Chapter 37: Crossbones

Lagos, 2016

Wanda calmly stirred her coffee as she scouted the area. The Avengers had recently gotten word of a former HYDRA agent resurfacing in the area, specifically, the former head of STRIKE Brock Rumlow. They had deployed to Lagos immediately, and many of them had infiltrated the crowd in disguise. Wanda was sitting with Adora at a cafe. "Alright, hat do you two see?" Steve asked over their radios, watching from his window vantage point in a nearby apartment.

"Standard Beat Cops, small station." Wanda replied, looking at the nearby Police Station. Using the reports of Rumlow's attacks, or Crossbones as he called himself, they had chosen to stake-out one of the least defended Police Stations in the city. He had been reported as having stolen weapons from Police Stations across the country to sell to terrorist cells, and the New Avengers were intending to finally catch him and close the book on HYDRA for good. "It's a quiet Street."

"There's an ATM on the South corner, which means?" Steve asked, testing how much Wanda had learned from her lessons with the team.

"Cameras." Wanda replied.

"Both streets nearby are one-way." Adora added, drinking her coffee and eyeing said streets.

"Which means compromised escape routes." Wanda replied.

"Means out guy doesn't care about being seen." Steve explained.

"And he sure as hell isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out…" Catra added, reporting from a nearby rooftop. She was unable to hide easily in the crowd due to her rather noticeably hair and fur.

Steve continued to survey the area. "You see that Range Rover halfway down the block?" he asked.

"Yeah, the Red one?" Wanda confirmed. "It's cute."

"It's also bullet-proof." Natasha chimed in from her position elsewhere in the cafe. "Which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody."

"Probably us.." Adora deadpanned.

"You all remember I can move things with my mind right?" Wanda asked, half-jokingly, as she took another sip of coffee.

"Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature." Natasha explained.

"Anyone ever tell you you're a little Paranoid?" Sam asked, nearing the edge of another rooftop and using his goggles to survey the area.

"Not to my face. Why, did you hear something?" Natasha asked jokingly.

"Isn't that obvious mom?" Adora asked, smugly grinning.

"Eyes on target Folks…" Steve reminded everyone, cracking a small smile at Adora's antics. "This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months, I don't want to lose him."

"If he sees us coming that won't be a problem." Sam commented with a scoff. "He kind of hates us."

"I still can't believe the lucky son of a bitch survived having the Triskelion fall on his head." Catra quipped, sitting on the edge of the roof. "Figured he's have either been a pancake, or charred into ash by the explosion."

As the group continued their sting, Steve heard a commotion nearby. Following the sounds, he caught sight of a Garbage truck that seemed far too full, with several people angrily throwing things at it. "Sam, see that Garbage truck? Tag it." He ordered.

Sam did as instructed and deployed his brand new drone, Redwing, to get as close as it could to the Truck. "Get me an X-Ray." He told the drone syncing it's camera up to his goggles. Adora, sensing things were about to get started, subtly undid the safety on her pistol, kept within her jacket's holster, and Catra prepared to make her way down from her rooftop. Sam's scan of the truck ended up bringing a few worrying details to light. "The Truck's loaded for max weight. And the driver's armed."

"It's a battering ram.." Natasha realized.

"Go now! He's not hitting the police station!" Steve orders, and everyone immediately took action. Adora quickly got up from her seat and started moving towards the truck, Wanda and Natasha doing the same. Sam leapt off his rooftop and deployed his wings, Catra joining in by parkouring down the side of her building, using her claws to grip into the wall.

As expected, the Truck hit full speed and barreled towards a nearby building, the Institute for Infectious Diseases, and the driver bailed. The Security of the building barely had time to react when the truck crashed hard into the barricades and flipped, tearing a massive hole in the front gate of the institute. Through this whole, several trucks filled with fully armed mercenaries poured in and opened fire on the security. Rumlow himself emerged from one of the trucks in his new outfit, and fully loaded up for battle. He and a few soldiers fired Gas grenades into the building to neutralize everyone inside and began entering. The remaining soldiers barely had time to bunker down, before Sam flew in, dropping Steve into battle. He immediately went on the offensive, rebounding his shield over several of them while rolling into cover. He charged another Mercenary atop a vehicle and dropkicked them away into the walls of the Institute.

"Body Armor. AR-15s, I make Seven hostiles." Steve reported to the rest of the crew.

Sam flew his way to the rooftop of the institute and, using his wings, delivered a double-strike to two guards, then quickly turned and fired his guns into a third hostile, causing him to collapse from the roof onto a vehicle. "I make Five." He reported in. Wanda levitated herself and Catra over Sam's position and used her magic to guard herself from enemy fire, before restraining a guard. Catra then leapt over her head and landed on the man's shoulders. She used to legs to grip around his leck and flipped backwards, slamming his face into the hard ground.

"That makes four." She reported, kicking the guard across the face for good measure.

Adora finally caught up with the team, sprinting much faster due to her serum enhanced blood. Sam ran a scan over the building to locate further hostiles and reported Rumlow's position on the third floor. "Wanda, Adora, As we practiced!" Steve ordered.

"What about the gas?" Wanda asked as the two got ready.

"Pull it out." Adora replied, running up a car alongside Steve. With a motion of Wanda's hand, the two were flung through the nearest window and began their attack on the soldiers inside. Holding her breath, Adora ripped the mask off one of the mercenaries, and choke-slammed him into the ground, Steve taking out another within seconds. They quickly rolled in to cover as the remaining hostiles opened fire with their ARs. Steve managed to take one out with precise Shield bounces, and Adora rolled from cover and kneecapped another with a quick shot from her pistol. She then rushed over and smashed his face into the floor to knock him out. She and Steve then tag-teamed the last mercenary in their way, Steve kicking out his knee, and her grabbing the man and throwing him against a pillar with so much force, it cracked.

Outside, Wanda began to draw the gas out the windows and redirect it into the air safely, while Catra and Sam covered her. Catra had picked up a downed soldier's rifle and was exchanging fire from behind a wall, while Sam used his wings as a shield and fired and Uzi. Eventually, Sam tired of the stalemate and managed to take the attackers out with missiles fired from his pack, causing Catra to frown. "I want those…" She half-seriously pouted.

"You've got superpowers, I don't." Sam retorted, chuckling a little as Catra stuck her tongue out childishly and continued to cover Wanda.

Steve then reported that Rumlow managed to get his hands on a biological weapon, and was attempting to escape. "I'm on it!" Natasha replied, driving to the back of the building. She hit the brakes, turning the bike on it's side and letting it tumble along the ground as she dismounted, taking out a shocked mercenary. She then used one of her wrist stingers to stun another mercenary, followed by leaping at him, grabbing him by the head and using her momentum to kick another mercenary. She then swung herself forward again, using her momentum to choke-slam the man she'd grabbed. One of the Mercenaries attempted to get in their escape vehicle, but Natasha stopped that by kicking the door into his face, and grappling with another mercenary behind him. She grabbed his rifle and knocked him out by slamming it against his face, then turned her attention to a few more attackers. She dispatched them rather quickly with CQC, and stopped the last one in his tracks with another Stinger.

Rumlow managed to grab her however, and the two tangled for a brief moment, leading to Natasha to attempt to tazer him in the neck. This had no effect however. "I don't work like that no more!" He yelled, throwing her into the truck and dropping a grenade in after her, then slamming the hatch shut. Natasha barely managed to escape after dispatching two more guard before the grenade went off.

At this moment, Steve and Adora rushed out and saw the chaos. They also saw Rumlow aiming a turret directly at them. Adora quickly retreated inside and Steve took the turret's projectile with his shield, the explosion tossing him inside. The two wisely began to run the length of the building, Steve managing to block each attack from Rumlow and protect his daughter. Eventually, one of the blasts threw them out the next window into a rather painful landing on the concrete. "Sam! He's in an AFV, heading north!" Steve quickly called in.

Sam caught up with the truck just as the remaining hostiles brought it to a stop, and began scanning the crowd. He caught sight of two groups, moving away from the area. "I've got four, splitting up!" Catra rushed into the ground and took after the two on the left.

"Catra and I have the ones headed left." Natasha reported, bringing her bike to the markets and rushing off after the rapidly moving feline.

"Going after the guys on the right!" Adora called out, rushing after them as Steve checked on the gear that had been left behind in the chaos.

"They ditched their gear, it's a shell game now. One of them has the payload." He started reporting, before a bomb stuck to his shield and he was forced to throw it into the sky. This was quickly followed up by taking a powerfist to the back. The force of the punch threw Steve through a nearby market stall.

"There you are you son of a bitch!" Rumlow shouted, storming over to combat Steve. "I've been waiting for this!"

Meanwhile, across the market, Natasha and Catra pushed their way through the crowds to try and catch up with their targets. Sam managed to track down the two he and Adora were pursuing, and disabled one with a diving attack. He brought his wing up to deflect the bullets from the other assailant, who Adora Quickly came up behind. She struck his elbow to make him drop his gun, and took him down with a throat strike, before searching his bags. "He doesn't have it, we're empty here!"

Catra managed to break from the crowd and run along the tops of the marketplace on all fours. She caught up with the runner and pounced, landing on and throwing one of the fleeing suspects while Natasha tackled and fought with the other. The one Catra had taken down quickly got to his feet and grabbed his gun, but Catra was far too quick and rushed him, leaping onto his chest and digging her claws in, then performing a backwards somersault throw to toss him into a stand.

Natasha's fight with the other came to a stop when he held out the vial he'd taken and angrily threatened to drop it. She couldn't risk taking the shot while the area was in danger. Thankfully, Redwing came by and shot the man in the neck, allowing Natasha to catch the vial while Catra finished off her other opponent with a slashed throat. She turned to face the drone and nodded. "Thanks Sam. Payload secured."

"Don't thank me." Sam replied.

"I'm not thanking that thing.." Natasha deadpanned.

"His name is Redwing."

"I'm still not thanking it." She reiterated.

Sam smirked. "He's cute. Go on, pet him" He teased. Much to Natasha's annoyance, Catra took Sam up on the offer with a smug grin, and Adora rushed back to assist her father against Rumlow.

Adora quickly made her way through the crowd, shoving people aside and got on her communicator. "Dad I'm coming, we can take Rumlow together." She shouted. All she heard in response was the sound of a fight. "Son of a bitch." She picked up her speed and reached the center of the Market, just as Steve was confronting a now unmasked Rumlow. She was pretty disturbed by the sheer level of scarring on the man's face, including an entire ear nearly being burned off. Though she also, deep down, wished he hadn't crawled his sorry ass out of the building and died in the collapse. In her mind, it's all HYDRA scum like him deserved.

"He knew you, you know. Your old pal, your buddy, your Bucky." Rumlow taunted. Adora immediately knew there was trouble as Steve reacted to the statement. But Rumlow continued to twist the knife. "He remembered you. I was there, he got all weepy about it." Adora quickly looked over the man's body language, his lack of fear. What was he playing at. "Till they put his brain back in a blender." Her eyes fell to Rumlow's side. "He wanted me to tell you something. He said to me, 'Tell Rogers, when you gotta go, you gotta go.'" Her eyes widened seeing the wires coming from his side, and she ran towards Steve.

"DAD! HE'S GOT A BOMB!" She yelled, terrified.

"And both of you super-soldier fucks are coming with me!" Rumlow yelled. Adora was ready to dive for him, before he triggered his bomb. The expected explosion came, but didn't go further than his body thanks to Wanda's quick thinking. She trapped Rumlow and his blast in a barrier, and from Rumlow's screams, it sounded incredibly painful. Adora simply stared at the screaming man, content to watch him die a pitiful death, but she also knew they needed to move him before Wanda lost concentration. She was about to tell her what to do…But Wanda acted too quickly and threw Rumlow into the air.

Unfortunately...it was not far enough away, and the explosion took out several floors of a nearby, heavily populated Apartment complex. Wanda's hand cupped her mouth in Horror, and Adora was staring in shock. Steve quickly acted to get Sam to bring in local Emergency teams, and had the rest of them work on trying to save as many as they could.

Adora meanwhile, stared at the burning building. "Wanda...what did you…" She stammered, horrified and tears forming in her eyes at the chaos. She turned to the now pale faced Wanda, then to the horrified crowds fleeing from the battle. Catra quickly rushed over to try and comfort both women. Adora could only stand silently in horror as the realization set in. Once again, people had died in the line of fire during her Superheroics.

Only this time...the Avengers were directly responsible.

To Be Continued…


It begins. Civil War.

I have been preparing and planning for this arc since this story began. We're basically in the final half of my story. Things are never gonna be the same for Catra and Adora when all is said and done. And thus, I only have one question to ask you all.

Whose Side Are You On?

I do not own the MCU or She-Ra

Feel free to comment if you're enjoying. And Prepare to Cry.

NEXT TIME: Are We Really Heroes?