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Issue #13 by Steve Crosby
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“A SHOT IN THE AIR”
“Hail HYDRA!”
They cried out as one when she entered. At her approach, all the green-clad troops knelt in deference. She was their Madame, the immortal head that commanded all limbs. None dared look up as she passed. To gaze at her was to glimpse something so beautiful you would never look away, never want to look away.
The three men working in the center of the chamber against their will were not of HYDRA. Advanced Idea Mechanics had been of HYDRA once, but AIM had broken away and were now only contractors, forced into service whenever HYDRA coiled any of the traitors. Their eyes were lowered from the Madame not of deference but fear. There had been a fourth, and in the far distant you could still hear the faint screams of a death still days away.
“The ammunition is prepared.” It was neither question nor command. All words spoken by that Madame were simple facts. “The weapon is finished.”
“Yes…yes it is,” said one of the AIM contractors. “Y-you need only to aim…to point it at your target.”
“Soon it will be in position.” She turned from the weapon, a shaft that stretched many levels down and up through the roof. “Point and shoot. No complexity makes simplicity.”
There was no gesture for those who didn’t dare to look for one. HYDRA heard it in their Madame’s words. Guns left their holsters. The air burned then stank with fried flesh. Payment for the contractors was a quick death.
The section of floor around the shaft was clear. She looked down into the gravity well that held the ammunition. Only the absence of possible motion could stop the unstoppable, until she desired it to move. That time would be soon, she knew.
Her arrow would pierce any SHIELD before it.
# # # # #
The office was wood and devoid of technology, a true captain’s office that one wouldn’t expect in a highly advanced warship. There wasn’t even a bar, only a simple bottle taken from a desk drawer. Director Nicholas Fury filled two glasses with that bottle. Standing across from him, Captain America shook his head.
“I don’t want a drink.”
Fury downed one glass, then the other. “Good. Otherwise that’d have been rude.” His eye fell over Agent 13, Sharon Carter. “Report.”
“The base was leveled despite our best efforts. All the vibranium stored there, Antarctic and Wakandan, was taken. The diplomats are trying to play nice with Black Panther, but he sees past the bullshit.”
“Kang took the vibranium,” Captain America said. “That means it’s all lost in time.”
“When I want to be told something I already know, I’ll point to you.” Fury’s eye was still on Agent 13. “Out of sight out of mind. Have T’Challa told he can petition Kang’s government when it forms in a few thousand years. Or hell, maybe the vibranium’s in the past and that was most of the mound this entire time.”
“Or in the Savage Land were you dug it out.”
“I didn’t point.” Now Fury’s eye was fixed on Captain America. “You don’t like what I did. Boo-hoo. Find a way to become my boss and I still won’t give a damn.”
“That operation was wrong Fury. Antarctic vibranium-”
“Is the most valuable substance on Earth so far as I’m concerned. Put a bullet of that inside a plastic rifle and I have Magneto dead-to-rights. Ultron shows up again I break him down faster than you can say ‘Avengers Assemble’. Drop it in the middle of anything with a lot of metal you get a whole lot of nothing. That means a city with buildings falling down and an army that’s suddenly unarmed.”
“Protecting lives isn’t worth the cost.”
It threw Captain America off balance when Director Fury threw back his head and laughed. “That’s why I still like you Cap. Most anyone else would have accused me of thinking up ways to take lives. Do you need me to paint you a picture of the people who actually are motivated by that?”
“I don’t need to be told about the likes of Zemo or Red Skull.”
“No, but like always you’re closing your eyes to the likes of Haliburton and General Electric. There’s resources in the world and people think up ways to use them. Not all those ways are nice, and neithers the ways of getting those resources. You know I treated those people a lot better than some warlord in Africa would have.”
“Obviously not all warlords in Africa,” Sharon Carter was quick to say.
“Those people were in a target with inadequate protection-”
“And if I’d left them alone they still would have been in a target, only with no protection!” The glasses were upended from the force of Fury’s blow against the desk. “If all you have are pointless arguments about moral superiority and an imperfect world, then you should get the hell out of her right now!”
Captain America had more. “What are you doing to find Jack Monroe?”
This softened Fury a bit. AT last, something he could address matter-of-factly. “Everything I can. In fact we’re on our way to a lead now, one of those big research labs in Switzerland that Flagsmasher visited recently.”
“The place with the particle accelerator?” Sharon Carter didn’t like the idea of that technology being in the hands of HYDRA.
“Nah.” Fury lit a cigar and chomped on it, paying no mind to Captain America’s look of disapproval. “As near as we can tell their research is in the field of gravity.”
# # # # #
Turning away from the eyepiece of a massive telescope, the HYDRA trooper exclaimed, “They approach!”
A smile crossed the Madame’s green lips. A finger with a green nail pressed over the button. None but she were permitted to activate the weapon. SHIELD would shatter only by her hand.
Hers…and the unstoppable bullet.
# # # # #
Thought returned at last, and the first act was a fluttering of eyelids. The dream of a hell from which he did not escape had passed, replaced by the reality of a racing sky. What did he last recall? A green smoke had filled his lungs, and a whispering had turned off his brain.
Since then had been nothing, a floating nightmare gone with a pop and the rush of air. So great was his momentum that Cain Marko found he still could not move with significance. Meaty hands flexed, and the mouth snarled over an agonized imprisonment. Even in freedom Cain was trapped, forced into one direction only. He must slow to turn, but to slow meant an inevitable stop and the Juggernaut never stopped.
Something was up ahead. To Cain’s eyes it was small at first but rapidly growing. He was getting closer. Maybe Cain would hit it, and with the impact be slowed. Then he’d find a way to drop, for surely his captors were somewhere close below.
Crashing would stop the Juggernaut, but not to for long. He wouldn’t stop until nothing remained. Beginning with what he smashed into helmet-first.
Director Fury’s office was suddenly thrown into chaos. Captain America and Sharon Carter were nearly thrown from their feet, and Fury’s desk crashed against the wall. The glasses fell, shattering into a million pieces against the floor. As for Fury, he’d grabbed a strap hanging from the ceiling for just such an occasion.
“That doesn’t feel like our standard turbulence.” Fury activated a switch on his uniform. A shelf of false books slid back, revealing a series of monitors. Claxons blared, and the monitors followed their programming by showing areas of alarm on the Helicarrier. There were holes in several floors, and on the last monitor could be seen the Juggernaut, pulling himself up from the final hole. “Hunh, well I’ll be damned.”
“A lab researching gravity,” Sharon Carter said. “And they used it to shoot the Juggernaut at us!”
Fury grabbed the radio on his shoulder. “I’ll need to mobilize everybody, prepare our defenses and bring up the plans to evacuate. Not to mention the ground alerts should Juggernaut actually bring down the Helicarrier! We have to make for the ocean immediately!”
Bracing his shield against the floor, Captain America scooped up fragments of glass. “None of that will matter if Juggernaut reaches the nuclear reactor. If that’s ruptured when the Helicarrier crashes…”
“Yeah, it’s just another Monday.” Fury drew his pistol. “Luckily we don’t have to stop the Juggernaut. Just knock him off my mountain.”
Slipping the shield over his arm, Captain America started out the door. “I’ll see what I can do while you direct the list.”
# # # # #
Bullets and lasers were flying in rapid fire. All bounced off the Juggernaut’s armor and skin. He moved forward, one step at a time. They were slow, plodding steps, but they were at his pace as though nothing were being shot at him. At point-blank range the Agents of SHIELD fired before diving out of the way. They rolled back to their feet and continue to shoot at the Juggernaut’s back, but he just kept walking.
With only the faintest sensation of the bullets and lasers, Juggernaut laughed. “Whatever you bother calling yourselves, you’re all just dumb soldiers. If I wasn’t planning to kill all of you at once I’d do it one at a time! It’s not like anything you do will actually stop me!”
At the far end of the corridor, Captain America stepped into view. Over the edge of the shield held in front of him, Captain America’s eyes meet the Juggernaut’s. “Stand down Marko. This is as far as you go.”
With a snarl on his lips, Juggernaut quickened his pace. He had refused that order when it came from a superior officer in Korea; he was going to refuse it from Captain America. Juggernaut’s arms pressed to his sides and his head lowered as he ran at Captain America. Taking one step forward only to brace himself, Captain America trusted in the strength of his shield.
The unstoppable force met the unbreakable object. More than unbreakable, the vibranium properties of Captain America’s shield allowed it to absorb any force directed against it. The power of the Juggernaut seemed to test this however, as Captain America thought he could see it ripple. There was no ambiguity about the sides of the corridor, as the Juggernaut’s sudden halt transferred the force all around him. Seams burst apart, exposing sparking wires and spraying pipes.
The erupting floor weakened Captain America’s stance. He was forced back, thrown against the wall with tremendous force. As Captain America struggled to return to his feet, the Juggernaut recovered from his momentary delay and stomped forward. A leg bigger than most tree trunks stamped down, and Captain America barely rolled out of the way in time.
“Give me that!”
Thick fingers closed around the shield. Captain America had no choice but to release his arm from the straps or have it ripped off. He somersaulted away from Juggernaut and ran, looking back briefly to see the Juggernaut prepare a throw. The shield was thrown high, at a slight diagonal level and with such force that it surely would have cut Captain America in half. Twisting his body, Captain America narrowly avoided the shield, but the solid force of air again threw him against the wall.
Again and again the shield punched through solid sections of the Helicarrier. At last there was nothing else, and the shield flew through the empty sky and out of sight. Juggernaut grinned as he advanced on the slowly rising, disarmed Captain America.
“You aren’t Hulk,” said the Juggernaut. “You aren’t Thor or Iron Man, any of your Avengers pals. You aren’t even Spider-Man!”
Captain America was on his knees, head down, hands pressed together. Juggernaut laughed as he reached massive hand for the man’s head.
“Praying won’t help you now! I’m unstoppable, and you’re a man with nothing!”
“I’m a soldier.”
At the last second, Captain America leapt to his feet while at the same time throwing his head aside to avoid Juggernaut’s grip. Both his hands thrust forward palms out. Glittering shards of glass flew in Juggernaut’s face. Tiny sharp granules got through the holes of his helmet, into his mouth and eyes.
Juggernaut blinked. His eyes stung and teared, filled with pointy dust that scraped against his eyeballs. The pain was of no consequence, but even a slight irritation could be trouble in the wrong spot. Unable to see through the haze of water, Juggernaut swung blindly.
Captain America jumped over the wild attack and dived behind Juggernaut. Without the shield, he couldn’t afford any contact. Juggernaut’s strength would make that fatal. Instead Captain America would have to rely on his speed and his words.
“You were once a soldier, Marko. Before you deserted in Korea.”
“You shut up about that!” Juggernaut turned around with an arm out, which Captain America ducked easily. “I didn’t run from anything!”
“Yes, you did.” Captain America backed up fast, and sure enough Juggernaut was running after him. “All your life you’ve picked on those weaker than you, but the moment you were in actual danger you ran! Unlike your father, who died saving your life and Charles Xavier’s!”
“Don’t you mention him!” Juggernaut charged in the direction of Captain America’s voice, back through the ruined section of the corridor. His foot caught on a jagged piece of floor and he fell forward. Flailing his arms wildly, Juggernaut shattered the weakened floor and crashed through to the lower level.
Spinning around, Captain America knew the risk he was taking when he dove through the jagged hole after Juggernaut. With all the personnel on the Helicarrier, the SHIELD headquarters required its own laundry room, and that was where Juggernaut had crashed. Thick steam had masked Captain America’s arrival, and he continued his taunting of Juggernaut.
“Given godlike power, you used it to pursue a grudge against dead men.” The steam obscured Captain America’s vision, but details were unimportant with one of such clearly visible bulk as the Juggernaut. “What have you ever accomplished, Marko, besides pain and destruction everywhere you went? Do you even care what would happen if this Helicarrier crashed into a city?”
“No I don’t!” A backhand from Juggernaut tore a massive laundry machine from its bearings. Hot water and soap sprayed into the air. “Because when you’re all dead and gone anyway I’ll still be here! I’ll crush you bones beneath my feet and shatter everything that’s been built! Beginning with this ship!”
As the Juggernaut was flailing wildly for his opponent, Captain America was feeling against the far walls. His mind was thinking to the schematics he’s seen, what part of a wall was shared with the main hull. Satisfied that he’d found the right section, Captain America planted himself in front of it.
“Graah!” Frustrated at the irritation in his eyes, Juggernaut clawed at the eyeholes of his helmet. His thick fingers couldn’t fit. Juggernaut solved this by wrenching the helmet from his head, followed by the skullcap when it proved equally problematic. Strong fingers then pressed against invulnerable eyes being scratched by glass. Any other man would have been bleeding and blind. The Juggernaut was simply pained and blind. “Aaahhh!”
Having noticed the change in Juggernaut’s shape through the steam, Captain America operated a radio attached to his belt. “Fury, his helmet’s off. Have Psi-Division shut him down.” Plan A was always preferable.
The Director’s voice crackled over the radio. “Can’t, their section was de-pressurized first thing. Anybody still alive is out of action. You’ll get-”
Captain America quickly turned the radio off. Plan B it was then.
Nothing was wrong with the Juggernaut’s ears. He turned in the direction of the noise and charged. A thousand-plus pound blind bull was charging down on Captain America. The Super-Soldier remained where he was, staring down almost certain death as though he were a deer in the headlights.
At the last instant, Captain America faster than any deer ever could. He made it out of Juggernaut’s path, and the unstoppable behemoth smashed against the hull of the Helicarrier. Metal gave way to exposed air, and the rush of vacuum added to Juggernaut’s momentum. He shot out of the Helicarrier faster than he’d arrived.
The rush of air rapidly emptied the room of steam, and Captain America feared he was soon to follow. Desperately he clawed at the floor to find a handhold, but every surface was wet and slick to his grasp. Though he flailed to reach the edges of the broken hull, Captain America was ejected from the Helicarrier and followed Juggernaut through the sky.
Freefall was not a new experience for Captain America. During the war he had made hundreds of aerial dives. The difference was now he had no parachute, only a dangerous enemy falling not far below. But to Captain America’s eyes the Juggernaut was an asset, and he straightened his body to fall faster.
Captain America’s aerodynamic position forced him through the air like a knife while Juggernaut’s massive flailing frame provided a significant drag. The air ripped through either side of Juggernaut, creating less resistance for Captain America above him. As a result he was rapidly catching up to the unaware villain.
Timing was important however. Captain America slowly turned his body horizontal to shift his rate of descent. All the while he was hoping that Juggernaut wouldn’t catch sight of him. Every second the ground rose closer, and at imminent impact Captain America plunged the final distance to Juggernaut. His hands and feet pressed against magic armor and pushed off with all their strength. Captain America’s momentum and direction shifted so that he crashed to the ground several seconds after Juggernaut and several feet away.
While Juggernaut slammed straight into the ground, Captain America hit feet-first and rolled forward on impact. Still, it was Juggernaut who landed unscathed. Captain America felt bones in both feet break and a shoulder dislocate as he rolled end-over-end. It was fortunate they had landed in a muddy field; rocks or pavement would have meant the end no matter what Captain America did. As it was he ended up flat on his back in pain and failing to prompt his torn muscles into action.
Captain America opened his eyes and through mud saw the sun only briefly before it vanished. There was only a giant’s shadow. Because Captain America only saw the black shape, he could only imagine the glint in Juggernaut’s eye and smile of satisfaction.
“Super-Soldier.” Juggernaut tapped a hand to his chest. “Unstoppable. You never had a cha-aaaahhhh!”
Juggernaut suddenly pressed his hands to his ears. While Captain America couldn’t hear anything, he felt the vibrations along his body, saw the ground on either side ripple from the sonic force, and knew the wetness in his ears was blood. In that moment he was thankful to the Juggeraut for shielding him from the worst of the power. When the unstoppable force fell unconscious in front of Captain America, he knew that he would have been killed otherwise.
As it was, consciousness was rapidly fading from Captain America. The last thing he was the image of Director Nick Fury, hovering in his jetpack. In the man’s mouth was a cigar and in his hands was the Overkill Horn.
# # # # #
The first thing Captain America saw when he woke up was Sharon Carter’s face. The SHIELD Agent had a hand on his arm, the cast covering his arm. It was covering his whole body. Captain America realized it wasn’t a cast, and that he was looking at Sharon through glass.
“I don’t know the technical name for what you put you in,” Sharon said. “Something that will make you heal faster.”
It was. Captain America could feel his bones and muscles knitting themselves. It was as painful as the breaking. “The HYDRA base?”
“Fury’s leading the raid on it himself. If anybody’s still there he may not be back for a while.”
Director Fury walked through the door. “The place was empty. They’d sterilized and evacuated right after shooting Juggernaut at us. We found an underground tunnel they collapsed. The eggheads are trying to follow it with seismic readings.”
“It probably goes all the way to water,” Captain America said. “Or a secondary base with rockets waiting. They didn’t want to risk getting caught in nuclear fallout.”
Fury nodded. “I’m reaching out to everybody that’ll listen to coordinate a search, but we were closest and our capabilities are shot to hell. It’s taking everybody the old bird’s got to stay in air. The Helicarrier’s going to port for repairs, which the techs tell me might take days or even weeks.”
“With our headquarters out of commission HYDRA will be free to do something even bigger,” Sharon said. “At the least we’ll have put everybody on alert, disrupted millions with security screenings, not to mention panic from the media.”
“I’ll take that over a major disaster,” Captain America said. “Now we look for HYDRA and prevent the next major disaster. Is it too much to hope my shield was already found.”
Fury shook his head. “For all we know that scrap of metal’s in orbit. I’ll have people on the lookout.”
“Resources shouldn’t be diverted. It’ll turn up.” Most likely on M-Bay. The discovery of Captain America’s shield wouldn’t be quiet. “Until then I’ll manage.”
# # # # #
Green fingers tapped on red, white and blue. “The radiation we bombarded Juggernaut with transferred to the shield as intended.”
“Hard to believe he would follow an order to throw the shield.”
“Nothing was said, nor imprinted. The possibility was likely and so I accounted for it.” The shield was taken in hand and held up in offering. “You will find I account for a great many things.”
The shield was accepted. “Like knowing this would guarantee my services? Hard to believe. That attempt was for a job.”
“One you took on for the opportunity. A man that is willing to betray a robot is of value to me.” She leaned forward. “This arrangement is acceptable.”
Protocide smiled down at the shield in his hands. “Oh yeah. I’m yours, baby.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
Next Issue: What is a Sentinel of Liberty without his shield?
They cried out as one when she entered. At her approach, all the green-clad troops knelt in deference. She was their Madame, the immortal head that commanded all limbs. None dared look up as she passed. To gaze at her was to glimpse something so beautiful you would never look away, never want to look away.
The three men working in the center of the chamber against their will were not of HYDRA. Advanced Idea Mechanics had been of HYDRA once, but AIM had broken away and were now only contractors, forced into service whenever HYDRA coiled any of the traitors. Their eyes were lowered from the Madame not of deference but fear. There had been a fourth, and in the far distant you could still hear the faint screams of a death still days away.
“The ammunition is prepared.” It was neither question nor command. All words spoken by that Madame were simple facts. “The weapon is finished.”
“Yes…yes it is,” said one of the AIM contractors. “Y-you need only to aim…to point it at your target.”
“Soon it will be in position.” She turned from the weapon, a shaft that stretched many levels down and up through the roof. “Point and shoot. No complexity makes simplicity.”
There was no gesture for those who didn’t dare to look for one. HYDRA heard it in their Madame’s words. Guns left their holsters. The air burned then stank with fried flesh. Payment for the contractors was a quick death.
The section of floor around the shaft was clear. She looked down into the gravity well that held the ammunition. Only the absence of possible motion could stop the unstoppable, until she desired it to move. That time would be soon, she knew.
Her arrow would pierce any SHIELD before it.
# # # # #
The office was wood and devoid of technology, a true captain’s office that one wouldn’t expect in a highly advanced warship. There wasn’t even a bar, only a simple bottle taken from a desk drawer. Director Nicholas Fury filled two glasses with that bottle. Standing across from him, Captain America shook his head.
“I don’t want a drink.”
Fury downed one glass, then the other. “Good. Otherwise that’d have been rude.” His eye fell over Agent 13, Sharon Carter. “Report.”
“The base was leveled despite our best efforts. All the vibranium stored there, Antarctic and Wakandan, was taken. The diplomats are trying to play nice with Black Panther, but he sees past the bullshit.”
“Kang took the vibranium,” Captain America said. “That means it’s all lost in time.”
“When I want to be told something I already know, I’ll point to you.” Fury’s eye was still on Agent 13. “Out of sight out of mind. Have T’Challa told he can petition Kang’s government when it forms in a few thousand years. Or hell, maybe the vibranium’s in the past and that was most of the mound this entire time.”
“Or in the Savage Land were you dug it out.”
“I didn’t point.” Now Fury’s eye was fixed on Captain America. “You don’t like what I did. Boo-hoo. Find a way to become my boss and I still won’t give a damn.”
“That operation was wrong Fury. Antarctic vibranium-”
“Is the most valuable substance on Earth so far as I’m concerned. Put a bullet of that inside a plastic rifle and I have Magneto dead-to-rights. Ultron shows up again I break him down faster than you can say ‘Avengers Assemble’. Drop it in the middle of anything with a lot of metal you get a whole lot of nothing. That means a city with buildings falling down and an army that’s suddenly unarmed.”
“Protecting lives isn’t worth the cost.”
It threw Captain America off balance when Director Fury threw back his head and laughed. “That’s why I still like you Cap. Most anyone else would have accused me of thinking up ways to take lives. Do you need me to paint you a picture of the people who actually are motivated by that?”
“I don’t need to be told about the likes of Zemo or Red Skull.”
“No, but like always you’re closing your eyes to the likes of Haliburton and General Electric. There’s resources in the world and people think up ways to use them. Not all those ways are nice, and neithers the ways of getting those resources. You know I treated those people a lot better than some warlord in Africa would have.”
“Obviously not all warlords in Africa,” Sharon Carter was quick to say.
“Those people were in a target with inadequate protection-”
“And if I’d left them alone they still would have been in a target, only with no protection!” The glasses were upended from the force of Fury’s blow against the desk. “If all you have are pointless arguments about moral superiority and an imperfect world, then you should get the hell out of her right now!”
Captain America had more. “What are you doing to find Jack Monroe?”
This softened Fury a bit. AT last, something he could address matter-of-factly. “Everything I can. In fact we’re on our way to a lead now, one of those big research labs in Switzerland that Flagsmasher visited recently.”
“The place with the particle accelerator?” Sharon Carter didn’t like the idea of that technology being in the hands of HYDRA.
“Nah.” Fury lit a cigar and chomped on it, paying no mind to Captain America’s look of disapproval. “As near as we can tell their research is in the field of gravity.”
# # # # #
Turning away from the eyepiece of a massive telescope, the HYDRA trooper exclaimed, “They approach!”
A smile crossed the Madame’s green lips. A finger with a green nail pressed over the button. None but she were permitted to activate the weapon. SHIELD would shatter only by her hand.
Hers…and the unstoppable bullet.
# # # # #
Thought returned at last, and the first act was a fluttering of eyelids. The dream of a hell from which he did not escape had passed, replaced by the reality of a racing sky. What did he last recall? A green smoke had filled his lungs, and a whispering had turned off his brain.
Since then had been nothing, a floating nightmare gone with a pop and the rush of air. So great was his momentum that Cain Marko found he still could not move with significance. Meaty hands flexed, and the mouth snarled over an agonized imprisonment. Even in freedom Cain was trapped, forced into one direction only. He must slow to turn, but to slow meant an inevitable stop and the Juggernaut never stopped.
Something was up ahead. To Cain’s eyes it was small at first but rapidly growing. He was getting closer. Maybe Cain would hit it, and with the impact be slowed. Then he’d find a way to drop, for surely his captors were somewhere close below.
Crashing would stop the Juggernaut, but not to for long. He wouldn’t stop until nothing remained. Beginning with what he smashed into helmet-first.
Director Fury’s office was suddenly thrown into chaos. Captain America and Sharon Carter were nearly thrown from their feet, and Fury’s desk crashed against the wall. The glasses fell, shattering into a million pieces against the floor. As for Fury, he’d grabbed a strap hanging from the ceiling for just such an occasion.
“That doesn’t feel like our standard turbulence.” Fury activated a switch on his uniform. A shelf of false books slid back, revealing a series of monitors. Claxons blared, and the monitors followed their programming by showing areas of alarm on the Helicarrier. There were holes in several floors, and on the last monitor could be seen the Juggernaut, pulling himself up from the final hole. “Hunh, well I’ll be damned.”
“A lab researching gravity,” Sharon Carter said. “And they used it to shoot the Juggernaut at us!”
Fury grabbed the radio on his shoulder. “I’ll need to mobilize everybody, prepare our defenses and bring up the plans to evacuate. Not to mention the ground alerts should Juggernaut actually bring down the Helicarrier! We have to make for the ocean immediately!”
Bracing his shield against the floor, Captain America scooped up fragments of glass. “None of that will matter if Juggernaut reaches the nuclear reactor. If that’s ruptured when the Helicarrier crashes…”
“Yeah, it’s just another Monday.” Fury drew his pistol. “Luckily we don’t have to stop the Juggernaut. Just knock him off my mountain.”
Slipping the shield over his arm, Captain America started out the door. “I’ll see what I can do while you direct the list.”
# # # # #
Bullets and lasers were flying in rapid fire. All bounced off the Juggernaut’s armor and skin. He moved forward, one step at a time. They were slow, plodding steps, but they were at his pace as though nothing were being shot at him. At point-blank range the Agents of SHIELD fired before diving out of the way. They rolled back to their feet and continue to shoot at the Juggernaut’s back, but he just kept walking.
With only the faintest sensation of the bullets and lasers, Juggernaut laughed. “Whatever you bother calling yourselves, you’re all just dumb soldiers. If I wasn’t planning to kill all of you at once I’d do it one at a time! It’s not like anything you do will actually stop me!”
At the far end of the corridor, Captain America stepped into view. Over the edge of the shield held in front of him, Captain America’s eyes meet the Juggernaut’s. “Stand down Marko. This is as far as you go.”
With a snarl on his lips, Juggernaut quickened his pace. He had refused that order when it came from a superior officer in Korea; he was going to refuse it from Captain America. Juggernaut’s arms pressed to his sides and his head lowered as he ran at Captain America. Taking one step forward only to brace himself, Captain America trusted in the strength of his shield.
The unstoppable force met the unbreakable object. More than unbreakable, the vibranium properties of Captain America’s shield allowed it to absorb any force directed against it. The power of the Juggernaut seemed to test this however, as Captain America thought he could see it ripple. There was no ambiguity about the sides of the corridor, as the Juggernaut’s sudden halt transferred the force all around him. Seams burst apart, exposing sparking wires and spraying pipes.
The erupting floor weakened Captain America’s stance. He was forced back, thrown against the wall with tremendous force. As Captain America struggled to return to his feet, the Juggernaut recovered from his momentary delay and stomped forward. A leg bigger than most tree trunks stamped down, and Captain America barely rolled out of the way in time.
“Give me that!”
Thick fingers closed around the shield. Captain America had no choice but to release his arm from the straps or have it ripped off. He somersaulted away from Juggernaut and ran, looking back briefly to see the Juggernaut prepare a throw. The shield was thrown high, at a slight diagonal level and with such force that it surely would have cut Captain America in half. Twisting his body, Captain America narrowly avoided the shield, but the solid force of air again threw him against the wall.
Again and again the shield punched through solid sections of the Helicarrier. At last there was nothing else, and the shield flew through the empty sky and out of sight. Juggernaut grinned as he advanced on the slowly rising, disarmed Captain America.
“You aren’t Hulk,” said the Juggernaut. “You aren’t Thor or Iron Man, any of your Avengers pals. You aren’t even Spider-Man!”
Captain America was on his knees, head down, hands pressed together. Juggernaut laughed as he reached massive hand for the man’s head.
“Praying won’t help you now! I’m unstoppable, and you’re a man with nothing!”
“I’m a soldier.”
At the last second, Captain America leapt to his feet while at the same time throwing his head aside to avoid Juggernaut’s grip. Both his hands thrust forward palms out. Glittering shards of glass flew in Juggernaut’s face. Tiny sharp granules got through the holes of his helmet, into his mouth and eyes.
Juggernaut blinked. His eyes stung and teared, filled with pointy dust that scraped against his eyeballs. The pain was of no consequence, but even a slight irritation could be trouble in the wrong spot. Unable to see through the haze of water, Juggernaut swung blindly.
Captain America jumped over the wild attack and dived behind Juggernaut. Without the shield, he couldn’t afford any contact. Juggernaut’s strength would make that fatal. Instead Captain America would have to rely on his speed and his words.
“You were once a soldier, Marko. Before you deserted in Korea.”
“You shut up about that!” Juggernaut turned around with an arm out, which Captain America ducked easily. “I didn’t run from anything!”
“Yes, you did.” Captain America backed up fast, and sure enough Juggernaut was running after him. “All your life you’ve picked on those weaker than you, but the moment you were in actual danger you ran! Unlike your father, who died saving your life and Charles Xavier’s!”
“Don’t you mention him!” Juggernaut charged in the direction of Captain America’s voice, back through the ruined section of the corridor. His foot caught on a jagged piece of floor and he fell forward. Flailing his arms wildly, Juggernaut shattered the weakened floor and crashed through to the lower level.
Spinning around, Captain America knew the risk he was taking when he dove through the jagged hole after Juggernaut. With all the personnel on the Helicarrier, the SHIELD headquarters required its own laundry room, and that was where Juggernaut had crashed. Thick steam had masked Captain America’s arrival, and he continued his taunting of Juggernaut.
“Given godlike power, you used it to pursue a grudge against dead men.” The steam obscured Captain America’s vision, but details were unimportant with one of such clearly visible bulk as the Juggernaut. “What have you ever accomplished, Marko, besides pain and destruction everywhere you went? Do you even care what would happen if this Helicarrier crashed into a city?”
“No I don’t!” A backhand from Juggernaut tore a massive laundry machine from its bearings. Hot water and soap sprayed into the air. “Because when you’re all dead and gone anyway I’ll still be here! I’ll crush you bones beneath my feet and shatter everything that’s been built! Beginning with this ship!”
As the Juggernaut was flailing wildly for his opponent, Captain America was feeling against the far walls. His mind was thinking to the schematics he’s seen, what part of a wall was shared with the main hull. Satisfied that he’d found the right section, Captain America planted himself in front of it.
“Graah!” Frustrated at the irritation in his eyes, Juggernaut clawed at the eyeholes of his helmet. His thick fingers couldn’t fit. Juggernaut solved this by wrenching the helmet from his head, followed by the skullcap when it proved equally problematic. Strong fingers then pressed against invulnerable eyes being scratched by glass. Any other man would have been bleeding and blind. The Juggernaut was simply pained and blind. “Aaahhh!”
Having noticed the change in Juggernaut’s shape through the steam, Captain America operated a radio attached to his belt. “Fury, his helmet’s off. Have Psi-Division shut him down.” Plan A was always preferable.
The Director’s voice crackled over the radio. “Can’t, their section was de-pressurized first thing. Anybody still alive is out of action. You’ll get-”
Captain America quickly turned the radio off. Plan B it was then.
Nothing was wrong with the Juggernaut’s ears. He turned in the direction of the noise and charged. A thousand-plus pound blind bull was charging down on Captain America. The Super-Soldier remained where he was, staring down almost certain death as though he were a deer in the headlights.
At the last instant, Captain America faster than any deer ever could. He made it out of Juggernaut’s path, and the unstoppable behemoth smashed against the hull of the Helicarrier. Metal gave way to exposed air, and the rush of vacuum added to Juggernaut’s momentum. He shot out of the Helicarrier faster than he’d arrived.
The rush of air rapidly emptied the room of steam, and Captain America feared he was soon to follow. Desperately he clawed at the floor to find a handhold, but every surface was wet and slick to his grasp. Though he flailed to reach the edges of the broken hull, Captain America was ejected from the Helicarrier and followed Juggernaut through the sky.
Freefall was not a new experience for Captain America. During the war he had made hundreds of aerial dives. The difference was now he had no parachute, only a dangerous enemy falling not far below. But to Captain America’s eyes the Juggernaut was an asset, and he straightened his body to fall faster.
Captain America’s aerodynamic position forced him through the air like a knife while Juggernaut’s massive flailing frame provided a significant drag. The air ripped through either side of Juggernaut, creating less resistance for Captain America above him. As a result he was rapidly catching up to the unaware villain.
Timing was important however. Captain America slowly turned his body horizontal to shift his rate of descent. All the while he was hoping that Juggernaut wouldn’t catch sight of him. Every second the ground rose closer, and at imminent impact Captain America plunged the final distance to Juggernaut. His hands and feet pressed against magic armor and pushed off with all their strength. Captain America’s momentum and direction shifted so that he crashed to the ground several seconds after Juggernaut and several feet away.
While Juggernaut slammed straight into the ground, Captain America hit feet-first and rolled forward on impact. Still, it was Juggernaut who landed unscathed. Captain America felt bones in both feet break and a shoulder dislocate as he rolled end-over-end. It was fortunate they had landed in a muddy field; rocks or pavement would have meant the end no matter what Captain America did. As it was he ended up flat on his back in pain and failing to prompt his torn muscles into action.
Captain America opened his eyes and through mud saw the sun only briefly before it vanished. There was only a giant’s shadow. Because Captain America only saw the black shape, he could only imagine the glint in Juggernaut’s eye and smile of satisfaction.
“Super-Soldier.” Juggernaut tapped a hand to his chest. “Unstoppable. You never had a cha-aaaahhhh!”
Juggernaut suddenly pressed his hands to his ears. While Captain America couldn’t hear anything, he felt the vibrations along his body, saw the ground on either side ripple from the sonic force, and knew the wetness in his ears was blood. In that moment he was thankful to the Juggeraut for shielding him from the worst of the power. When the unstoppable force fell unconscious in front of Captain America, he knew that he would have been killed otherwise.
As it was, consciousness was rapidly fading from Captain America. The last thing he was the image of Director Nick Fury, hovering in his jetpack. In the man’s mouth was a cigar and in his hands was the Overkill Horn.
# # # # #
The first thing Captain America saw when he woke up was Sharon Carter’s face. The SHIELD Agent had a hand on his arm, the cast covering his arm. It was covering his whole body. Captain America realized it wasn’t a cast, and that he was looking at Sharon through glass.
“I don’t know the technical name for what you put you in,” Sharon said. “Something that will make you heal faster.”
It was. Captain America could feel his bones and muscles knitting themselves. It was as painful as the breaking. “The HYDRA base?”
“Fury’s leading the raid on it himself. If anybody’s still there he may not be back for a while.”
Director Fury walked through the door. “The place was empty. They’d sterilized and evacuated right after shooting Juggernaut at us. We found an underground tunnel they collapsed. The eggheads are trying to follow it with seismic readings.”
“It probably goes all the way to water,” Captain America said. “Or a secondary base with rockets waiting. They didn’t want to risk getting caught in nuclear fallout.”
Fury nodded. “I’m reaching out to everybody that’ll listen to coordinate a search, but we were closest and our capabilities are shot to hell. It’s taking everybody the old bird’s got to stay in air. The Helicarrier’s going to port for repairs, which the techs tell me might take days or even weeks.”
“With our headquarters out of commission HYDRA will be free to do something even bigger,” Sharon said. “At the least we’ll have put everybody on alert, disrupted millions with security screenings, not to mention panic from the media.”
“I’ll take that over a major disaster,” Captain America said. “Now we look for HYDRA and prevent the next major disaster. Is it too much to hope my shield was already found.”
Fury shook his head. “For all we know that scrap of metal’s in orbit. I’ll have people on the lookout.”
“Resources shouldn’t be diverted. It’ll turn up.” Most likely on M-Bay. The discovery of Captain America’s shield wouldn’t be quiet. “Until then I’ll manage.”
# # # # #
Green fingers tapped on red, white and blue. “The radiation we bombarded Juggernaut with transferred to the shield as intended.”
“Hard to believe he would follow an order to throw the shield.”
“Nothing was said, nor imprinted. The possibility was likely and so I accounted for it.” The shield was taken in hand and held up in offering. “You will find I account for a great many things.”
The shield was accepted. “Like knowing this would guarantee my services? Hard to believe. That attempt was for a job.”
“One you took on for the opportunity. A man that is willing to betray a robot is of value to me.” She leaned forward. “This arrangement is acceptable.”
Protocide smiled down at the shield in his hands. “Oh yeah. I’m yours, baby.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
Next Issue: What is a Sentinel of Liberty without his shield?