IMPORTANT STUFF AT THE END (..as usual, I guess. But very important this time!)
"Okay team, this mission has two purposes," Steve says. Everyone is at attention, watching him. "Taking down the Hydra base Red Skull is at, and stopping Red Skull. For good this time." Everyone nods.
"Clint, you are in charge of taking down their communications and defenses once inside. Tony, you need to locate the serum and Red Skull. Then you will join Natasha, Sam, and me to take him down." He turns to the last two. "Thor, Bruce, do you two mind guarding the Mini-jet and taking out any soldier outside the compound?"
"It would be my honor, Captain," Thor says. Bruce nods in agreement.
"We don't know how many soldiers he has. This isn't a base we hit already," Steve states, "if your area is clear, join us as fast as you can." Steve looks at Clint too so he has the idea, "we'll improvise from there."
"What about SHIELD?" Natasha asks.
Sam answers for her, "Fury told us they are waiting for the signal. They'll step in like before, as clean up."
"Yeah, it's not like there's a lunatic with his hands on serum or anything," Steve mutters to himself. Tony scoffs a laugh, Clint snickers, and both Natasha and Sam roll their eyes. "What?"
"It seems like the young Lass has left an impression on you, Captain," Thor states. Everyone goes silent.
Steve looks out the front windshield of the Mini-jet. The forest parts up ahead as the Hydra Research Facility comes into view.
"Here we go," Clint says, putting the arrow he was fiddling with into one of his quivers.
"Ironman," Steve says, putting on his helmet.
"Checking comms," Tony comments, putting his face plate down.
"Loud and clear," Sam answers for everybody. The ramp opens up and Ironman flies out. The outer defenses lock onto him, so he flies out of their range and scans the building.
"I got Schmidt, in the west wing of the compound," Ironman says through the comm, "and the serum is in the middle, already surrounded by scientists."
"Landing gear is out," Natasha states. The rest of the fliers exit the Mini-jet and join the fight. Bruce starts turning green as Natasha turns the Mini-jet around. He leaps off, finishing his transformation, and crashes into the first wave of soldiers. Natasha stands up. She, Steve, and Clint rush out, heading for the facility.
Thor's boisterous laugh can be heard through the trees. Steve throws his shield, keeping his eye on the doors as much as he can. The three reach the doors and Steve punches his shield into the lock. The doors start to open, "Stark?"
"You said we'll have to improvise, right?" Ironman says.
"What about it?"
"Well, I'm improvising," he says. Steve looks up and sees his suit ducking out of the way of bullets and attacking with his hand repulsers. "I'll meet up with you later. Thor and Hulk need a hand."
"Understood." Clint had already disappeared. Falcon joins Steve and Natasha as she looks at a holo-pad showing the details Ironman scanned from the base.
"This way," Natasha says. She turns down a hall and the others follow.
"Back up would be appreciated," Hawkeye says through the comm.
"Go," Steve tells Natasha. She nods, giving him the pad. Steve talks into his comm, "Ironman, when you're done outside, you and Widow will find the serum. Destroy every drop of it."
"Yes sir," Ironman says mockingly. Steve rolls his eyes and Sam follows him as they get closer to Red Skull's position. Most of the soldiers seem to be outside, but there are a few pockets of stragglers. Steve stops at a set of stairs.
"He's up there," Steve says. He presses a button on the pad. The screen goes away. He stores the thin metal projector in his belt as they start up the stairs. Steve takes his shield out at the top. He signals to Sam, counting down to one. He kicks the door down and blocks a round of bullets from inside. The gunfire stops and Steve rushes in. Sam follows. They each take a side, the few Hydra soldiers in the room hitting the floor, less than a minute after the fight started.
"Captain America, and one of his new friends, Falcon," Steve turns around and looks at Red Skull. He's standing calmly at the back of the room, where there is a big window overlooking a factory. In the middle of the room, there is a pair of couches and a rug, as well as a bookshelf behind Sam. Sam steps forward a little while Steve and Skull have a staring contest. He sees tanks and scientists.
'To create an army, no doubt,' Sam puts together.
"..Tell me, how's Ms. America?"
Steve's gut twists at the nickname. He takes a step forward and punches Red Skull. The villain hits the glass behind him.
Testing his jaw, he says, "You cannot punch yourself out of any situation, Captain."
"You're going to pay for your crimes against the world, Schmidt," Sam says.
Skull looks at him, "And who are you to think you can stop me?"
He takes out a gun and shoots at Sam. He ducks out of the way. Steve slams the star of his shield into Skull's arm. The gun falls to the floor and there are cracks in the glass.
"Are you really here on behalf of the world, Captain?" Red Skull asks, "or are you protecting a broken child you dragged into your fight?"
Steve yells. He twists around, aiming his shield at Red Skull. Red Skull ducks down. The shield hits the glass. Red Skull appears behind him and kicks him. Steve falls into the open space below. He puts his shield below him, bracing for impact.
He lands on one of the tanks, making a giant hole. He slides off his shield and onto the rubble. He can hear blows being exchanged in the room above him. Then Red Skull is tossed out the broken window, yelling the entire way. Sam appears, looking around. He sees Steve and flies down.
"Steve," he says, helping him up.
"I'm alright. And so will he."
"I'll take the high road," Sam says, then takes off again. Red Skull pushes a glass wall off of him, hearing it shatter as it finds a sharp object. All the scientists have scattered at the fight being taken to their level.
"Not going to blow up your base this time, Schmidt?" Steve asks, walking around.
"I believe I am more than capable with handling you this time," Skull says, his voice bouncing off the tanks.
"He's on your left, Steve," Sam says through the comm. Steve chuckles, turning to his right.
"You do not have all your wits gathered," Skull continues, "you are not only mad at me-"
"I am passed mad, Skull," Steve says, seeing the villains reflection in front of him.
"You are also mad at yourself." Steve turns around. He throws a punch, but is countered. He throws his shield but Red Skull deflects it. Sam sees it flying and goes after it. He catches it, then looks back at the super soldiers locked in hand-to-hand combat.
"What made her so special to you?" Skull says, "you did not just lose a soldier, did you?"
Steve pins him, but is kneed in the stomach. He falls onto broken glass.
He holds his side, feeling the glass press through his kevlar. He closes his eyes. 'No, not now,' he orders himself. 'She should be hanging out with friends, doing homework, joking with her siblings, fed up with her parents, laughing at dumb jokes, cheering up a stranger, finding a positive in the darkest day..' All the things Steve wished Heather could still do races through his mind. He feels tears spring up.
"You lost a friend, dare I say, family."
Steve yells, flipping to stand up. Red Skull takes out a gun, which was stored next to a tank for a future soldier to use. Steve ducks out of the way, hiding behind a piece of broken metal.
"What did she do, Captain? Did she make you feel human!"
"Cap!" Sam throws the shield. Steve catches it, throwing at the gun in Red Skull's hand. The broken gun is forgotten in favor of another one. Sam takes out his guns and rains down on Red Skull. A few take a hit, but the rest embed into the tanks around him. A piece of glass is thrown into the air. Sam tries to avoid it, but it shatters against his wing and chest.
"Falcon!" Steve starts running in the direction his friend is falling.
"SHIELD's here, coming to you, Cap," Clint says through the comm. Steve runs up a slanted piece of metal and jumps. He catches Sam mid-fall. They roll to a stop in one of the aisles.
"Sit this out, Sam, you've done enough," Steve says.
Sam stands up slowly, "No way. I'm seeing this through, Running Man."
Steve turns around. Red Skull is at the end of the aisle.
He takes a moment to look around, "All this is possible because of that little spit fire of yours."
"Heather is stronger than you think," Steve says.
"Oh yes, I'll be sure to monitor her healing-" Steve takes out one of the guns. He shoots Red Skull in the shoulder. Sam picks up his guns and aids. Red Skull ducks behind a tank. Steve nods for Sam to go around the other way. He drops the gun.
"Stark, Romanoff, find the serum," Steve whispers through the comm. He slowly walks around the tank, his shield in front of him.
"Copy that," Natasha says, "everyone else is coming to you."
Red Skull jumps off the top of the tank, onto Steve. He rolls and they both end up on the floor. Red Skull punches Steve in the face repeatedly. Steve blocks with his arms. He pushes him off with his feet, sending him into the next tank. There's a sharp intake of breath. Steve stands up as Sam arrives at his side.
Red Skull has a wedge of metal through his stomach. He looks at it, then at the Avengers. Steve steps forward. "You never beat me before," Red Skull says, blood coming out of his mouth.
"Let me remedy that," Steve punches him in the face. Red Skull goes limp, his breath ragged. Steve raises his fist again, but Sam catches it. Steve looks back at him.
"He's defeated, Steve," Sam says, "he'll never hurt the world again." Steve sees Red Skull twitch and he wrestles his arm from Sam's grip. "She's safe, Steve!" Steve stops and looks at him. "..Heather is safe. He lost."
Red Skull chuckles to himself, "You just had to give her the serum. You had to.." He coughs, "..to protect her. In order for you to feel normal, you had to make her special-"
Steve takes his shoulders. "She was already special." He slowly pulls Red Skull forward. "And it was her choice. You are the one that hurt her." Red Skull screams as Steve pulls him all the way off the fragment. He drops the the ground.
SHIELD agents arrive on the scene. Sam flies up to direct them to the villain. He looks down at Steve. "Go."
Steve nods, then takes off. "Natasha-"
"I found the serum," she says before he can ask. "What about Schmidt?"
Steve waits a beat, "SHIELD has him."
Steve arrives at the room containing the serum. It's cold, to preserve the blue liquid. "..They hadn't started replicating it yet," Natasha relays, "and we destroyed their information on it."
Steve looks at the clear canister at the back of the room. It is one and a half of his hand spans tall and less than one hand span wide. 'That came from Heather's blood,' he thinks. He takes his shield off, to shatter it. A metal hand stops him. He looks at Ironman's face plate.
"I have a better idea." He takes something out of his armor and puts it at the top. A substance comes out of the small canister and enters the serum. There are red lights that go off, alerting them that something is wrong.
"Contaminated, contaminated," a voice says. The blue serum slowly gets enveloped in the contamination and turns a purply brown.
"They won't get anything from it, it's useless," Ironman says, "now you can smash it. It'll be a gelatin."
He backs up and Steve slices the canister into halves. The top falls to the floor, shattered glass covers the concrete. He shakes the brown substance off his shield, sighing.
He hears voices around him, but he ignores them. He turns around and finds his way back to the Mini-jet. He sits down as Clint takes the pilot seat. Everyone else files into the hold. The ramp closes and the Mini-jet is in the air.
Steve takes his helmet off, slides his shield to the floor, and lays down across a few seats.
"I'm queen of the pool!" Heather's voice fades in as he closes his eyes, "And there's nothin' you peasants can do about it!"
Paramedics are on the scene as the Mini-jet and SHIELD transports land on the open platform. Steve steps off and someone comes to him. He is sat down for a moment to get vitals. He looks around. The base is mostly submerged in brown-red rock of a cliff face. It is south of the Grand Canyon, in what is called 'Oyster Ravine.'
The paramedic asks him questions and he answers them. She deems him well enough to go inside without assistance. He walks over to the doors, stepping out of the dry air.
He asks about where Heather is. He's directed to a different waiting room. The moment he walks in, he goes tense. The entire Novelty team is there, minus Rick. Each has at least two SHIELD guards on them. Nikki doesn't have her gloves, Jacey's hair is down, showing a lack of a clip, and both Finn and August have an extra guard with a gun trained on them at all times. Josh is sitting calmly, but when he looks up at Steve, he can see a storm in his eyes.
"What is going on?" He asks the soldiers. He eyes the one closest to him, who gulps.
"Following orders sir," he says, trying to cover up how Captain America is clearly intimidating him.
"On who's authority?"
"Mine." Steve turns around, eyeing Nick Fury.
"Let them go," Steve says.
Fury walks into the room, "They are enhanced individuals-"
"Actually," Finn says, "people in New York would call us 'gifted,' and it's only Jacey and I that really-" Fury moves his hand and the gun on Finn clicks. His arms go up in surrender.
"Hey, hey! stand down soldier!" Steve says, stepping forward. He looks at Fury.
"..At ease." The whole room relaxes, but the soldiers don't walk away. "Captain, these children-" Nikki scoffs. "Are dangerous."
"Like Heather was?" Steve asks.
Fury sighs, "..She's stable. The doctors are working on her knee as we speak."
"You need to let them go," Steve says.
"You do not outrank me, Captain," Fury says.
"They have not done anything dangerous. If anything, they stop the 'enhanced,' that SHIELD doesn't find," Steve argues, "And you are not putting them into some, SHIELD program. They can come and go to see Heather as they please."
"SHIELD will need to keep tabs on them," Fury says, "they resisted containment-"
"Who wouldn't?" August says. Steve understands why he had an extra gun on him.
"They came here to help their friend. They put themselves at risk coming here."
"I thought Heather didn't have friends," Fury states.
Steve swallows, "Things change. Some for good."
"If SHIELD doesn't watch them, who will? The Avengers already have a handful."
Steve looks at each of the Novelty, "They can handle themselves." Josh nods in thanks.
Fury sighs, "We'll talk later." Steve smiles, knowing he won the argument. Fury walks away, then stops, "So Heather trusts them?"
"Ask them yourself," Steve answers. Fury looks at the group.
"..She trusted us to get her here, didn't she?" August asks. Fury nods, then dismisses the soldiers. The five slowly look at Steve.
He sighs, "..Let's go see Heather."
I was debating whether or not to actually kill Red Skull. But, since he didn't die on a scene (but he could still die) so I guess it won't be official until we do/n't see him in Infinity War.
But he's out of the picture for sure.
Question: That wasn't an anti-climactic fight, was it? Did it have enough tension?
Do you remember when the 'queen of the pool' quote is from?
Novelty is going to be unofficially under the protection of the Avengers.
Heather will definitely live (Duh. I have like ... Promise ... Civil War... meets that guy ... 'Promise 2' ... yeah, like, at least four more stories for her.)
Speaking of which...
THERE THERE IS ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT!
..Technically, it's the epilogue.
XD
Comments, questions, and CONGRATS..s, go below.
I'll get that last bit up asap!
~CtW