12: The Last Stronghold

  John nded hard on the ground, causing it to shake violently. The cloud of dust that rose up cealed his figure for a few seds before he cleared it away with a wave of his hand.

  John walked out with firm steps, leaving behind the crater his body had created upon nding. He brushed off the dirt and looked up at the sky. The sound of the airpne engines was gone. He had destroyed the st of them, and now it was time to up this mess.

  He walked and surveyed the entire base. The soldiers were celebrating as they emerged from their hiding pces. Wherever John passed, they cheered louder, ting his name. John waved at them and smiled. It was good to see his reputation growing, but it wasn't the time to enjoy it.

  He spent several minutes helping with the "up" before the situation was stable enough to have a proper discussion.

  He met with the four main leaders of the partisan army and quickly began giving orders. They o t their numbers, know how mahey had lost, and how many ons they had left.

  "We roup ao our wounded. I don't think this will be the only thing they try against us, but I won't let them think they do anything more. They outnumber us, and if we let them tinue preparing, it will be too dangerous."

  In the makeshift meeting room, John spoke gravely as he looked at the map spread out oable.

  "What do you suggest we do, Captain? So far, we've been able to advahout problems, but if what the prisoners say is true, then more than 15,000 heavily armed men are waiting to crush us in Sand in Taufers," Marcello said. The middle-aged man had seeer days; he was covered in dirt and ashes, as well as freshly bandaged wounds.

  "That's right. We've lost at least 100 men in this surprise attack. We barely number a thousand, and that includes the wounded... If we keep advang, we'll simply lose," Lorenzo said with a sigh.

  There was willpower; no one wao stop fighting. But when the numerical difference is so great, there isn't much that be done. Not only that, their enemies had better and more lethal ons, and although they had mao steal some of them, the hat should be in a group of over fifteen thousand soldiers would surely dwarf the number in their hands.

  Not to mention any unknown ons the German army might have. Those pnes were something they had never seen before. What else was there? What things beyond their imagination would hit them in the face wheime came?

  "If it's the hat worry us, I think I have a possible solution," Nico spoke up this time.

  Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to speak.

  "I know many of you have already noticed, but for those who haven't, I'll say it directly. The truth is, we haven't found any prisoners so far, aside from the corpses." Silence reigned for a sed, the faces of everyone present darkening as they recalled the sad ses that greeted them.

  Men, women, or children, it seemed the German army did not discriminate when it came to killing them.

  "At the captain's request, my men have been fog on finding out why. Before the ret bombardment, we had been interrogating several prisoners, and I believe we have discovered something important."

  Nico let one of his men step forward. The soldier looked somewhat nervous, yet he spoke clearly and without hesitation.

  "We obtaihis information from three different men. We ehey had no tact with each other, and the three versions matched without any alteration. When the German army attacked northern Italy and advao Brunico, they began taking prisoners in rge numbers. It didn't matter the gender e; as long as they were 'healthy' and could 'work,' they were taken. and Those who were too old or injured were... killed."

  Everyone frowned, but no oerrupted despite the obvious distent among them.

  "It's said that they are creating a factory, using the prisoners as sve bor in Sand in Taufers. That's where they've taken all the civilians."

  John immersed himself in thought and looked at Nico.

  "How many... horisoners are we talking about?"

  Nico looked at him seriously and responded without hesitation.

  "sidering the size of the towns that have been raided and the information given by the interrogated soldiers... at least 20,000 of them, sir."

  Everyone in the room fell silent, the gears in their brains starting to work at full speed. John took a few steps with his hands behind his ba thought for a few seds and then smiled.

  "I may have a pn."

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  "How do you feel?" John asked as he finished bandaging a wound on Raven's left arm. They were in a private room where no one could notice the girl's blue skin.

  Raven winced as John tightehe bandage, looking at him with furrowed brows and responding somewhat hesitantly.

  "A bit useless... while everyone else was doing something, I could only hide. The sky was too chaotic, flying was too dangerous, and shooting did almost nothing against those pnes..." Remembering those ses, she couldn't help but bite her lip in frustration.

  Until now, Raven had been enjoying resounding success in all her "missions" and in every frontation the partisaance army had with the German army.

  She thought everything was simple, that they would always win... that she and John were enough to face this war.

  Only today did she realize she had overestimated herself too much. Even with her powers, she couldn't make much of a difference; she couldn't help.

  "Don't uimate yourself so much. Maybe this time you couldn't make an overwhelming difference like before, but that's normal. No one is perfect, and that's why we're a team. We must help each other and cover for what the other cks."

  John sat in a chair o Raven and crossed his arms as he spoke and looked at her. She still seemed somewhat disheartened, so he said a few more words.

  "Besides, the mere fact that you could warn me in advance of their arrival saved dozens of lives. That alone is more than anyone else could have done. You should feel proud of that." Raven looked him in the eyes, p his words.

  John was right. Although this time she couldn't do as much as before, it didn't mean she had dohing. She was still useful; she just o learn where her strengths y.

  She sighed a her bad mood fade away. It wasn't the time to be depressed.

  "I heard there's a pn. What are we going to do?" she couldn't help but ask, her disguise returning to her. Somehow, she felt more fortable in it. It made her feel stronger and more capable, much more than in her inal body.

  John seemed thoughtful as he looked at her. Until now, Raven had proven exceptionally useful in many ways. Without her, he certainly would have had some trouble dealing with certain matters.

  Her help provided solutions that would otherwise be difficult to implement.

  Even so, he couldn't avoid a certain guilt twisting inside him. This girl, who until a few days ago was just an ordinary young woman, had gone from that to being a plete killer.

  In just three days, her death t was nearing triple digits, probably even surpassing that mark.

  He wondered what she thought, how she really felt about it. He had no reason to doubt her words, but if words could truly express the deepest feelings of people, then there would be fewer wars.

  She had said she was fihat she didn't care, but was it really so? He didn't know, but regardless, things had already progressed to a point where Raven could no lo back to who she once was.

  What she would bee iure was uain, and John would be lying if he said he wasn't expet of it. At the same time, he apologized to her internally. There was n back; whether it was him or Raven, both would create rivers of blood in their wake—Raven believing it was necessary, that all her as were freater good, and John... well, the path to stardom was never easy.

  "I have a pn, and it requires you to do something for me," he said without hesitation, makiraighten her bad give him her full attention.

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  Several hours ter, northern Italy near Molini di Tures.

  Unseen and in the dark of night, John and Raven arrived at the "entrao Sand in Taufers. They had separated from the resistance army to carry out their part of the pn.

  "Do you think you do it?" John asked, looking at Raven while holding a brown fish that was frantically trying to free itself from his grasp.

  Raven frowned and closed her eyes for a moment, letting her power flow. Her body returo its blue form but didn't ge pletely, as that wasn't her goal at the moment.

  John and she had experimented with her power several times. They both knew she could take "different traits" and bihem, which was how she created her disguises. But until now, they hadn't tried to see how versatile this part of her powers was. That was about to ge.

  Initially, the pn had been for her to use her bird form, but as they made their assed by the rge "Ahr" river, John had another idea, ohat could save them from possible problems.

  Rave her body begin to ge partially. On her ned the sides of her torso, gills, simir to those of the fish John was holding, suddenly appeared.

  Feeling the new "ans" in her, she couldn't help a sensation of suffocation. She still had her nose, but somehow she felt the air wasn't reag her lungs.

  Quickly, she returo her inal form and took a deep breath.

  "How is it?" John asked with evident .

  She swallowed and responded fidently.

  "I think it work." Without hesitation, she walked to the river and submerged herself in it, her body ging once more. This time, the feeling of suffocation didn't appear. The gills on her body worked correctly, and Raven remained uer for several minutes, making several more ges to her body. She took the fish's scales to cover her skin, its eyes to see ier, and tried to modify her hands to make them more like fins.

  Anyone who saw what was happening uer would be left with their mouth open. The way she ged and modified her body was beyond human uanding.

  Once she had a more or less fortable form, she tested her mobility uer. While she wouldn't say she moved as naturally as a "fish," it was still enough to navigate the river without problems.

  She emerged from the water, returning to her inal form, and smiled at John while she gave him a thumbs up

  John smiled, seeing that she had succeeded. It had truly been a st-minute idea, something he didn't knoossible but decided they should try.

  "Then we o ge the pn."

  He quickly pulled out one of the maps he carried with him and showed it to Raven, pointing to the path of the Ahr river.

  "The river is a direct path to the front of Taufers Castle. If you gh it, you eheir fortress without aeg you." inally, she had to go by air, using the night as cover. However, it was dangerous. Taufers Castle wasn't like any other base. Its security was eveer, and its prote against air attacks was alser. If it were just Raven in her bird form, she could easily do it, but this time she o carry a load.

  For that reason, she didn't take the fish form and simply navigated through the waters. She had to maintain her humanoid fely so she could carry her load through the river without fear of losing it.

  While the castle was the ter of the fortress, it wasn't the whole thing. Around it extended a rge German military camp of at least 18 hectares. Raven had mao make a quick reaissance from the sky in her bird fiving them an idea of the yout of the pce.

  Iy, the Ahr River passed through the middle of the base, making it a perfetrance, if not for the fact that humans couldn't breathe uer and its width in that part was only about 17 meters.

  It wasn't an ideal path for ordinary people... but Raven, she could take it and bypass any security the German army had installed in the pce.

  Raven studied the map and nodded fidently, the excitemeurning to her once more. This pn was the most important so far, and her role in it was also crucial. She couldn't fail.

  John then picked up the backpa his bad carefully pced it in her hands.

  "Remember, o, you o activate the timer. You have exactly 10 minutes between each activation and an additional 20 mio run," he expined once more.

  Raven took the backpad looked at the four charges inside. She didn't kly what they tained, but the faint blue glow hidden behind yers of tape and pstic bags made it clear she o hahese "explosives" carefully.

  She closed the backpad pced it over her chest instead of her back, firmly seg its straps.

  She prepared to leave, but John put his hand on her shoulder before she could go. She looked at him in fusion before he pulled her to him in a strong hug.

  "Be careful, okay? If you're in danger, don't hesitate to abandon the mission. Your life is much more important," he said sincerely.

  Raven hadn't realized how cold she had been feeling from bei until her body touched John's and she felt his warmth flooding her.

  She returhe hug and nodded with some shyness.

  "I will, but I won't give up easily." She didn't like to fail, and she wouldn't.

  Joh her go and watched as she slowly submerged into the water. It wasn't until her figure disappeared pletely that he looked away.

  John sighed. He truly didn't want to put her in so much danger, but there was no oer than her for an infiltration and assassination job like this. Oher hand, it wasn't like he was leavio her fate. He would also go, and if everythi well, the partisaance army would arrive shortly after Raven pleted her mission.

  He looked at the map. While the fortress was Raven's primary objective, John had another. Nico had been right about ohing: if they needed numbers, there was only one way to get them.

  "This battle should end soon." Once he achieved what he needed aurned trol of northern Italy to the rebel army, he would focus on assisting the Allied forces. He looked toond, which was quite far from his current objective.

  Remembering all that was happening and would happen in that pce, he couldn't help but frown deeply. Maybe he o intervene personally, but how? Hydra was only stationed in Germany and Austria, as far as he knew.

  Then he remembered. Wasn't there an attempted uprising by the Poles? He cursed himself a little for udying history properly. He could remember what he knew, but he couldn't recall what he had never learned.

  He remembered it was around 1944, but not the month or the day the attempt took pce. He only khe Poles fought for 63 days before the Nazi army crushed them.

  "I think I do something with that." He was already leading the Italiaance, so why not do the same for Pond? Wouldn't it be even more incredible if his name was accimed not only as the savior of Italy but also of Pond, France, even?

  There were many battlefronts he could fight on. The problem was time. If he wao make signifit tributions, he had to finish each battle quickly but in a way that his impact remained signifit in the history books.

  Of course, in the end, he wouldn't just save tries. When this war ended, he would have saved the world.

  "Easy, right?" Remembering his previous ptions, he couldn't help but ch his fist.

  His strength... it was fine for now, but if he wanted not only to emerge victorious from this war but also from future battles, he had to ensure he became stronger.

  "But I must not be careless." The way he experimented with the fusion of both serums was too rushed, too risky. He had to do things smarter and with greater preparation. If he wao experiment with the Tesseract's energy, he had to do it in a way that any potential danger could be quickly resolved.

  "I wonder if the Vita-Ray mae is still intact." He would have to talk to Howard...

  He put away the map and looked in the dire of Sand in Taufers. It was time to focus on the present. Thoughts about the future could wait for ter.

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  Günther Braun couldn't enjoy the smoke from his pipe; the hat his 16 Hydra bombers had beeroyed had e not long ago, leaving him feeling numb.

  He looked out at the ndscape through the window he had installed in his offid couldn't help but ch his teeth so hard he felt like he could break them.

  Time and time again, his men were dropping like flies, even with the power of the new Hydra onry in their hands. He couldn't uand it. Was this "Captain America" truly invincible?

  If he tio suffer losses like this, sooner or ter, the Third Reich would demand answers. Hydra would demand answers...

  No, he couldn't let this tinue.

  There were three knocks on the door of his office, snapping Generalmajor out of his reverie.

  "e in," he signaled with his hand for one of the guards to open the door.

  A messenger soldier entered with firm steps, holding several reports in his hands.

  "Sir, preparations are plete," he said, and Günther Braun smiled.

  Captain America had proven to be to. Simple attacks were useless against him. If Generalmajor wao definitively deal with this enemy, it had to be brutal.

  He wao see if this Super Soldier could fa army of over 15 thousand men on his own.

  He didn't even sider the partisaao Günther Braun, they were nothing more than nuisances, is that could be crushed at any moment by his army. In his mind, the only ehat really mattered was John.

  "Then issue the order. In 3 hours, we will begin the invasion towards Bolzano." Perhaps it was somewhat hasty, but Generalmajor believed in his troops and their superior onry.

  Before the Allied army could fully settle in southern Italy, they had to take the north pletely.

  Ohat was doaking Italy would only be a matter of time.

  The messenger nodded. "As you and, sir." He pced the reports on the desk, saluted with his hand, and then withdrew.

  Günther Braun looked at the papers the soldier had left on his desk. It seemed that the "factory" rogressing well. The Third Reich had no iions of building something like that in Italy, but Hydra needed more manpower and facilities to tinue creating superior onry.

  Since he was being sponsored by them, he had to ensure he met their demands. Not that he really cared to do so. A factory in Sand in Taufers would only be more beneficial to him in the long run.

  He looked out his window at his men preparing, feeling somehow that something was amiss. He didn't know why, but an old instinct told him that danger was near.

  His eyes met those of a crow perched on the railing of his window baly.

  For some reason, he found himself staring at the bird, uo look away. He wondered if this was how the enemies of Alf?er felt when their mythical crows observed them, He wondered if this was some sort of divine sign, an ao his s.

  The bird cawed and then flew away, disappearing from his sight, making his mind refocus.

  "Increase patrols. I want guards to double their rounds before departing. Have our scouts survey the surrounding terrain, and the prisoo be returo their cells," he couldn't help but issue that order.

  One of the guards in his offiodded, ready to carry out the and.

  The Generalmajowards the skies o time before sitting back at his desk, the full moon illuminating the sky behind him, leaving him with a strange feeling, as if he were missing something.

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  Matteo trembled, the cold night air making him huddle even closer to his father. He looked through the iron bars of his cell, watg the guards pass by with their ons gleaming in that strange blue light.

  "Here," his father noticed his shivering and took off his torn and old coat, draping it over Matteo's shoulders.

  The 12-year-old boy looked up at his father with , uo help but ask the same question many others had.

  "How much longer will we be here?" His father fell silent for a few moments, unsure of what to say.

  Giovanni had never been a disho man; he had never liked lying, eve was necessary. But this time, he couldn't help but want to lie to his son, to tell him that everything would be okay, that they would get out of here soon. But he couldn't do it.

  He pulled Matteo into his arms, ing him in a hug. He gred at the soldiers guarding their cells, a rage building inside him with each passing sed. If only he could fight...

  As he watched them, there was suddenly a tremor that shook the entire pce, causing dust to fall from the ceiling. All the prisoners were jolted awake by a loud noise followed by another ing from the Germaral base. Suddenly, the light ihe prison cut off, plunging the pto darkness only occasionally broken by the occasional blue glow from some guards' ons.

  Those with access to barred windows couldn't help but stretch to look through them, notig rge clouds of smoke with blue light rising in the distahe base arm bring loudly, causing the guards to gather closer and closer to each other.

  Whispers began to fill the pce, and the guards present began to impose order by banging on the cells with their batons and shouting forcefully for silence as they gathered among themselves.

  The leader of the guards reached the top of a tower positioned on the walls surrounding the massive prison. He didn't eveo use his binocurs to see the explosions in the distand quickly gave some orders.

  "Someone go find out what's happening!"

  He poio one of his men, but before he could rush off, he suddenly seemed to lose his band fell to the ground. The leader of the guards opened his eyes in panid quickly approached to see what was happening.

  He moved the body and noticed a sharp pieetal, like a handmade metal dagger, deeply embedded in his neck, blood beginning to flow.

  He quickly backed away and tried to shout a warning, but before he could do so, his head was struck, causing his body to fall back lifelessly the instant.

  A simir dagger to the ohat had killed his man was embedded in his forehead.

  The nearby guards armed and raised their ons, but before they could shout or fire, their bodies began to fall like marioes with their strings cut, their helmets uo prevent their fatal fate.

  The remaining guards in the rge prison were slow to realize that their rades were quickly falling oer the other.

  But the prisoners noticed it. Slowly, more and more of them approached the doors of their cells, watg as a dark figure dealt with the guards quickly and effitly.

  Giovanni watched as the guard near his cell fell lifeless with some astonishment and hope beginning to emerge within him. Slowly, he crawled as far as he could and reached out his arm, stretg until he reached the on, but a hand stopped him. Armed, he almost screamed but mao tain himself when he saw that it wasn't a guard but a strange man with a star on his chest.

  "Not yet," he whispered, allowing him to take the on but leaving behind a clear message. The man walked between the cells, breaking their locks with bare hands and making hardly any noise, causing those who witnessed such a feat to rub their eyes, w if they were imagining things.

  Slowly, the prisoners began to emerge, but they all kept silee their excitement.

  Many began to help the figure and snatch equipment from the dead guards. When those still alive began to notice that something was wrong, it was too te. Thousands of prisoners were already out of their cells.

  Soon, a riot began to sweep through the pce, and the prisoners, outnumbering the guards, easily overwhelmed them.

  No more help came because in the distance, gunfire and explosions began to be heard out of nowhere. The base was utack.

  Soon, more and more prisoners were freed, and the vast majority of them gathered in front of the doors that separated them from the outside.

  The t walls of almost 30 meters made them hesitate for a moment. Even with the stolen ons, many of them still had bare hands, their clothes were barely rags, and their physical dition barely kept several of them standing.

  Could they really fight against the huge army outside the prison?

  It was then that a figure leapt over the drabbing the attention of many with its superhuma.

  "Listen, everyone! My name is John! But people know me as Captain America, an Uates Super Soldier who has been fighting on the front lines with the partisaance army i days," John introduced himself, his voice easily reag every er of the prison.

  All present eyes looked at him with equal parts curiosity and astonishment. Many had witnessed how he dealt easily and quickly with the guards, and they could easily reize him thanks to the silver star on his chest refleg the blue light from the ons he had handed out.

  "If you're w why I'm here, then the answer is simple: to set you free and ask for your help," his words made the prisoners begin to realize what was happening. Some of them couldn't help but step back, the fear that the German army had instilled in them beginning to resurface.

  Seeing their rea, John spoke with more strength and vi.

  "The Nazi army has ravaged your towns and homes, turning you into sves, cheap bor that they won't hesitate to discard. They don't care about your lives or your fate, and that ot tinue. Right now, the resistance army has begun to attack this base, to resist the invasion and liberate northern Italy from the clutches of the Third Reich! But their numbers are not enough; they are outnumbered five to o least, and without help, they will surely be overwhelmed before dawn. That's why I'm asking you... No! I'm begging you! For your children, for your families, and for your home, fight for your freedom!" John said, iing all the fighting spirit he could into his voice.

  "With all of you, together, no matter how strong or numerous the enemy may be, we win this battle! I know many of you are afraid and many are tired, fed up with this war. But if you don't fight now, if you don't rise up and fight today, then who will?!"

  At his question, many looked at each other, their hearts pounding, remembering ses from the past, death, the suffering they were forced to endure. Slowly but steadily, many began to step forward.

  "It's true! We 't keep hiding. They've taken enough from us already! I don't want to lose anymore! I don't want to kneel before them and await my death, not without a fight," Giovanni said, thinking of his son, thinking of the future he would have to endure and refusing to let him suffer any further.

  "That's right! We 't let them fight for us. We must help!" Soon, more and more men began to step forward and shout with ce, the fire beginning to burn in their veins.

  John smiled.

  "If you're determihen take anything you use as a on and follow me!"

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  Raven stood atop the Taufers Castle, watg as the base burned in fmes. So far, three out of the four explosives had detohe first served as the signal for the Partisaance army to begin their surprise attack.

  Silently, the Partisans had been waiting for their moment to act. They had to leave behind tanks and vehicles to avoid making too muoise, but in the end, it was worth it.

  Using the cover of night and Raven's help, who had taken care of the scouts monit outside the base, they mao get close enough to start their attack just as the timed bombs began to explode.

  The explosives had been somewhat improvised, created using salvaged Hydra onry batteries. Their effectiveness was uionable; a single charge reduced everything within its bst radius to dust. Nothing and no one could escape ohe device detonated.

  When that same device detonated near other energy ons? Well, Raven had to close her eyes and was almost thrown off the roof when the shockwave engulfed nearly half of the base in an instant.

  For a brief, fleeting moment, she wondered how many had died after that. Hundreds? Perhaps thousands?

  Her hands trembled slightly at the thought. She ched her fists with irritation. This was necessary; this was war, and she was a soldier. She couldn't afford to feel pity for her enemies.

  She couldn't help but remember the words one of the German soldiers had said when she destroyed the base in Vil Santa Caterina.

  "Hey, you were right. I really don't feel sorry," it was strao realize that.

  She wondered if she had always been this way or if something had ged her.

  She heard gunfire ing from the southern part of the base. That was where the prison was located. It seemed that John had succeeded. Not that she doubted he would; he could do anything.

  She looked at her wrist, suddenly, a watch that hadn't been there before appeared, the hands spinning in perfect funing order. Sometimes, her power was quite useful in mysterious ways.

  For example, this watch, it wasn't real, but acc to all the tests she had done in her spare time, it acted as if it were real, always giving the exact time.

  She looked at the time and k was time to leave. After all, this pce would soon be reduced to rubble.

  Her body turned into a bird, and she began to fp towards the prison. As she departed, she couldn't help but turn her head and find that her gaze met, for the st time, the eyes of the one who seemed to be the leader of the base, watg from the window in his office. Raven would have smiled if she could have, but instead, she gave him a brief final gnd turned her head again; the dead, after all, were not of her now.

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  Günther Braun cursed, cursed, and tinued cursing over and ain.

  His previous appearand air of authority were o be found.

  Instead, his bck hair with white streaks was disheveled, his military uniform wrinkled, and his eyes bloodshot. The middle-aged man looked out the window of his office as his base, his army, burned in fmes.

  It was like watg hell.

  He knew something was wrong, he knew something was about to happen! Then why? Why didn't he act earlier!

  No, it's not that he didn't a time; instead, his enemies were quicker.

  "Sir, we must go!" one of his guards said. The castle was not safe; they didn't know how or from where the attacks were ing. They o take Generalmajor to safety.

  Günther ched his fists but o his men, starting to gather some things from his desk. It wasn't time frets; he had to make sure this wasn't a lost battle, to lead his men and turuation around.

  To prove his worth, to the Reich, to Hydra.

  As he prepared to leave, he couldn't help it, he gnced out the window o time only to meet his gaze with the same crow he had seen before all this began.

  Suddenly, his body trembled, sweat dripping down his back, sending shivers through his entire being.

  Despite the distance, in a strange way, Generalmajünther Brauhe crow was ughing at him.

  "The gods... have never been on our side." He didn't know why, but somehow he knew. It wasn't a divine sign he felt when he first saw that crow; instead, it was a sentehe sentence of death whispering in his ear about his immi fate.

  His pupils tracted; he wao scream but it was too te. Before he could even run, his vision filled with a familiar blue light, one he had ohought of as a blessing but now came for him to snatch his life away.

  In an instant, the st explosive charge installed by Raven exploded, taking half of the Taufers Castle with it.

  That night, Generalmajünther Braun died, and with him, the German base tasked with quering Northern Italy.

  In an unparalleled battle, the rebel army, along with Italian prisoners and uhe guidance of Captain America, mao defeat the Nazi army and begin their immi and definitive expulsion from Italy.

  Thus, they fought the final battle known as the Fall of Burg Taufers, the st major Nazi stronghold in Italy.

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  A few days ter, Salzburg, Austria. Hydra's main base.

  Dr. Arnim Zo walked down the long corridor of the base, wiping sweat from his forehead nervously.

  These days had not been good days. The loss of Italy had made worldwide headlines, and the German army was not pleased. Hitler was not pleased. Normally, all responsibility would have fallen on Generalmajor, who was stationed in Sand in Taufers, but since he was dead, they had to find another scapegoat.

  Everyone ointing fingers at each other, seeking a culprit, but it was undeniable that most fingers were pointing at Hydra. After all, they had provided most of the resources for the quest of Italy. They had lost Dr. Erskine, and therefore, it was their fault that this "Captain America" existed.

  Arnim couldn't help but grimace at the thought. Thinking about this "Super Soldier" only brought him more worries, mainly because everything that was said and demonstrated he could do was beyond anything they thought possible.

  Many still couldn't believe it, but many others were forced to do so. After all, a battle like the one fought in South Tyrol was not something that simple soldiers, most of whom had been mere peasants, could win on their own.

  Hydra wasn't blind, and taking as evidehat the ons they had created were present in that battle, they had no choice but to accept that Captain America was strohan anyone had imagined possible.

  Because of this, Hydra's leader, Johann Schmidt, had been in a very bad mood. Well, there were more reasons for his bad mood, but the existence of Captain America was the ig on the cake of all of them.

  Soon, Dr. Arnim Zo arrived at the door of the office of Hydra's supreme leader, swallowed hard, wiped the sweat from his face, and then raised his hand to knock three times.

  "e in"

  Theered.

  Arnim Zo walked to an open area where Hydra's leader, Johann Schmidt, admired the most prized obje his possession.

  The Tesseract.

  Arnim stood behind the imposing figure of the Red Skull and spoke.

  "Sir, I have firmed o time, after the battle in Italy, Captain America departed aloo an unknowination. So far, no one knows where he is or where he is heading."

  "I see... Tell me, Dr. Zo, if you were a super soldier with more power than any other mortal, what would be your objective?" At his question, Dr. Zo didn't know how to respond.

  Johann Schmidt chuckled at his ck of response.

  "The greatest threat, Doctor. When a man possesses more power than anyone else, what he must do is ehat power remains his alohis 'Captain America' is no different from any other man. He will e here, sooner or ter, like many others before him, and like all of them, he will fail."

  The Red Skull turned around, making Dr. Zo want to look away from his face but uo do so. He didn't dare.

  "Don't you agree?" he asked, and Arnim couldn't help but look at the three long scars on Johann Schmidt's red face.

  Remembering how he obtaihem, he couldn't help but tremble slightly, but still nodded quickly.

  "That's right, sir. No matter who or what, no one pare to you."

  The Red Skull ughed, looked at the Tesseract for a few more moments before turning away and starting to walk towards another, more secluded part of the office. Dr. Zo followed without saying anything else.

  Soon they both reached a room heavily reinforced with steel, the hermetically sealed doors opened after the hydra leader keyed in an access code that only the two of them possessed.

  Onside, two pairs of furious eyes looked at them with clear murderous anger, growls simir to those of beasts ing from their mouths sealed with metal.

  "What do you say, Doctor? When do you think they'll be ready?" asked the Red Skull.

  Arnim swallowed but responded with much more fidence.

  "Their healing factor is a problem. Our old methods of mind trol are iive against them. However, I have retly started developing a ype of meical device powered by the energy of the Tesseract. While it won't give us plete trol over their minds or thoughts, it will definitely allow us to trol their as."

  Johann Schmidt grunted somewhat distentedly but still nodded.

  "I suppose that's the best I hope for. Make sure to have it ready soon. I want to see how effective they be in the field. They will surely be a nice surprise for this 'Captain America.' I wonder what expression he'll have when he faces these beasts."

  There were mrowls, the thick metal s tightened as the so-called "beasts" tried frantically to break free without much success.

  Johann Schmidt mocked and turned away, leaving the room and Dr. Zo behind, who looked nervously at the two individuals who had caused so many problems weeks before.

  He watched as six long bone cws emerged from the hands of one of them and couldn't help but step back a few paces.

  ed or not, he wasn't going to get too close to the men who nearly killed the leader of Hydra.

  Although, once he finished his device, he would have nothing to fear. Wheime came, both would be the most loyal beasts under Hydra's and.

  Immortal monsters who would do anything for them.

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  Note:

  And thus cludes the first arc of this story!

  A somewhat exg trip, right? But it was all just an introdu, we've barely scratched the surface of all the exg things that could be done.

  I certainly got carried away because I had never done a story of this style, so I may have exaggerated with the time I dedicated to certain things on s, even so I feel that everything was necessary.

  With that said I will try to make things less tedious in the near future, however if I feel that something ime then I will give it that time,

  As always, ents are wele, if you leave a like or its equivalent if you read this on a site that doesn't have them.

  If you want to support me, read the chapters in advand get some other rewards, don't hesitate to take a look at patreon ;D patreon.maCruzader