Cap felt sore from all the punches, kicks, and other forms of abuse he had taken from Hydra, and sweat poured down from his head, but he tossed that feeling aside as he bashed Krieger in the face with his shield. Krieger growled and uppercut Cap.
'How do we not get head trauma?' Cap wondered to himself as he caught Krieger's fist before the latter could punch him again. He kneed Krieger and threw him onto the ground.
He could hear the fighting everywhere. He heard punching, smashing, kicking, blasting, shooting, and exploding noises all around him. Krieger tried to knee Cap, but Cap deflected it with his shield. Cap then grabbed Krieger by the throat.
Krieger kicked Cap in the stomach and slammed him against the wall. "Under my command, humanity will prosper."
Krieger shoved Cap into the wall three times before Cap pushed Krieger away and slammed his shield into the Hydra leader's stomach.
Then Krieger grabbed Cap by the back of his outfit and began flying into the air. The other Vanguadians battled the Juggernaut and the Shaggy Man, and as Cap was sent flying away, they grew farther and farther into the distance.
Then Krieger tossed Cap towards several monitors in a different room that looked identical to the one they had left. The monitor displayed an old report of Lois Lane discussing the Atlantean invasion of New York City. When Cap landed on the ground, his muscles pained as he tried to get back up. When he did, Krieger was lunging towards him, extending out a fist.
Cap barely managed to get out of the way, and he watched as Krieger crashed onto the ground. Then Cap took a quick look over his shoulder – there were several open gray pods about a hundred feet away. Krieger flew over to deck Cap in the face, sending Cap a few feet back, towards the pods. Cap turned Krieger around and kicked him in the shin before crossing him in the face.
He punched Krieger several times. In the face, in the stomach, and the chest. They were getting closer and closer to the pods now. He then lunged towards Krieger and tackled him. They both fell into one of the pods.
They landed on some buttons, and they were crammed into the space. The pod began going upwards, destroying the rock above it as it did so. Cap and Krieger could do little to each other due to the small space. The pod only appeared to have room for one person.
After about a minute, the pod stopped going upwards. When they were not in motion anymore, Krieger kicked Cap upwards.
Cap saw the logo for the Daily Planet plastered large on the back wall. Beneath the logo stood the receptionist center, and the receptionist fled, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. Other people in the building were fleeing as well. Among them was Lois Lane.
Cap saw her looking at him and Krieger as she ran. "What the hell?!" she yelled out.
Then Superman came charging through the ground, and in a matter of moments, he was levitating above Krieger and Cap. Krieger flew up to Superman and tried to punch him, but Superman got out of the way and blasted at him with heat vision. Krieger tried to block the heat vision with his elbow, but Superman switched over to his freeze breath, and blasted ice all over Krieger.
Cap tossed his shield against Kriger, and it struck him in the legs. It then bounced off of him and flew towards the Daily Planet logo, bouncing off of that and going back over to Cap. Cap caught his shield with his hand.
"Krypton dies with you, Kal-El!" Krieger shouted before kicking Superman in the stomach, then grabbing him by his leg and throwing him towards the front side of the Daily Planet with enough force to create a large hole in the wall.
Krieger took several deep breaths before lunging down towards Cap and striking him in the face. Blood began to sprinkle from Cap's nose. Krieger tried to punch Cap, but Cap deflected it. Krieger zoomed over to the receptionist's desk and lifted it above his head. Krieger threw it towards Cap, who rolled down onto the ground in order to get out of its way.
Before either of them could do anything, someone appeared to be calling Krieger, because he stopped for a moment and touched his earpiece.
"What is it, Zemo?!" he asked while Cap got back on his feet. "Wait, now?! Right now?! Goddamnit!"
Krieger shot a glare towards Cap. "I'll get back to you," he said, before flying out of the hole he created when he threw Superman away.
Cap looked around. Several people were standing around, looking at the mess around them and breathing heavily.
"Get to safety! Now!" Cap yelled to them, motioning his hand for them to get away from the area. He saw the front doors of the Daily Planet and ran out, looking for Superman.
He saw Superman flying towards him, but then the ground began to rumble. He looked over, and he saw some taxis and cars slamming their breaks as Hal bursted out of the streets of Metropolis. Then Shaggy Man jumped out of the hole he had created.
Cap saw several citizens running out of their cars and going past Cap, but what caught his attention was a brown-haired woman who was limping away from her door. He ran over to her, and Superman levitated down to her as well.
Cap looked inside her Pontiac Vibe, and saw a child around seven or eight. He opened the door. "Come on, I got you," he said as he extended his arm out to the boy.
The boy grabbed his hand back and Cap got him out of the car. Superman was holding on to the lady.
"I'll take them to safety!" Superman said. The boy ran over to Superman, and the Man of Steel grabbed him before flying away.
Cap looked over to Hal, who created a gigantic hammer and swung it towards Shaggy Man. Carol, Hulk, and Thor were all on the surface as well. Thor threw his hammer down towards the Shaggy Man while Carol blasted towards the creature. When the creature was sent back a few feet, the Hulk punched Shaggy Man in the stomach, then grabbed its head and kneed it. Zatanna flew out of the whole, and Batman used a grapple hook to get out as well. Batman threw another freeze grenade towards Shaggy Man, and when it exploded, Shaggy Man's leg was frozen again. Zatanna.
"Etativel evobe eht dnuorg!" Zatanna said, and Shaggy Man was now levitating a few feet in the air.
The creature roared before reaching towards the ground, but it was only flying higher in the air. Green Lantern created a whip and lashed the creature with it multiple times, before the fifth lash sent the creature back to the ground. Thor raised Mjlonir in the air, and conjured up lightning from the sky. Thor clenched his teeth and sent the lightning towards Shaggy Man.
"Feel the power of the gods!" Thor shouted as the lightning struck Shaggy Man.
While Shaggy Man yelling in pain from the lighting, Hal created a rocket launcher.
"And beware my power!" he shouted before firing a rocket towards Shaggy Man. The creature looked at the rocket and glared before swatting it away with his hand, and the rocket went back towards Hal.
When Carol tried to blast at the creature, Shaggy Man dodged it with its elbow. Carol was only a few feet away, so Shaggy Man grabbed her by her leg and threw Carol towards a Prius.
"Will anything stop this goddamn thing?!" she said as she wiped blood from her face.
"There must be a weak point somewhere," Batman replied as he and Cap ran towards the creature.
Shaggy Man swung his arm around, trying to take out both Batman and Cap at once, but to no avail, as the two ducked out of the way.
"Hulk Smash!" the Hulk said as he tackled the creature from behind. With Shaggy Man down on the ground, Hulk began punching the creature in the face several times.
Shaggy Man looked at the Hulk's free hand, and grabbed it. Shaggy Man chomped down on the hand, and the Hulk got back up, holding his one hand. Before Shaggy Man could do anything, Superman attacked it with heat vision from behind. The creature turned to face Superman, but Cap tossed his shield towards it, and when it looked back at Cap, it was blasted at by Zatanna and Carol.
Cap's shield flung back towards him, and he caught it with his hand. He took a look at Superman. "Where's the Juggernaut?"
Superman looked down at the ground and used his X-Ray vision before returning eye contact with Cap. "He's still down at the base. The rest of the Vanguard is handling him!"
Their attention was taken when Shaggy Man beat his chest and began charging towards Lois Lane, who was still running away. She was running in the direction of Superman and Cap. Shaggy Man threw an empty green sedan in the area she was in. Superman zoomed towards her and the car smashed into him instead, being unharmed while the sedan was totaled. Cap rushed over to the two.
"Thank you, Clark," Lois said, before covering her mouth and widening her eyes. Superman and Cap's eyes were also wide.
Lois shook her head. "I've known for a month, Jimmy doesn't know, Perry probably does, go and kick that thing's ass now!"
Superman nodded, as did Cap.
Hal created nine gatling guns that circled around Shaggy Man, and all of them fired towards the creature. While they did so, he began blasting green energy towards Carol. Thor conjured lightning from his hammer and directed it all towards Carol.
Zatanna shouted out a spell that raised up a street light from the ground, and it flew all the way towards Shaggy Man. Superman blasted at the creature with his heat vision and Batman threw a batarang with a rope attached to the end, which he used to tie down Shaggy Man's man leg. Cap jumped up high in the air and bashed the creature's head with his shield.
Lighting and green energy was now emenating from Carol, and she blasted all of that, plus her usual energy blasts, towards Shaggy Man. She let out bellows that pierced the skies. Superman let out an uppercut towards the creature and sent it flying up in the air. He zoomed up above Shaggy Man and punched him back down to the ground.
Shaggy Man immediately got up and smashed the cement streets with his hands. Carol lunged towards him, blasting lighting, green energy, and yellow energy at him. Shaggy Man snarled and pounded Carol down to the ground when she got close enough. It grabbed one of Hal's gatling gun constructs and threw it towards him, then smashed all the others. When Zatanna teleported a wrecking ball above Shaggy Man to have it fall on him, he caught it and threw it towards her. Cap watched as Shaggy Man grabbed Thor by his lung and hit Superman in the chest with him.
Just then, the Hulk got up and roared before jumping up in the air, towards Shaggy Man. It landed right in front of the creature, and he decked it in the face. When Shaggy Man tried to retaliate, Hulk caught its fist before punching it in the gut. Then Hulk punched Shaggy Man about a dozen times, before kneeing him in the face and knocking him down to the ground.
When the best tried to get up, Batman threw several batarang ropes at it to tie it down. While these things would not hold Shaggy Man for long, they would hold it long enough for a combined attack.
Hal created a hammer to bash the creature with, Thor was ready to strike the creature with his hammer, Carol was shooting out blasts and lightning, Superman fired heat vision, Batman threw a grenade, Cap tossed his shield at it, Zatanna blasted purple fire towards the creature, and Hulk was ready to deck the creature one more time.
The combined attack created an explosion. Cap covered his face with his elbow and looked away. When the smoke cleared, everyone looked over to the Shaggy Man…which was unconscious.
"I thought that thing would never go down," Zatanna said, her hands on her hips.
Everyone was breathing heavily, before Superman and Cap looked around at the citizens, most of whom were fleeing or hiding.
Superman shouted, "Alright, make sure no one is trapped! And if you see anyone hurt badly, get them to safety as soon as possible. The rest of the team will take care of the Juggernaut! Move out!"
Sirens could be heard for miles, and Cap saw a man trapped up a car. He darted over the to the man, and as an ambulance truck came driving closer, Cap lifted the car up so the man could get out. He had a bad limp, but the emergency workers ran over to him. Cap handed the man off to them before moving away. He ran around, trying to see if there was anyone else who needed his aid.
'I hope the rest of the team is holding off Juggernaut well enough,' Cap thought to himself, not wanting to see another teammate thrown up through the streets of Metropolis.
But that is exactly what happened. Cap was forced to stop in his tracks when he saw Barry skyrocketing out of the streets.
The speedster began to fall towards the ground, and seemed to be vibrating as much as he could. But he still crashed towards the ground.
Cap rushed over to him. "Flash!"
Barry clenched his teeth and groaned. "Gah! ….Thank God I'll heal fast…"
Then the Juggernaut jumped out from below and landed on the ground. Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Wasp, and Iron Man all flew out from the ground, pursuing the Juggernaut.
The Juggernaut darted towards Barry, preparing to swing a fist towards the Flash, but Cap kneeled down in front of his comrade and placed his shield front and center. The Juggernaut instead struck Cap's shield with his fist.
"Juggernaut, if you could go the hell down already, that would be great," Iron Man said as he blasted towards the enemy.
Wasp also blasted towards him while Wonder Woman ran towards him, kicking him in the shin and then punching him in the stomach.
Cap looked over at Barry, who appeared to have some broken bones at the moment, before glancing back at the Juggernaut. Hank was at the scene now, in giant form. The 20-foot-tall Hank Pym swung a fist towards Juggernaut, then grabbed an empty truck with both of his hands and threw it towards the Juggernaut.
Wasp flew towards Hank. "Don't destroy other people's property, damnit!"
"Not now, Janet. Focus on the Juggernaut," Hank replied, clenching his teeth as Wonder Woman slashed at the Juggernaut's chest with her sword.
Juggernaut was looking at Wonder Woman, which allowed Cap to kick him in the kneecap. When he did this, the Martian Manhunter decked the back of Juggernaut's head.
Juggernaut tried to grab the Martian Manhunter, but the Martian Manhunter phased his molecules, and the Juggernaut's arm went right through him. The Juggernaut's eyes narrowed, and Hank seized the opportunity to kick the Juggernaut in the chest.
Cap looked over his shoulder to see that Aquaman and Black Panther were here now.
Wonder Woman began swinging around her lasso, while saying, "Athena, guide me and give me strength…" before roping the lasso around the Juggernaut's arm.
Just when the Martian Manhunter was about to strike, the Juggernaut pulled out a lighter. "I saw what happened in New York, buddy…." He said with a grin on his face.
The Manhunter grunted and wheezed, and Juggernaut grabbed him by his leg and threw him towards Wonder Woman.
"For the glory of Atlantis!" Aquaman said as he lunged upwards and uppercut the Juggernaut.
"Let's hope Shuri's new add-ons work," Black Panther said as he sunk his outfit's claws into the Juggernaut's leg. Purple electricity shot out from them, and Juggernaut groaned as he held his leg for a moment.
Iron Man began blasting at the Juggernaut with his repulsor rays.
"Hail. Hydra." The Juggernaut said as he began charging forwards.
Iron Man kept blasting at him, but the Juggernaut plowed through his blasts and ran right into him. Cap, Aquaman, and Black Panther all stood together, and ran towards the Juggernaut, but he ran through them. Wonder Woman tried to swing her lasso at the Juggernaut, but when she flew towards him, the latter swatted her away. Hank and Wasp also stood in his way, and he ran through them as well, creating several giant footmarks on the cement and causing several pieces of rubble to fly through the air.
Then Barry finally got up, and zoomed towards the Juggernaut, only to be swatted away like Wonder Woman was.
When the Martian Manhunter tried to fly towards Juggernaut, the latter tried to get his match back out. The Juggernaut tried to grab out his lighter, but Cap got back up and bashed his stomach with his shield, causing Juggernaut to drop the lighter. J'onn was able to uppercut Juggernaut hard enough to knock his helmet off, revealing a square jaw and messy red hair. Martian Manhunter placed his fingers onto Juggernaut's face, and the Juggernaut screamed and roared in agony. Iron Man and Wasp began blasting at the Juggernaut, Wonder Woman slashed at him with her sword again, Hank elbowed him in the face, Black Panther slashed at him with his claws, Barry zoomed around in circles for a moment before uppercutting the Juggernaut – with Martian Manhunter phasing himself so that they wouldn't clash -, and Aquaman and Cap both punched him in the stomach.
Finally, the Juggernaut flew in the air and crashed onto the ground, unconscious.
Cap placed his hands on his knees and looked down at the ground, trying to catch his rapid breath. "Oh my God…."
Then the area around Cap darkened. A shadow was being cast. He and the other Vanguardians looked up in the air, and saw a massive ship hovering above the skyline of Metropolis. It was a dark and metallic black, with areas of purple light all around it. Before Cap could fully process what he was seeing, he was lifted off his feet and flung into the air.
After a moment or two, he looked to see that Krieger was grabbing onto the back of his shirt. They were going up and up into the air, with the ground getting smaller and smaller. Cap was then thrown towards the top of a building, and it became harder for him to breathe as he landed in a rooftop pool.
He looked around the blueness, and tried to swim up, only for Krieger to become visible again. Krieger grabbed Cap, lifted him out of the pool, and tossed him onto the cement ground. As Cap coughed and gasped, he saw Baron Zemo standing a few feet away, alongside seven Hydra soldiers.
Cap got up, and then Krieger turned him around and decked him in the face. And then he decked him in the face again. And again. And again. And again. Cap was getting dizzy and blood dripped from his face.
"You should've died in the Bohemian Forest!" Krieger yelled out as he grabbed Cap by his throat. "You. Should. Not. Be. Here!"
Krieger then looked down at the ground and let out a sigh, before turning his attention back to Cap. "Oh, well. As I said, the Vanguard falls today, and it starts with you. And that ship there, will utilize our mind control tech and bring everyone to heel."
Krieger raised his fist one more time. "Goodbye, Steve Rogers."
Then a figure zoomed towards the scene and punched Krieger in the face, making him let go of his grip on Cap. Cap looked over to see Barry.
"Hydra will still –" Zemo began to say, being interrupted when Barry created several whirlwinds that sent him and the Hydra soldiers away.
Cap turned around to see Batman, Aquaman, Black Panther, Hank, Wasp, and Hulk had all arrived on the rooftop as well. He saw the rest of the Vanguard in the distance, flying towards the ship as purple light intensified all around it.
Krieger charged towards Cap, but the latter was able to kick him in the stomach and then uppercut him, before backhanding him and throwing him onto the cement ground.
When Krieger tried to get up, Cap pressed his foot onto his back. "All this effort to conquer the world, Krieger, and it's for naught. Truly a waste of a life."
Krieger. "No….no….Hail Hydra…" he uttered, before shaking Cap's foot off and flying towards the ship, where half of the Vanguardians were at.
Cap shook his head as he watched Krieger shrink into the distance. He heard Krieger shouting and screaming, but the distance was too great for Cap to make out the exact words.
And just then, right at the area of the ship where Krieger was at, there was a massive purple explosion. The Vanguardians at the rooftop tower turned away, shielding themselves away. However, there was a green light instead of rubble coming their way. Cap looked back up to see that Hal had evidently created a green sphere in time to cover the ship and contain the blast.
As the sphere dissipated, Cap breathed a sigh of relief when he saw all his teammates seemed to be okay, but raised an eyebrow when he saw a small amount of bones falling down to the ground. He realized that these bones were falling from the area of the ship where Krieger had been at. Cap put two-and-two together.
Cap pressed into his ear comm. *How's progress against the ship coming along*
Superman was the one to respond. *Just give it a few seconds, Rogers*
Indeed, all it took was a few moments, and then purple electricity burst from all the around the ship.
"NO! GODDAMNIT, NO!" Cap heard Zemo say as he and the Hydra soldiers ran closer to where the Vanguard was at.
Cap thought he could see Hal, Carol, Iron Man, and Thor all lifting the ship away, and it wasn't long before they all shrank into the distance, along with the ship.
*Hydra has fallen* Superman said into the earcomm.
Cap and the other Vanguardians looked over to Zemo and the soldiers, who stood there in shock for a few moments…before raising their hands up in surrender.
In that moment, Cap took a heavy breath before his pearly white teeth revealed themselves in a shining smile.
Lois Lane: In a stunning turn of events, it has been confirmed that the organization Hydra is no more, thanks to the Vanguard of Justice –
Vicki Vale: Casualties were thankfully at a minimum as the Vanguard of Justice has finally brought down Hydra, with most of its agents now in the custody of SHIELD -
Ben Urich: The Martian Manhunter and the Hulk seem to officially be back in action, and Wayne Industries and Stark Enterprises have both announced that they will aid in the cleanup efforts of Metropolis –
There were reports being shown all across the Vanguard Tower conference room's monitor, from CNN to ABC to Fox News to BBC, all covering the fall of Hydra.
The entire Vanguard of Justice sat at their roundtable, all looking at the monitor.
Then the screens turned to show the press conference that the Vanguard had held the day after Hydra's fall. It showed Superman speaking front-and-center, with Captain America and Wonder Woman standing right next to him, and the entire Vanguard present as well.
Superman turned to face his teammates. "Now that we've had some time to register everything that has happened, this seems like a good time to officially welcome J'onn and Banner back to the team!"
Everyone cheered, with Thor patting the back of the Martian Manhunter and Banner chuckling weakly.
Cap crossed his arms. "You know, it's a damn shame that our Thanksgiving feast was interrupted by all of this."
Superman nodded. "Indeed it is, but who's to say that we can't all celebrate tonight? I think we have quite the reason to do so."
The other Vanguardians all chattered in agreement, even Batman, who had a small smile on his face. Cap looked at the monitors again. Martian Manhunter said something about being able to cook for everyone, and he looked over his shoulder to see the rest of the team walking away from the conference.
"Wait for me!" he said, speeding over to his teammates.
Cap took a final look at the monitors, which continued to display reports about Hydra's fall. He looked outside, and saw a bright and sunny day in New York City. Then he turned his attention to all of his teammates as they walked together. Batman and Iron Man were discussing business ventures, Wonder Woman and Thor were discussing the pantheons they hail from, Black Panther and Aquaman chatted about their responsibilities as kings, including Wakanda's recovery, and Banner was trying to get Martian Manhunter to reveal some cooking secrets. Hank, Wasp, and Zatanna talked about how they missed out on Black Friday shopping, while Carol, Hal, and Barry were talking about their daily lives and jobs.
Superman took a few steps back to walk side-by-side with Cap. "I understand that you may never truly feel at home in the modern world, but I hope it's come close enough."
Cap smiled. "I would say it has, Clark. I would say it has."
Four more chapters left, and one last story remains. It all ends next month.