32ND FINALS: CAPTAIN AMERICA VS. CITIZEN V

The crowd in the Garden were now more riled up than ever once they saw the two names of the participants about to partake in the next match. All in which made the announcer hurry center stage so he could get the match underway. "All right, New York! We are now down to the final two matches of the thirty-second finals, and am I right to assume that you're ready for the next match-up?!" The announcer asked as he pointed his microphone at the crowd, causing them to cheer so loud, it was impossible for the announcer to hear himself think.

Meanwhile, in the Avengers corner, Iron Man still stood in place with his armor projecting the holograms of both Spidey and Wasp, all while worried on what was taking them so long. "Come on, Jan," thought the distressed Shell-Head. "I can't keep this up forever."

Moments later, the shrunken forms of the REAL Spidey and Wasp soon flew in and landed into the places of their holographic images. Afterward, Wasp took a moment to look at Spidey, who still has the size-changing bracelet that she gave him on the wrist. "All right, Web-Head, on my cue."

Though still shaken up about being shrunken down smaller than the bug of his namesake, Spidey nevertheless placed his finger on top of the bracelet, then turned and nodded to the Wasp.

Once she received the Web-Head's acknowledgment, the Wasp soon pulled out I.D. card to alert Iron Man. "Okay, Tony, we're back."

Upon hearing her message, Iron Man secretly let out a sigh of relief before replying. "Good to know, Jan. Now enlarge yourselves, I'm shutting off the holograms now."

"Got it," Wasp replied, then turned to Spidey. "Now!"

Upon hearing that word, Spidey wasted no time and pressed the button as instructed, and soon began to grow to his original size. Once she saw the Wall-Crawler growing, Wasp soon joined him in growing as well, until they ended up back to human-size.

As for Iron Man, he managed to see both Spidey and Wasp growing by seeing their heat signatures through his eye lenses. Once his two teammates were back at full size, Iron Man mentally commanded his armor to shut off both of the holograms once the real Spidey and Wasp were in place, before anyone noticed. "Welcome back to the party," Iron Man told his returning teammates.

Spidey looked on to see the announcer taking the stage and addressing the audience, knowing that he was about to get the next match underway. "Looks like just in time too!" said the relieved Web-Head, then suddenly, the bracelet that was given to him began to fall apart piece by piece, as if it was were decaying. This caused Wall-Crawler felt the device falling apart; he looked at his hand and was surprised to see that the bracelet had crumbled off. "Man," said the astounded Spidey, still looking at the now bracelet free wrist with wide-open eyes behind his mask. "Man, apparently when Dr. Pym said 'temporary,' he wasn't kidding."

Wasp smiled a little upon hearing Spidey's remark, then turned away with a saddened expression. "You have no idea," she muttered, remembering how things ended between her and Hank Pym before the tournament.

Spidey noticed the normally chipper Wasp looking down, and was just about to ask her why and try to bring her spirits up.

Sadly, before the Web-Head could get the chance, he is interrupted when the announcer began speaking on his microphone. "And now, let's keep things rolling with two more flag barring fighters! As we have the Thunderbolts' caped swordsman, Citizen V, taking on the Avengers' leader, the Sentinel of Liberty himself, Captain America!"

With the massive pop from the crowd, Cap slid his shield over his right arm and walked towards the platform.

For Iron Man, even though he and Cap didn't always see eye to eye, he still had a great deal of respect for him. As such, the Shell-Head took this moment to walk over to the Super-Soldier. "Hey Cap," said Iron Man, getting his patriotic teammate's attention. "Give him, hell."

"That's the plan, Tony," Cap told his armored teammate with a small smile, then turned to Spidey and the others. "And I trust all of you have the same mindset?"

Spidey, being ever the admirer of the Super Soldier, decided to speak up in support of him. "I know I do! Go get 'em, Cap!"

Wasp heard the Wall Crawler's words, and it inspired her to smile once again.

Even Hawkeye, one of the Spidey's harshest critics, smirked and nodded. "For once, the bug and I agree one something!" said the archer. "Give that sword-wielding punk one for each of us, old man!"

Cap smiled at Hawkeye's words, and after giving his teammates a nod, he turned and proceeded to walk over to the teleportation pad to have his match.

Meanwhile, in the Thunderbolts' corner, Citizen V is leaning his head from side to side, popping his neck as he readied himself for his fight with Cap. Something he has been looking forward to all day. "Finally," said the caped swordsman, then turned to face the Patriot with a smug expression behind his mask. "Now, it is time for you to see how a TRUE leader fights, Osborn."

The Patriot, while holding his angered son back with one hand, only looked at Citizen V stone-faced and was not the least bit intimidated. "Just do your part and get Rogers out of the equation," he told his teammate with no tolerance whatsoever for his arrogance.

"Of course," Citizen V replied as he placed his right hand over the top of the handle of his sword that was resting in the sheath by his left side. "And I shall have no difficulty in doing so...unlike some armor-wearing comrades, I know." With that last verbal jab at the Patriot, Citizen V turned around and walked over to the teleportation pads, where Cap himself was already standing and waiting.

As for the Iron Patriot himself, he let out a sigh of aggravation as he watched his sword-wielding comrade step on to the pad. "How I look forward to when his usefulness to come to an end soon."

Finally, as Citizen V walked over and stepped on his pad, both he and Cap vanished out of thin air and over to their designated fight zone so they can begin their match.

The match this time was in Washington D.C., where a large platform was set up in front of the Lincoln Memorial, with energy ropes keeping the spectators back and four holo-screens floating above for the crowd to see all of the action. Moments later, two flashes of light appear and are revealed to be that of Cap and Citizen V, which caused the people to cheer wildly upon seeing them. Usually, Cap would be happy to be in Washington, as he always considered it to be an honor to be in the Nation's Capital. But now, the Super Soldier found himself forced to cast those feelings aside, for he must now do battle in the Capitol City against an unknown foe in the form of the mysterious caped swordsman standing right in front of him.

Citizen V couldn't ask for a better place to claim victory. For what better place to best and humiliate Cap than Washington, the capital city of the country he loves.

As the two combatants stare at each other, the Ref Bot finally floated right in between them, causing the crowd to cheer with anticipation. "All right gentlemen, I trust you both know the rules?" asked the announcer with a worried look on the Ref Bot's screen. Both Cap and Citizen V heard the announcer and each gave a nod of acknowledgment while still staring at one another. "Well then, let's not keep the people of D.C. waiting!" The announcer then mentally commanded the Ref Bot to fly up high into the air and above the holo-screens to get the match started.

Knowing battle was close at hand, Citizen V used his left hand to reach over his right shoulder, then proceeded to pull off his cape and throw it to the side, where a security guard stood close enough to catch it. "Oh Captain," said the masked Thunderbolt used his right hand to reach over and pull out his sword, then got into a fencing stance. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment."

Cap could sense the hatred in Citizen V's voice, and though it confused him as to why that was, he nonetheless kept his shield on hand as he stood ready to fight. "Don't know what you have against me, friend, but let's see what you've made of!"

This reply rubbed Citizen V the wrong way, causing him to give the Super Soldier a death glare. "I'm no friend of yours!" he growled. "I never was!"

With Cap and Citizen V in their respected fighting stances, the announcer soon said the words everyone was waiting to hear. "BEGIN!"

And just like that, Cap and Citizen V wasted no time running towards one another at full force. And it is Citizen V who attacked first by thrusting his sword forward and with his Cap's belt buckle.

Luckily for Cap though, he threw a right downward hook with his shield in hand to deflect the blade. Then, keeping a firm grip on the shield's leather strap, the Sentinel of Liberty threw his right arm up in a rising backhand motion and rammed the center of the shield into the swordsman's masked face, causing him to stumble backward and let go of his sword in the process. With the Thunderbolt now without a weapon, Cap attempted to end this running towards his dazed opponent, then jumped up and threw a right legged flying kick.

However, Citizen V spotted this attack coming his way and quickly ducked to avoid Cap's kick, causing the Super Soldier himself to land on his feet but end up right behind him.

Though Cap missed the kick, he still chose to continue his attack by standing up, then turn to see Citizen V up and facing him and continued his assault by throwing a shield enforced right hook, intending to hit Citizen V in the temple with the edge of his shield.

Citizen V, however, proved to be ready for this, and thus secretly pressed a button in his right glove, then held up his right arm, opened his palm and actually grabbed the shield itself, and surprisingly, stopped the attack without even breaking his hand. After saving himself, Citizen V counter-attacked by throwing a left legged front kick, hitting Cap in the chest and causing him to fall on the platform and on to his back. Now in control, the Thunderbolt took his opponent's shield with both hands, then jumped up, raising it over his head and as he came down, drove it downward with the intent of hitting Cap's belt buckle and win the match.

Cap, on the other hand, saved himself by rolling to the left side and causing Citizen V to ram the shield's edge into the platform instead. The Star-Spangled Avenger popped back up on his feet, ran towards Citizen V, who by this time was struggling to get the shield out, and delivered a hard left legged round kick, nailing the Thunderbolt in his covered face and causing him to roll backward and away from The Avenger's shield. Moments later, Cap quickly bent down, grabbed his shield with both hands, and successfully pulled the shield out of the platform. Once he retrieved his trademark weapon, Cap slid the shield over his right arm, then ran towards Citizen V, who by then had rolled backward and ended up in a kneeling position.

Once he regained his senses, Citizen V saw the Super Soldier coming his way and acted by secretly pressing a button in his left glove, then pointed that same hand where his sword was laying. What everyone didn't know was that Citizen V's glove contained circuitry that generated a magnetic field. This, in turn, pulled the sword towards the waiting Thunderbolt and allowing him to catch it with his open hand. Armed once again, and secretly pressed the handle against the sewn-in button to turn off the hidden magnet Citizen V spotted Cap shield enforced right hook, and thus placed the sword back into his right hand, then held it up to the right side and blocked Cap's shield attack, which resulted in putting the two in a standoff and staring intently into each others eyes.

Meanwhile, back in the Garden, as the audience cheered for the action, both the Avengers and Thunderbolts kept their eyes on the screen and were both anxious and tense as the match went on. While the rest of the Avengers were on edge, Wolverine was the most calm out of all of them, watching the fight with an emotionless expression on his face. "Well, Rogers hasn't been slacking off, I'll give him that."

Wasp heard Wolverine's words and glared at him as she spoke on the Super Soldier's behalf. "Yeah, well, he proved that by leading us in a fight against a planet-eating alien and his heralds."

Spidey also joined in on supporting the Sentinel of Liberty. "I can vouch for that," the Wall-Crawler said sternly to the clawed X-Man, then looked back up at the screen and went back to watching the match, he silently grew worried for Cap as the fight became more and more intense. "Come on, Cap!"

Back in Washington, Cap found himself on the defensive by using his shield to block and deflect numerous slashes from Citizen V's blade. Finally, after successfully blocking another slash, Cap managed to push the blade outward with his shield and managed to land a quick left jab to the Thunderbolt's face. With Citizen V stunned, Cap spun around and threw a shield enhanced spinning right back fist, nailing his dazed opponent in the left side of his head and causing him to tumble to the right side and fall to the platform floor.

While down, Citizen V shook off the effects of Cap's last attack and felt both embarrassed and angry on how he was taken down in front of both spectators in Washington, and those watching around the globe. As he stood back up, he turned to see Cap heading towards him, and in hopes of slicing the Avenger's belt buckle in two, or at the very least create distance between the two; he performed a rising upward slash.

But thanks to his quick reflexes, Cap managed to stop himself just in the nick of time, with the tip of his blade just inches away from touching his belt buckle. Moments later, Citizen V quickly got back into a fencing stance and thrusts his sword at Cap once again, only for Cap himself to hold his shield in front of him to block the incoming attack, then went on the offensive by throwing a left legged front kick, aiming for the Thunderbolt's belt buckle. This, of course, forced Citizen V to sidestep to the right, avoiding the Super Soldier's kick.

Once he stopped himself from falling forward, Cap looked over his right shoulder and saw Citizen V charging towards him with his sword raised over his head and throwing a downward slash, causing the battle-hardened leader of the Avengers to raise his shield over his head to block the blade. He then responded by throwing a right legged sidekick into the Thunderbolt's abdomen, causing his opponent to bend down slightly. All which allowed Cap to capitalize by throwing a left legged round kick, aiming for his enemy's masked head.

However, Citizen V noticed this and ducked his head just in time to avoid getting kicked in the head, causing Cap's left foot to pass right over him. As he stood up, Citizen V noticed Cap continuing his attack by throwing his shield in a back-fist motion, and with the sword still in his right hand, Citizen V countered by holding his blade to the left side to bock the shield attack, then followed up by sneaking a left jab to Cap's face, stunning him enough to make him take two steps back away from him. Now back in control, Citizen V took advantage of Cap's dazed state by thrusting his sword forward once again, with his opponent's belt buckle once again being his target.

Luckily for Cap though, he anticipated this and recovered fast enough to use his shield to block the attack and push the blade up and outward, giving him enough room to throw a left uppercut.

Unfortunately for the Super Soldier, Citizen V was just as quick to react and thus stopped Cap's punch by using his left hand to catch his wrist. Moments later, he spotted Cap going for a right legged knee strike to his belt buckle, and with a smirk behind his mask, raised his left leg in front of his chest to blocked the attack. "I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that, Captain."

Cap was disgusted by Citizen V's smug, arrogant attitude, especially when it reminded him of an old enemy which, according to the news, was already dead. Nevertheless, this position gave Cap an idea on a brutal, but still effective way to get back on top. "Whatever you say," he told the Thunderbolt, then leaned his head back and gave Citizen V a hard headbutt to his face, knocking him so loopy, he dropped his sword. With the masked swordsman now disoriented and unarmed, Cap jumped up and used his left leg to throw a round kick, nailing Citizen V in the head and taking him off of his feet and causing him to land on his left hand. As Cap landed safely on the platform, he looked down to see Citizen V's sword and placed his right foot on top of it. "Surrender is your only option."

Though the padding and mechanics in his left glove protected Citizen V's hand from being broken after landing on it, the Thunderbolt bolt also felt that the parts inside were broken, leading him to assume that the hopes of using the built-in magnet were dashed. As such, this prompted him to use one particular method of regaining an advantage, playing on Cap's sense of honor. "Big words coming from the man who now has both his shield and my sword," he told the Star-Spangled Avenger as he stood back up on his feet, then got into a fighting stance. "As oppose to being a real man and win this match with his bare hands."

Cap knew that Citizen V was trying to goat him into getting rid of his shield so he could leave himself open to whatever sneak attack that the Thunderbolt had in store for him, yet at the same time, he felt that if he was going to represent his teammates in this tournament, he had to show the people around the world that he, as well as the rest of the Avengers, were not cheaters and that they would not use unfair advantages, such as using weapons on unarmed men. Henceforth, he tossed his shield away and out of the platform, as well as kicking Citizen V's sword out as well. With both weapons now out of the fight, Cap got into a fighting stance as well, all the while still keeping eye contact with an equally ready Citizen V. "All right, Mister, if that's how you want it, let's see what you've got."

With an evil smile behind his mask, Citizencharged towards Cap himself, cocked his right fist back and threw a right hook.

Naturally, Cap held up his right arm to block the punch and went for a left jab, only for it to be stopped when Citizen V used his left hand to block and push his fist outward.

After saving himself from Cap's counter-attack, Citizen V continued his assault by throwing a right legged front kick to destroy the Super Solider's belt buckle.

Luckily for Cap, he protected himself by slightly bend down and throwing his left arm downward in an inside block fashion, successfully deflecting the kick. Afterward, he popped back up and threw a right elbow strike, aiming for Citizen V's right temple, which caused the masked Thunderbolt stopped by holding his right arm over to the right side of his head and blowing the blow.

Citizen V then fought back by throwing a left hook, only to miss when Cap spotted it and ducked underneath it. As Cap popped back up, Citizen V acted desperately by throwing a right legged roundhouse kick, intending to hit the Star-Spangled Avenger's right side.

Fortunately for Cap, though, he stopped this by using his right arm to block the kick. Moments later, he saw Citizen V pull his right leg back, then used it to throw another round kick, only this time, aiming for his head. Acting fast, Cap held his right arm over the that side of his head and successfully blocked the blow, then saw the Thunderbolt throwing a left hook, thus forcing the Super Solider to use both of his hands to catch the Thunderbolt's arm, then managed to sneak in a quick right back-fist into his masked face, With his opponent now dazed, the Sentinel of Liberty capitalized by throwing a left cross to Citizen V's jaw, one that was so hard, it made him stumble away in circles until he went down on one knee.

As the fallen Citizen V took a moment to shake his head and regain focus, he then saw Cap walking towards him, causing him to pop right back up and go for a right legged front kick, only for Cap to stop it by using his left leg to throw a low kick right into the Thunderbolt's extended ankle, causing him to yell in pain and pull his foot back. Now more frustrated as ever, Citizen V continued his assault by throwing a right hook.

Cap, on the other hand, saw this and threw his left arm in an inside block fashion and used his open hand to catch the Thunderbolt's wrist, stopping the attack instantly. Moments later, he responded by throwing a right cross.

Unfortunately, Citizen V took not of his flag barring enemy's last tactic and thus used his left hand to catch Cap's wrist as well.

With both men now in a stalemate, Cap and Citizen V both tried to push on another to the floor. As the combatants attempted to overpower the other, Citizen V whispered this Cap's ear. "I glad that we can settle this man to man..." said the Thunderbolt, and feeling that a small part of him wanted to reveal himself to his enemy, as well as taunt him to get under his skin. Thus, he decided to say this not in his English accent...but his naturally born German accent. "Especially since I can now finish what the Red Skull could not!"

Upon hearing Citizen V whisper these words in his real voice, Cap's eyes grew wide with shock as he recognized that evil, venomous true tone. One that belonged to a villain he knew all too well and was surprised to see was still alive. "Zemo!" he said quietly, then pushed the now revealed Zemo's arms outward all so he could make to throw a right legged front kick, nailing Zemo in the chest, causing him to step back a few steps and create some space between the two.

As Zemo reeled backward, he managed to control his fall by performing a back handspring and landing in a readied stance. And just in time, for he spotted Cap charging towards him with his right fists cocked back. The disguised villain waited for Cap to throw a right hook, then used both of his hands to grab his old enemy's arm and gave him a shoulder throw.

After landing hard on his back, Cap grunted in pain, but luckily, his hand-to-hand training on how to take a fall served him well not seriously hurting himself. But by now, he knew Zemo would put him in an armbar in this position, and thus pulled his right arm downward, which in turn, pulled Zemo down to him, allowing him to slide his left hand behind his enemy's head and pull him into a left legged knee strike, causing Zemo to released the hold and rolled backward.

However, Zemo managed to control his fall as well and thus rolled backward and in a kneeling position. "Well, well," said Zemo with a smirk behind his Citizen V mask, always taking pleasure in getting Cap riled up. "As you Americans would say...I may have struck a nerve."

Cap quickly stood back up, enraged on how Zemo was dressing in his red, white and blue, to help Osborn in his sick plot, and more likely, serve his own ends. As such, he angrily walked towards him, wanting to pummel him into a paste. Once Cap got close enough, he saw Zemo turned to his right side to throw a left legged sidekick, aiming for the Super Soldier's belt buckle. As such, Cap quickly threw his left arm downward to block the attack, and not wanting to give Zemo a chance to recuperate, used his right hand to grab him by the collar and lift him back to his feet. "I knew that the news of you being dead was too good to be true," said Cap with intense hatred. "I take it Osborn staged your dead, as well as helped you escape from Prison 42?"

"Astute as always, Captain," Zemo said smugly, then surprised Cap by giving him a hard headbutt to his face. As Cap staggered off in a daze and now having a broken nose, Zemo took advantage of this by throwing a left hook to Cap's jaw, followed by jumping right legged round kick into his head, sending the Super Soldier down hard.

At first, Cap laid there dazed and confused, his head throbbing after taking two brutal hits from his disguised arch enemy. However, he seemed slowly regain his focus when he faintly heard cheers from the crowd, but it wasn't until he heard a particular sound that regained full focus.

That being the sound of a young voice belonging to an eight-year-old boy, watching the fight with his father and wearing a T-shirt with Cap's shield on it. "Come on, Cap! Get up!"

Seeing that little boy's face was more than enough to lit the fire inside Cap once again and remind him to never give up to people like Zemo, and thus was more determined to both not let his teammates down, but that little boy, as well as the American people and the free souls around the world still not knowing the Thunderbolts' real plot.

But such courage meant nothing to Zemo, as he walked towards Cap and put his right hand on the Super Soldier's left shoulder. "Well, Captain, this little match of ours was quite fun," he told Cap while tightening his grip on his shirt. "But now, it is time for me to end it by humiliating you in front of these people, and when the tournament is over, heard them like sheep...after disposing of you myself!" With that said, and having an evil grin behind his mask, Zemo used his strength to pull Cap up to his feet so he can punch his belt buckle to win the match, and do it in front of the entire world.

However, Cap decided to turn this negative situation into a positive one, in that he allowed Zemo to pull him up, then surprised him by throwing a right upward elbow strike, nailing Zemo in the chin. Now on his feet, and with the disguised former leader of the Masters of Evil disoriented, Cap, delivered a hard right legged sidekick, hitting and destroying Zemo's belt buckle.

"NOOOOOO!" yelled Zemo as yellow energy consumed his entire being, then froze him stiff, causing him to fall to the platform.

This resulted in the Avengers fans in the crowd to cheer, and the Ref Bot to hover down and end up right next to the victorious Cap, with the announcer's smiling face on the bot's screen. "Here is your winner...CAPTAIN AMERICA!"

With fans cheering around the platform cheering in approval, Cap looked down at the now defeated Zemo with a grim expression. "The day I lose to the likes of you is the day I turn in my shield."

WINNER: CAPTAIN AMERICA