Chapter 4

Two weeks had passed since Bismarck had arrived in the United States, and she would like to think that she had a better idea as to who 'Steve Rogers' was. Despite being a U.S. Army Captain, he spoke very little of his time in the Army. He definitely acted like a soldier at times, Bismarck could easily tell, but everything else about him was off. Things that should have been common like credit cards and using computers were almost entirely untouched by him. She also found that he was surprised by the cost of things a lot of the time, and that time when she bought him a chocolate bar came to mind. He initially widened his eyes after hearing that she bought it for a dollar, but quickly calmed after Bismarck looked at him oddly.

Still, he had opened up a lot since their initial awkward meeting, and he had been a lot more open with things he was confused by. Bismarck did her best to ease him into them, but again, they were things that he should have been used to by now. It was actually very similar to Bismarck's own adjustment when she 'awoke'. Only she had to deal with a technological regression instead of progression, the fact that holograms or the internet weren't widely common things even in the 1990s was already a shock for her.

Her rigging also picked up on radio static much more often compared to when she lived in Hamburg, but she chalked it up to something unique to New York City, with its very busy waterways and all.

Right now, she was with Steve again, in a boxing club that he often frequented. The decor reminded her of old films set in the forties of this world, perhaps he found it appealing? Regardless, she watched as Steve boxed a punching bag as if it owed him money. Why was she even here in the first place though?

With the proximity of her hotel to Steve's apartment, she ran into Steve while she took a walk by herself at night. Though New York was often depicted as a haven of crime in films, it was actually quite safe for the average person. Aside from the once-in-a-blue-moon super-powered criminal that caused large amounts of destruction of course.

Seeing that he had a bag with him, Bismarck inquired as to what he was doing. Long story short, she was now watching as he practiced boxing, something he learned from his Army days. He was letting out his frustrations on that poor punching bag, which was clearly evident to her. But what was confusing to Bismarck was why he did it in the dead of night. Perhaps he didn't want to disturb others, but she thought that he had other issues to work out.

With her enhanced hearing, she heard a door close. It was the entrance to the boxing club, and looking to her left, a man wearing all black walked in. The most distinctive feature was not his baldness, but rather his black eyepatch.

He noticed her first, and Bismarck looked back at him as well. The two started at each other for a dozen seconds, squinting at each other. Bismarck knew the man was dangerous, and she guessed that he knew too. Neither said anything, however, and he instead called out to Steve.

"Trouble sleeping?"

He stopped punching the bag and looked at the man as well. Steve looked back at Bismarck for just a second, seeing her standoff against the 'visitor'.

"I've been asleep for fort-some time, sir." Turning around, he gestured towards Bismarck, introducing her. "Bianka Schulz, my cousin."

The man nodded, before walking over to her, hand outstretched. "Director Joseph, I head the charity that helped you connect with Steve in the first place."

Gingerly shaking it, Bismarck was not stupid, and she knew the man realized that as well. What charity would have a man like him running it? It was not her place to call it out, however, and she would play this game for now.

"I see. Thank you, Director Joseph, I now know why you needed someone to help Steve."

Rogers looked away, slightly embarrassed. Joseph had a paper file with him, and Bismarck guessed that he was not exactly here to check up on the two.

"Right, anyways I have some things to discuss with Steve, do you mind waiting outside for a moment? It won't take long."

Steve looked at Bismarck for a second, and she got the message. She trusted him enough to know that it was something sensitive, she herself dealt with many of these situations when she was the leader of Ironblood. It seemed that now both of them had secrets they wanted to keep from each other, and Bismarck did not find offence in that.

"That is fine with me. I will be waiting outside, Uncle Rogers." Heading out the front door, she wondered if Rogers had actually left the Army, that 'Director Joseph' looked more like a commanding officer than a 'charity director'. It wasn't a huge issue, and it wasn't her place to judge him regardless.

Steve watched as Fury waited until the door shut itself after Bianka left. He turned to him with a deadpan stare. "Really? Director Joseph?"

He responded with a tired voice, he was much less animated compared to his last visit two weeks ago. "I needed something on the spot. I trust she's been helping you get back into the world?"

"Those SHIELD agents watching us for the past two weeks should have told you all about that."

Fury, to his credit, did not respond to that immediately. "Sorry for that Cap, they tried to be as discreet as possible."

Steve could guess that he wasn't really here to check up on his progress, since he asked Bianka to politely leave them. "You here with a mission sir?"

"I am."

"Trying to get me back into the world another way?"

"Trying to save it."

As he was handed a paper file, he tried his best to not be surprised by the contents inside. He never thought he would be seeing that Cube again, but the past always caught up with him, somehow.

"Wait, so he just straight up told you that he had to leave for a couple of days?"

Back on Intrepid's flight deck, Bismarck had made good on her promise to come back, and the two were now standing on a far-off corner just to not make people curious. After all, Intrepid still couldn't be seen by anyone else, so Bismarck would have appeared to have been talking to nobody.

"He did. That was a few days ago now, I have not heard from him since."

Though Bismarck tried to call Steve, his phone never picked up, and she was left wondering where he had gone. The excuse given to her was that he needed to go sort out some issues back at his old unit, obviously a lie, but she did not call it out. With nothing to do, she went around New York City herself, but there were only so many tourist areas one could go to, and she had already seen most of it with Steve. So instead, she decided that visiting Intrepid again would be her activity for the day. Though that static noise really appeared to come into force today, as she heard it every so often.

Intrepid tried to pat her back, but it just phased through Bismarck's body entirely. "Well, he's probably fine. Anyways, did you see the news?! Captain America is somehow back!"

She did see the news in fact. Two days ago there had been an 'attack' of sorts in Stuttgart, and Captain America of all people along with Iron Man had reportedly subdued the attacker. Regardless, Bismarck noticed that Captain America's lower face looked quite like Steve's own. Even in Germany, when they had to learn about Nazi Germany, there was a section dedicated to HYDRA, and what happened to it. The name 'Steve Rogers' was known to Germans, as they often associated him with Captain America. Like many in this era though, they thought that he was a historical relic, having sacrificed his life to prevent a large attack. Until very recently that was. Never mind the fact that Steve and Captain America shared a name, but also on close analysis of historical footage, apparently the exact same face.

There was no way Steve was Captain America though, a descendant perhaps, but not him directly. If he was the Second World War hero, then Steve should have been in his eighties, not the young man Bismarck knew him as.

"I know. It was surprising to me too, I saw his image in one of my textbooks once. Perhaps he survived like you did all this time? And only revealed himself when the world needed him?"

Intrepid waved Bismarck off, as she leaned on the railing. "Eh, who knows? My sisters and I heard about him in the Pacific, but all those things about HYDRA and stuff were far removed from what we handled."

Captain America never went anywhere near the Pacific during the war, as such, Intrepid would not have interacted with him to any significant degree. It would probably have just been through propaganda films or pieces that all American soldiers had access to.

"Oh hey look! That's Iron Man!"

Looking up, she saw the familiar trails of smoke that were characteristic of one of Iron Man's suits. It appeared that he was flying straight back into Stark tower. Remembering what she wanted to say, Bismarck pointed at something on Intrepid's chest.

"Why is your buckle shaped and glowing like Iron Man's triangular core?"

Intrepid looked indignant, as she huffed at Bismarck's question. "Hah! More like he stole my design! Howard Stark, his Dad, actually worked on some of the propulsion for my class, so if anything, he is copying me!"

Seeing as how it was a personal question to Intrepid, Bismarck decided to drop the topic.

"Right, you were asking me about your sisters in my world earlier?"

Intrepid nodded excitedly, stars in her eyes. "I was! Did you know Essex?! Is she still the same? Does Shangri-La still scold her often?"

Truthfully, she had little to no interaction with Eagle Union ships. Most of her engagements against Azur Lane had been in Europe, and they were usually tied down in the Pacific fighting against the Sakura Empire.

"Unfortunately, I have not had many meetings with-"

"What the hell is that?!"

Intrepid suddenly pointed above her, directly in the sky. Bismarck was initially confused until she too looked up. A massive blue portal had suddenly opened up smack in the middle of Manhattan. Looking at it with enhanced vision, Bismarck saw a number of what appeared to be…armoured riders go through the portal.

"What in the goddamn…Holy shit! Get down!"

BOOM

Ducking onto the deck, blue energy beams slammed onto Intrepid's flight deck, causing the Museum visitors to panic. Quickly getting up, Bismarck realized that it was not only attacking Intrepid, but all of New York. There was no mistaking it now, it was an attacking force. The use of portals and energy-based weaponry gave Bismarck vivid flashbacks to a similar enemy she had fought before.

"Bismarck! My hull is taking a beating!"

Looking around her, several of the alien-looking rider craft had indeed focused fire onto Intrepid, seeing the exhibits on its deck as potential enemy vehicles.

"Main deck breached! The hangar is on fire! Machinery is fine, though I can't hold much longer!"

Intrepid looked at Bismarck with wary eyes, she had no defences available to her, and all weaponry had been removed from her hull long ago to become a museum ship. The situation was unsustainable, sooner or later those energy beams will hit something important, causing the vessel to sink.

Bismarck knew what she had to do, even if her life as 'Bianka Schulz' will be over the moment she did so. Kansen, in her world, were born from the hopes and dreams of humanity, given life by the power of Wisdom Cubes. Her duty, one she thought ended all those years ago after a battle against the Royal Navy, had never truly been gone. It was simply in dormancy, and now, she had reason to once more be Bismarck, leader of the Ironblood to this world.

Turning to Intrepid, Bismarck slid her bag off her shoulders, dropping it onto the ground. "Intrepid, look after this for me, okay?"

With both her eyes widened, she looked at Bismarck with a confused expression, before shouting back a reply. "What are you doing?!"

She looked at the sky once more and spoke softly at the embattled carrier.

"My duty."

With one mighty leap, she jumped over Intrepid's railings and onto the Hudson River. She needed to draw fire away from Intrepid, Carriers were not known for their armoured capabilities, so what better ship would be better at the job than a Battleship?

As she plunged into the Hudson river, she summoned her long-dormant hull. In the twenty-two years of her new life so far, she had only used her rigging a few times, usually to check that it was functional. Never had she ever revealed her true hull to the world. With an actual reason to do so now, Bismarck would once more show the world why Battleships were once the backbone of any fleet among the great naval powers of an era long past.

Under the river, blue cubes shot out from Bismarck's body, first forming her hull, then her superstructure. With her true vessel completely formed, it shot out of the Hudson, ready to engage the invaders with all the might that Ironblood had to offer. Gone were the casual clothes that she usually wore, instead, she was once more wearing her uniform, and as she adjusted her black peaked cap, she noticed Intrepid looking at her with wide eyes and her mouth open. A ghost of a smile graced her face, nostalgic memories surfaced as her secondary weapons all came online, acquiring targets.

Now that her hull was fully formed, and on the Hudson in all of its glory, she stood on her ship's forward deck. With authority and no doubt in her voice, she gave the order to commence firing.

"All secondaries, fire at will."

The skies of Manhattan were filled with the furious roar of Flak guns, in a display of firepower not seen since the closing days of the Second World War.

AN:

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