Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Marvel; all rights belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 4
Ghosts: Reality Check
Auschwitz, Germany, 1944
"Keep moving Max!" A man hissed, pushing a younger child in front of him. Both the man's and the boy's heads were shaved bald, just like the dozens of people around them. They all wore stripped clothes that hung off their scrawny bodies.
"Papa…I'm too tired…" the boy pleaded, nearly stumbling. The boy's fathered grabbed his arms and kept him from falling.
"Don't say that out loud!" he hissed. "They'll kill you if they hear you!" The boy frantically glanced at the black clad soldiers over-looking the campgrounds. All of them bore the red and black Swastika of the Nazi party. "Please…" the man begged, looking down at his 12-year old child with pleading eyes. "I need you to be strong for me."
"I-I'll try papa…" the German boy said.
The Nazis herded their prisoners towards a large patch of barren ground that must have been a field at one point. But now it was riddled with bullets and trenches. The boy's father glanced around at the dozens of prisoners who lifelessly marched towards the trenches.
He looked past his fellow prisoners to see many armed Nazis wearing gas-masks and carrying sub-machine guns. The men held their weapons at the ready.
At the helm of the group stood a man in an officer's uniform, but this man was no normal man. The father paled as he gazed upon the mutilated face of the Red Skull. Said man glanced with disdain at the herd of prisoners that were shuffled along towards the front of the trench.
The smell of urine and fecal matter alerted the prisoners that this was their bathroom. A filthy field where they were to relive themselves like animals. For many, this had become a daily routine. But the Skull had different plans.
"Max!" the father hissed, grabbing his son and pushing him forward.
"Papa!"
"Keep moving! Move to the front!" the man cried, urging the boy faster while shoving past his fellow prisoners. "Don't look back!"
"Papa, what is happening? You're scaring me!" the boy cried.
"Listen to me!" the man said, spinning his son around to look him in the eye. "What I do now may seem cruel…but I do it because I love you."
"Papa?"
The man looked at the ground in shame. "I…I couldn't save your mother…" he returned his gaze to his son. "But I can save you." And without another word he shoved his son, causing the boy to stumble backwards into the trench.
The Red Skull raised his hand and the Nazi's aimed their guns. Skull barked out the next order with near glee. "FEUER!"
"PAPA!" Max screamed.
BAAABBABBABAABBAAMMMM!
Max looked up to see crimson mist spray through the air and bodies topple down on top of him. The boy screamed in fear as corpse after bloodied corpse piled on top of him while gunfire continued to echo through the court yard.
The Red Skull laughed as his men hurled the bodies of their former prisoners into the trench. "Let's see how the Allies like our graveyards." He chuckled.
Max crawled through the bodies, nearly hurling from the horror-struck faces covered in blood and dirt. The boy stopped crawling the second he saw the final face. The face of his own father.
"P-Papa…?" he whispered in fear, tears streaming down his mud-stained face. He stroked the dead-man's cheeks and saw his own beaten visage in the man's lifeless eyes. The fear and sadness boiled over into rage. "No…NOOOO!"
A soldier glanced down into trench to see the young boy pushing through the bodies of his fellow inmates. "Man ist noch am Leben!" he screamed, cocking his rifle. The man's aim was thrown when his weapon was jerked forward, pulling him into the ditch.
"Gruh…" the young boy snarled as he felt the bodies around him shift. Their wounds bled profusely as bullets dug their way out of their flesh prisons. The soldier backed away in fear as hundreds of blood soaked bullets hovered around him like a crimson swarm.
"GRAAAHHH!" Max screamed. The bullets ripped through the air, tearing the soldier apart. The boy crawled to his feat, tears mixed with blood streaming down his face.
"Gotten Himmel!" A Nazi screamed, seeing the carnage. The boy stood up in the center of the corpses and glared daggers at the men who bore the swastika. "Monstrum!" the man screamed before spraying the boy with a shower of bullets.
The metal stopped mere inches from the boy's skin before inverting and launching themselves back at the man, shredding his body to bits. The remaining Nazis assembled along the trench and loaded their weapons.
The boy turned his enraged stare at the men who had murdered his father, taken him from his mother. "Sterbern!" he screamed before the swarm of bullets launched from around him, tearing into the Nazi death squad, slaughtering them like they had his fellow captives.
The bodies tumbled into the trench, joining the massive grave. Max sank to his knees and began to sob. "P-Papa…"
"Filthy Jew Boy!"
"Wha-?!"
THAK!
Max's vision blurred right as pain exploded in his head. He fell forward onto the bodies and cried out in pain. The Red Skull grabbed the injured boy and pulled him into the air before cracking him in the jaw with an elbow, nearly breaking his jaw. "That was an interesting trick you just pulled!" another blow struck the boy in the face.
"Gah!" Max screamed.
"Do it again!" The Skull roared, slamming the boy into the ground. "I dare you, you piece of trash!" a boot collided with the boy's skull, planting his face firmly into the ground. "What are you, you little freak?!" Skull snickered.
KAAABOOM!
The Red Skull looked up in shock to see one of the sentry towers explode, sending it toppling down onto the side wall of the camp, taking most of the wall down with it.
The sound of gunfire echoed through the compound. The cries of German soldiers meshed with curses and shouts of English. "Americans…" Skull whispered. "The Allies." He hissed. He left the beaten Max on the ground and picked up a dropped MP 40 off the ground.
"Damn you boy!" he screamed aiming the gun at Max's head. "You held us up!" Max groggily raised his head to see the barrel of a gun pointing at his eye. "Die little Jew-boy."
"SKULL!"
Red Skull spun around to see an American soldier leaping through the air, tackling him to the ground. "Gah!" Skull barked, swatting the man in the face with a fist. The man grunted before delivering a vicious head-butt to the Nazi's face, staggering the man. "AK!"
The Skull quickly raised his gun as did the Allied soldier, but the Skull was faster.
POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!
The man fell back with blood bursting from his chest. "ARGH!"
"Arrogant American! Next time send Rogers himself to deal with me!" The Skull turned his gaze back to now crawling Max. "Where do you think you're going, Jew-Boy?" the boy looked back at the Skull, completely terrified of the man. His head still throbbed with pain and blood pooled down his head and into his eye. He was too scared of the man to even attempt to call upon the powers he had just used to butcher a Nazi battalion.
SHRRIPP!
The strange noise grabbed the Skull's attention and he turned to its source. His eyes widened when he saw the previously dead soldier on his feet with six jagged bone-claws jutting from his fists. "You think this is over, bub?"
"SKULL!" the group's attention was stolen by a man standing on top of a burning barrack wielding a rifle and a triangular shield painted in the colors of the USA. The man wore an American army uniform colored in dark blue, a pair of goggles and a blue helmet with an A engraved on it obscured his face. Captain America glared down at his enemy until his eyes fell upon the trench filled with bodies. "You sick fucking bastard…"
The Skull smirked, waving a hand at the trench. "Enjoy my little gift for you? You were meant to find this after we had destroyed this place. But alas, I hope you appreciate all the effort I put into it."
Bullets ripped through the air just as the Skull dodged. Captain America continued to rain bullets down upon his foe, keeping careful aim as to not hit the boy lying on the ground. "Jimmy! Get the kid!"
The man known as Jimmy snarled and lunged forward, slashing the Skull across the side, drawing blood. Instead of following up with another strike, the man rolled towards the boy and shielded him. "Cap! Kick his ant-sematic ass!"
Cap took his friend's advice and opened fire with wild abandon. Bullets riddled the ground while the Skull dove for cover in the open field, returning fire with his own weapon. Cap raised his shield to block the attack before firing another volley of bullets before his clip went dry.
The Red Skull tossed away his own weapon and sprinted towards the broken wall. "No!" Jimmy screamed, preparing to give chase.
"James!" Cap shouted, leaping down from the building. "Stand your ground soldier!"
"He's getting away!" James snarled.
"The boy needs first aid and we need to free the other prisoners!" Cap shouted, ditching his empty gun and pulling the injured boy into his arms. "I've got you, son."
"Cap, we can't just let him go!"
"Jim, please, we need to save as many lives as we can. I'll take responsibility for the Red Skull."
Jimmy sighed and slowly retracted his claws into his hand. "Gotcha Cap. Where's Bucky and rest of the crew?"
KRAABOOMM!
Another building exploded behind them. Bullets burst from the brick structure, forcing Cap to shield the young boy with his shield and James simply ignored the bullets as they tore through his skin. "Gruh! Guess that answers my question…"
Out of the burning building ran two men, Bucky Barnes and Dum Dum Dugan. "Cap, we got a whole group of prisoners in another building! We picked up a German transmission too!" Bucky shouted.
Dugan was the next to speak. "They're gonna execute every last captive here!"
"Then move your asses boys!" Cap screamed taking off in the direction of the remaining prison building.
"Cap be careful!" Bucky shouted, giving chase with Dugan and James. "Ana saw snipers in the guard towers!"
Captain America glanced at the towers to see a glint of a muzzle a split second before the weapon fired. Cap threw up his shield, blocking the bullet. He then barked into the small radio strapped to his wrist. "Ana! Can you hear me?!"
Adriana Soria sat underneath a pile of fake bushes on a large hill overlooking the prison. "Loud and clear Steve. I've got you covered." She pulled the trigger of her rifle and smirked at the resounding recoil.
BANG!
The sniper in the tower toppled over when Ana's bullet ripped through his skull. "Atta girl, Ana!" Steve smirked.
"You're a lucky man Cap!" Jimmy shouted after seeing Ana's work.
"Remind us to find you a girl, Jimmy!" Bucky replied. "I know a cute redhead from Rhode Island!"
"You talkin' about Dot?" Cap shouted back.
"Who else?" Bucky replied, popping off a few rounds from his rifle. "We're just about there!"
"Get everyone to stay behind me!" Cap shouted, raising his shield. As the Allied heroes approached the building they saw a dozen German soldiers with flamethrowers spewing fire onto the prison house.
"They're torching the place!" Dugan roared, opening fire on the men. The bullets mowed down the soldiers, but the damage was done. The building went up in flames like match.
"NO!" Cap roared.
Ana watched in horror as the prison house was consumed by flames. "Shit! Hammond move your ass we need you here!" she screamed into her radio.
"Cap!" Bucky shouted doing his best to stop his friend from entering the inferno. "Even you won't survive that! Especially not with the kid!" Bucky pointed to the frightened boy they had rescued mere minutes ago.
James moved forward towards the raging fire, shielding his face from the heat. "Rogers toss me that shield and I'll get them out!"
"Are you kiddin' me Jim?!" Dugan barked. "I know you got some crazy healin' powers but you'll be cooked faster than a Sunday barbecue in that blaze!"
"Jesus Dugan we can't leave them to die!" James barked.
FWWOOOSSSHH!
The group of soldiers looked up in surprise as the flames spiraled into the air, smashing into a lone figure in the sky. "What the he—" James screamed.
Cap's scowl broke into a grin as he saw the flames disappearing into the floating figure in the sky. "Hammond!"
Out of the fire descended a man consumed by flames. The figure slowly descended form the sky, pulling the rest of the blaze into his body before the fire slowly died down to reveal a blonde haired man in a red body suit. Jim Hammond the Human Torch stood up off the ground, a big smile on his face.
"Long time no see Cap." The android grinned.
"Good to see ya Jim." Cap said before hurling his shield into the building's door, shattering it. "Keep any sparks from igniting the rest of this place!"
Captain America barged into the room to see dozens of malnourished and beaten prisoners coughing and gasping for air. The American war-hero smashed open the few windows the building had, allowing a gust of fresh air into the building while Hammond prevented a backdraft from reigniting the building. "Everybody follow me! We're getting you out of this Hell!"
The prisoners stumbled out of their barracks with the aid of Dugan and Bucky. "Everybody move to the edge of the camp! We've got transport waiting for you!" Bucky roared in German.
"Everybody move to the far walls!" Cap hollered taking lead of the group. The remaining Commandos took point while the Human Torch flew into the air, body ablaze with orange flame. "Hammond! Take the lead!"
"On it Cap! I'll scout ahead and have Ana point out any stragglers for me."
"Let's move people!" Dugan barked readying his rifle.
The group dashed towards the outskirts of the camp where the sounds of gunfire only got louder. "Keep together and stay behind us!" Captain America hollered, raising his shield to protect him and Max.
The boy looked at the approaching wall with fear "Will we make it?" he asked.
Cap replied immediately. "I'm going to make sure everyone of you gets out of this camp alive! That's a promise!" Cap charged forward brandishing his shield. The few Nazis not occupied by the Allied forces across the wall turned to fire on the star-spangled hero but a shield to the stomach knocked one back.
Even with an extra 70 pounds from Max, Captain America was still faster than the German's could see. In an instant he was upon them, cracking one across the face and grabbing his rifle, firing off a volley of gunfire that mowed down the remaining soldiers. "Everyone over the wall! Keep moving!"
James stood by the back of the group, picking up a German rifle. "You heard the man!" he barked in Polish. "Over the wall!" He cocked the weapon and turned back to the camp where he saw a stumbling Nazi raise his arm. James squinted and saw that the man had a grenade in his hand. Before James could shoot, the man hurled the weapon into the air, letting it sail towards the group.
James had no time to shout a warning, the weapon was sent hurtling back towards its owner, smashing into the man before it exploded. James whirled around to see the young boy Max holding his hand out in the direction of the grenade. The boy flinched when he saw James' gaze upon him.
Before the man could speak, Cap carried the boy over the wall and towards the Allied transports. "James! Get a move on man!" Bucky hollered leaping over the wall. "We need our Canadian back alive!"
Allied Camp, 10 Miles West of Auschwitz
Dozens of soldiers helped load the freed prisoners onto trucks. "Don't worry folks, we're gettin' you out of this shit show!"
"Next truck is full! Move 'em out!"
One soldier marched through the camp, looking for one refugee in particular. "Hey James!" The Canadian soldier turned to see Bucky jogging towards him, rifle in hand. "Hey, we need to be in the briefing tent in ten minutes, you need to start gearing up."
"I'll be there Barnes, ya might want to find Dugan before he and Falsworth start playing Black jack with the rest of grunts. You know how that last match ended."
Bucky grinned. "I remember. Just start headin' to the main tent. Word is we're getting' another crack at the Skull and all his Hydra goons." The younger soldier took off jogging towards the common area of the camp. "Don't be late, Logan!"
Logan grinned. "Wouldn't miss it." He turned back to the refugee trucks and grabbed a soldier by the shoulder. "Hey, you see that kid that Cap brought in?"
"Kid, sir?" the man replied.
"Yeah, The Kid Rogers dropped of here, where is he?"
The man gave Logan an exasperated look. "Look sir, If I could help you, I would, but we've got over a hundred of these guys to ship out of here, and not to be that guy, but allota them look the fuckin' same to me." The man went back to work urging the freed prisoners onto the trucks.
"Dammit." Logan muttered as he watched the trucks leave. Taking the boy along with them.
Secret Avengers Bunker, France
Magneto snarled as he watched the Red Skull wield the cosmic cube at Nick Fury. The former head of SHIELD held a bright red stone in his hand. The object glowed with the same crimson hue as the cosmic cube, bathing the area in a red glow.
Stone spears tore through the ground hovering around Fury like a set of arrows, primed to strike. "DIE!" the spears rocketed towards the Skull.
The mad man snarled, raising the cube high into the air. A dome of crimson energy swirled around him, creating arcs of red lighting that whipped across the room, zapping the spears out of the air. "Is that the best you can do, Fury? IS IT!?" the cube burned brighter and the steel cables and beams around the base began to warp and twist, tearing themselves off the walls before smashing together until they formed a titan of warped metal and sparking wires.
Chang looked at the assembled Mech in slight awe. "Holy shit…"
The massive titan lumbered forward until it swung its arm at the assembled group. "Scatter!" Cap screamed, leaping to the side. The metal fist collided with the floor, shattering the ground, causing the whole base to shake.
War Machine's armor popped open, revealing a flurry of rockets and machine guns. "Take it down!" he barked. His weapons opened fire on the metallic titan, shredding its upper armor.
Bucky rolled to his feet and opened fire on the Mech's head, catching its attention. "Magneto!"
The metal monster swung its arm down upon the Winter Soldier, only for the blow to fall short, stopping in mid air. The creature struggled to move but turned its attention to Magneto. The Master of Magnetism held the creature in his power before shoving it back, slamming it into a wall.
"You made a monster of metal in my presence. How foolish." The metal titan groaned in rage, struggling against the mutant's powers. "GAH!" he grunted as a red aura warped around his body. Immediately Magneto felt himself cut off from his powers in the same way that Fury had done so earlier.
The Red Skull snickered, gripping the cube tighter in his hand. "Where'd your bravado go, little Jew-boy."
Magneto snarled in rage while the steel titan sluggishly returned to action. The creature swung its arm down at Magneto before a volley of rockets blew it apart. The arm shattered under the assault as War Machine flew through the smoke, grabbing Magneto and rocketing past the titan. A barrage of repulsor fire pelted the titan, staggering it as most of its face was blown apart.
Monica and Widow fired their weapons at the Skull only for them to bounce off the madman's body, sending them diving for cover. "Nick!" Chang barked. "Whatever you were using, use it again!"
Fury gripped the reality stone in his palm and aimed it at the Skull, willing his mind to bend the world to his will. The floor around the Skull slowly began to liquefy, creating a literal pool of quick sand beneath the Skull's feet. "Gruh!" Skull roared, turning the sand into mud with a wave of the cube.
Chang tapped her com-piece. "Kaine, where the fuck are you with those weapons?!"
"Weapons?!" Kaine barked opening the armory doors while the base shook from the fight overhead. "I thought I was just suppose to get the shield!"
"We've got the mother of all bad guys up hear with a doomsday device! We need every fucking weapon we have!"
"Jesus Christ." Kaine hissed, grabbing Cap's shield off a rack. He slipped the weapon over his arm and grabbed a grenade launcher before slinging it over his shoulder. He turned his attention to a large rack of automatic weapons and high-powered rocket launchers. "Sometimes I wish I had more arms."
The titan swung its arm like a hammer, barely missing War Machine who ducked under the attack, retaliating with a volley of missile fire that crashed into the monstrosity's chest, blowing apart the center of its body. Despite the damage, it still held itself together.
"Nick!" Steve roared, hurling another piece of metal at the Red Skull who didn't even bother to dodge as the weapon bounced off his force field. "Tear that fucking thing apart!"
Fury ducked under a piece of debris as the titanic golem began to crumble as it stomped through the remains of the base. "I'm trying Cap!" Fury hissed. The gem burned his hand, searing his flesh. "Guh!" he grunted, ignoring the pain. He aimed the gem at the golem and focused his will.
The golem stumbled forward, lifting what remained of its arm into the air. Fury cringed in pain as the gem burned brighter, burning into his synthetic flesh. "Just die already!"
The golem lumbered forward until its body began to slip apart. Metal became water as the golem smashed into the ground, creating a tidal wave of water that washed over the group.
Red Skull tore his boots free of the mud he'd been stuck in just before the wave crashed into him. Despite the force of the water, he still gripped the cube in his palm. Instantly the water was split asunder like the red sea. The Skull stumbled to his feet and marched towards Fury, whose arm was now melting.
"Nick! Look out!" Hawkeye shouted firing off an arrow from his gun. The Red Skull snapped his fingers, reducing the arrow to dust. Falcon leveled his own pistol and fired off a hail of bullets, all of which were reduced to dust before they ever touched the Nazi.
"This is the source…" the Red Skull whispered, eyes locked on the reality stone pulsing red on the floor next to Fury's half-melted prosthetic.
"Don't let him touch it!" Steve roared, leaping at the Red Skull. The man didn't even turn to the Avenger before a blast of crimson energy swatted him back.
"Steve!" Hawkeye shouted. "Dammit! Nick, get the stone!" Clint opened fire with his guns, followed closely by the Winter Soldier, War Machine and Falcon.
The Skull walked through the bullets like he was invincible as Fury reached for the stone. The ground beneath liquefied for a moment before coils of liquid earth wrapped around the man's arm, pinning it on the floor.
"The stone is mine…" Skull whispered reaching for it.
"NO IT'S NOT!
The Skull whipped around to see a rocket flying right towards him.
KAABBOOOM!
The floor exploded as the missile hit, sending debris through the air along with a cloud of smoke. The group turned to see Kaine, loaded with at least a dozen various weapons, a rocket launcher resting on his shoulder, barrel smoking. "How'd you like that, you Nazi dick!"
The smoke cleared as the Red Skull stomped forward. "I didn't…"
Widow looked at the devastated floor but saw no sign of Fury. "Nick? Nick!"
FWASSSHH!
Widow spun around to see a dying blue light, revealing the Winter Soldier and Nick Fury. "How the Hell—" Widow started before she saw Bucky's robotic shoulder was open, smoking with a blue light.
"Short ranged teleporter. It's how I got away from DC." Bucky replied as his arm sealed itself back up.
"Don't try to earn favor!" Fury spat, crawling to his feet.
Bucky snorted. "You're welcome."
"The gem…where is it?!" Fury asked.
Everyone's eyes snapped back to the glowing gem on the other side of the room. The explosion had blown it back far away from the Skull, but when the mad man saw it, he grinned.
Cap snapped his attention to Kaine. "Shield!" he barked. Kaine hurled the weapon at the Avenger who caught it. Captain America took off running, sprinting towards his long-time foe like an enraged bull. "SKULLL!" The Nazi ignored his enemy who smashed his shield against the Skull's force field.
Again and again Captain America smashed his shield against the Skull's, hoping for any kind of shift in power or crack in his force field. But none appeared.
"Do not let him get that stone!" Fury screamed. Monica rushed towards Scarlet Spider who was busily trying to prime all the rockets and explosives they had.
"Move over amateur!" She barked grabbing two of the bazookas and leveling them at the Skull. Scarlet Spider saw where her aim was before barking back at her.
"Cap's in the way!"
"Then he better fuckin' move!" she screamed, firing off a barrage of rockets.
"Steve move!" Widow screamed. Cap saw the rocket and dove to the side, letting the explosives hit the Skull, engulfing him in flames. The black smoke that clouded the air was blasted away by a beam of red energy that would've tore Chang in half had Scarlet Spider not tackled her to the ground.
"What do we need to drop on this guy?! A nuke!"
"Or a Hulk!" Hawkeye barked, grabbing a grenade belt before plucking at their pins. "Just hit him 'til he drops!" he hurled the belt at the Skull who let it crash against his force field before being swallowed by another explosion.
The Skull snarled through the smoke and released another beam of energy at the heroes sending them ducking for cover. As the Skull focused his attention on the heroes, Magneto felt his own powers returning.
"Finally…" he hissed will the metal around him to move towards the Skull, connecting together until they formed a massive serpent of rotating debris, moving about at incredible speed like hundreds of miniature chainsaws. "I've lived through Hell for a chance at this!"
The metallic serpent dove forward, tearing apart the ground as it crashed into the ground before the Skull. The metal beast lashed out at the Nazi, its tail buzzing like a chain saw. The weapon smashed against the Skull's Force field pushing him back.
"What?!" the man barked in rage. The dome of energy around him began to crack like glass. The Skull's eyes flew to the cube in his hand, now burning a dull red instead of the bright crimson from before.
He recalled how Superia had told him of the limited power supply, and now it seemed it was becoming reality. "Dammit!" he hissed. The Red Skull raised the cube at the metal snake, blasting it with a pulse of red light. The metal shards were instantly turned to glass, collapsing on top of the Skull's already crumbling shield.
"What the Hell is happening?!" Scarlet Spider hissed, grabbing a rifle and taking aim.
"The Cube is running out of juice!" Fury barked, using his good arm to grab a grenade launcher. "Hit him with everything we've got!"
War Machine primed his repulsors and rockets, aiming them at the Skull. "You heard the General!" Rhodes barked. "Take him down!" blasts of green lasers and bullets hailed down upon the Skull.
The Nazi roared in rage, throwing up another shield of red energy, albeit this was far weaker. The thin shield was pelted with the attacks, immediate, cracks spread across it surface like glass.
"He's on his last legs!" Bucky shouted stepping closer while firing his rifle, pelting the shield and causing it to crack further. The Skull sneered slammed the cube into the floor, creating a shockwave that tore the floor apart, creating a massive ripple across the floor, warping the concrete and steel like water. The liquid matter burst apart into stone spears, nearly skewering Hawkeye and Widow before a red and white shield smashed against them, shattering the weapons. "Fall back!" Steve barked.
Clint pulled Natasha back while still firing with his pistols. "Thanks Cap!"
Cap snarled, breaking another spear. "Don't thank me Clint! You and I are gonna have some serious words when this over!"
"Sure." Clint grumbled, blasting the tip off a spear that tried to skewer him. "If we live that is."
Scarlet Spider tackled Hawkeye to the ground right as another set of spears burst from the ground. "Do you have to be such a downer?!" Kaine snapped, dragging his friend away from the attacks.
Taking advantage of the situation, the Red Skull leapt over his own attacks and made a beeline towards the gem. Fury saw the man's actions and moved to intercept. "Cap, he's going after the gem!"
Steve snapped his head to the Skull and snarled, hurling his shield at his foe. The weapon slammed into the man's knee, causing the madman to stumble. Fury leapt at the chance, slamming a boot into the man's face. "Gruh!"
Fury dove into a roll, doing his best to reach the Reality Gem before the Skull could grab it, but the Skull was faster. He leapt forward, slamming the cube into Fury's face like a rock, splitting the man's lip. "OOF!"
"It's mine!" The Skull roared reaching for the gem. A metal shield crashed into his hand, breaking his fingers. "AGH!"
Captain America sprinted towards the Skull at his top speed, praying to whatever god was listening that he'd reach his destination in time.
But no god was listening. The Skull gripped the cosmic cube and slammed it on the ground, burning out the last of its energy to create a pulse of red energy that tore across base, sending Fury and Cap flying back.
"Shit!" Kaine swore as the pulse of light ripped towards them. To his surprise magneto stepped forward, encompassing the entire group in a cocoon of electro-magnetic energy to shield them from both the energy and the debris. "Half that junk is rock and concrete, how are you blocking that?!" Kaine asked, astonished.
"I can control more energies than just the electromagnetic spectrum, but my powers do allow me to affect gravity and my own body to an extent."
"Like increasing your life span." Widow muttered. If Magneto heard her he didn't let it show.
War Machine tried to run a scan of the newly formed crater, but all he received was a bunch of static. "Dammit, my sensors just got fucked by that blasts, Hawkeye do you see anything?"
Clint stared through the smoke and his eyes widened. "NO!" Hawkeye took off into a full-blown sprint firing off two arrows from both his pistols. The Red Skull hissed in pain as the projectiles struck home, one in his back, the other in his leg. But it was all in vain.
The Red Skull slammed the now grey cube onto the crimson gem. Immediately, a massive beam of red energy erupted from where the Skull stood, bathing the entire area in a massive field of crimson energy.
SWORD Orbital Command, The PEAK
"Massive energy spike detected!" a SWORD operative screamed across the bridge to his commanding officer.
Said officer was a green-haired woman in a green combat suit wearing blue-tinted sunglasses. Abigail Brand glanced down at operative. "Put it on the main monitor. And get me an exact location, run the signature against all known energy signals we've encountered so far."
"Yes Ma'a—I mean sir!" the operative quickly corrected, knowing his superiors dislike of the former name. The operative's screen appeared on the main monitor for all SWORD operatives to see, displaying a full visual of Earth before zooming in on Europe. "Signal starts in the outskirts of Paris…"
"Starts?" Brand questioned.
"The signal is transferring..."
"Where to?"
"Alaska?" the operative muttered in confusion.
"Get me a line to SHIELD." Brand muttered, not liking this at all.
"Ma'am?"
Brand ignored the question and asked one of her own. "Do we have a match on the energy signature?" The operative nodded and pulled up the recorded data. Brand kept up her poker face but inside she was swearing. "This is an Omega level threat! I want a secure line to Marvin Flumm and I want it five minutes ago!"
"Director Brand…" a snake like voice hissed out. A red-skinned dragon-like humanoid in a SWORD uniform walked up to his commanding officer with a look of concern. "What'ssss happening? I ssssensssseee great dissstressss…"
"Read my mind or look at the damn screen Sydren." Brand snapped at her second in command. The alien being chose the latter option and his eyes widened.
"No…we mussst act now!"
"We're working on it." Brand grumbled. "Is agent Powell back from his mission yet?"
"Darkhawk is still on the outskirts of our solar system. Even at his top speed, he will not reach Earth orbit for a few hours."
"Next time that dumb kid needs to take a shuttle!" Brand hissed.
"He did." Sydren corrected. "It wasss dessstroyed on the missssion." Brand rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I ssseee I shouldn't have told you that."
"Ya think? I don't suppose our little 'guest' would be willing to lend a hand, would he?"
Sydren shook his head. "Noh-Varr refuses to assist us in anyway. He persists that he'll start a new Kree Empire on Earth."
"Wonderful, the brats more of a handful than even Powell was. An Jack of Hearts?"
"He'sss ssstill in the Zero room. It ssstill hasss over three hoursss left."
"Shit!" Brand cursed beneath her breath. "Where's my goddamn uplink?!"
An operative displayed the sound only display, connecting Brand to the new Director of SHIELD. "I'm busy, Brand." Flumm growled.
"Join the fucking club, we've got jackets." Brand replied. "On second thought, don't join, its bad enough being associated with you to begin with."
"If you called to insult me, I'm afraid I'll need to cut it short, I'm trying to fix the world."
"Then you'll shut up and listen. I'm forwarding you all the info we just received. You've got a massive planetary threat brewing in Alaska. Get your forces moving ASAP if you still want a world to 'fix'." Brand growled.
Flumm remained silent, most likely due to him mulling over the data he had just received. "What kinda resistance can I expect?"
"We have no clue." Brand said. "But you're dealing with an Omega-Level threat. Remember when the Ultimates went after the Hulk in Manhattan, before they changed their names to the Avengers?"
"I remember."
"You'll need at least fifty times that group to beat this thing." Brand heard Flumm snarl before hanging up the line. The commander of SWORD turned to Sydren. "I want us to consolidate all the forces we have here now. Prep them for an Omega Level encounter."
Earth, The Triskelion
"God Dammit!" Flumm roared, slamming his headset onto the panel in front of him. The current head of Shield was bent over his control panel, running his hand over his brow. "Why now?! My team isn't even remotely ready!" Flumm slipped his head set back on, dialing his top scientist.
"What Marvin?" Gregory Stark asked in a bored tone.
"Stark, we have an Omega Level threat on our hands. I'm sending over the data now, this takes precedent over every experiment or side-project you're working on, I don't care how much money or brains you have."
"You do realize I'm trying to build your team of New Ultimates, correct?"
"Stark, this could be a world-wide threat and we have no team. Walker is still recovering and I can count on just Agent Johnson alone. So unless Stane and Hammer have whipped up a fully equipped and trained, super-human taskforce, I need you to come up with a battle plan."
"A battle plan for a device that can alter the laws of physics and reality? Quick question then, do you have an army of Hulks? Then we might actually have a chance."
"Depends, do you still have a secret batch of Hulk's blood? If not then review the data and build something that can contain, destroy, or at the very least, give my forces some measure of defense! You've got one hour!"
Gregory Stark sighed as the call ended. His eyes once again roamed over the data he'd been sent by Flumm, frowning at the information that rolled across the screen. "This is what I get for trying to save the world."
Europe, Secret Avenger's Bunker
Rubble and smoke filled the crater that had once housed the Secret Avengers. Slowly, the rubble near the edge of the crater began to shift until a massive metal dome burst through the debris.
The sphere bounced against the broken stones and metal beams until it came to a halt, unraveling to reveal it had been made up of steel cables wound together by one of the beings inside it. Magneto fell to a knee, panting for breath.
"Oww…" Scarlet Spider groaned. He looked around to see the entire group was alive, disheveled and battered, but no worse for wear. "D-did anyone get the number of the Nazi fuck who just kicked our asses…?" he grumbled, trying to stand and failing.
"He got away…" Cap snarled in sheer rage. The Avenger's fist was nearly shaking in rage as his enemy escaped him yet again. Hawkeye glanced at his teammate as he helped to support the still struggling Scarlet Spider. He turned to Widow who was currently assisting Chang in getting Fury to his feet. Widow glanced at her best friend who nodded his head in Cap's direction.
Widow caught on quick enough and turned to Nick. "Can we track the Skull?" she asked.
"What?" Cap said, nearly spinning around. Bucky pulled Same to his feet, pulling the arrow out of the man's shoulder before taking a miniature torch and cauterizing the wound.
"GRRAAAHH!" Falcon roared, trying his best to grit his teeth through the pain.
"That should take care of the wound for now, but Black Widow had a good question, can we track him?"
War Machine took that time to speak. "We couldn't find him before, but maybe he'll slip up now."
"Men with power often do make mistakes when they think they're gods." Magneto muttered, resting his head in his hand.
"Speaking from experience there, aren't ya?" Chang sneered, earning her a glare from Magneto.
"Enough!" Cap barked. "Nick, can we track the Skull?"
"Sure we can." The group turned to Hawkeye, who in turned glanced to Kaine who was still being supported by the purple clad archer. "He's got a weapon that can warp reality itself. Something that powerful must give off at least some kind of residual energy. And yes, he could theoretically mask it, but like Magnet-Man here said" he gestured to Magneto who growled at him for the 'Magnet-Man' comment "He thinks he's got the powers of a god."
"So why would he bother to hide." Cap finished. "He'll be practicing with his powers, honing them while at the say time making shows of force. "
"If the fight didn't screw up everything in the base we might be able to get the lab up in running." Kaine said.
"We got a satellite uplink?" Hawkeye asked.
War machine stepped forward. "You're looking at him. Kid," he said, turning to Scarlet Spider. "If I let you mess with my scanners, do you think you could find where this freak is?"
"Couldn't hurt to try. Course that doesn't mean we'll be able to get to wherever he actually is. " Kaine turned to Fury who was still nursing his melted right arm. "Or does it?"
Fury glanced down at his arm and then back to the assembled group. "You find him. I'll work out a way to get us there. Everybody, gear up, we move out ASAP."
"Still giving orders?" Cap growled. Fury shot the hero a dirty look before Widow intervened.
"Both of you shut it. Steve, get a new uniform, Fury, get a new arm, and everybody find something useful to do instead of starting another fight." Widow waited for anyone to object, but none did.
"Well," Chang muttered with a dark grin, "looks like someone in this group actually has some stones."
"Shut up." Kaine muttered, nudging War Machine in the side. "Open your uplink. I gotta mess with your sensor settings."
"I better not catch you looking up porn on my HUD." War Machine muttered.
Alaska
"GUAAHH!" The Skull screamed, gasping for air as he reappeared on the frozen planes of Alaska. His body was burning with crimson energy, spewing off his body like crimson mist. "ARGH!" the deranged man roared in pain as he felt his insides cook from the intense energies surging through him.
"WHY?!" he roared, staring at the Cosmic Cube in his hands. "You will do as I say! As I COMMMAANNND!" he screamed. The cube exploded in another burst of energy, tearing apart the frozen tundra like a nuke had detonated.
BAAAABBWWOOMMM!
As the flash of crimson died down, a massive mushroom cloud appeared in the sky, blanketing the state in dust and snow.
All of this was beheld by a tall bald headed being in a set of regal white robes. The man's head was larger than his own body and in his left hand was a staff as tall as he was with a massive cube on its head. The cubes itself was lined with dozens of small red crystal that looked eerily similar to eyes. The silent observes seemed unfazed by the heat and smoke of the blast.
"RAAAAHHH!"
KRAAAKOOOM!
A streak of red lighting tore across the frozen wasteland, leaving trenches of scorched earth all over. The Red Skull roared in pain, firing off a volley of bolts to level anything he saw. When his eyes fell upon the unknown man he snarled.
"Who are you?!" he screamed, crimson energy spewing out of his eyes and off his skull. The flayed flesh of his face continued to burn, leaving charred bone in its place. "ANSWER ME!"
The being looked down at the Red Skull with a cold glance. The Skull's rage only increased as he recognized the look in the being's eyes. It was a feeling he hated ever since he'd stumbled onto the streets of Germany. Pity. "DON'T YOU PITY ME!"
FWWABBOOM!
A massive blast of crimson energy erupted from the Skull's maw, slamming into the silent observer. But the blast flew through him like a ghost. The mound of snow behind him exploded, obscuring the Skull's vision temporarily.
FWAAAMMM!
Another stream of energy blew the snow cloud away, leaving the Skull alone with no sign of the tall being that had been watching him. "WHERE ARE YOU?!" The Red Skull screamed, stumbling forward. "COWARD!"
The Skull fell to his knees, the cube nearly slipping from his grasp. "N-no!" he shouted, tightening his grip. The deranged man looked up to see a small farm-like area near the edge of the tundra. He recognized it as the cover for the AIM base he'd originally stolen the cube from. He looked back down at the glowing WMD and smirked.
"Maybe you'll be more compliant if I took you home…" The Skull stood up. "B-but I must warn you…" he grumbled stumbling off towards the base. "They may have redecorated…"
Europe, Secret Avenger's Bunker
"GRAAAHHH!" Fury screamed as a new robotic arm was forcibly attached to what remained of his right arm. The mechanical arms moving around him continued to drill the new appendage into his flesh.
"Almost over, Nick." Monica said, standing over the control module, watching as her Ex was being operated on. "Last nerve cluster is being attached now."
The mechanical arms whirled around so that they hung over Fury, brandishing a set of needles and miniature blades. The arms quickly went to work in injecting a blue fluid into Fury's upper arm, while the bladed appendages cut around the area of his lower arm to make way for the mechanical cables. "GAAAHH!" Fury roared again, fighting through the pain.
Magneto watched the operation with a grimace. "And you call me a villain while that witch works on your leader." He grumbled.
"Trust me," Hawkeye muttered brandishing two new pistols before holstering them underneath his arms. "I want to shoot her as much as Widow does, but she's got skill and we need all the help we can get."
"Normally I'd chafe at the prospect of working with you 'heroes'. But, if it means the Red Skull's death, I'll gladly fight alongside you."
Hawkeye glanced at the mutant. "Is that how Barnes got you on board this whole 'rescue' mission?"
"Yes. And I have a debt to pay to the dear Captain." Magneto replied.
"Debt?" Clint muttered. "What debt?"
Magneto looked down at his left wrist, his costume opened up to reveal a series of numbers and letters, running his hand over the prison number the Nazi had carved into his flesh. "He saved my life. And in return I shall murder the man responsible for the deaths of thousands of my countrymen."
"Are you…You're talking about the Holocaust. You lived through that?"
"I told you I'molder than I appear. My powers...extend my life-span so to speak. It's no healing factor...but It keeps me alive." Magneto willed his metal-mesh suit apart, revealing the numbered tattoo engraved on his skin to the purple clad archer. Clint took a good long look at the mark before Magneto sealed his costume up once again. "I lost everything I loved in a few short weeks. I was beaten, assaulted, forced to believe that I was worth less than the dirt I walked on, all because of my beliefs." Magneto glared up at Hawkeye, eyes barely holding back a lifetime of rage. "I've seen the worst atrocities humanity is capable of inflicting upon those it deems 'different' from them. I've lived through it. Can anyone who has experienced the same, really cast my kind as monsters and villains?"
Hawkeye picked up his reloaded quiver and slipped over his shoulder. "Not all people see mutants as freaks or monsters. You should know that."
"What few humans view mutants as people, barely lift a finger to help them. Even my own children have begun to turn a blind eye to it all." Magneto growled. "What has your group done since splitting from SHIELD's control? What have you accomplished for my people?"
Magneto strode out of the room without so much as a second glance at Hawkeye. The man glared down at the floor before turning back to the operation's room.
"Clint." Hawkeye turned around to see Black Widow and Cap enter the room.
"We got what we could salvage from the weapon's room and—are you okay?"
Clint strung his bow, stretching the bowstring until it became taught. "Just peachy. We good?" he asked looking between her and Cap.
"No." Cap glared. "WE are not 'good'." He brushed past Clint and moved to where Fury's operation was ending. Behind Natasha walked Bucky and Sam, and the latter having a thick metal plate locked over his shoulder.
"Bionic support?" Clint asked as the two walked past them.
"Yeah, hopefully this will fix the shoulder you shot." Falcon muttered.
"At least it wasn't your head." Clint growled back.
"That's all you've got to say?" Sam muttered.
"You want me to apologize? We really gotta do this now?" Hawkeye shot back. "I was following an order while you guys were jeopardizing a mission, you want me to apologize? Fine, I'm sorry that I was justified in shooting you!"
"Justified?" Sam growled.
"You really need me to spell it out for you asshole?!" Hawkeye nearly roared.
A sphere of webbing slammed into the wall directly behind the two. The heroes turned to see War Machine and Scarlet Spider walking into the room, the latter carried a laptop while the former hefted a massive pod-like cylinder on his shoulders with cables hanging off its sides. "Can you both shut the Fuck up about who got shot?"
"What are you carrying?" Bucky asked. War Machine dropped the machine on the ground before unrolling the cables.
Scarlet Spider quickly went to work in plugging in the various cables while talking. "Basically its the equivalent to a giant battery. It gets a little technical here but I came up with an idea."
"Is it a good one?"
The group turned to see Fury walking into the room, a new metal arm drilled into his flesh. The doors to the room opened as Magneto walked back into the room, eyeing the giant battery with curiosity. "I'll hold my questions for now." He grumbled.
"So what the Hell am I looking at?" Monica asked.
Kaine moved past her, pulling another cable with him. "Winter asshole." He said, walking up to Bucky. "Open that fancy teleporter of yours."
"Why?" he questioned.
Kaine sighed. "I can explain the science stuff later, Cap, you wanna get to the Skull or not?" Captain America sighed, nodding to Bucky. The former assassin held out his metal arm, allowing it to open its segments, revealing a dull blue light. Kaine strapped the cable onto the man's arm.
"In a nutshell, I'm gonna boost that fancy teleporter of yours, and hopefully, give it enough juice to teleport enough of us, over half the planet."
Chang raised an eyebrow. "Half the planet? Where is the Skull?"
"Alaska." Rhodey replied. "I tapped into SHIELD's communications. They got a massive energy spike in Alaska. They're mobilizing almost all of SHIELD, I got at least three separate helicarriers already in route to Alaska."
"May I continue?" Kaine asked sarcastically. "Anyway, Winter Soldier's arm has a short ranged teleporter up to about…"
"50 Meters if I push it." Bucky replied, cringing as Kaine dug the cable deeper into his metal arm.
"Right…so I got to thinking…we have the N-Zone gates that Reed Richards made, and now we have this mobile teleporter. If I can hook up the signal from this teleporter to the N-Zone gates, we can literally tear through the N-Zone and into Alaska."
"How does that work?" Cap grumbled.
"You really want it to get nerdy on you, Steve?" Natasha teased.
Sam decided to speak up. "Basically when someone teleports, they pass through a different dimension, they do that by matching the frequency, for lack of a better term, of that dimension, consciously or subconsciously. Most teleporters jump through it so fast they don't even realize their going through an alternate dimension. I think what the kid's trying to accomplish is to link Bucky's hardware to the N-Zone through the teleporter gates, that way, instead of a measly 50 meters, we get Alaska."
"Interesting." Magneto muttered. "I assume we have everything we need to target the Skull?"
"We do." Cap said, cocking a rifle before slinging it over his back. "We hit Alaska, find the Skull, and take him down. If he's got the cube, then we don't hold back."
"Could really use the Avengers right now." Kaine grumbled.
"I didn't bring my card with me." Cap said.
"I did." The group turned to Widow who now held a red and white Avengers ID card, a small blue pulse now emanating from the engraved logo.
Steve looked at her in surprise. "When did you—"
"I gave her one shortly after I got mine." Hawkeye muttered. "Now, let's get moving."
Avengers Mansion, New York
"I'm going to kill Captain America." Wasp growled. "I'm going to kill him for all the crap he has put us through." The black and yellow-clad avenger growled as she stared at the still damaged form of the Avengers Quinn-Jet. Hank and Tony had pulled an all-nighter, repairing the damaged ship, albeit the process was slowed by Tony's incessant need to be half drunk while working. Yet still, the machine wasn't flyable.
She-Hulk walked up behind her team leader and looked over the still inoperable jet. "He's askin' for an ass-whoopin', I'll give him that. Still no word from Clint?"
Wasp's frown only deepened. "Nope. He better be dead or dying. Those are the only excuses I'll accept for that asshole ditching and not even telling us where the fuck he went!"
"We still need Cap." Hank said, walking up to his wife. His cowl was pulled back to show how sleep-deprived he was. "Like it or not he's got some of the best field strategies. And for a majority of people, public support."
Janet scowled, her hand glowing with yellow energy. "When I see him, I'm going to make sure he never does this again."
"This again?" She-Hulk murmured. "Or anything again?"
"It's still pending." Wasp snarled.
"You might need to make up your mind soon." The group turned around to see the Black Panther jogging into the room. "I believe Clint has activated his card." Panther held up his own blinking card, revealing the map on its back. "I believe we might have an issue as well."
"What kind of problem?" Hank asked.
"The massive kind." A robotic voice interrupted before the stomping of metal boots echoed across the hangar floor. Iron Man strode into the room, his grey and red armor glinting in the light. "My satellites are picking up massive energy readings in—
"Alaska." Hank finished. "The same place Clint's signal is coming from."
The Triskelion
Marvin Flumm marched past several officers who were busily organizing their squads for the upcoming assault. Flumm brushed past them, ignoring any concerning question they were shouting as he entered Gregory Stark's Lab.
The owner of said lab sighed in irritation, rubbing his tired eyes before turning to his 'boss'. "Marvin, I hope you realize constantly interrupting my work doesn't help."
"You said the Cape-Killer armor was ready, right?" Flumm asked.
"Yes." Stark replied. "And the Mandroids as well. I repurposed the Starktech Tony had given SHIELD with their little Rocketmen project, and redesigned it to my specifications. They have a better output now than before."
"Will they be operational for this mission?"
"I wouldn't recommend putting new tech in the field so soon, but I also realize the gravity of the situation. The Rocket-Men pilots will be able to operate the Mandroids, and your black ops teams should be well protected while wearing the Cape-Killer armor."
"Any high-tech ordinances you've got, hand them over to the assault team with a break down of how they work. Have Stane or Hammer delivered anything of use yet?"
"Only some new designs, nothing physical or anything we could fabricate in time for your assault. I'm still working on a way to containing this energy. If things get worse, you might actually need to call in the Avengers."
"Absolutely not!" Flumm barked. "I'm not going to rely on those super-human freaks to interfere with our operation! This is a SHIELD mission. Pure and simple."
"With the fate of the world at stake?"
Flumm sighed. "Are the Fantastic Four still off world?"
"Yes. I can't imagine they'd get here within the hour. And I realize the X-Men are out of the question as well." Flumm rubbed his brow, eyes closed in frustration as he thought over his options. "We could try to use some of the Thunderbolts' candidates." Gregory offered.
"They're not ready. I can't risk sending a bunch of unstable WMD's against another unstable WMD."
"Heh…" Gregory chuckled. "You almost sound like you care."
Flumm sighed. "I care about SHELD doing its job, a job Fury let slip. He got soft, allowing this organization to get sloppy. He let in a bunch of super-powered agents and let them loose. SHIELD needs a team loyal to them, one that is accountable to us."
"Thus why you want super-soldiers, not super-heroes." Gregory deduced.
"Heroics are dead." Flumm replied. "This is the real world. Send the Cape Killer suits to the loading bay along with anything else you can spare. We leave in an hour."
"We?"
"You and me are riding shotgun on the assault carriers. I need your brain."
"And SHIELD needs to see its glorious leader in action, right?"
Flumm didn't respond right away, instead checking his watch. "Something like that. Get the gear and pack what you need."
Alaska
A massive flash of light was the only thing that warned of the group's arrival. The light died down to reveal Nick Fury and his Secret Avengers. Captain America stood behind him, shield at the ready. Behind him were Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
"No SHIELD yet." Hawkeye muttered, guns primed for a shoot out. "Which means we got what, 40 minutes at best?"
"I figure maybe and hour." Fury replied, taking a look at the devastated landscape. "Guess the Skull's been busy."
"But nothing's been changed…" Cap muttered. "If this thing lets you warp reality, you could do almost anything. Either he hasn't thought this plan of his through, which is unlikely, or he still hasn't gotten a handle on the cube."
"Which means we've got a shot to put that Nazi fuck in the grave." War Machine snarled.
Magneto stepped forward, raising his hand in front of him. "I believe we'll need to find him first." The mutant gradually dragged his hand through the air, brow furrowed in concentration.
Kaine glanced at the mutant with a curious look beneath his mask. "What are you doing?"
"Searching." He replied. "If the Skull is here, odds are he has some peace of metal on him. I might be able to find him via a magnetic searc—well…isn't that interesting.
Fury glanced at the terrorist and followed his gaze to see smoke slowly rising from the tundra easily a few miles off. "You got something?"
"There's a whole base directly underground. The main hub appears to be what's burning but there's actually an access tunnel right below us by about 20 meters."
Chang smirked. "You heard the mutie, Rhodes open a path." Magneto shot the woman a cold glare, to which Chang responded to with a smirk.
"The term is mutant, bitch." Kaine said before turning to Rhodes. "War Machine, feel like making a crater?"
KAABOOOM!
The entire ceiling gave way as War machine tore through the roof of the tunnel. The grey and black machine primed every one of its weapons as its pilot scanned the entire length of the tunnel, finding no trace of life. "Clear."
Hawkeye and Black Widow were the next to drop into the tunnel. Captain America dropped into the hole as well, keeping his shield at the ready. He aimed his borrowed rifle and proceeded slowly. "Rhodes, anything on scanners?"
"No." War Machine replied as the remaining group dropped in, followed by Magneto. "And that's what's worrying me. I'm scanning most of the base but I'm only getting one heartbeatson the radar.
"Check you're systems for a bug, tin man." Chang ordered walking ahead of Cap. "If this base is miles long there has got to be more than one person."
"His sensors are fine." Magneto responded, walking to the front of the group. "There's no abnormalities in the magnetic spectrum. There's nothing interfering with his readings."
"So there really is only one person left in the base?" Kaine asked as he scaled the ceiling. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this…"
Hawkeye glanced up at his partner, "Spider-sense?"
"Yeah…whatever's here, it ain't good."
Cap started walking. "Let's move on." The rest of the team followed close behind him.
The group continued through the halls for at least 15 minutes, still seeing no signs of life. "This isn't right." Hawkeye muttered. "No signs of life, no signs of resistance…"
"The layout of this place matches AIM's former base of operation in Oklahoma." Rhodey said, continuing to scan the complex.
"They had a base in Oklahoma?" Kaine asked, looking down at the group.
"AIM has connections to a lot of terrorist groups. Apparently they like arming and coercing conflicts instead of being directly involved with them." Falcon replied. "They're like war profiteers, except they normally use acts of terrorism to further their scientific research."
"Real life R&D work, huh?" Bucky responded. "It was AIM that stole the plans for the cube, right?"
Cap nodded. "Right from the Baxter Building. They nearly killed a group of students in doing so. If this is there base…what's the chance that this is the place they made those plans a reality?"
"Pretty damn high." Fury sneered. "If the Skull came all the way back here…he's probably trying to find a way to better control all that power he's got."
"Then we need to kill him on sight." Cap replied. The first Avenger glanced towards Widow who's eye were looking around the room curiously. "Nat?"
"AIM bases always have defenses." She replied. "Why haven't we encountered any?"
Kaine stopped crawling and looked down at the redhead. "Did…did you just ask if this was too easy?"
Widow glanced up at the clone and then to the rest of the group. Hawkeye groaned. "Fuck me…"
BAM!
The group spun around to see a metal door slamming shut behind them.
BAM!
Another one followed directly in front of them, trapping the group in the room. Most of the team glanced at Widow who sighed audibly. "God dammit…"
GRRRNNN!
The newly deployed walls slowly began to move, grinding along the floor. "What is this Star Wars?" Scarlet Spider muttered. "Why do they have a trash compacter in the hallway."
"Rhodes." Cap ordered.
War Machine took aim at the wall before Magneto placed a hand on his arm, holding him back. "Save your ammunition. I'll clear the path ahead." The master of magnetism raised his hand. Instantly the metal walls peeled apart, creating a massive hole in each wall. Magneto simply strode through the new opening, followed quickly by the remaining heroes.
As they exited the walls, two mounted turrets popped out of the walls and opened fire on the group. Again, Magneto used his powers to create a force field around the group, sparring them from the onslaught. "How unoriginal." He muttered, using his powers to crumple the guns like paper.
Before any could react, another set of gun emerged from the walls. But instead of bullets, they unleashed a pulse of energy, blasting Magneto back.
Chang whistled. "Concussion shots…now that's original."
"Rhodes!" Cap shouted, blocking a blast with his shield. War Machine moved forward, taking a blast at full force before deploying a green force field. Scarlet Spider leapt down from the ceiling, passing the shield and leaping back up to where the guns were mounted. Before the guns could pivot, a wad of webbing clogged their barrels.
"Clint." He called out, "do your thing!" Hawkeye leveled his guns and popped off two explosive arrows, striking the turrets and watching them burst apart in fire and smoke. "Okay so no more stating the obvious!" Kaine hissed.
Falcon walked over to Magneto who was slowly getting up. Falcon offered the mutant his hand. "You okay?"
Magneto brushed aside the gesture. "I'm fine. That caught me by surprise."
"Hope its not Alzheimer's." Chang murmured with a grin.
Widow shot the woman a glare. "Could you not be a bitch for like a minute?"
Chang smirked. "How 'bout we make a deal, you all stop acting like a bunch of pussies and I'll treat you like grown ups, okay 'kids'?"
Kaine dropped down next to Clint before leaning over to whisper at him. "Fury was really married to her?"
Hawkeye nodded. "I never really approved."
"Guys." Nat called out. The group turned to see Widow standing with Cap in front of a massive pool of blood. "We might know what happened to everyone else."
The group looked on in horror as they saw dozens of half eaten corpses oozing blood all across the hallway. Kaine crawled along the side of the wall observing the carnage. "Did…did we just walk onto the set of 28 Days Later?"
"It's a fucking blood bath…" War Machine mumbled. His metal boots stomped onto the blood soaked floor, splashing blood onto the walls. "Christ."
Hawkeye knelt down next to one of the corpses and turned it over, revealing the torn out entrails of the victim. "That's just messed up." He muttered. He turned back to the group and pointed to the wounds. "These are teeth marks."
"Teeth marks?" Kaine muttered taking a look at another body that Chang pushed over with her foot. Scarlet Spider took a look at the corps' mouth, seeing blood and flesh lodged in the teeth. "Call me crazy, but…did they eat each other?"
Winter Soldier glanced at the bodies, observing the carnage. "I'd say yes."
Cap pushed past the group, keeping his eyes trained on the hallway. "Let's keep moving." The group quickly followed the Avenger past the corpses and to an elevator. The doors were sealed shut and caked in blood.
Hawkeye stepped up and pressed the lift button and stepped back. "If a river of blood pours out, I'm going to be so pissed."
"Bet you wish you could stick to walls." Kaine muttered while doing as he said. The doors opened but no blood poured into the hallway. "Now I'm a little disappointed."
Cap stepped into the elevator, realizing it was a massive freight cart, big enough to hold the entire team, if not more. "Trust me, when dealing with the Red Skull and his atrocities, he'll never disappoint." The team piled into the elevator before riding it up in silence.
When the doors opened the Secret Avengers stood ready, but found even more half eaten bodies strewn across the floor in piles. Rotting carcasses and bloody organs littered the hall, creating a floor of blood that didn't miss an inch of the cold steel floor. Monica whistled. "Damn Cap, you were right." the team glanced at her. "When it comes to atrocities the Skull really doesn't disappoint."
Cap gave her a cold glare before Widow placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "The Skull can't be far."
"He's not." War Machine said, priming the repulsors on his forearm. "I got a heartbeat. 50 meters ahead…and a massive energy reading."
"Then let's move!" Fury barked. The group stormed through the halls until they reached the main lab, shielded by thick doors of solid steel. "Magneto, we got a Nazi behind these doors."
"Not for long." The mutant declared before gripping the doors with his power, tearing them off of the wall. "SKULL!" he barked. Storming into the room, the Secret Avengers following close behind.
In the center of the room sat the Red Skull, sitting on a pile of dead and eaten corpses like a twisted throne. The Cosmic Cube floated in front of him, bathing the man in a red light. The man stared ahead in a dazed manner, barely acknowledging the group that had stormed his base.
"SKULL!" Cap roared brandishing his rifle. Widow, Fury and Bucky followed suit, unleashing a flurry of bullets to turn the Skull to paste. But the bullets slammed into an invisible wall. The bullets clattered on the ground, but still, the Skull paid them little mind as he stared into the Cosmic Cube.
"Can you hear it…?" He mumbled.
War Machine kept his weapons trained on the Skull
"What did he do here?" Scarlet Spider muttered.
Hawkeye's eyes darted around the blood-soaked room and growled beneath his mask. "You mean what did he do to everyone…I think he had them eat each other alive."
Cap fired off another shot, watching as it struck the Skull's force field, crumpling in the air. "Schmidt!" he barked. The Skull finally tore his gaze from the cube and turned towards his mortal enemy.
"Ah…Captain…" he muttered as if just realizing they were there. His voice still sounded dazed and confused. "Can you hear it?" he mumbled.
"Hear? Hear what?" Cap snarled raising his shield.
"The sounds…they're beautiful." The Skull whispered, eyes returning back to the cube.
"I don't believe it." Fury muttered. "He's more deranged than he was before."
"I care not." Magneto seethed. The floor itself was torn apart as Magneto created a massive metal bear trap to impale the Skull. The death trap slammed shut, crashing against the Skull force field with a resounding crunch. The metal teeth shattered against the crimson field.
The attack seemingly snapped the Skull out of his trance. The mad man turned his gaze onto Magneto. "Hello…little Jew-Boy."
The Cosmic cube burst to life, enveloping the entire area in a blood-red glow.
KRAAKOOOM!
A bolt of blue lightning ripped through the sky, striking the frozen tundra in a flash of light, leaving a smoking crater filled with eight figures. The Avengers turned their gaze onto the frozen wilderness.
"How close are we to that energy source?" Wasp asked.
Yellow Jacket adjusted his goggles and squinted. "Were about a mile or two off from the source. Looks like it's just off that ridge."
Binary began to float off the ground. "I can scout ahead, do some recon."
"And maybe get turned inside out." Iron Man replied. "Richards said that this damn Cube is able to warp reality. If what he says is true, and I doubt he'd lie, this cube could take out the Hulk."
She-Hulk snorted, cracking her knuckles. "We'll see about that."
"Can we not?" Valkyrie interjected. "Do we even have a plan?"
She-Hulk smirked. "Course we do. We find the Red Skull and smash him."
Black Panther glanced back at the jade-giantess and then to the rest of the team. "I assume we actually have a plan, correct? If the Skull possesses a weapon that can warp reality itself, we must have a counter." The former King turned to Iron Man. "Did Richards have any form of fail safe built into the cube?"
"Nope." Tony replied.
"He built a weapon that could turn people inside and out and he didn't build a failsafe?" She-Hulk muttered. "That doesn't seem very genius-like."
"Well he didn't really design the damn thing." Iron Man muttered.
"What?" Hank asked.
Wasp stepped in front of the armored hero. "Were you ever going to let us know about that little fact?"
Iron Man Glared at her through his helmet. "No."
"Why not?"
"It slipped my mind." Iron Man growled.
Wasp glared back at the man. "I guess you drowned some more brain cells in that bottle of yours." She hissed. Iron Man's fists tightened as rage flashed in his eyes. Wasp could see it through the slots in the helmet.
"Enough!" Thor barked, lightning flashing across his eyes. "We face a threat equal to the hordes of the Enchantress if not greater! We have no time to waste on petty arguments!"
"Petty?" Wasp muttered. "His drinking is a problem!"
"One we can talk about later." Binary muttered looking off into the distance as something caught her eye. "Because I think something's happening."
The group turned in time to see a massive flash of crimson light erupt over the horizon.
Panther pulled out his Avenger's card and tapped the logo twice. "And I think we'll need all the help we can get."
BAAABBOOOMMM!
A metal sphere of massive proportions crashed into the frozen tundra, crumbling apart to allow the mish-mash team of heroes to tumble out onto the snow-covered ground. Magneto fell forward, crumpling onto the ground.
"Guh…" Cap growled, turning his head to see the fireball that was the base exploding into the air. "G-get me a head count!" Cap barked. Fury was busy crawling to his feet, metal arm grasping his rifle as he tried to get his bearings.
Scarlet Spider dragged Hawkeye to his feet "Gruh…Magneto is down!"
Winter Soldier dragged said mutant further from their crash sight. His eyes scanned the survivors and saw Falcon was lying face down in the snow. "Cap!"
The first avenger glanced at his down friend and trudge through the snow to get him. "Sam!" he barked, rolling the injured man onto his back. He put an ear on his chest and heard a heartbeat. "I got a pulse!"
"Is he breathing?" Widow barked, dragging her gun out of the snow.
"He is!" Cap shouted back.
"But you won't be." The group spun around to see the Red Skull standing in front of them, the crimson cube burning in his hand. The air around them began to burn. The snow began to melt and boil before a burst of crimson energy erupted from the cube. Cap barely managed to get his shield up in time, the blast grazing the indestructible shield as it tore across the tundra.
The rest of the heroes scattered, fanning themselves out amongst the ground. "Open fire! Open fire goddammit!" Fury screamed, peppering the Skull with a hail of gunfire.
"Fucking Nazi!" Chang roared, firing off a rocket from her shoulder. The Skull's gaze flickered from the bulleted bouncing off his shield, to the missile that was disassembled in mid air, the explosive dropping harmlessly into the melting snow.
"Guns and bullets won't stop me now…all you can do is wait for me to rip you limb from limb." Schmidt chuckled.
"I don't think so!" War Machine roared, rocketing through the air, tackling the Skull. The surprised German was slammed into the ground, shattering the earth. Despite the impact, the mad man merely grunted in pain. "Eat repulsor you piece of shit!"
FWAAABOOOM!
A barrage of green light erupted from War Machines wrist, burying the skull deeper into the frozen ground. War Machine continued to shoot, bathing the area in a green glow.
"Holy shit!" Scarlet Spider hissed, watching as snow and dirt flew into the air from the explosions.
A crimson glow began to overtake the green repulsors "Rhodes!" Fury barked. A wave of red energy blasted War Machine back, sending him crashing into the snow.
"Oh Hell!" Scarlet Spider hissed, turning invisible.
The Red Skull climbed out of his crater, a grin on his deranged face. Hawkeye leveled his guns, as did Bucky, Fury, Chang and Widow.
"Aim for the face and chest!" Clint screamed. "TAKE HIM DOWN!"
The entire tundra was alight with tiny flashes as a hail of bullets pelted the Skull, crumpling into little metal pellets as they collided with his shield. "Please," Schmidt grinned. "Keep it up. I need all the practice I can get."
The man snapped his fingers, disintegrating the group's guns. Hawkeye was the first to react, drawing out his bow and four explosive arrows. "Just die already!"
The arrows struck the Skull, creating a fireball that engulfed him.
FWOOSSHHH!
The flames swirled in the air, taking the form of a massive serpent before it lunged forward at the purple archer. Hawkeye leapt out of the way, letting the serpent strike the ground, melting the snow and creating a cloud of steam that began to engulf the area.
"Is that all you have?!" The Skull roared. "Is this all you have to offer me Rogers?!"
"NO!" A powerful punch struck the Skull across the face, staggering him for a second. The Nazi recovered just in time to raise his force field once more, blocking a shield strike from Captain America. "Fight me like a man!" Cap screamed, slamming his shield into the Skull's crimson barrier.
The Skull grinned. "I don't think so." A pulse of energy sent the Captain flying back. Red Skull chuckled as he lifted the man in the air with his newly acquired power. "I'll rip your bones out one by one…" he chuckled. "I'll make you beg for the sweet release of de—GUKK!"
Blood spurted from the Skull's gut as a bone-like stinger tore through his side. The Skull staggered forward, tearing himself off the spike and whirling around to see a de-cloaking Scarlet Spider. "Surprise mother-fucker!"
Scarlet Spider lunged forward, stabbing at Red Skull who dodged to the side before blocking a super-powered kick. Without the super-soldier serum or the cube, the Skull doubted his arm would still be whole after the impact he'd felt, but with the Cosmic Cube powering him, he was unbeatable.
"You need to see an attack coming for you to use that force field of yours, don't you?!" Kaine fired a blast of webbing that the Skull phased right through before a sinister grin spread on his face. Red Skull moved at an inhuman speed, faster than even Kaine could see. Next thing he knew, he was being hurled to the ground, the Skull looming over him.
"Do you know the best way to kill a Spider?" he hissed, the Cosmic Cube pulsed red. "CUT OFF THEIR LEGS!" Without warning Red Skull slammed the cube onto Kaine's left leg. In a flash of crimson light the limb exploded right above the knee, severing it from the young clone.
"GIIIIAAAAHHH!"
Hawkeye watched in horror, rage overtaking logic. "BEN!" The archer launched a barrage of arrows at the Cosmic Nazi, sneering as they merely bounced off his force field.
Red Skull smirked. "Come now, arrows?"
"GRAH!" Cap roared leaping into the air to deliver a crushing shield blow that bounced off the Skull. Red Skull raised the cube to attack but was pelted by a set of grenades from Widow and Bucky.
Hawkeye sprinted towards his downed friend pulling him up. He looked down at the stump that had once been his leg. The wound bled profusely, soaking the white snow with crimson blood.
"F-fuck!" Kaine hissed, his words barely coherent. "H-h-he blew off m-my l-l-leg…"
"Come on, kid, just hold on!" Clint barked, grabbing the teen's hand. "Don't black out!"
"That's the least he has to worry about." Red Skull sneered with a sickening grin over his face. The Cube glowed bright red.
BWWAAAAMMM!
A blast of red energy erupted from the Cosmic Cube, rushing right at Hawkeye and Kaine before it was intercepted by a shield-wielding Captain America. The blast rebounded off the hero's shield, sending the beam up into the sky.
"Your fight's with me bone-head!" Cap snarled, hurling his shield at the Red Skull's face. Red Skull caught the shield with his bare hand, smirking before tossing the object aside.
"Come now, Captain, I am a god. What Hope does a puny American Jew-lover have against me, now?"
"A TRUE GOD!"
BRAAKOOOM!
A massive bolt lightning erupted from the sky, striking the Red Skull with an unbridled fury, scorching the earth and shattering the ground. The Red Skull was sent tumbling through the snow, eyes burning with a red hue. "You dare?!"
Thor floated above the Skull lightning flickering off his hammer as rage filled his eyes. "I do. HAVE AT THEE!"
KRAAKOOM!
Hello everyone. So sorry for the late update. My internet was out for most of winter break and worked picked up, so I had little time to write and little time to post anything. And now with school coming up again, I'll be pretty swamped.
Sadly this isn't the end to the Red Skull arc just yet, its close! This was originally supposed to be one long chapter, but it was over 25000 words alone, so I'm splitting into two chapters, the second one will not be far behind I promise. I'm hoping to have it done by next week, and then the next chapter will come out faster, hopefully and I can get back to Spider-Man and X-Men.
Next time: Chapter 5: Ghost: Finale
