perhaps wherever Medic was finding means of perfecting medicine, and even going as far as to finding a way to cure death, Gray still needed some advantage over the mercs that were employed by Saxton Hale. Or rather, Saxton Fail as Gray would refer to him.
So. To Equestria it was then. With the piece of crystal in place, Gray had prepared his engineer-bots to build him a portal of sorts into the magical realm. There, he planned on finding whatever forms of magic he could, and bringing it back here. The result would end with him winning his war against Mann Co and it's army of idiots. Humph. They weren't as idiotic as he initially thought, but still not enough to get all high and mighty about. But he digressed, those idiots. Even if there was no magic, he could at least expand Gray Co. into another dimension. Selling hats there would be make so much richer than that fool Hale and his bumpkin army.
Of course. Not attacking Mann Co. for about two months straight wasn't unnoticed by Saxton Hale. While the man did have a tendency to literally break out of his office to go wrestle sharks or box with kangaroos, he did surprisingly, pay attention to what was going on in the company. Gray Mann not attacking one or more of his facilities in a week was fishy. Him not doing anything for a month was suspicious. In two months?! There was something wrong. Undoubtedly.
Thanks to the efforts of a certain Frenchman, Gray's plot was uncovered.
"EXPANDING HIS HAT FACTORIES INTO AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE?! THAT SLIMY LITTLE BALLBAG?! THAT'S CHEATING!" The Australian raged as he flipped over his desk. Which then... he flipped right back over again cause he was about to grill steak on it and also needed to grab the phone, which was also on his desk. "HELEN!"
"Yes Mister Hale?" The administrator sighed as she felt as though someone shoved a dagger straight into her eardrums.
"GRAB THE MERCS. GRAY MANN THINKS HE CAN BUY US OUT BY GOING TO AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE?! I'LL SHOW HIM AND HIS HIPPY ROBOTS THAT HE CANNOT MAKE MORE MONEY THAN ME OR HAVE A BIGGER COMPANY WHEREVER HE GOES." The man ranted. "NOW THEN... NORMALLY... I WOULD..."
"Mr. Hale. May I politely ask you to not shout into the phone? I am growing quite old, and your nonsensical shouting may render me deaf prematurely."
"Okay. Sorry Helen. Like I was saying. Normally... I'd go over there to Gray Co. to kick that hippy back to whatever eagle's nest he came out of... BUT... I am going to be busy fighting a few non-hippies called Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, Leonidas, Odin, Dovahkinn, Vegeta and Dustykatt. After I am done hanging out with them REAL men, I might actually have time to fight some wimpy hippies. But... come on... I have priorities."
"Like running the company..." Helen sighed. "Mr. Hale, I will have the mercs tasked on... um... let's see. Building a portal to an alternate Saturday-morning cartoon program... and then going in... um... selling hats or buying hats from the locals. And then finally, destroy Gray mann." Perhaps Mr. Hale got hit extra hard in the head one of these times he was actually fighting with or against "non-hippies".
Speaking of Odin....
"And I thank you once more Celestia, for inviting me to talk today." The king of Asgard began as he sat down upon the throne that had been prepared for him at the table. Honeyed milk. A refreshing break from the strong drinks typically wined upon in Asgard. The king of the Aesir took a small bite upon the muffin which was served to him, by a certain horse he found strange even by standards of being around talking horses. Something about her eyes...
"Yes. As you know... this HYDRA..."
"Yes. They were the ones who had found my Tesseract when I had left it in Midgard. The Midgard I am familiar with at least. But I fear however... humans with dreams of tyranny are the least of our concerns. Celestia. Your world is a unique spectacle among the uncommon. All the nine realms, with the exception of Midgard are unique... but we are all contained within what mortals refer to as a "universe". Yours is not. Yours is also the easiest to access by means without magic, but with the machinations of the mind, be it for good or evil."
"And my worst fears are being realized. Evil is spreading. It's on the march. Equestria is not just a... middle-ground to anyone who seeks to walk the rift in space, but also a deep well for magic..."
"Well. We can expect that from a place that holds... the elements." Odin nodded. "That does remind me..."
"What is it?"
"The tesseract. I am sure you know what it is, you helped me dig is up. The outside is merely a... "shell". Inside is the real power. Real power that is most likely beyond the very comprehension of even the most willed mortal. We call it an "Infinity gem"."
