Chapter 216: Interlude - Pietro's Last Run.
Pietro ran for his life as the explosion nipped at his heels and all he could think was,
"How did this all go so wrong?"
It was supposed to be simple. He knew that much. A simple rescue mission. Go in, beat up some HYDRA goons, save Captain America's friend and portal out.
It started out smooth. The Hulk broke through a back wall, pummeled the guards while Pietro took out the turrets and surveillance, Fury taking over the control room.
But then, they were attacked as they crossed a bridge up in the base.
5 Supersoldiers. Like Captain America. They blindsided him.
Two of them took on the Hulk, another two went for Wanda and the Captain, and one walked up to him, all metal arm and silenced pistol.
A suppressed sniper bullet tore through Hulk's heel. And another hit Wanda in the shoulder.
He looked closer at the man with the metal arm and frowned.
Him. It was him. Bucky Barnes. Captain America's friend. The man they were supposed to save.
Why was he ....like this? Was he an enemy?
He remembered Boss saying something about a secret program but he dozed off halfway through.
He regretted it now.
"We're here to save you! Why are you doing this?" He cried out, zooming out of his gun's path, punching the man.
But it only hurt Pietro himself.
It seemed like the man was made of iron!
"You need to remember! Look at Captain America. He's your friend! Stop this!" Pietro shouted, running around him.
But the man didn't budge, as if he were deaf, his eyes cold and dead, unfocused.
Tch!
Pietro clicked his tongue, and clocked the man over the head.
If he had to save him, it wouldn't matter if he did it with Bucky conscious or not.
He was sure Boss had some solution to his problem.
Boss always had a solution even if that solution was alcohol a solid 2 out of 10 times.
He chuckled, outting his arm around Bucky trying to lift him onto his shoulders when he twisted, and wrapped his legs around Pietro, taking him by surprise.
"You are not ... knocked... out!" Pietro choked out in the hold, the metal arm crushing his windpipe.
No time to waste. Pietro pushed off the floor with all his might, got back to his feet and rushed over the edge, sending them both tumbling down.
"Gah!" Bucky cried out, as they slammed into the rough metal bridge running cross three floors below, and Pietro felt Bucky's chokehold loosen.
Immediately, he pulled himself free, running off to find a sedative to down Bucky for good.
But then as he searched the facility at his full speed, and time stood still, from the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of something down a grate.
He came to a grating halt as he returned to the grate and looked down it, his face paling as he saw it.
People. In cages.
Enslaved. Men, women....children.
All in states of...severe distress.
Pietro felt his mind go blank with rage, his vision turned red.
Gone was his gentle, playful persona as adrenaline pumped through his veins.
These nazi bastards!
How dare they!
He gripped his hands in fury and disappeared with a sonic boom.
Below, in the basement, cages shattered beneath his handiwork, the floor cracked at his footsteps, a storm brewed as visible eddies formed in the air with each round he ran.
The people enslaved began to disappear from their cells, as he delivered them to Captain America's side.
He knew Boss wouldn't approve of this. This wasn't his mission. But he knew he would eventually agree. He always did. Boss was a major softie.
And there was no way Pietro was going to leave them behind!
Within the minute, the cages were empty and concussed victims of HYDRA lay vomiting at the Captain's side.
Thankfully, with the help of the Hulk they had dealt with the supersoldiers or else this might have turned ugly.
Even Bucky lay defeated, bound and gagged.
Seeing that, Pietro let out a sigh of relief.
"Are these people..?" Captain examined the bruises on the victims, as his eyes went wide in realisation.
"Yes. Test subjects for some supersoldier project." Pietro answered, limping as he, dropped a file on the floor.
Captain America picked it up and skimmed through it, tucking it into his bag, before picking them up.
Just then, gunshots rang out, hitting some of the people he had freed.
Agents of HYDRA had appeared out of a corridor onto a walkway above them.
Captain America frowned and Pietro agreed.
This is bad.
"Banner, Wanda, take these people out of here. We will deal with the HYDRA agents. Pietro, follow me."
"No. You need to stay here and protect the kids. I will go alone." Pietro insisted and disappeared before the Captain could get a word in.
Even as each step mutilated his foot even more, the power it couldn't handle, ankles sprained then cracked, he knew what he had to do.
He tore through the complex like a typhoon, felling agent after agent under his blows, cracking ribs and breaking jaws till he reached the labs.
Yes. This was where it all went wrong.
A blonde man in a labcoat, rushed out at him wheeling a cart with an odd device in it, an engine glowing blue like the Space stone.
A bomb. Pietro recognised it from the trigger in the mans arms.
No.
The man smiled madly, and made to press the trigger, intending to blow them all up.
What a mad man!
No. Pietro couldn't let it happen. He rushed at the man, trying to stop him.
But fate had other plans.
Finally after all the abuse he had put it under, his bruised leg twisted and tore off a muscle and he winced, waves of pain racing through him as he collapsed onto the floor, a beat too late.
The finger fell and the trigger pressed. Now there was no going back.
The device began to buzz, pulsing cyan rings emanating from it and Pietro froze from fear for a solid second.
This was the end.
He knew it.
But he couldn't let it be.
The victims....Wanda....they were still here.
And at that moment, with his powers running on overdrive, time seemed to slow to a crawl and he realised he was at a crossroads. The crossroads. Boss had warned him about it.
The day would come when he would have to choose.
His life for the greater good or Wanda's happiness.
Pietro had thought he had lost the chance, that it had passed, this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Dying for a worthy cause.
But here he was. And here it was again.
He had failed last time. He had failed them all. And he regretted it to this day.
Not this time. He decided. Not this time.
This time, he would do it.
After all what cause is more noble than to protect the innocent and your loved ones.
Pietro crouched low, getting into a quadrapedal stance Boss had taught him just for a situation like this.
With a newfound vigour, he pushed off the floor, making his move
It was now or never.
The race of his life.
The bomb was beginning to explode now, it's flames pushing out in an slow motion to his vision, like a puff of smoke, or a fast forwarded clip of a dough rising and Pietro had no time to waste.
He could feel his breathing hitch already. He only had a short burst left within him.
And so, he ran, disappeared from his position, the cement cracking beaneath his feet as the hallway shook.
He raced across the stairs and the bridges, getting slower and slower with each step as the exhaustion set in, and his burst came ever closer to it's end.
The explosion on the other had came closer, expanding faster and faster, the explosion nipping at his heels.
And deep down he knew. He wouldn't make it. But he would be damned before he let the others come to harm.
As he turned the corner, coming into view of the crude metal walkway, he saw the Captain deflecting the sniper's bullets, trying his best to protect the kids and victims, even as his body became riddled with bullets. He was bleeding from three places and swaying uneasily, his left kneecap shot through.
Wanda and Banner luckily were nowhere to be found. They must have taken the rescuees outside.
He sighed in relief. At least Wanda would be safe.
He unclipped his forcefield generator, bringing it forward, set to employ at full output.
The explosion had now reached his back, and he could feel it melt his skin, the blue energy tearing him apart atom by atom as he reached the walkway.
It was too late for him, but not for the Captain and the victims.
With a flick of his wrist he slid the clip to Captain America, and closed his eyes, as the forcefield activated around them all.
Then, the blue energy consumed him.
And he was gone. Forever.
He had made his peace with it though so he wasn't worried.
Only one thought lingered in his mind in his last moments.
Sorry Wanda. I am sorry.
He hoped she would get what she wanted. But he was sorry he couldn't be there by her side to see it. Her beautiful new family. It was something he had wanted too, as long as he remembered. But unlike Wanda, he had lost hope in it ages ago.
This though. A heroic sacrifice. It was right up his alley. His life finally had meaning. He was not a failure. Not anymore.
A tear ran down his cheek.
He smiled. And disappeared.
_______________________
Pietro does the stupid thing again.
When will he learn?
As it turns out, never now!
Macabre humor aside, we near the end of the MCU arc now.
Wanda and MC deepen their relationship.
And MC prepares for the last leg of his journey to godhood with ultimate god-killing weapons.
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