29: Heroes

  The sound of cheers echoed across the battlefield, fgs of white and red colors waving in the wind.

  Standing atop the tallest building still standing, John raised his hand, shield in hand, and shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice reag every er of the city and even beyond.

  "Warsaw is Free!"

  The ovations didn’t take long to follow. People celebrated, cried, kissed, ged—no matter where you looked, even the wounded igheir battered bodies and stood to join the celebration.

  In just two days and fifteen hours, Captain Amerid his team, along with the AK, liberated the city of Warsaw in a battle that would go down in history for various reasons.

  The news, even for the time they were in, spread rapidly across the European ti, even reag the ears of military leaders of other nations.

  For some, it was further proof of Captain America’s power. For others, it was an absolute disaster.

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  "John, you really did it," Peggy smiled, and if John had been in the same room as her, he would’ve likely already leapt into her arms. It was a shame—though they were on the same ti, they were not in the same try.

  There was a crag sound, a characteristioise that teology would eventually eliminate in long-distanunication devices.

  "I wish you could see it. I haven’t seen people this happy in a long time," John's voice came through, though somewhat distorted, still clearly veying his joy.

  Peggy was happy for him, even if she couldn’t be there with him.

  "When the war is over, maybe we could visit," she said, imagining that day vividly.

  John fell silent for a moment, making her frown.

  "What’s wrong?" she asked, worried, sensing a bad premonition.

  "The news of the victory will probably soon spread around the world, but something else will be revealed along with it, and I’m afraid it’s something we ’t hide for long. There were too many war reporters, and we couldn’t catch them all."

  John’s voice was serious. Of course, he wouldn’t say aloud that he hadn’t even tried to stop them and had even made sure to “pose” unsciously for several of them.

  It seemed her bad premonition was real. Peggy couldn’t help but press her lips into a thin line.

  “Hydra has neons…” Peggy's breath hitched slightly.

  “Their advances with the new serum have yielded results, but not pleasant ones. It’s still inplete, that much is clear. Calling them failures would be more accurate, but somehow, they’ve made them work. I’m afraid things will sooe—I don’t know if only in Pond or across all fronts, but they will.” She fell silent. John's words, though not too detailed, told her everything she o know.

  “That’s…” For a moment, she didn’t know what to say.

  “I know, it’s not good, but it’s better than if they had perfected the serum. Even so, we o start preparing for what’s ing. I mao get in touch with one of the war reporters and vinced him to send copies of the photographs straight to the base. They’ll be your first look at them, but soon I’ll also be sending the better-preserved bodies for study. Tell Howard and our stists to get ready.”

  Peggy hen remembered he couldn’t see her and quickly spoke up.

  “Uood, I’ll make sure everything’s ready,” her voice was firm, but John mao catch a hint of uainty in it—something Peggy would never have let anyone else notice. But this rivate versatioween them, and she couldn’t help letting some of her deeper feelings show for a brief moment.

  “Don’t worry. Though these new ‘ons’ are tricky to hahey’re still failures. I deal with them. Things will be fine, I promise you.”

  Peggy took a deep breath, closing her eyes and fog on his voice as she repeated his st words in her mind. Then she opened her eyes, sharp aermined.

  “I know. I trust in that.”

  Soon after, they said their goodbyes, and the unication cut off for now.

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  In Warsaw, John stared at the brick-sized radio for a moment before retrag its extended antenna and switg it off. He really had to thank Howard—a unication device with such le and such a “small” size was quite ve iimes.

  Creating it should not have been easy.

  Shaking off those trivial thoughts, John shifted his gaze to the five corpses at his feet.

  Well, it would be more accurate to say four and two halves.

  Though six creatures had arrived, one had turo dust after its battle with James, and another lit in half. The most intact body was the one Cassandra had killed, followed by those John had annihited. Knowing they o be studied, John opted for the cssic decapitation of his three enemies, which left the bodies retively well-preserved, all things sidered.

  “You o see us, Captain?” A knock sou the door of the warehouse where John had brought the bodies, followed by Steve’s voice.

  “Yes, e in.”

  With his permission, the members of the Howling andos he had choseered. Their dition was rather pitiful, with a few wounds here and there, but for the most part, they were still able to stand without too much trouble.

  “Whoa, so this is where these things were,” one of them, whom Jnized as Dugan, said with a low whistle, looking at the bodies with a mix of curiosity and fear.

  “They look even more beautiful up close, huh?” another ented sarcastically.

  “Quiet,” Steve reprimahem.

  “I’m sorry to have called you here at this moment. I know you’re tired, and no one should deny you a good rest, but there’s something I need you to do for me.”

  “Give the order, Captain. We won’t hesitate to follow it,” said the you of them, the Italian, Angelo. Though his English was someoor, he was still able to uand and unicate well enough with the rest of the team.

  “The kid’s right,” Jim Morita patted Angelo on the shoulder, causing him to stumble a little.

  John smiled. Although the Howling andos wouldn’t be his main team like they were for Steve, they were still reliable men willing to follow him.

  “In that case, I’ll get straight to the point,” he said, gesturing toward the bodies on the floor.

  “I need you to take these monsters’ bodies to headquarters in Italy.”

  inally, John had p the andos with him throughout his journey in Pond, but those pns had shifted slightly due to ret events.

  He still intended for the Howling andos to fight by his side, of course. Their performan Warsaw had been undeniably excellent, and as ae team, the tributions they could bring to every future battle were uionable.

  But for now, he o part with them. The delivery of such valuable spes had to be made safely and reliably. If it were possible, John would have preferred to take the bodies himself, but he couldn’t leave Pond just yet. Warsaw, though liberated, still needed some time. Its surroundings o be cleared, and the direct routes to the city as well.

  John didn’t want to risk Hydra ung atack with more monsters. Even though he knew James and the Xavier Siblings could ha, he didn’t want to get overfident and make a mistake by leaving them alone.

  At the same time, sending James, Raven, or the Xavier Siblings with the samples would be a waste. It might sound cruel, but the andos were less crucial thaahuman team. Plus, there was no one else John trusted enough to deliver the samples safely. If something happened, losing the spes wouldn’t be as devastating, since he had the impression they’d be entering more of these monsters soon.

  Therefore, it was best to stick with the inal pn: tihe offensive in Pond as intended, ahe andos escort the samples to Italy so the stists at S.W.O.R.D. could begin the necessary research as soon as possible.

  As John had expected, the andos accepted without hesitation, uanding how important the task was. Of course, he still let them rest a bit more before they departed.

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  Some time ter.

  Ja swallowed hard. She, along with a dozen more stists, gathered around the mysterious "samples" that Howard Stark and S.W.O.R.D. directgy Carter had mentioned a few days ago. At the time, they hadn’t been told muly that the Captain and his team had successfully liberated Warsaw, which had, of course, brought much joy. But their serious demeanor had indicated that things weren’t as good as they seemed.

  There had been some rumors, and though Ja hadn’t paid much attention to them, she had overheard a few things—things that had seemed hard to believe until now. Staring at the horrific creatures id before them, Ja couldn’t help but feel cold sweat run down her back as her gloved fists ched tightly.

  Is this what John faced?

  "As you see, dies alemen, this is Hydra's test attempt to recreate super-soldiers. Their biology is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. At the same time, their bodies are fused with extremely advanced robotid meics," Howard Stark, the lead stist of S.W.O.R.D., said as he pulled out several photographs taken directly from the battlefield, pinning them to a long board for everyoo examine.

  Jaared at the images, her mouth dry. The cruel photographs showed ses where soldiers and civilians were massacred before John arrived a with the monsters.

  Her heart lurched when she saw the body of a small child cradled in the arms of what she assumed was the boy’s mother.

  “Resistant to low and high-caliber bullets, including explosives like grenades and missiles. Super speed, super strength, and undoubtedly many other enhas not yet identified in their biology. Our job is to study them, either to find weaknesses or to discover what Hydra did to them. This is entirely erritory, so don't hesitate—run every imagiest. We have enough samples and the facilities with the necessary equipment to do so. And if we don’t have it, we’ll create it,” Howard said, his eyes fshing with a frenzied determination.

  “Uood?!” he asked, and the assembled stists nodded eagerly. It was time for them to tribute to their new anization.

  “The’s get to work!”

  For Ja, all the sudden flurry of activity around her was like white noise. Her mind was still focused on the dozens of photographs Howard had id out.

  She saw horrific ses—death upoh, one-sided desperation for both the Polish and German soldiers. But perhaps the worst was seeing the civilians caught in the crossfire. For a moment, Ja felt a heavy weight in her chest, threatening t tears to her eyes. After all, she had never seen such raw horror before. Even the war footage projected in emas hadn’t been as graphic as these images.

  She almost wao stop looking until her eyes nded on a familiar symbol—a silver star.

  As if the photographs had taken a 180-degree turn, all those ses of death and despair seemed to fade away when John arrived otlefield. In one shot, he stopped the cws of one of the monsters with a single arm, saving a group of civilians who had nearly been caught by the creature.

  For Ja, it was as if an angel of justice had intervened in the hell her eyes had been witnessing, bringing hope with him.

  In every image, John appeared supremely heroid brave, fag the nightmare creatures with a determined, resolute expression and a ce that seemed to radiate outwards, affeg everyone around him.

  Where others had falleood victorious. Every punch, every kick, was beautifully captured by the photographer, as if guided to capture the most perfegles. It made anyone who looked at the pictures swell with excitement.

  Finally, John stood tall, his shield raised in victory over the mohat had terrorized the battlefield.

  Ja remained absorbed in that image for a moment until her eyes caught several more pictures.

  In one of them, she could see the other publicly known super-soldier of S.W.O.R.D His fierce fad aggressive stance were well captured as he charged fearlessly at two of the creatures.

  The man proved worthy of his title as a true super-soldier, easily slig one of them in half in a beautifully taken shot, then charging at the sed in an animalistic dispy of brutality that made Ja nearly gag.

  She averted her gaze to the set of photos, where two mysterious figures were visible, wearial masks that covered half of their faces—the rumored secret super-soldiers of S.W.O.R.D

  Their existence had been unknown to ail now; even within S.W.O.R.D, many were unaware of them until what happened in Pond became known ihe anization and would soon undoubtedly cause a public stir worldwide.

  Although the images didn’t shohysical bat like those of John and James, they dispyed something equally spectacur: the deployment of supernatural power by the woman who stood fidently in front of all her allies, doing everything she could to stop the monster’s advahe photos seemed almost like a sequence, with the monster getting closer and closer until it suddenly fell face-first to the ground, nding dead in front of the woman, who had her arm outstretched toward it with her fist ched.

  It was a beautiful pose, and for a moment, Ja imagined herself standing in that pce with yellow light shining in her fist.

  And without her being able to stop it, this thought began to take deeper and deeper root in her mind.

  Why? she asked herself. Why was she here, safe behind a heavily guarded base, while out there people were risking their lives without hesitation for others?

  If this had been before, she could have argued with herself, said she was just a stist, not a soldier. Maybe that she was just a woman, and the battlefield wasn't her pce.

  But Ja wasn’t the same as before.

  She raised her hand, recalling that yellow light, that almost electric power she could now feel growing within her body without any limit.

  Why wasn’t she out there? she wondered, looking at the st picture. an image that really tributed almost nothing to the iigation, but it had been taken as ara by the photographer. an image that showed John, James, Raven, Cassandra, and Charles standing together, surrounded by soldiers and civilians who cheered at them, their faces full of happiness and gratitude.

  Heroes.

  It was the only word that came to mind, and the only one she felt was fitting to describe them.

  Without realizing it, a new desire and longing was born withi that moment, ohat would grow stronger over time and lead her doath she hought possible.

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  Intic O.

  A submarine navigated through its depths, its bck metal like the night camoufged perfectly with the waters as it advaoward the U.S. coast.

  There was still a long way to go, but soon its arrival would be immi.

  The senior officer in and, Emil Fischer, smiled sinisterly, already imagining the moment, imagining what Captain America's face would look like when his "cargo" arrived on the soil of his beloved try.

  "Fools," he couldn't help but mutter, recalling the orders he had been given. Wait in Pond? Dey Captain Ameri his crusade? Why should he do that? Why wait now that su incredible on had fallen into his hands?

  Victory had always beloo those who took the initiative. Captain America might be powerful, but he was still just a man. Take away a man's reason to fight, and he would be nothing more than ay shell.

  That's why he believed they should let the Captain wreak all the havoc he wanted in Pond and focus their attacks on the Uates. While the man was fighting for other tries, his home would be destroyed by his absence. What more would they o break him?

  But those fools didn’t listen to him; they decided to follow orders without hesitation or question. They couldn’t see it, couldn’t imagihe same as he did.

  It was a shame, but he had to take the initiative. Maybe the Uates wouldn’t be pletely destroyed, but he would show them that he was right. When Captain America heard what happened in his try, without a doubt, he would abandon Europe aurn to America like a dog with its tail between its legs.

  When that happehere would be o "dey" anything. The U.S. gover would surely not let the man leave its bain for fear of atack.

  Yes, it erfect, but it seemed no o him could see that. Well, it didn’t matter. In the end, the glory would be his and his alone.

  There was a otion. Snapped out of his delusions, Emil Fischer frowned and turo look at the soldiers under his and.

  “What was that?” There shouldn't be any turbulen these waters.

  “Sir, it seems the radar detected something, but it’s…” the soldier looking at the data fell silent, as if he couldn’t prehend what his eyes were seeing.

  Emil Fischer didn’t like this and approached the man, pushing him aside and looking at the data himself.

  “This is—?” Before he could tinue speaking, the entire submarine lurched, nearly causing the senior officer to fall to the floor. Arms began bring everywhere, and at the same time, red light flooded the .

  “Hull breach!” someone shouted, but Emil Fischer couldn’t pay attention because another violent jolt made the submarine suddenly ge position, causing everyone present to be tossed from side to side roughly.

  Emil’s head smmed against one of the metal walls, making his vision swim. He tried to steady himself, but his knees gave out. For a moment, he felt vomit rising in his throat, but he forced himself to swallow and, with great effort, mao crawl toward one of the trol soles in a vain attempt to stand.

  An attempt that was thwarted when aremor hit the submarine, and water began gushing in.

  Emil Fischer watched in horror as a golden trident pierced the thick metal of the submarine, creating a massive opening through which a hand bck armor forced its way in.

  Fingers of a grayish, almost bluish cripped the torn edge, and with inhuman ease, they pulled apart the thick armored steel as if ripping paper. Then, a figure entered, along with the o water.

  Eyes as bck as the night were the st thing Emil Fischer saw before his head was impaled by the trident.

  There were screams, fighting, but no matter who it was, wherever the figure passed, all Hydra soldiers were mercilessly eliminated in an instant.

  Heavy footsteps echoed through the submariil their owner reached its deepest part.

  There, carefully pced, was a rge bck tainer, with German words written in red across its surface.

  “I found you,” a word spoken in an a nguage echoed through the pce.

  The sea had been agitated. In its waters, something that should was sailing—a deformity of nature that caused the oic spirits to cry out in disgust, a mohat had to be eliminated without question.

  And there was no oer suited for such a task than the one procimed as their champion, the son of the seas, ruler of all beh the water.

  The king of Atntis.

  Namor.

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  Note:

  Neter! I hope you enjoy it!

  As for Namor, this story is inally inspired and based on the MCU, and normally I would use the movie version of Namor. But holy, I don’t this very well, given how little we've seen of him and his much weaker power pared to the inal Namor. That’s why I prefer to use his “cssic” version, so to speak.

  Besides, he’s got more “style.”

  I’m still unsure if he’ll be a recurring character or not—I o pn it well. But it seemed right to give him some participation for various reasons.

  As always, feel free to ent, give suggestions, and provide feedback. Criticism is important because it helps me improve and write better for you.

  Finally remember that You already find the chapter (and several more chapters) of this story on Patreon ( patreon.maCruzader ) All the support received is appreciated ;D

  (image below)