Addressing the fact that the Liberty Brigade kills in this chapter…recall that they are not fighting crime on the streets. They're in a war. That is all. Enjoy!
HYDRA soldiers continuously fired at Alan, but he dodged all the bullets with a circular shield he constructed around himself. He smirked before the shield dissipated – and he created a gigantic hammer, with which he crushed all the soldiers. Namor saw this, and simply gave Alan a deadpan look.
"You can create anything you want, yet you always create hammers and swords."
Alan shook his head at the king. "I would love to see you do better, Namor."
"Not now, you two." Miss America interjected as she and Doctor Fate flew towards the king and the emerald warrior. "We got too much at stake!"
Alan and Namor looked at each other for a moment before they joined the other two and charged towards the massive HYDRA tanks that were heading there way. Miss America and Namor punched and kicked at several of the tanks until they were broken and demolished, while Alan smashed at the tanks with more hammers, and then he created a gigantic hand with which he grabbed a massive tank and threw it against a tree.
"Fate shall not forgive any of you!" Doctor Fate yelled out as he shot out blue mystical fire towards the tanks and soldiers.
Cap was able to watch this from afar as he and Peggy continued to shoot at the HYDRA soldiers. One soldier tried to ram him in the back of the head with his gun, but Cap could hear the soldier and knocked him out by ramming him with his shield. Then he saw a bullet pass by dangerously close to Peggy's face, and he retaliated by shooting the HYDRA soldier in the legs, before shooting him in the stomach. Some HYDRA soldiers then tried to circle Cap and Peggy, but Allied soldiers began shooting at the HYDRA soldiers, with Bucky, Rock, and Wildcat among them.
Admist the commotion, Cap and Peggy were able to concentrate again and opened fire at the enemy soldiers. Cap saw Wildcat grin as he broke the neck of one HYDRA soldier before shooting another in the face, and then bash yet another one's head against a tree.
Wildcat's grin morphed into a glare when more HYDRA soldiers tried to circle the five, but just as they began to prepare themselves, Jay and Whizzer came along and snapped all their necks before super-speeding away.
Bucky simply took a look at Cap as they continued to open fire at their opponents. "Ever imagine you be fighting along speedsters? As a Super Solider?"
Cap let out a small smile as he bashed two HYDRA soldiers with his SHIELD. "Why would I have ever thought of that, Bucky."
"I'd recommend just shooting, gents." Peggy said, also having a small smile on her face. Cap and Peggy went back-to-back for a moment as they resumed shooting at the HYDRA soldiers.
Wildcat continued to shoot and bash as he pleased. "So much for a thousand year Reich, huh?" He said boisterously as he once more bashed an enemy soldier's head into a tree.
But then he heard a sound that seemed like it came from an animal, and he had a nervous look on his face – as did Cap, knowing where that roar had to be coming from. Then, from the forest, a gigantic white gorilla emerged and slammed its fist towards Wildcat, sending him flying several feet. Everyone recognized the gorilla right away – Gerard Shugel, the Ultra-Humanite.
Ultra-Humanite beat on his chest, and the Allied soldiers began to concentrate some of their efforts onto the beast. Peggy shot Ultra-Humanite right in the stomach, to which the gorilla yelled in pain and charged towards the British agent. Bucky, Cap, Wildcat, and Rock all fired upon Ultra-Humanite, but the gorilla was able to dodge their bullets even while in agony.
"Damned stupid monkey!" Sergeant Rock yelled in frustration.
Ultra-Humanite charged towards Cap and Wildcat, slamming the former with the back of his hand, Cap tried to shield himself, but it could do little good against the powerful ape.
Then a green-haired lady clad in green body armor teleported seemingly from nowhere and kicked Cap in the stomach with a smirk on her face. This lady was Ophelia Sarkissian, aka Viper. She had no powers aside from toxic immunity, but she carried on her person a teleportation ring that granted her the ability to teleport. She decked Cap in the face as he tried to get up, still smirking, before she turned and faced Ultra-Humanite.
"Remember, Shugel. No survivors!"
"Already knew that, Viper!" Ultra-Humanite replied, before he screamed in rage and tried to grab Peggy by the leg, only to get shot in the chest by Bucky.
Ultra-Humanite glared at Bucky and let out a deafening screech. He then proceeded to beat on his chest and decked Bucky in the chest, sending him flying.
Rock opened fire at the ape, as did Cap, but Ultra-Humanite remained standing. Ultra-Humanite stood there for a moment and grinned, before Black Canary came running from behind and unleashed her Canary Cry towards him. Cap flung his shield towards Ultra-Humanite and sliced his arm off, causing the gorilla to yell in agony. Bucky got back up, and he, Rock, and Peggy began shooting at Ultra-Humanite nonstop, until a pool of blood was spilling out from the ape.
Bucky breathed a breath of relief and looked at Cap. "Never thought I'd take down a talking ape."
"I never saw any of this coming, Bucky." Cap as he went to get back his shield. As he did, however, Viper teleported in front of him and punched him in the face.
Black Canary charged towards Viper and threw out her fist, but Viper blocked her punch and kneed Canary in the stomach. Viper teleported behind her blonde opponent and kicked the back of her knee, causing Canary to fall down to the ground. Viper teleported in front of Canary and yanked her hair before punching her in the face.
"Burn in hell, you German scum!" Canary yelled as she got up and headbutted Viper. She then let out her Canary Cry and sent Viper flying.
Cap began to shoot at Viper, but the HYDRA lady repeatedly teleported around to avoid every bullet that the Captain fired. Peggy to fire towards Viper, too, but she had just as much luck as Cap did. Black Canary let out another Canary Cry, but Viper only smirked and teleported in front of Cap, punching him in the stomach twice and then backhanding Peggy. Viper
Viper took a moment and laughed sinisterly, for Wildcat to seize the opportunity and shoot her in the back twice. Viper stood there and groaned as blood came down from her mouth before she collapsed to the ground, dead.
"Two down." Peggy noted as Cap looked at Ultra-Humanite and Viper's bodies for a few moments.
Then they heard the overwhelming crackling of lightning, and saw Jay and Whizzer speeding around, battling Clariss. They stopped for a moment, and while Cap, Wildcat, Canary, and the soldiers advanced on, Cap got a little glimpse of the speedster battle.
Clariss grabbed Jay by his shirt and threw him against the tree, knocking his helmet off. "You both waste the power and potential of the Speed Force!" Clariss yelled out, though Cap knew that neither Jay nor Whizzer would be able to understand what he was saying. Then HYDRA soldiers began firing at the Captain, and he concentrated his efforts and shot right back.
"Say," Whizzer said with a smile as he punched Clariss from behind. "Why does he call himself the Reverse-Flash?"
Jay super sped towards his helmet, and then punched Clariss in the stomach and in the chest. "Well, Bobby, Reverse-Whizzer just sounds really lame!"
Clariss punched them both in the faces at super speed, and the three began zooming around the forest again while Cap shot at two HYDRA soldiers, sending them both falling to the ground dead. The main HYDRA base was in sight now, and Cap saw Alan, Namor, Fate, and Miss America demolishing several enemy tanks. As the HYDRA base was only about fifty feet away, something truly made him raise an eyebrow, however. He saw a Canadian solider get shot at several times – only for the solider to keep storming on as the bullets simply popped out of his chest and stomach.
The soldier noticed Cap's confusion. "Nothin' to see here, bub." He said, before he resumed opening fire at the enemy soldiers.
Several HYDRA soldiers then tried to circle around Cap, but he bashed at several of them with his shield while Peggy, Bucky, and Rock killed the rest. However, Rock was then shot in the chest by an enemy soldier, and he was forced to kneel down to the ground while Cap rushed to his aid.
"Damnit it all to hell!" Rock yelled out as blood spilled from his chest, before groaning in pain.
"It'll be alright, Sergeant!" Cap reassured Rock, before he was forced to deflect bullet fire with his shield.
Then a soldier shot Peggy in the shoulder, but since she never got the Super Soldier Serum, this would be more severe, and Cap knew it. "Peggy, no!" He yelled out.
"Steve, just fight on!" She said as she held her shoulder in agony. Cap had no time to reply, because all of a sudden, shadow beings circled Cap and began punching and kicking him. And he immediately knew who was responsible – Ian Karkull.
Ian Karkull was an American archeologist who had mastered several mystic forces that allowed him to gain access to a realm known as the Shadowlands. He could summon shadow beings from this realm, and unfortunately for the Allies, Schmidt and Krieger persuaded Karkull and gained his loyalty. And now he levitated in the air, clad in green and lime armor, and watching as his shadow beings began manifesting out of thin air.
Shadow beings were everywhere now, and Bucky was firing at them while trying to protect Peggy and Rock. Jay, Whizzer, and Clariss all zoomed into the area, and Jay and Whizzer decked and kicked Clariss a few times before they looked at each other, began vibrating their hands, and phased them through Clariss' chest. The Reverse-Flash fell dead to the ground, and Jay and Whizzer began super speeding around, trying to combat the shadow beings.
"Did you all think you were going to get through so easily?!" Karkull gloated as he continued to levitate in the air.
Starman began creating yellow energy blasts with his rod and shot them all towards Karkull, causing him to crash to the ground. "You Nazis and your unbearable arrogance…"
Cap began bashing at the shadow beings with his shield, and they would instantly dissipate. Whizzer and Jay both super sped around and defeated as many shadow beings as he could, before one of them decked Jay in the face and it and two others began kicking him around. Alan grabbed all three with a giant hand construct and flung them away while Namor charged down towards the shadow beings.
In the midst of all this, more and more Allied soldiers were falling down to the ground as HYDRA was beginning to gain the upper hand. Cap was barely able to deflect a bullet that fired out of seemingly nowhere, and he saw that it was Baron Heinrich Zemo who had fired towards him. Heinrich was clad in a muted purple military outfit, but what really stuck was the purple mask on his face.
"Well, well, well…Captain America. Give it up, Rogers! You've already lost!" Heinrich said before he prepared to shoot at Cap again. But the Captain deflected the next bullet and bashed Zemo with his shield. Zemo slammed his gun towards Cap's face, and managed to get a good jab. He then grabbed Cap by his shoulders and headbutted him in the face, before Cap managed to punch him in the stomach. Zemo tried to uppercut Cap, but the super soldier dodged and gritted his teeth as he readied himself to finish off Zemo once and for all.
Meanwhile, Jay, Namor, and Alan had all taken to battling Karkull. They all got in as many jabs and kicks as they could, before Karkull merely grinned. The blood that was running down his nose disappeared, and he manifested into a shadow form. He decked Alan in the face, and punched Namor in the stomach twice, and then kicked Jay in the stomach.
While this happened, Zemo readied his gun and prepared to shoot Cap again, but Cap acted first and shot Zemo's gun out of his hand. Zemo yelled in pain, and Cap bashed at him with his shield again. Zemo punched Cap in the chest with his good hand and kicked him in the upper leg, but Cap punched Zemo once in the chest and three times in the face, and then kicked him down to the ground. As his opponent groaned and tried to get up, Cap aimed his gun and shot Zemo, killing him instantly.
Starman, Namora, and Miss America all fought out the shadow beings…only for Krieger to come flying out from the HYDRA base. Miss America tried to punch him in the face, only for Krieger to swiftly dodge and elbow her in the stomach. Starman blasted at Krieger, but he only grabbed Starman's Gravity Rod away from him and crushed it, causing him to fall down to the ground.
Just as he was a few feet away from falling to his death, Namora swooped in and grabbed him just in time. "Just fall back, Ted. We'll handle this." Namora assured as she brought Starman to the ground properly, only for the two to see Miss America crashing to the ground. Doctor Fate blasted mystical fire at Krieger, but the Nazi loyalist grabbed the Helmet of Fate off from Fate's head and threw it down to the ground, before knocking the sorcerer out by punching him in the face four times.
Cap wished he could help in the fight against Krieger, but there was nothing he could do. All he could do was try and fight off the shadow beings alongside Bucky and Wildcat. He saw Jay, Alan, and Namor fighting off Karkull, and they were still seemingly overwhelmed by the shadow man. That is, until Alan created a sword and began slashing at Karkull repeatedly. Karkull yelled in agony, and Jay and Namor began throwing in their punches and kicks, while Alan slashed at him with his sword construct, until Karkull finally roared in agony and exploded into a bunch of black energy – energy that looked like it seeped its way through the three heroes that had defeated him.
With Karkull's death, the shadow beings disappeared, to Cap's great relief. He immediately rushed towards Rock and Peggy, hoping they were still alright.
"Don't worry about us, Captain!" Rock yelled out as he continued to hold his chest.
"Go, Steve." Peggy said as she groaned in pain. "Finish off HYDRA. For good."
Steve gave Peggy a loving smile before he charged towards the HYDRA base, but not before he saw Torch crash down to the ground by the hand of Krieger. Knowing he could not fight Krieger, Cap ran on into the base, gunning the HYDRA soldiers one-by-one.
Wildcat yelled enthusiastically as he grabbed a HYDRA soldier and snapped his neck, as he charged on alongside Cap and Bucky, gunning down the enemies. The amount of Allied and enemy soldiers on the ground was about even, something Cap would not accept. He bashed several of the soldiers with his shield, sending them falling down as he dashed on, hoping to finish off Schmidt, or the 'Red Skull', as propaganda referred to him as.
They ran into Arnim Zola, who's eyes widened upon seeing the Allied forces, and he immediately threw his hands up in the air. "No! No, goddamnit! My life's work can't go to waste!" He yelled out as he tried to run for his life. Bucky and Wildcat looked at each and smirked both they both opened fire at Zola, firing a total of seven bullets. Zola fell dead on the floor, and Bucky looked at Cap.
"That guy was always lame." He said as Cap bashed two more HYDRA soldiers against the wall before they, Wildcat, and the surviving Allied soldiers continued to storm the base.
It was only a few minutes before they reached the central, main area of the base – and among many HYRDRA soliders, there stood Schmidt at the top balcony, and what looked like several gigantic missiles. The missiles themselves would've been daunting enough, but they were all glowing purple, which unsettled more than a few of the Allied soldiers.
"Captain America!" Schmidt yelled while smiling smugly. "You and your fellow 'superheroes' may have mowed down my own super freaks, but that doesn't matter. The war's conclusion has already been written." Red Skull had in his hand a control button, and Cap knew that couldn't mean anything good. He looked at Bucky when the latter fired his rifle towards Red Skull, who was forced to dodge. "Finish them off!" Schmidt screamed towards his men, who began firing at the Allies.
Luckily for them, Jay and Whizzer showed up to the scene and plowed through many of the soldiers while Cap and Bucky ran towards Schmidt, wanting to take him out themselves. Both repeatedly shot at the leader of HYDRA, and he was forced to try and take cover before he could launch the missiles. Wildcat continued to shoot at the soldiers while Jay and Whizzer fought on, snapping the necks of several soldiers at super speed.
Cap and Bucky ran up towards the balcony and Bucky shot at Schmidt once more, though he just barely missed. Cap went to shoot Schmidt, only to find out that he was out of ammo. Instead, he jumped and, with his enhanced capabilities, was able to kick Schmidt right in the face. He bashed Schmidt around with his shield and punched him twice in the face and once in the chests, before Schmidt punched back.
"Of all you American pieces of shit, you're the one I hate most!" Schmidt spit out as he then kicked Cap in the stomach.
Cap simply glared at the Red Skull. "When even Hitler is afraid of you, you need to rethink your life."
Schmidt only grinned. "Hitler's not willing to go far enough. That's why I will rise when he falls!"
He held Schmidt in place, allowing Bucky to try and put him down for good. But Bucky was distracted when he saw Alan and Namor crashing into the room, with Krieger flying into the room with a death glare on his face. Schmidt elbowed Cap in the stomach and damn near pressed the button, only for Cap to slam him in the face with his shield. Schmidt tried to get up, but Cap kicked him in the chest, causing the orb he had been carrying with him to slip out of his jacket pocket.
Cap noted that it was also glowing purple, like the missiles, and Bucky evidently did, too, when he aimed towards the orb.
"No! You fool! Don't!" Schmidt pleaded, but it was too late. Bucky shot the orb, and it began to spaz out as purple energy emitting everywhere in the room. Schmidt grabbed the orb and breathed heavily as Cap tried to figure out what he was doing, but then the energy intensified and he made a run for it along with Bucky. There was an explosion of purple flame, and when Cap looked up, both Schmidt and the orb were gone.
He wondered what the hell had just happened, but his train of thought wasn't helped when he saw Namor and Jay battling Krieger, with Whizzer and Wildcat both laid unconscious on the ground. Alan, meanwhile, began to smash at the missile panels with an energy-constructed hammer, deactivating them. Of the ten missiles, he had done this with nine of them when Krieger grabbed him and threw him towards Namor, causing them both to crash towards the wall. Krieger then grabbed Bucky by his shirt and flew up, bursting out the room.
Cap looked with horror as he could just barely see Krieger swing Bucky around and throw him off, knowing how that he was done for.
Krieger then zoomed towards Cap and decked him hard in the face, sending him flying. "Now you, Rogers…I want to savor your suffering."
Even with the implication that he was holding back, Krieger's punches and kicks hurt like hell as Cap could do little to fight back. He tried to punch the Nazi in the face, but Krieger quickly dodged this and punched Cap in the stomach three times, each time hurting worse than the last. Blood ran down from Cap's nose as he tried to bash Krieger with his shield, only for him to dodge and elbow the Captain in the chest.
Cap was just barley saved when Jay zoomed towards Krieger and began punching him at super speed. Krieger let out a war cry and zoomed towards the balcony, Jay following close behind and grabbed him by his uniform back to where Cap was standing. However, they both see that Krieger had grabbed hold of the button – and he pressed it, and fumes began to exhaust out from the tenth missile.
"No! NO!" Cap yelled out. He grabbed a grenade from a dead soldier and charged towards the missile as fast as he could.
"You cannot win, Captain!" Krieger said as he flew towards Cap, with Jay just barely stopping him.
While Jay held off Krieger, Cap just barely made it to the balcony and jumped towards the missile, stabbing it with his shield.
When the missile shot up into the air, Cap couldn't believe the speeds. He may have never done anything like this before, but this didn't feel right. Cap figured that the purple energy, whatever it was, had enhanced the missile considerably, and it stormed out of the forest at unbelievable speeds. Even with his enhanced stamina, Cap could barely keep on.
But he had to. He could tell that this missile could cause death and destruction unlike anything the world had ever seen before. He gritted his teeth and grunted as he stabbed the missile panel out with his shield, throwing it down to the distant ground below. Cap honestly couldn't decipher how he hadn't been blown off the missile yet, but he knew that one wrong slip and he would indeed be sent flying off.
He groaned as he got the grenade out from his belt, but he almost slipped off the missile, and he was forced to just try and stay on. Several minutes passed as Cap tried with all his might not to get blown off the missile. And as he saw water down below, he know he had to act right away, before this missile's target was blown to kingdom come.
Finally, he grabbed the grenade, detonated it, and threw it into the missile. And then he let go. And as he fell down, towards the freezing waters below, the missile exploded, letting out purple energy several thousand feet around. Cap lost unconsciousness as he drew closer and closer to the waters below.
Back at the base, Peggy and Rock both looked up at the explosion, able to see it from quite afar. Among the unconscious superheroes, Torch got up, and also witnessed the explosion.
Peggy and Rock's attention was taken when Jay, Alan, and Namor charged out of the base, with an unconscious Krieger in hand. Jay had a solemn look on his face and took his helmet off, placing it by his chest and looking down. Alan also frowned, and even Namor didn't look too happy.
"Steve's gone." Jay said in a voice as solemn as his face, and Peggy looked back up at the sky, tearing up as Jay went to comfort her.