Zuchino stood next to Steve on the plane en route to Germany with a small smirk planted on his face. Despite his initial reservations, Coulson had actually designed a really nice piece of imitation Saiyan armor. It was nearly identical to his original model, the only difference being in the shoulder area. Coulson opted for two straps instead of an actual armored section covering them. Likely because it did not have the stretch to the original. It was black except for the red abdomen portion and shoulder straps.
The new black bodysuit covered his entire body from his neck to his ankles, and the boots were similar to his boots, black with red tips, but they were far sleeker and tougher, made with the same heat-resistant material his red fingerless gloves. He also used the latest scouter he swiped before coming to the planet. Instead of a small glass screen over his eye, it was simply an earpiece that projected a hologram in front of his eye when it detected a power level.
Every so often, Steve would look at Saiyan, taking in the weird battle armor. Finally, he couldn't help but ask. "So, is that what you usually wore for the battles?"
"Something similar to this, yes," Zuchino answered, looking over to him. "It was the standard uniform for the PTO Army."
"Did it actually protect you?"
"Well, it never really was useful for Saiyan. We're impervious to a lot of conventional weaponry, but it did help against many bladed and piercing weapons that could pierce our bodies."
"What about for energy blasts?"
"Pretty useless, but it isn't too bad. At most, its great asset was during the transformation into a Great Ape."
"Great Ape?" Steve asked, shooting a confused glance to Zuchino.
"Long story."
"When will I hear about that one?"
"Probably after this whole thing is over."
"You guys ready? We're almost at the drop point." Natasha cut in.
"We're jumping out?" Zuchino asked.
"Yep, the landing would give away our position too soon." She explained, earning a nod from the duo. "You'll be pretty close to the ground, though." The back of the plane opened, and the two stepped to the edge.
"Need help?" Zuchino looked over at the super-soldier. "I can fly you down."
"No, I think I can handle it," Steve assured as the Saiyan shrugged.
"Go!" Natasha signaled.
The two men jumped out of the plane dropped at least 60 feet. He landed with a thud in front of an older man, deflecting the bolt of energy from Loki with his shield back to the God of Mischief, knocking him to the ground. Zuchino chuckled, lowering down next to Steve. He looked towards the people and gave them a nod to run. They heeded it immediately.
"You know," Steve said, strolling towards Loki, "the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Steve referenced as Loki stood up, seething in rage.
"The soldier. The man out of time." He snarled with a sarcastic grin. "And a Saiyan as well? I was led to believe you were all killed by Freeza when your planet was destroyed."
"Well, we Saiyans are a lot more resilient than many think. Care for an example?" A yellow aura began rising off Zuchino.
"Much like the cockroach."
Before Zuchino could retort, the Qunijet appeared behind the duo with its machine gun pointed directly at Loki.
"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down," Natasha ordered. Loki discharged another blast of energy towards her, but she maneuvered out of the way.
Steve threw his shield in response, striking Loki square in his chest. Zuchino followed up with a dashing headbutt, sending the Asgardian skidding backward. Zuchino charged an energy blast in his right hand, but Loki fired a powerful blast from the scepter directly at the Saiyan. It connected and blasted the surprised Saiyan into a nearby car.
Steve threw the shield again, distracting Loki long enough to connect with a hard right hook, knocking Loki's head back. The Asgardian swung his scepter down to Steve, but it bounced off the shield. Loki pushed up, knocking the shield from Cap's hands and slamming the butt of his scepter into Steve's stomach. Steve flew off to the side before correcting himself with a small flip.
Panting, Steve looked up and threw the shield at Loki, who quickly knocked it to the ground. He failed to realize it was a distraction until the blue-gloved fist connected with his face. Loki twirled and tried to impale the super-soldier, but he bent backward and dodged it.
Standing back up, Steve landed another solid punch to Loki's side; Loki responded by smacking the human away with the scepter. Steve bent down on a knee and attempted to catch his breath but was surprised by Loki placing the blasting end against the back of his head. "Do you yield?" He growled.
"I'll let the Saiyan answer that," Steve responded as Zuchino appeared to slam his palm onto Loki's face and sent the deity stumbling back.
Flashing in front of the Loki, Zuchino delivered a savage kick to the Asgardian's stomach, sending him tumbling backward. Loki corrected himself and fired another energy blast from his scepter at the approaching Saiyan. Zuchino easily swatted the blast into the air but noted the strange burn it left on his flesh. The blasts didn't seem powerful enough to do that amount of damage on him. In his confusion, Zuchino left himself open to a charging shoulder from the God of Mischief. The Saiyan fell back slightly but corrected himself and pulled his hand back, a ball of red energy sparking to life; Loki readied his scepter in response.
Before the two could fire, loud rock music from the Quinjet broke the fight. Suddenly, like a rocket from the sky, a blast of energy slammed Loki in the chest as Iron Man landed, his palms smoking from the blast. He looked at Loki and aimed his palm and rockets from his wrist and elbow at him with the intention to kill.
"Make your move, Reindeer Games." Iron Man stated as Zuchino and Steve over to him, Zuchino's hand glowing with red energy and Steve carrying his shield. His crown and scepter disappeared in a yellow glow before slowly raising his hands. The arsenal disappeared from Tony as he lowered his arms. "Good move."
"Mr. Stark." Steve greeted.
"Captain," Tony replied before his head tilted to Zuchino. "ET."
"Tin Man."
In the Quinjet, Loki sat in the back, chained down to the floor and staring straight ahead out of the window. The trio of warriors stood over him, watching for his every movement. Zuchino continued trying to feel for his power signature, but he felt nothing. Even his scouter wasn't picking up on anything. Natasha behind him was talking to Fury, informing him of the capture.
"Is he saying anything?" Fury crackled through their comms.
"Not a single thing." Natasha radioed back.
"Just get him back here. We're low on time." He stated as the comms switched off. Steve glanced back and muttered, "I don't like it."
"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony inquired.
"He's right; Asgardians don't go down without a fight. This was far too easy." Zuchino answered.
"Still, you are pretty spry for a smaller fellow," Tony told the Saiyan, looking him up and down with a curious glance. "What's your thing? Pilates?"
"Incinerating annoying beings usually helps keep me going." Zuchino gave Tony an annoyed glare.
"What?" Steve asked, still confused about the word "Pilates."
"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things…you know…doing time as a Capsicle." Tony implied, earning an even harder glare from both Zuchino and Steve.
"I don't recall Fury telling us you would coming on this mission with us, Mr. Stark," Steve noted.
"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you," Tony stated. Steve's mouth twisted to form a biting retort, but thunder rumbled outside. Zuchino looked through the front and saw they were suddenly engulfed in storm clouds that seemed to come from nothing. In addition, Loki broke from his apparent trance and looked around the ship with a mixture of anticipation and fear.
"What's the matter, afraid of a little lightning?" Steve inquired mockingly.
"I'm not overly fond of what follows." He replied. Suddenly, the hologram screen of Zuchino's scouter appeared, warning of an approaching power level…and it was powerful. Any warning Zuchino prepared was stalled in his throat by the jet lurching down from whatever made the thud on top of the plane.
"What the hell?" Zuchino muttered as Tony grabbed his mask and Steve grabbed his shield. Walking forward, Tony walked to the control panel and opened the door.
"What the hell are you doing, Stark?" Zuchino questioned before the cause of their bump fell down on the ramp: a blonde, muscular man with an oversized hammer landed on the platform: Thor. Tony raised his arm to hit him with an energy wave, but Thor quickly swatted him away with the hammer, causing him to tumble back to Zuchino's feet. Still in shock, the trio watched as Thor ripped Loki from the bonds by his throat and jumped from the plane, flying away.
"And now there's that guy," Tony mumbled as he stood to his feet.
"Another Asgardian?" Natasha asked.
"It's Thor," Zuchino reported back.
"Think the guy's a friendly?" Steve questioned, looking over.
"Doesn't matter," Tony stated. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost." He explained as he turned to follow.
"Stark, we need a plan of attack; this guy is incredibly powerful!" Zuchino warned.
"I have a plan. Attack." Tony said before he blasted off after the Asgardians.
Zuchino growled as a furious blue aura wrapped around his body," Kami-damned son of a bitch will get himself killed." With that, the Saiyan blasted after the billionaire. He quickly caught up before clicking on his scouter, scanning to find the previous power level.
"What does that do?"
"Help me lock in and read Thor's power level," Zuchino stated.
"Is it up for sale?"
"Not in your dreams." The scouter beeped before giving a glowing image of Thor on the edge of a mountain.
"Down there." Zuchino pointed as he and Tony blasted downwards. Zuchino got there first and caught the Asgardian with a surprise roundhouse kicking the Asgardian away from Loki and off the mountain. The force of the kick propelled Thor several yards away, through several trees before coming to a rest after skidding on his back. He stood to his feet, glaring at the Saiyan.
"Do not touch me again, Saiyan," Thor warned, standing up as Iron Man came into view.
"Then don't take my stuff again, your highness," Zuchino warned, even doing a mock bow while glaring at the Asgardian.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with," Thor told them.
"Uh…Shakespeare in the park?" Tony sarcastically asked. "Does thou mother know you wear-th her drapes?"
"This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice." Thor explained.
"He gives up the cube; he's all yours. But until then," Tony said before his faceplate came down, "stay out of my way…tourist."
Both men began walking away before Thor threw the hammer at Iron Man and hit him squarely in the back, knocking Tony through a tree. Zuchino sighed before turning around, crossing his arms.
"Listen, I'm not in the best mood right now. So why don't you just..." The hammer slammed into Zuchino's chest, flying through the three trees behind him. They all fell on top of the Saiyan, resembling a pile of broken matchsticks. Thor turned around to look for his adoptive brother before the trees behind him vaporized in a flash of yellow light.
Thor turned around to see the Saiyan stand up, looking very different. The most immediate change: his black hair was now golden blonde and stood on end, giving it a rising, flame-like appearance. His muscle tone was more defined, and the skin tone had grown slightly lighter. Finally, a pulsing, flame-like aura engulfed the Saiyan's body.
"Remember now," Zuchino said, his emerald eyes zeroing in on Thor while he cracked his neck, "I gave you a chance." He blasted forward, kicking up several pieces of debris behind him, and landed a fierce punch in Thor's jaw, sending the shocked Asgardian careening further into the forest. With Thor temporarily handled, Zuchino looked back to Tony with an annoyed glare.
"Go get Loki." He ordered; looking forward, he zipped out of the way of the flying hammer sent from Thor. He fired a golden ki blast in return, but the hammer moved faster than the ki blast. Now in his hand, Thor spun his hammer, shattering the ki blast and sending small bits of energy flying into the trees. One of Zuchino's eyebrows cocked with interest before he dodged an uppercut and returned with a heel kick to Thor's gut.
Thor flew back but corrected himself in the air to knock the Saiyan away with a punch. Dazed, he failed to see the hammer heading directly towards him and slamming him down into the ground. Thor finished off with a savage punch down, but his fist traveled through the Saiyan's body. Confused as he watched it fade away, he didn't see the energy blast from Tony hit him from the side, exploding him forwards. Tony shot forward with a kick that knocked Thor away. He corrected himself and looked back to see Zuchino and Tony dashing towards him.
Ready for the duo, Thor quickly turned and slammed his hammer into approaching Zuchino's chin, dazing him enough to knock him off course. He raised his hammer to the sky, lightning striking it. He blasted the energy towards Iron Man, stopping him dead in his tracks. Zuchino flung a blue ball of energy towards Thor. It connected, stopping the electricity before Iron Man fired both of his repulsors into the Asgardian's chest, launching him backward as Zuchino rejoined Tony.
"You okay?" Tony asked.
"I've had much better," Zuchino said as he spat out blood. "How about you?"
"Same here," Tony said, nimbly dodging the flying hammer. He shot forward towards the Asgardian, delivering a savage headbutt. Unaffected and unamused, Thor returned with a headbutt of his own, sending the human skidding backward on his back with a sizable dent in the helmet. Zuchino teleported next to him and threw a punch, but Thor grabbed it and swung him away. Zuchino reversed the swing trajectory, holding Thor and using the momentum to throw him to the ground, creating a large crater underneath. Zuchino aimed his palm down and began forming a pulsing ball of yellow ki.
"Stay down!" He called out before Thor grabbed his armor's collar and slammed the Saiyan's head into the ground, expanding the crater even wider. Zuchino grabbed the Asgardian's arm and began to spin. Unable to catch his bearings, Thor spun before being thrown into the air by the Saiyan. Zuchino passed him in the air and fired off a beam of ki. Thor swatted it away and dashed higher into the air to deliver a hard hammer strike to the Saiyan's skull. Zuchino shot down to the ground like a golden bomb, exploding in a massive dust cloud.
Tony came from behind, tackling Thor towards the ground, who dropped his hammer in surprise. They crashed into a few trees before tumbling down on the ground, but both combatants were immediately back on their feet. Thor delivered a punch to the chest before raising the metal man above his head and slamming him down to the ground. He stretched his hand back and reclaimed his hammer. He brought the hammer down, aimed for Tony's head, but Tony blasted out of the way.
"Hello," Zuchino appeared next to Thor, a ball of energy close to the Asgardian's stomach, "special delivery." The ki blast exploded, sending Thor flying upwards before Tony blasted forward with a flying kick, knocking Thor into the ground.
"You know, we actually making a really good team." Tony stated as he landed next to Zuchino.
The Saiyan took one look into the glowing eyes of the helmet and simply said, "No." He dashed forward and was immediately knocked out of the way by a recovering Thor with his hammer. "Kami-damn, that hurt," Zuchino muttered as he massaged his jaw while Tony charged forward before something hit him in the chest, stopping him.
"That's enough!" Steve scolded, reclaiming his shield before he jumped down. "Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here." He told the Asgardian.
"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes!" The Asgardian shouted back.
"Then prove it! Put the hammer down."
"Um, yeah, no! Bad call! He loves his ham-" Tony tried to warn before the Asgardian bitch-slapped him back.
"You want me to put the hammer down?" The Asgardian asked as he tore into the air, hammer aimed for Captain, who instinctively raised the shield. The hammer struck as a shockwave roared through the area, forcing Zuchino to put an energy barrier around himself. When the dust cleared and revealed that none of the trees were still standing, the warriors stood to their feet and Zuchino lowered his barrier.
"Are we done here?" Steve asked.