25: Winter is ing

  The thing twisted, low growls followed by high-pitched sounds, bulging flesh with veins grotesquely protruding.

  As he looked at the things in front of him, Johann Schmidt grimaced in disgust as anger began to fill him.

  "This is the best you've achieved so far, Dr. Zo?" The question, asked in a cold aionless voice, made Dr. Arnim Zo swallow hard as he felt sweat dripping down his forehead.

  Lig his dry lips, he resporying not to stammer.

  "Achieving patibility between the inplete pound V and the Infinite Formu has proven more challenging than expected, sir, but I know I'll get there soon! The problem is that the Infinite Formu still doesn't possess all the properties of the inal user, but with enough time—"

  "Speed up the process," Schmidt interrupted, causing Zo to look at him wide-eyed.

  "B-but sir, that would mean—"

  "I know what it would mean, but it doesn't matter! Great advances aren't made by being cautious. I want my perfect serum, Dr. Zo, I don't care what you have to do to get it... Besides, it's better if they serve a greater purpose; at least it will give some meaning to their deaths... better than just turning into soap, don't you think?" At the Hydra leader's words, Dr. Zo frowned but still nodded.

  Then he looked at the dozens of deformed figures ed with thick metals behind the bars.

  "What should I do with them?" At that question, Johann Schmidt paused... sure, they were failures, but... maybe they could be useful.

  "The Captain will be here soon. We o dey him until my serum is plete... use your knowledge, doctor, and use these monsters for that purpose. They might not mao kill him, but they'll certainly give him enough trouble." With those words, the Hydra leader left the pce, leaving Dr. Zo aloh the nightmarish creatures his experiments had created.

  As he listeo their moans, growls, and whines, Dr. Zo swallowed, but thinking about the Red Skull's words, he couldn't help but let ideas begin to emerge.

  They were unstable, but if he added some meical parts to overe that and reinforce their structure... yes, he could see it. Maybe they wouldn't be an army of perfect super-soldiers, but they wouldn't be far off...

  and above all, they would give him the time he o perfect the Infinite Formu created from the blood of his favorite prisoner, and with it, create the perfect serum that Johann Schmidt sought.

  .

  .

  .

  “Rogers!” Steve turned around when he heard someone calling him. Bucky, standing in front of him, lowered his guard. They had been having a training session in one of the open fields at the main army base in Italy.

  The pce had ged a bit, but renovations were still ongoing as the U.S. Army, along with the alian Army division, the Partisan Division, used the area to ehat German troops were kept away from the Italian borders.

  Steve wao get bato the fight; he wao be deployed again. But wheried, along with Bucky and some other members of his group, they were told they had to wait a little lohe time they had spent captured had taken a toll, and they o rest and recover before returning to the war effort.

  They had to accept this relutly. After that, in the following days, they focused on rec, which wasn’t too difficult for Steve, as he had a strong stitution. Although he had lost some weight, he was still quite healthy. Bucky was in a simir situation, so they would soon be able to return to the front lines, which is why they were training.

  Until a man with a stern faterrupted them. He was one of their superior officers, and Steve reized him because the man often ied the soldiers' ditions at the base.

  “And Barnes, it’s good that you’re together,” he said as he approached, causing both of them to raise an eyebrow in clear doubt.

  “What’s going on, sir?” Steve asked, and the man smiled at them.

  “I heard you’re almost ready to return to the front. Normally, you would have been assigo a new squadron, but a new offer has retly e in, something that might i you.” An offer?

  “I hope it’s something good,” Bucky said, and the superior officer gave them a strange look. Almost like... he was envious?

  “Well, this hasn’t spread yet, but the Captain is bad is recruiting.” It took them a moment to uand what he meant, but when they did, both of them wideheir eyes.

  “The Captain? That Captain?” Bucky asked, and the offiodded with a smile.

  “Seems like you made a good impression, boys. I ’t give you all the details here, but if you’re ied in the offer...” At this, Steve and Bucky looked at each other.

  A tacit uanding passed between them.

  “Where do we sign?”

  It wasn’t just them; several other soldiers, outstanding in various fields, were called as well.

  After all, a Captain America ’t be a Captain America without his andos.

  .

  .

  .

  "The pce has ged a bit, don’t you think?" John said, looking at the base. Beside him, Raven nodded, admiring the view along with him from atop one of the mountains surrounding the area.

  Perhaps ohing that even the war hadn't pletely altered was the spectacur sery in the try.

  "It’s a bit colder," she ented, stretg out her hand and catg a snowfke. The end of the year roag, and with it, wihe first snowfalls had already begun, painting the tall mountains white.

  "Do you think that will be a problem? Flying will certainly be more difficult for you," John said, thinking that due to the weather, certain strategies they had previously used would have to be ged, which was unfortunate.

  "I still fly, but my vision isn’t as good," she had already tested it.

  "Then we’ll ge our strategies. After all, it’s no longer just the two of us." When John said that, Raven hough she also frowned slightly.

  "Let’s go; the meeting will start soon." With that said, Raven transformed into a raven and perched on John’s shoulder as he easily began to desd the mountain.

  .

  .

  .

  Pond, City of Warsaw.

  "This information... have you verified it!?" A voice echoed in the small, carefully insuted room. It was filled with doubt, urgency, but above all, hope.

  The messenger nodded, his eyes equally bright and his voice trembling.

  "Dozens of times, we’ve verified it dozens of times. Our tacts with the Allied tries have assured us it’s true... Captain America is ing to help us!"

  Captain America... Upon hearing this, the ander-in-Chief of the Armia Krajowa ched his fist. This, this was the opportunity his people had been waiting for.

  That his people most urgently needed!

  Tadeusz Bór stood up, his thoughts rag as he began to sider his pns. inally, the Armia Krajowa had decided to wait a few more months, gather their forces carefully, and deliver a decisive blow to liberate Warsaw. from German occupation.

  But if Captain America was on their side... wait a few months? That man had liberated northern Italy in days!

  "We will prepare, we will prepare immediately!" There was er opportunity. He didn’t know what the Captain's full pn was or what he sought in Pond, but right now, it didn’t matter. As long as he helped them recim the capital city and expel the Third Reich regime, they would give him all the support he needed.

  Of course, if Tadeusz had known that John pnned not only to liberate Warsaw. but also to destroy all the Nazi tration camps in the try, he probably would have fainted from excitement.

  .

  .

  .

  "Why Warsaw?" Steve looked at Bucky, who had asked the question.

  "Well, there are several reasons, but the main one is that we need a safe pce," the man—Captain America—replied, looking at everyohered in the most secure room of the base.

  He then poio multiple loarked on a rge map of Pond that had been pced in front of them.

  "These are all the tration camps that Germany has in the try. The general public is unaware of the true scale of what’s happening here. You probably don’t kher, but millions of people have been imprisoned in these pces."

  "Millions?!" Steve almost shouted, and he wasn’t the only one surprised; all the soldiers called to the meeting were also in disbelief.

  Iimes, it was difficult for people to grasp the true scale of what was happening in Pond. After all, the Nazi regime trolled most of the news ing out of the tries they occupied.

  Of course, some figures were known to Allied leaders and the military high and, but it wasn’t something that was widely shared, so the general publiderestimated the horrors being itted. It wouldn’t be until much ter that people would learn what really happened.

  Well, not in this world. In this world, that truth would be known much sooner because John was going to intervene.

  “Yes… millions, and they will all share the same fate if we don’t do something. That’s why we must liberate Warsaw first. If we simply attack the tration camps and free all those who have been captured without a pn, we’d be leaving them to fend for themselves. With Warsaw free and the Polish people occupying it, we give the prisoners a pce to go and regroup. Of course, oy isn’t enough, so we’ll also liberate the surrounding areas, and every time we attack a tration camp, we’ll ensure a safe route for them,” John expihe pn in broad strokes, which, of course, didn’t seem easy to carry out.

  A soldier, a man with a well-groomed mustache and a bowler hat on his head, raised his hand and asked a question.

  “No offense, Captain, but…” He looked around the room, carefully ting all the heads in the room before tinuing.

  “I don’t think 14 people are enough for something like this.” Upon hearing this, John nodded.

  “You’re right about that, Sergeant Dugan, but I never said we’d fight alohe man, Dugan, was a bit surprised that the Captain reized him so easily.

  “I’ve already tacted the Armia Krajowa. The Polish people are ready to take up arms against those who have destroyed their homes. We’ll be the war hammer that ehat happens, no matter what.” That’s when they uood.

  Of course, they had heard the stories of how John had liberated northern Italy with the help of the Partisan rebellion—how the man was the first to charge, the one who took on the most difficult missions and broke down the most imperable walls.

  He was the tip of the spear that the rebellion used as a guide to carve a path through the German bases.

  “I see, now I uand. I apologize for speaking without knowing,” Dugan said, somewhat embarrassed for not having sidered things more carefully.

  "Don’t apologize, I uand the s. This is not an easy mission, and I ’t promise that everyone will make it out alive. But what I promise is that your efforts won’t be in vain, that this mission will be pleted, and that the Third Reich, along with Hydra, will be defeated."

  At his words, several of those present smiled, some nodded, and others adopted expressions filled with determination.

  "We leave tomorrow m. If you still have anything to do, do it now."

  With that, he dismissed them, allowing them to begin their preparations.

  Charles and Cassandra, who had been nearby but silent, approached. Both were dressed differently from the other soldiers. In fact, whether it was them, James, Raven, or John, they all dressed differently.

  James, although still relut, had adopted a pretty cool suit with yellow and blue colors, though the blue in the suit was almost a deep bck.

  When the regur soldiers saw him, they joked about his outfit, which made him a bit annoyed, so he ended up stealing a long, dark coat to cover himself, which, of course, disappointed John a little.

  For her part, Raven dressed very simirly to John, after all, she was somewhat like his right hand; the only difference was that she didn’t have a star on her chest.

  Cassandra and Charles’ outfits were less distinctive but still simir enough in style to what John wore to make it obvious which group they beloo.

  All the suits had been made by Howard using special materials like carbon fiber to give them extra prote—well, all except for Raven’s, who actually made hers using her ability. After all, every time she ged her appearance or transformed, regur clothes didn’t ge along with her, so in a sense, having her own suit was useless to her.

  Of course, the andos would also be given special suits, but these would follow a slightly more military aesthetic to differentiate them from the core team, which obviously sisted of the metahumans.

  "Do we really have to wear these?" Cassandra asked, removing a tactical face mask made of metal that covered the lower half of her face.

  Charles, beside her, rolled his eyes.

  “Do you really want our parents to know we’re here?” The idea of masks for both of them actually came from him. He didn’t want to worry their parents, who thought they had bee on vacation with distaives. At least that was the only thing Charles could put in their minds without feeling too guilty.

  Something that, of course, would be ruined if their faces were seen in the neers and on the news. After all, John, as Captain America, was quite noticeable, and without a doubt, images of his return to the battlefield and of the people who would follow him in future battles would spread around the world, thanks to the war reporters who would undoubtedly cross their path one way or another.

  Therefore, it made seo Charles that they should do something to prevent their identities from being easily reized.

  Cassandra frowhe truth was, she didn’t care much about what her parents thought; after all, they hadn’t cared about what she thought or wanted. But since Charles had asked, she had agreed to do it, even if it seemed a bit ridiculous. Of course, just because she agreed didn’t mean she couldn’t pin about it.

  Ign both of them, James approached John and looked at the maps.

  “How long will it take us to liberate Warsaw?” The man was clearly growing more impatient.

  “I want to do it in three days,” John said, making everyone look at him.

  “As I said, we’re just the war hammer. The Armia Krajowa will take care of everything else. All our team o do is expel the German army, more precisely the Hydra army, along with their special ons, from Warsaw and its surroundings. Once we’ve dohat, we’ll go from camp to camp searg for Victor and Dr. Zo, and we won’t stop until we succeed.”

  Of course, if in the midst of this, they happeo run into a certain Kus Schmidt, better known iure as Sebastian Shaw, a in their way… well, at that moment, Charles would have to prove his worth if he didn’t want to see everyone die.

  Of course, John wouldn’t let that happen; Charles was just Pn A, but John still had a few other pns in case things didn’t go as they should. Naturally, all those pns were less effective than Pn A, so it would be best if Charles acted as John believed he would.

  After all, his sister was with them, and if he thought she was in dahe boy surely wouldn’t leave her to fend for herself, right?

  Upon hearing John’s response, James nodded, more rexed. It was fihey were already in Europe. Three more days were nothing. His brother could ha. At the same time, a part of him also khat what John wao do was the right thing. Victor had always said he was too kind, and James had always de, but he supposed he couldn’t keep denying it when it was his fault they got captured in the first pce.

  After all, he had wao destroy the source of the energy ons to prevent more i people from dying unnecessarily, but instead, all he did was give the fug Nazis a way to create super soldiers using his blood and Victor's.

  Another reason he had agreed to help John, besides resg his brother, was that James felt responsible and wao fix things before all of this turned into a great disaster that would lead the world into an even darker era than it was already living through.

  Without him knowing, this “heroism” within him had been what drove Charles, iing the boy with that same sense of responsibility to do something and prevent the immi disaster.

  "Then I'll be ready," James finally said a.

  “You should go too; soon, things will get intense, and there won't be time to rex,” John told the siblings, who nodded ao get ready a.

  “Do you think they'll do well?” Raven finally asked when only the two of them remained in the room.

  "James, without a doubt. Charles and Cassandra? They’re just rookies; there hasn’t been much time to teach them anything. Well, Charles might already know the theory thanks to his powers, but in practice, theory ofte work,” John said and then looked at her.

  “I want you to watch their backs.” Those words made her frown.

  “I thought I was going to fight by your side,” she didn’t want to be a babysitter.

  “And I didn’t say otherwise; I just need ara eye on them.”

  She seemed to think about it for a few moments befreeing.

  "Fine, but if the situation isn’t good and I have to choose—"

  “You’ll e to me, I know.”

  She remained silent, not denying it, and John could only sigh. Raven retty good at following orders, but when it came to matters like this, it was obvious what her as would be.

  He wasn’t pining, of course. Having someone who genuinely cared about you didn’t feel so bad after all.

  “e on, you o get a good rest,” he finally said, dragging her with him to seo bed. After all, John didn’t need much sleep, but Raven did.

  As he walked, John couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious, w if Hydra had made any progress with the serum or if they had failed instead.

  He supposed he would find out soon.

  .

  .

  .

  Note:

  And the prelude to the war has ended! Soon, the rising, and with it, the war for Pond's liberation, will begin.

  The pieces are i’s time to start moving them.

  In case anyone is w, the Infinite Formu that Zo mentions is not the same as the one from the ics, but rather what he called the “serum” he created using Victor’s blood to grant others his same “regeive” properties. It’s still inplete, but essentially, this inplete version funs simirly to the Infinite Formu from the ics, slowing aging and accelerating the healing of some wounds. Of course, this isn’t good enough to teract the effects of the inplete pound V, as you may have noticed in the first part of the chapter.

  Still, this Infinite Formu may have some pretty iing uses on its own…

  ent, like, and give ygestions and critiques. If there are any mistakes, let me know so I correct them. Thanks for the support and patience.

  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