Chapter 11
Leatherback walked into the Red Skull's office. After months of working towards his plan he was ready to initiate it. Hopefully Skull's plan went according to his plan. If this plan failed then Seth's planning would be ruined, and Leatherback knew from experience what Seth was like when he got mad. He felt a shiver run down his spine as he remembered all the punishments that he had received from Seth after he received his new physical form. Thomas didn't look that strong, but he had just been a young human adult. Seth on the other hand was a being that the Ancient Egyptians worshipped as the God of Chaos.
"Ah, Leatherback! I am glad that you can make it to see the climate of my success!" the Red Skull said from where he was sitting in his office bringing Leatherback out of his thoughts. Obscured in the shadows the Red Skull could hide his face as he looked out of the window. In the past he had not been worried about showing of his face, but now he was hiding it. Leatherback didn't know what was going through the Skull's mind at this point. Months of preparing and scheming from all three of them had led them to this point, and Seth was sure that it would succeed. HYDRA might not get what they wanted now but with the right timing they were sure to achieve sooner when the world was theirs for the taking.
Stomping up to the Red Skull's side, Leatherback got a good view of the mountains that surrounded HYDRAs underground base. The mountains were covered in snow and he could see the trees that were brave enough to live on them sway side to side as the wind rushed past them. Looking at the base of one mountain close to the base he noticed something moving. Looking down from the corner of his beady eyes he saw the movement again. Small black dots that were snaking their way up to the top of the mountain across from the HYDRAs lair. Baring his teeth at the thought of the humans preventing him from leaving HYDRAs base he looked back round at the Red Skull. The human was now looking at the door where the most noise was coming from. Men shouting in German followed by shooting echoed from outside the room that the Skull dwelled in. Looking back out of the window to see that the black dots on the mountain had disappeared, they must have known that they would have been open targets for HYDRAs snippers. "Skull I would advise you to make your move soon! I have a feeling that Captain America has finally to take action now!" he said looking at the Skull who was focusing on the door.
The massive metal double doors swung open and two HYDRA troopers came marching in holding a man by both of his arms. The man was dressed in a blue uniform that was fitted to his body like armour. The uniform was not only blue as on his chest was red and white strips that matched the American flag with a massive silver star on his chest. He wore a helmet that covered his head but showed those deep blue eyes of his. The eyes that stared right at the Red Skull and Leatherback.
Having meet the Skull already in what could have been just called a meet and greet when he rescued Bucky from the first HYDRA base he knew what he was looking at from the deranged HYDRA leader. But the scaly ape was something he wasn't expecting. He had thoughts that Leatherback would have looked something like Edward or even be the same race as Nightshade, but looking at him he was sure that he was not any of the two alien races that he had already meet. He just hoped that Nightshade was not a scaly monkey like Leatherback was. Captain America looked over to where the HYDRA agent had dropped his shield before he looked back over Red Skull and Leatherback.
"I must say, Captain America you are persistent!" the Skull said taking a step closer to Captain America with Leatherback flanking him. He noticed that Leatherback's attention kept returning to the window as if he was awaiting something to come from the mountains themselves. "You share your persistence with other Americans who have meet a grisly end in my factories before you blew them up!" he sneered when he was face to face with the young man.
Steve only stared at the Red Skull. The plan had gone to well, and here he was face to face with the Red Skull before the others were ready. He just hoped that Nightshade could lead Dugan and his team up the mountain safely and that Edward and Colonel Phillips didn't start to bicker with each other as they moved their ground forces to surround the base. Everything needed to be timed for this work. He couldn't allow the Skull get to his Doomsday Weapon. If Stark was right, the Doomsday Weapon of HYDRA could Wipeout the Eastern side of America in a matter of hours before heading the West. He knew he couldn't let the Skull get away with it, and he was the only one who could fight against the deranged man. Leatherback, he was not too sure. He had never seen Leatherback at all before now. The monster that had destroyed his world during the Time War had been keeping to side-lines and making sure that the Howling Commandos didn't see him until he thought was the right moment.
Before anyone could say anything else, Steve bashed his head against the Red Skull's exposed face. The HYDRA leader staggered backwards as he clutched his broken nose that Steve had broken from smashing his head against it. Leatherback was about to go to the Skull's aid only to watch as he punched Steve in his stomach. The young man didn't have any time to respond as the Skull continued to punch him in his upper torso. Without his shield Captain America was open to attacks from the much bigger man. When the Skull pulled away from his attack on the younger man he saw that he had one black eye and his lip was bleeding. There was no other sign of damage on the younger man's body as far as he could see.
Steve regained his balance. He was glad that he and Dugan had been fighting fist to fist for a bit while they were on board the Moonray. Taking a defensive stance that caused the Skull to laugh out loud with Leatherback joining in. "I can do this all day!" he said over the laughing maniacs.
Stopping in his laughter the Red Skull got serious, unaware of the black mass that had appeared at the window behind him. It's one red eye glared in through the window as it got the layout of the room. "Of course you can! But I am sorry to say that I have a deadline that must be meet!" the Skull said just as hackling hooks smashed into the stone of the mountain that the HYDRA base was built into.
Steve kicked the Skull in the back of his leg when his attention had turned over to the window. The red skinned man wiped around to face Captain America. "So do I!" he said just as the windows exploded inwards.
The metallic silver tiger smashed into Leatherback after bounding on the ground a few times. The two went down in a show of power and strength. The tiger's hissing causing many of the men's hair to grow white, while the roaring of Leatherback even forced the Red Skull to spin around to face the two fighters. It was at this moment that Dugan and the rest of the team smashed in through the windows. Guns were instantly brazing as the tiger continued to keep Leatherback from joining the fight.
Dugan ran to the round Vibranium shield and like a Frisbee flung it back at Steve. Steve shouted his thanks at Dugan and using it to shield his face from stray bullets he watched the tiger.
The tiger was on Leatherback's exposed stomach ripping at it with sharp metal claws as its teeth kept biting down on his fat neck. Leatherback then roaring in pain when the teeth font something finally kicked the big cat off him. Landing on its paws like any cat could, the tiger circled around him looking for a way in. Already he was losing to much blood, and soon he would have to return to Seth. Hissing the tiger didn't hear the shield spinning towards it until it smashed into the back of its skull. The one eye changed from red to a light blue as it felt pain for a bizarre reason. Turning its attention around to face Captain America who had re-caught his shield. It's one eye slowly returned to its bright red state when the pain died down. Opening its maw, it showed its teeth. Teeth that were in perfect condition and were only slick with the blood from its attack on Leatherback.
Steve took a defensive stance as Leatherback found his feet after the bloody attack. He could hear Dugan calling him to stop, but he didn't listen or look away. He had seen what this think had done to Leatherback and knew that with the taste of blood it could strike against one of them. The tiger looked confused. It didn't understand why he had thrown the shield. Tilting its head to the side Steve could only think of a small domestic cat that wanted food, but shacking that thought out of his head he remined himself that this was a killing machine. One that could easily rip them apart. Looking at the tiger, he couldn't stop himself thinking that it was a machine that Dr Zola had created or even Howard when he was in one of his mad scientist's moods.
Leatherback on shaking legs grabbed a HYDRA trooper for support. The man screamed in fear as his massive hands started to crush down on him. "Turning your back on me, Nightshade! Bad move!" he shouted as he flung the man at the tiger. The tiger on hearing her name being shouted returned her attention back on Leatherback, but it was too late. The trooper that he had grabbed was coming at her quickly. With nowhere to go, Nightshade was caught under the unconscious man's dead weight as Leatherback limped over to her. "I have always thought of how I am going to destroy you Nightshade!" he sneered as he cracked his knuckles as HYDRA and the Howling Commandos continued to fight their own battles.
The tiger wriggled itself out from under the man's body but a massive fist smashed into the one eye. Temporarily blinded, Nightshade crumbled to the ground. Her ears flicked one way and another as she heard the sounds of the battle, but the worse she heard was the stomping feet of Leatherback. The stomping feet that was getting closer to her. She needed to move. She needed to get out of the way before he could do serious damage to her.
"Still hiding behind your forms, Nightshade?" he asked when he was almost on top of her. "I think you like being in her human form? I think you are ashamed of being the last of the Dragonoids? Let me put you out of your misery!" he roared, but no attack came. Instead Nightshade felt the entire floor tremble when something big fell to the ground.
"Nightshade?" Steve shouted as he ran the black tiger. On getting a closer look at Nightshade's true form he couldn't believe they were the same person. The tiger was skeletal, but then again Nightshade had been as skinny as a skeleton with skin over it. The metallic bones were grey almost black and were covered in scratches from all the battles that it had been involved. The one eye glowed like the light of a car took much of the skull with spikes pocking out at the top of the skull were perked up. A loud bang sounded from somewhere out in the corridor causing one of the spikes to twitch backwards towards the sound. Colonel Phillips team had arrived and just on time by the sounds of it.
"Steve, go after the Skull! You have to stop him!" Nightshade rasped as she slowly got back to back her four feet. Her one red eye narrowed onto Leatherback who had also found his feet. "I will deal with Leatherback!" she snarled before leaping into the massive monster who had destroyed her entire world.
Steve watched the two fighting. Claws and teeth were the main weapons between the two of them, well Nightshade didn't have a choice she had massive paws with no thumbs. Leatherback punched Nightshade in the jaw, but instead of putting her out of the battle she changed form again. Steve could feel unconscious as he watched bones twist and reconnect with other bones as a new form appeared. What had once been a black tiger was now a raptor. The raptor screeched at Leatherback before running up towards him. its metal claws were stretched out ready to dig deep into the flesh of the beast. Steve had seen plenty of dinosaur skeletons in all his visits to the museums back in New York. This raptor, like her tiger form was a metallic colour. The eyes were no longer red, but had changed into the yellow eyes that he would have found in a bird.
Steve having seen enough of the bloody fight ran out of the room to follow the Red Skull. Dugan and the rest of the team who had gone with him up the mountain followed after him. None of them wanted to remain in the Red Skull's throne room while Nightshade and Leatherback fought in their bloody battle. The further away they got from the room the more HYDRA agents they came across. Passing Peggy for a moment before running after the Skull.
Peggy watched him as he ran after the mental Red Skull. She couldn't believe how much he had changed in the past few months, but at the same time he had stayed the same as he did when he was still a scrawny kid from Brooklyn. A HYDRA trooper ran up towards her expecting to be an easy target, but he didn't expect her to fire her rifle at him.
Seth watched from his advantage point on the mountain cliff across from the mountain that HYDRA had put their main base in. He had been watching the entire thing. This Captain America truly was already becoming a problem. He had his usefulness in pushing the Skulls plans and in turn his own. But he had also become a pest. The young man had unknowingly been stopping his chance of bringing back his army. The army that Nightshade and her team had been fighting their pathetic Night Wars. To make the Night Wars even worse was that Leatherback had been causing Nightshade's team to keep fighting making it even harder to bring back his army. His army that had been banished to the four winds by the High Priest Imhotep.
The sound of heavy footsteps altered him that he was no longer alone on his perch. "Seth, everything is working just as you predicted!" Leatherback said from where he was standing behind him. "I just got away from Nightshade just before Edward came to join her in that bloody assault of hers!" he continued from where he was standing.
Seth bored turned around to face Leatherback and was taken back at the damage done to him. His chest was covered in massive scars from where Nightshade's claws had racked. There were also bullets lodged into his body from where the Howling Commandos had taken lucky shoots at him. His face had also been damaged. Scars lined it from where Nightshade had taken lucky strikes at him.
"I take it we have to watch out for this Nightshade!" he said on taken all the damage down to Leatherback. The sound of a planes turbines kicking up a gear caused Seth to return his attention back to HYDRAs base just as the monstrosity that was the Red Skulls plane took to the skies. Its eight massive turbines rotated quickly to keep the giant beast in the sky as it headed for America. "And Captain America if he succeeds!" he said to Leatherback as he watched the plane get higher in the sky.
Leatherback watched the plane when he remembered something. "Seth, I didn't see Julian anywhere in the battle!" he said which caused Seth to spin around to face him.
"The Werewolf? He is nothing!" he hissed waving his hand in a dismissive manner.