A New Brand of Freedom

Chapters

Found by the Wrong People (updated: 7/22/19)
Rescued by the Right Soldier
Triumphant Return
Italian Respite
Dum Dums and Decisions
Arriving in London
A Stark's Experiments with an Explosive Pony
Cakes, Explosions, and Dwarves, Oh My! (Updated)
New Gear
Super Soldier Prelude: Tiny Stowaway
Super Soldier: France
Super Soldier: Stand Alone Together
Super Soldier: The Flemish Farm
Super Soldier: The Wooden Horse (part 1)
Super Soldier: The Wooden Horse (part 2)
Super Soldier: The Secret Journey
Super Soldier: The Big Red One
Super Soldier: Camus and the Fly (part 2)
Super Soldier: Icarus and Daedalus
Super Soldier: To Have and Have Not
Super Soldier: The Longest Yard
Super Soldier: Keep Your Powder Dry (Updated: 1/23/21)
Super Soldier: They Were Expendable
Super Soldier: Red Ball Express
Super Soldier: A Back Room and a Chilling Meeting (Updated: 12/15/20)
Super Soldier: Hell Is For Heroes (part 1)
Super Soldier: Hell Is For Heroes (part 2) (Updated: 12/30/20)
Super Soldier: When Trumpets Fade (part 1)
Super Soldier: When Trumpets Fade (part 2)
Super Soldier: Church on Time
Super Soldier: The First Of The Few
Super Soldier Finale: Went The Day Well?
Regroup and Respite
War Horse (part 1)
War Horse (part 2)
The Snow Train
Loss and Capture
Return and Final Plan
Cut Off One Head (part 1)
Cut Off One Head (part 2)
One Day Abroad, 70 Years On Ice...
Epilogue: An Agent Goes Back To Work
Extra: Tribute to the Man Who Started it All
Prologue: An Arctic Discovery
Last Days of Vacation
Super Soldier: Camus and the Fly (part 1)
Mediterranean Vacation

Found by the Wrong People (updated: 7/22/19)

Location: Tønsberg, Norway
Time: March 1942

In the dead of night, a young Norwegian man can be seen running across his quaint little waterside town, being careful as to not trip and fall on the slick cobblestone road. It had become quite wet from the first downpour of the spring season. Everyone in town was holed up in their houses for the night until the storm passed by. This young man however had an urgent matter to attend to. He had overheard the Germans and their plans to invade his friend's church in search of an artifact of almighty power. At breakneck speed, he ran towards the medieval age church in question to warn his old friend and hide the artifact. He came up to the tall wooden doors and entered the church.

As he came inside, he barred the door and called for the priest of the church who ran down the steps.

"(De har kommet for det! ) They have come for it!" the young man exclaimed to the priest.

"(Det gjør de alltid. ) They always do," he replied assuredly.

"(Du må komme deg ut herfra med det før de kommer hit!) You must get out of here with it before they get here!" the young man screamed.

"(La dem komme. De vil aldri finne det) Let them come. They will never find it." the old priest replies to the boy.

All of a sudden, the entire building began to shake violently for ten solid seconds as something enormous was approaching from the outside. They thought it was all over when the shaking stopped for a moment. Unfortunately, it did not last long as a giant tank wrecked the entrance of the church and collapsed on top of the boy, killing him almost instantly. The priest removed one of the fallen stones from the boy's head and stared down at him in sadness.

It seemed though that it was not nearly over at all as the tank backed up and moved over to the other side of the street to make way for an approaching vehicle with six headlights. From his limited experience with cars, the priest identified the car as a Duesenberg. The prized automobile of the Germans. The priest narrowed his eyes at the car as he gazed upon the emblem adorning its hood: a skull with tentacles reaching out from it. Unfortunately, the priest didn't get a chance to ask himself any questions as a group of Nazi soldiers and an officer entered the church and knocked him to the ground.

The officer pointed to the sarcophagus in the middle of the room and signaled his men to open it to reveal its contents. Unfortunately, the lid proved to be too heavy for them to handle.

"OPEN IT!" he barked to his struggling men. "OPEN IT!"

Suddenly, over the chatter and yelling of the officers, heavy footsteps from outside echoed throughout the church. The footsteps gradually got closer and closer, causing the troops to tense up.

A pale figure stepped into the light of the church and entered the now destroyed doorway. All of the soldiers stood at attention, recognizing his authority.

"I will admit to you sir, it has taken me a long time to find this place," the tall man said as matter-of-factly.

The pale man walked towards the old man, bringing with him a thick atmosphere of fear and tension.

"I think...you should be commended. Help him up." the man said quietly.

Two of his soldiers helped the old man onto his feet who brushed dirt and dust from the rubble off of himself.

The tall man stared deeply into the old man's eyes as if he was searching for something.

"I think...you are a man of great vision. ...In this way I think we are very much alike--

"I am nothing like you," the old man replied defiantly.

"Oh, of course....of course, but...what others see as superstition....you and I know to be a science....." the pale man inferred.

The priest gave an annoyed sigh as he tried to dissuade his aggressors.

"What you seek is just a legend."

"Then why make such an effort to conceal it?" he asked politely.

The tall man walked over to the sarcophagus and handed his hat over to one of his subordinates. With a single push, he effortlessly knocked the lid off of the coffin revealing the skeleton inside. He picked up the cheap crystal cube inside and examined it, obviously not falling for the ruse.

"The Tesseract...was the jewel...of Odin's treasure room," he started slowly and deliberately.

He then dropped it to the floor, allowing the fake to shatter into thousands of pieces.

"It is not something that one buries." he punctuated as he walked close up to the old man. "But...I do think...it is very close...yes?"

The old man kept an unwavering look of defiance upon his face as he looked back into his eyes.

"I cannot help you."

"No......but...I think you can help your....village." he said coldly. "You must have some friends out there? Some little grandchildren perhaps? I have no need for them to die."

The tank outside pointed in the direction of the town, which caused the old man to change his tune very quickly.

With his head, he pointed the tall man in the direction where he needed to look. He turned around and smiled, pleased with what he saw. A carving of a giant tree covered in various animals and fantastical creatures adorning one of the walls of the church. In the center of the tree's limbs was the image of a grand city floating in the clouds.

"Yggdrasil......the tree...of...the worlds," he stated in a teaching manner. "Guardian of wisdom."

He then looked closely towards the bottom of the carving and found the shape of a snake's head disguised among the roots. Looking closely, he found a striation in the carving that did not belong there.

"And fate...also," he whispered to himself.

Reaching out, he pushed in the eye of the snake, which released a wooden box hidden in the wall. Taking it out, he opened a door at the top of the box, revealing the powerful artifact inside. The entire room was illuminated in ethereal blue light as the cube expelled an otherworldly groan.

He stared down at the artifact with a sense of great accomplishment.

"And the Fuhrer digs for trinkets in the desert," he mused to himself. "He searches for black magic and demons to win his battles and yet the greatest power of the nine realms hides under his very nose. Rasputin and Krohnen's little red ape will look like a common pet compared to this magnificent treasure."

He slowly reached out for the object inside, and as soon as he made contact, it began to spark and crackle. Startled by the reaction, he dropped the artifact onto the ground where it sparked faster and faster until finally, it unleashed a beam of blue wind and light through the ceiling of the church and into the sky above. For a brief moment, he could see the entire cosmos within that beam of light as if it was being revealed to him alone. Then, the beam collapsed and exploded outwards, temporarily blinding everyone present in the room.

As the man's vision began to return to him, he could see a small red form huddled against the wooden box that was holding the Tesseract. He slowly leaned over and carefully picked up the little body with his gloved hands. It appeared to be a small red unicorn foal with a gleaming golden blonde mane and unusual proportions. It did not seem to be conscious as it was breathing in and out calmly as if it was sleeping. The pale man attempted to be as gentle as he could with the tiny creature as to not harm it in any way. The old man gasped with fear and vague excitement as he laid his eyes upon the little animal.

"Et barn av Sleipnir! (A child of Sleipnir)" the old man said breathlessly.

"Fascinating," he mused as he gently examined the colt. "So you have seen it too? I don't suppose you have seen the cube?"

"It is not for the eyes of ordinary men," he replied sternly. "And neither is that foal!"

"Exactly." the pale man agreed.

He then reached down with one arm and closed the wooden box to pick it up more properly.

"Give the order to open fire," he coldly said to his officer.

"You fool! You cannot control the power you hold, nor the wrath of the one who will come for that little one!" he exclaimed angrily. "You will burn!" the old man roared.

"I already have," he simply retorted as he pulled out his pistol and mercilessly shot the priest.

As the cannons of his tanks began to fire on the helpless town, he looked down at the little red body he carried with him and whispered in one of his little ears.

"You and I will accomplish grand things together mein klien pony."

Author's Note

Another chapter out of the way to one of my experimental fics. Tell me what you guys think of it so far. I will make changes as they become necessary.

Forgive me if anyone here speaks Norwegian or if they can help me with the translations here, I don't know the language.

Slipped in a reference to another famous comic for you nerds

Rescued by the Right Soldier

One year later

Austria. A beautiful country that has come under the control of tyrannical forces. All life in its urban and rural areas is under constant watch and iron-fisted control. However, its dark forests continue to be wild and unchecked. In the midnight hour of one of Austria's most dangerous forests, not much can be heard or seen. The stray hoot of an owl or the scratching of some wild cat are the only things that break the silence. This night, however, something else is sneaking from tree to tree as if it is searching for something important. A humanoid form that is trying its hardest to stay out of sight. This shadowy form is the newest American super-soldier, Steve Rogers.

Just three months ago he was turned into a political tool for the US government to advertise the war effort, but tonight, he was on a mission that he technically was not allowed to be on; Sneaking into enemy territory to save hundreds of men that have been captured as prisoners of war for the evil Hydra. First things first though, he had to find any sign of the secret base where they were being held. After a few hours of looking, he was not having much luck finding anything among the dark trees of Austria.

Suddenly, through the thick fog and the dense brush, he was able to make out bright spotlights and a tall fence. To his left, he could see a long line of enemy vehicles coming down a dirt road. Seeing an opportunity, he waited until the last transport vehicle was in front of him and leaped inside.

...Where he came face to face with two armed Hydra soldiers.

"Fellas," he greeted nonchalantly with a nod.

By the time the soldiers registered what had happened and tried to jump on Steve, he had already knocked both of them out cold and pushed them out of the vehicle.

When he was certain that he was alone, he waited silently inside until the transport stopped. Two minutes later, he could hear another soldier approaching the back of the truck. Steve simply lifted his shield, and when the soldier lifted the flap...

He bashed him in the face, launching him thirty feet backward into a wall.

As soon as he jumped out of the truck, he remembered to make sure to stay out of sight. Ducking and dodging through the facility, he used the numerous tanks and transports as cover from the spotlights and officers patrolling the perimeter of the complex. He had a few close calls trying to avoid sight, but he was able to narrowly avoid detection by sliding under a tank or jumping behind a crate. He then jumped over a tank and onto the roof of a building within the complex. On the other side, he finally found an unguarded back door where he could sneak in without being seen.

On the inside, he ran down a corridor and found another leading to the main room of the complex. Through the viewing glass of the door, he could see another guard on the other side.

'Darn, I can't get let myself be seen just yet.' he thought. 'This might be kinda mean, but I gotta get past this guy.

He knocked on the door, drawing the guard over to him. Just as the guard opened the door looking for whoever it was, Steve smashed his head with the door and punched him in the face knocking him out cold.

Running through the main room, he found a table among the many missiles covered in what appeared to be cartridges filled with an unusual glowing blue energy. He picks up one, considering giving it to the genius Howard Stark to analyze it. Making his way through the building, he made it to the second level where he finally found where most of the troops from the 107th Infantry were being held. He found another guard watching the cells and when his back was turned, he took him out, causing his unconscious body to clatter onto the bars, gaining the attention of the prisoners inside.

When he began to search the guard's body for the keys to the cells, the prisoners got up on their feet and looked at him, unsure of who or what he was. His clothing and costume underneath certainly perplexed them as they weren't sure whether or not to take Steve seriously. His highly noticeable shield certainly drew their attention as they watched him rummage through the grunt's clothing and pull out the keys.

"Who are you supposed to be?" one of the prisoners asked clearly confused.

"I'm...uh...Captain America," he mumbled.

"I...beg your pardon?" one of the English soldiers questioned.

Ignoring the question, he continued looting the guard's body until he found the keys to the cell doors. He then ran down the stairs to the bottom level and released all of the captive soldiers.

A rather tall soldier with a thick handlebar mustache and a black bowler stepped out of his cell and into the hallway, watching Steve unlock all of the cages. He was rather impressed with the act until a Japanese-American commando stepped out of one of the cells, which caused him to raise his eyebrow.

"What? We taking all of them?" he asked Steve in a snarky manner.

The commando walked towards the man with a vaguely irritated look and pulled out his dog tags.

"I'm from Fresno...Ace," the commando retorted.

"Is there anybody else fellas?" Steve interjected as he guided them down the hallway. "I'm looking for a Sergeant James Barnes."

"There's an isolation ward on the top floor, but no one has ever come back from it," the English soldier replied. "We also heard that they are keeping a child there, but nobody is sure why."

'Hydra is kidnapping kids now?' Steve thought angrily. 'These bastards need to pay. Gotta get to Buck first and then bust the kid out if I can.'

"The treeline is Northwest, eight miles past the gate. Get out fast, and give them hell," he commanded. "I'll meet you guys in the clearing with anyone else I can find."

Steve turned to go, but one of the other soldiers couldn't contain their curiosity.

"Wait a minute. How are you gonna get out? Do you know what you are doing?"

"Yeah, I've knocked out Adolf Hitler over 200 times," Steve replied so nonchalantly.

He then left the other soldiers in the hallway, staring at him with a blank expression, trying to process the beyond bizarre response.

In the facility's security office, Johann Schmitt was tending to a daily inspection of the complex, making sure everything in his factory was in proper working condition. He was just about to leave the room when he noticed something off on the security screens.

Taking a closer look, he saw dozens of men spilling out of every exit into the outside of the complex. Before he knew it, explosions began appearing on the screens, along with the men slaughtering his own guards.

"What is happening?" he asked himself with moderate concern in his voice.

When he began to hear banging and gunfire right outside the building, his concern, turned into fear.

He began pushing a few buttons, flipping through the other cameras in the complex and saw that it was happening everywhere. After scrolling through each of the cameras, one of them captured something that caught his eye. A soldier was beating down each of his men with raw ferocity and strength the likes he had not seen before. Zooming in, he saw something that made his eyes widen. The soldier was carrying a large shield emblazoned with stars and stripes. That coupled with the large A across his helmet, he immediately knew who this man was and what he had to do next.

Schmit moved to another part of the control panel where he began flipping various panels and pressing large red buttons, beginning a dozen countdown dials scattered about the room.

Dr. Arnim Zola rushed forward, trying to stop Schmit from destroying all of their work.

"No! No! What are you doing?" he asked desperately.

"Our forces are outmatched Arnim," he replied calmly as he motioned to the screen. "Go and collect your things along with the other treasure I picked up in Norway."

When the doctor saw the shield-wielding soldier on the screen, he dashed away to retrieve his research and Schmitt's new pet.

Steve finally made it to the highest level of the complex where he was able to look out over the whole inside of the factory and saw just how severe his situation was becoming when the alarms began to sound.

'Damn, I need to get Bucky and that kid out of here soon, or we'll all be goners.' he thought.

Sprinting at breakneck speed, he found himself going into another dark hallway. One of the doors on the left had a large padlock which he proceeded to break by bashing his tin shield against the mechanism. The heavy door slowly opened with a creak as he walked inside, keeping his guard up for anything suspicious.

The room seemed to be filled with various control panels and data machines of different sizes. Steve didn't know too much about science, but from what little German Dr. Erskine was able to teach him, one of them appeared to be scanning energy readings from some kind of four-legged creature. In the middle of the room was a large steel container, with only a small pane of viewing glass to see what was inside.

As he started to approach, he began to hear the crying of a small child coming from inside. His instincts kicked in as he rushed to the door and looked for a way to open it.

"Hang on kid! I'm here to get you out of here. Er...or if you live around here (Oh jeez, I hope I don't botch this too hard.) Bleib auf Kind Ich bin hier um zu helfen!

Steve could hear babbling sounds from the other side, which lead him to believe that the child must have been only an infant.

He found a small mechanism sticking out of the container and pulled it as hard as he could. The lever slowly clicked downwards as the door began to open.

The inside of the container remained dark, not allowing him to see whatever where the child was.

"Come on, it's alright. You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm here to take you home," he said in the softest, kindest voice he could muster. "Is it okay if I can see you?"

After another babbling sound, Steve could slowly see a small figure stepping out of the dark and into view where he could see him. However, what he saw then completely confused him and intrigued him at the same time.

It appeared to be a small red horse with a golden mane. The head was too big and the body to be a normal horse though. Then there was the addition of the tiny horn that protruded from the pony's head.

'A unicorn?' Steve desperately tried to rationalize.

The bulky form told Steve that this little pony had to be a male. On his flank was some kind of mark: A smile engulfed in flames.

Steve's confusion and apprehension immediately ceased when he saw how cold and scared he was. Damp streaks below the little one's eyes from intense crying only made him want to help the red pony even more. Steve then stretched out his hand and smiled at the little pony, trying to coax him over.

"Come on little guy, I'm not going to hurt you."

The pony sniffed the air and slowly walked over to him. As soon as the pony was only a few inches from him, he stood there for a moment looking at Steve, and then leaped into his arms and began crying profusely into his leather shoulder pads. He knew he had to hurry before the complex exploded, but he felt he had to wait there for a moment, allowing the little pony to cry as much as he wanted to.

Lady Luck appeared to be on his side when after two minutes of holding the colt, he fell asleep in his arms. Steve angled his arm and his shield to comfortably cradle the little toddler as he ran out of the room.

Out in the hallway, he found a short chubby man with a lab coat holding a large folder filled to the brim with various papers. When the man turned his head and saw Steve, he broke into a run and disappeared around the corner.

Steve carefully ran down the hall to keep the pony steady and inside the room, the scientist came out of. Off to the left was a restraining table where his old friend strapped down and covered in various cuts, bruises, and burns. He showed clear signs of dehydration, exhaustion, and starvation, no doubt from weeks of torture. The man seemed delusional and spoke something over and over again incoherently as if he was forced to.

"Sergeant James Barnes. Serial Number: 325I749"

He was joyful beyond reason to find his friend alive and well.

"Bucky," he said as his voice broke. "Oh, my god!"

Steve put the shield down and carefully put the still sleeping colt down on it and proceeded by ripping off Bucky's leather restraints with one hand like they were wet pieces of toilet paper.

He grabbed the man's face and looked him in the eyes in an attempt to pull him back to reality.

"Hey! Hey! It's me. Steve. Come on buddy, come back to life."

"Steve?" the man said tiredly as a smile began to grow on his face.

"Come on."

"Steve"

He quickly grabbed the pieces of the leather straps and a spare lab coat lying nearby and made them into a makeshift harness for the little colt which he placed around his waist and placed the little colt inside. Going back to the table, he carefully picked Bucky up, trying to support both of their weights.

"I thought you were dead pal," Steve said joyfully.

"I...thought you were smaller," Bucky squeaked out clearly confused as he looked up and down Steve's new form.

Just then, Steve heard another explosion outside, which drew his attention to another room. Inside had a large map of Europe that covered one of the walls entirely. On it was multiple markers placed on different locations throughout the continent, no doubt other sites where Schmitt's Hydra bases were located.

Steve reached down with one hand and grabbed his shield, before making their way back out into the hallway to make their escape.

"What....happened to you?" Bucky asked in a dazed manner.

"I joined the Army!" Steve replied excitedly.

When they were down on a lower level, Bucky was finally able to properly walk again. He steadied himself against a wall to properly balance himself.

"Did it hurt?" he asked as he grabbed his arm in pain.

"Just a little," Steve replied honestly.

"Is it permanent?"

"So far!"

"And uh...what about the little guy?" he asked pointing to the sleeping red colt hanging off of his back.

"Schmitt locked him up, I busted him out."

"Huh. Neat," was all Bucky could muster as he continued trying to catch his breath.

The former taller friend of Steve was too tired to care about anything, let alone a strange alien red pony. Rational questions could come later as his thoughts went to his friend, how he got here, and how they were going to escape.

A few seconds later, they felt the entire facility going up in flames, which caused both of them to quicken their pace to a breakneck sprint. They finally made it out to the catwalk where they saw every bomb and warhead in the factory blowing up in a fiery chain reaction. The noise no doubtedly woke the occupant he was carrying as loud wailing began to blast right in his ears. He pulled him out to try to calm him and the sight of Steve's face seemed to make him feel a little better.

"Don't cry kid, it's going to be okay." he insisted comfortingly. "I know you're afraid, but I promise you. Nothing is going to happen to you. You are coming home with us."

"He is?" Bucky asked bewildered.

"Yes, he is," Steve replied firmly. "I'm not leaving him in Austria. That's for sure."

It seemed like he wouldn't understand him, but the little colt quickly nodded and gave him a tight hug, babbling something with a small smile that he couldn't understand.

They ran out to the railing and found that the fire and explosions had reached them. The only way left out was another catwalk, leading to the other side of the facility. The duo ran up another staircase and out onto the catwalk, where a slimy voice called out to Steve.

"Captain America! How exciting!"

Steve looked across the way and found a tall man with jet black hair giving a large suitcase to the scientist he bumped into in the hallway. He didn't know why, but he immediately knew that this had to be the infamous Johann Schmitt. After a second of quiet encouragement, the colt allowed Steve to pass him to Bucky where he saw him step forward towards Schmitt. Who saw fit to step forward towards Steve himself.

"I am a great fan of your films!" he continued. "So...Dr. Erskine managed it after all! Not exactly an improvement....but still....impressive!"

Steve replied with a powerful sock to his face.

"You got no idea buddy!" he growled.

The colt began to giggle seeing the display.

Schmitt unfortunately was completely unfazed as he held his cheek for a moment and with a sadistic smile, he attempted to return the punch.

"Haven't I?"

But was stopped by Steve's shield which gained a new dent instead. Steve tried reaching for his gun to finish him off but received a right hook to the face which knocked him onto his back. Schmitt tried to approach him, but Steve knocked him away with a solid kick to the gut. Dr. Zola pulled a lever adjacent to the catwalk, which made it retract and separated them from each other.

"No matter what lies Erskine told you, Stephen....you see I was his GREATEST SUCCESS!" Schmitt proclaimed as he grabbed his neck as if he was pulling something off of his face.

When Steve looked more closely, it appeared that his skin was peeling back, revealing something red underneath. Slowly but surely, he ripped his face off like a mask and revealed another more grotesque one underneath. Red like freshly spilled blood and bony like a bare skull.

"You don't have one of those do you?" Bucky gulped.

"You are deluded Captain," Schmitt stated. "You...pretend to be a...simple soldier, when in reality...you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind."

To punctuate his point, he threw his "human face mask" into the fire watching it immolate and burn to ashes.

"That little one you have taken from me is the next step to our evolution and power that I intend to take back in due time."

"Fat chance of that you goose-stepping kraut!" Bucky roared while holding the colt who was cowering at the sight of Schmitt's new face.

As he was saying this, Schmitt began walking away into a nearby elevator to make his escape.

"Unlike you Captain, I embrace evolution proudly! Without fear!"

"Then how come you're running?" Steve retorted.

It was already too late though, as Schmitt and Zola already left.

Steve considered going after them, but another explosion shook that thought out of him as he remembered he had a best friend and a child he had to help escape.

"Come on let's go. We need to get out of here before we go up in smoke too," Steve said nervously.

He looked around and found a steel beam that reached over to the other side and to a door that leads to the outside. They made their way over to the beam and proceeded to cross it.

"Let's go. One at a time," he said with fear in his voice. "I'll take the kid, you get to the other side."

Bucky handed the colt off to Steve who was happy to be back with him, hanging in his makeshift harness as he giggled with glee and clapped his hooves together.

Steve watched Bucky slowly inch his way to the other side of the beam. Before he was halfway through, they noticed that it wasn't stable. So he slowed his advance until he was close enough to jump.

Grabbing onto the railing before the beam fell, he pulled himself up back onto the catwalk, only to realize that Steve had no way across.

"There's got to be a rope or something around here!" he exclaimed to Steve.

"JUST GO! GET OUT OF HERE!" Steve cried in desperation.

"NO!!! NOT WITHOUT YOU TWO!!!" he roared back in defiance.

Not having any other options, Steve used his strength to bend the railing back to give him a big enough space to jump across. Provided that he could do so.

He stepped back a few feet and then looked back at the colt.

"Close your eyes little buddy okay?" Steve said softly to him. "This is gonna get just a little scary."

The pony simply nodded violently as he closes his eyes tightly and buried his face in his hooves.

Steve then ran as fast as his legs would allow him to go in a short distance and launched himself clean over the hundred-foot gap.

'I wish I had a better plan than this!' he thought frantically.

When he was only halfway across the gap, it seemed for a moment that he wasn't going to make it. Little did he know that a red light began to spark from the colt's horn and suck up the fire from the exploding warheads around them. The last thing Steve and Bucky remembered, was the colt yelling something at the top of his lungs.

"KA-BOOOOOOM!"

....Before they were launched out of the factory windows a thousand miles an hour and on to the hard ground outside with a powerful explosion.

Author's Note

From here, I'll do my best to change things up a bit more by changing the story a little bit here and there to show what the events of the movie would be with baby Firebrand in the mix.

Triumphant Return

Steve began to slowly stir from his unconsciousness, feeling soft grass under him and a sore feeling from all of the hits and burns he had endured. The smell of smoke, gunpowder and burnt metal that he remembered before falling into unconsciousness was replaced with the smell of pine needles, fresh dirt, and moist, clean air like after a rain. All around him, he could hear the muffled voices of dozens of men asking about his condition.

He opened his eyes and found Bucky along with four of the other prisoners he helped free watching over him.

"You alright pal?" Bucky asked with a half-smile. "You've been out for a while. We were starting to get worried."

"My head's pounding and I feel like I was blown out of a building, but I think I'm alright." he dryly replied.

"That's because we were," Bucky retorted.

He sat back up and saw that they were in the middle of the forest. Low hanging tule fog from the night before was still lingering as vision was still limited up to a few yards. A large group of men was gathered around them, who Steve presumed to be the prisoners that he released from the Hydra facility's detention center. A sizable amount of them appeared to be carrying the strange guns that the Hydra soldiers were using. Two small groups of the prisoners even had a few of the tanks that they commandeered from them.

An English soldier who was among the POWs, Steve met in the compound, stepped forward, and introduced himself.

"Major James Montgomery Falsworth of His Majesty's 3rd Independent Brigade Sir. We thought you'd never wake up, but we are sure glad you did old boy," the English soldier said as he grabbed Steve's hand and shook it firmly.

"Captain Steve Rogers," he replied with a small smile. "I was glad that I could help out."

"Not entirely sure how you survived that, but we are all glad that you did," the soldier in the Bowler hat said. "I'm Dugan by the way. Thanks for springing us out of that hell hole."

Steve thought for a moment about what happened before he fell into unconsciousness. Remembering a red flash come from out of the corner of his eye before being engulfed in a ball of fire.

"The kid!" he exclaimed. "Where is he? He was strapped to me when we got out of there!"

The other soldiers gave him a strange look for a moment before putting on a face of realization.

"Ya mean the weird little horse cat with red fur?" the now identified Dugan clarified. "We thought he was a hallucination from being around all that toxic stuff back in that place. Look to your left."

Confused, Steve looked to his left side and found the little red pony curled up and sound asleep close to him, right on his dented shield.

"He's been like that for hours," Bucky chuckled. "When he couldn't wake you at first, he wouldn't let go of you for any reason. Back in Brooklyn, you couldn't even get a dog to like you this much. Let alone a red cat pony or whatever the hell he is"

The other soldiers laughed at that.

The little red colt woke up and stood up on all fours. When he saw that Steve was finally awake too, he babbled happily and jumped into his arms.

"Well ain't that the sweetest thing," Bucky said with a goofy smile. "Hey, what's that on its flank?"

Steve lifted the colt gently and turned his body. There appeared to be some kind of mark that he wasn't able to see before: A red smiling mask engulfed in flames.

"Hm, how did you get this little firebrand little bud?" Steve asked the colt.

The colt simply squeaked and touched his hoof to his head.

"Wait. Are you saying your name is Firebrand?"

The colt squealed happily and shook his head vigorously as he clapped his front hooves together.

He then pushed Steve's shield back towards him and jumped back in the makeshift harness with a cute little hop.

"The little guy has got the right idea, Steve," Bucky replied. "We need to get a move on and get you to help us get back to base. We were hoping that you know where it is at the moment. We need to get back before Colonel Phillips moves the camp's location again."

Steve pulled himself back onto his feet and looked in the sky to see the position of the sun.

"...Right. Fall in behind me men. I'll lead you home safely."

Then out of nowhere, he could hear a loud gurgling coming from his tiny passenger.

"Hungry? Don't worry. We will be back soon enough. I'll get you something good. Maybe after that. I can finally get somebody to help me figure out just what you are. Let's hope you like Italian food Firebrand."

The sounds of thunder clouds gathering sounded over the 107th Infantry's camp as Colonel Chester Phillips was preparing a grim condolence letter with his aide to one of his higher-ups in the U.S government. He had just learned from his intelligence unit that there had been a large explosion at Hydra's main manufacturing plant nearby and Steve Rodgers had headed in that direction just a short while ago. Since then, they had not found any survivors in the outlying areas.

"Senator Grant," Phillips directed to the aide. "I regret to report to you that Captain Steven G. Rogers went missing behind enemy lines on the 3rd. Aerial reconnaissance has proven unfruitful, and as a result, I must declare Captain Rodgers, Killed In Action. Period."

At the entrance to his tent, he heard a knock and turned around to find Agent Peggy Carter with a folder filled with various pictures. She stepped forward and handed the latest one to the Colonel.

"The last surveillance flight is back," she stated grimly. "No sign of activity."

Colonel Phillips flipped through the pages as if he was looking for something in particular.

"Go get a cup of coffee Corporal," Phillips said to his aide.

"Yes sir."

He then waited before everyone else had left his tent before letting out a heavy sigh.

"We can't touch Stark. He's rich beyond belief. Not to mention that he's the United States Army's number one weapons contractor. You...Agent Carter have neither of those distinctions."

"With respect Sir, I don't regret my actions. I do not believe that Captain Rodgers did either," she replied.

"What makes you think I give a flying damn about your opinions?" the Colonel scoffed. "I took a chance with you, Agent Carter. I thought I had something good when you signed on, and now America's Golden Boy and a lot of other good men are probably dead...because you had a crush."

"I can assure you, it wasn't that. I had faith."

"Well I sure hope that's some comfort to you when they finally shut this division down," he replied with barely hidden anger.

Just outside, he could hear the other members of the 107th rushing off to another part of the camp as if something significant had just happened. Many soldiers all over were shouting excitedly.

"What the hell is going on out there?" he wondered.

Following the trail of the commotion down the dirt road, he and Peggy soon stopped at the outskirts of the camp, leading out to the mouth of the main dirt road where most of the soldiers had gathered. Pushing his way to the front of the crowd, he finally found what had caused this. Although, he could not believe his own eyes when he saw what was approaching.

Captain Steve Rodgers was walking back towards the camp with his head held high alive and well with all of the soldiers they all believed to be dead following behind him. Everyone there at the camp rejoiced as they saw their brothers in arms return unharmed. Steve received applause from every member of the 107th present in the camp, even the ones who had mocked him just two days before. Men who were inside their tents heard the news and ran out to meet their recovered comrades. Steve slowly made his way through the crowd with Bucky following along right beside him and walked right up to Colonel Phillips before standing at attention and giving the Colonel a salute.

"Some of these men need medical attention and a child who needs something to eat," Steve said stoically. I would also like to submit myself for disciplinary action."

The Colonel looked at Steve with an unreadable face for five solid seconds before giving a small smile.

"That won't be necessary," he replied.

Steve was internally surprised at the strict Colonel's decision for a moment but then nodded back.

"Yes sir,"

"So...where is the little rascal you mentioned?"

All of a sudden, a loud yawn could be heard coming from behind Steve's shield as a little redhead popped out. Everyone there suddenly went silent as Firebrand hopped out of the harness and onto Steve's shoulder.

"Agent Carter, have I been drinking?" the Colonel asked the woman.

"No more than usual sir," Peggy retorted dryly.

Walking up to Steve, she outstretched her hand and caressed Firebrand gently on the head, who greatly appreciated the gesture by rubbing into her hand with a content look on his face. Afterward, she looked at Steve with an irritated look.

"Your late."

With a sly smile, he pulled out a busted communicator and showed it to her.

"Couldn't call my ride," he replied.

"HEY EVERYBODY!" Bucky called out to the crowd. "Let's hear it for Captain America!"

The crowd of American soldiers went into an uproar of applause for their hero as he stood there, basking in the limelight. Suddenly, Firebrand ignited his horn into a bright red glow before shooting off red rockets into the sky. The entire place ducked and threw themselves behind cover before the rockets exploded into sparkling fireworks. The little colt squeaked and giggled as he saw the reactions of the people around him.

Steve looked at him and shook his head with a humorous grin.

"I think we are going to get along just fine Firebrand," he chuckled as he watched Firebrand's beautiful fireworks crackle and sputter in the morning sky.

Italian Respite

The same day after Steve's rescue of the remainder of the 107th in Austria, Colonel Phillips went through hell filling out thousands of apology letters to the loved ones of the soldiers back in America to cancel out the condolence letters that he had sent to them days earlier. Not to mention he had to send out countless reconnaissance teams back to the former site of the Hydra base to make certain that nothing remained or to bring back any unusual intel or technology that they came across. As a reward to Steve's great deeds, Colonel Phillips gave him and the rest of the 107th a three-day-long leave to the nearby Italian border town of Tarvisio until he gave them the order to return with him back to England for further instructions.

Agent Peggy Carter personally took it upon herself to drive Steve and Firebrand into town using her own car, as all of the other remaining vehicles had already been taken. Firebrand seemed to be completely comfortable and happy riding in the car with the two, giggling and pointing at every little thing that he saw. Sometimes, Dugan in the truck ahead of theirs would make silly faces at the colt, causing his giggling to turn into laughter. Firebrand in turn would try making faces at the man, but all he ended up doing was sneezing from scrunching his face too hard.

"He seems to be enjoying himself," Peggy said with a small smile.

"Well, everybody likes a car ride," Steve chuckled.

"I know you certainly do or you wouldn't have pulled that little trick with the flag pole back at your boot camp," she muttered.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," Peggy quickly replied.

After a half-hour had passed since they left the base back on the border, the little colt's stomach gurgled and growled again, causing Firebrand to squeak and wrinkle his eyes in discomfort. He turned around and whined at Steve and Peggy for nourishment.

"Hold on Firebrand, we'll be there in a few short minutes," Peggy said comfortingly as she reached over to rub him on the head.

Steve did the same as he looked into Firebrand’s big eyes and gave him a small hug.

“Don’t worry, I promised you something good. Just hang on a little bit longer for me okay?”

Firebrand nodded his head and became more patient as he listened to Steve’s words. Peggys's small pale hand reached over and gently stroked his golden blonde mane. The action seemed to calm him down slightly as he rubbed into it again as if he were a small house cat.

"If I was told three days ago that we would find a red baby unicorn with a large head in one of Hydra's secret facilities, I would have called that person mad, but life throws rather strange curve balls at you I suppose."

Steve raised his eyebrow and gave her a humorous look.

"Baseball terminology huh? I didn't know you were a fan, Peggy."

"Oh, there's a lot you still don't know about me, Captain."

A few minutes later, the Italian village of Tarvisio came into view as they passed the next bend in the road. They passed over a small red bridge going out of the Foresta Millenaria di Tarvisio and over a narrow rushing brook filled with fresh, cold meltwater coming down the mountains. Steve could hear the excited cries of the soldiers ahead of them talking about all of the pleasant things they were going to do with their time.

“Now that I’m thinking about it; Why hasn’t Mussolini taken this place yet?” Steve asked quizzically. “Isn't it a little risky to take a leave here in enemy territory?”

“Thankfully, the Greek and small pockets of Italian and Yugoslavian resistance guard this sector heavily.” She explained. “Along with a bit of our own. Every battalion that has tried to come through here is mercilessly destroyed. Besides, Mussolini’s troops have been having a hard time expanding their grip Northeast, but we still aren’t sure why. The locals seem to appreciate our presence, so there’s never been any ample reason for alarm, but we still keep our guard up rest assured.”

"Hydra was working for the Nazis right?" the Captain asked.

"Up until we found out that Johann Schmitt killed at least five of their generals and broke away".

Once everyone safely made their way inside the village, Peggy drove around until she found a spot to park in front of what appeared to be a small cafe from the outside attached to a large white two-story building covered in tall windows.

"What's this?" Steve wondered.

"From what I understand from the locals, it's supposed to be one of the best cafes in town. I thought you might want to come here to feed your new little friend."

Firebrand giggled in reply, to which Peggy poked him on the nose, causing him to laugh even more.

She then reached into her bag and pulled out a small pouch filled with what appeared to be Italian currency.

"That's about $400 in Lira. That should give you enough for a little fun. Don't go spending it all at once."

Steve picked the money out of Peggy's hand and placed it in one of his pouches. Opening the jeep door, he stepped out onto the cobblestone road and picked up Firebrand who cooed with delight

"Thanks. Aren't you coming though? Don't you want to join us?"

"Oh, I'd love to spend a few days in the Italian countryside, but unfortunately, Colonel Phillips is expecting me back."

The jeep started up again with a sputter and a steady purr as she shifted gears and turned around back toward where they came from. Firebrand waved his hoof at her in the car with a sorrowful face and made a little sad sound.

"Bah, Bah."

"Don't worry, we'll see her again pretty soon. Right now though, we should get you something to eat. I hope you don't eat stuff too different from human food. Maybe I can get you some oats or something, I don't know. This kind of thing...is just a little new to me."

Steve with little Firebrand hanging on his back, walked in the front door of the white building. The first thing he noticed was how brightly colored everything was. The brightly colored paint made the restaurant seem to glow as the late morning light shined through the windows. Large electric lanterns lined the walls and pillars of the restaurants adding to the already gleaming interior.

The walls on the inside were covered with various paintings from local artists and portraits presumably from the owner's family.

Four of the soldiers from the 107th were already inside enjoying a meal. Only a few local people from the village appeared to be eating there as well. As soon as they saw him come in the front door, they stood up at attention and saluted him in unison.

"Sir!"

"At ease guys, I'm just here as a regular person."

It took a bit of persuasion on Steve's part to get them to sit back down, but they eventually went back to their business and promised to act as if Steve and Firebrand were not in the same room unless he spoke to them directly.

Steve waited a few more minutes, comforting Firebrand as his stomach was growling loudly until a middle-aged Italian man wearing a hot pink shirt and a wine red apron came out of a pair of black doors, which lead to what appeared to be the restaurant's kitchen. As soon as he laid eyes upon Steve, he gave him a beaming smile showing gleaming white teeth as white as the walls of his restaurant. He approached Steve and gave a short bow.

"Buona giornata Signore. I am Giovanni Moretti. Owner of the great Osteria Hladik of Tarvisio. How may I serve you today my Americano amico? May I show you to a table?"

"A table for two please," Steve asked politely. "I'm with a little boy who hasn't eaten in a few days."

Steve silently gestured to his back and the straps where Firebrand was hanging from and Giovanni made a face that showed he instantly understood.

"The poor thing. I shall do my duty and give the little one a fine meal that he will never forget and neither will you, my friend. Come with me!"

He followed Giovanni to a table near one of the windows where the light entered the restaurant the most. Clapping his hands, he had one of his servers bring out a container filled with fresh breadsticks and a small menu for Steve to browse. Giovanni stood there at his table awaiting Steve's command, as he hopelessly stumbled through the menu that was written all in Italian. After a few minutes, Steve put down the menu and decided to go an easier route.

"Do you recommend anything good and soft that a toddler can eat fairly easily?"

"Mama's Signature Pasta with Marinara is the perfect thing! She fed it to me every week when I was a little bambino still growing teeth.

"I think that will work," he confirmed. "May we have that?"

"Absolutely my friend. Two plates of pasta coming right up!" Giovanni declared proudly as he grabbed the menu and dashed back into the kitchen.

As Steve waited for the food, several thoughts passed through his mind. Where did Firebrand come from? Why did Schmitt kidnap him? What does Schmitt think he can get from him? Most importantly though, where were his parents? If he had any, to begin with, that is. He wouldn't want to cause any international or any God forbid...interplanetary incidents if he just picked up a child that his parents might have possibly been looking for. It would just cause numerous unnecessary misunderstandings.

Steve grabbed a breadstick and started munching on it, hoping that the thoughts would stop circulating through his head. One more question went through his head that seemed more important than any of the others. Who was going to take care of him now that he's all alone?

Steve was unable to presently answer those questions as servers came out with two large plates of pasta with marinara sauce and smothered with Parmesan cheese. As soon as they were finished serving Steve, they gave him a deep bow and retreated into the kitchen.

"This actually looks pretty good. Hey, Firebrand. Let's get you out of that and get started on your food."

As soon as Firebrand heard the word food, he zipped out of Steve's harness and onto the second plate at the other side of the table. He squeaked with delight as he deeply inhaled the smell of the pasta

Before he could say grace, Steve saw Firebrand slap his tiny face into the pasta forcefully and eat ravenously which sent marinara sauce and pasta noodles flying in every direction. Some of the sauce even splattered into Steve's face completely covering his head. The only visible thing was his cute little ears that moved around every so often while he was slurping up the noodles and sauce. Cute was the only apropos word.

"Geez, you really were hungry."

Before long, Firebrand had devoured everything and sat down on his plot with a satisfied smile and a noisy burp. He was covered from head to hoof in a gooey red sauce that was only camouflaged by his fur. He looked into Steve's eyes and happily leaped into his arms with a joyful babble and got sauce all over Steve's uniform as well. Firebrand then seemed to be falling asleep as he started to digest his first big meal.

"What am I gonna do with you?" Steve chuckled heartily as he rocked the foal back and forth very gently.

Before Firebrand went to sleep completely, Steve heard Firebrand say two little words that changed everything that cool early Summer day in wartime old Italia.

"Takoo Dada."

Author's Note

Please find it in your heart to forgive me if I stretch historical stuff a little bit, I dont know that much about this point in history as I should. I'm just making certain things up as I go along. Feel free to inform me of certain things if any of you guys are World War II history buffs.

I hope this was cute enough as a little intermission thing between the action chapters.

This is another one of those experimental fics, so I'm not sure whether or not people are gonna like these or not. Be patient with me

Dum Dums and Decisions

After lunch and a quick bath for the colt at Steve's request of the restaurant's owner, little Firebrand was fast asleep in Steve's harness. Steve himself walked endlessly around the tiny village thinking about many things that were floating around in his mind. Things that gave him anxious, excited, and uneasy feelings all at once. Particularly about what Firebrand had called him not two hours earlier. As he walked into the main square of the village where a large ornate fountain was, the thoughts buzzed around his head more and more.

It was just something he simply couldn't get out of his head no matter how hard he tried to. The little colt wasn't human nor did he really know Steve for that long, but he already considered Steve to be his father. Steve himself was a young orphan, despite his larger size; Having lost his parents in the war he was trying so hard to end. Only Bucky Barnes, his lifelong friend, and surrogate brother had stuck around to be something of a brother that he never had growing up. Even now, only eighteen years old, he couldn't imagine the idea of becoming a father this early in his life, but it was still an idea that kept drifting in. The only comfort he received from his constant doubts was from deep prayer.

He didn't know where he came from or why he was there, but Steve somehow knew without a doubt that Firebrand was just as alone as he was. No family to go back to, save for the few friends he had made with the 107th. Whether Firebrand's own birth parents were around somewhere looking for him was something that he ultimately would have to look into. Remembering what Dr. Erskine told him about Johann Schmitt's demented research into Teutonic and Nordic myth, he could only think that with the appearance of a unicorn like the one hanging off his back, perhaps there was a slim chance that there were other worlds out there with fantastical creatures like him. He shook the idea out of his head though until he had more information to back up that theory. For now, though, he knew that he would have to do the best he could to care for the infant unicorn as any parent would. Watching the little infant sleep in his harness he put on a small smile.

"Why don't we see what we can do around here huh? We might as well take advantage of our leave," he whispered to the sleeping colt.

While walking around town, he found that the majority of the 107th was mostly spending their time drinking at local pubs or flirting with the local villagers. Steve watched humorously as two of his new friends Dugan and Gabe attempted to woo a group of girls by poorly speaking the language. To which they simply laughed at and walked off.

"Having trouble Dugan?" Steve quipped.

"They just don't know what they're missing Cap!" Dugan replied with an infectious grin.

"We're just...getting a lay of the land Captain," Gabe added. "By the way, how's the little dude?"

Steve turned his body slightly to reveal the sleeping form of Firebrand.

"Just came out of a local restaurant where he devoured an entire plate of pasta in a few short seconds," he replied.

"Sounds like me during Grammy's crawfish boil night," Gabe replied with a half-smile.

"Or me after smoking some of that green stuff I got from Morita," Dugan chuckled. "What are ya gonna do with the little guy?"

"I don't know for sure yet, but there are a few things I want to ask the Colonel once we get back," Steve explained. "For the moment, I think it might be a good idea for me to look after him."

"Well, Firebrand seems to be a pretty mellow little guy, so if you wanna keep him around you definitely won't hear any complaints from us. Not sure how the Colonel will react though."

"I'll do my best to explain the situation to him. Maybe Senator Grant can help me out if there's any chance."

"Just don't put too much faith in that guy," a familiar voice warned. "I still have some reservations about him."

Steve turned around to see Bucky with his uniform loosened up for the warm weather standing by the edge of the fountain.

"Oh hey."

The two just stood there across from each other for a few seconds in awkward silence. Until Firebrand saw Bucky and with a happy little squeak, he hopped out of Steve's harness and ran over to him nuzzling his legs. With a small smile, Bucky kneeled to the little colt and began stroking his red withers gently.

"How are you holding up?" Steve asked concerned for his friend. "I never really got the chance to ask how you were doing after...you know. Where I found you the other night."

Bucky ran his hand through his hair and gave a deep sigh. He seemed somewhat distant as he stared into the stream of water coming out of the fountain.

"I...think I'll be alright," he said quietly as he sat down. "I guess I just need a little bit of time that's all. The Doctors said that I need to get people close to me to help me through it as therapy will only do half the job."

While they were speaking to each other, the men didn't notice that a group of local children passing by saw the cute little pony sitting beside the American soldiers. It was quite an unusual sight to behold in their humble little village; They instantly were drawn to him as they barreled their way through everything to get to Steve and Firebrand including Dugan and Gabe who were accidentally pushed into a nearby fountain, soaking them from head to toe.

Other soldiers sitting at a table nearby at the local pub began laughing their asses off as they rolled around holding their stomachs. Steve fruitlessly tried to escape the ravenous Italian children fawning over Firebrand who didn't seem to mind the attention despite being woken up. Steve didn't understand a word of what they were saying, but it was clear that they had fallen in love with the infant colt as they constantly poked and cooed at him. The colt in question though didn't enjoy it as their handling of him one of the children had gotten too grabby and tugged hard on Firebrand's tail causing him to yelp and then wail loudly.

Firebrand managed to wriggle his way out of the grasp of the children who pulled him out of Steve's harness and ran away. Steve got back up onto his feet and ran in Firebrand's direction. He comedically picked up Firebrand with one arm as he escaped from the pursuing children. Jumping up onto a fruit cart where a local farmer was selling his wares, Steve launched himself over a wall and away from the group. He landed in an alleyway between two buildings which was very clean for the most part except for two metal trashcans on either side that were presumably owned by the owners of each residence.

He heard a "wheee!" coming from behind him and saw Firebrand clapping his hooves together and babbling something almost incoherent to him.

'Who'd knew that would calm him down?' he thought to himself.

"Do gen! Do gen!"

"Heh, maybe later little buddy. When I'm not being chased by little kids. You really stick out like a sore thumb."

The little colt simply blew a raspberry at him in response. He then looked back in the direction of the main square and put a sad, forlorn look on his muzzle. Looking up at Steve, he began to sniffle.

"Whah Unca Bucky sad?" he asked with a quivering lip.

Steve put on a small smile, adoring the fact that he already considered Bucky to be his Uncle. He kneeled to him and ruffled his golden mane.

"Uncle Bucky isn't sad exactly little buddy," he reassured. "He just needs a little time and space to himself to work things out. But I think he is going to be okay. What happened really did a number on him, but as long as we got his back, he'll be fine."

Seeing that the colt wasn't convinced, he had another idea to cheer him up.

"You know what? When we finish here and get back to America, Bucky and I will show you around, New York. Just the three of us! Coney Island where they have a bunch of cool roller coasters, Stark Expo where they have a bunch of cool toys, and my personal favorite Yankee Stadium where they shoot off fireworks like the ones you shot off back at base camp."

"Yahkee have boom booms?"

"Yes, Yankee Stadium has boom booms," Steve chuckled.

Firebrand squealed with excitement as he jumped into Steve's arms and nuzzled his chest. Steve just stood with him there for a few minutes in the shadows of the alleyway.

He visited a local doctor in the village for general advice about caring for a child. He kept the colt hidden just in case of the event of the physician spreading word of the colt. They talked about several topics until the doctor recommended various medical herbs he could get from the local apothecary.

Afterward, the two spent the rest of the day enjoying themselves and explored the tiny mountainside border town. They observed Tarvisio's beautiful medieval chapels, ate Italian pastries at the town's local bakeries, and even went fishing by the town's nearby lake where a number of the 107th had gone swimming.

Steve had a lot to think about as he sat at the edge of the docks fishing with Firebrand. Many thoughts went through his head concerning the little unicorn beside him as he loosely grasped his pole in his hands. Like now that he had another living thing to care for, how was he going to properly take care of him? Back in America, he never even got the chance to take care of a pet. His parents were too poor to afford one. How was he going to take care of Firebrand's needs? How was he going to be able to properly care for a creature he wasn't entirely sure was native to Earth, let alone Europe. The biggest concern he had was where did Firebrand come from and how did Schmitt find him? The fact of the matter was that he was going to need some advice now that he was Firebrand's caretaker for the time being.

"Maybe Mr. Stark has people that can help me," he said out loud to himself.

When a fish suddenly jumped up out of the water, it startled the little colt as he blasted the fish with his magic. The fish went sailing to the other side and crashed into a tree. He looked back at the human and smiled innocently. Steve just shook his head and laughed.

"Before the aquatic life here goes extinct,"

Next Time: Last Days of Vacation

Author's Note

Here we are. Another cute little interlude chapter before things start getting back into gear. As always, I appreciate tips and advice to improve the quality of the story if it is needed.

Arriving in London

Author's Note

Let me know what you guys think. Its not my best one, but I hope it holds you guys over. I'm taking a short break on Kitchen Nightmares to get some more progress done on this. I think I'm going to be able to get another chapter out very shortly here, and this next one will be a cute and funny one.

Arriving in London

In a few short hours, Steve had gathered up with the rest of the 107th and began making their way to the rendezvous point where they could take the transport plane back to London, England. A long group of Army Jeeps all drove down the narrow dirt road at the same steady pace, following behind one another so that they could get to their destination quickly, but safely. The mountain dirt roads near Tarvisio were moist and slick from the melting snow that had drained down from the mountains. The men took turns watching for falling rocks that had come loose during the sporadic wet weather that had occurred in between the dry days.

Steve and Firebrand were in a jeep that was closer to the front of the line of vehicles, where most of their new friends were. Bucky's particular jeep was just behind theirs. For about two hours, their slow trek eventually began to bear fruit as the twisting and winding turn of the mountain roads soon led them back to base camp where they all got off and prepared to depart. Steve and Firebrand went back to the barracks where he gathered all of his clothes and bare essentials in his duffel bag. Steve noticed how interested Firebrand was in the barracks and all of the instruments that were being used at the base. He giggled as he messed with all of the buttons on one of the radios and played with the light switches in the room.

Steve while carrying Firebrand, quickly made it all the way to the airstrip where the rest of the platoon boarded the C-47 Skytrain that was patiently waiting for all of them. First, though, they were all required to go to muster to sound off so that they could make sure everyone was present and accounted for. Thankfully, it went off well as everyone was accounted for that had gone off to Tarvisio. As they boarded, Bucky was there to greet them as he guided them to a free space. Steve noticed that Dugan, Morita, Gabe, Falsworth, and Jacques were all on the same plane but opposite ends as they all conversed with each other.

"What are you guys gonna do when you get back into town?" Gabe asked the others.

"All I'm thinking about right now is getting a pint and stuffing myself some real food at the nearest pub," Dugan replied tiredly. "After being in that dinky cell and eating nothing but moldy rations and dirty water for weeks, I'm gonna go on a rampage."

"That actually sounds like a pleasant idea, I hope you won't mind if I come along as well," Falsworth asked.

"Count me in too. It's been a few months since I've had a good time on the town," Morita added.

"Eh, the more the merrier I suppose," Dugan replied. "Just no talking about what's on your resume alright? I got enough of that from Gabe back in Austria."

Gabe simply laughed back at him.

"Eh, fair enough I suppose. What about you Captain?" Gabe asked as he saw Steve putting Firebrand in his lap. "What are you and the little guy gonna do when you get to the big city?"

"Well, the Colonel will probably want to debrief me, and then maybe I'm gonna see if Mr. Stark can help me to figure out just exactly what Firebrand is and what Schmitt was doing with him. Or Red Skull now I guess."

"Red Skull? Sounds like a biker gang name," Morita replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, apparently when Schmitt used Erskine's serum....it turned him into something like me except...incredibly creepy," Steve explained. "His face was all gone. It mutated him into something unnatural."

Steve began to stroke Firebrand comfortingly as he trembled at the mention of Schmitt's name.

"Unfortunate for someone as young and innocent as Firebrand to see," Falsworth agreed. "Barnes filled most of us in on Schmitt's true form. Before he was captured, he found a painting depicting Schmitt without that....false face of his."

"Well, I'm helping him through that as much as I can," Steve replied. "Maybe if I've got enough time during all of this, I can also try to find where he came from and maybe if it's possible to get him back."

In no time at all, the plane began to whir and sputter as it slowly but surely came to life. Firebrand's ears moved in response to the sounds as he looked left and right trying to figure out where the unusual sound came from. Soon they all felt themselves being pulled in one direction as the plane began to go faster and faster and take off from the landing strip.

"Everything's alright. We are just going for a little plane ride," Steve said comfortingly to the pony.

"P-Pane ide?" Firebrand babbled questioningly.

"Yeah, this whole thing is a plane, and we're gonna be flying high in the sky," Steve explained. "Flying smoothly and gliding against the clouds."

"W-wike birdy?" Firebrand asked.

"Yeah, a big birdy," he chuckled back. "You can probably see a big layer of clouds out of these windows."

Firebrand clapped his hooves as he carefully climbed up onto Steve's shoulder and leaned over to the window. His golden eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as he saw the blanket of clouds stretched out across the sky like freshly fallen snow. He cooed as he gazed out at the beautiful site with a delighted smile.

"Yeah, it's beautiful now, when you aren't falling 10,000 feet and smashing into water that feels like concrete." Dugan chuckled.

Firebrand's eyes shrunk as quickly as they grew and then leaped back into Steve's lap as he clung to his torso for dear life with all his legs and started shaking so violently that Steve vibrated in his seat.

Looking over to Dugan with a raised eyebrow, Dugan and the others began to wheeze with laughter.

"Really?"

After two hours of trying to calm down Firebrand, he finally got him to sit back down in his lap normally. By that time, the plane had finally gotten to the English Channel and the higher-ranked officers began their procedures for landing in London. A few minutes later, Steve looked outside the window and saw a spectacular sight just on the horizon.

A grand city with earthen-colored buildings towering into the sky. Large balloons on strings the size of houses attached to those buildings towering even higher, forming a barrier over the city. Boats of various shapes and sizes floated in and out of the harbor as they passed under a large bridge connected by two towers. Thick black clouds billowed out of the smokestacks all over the city creating a secondary layer of smog covering the city.

Steve picked up Firebrand and placed him in front of the glass window.

"That's London out there little pal. We're meeting back up with Peggy down there."

Firebrand turned from scared to enraptured in a matter of seconds as he pressed his muzzle up against the glass and 'oooohed' and 'ahhhed' at the city before him. He tried angling his head downwards against the glass as they went over the Thames and they saw the multitude of boats of varying shape and size going about their business.

"Like my home do you?" Falsworth asked cheerfully. "Perhaps after a drink, I'll take you and the Captain to see the sights."

"We'd like that thanks," Steve replied. "First though, like I said. I gotta talk to Mr. Stark and the Colonel and fill them in on what I found back at Schmitt's base. We need to know what Schmitt is up to if we're gonna be able to stop them and take them out."

"Well, you know where to find us," Dugan replied. "We'll be loosening up and getting hammered."

After another half hour, the plane maneuvered to the closest airbase and descended to the airstrip where they finally touched down in England. As the plane slowed down and finally came to a halt, everyone gathered their duffel bags and disembarked. When Steve and Firebrand got out, Bucky departed with the others while the two of them were ordered to go with a few higher-ranked officers over to the local Strategic Scientific Reserve office near Westminster Abbey.

The only problem Steve had to deal with was Firebrand being forced to go through two shaky rides and a smog-covered city that disagreed heavily with the colt's stomach. Steve knew he would have to write quite a few apology letters as the poor foal heaved out his breakfast, lunch, and dinner every fifteen minutes.

Going through the twists and turns of the cities various roads, their car steadily made its way through the peaceful roads of Southwark and over Westminster Bridge. Firebrand and Steve marveled at the grand sight of the clock tower Big Ben acting as the timepiece for the entire city. Firebrand especially was enraptured by its sight as he pressed his face up against the glass and pointed at every little thing that interested him.

Steve did his best to conceal Firebrand from civilians as he wasn't sure how people would react to a creature like him. One of the Generals was kind enough to allow Steve to borrow one of his smaller trunks to place Firebrand in with the cover open. That way, Firebrand would be covered but still able to see Steve completely.

When they finally arrived at the government building they were instructed to rendezvous at, Steve carefully picked Firebrand up and then placed him back into his harness with his shield still attached.

"Hold on little buddy, I'm gonna cover you for a few short minutes. People here go crazy around things they don't quite understand. Okay?"

Firebrand seemed to look nervous, but nodded anyway and covered his eyes. Firebrand felt himself being picked up and then wrapped in a big tarp that was stored in the trunk.

Steve followed the other officers across the street and over to the door of the building while carefully keeping Firebrand out of sight. Once inside, Steve went through a few security checkpoints and repeatedly informed the guards of Firebrand. He then went into a restroom where he changed out of his combat gear and into his formal military attire so that he could appear presentable in front of Colonel Phillips and the rest of the high-ranked officers. Steve was escorted down various sets of hallways until he was finally led to a secret staircase to a lower level of the building where the SSR operated.

Once inside, Steve and Firebrand who had poked his head out from inside the bag, saw just how large the office was and how numerous the number of officers and employees came in and out. They were so busy admiring their surroundings that they didn't notice a familiar short-haired female operative approach them.

"Well, it's about time you two showed up," a feminine English voice said dryly. "I hope Staff Sergeant Williams didn't crash the plane on the way here."

Firebrand's ears stood up as he turned his head and squealed with delight at what he saw. Steve felt Firebrand jump out of his duffel bag and dash over somewhere else as his little hooves began rapidly clopping against the floor.

As Steve turned around he came face to face with the pleasant sight of Agent Peggy Carter patiently waiting for the duo.

Firebrand reached up to her with his two front forelegs prompting her to pick him up; to which she did and calmly stroked his golden mane as the tiny red colt began to nuzzle her.

"You are such a needy little thing aren't you?" Peggy said with a small sweet smile.

"Agent Carter! Good to see you again." Steve greeted politely.

"You as well Captain, we've been waiting for you to arrive so we could get the scoop on whatever you found on Schmitt."

"Sure, I'll give you guys everything I can, but I'm not sure how good my memory is," Steve admitted.

They began walking over towards a large table in the middle of the room that carried a large detailed map of Europe

"Anything you can remember at all will help, trust me. The more we know where he's going to attack from, the more of a chance we'll have."

"Plus, there were a few other things that I wanted to ask the Colonel and Mr. Stark. I wanted to get some counsel about the little guy. Maybe about what Schmitt was trying to do to him or where he came from? Cause he's all alone in all of this."

Suddenly, the man in question came into the room with a few of his other employees and intelligence officers in tow.

"Oh, I'm sure Stark will be glad to assist." the Colonel abruptly interjected. "As for myself, after you give us those base locations you told me about in passing back in Italy, I'm sure I can do a little digging on your pint-sized squirt there. Then we can see if we can't get Stark to whip you up some shiny new gear.

Next Time: Stark Experiments with an Explosive Pony #1

A Stark's Experiments with an Explosive Pony

After arriving at the secret SSR intelligence office in London, Steve and Firebrand met with Colonel Phillips and Agent Peggy Carter to disclose what he had found during his improvised rescue of the 107th. That way, they would be able to properly coordinate a plan to take out Hydra piece by piece all across Europe and Asia. Steve's debriefing took roughly two hours to get through as he was urged to remember as much as he could when he entered Hydra's base back in Austria. During all of this, Firebrand was closely sticking to Steve as much as he could, vainly trying to understand all of what he was saying.

"What happened next Rogers?" Phillips calmly asked. "Don't keep us waiting."

"After I found Firebrand here, I went down another hallway that split off into two directions. I didn't have enough time to go down both of them as Sergeant Barnes was being held in room off the right hand corridor, but I saw a giant map in the room of to the left. Red Markers were all over the map that appeared to be the locations of the other Hydra bases from what I was able to gather."

"Do you think you could tell us where they were on this map?" Peggy asked. "It would certainly go a long way to taking out Schmitt's operations."

Steve looked around the room until his eyes went to one of the large maps on the opposite wall that didn't seem to be serving much of a purpose except for reference. He looked over to the Colonel and gestured to the map in a requesting, respectful manner.

"Sure, go ahead. Knock yourself out. Just try not to let the little squirt rip it up," Colonel Phillips remarked dryly.

As Steve walked over to the map, the Colonel called over one of his employees to observe and take down notes. Steve picked up a pencil and began writing down the locations he was able to remember that were on the map.

"The first one was obviously the one in Austria, but we literally just took that one out," he said as he crossed out the first location with an X. "The second one appeared to be in Cyprus on the south most point of the island. The third one looked like it was in Eastern Basque right on the Mediterranean coast, The fourth one seemed to be somewhere in Bavaria, This one over here was in Poland, close to the Baltic, and the sixth one I could remember was about...here, thirty or forty miles west of the Maginot line."

Firebrand carefully wiggled out of his straps and jumped out of his harness and on to the map. He seemed know something as he trotted over to another part and began pointing to another spot on the map that was just below his legs.

"D-dada fooget," he babbled out as he tapped his hoof.

"I...did?" Steve questioned.

He looked at where Firebrand was pointing and saw that it was on the western border of Russia. After a few seconds of staring at the spot where Firebrand's hoof was, he finally remembered.

"Oh yeah, there was a seventh one on the map. It appeared to be northwest of Moscow, just on the border between Russia and Sweden. Thanks little buddy."

He gave Steve a big smile and hopped off of the table, giving the operative standing by a chance to snatch up the map and share it with the rest of the department's intelligence staff on duty.

"I just got a quick look. I guess Firebrand remembered seeing it too," he said with surprise.

"Well, nobody is perfect," Peggy reassured. "Good thing Firebrand has the better memory of you two."

Steve and Firebrand then followed the Colonel over to the largest map in the room where operatives were placing markers on the spots that Steve mentioned.

"These are just the weapon factories that we know about sir," he explained. "Sergeant Barnes said that before he was captured, he found out that Hydra ships all of their parts to another facility that isn't on this map."

"Agent Carter, I want you to coordinate with MI6, I want every single solitary Allied eyeball looking through every nook and cranny in Europe for that main Hydra base." the Colonel commanded.

"What about us sir?" Peggy asked.

"WE are gonna start getting Stark back from whatever poon house he's holed up in around here and back to finding out what he can on the little blonde squirt here and why Schmitt was so interested in him," the Colonel said. "Then the three of us are gonna make with setting a fire under Johann Schmitt's ass.

Firebrand giggled at the Colonel's profane language.

"What do ya say Rodgers? Its your map, ya think you can wipe Hydra off of it?" the Colonel questioned.

"Yes sir, I'll need a team though," Steve replied.

"Way ahead of you, we are already putting together the best men."

"With all due respect sir, so am I. They're the men who helped me get most of the 107th out safe and steal a sizable number of Hydra's weapons." Steve replied. "I think they're relaxing at a local pub close to here."

"Then it might be a good idea to inform them as soon as you can Captain Rodgers," Peggy replied.

"Alright, I'll get to it then," Steve said as he saluted the both of them and turned to leave.

As Steve saw Firebrand begin to follow him out of the room, he began to remember something important. Particularly, the importance of Firebrand's age and the type of establishment that he was going to. He couldn't very well bring an infant into an adult establishment.

"Hold up bud!" Steve urged as he knelt on one knee to Firebrand's height. "Daddy here needs to go see Uncle Bucky and Uncle Dugan. We need to talk about a few things. And it's at a place where you arent allowed."

Firebrand tried to protest and follow behind, but Steve was firm with him on his decision. The colt made an indignant "hmph" and crossed his front forelegs as he scrunched up his face in a pouting manner. Steve giggled at the sight.

"Aw come on don't be like that." Steve urged. "I just need you to stay close to Peggy for a few hours okay? I'll be right back. Plus, I bet she'll give you some chocolate if you ask her nicely."

At the mention of the word "chocolate" Firebrand shot up like a missile and began rapidly nodding his head up and down like it was a paint mixer.

"Yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh!" he affirmed excitedly.

Steve simply chuckled at the display.

"Is that alright Agent Carter? Can you watch Firebrand until I get back?" Steve asked the woman in question. "And uhhh, yeah, can you get him just a little treat? Just to calm in down for a little bit?"

She gave him a raised eyebrow for two solid seconds before kneeling down and picking up the tiny pony who cooed as she stroked him.

"Oh, I don't see why not if you are gonna be like this," she replied amusingly. "Stark will probably be needing him for a few experiments and preliminary observations anyway. Plus, I've been meaning to try the new bakery down the street, see if they have any Cherry Lemon Tarts."

"Thanks," he replied.

He then turned back to Firebrand and assured him that he would be back in a few short hours to check up on him and see how he was doing. Firebrand watched as Steve left the room, fighting back the urge as best as he could to sob. Peggy immediately noticed this and discreetly kissed him on the forehead, attempting to calm him down.

"Don't worry." she quietly said comfortingly. "Your...Daddy will be back soon. I have someone that I want you to meet for the time being. He wants to play a little game with you. Then afterward, I'll take you to get something sweet."

He seemed to understand as he wiped his eyes and nodded at her with a small smile. She then went over to a table on the other side of the room where she picked up a phone and began dialing down somebody's phone number on the dial that she kept turning. After a few seconds, Firebrand noticed that she was waiting for quite a while as the phone kept buzzing and making funny sounds.

"Operator, get me room 4B of......Madam Ruby's." Peggy instructed the operator on the other end. "Bollocks, I'm probably going to regret calling him."

This continued for ten minutes as Peggy kept dialing the same number over and over again and nobody answered, making her more and more agitated as time went on. She was about to smash the phone into the wall in a fit of rage when a cheerful voice chimed in from the other side of the line.

"Hello?" she asked again

"Helloooooooooooo?" the familiar voice replied in a sing-song manner.

"Stark is that you?"

"Agent Carter! What a pleasure it is to hear from you again!" the man said slyly through the phone.

She could hear a group of female voices through the phone giggling their heads off at every little thing he was saying. Peggy immediately groaned in annoyance and face palmed.

"Get over here Howard. We have a piece of Hydra tech that the Captain secured and a child from their factory that we need you to inspect."

"Ugh, alright. I'll be over shortly," he replied. "I already got the memo from the Colonel."

"Awww, come on Howard, stay with us. You can even invite your lady friend," she heard another female voice say through the phone.

"I'd rather drink cyanide from a whiskey bottle," she dryly replied to the woman on the other end. "Now get over here if you please, before I start letting Maria know that you've been whoring yourself over here with every other woman that caught your fancy."

She dropped the phone down with an audible clunk as she turned to Firebrand who had his head tilted in a questioning manner. He pointed to the phone with one of his hooves as if he was trying to get an answer for whatever she was doing.

"Oh, never mind yourself about that. It was just the man I told you about. Mr. Howard Stark being a naughty boy....lounging with a group of equally naughty women. The type of woman I sincerely hope you stay far away from sweetie."

After thirty boring minutes of waiting with Peggy and watching her organizing various files, a man that Firebrand didn't recognize came into the intelligence center with a long quick-paced stride. He was a fairly tall man with messed up dark brown hair, slightly tan skin, and beaming brown eyes that seemed energetic, but tired and ragged. His white shirt was slightly unbuttoned and wrinkled up from whatever questionable activities that he was involved with before. As soon as he set eyes on Peggy, he gave her a devilish smile.

"About bloody time, you've shown up Stark." Peggy snapped. "We were waiting for a gosh darn while for you to finally show up.

"Hey, I made it didn't I?" he replied with feigned hurt. "Now where is the little tyke I've been hearing so much about? I don't have as much experience in the biology field as others, but I'll see what I can do."

He looked around his immediate vicinity but found that he could not see the child that he was instructed to look at. With a dry smile, Peggy pointed down towards his feet.

As confusion began to sink in, Howard felt a few solid tugs on his pant leg that felt like they came from something strangely tingly and warm. He looked down to find the infant Firebrand gazing up at him with big golden eyes. His confusion went from small to severe as he looked at Peggy with an awkward, wide-eyed look.

"I can assure you Howard that you aren't drunk, much to my great displeasure," she said sarcastically and facetiously. "That little dear is your research subject for the day."

He maintained the same awkward face as he looked up and down repeatedly at Firebrand and then Peggy again and again as he was trying to process what he was looking at.

"Get to work and stop staring at them Stark before I throw a coffee mug at your head," the Colonel said as he quickly passed through the room.

He shook himself out of his stupor as he kneeled to Firebrand's eye level and began looking at him up and down.

"Well, at least I know I'm not hallucinating," he stated. "Or I might have to go see a Doctor myself."

"We all thought that when we first saw him. I'm surprised the Captain himself didn't go mad when he found him," she replied. "So, now that you're here, what exactly can you tell us about him? I'm sure you read the report of the creature that the Captain found and its strange abilities?"

Firebrand giggled and booped him on the nose with one of his hooves, causing Howard to warmly smile at the colt.

"Well sure, but I thought it was the Colonel's idea of a joke," he admitted.

Peggy picked up Firebrand who followed Howard into another room where a team of scientists was working. After a few quick orders from the Colonel, they had a containment room set up for Howard to safely experiment with Firebrand just in case something happens. He placed Firebrand on one of the sterilized metal tables to begin observing the tiny pony. The colt in question was constantly interested in all of the instruments that the scientists were using on him to check his vitals.

They did a variety of tests on Firebrand to learn as much as they could about him. Checking his ears, testing the speed of his heart rate, analyzing shed tufts of his fur under a microscope. Take measurements of his body structure, and even taking an x-ray of his skeletal structure. When one of the scientists suggested opening Firebrand up, he was met with a vicious back hand to the face which silenced the idea out of him immediately.

"Well the first thing upon observation is that the subject appears to be somewhat related to the mythological creature, the unicorn." one of Howard's scientists concluded. "And from the body structure, it is equine, although not like any equine species that inhabits Earth. Perhaps a new species?"

"Yeah, I figured that out by looking at the hooves and the obvious horn that sticks out of his head." Howard replied in a snarky manner. "What about his horn-"

Howard's question was answered as Firebrand was so intrigued with all of the instruments being used to observe him that he ignited his horn and began levitating a stethoscope off of the table and started to play with it as he babbled unintelligible nonsense into the end of it. The scientists were shocked for a few seconds as they observed the feat.

"What....the....hell?" Howard quietly exclaimed.

"Incredible! A real authentic example of latent telepathic ability with a visible shifting energy field."

"We should probably find a way to properly analyze its signature." one of the scientists suggested.

Howard carefully picked up Firebrand and while being escorted by Peggy, he lead them into another room that was at least thirty feet in length from one end to the other. On their end was a set of handles and levers that seemed to control two robotic arms on the other side of the room. He picked up a face shield on a nearby table and began to place it on his head, tightening it around his cranium to keep it from getting loose. He placed Firebrand on a suspiciously scorched table on the opposite end of the room and moved over to the controls of the arms.

"Here, I'm going to try to test the affects of Firebrand's "magic" as you were so keen on calling it Agent Carter," Howard explained. "He seems to listen to you, so get him to play with something. While you do that, I'm going to try to experiment with the energy that appears."

"Are you sure this is safe?" Peggy worriedly inquired.

"For the little guy, most likely. For myself, definitely not, but I'm doing it anyway."

Peggy looked around in her immediate vicinity for anything that could be used and found a red stapler on a table outside of the room. She gave it to the little colt and told him to simply play with it, to which he obeyed. Howard spent a few minutes attempting to manipulate the energy field emitted by Firebrand's horn, but nothing seemed to be happening.

Then all of a sudden, they both noticed that Firebrand was beginning to make a strange face that vaguely concerned them when they began touching his horn. He sniffled and huffed and huffed again and again, until...

AAAA-CHOOOOO!!!!

An explosion coming from Firebrand blew Howard onto his ass and dazed the man. After a minute, he weakly lifted his head, revealing a small silly grin on his face.

"Okay, first preliminary conclusion...Let's....clean this place up. Right after a nap."

He then collapsed his head back to the floor and fell asleep. Complete with loud snoring and snorting in his sleep.

Next Time: Cakes, Explosions, and Dwarves Oh My!

Author's Note

hope you guys like this one. I'm probably gonna add on more to it shortly. this is the first version.

Cakes, Explosions, and Dwarves, Oh My! (Updated)

For the next few hours, Howard proceeded with more experiments that were safer for Firebrand and more importantly for himself. Especially after taking an explosion to the face, courtesy of Firebrand's little sneeze. Taking hair samples, blood samples, and stool samples he handed them off to the SSR's top biologists for analysis. During which, Howard made sure to keep their tests under close observation so that no harm could ever come to the colt. Once, he even had to fire one of his overly enthusiastic underlings for suggesting dissecting the poor colt. Peggy responded with a solid punch to the scientist's face.

The Colonel made certain that the samples taken from Firebrand were kept under guard and lock and key at all times so the information of Firebrand's existence could never get out to the public.

An hour later after Howard Stark had finished his first round of tests on Firebrand, Peggy decided to treat the little colt to ice cream and chocolate from the local sweet shop. She knew full well that she couldn't allow the little colt into the shop, otherwise, he would have been seen. So she requested from the Colonel that he send two men over to the shop to bring over various sweets for the staff as a cover.

Soon enough, the deliverymen had returned pushing in three large carts of various baked goods and candies for Firebrand and the entire staff of the London branch of the SSR.

"Order for Agent Carter!" one of the deliverymen barked. "And uhhhh.....somebody named Firebrand."

Peggy got up from her chair where she was giving Firebrand company and paid for the catering order. The deliverymen set the carts aside where everybody could grab a bite. The Colonel's employees were grateful for the grub as they talked amongst themselves while they snacked and worked.

Carrying Firebrand, she brought the colt over to the serving carts to let him see the treats she brought for him. The deliverymen brought over various delicious-looking pastries, candies, and even a large three-tiered chocolate cake which seemed to be barely standing. It was decorated with ribbons of frosting, white chocolate shavings, and powdered sugar that made the cake look like a tiny snow-capped mountain.

"See anything that you like sweetheart?"

"Yeh, Yeh, Yeh, Yeh, Yeh, Yeh, Yeh!" he chattered excitedly.

He pointed to the plate of French chocolate eclairs first that made Firebrand's mouth water profusely. He hopped out of her arms and onto the cart as he grabbed one of the sweets with both hooves and began devouring it in only a few seconds. The cream filling and the chocolate coating from the eclairs covered his face as he ravaged the entire plate. Peggy chuckled to herself as she watched Firebrand messily enjoy himself eating down the sweets.

Suddenly, Peggy saw his horn ignite in a glowing red light as he flashed out of existence, and reappeared on top of a shelf adjacent to the cart of sweets.

"...I didn't know you could do that," Peggy said, clearly confused.

Looking up at Firebrand, she saw he was looking down at the cake and immediately knew what he was about to do.

"Come on down sweetheart, you are gonna get hurt up there!"

Reaching up to the shelf, she tried to grab Firebrand and bring him safely back down. Unfortunately, he seemed to sense what she was doing as he leaped off of the shelf and dove down into the cake. The last thing she heard was Firebrand yelling "wheeeee!" before he landed with a loud splat and she found herself and half of the intelligence room completely covered in chocolate cake.

Colonel Phillips came out of his office holding a clipboard and froze as he saw the state of the room. He looked down at the messy Firebrand and gave him a raised eyebrow when he gave him a big toothy smile. Slapping his face, Phillips rubbed the bridge of his nose and brought a mop and bucket to Peggy to clean up Firebrand's mess.

"They don't pay me nearly enough for this," he groaned.

The Agent along with a few of the staff spent the next half hour thoroughly cleaning the intelligence room of all sticky substances. Luckily, most of the sensitive documents and maps were untouched by Firebrand's mess as they scanned the room for any more filth.

"Well, that's done and over with. Though I suppose the Captain will probably want you to be clean if he's going to be carrying you around in that harness of his. I'm sure we have a place to give you a bath in this building."

Peggy went into a washroom down the hall with Firebrand as she drew a bath for him. The first thing she would need to rinse off was the chocolate and cream that had gotten stuck deep into his fur. Firebrand wiggled out of her grasp and leaped into the tub with a splash.

....And completely soaked Peggy's clothes from head to toe.

The English agent looked down at Firebrand with an unamused gaze as he giggled at her.

"You're a lot of trouble you know that?" Peggy wryly remarked with a half-smile.

Being careful not to get any soap in the infant's exceedingly large eyes, Peggy cleaned him thoroughly as she vigorously massaged soap into his bright red fur and golden mane. He loved playing with the foamy bubbles as he splashed around in the porcelain tub. Soon enough, Peggy found him to be clean enough as she lifted him out of the tub and dried him off with a nearby towel.

Not long after she finished with him, Peggy got herself cleaned up as she got a message from Howard Stark that he had equipment and gear for Steve to choose for his loadout. Going through the clothes in her wardrobe, she strangely felt like wearing the red dress she had bought in New York to meet Steve.

At the pub...

"See, I told you," Bucky joked with Steve about their new friends. "They are all idiots."

"What about you bud? Are you ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?" Steve asked slyly.

Bucky smiled and shook his head in response.

"Hell no. That little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight...I'm following him and your new boy".

Then he looked around to make sure they weren't being eavesdropped on and leaned in close to Steve.

"But....you're keeping the outfit right?" Bucky asked hopefully.

"....You know what? It's kinda growing on me," Steve said as he looked back towards a poster of himself with his stage costume.

"Maybe you can get that new little kid of yours an outfit of his own huh?" Bucky jokingly said as he playfully jabbed at Steve.

Suddenly, all of the loud singing and drinking in the pub seemed to die down as they all looked to the entrance where a familiar woman was standing. Out of respect, both Steve and Bucky stood at attention. Though Steve noticed Bucky was eyeing her up and down hungrily as they gazed at her beautiful red dress.

"Captain," she greeted.

"Agent Carter." he greeted back.

"Howard has some equipment for you and your little tyke to give a whirl," she explained. "Also, it seems your request for adoption went off smoothly. Congratulations."

"That's really great news. Thank you, Agent Carter."

Peggy looked around and listened to the sound of singing as a look of vague disdain appeared on her face when she saw Steve's friends sloppily drinking down beer.

"I can see you and your top squad are prepping for duty."

"What, you don't like music?"

"Oh, I do actually," she replied. "I might even....after this is all over. Go dancing. I might teach a few tricks to your new.....child Captain."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Bucky asked slyly.

Peggy just ignored him and kept her gaze on Steve as she said one thing before she turned and left the building.

"The right partner.....Be there by 0800 Captain."

As the two were left alone, Bucky just stood there, shuffling in place and laughing awkwardly as he blushed hardly.

"I-I'm invisible. I can't believe it. I'm turning into you. This is a horrible dream."

With a half-smile, he mockingly patted his friend on the shoulder before leaving the building.

"Don't beat yourself up. Maybe she's got a friend."

Back at the intelligence office, Howard Stark had just started experiments on the ammo cartridge Steve had brought back from Hydra's headquarters in Austria. Taking care not to cause any bad chemical reactions, he used the same robotic arms to slowly take apart the outer casing of the cartridge to get at the glowing blue energy source that lied within. His assistant stood by documenting everything that was happening. Unfortunately, while his attention was occupied, he didn't notice Firebrand sneak into the room and watch everything that Howard was doing.

"The emissions signature is quite unusual." Howard mused. "Alpha/Beta ray is neutral...though I highly doubt Rodgers picked up on that. The energy signature is strikingly similar to what I found on Firebrand."

As he slowly used one of the robotic arms from behind the barrier, Firebrand sneaked through an opening in the barrier and went through to see what Howard was looking at. The blue glow of the cartridge caught his attention as he tried reaching up to the table where it was. He tried jumping up at first but found that he was too small to reach up to the pedestal. With a coo, he reached out with his magical grasp for the cartridge, not knowing the reaction it would have, being in contact with his magic.

"Whatever this energy is, it seems harmless enough," Howard said calmly. "It's hard to see what all the fuss is about..."

Suddenly, he saw Firebrand through the glass as he ignited his horn and attempt to lift the cartridge from the pedestal. He tried to call over to the colt, but it was too late, as when the colt touched the cartridge with his magical grasp, the reaction caused an explosion outwards, once again knocking Howard onto his butt.

"Write that down," he remarked dizzily while he painfully tried to get back up.

While Howard was down, Firebrand sat down mesmerized by the swirling shape his magic was made in conjunction with the energy expelled by the weapon cartridge. Suddenly, a beam of light exploded upwards and outwards in all directions, revealing the image of a cosmic tree made of blue and green swirling clouds and golden shining stars against an inky black sky. Firebrand walked forward and tried to sniff through the image the aura was creating but fell flat on his face with a painful smack.

Firebrand scrunched his nose with discomfort as he began angrily throwing things at the annoying image in an attempt to disperse it. Suddenly the cloud began to focus on one of the lower "branches" of the cosmic tree as an image of a dark stone cavern. This immense cavern of rock and metal was barely illuminated by the fire from the hundreds of torches mounted on every inch of the walls and the rivers of molten metal flowing through the halls like golden honey from a hive. Countless entrances into smaller rooms lined the endless hallways among the rock and stone of the cavern. The tiny colt held off his anger for a moment as he watched the image, interested in what was going on.

The image shifted to a smaller room where thousands of weapons were neatly stacked against the walls. In the middle of the room was a large forge where two short, bearded men hammered away at large red hot plates of metal on giant anvils the size of cars. The colt leaned forward, trying to make out what the two men were saying.

"Brother Brokkr?" one of the men asked.

"Yes brother Eitri?" the other replied.

"We must hurry to finish Lord Sleipnir's U'ruu horseshoes before Lord Odin has our hides."

"I am trying! I would be going a lot faster if you would stop howling like a mangy dog!"

"Then act like it, you blooming idjit! I'd rather not be late with this order after being late with the order for Lord Thor's weapon!"

"I'm no idjit, you thin-skinned yellow bellow! I'm not the one who dropped the hammer when it was still cooling!"

"Why are you still going on about that, we fixed the damages on the handle didn't we?"

"Right before you let it soak in Bullsnipe urine! That had to be the longest bath I have taken in millennia. It took me weeks to get the smell out of my armor. It is damn near impossible to wash off."

"That was an accident brother and you know it. Bomp'ber was drunk and throwing axes at the wall again, you know that."

"Suuuure, Keep telling yourself that halfwit. He is not responsible for your work, you are."

"Oh yeah? Well, I'm not the one who called Lord Loki a horse plower in front of Lady Freya!"

"I'm telling you! I saw him sneaking around with a white-winged unicorn!"

"You've been hitting the Cliffchaser again, haven't you? Unless you actually wish for a brutal beating from Lady Svaðilfari and Lady Freya at the same time you poor excuse for a dwarf of Nidavellir."

"Why you..."

The two bearded men tackled each other to the ground and began trading brutal blows with one another as two small black objects clattered closer to Firebrand as he looked with interest at the two items. He stepped forward and didn't notice that he had walked halfway through the image with his front end sticking into the cavern. Looking down at the objects, he noticed that they were two chunks of strange-looking metal. Instinctively thinking he would get back in Howard's good graces, he picked up the two pieces of metal with his mouth and slowly backed away, as the two scruffy Dwarves turned their attention to the colt who disappeared back into the lab.

"Brother?"

Yes, Brother Eitri?"

"You just saw a big-eyed, red unicorn steal pieces of U'uru and disappear into thin air didn't you?"

"Yes...Yes, I did."

"Good...good. At least I know I'm not turning mad in my old age."

"Quite.....Now lets both go drink our finest ale to dull the pain of our inevitable punishments.".

"Yes, I do believe that sounds quite nice....."

Far away in the realm of Niflheim, where ice never melts and the dead forever walk across empty tundras of fog and wind, the ruler of a dark castle, nestled in the middle of a craggy mountain range began to stir. For many millennia, he stood to watch over the dead, hating the gods who placed him there in servitude. Many eons of hatred, festered and boiled over as he patiently waited out the endless years for the perfect moment to enact his revenge. From his icy realm, he felt something new emerge all the way on Midgard. Something powerful. Something young...

"A fire for me to put out," the ruler boomed gleefully. "Perfect."

Author's Note

Happy belated birthday Josh Scorcher! I hope you are enjoying my little story!

New Gear

After Howard was able to get back up, he saw Firebrand trotting up to him with two blank chunks of metal in his mouth and an apologetic look in his eyes.

Howard raised his eyebrow and smiled.

"Don't give me eyes like that, I can't stand eyes that cute." he chuckled. "But hold on a sec...what do you have there for me?"

Firebrand dropped the two pieces in front of Howard and levitated them to him for him to grab. Howard ignored the fact that they were covered in baby drool and did his best to handle them. Upon further observation, he became instantly interested in the chunks. They appeared to be rock-like metallic alloys. Howard could not properly get out of Firebrand where he found the chunks, but after analysis, he concluded that they definitely could not have been from Earth. As Firebrand watched him closely, he noticed that the metal chunks seemed to be strangely drawn to Firebrand as they flew in his direction every time he ignited his horn. But when Firebrand's magical field was cast around them, he was sent flying to the ground as the chunks became as heavy as a mountain.

He decided to do a few tests with the chunks in the next two hours before the Captain arrived to pick out his new gear...

Three hours later, after countless traffic backups and public meetings with English political officials, Steve finally made it back to SSR's Intelligence office. He found everyone even more busy than usual as people rushed to and from every corner of the building. He expected Peggy and the Colonel to meet him near the entrance but found nobody except a woman with blonde hair in the atrium reading the local paper.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Mr. Stark," Steve asked the woman. "I was told he was waiting for me."

"He's in a meeting with Colonel Phillips," she replied uncaringly.

Steve nodded and loosened up as he took a more relaxed stance until the woman recognized him.

"Of course...you are welcome to wait."

Steve awkwardly agreed as he sat down in a nearby chair, eyeing the woman who seemed far too eager to get to know him.

"I heard about what you did," she said as she showed him the newspaper.

Steve tried brushing her praise aside, attempting to defuse whatever was about to happen, but failed miserably,

"You're a hero," the woman whispered in a sultry tone. "The women of America owe you their thanks."

Steve began to mentally panic as she grabbed him by the tie and started to pull him closer. However, before they could make contact, Steve saw something white splat against her hair and face. Looking to the left, he found Firebrand de igniting his horn as he dropped a messy pie tin to the ground with a clatter. The foal was steaming as he threw various office supplies at the woman, chasing her out of the room as she dared to throwback insults at the colt. Following not far behind him was Agent Carter who had a vague look of amusement on her face.

"We're ready for you Captain. If you aren't otherwise occupied," she remarked with vague anger. "Good job Firebrand sweetheart.....next time though, throw the inkwells."

Firebrand looked satisfied with himself as he reached up to Steve who put him on his shoulders. But not before getting a good whack on the nose from Firebrand.

"Bad Daddy, no naughty girls!" he exclaimed angrily.

Agent Carter then walked off with an amused half-grin, as Steve tried to pursue her and explain himself.

"Agent Carter, wait," he tried to start.

"Looks like finding a partner wasn't that hard after all for you."

"Peggy, that's not what you thought it was. Nothing happened I swear!"

Firebrand whacked him on the back of the head again for good measure, making the man rub his head in discomfort.

"No lying to mommy!"

Steve could have sworn for a moment she smiled at that.

"I don't think anything, not one thing, though dear Firebrand sure seems to right now. You always wanted to be a soldier and now you are, just like all the rest. God forbid Firebrand ends up like that as well."

Steve had just about enough of the accusations as he clumsily thought of something to pull himself out of the hole he had made for himself.

"Well, what about you and Stark? I see how he looks at you, how do I know you two haven't been......fonduing?" Steve retorted clumsily.

Peggy just gave him a deadpan glare for three solid seconds before turning around and gave a sigh of defeat.

"You still don't know a bloody thing about women," she replied as she rolled her eyes.

Back in the experimental lab, Steve met back with Howard who explained the situation and gained more rolling eyes as he leads the duo through scientists who were calibrating and tinkering with complex gadgets and vehicles.

"Fondue is just cheese and breads my friend," Howard insisted. "Just a little party appetizer, which by the way, I caught your little friend dunking his head and gulping down one I had in the lab an hour ago."

Firebrand gave a tiny belch in response, causing a few of the employees passing by them to chuckle.

"Wait really? I didn't think-

"Nor should you pal, 'cause the moment you think you know what's going on inside a woman's head, is when your goose is well and truly cooked," he said with confidence. "Me, I try to concentrate on work, which at the moment is about making sure, you, your men, and your little tyke don't get killed."

Firebrand seemed interested in the items on the table as he hopped down and poked first at a strange-looking suit expecting an answer from Howard.

"It seems your little friend has good taste. That's carbon polymer, can withstand German bayonets and most European light swords, though I doubt Hydra is gonna go at you with a pocket knife."

Off to a smaller table, Howard displayed some of the smaller gadgets his team made for Steve.

"Laser pen, capable of firing off a heated beam of light for a few seconds, unfortunately, we haven't gotten to that level of science to make it go longer, exploding pen, courtesy of MI6 with a larger blast radius, then there's your flash watch, seemingly ordinary pocket watch that delivers a blinding flash when activated, personal grapnel gun for scaling walls, and gas discs, capable of dealing a stream of tear gas when thrown. And your standard-issue Walther PPK with tranquilizer attachments.

Moving on to the middle of the room, Steve saw four separate scientists working on a Harley motorcycle. They seemed to be installing various gadgets and equipment.

"This is your combat, Harley," Howard explained. "Taking a regular Harley WLA Liberator, we've equipped it with the latest gear and armor plating. Grapnel shooters, machine guns, oil slick canisters, electric caltrops, a grenade launcher, and a self-destruct function that I hope you won't have to use. Unfortunately, we are still working out the bugs on the additional gear that we are outfitting to it. So it might take a few days to get it up and running. I took the liberty of having safety belts installed in case your little friend ever wants to go for a ride."

They then moved over to the next item, which was Steve's tin shield that he used back in Hydra's base. Firebrand looked with distaste at the fist dent left by Johann Schmitt as he flipped it over and began pounding the shield back to its previous smooth state. The two men simply stood there aghast as they watched the little colt attempt to fix the shield. When he rubbed away as much dirt as he could he look back up at Steve with pleading eyes.

"Can I keep it Dadda?" he asked. "Pweeeeese?"

"Sure little buddy, I'll see if the Colonel can't keep it somewhere safe."

"Looks like both you and he are quite attached to shields," Howard exclaimed as he softly patted the old shield.

"They're a lot handier than you might think," Steve replied thoughtfully.

"I took the liberty of coming up with some options for you that are combat appropriate," he stated.

He leads the two over to the next table which was covered with shields of every shape and size. One was tall and broad with tiny viewing glass, one was more pointed at the bottom and flat at the top like a typical knight's shield would be shaped. Two tiny barrels stuck out the front along with what appeared to be a small coil. Plus, it also had what appeared to be two spikes for brutal bashings. Howard pointed to it and began explaining all of its features.

"This one here is fun, it's been outfitted with electrical relays which allow you to administer a powerful shock that can knock out most humans or knock out electrical equipment within 500 meters."

Firebrand brought his attention somewhere else though as the little colt called to him by one of the racks and pointed to something hiding among the equipment. It appeared to be another shield, except it was more smooth and rounded than the others.

"What's that little buddy?" he asked the colt.

"Pretty frisbee!" he babbled happily. "Is dis good?"

Firebrand pulled it out of the equipment rack carefully with his mouth and presented it to Steve. The man grabbed it and wanted to see how it felt.

"No, no, no, that's just a prototype," Howard insisted.

Steve slipped his arm into the strap and found the shield to be both comfortable and incredibly well balanced as he flexed his arm.

"What's it made of?" he asked genuinely interested.

'Oh well, I suppose if anyone should have it, Steve should.' Howard thought. 'Maybe I can make a smaller one from that last shield for the little guy'.

"Vibranium," Howard simply replied as he watched Steve flipping the shield around. "It's stronger than steel, and only a third of the weight. It's completely vibration absorbent."

Steve looked around for a serial code or anything marking it but found nothing.

"How come it's not standard issue?" he asked confused.

"That's the rarest metal on Earth next to Adamantium, both of which were found in Africa. What you're holding there, that's all we got."

Suddenly, Peggy walked into the room wearing a clean white shirt and a brown skirt.

"Are we quite finished Mr. Stark? I'm sure the Captain has some unfinished business," she asked somewhat impatiently.

"Just about Agent Carter," he replied kindly. "I have a few more things to show and work out with the Captain."

"Very well, just hurry up. There's only so many intelligence files that the Colonel can take before going mad," she dryly joked.

Steve held the shield up to her to get her opinion.

"What do you think?" he asked hopefully.

Looking at him and the shield for a few seconds, she kept the same unreadable expression as she picked up a nearby pistol out of the blue and began firing off four rounds at Steve, causing him to hold up the Shield. Much to his surprise, he found that the bullets bounced right off without making so much as a scratch on the surface of the shield. Steve looked around to find Howard ducked behind a table and Firebrand crouching in a crate of spare parts.

"Yes, I think it works just fine," she replied stoically as she walked past them to attend to her other duties.

Steve and Howard stood there for a few silent moments watching the woman with interest and amazement as she left the room. While they stood there, Steve pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it off to Howard.

"I had some ideas about the uniform that I hoped you could go over," he said quietly.

"Whatever you want pal," Howard squeaked out.

They heard Firebrand calling over to them causing the two to whip their heads around. Howard saw Firebrand pointing up to a display pedestal covered in a cloth as if he was expecting an answer. The man smiled at the foal's eagerness to learn as he began walking over.

"What's that?" Steve asked interested.

"Something your little boy found in the lab after an accident while experimenting with one of those Hydra ammo cartridges you brought for us," he explained. "A metal unlike anything I've ever seen, perhaps even worthy of being the third rarest metal on Earth now. My theory is when your curious little tyke tried to lift the cartridge with his magic, he blew open a portal in space-time."

"You had him in the lab when doing a dangerous experiment?" Steve asked with veiled anger.

"Don't worry, he was just fine afterward. I was the one that got hurt," he joked. "At first, the metal seemed harmless enough, until Firebrand began using his "magic" on it. Then its density infinitely quadrupled in seconds and not even our strongest equipment was able to lift it so much as an inch off the ground!"

Howard showed Steve the dents in the ground where the chunks smashed down as proof.

"But...you're saying Firebrand was?" Steve asked confused.

"That's what was strange. I even had to coax the little guy around the lab to do some more tests on the ingot-like chunks. That's not the strangest part though."

"It's not?" Steve chuckled.

"When we tried heating the metal and pounding it out, it morphed into a familiar predetermined shape," he explained excitedly. "Almost if they were made of liquid and resolidified."

Howard pulled off the cloak revealing the items underneath.

It was a pair of jet-black horseshoes with red accents that seemed to ooze an aura of power and devastation. They were shaped rather unusually though as the front edges strutted a foot upwards as if they were leg guards.

"Are...those for Firebrand?" Steve asked meekly.

"Might as well be for the time being. I can't make heads or tails of them. Hopefully, you two might be able to get some answers about somewhere down the line. Or at least when our methods of scientific analysis advance a bit more".

Before they could react, they heard Firebrand chatter with excitement as he ignited his horn trying to pick up the horseshoes, causing them to emit a strange metallic warbling sound. They flew off of the pedestal and magnetized to Firebrand's front hooves, leaving Steve and Howard completely befuddled.

"What the hay?" they asked in unison.

Next Time: Super Soldier Prelude: Tiny Stowaway

Author's Note

Hope you guys like this one. After this, I'm gonna start to get back into the action and excitement. As always, give me your thoughts and like to the fic if you like it. I hope you are enjoying this story Josh!

Super Soldier Prelude: Tiny Stowaway

After Firebrand's mysterious little display in the lab, the dedicated scientists of the SSR worked tirelessly for two days and nights. They worked on not only Steve's new gear but also to unlock the secrets of Firebrand's abilities and that of his new horseshoes. Unfortunately, just as Howard's predictions stated, most were unable to find out anything useful about the colt. Only that the horseshoes seemed to be tuned in to Firebrand's unique energy signature and they would only respond to his commands. Science it seemed had not advanced far enough to delve into the secrets of magic and the far reaches of the universe. Howard knew that someday, perhaps if he ever had a son himself, that he could potentially unlock the secrets behind Firebrand and his mysterious origins.

Two days later, most of Steve's new gadgets and gear had been completed and calibrated just the entire intelligence department became all abuzz with news of a new Hydra threat that had surfaced in Allied army territory. Firebrand had to stay up on Steve's shoulders just to avoid being stepped on by anybody rushing around the building. Steve himself, however, was called into the Colonel's office to receive orders and updates on what he should do next. Firebrand followed along as well, doing his best to keep up with the rather complex conversation.

"We've received intel that Hydra has been spotted behind our lines taking out both Nazis and Allied troops in France."

"Is it Schmitt?" Steve asked hopefully. After what he did to Erskine, Bucky, and Firebrand...

"That snake is probably ordering them around from somewhere else, but as far as our scouts have been able to tell, Schmitt himself hasn't been sighted near the vicinity." the Colonel explained. "However, there is something strange about these sightings."

"What do you mean sir?"

Phillips pulled out a stack of pictures from a folder and dropped them down onto his table for Steve and Firebrand to look at. Most of them were rather blurry and hard to make, but they all contained unusual images of strange-looking men. One of them had a flat head, glowing linear eyes, and long silver claws. Another Appeared to be a massive man in some kind of juggernaut armor holding what appeared to be at first glance a massive flamethrower.

"Those were taken only a few days ago, and if our intel is correct, these came from the closest Hydra base in France."

"Which is thirty or forty miles west from there," Steve concluded thoughtfully.

Steve looked over to his shoulder and watched how inquisitive Firebrand's eyes were as they looked at the photographs, as if he was processing the information like a fully grown adult would be rather than a human baby.

"You catch on pretty quick. Which is why I am planning on sending you on the next available transport plane alongside your new team to take out that Hydra base and get some idea of what we are dealing with over there. We need answers Rodgers and we are sure as hell hoping that you can give them to us. Now gather your gear and your men, who I'm assuming are still hanging out at that seedy Irish pub nearby. Sober or not, we need you to get over to the Maginot Line ASAP."

"Will do Sir," Steve said as he stood up and saluted the Colonel.

An hour later, Steve and Firebrand were called back into the lab where Howard had finally finished Steve's idea request for a uniform. He was quite amused and flattered somewhat by how much of a spectacle the lab had made presenting his uniform for the very first time. He walked in and found all of the scientists lined up by something covered by a large tarp. When Howard finished his small speech about how appreciative they were of the two and the many accomplishments they were sure to have thanks to their gear, he dramatically pulled off the tarp, revealing a giant upright glass display case.

Inside the case was the suit he had requested, which was indeed much like his own stage outfit, except more military appropriate. The blue accents were darkened to blend in better with the night, the star on his back was turned into a flexible plate of armor for added protection, his helmet carrying the initial of his new title Captain America was made into a more battle-ready helmet, and his gloves and boots were given steel knuckles and toes for added damage and protection from enemies. Underneath, the suit was insulated with a special cooling carbon fiber gel layered with high-quality wool for added protection against the elements.

Steve noticed how excited Firebrand was to see him put on the suit and wondered how long it would be before Firebrand would want a suit of his own.

After a few handshakes and congratulatory compliments from members of the staff present at the SSR, Steve grabbed his new utility belt and his new uniform and proceeded to put them on in a nearby washroom. He was finally fully ready to go off on his first official mission as Captain America and fulfill the promise he had made to the late Dr. Erskine. There was only one thing he remembered that he had to deal with as he began walking towards the exit of the Intelligence office and off to pick up his new squad. And he was certain that a certain blonde-maned, red-furred colt would not like what he had to say to him.

Pulling Firebrand off to the side, he began to explain the situation delicately to the colt as best as he could.

"Listen, little buddy, where I'm going is not a place for little colts. I'm gonna need you to stay here with ahem Mommy and Uncle Howard for a while." Steve tried to explain.

"You're going away again daddy?" Firebrand asked with tears welling up in his eyes. "But I want to go with you!"

"I know you do," he chuckled. "But I love you little buddy and I don't want you to get hurt."

"I want to come! I wanna help!" he mewed out.

"No Firebrand," Steve said firmly. "There are just things out there that a little guy that's as young as you just can't handle. You will understand what I mean someday. Now go back to Uncle Howard, I'm sure he would be glad to take care of you until I get back."

Steve felt bad as he watched Firebrand with his head sunk low, forlornly walk back down the hall back to where the living quarters were. Before he turned the corner, he could have sworn that he heard Firebrand begin to cry.

'I like the little guy a lot. I've grown fond of him in a really short time, but I can't risk him getting hurt on one of these missions. Schmitt is still looking for him and I don't want to know what would happen if that bastard ever got his mitts on the little guy."

As Steve started walking out onto the street, he realized he had forgotten something important.

'My duffel bag!" he thought frantically. "The Colonel would have my hide if I forgot that!"

Running back inside, he made his way back to the living quarters where he had been sleeping for the past few days. He was
quite surprised to find that Firebrand wasn't there curled up under the covers.

'Must have gone to Peggy or Stark to help them' he thought with a sad smile. 'Peggy will be great company for the little guy, I'm sure of it. Stark will probably try some new weird experiment on him.'

Looking around the room, he found his duffel bag under the bed where he put it and took it with him, letting the strap hang over his shoulder. He was slightly surprised to feel it have some extra weight but figured at the time that it had to have been Howard giving him extra gear to assist him on missions.

Running to the nearest phone, he had the operator dial the pub that Bucky and the rest of his friends were occupying. Bucky answered almost immediately as he told them to suit up and meet him at the landing strip where the transport plane was scheduled to pick them up. Before he left the base, he was informed by one of the scientists working under Howard that his equipment would be delivered immediately to the plane before it takes off.

As he finally left the base and had two SSR members transport him to the landing strip, he felt like he was missing something important. Feeling the new magnetic harness that was to be worn beneath his new shield, Steve started to feel somewhat sad without the little colt hanging off his back. He had grown quite used to the colt and feeling the added extra weight on his back. It had become something of a comforting feeling to him knowing that he was not the only strange individual in the world of his caliber. For now, though, he convinced himself that he needed to focus on the task at hand if he was going to stay alive.

Little did he know that as his escort slowly but surely made his way back to the landing strip on the other side of London, a certain pony had found a way to come with him after all and make his new mission that much more easy for him to accomplish.

Unfortunately, none of them could have known how formidable their adversary was going to be...

Next Time: Super Soldier: France

Author's Note

Like and tell me what you think of the story so far. Its inevitable that there's going to be a few hiccups here and there so bear with me as best as you can.

As you've probably guessed. I'm kinda combining canons by including the events of the game Captain America: Super Soldier into the mix. I'm excited to see how this is gonna turn out!

Super Soldier: France

Location: France
Time: 3:23 AM

From ash grey clouds, the rain was coming down hard in the trenches as it continuously battered every plank of wood and every inch of ground soaking everything in its path. Thunder and lightning ringed across the sky like distant church bells roaring throughout the night. The only other thing that could be heard echoing in the night was the sound of gunfire cracking and bursting all around in the distance as it tried to outroar the thunder. The hillside was a constant environment of tension and paranoia as every single solitary sound put the soldiers there in a perpetual state of tension. Even the trees seemed to be tensing up as they were battered by the heavy nighttime rain showers. The only comfort they seemed to bring was how the rain seemed to wash away almost all of the foul smells that came over the air and invigorated the land.

Two soldiers at this time were on their routine nightly patrol of the trenches, keeping watch for Nazi threats or others that dare to come too close to their territory. They were rather tired and quite disappointed that a beautiful country like France was not as good as they had been led to believe in the past. One was a younger private, just starting out and the other was a more seasoned soldier. The two had been speaking to each other for quite a while now through the sleepless hours of the night as the only way to keep themselves awake and alert to their surroundings.

"I tell you, this ain't how I pictured France at all," the younger one lamented.

"You said it. Not one day of nice, warm sun in two weeks. The only girls I've seen out here have four legs and moo." the older one replied. "And I don't think these ones are dating worthy either."

They then moved off to another branching path of the trenches and found a solid place for them to sit down and take a small respite. They placed their rifles down and shook off excess rainwater from their helmets before continuing their conversation.

"You hear who just showed up with D Company?" the younger one asked.

"Who?"

"The Captain" the younger one replied.

"He's here?" the older one replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"The Captain." the other one scoffed in a mocking manner.

"What?"

"He's nothing but a glorified poster boy. Poses for pictures and disappears when the action starts."

The younger soldier shook his head and looked off into the distance as if he was trying to remember something.

"I dunno...I heard he saved a bunch of guys in D Company who got captured."

"Wise up kid, it was staged for the newsreels. All that's for the folks back home. Nobody's coming to pull our butts out of this mess kid." he replied firmly.

"What about the raid on--"

Then out of the blue, something long and metallic shot out of the dark, down from the top of the trench and began dragging the younger soldier away. The other soldier jumped and instinctively went for his gun and tried aiming at his target, but froze in fear from what he saw.

A menacing, metal man with long yellow eyes that seemed to be piercing into his soul as he continued dragging his young friend away. Off to the right, he heard footsteps when he looked over and saw three Hydra foot soldiers wearing unusual plated armor and holding strange shields. He tried shooting at them, but his bullets just bounced off of their armor like they did absolutely nothing.

He dropped his rifle and started running down the trench as fast as he could. The sound of gunfire and mortar explosions gave him all he needed to know. They were under attack. He ran down another branching path of the trench until he accidentally tripped on a board and fell. He rolled over onto his back as he saw the Hydra soldiers start to approach him with cold, cruel eyes. His heart began beating faster and faster as he heard one thing come out of their voice changers.

"Hail Hydra!"

His entire life flashed before his eyes as the soldiers lifted their rifles and prepared to fire when all of a sudden.....

CLONG-CLANK!

A giant red, white, and blue disc jetted from the top of the trench and knocked the soldiers off of their feet and onto the ground unconscious. Then it bounced back towards whoever had thrown it as if it was made of rubber. Before the soldier could register what had happened, a man in a blue suit and a cowl with white wings flipped over the wall and down into the trenches.

"Fall back, soldier! I'll take it from here!" the man barked.

The man quickly nodded and then ran away towards cover, not noticing the red colt that had been hanging from a harness on the man's back.

"Wheee! That was fun! Can we do dat again?" Firebrand giggled.

"Maybe when we aren't in danger, which is what I was trying to keep you out of young man," Steve retorted sternly.

Firebrand could tell Steve was still disappointed with him and it made the little colt feel awful.

"Am I in twouble?" he asked sadly.

"Yeah...you are, but that doesn't matter right now," he replied. "Just stay close to me, and stay out of danger until we can get out of here."

As if to verify his concerns, mortar blasts coming from Hydra forces nearby sounded through the night. Followed by multiple red flares being shot off into the night sky.

"Alright, daddy."

Steve ran up to the two downed soldiers and quickly tied them up with pieces of scrap rope nearby for capture later. While he was studying them, he noticed how strange their uniforms and armor were from the Hydra soldiers they had fought back in Austria. For one thing, they were carrying around heavy armor that hung from their arms and legs. They also had voice modulators that covered their faces for anonymity and intimidation on the battlefield.

"Who the heck are these guys?" Steve asked himself.

"Bad guys?" Firebrand asked simply.

"Yeah, but not normal bad guys that's for sure."

Steve with Firebrand in tow, made his way down the trenches until machine gun fire halted their advancement, forcing him to somersault through it and into two enemy soldiers who were knocked out by the impact. Further down the trench, they found themselves in a larger area where a group of Hydra soldiers carrying stun batons was waiting for them. They were currently beating American soldiers to death, which gave Steve all the reason to take them out as quickly as possible.

"Pathetic American!" one of them cried.

"On your knees dog!" another exclaimed evilly.

When one of the soldiers who was beating an American soldier had their back turned, Steve took him out instantly with a few sucker punches to the back of the head which knocked his helmet off followed by an upwards bash with his new shield, knocking him out instantly. Unfortunately, four others had come at him now with stun batons on that they knew he was there.

Blocking one of their attacks with his shield, and taking another's with his arm, he pushed through the pain of the shock from their weapons to keep Firebrand from being hit by their weapons. As soon as he had them pushed apart, he took out another with a downwards bash, which launched the soldier skyward ten feet into the air, followed by a butterfly kick to another in the face. When one tried to pull out a pistol, Steve tossed his shield at him which bashed his head into the wall. It seemed though that he had missed one when Firebrand gave him a signal, causing Steve to whip around and knock the last one out with a solid punch to the face.

"Dat was fun! Can we beat up mowe bad guys?" Firebrand asked him.

"Don't worry, I think I'll be getting plenty of opportunities for that tonight," Steve chuckled.

After seeing the American soldier and made sure that he was well enough to make his way to the nearest medical officer, Steve made his way into a tunnel. It was being clouded by dust thanks to enemy bombardment on the surface. He told Firebrand to hold his breath so that he wouldn't breathe in anything hazardous, to which the little colt obeyed. Steve kept up a steady pace as they went through, keeping his shield up and an ear to the ceiling to listen for signs of the makeshift bunker collapsing. He crouched low to the floor to stay under the dust and smoke, feeling more of the dry cracked dirt under his feet. He could feel Firebrand wiggling around nervously as they proceeded forward.

Like clockwork, he came to a part of the bunker that was on fire and falling apart. Wooden beams and smoldering equipment fell into their path, forcing Cap to duck and dodge through the rubble.

They went down another path and into a sleeping quarters room where Bucky came out from another path.

"Unca Bucky!" Firebrand exclaimed.

"Hey pal," Bucky greeted awkwardly

"What's the situation?" Steve asked.

"I've got it covered here Cap, but we've got some guys pinned down just up ahead. You need to hurry!"

Steve noticed that Bucky was bleeding in quite a few spots and decided to take a moment to check him out. He carefully checked out the rest of his friend in case there were any injuries that needed immediate attention.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm a big boy, I can take a few scrapes and bruises. You need to get on ahead and keep the little guy safe. I'll stay here for a minute and...catch my breath." he said.

Trying to be helpful Firebrand hopped out of Steve's harness as he looked around the room and found a cloth that he ripped up with his magic and wrapped up Bucky in makeshift tourniquets and bandages in an effort to patch him up. Steve was rather impressed with how skillfully the colt worked with supplies around the camp in order to heal somebody's wounds.

"Wow, the kid must have been a Medic in another life or something," Bucky chuckled as he looked at his bandages.

"Yeah...no kidding" Steve mused as he saw Firebrand hug Bucky's leg and then hop back into his harness.

Going down another corridor, Steve came into another room where more bunk beds were along with a table covered in maps, and battle plans. The walls, however, were covered with risque pictures that made Steve use his shield to cover the young colt's eyes.

"You're a good sixteen years too young to be seeing stuff like this buddy," he said in reply to the foal's questioning mewing.

"Hold the line!" he heard somebody cry outside. "Show them what we're made of!"

Going down the tunnel and out of the bunker, he made it back to the trenches where more and more Hydra soldiers were coming down and meeting them head-on than he could count.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to take a hands-on approach little buddy," he informed the colt.

Going for the first soldier, Steve took him out quickly and then reacted by pulling out his shield when another tried to use his pistol. Blocking a third one's blows, he took him out with a toss of his shield as he ground pounded the second one unconscious and then bashed the second one in the head with a savage sidekick. Steve didn't notice it, but Firebrand began to mimic his movements as if he was trying to learn how to fight like he was.

Going past a squad of Allied troops who were doing their best to hold back Hydra's advances, Steve made his way into another underground room where his new teammate Dugan was busy working on a map to work out a strategy against their enemy. Firebrand was ecstatic seeing the mustached man again, to say the least.

"Unca Dummy!" Firebrand exclaimed as he leaped out of his harness and started nuzzling Dugan's legs

"Only you are allowed to call me that little buddy," he chuckled as he kneeled down and began stroking Firebrand's withers. "Anyone else would get a punch in the face."

Steve did his best trying to not laugh as he attempted to compose himself and give out orders after hearing Firebrand call Dugan "Dummy."

"Dugan, I need you to.....rally some men and secure this room.....I need a working radio ASAP."

"You got it, Cap!"

Steve gathered Firebrand back up as he made his way once again back out into the trenches as he noticed they were making their way through a forested area. Thousands of dead trees losing their limbs surrounded their immediate vicinity as Steve ducked and dodged gunfire coming from enemy airplanes. Up ahead, he noticed that their entire way had been blocked off by an intense inferno that engulfed an entire part of the trenches. Looking around, the only thing Steve could find was a big pile of rubble that provided a decent height for an idea that popped into Steve's head.

'It's risky, but I've got no other choice,' he thought nervously.

"Hold on tight little buddy, I'm gonna try to jump this gap," he informed the foal who responded by gripping his back even tighter.

Stepping back a good twenty steps, Steve steeled himself as he ran at a full sprint and launched himself over the fire, and made it safely onto the moist ground on the other side.

Just ahead, four Hydra grunts ran out from behind a burning tank and started charging straight at Steve trying to overwhelm him. Steve took them out without much issue with a few punches and a long toss from his shield.

Coming from over the next hill, three Allied troops came running as fast as they could with absolute terror in their eyes. Calling over to them, he had the soldiers come and duck behind the burning tank which provided them with decent cover from whatever they were running from.

"What is it, soldier? What's going on?" Steve barked out. "And why are you retreating?"

"There's something huge up there sir! I don't think it's human!" one of them exclaimed frightfully.

"We can't stay here! We gotta get out of here before we get killed too!" another cried.

"Shut up! Nobody else is going to die on my watch," Steve assured them. Now stay here, stay low, and shoot anything that tries to get close. Let me deal with your ghoul."

"Sir yes Sir!"

Over the hill, Steve witnessed a man wearing thick pitch-black armor and a crimson red helmet blast away two Allied tanks with only a few blasts from some kind of energy weapon that he was carrying. After he was finished blowing them up, he turned his attention on Steve who tensed himself up for a tough fight.

Steve started up with a toss to the face which seemed to stun him for a second and went for another toss to finish him off.
Unfortunately, the armored soldier anticipated this as he held up his heavy weapon to block it, followed by him launching a grenade at Steve who barely had enough time to flip out of the way.

"This guy is a big one," Steve mumbled. "It's probably gonna take everything I've got."

After a few grenade launches and Steve repeatedly trying to dodge the small explosions, Firebrand saw how hard of a time Steve was having with this armored soldier and it made him mad at the soldier. Little did he know that something he carried was reacting to his thoughts and was about to help him out in an unexpected way.

Just as Steve thought he was going to get hit by a point-blank shot from the soldier's heavy weapon, something loud and black shot out from the side of his head and collide with the soldier's helmet, causing him to fall flat on his back with a clank. He approached the downed form of the soldier and went for a ground pound, but the soldier tried to fight him off with a mechanized arm. They struggled for a few seconds before Steve got the better of him and knocked him out cold with a solid kick to the face.

When he knew he was out of danger for the moment, he looked over his shoulder to see Firebrand playing with his black horseshoes. At that moment, it had hit him hard what had just happened.

"Firebrand....was that you who saved me?" Steve asked bewildered.

Firebrand gave him a big smile as he nodded rapidly and gave Steve a salute.

"I wanted to help," he replied.

"Well you sure did that and then some. Was that your horseshoes that did that?"

"I..think so," Firebrand said as he stared at his horseshoes thoughtfully

'Maybe I should let Stark know about this,' he thought. 'Something like that could come in handy.'

Steve turned his attention to the heavy weapon that was being carried by the armored soldier. Three Allied troops approached Steve and stared in confusion at Firebrand hanging off of his back for a few seconds. Though it seemed that the giant energy weapon drew their attention more than he did.

"What the hell is going on?" one of them asked. "Since when does the enemy have an ordinance like this?"

"They don't. At least not yet." Steve reassured. "This is a different enemy."

He pushed his way through the other Allied troops that had rallied at his position and requested to make a call from a communications officer's phone pack.

"Get me Howard Stark," Steve ordered to the operator as his gaze was frozen on the chilling white Hydra emblem that was emblazoned across the underbelly of the ominous gun.

Author's Note

Another chapter out of the way and the beginning of the Super Soldier arc. I hope I am not disappointing you guys. Comment below, like and tell me what you all think.

Super Soldier: Stand Alone Together

"Captain Rodgers!"

Steve was suddenly jolted awake by the sound of the loudspeaker at the front of the plane. Looking down, he found Firebrand asleep in his lap, curled up into a ball like a cat. He looked around to find the plane empty except for the pilot, co-pilot, and two extra support troops sitting near the front. He figured that Dugan, Bucky, and the others must have stayed behind to get on another transport plane to the next Hydra base they needed to take out. As Steve shook Firebrand awake, he began to stir and stretched his limbs. The feeling of his joints popping seemed to satisfy him as he let out a content sigh. Hopping down off of his lap when Steve stood up, Firebrand proceeded to follow closely behind him as per the punishment that was dealt out to him.

Steve was quite upset with little Firebrand when he found out that he had followed him along by sneaking into his duffel bag, but as punishment was something that he was quite new to, he decided on something fairly simple. He was only a young pony, after all, so he wanted to go easy on him. Firebrand had to stay in his sight at all times and when they got back to base, he was to help Peggy and Howard with anything for five hours. The colt sadly accepted the punishment as he ventured to get back in his daddy's good graces.

"Captain Rodgers HQ is on the horn for you," the pilot announced through the loudspeaker.

'Maybe I can get a hold of them and have them pick up Firebrand somewhere close by.' he thought. 'It's going to be too dangerous for a little guy like him out in the field.'

"Come towards the cockpit," instructed the pilot. "You can use the radio near the front of the cabin sir."

Looking up at where the pilot was talking about, Firebrand saw a big black box attached to the inside of the plane which was connected by three long wires going into the cockpit. He watched Steve with interest as he grabbed a lever on the side of the box and cranked it hard hearing a clicking sound.

"This is Rogers, go ahead. Over."

"Steve, this is Peggy. I have one thing to ask you before we proceed. ....Is Firebrand with you? I lost track of him yesterday and I haven't been able to find him."

"Hi, mommy!" Firebrand exclaimed happily.

Peggy seemed to go silent for a minute, not saying anything. Steve decided to just pick up for her and continue the conversation.

"Yeah, he's with me. Can you come and pick him up? I don't exactly want him around bullets, bombs, explosions, and..well, Hydra if you catch my meaning. He's at risk out here." Steve asked.

When Firebrand heard this, he looked sadly at the floor of the plane and began pawing at it pathetically.

"Actually Captain, that might turn out to be a bit of a problem," the Colonel's voice chimed in. "The squirt may be safer out there with you at the moment, despite how crazy it sounds. We received intel from one of our own that Hydra agents have managed to infiltrate the SSR. We don't know how many and how high this reaches up. I'm guessing Schmitt really wants that pony of yours back pretty badly.

Steve was conflicted about this situation. Firebrand is always going to be at risk in this world no matter where he goes. The knowledge of Firebrand's existence could put him in danger from people like Schmitt, which unfortunately are a abundance in his world. People like him would stop at nothing to get their hands on him to uncover the secrets of his magic. He knew they were right, but he didn't like to admit it. The only moderately safe place for Firebrand, for the time being, would be with himself.

"....Have you started an investigation?" he asked hopefully. "We'll have to come back to base at some point."

"Yes, but we are making slow headway. As much as I hate to say it, Firebrand is safer there with you for the time being. You'll be moving around all the time, so it will be harder for Schmitt to get a lock on your position." she admitted. "You've been trained to avoid gunfire and block it with that shield of yours. So I'm counting on you to protect him do you hear me? If I find so much as a scratch on him, I will personally kick your arse."

"Yes ma'am," he replied with a chuckle. "I'll do my best. But with everything going on out here too, it's going to be tough."

"Now, we have a few other things to go over before your drop. We've confirmed our analysis of the munitions you recovered last night. Howard Stark was able to identify the alloys in the firing chamber as a rare metal found only in the mountains of Bavaria."

"No small feat, I promise you," Howard's voice added.

"Our sources were able to narrow down the location to a remote castle compound in the Bavarian Mountains. This castle doesn't show up on any of our liberated Hydra intel, so we can't know for certain what we are up against. Though we assume this is one of the bases that you pinned down on that map of yours over here. Take a look at the dossier on the table behind you. It contains all of the information that we've managed to gather so far."

Turning his head around, Steve saw the fold-out table in question where many files and pictures were laid.

He grabbed one of the folders and took a quick look inside at the information, slipping it into his backpack for later.

"We also have a research film reel that was just smuggled out of the area," Howard informed. "It's located in the locker at the back of the plane. I'll tell ya, these guys whoever they are, are obsessed with documenting their work. It's almost like a drug to them or something."

Steve went to the back of the plane and found the old reel sitting there on the counter. He looked around the chamber and found an old beaten-up film projector for them to watch the reel. Setting it up, he slipped the film into the projector and turned it on as it clicked and whirred.

Firebrand watched closely as a white scratchy screen with black streaks popped up for a few seconds before shifting to an image of a folder with the words "Mastermann Project" across the label.

Suddenly, he could hear a familiar voice with a familiar accent coming in through the reel that made him shiver and grasp Steve's arm tightly with his forelegs.

"After years of planning and research, my time has come, at last, Project Mastermann is a reality."

As the second slide popped up on the screen showing a picture of the all too familiar Arnim Zola, Firebrand yelped and dived behind Steve, and started bawling as he shook with fear. Steve, out of concern for the foal, picked him up and allowed him to bury his face into his chest as he tried stroking the sobbing pony to calm him down.

"It's okay little buddy. Everything is alright. The scary man can't get you. Not as long as I'm around."

"History shall record that Dr. Arnim Zola was the first to unlock the secrets of the human genome. And thus, my immortality is assured."

The slide show then shifted to an image of the man Steve sought to bring to justice above all else. Johann Schmitt, The Red Skull.

"Using the blood of my benefactor, Johann Schmitt, and the red equine that our enemy has taken from us, I will replicate and surpass the work of the traitor Abraham Erskine. The Americans believe they have created a perfect human specimen in their precious Super Soldier. They are fools. The perfection of the human body is a false goal. What does it profit us to perfect something that is inherently limited? No...to truly evolve, we must improve upon it."

It shifted to another image that seemed to depict a large castle of some kind with a shot of its rooftops.

"Herr Skull secured a remote research facility and outfitted it with Hydra forces for my protection and assistance. The Skull has also honored me with the loan of the Tessaract Cube to aid in my research....under his supervision, of course. He will not be disappointed. I shall work tirelessly until I have unlocked Erskine's secrets and taken them to places that he never imagined...or perhaps feared to tread. It is my goal, my purpose, my destiny."

The reel finally ran out of the film as it sputtered, turned to white, and finally turned off. After a few minutes, Firebrand was able to finally calm down as he turned around carefully and was glad to find that the scary man's voice had disappeared. Steve grabbed Firebrand who allowed him to set him back into his harness which he had become quite comfortable being in. As they slowly moved back towards their seat in the middle of the plane, Peggy's voice once again sounded on the loudspeaker.

"Zola's technology is getting dangerously close to Erskine's work. If Hydra succeeds, they will be unstoppable. Try to find us more of those reels, it will give us an idea of what we are up against," Howard instructed.

Suddenly, a banging coming from the cockpit drew Steve and Firebrand's attention to the front of the plane as the co-pilot peeked his head out.

"Captain, we are nearing the drop zone!"

"Your job is to shut down the long-range air defenses. Once the drop zone is secure, radio in, and we will give the invaders the go-ahead. And Steve....please be careful...especially now that you have a little one to look after. There is so much that we just know absolutely nothing about...." Peggy warned.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure this guy doesn't leave my sight," Steve said slyly as he ruffled Firebrand's mane.

All of a sudden, the plane began to shake violently, nearly knocking Steve off of his feet as they were pelted by machine gunfire. Steve could hear sounds coming from the cockpit as the pilot began to panic.

"Incoming! It's too much! I'll have to pull away!"

"Wait! I'll drop here. Get out of here as soon as I'm clear."

"YES SIR!"

"Alright Firebrand, I want you to hold on to me really tightly and don't let go until I say you can alright? We're gonna be taking a skydive."

"A skydive? Are we swimming in the sky?" he asked innocently.

"Something like that." he chuckled. "Just close your eyes once we start falling and hold on to me tightly."

Firebrand nodded as they moved towards the plane's entry door and Steve kicked it open as a rush of ice-cold wind blasted into their faces. The last thing Firebrand saw before he started to tightly close his eyes was a beautiful snow-capped mountain range going on forever from one direction to another and fiery explosions thundering in the sky. After a moment of preparing himself, Steve bailed out of the plan and started to rapidly dive towards the castle. Avoiding the explosions from Hydras cannons, Steve looked around and angled himself to aim right at one of the buildings. The dive lasted for only a few seconds as before Steve hit the roof of the building painfully, he grabbed his shield and used it to absorb the impact of the fall. They crashed through the roof and into a small room of the castle where the shock, instantly knocked out three of the guards.

As soon as he gathered a file that they found in the room, he made his way across a bridge and to the building on the other side where two other guards were waiting. A quick angled toss from his shield quickly dispatched them as he turned his attention to a strange mechanism adjacent to a locked door.

"Oh yeah, Stark told me about these." he mused in remembrance. "Enigma keypads I think he said. If you have the code, you can unlock them fairly easily."

It took a minute, but Steve was able to find a common character in the code that helped him unlock the hallway of metal doors that had been blocking his path.

Carefully and quietly going into the other room where the first cannon's controls were, the two overheard the soldiers there having a conversation with the man they assumed to be one of Red Skull's top lieutenants.

"How many times must I come down there?! You have an 88-millimeter automated cannon. How hard is it to hit one target?!"

"I'm sorry Baron, we checked-"

"You checked nothing peasant!" the Baron barked. "One more mistake and you will taste The Claw, am I clear?"

"Yes, Baron."

Peeking out from over the balcony, Steve looked around trying to figure out a strategy.

"They would see me coming a mile away, I gotta hit them from a distance,"

Aiming at one of the soldiers, he gave his shield a toss as it flew 30 feet and knocked out one of the soldiers. Unfortunately for him, they saw him almost instantly.

"I see something! Up there! Shoot him!"

Firebrand yelped as he once again launched his black horseshoes off of his hooves. One of them hit one of the Hydra troops aiming at them, while another made another soldier spin as his gunfire hit everything in the room. Including the cannon's control panel which set off a fiery chain reaction. The horseshoes were drawn back to Firebrand as they once again magnetized snugly to his hooves.

"Oooookay, we have got to figure out how you do that," Steve thought aloud as the fire started to spread.

Firebrand tapped his shoulder as Steve followed where he was pointing. His pupils shrunk to the size of pinheads as he began to panic. The fire was only a few feet from a pile of explosive materials that were about to blow the tower sky high.

Looking around, Steve found an open window for the duo to make their exit.

"Tower's coming down...got to move!" he exclaimed.

Flinging himself around to the wall outside, he flipped, pole-vaulted, and somersaulted over and under the flag poles and architecture of the tower. Steve was beginning to be rather concerned for Firebrand as he was laughing way too hard at explosions and fire more than he should have been. After a few well-timed flips, Steve made it through an opening in the next building over, which lead them to an open room where four more Hydra soldiers were standing guard.

Jumping down to the floor below, Steve reacted quickly as he flung his shield at the first soldier, knocking him out while he flipped over to the second one and bashed him to the adjacent wall with a solid kick to the midsection. When Firebrand saw one of the soldiers reloading while Steve was occupied, Firebrand gave a loud whine which made Steve turn around and quickly react by holding his shield up close as he heard a shot from the soldier's rifle. Luckily for Steve, the shield blocked it flawlessly as the bullet dropped harmlessly to the floor with a clatter.

As the third and fourth soldiers tried to rush him, Steve knocked them out consecutively with a bash to the face with his shield on one and a crushing roundhouse kick to the jaw to the other. However, the second soldier wasn't out for the count as he tried taking out Steve with a sneak attack from his bayonet. Firebrand quickly jumped out of his harness, trying to protect his daddy as he leaped and hit the soldier in the abdomen with a "punch" from one of his forehooves, not realizing how much power he was putting into it... The next thing Steve knew as he whipped his head around was Firebrand blasting the Hydra soldier through the opposite wall and into the room next door.

"Okay, before the day is out I'm seriously gonna find a free moment to figure out how to help you use those things," Steve said to the colt with a chuckle.

"Did I do good?" Firebrand asked hopefully.

"You did great buddy. Just be a little more careful next time okay?"

"Okay!"

They then heard the loudspeaker begin to activate as they heard the voice of the "Baron" that now has gone on to their hit list.

"Attention all security forces; this is Baron Von Strucker! We have a saboteur in our midst. Converge on the area around the Western cannon. I want him found and neutralized immediately...on pain of death. Hail Hydra!"

"Well get in line Strucker," Steve replied dryly. "Everyone here seems to want a piece of me."

Looking around, he found another Enigma keypad which he hacked into fairly easily as Firebrand tried to learn what Steve was doing.

Going through another series of metal security doors, Steve soon found his way into what appeared to be a communications center for this part of the castle. Dozens of strange machines lined the walls on every side as a small group of Hydra officers was conducting work on the other side of the room. He slowly snuck in as he heard them talk about a weapon they called the Baron's Satan Claw and how one of their comrades had the unfortunate pleasure of being tortured with it.

Thinking up a plan, he decided to try using Firebrand's unique ability to his advantage.

"Firebrand," Steve whispered. "Those horseshoes of yours seem to react to your will and emotions. Try aiming them at the group of soldiers on the right while I go for the ones on the left okay?"

Firebrand nodded gleefully as he aimed at the soldiers and waited for Steve's instructions.

Tossing his shield, he managed to hit the console on the left as it knocked out six of the officers at once. Steve quickly gave Firebrand the go-ahead as he launched one of his horseshoes at the other console and blew it up. The resulting blast knocked out the rest of the soldiers as his horseshoe safely flew back to him.

"Great job buddy. With a little bit of training when you're older, you'd make a great soldier." Steve said proudly.

Firebrand soaked up the praise as he tried mimicking a salute which Steve humored him by returning.

Looking around the room, Steve picked up a couple of dossiers as he looked for a way to the communications tower. Firebrand drew his attention to a ladder that presumably leads to an upper level.

Going up a set of stairs, Steve carefully climbed up the ladder, listening for any possible signs of traps or troops that were waiting to ambush them. As he made it to the top of the ladder, he came into another communications lab with a somewhat smaller number of machines. What drew his attention though, was a strange set of gloves and a cowl sitting atop another dossier. As he went over, he saw a label on the folder describing the item.

"Zemo family heirloom and diary entry huh? That must have been a very strange family." he thought aloud.

He pocketed the items into his pouch for later viewing as he continued looking around the room and soon found a large radio and tuned it into the Allied frequency.

"Captain America to headquarters. Over."

There was only static for five solid seconds before a familiar voice came in over the com, making Firebrand's eyes light up.

"Cap, this is Peggy. Are you and Firebrand all right? That drop..."

"I'm okay! Daddy smacked a bunch of bad guys on their bootys!" Firebrand giggled.

"Well I'm glad to hear one of you is having fun," she replied.

"That was the easy part for us. Be advised, the flak's so heavy I could have walked down on it," he warned.

"We know. The invaders are on their way to back you up, but we need you to take out the long-range AA cannons before they can safely airdrop," she replied with haste.

"Copy. Maintain schedule. By the time they get here, we will have the skies clear for them. Captain America out."

Steve turned off the radio as he went back to the opening and flipped down to the floor below, not knowing he was about to run into another wave of soldiers.

Next Time: The Flemish Farm

Author's Note

I hope you guys are enjoying this one. I'm putting a lot of work into this and I endeavor to do a lot more.

Comment, like and give me your thoughts below.

I hope you are enjoying this Josh!

Super Soldier: The Flemish Farm

Author's Note

There we go. I hope you guys enjoy this. Any creative suggestions are welcome here.

Super Soldier: The Flemish Farm

On the next level down, Steve thought for a moment that he and Firebrand were fairly safe for the moment until two side security doors opened up and six soldiers on either side carrying rifles and stun batons. This time around, Steve had to rely more on his shield than his fists as most of the soldiers kept their distance from the powerful super-soldier. Firebrand's warnings came in handy as he timed their attacks and swung his shield at the fired bullets as he watched them ricochet off with a spark and hit the soldiers back. Doing this a few times, and quickly dispatching the soldiers who came too close to his reach, he quickly took out the group. Unfortunately, it wasn't over, as another group of armed soldiers tried to come through the other side. Getting an idea, Steve angled the shield and aimed at one of the men as he watched it bounce back and forth between them and knock all of them out consecutively. One of them tried to get up as he finished him off with a bash to the face with his shield.

Running to the other door, five other soldiers tried to come through as he went for hand-to-hand combat. The first soldier was downed by a downward punch from him, followed by a jump kick that sent another flying fifteen feet down the hallway and crashing into the wall. Firebrand saw a soldier trying to use his rifle as a club on Steve as he quickly leaned out of his harness and hit the man in the arm with his horseshoes, hearing it snap like fresh celery as his bones broke. The gun clattered to the floor as Steve whipped around and finished the man off with a solid uppercut that shattered his face mask. Two other soldiers tried barreling into him as he tossed his shield down the hallway watching it smash into their faces.

Steve looked down at the man Firebrand had hit and felt vaguely disturbed as he saw that his arm had become hyperextended and was bent in an unnatural direction.

"Jeez Firebrand, we've gotta watch that strength of yours," Steve said concerned. "We need to find somebody who can help you control those freaky black horseshoes of yours."

As he made his way out of the room, he heard the loudspeaker startup as a familiar voice sounded through the complex.

"It has come to my attention that our uninvited guests are none other than the Americans' Super Soldier and Herr Skull's pet. Apparently, this is causing some concern." the Baron's voice boomed. "I remind you that the weapons Herr Zola equipped you with make you his equal. His BETTER. He is One Man with a red rat stuck to his back! You are Hydra! Bring me his head!"

"Don't count on it bub," Steve muttered as he ran through the halls, causing Firebrand to giggle.

After dispatching another duo of guards that were guarding a door, Steve and Firebrand went through, finding themselves in a dimly lit room filled with cubicles, documents, film reels, and books. Further in, he could hear the voice of another Hydra soldier as he sneaked into the room. Putting his finger up to his lips silencing Firebrand, he carefully made his way through the hallway, picking up anything of note until he made his way into the office.

"Another day of strolling through dank hallways, wondering how my promising career in underwater topography went so dreadfully askew." the soldier lamented.

"Probably because it's underwater topography," Steve said dryly before bashing the soldier's face into the door he was guarding.

Allowing Firebrand to hop out of his harness for the moment, they took the time to carefully search around the room for anything of note that might prove to be valuable to their efforts.

"Stark probably wants me to take a look at every inch of this place for any intel or artifacts of note," Steve stated. "Why don't you help me out pal?"

Firebrand shouted "Ok" as he looked in every nook and cranny in the room while Steve looked through the cubicles and bookshelves for anything of note. A few minutes later, Firebrand trotted next to one of the bookshelves as he felt a light breeze coming from behind it. Calling Steve over with a wave of his tiny hoof, the colt poked and nudged at the side of the bookcase.

"What did you find little buddy?" Steve asked.

He pointed at the side of the bookcase as he tried pushing it aside, but couldn't get it to move.

Helping the colt out, Steve pushed the bookcase to the side with ease, revealing a secret passageway behind it leading to another part of the castle. Going through it, Steve picked up a dossier and a significant artifact that belonged to the family who owned the Castle. A family that went by the name Zemo. Apparently, the title Baron Zemo was passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years and it started with his ancestor Harbin Zemo in 1480 who single-handedly slew an entire invading horde. Afterward, he built the castle in recognition of his accomplishments.

"I bet Howard Stark and the others will want these. Maybe if we find more of them, it will shed some light on the story of this place." Steve said aloud to himself.

Continuing down the hallway, they soon made it to the end where they triggered another opening out of the secret passageway, and into an open room. Off to the right, a giant sliding steel door opened up followed by two Hydra soldiers carrying unusual collapsing shields.

"Take him! Even he can't punch through steel!" one of them shouted.

Giving an over the head toss, Steve angled the shield so it would fly over the soldier's armor and knock him on the head. While the first soldier was occupied, Steve grabbed the second soldier's shield and ripped it away, allowing him to land a finishing blow.

"I didn't need to," Steve replied snarkily.

Hearing the cocking of a gun, Steve turned to see the first soldier aiming at him. But before he could get off a shot, he felt himself being kicked in the head and flew upward as his head smashed through the ceiling, leaving him dangling there. Looking down at the colt, he found that his horseshoes seemed to automatically switch to his back legs at will. This just made for another confusing detail to give to Stark in his next debriefing report to the SSR.

"Thanks, little buddy."

"He flew like a birdy!" Firebrand chattered excitedly.

Steve gave a lighthearted laugh as the colt ran back up to him and got back into his harness as they continued forward. Before he made his way out of the room, he picked up another film reel by a fireplace that he was certain he would be looking at soon enough.

In the next large room, they found large cooling generators that hooked up to the second massive anti-aircraft cannon that they were tasked with taking out.

"The AA cannons seem to be hooked up to these machines. Maybe if we can disable them, we can take the cannons out a little more quietly.

Running up to one of the machines, he scanned it until he found a panel which he dismounted from the machine, revealing the circuitry inside including a couple of loose wires.

'If I touch these things together there's a chance I could get fried.' he thought. 'If only there was a way to short this thing out without touching it.'

Suddenly, Steve got an idea. Pulling Firebrand out, he instructed him on what to do.

"Listen little buddy. Do you see these two wires?"

"Uh-huh," he affirmed.

"Here's a chance to learn something in the field. Think you can shock this machine here by pulling these wires together?"

Jumping onto Steve's shoulder, Firebrand concentrated with his telekinesis as he levitated the two wires in his crimson glow and pressed them together carefully. When he saw a little spark, he followed Steve's instructions to twist the wires so that they would be connected permanently.

When the machine cluttered and gave a bang, Firebrand was so startled that he fell backward, headfirst into his harness so that his plot was sticking in the air.

"Nice job! That ought to start getting the cannon on the warm side," Steve said oblivious of the colt's uncomfortable position. "Let's get on to the others and take out that cannon."

The next thing Firebrand knew, he barely could make out another big door that slid open as two more armored guards came through. Then he found himself being tossed around in his harness as he was forced to deal with Steve spinning around while he was dangling upside down. Getting shot at and Steve moving around made him only angrier and angrier as his magic reacted to his emotions, and caused a blast of magical energy that shot out from his horn and blasted Steve skyward like a rocket.

Being launched up towards an unreachable target made things easier for Steve, if not a bit jarring as he was forced to hold his shield out like a battering ram and smash into the rifle of the Hydra soldier that tried to shoot him. On the upper platform, Steve landed safely as he looked down to find the Hydra soldier out cold and his gun flattened like a pancake.

"Firebrand? Was that you who just did that?" Steve asked confused

"Dada, pwease fix me!" he loudly cried.

"Fix you? .....Oh!" he realized as he saw his plot sticking out from behind his shoulder.

He struggled to keep a straight face as he grabbed the foal and placed him back in the harness right side up.

Firebrand smacked him on the back of his helmet in anger, causing Steve to laugh.

"Sorry about that little buddy. I'll try to watch you a little more closely here on out."

"NO SHAKEY WHEN SKY IS GROUND!" Firebrand snapped with a cute angry face.

Jumping back down onto the lower floor, Steve looked around for a way up and found a ladder that he had to hit with his shield to extend downwards. Making their way up the chamber, Steve had to jump from post to post and swing from pole to pole just to make his way further up until he made his way to the other side.

Out of the corner of his eye, Firebrand saw a glint of something gold that he pointed Steve around a battered bookcase where he found another strange artifact. A small gold statue of a woman wearing unusual clothing. Looking underneath it, Steve found that the statue was hollow and it contained another journal entry from the mysterious Baron Zemo. Unfolding it, Steve took the liberty to read it aloud this time now that they had a free moment:

"I had always assumed the isolated mountainous location of Castle Zemo to be strategic; the better to defend against attacks from invaders, or unruly peasants. And no doubt those were considerations. But it seems my ancestor was motivated by a desire to investigate legends of something ancient buried under these mountains. Something unimaginably powerful beyond understanding. Something referred to only in half-remembered tales as.....The Sleeper."

"Sweeper?" Firebrand asked tilting his head to the side.

"Sleeper little buddy," Steve replied chuckling. "But it does seem that Schmitt took a bit of interest in this place more than just for its strategic location. This deserves a little more digging into if we're gonna find out what he's up to here. Especially if this...Sleeper turns out to be some kind of weapon. Or something like you Firebrand."

"Me?" he asked quizzically.

"Yeah. If Skull found you, there's no reason to think that there aren't any others like you on Earth."

Steve could tell his words got to him, as Firebrand went silent, no doubt processing the idea. Meanwhile, Steve continued, maneuvering his way around the room as the flips and turns from bookcases and scaffolding posts became more and more precarious, the further up he went. On one jump, he was forced to leap twenty feet from a railing to a horizontal beam where he jumped and swung himself around a corner onto another beam and around the scaffolding once again to land safely on the next floor.

Finally, they made it to the next cooling generator where Steve had Firebrand once again use his magic to short out the machine. Pulling off the panel like Steve did with the first one, Firebrand pulled out the circuit board of the machine where he yanked out two red wires. Tying them together, the wires sputtered and crackled with electricity as the machine started to break down.

"Nice job Firebrand," Steve complimented.

They were just about to turn around and search around for the final cooling unit when a large bang made them jump. Air came leaking out of the machine as it started shrieking louder and louder as pressure built up behind the metal. Then all of a sudden, a sound like rapid gunfire turned their attention to the right where pressure had built up so much behind another panel on the machine, that the bolts began to rocket out of their sockets.

A sudden sixth sense feeling made him react as he held up his shield protecting Firebrand and himself when part of the machine finally exploded in a fiery inferno blowing a hole through the castle wall. When he felt that it was safe enough, he lowered his shield, revealing a passageway that had opened up right behind the second cooling unit.

"Again! Again!" Firebrand chattered excitedly. "Want more Booms!"

"Oh, I think we are going to get a lot more of those while we are here," Steve muttered nervously.

'This pony is gonna give me a heart attack one of these days he thought.

Making their way through the passageway, Steve and Firebrand began to feel the heat climb and climb the further in they went. Soon they came upon what appeared to be a maintenance shaft that was filled with steam and water pipes. The shaft was dimly lit by lines of lamps and lanterns dangling by wires.

"That's a lot of heat being vented from down there." Steve thought aloud. "Gotta get out of here before you get sick little buddy. I may have a bit of gear on, but you have that fur coat keeping in all of that heat. Let's see if we can get you back outside to that nice, cool mountain air."

On the other side of the shaft, Steve was able to make out the shape of the final cooling unit in the tower as he started carefully making his way around the chamber, being careful as to not touch any of the dangerously hot pipes that lay everywhere as if they were tripwire.

As soon as he made it across, Steve found a small platform with a control unit for the cooling system. Once again, Steve found the maintenance access panel for the machine as he ripped out the circuit board and started sabotaging the machine. Unfortunately, Firebrand was becoming a little too enthusiastic with what they were doing as he picked up a nearby wrench in his magical grasp and began laughing maniacally as he started smashing it around the insides of the machine.

"Hold up! Hold up! Hold up!" Steve shouted nervously as he saw the machine start to go as every wire started to spark.

Suddenly, the machine started to explode as the pipes in the shaft burst one after the other until the chain reaction made it to the cooling system.

Before Steve knew it, the entire tower was engulfed in multiple explosions as the force of the blast sent the duo flying a hundred feet out of the tower and into the air.

Steve could only hear one thing from the colt as they soared through the air before the tower blew apart in all directions.

"KA-BOOOOOOOOOM!"

Super Soldier: The Wooden Horse (part 1)

Author's Note

Here we go. I hope you guys enjoy this one. I worked pretty hard on it. As always, tell me what you think below, like, and give me any creative tips if you want to.

This chapter in the game segment I needed to split up into two parts for organizational purposes so I can spread out the word count between chapters a little more finely. Bear with me since I may need to do the same for other chapters during this arc.

I hope you are liking this so far Josh!

Super Soldier: The Wooden Horse (part 1)

Steve and Firebrand fell safely onto the ground outside as the last sections of the tower crumbled away, turning into large piles of rubble. Smoke rose over the smoldering ruins that used to be a great structure. Aged, cracked bricks and pieces of white mortar were strewn about all over the place as the entire area of the castle seemed to be in a state of complete disrepair. Even the next castle structure over was completely leveled as only pieces of its wooden rafters were barely standing. Cap scanned the little colt for any injuries he might have sustained in the fall. Thankfully, the only thing that seemed to be affected was Firebrand's mane which was now just a little bit scorched. He made sure Firebrand was safely tightened down in his harness before assessing his current situation.

"That explosion ought to bring them running. We had better not be here when they show up," Steve said to the colt. "That last cannon is probably going to be heavily guarded. I can't leave you here and risk you getting captured, so I'm gonna have to watch you even more carefully this time. If we can't disable that last cannon, the Allied invaders are gonna be sitting ducks up there."

He ran up and leaped off of a small pile of crates as he flipped, turned, wall ran, and pole vaulted across the ruins onto a safer patch of ground. They landed in what appeared to be what had been left of an old alleyway going through the village by the castle. On a collapsed table, Steve found another tattered dossier which he quickly pocketed before moving on.

Firebrand's ears folded against his head nervously as Steve and he heard the Baron's booming voice come up once again on the intercom.

"This is Baron Von Strucker! All unassigned security forces proceed to the West Ward! Our American rat problem has worsened! I want this vermin exterminated immediately!"

Down the alleyway, Steve peeked off to the left and saw a large plaza 200 feet away with over a dozen hydra soldiers patrolling it. At least five of them were heavily armed as he tried to come up with a suitable plan to either sneak by or handle them quickly. Staying low, he made his way towards the overlook where he could get a better look at the plaza and the patrol routes of each of the troops.

Firebrand peeked over as he saw two different colored barrels that caught his interest.

"Dada, what's dat?" Firebrand chattered as he pointed with his hoof.

Steve looked over and saw two munition barrels by one of Hydra's transport vehicles as they were depositing more soldiers into the plaza.

"Good eyes little buddy. Those will give us a great distraction," Steve said.

"Will it kaboom?" he asked cheerfully. "I want another kaboom!

"Oh yeah, I'd say it would do that and then some,"

Coming up with an idea, the little colt got up onto the balcony railing as he laid down on his stomach and aimed for the barrels with both of his hooves. The horseshoes seemed to respond to his thoughts as they flew off and blasted right towards the barrels. Unfortunately, the horseshoes were a little too powerful as they launched Firebrand into Steve. The man in question barely had time to react as he caught Firebrand by his back legs. The resulting explosion sent the nearby jeep flying as several soldiers were seriously injured in the process. Firebrand was confused for a moment when he heard someone behind him shout "my leg!" His black horseshoes flew back as they re magnetized to his front hooves. He pranced around with joy as the jeep's gas tank blew, sending it flying over a wall.

Quickly grabbing Firebrand and placing him back in his harness, Steve vaulted over the stone railing and landed in the plaza below where he quickly took to dispatching the five remaining soldiers that weren't injured by Firebrand's blast. The first soldier he leaped at had a rifle which he ripped away and used as a club as he bashed his chin with the butt of the rifle, knocking him out. The second and third soldiers were taken out with a few well-placed hits from his shield as they went down pretty quickly. The last two on the ground were taken out with leaping round kicks to the back of the head, which sent them flying ten feet away into the ground.

A bullet grazed his shoulder, causing Steve to wince in pain as he looked in the direction the bullet had come from. He quickly ducked behind a large piece of rubble to avoid getting hit as he attempted to find out where his unseen shooter was hiding. Gazing up at the roof of the adjacent building where the sun was high overhead. A sniper was reloading and aiming at them, forcing Steve to flip and weave his way around the courtyard in an attempt to avoid the sniper's fire. Taking out his shield, he waited for the exact moment and when he heard the crack of the rifle going off, he swung his shield and ricocheted the bullet back at the sniper, sending the hydra sniper tumbling off of the roof and crashing down into an old gardening shed.

A few seconds passed as Firebrand peeked back over Steve's shoulder and whimpered in sympathy when he saw Steve's injury. A small amount of blood oozed from the spot on his upper arm that had been hit by the bullet. Firebrand nuzzled him in an attempt to make him feel better.

"I'm alright little buddy, I just got scratched by it that's all," Steve assured him. "I'll patch it up later when I've got time. Right now, we need to get into that house. Where there's a radio, there's an antenna. Peggy is probably gonna need an update on our little situation."

The two went in through the front doors as they found what appeared to be a rather spacey and stylish ale and beer hall. The walls were adorned in ornate tapestries and the floors were covered in colorful rugs that seemed to be made of expensive materials. Straight ahead in the main room of the beer hall, Steve and Firebrand were able to clearly make out the conversation of two Hydra soldiers who were talking about their fear of their resident scientist and sub commander, Arnim Zola.

"We must keep our eyes open. If we fail, Dr. Zola is talking about releasing his monsters, and they would soon kill us as the American."

Angling his shield, Steve launched his shield at the two soldiers in the center of the room who slammed into each other with the impact of the shield. The shield bounced off to the left, dazing two more soldiers who tripped and smashed their faces into the table. It then bounced for a third time off to the right as a soldier tried bringing up his rifle to protect himself, but only ended up bashing himself in the face. The shield finally lodged itself into one of the hall's pillars, as if it was waiting for Steve to retrieve it. Steve ran in and pulled the shield out as he advanced upon the four remaining soldiers in the room.

One soldier tried coming at Steve with a long bayonet, but he ducked out of the way and broke the soldier's faceplate with a strong heel palm strike. Another tried to get up, but Steve leaped onto him and ground-pounded his face with a solid punch, knocking him out. Three more came at him, one with a stun baton of some kind as Steve had a hard time avoiding his strikes. Making a duck in the wrong direction, Steve got shocked pretty badly by the stun baton, which in turn shocked Firebrand for a moment. The soldier took the opportunity to shock Steve a few more times with a bunch of strikes to the torso. Steve heard the colt yelp in pain when another soldier had gotten a lucky hit in on him. Looking behind for a moment, he saw the colt's hooves up in a defensive posture as if he was trying to protect the human. Steve responded by grabbing the soldier by the arm in a fit of rage and breaking it back into an unnatural angle. He screamed in utter agony as Steve finished him off by grabbing his baton and knocking him out with a solid hit to the chin. Steve took the advantage of a new weapon as he quickly took out the others. One soldier, was close enough to bash in the face with one of the doors of the entryway.

Suddenly, Steve found himself again getting shot as a bullet from a soldier on the second level pierced through his left bicep. Gritting his teeth as he heard Firebrand start to cry, Steve picked up his shield as he held it up and ran towards the staircase off to the left side of the room. He went up to the next floor and quickly ran down a hallway that leads to the place where the sniper was shooting from. He looked back at the colt with concern as he turned around the corner and rushed the sniper in anger that was watching the ground floor. Before the sniper could react, Steve kicked him, launching the soldier over the railing and down to the ground below.

He watched coldly as the soldier landed on the bottom floor with a thump and broke every bone in his body.

'Damn, I got careless. And I let Firebrand get hurt,' he thought angrily. 'I need to get him patched up quickly before somebody else decides they want a piece of me.'

When he was sure there were no more soldiers in the immediate vicinity, he took Firebrand out of his harness and examined the wailing foal. Besides being shocked, Steve found that the foal had a few bruises and cuts along his tiny body as well.

"It's alright little buddy, it's alright. Daddy is here," he said comfortingly as he stroked the colt's golden mane. "I know it hurts, but I need you to be strong for me just a little bit alright?"

Firebrand continued crying for a few more seconds but soon tried to calm down for Steve as he rapidly nodded with red watery eyes.

Steve went into his pouch and pulled out a small bag of medicinal herbs that he had picked up back in Tarvisio. He was told by the store owner that it works as a powerful pain reliever for children. He walked over to a small table and picked up a mostly empty beer stein and cleaned it out. He filled it a quarter of the way with water from his canteen and mixed in the herbs along with a tiny splash of ale from a nearby barrel. He then brought the stein over to Firebrand and encouraged the foal.

'I've heard of very small amounts of alcohol being used as pain relievers and relaxants for kids.' he thought. 'Now is as good a time as any to see if it works I guess.'

"Drink this little buddy. It will help the pain go away. It might smell bad, but it will heal you pretty well." Steve explained as he handed the stein over to Firebrand.

Firebrand wiped his eyes with his forelegs as he approached the stein and sniffed it. He reared back in disgust and looked at Steve with a pleading look that screamed, "please don't make me drink this." but a stern look from Steve changed his mind. When Firebrand was having problems, Steve helped Firebrand steady the stein as he carefully tipped it into the colt's mouth, allowing the mixture to flow inside. He slowly began to drink it, a disgusted look plastered across his face as he soon downed the whole thing. Firebrand threw the stein across the room with a loud "BLEGH!" when he finished off the mixture.
Steve gave a small chuckle as he stroked the foal's withers.

"There we go. The medicine might take a few minutes to kick in, but once it does, I think you will be feeling a lot better."

He then rummaged through his bags as he pulled out a few rolls of gauze and cotton and wrapped up the spots on Firebrand's legs that were hit. The foal winced for a moment while Steve was patching him up before calming back down.

'Maybe I should see if Hydra has any kind of extra body armor I can snag from somewhere around here and apply to my own suit. Firebrand is gonna need it if he's gonna stick with me and there's gonna be times where I won't be able to protect him and myself.' Steve desperately pondered.

He carefully picked the foal back up and placed him into his harness as he looked around the room for anything of importance. He immediately came across another intel dossier on the long dining table and pocketed it. Over off to the side of the room, he found another mechanically sealed door that required a unique combination to open.

"Damn! I need the security code for this one. Maybe I'll find it if I listen to their internal communications. I gotta look around here to see if I can find a radio," he thought aloud.

Steve went into the next room which was an old bedroom for somebody. He looked through two of the dressers but found nothing but old shirts and tattered pants.

Going down another set of stairs, Steve found a posh-looking kitchen filled with many kinds of pleasant smells. It was clear that the kitchen had been used fairly recently as some of the cooking appliances were still somewhat warm and bits of food stuck to the stoves. Even on a prepping roller in the middle of the kitchen, there was a fresh loaf of bread still leftover that had barely been touched. He pocketed it and a small bratwurst for a small snack later for Firebrand and himself. There was a separate room that branched off of the kitchen, but it was mainly just a room for storage and didn't carry much in the way of anything important to their operation.

Off to the side of the Kitchen, he spotted something glistening behind another one of the rollers on the counter. It was an ornate ivory beer stein painted with leaves and vines from the local flora and fauna of the mountainside. The rims of the stein were gilded with gold leafing that made it glisten and glitter in the light. He carefully examined it and soon found a piece of the stein that screwed off of the main body. Inside the piece, he found another journal entry from the mysterious man that keeps popping up around the castle.

He unfolded the aged journal page and began to quietly read it aloud to himself to not to wake the slumbering Firebrand. The colt's breathing had become slower and more relaxed as his head rested against Steve's back. The medicine was starting to take effect as the colt fell fast asleep.

"Harbin Zemo began excavating beneath his castle even as it was being constructed. Simultaneously, he oversaw the architectural innovations that, even then, reflected the brilliance of our family line. But unfortunately, he would not live to see his quest reach fruition. That honor fell to the third Baron. Heller Zemo. It was he who found the Sleeper...but the journey had not ended....it had only just begun."

As he finished reading the journal entry, he took another minute to scan over the page to more properly process what he had learned so far.

'Something bigger is happening here. There's a reason why Schmitt built a base here. I bet this Sleeper is connected to it. Maybe I ought to relay all of this to Peggy when I get the chance.' he thought.

He pocketed the journal entry as he continued searching all of the surrounding rooms for anything of importance before moving on towards the last remaining cannon. In the ale storeroom, Steve found a pile of documents and folders spilled all over the floor. No doubtedly dropped by somebody who had left the building in a hurry. Off to the right, he found the bar which was connected to the main room of the ale hall. Sitting off to the left side of the bar was another giant ornate beer stein identical in size and design to the one that he had found in the kitchen. He unscrewed the bottom out and found another journal entry which he quickly unfolded and scanned.

'Maybe if I keep finding these, I'll get a bigger picture of what is going on in this place.' Steve thought to himself.

"It appears, that the massive size of the Sleeper, along with its highly advanced technology, confounded Heller Zemo. He could not determine how to fully excavate The Sleeper without undermining and collapsing the mountain beneath the castle itself. But like all of our line, he would not accept defeat. He began analyzing the Sleeper's makeup in search of a solution to its own confinement."

Pocketing the journal entry, Steve kept looking around, until he found another staircase that led upstairs to a separate room on the second floor. Inside was a radio built into the wall which Steve quickly tapped into. Once he turned the device on, he could hear a voice that was somewhat garbled, but still fairly coherent enough to listen to.

"The security codes....for access doors have been updated. Stand by and take note. Access to the service lift is now as follows: Alpha, Delta, Four, Four, Delta."

"Home run. That was a lot better than I had hoped for." Steve said pleased.

Outside the room, Steve made his way to the other side as he inputted the code into the security door and gained entry into the next stairway up. On the top floor, Steve finally found the radio room where all communications in the building go in and out. Four remaining Hydra officers were working the machines. Steve was confused as to why they had not heard the commotion below, but when he saw the headphones over their ears, he had put two and two together.

Throwing his shield at one of the pillars which it bounces off of and pierces into one of their communication boards. The impact of the shield ignites a small explosion which knocks out all four of the Hydra technicians that were stationed there. He made short work of the other soldiers that tried to gang up on him from behind, but a table thrown at their heads put a quick stop to them as they were smashed into the wall.

After he was certain that he was safe once again for the moment, he scanned the room for a radio that he could use to contact Peggy and give her a suitable update on his current situation. Half a dozen of the comm boards unfortunately was destroyed in the fights, but he continued looking anyway for anything that was still operable. On one of the tables was another film reel that he pocketed for later when he or one of the SSR's technicians were able to look at it.

Out of the corner of his eye, hidden behind one of the consoles was a flash of gold. Peeking around the console, he discovered what appeared to be a small solid gold figurine of a falcon. Upon further inspection, just like the two beer steins and the other previous relics before, the statue seemed to be two separate pieces that opened up to once again reveal another journal entry. It didn't say anything different, except in the way of the author proclaiming himself to be the Twelfth and the greatest of all of the Zemo's and that he would be the one to finally awaken The Sleeper after so many generations.

After pocketing the third journal page he had found in the ale hall, Steve finally found what appeared to be a radio that was still working. much to Steve's delight. He quickly turned it on as he got a message through to a tired-sounding Peggy.

"This is Captain Rogers to HQ! Do you read?"

"We read you loud and clear Captain! What's your status?"

"I took out a second gun. Now I've entered one of those European alehouses that looks like it was converted into a barracks for these guys. Be advised, I still have one more cannon to neutralize."

"Long-range cannons like that need open vistas to be effective," he heard Stark's voice chime in. "They've probably got it installed on something tall. Based on what we know of the layout, I'd put my money on the roof of the Estate building."

"Copy. I'll head over in that direction and see if I can't make some distractions along the way." Steve replied.

"Good thinking. If we can distract them, and damage their supply chain at the same time, we will definitely be better for it. Be careful. Over and out."

Just as Steve turned off the radio, a smoke bomb was thrown from the floor below that completely obscured all vision within a thirty-foot field of view.

"He's up there somewhere!" a voice from below said. "FIND HIM!"

"All safeties off! Fire on sight!"

Steve could barely make out what appeared to be at least eight ballistic soldiers carrying small shields and shotguns as he quickly ducked into the shadows. The smoke provided the perfect cover for him as he swiftly circled the group towards the staircase and got in position for a sneak attack on each of them. The closest soldier to the staircase he grabbed from behind and put into a chokehold as he passed out. The next two he took out by smashing their heads together as he advanced on the remaining five. Picking up another table, he rushed a group of three soldiers who were close to each other as he smashed them into the busted comm consoles.

The last two were somewhat harder to deal with, now that they were fully aware of his presence in the room. Both tried pulling out their shotguns to make quick work of him, but Steve countered with a ground pound with his shield. The impact created a small shockwave that blasted the two soldiers off of their feet. Leaping from one to the other, Steve knocked them out cold with two solid punches as the smoke finally dispersed, allowing him to see the full extent of the damage that he had done on the group of Hydra troops.

The entire room was a mess as pieces of broken furniture and machinery lied all over the floor. Even pieces of the floor boarding were broken during the scuffle. The Hydra soldiers were all unconscious on the floor as Steve grabbed each of them and threw them into a pile.

"Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to start heading on out of here' Steve concluded to himself as he started making his way down the stairs and out of the building.

Next Time: Super Soldier: The Wooden Horse (part 2)

Super Soldier: The Wooden Horse (part 2)

On the way out of the alehouse made into a Barracks for Hydra soldiers, Steve came across another journal entry from the mysterious man who kept referring to himself as Zemo. In this entry, Steve sees how the man came to believe that there might be something supernatural about the fabled Sleeper. Did it hail from the stars? From a distant future or some antediluvian past? Was it an artifact left behind by long-forgotten gods? Those questions seemed to plague this Zemo. Though it gave Steve an ominous feeling when the journal entry concluded with Zemo proclaiming that after generations of Baron Zemos. "An Emperor Zemo would have a ring of poetry to it."

Steve slowly made his way down back to the main room of the alehouse and back outside as he looked around for his route towards the final cannon. Down the street to the left was a security checkpoint now guarded by a small platoon of Hydra soldiers that were no doubt placed there by Strucker. A group of snipers was stationed above the wall to give them an aerial advantage while a large line of them with heavy weapons was guarding the door.

Steve felt Firebrand begin to stir as the foal stretched his front legs from the tiny power nap that he took. Looking over Steve's shoulder, Firebrand tapped him with his hoof and asked what was happening.

"Dada, what's wong?" the little foals asked frantically

"Having a little bit of trouble getting past these guys," Steve admitted. "They have a lot of....toys that could hurt us really badly. I'm just trying to see if there's any way past them."

Firebrand looked around looking for anything that might be able to help until he found a few munitions barrels that had not been blown up.

He pointed at the barrels so that Steve could see.

"Great eyes Firebrand!" he quietly exclaimed. "I think that will do just fine."

Hopping over a short brick wall, Steve kicked the stack of barrels over sending them rolling downhill towards the checkpoint. The soldiers reared up their guns, but relaxed when they believed that there was no present threat. Aiming his shield at a lamppost, Steve threw his shield which bounced off and slammed into the barrels, causing an explosion. The soldiers started firing in Steve's direction when the explosion caused pieces of the surrounding buildings to come loose and fall on them in a shower of rubble. All of the soldiers guarding the door were crushed as Steve ran out to the middle of the street, picked his shield up, and chucked it at the snipers on the roof one by one as they were knocked off. The door opened to reveal a short tunnel to the rest of the town.

After dealing with two more soldiers on the other side, Steve maneuvered his way through a maze of alleyways and backways through the village. On the way, they found a small abandoned house filled with dropped files and crates. Steve quickly rummaged through most of the files for a few minutes but only found one that appeared to be of interest. It was filled with papers containing complex algorithms that he couldn't begin to understand, but the title on the top drew his attention: Cloning algorithms case #3. He had a bad feeling just looking at it as he pocketed it, prepared to hand it off to Howard Stark the next chance he had.

It took at least ten minutes of wrong turns and scolding by Firebrand, but Steve soon made it out into another open area where a two-story barn was being used as a guard post for Hydra. As soon as they walked out into the open, the duo was spotted almost immediately, causing one of the soldiers to fire a mounted machine gun at them.

Steve leaped and somersaulted out of the way as he took cover behind an old grain silo. He looked up at the rusted-over, aging structure and saw that it was in the beginning stages of being turned into a watchtower. A platform was placed at the top of the old silo surrounded by a circle of steel railings for any guards that may want to use it. Firebrand tried covering his ears from the loud gunfire that was being pelted at them. They circled the silo and went up against the wall of the barn to avoid the machine gun and rocket launcher. Firebrand found a gold Faberge egg that was hidden in one of the hay bales stacked up on the side of the barn. He reached out and placed it into Steve's pack while they were taking cover.

Three Hydra soldiers with stun batons came down from the barn as they tried rushing Steve. Reacting a little too late, Steve threw his shield at the barn wall, which had a surprisingly beneficial effect. It ricocheted off and struck all three of the soldiers in the chest, knocking them to the ground. Firebrand hopped out of his harness as he angrily hopped from one soldier to the other, smashing his horseshoes into their stomachs. The impact knocked the air out of them as Steve took the opportunity to knock them out.

"I got 'em, daddy!" Firebrand chattered.

"I can see that!" Steve chuckled. "But maybe you should get back over-"

Steve didn't get the chance to finish as a thunderous sound came bellowing out of the barn and from the corner of his eye, Steve made out the light of a rocket barreling towards Firebrand. He barely had time to react as he grabbed the foal by the scruff of the neck and flung him back into his harness, causing the little colt to yelp in surprise. A small explosion happened just a few feet from their faces as Steve let out a big sigh of relief.

"Let's be a little more careful out here alright?" Steve told the foal in a concerned tone.

Heading into the barn, they found a passageway that was blocked by another security door. Looking around he saw a code console up in the rafters of the barn where he would be able to unlock the door. Searching around the barn, he found a ladder on the other side leading up to the second floor.

"Idiots! There is a target painted on his chest! Kill him!" one of the soldiers barked.

On the top, Steve was forced to stay low and rush the two gunners there at the window with his shield up. Barreling into each of them, they went down fairly easily without sufficient body armor to cover themselves from his strikes. He made his way to the console as he cracked the code and opened the passageway door. He slid down the ladder and went into the dark passage. The sound of steam and leaking pipes echoed through the dark narrow tunnels, forcing Steve to listen for any signs of enemy troops.

He was led to a small room with old wine barrels stacked up against one of the walls and a large stack of crates against the other wall. Makeshift repairs had been made recently to the floorboards as displayed by the fresh plywood that was nailed down. Lights were also recently installed into this passageway that dimly shone in the moist humid air. On one end of the room, a large schematic of some kind laid bare on top of a rotting old table that was tightly bolted to the wall. Upon further inspection, it appeared to be the schematics to the armor that was worn by Hydra grunts all over the castle.

Examining the designs, he found out that the armor, while strong in certain places, can still be stunned for a longer period of time if you hit them in the throat, shoulders, and face. Carefully folding it into a more compact size, he placed the schematic into his pouch for analysis later.

"If I find and take care of another grunt, I might be able to make a makeshift cover for you out of their shields Firebrand," he thought aloud. "Then maybe I'll be able to worry less about you getting hit, shocked, or shot."

"Sh-shock?" Firebrand asked nervously. "Is that the bad feewing I had when that mean man hit me?"

"Yeah, I'm still sorry about that pal," Steve consoled. "Maybe though I can do something about that."

He turned a corner in the room and found a small table behind the stack of crates. It had a mug of coffee lying by the edge which was still fairly lukewarm. The rifle on the table next to it had to have been there for longer. Its stock was busted and its barrel was rusting over with age. Either the soldier had run away when he heard the commotion in the barn, or he was one of the grunts that Steve had already knocked out. Firebrand saw something that had fallen under the table and reached out with his magic as he enveloped it in the bright red glow of his magical grip. Snaking it out from underneath the table, he held it up to Steve who grabbed it out of the air. It was an old folder with the same kind of handwriting that he found in the village. Across the front were the words Cloning Algorithms case #2 as he looked inside and found similar equations and charts. There was a page with a written summary but it seemed to be written in some kind of code. So he pocketed it, hoping to find more folders and hopefully unravel the secret.

"Something tells me that's going to be important sometime soon," Steve said thoughtfully.

"What's clooooon-ing?" Firebrand asked clumsily.

"I think Stark said that it's a theoretical process of perfect copying exact doubles of specific people. If Hydra and Schmitt are interested in that kind of thing, it can't be good."

Heading down the corridor, they found themselves in another building which was being patrolled by three ballistic grunts carrying small shields and stun batons. Steve made quick work of them as he knocked them out and grabbed one of their arm shields. Tearing their belts off and a small piece of rope, he strung the shield over the harness carrying Firebrand to act as an extra piece of protection if he was hit again. Searching through the hydra soldiers, he found a few grenades and a smoke bomb as he slipped them into his belt figuring he would be able to use them very shortly.

Walking outside, Steve discovered that he had found the Motorpool of Castle Zemo which was supposed to be near the final cannon he was set to take out of commission. The area was large and patrolled by a fairly large number of guards due to the numerous hiding spots one could take advantage of. Carefully weaving his way through the large cargo containers, he decided to take things a little more stealthily this time around as he stayed out of the line of sight of the many snipers stationed at vantage points around the immediate area. A hundred feet from the door where Steve and Firebrand were at, was a line of transport jeeps being worked on by mechanics. Right by them was a line of oil drums as Steve prepared to throw his shield to trigger an explosion when he heard an angry squeak as one of Firebrand's horseshoes rocketed by his head. The next thing Steve knew, the barrels exploded, causing a chain reaction and sending the entire southern end of the Motorpool to go up in flames.

Over a dozen soldiers near the explosion were either knocked out or seriously injured as Steve took the opportunity of the distraction to circle the perimeter. A solid clink could be heard as Firebrand's horseshoe once again returned to him. The foal gazed at the vehicles all around that had been set ablaze by his explosion as he began giggling in a way that even a toddler like himself shouldn't be.

"Jeez, Firebrand, we gotta find time to work on that anger of yours there. You've got a bit of a violent edge," Steve scolded. "For now though, let's keep moving. I need to find that last cannon or everybody up there is gonna be dead soon."

Circling one of the smaller buildings in the Motorpool, Steve made his way towards the other side as he passed a two-story stack of steel cargo containers. A Hydra grunt was posted up on top surveying the entire area for them. Firebrand's outburst put them on guard as soldiers ran about looking for their target. Steve would have to be even more cautious now and take things relatively more slowly if they were going to get across without being seen. Waiting until he turned back to their side of the cargo container, Steve chucked his shield at the grunt which knocked him over thirty feet to the ground below. Grabbing his shield after it bounced back, Steve jumped onto the soldier and knocked him out as he threw his unconscious body into a nearby trash can.

Hopping up onto a crate and then on to the cargo containers, he took advantage of his height to launch consecutive sneak attacks on the patrols circling the yard.

"Hey pal, I have an idea, on how you can help," Steve told the foal. "See those two barrels?"

Steve pointed over to two red barrels two hundred feet away nearby a small group of approaching grunts.

"Yeh, Yeh, Yeh, Yeh, Yeh, Yeh, Yeh, Yeh!" he chattered.

"As soon as they get close enough, let loose with those horseshoes of yours. I want to see how far they can go."

Firebrand aimed at one set of barrels, while Steve aimed at another, as they waited patiently for the correct moment. When the patrol groups were close enough, Steve and Firebrand let loose with their respective weapons. Both groups of barrels exploded, killing all eight guards on either side instantly in a fiery blast. Pieces of shrapnel and rubble blew in every direction causing the duo to duck and cover. Steve tried getting up but jumped down to the ground below when he heard a shot from a sniper whiz by his head. Looking around, he saw a sniper up on a balcony by a house facing the yard. Preparing for another shot, Steve held his shield at ready as he watched the sniper reload his rifle and aim at him once again. Hearing the shot ring out, Steve swung his shield and bounced the bullet back, hitting him right between the eyes.

When he was certain the sniper was dead, Steve and Firebrand continued their way through the yard picking up any items of importance they found. They worked their way up a flight of stairs towards the armory warehouse where they went down a long walkway and found a pair of doors. Inside, Steve quietly took out two technicians that were guarding the entrance as he continued through the warehouse. Inside, he found numerous technicians there with light weaponry and little armor, allowing him to dispatch them relatively quickly. Unfortunately, three separate snipers were posted up on the catwalks of the warehouse, forcing him to get creative with his movements.

"Why we hiding again?" Firebrand asked as they ducked behind a crate.

"Three snipers up there and I'm planning a route through them. To keep it simple enough for you, snipers are bad guys that can hit things from a really long way away with their.....boom-boom sticks."

"Can I have a boom-boom stick?" the foal asked. "They look fun!"

"Not until you're 18 young man," Steve chuckled dryly.

"Aw, but I wanna help!" Firebrand whined.

"You can help later, but right now, we are in a bit of trouble at the moment!" Steve quietly exclaimed.

Steve felt Firebrand hop out of his harness, causing Steve to panic as Firebrand skittered across the floor, avoiding the first sniper's line of sight. Running up a flight of steps to one of the catwalks, Firebrand found the sniper aiming at Steve's position. Trying to help his adoptive dad, Firebrand charged the soldier as he reared back to buck at his legs. When suddenly, his black horseshoes once again switched places to his back legs almost on instinct and collided. The sniper's legs buckled, smashing his chin against the railing and breaking his jaw. Firebrand went for another buck which broke through the railing and sent the sniper flying 200 feet across the warehouse. His body flew through the window on the other side and sent the other two snipers sprawling over the floor.

Running back down, Firebrand met back with Steve who scolded him before quickly giving him a short hug and a thank you.

"Don't wander off like that again without my permission alright?" Steve asked kindly.

"I'm sowwy. Did I do well again though?"

"Yeah, you did well. Let's just get out of here before more of them show up alright?"

As if to answer him, a giant security door thirty feet away began opening with a whoosh of steam being released. Once the door opened all the way, a large familiar, menacing figure walked out with a giant weapon. As the figure walked out into the light, Steve was able to get a proper look at him. It was one of the giant armored juggernaut soldiers that he had fought all the way back at the Maginot line Hydra facility.

"I'm always jinxing things," Steve lamented before he jumped out of the way of a grenade that the red helmeted juggernaut had launched at him.

The juggernaut continued his attack with a steady stream of flames from his giant weapon as Steve kept his shield up. Firebrand also kept his distance trying to find a way around the flames. When Steve got too close, the juggernaut slammed the head of his gun down on the ground which shook the ground and sent Steve flying three-five feet back.

Grabbing a nearby oil drum, Steve chucked it at the juggernaut who reared his gun up to block it, giving Steve the chance to chuck his shield at it, causing an explosion. The explosion temporarily stunned the large man as Steve spun into a butterfly kick and hit him in the face, knocking him out. Firebrand followed behind Steve closely again, trying not to get lost. Going around the corner towards the staircase up to the catwalk, Steve ran into another juggernaut, forcing him to react quickly as he bashed his shield into the juggernaut's torso and then smashed his face into it. The juggernaut stumbled, allowing Steve to go into a powerful uppercut.

Steve allowed Firebrand to hop back into his harness as he went up the stairs expecting to find a way out but found another blocked security door.

"How do we get through daddy?" Firebrand asked.

"Well, if there isn't a code console here, then I"m assuming...it is over there," Steve replied as he pointed over to the other side of the warehouse.

Firebrand looked around until he saw that there were poles, pipes, and rafters that Steve could use.

"Do the fun upside-down flippy thing! Do the fun upside-down flippy thing!"

"The what?" Steve questioned until he followed where Firebrand was pointing and made an "ooooh" in understanding.

Going to the end of the first catwalk, Steve jumped, flipped, and turned across the ceiling until he made it to the second floor on the other side. The snipers had since recovered from their stumble, forcing Steve to bring his shield up again and charge into one of them. Bashing one of them in the face, he launched into the others as they knocked each other out. He quickly cracked the code on the console as the security door back on the other side slid upwards, allowing them passage.

"Hey, daddy! It's a picture of the big ugly!"

Turning around, Steve found another schematic that seemed to depict the juggernauts aptly named Scorchers, on the schematic along with the designs of their guns and armor.

"Good eye, Stark and the SSR are gonna need this. I have a feeling Schmitt has more than a few of those guys walking around his bases all over the place."

He quickly studied the schematics, discovering key weak points and disadvantages allowing him to stun them for a longer period of time.

Folding it and stuffing it into his bag, he jumped safely back to the ground below and made his way back over to the now opened security door. They made their way out of an office and back outside to the castle grounds.

Steve came across something that caught him just a little off guard once they opened the door. A massive hole at least a mile in diameter and an unfathomable depth had been dug into the mountain below the castle.

"More digging. They're turning this whole mountain into a weapon. I wonder if this has something to do with the "Sleeper," Steve asked himself.

On the other side of the artificial canyon, Steve saw a building that appeared to be heavily fortified with grunts and soldiers covering every inch of it.

"I'd bet my last nickel that's the main armory and storehouse for their weapons. It would probably help a lot if we can destroy it before those weapons get shipped out to the fronts."

Finding a line of flag poles along the castle wall, Cap and Firebrand flipped their way to the other side of the canyon where Firebrand had to push a soldier off of some scaffolding with his magic before he could get in a shot.

The size of the yard outside the armory was relatively small, but it gave Steve free enough room to quickly take out the five troops that had been posted outside.

Cap and Firebrand went in the front doors, and into what appeared to be a lobby or a changing room for the troops stationed there. He decided to take things a little more slowly this time around as he gradually knocked out each of the soldiers one by one, locking them in a chokehold and throwing them behind a stack of crates. It took an extra fifteen minutes to achieve, but he soon had quietly disposed of every soldier on the first floor without triggering any alarms.

Unfortunately, when he reached the second floor down, he was met with over a dozen armed soldiers that he had relative difficulty dealing with. Most of the ballistic soldiers went down easily along with a little help from Firebrand who pulled a wardrobe down on three of them with his magic.

"I shall call for reinforcements!" one of the soldiers barked.

Then Steve knew that they were in trouble when a group of grunts armed with shotguns came charging out of multiple doors. He was able to take down the first two by the stairs with a well-placed throw from his shield, but one of them charged in front of him and got in a lucky shot. A sharp feeling of pain surged through Steve's chest as he cried out in pain and fell back with a small amount of blood beginning to seep out. Firebrand caught him with his horseshoes assisting him with more strength before Steve could fall. Struggling to stand up, Steve ripped his shield out of a nearby pillar it had got jammed in and rushed the grunt as he tackled him into another wardrobe, breaking the soldier's spine.

The pain was annoying, but Steve ignored it as he took out the other shotgunners one by one until all of the soldiers in the building had been properly dealt with.

"Damn, I need to be more careful around shotguns. Those things sting like crazy!" he chuckles painfully as he grabbed his side.

Firebrand hugged his leg and gave him a pathetic apologetic sound.

"I'm sowwy I couldn't stop him from hurting you...."

"It's alright, my healing factor should be kicking in any minute," Steve reassured. "Now though, we need to see what we are dealing with."

Going to the other side of the room, Steve and Firebrand found a large vault filled with thousands of crates and cases filled with rifles, pistols, strangely shaped guns, and explosives of all kinds. The vault was so heavily packed that it reached all the way up to the ceiling.

"God and country, if these reach the front lines, our boys could be torn to shreds. I got to destroy all of this and do it fast!"

"Are we making another boom?!" Firebrand asked excitedly.

"A really big boom preferably, maybe if I can hook those ammo caches up to that detonator, maybe I can make a big enough explo--"

"I'll make a boom!"

All of a sudden, Firebrand giggled maniacally as he ignited his horn he targeted a crate filled with grenades and set the wooden casing on fire.

Steve's eyes widened with confusion and fear as the fire began to spread. He yanked Firebrand off of the floor and stuffed him back into his harness and made a quick dash to the exit.

"Come on, Come on, Come on, Come on!" he cried.

He ran into a group of soldiers that he was forced to dodge and escape as he found another door back outside.

Firebrand laughed as the facility began to go up in flames and a large bang took the roof off of the armory. The duo had to duck behind a brick wall to avoid the explosion that had made its way out.

He found a moment to take a breath as he started walking up a hill just outside the walls of the castle. Over the loudspeaker, they heard the angry voice of the Baron calling out to them.

"DO YOU HEAR ME AMERICAN? EVERY MAN IN THIS CASTLE IS NOW HUNTING YOU AND YOUR LITTLE EQUINE RAT!" Strucker bellowed. "PRAY ONE OF THEM FINDS YOU BEFORE I DO!"

Firebrand looked up and gave the unseen voice a raspberry, causing Steve to give a big hearty belly laugh.

Super Soldier: The Secret Journey

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Super Soldier: The Big Red One

Stepping up to the line, Steve examined it and pulled out his shield as he got into a running start. Leaping off of the ledge, he wrapped his shield around the line as he used his indestructible shield as a zip line. Firebrand held on for dear life as he tried not to look down. He distracted himself by watching flocks of local birds fly by, scared off by the loud noises created by the machinery. Steve took his time to examine the building before him as he begun to create a strategy and a solid plan to assist his friends on their way to the Zemo castle.

"If we can wreck that dish, the gun'll be firing blind." Steve thought aloud. "At least then, the Invaders will have a fighting chance out here.

Sliding down the make shift zip line, Steve saw a window at the end of the line which he intended to use to his advantage.

"Duck Firebrand!" Steve barked.

The foal yelped but obeyed as he retreated into the comforting safety of his armored harness while Steve dove shield first through the glass, landed on an upper floor and then flipped to the floor below where he knocked out three soldiers with a well placed ground pound shockwave from his shield.

"ITS THE AMERICAN!"

Over a dozen heavily armored soldiers came out of a security door as they tried to overwhelm the super soldier. Flipping and dodging, Steve moved his way through the growing crowd of soldiers. Thankfully, most of them appeared to be unarmed low level grunts.

"KILL HIM! KILL HIM! OR STRUCKER WILL HAVE OUR HEADS!" one of the soldiers roared.

"Strucker is the least of your worries right now." Steve retorted.

He took care of most of them as best as he could, but more soldiers than he was able to handle entered the room, forcing Steve to think of a plan. Noticing all of the explosive barrels in the room and all of the scientific instruments, he thought of an interesting idea to try out.

"Firebrand, place your hooves on the ground and keep your eyes closed," Steve commanded.

The foal gently hopped out of his harness and obeyed as he placed his horse shoe wearing hooves out in front of him.

Steve reared his shield back as he carefully aimed for the horse shoes and slammed the edge of the shield downwards. A powerful vibration reverberated through the horseshoes and was spread to every corner of the room as soldiers were knocked on to their backs. The vibrations caused disruptions in the machines as they began to combust, causing the nearby barrels to explode.

When he looked up, Firebrand was comedically vibrating and making giggling noises from the impact of the shield. Thankfully his horse shoes have proven to be resilient enough to withstand the shock, but not enough to absorb the vibrations. Steve struggled to not laugh as Firebrand vibrated across the floor as if he was going through an earthquake.

"S-S-S-S-Sta-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-p-p th-th-th-th-the sh-sh-sh-shaky-y-y-y d-d-d-d-addy," Firebrand chortled.

"Okay, okay, just give me a second," Steve chuckled.

Picking up the foal, he concentrated as he held Firebrand still, eliminating the vibrating.

"That was fun! Can I do that again? The shaky felt kinda nice!"

"Later buddy, right now we gotta blow this place sky high. That racket we made is gonna bring reinforcements. We need to set Uncle Howard's explosives where it will do the most good."

"Are we gonna make more boom boom?" the foal chattered excitedly.

"Ohhh yes," he replied.

Looking around, he found a column in the center of the building that appeared to be the most load bearing. He quickly set the first explosive on and made his way up the stairs to place the rest.

"I got to work my way up and place the rest of these explosives fast...the invaders are gonna be here any minute."

As the duo flipped their way across the metal scaffolding in the building, they heard a familiar voice up at the top that made the blood in their veins turn to ice.

"He's breached the dome! Dispatch the service lift. I will deal with the two of them personally." the voice declared confidently.

On the next platform up, Steve found the same pillar as he placed another amount of explosive putty and set it to go off in a few minutes. Unfortunately, before he could finish, a metal security door at the end of the platform opened up, revealing the man they had been hearing over the loud speaker for hours now. He was a tall balding man with angry calculated eyes and a small monocle on his right eye that suggested be was a man of distinction. Firebrand just glared at him with fiery resolve.

"Ah, Captain. So good to meet you in person," he greeted. "You have caused a lot of trouble for us."

He caught Steve's attention as he walked to the center of the walkway and stood in an unyielding pose, but the man just laughed.

"Hmph. Look at you. So gaudy and common, like your country." he sneered.

"And you look like just every other goose-stepper I've had to put down tonight." Steve retorted.

"Hardly. I am Baron Von Strucker. I am nobility. I am your death...and the death of all you hold dear..."

"FEUER!" the Baron shouted.

The duo watched as the radar dish began to activate and rise up higher. The cannon on the other side of the mountain began to aim at the first Allied fighter to come in range, but Firebrand acted quickly as he used his magic to push the cannon away. It took all the energy and effort he had to push the massive and heavy radar dish even just a little bit. Thankfully, he succeeded as the radar dish creaked and groaned as it was forced into a different direction. It missed the fighter entirely causing Strucker to erupt in a fury.

"WITLESS PEASANTS! FOOLS! INCOMPETENT WHELPS! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN OPERATE THE CANNON?"

"I'm counting on that..." Steve said menacingly.

Strucker noticed Steve starting to approach him, giving him a target to take out his new frustrations on.

"You small-minded fool! You have no concept of what you are facing!"

At first, Steve proved to be the better combatant than the Baron. Vaulting over his back and getting in a few solid punches every time he tried to use his super powered mechanical arm on the duo. However, the Baron was rather resilient against his punches, despite seemingly being an ordinary human without the arm. The fist fight went on for a few minutes, until Steve smashed the Baron up against a steel beam, forcing him to call for extra reinforcements.

"Comrades! To arms! This mongrel is beneath me! Show him how to beg. But don't harm the prize he is carrying on his back! Herr Skull is to greatly reward any who returns his research subject. "

Steve used this to his advantage though as he manipulated one of the grunts to get beside him as the Baron went in for a power strike to the face with his sparking arm. Quickly dodging out of the way, the Baron hit one of his grunts instead, sending him flying off of the platform and down to the ground floor below. Another grunt tried striking Steve from behind, but Firebrand just used his magic to yank the baton out of his hands and cripple him with a strike to the neck. The grunt went down as Firebrand snaked the baton around Strucker's line of sight and forced it into his back while Steve was distracting him. The shock from the baton made Strucker scream in agony for a few seconds. He whipped around and ripped the baton out of Firebrand's magical grasp as he snapped it clean in half with his beastly robotic arm.

"I'LL KILL YOU AND THEN I WILL SHOW HERR SKULL'S PET SOME PAINFUL DISCIPLINE!"

The Baron charged up his arm as he went in for his most powerful strike yet, but Steve ducked and went in for a powerful strike of his own. Hitting Strucker directly in the chest, he flew back into the railing dazed, as Steve picked him up, smashed his nose into the railing, and threw him off the platform. The man screamed as he plummeted down to the bottom floor.

The last of the Barons guards tried to finish him off, but were quickly knocked out as Steve moved on with his primary objective.

"Are you alright back there buddy?"

"Uh-huh," Firebrand confirmed. "Stucker tried to hurt my daddy, so I hurt him instead."

"Well try not to make a habit of that alright? I love ya and I don't want to see you hardened by violence like this. Especially at your age. You should be worrying about what toy you want for Christmas or what's the best bubble gum. Not about surviving without getting shot or seriously hurt. There's a time and a place for violence, and there's a time and a place for mercy."

Firebrand looked ashamed as he buried his head in his hooves, but Steve just raised his chin with a finger and looked comfortingly into his eyes.

"But that doesn't mean I'm not glad you tried to help me. Cause I am. Things would have been a lot harder for me if you hadnt snuck into my bag back in London."

The foal wrapped his arms around his new papa, as the man stroked his mane. A few seconds later though, Firebrand tilted his head, thinking about one of the things that Steve had mentioned.

"What's Christmas daddy?" Firebrand asked quizzically.

"Oh, you are going to love it buddy. Snow, Singing, Presents, Thick warm clothes, A lot of good food, gathering together with family and friends, and celebrating something that's incredibly important."

"What?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now, we've already got the supports handled. We've just got to head on to the radar dish itself so we can make this place go boom."

Steve continued his way up to the top platform of the dome, looping through the scaffolding and bouncing off of beams. He landed on a walkway leading up to the top as the radar dish finally came within their range. They heard a group of eight guards walking around above, trying to protect the dish as it began realigning with the cannon. Two other footsteps closer to the dish could also be heard. No doubt technicians who were calibrating the direction of the cannon.

"I have to plant some explosives directly inside the radar dish," Steve thought aloud. "I can't risk that thing surviving and starting back up again."

Suddenly, above the sounds of the machinery whirring around him, Steve could hear the growling of an incoming plane as he looked out of the opening of the dome and saw the first invading Allied plane. He realized that he had even less time than before to stop the cannon.

"Gotta finish with the explosives or the drop ship is a sitting duck!"

Sprinting to the dish, the guards noticed the super soldier and his companion as they proceeded to engage him.

"He's trying to sabotage the dish! Stop him!" one of the grunts shouted.

He mowed through each of the officers, one by one, either knocking them out, throwing them off of the railing or killing them with a well placed shield bash to the cranium. As soon as he had finished the last of them, he went on to figure out how to properly blow up the radar dish.

Scanning the exterior of the machine, he found a panel in a place that could prove beneficial to his purposes.

"There's a good spot to place those explosives. Unfortunately its armored little buddy. So we are just going to have to find a way to expose the internal circuitry." Steve mused.

He found two separate panels on either side of the radar dish, but in order for them to escape, Steve would need to act with haste. So he instructed Firebrand to go to the other side and fool around with the wires while he would simultaneously short circuit the panel on his end. The foal didnt understand at all any of the technology around him, buy he was smart enough to make the assumption that when he did something bad to the shiny objects and they sparked, he knew he was on the right track. They concluded that they had done something correctly as the sparkling led to a green light turning on and the door to an operating panel opened, giving Steve the opportunity to place the last bomb. Firebrand came back around to watch him.

Unfortunately, before they could attach the bomb, a security door at the other end of the platform opened up, revealing an enraged Strucker being supported by two of his men.

"ARROGANT SWINES! VON STRUCKER DOES NOT DIE SO EASILY. THAT CANNON WILL REMAIN INTACT...PITY I CANT SAY THE SAME FOR YOU AND YOUR RED RAT. GET THEM!"

"We don't have time for this! Neither fo the invaders" Steve muttered.

Firebrand did his best to avoid the soldiers grabbing on to him or getting in a strike by mimicking Steve's techniques. All the while trying to assist him however he is able to. One soldier that tried to hit Steve, Firebrand tripped as he accidentally bashes his face and knocks himself out. Another, Firebrand hits right square center in the privates, causing him to collapse in agony, giving the colt an ample opportunity to buck him in the face. His horse shoes once again psychically respond to his intentions as they meld to his back hooves again and double the power of his strike. The impact whips the soldier's torso to the ground with a crack, critically injuring him.

Steve proceeds by taking out the other three officers Strucker had brought with him. Avoiding his strikes, Steve closed in for a brutal close quarters counterattack. Knocking the man up against the wall, he beats Strucker with a volley of powerful roundhouse kicks and sidekicks to his solar plexus. Each time, the strikes stun him before he could even respond. Three more soldiers charge out to come to their commander's aid, forcing Steve to momentarily back off of his assault.

"You had better hurry up American!" Strucker taunted. "You are almost out of time."

When the soldiers seemingly distract Steve and Firebrand's attention, Strucker holds out his mechanical arm in front of him and releases a shockwave of crackling red energy. The attack was meant for the duo, but it is accidentally absorbed by the officers instead, short circuiting their equipment and sending fatal shocks to their hearts. They give a small pained groan and collapse dead against the platform.

Steve stares at the man in anger seeing him needlessly kill his own men just to get to him. He leaps into Strucker before he could get out another shockwave as he stuns him once again and goes for a rapid fire volley of punches. Strucker tries blocking a few times and getting in a single punch, but Steve grabs ahold of his arm and shoves it into his neck. Strucker screams in pain and finally collapses, seemingly dead. Steve and Firebrand take out the last of the officers before finally going on to placing the last of their bombs.

"Last charge... I just hope I'm not too late..."

Placing the last of the bombs, Steve picks up Firebrand and slings him into his harness as he sprints out of a nearby window and away from the radar dish as it starts to explode.They make it out to the observation platform outside just in time to see the cannon start to go haywire. Unfortunately this causes complications for the dropship as it starts firing in random directions and clips the wing of the plane. The five occupants of the drop ship are forced to bail out as they parachute down to the treacherous castle below.

"Well, crisis averted for the moment. Now all we have to do is join back up with Bucky and--"

"DADDY LOOK OUT!" Firebrand wailed.

But it was too late as Strucker survived the explosion of the dish and tackled Steve off of the platform sending them all plummeting over a hundred feet. The last thing Steve saw was the plane crashing into what was left of the radar dish dome before everything exploded in a hellish blaze.

Steve started to regain consciousness in what looked like a lavish courtyard with an ornate fountain right in the center. Strucker was flat on his stomach the same way he was. Firebrand was right next to him, crying and desperately trying his best to lift his daddy off of the ground. For a moment, he saw Strucker tried to lift himself up off the ground, but he collapsed back down. Whether he was finally dead, or unconscious again, Steve did not know at the time. All that mattered is that he got himself and Firebrand to safety. Suddenly, he heard thunderous footsteps followed by the whirring and clicking of mechanical parts getting closer and closer. Turning his head to the right, he saw a pair of armored mechanical legs attached to a monstrous machine.

"Run...Firebrand...get away and find Bucky quickly. Please!" Steve begged the foal as the monstrosity got closer and closer.

"NO! I WANT TO STAY WITH YOU!" he wailed. GET UP DADDY!"

"Er Ist Bewusstlos." the machine said in a booming metallic voice. "Wie Du Esgleich Bist
Jetzt möchte ich zurücknehmen, was zum Schädel gehört".

Suddenly, a mechanical hand whipped around Firebrand and grasped him tightly, not allowing him to escape as he wailed for his papa.

"Let him go or I'll turn you into a dented soup can you big lumbering piece of shit!" Steve growled.

"Sie sind nicht in der Lage, Drohungen abzugeben" the machine replied coldly. "Wenn ich Gefühle hätte, würde ich es genießen, dich zu brechen."

Steve felt himself being picked up as well as he was forcefully tossed to the ground fifty feet away. Before he slipped into unconsciousness, he could hear the sound of his boy's desperate cries for him.

"DADDY!"

Author's Note

Here's another one out. I hope you guys are enjoying this story as much as I have making it cause its really fun to write.

Super Soldier: Camus and the Fly (part 2)

Coming up to the next level of the facility, much closer to the surface, Steve ran up another long flight of stairs into a series of prison checkpoints. There had been signs of a riot, with all of the doors wide open. Scuff marks were on the floor and pieces of the walls had been dented or broken, leading Steve to believe that something large and incredibly clumsy had been trying to subdue the prisoners in this area. The air inside the prison was cold, stale, and stunk badly of rotting corpses as if it was poorly insulated to choke the life out of the unwilling occupants.

Suddenly, Madame Hydra's enraged voice came out once again over the intercom, calling for more reinforcements to come stomp out Steve's life now that he was without his shield.

"Attention Cell Block Security. I'm authorizing the use of advanced weaponry. All safety protocols are lifted. Deploy the Wardens immediately!"

'I don't know who they are, but if the Madame is calling them, they have to be the enforcers around here,' Steve thought.

Circling around another corner, Steve ran into another security door. Decrypting the code was easy enough, but it was almost as if it had been made easy, specifically to draw him in. Pushing the thought aside for the moment, Steve activated the door, leading him into a large room that looked like a muster room for prisoner's to gather for roll call. The door on the other side of the chamber opened up outwards to reveal another Hydra juggernaut outfitted with more of Zola's wicked inventions. This time though, the juggernaut was very much different from its flamethrower wielding counterparts. Its right arm was equipped with a terrifying extending robotic hand that looked big enough and powerful enough to pick up fully grown men. In its left hand it carried a massive riot shield meant to fend off large crowds of prisoners. Its body seemed to be a lot bulkier and massive than a normal human's body should be. He assumed that this had to be one of the Warden's that Madame Hydra had mentioned.

"On the ground scum!"

"You're definitely a big one..." Steve said genuinely surprised. "But I can't let a shiny chrome dome like you get in my way."

Charging at the Warden, Steve went first with a jumping back kick to the neck where it was armor plated which made it stumble if only a little bit. The opening gave Steve the chance to get in a series of strikes to the abdomen as he grabbed its arm where the machinery met actual flesh and threw it over his shoulder. The Warden hit the ground with a bang as it appeared to be damaged, but still managed to get back up on to its feet. The Warden was more prepared as it held up its riot shield and protected itself against the super soldier's next barrage of attacks. Steve made a wrong move and ended up getting lifted by the Warden's mechanical arm as he was smashed into the floor.

Feeling the air being knocked out of him, Steve forced himself on to his feet as he looked at the Warden angrily.

"Oh you are so gonna get it...."

Charging at the Warden, Steve grabbed ahold of its riot shield, using all of his strength to wrench it from his grasp. The tactic worked as it was pushed back, giving Steve another shot at the Warden's body. Whipping his leg like a piston, Steve finally brought down the monstrous soldier with a powerful butterfly kick.

The adrenaline in his body just pumped more and more as the door opened and Steve charged into a room full of unwary grunts. Going from one grunt to the next, Steve dispatched each and every one of them before they even knew what hit them. His speed completely overwhelmed them as he shattered their faceplates with powerful punches. The last soldier in the room, he struck in the ribs which sent him flying through a glass window and down three stories.

"HOW MANY OF YOU IMBECILES DOES IT TAKE TO STOP ONE MAN?" Madame Hydra roared over the intercom.

Going to the next room, Steve easily took care of the six soldiers there and started to notice surroundings that appeared familiar.

"This place looks familiar....I think the lab Zola dragged me through is on the other side. With a bit of luck, I bet I'll find Firebrand there. Along with my shield."

Through one of the viewing windows possibly for a security team, Steve saw a golden Germanic helmet sitting upon one of the tables built into the walls. Going around and through one of the doorways, he approached the table and picked up the helmet. Annoyed, he inspected the helmet and found another journal entry from the as of yet unseen, Baron Zemo.

"I hate wasting time, but I need to focus on gathering intel too," he groaned.

Unfolding the paper, he began to read the next entry in an attempt to get a better understanding as to what this man's connection was to the castle and what might be the secret to everything there.

"I feel the Illustrious hands of my ancestors at work in what happened today. I have been contacted by a man who shares my vision, if not my noble heritage. He calls himself the Red Skull...an overly theatrical title to my tastes, but I must admit the resources at his disposal are impressive indeed. I have agreed to meet with him."

"Okay, so now I know this guy was involved with all of this. But how exactly?" Steve asked himself. "Did Schmitt help him find this "Sleeper?"

Moving back out of the room, he went through another security door and found himself running across what appeared to be a bridge right through a cavernous tunnel with tracks running down it on either side.

"An underground railway. This must be how they keep this place supplied...."

On the other side of the tunnel, Steve finally found the entrance to one of the laboratories where Zola was presumably keeping Firebrand and his shield.

"He will want them analyzed and experimented on," he stated to himself with fear and disgust.

Kicking open the door, he came face to face with another security team that was guarding the entrance.

"PROTECT THE SHIELD WITH YOUR LIVES!"

The small squad was mowed down easily by his strength within a minute as he gave a quick look around the room and gathered up a schematic for the Wardens like the one he had fought in the other room. It appeared to be a single piece in a set of four schematics for the giant soldiers which he would need to hunt down in time. He looked through every room in the lab but was unable to find any sign of Firebrand anywhere or where they might have been keeping him. With each failure of finding the foal, it ate away at his patience, piece by piece.

He spotted a corridor going down into a larger room which was visible through a viewing glass. It was his shield being analyzed by a group of Hydra scientists attempting to unlock and take its secrets for themselves. He ran around the corner and proceeded to beat down what little resistance was left in the lab. His shield was being levitated in some kind of electromagnetic field being manipulated by a strange machine. Thankfully, it had appeared that they hadn't found out too much about his shield

"Now let's see how you work..."

Walking around the perimeter, he found a panel on the back of the machine which seemed to be for maintenance. Opening it, he messed around with the circuitry inside and shorted out the main power source, which turned off the containment field holding up the shield. It clattered down to the floor with a satisfying clunk as Steve walked over to pick it up and strap himself back into it.

"That's a little better. I felt naked without this. But now I need to find the little guy. NOW."

As if Destiny herself wanted Steve to blow off steam, a security door opened up revealing three troopers coming down a long narrow hallway. By instinct, Steve tossed his shield at an angle which bounced back and forth down the hallway knocking out all of them. The hallway went into another series of security checkpoints in the lab where he caused a bit of a ruckus blowing up a communications unit by throwing a Hydra technician into it and breaking a few walls. Along the way, he found another piece of the series of schematics for the Wardens and another film reel directly from Arnim Zola himself. Soon enough, on the way through the lab, he found his utility belt still equipped with the explosives that Howard Stark had created specifically for him.

"My gear. Good, everything is still intact," Steve said satisfied.

"My poor, foolish Captain. Do you really think you can save them? You are already too late. Your red foal is getting Herr Zola's special treatment and Dugan is busy being my favorite...he reminds me of a dog I used to have SO much fun with." Madame Hydra menacingly said through the comm system.

"Cap....don't...its a trap!" Dugan cried weakly through the speaker.

"Ah, so now you feel like talking. Let's see what else you have to say...."

The next thing Steve knew, he could hear Dugan moan in agony as she continued to torture him. Then it went silent, leaving Steve with fearful thoughts.

"They must have taken Dugan and Firebrand further inside. If I don't find them soon..."

Pushing the thoughts out of his head, he found another security door with an even more complex code than usual. This time, it was timed as well, so Steve had to race against the clock, using what little he had been taught in code cracking to figure out the common numeral. Before the timer ran out, he figured out the number was one, which seemed to be pretty ironic considering his current situation. Inside unfortunately was just a decoy to delay his progress in the form of a ceramic rooster. Angrily smashing it, he sprinted around the lab until he found his way back out to the train tunnel where another platoon was looking for him. In front of the platoon was another Warden guarding the way. Forcing Steve to charge at them with a powerful toss of his shield that bounced across the bridge and all over the next room over, disorienting many of the troopers there. The Warden saw Steve coming and tried to prepare itself for an attack, but Steve's next maneuver completely blind sided it. Leaping ten feet into the air, he used his elbows as solid spears allowing gravity to do its work as he smashed in the Warden's helmet, causing it to collapse to the ground.

Four other riflemen were making his fighting much harder as he flipped over each soldier trying to avoid their fire. He was forced to flip around the room avoiding sniper fire. The snipers were so caught up in trying to kill Steve that they accidentally shot their own men. Making his way up the stairs to the catwalk where the snipers were, Steve held up his shield against the gunfire ramming into one of the snipers. Using the sniper as a human battering ram, he used his incredible strength to knock the three other snipers over the railing before throwing the last one over. Up on the top was what appeared to be another one of Hydra's tactical centers. A conference table atop and ornate market lied across the length of the balcony with dozens of documents and pictures. The centerpiece was a golden falcon with what appeared to be a detachable base. Opening it, he found that the falcon was hollow, where he found another journal entry from Baron Zemo.

This latest entry detailed how Zemo finally decided to create an alliance with the Red Skull, but it still didn't provide any details as to how he fit into Schmitt's plans or where he was.

He folded up the entry and added it to his collection, moving his attention to the recorder mounted to the wall. Cranking the lever, the mechanisms in the recorder activated, playing the message embedded inside.

"The security codes for access doors have been updated since the threat of sabotage has increased. Stand by and take note. Access to the cellblock and labs A and B are as follows: Hotel, Gamma, Four, Two, Alpha, Tango."

The message stopped, letting Steve move to the map on the wall to consider his next move.

"They've got the guys alright. I don't know if Firebrand is here, but I'm gonna do all I can to find him. Bucky must be locked up in an adjoining wing. I just have to find the right door."

Slowly but surely, Steve made his way through a series of giant sliding doors and found another passageway that led to an electrified security checkpoint.

Beyond it was the entrance to the main part of the detention center where presumably everyone was being held captive. He destroyed the transformers powering the gate and blew open the door with a small amount of his explosives. Dashing inside the prison, his only thought was to save his new friends and family before Hydra's lackeys could hurt them. Any soldiers inside would regret getting in his way as he pushed forward.

Meanwhile, in a nearby lab, one of Zola's teams of scientists had already begun their preparations on Firebrand. Attempting to unlock the secrets of his abilities for the Red Skull's purposes. Arnim Zola had left for another part of the castle to continue with his other projects, leaving Firebrand with his scientists.

Firebrand had watched, frozen, as he woke up on a cold metal operating table. The armored men around him were examining him, and there was talk about how he was under anesthetic and wouldn't feel a thing, how he would sleep right through it completely unaware. But unfortunately he wasn't asleep, nor was he unconscious. He was completely aware...but frozen, paralyzed, unable to move, and only able to breathe through the plastic tube he couldn't cough out of his throat.

He tried desperately to look around to observe his surroundings. All he was able to tell was he was in a barely lit, dank room, surrounded by devices and machines his young mind couldn't dream of comprehending.

"The subject appears to be responding well to the solution." one of the masked men said to his colleagues. "We shall take samples of the subject in an attempt to ascertain its exact genetic code. If our cloning experiments prove to be fruitful, the samples should prove useful to Herr Zola."

He couldn't flinch as the needle jabbed into his leg, drawing blood. He couldn't wince as a thicker needle bored into his bones, extracting a sample of marrow. He couldn't cry as another needle jabbed into his back, digging into his spinal cord and extracting fluid from there. He couldn't scream in pain when tufts of his mane were torn out his head at the roots.

"We will now attempt to extract a sample from the subject's power source." another one of the masked men stated.

He could only stare in horror as they shaved a sample off the tip of his horn, drilled into the base, extracted a crystalline sample from within, and then sealed the hole with a laser.

After a time, the tube was removed from his throat and he was left there. And when the anesthetic agent they had given him - the one that, for him, turned out to only be a paralytic finally worked its way out of his system, his body finally flexed in response to the agony he'd been through, and a tortured scream ripped its way from his throat. His pain was so great, he was unable to process the explosions that were going around him, nor was he able to hear the men's words about the other experiments escaping....

Super Soldier: Icarus and Daedalus

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Super Soldier: To Have and Have Not

Author's Note

Bit of a dramatic chapter, but I hope its effective.

Super Soldier: To Have and Have Not

More and more steam from broken machinery and plumbing covered the dark hallways of Hydra's main lab, giving the eerie illusion of fog in this already nightmarish facility. Screams and dying groans from many Hydra scientists could clearly be heard over the mechanical sounds all around. The atmosphere of this place was chilling, and at the same time, felt hot from how much humidity was building within. The super soldier tried to watch his footing, walking across grates and hidden obstructions that constantly threatened his forward movement. The hallway into the main lab was long and ominous as it began to slope downwards towards another door. Steve's stomach began to turn as he could hear a cold exchange between one of the doomed scientists and Madame Hydra.

"....please....help....too many.....can't get out," somebody groaned out of the loudspeaker.

"What is that infernal racket?" she yelled annoyed.

Heading through another security door, Steve entered the main part of the lab where a number of hellish sights awaited his unwilling eyes. Dozens of mutilated bodies lied all over the once pristine tiled floors that adorned the labs. Many of the working lights had been shattered to pieces, with their glass scattered all over the floors. Water was leaking all over the floor from somewhere nearby, mixing in with pools of blood and oil from nearby broken consoles to make a murky liquid that stained most of the tiles.

"Hydra soldiers," Steve stated fearfully. "I have a feeling it wasn't our boys that did all of this..."

Circling around the lab, Steve found a lowered floor where six human sized capsules were mounted into the wall. All of them were busted open from the inside as Steve followed the burnt trail marks of their former occupants with his eyes across the floor and deeper into the lab. The mystery experiments left behind a trail of more broken bodies and rubble.

"Attention all laboratory personnel. There is a code 12 evacuation in progress. Follow all standard protocols." an automated voice announced.

Further in, Steve ran into four of Hydra's scientists running from something terrifying. Suddenly, Steve jumped back when he saw them being levitated into the air and then thrown against the walls with so much force that their bones were instantly shattered upon impact. Holding his shield at the ready, Steve was finally faced with one of his mysterious new adversaries. It was an unnaturally thin man covered from head to toe in black leather and all manner of hi tech mechanical implants grafted into his body. A thick metal helmet covered what used to be his face and the rest of his skull. The only thing presumably allowing the figure some form of sight was a single large glowing eye that stared into his soul. A familiar emblem was emblazoned across the figure's chest as he started twitching and sparking in a menacing manner. Steve instantly recognized it as the emblem of Arnim Zola's Master Mann Project.

The figure held out his arms and a glowing red aura similar to Firebrand's magical grasp appeared from its gauntlets.

Charging right at the mysterious assailant turned out to be a particularly bad idea. As Steve found himself being hit by one of the figure's magical blasts and thrown back all the way across the room. Luckily, Steve hit some fencing that separated the capsule floor from the other raised lab stations. He had only a second to react before the disfigured man threw another volley of magical blasts at the American. Weaving through the room, and avoiding more hits, the room started to fall apart even more as it was torn apart by magic and fire. The man took a few seconds to recharge, which gave Steve an ample opportunity to close the distance and start wailing on the man with his strongest punches. It quickly recovered as the man tried lashing at Steve with his mechanical gauntlets. Weaving under the strike, Steve whipped around and knocked the man out with a blow to the back of the neck.

Gazing down at the man, Steve felt a sense of impending doom and dread begin to fall over him like a dark storm cloud hanging over his head.

"This used to be somebody. A man. I need to find Firebrand and the others NOW."

The path deeper into the lab became more chaotic and destructive as the further he got in. Sections of the cavern the lab was built into were showing as the walls started falling off. It would only be a matter of time before the lab no longer would be able to support the thousands of tons of rock and metal surrounding it. As if things weren't getting worse already, Steve could see a large skirmish between two of the "experiments" and a group of Wardens and officers who were attempting to subdue them. The experiments were throwing red magic blasts at everything, only adding to the damage happening to the building. The soldiers were fighting a losing battle as even the Wardens were being tossed around like rag dolls. A feeling Steve didn't like started to creep in even more as he recognized the specific color of the energy that the experiments were using for the attacks.

Just like before, he waited until the experiments needed time to recharge, and then he closed in for four consecutive attacks. One in the chest to stun the first and then an uppercut to the chin with his shield. The second he knocked down and then used his knee to smash the experiment's chest piece.

"Attention, all laboratory personnel. The Super Soldier has been spotted in the upper labs. You have one minute to reach emergency exits before you are sealed inside the labs. If you should fail, know that you died in the service of Hydra." someone announced.

'That wouldn't exactly be a comfort to anyone' Steve wryly thought.

Taking a brief glance at the room around him, Steve found himself in what appeared to be the remains of an infirmary of some kind. The once spotless white rooms were dirty and battered and the beds on either side were completely matted and torn apart. Up against one of the walls was some kind of work station with all manner of medical tools such as bottles of iodine and rubbing alcohol, and even a set of scalpels which still were covered in blood. Covering the middle of the workstation was another one of Hydra's secret blueprints. The pictures on it were of the experiments that Zola had been working on in this laboratory. Some notes on the blue prints had been redacted, and other new notes had been added on, speaking of new abilities from "Subject Red's" DNA. The name of the experiments were written across the top in German. Screihals. Which Steve roughly translated to the eerie name of Screamer. For a moment, Steve's hand's began to shake in fear, but he quickly caught himself as he folded up the schematic and placed it into his pouch.

He quickly made his way out of the infirmary area as he came to more narrow passageways leading in different directions. He didn't know why, but something in his senses were telling him to take the route further up into the labs. The path continued upwards for hundreds of feet until he ran into another sealed security door.

While he quickly began decoding the control panel Madame Hydra sent out an announcement over the intercom in an attempt to console her master.

"Herr Zola, I am forced to evacuate. YOU! Untie the English one, he's healthier...leave the other one and the pony to the creatures. I want an armored escort. AND SOMEBODY GET THAT BLOODY LIFT WORKING NOW!"

On the other side, the lab became more bare as different pathways branched off into larger parts of the cavern. Straight ahead, was another large laboratory chamber surrounded by a multitude of consoles, scientific instruments and surgical tables. One in particular that stood up held a familiar figure. It was Steve's new friend and team member, Dugan who had been captured by Hydra half a day earlier. A large group of soldiers and two of the Screamers had gathered around Dugan. The laboratory platform was separated by a large gap and a long winding path that Steve had no time to use.

"DUGAN!"

He took his chance as he launched over the railing and leaped to the platform on the other side. In that moment, Steve realized that he had ran into a full scale skirmish between a platoon of Hydra soldiers and Screamers who were trying to suck the life out of Dugan using the familiar red magical energy. Taking the advantage of the distraction, Steve snuck in close to the Screamers while they were preoccupied with the other soldiers on the platform.

Unfortunately, one of them quickly detected his presence as they tried using their powerful abilities to wrench his shield from his grasp.

The magical aura was blazing hot to his skin, even under layers of his resilient suit. It forced him to bite through the burning he was beginning to feel as he ripped his shield away. His strength over-exerted the Screamer's power, forcing it into a cooldown period. Which gave Steve time to whip around and axe kick the Screamer in the back of the neck. A Warden tried to sneak up on him while he was thoroughly distracted, but Steve grabbed ahold of the leg of the Screamer and used it as a flail. Dazing the Warden long enough for him to take it out with a single uppercut under the jaw.

Now that the immediate threats had been taken care of, he tended to Dugan's bindings. The man seemed to have all manner of injuries all over his body. Including places where Hydra had injected him with various substances. The first thing he ripped off was a leather strap covering his eyes.

"Hold still Dugan I'll have you out in a sec."

"I'm sure glad to see you Cap." he laughed weakly.

"Are you alright?"

"Only my pride seems to be hurt. Those Hydra devils are gonna get it when I get my hands around their necks."

"Do you know where they took Firebrand and Falsworth?" he asked hopefully.

The man's eyes gave Steve a look of pity as he looked off somewhere. Steve didn't like that look one bit.

"Falswoth was right by me on the table over there before that evil witch Madame Hydra got scared of the alarms, drugged him and took him off somewhere. God knows what they were gonna do to him. We could hear screams coming from a lab further in, but we didn't think of the possibility that it might be....."

Steve clenched his fist in anger as dark thoughts began to creep into his mind.

"DAMNIT!!!!" he swore as he angrily punched a dent into a nearby pillar. "Which way?"

"Over there." Dugan said as he pointed towards a stairway that lead into another lab.

"Im gonna look for Firebrand. Then we need to take out the Pulse Cannon that shot you and Falsworth down before we can go after him."

"Oh no, if the kid is here, I'm gonna help you turn whoever is keeping him into colored rain," Dugan said menacingly. "And I’ve got this sexy little girl as back up."

To prove his point, he picked up a Juggernaut's energy cannon and blasted his operating table to smoldering smithereens.

Steve was reluctant to accept his help but nodded nonetheless as they sprinted up the side tunnel and made their way into the secondary laboratory area.

Firebrand started to stir once again as he felt it exceedingly difficult to breathe. The feeling was foreign and frightening to him as he tried to inhale, but couldn't. Moving so much as an inch was next to impossible as well. Every time he even twitched, more and more feeling would leave his limbs. His terror only heightened when he heard an evil weezing right above his face and felt something like freezing cold air being sucked into a vacuum. He opened his eyes and tried to scream at what he saw, but couldn't.

It was a single evil yellow eye above a decaying old mouth, sucking his magic out of him. Every ounce of his strength and being was being drained away by this demonic creature.

Firebrand didn't have much of a life yet. At least not one that he was aware of. It hurt him greatly that he might not get the chance to live a good life with a father and mother who loved him dearly. Steve and Peggy may not have been the same species, but already they have come to mean the world to him.

He tried to gather as much magical strength as he could to push the figure away, but then slumped as he lost all feeling in his body. So much so that he wasn't aware of a shield knocking back the head of said figure or a man wearing a star spangled uniform snatching him up before a cannon blast vaporized him. In his extensively weakened state, he could faintly hear hundreds of different explosions all around him, the sound of metal against metal, and the disturbing sound of breaking bones. Not knowing that it was an enraged father and his teammate killing everything in sight and destroying the lab that had brought him so much pain and suffering.

This angry father had tolerated Hydra's evils for the last time and he was not going to show them any mercy.

The last thing Firebrand could barely comprehend was the sound of an elevator coming down a shaft before he slipped back into unconsciousness for the third time.

Super Soldier: The Longest Yard

Author's Note

I hope this chapter is entertaining enough.

There will be a differently colored sentence which will signal you to right click and open the link in another tab. It will last about a minute, which is meant to establish a little bit of atmosphere in one of the scenes I'm trying to convey.

Just let me know if there's anything jarring that I need to fix.

Super Soldier: The Longest Yard

Going into the hidden chamber, Steve and Dugan came across a grisly scene of blood and gore from former Hydra scientists that had been maimed and disemboweled by the escaped experiments. The smell was positively revolting as Steve's eyes watered profusely in protest. He was forced to steel himself to keep down copious amounts of sick. In the corner of the room, he found another one of the escaped experiments. Their hearts froze when he saw what the experiment was doing. Firebrand was being levitated over a pool of blood while the experiment was draining the foal of his life. Ice turned into a blazing fire as Steve roared with fury and launched himself at the man. He impacted shield first against the cybernetic helmet of the experiment as its head was knocked back. Tearing at the various tubes, wires and plating, Steve became near animalistic as he started violently punching the experiment, determined to make it feel as much pain as it was still able to. Dark red blood spurted out of the experiments mouth, staining parts of his cowl. Realing back for another punch, Steve used all of his strength and smashed the former human's skull against the wall until it finally went limp. Even then, the super soldier would not allow his rage to subside.

"Cap! Cap! CAP!!!!" Dugan shouted. "STEVE, THAT IS ENOUGH!!!!!

Steve tried to go in for another punch at the corpse, but Dugan would not allow him to have the satisfaction.

"Rogers, he is dead. Save your energy for the rest of Hydra. Please bud, I don't want your boy to see you like this. Let me be the one to do some bloody damage. You need to be the shining hero in all of this," Dugan pleaded. "Doing this kind of stuff is a really slippery slope."

Steve just looked back at Dugan and then to Firebrand, and then back to the corpse he had created. After a few seconds, his breathing slowed down as he finally came back to his senses.

All he did next was stare at his blood soaked gloves as his hands started to shake. Dugan just smiled empathetically as he leaned his cannon up against the wall and used one hand to grab ahold of Steve's wrists. The action seemed to help as Steve's shaking stopped.

"S-Sorry," Steve muttered fearfully. "When I saw what he was doing to Firebrand...I just snapped."

"That's good! The squirt may not be human, but you've got yourself a good parental protective instinct there." Dugan applauded. "Just be careful to shove that back in when you're done with it. Or else you might do something you might regret."

"It sounds like you have experience," Steve added. "I just figured you were the strong, silent type."

"A bar story for another time maybe," Dugan dismissed. "Right now, we gotta get the squirt out of here and find Falsworth. It looks like both of them are gonna need a medic by the time we get out of here."

Steve thought for a moment as he gently picked the barely conscious Firebrand. The little foal started to tense up slightly, but calmed down when Steve stroked his golden mane softly. He began humming a tune he used to know from his grandfather years ago. As he hummed the tune, it almost felt as if the notes themselves weaved a spell on the entire room. Dugan believed at the time that tiredness was playing tricks on his eyes, but he could swear that the various lights and shadows in the room started to dance and move as if they were alive. Like the scene of a cozy cottage in the dead of winter, some of the images created by the song felt warm and merry like a comforting fireplace, but others felt darker and colder than the most treacherous of blizzards...

"Alright. Let's find that elevator and see if we can find Falsworth." Steve stated as he placed the sleeping foal back into his harness.

"Let's just hope we don't run into any more of these things," Dugan said with disgust, referring to the Screamer.

Dugan and Steve went off in separate directions towards the exit elevator, so as to split the attention of any enemies that might be waiting. The last obstacle Steve had to cross was a wide rickety hanging bridge made of steel slats and boards. Thankfully, the bridge help up just enough for the man to cross without much problem at all. For a moment, it seemed that everything would be smooth sailing as Steve drew closer and closer towards the elevator.

Suddenly, three Juggernauts bursted out of another passage, firing upon the escaping heroes. Machinery and various archiving machines exploded in a fiery blast, shaking the narrowing tunnels of the cavern. A couple of loose rocks were shaken from the walls, falling down on Steve and the Hydra soldiers. Steve was forced to quickly switch between dodging, attacking and protecting Firebrand from the falling debris.

"I'll keep them busy Dugan! You get that elevator working!" he cried.

"If you think I'm leaving without you, you're crazier than Zola," Dugan said as he ran out from another branching path.

Pulling the lift open, Steve handed Firebrand off to Dugan who reluctantly took him in one arm while holding the cannon in the other.

"Its the only way all three of us will get out of here. We need both ends of the shaft secured or they could trap us inside,"

Dugan just looked at him with an expression that Steve couldn't read as they were forced to quickly dodge out of the way from another volley of shots.

"Good point. Alright, I'll get up there with the kid and send the elevator back down. We'll see you topside." Dugan relented.

Steve held the enemies' attention as Dugan sprinted into the elevator and pulled a lever. The large doors of the shaft closed with a solid clunk as Steve could hear the elevator begin to ascend.

A nearby gate was blasted open, sending pieces of metal and chunks of the cavern wall flying all over the antechamber. Three hulking wardens and over thirty armed Hydra technicians came out, presumably survivors escaping from the experiments that had gotten loose.

"Its the American! Shoot him now!" one of the technicians barked.

The soldier in question was forced to flip behind the remains of an archiving unit to protect himself from the barrage of grenades that were being lobbed at him. For a few minutes, he was forced to do the same thing, ducking around the room looking for cover. Soon enough though, the giant grenade launchers of the Wardens began to overheat, giving the man the opportunity to go in for the kill. Taking as much time as he could, Steve thinned out the outer ranks of the agents before the Wardens could reload. Thankfully, the Wardens did Steve's job for him as their own robotic need to kill him outweighed their obligations to their comrades. Their own grenades managed to decimate the surviving Hydra forces with a few well placed mis directions on Steve's part.

Looking for an opening, Steve saw that their balance seemed to falter whenever they tried raising their grenade launchers high enough to create a reaching arc for their shots. With a well placed aim, Steve took a chance as his shield bounced around close to the floor and collapsed the Wardens legs, forcing them onto their backs.

He leaped onto the chest of the first one and knocked him out with a kick to the head. When he tried to finish off the second Warden, a stray technician tried to catch Steve by surprise by clubbing him in the back of the head with his rifle. Dodging to the side, Steve tripped the technician with an outstretched leg, sending him falling on top of the Warden. His grenade launcher went off by accident, causing a violent explosion of flesh, metal, and smoke in the narrow passage. Both of his new adversaries were killed instantly, allowing him to move on to his last target.

However, while he was busy with the other three, the last of the Wardens found an opportunity to push himself back on to his feet.

"Oh come on," Steve groaned.

"Hold on down there Cap, the elevator is on its way. I managed to make it top side with the squirt," Dugan said reassuringly through his earpiece.

Now that the Warden's attention was on Steve fully, he tried charging at the super soldier with his giant claw. The narrowness of the walkway made it almost certain that he would hit his mark.

Steve barely had enough time to hold his shield up against himself as he found himself being tackled by a hundreds of pounds of metal. The force sent him flying back fifteen feet on to his back side, knocking the wind out of his lungs. It was a bitter feeling, like breathing in a beehive of hornets that attacked every inch of his insides. He had to force himself to move out of the way, before the Warden could fire upon him with another grenade. There was an opening in the railing as he painfully rolled out of the passageway and back into the main part of the antechamber. Forcing his arms up, he deeply breathed in and out to normalize the air in his lungs. It did the trick as a few seconds later, he pushed himself back up on to his feet.

The Warden stumbled his way back out into the open area where Steve was waiting. The man took the advantage of the Warden's dazed state as he rushed in and delivered a solid uppercut, sending it to the floor once more. The Warden tried to attack Steve with a swipe from its giant claw, but he managed to hold it back long enough for him to finally neutralize the last Warden with a stomp to the face.

"Your limo is waiting for you Cap," Dugan called. "See you soon!"

"Thanks Dugan. Just keep your eyes on Firebrand until I meet back up with you alright?"

"Will do Cap."

Limping across the room, Steve made it back to the elevator shaft which opened up for him once again. He stepped inside and pulled the lever, beginning his ascent back up to the surface.

Steve was met once again with dark surroundings, matched only by a few stray rays of light and shadows that flickered around every once in a while. He leaned up against the wall of the lift and tried his best to rest his muscles and mind for as long as the duration of his ride permitted him to do so. The constant clicking and whirring of the elevator helped Steve clear his mind of all distractions and worrying thoughts. Breathing and achieving serenity was all he cared about in the present moment. It felt relieving to do as the pain from his most recent battles seemed to dull in intensity. In that moment, there was no past, present, or future, there was only the darkness around him, and his peace.

Suddenly though, his peace was interrupted as his communicator sparked to life again.

"Hey Cap, I've spotted some goofy looking Hydra activity up here. I'm gonna bring the kid with me to check up on something. When you get up here, just start looking around. Madame Hydra and Falsworth should be around here somewhere."

"Okay Dugan, just be careful. Firebrand needs medical attention and too much excitement might make his condition worse." Steve said firmly. "Don't get into any big fire fights if you can safely avoid them."

"I'll definitely try, but no promises!" Dugan chuckled.

His communicator shut off again as he was left to the silence of the elevator.

Soon enough, the elevator started to slow down as two large doors opened up at the top of the shaft, and Steve hopped out back up on the surface of the castle and back into daylight once more. The area he stumbled on to appeared to be a large garden courtyard. It was filled with all manner of topiary, hedges, flower bushes, and trees. The combined scents from the plants made the area smell fresh and invigorating. If it wasn't occupied by Hydra at the moment, Steve might have considered spending some time wandering among the various plants and shrubs with Firebrand.

On the other side, he could make out a familiar group of people coming out of a side passage. It was his friend Falsworth being forced along by Madame Hydra and a group of Juggernauts that were following alongside her.

"Falsworth!" Cap cried.

The green uniformed buxom woman turned her head toward where Steve was standing and started laughing maniacally.

"So close and yet so far eh, Captain?" Madam Hydra cackled. "Where's your little runt? I hope he didn't croak after our little examination of him."

Out of nowhere, a volley of laser blasts started decimating her entire squad of guards. It startled her into grabbing Falsworth by the neck to use as a human shield.

"Schnell! Schnell!" she barked.

Looking up to where the shots came from, Steve found Dugan holding up his cannon over a balcony. Firebrand was sitting on Dugan's shoulders still out cold from his previous injuries. The sight calmed Steve's nerves, thankful that his trust in Dugan was not misplaced.

"I don't have a clear shot at her Cap...go and get her will ya? So we can finally get the heck out of here!"

"Consider it done," he said with his eyes narrowed.

Madame Hydra disappeared back into the castle on the other side of the courtyard, forcing Steve to give chase.

Before he could start though, a giant black aerial craft came gliding over the walls of the castle and begun firing endless amounts of shells. The spread of the bullets was so wide that Steve's shield was almost unable to block all of them.

"DUGAN! ABOVE US!"

"I saw it! You got to keep moving! I'll find a place to leave the kid for you to find once I have a free moment," Dugan called back from over the balcony.

Firing shot after shot seemed to be the correct strategy, as the attack craft took its attention off of Steve and onto Dugan. Before long, the constant firing damaged the craft into a smoldering piece of metal. It ceased firing and weakly made its way off in another direction, giving Cap an opening to make his way across the courtyard.

"Go and get her! I'll drop off the kid somewhere safe inside and then I have a score to settle with the cannon that shot us out of the sky," Dugan growled.

As soon as Dugan ran off, Steve moved on down the steps into the main part of the courtyard where he ran into another platoon of Hydra grunts. Aside from a few shocks and smacks, Cap dispatched the group with relative ease and sprinted over to the other side.

Coming up and around, Cap found the last of Madame Hydra's guards that had stayed behind to guard the entryway back into the castle. Now that he had a wider area to fight in once again, Steve's options were no longer restricted. Throwing his shield, he leaped in and pulled the Juggernaut's shield downwards. Pushing himself over it, he used his momentum to create a reverse axe kick down into the giant's helmet. At the same time, his shield impacted against the back of the Juggernaut's neck, instantly incapacitating his large opponent.

Steve flipped back up on to his feet and picked up his shield, fully ready for whatever was waiting for him inside Zemo's Castle.

Super Soldier: Keep Your Powder Dry (Updated: 1/23/21)

Firebrand found himself once again in a dark, frightening place. He tried his best to convince his immature mind that it couldn't be real, but his senses would not cooperate with him in the slightest. He was in a deep dark cavern, running from something that his little mind could not fathom. He had not known how long he was running, nor did he care. The grotesque cackling and the thunderous heavy footsteps pounded his way as his lungs seared for the sweet taste of fresh oxygen. All he knew was the voice of the creature sounded eerily familiar. Like a demon that had been with him since his birth. If the demon caught him, he might never see his new daddy ever again. The floor beneath his feet felt viscous like honey, dragging his forward movement into a slow crawl. As his hope began to fade, he could see the steady glow of light coming from the entrance to the cave. The mouth of the cave came closer and closer until he finally reached the outside. Before him was a wintry dark forest illuminated by the cool blue light of the moon. A thick layer of ice and snow covered every branch and blade of grass. When he thought he was finally safe, he tripped over an unseen obstruction and fell right on to his muzzle.

He flipped himself on to his back where his face stared back into the cave. Aside from the pitch black darkness, there was two glowing green eyes staring back at him. The foal never felt more afraid in his entire life than in that moment.

Suddenly, the eyes pounced out of the cave, revealing a horrifying Madame Hydra. Her teeth were sharp and glowing white, her skin was cracked and distorted. Her hair was white long, and spindly, snapping at the air every which way. Her uniform was still the same, except for her gloves which resembled more like the talons of some Harpy. When she spoke, her mouth frothed and drooled like a hungry beast desperately waiting for its next meal.

"Hello sweeeet little rat," Madame Hydra's silky smooth voice said. "Why don't you come back with me? I'll Take care of you ffffffforever...."

Before he could respond, he felt a stinging pain going up one of his hind legs. Madame Hydra had stuck her talons in to his legs and was trying to pull him back into the cave. Firebrand hooved at the ground for dear life, trying to hold on to any stray rock or root he could find. When he started going back in, he felt despair and sorrow take hold of his whole being. In a last ditch move, he tried screaming at the monster to startle her into retreating.

Suddenly, as he inhaled, something else did the job for him. Out of the dark was a guttural roar that shook the whole forest, followed by a large person that tackled Madame Hydra to the ground and struck down onto her throat, forcing her to let go of Firebrand. In a puff of slithering black smoke, Madame Hydra disappeared into nothing, as if she had never existed in the first place.

Firebrand didn't know what to think as this large beastly figure silently stepped toward him. He felt himself backing into a boulder, waiting patiently for his end. He could feel cold tears streaming down his face that gleamed in the moonlight overhead. He simply closed his eyes, not wanting to see what was happening next. What he didn't see, was the true form of his would be attacker, as it softly stepped out of the dark and into the moonlight.

He heard a small sound come from this large figure, like the coo of a dove. It was a sound of interest, like what one makes when they come across something new in their lives.

Confused, he opened his eyes to stare into a set of beautiful blue eyes. As well as the large female they belonged to.

Firebrand's new guest was elegant and beautiful, covered by a thick golden head of hair that positively glimmered in the moonlight. It was a woman. This one though, didn't feel normal by any standard. She gave off a frighteningly powerful presence. Her skin was pale and pure, like the sunrise. She wore a golden winged tiara across her forehead that seemed to merge into the thick locks of her hair. Her upper torso was covered by a silver plated cuirass that seemed to enhance her feminine form. It was connected to a royal blue tunic that flowed down to her thighs and split off into four strips. Each strip was covered by an ornate plate of armor that seemed to provide extra protection.

Ancient and almighty, wise and graceful. Her lips curled up into a smile. Not an evil, malevolent smile, but a kind, compassionate smile one might associate with a loving mother.

"Peace be with you young Firebrand," the woman said in a commanding voice. "I do believe that it is time that you rejoined the waking world. You and your father have much to do, and very little time to do it, I'm afraid."

Before he could ask any further questions, the woman blew out a long cool breath that washed over the foal. It was a soothing sensation, like being covered by a gentle meadow breeze in Summer. Firebrand felt his eyelids grow heavy as the scene of the dark forest and the mysterious woman disappeared into the darkness of slumber.

Darkness clouded his vision, and his whole surroundings changed. He began to stir back to consciousness as he felt himself being laid on something soft and malleable. It felt cool against his fur as he rolled around in the comforting substance. It smelled fresh and earthy, like the soil from a clean open meadow. He thought that he could vaguely hear familiar voices, but he didn't care. After a few minutes, the larger figure, carrying something big and long with both arms receded off in another direction. Though he froze suddenly when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps drawing near. His eyelids slowly opened to a blurred environment all around. The constant extreme temperatures of the cold cavern and the hot interior of the castle irritating his large eyes. Though one humanoid shape seemed awfully familiar to him, but he was unsure why. It stepped closer and Firebrand was able to make out familiar colors.

Red.....and blue....

The figure pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the foal's eyes clean, instantly improving his vision.

What Firebrand saw made his heart leap with joy.

"D-Daddy?" the foal asked tearfully.

"Miss me buddy?"

"DADDY!!!!"

The foal jumped into his arms and started sobbing with joy.

All Steve could do was hold the foal tightly and try to avoid crying himself as he did his best to calm down the hysterical foal. His tiny hooves gripped his body armor firmly, desperately holding on to Steve for dear life. As if he thought that he would lose him if he let go for so much as a moment. The soldier didn't mind too much. It relieved Cap greatly to have his traveling companion back in his arms.

"I'm here, I'm here," was all Steve could say.

Though the third time in only a few days, Steve was regretting allowing Firebrand to sneak into his duffel bag and into an active war zone. Blood and Death were not things that a child should be seeing, let alone experiencing. It pained Steve to think about the kinds of horrors Madame Hydra subjected Firebrand to. Upon closer inspection, he found tell tale signs of wounds. Pieces of his mane were ripped out, multiple scratches were around his muzzle, and he could feel holes on his back that seemed tender and painful whenever his hands strayed too close.

Rage towards all of Hydra began to bubble within Steve, threatening to explode at any moment. Though he knew if he didn't keep his head cool and his senses sharp, they may never make it out of their current predicament alive. Steve knew that in time, while these experiences may be painful now, they would eventually come to make both of them stronger in body, spirit, and in mind.

"Hey buddy, I know you're upset, but we've gotta hurry. Falsworth is in trouble and we need to help him. He doesn't have a lot of time." Steve said.

"Uncah Fally in trouble?" he asked clumsily. "The bad green lady took him Daddy. I tried to help him but..."

Firebrand started to cry again, but reassurance from Steve helped his mood tremendously.

"Hey, don't you ever blame yourself alright? You couldn't have helped him alone. The fact that you at least tried is enough and I think Falsworth knew that. I need you to be strong for him and for me alright? We're gonna see things that are really
scary, but you are going to have to be brave. Just remember, I'm right here with you."

Firebrand sniffled a couple of times, but he tried his best to swallow his tears and steel himself. It felt unpleasant, but if it will help to save his new friend, he would do it.

"A-alright Daddy. I'll try."

"That's all I can ask for," Steve said with a smile.

The two shared a hug and Steve pulled out Firebrand's harness which Steve had recovered. It was beat up quite severely but it still seemed to be in one piece. He felt weak, but Firebrand did his best to crawl back into the soft straps as Cap picked him back up and gently tied the harness around his back. The straps dug into sore spots of his flesh, sending soft waves of pain through his tiny body, but Firebrand did his best to ignore it.

Looking around, Firebrand got a better view at their new location. Steve had called it an estate, though at the time, Firebrand had no concept of what that was. It appeared to be a large home of some sort. Its entrance hallway oozed with wealth as the first thing he noticed was rows of statues on either side. The gleaming white marble statues were shaped like praying women as their heads were bowed and their hands were clenched together. The hallway went upwards a hundred feet, ascending with a couple of rows of steps every so often. The floor was adorned with a maroon red carpet with gold accents stitched into the edges. In the main stair well, he was able to make out a massive indentation in the opposite wall at the end of the hallway. There were three large statues of angels each with a different size and made with very different materials. The largest was made of white marble, the middle one was made of silver granite, and the final smallest one was made of pitch black onyx. Their placement made it possible for them to be seen all the way from the entrance. The significance of the statues puzzled Firebrand to say the least.

The stairwell itself was half the size of a ballroom as stairways led up and down the floors of the estate. What drew their attention however, wasn't the broken glass covering the floors, but the gaping hole in the ceiling where a sky light dome used to be. It was barely covered by the large ornate chandelier that hung from the ceiling. The duo could make out fire and smoke billowing out from somewhere nearby outside of the building.

"Hmmm...the invaders plane must have crashed near here." Steve said aloud to himself.

A chilling cackle from nearby sent Firebrand into a fit of shivers, bringing back the memory of his most recent dream.

"Ah, I absolutely love a persistent suitor. Perhaps I can make an exception for you Captain. Under certain circumstances...." Madame Hydra said in a sultry voice nearby.

"Sorry, sweetie, but I have my eye on someone else," Steve said confidently as he carefully inched towards one of the hallways.

"Yes, the Agent. We have crossed paths before. Perhaps I can convince you of my superiority to her? I will admit that you are strong Captain, not as strong as my master, but adequate."

Steve circled around another corner and found his way into a larger room, which must have been a ballroom at one point, from the beautiful tiles that were laid across most of the center portion of the room. Steve couldn't help but think that the entire castle must have been beautiful before Hydra came in and destroyed most of it. As they walked in, Steve could hear the sound of unenthusiastic clapping coming from one of the balconies. Turning around, they saw that it was Madame Hydra, taunting them from afar. Steve couldn't see it, but he could tell that the sight of Madame Hydra was scaring him. The foal had frozen still, as if he was trying hard not to let the evil woman see him.

"Where's Falsworth?" Steve demanded.

"Where we all are!" she replied. "Where he's most useful to Hydra."

"You're used to speaking to us when we're restrained, or behind bars, or on an operating table," Steve growled, putting an emphasis on the last thing. "But things are different now. I'm not one of the helpless prisoners you enjoy toying with....and I will ask again before I break your pretty nose with my shield. WHERE...IS....FALSWORTH?"

The woman simply gave the two of them an enraged deathly glare and pulled out two large pistols.

"He'd say that he's in hell!" she shouted. "Let me send you to him!"

Before they could react, she threw four gas canisters at each of the exits, preventing the duo from escaping. She quickly followed up with constant volleys of rapid fire from her pistols, barely giving Steve enough time to hold up his shield.

"Why don't you just give up now Captain? You are only delaying the inevitable!"

Madame Hydra proved a much better shot than most of the grunts and soldiers he had previously encountered as she followed his every movement and wouldn't give Steve so much as a single moment to let down his guard.

"I see that your runt survived the slaughter of the Screamers! It may prove even more useful to my master's plans than I thought. I'll gun you down quickly and retrieve my prize."

After ten seconds of constant firing, the Madame stopped to quickly reload, giving Steve a few seconds to enact his new plan.

Watching her hand movements closely as she reloaded and aimed back at him, he waited until the moment her trigger finger moved. When the crack of bullets leaving their barrels went off, he swung his shield horizontally, sending the bullets right back into Madame Hydra. The bullets flew right threw her shoulders, making her shriek in pain.

"Dodge that," Steve spat.

"TO MY SIDE! QUICKLY!" she barked.

Suddenly, more Hydra soldiers wearing breathing masks emerged from the clouds of gas blocking each passageway.

"Don't allow him to reach the mistress!" one of them cried.

Their attempts to stop him proved completely ineffective as Steve mowed through the first wave of soldiers in record time.

"KILL HIM YOU FOOLS! HE'S ONE MAN! DRAG HIM DOWN!"

She soon sent out a second wave of better equipped soldiers wearing more armor in an attempt to distract Steve. Three soldiers rushed in at Steve and began to grapple with him, trying to pull him to the ground and subdue him. While this was happening, Firebrand saw Madame Hydra circle around the room and take aim right at Steve's head while he was distracted. He was deathly afraid of the woman, but he was even more afraid of the thought of someone hurting his new daddy. He knew that he would have to act quickly if he was going to help Steve succeed.

Mimicking his actions once again, Firebrand held his hooves up to a ready position and watched Madame Hydra's movements carefully. When her trigger finger twitched, Firebrand reacted as soon as her pistols fired off another volley of rounds. He crossed his horse shoes together and swung horizontally, blocking the bullets and sending them flying right back into the Madame. This time they impacted into her legs, causing her to collapse in pain temporarily and scream curses in german.

"Thanks little buddy," Steve wheezed out as he pushed off all three soldiers and started finishing them off.

As soon as the last wave was defeated, Madame Hydra scoffed at the duo's efforts and escaped out of the room through a different passage.

"This is beneath me," she growled.

"Running when things get tough huh? I'm starting to sense a pattern." Steve retorted watching the Madame run off.

"Where'd the nasty lady go?" Firebrand asked angrily. "She tried to hurt you daddy!"

"Gone...but she couldn't have gotten far." Steve replied with a chuckle to the foal. "Looks like she was heading to the East Wing of the estate. Which means that is where we are going too."

Looking around the room, Steve found a set of doors which were thankfully untouched by the constant volley of gas canisters Madame Hydra was throwing around before. He went up to the doors and kicked them in, allowing them to pass through. He was led through another hallway and into a lavish lounge area. It was accompanied by lavish chairs and loveseats sitting in front of a roaring fire. Above the hearth were two coats of arms, presumably belonging to the Zemo family and another. Off to the side was an imposing statue of a german knight, fully dressed in armor. He was holding his sword downwards in a ceremonial manner. Off to the left was a table displaying various urns and vases that looked very rare and exceedingly valuable.

"Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly," Steve recited knowing full well they were most likely walking into another trap .

They found another set of stairs that led to another long hallway. Through one of the nearest double doors, they could hear somebody running.

Steve broke the doors down and found Madame Hydra running, clutching her shoulder in pain. She turned back to shoot at Steve, but Firebrand launched his horse shoes at her and knocked one of the pistols out of her hand. She sprinted through a doorway as Steve tried to pursue her.

"GET BACK HERE!" Steve shouted.

"Quickly you idiots! Seal the door!"

Steve was fast, but unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough to get through as the security door clamped down and shut off their route. The duo did their best to try to break through the door, but it remained sealed, forcing them to look for an alternative route.

Searching through each of the rooms in the hallway, they were met with dead end after dead end, unable to find any other route into the East Wing of the Estate. Along the way, they pocketed a number of treasures and documents that they stuffed into their ever growing bag. Room after room, they searched, until they came to the room closest to the security door.

Giving Firebrand a break, Steve did most of the searching himself as he scanned each of the bookshelves in the room for any sign of something suspicious.

For the first few minutes, Steve found nothing of particular note or significance, until he felt something strange coming from one of the book shelves. It was a light breeze of air. It smelled of oil and gunpowder.

Following the breeze, he came to a smaller shelf that stood up against the wall adjacent to the door. Feeling up the sides of the bookshelf, he soon found a switch near the bottom. Pushing it, something inside clicked the shelf, and pushed it aside as across the floor. Revealing a dusty old hidden passageway.

"I bet this leads into the East Wing Trophy Room. The Madame probably doesn't know about these," Steve said mischievously.

"Why is there hole behind books?" Firebrand inquired.

"Some really old houses and castles have secret passageways. People installed them if they needed to make a quick get away. Things were a lot more violent back then even more than they are now buddy. Perhaps when you're a bit older, I'll fill you in on some of mankind's less proud moments. Unfortunately, we are living through one of them."

Leaving Firebrand to ponder on that thought, Steve made his way through the old passageway. It was clear that it hadn't been used in quite a long time. The floorboards were covered with dust and every corner was coated in cob webs.

The passageway pointed them around several corners until Steve made it to the end where he found the backside of another book shelf. Activating the mechanism, the book shelf slid off to the side, and the duo emerged into the Trophy Room where Madame Hydra and the rest of her troops were waiting. They appeared to be preoccupied with watching the sealed security door, unaware that they were there in the room with them. However, this time she came more prepared with more heavily armored grunts and multiple Wardens that filled the room.

"Keep your eyes on that door!" Madame Hydra commanded. "It won't hold the two of them for long!"

Steve knew that after their display in the West Wing, Madame Hydra was going to be smarter with her tactics. He would have to play his cards right if they were going to catch her and her men off guard.

"Firebrand. I have an idea, but its a little risky. Do you trust me?"

"Yeh!" Firebrand said excitedly.

"Alright, hop out on to the floor. I have a little surprise planned for Madame Hydra's goons here."

Pacing back and forth across her balcony, Madame Hydra waited anxiously for the arrival of Captain America and his equine companion. His interference in their plans was beginning to prove troublesome, and her master was not going to tolerate any delays. The Captain however proved formidable as he mowed through many of her troops. So she took the extra precaution of laying a trap for him in the event that he found a way to blow down the security door.

Suddenly, the most awful gonging sound rang through the entire room. It vibrated everything, including the floor beneath her feet. She and her soldiers tried covering their ears in an attempt to block out the horrible sound. It was like being under a giant church bell as it was swinging back and forth.

The shaking became so bad that parts of the floor caved in, sending most of her heavy armored Wardens falling down to the floors below.

A familiar shield came out of no where as it bounced from one soldier to the next, decimating most of her force in only a few seconds.

Cap came out into the open and finished off a few remaining stragglers that were in the room. Picking up one of the smaller grunts, Steve picked him up and tossed the grunt over thirty feet, nearly hitting Madame Hydra.

"Where the hell did you take Falsworth?"

"You will soon see him...in hell! TROOPS! TO MY SIDE!"

More soldiers swarmed into the room as Madame Hydra threw another set of gas canisters to prevent Cap or Firebrand from escaping.

Steve and Firebrand had an even harder time dodging both Madame Hydra and the three Wardens as they constantly had to switch between blocking blows from either opponent. The only openings they were given were when Madame Hydra was forced to reload.

Getting an idea, Firebrand ran away from the Wardens and gazed up to where Madame Hydra was standing. He saw she was carrying a number of gas canisters that were hanging around her waist.

Concentrating carefully on the canister, Firebrand grabbed the canister within his magical grasp. Madame Hydra, startled by the display, stopped only for a moment, giving Firebrand the opportunity to act as he squeezed the canister, causing it to activate.

The smoke clouded her vision and stopped her volley of gunfire as she tried to get away from the noxious gas.

The opening allowed Steve to promptly take care of the rest of her soldiers before moving on to the Madame herself.

"K-Kill them y-you c-cretins!" she coughed out. "They are only a man and a pony! YOU ARE HYDRA!!"

Steve just smiled as he saw the state she was in, coughing violently as her reddened eyes watered profusely.

"A man and a pony that you are obviously afraid of....unless you care to prove otherwise." Steve slyly said.

Madame Hydra hissed at the duo and leaped down off of her balcony.

"Gladly," she growled.

Time moved slowly, as soon as Madame Hydra landed on the floor below, Steve felt adrenaline rushing into his blood stream as he dashed in. Punching her in the abdomen she felt the air out of her lungs as she was uppercutted in the chin so hard, that she would flip backwards on to her feet. Each time, she tried countering with a shot to the head, but Cap would push her arm to the side as he closed in. Steve repeated this three more times, not allowing her to have so much as a split second to defend herself. Uppercutting her for the fourth time was the most powerful by far as she was sent flying into the wall. One of the bookshelves was completely wrecked as Madame Hydra quickly got back up on her feet, spitting a big glob of blood out of her mouth.

Steve tried to subdue her, but she quickly pulled out a smoke bomb, and tossed it to the ground, covering her movement across to the other side of the room.

"Give up Captain!" Madame Hydra called. "Your friend is lost!"

Picking up Firebrand and putting him back in his harness, he ran up another flight of stairs to where Madame Hydra was waiting for the two of them.

For the final time, she blocked off their escape with another volley of gas canisters as two Juggernaut Flamers and two Wardens marched out of the only other passageways.

"We shall deal with the both of you accordingly Captain," she said sinisterly.

Soon, Steve felt his muscles scream for relief as he dashed through the small room, getting in hit after hit to each of the soldiers, all the while blocking close range rapid gunfire from Madame Hydra. Even Firebrand was unable to see anything clearly as he was shaken around, hanging off of Steve. Two of the Wardens tried double teaming Steve, but he quickly saw an opportunity as he pushed their claws into each other. The two Wardens were locked up, like two dueling stags as he clubbed both of them with his shield and sent them tumbling down. Madame Hydra tried to quickly gun down the duo multiple times, but thankfully the immense size of her Wardens made great cover for them, weaving around the room every time she got too close.

When the last of her troops had been finished off, she retreated back up to the safety of another balcony and began pelting the duo with a barrage of napalm grenades.

"Stay still you mongrels!"

She kept Cap and Firebrand on their toes by switching back and forth between lobbing grenades and using her rapid fire pistols, all the while dodging everything that they tried to throw at her.

Steve ended up moving in the wrong direction and had the misfortune of getting shot by three stray bullets he failed to block. Thankfully, they merely impacted into his shoulder and missed all of his vital organs. Things were looking pretty grim for the both of them as they were almost quite literally backed into a corner as all they could do was defend.

However, when Firebrand saw the case of munitions behind Madame Hydra, he came up with a wild idea.

"Daddy! Throw frisbee and toss me!" the foal shouted over the explosions. "I'll make green box go boom!"

"What???" Steve asked the foal.

When he saw the munitions crate behind the Madame, the wheels in his head began to turn as he smiled.

"Ahhhhhh, alright. But we play this my way alright? The last thing I need is Peggy blasting me with her rifle for getting you shot."

Firebrand agreed as Steve waited for when Madame Hydra switched back to her grenades. When she went to toss one, Steve launched it back, watching as it blew up in her face. He then held out his shield like a tray as Firebrand hopped on. Pushing it upwards, Firebrand jumped higher than normal, clearing forty feet. Madame Hydra regained her footing and tried to shoot the foal out of the air, but was once again stopped by a throw from Cap's shield.

Having a clear view, Firebrand looked inside himself, and felt the familiar sensation of magical power. This time though, it was fueled by many strong emotions. A tension built up inside his horn and grew more and more until he forced it out, sending a bolt of red energy right past Madame Hydra.

"HA! Did you think that would--" she started, but realized what he was aiming for instead.

"KA-BOOOOOOOM!!!!" the foal shrieked with glee.

The munitions crate was struck by Firebrand and exploded in Madame Hydra's face. The entire side of the building was blown clean off, and the outside was completely visible.

Steve caught Firebrand in one hand and nimbly dropped him back into his harness. The foal laughed in excitement, feeling a lot better than he was before.

All she could do was scream in pain and anger as she grabbed the side of her face that had been scorched.

"You....You...." was all she could say.

"I suggest you surrender Ophelia. If you come quietly, I can get you medical attention," Steve said calmly.

Her eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but quickly reverted back to full of rage.

"I don't know how you got ahold of that information Captain, but I assure you. THIS is a badge of honor!" she cried defiantly referring to her new injury. "I would gladly sacrifice my life to give the master the time that he requires!"

"If you are seriously calling Zola "master", than you're sicker than I--"

"Zola? No, I answer to a greater power Captain! The one who will lead this world into a glorious new age!" she proclaimed.

"The Red Skull? He's here? Tell me where! NOW!!!"

She looked out of the opening the explosion made by Firebrand and started backing up.

"Farewell Captain and red mongrel. May your deaths be agonizing."

Steve held up his shield as she gave them one last volley of gun fire before escaping the area.

"HAIL HYDRA!" she cried.

The duo were left once again to themselves, feeling all of the aches and pains associated with a tough battle. This time though, they were properly facing through it together as father and son.

"Nasty lady got away," Firebrand pouted. "I wanted to blow her up for hurting you daddy!"

"Don't worry, we'll get her soon enough," Steve reassured. "We should follow her anyway. She will probably be heading right for the skull. Then after that, we should get to looking for this "Sleeper" we keep hearing about. Its gonna drive me nuts if I don't get some answers on that."

Making his way through the last of the passageways and out of the estate, Cap came across another journal entry from the mysterious Baron Zemo, detailing his meeting with Arnim Zola. Apparently, even the Baron thought that Zola had far pushed the boundaries of technological advancement when it came to his recklessness with the subject. It made Steve wonder just exactly where Zemo's true allegiances lied if he was never satisfied with his partnership with the Skull.

However, it would have to be a concerning thought for another time as they finally found their way to the hole in the wall where they leaped out of Zemo's private estate and into a heavily guarded field of mines, mortars, and tanks....

Author's Note

I hope you guys all enjoyed this one. It took quite a while, but I rather enjoyed writing this one. Being the longest chapter of the bunch so far, I had a lot of things to talk about.

As always, I hope you are enjoying the story Josh! I wish you and Aramau the best.
Sheva Brachot and L'chaim to the both of you.

Let me know folks if you find anything majorly grading.

MAJOR UPDATE: The Narnia plotline attempt is gone. I've replaced it with more fitting Norse mythology that actually coincides with Marvel

Super Soldier: They Were Expendable

Dropping from several hundred feet in the air certainly does damage to most. To a normal human, it would mean being paralyzed or even killed. For Steven Rogers, it only means a slight jolt of pain in his ankles as he impacted on the dirt below. Many of the incidents of the past few days had dulled Steve to the idea of caution and safety. Before the day was out, he was certain that he would have a large number of injuries and battle scars that he would have to tend to.

The open area of the castle the duo had found themselves in was a complex maze of trenches, dug into what appeared to be the remains of an orchard. The terrain rolled up and down every now and then, providing great height and protection for any troops traveling through. A mile away lied a building that was quite newer than the rest of the ancient castle. It appeared to be a communications station. Two large antennae towered above, giving Cap an idea as to their next immediate objective.

"We need to warn HQ about the Skull little buddy," he said to the foal. "See those big shiny sticks that stick up into the sky? Always look for those if you need to call for help out here. There's probably a long range radio inside."

"Like the box you called Mommy with!" Firebrand stated knowingly, understanding the concept.

"A little bigger, but still along the same lines," Steve chuckled.

They headed into the maze, unsure of what kinds of obstructions that they were going to find inside.

Sure enough, only a few yards into the trenches, they caught the familiar ominous sight of a cannon's nose, sticking up over the wall. The barrel was quite long, and he knew what it meant for the Allied invaders.

"Boom Boom Sticks that hurt air planes," Firebrand squeaked.

"Anti-Aircraft Guns." he corrected. "Always hated those things. We shouldn't leave them operational."

He snuck up to the mount where the gun stood and pulled out a small amount of plastic explosives, but stopped when he remembered something.

'Maybe this might be a good time to test out Firebrand's magic a bit.' he thought.

"Hey little buddy, I want to try something. Remember what you did to Madame Hydra?" he asked when he turned his head to the foal.

The little foal shook his head up and down rapidly.

"Do you think that you can shoot your magic over the walls?"

Firebrand gave a look like he was thinking for a moment, before he nodded a few times. He closed his eyes in concentration, and ignited his horn.

Steve watched as his horn's magic glowed brighter and brighter, and grew larger outwards. Soon, the magic was gaining the shape of a ball as Firebrand finally let go of his control and launched his new magical invention over the tall concrete walls.

"Grenade!" someone screamed.

A second later, the cannon went up like a firecracker and was completely obliterated. Steve huddled up against the wall as chunks of burning metal and wood started flying all over the place.

Three armored grunts came running around the corner and discovered their hiding place.

"Its the American! Subdue him or Madame Hydra will have our hides!" one of them cried.

Jumping into two if them, Steve bashed their heads against the wall, while Firebrand levitated a large piece of rubble from the remains of the cannon and dropped it on the last grunt. He giggled madly at the destruction he was causing, making Steve simply give the foal an odd look.

"You alright?" he asked dryly.

"That was fun! Let's do more!"

Moving on, they started to go back into the deep trenches. Steve noticed that the soil in this area of the mountains was filled with a hefty amount of clay. Perfect for building any sort of constructs or reinforcements into the terrain.

When all of a sudden, a loud crack whizzed by his head and impacted right into the wall of the trench. The sound caused him to somersault over to a safe spot where he could get a better look at their newest adversary.

"Sniper. Damn," Steve cursed to himself. "Can't get through until we can see him."

"Snipe?" Firebrand asked goofily.

"That's a bird. A Sniper is...well, that guy. I've taught you already a little bit about guns right?"

"Mommy told me not to touch them."

Looking around, Steve found a discarded empty green wine bottle, most likely left behind by one of the grunts. Poking it our around the corner and into the main trench way, Steve tilted it around, using the bottle as a make shift mirror.

"Well, I'd might as well teach you to at least respect them. Or know how to get around them." Steve instructed.

With the green glass of the bottle, he discovered a figure standing over the wall of the trenches guarding the way from anyone trying to get through.

The soil in this one section was too soft for his shield to get a good ricochet, but he had a different idea in mind for the sniper. Launching out, Steve was quick enough to dodge the first shot from the sniper, which allowed him to stand at the ready with his shield. Watching the sniper's finger movements from forty feet away was an interesting challenge, as he tried firing off a shot right at Steve's head. Pushing all of his adrenaline into a single swing, Steve outpaced the sniper's bullet as he smacked it right back. The sniper collapsed into the trench with a thud, as red blood oozed through his uniform.

Gathering Firebrand back up, they moved on to the next cannon in the field. Stepping into the next trench, Steve noticed that the trenches were more heavily fortified. New thick boards and metal rivets lined the passage ways, most likely to prevent collapse from bombardment or hazardous local weather.

This time, they encountered less soldiers than usual guarding the cannon. Only four Hydra technicians appeared to be guarding the power box that operated the weapon. Steve overheard them speaking about new battalions that had been brought to the area to deal with him and his Allied friends.

"The American would be a fool to come through here," one of the technicians said. "Madame Hydra's newest battalion is guaranteed to slay him where he stands."

"If she has actually focused on properly training them that is." another said.

"Quiet you fools! Say no more on the matter. The American is around here somewhere and Hydra doesn't need talkative idiots exposing our plans. Regardless, we must protect the cannons. We are replaceable. They are not."

Seeing that they were lightly armed, Steve gave Firebrand a chance to stealth and alternative forms of destruction as he set him up with a fairly simple task. Throwing the glass bottle he picked up at the concrete mount of the cannon, Steve drew out two of the technicians and quietly knocked them out. Meanwhile, Firebrand snuck around the other side and crawled toward the last two. While they were distracted, Firebrand tied their shoes together and looked around for anything that might help.

One of their munitions belts had been unclipped and placed off to the side while they were busy doing maintenance on the cannon. Firebrand found a familiar green object that he had seen Steve use in combat a few times before.

"Pineapples!" he chattered excitedly.

The two soldiers turned around to the sound of his voice as Firebrand covered his mouth, realizing what he had done. Levitating the belt in his magic, he was unable to pull off the set of "pineapples" but, he found another solution as he pulled of all the pins and clips at once as he tossed the belt at the soldiers. They tried to run, but fell flat on their faces as Firebrand dashed back out to Steve and left the technicians to their doom.

"Bye Bye Baddies!" he giggled.

After hearing the screaming and the shouting, Steve saw Firebrand run as fast as he could out of the cannon's mount and jump back into his harness. A few seconds later, the cannon exploded, forcing Steve to run down the next passageway quickly before any shrapnel fell on to them.

Soon the duo found a bunker hidden in the trenches. It appeared to be a temporary barracks for the battalion that was stationed at the communications building and there in the field. A number of munitions crates and filing cabinets filled the room. Off to the side, Steve spotted another familiar object sitting in a slightly opened crate filled with valuables. It was a golden tankard with flowery images engraved upon its coating. Much like the ones he had been finding all over the castle, he figured it had to have contained another one of Zemo's journal entries. Before he advanced upon the soldiers within however, he overheard their conversation.

"Did you hear what the American did to the Baron?" one of the grunts asked.

"Yes, it was quite brutal. It is fortuitous that he is still alive even after such a fall." another added. "Though they say his recovery will take many months. I heard he was moved off site to our headquarters."

'So he survived huh?' Steve thought to himself. 'At the very least he's gonna be out of the picture for a while. Though we need to capture him as soon as possible so that while can turn into for good.'

"Bad claw man okay?" Firebrand asked nervously as his tiny ears expressively pressed up against his head..

"He won't be okay for a long time little buddy, so don't worry about that," Steve said comfortingly.

Tossing his shield at the nearest com unit, the rest went through a chain reaction and consecutively exploded, making the bunker shake and vibrate. Pieces of the ceiling came loose and the whole room began to collapse.

Looking around frantically, Steve pulled out one of the com units and shoved a couple of discarded boards into the damaged spot, which thankfully stabilized the bunker's dirt ceiling.

"That was close," Steve breathed out in relief.

Picking up the tankard and examining it, sure enough, he found that the bottom was detachable as he found a folded up page in the secret compartment. Unfolding the yellowing old page, he read aloud the contents of the page to Firebrand, hoping that he could understand some of it.

"My prior concerns are mollified. Today, I confronted Zola over the risks his twisted experiments pose to the splendor of my home and the treasures housed within. I informed the Skull that he would need to be reined in if the forces of Hydra were to continue to be tolerated at Castle Zemo. Perhaps, the Skull saw reason; perhaps my own inconsiderable army, loyal only to me, gave him pause. Regardless, I am pleased with the outcome: Zola's work suspended, the man himself assigned to simple research."

"Bad man hurt Mr. Zemo's pretty house?" Firebrand asked quizzically.

"That's what I'm getting from this anyway. Its obvious Zola didn't stop his experiments and the castle got wrecked. Where Zemo is though, we are gonna have to find out. It sounds like he could provide us with information on the Skull's operations." Steve replied thoughtfully. "We need all of the journal entries to get the whole story."

After gathering anything else of note, they made their way out of the bunker and back out into the labyrinth like trenches. Soon, their trek led the duo back outside, where they came to another Hydra security checkpoint. However, the area seemed quieter than normal.

'Where are all the guards?' Steve thought cautiously.

Scanning every possible hiding place in the immediate area, Steve slowly stepped out of the trenches and into an open security checkpoint. On the other side of the field was a rocket launcher mount sitting in a shallow concrete pit. Two sniper towers on either sides of the checkpoint appeared to be deserted, though Steve kept a close eye on them at all times. A few nearby birds chirping their usual cheerful songs and the mountain breeze whistling through the castle were the only things to break up the relative silence.

While Steve was examining what seemed to be a harmless pile of junk off to the right side of the yard, the inactive rocket launcher blasted off a missile in their direction. Steve went to pull his shield up, but stopped when Firebrand leaped out of his harness. Landing on the ground, Firebrand halted the missile with a glow from his horn, leaving it hovering in the air. With a grunt of effort, the colt sent the missile right back at the missile mount. The mount instantly immolated as pieces of the rocket launcher flew in every direction.

Soldiers then started coming out of every fox hole and camouflaged spot as Cap and Firebrand sprinted towards the last trench passage towards the complex.

The first few waves of soldiers were not much problem for them as Steve's shield took out most of them with only a few well placed throws. Unfortunately, when they emerged once again from thee trenches, their problems would only increase from there.

Three Hydra Juggernaut Scorchers and two Wardens were waiting for them, quickly followed by a small brigade of grunts who came running from around the complex. Shipping containers were stacked up everywhere, giving the enemy perfect hiding places to snipe.

"Damn," Steve swore. "We're too exposed out here. I'm not seeing a safe way through this."

"We have the two of you surrounded Captain," one of the Warden's said in a deep menacing voice. "Lay down your arms and we won't be forced to rip both of yours off."

Firebrand looked up and noticed that one of the crates stacked on top of the steel containers was dangerously leaning on the edge. Seeing the placement of the soldiers, Firebrand came up with an idea.

Focusing as much magic as he was able to into his horn, the colt struggled and whimpered in pain as he pulled the heavy crates over the side and right onto the grunts. The crate shattered upon impact, seriously injuring most of the soldiers instantly. The contents of the crate spilled all over the ground, as Firebrand gave Steve the opportunity that he was looking for.

Not noticing that Firebrand jumped down, Steve sprinted across the yard and charged the group of Juggernauts, before any of them could counter attack. As soon as he was in range, Steve leaped off the ground and used his momentum to ram his shield right into a Warden's skull like a battering ram. Firebrand meanwhile was busy handling the last few grunts that Steve hadn't dealt with. Using his tiny frame to dodge any attacks they might have used against him, Firebrand expertly moved through the battlefield. Even though using magic while moving proved difficult for the pony, Firebrand took advantage of the environmental obstacles by luring soldiers into ditches or over barbed wire. One of the grunts who tried to grab the colt met with a set of teeth clamping down on his hand. The pain forced him to drop his stun baton, giving Firebrand a new weapon to "play" with.

The stun baton proved to be a valuable tool for Firebrand whenever he was unable to get close enough to use his mysterious horse shoes or whenever his magic needed ample time to recover. He was forced to awkwardly grip the human weapon in between his growing teeth by the leather grip. The baton activated automatically as soon as Firebrand fully "gripped" it with his mouth.

Soon, most all of the soldiers in the field had been dispatched, except for two remaining Scorchers and a Warden. Steve moved on to the Warden by wrenching its riot shield out of its arm and go in for a solid kick to the midsection. It fell backwards and tried swiping back at Steve in retaliation. Catching the massive steel claw of the Warden, the two were caught in a violent grapple. The two Scorchers left took the opportunity to try to kill Steve off with their flamethrowers while the Warden had Steve held down.

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve had only a brief glace at the two flamethrowers only a few feet in front of his face, before he saw flames rush out of the nozzles. When all of a sudden, a flash of red and gold hair dashed in front of their flamethrowers and took the flames head on.

"FIREBRAND!!!!!" Steve screamed in horror.

The foal he had come to love with all of his heart, was being burned alive right before his eyes, and he was unable to do a single thing about it.

Once again, Steve felt his very blood boil and his heart scream in agony. In a fit of rage, Steve headbutted the Warden, knocking him out, and dived at the two Scorchers, sending them sailing through the air. Grabbing ahold of one of their arms from behind, Steve activated their grenade launcher and shot it at the other Scorcher. The resulting explosion sent the other one flying backwards and into the concrete wall of the comm tower.

Turning on the last Juggernaut, he spun around and used his momentum to smash his throat, collapsing his wind pipe and killing him instantly. However, killing the Scorcher didn't feel like enough as he just kept punching the face of the corpse he had just created for killing his new son. The feeling burned at his senses and destroyed his judgement. Soon, his knuckles started to bleed underneath his combat gloves from punching the metal mask. So much so, that he didn't notice a familiar figure slowly walking towards him.

"Daddy?"

Cap went in for another punch, but stopped when he heard the familiar voice. The word made his heart nearly leap right out of his chest. Turning his head to the side, he discovered Firebrand alive with his mane glowing, hovering and flowing in the wind for a brief second. It moved much like a raging wildfire and felt warm like a comforting camp fire.

"Daddy...are you okay? I feel funny...."

His mane then flattened back down to normal, and Firebrand started to tiredly wobble all over the place before collapsing to the ground.

"Firebrand!"

Steve reached toward the foal, but stopped, fearing that what he was seeing was merely a hallucination brought on by extreme emotions. He trusted his instincts though and placed his hand on Firebrand, thankfully feeling his soft fur. It was now quite hot to touch, even underneath his thick gloves. It was almost like sticking his hand on a hot frying pan, but Steve pushed through the pain to wrap his arms around the pony. Simply glad that he was alive and well.

"What do ya know? You're fireproof," he chuckled painfully. "Gotta remember that."

Steve was feeling quite tired himself as all he could think about doing was sitting down in the soft dirt holding his son, listening to the wind whistle and the clouds go by that bright sunny afternoon.

After what felt like an hour of sitting in silence, Steve shook himself out of his stupor and remembered his mission. He once again strapped Firebrand back into his harness. Picking up his shield with an aching hand, Steve looked towards the entrance to the communications center and marched forward, now with confusing thoughts moving through his head on where his responsibilities lied and what his priorities should be.

He silently entered into the building, uncaring of how run down and dilapidated the entire facility seemed to be. Stairwells were barely still usable, pieces of the walls were falling off, and lights were barely hanging on to the rotted ceiling. Excessive amounts of mold and mildew were growing all over the walls. The inside of the building was filled with a thick atmosphere of humidity and moisture.

There was another set of security doors across the way which blocked off any conventional ways to exit the building or move to the next floor.

"Ophelia probably warned them about us," he groaned in annoyance. "Oh well, we never really use the normal ways anyway. There's probably a radio in here. Gotta find it quickly."

Walking into one of the destroyed stairwells, Cap launched off of the remaining bottom steps and grabbed onto the mounts still bolted to the wall. Shimmying across, he made it to a higher floor and maneuvered through the rest of the building. Crossing rusted old beams and swinging off of grimy pipes, he soon found his way to the third floor where several well used radio units had been left behind. Walking up to one of them, he switched it on and unhooked the microphone. He only had to wait but a couple of seconds for the machine to buzz to life.

"Rogers to base. Come In... Do you copy?"

"This is Peggy. We read you. What's your status? Have you found Firebrand yet?"

'Yeah, I found him...but it wasn't pretty. They...did things to him Peggy. Things that...made me do awful things to them."

"Oh Steve... Is he...alright?" she asked with dread.

"He's alive, but..."

"What?"

"Its going to be a while before he's gonna be comfortable on his own. Zola has been experimenting with people and turning them into twisted creatures. One of them tried to suck out Firebrands magic."

"We'll get through this together Captain. But first we need you to finish your mission and come back alive. What else do you have to report?"

"The Red Skull is on his way...if he's not here already. Any idea on how he might arrive at the castle?"

"Recon shows an air dock on the eastern side of the complex," the Colonel chimed in. "Schmitt has been known to frequently travel by Zeppelin."

"I'm on the eastern edge now. I need to find a better vantage point."

"Their rail system runs fully east to west through the complex. The eastern rail bridge should give you a clear view of the air docks. Find a way to the rail lines."

"But be careful. Both of you. We still don't know Schmidt's full capabilities and Falsworth still remains their prisoner."

"I know. While I'm not sure where, if I can capture the Skull, Hydra will be forced to free Falsworth and every other prisoner here. I've got to try. Rogers out."

Activating a lever off to the side, Steve opened one of the security doors, revealing an elevator that could lead all the way down into the railway tunnels beneath the castle. Hopping down off of a nearby ledge, Steve dropped all the way back down to the bottom floor, hitting the concrete with a solid crack. Firebrand was still out cold and he was hoping that the elevator ride would provide some semblance of rest and respite for the duo who had accomplished so much together. He stepped into the elevator and gave the rusted lever a strong tug, hearing it screech and scratch across its joint as it moved into position. The doors of the elevator closed, once again leaving the duo in a relatively dark, but rather calming place that gave Steve Rogers another moment to think about things. He carefully sat down with Firebrand's harness staying vertical to the floor and closed his eyes for a moment, letting everything melt away and allowing the darkness to envelop him.

Author's Note

Bit of drama and a bit of action and suspense, hope that was another fun chapter for all of you.

As always, tell me what you think and let me know if I need to change anything.

Super Soldier: Red Ball Express

The communications center elevator shook and creaked loudly in its shaft. It was clear that it was badly damaged and falling apart from weeks of disrepair. All of the panels on the inside of the elevator were rusted over, many of them with large holes. Firebrand was having fun enjoying how it was vibrating, shaking him up and down in his harness. Suddenly though, the two faintly heard what sounded like a mechanical shrill cry, followed by a large explosion that echoed through the elevator shaft and rattled the duo all about like they were inside a giant paint mixer. Steve struggled to keep his balance as the elevator moved around.

"N-N-No m-m-m-more sh-sh-sh-shakey!" Firebrand cried as he ignited his horn.

Ribbons of red magical energy flowed from Firebrand's horn and coated the entire insides of the elevator, settling the shaking enough for Steve to stand up straight and activate his communicator.

"What the heck was that? Dugan, come in, we heard an explosion. Dugan, please respond." Steve shouted into his communicator.

"Sorry for the racket Cap. That was just me being my usual clumsy self...seems that I broke their pulse cannon." Dugan sheepishly said through the communicator.

"I don't want any more of the bouncey box Uncah Dummy!" Firebrand complained.

"I'll try to aim better next time then," Dugan chuckled.

Another more faint boom could be heard from outside, followed by some screaming.

"Oops, sorry Cap, gotta go. I'll talk with you again in a bit."

The communicator turned off, forcing Steve to let out a sigh of resignation.

'That guy is going to be the death of me, I just know it,' Steve thought humorously.

The shaking slowed down as the elevator finally came to a screeching stop and slowly opened. The duo ran into what appeared to be a large train tunnel with cargo containers stacked up against the walls. An alarm was blaring through the tunnel as dozens of Hydra technicians ran off left down the tunnel.

"Where are they going?" Firebrand wondered.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that too..." Steve replied thoughtfully. "I really hope the big guy didn't make too much of a mess."

Quietly following behind the large group of Hydra soldiers and technicians, they came out of the tunnel to find a scene wrought with destruction and chaos.

"Yep, that's Dugan's work all right," Steve chuckled.

"He made a mess. Is Uncah Dummy gonna get trap reminded?," Firebrand chattered.

"Reprimanded buddy. And I don't think the Colonel particularly cares how we deal with Hydra." he replied.

Outside of the tunnel, they found the train bridge across the canyon completely destroyed, fallen off down to the green valley thousands of feet below. The Hydra building on the other side was smoldering with large pieces of it blown off by mortar fire. Large boulders of granite were beginning to break off of the mountainside and tumble to the building below. Parts of the building were being crushed under the constant barrage, no doubt killing many of Hydra's troops inside.

"Find the man who did this," one of the technicians breathed out in terror. "If we kill him, Zola might spare our lives."

Taking advantage of the distraction, Cap went in for an attack on the technicians before they were aware of his presence. However, when Steve reeled his shield arm back for a powerful throw, Steve heard Firebrand make a noise and hop out of his harness. Turning around, Steve found Firebrand trying to get into a large opened crate covered by a tarp. Firebrand tugged away at the tarp, revealing a large mounted machine gun stored inside.

"Firebrand don't--" Steve tried to warn but was too late as Firebrand found the triggers of the mounted machine gun and started firing.

The spread of the machine gun was wide and the amount of bullets it spat out at an alarming rate was frightening as Steve ducked out of the way while Firebrand used his magic to hold on to the handles of the machine gun for dear life. It was so powerful that it tossed Firebrand around like a rag doll. Steve was even more concerned by the fact that the colt was taking too much of a liking to it. Before long, most of the Hydra soldiers on the platform had been all but decimated.

"Well, I guess...that's one way to take out soldiers," Steve said unsure. "Peggy is going to gut me like a trout for letting you use that Firebrand."

"The shiny sticks blew through their heads!"

Steve sighed and rolled his eyes as he jogged over towards the colt, when all of a sudden, a loud crack echoed through the air and impacted into the ground below him.

Looking up, Steve saw three Hydra snipers perched atop a high balcony over a hundred feet away from their current position. Another shot was fired, as Steve danced around the ruined train platform trying to think of an idea. Remembering his physics studies with Howard Stark, Steve held his shield perfectly vertically and threw it overhead. Much like the discus throwers of olden Greece. The shield arced high up into the air and impacted against the balcony a hundred feet away with a loud bang. The shock wave from the shield caused something to blow up, sending the three snipers over the railing and careening to their untimely deaths below.

Now that the two had a free moment, Steve walked up to the edge of what used to be one of Hydra's main railway bridges. Cap knew that the destruction would surely slow their progress exponentially. He only hoped that it would actually help the Allied Forces in the long run.

"That little bit of chaos is a thing of beauty Dugan," Steve said approvingly through his comm device. "Now get outside and link up with the others if you can. Or if you're still around, keep looking for any sign of Falsworth. Firebrand and I need to give this castle a look around. Something really fishy has been going on here for a while now."

Then suddenly, the first they heard was a noise like a growl of a wild beast coming from the East. Many of the trees on the other side of the canyon began to creak and crack in the cold, dry wind. A large shape began to emerge over the mountain side, hanging low as if to stay out of sight. Steve recognized the shape almost instantly as it glided over the mountainside and creeped its way closer and closer to Castle Zemo. It was the Red Skull's personal Zeppelin. It was an enormous vehicle, over two hundred feet long and one hundred feet wide. The engine propelling the immense aircraft disturbed all of the environment around it.

Scooping up Firebrand, Steve ducked back into the tunnel to avoid being seen as the Zeppelin closed in.

Firebrand began to shake violently as his eyes were set upon the aircraft.

"Red man is up there," Firebrand stated fearfully.

"Yeah, and we are going to have to face him soon buddy. That's a demon we are going to have to vanquish if we are ever going to get home." Steve said with dread. "And I hate to think about all of the things that might happen if we don't."

Miles away, the Zeppelin touched down at the air dock as an armed escort came to welcome the Red Skull to the castle. Arnim Zola hobbled out of a security door and approached the main door of the Zeppelin where he stood at attention, waiting for his master to emerge. He quickly brushed himself off and adjusted his coat to make himself more presentable for his better.

The door of the Zeppelin opened with a chunk and wheezed outwards as it began to open. The door slid to the side, revealing the imposing figure of the Red Skull as he stepped out on to the cat walk. His pitch black coat gently blew in the wind as he maintained a brisk pace walking towards the castle. Zemo struggled to keep up with him, but managed relatively well as he greeted the man.

"Herr Skull...I assume your journey, was pleasant?" he asked courteously.

"It was....I quite enjoyed...seeing Bavaria's mountains again after all these years. Until I arrived to find my castle under attack." he said with vague irritation.

"A minor annoyance, easily dealt with," Zola assured. "You, ah, did bring the Cosmic Cube with you, did you not?"

"Of course Arnim."

Schmitt presented it to Zola in a taunting manner as if he was holding a treat in front of a dog's face. Zola reached out for the case containing the cube, but Schmitt pulled it back before he could touch it.

"And with it, I will activate the Sleeper myself." he said with malice. "After of course, you give me Erskine's Serum and the source of the foal's magic."

Zola felt himself begin to sweat as he realized he had to pull himself out of a potentially lethal situation.

"Of course," he lied. "It is inside...where no misfortune can befall it."

"From this...."minor annoyance" Arnim?" the Red Skull growled.

"Nevertheless Herr Skull. What we do here today, will crush those idiots of the west. It will turn the tide of the war itself." Zola said, changing the subject.

The Red Skull simply chuckled evilly at that.

"The war?....No....The war....is meaningless. When both sides have weakened each other sufficiently; all the world will meet its true masters. And then we shall set our sights towards...our ultimate prize...A perfect world...of magic and science coinciding in perfect harmony. That foal...will lead me to it. The American will be powerless to stop me from doing so."

"And we will be ready Herr Skull. Hail Hydra. Now if you will follow me, I will show you to our operations here."

"I have received word that the Baron and Ophelia failed me. Where are they now?" Schmitt asked curiously.

"Strucker is being treated in a facility off site, and I do believe Madame Hydra is still on the premises. Though I heard she has locked herself in her barracks and refuses to see anyone or seek medical attention." Zola replied.

"I will deal with her in due time. Let her wallow in her shame and humiliation. She is still a valuable asset. Dump Strucker in the nearest Gulag." he said coldly. "There is a costly price for failure."

"He has children I believe yes?"

"Yes...perhaps they one may one day prove to be much more reliable servant than their predecessor was."

Back in the train tunnel, Steve finally calmed down and stepped out of his hiding spot, sure that they were finally safe. For the moment at the very least.

"Where do we go now daddy?" Firebrand questioned. "Uncah Dummy wrecked bridge."

"We have only one chance to reach the Skull in time...if one of these trains goes in the right direction." Steve stated.

Firebrand was not pleased in the slightest with the thought of having to see the Red Skull again.

"Can we go home Daddy? I...don't want to be here anymore." Firebrand said mournfully.

"We have a job to do buddy. If the Skull has his way, a lot of people are gonna be hurt, some a lot worse than you were. Plus, we can't just leave Falsworth behind. He's our friend and we owe it to him to bring him back home safely. I promise, after we get back to London, I'll take a short leave with you alright? We'll find a place with a lot of spaghetti and meatballs you can chow down on."

The foal looked down in thought, still afraid, but knowing that everything that Steve said was the truth.

'I'm really scared of the red man, but I'm scared of mommy and the nice people in Lon-Don getting hurt even more' Firebrand thought. 'I can probably help daddy'.

"Okay daddy," Firebrand relented.

"Now. We need to find a train that heads north. This one here runs only east to west. And its only going one direction now that Dugan made this little mess."

Firebrand let out a small giggle, making Steve smile.

"There. That is what I want buddy." he said rubbing Firebrand on the head. "Keep yourself bright. Even when everything else doesn't."

Firebrand and Steve looked all around the destroyed subway for anything that might help them on their search. Eventually, Firebrand found a door on the far side of the tunnel complete with a console, blocking them from entry. Firebrand tried his luck with the console, seeing if watching his daddy would help him figure out how to crack the security. Manipulating the nobs and levers with his magic, he started to hear a shrill clicking and then a gauge that left him with only a small amount of time to complete the code. As the countdown ticked, Firebrand moved around the different controls and pressed different buttons. Gazing at one of the screens, Firebrand noticed that there was a pattern to all of the numbers and letters hidden inside the codes. Moving them around, Firebrand connected the characters together only a second away from the system locking down entirely.

"Firebrand? Where'd you go off to?"

"I'm over here Daddy! I opened the door!" Firebrand cried out.

Coming around the train, Steve found Firebrand messing around with the security console as the door slowly slid open. He couldn't help but feel impressed that the youngster figured out such a complex machine. The feat only added another question on to the pile that Steve had about Firebrand and where he came from. The foal was growing rapidly not only in body, but also in mind. He would need some help from people that he could trust to unlock more of Firebrand's secrets.

"Great job! That's one less delay that we have to deal with," Steve congratulated. "Those panels are really tedious."

Heading into another passageway, the duo came across a lone Hydra soldier who was completely unaware of the destruction and mayhem that was going on around him. Before Steve could stop him, Firebrand rushed towards the soldier and leaped hoof first into his helmet, sending him crashing into the wall. The impact left a large crater in that part of the wall, sending little chunks falling out. The soldier tried getting back up, but Firebrand stomped down on his face, breaking his nose and knocking him out. He looked up back up at Steve who had a shocked look on his face.

"I...keep forgetting how fast you are," he chuckled.

Walking up to the next security door, he quickly cracked the code, allowing them entry into the next room.

"Now, let's see if we can't find the controls to all of the trains--" Cap started.

A large group of soldiers and wardens stood in his way as the door slid open. It took about three seconds for both parties to process each others presence, before all hell broke loose. One of them got jittery and threw a grenade right into the hallway where Steve and Firebrand were. Cap grabbed Firebrand and tossed him down the hallway and flipped his shield upside down, covering the grenade like a lid. A second later, the grenade detonated, sending a booming sound through the building and launching Steve a few feet into the air.

Flipping his shield back around, he found the thick straps somewhat damaged, but still usable overall. His ears were spared for the most part from the debilitating shock of the grenade thanks to the serum.

Cap pulled his shield up when a blizzard of bullets came toward him. Firebrand tried running to his side, completely unable to hear anything He was forced to kick Firebrand out of the way back behind the door, knowing he couldn't withstand such an onslaught.

Firebrand at that moment was going through such disorienting pain. A pain that comes from being unable to properly process the things in your immediate environment. After continued use of the mounted machine gun back in the tunnel, added with the sound of the explosion, his sensitive ears were beginning to feel the effects. When the gunfire started, his ears began to sting and ring loudly. He tried folding his ears down and holding on to them to cease the painful ringing that surged through his tiny skull. He pushed himself up on to his hooves, doing his best to power through it. He saw Steve pushing through the gunfire, advancing forward with his shield still raised up. He clumsily stumbled to the door frame and cautiously peeked around, still trying to shake off the ringing. The ringing gave him a major headache that clouded his vision somewhat, but he still had a small grasp on what was happening. He started to smell something foul, like rust or iron. When he brought his hoof up to his face, he could feel something wet and slimy blending into the crimson color of his fur. It took a couple of seconds to realize what was oozing out of his head. The sight disturbed the colt greatly.

Steve was powering his way through multiple soldiers while they stopped to reload their rifles, all the while avoiding the lumbering wardens who were constantly trying to swipe at him with their menacing claws. The room, quickly filling up with bodies, made moving around without tripping quite difficult. Watching where he was stepping and focusing on everything his numerous opponents were doing tested his attention and awareness.

Firebrand meanwhile saw three more Wardens trying to swarm Cap as he tried to steady his shaking and rocking. He stood up on his back legs and leaned up against the door frame and held up one of his hooves with the other, as if he was holding a gun. The ringing in his head was becoming worse every moment as it created intense migraines. He tried his best to hold back tears while he aimed at the Warden right in the center of the room. The single black horse shoe shot right into the chest of the Warden, compromising his chest piece and caving in his chest. He was forced backwards and slammed right into the other Warden, sending both of them falling over each other.

When Steve saw Firebrand collapse again, he made quick work of the last Warden and ran over to the door frame. Firebrand was sweating and breathing hard. Steve tried to talk to the foal, but he couldn't get any sort of response out of him. Firebrand's eyes opened up, filled with tears as he tried his best to communicate with Steve.

"Shell shock," Steve enunciated. "The first time is always pretty nasty."

"W-what?" Firebrand painfully asked.

"Just hold on buddy. Give me a moment. We gotta get to the Skull, but I don't want you to get sick. I'm sure as hell not sending you to any asylum."

Rummaging through the belongings of the soldiers he killed, Steve found a black and red bandanna and wrapped it around the foal's forehead, covering his tiny ears. He went to go looking for medical supplies, but Firebrand had already solved their problem for him. Searching around with his magic, Firebrand found a small portable case of gauze and cotton hidden in a nearby drawer. It most likely belonged to one of the grunts in case of emergency. Firebrand took off the bandanna and stuffed two pieces of cotton into his ears to soak up the blood. Ripping off a piece of gauze, Firebrand wrapped it around his forehead, covering his ears and then placed the bandanna back around his head.

Steve was completely stunned by what he was seeing. Despite being disoriented somewhat, Firebrand handled his own injuries professionally.

"Huh...." Steve breathed out. "You must have been a medic in another life little buddy. That was pretty impressive."

Now that the mini crisis had been averted, Steve got a better look at the room they entered into.

"This is the control hub for the entire rail line. Jackpot. If I can just get a train heading north, I can hitch a ride straight for the Skull,"

Along one side of the room was a viewing port of the entire junction. A large circular cavernous chamber with fifteen tracks holding many of Hydra's high powered speed trains. Only four of the tracks were actual tunnels, signifying the different directions the trains could travel.

Looking down at Firebrand, Steve saw he was still in some amount of discomfort, but he was doing his best to rest. His chest rised and fell normally, flinching every so often from the soreness. Steve placed the colt back into his harness once again to rest while he worked his way into the railway junction. Unlocking another coded security door, the man came out on to a catwalk and found a crank that controlled the entire rotating rail mechanism in the center of the room. Pulling on the rusted lever firmly, the rail began to spin to the right, passing two tunnels, before coming to a stop.

"Hmmm," Steve mumbled. "I need to go North, so one more turn should be just about enough."

Cranking the lever again, the railway finally aligned with the proper track allowing Steve to go down towards antechamber of the Northbound train. Circling around, he found the vehicle parked in the back on its own section of track and searched around for an activation mechanism. Upon further inspection, these trains were outfitted with special power sources, much like what was used to power Hydra's energy rifles. Parts of the engine were scorching hot, singing his gloves when he accidentally brushed up against it.

"Look's like Zola has been busy." Steve mused. "I'll have to bring back some of this tech to Howard. I'm sure he could do something useful with it."

Scanning the train, Steve found a small hatch and broke it open with his shield. Inside, he found a small cavity, containing a glowing red power cell the size of a football. He couldn't understand why, but the energy emanating from the power cell felt eerily familiar. Things were starting to show up all around the castle that gave him an aching suspicion that he couldn't yet confirm. Reaching inside with one arm, Steve barely managed to wrap his fingers around it and started to pull. It was held down by metal bands bolted to the main generator. Using a little bit of effort, the bands began to give and finally broke under the tension from his pulling, allowing him to pocket the power cell for Howard Stark.

Coming to the back, Steve found another lever up towards the back side of the train and cranked it, hoping that it would have the correct response that he was looking for. The cogs and gears grinded and screeched against the lever as the apparatus worked its magic. The train started slowly making its way down the tracks, as Steve had an internal celebration.

"It worked!" he cried triumphantly.

Following the train as it slowly began picking up speed along the tracks, Steve saw one of the doors blocking its way along the tunnel open up, only to reveal a second door further in still closed off.

"Doors are sealed up ahead....but if I can get this thing going fast enough, it won't matter," Steve said formulating a plan.

Along the side of the tracks, Steve found two emergency power boxes on either side of the tracks that sent power through the turning mechanism of the junction. Opening up a side panel, Steve hot wired it to send more power into the tracks, and sent the train into overdrive.

It started to make a shrill noise, sending excessive amounts of steam billowing out the sides. The lights in the front shined brighter than before as power began to build up inside the engine. Even for someone like Steve, he couldn't help but watch the mechanical marvel in awe as the wheels began to turn and crank gradually faster and faster. Before it got out of his reach, Steve hopped on board the back side and climbed up on top, all the while trying his best to keep Firebrand steady. His eyes burned when he climbed past an exhaust pipe that was billowing out an eerie red smoke. By the time he climbed to the roof of the train, it had already exceeded fifty miles per hour as it blazed down the tracks.

He realized that in order for his plan to work properly, he would have to use the momentum of the train as his weapon to make it through the sealed door without being crushed himself. So he swung down to the side of the train and began shimmying his way forward. Looking ahead, he saw a walkway that dangerously hugged the tracks very closely become larger and larger as he progressed through the tunnel. He only had a second to react as he found an indentation in the train large enough to lay in and held himself flat against it, trying not to squish Firebrand in the process. When the danger passed, Cap continued his progress until he was finally gripping the bars at the front and swung himself around.

Holding his shield behind his back in ready position, Cap watched the sealed door get closer and closer as he waited for the exact moment to act.

Before he knew it, when the door was but thirty feet away, he forcefully pistoned off of the train with his legs and held his shield out like a battering ram. The invincible shield acted like a hole puncher as the duo flew right through and landed far on the other side, killing one of the soldiers guarding the passageway with the force of the blow. The grunts were completely stunned by what happened, only to be shocked out of it by a familiar terrifying honking from the approaching train.

"NO IT CANT BE!!!" one of the grunts wailed.

It ripped the door open like paper, sending fire, shrapnel, and metal in all directions as it barreled through everything in its path. Finally, the seemingly unstoppable train could take no more damage as it fell off of the tracks and slowed down to a stop as it scraped against the wall of the railway tunnel.

Cap looked on at the carnage in awe and bittersweet sadness gazing down at the overturned train. As if it was a mighty beast that was taking its last breath.

"Man, I really wish I could keep you," Steve said with glee. "Probably couldn't fit you on the plane anyhow.

Firebrand groaned and peeked over Steve's shoulder rubbing his large eyes with his foreleg.

"Can you keep it down?" he whined. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

He started to laugh as they continued their way down another dark passageway heading away from the railway tunnel. Completely unaware of how bad things were about to get for the both of them very quickly in Castle Zemo.

Next Time: Super Soldier: The Small Back Room

Author's Note

I've never gone through shell shock, but I hope I replicated the effects at least semi okay.

I worked a lot on this, so tell me if you find anything grading that stands out. I do want to do good work on this too.

As always, I hope you are enjoying the story Josh!

Super Soldier: A Back Room and a Chilling Meeting (Updated: 12/15/20)

One of the biggest problems of being below ground is one tends to lose all sense of time and direction. Everything feels cold, dark, and heavy. As if the darkness became physical matter and began oppressing anyone who stepped into it. Only cavernous places like Castle Zemo could ever give off that feeling. Each step for most in a place like this would feel taxing and would wear away at one's sanity. Even the occasional light in Hydra's manufactured tunnels and passageways didn't seem to stop that ominous feeling. Steve wasn't bothered by it as much. He had come to be very used to an atmosphere such as this one. However, the same could not be said for young Firebrand. Even under the comforting cover of sleep, Firebrand could not escape this feeling of evil. The cold air of the tunnels gave way to sights and sounds in his dreams that he had seen once before.

A dark tundra of glistening trees of ice and snow once again came to the eyes of the red colt. It frightened him greatly, being there without his father beside him. Especially after what he had encountered in this place before. At the back of his mind, Firebrand knew for certain that he was supposed to be somewhere else, but for the life of him, he could not recall where and why. All he remembered was who helped him the last time he had visited this dangerous place, and he was hoping that he would see the glimmering armored lady again. Looking down to his hooves, he was glad to see that he still had his enchanted horseshoes attached. He could once again protect himself should he ever run into any more trouble.

The tundra seemed to go on and on forever, with no clearing or edge to it in sight. He was confused as to why he did not feel as cold as he should have been, despite his freezing surroundings. The icy fields went on and on, miles in many directions. Rolling dead mountains stood up out of the ground creating jagged patterns on the horizon like the teeth on some planet-sized beast. Snow and icicles completely covered the spread-out trees in the tundra, erasing any green or brown coloring they might have once had. The icicles were like massive thorns that made Firebrand nervous. At any moment, if he made a wrong step, dozens of the frozen javelins could come falling silently to impale him in the back. No sound could be heard in this place except for the roaring of the distant wind blowing against the mountain tops. Life in this place was absent, if there was any life here except for the trees, it must have died off long ago. He found many frost-covered skeletons that blended into the snow almost flawlessly.

Soon, the trees began to part, and the path the foal took came to an icy ridge overlooking a valley completely guarded on all sides by three massive mountains. This frozen valley was completely bare of any trees or any sort of life. Layers of snow piled up, creating a smooth pillowy surface that ate and bit at the ankles at anyone who would dare to walk across it. Firebrand felt himself start to shiver violently when he gazed upon the sight that lay right in the middle of this frozen valley. A castle of solid black ice, rock, and shimmering steel made of spires that towered right into the cloud-covered grey sky. Eerie glowing lights radiated from this place, and yet, Firebrand felt only more cold staring right into them. The center spire of this palace of ice towered higher and higher far past the others, reaching up to as high as halfway up the mountains that surrounded it. The entire structure was aesthetically beautiful, and yet the foal couldn't help but feel that something was off about it. As if it was hiding a great, powerful evil.

Out of the corner of his eye, Firebrand spotted something that the darkness could never hide from his sight, imprinted right into the very snow he was walking upon. They were the massive prints of a large man. These prints were massive, certainly belonging to no regular mortal man. Five feet in length, they could have been mistaken for dried-up ponds that were filled with snow. They were clumped together in a large group, leading all the way down into the valley, and right towards the castle. His mind and body argued with one another as to if he should approach this unusual, but beautiful place. On one hoof, Firebrand was quite literally and figuratively frozen stiff with fear. On the other hoof, however, Firebrand was quite curious about the secrets that the castle of ice held inside.

His request it seemed, would be answered for him, as a tall, imposing figure approached from behind, emerging from the forest. Despite his size, he remained quite silent walking across the soft snow. The foal was still unaware of this figure's presence, but he was now well alerted to his. He was not expecting any visitors at this time of night to his home and was quite tired from patrolling the borders of his mountain kingdom. When he laid eyes upon the colt, his eyes alit with a cold, but fiery light. A light that hid an ulterior motive. Firebrand intrigued him greatly. In all of his long immortal years of living, he had never felt the level of magical power from a creature like a foal before. Save for his own mortal enemies in Asgard. He saw Firebrand marveling at the majesty of his home from the ridge and curled his lips into a cold smile just above his beard.

"Do you admire my home little one?" the figure spoke in a kind booming voice.

Firebrand was startled by the sudden break in the silence of the falling snow as he turned around, and came face with one of the most intimidating men he had ever seen.

It was a giant of a man, rising to the height of the evergreens. The first thing that caught Firebrand's attention was this massive man's icy white beard that hung all the way down to his waist. It was crusted in snow, ice, and pebbles. Almost as if it was pulled right out of the Earth itself. His hair was just as white as his beard. It was stringy and ragged, flowing down his back like the foam of a waterfall. He dressed elegantly, but also lightly as if the environment around him didn't bother him. A long flowing regal grey robe of fur went down to his ankles, covering his bare chest. Firebrand could tell that this man was wearing some sort of scaled armor that went across his rippling muscles. In the dark, Firebrand could have sworn that his skin was made out of more steel-hard ice, and rock than actual flesh. The shape of a pauldron bulged out from underneath where his shoulder was. The most intriguing thing about this man was his ancient face.

Firebrand couldn't help but stare right into his glowing blue eyes. All of his other senses told him to run as fast and far away as his hooves could carry him. Yet, a tiny sensation at the back of his mind told him to stay put. Like a slithering voice of malice.

He had no idea as to who this giant man was, but seeing as to how he seemed to be nobility of some kind, he remembered the lessons in manners Peggy taught him.

"Y-Yes Millord," Firebrand clumsily attempted in a sign of respect. "I was lost in that scary forest, and I found your pretty castle."

"Quite respectful and uniquely colored for an animal. Especially for a unicorn. Unusually so. And quite intelligent for one as young as you." he mused. "What is your name...young pony?"

The voice of this giant was strange and rumbling. Like the echoing of rocks falling down a deep hole or the growl of a mighty beast hidden in a cavern.

"F-Firebrand, your grace," he shivered out. "My daddy taught me to be polite to royalty."

His smile slightly widened as he beckoned for the foal to come closer with a giant white hand.

"How did you happen to come into my dominion of Niflheim Firebrand?" he asked expectantly.

"I don't know milord. I was in Baaa-varia, with my daddy fighting Hydra," Firebrand explained clumsily. "All I remember was a train crashing and then waking up here."

The light in his eyes seemed to dance when the colt mentioned Bavaria, albeit in an improper fashion.

"You look so cold," he uttered with false concern. "Why don't you come follow me into my home and get a bit more comfortable? Perhaps I can provide you with some refreshment while we...talk. I have heard of this Bavaria before and I would very much like to hear more about it. Tales of visits to Midgard are...scarce in my realm."

"O-okay," Firebrand reluctantly agreed.

The colt looked at him warily but still followed. Strangely curious as to what this mysterious giant had to offer. Though he knew he would have to find a way out of this hostile new land and get back to Steve. His father told him to be careful about strangers, but this man had a mysterious quality about him. As if he could never be strange to him or anyone he met in a million years.

Following closely beside the giant, Firebrand went down the hill, through deeper snow. While he continued to glide across as if he was completely weightless. The walk made Firebrand tired very quickly, but something kept telling him at the back of his mind to keep up. He wouldn't dare allow himself to fall behind this imposing man. It was as if his body was in a trance that would not allow it to respond to the better senses of his mind. Soon the two were crossing the field of ice, all the while keeping up a brisk pace. Halfway across as the castle drew closer, Firebrand looked down to the ground, hearing the ice crackle underneath. It made him feel very uneasy, to say the least. Any moment, he could fall right through and probably never come back out. Yet the man walking alongside him was completely unfazed by all of the hazards of her frozen environment.

The front doors of the castle were in sight, towering high over the two of them. For a moment, Firebrand stopped as he started getting a really foreboding feeling about the place that he was about to enter, much worse than the feeling he got from the giant man. Reluctantly, Firebrand continued further and went through the titanic front gates, not realizing that they were closing behind him.

Steve continued his way down the long passageways underneath the castle, doing his best to find a way back up to the surface to locate the Red Skull. The tunnels were chilling being so far beneath the earth. Every cold breath Steve took let out a stream of vapor. It wore down at his patience with the place greatly. Despite his enhanced healing and constitution, Cap was wishing for a warm slice of apple pie and a warm fire to sit in front of. He eventually found two more passages leading off in different directions. Steve took the one that led uphill, hoping it would give him a way to escape the train tunnels. Looking back for a moment, he grabbed ahold of one of Firebrand's hooves and was grateful to find that the foal's heart rate was somewhat quicker, but still normal for having slight head trauma. Now and then, Steve noticed that Firebrand would toss and turn in his harness.

Rounding another corner, Cap stumbled into another large part of the factories created by Hydra. Scientists and Engineers walked all around, working on the massive tanks and pipes that were spread throughout the entire area. The sound of rushing water being pumped through pipes could be heard through the entire sector. The sound was dulled, but still loud, which led him to believe that there had to be a huge source of water nearby. Suddenly, Steve's communicator began buzzing, and Bucky's voice yelled through.

"Cap! What was all of that? Are you and the kid alright?" he asked.

"We're fine. We took out one of Schmitt's precious super trains. Unfortunately, Firebrand got his first case of shell shock."

"Jeez. Make sure you keep him as still as you possibly can for a bit. My case of shell shock was misery when I tried walking around."

"Oh yeah, wasn't that when you tried peeping into the nurses' tent a few months ago?" Morita chimed in the background. "Nearly got your headshot off."

"Aw shut up Morita," Bucky snapped.

"He did the same thing at that club on 15th street," Steve chuckled. "Tried sneaking into the ladies' dressing room."

"I thought we promised we were never gonna discuss that again," Bucky growled humorously.

"Getting back on track though," Steve chuckled. "I found some sort of power plant when I went down a branching path."

"Power plant? What the hell is the Skull up to?" Bucky asked through the comm unit.

When Steve was about to answer Bucky's question, a Hydra grunt walked out onto a catwalk ahead of him and spotted Cap standing there. The grunt's first reaction was to alert all of his comrades to Steve's presence.

"IT'S THE AMERICAN! KILL HIM!" he bellowed. "FIRE AT WILL!"

"Sorry bud, I got company. I'll keep in touch," Steve said quickly before jumping out of the way of a stray rifle shot.

Tossing his shield at an acetylene tank, the tank ruptured and exploded. The resulting explosion killed four troops coming towards Steve from the left walkway. Trying to push through the rest of their reinforcements, Cap tried sprinting across to the next section of the power plant. Turning onto a narrow catwalk, three more grunts tried blocking his path to push him back. At the same time, he heard clicking from a rifle coming from above. Not taking the chance as to who the unseen rifleman was aiming at, Cap held his shield above his head at an angle and let the bullet ricochet off and into one of the grunts.

"Do not let him through!" one of the Hydra officers cried out. "We must secure the area quickly!"

The rightmost grunt tried hitting Cap with his stun baton, but he grabbed it by the handle and turned it back on the grunt. With a palm heel to the butt of the weapon, the stun baton jabbed right into his chest, sending sparks of electricity coursing through his body. When three other guards tried pushing him into the railing, Cap smacked his shield against the concrete and sent them flying in all directions. He spotted a catwalk higher up in the power plant where the sniper was posted. The sniper unloaded his rifle onto Steve, trying to peel open his defenses carefully to hit either him or Firebrand. He looked back at Firebrand who was still in a deep sleep. The colt twitched around now and then but remained unconscious.

"Jeez, he sleeps harder than Dugan does!" Steve remarked. "Wonder if Peggy still has that Macy's catalog? Might have to get an alarm clock for both of them."

Slapping two bullets away consecutively, Steve managed to down both of the snipers in the room, finally giving him a moment to breathe and thoroughly investigate his immediate surroundings.

Leaning over the railing carefully, he noticed that all the water being pumped into the plant was being funneled in one direction. The whole plant appeared to be hydroelectric in design, though he could not tell if boiling water was what occupied the massive tanks all over or something else entirely. Some of the pipes appeared to be electrical in nature, most likely funneling the blue energy used in many of Hydra's weapons he had encountered thus far. Looking up towards the ceiling of the power plant, he found one of the pipes glowing red instead of the usual blue.

'Oh no...' Steve thought fearfully. 'I really hope that's not from what I think it's from.'

Turning his communicator back on, Steve reported what he was seeing.

"Buck, we've found something. Most of the energy in this plant is being diverted to something...big. I have an aching feeling about what it is, but I don't know for sure yet. I'm gonna try to shut this place down."

"Okay, but hurry and watch your back! We're picking up a lot of chatter here. The Skull's on the move," Bucky replied.

"Don't worry, we will. I'm kinda hoping though Firebrand stays unconscious when I do confront Schmitt and Zola. I'd rather him not get mentally traumatized for the rest of his life."

"If he's with you Steve, then he probably already is pal," Bucky replied grimly. "I have a feeling though if he sticks close to you, he'll be alright. You're a great role model. You did learn from the best!"

The communicator turned off again, leaving Steve alone with the many mechanical sounds in Hydra's main power plant.

Examining one of the giant tanks in its entirety, Cap noticed a catwalk attached to the top of the tank with a control panel, but no apparent ladder or walkway up to it in sight. It seemed that once again he would have to make his own way through the many obstacles of the room.

"If I can get up there, I can bring the whole setup down," Steve mumbled to himself.

First, he tightened the straps on Firebrand's harness to keep him from falling out. Normally that wouldn't have been an issue considering the foal's iron grip, but until further notice, Cap knew he had to be more mindful about the foal's health.

Leaping to a pipe, he swung himself up and around the tank, vaulting around beams and grabbing on to cables until he made his way up to the catwalk. The first thing he noticed was that it was falling apart. He found tool marks and scratches on the metal, suggesting Hydra was trying to keep him from reaching the tanks to prevent him from doing what he precisely was about to do.

Popping open the control console, Steve tried grabbing two of the wires but received a painful shock instead of pushing him back a few feet.

"Ow, what the heck was that?" he asked no one in particular.

Looking into the opened console, he found a small glowing device the size of a baseball attached to the inner machinations.

"Looks like Zola is wising up. They're booby-trapping these things."

Pulling out his pistol, he carefully aimed and tried shooting it clean through. Instead, however, he created a bomb that detonated the whole tank. It began to go up in flames, giving Steve only seconds to leave.

Using the catwalk like a diving board, he bounced and leaped down to the pathway below as the tank blew apart. Going into a mid-air flip, he landed flawlessly feet first back down onto the pathway below.

The sudden change in pressure from the loss of the tank made pistons poking out of an adjacent wall push outwards, giving Cap a path upwards to swing across. Pushing off another wall with a kick, Steve grabbed onto the pistons and swung himself around and up. Reaching out, he grabbed onto the railing of a balcony and pulled himself over, heading into the next floor of the power plant.

"If I target the right equipment, I might be able to take this whole plant offline," Steve thought out loud. "Firebrand's abilities might have been able to help here, but that's nothing I can't handle."

The second room was far larger in scale, but held fewer guards than before, making Steve's job all the easier. Two more objectives popped up on his itinerary as he found not only the main Heat Exchanger for the whole plant but the primary Tank Array that funneled the power towards Hydra's operations. They were massive structures, which made Cap realize he would have to use his special putty this time around.

"Gotta plant explosives where they'll do the most damage,"

Meanwhile, Firebrand was being led deeper into the mysterious man's frozen castle. The first sight that came to his eyes inside the gates, was a large courtyard filled with an army of unusual statues. Made of equal parts ice and stone, the sculptures lined the main walkway of the courtyard like a haunting gallery. Each sculpture was of an armored warrior, each with a unique weapon and wearing gilded armor. They were posed in a manner of staring up at something in crippling fear. One in particular interested Firebrand. A man with flowing hair wearing a winged helmet and holding a giant block of a hammer. The statue just opposite was an unusual creature. Wearing the same armor but carrying an ax with a hammerhead. The face resembled that of a lizard somewhat.

"Do you admire my work?" the giant asked coldly.

"What are they?"

"My enemies. On many endless cold days I wander my gallery, pondering on the day I will enact my vengeance against them.

They stepped into a long throne room with a floor that gleamed and shined, reflecting everything around. The ice the castle was made from gave everything inside a tint of blue, making Firebrand feel even colder. At the end of the hall was a giant throne, presumably for the man. Firebrand halted as he watched her sit down in the seat and call out one of his servants. Out of a side hallway, came a small man only a few feet taller than Firebrand. He was just as muscle-bound as his master. Presumably a worker of some sort. An ornate helmet sat atop the little man's head.

"Do you require...drink?" the giant man asked loudly.

"Y-yes please your grace," Firebrand said respectfully.

He sniffed it from afar but came closer when he recognized its familiar sweet aroma. He ignited his horn and grabbed the goblet by the neck with his magical grasp. This action of magical skill sent a wave of curiosity and glee through the woman, now even more interested in Firebrand than before.

He lifted the drink to his nose and inhaled. It was Hot Chocolate, just like the kind he had back in England at the SSR. He put the goblet to his lips and let the hot, viscous liquid go down his throat, not bothered by the temperature of it at all. The flavor was rich and creamy, sensing a wave of heat through his body. The chocolate relaxed him so much that he strangely felt as if he could let his guard down in front of the woman. He could no longer hear the warnings that his mind was giving him and instead gave in to the intoxicating atmosphere of his new surroundings. Soon he was finished with the drink and handed it off to the tiny man who bowed to both of them and walked off somewhere.

"Now...if you are thoroughly refreshed. Where do you hail from young Firebrand? I wish to know everything about you." he asked in a commanding tone. "You are unlike anything I have seen in my long life."

Firebrand then felt himself talk and talk, explaining everything that he could remember up to that moment from Steve finding him for the very first time. Everything about himself, the SSR, Hydra, and Steve came spilling out of his mouth. His tongue felt loose and couldn't stop himself from talking as the man just sat there, completely enthralled with everything Firebrand said.

Next Time: Hell is For Heroes

Author's Note

Another long chapter adding to the action and suspense. I hope you all like what I'm doing with the story.

As always, like and comment below.

Super Soldier: Hell Is For Heroes (part 1)

With a bit of tinkering, Steve was on his way to completing his new impromptu task. It only took a bit of maneuvering up, over, and around through the facility to take out the right parts of each contraption and set them ablaze. Firebrand all the while was still in a deep REM sleep, unaware of anything that was occurring around him. Every now and then while he was running around, Steve would hear the foal mumble a few words in his sleep. It was beginning to worry him greatly. After destroying the Tank Array, Steve found himself in a deserted muster room. It had a single chalkboard on one side of the room detailing all of Hydra's daily maintenance activities in the facility. Various dates, calculations, and schematics were laid all about showing the inner workings of each machine. Steve was running out of room in his intelligence satchel, so he only took the plans that appeared to be of the greatest significance.

He found another golden Faberge egg sitting in the corner of the office, most likely given to one of the senior officers as a reward. Finding treasures all over the castle and especially in the most unlikely of places perplexed Steve. It made him somewhat sad to see someone's work of art treated with such reckless abandon. Taking care as to not damage each one he had found would have to be one of his priorities.

Another detonation occurred behind him in one of the tanks, pulling his attention back on to his main task.

"Everything is falling apart. One more explosion should do the trick." Steve said to himself.

Heading outside of the office and circling another corner, Cap found the Twin Condensers at the opposite end of the facility.

"That thing is big. I wish you were up so we could blast this place sky high little buddy," he said to the still unconscious Firebrand. "Right now though, I'm gonna have to rely on my old skills. I'll have to short out its pressure release valve if those condensers are ever going to overload."

Steve looked around but didnt see any clear way across to the Condensors' control panel. A massive pipe hanging across the length of the room caught his attention. It was barely held up by six cables bolted to the ceiling.

Aiming with his shield, he sliced off four of the cables, causing the pipe to swing around towards him and smash into the railing. Carefully stepping across the pipe, he hiked up the straps on Firebrand's harness to balance out their combined weight. The pipe wobbled and shook underneath his feet, forcing him to slow his advance, lest he take a fall and lose his progress through the power plant. Halfway across, Cap leaped to another bar and swung the rest of the way across, landing on the console platform without much problem. Quickly planting another ball of plastic explosive, Steve sprinted away, and found a suitable way off of the platform, in the form of a steel cable holding up one of the condensors.

Landing at the other side of the room, he turned around to witness his fine work in action as it blew pieces of metal all over the room.

"Ka-boom. This place won't be powering Zemo's little secret any more, I'll tell you that," he said to himself.

The smell of oil, burning metal and smoke was rather disorienting for Steve. Clouds of smoke were billowing out of the wreckage of the machines he had destroyed.

"Why don't we head on out of here little buddy?" Steve mumbled to Firebrand. "Don't want you to be breathing in any of this crud."

He heard the rapid tapping of a dozen set of footsteps coming closer to find a small brigade of soldiers coming to investigate the destruction Cap had caused there.

"What happened?" one of them asked. "Equipment failure? I told Hans to stop drinking Schlitz on the job."

"The same "equipment failure" that destroyed one of the trains? Spread out, idiots!" another said with passive aggressiveness.

The brigade of soldiers and Scorcher juggernauts began sweeping throughout the remains of the facility, searching for any sign of Steve.

"They're blocking the only way out of here," Steve mused to himself nervously. "I don't want to pick a fight with these guys, but this whole place is falling apart around my ears."

As if God himself was playing a joke, a piece of the ceiling broke off from and fell three feet in front of Steve's face.

Rolling his eyes, Steve vaulted over the railing and landed on the main floor, sneaking his way back across the power plant. All the while avoiding any hostile eyes searching for his presence.

Finding a ladder, Steve climbed up and peered over the edge to find half of the brigade guarding the exit. Three soldiers and two Scorchers pacing back and forth across the length of the platform. Planning his attack carefully, Cap tossed his shield at one of the soldiers, causing it to bounce three consecutive times, knocking out all three and temporarily stunning one of the juggernauts. Trying to take him out quickly, Steve charged at the Scorcher, but forgetting the other one who shot at him with his energy cannon. He barely managed to drop to the floor, avoiding the blast, and flipped right back on to his feet to leap over a second blast and upper cut the Scorcher right in the chin, sending it smashing headfirst into the railing.

The first Scorcher came back to his senses and charged up a beam to blast right at Steve from across the room. Cap saw this and blocked the beam, which kept on bombarding him with a steady stream of energy. Pushing against the stream, Steve held his shield at an angle and broke the blast, sending a portion of it back into the Scorcher's chest plate. The act stunned the juggernaut once again, allowing Steve to close in and go for the kill. When the Scorcher tried getting back up, Steve kicked behind his leg, forcing him to his knees. He followed up by restraining him and grabbing ahold of his cannon wielding arm to aim at the other soldiers. Using the juggernaut like a puppet, Cap fired a barrage of energy blasts at incoming Hydra soldiers, killing them and bringing further damage to the already crumbling power plant.

When Steve was certain he had taken out all of the incoming soldiers, he ripped out the juggernaut's oxygen tube and kicked him on to his stomach. The juggernaut hit the metal floor with a loud clank that vibrated the floor underneath Cap's feet.

"That did some damage," Steve said satisfied. "They'll be swarming this place like flies really soon. I've gotta keep moving."

Going down the passageway out of the power plant, Steve heard a tiny cough from behind him, as well as some movement, bringing a relieved smile to his face.

"Firebrand? You awake buddy?"

"Daddy?" the foal asked confused. "Where are we? How did I get back? What happened to the big fuzzy man's castle?"

Steve raised an eyebrow.

"Big fuzzy man? Castle? Well, we are still in something of a castle, but I'm not sure about the first one pal. You must have been dreaming." he replied. "You were in and out of consciousness while we were in that train tunnel. Then you went completely to sleep by the time I went into more underground passages."

"But...it felt so real daddy. I was in a snowy forest and I met this nice, big man who looked like a talking rock with a beard. Something felt funny about him. Something...dark. He...wanted me to do something for him and...gave me something. But I can't remember what exactly though."

"Well, everything up to this point involving you has been pretty weird, so I'll keep a lookout for any giant bearded men owning castles in snowy forests." Steve chuckled. "Regardless though, are you feeling any better? You were sleeping through explosions."

The foal yawned in response.

"I missed making some big boom booms? Awwwwww!" he complained.

"I'll take that as a yes, but don't worry. I'm sure we'll get the chance to blow up a lot more things by the time we get out of here."

He continued down the tunnel as Firebrand asked him more questions about what Steve had been doing while he was asleep.

"So what happened back there? I don't like the smell very much. It smells like Uncle Howard's workshop. If Mommy used a blow torch on it."

"And how do you know what a blow torch is young man?" Steve asked humorously.

"Uncle Dummy let me play with one," he replied innocently. "Said he would teach me to flambe."

"Ugh, I can't leave you two alone can I?"

"Nope!" Firebrand replied with a big smile.

Laughing as he rolled his eyes, Steve made his way down a hallway and found himself in another communications office. Everything was quiet in this office, save for the clicking, whirring, and snapping of all of the various machines and brightly flashing consoles around him in that office. The black and white tiled floors were almost sterile of any dirt or debris, save for what Steve brought in with his boots.Thankfully, it was completely empty, allowing Steve to contact Bucky and give him a status update on their progress. He pressed his earpiece and heard the familiar beep, giving him the go ahead to speak.

"Bucky, I've shut down the power plant. Firebrand has woken up from his little nap too. We are gonna try to reach the Skull."

"Keep him attached to you Steve. We don't want Schmitt getting his hands on Firebrand again. Keep your head on a swivel, you got me Rogers?" he said firmly.

"I know Buck, I promise. I'll be extra careful."

"You be careful too Uncah Bucky! Daddy promised you would take me to Coney Island."

"Oh he did, did he?" Bucky laughed through the com link. "I'm going to make him pay for half of the rides then."

"Just as long as you pay for the snacks." Steve quipped.

"Fair enough. I owe you a dog for the one you threw up anyway." Bucky guffawed before turning the comm off.

"I just hope we can win this war fast enough to get you to all of that fun stuff Firebrand. I...would really like to get a shot at raising you. At least until we can find out where you came from," Steve said with a smile.

Searching around the room, Steve found another security door somewhat larger than the others he had encountered in the castle before. It resembled that of a bank vault's door, complete with reinforced steel and heavy bolts going through the walls. It was extra protected with cement wall segments to protect from anyone trying to drill around its defenses.

The security console didn't help in the slightest. Its algorithms and codes appeared to be substantially more complex before, giving Cap the impression that he was heading in the right direction.

"A Triple Layered door." Steve identified. "This is definitely gonna take a while."

While Steve was cracking the code to the door, Firebrand just sat there staring at his reflection in his horse shoes. He had in fact remembered every terrifying detail about what had happened in his dream. The castle, the statues, and all of the frightening creatures who guarded the inner sanctums of that place. The giant's voice was still whispering the same thing into his head, almost like a promise that Firebrand would end up taking to his grave. Breathing in deeply, he let out a small vapor of cold air that coalesced and swirled in the air, just out of Steve's vision, before disappearing

Steve pulled a small notebook out of his bag given to him by Howard Stark in the event that he needed assistance with some of Hydra's more complex codes. The timer quickly counted down as he searched through his friend's notes for the correct combination of numbers and letters. It didn't take too long as he inputted the right code into the keypad and the door clunked open. One layer of doors opened up, followed by a secondary layer that slid into the floor.

Nodding, he flipped the notebook shut and slid it back into his bag.

"You ready for this Firebrand?" Steve asked.

The foal was completely silent, still staring down at his hooves in thought. Steve noticed this and patted him on the head to get his attention. Firebrand flinched but relaxed when he realized what was happening

"Hey buddy, you still with me?"

"Oh, what is it?" he asked.

"We're heading towards Zola and Schmitt. I know how scary they are for you, but this is a defining moment here. When we step outside, I'm gonna need to know that you are going to have your head in the game."

"Zola scares me a lot daddy. He...hurt me." Firebrand said fearfully. "He hurt you too."

"I know, and I will personally make sure that he pays for doing that to you. Both him and the Skull. Right now though, we need to stop both of them before they can get the chance to hurt anyone else. I'm right here with you. They will never get their hands on you again as long as I'm here. Zola still deserves a crushed jaw and I'm going to give it to him."

Heading through the door and circling a corner, the duo found another cavernous area filled with all manner of equipment, scaffolding, workers, and large banners draped down from the catwalks a hundred feet above. At the far side of the room was an array of various conduits and generators pumping power right down into a drop. The drop was hiding something immense just out of view. Something Steve had been nervous about all night. Above, Steve caught the familiar sight of his biggest adversary standing alongside Dr. Arnim Zola.

"The Skull!" he shouted. "Let's go and get this piece of trash."

Firebrand wasn't paying attention to him or anything that he was saying though. All he could do was stare right into the back of Schmitt's crimson red head with a cold fury. A fury that began to spark something dark within him as they closed in on their target. Unbeknownst to him, Firebrand's horse shoes were growing layers of frost as its deep red accents, began to turn a chilling blue as the giant's voice whispered into his head yet again....

Next Time: Hell is For Heroes (part 2)

Author's Note

Another chapter full of tension and mystery out. The action is about to boil over into another epic confrontation! As always, like and favorite and make sure to leave a comment below.

Make sure to let me know if there are any grading grammar problems or story issues so I can fix them to the best of my abilities.

I hope you are still enjoying the ride Josh!

Super Soldier: Hell Is For Heroes (part 2) (Updated: 12/30/20)

As an added precaution, Steve quietly contacted Bucky through his radio in the event of a catastrophe. Nothing could be left to chance when it came to dealing with Johann Schmitt. As far as Steve was concerned, Schmitt was infinitely more dangerous than even Hitler himself. His bodily enhancements as a result of an incomplete super soldier serum not withstanding. The kinds of people that he surrounded himself with even more so. They were not only scientific geniuses, they were devout and faithful to the Skull completely as one practitioner would be to a religion. To them, he was their god and would do everything in their power to please him. Men like Schmitt could charm people into becoming slaves of his will, without so much as using an ounce of physical force. A man like that needed to be stopped, and Steve was beginning to wonder how far he might have to go to do that.

"Bucky, we found the Red Skull, I'm going in..."

"I wish I was there. Keep your eyes open Steve," Bucky warned. "He will be heavily guarded."

Silently switching off the radio, Steve noticed how many soldiers and technicians stood in between himself and the Red Skull. It was almost an inevitability that he was going to be detected before he could even get a chance to get close to his adversary. They seemed to be doing regular tune ups on their vehicles and inspections of their equipment. Everything in this area seemed to be shoddily constructed. As if any sort of mess up could send it collapsing into the abyss of the chasm at any given moment. Giant industrial sized fans were placed all over the cavern as if to provide some level of cooling to whatever experiment required so much heat. Large barbed wire fencing covered the edges of the maintenance areas, either to protect the workers from falling into the cavern below or to keep them out.

Taking a more stealthy route, Steve scaled the wall, grabbing on to any pipe or piece of scaffolding that had reached over from the other side. He made sure he was at least thirty feet above anyone's line of sight until he shimmeyed across the room. Carefully turning around, Steve aimed behind a large stack of crates where a technician was inspecting goods. Launching off with his feet, the duo silently dove to the ground and landed on the soldier's head with a smack. The impact killed the soldier, and gave Steve a cushion from the fall.

"That was quite the jump huh?" Steve whispered to Firebrand. "Let's hope there aren't any others waiting for us."

The colt however, was not listening to a word Steve was saying. All of his attention was on the two men, merely five hundred feet away, that had caused him so much pain. A voice in Firebrand's head began to whisper pleasing things; promises that made Firebrand feel dirty, but good all the same. The voice was cold, but comforting and sickly sweet, like a blast of cold air on a hot summer day.

"Dim your fire...and let me cool your heart my prince...I can make you a king, my king...and so much more..."

It was so familiar, but the colt could not remember why exactly. Not that he even cared at this point. Every second he listened to the voice, the angrier and more hatred he felt. Never noticing that his fire red fur was losing its color.

Steve found a catwalk leading up and around the entire cavern towards the Red Skull's position. As soon as he stepped on to the metal of the walkway, he could immediately pick up a vibration coming up through his feet. It was subtle and hardly noticeable, but still there, causing Cap to look down into the abyss below that was obscured by a thick fog of steam and smoke.

"There's something down there, something massive," Steve said to himself out loud. "I'll bet they must be bringing the Sleeper to life already! We must have stopped the power too late. Got to get to the Skull now!"

Heading towards the next level of the catwalk, Cap discovered that the ladders had been pulled up to prevent anyone from proceeding any further. He could easily make the jump, but if his fingers slipped, the duo would be in for another painful plummet thousands of feet down into the cavern.

As if reading his thoughts, Firebrand covered the man in an eerie pale blue glow and silently lifted him to the next level without uttering a word. Steve tried to thank him, but Firebrand still remained silent and tense.

On the next level up, Steve found another stack of crates which provided him with a launching point to reach the top most platform. He landed on another section of the catwalk which looked like an alternate viewing platform for the officers stationed at the castle. Swinging from a pole to another beam holding up the catwalk, Steve finally came to the other side, ready to end the Red Skull's reign.

Schmitt and Zola were overlooking the machinery of the entire operation with pride, drinking in the fruits of their accomplishments as Steve started to make out what Zola was saying. The titanic Iron Cross following closely behind to protect his supreme masters.

"...As you can see, the thermal plant draws power from the Earth itself, more than enough to power the entire facility. It can be diverted to activate the Sleeper as well, should that become necessary. A model of efficiency and ingenuity if I do say so myself--"

"I have come a long way Arnim, waste my time at your own peril."

A Hydra officer walked up to Zola and presented a titanium canister with a large handle lock sticking out the top of the device. Reaching out with glee, Zola turned the lock which released a mechanism, opening the canister with a release of a fine vapor. Inside the canister was a small glass vial filled with a viscous blue liquid, which he carefully pulled out of the device.

"Herr Skull, may I present to you, with my compliments, the perfected Super Soldier Serum. A small amount to be sure, but from this, I am certain we can synthesize much more."

"At last!" Schmitt breathed out with a sense of accomplishment. "With Erskine's Serum, I will be that much closer to achieving godhood."

The Red Skull extended his hand closer to the vial, determined to take this new power for himself.

When out of nowhere, a deadly spear of ice shot through the air and shattered the vial into a million pieces. Schmitt's hand was frozen solid as a result, sending him into a screaming fury. He turned towards where the shot came from and scowled in rage.

"YOU!"

Steve was confused for a moment, when he saw the blast fire off before he could launch his shield. Turning his head, he took in a horrifying sight.

Firebrand standing there ten feet away, seething with a cold fury. His fur, now a bright cyan, encrusted with frost, his mane now a glistening silver, flowing in the wind. His eyes were the most frightening of all. They were black as obsidian, cold and lifeless. The mark upon his flank had disappeared, replaced with an image of a grim crown, constructed of needle like icicles. His horse shoes had darkened, and detached from the foal harmlessly, as if they no longer recognized their owner.

"Firebrand!"

The colt paid him no mind and continued to stare down the Red Skull .

"You made the serum from his blood, I will give you more, FROM HIS CORPSE!"

Zola ran off to safety, away from the cavern and the inevitable conflict that was to come.

"IRON CROSS! This time, you may kill him. Painfully. Bring the child to me alive and unspoiled." Red Skull bellowed.

The mech clicked and whirred to life as it deployed a giant cannon from its soldier and launched a barrage of sonic booms. Barely with enough time to lift up his shield, the boom nearly shattered his ear drums, sending waves of pain going down his skull. Iron Cross started to glow a dull red as it dashed across the catwalk and leap to the other side. The catwalk violently shook underneath Steve's feet. For a moment, he feared the platform would collapse under the weight of the mech. The mech rushed Steve much faster than the machine should have been able to and went for a swinging punch. Cap ducked under and tried to follow up with a punch of his own. Iron Cross's right hand caught his fist and started crushing it.

"Auf Wiedersehen" Iron Cross said coldly.

"As you can see, Dr. Zola gave my faithful servant a new ability, thanks to the child's extraordinary DNA. Iron Cross! Keep them busy while I awaken the Sleeper!"

Steve realized what he was talking about and widened his eyes.

'Zola must have gotten Firebrand's DNA to the Skull,' Steve thought. 'I didn't think he had enough time to implement it into anything.'

"Your pitiful trinkets do not intimidate me Schmitt, and they will do nothing against my new pet," a booming voice said through Firebrand.

"Firebrand?" Steve asked tiredly. "Wh-What's wrong with your voice?

The colt only responded by turning to him with a deranged insane smile that horrified him.

"Then perhaps bringing the mountain down on your precious Captain will!" Red Skill growled.

Pain started to course through his arm as he felt each bone start to break. Iron Cross used his other fist to pound away at Steve's body, which knocked the air out of the soldier almost instantly. With each consecutive hit, Steve could feel a number of major bones break in his body. His lungs were desperate for air, his heart was beating like mad and his spine felt as if it was being pelted with steel beams. Reaching for his his shield in desperation, Cap used the edge and sliced at the rubber joint connecting the mech's torso to its legs. It made the mech release its grip for a moment, allowing Steve to escape its grasp. The entire machine faltered, giving him the chance to beat away at its weak joints. He could see Schmitt over at a panel on the other side of the chasm, attempting to activate the infamous Sleeper below.

"You'd best hurry Captain! The transfer is complete!" Schmitt mocked.

"We can't have an ant like you causing trouble for me now can we?" the presence in Firebrand barked.

Steve watched as Firebrand floated over to the other side to confront the Red Skull. Schmitt saw this and quickly called reinforcements to his side.

"Hydra! Your master calls for your assistance!" the Skull bellowed.

A hundred troops came pouring out of a nearby passageway and across the catwalk fully armed. Firebrand just smiled evilly and dashed through the crowd of soldiers.

Iron Cross looked over to Firebrand and started scanning him with his large red eye.

"Im Fohlen festgestellte Fremdpräsenz: Befriedung empfohlen." Iron Cross shouted to his master.

"A foreign presence you say? This day is filled with many exciting developments it seems!" Schmitt cried with insane joy. "Any who damage my prize will suffer a fate worse than death by my hand!"

"Foreign presence?" Steve asked himself. "...Oh no."

When six of the soldiers tried to grab Firebrand, he jabbed one of them with his horn. They screamed as they were almost instantly turned into a cold statue.

The display startled the soldiers and stopped them in their tracks, afraid to move any closer.

Firebrand cackled and violently shattered the statue, showering the troops with projectile pieces of stone. Many of them were knocked out or killed by the makeshift weapon, giving the more powerful colt a chance to continue his assault. He summoned a spear of ice and turned five of Schmitt's men into a kebab. The spear was coated red with their blood, making the scene even more grisly. One tried pouncing him from behind, but was impaled through the neck with an icicle, gurgling on his own blood before collapsing dead.

"Firebrand? What are you doing?" Steve cried fearfully.

"Your pet is under my control, bug" the voice said sadistically through Firebrand. "I think I'm going to keep him."

"Who are you?" Steve asked angrily. "Let him go!"

"All in good time little man, all in good time," the voice lied. "Little Firebrand is providing me with so much amusement. My vessel must deal with these pitiful little soldiers who think themselves true conquerors.

The Red Skull saw how bad things were becoming for him on both fronts and snarled with rage. Iron Cross was being used as a punching bag for the Captain, and the possessed colt was throwing his elite men around like ragdolls.

"I AM COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY INCOMPETENTS! Very well, Captain...I suppose it is only right that you die by my hand. Then I will promptly deal with this one who dares to challenge my superiority."

Steve's attention was taken away from Iron Cross as he saw the Skull pick up an incendiary grenade launcher and start shooting over to where he was standing. The mech took this opportunity to backhand the man, sending him flying into a steel beam thirty feet away. He knocked into the beam with a solid bong that rung through his entire body, as if he was inside a giant church bell. His head was pounding wildly and his spine felt wrenched. It knocked the air out of his lungs, forcing him to his knees for a moment to gasp for oxygen.

"Oh this is something I hope your countrymen will see!" the Red Skull said manically. "Captain America, bruised, broken, bleeding. In a word: DEAD!"

Forcing himself to move, he had just enough time to react as he saw the glowing red Iron Cross dash at Steve with a long metal blade protruding from its left hand.

"Ich werde deinen Kopf wie ein Ei zerquetschen!" Iron Cross growled metallically.

When the mech slammed into the metal beam, Steve took advantage of Schmitt by kicking the robot into the direction of his grenades. Two exploded against Iron Cross' exoskeleton rupturing the outer shell of his armor and causing some serious damage. Cap went in for a series of punches in kicks to vulnerable parts of the robot while he was staggered. Parts of Iron Cross began to spark and sputter as more damage was added from each explosion. Steve tried climbing the robot to get out a crushing blow to its eye, but the robot swiped him off with the flat end of its own shield.

"A-A-Auf D-D-Die K-K-Knie A-A-Amerikaner!"

The mech was so severely damaged that even its voice box had been impacted. The damage seemed to be affecting the robot's motor functions as well. Unfortunately for Steve, that only made its actions more erratic and unpredictable. Firebrand's magic within Iron Cross made it glow brighter and brighter until it started to flail wildly and charge at everything in sight, including the support beams that kept Steve's platform up. Dodging was turning into a painful effort, after repeated bashings in the body by the metal behemoth. He could feel the bruises beginning to form underneath his thick uniform.

Metal began breaking and coming apart at the seams as the entire platform was almost at the point of crumbling apart from the constant bombardment of Iron Cross' clumsy attacks. Cap knew that it wouldn't be long before he would be in lethal trouble, so his mind began to race, searching for a solution.

He waited until the robot charged in his direction and then held out the edge of his shield like a blade. The robot gutterally growled as he dashed straight for the super soldier, intent on running him through. Steve remained in his path of attack, keeping the mech believing that he was too tired to move. At the last possible moment when it was mere inches away, Steve ducked under and leaned to the side, allowing his shield to cleave through Iron Cross' rubber waist and clean through, cutting it completely in half. The ruined robot crumbled to to floor in a heap.

"Ha! The Sleeper stirs!" the Red Skull cried. "You've failed Captain. It's ALIVE! ALIVE!!!!"

In the mists below, the cavern began to rumble and shake the facility up to the very foundations of Castle Zemo. Steve looked down through the grate and saw the clouds of steam and smoke start to shift. Two giant bright glowing green eyes pierced through the fog, sending a twinge of terror down Steve's spine.

A giant metal arm the size of a skyscraper reached up through the fog and grabbed on to the rock wall of the cave. Everything began to shake even more until the structures within began to collapse and fall down into the dark. The massive figure started to climb the wall and slowly emerge from the shadows.

The fabled Sleeper was truly a sight to behold, for all those who were lucky enough to be present for its rebirth. It was easily as tall as the very castle that lay above them. Steve could only imagine that its lower half made it even bigger than that. Its rounded head was easily the size of a small house

The possessed Firebrand uncaringly dropped the last body of the soldiers "he" had been slaughtering and looked down into the cavern with great interest.

"What might this be praytell?" the presence asked himself with glee. "Such a magnificent creation! Such power! A creature such as that would make an excellent enforcer for my coming armies."

"Yes, a creation that is mine alone to command," Red Skull said as he shot the colt with a tranquilizer.

Firebrand pulled the dart that was jabbed into his neck and started to feel dizzy. "he" tried charging Firebrand's new magic into a lethal attack, but couldn't build up enough magic as he fell on to Firebrand's horn, canceling out the spell.

"You dare--" the presence asked angrily.

The powerful tranquilizer worked quickly as the colt fell unconscious once again only a few seconds later. As the presence lost its control of Firebrand, his arctic blue fur and cold silver mane started to dissipate into a swirling white cloud of ice and snow. Ice melted in place of warm flesh as his natural red and gold fur returned to his body.

"Don't be a fool Schmitt! That thing will kill all of us!" Steve cried as he was being tossed around by the shaking.

The Skull picked up Firebrand with his other still intact hand and gave Steve an evil look before dashing off towards the exit.

"You are half right you fool!"

"DROP HIM YOU SLIME!" Cap roared hatefully.

After grabbing the foal's deep black horse shoes, Steve launched himself off of the massive remains of the destroyed Iron Cross and landed with a thud on the other side.

He didn't even register that the walkway was collapsing behind him as he pursued the Red Skull. Catching his enemy at the moment was no longer his first priority. Spinning into a mighty throw, Steve threw his shield at his enemy's shoulder and dislocated it with a loud crack. He cried out in agony as he was forced to drop Firebrand. The colt hit the grates with a clack and fell behind the fleeing Schmitt. Before he realized what had happened, he had already reached the exit passageway on the other side of the cavern.

Pieces of the ceiling gave way before Steve could reach Firebrand and the Skull, breaking the catwalk from its mounts and separating the three from each other entirely. Steve turned his attention to Firebrand who had just narrowly missed the rocks by only a few feet. The unconscious foal slid down the broken section of the catwalk, in danger of falling to his death. Steve ran as fast as he could force his legs to go and launched off of the edge of the last standing piece of the walkway. Reaching out, Steve tried reaching for Firebrand as he fell, but was caught off guard, by a swipe from the Sleeper who had just found its newest target after waking up from centuries of slumber.

The last thing Steve saw before falling into the darkness below was Schmitt picking up a metal claw carrying a brilliantly blue cube that shined through the pitch black like the first star of evening time.

Johann Schmitt looked back at the sight behind him with a sense of relief in believing his greatest adversary was finally going to perish, but also bitter feelings as the same may happen to his second greatest resource. His ticket to unlocking the secrets of a new race, filled to the brim with unlimited magical potential. He looked at the hand the colt had destroyed with his unforgiving ice. Or rather the ice "he" had attacked him with. The man took to the idea that it would have to be amputated and replaced with cybernetics. Whomever it was, Schmitt knew that it had to have been someone powerful. In what way, he could not fathom. However, he would do everything to find out what had given the colt such an extraordinary boost of power.

Whatever or whoever had taken control of the colt was a wild card in his ultimate plans. A wild card that he had to either turn to his advantage, or destroy without mercy.

Meanwhile, in a secret lab not far away...

Arnim Zola knew that the Captain would not remain dead for long. He had proved far too brilliant and resourceful in his own right to be so. Defeating not only Baron Strucker, but also their elite Madame Hydra and their prized war bot Iron Cross. Zola had a back up plan in case this would come to be. His latest breakthrough in his life long project Master Mann. This time however, he had something new and powerful to ensure its complete success.

The doctor ran into the lab, and across a number of bridges and narrow pathways to reach his destination. Stone walls and metal structures would not keep Hydra safe for long. The Sleeper had shaken the foundations of Castle Zemo right to its very core and it would only be a matter of time before the entire facility along with all of its assets would be completely destroyed. His anxiety and disappointment in the thought made him trip over himself more than once while he dashed through long sterile hallways.

Zola came to his destination, in the form of an experimental auditorium where he could freely test his latest inventions. Coming up to a long control panel that surrounded the entire auditorium, he quickly typed in a combination into a nearby keypad. Hoping beyond all hope that his latest creation was still intact and ready for deployment.

A panel in the middle of the room hissed as it opened upwards, revealing a display case containing a suit of armor. A suit of armor that would lead Dr Arnim Zola to the next step in his evolution. Soon he would be free of his weak mortal shell, in place of something much more powerful...

Next Time: When Trumpets Fade (part 1)

Author's Note

The past unleashes new horrors. One of fire and one of ice. A beast that will shake the foundations of the earth and a horror from a distant ancient land that seeks dominance over Firebrand's very soul.

As always, I hope you folks enjoy the story. Like, comment, and follow my account to your heart's content. Tell me what you think and what I might do to improve it.

I hope you are still enjoying this Josh! My ideas can be a bit goofy sometimes, but I hope they are enjoyable.

Super Soldier: When Trumpets Fade (part 1)

When the duo came to, they found themselves laying back first on the ground in a ruined corridor. The ceiling was all but completely destroyed by their fall and the many pieces of rubble that had come loose from their encounter with the Sleeper. His eyes felt heavy, and the sweet embrace of sleep tried to call him back to its enveloping darkness, but a bang of falling rock and pieces of the castle overhead shook him awake. The first thing he felt about himself is that all of his appendages were either numb or in excruciating pain. Thankfully, he had slipped his shield back on to the magnet mounted to his back to prevent instant death from the fall. Unfortunately that meant his arms and legs were left to absorb the rest of the impact.

His shield arm felt like it was shattered in several places and was dislocated at the shoulder again, which he had hoped wouldnt happen a second time. His left arm fared even less as it was hyper extended in the fall, which meant he would have to get it fixed before they could go onwards.

His legs writhed in pain as they too had not escaped any damage. They felt broken in several sensitive places which made any moving all the more difficult. His chest felt like it was being clamped with a vice, like four separate claws were holding him down to restrain his movement. Opening his eyes completely, Steve looked down and found Firebrand still holding on for dear life with his eyes closed tightly, not realizing that they had already hit the bottom of the hole. Steve chuckled inwardly when Steve saw that it was Firebrand's black horse shoes that were causing him the extra pain, though he felt that he would have to break that fact to the colt rather gently.

"Firebrand, Firebrand, come on buddy. We've stopped falling. Much to my dismay," He grunted.

He could feel Firebrand's grip loosen as one of his eyes opened following his head lifting off of Steve's chest.

"Daddy? What happened?" the little foal asked. "My brain feels cold and stings like after Uncle Howard gave me that ice cream."

Steve gave Firebrand a concerned look. He was by no means knowledgeable at all in magic. He had no idea who even was, but he knew when they got back to London that he would have to if he was going to free the colt from whoever was controlling him.

"We'll figure that out later pal. I have a feeling whatever that was, we will have to deal with one way or another. Right now though, we have to contact Uncle Bucky and find a way out of here before the entire castle collapses on us."

"Alright," the colt replied.

He sat up slowly, immediately regretting his action as he felt pain like a million nails being jabbed into his flesh from all sides. He let out a painful groan which drew Firebrand's attention to his condition.

"DADDY! What happened to you?" he wailed as he pointed at his hyper extended arm.

"Just got a little beat up, nothing to worry about," Steve insisted as he tried standing up on his feet, but collapsed when the pain was too much.

Firebrand tried to offer to make a tourniquet for his arm but given the mission, he couldnt have any of his limbs out of commission until they made it back to the extraction point. His minor healing factor was taking longer to fix him, given the extent of the damage. They couldnt stick around for too long or the constant cave ins were going to trap them inside.

"Don't move Daddy. I think I can help." Firebrand assured. "I dont know why, but I think I can do something."

Steve watched closely, wanting to take in as much information as he could to gain any knowledge he could on the colt's magic.

Firebrand closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as if he was trying to call upon a skill he had not practiced in ages. His horn started to glow crimson and a sound like a large generator activating whirred and sputtered from the tip of his horn. A spiraling steady stream of energy pulsed from Firebrand's horn, enveloping Steve's entire body in a red glow.

In a twinkling of an eye, Steve could feel all the pain in his limbs melt away as his limbs crunched and cracked back in place. It made his skin crawl as all the bones just danced around his insides, pushing and pulling against his muscles and inner layers of his skin. He tried keeping his limbs as still as possible so as to not interrupt Firebrand's process. His hyper extended arm turned and cracked back to its natural shape.

This happened for another minute until Firebrand could no longer handle the amount of magic he had spent. The spell then dis ignited and flowed back into the foal's body as he collapsed to his front knees from exhaustion. He started sweating profusely and panting loudly, trying to gain his energy back.

Steve tried lifting his shield arm carefully and flexed his fingers very slowly so as to not aggravate anything. He still hurt very badly everywhere but not enough to incapacitate him. Whatever Firebrand had done to him, it would give his healing factor a chance to fix everything else as they moved forward. Provided that he didnt fall down a high cliff again. He could move both of his arms sufficiently enough, which prompted him to try his legs next.

As expected, they still felt like he had just laid in a mound of hot coals, but he was able to move them enough to stand up on his feet. He pushed himself up on to his knees as he went over to Firebrand to check on him.

"You alright buddy?" Steve asked concerned.

The foal was still panting heavily and sweat was soaking into his fur, but he made a quick nod as he leaned up against the human.

"What do you call that spell? The Medigun?," Steve asked cheerfully.

The colt just kept panting as Steve gently picked him up and placed him back into his harness. He decided to take a quick moment to look around the room for anything important.

Steve noticed that it was a meeting room, presumably between a few of the scientists and specialists that were stationed in that area of the castle. A single wall had a control console that appeared to be primarily used for maintenance and cooling systems. Standing in front of it was a rolling blackboard filled with various diagrams and mathematical equations. One schematic in particular detailed power from many facilities being diverted to a specific room in the castle. Steve recognized a name among all of the nearly illegible German cursive that made his blood turn cold. Firebrand looked over Steve's shoulder at the diagram and whimpered fearfully.

"Falsworth!"

"Uncle Fally?

Steve activated his communicator as it chirped to life, so he can try to reach his friends on the surface.

"Bucky, do you read? The Skull got away...but I found some blueprints, and they show a lot of power being diverted to the Northern Chapel. I think that's where they are holding Falsworth." Steve barked into the communicator.

The communicator was silent for a moment, but then he heard Bucky's aggressive voice came in.

"Copy. I want in on this Steve. No arguments." he demanded.

Steve laughed weakly.

"You wont get any from me. Falsworth is definitely gonna be in bad shape...I'll need help extracting him to a medical facility. Can you and Dugan get back in?"

"Hell yes Cap," he heard Dugan shout on the other end. "Let's gear up and haul ass ladies."

"We gotta help him!" Firebrand wailed.

"Don't you worry little man," Bucky assured the colt through the comm. "We found some massive ordinance confiscated from a Russkie commando unit."

"Just get back in here and wreck everything in your way," Cap ordered.

"Sir, yes sir!" Bucky replied gleefully.

"Thanks Buck, I'll see you guys at the castle."

The communicator shut off as Steve and Firebrand went forward, trying to find their way out of the collapsing laboratory.

There was a sudden burst of heat in the passages, like being on the inside of an oven. Around the corner, Cap found a hallway on fire, forcing him to flip across the hallway, using the exposed pipes that clung close to the ceiling. Electrical junctions had been ripped out of the lower sections of the wall, igniting containers of toxic waste that had come from nearby heavy machinery. After being around Firebrand for a while, Steve had built up somewhat of a resistance to extreme heat. With Firebrand clinging to his back, Steve made it across the gap relatively quickly.

The path opened outwards as they came to a turn and found a branching hall with a viewing glass. Outside was a large hangar that stretched out from side to side about half a mile across. Inside were Hydra attack helicopters fully primed and ready for takeoff.

"Helicopters..." he mused.

"Are we gonna fly out?" Firebrand asked expectantly.

"I think so pal." he replied. "After we find everyone of course."

"I hope it doesnt make my tummy grumbly. Those flips and spins are making me feel funny,"

The colt's stomach gurgled almost in response. Steve groaned inwardly hoping that he wouldnt sick on his shoulder.

Heading down the right corridor first, they found a smaller office with an armored locked door on one end and a group of large crates stacked up in random spots. The shelves and drawers in the office were all empty, save for a few stray schematics and papers. Steve concluded that whoever had occupied this office, must have left in a hurry. One of the schematics that got left behind was one that detailed a critical weakness in Scorcher Juggernaut armor. An actuator that separated their accelerant tanks from their flame launchers. Steve quickly folded it up and shoved it into his pouch.

Every couple of steps, the entire structure around him shook violently, telling him just how little time he and Firebrand had left to stop the Sleeper. Running back down the hallway to the leftside passage, Steve clipped his shoulders every so often against lockers and trunks that were set up there. Some of their doors hung wide open and some were still clamped shut.

Firebrand felt the familiar presence of something terrifying approaching from up ahead. It made his head suddenly start flaring up again with a serious migraine as he closed his eyes and tried holding his head.

Steve turned a corner into a long empty room, only to find a powerful pulse being launched at him. He reared back and narrowly dodged the blast. It was another lone Screamer that had somehow escaped Zola's lab.

"There must be dozens of these things all over the castle!" Steve exclaimed.

Firebrand opened his eyes and tried keeping down his terror when his eyes laid upon the Screamer. The single glowing yellow eye, the half dead gaping mouth, and the twisted gangly body that used to belong to a man. He jumped out of the harness for a moment to try to help Cap with his magic. He felt his legs shake and wobble as he finally took in the size of the Screamer without being elevated by his position on Steve's back.

As it approached, Firebrand panicked and launched his horse shoes at the creature, which fractured its protective aura. Steve took the opportunity of it being distracted as he closed in and gave a solid roundhouse kick to the chest, destroying its suit and sending it sprawling.

Shaking his head quickly, Firebrand got the fear out of his system once he saw the Screamer on the ground. It was mobidly comforting being assured that what had traumatized and hurt him so much was just as mortal as he was. The monsters that haunted his mind could be harmed. It gave him a new sense of confidence and strength as he hopped back into his harness and called forth his horse shoes back on to his fore hooves. They slipped back on comfortably with a loud clank as Steve looked back at the foal with concern.

He could tell that those creatures bothered him deeply. Firebrand had gone through an ordeal that nobody should have to endure. It was going to be tough, but with time and patience, he would get him through this just like everything else.

"You alright? I know those things scare you," he asked gently.

"They hurt me." he replied bluntly.

Steve reached behind and grabbed ahold of one of his hooves. It was a loving gesture that Firebrand greatly appreciated.

"And as long as I'm breathing, those things wont lay another finger on you again," he proclaimed.

With that, they came out to a part of the castle that had been destroyed, revealing the side of the mountain, just a few hundred meters under the castle. Pipes spewing out steam and hot water stretched from one jutting part of the cliff side to the other. They turned and went every which way, going to different parts of the castle. Presumably for either plumbing, cooling machinery, or powering something big. Scaffolding and half completed catwalks up and down the cliffside covered in various construction materials was left unoccupied. Steve could tell that they had plans to build the castle even further if it had not been for his and Firebrand's interference.

A cable leading from where they were standing down to another walkway, built in the cliffside provided them with the path they needed. Steve once again stretched out his shield around the cable and held on tight, using it as a zipline for him and Firebrand to get across.

As soon as they made it across, Steve found a path through the scaffolding and mazes of pipes and rigging to use as handholds to climb up. It was an arduous task in his still weakened state, but he managed fine. The pipes moist from condensation were slippery and difficult to get a tight grip on. Three times, Steve nearly slipped and fell to his doom if Firebrand had not found a way to tether them to the handholds with a new spell, just in the nick of time. Cap wasnt sure how it happened. All Firebrand could tell him was that he felt out to the nearest thing he could grab with his magic and it pulled them in.

Eventually, Steve found his way up to a catwalk, near the top of the cliff face. The main exterior of the castle came into view, covered everywhere witth giant Hydra banners that stretched down at least fifty feet. Above them was a landing platform for some kind of aircraft.

Somewhere coming from off to the right, one of Hydra's attack helicopters flew by, heading towards a blimp that was docked there at the landing platform. Steve immediately knew who was inside that helicopter.

"The Skull..." he growled.

Steve went into a full on sprint, desperate to try to catch the Red Skull this time. The cliff face did its best to delay his progress as more paths, ladders, and gaps seemed to appear. When he made it to one of the lower landing platforms, he had Firebrand gather up anything of significance he could see with his magic before moving onF. The upper catwalks prevented him from seeing where the blimp was exactly but he could tell by the sound that he was close. They rounded another corner of the catwalk, and found the blimp speeding away off somewhere else.

"DAMNIT!!" Steve swore. "We just barely missed him."

"What about Uncle Fally?" Firebrand asked worried.

Steve paused for a moment, watching the blimp go off further and further into the distance before shaking his head.

"You're right buddy. We need to get out of here and find a path to the chapel. We'll get the Skull soon enough."

Steve noticed something on the other side of a gap, not far from where he was standing.It was an anti aircraft cannon pointed somewhere off into the distance of the open sky.

'Should probably take that out before we move on.' Steve thought. 'I dont want a single one of those things active when the cavalry gets here.'

It didnt take long as Steve made it across and quickly planted another brick of C5. Activating the countdown, Steve found a power cord heading back down to the landing platform and slid down before they got caught up in the explosion.

Firebrand pointed ahead to a door where they could potentially start making their way up to the surface of the castle. Beside it was another one of Zola's booby trapped code boxes which he would have to crack before they could proceed.

However, before he could even step closer to it, the sound of a propeller buzzing like a chainsaw came from directly behind, causing Steve to curse under his breath. He whipped around to find a rocket coming right at his face, giving him barely enough time to jump out of the way before it exploded against the wall of the castle.

The helicopter was jet black all over, except for the windows and front lights which were bright green. Three propellers were attached to the wings and the tail which seemed to provide the aircraft with increased mobility and speed. The bottom side of the plane was outfitted with a number of rocket launchers and gattling guns which were going to prove problematic if they did not get rid of it quickly.

"Stupid plane!" Firebrand shouted angrily. "Stop shooting at us!"

"I dont think they are gonna listen pal," Cap replied dryly. "We are gonna need a lot of firepower to blow that thing out of the sky."

Cap headed up to the top platform of the airdock where he found two mounted rocket launchers there. Unfortunately for him, the plane flexed its wings as they targeted the rocket launchers and destroyed them before the duo could use them to their advantage.

"CRAP!"

The plane unleashed a targeted rain of bullets on the two as Steve held his shield up, doing his best to keep himself and the colt on his back from being struck. A million thoughts and plans raced through his head in a moment, but none of them were viable in this situation. When the plane's guns overheated, a small group of armored soldiers came flooding out of another sealed door, advancing on the super soldier.

They were only a minor annoyance to the two, but the plane quickly getting its weapons back in working condition, it turned their fight into a ticking time bomb which they would need to defuse quickly. Firebrand assisted with the fight, but it seemed they would run out of time just barely as the attack helicopter raised its wings once again, preparing to fire,

"Daddy! Point me at the plane!" he chattered with a new enthusiasm.

"The what--" Steve asked.

Steve didnt know what he was talking about for only a moment, until the gears in his head started to spin.

"Ohhhhhh," Steve replied in realization.

He held up his shield once again, as the aircraft once again unleashed another salvo with its gattling guns and grenade launchers. Firebrand jumped behind Steve to keep himself from being hit. He waited with his until the plane's guns overheated again, giving him the perfect moment to act. Taking the foal, he laid him stomach down over his shoulder as Firebrand stretched out his arms and legs. His mouth curled up into a big pearly white smile that would rival the Cheshire Cat.

Firebrand charged up his horse shoes with his magic as their red glow at the tip of his forelegs grew larger and brighter. When he felt the energy hit its peak, he let it out all at once, and his shoes went flying with a crack, going as fast as a RPG coming out of its barrel.

"MAGGOT!" Firebrand shouted with jubilation.

"The horse shoes impacted against the helicopter, detonating it into a firey pillar as it was launched further into the air and plummeted down the cliff into the valleys far below the mountain. Steve looked over the railing, watching the aircraft fall for a moment before turning to Firebrand who had just recalled his shoes back to his fore hooves again.

"Not bad! We should probably find time to practice your magic. All these new spells could come in handy in the future." Steve said thoughtfully.

Firebrand vigorously agreed as they turned their attention to the door on the floor below. But before they went down again, they checked inside the room that had opened up where the soldiers came out of.

It was a small barracks room with a couple of generators that provided power to this small part of the castle. Along one side of the room was a row of metal shelves filled with all manner of knick nacks and personal items that presumably belonged to some of the soldiers here. Steve picked out another film reel on one of the shelves with a familiar symbol on it. Zola's master mann project which was labelled Iron Cross.

Any intel he received of Zola's inventions would provide them with an edge. Especially of his lumbering enemy which gave him so much trouble not an hour earlier. He pocketed it and they went back down to the first level.

This time, thankfully the code was a little easier as Steve cracked it fairly quickly, allowing them entry back into the depths of Baron Zemo's stone cold castle.

Next Time: Super Soldier- When Trumpets Fade (part 2)

Author's Note

Sorry for the late upload of this. Its been a while but it feels good to get back to this story. Excuse some of my odd additions to the story earlier on. I'm working on whether or not I should keep things in or just focus on a couple of things.

As always, tell me what you think and what I might do to improve it.

I hope you are still enjoying this story Josh!

Super Soldier: When Trumpets Fade (part 2)

Moist, cold air blasted into their faces as they set forth back into the mountain. Every inch of the interior was in severe disrepair. The brick and mortar was decrepit and cracked in many places. Making the duo wondering how this part of the castle had survived the Sleeper's rampage, let alone a slight vibration. It all looked like it was barely holding together after long years of abuse and neglect. Mold and water coated the walls and the ceiling, giving Steve an idea as to what they were getting close to. The concrete floor was scuffed in many places, as if many heavy things had been moved out of this area off somewhere else further in.

Many papers were left on the wall in this corridor, unlike the impromptu barracks upstairs which were cleaned out in a hurry. Many of them were dirty maps, mathematics, algorithms, letters, and diagrams of every kind that detailed machinery from around the castle. Dust, oil, and soot had soaked into the papers so much that many of the pages were almost impossible to read. Steve looked around for a moment, rummaging around through the leftover data. There was a lot to comb through in such a short amount of time. They had to find Falsworth, but they also had to determine Schmitt and Zola's plans or more people would be in danger.

He felt a lump, like a bulky disc under one haphazard pile of papers and folders and found a log book with Zola's name imprinted on it. Along with another film reel like the one upstairs. This film reel was labeled Sleeper.

Steve pocketed it into his pouch and skimmed through the logbook to find any crucial information that might be helpful to their efforts. He found a page that marked with a special insignia that he couldn't identify.

"The Red Skull has been a man obsessed," Steve read quietly. "Demanding further excavation into the castle foundation. It has become clear to me that he seeks something specific.

He went down to the next entry labeled at a later date and continued.

"We have found it. We have uncovered something monumental. At first I thought it was some type of statue, long buried and forgotten. But as more was revealed, I realized with mounting excitement that it was nothing so mundane. A gigantic mechanical humanoid. Constructed in a forgotten age, forged from materials that I cannot readily identify. Thankfully it is inactive. Sleeping in its stony prison. But with the power of the Cube and the Red Foal...I hope to waken it. Under my command, a creature such as this would dominate any conventional warfare. Even alter the course of history.

Steve went down to the last entry in that section of the logbook.

"The Skull has authorized use of the Cube, but only under his direct supervision. Alas, we still have yet to recover the foal for our goals to enhance the Sleeper. Still, we have all we need. I eagerly await the Skull's arrival. For the hour has come round at last."

Steve was finished and shut the book as he placed it into his intelligence satchel.

"They wanted me to power the robot?" Firebrand asked fearfully.

"It looks that way." Steve replied grimly. "We dont have to worry about that yet. I'm not sure how much of your DNA Zola got his hands on, but you were gone for maybe an hour or two. I dont think that would be enough time to take out that much from you to power the Sleeper."

Steve said that with uncertainty, knowing that it Screamers and a few machines around the castle were already being powered by small charges of Firebrand's magic. Zola could still have some left over that he had saved for the titanic automaton.

Shelving the thought for later, Steve and Firebrand left the room and went back through the Eastern Bastion which was completely destroyed, giving them room to head on down towards the Sewers. Pieces of wet rubble from of the many staircases were littered throughout the passageways of the bastion. Mold was already starting to grow in many places which really made the entire place stink. A couple of times, he stepped in a couple of deep puddles, hoping his boots were thick enough to keep the water out.

They found the passageway which was closed off by a gate with a rusted padlock. Steve was able to break it open easy enough with his bare hands, allowing them to proceed forward into the murky depths of the castle Sewers.

Upon entering the dark tunnels, Steve and Firebrand were surprised when they found that the Sewers were very clean. Any stench and rat infested plumbing that one might see from ages long past were no where to be found. Instead they came across modern technology and tunnels outfitted for maintenance and military transport from one area of the castle to another. The first room was another small office used by Hydra security personnel.

Firebrand scrunched his nose when he took a deep whiff of his surroundings, hoping to smell the same strangely pleasant moist smell of a dark passageway like. It startled him so much that he closed his eyes and started to retch. The entire tunnels seemed to be covered in the foul smell. It was an indescribable smell that made his eyes water only after a few minutes of being there.

"What's that smell daddy? Its making me feel sick," the colt groaned covering his snout with a hoof.

"You can smell that? Jeez, and here I thought they did a pretty good job at cleaning up the place," Steve replied almost sounding disappointed. "Your nose must be more sensitive than mine. That's most likely left over dookie and urine."

"Gross! Why are we going through here?" Firebrand snapped indignantly.

"Not a lot of choice little buddy sorry. Just power through it for a little bit." Steve said apologetically. "I'll dig around my first aid kit for an antacid once we're out in the open again. And some water if I can find a faucet or something around here."

He could hear voices nearby in the tunnels, no doubt they were waiting for the two of them. Just waiting to spring an ambush on the duo. The passageways were pretty cavernous and the ceiling reached up to at least twice Steve's height. Steve deduced that it had to have been used frequently as a way to quickly transport troops and weapons all over the castle.

"So, how do you want to handle this pal?" Steve whispered. "Full frontal, stealth, or diversion? I'll give you a chance to see how we can take out these guards.

"Really?" Firebrand chirped excitedly before Steve raised a finger.

"Yeah, stay low, and peek around the corner. Assess their placement and the environment and see how we can get rid of them."

Firebrand hopped off again and carefully peeked around the corner, keeping low so as to not let the soldiers see him. The colt did his best to hold his breath to keep focused and settle his stomach. He spotted a suspiciously large pipe that went down the other side of the tunnel off to the left and right. An idea came into his head as he shot off one of his horseshoes with a bang, sending the soldiers into a frenzy. His horseshoe did its job as the pipe burst, sending gas streaming out of the ruptured pipe. Firebrand leaped out into the open, startling the soldiers. They made the mistake of reacting, as when they cocked their guns, it only took a spark to ignite the gas.

Steve leapt towards the corridor, forgetting for a moment about Firebrand's unique ability as he held up his shield against the powerful torrent of flames that were burning his legs even through his flameproof suit. When the flames died down, he saw Firebrand standing there in the middle of a blackened floor with his mane blown back like he had just been at the barber.

"That is not what I meant by stealth. Please try to be a bit more careful next time you do that? We still don't know how much you can actually take. I'd rather not find out here." Steve chided.

"Sorry! I got them though didn't I?" Firebrand asked hopefully.

Looking up and down the tunnel, he saw a lot of burnt corpses that used to be Hydra soldiers.

"You did alright..."

They continued onwards through the labyrinth of long, dark upgraded tunnels filled with new technology. Grates, wires, and other various pipes were under the walkway that certainly were not part of the original design of the castle. Lights lines the sewer passageways on either side and under the grates, lighting the way for any personnel traveling through them. Steve briefly had a humorous thought about the poor saps that were forced to clean out the sewers before installing the new technology. The rats, cockroaches, and other pests as well had to have taken Hydra a while to completely exterminate from the castle. Those that might still remain were clearly smart enough to stay out of sight.

'The smell must have been rancid,' Steve thought. 'Medieval sewers were almost as bad as New York's sewers. No plumbing too which probably made it worse.'

"Its the fastest way to get to the chapel. Just hold on for a little bit longer Firebrand. Besides, even if this place was still full of literal crap, its nothing compared to what they put me through in Hell Week..."

It continued this way for the next few miles of dark tunnels as Firebrand started feeling worse. His equine senses were picking up every rancid septic and fecal smell that still existed there. He tried to keep on a brave face for Cap, but he wasn't going to last for much longer. He trotted close to Steve, concentrating on breathing through his mouth.

Turning another corner into another passageway, Steve heard a sound like a bell and a flash of light as he quickly reacted. He twisted quickly and held his shield up, not preparing for the kickback as he and Firebrand were launched backwards. Whatever hit them was like a meteor, large, bright and very fast as it impacted against the shield and exploded outwards into the walls of the sewer.

Billowing clouds of grey smoke from the explosion burned their eyes and blocked their sight. Its burnt metal smell, mixed with the old rancid smells in the sewer and the old bricks, made for a rancid smell that burnt their noses. They started coughing to get it out of their systems.

Firebrand lashed out in reaction, shooting off his horse shoes in a random direction, despite the smoke. He heard his shoes impact into the armor of something that gave a familiar shriek, followed by a second louder bang into a second object.

"Can you see through the smoke?" Steve coughed out.

"N-n-no," Firebrand's little voice sputtered.

"Then how-"

Steve's question was answered as Steve stepped forward and out of the smoke cloud. His throat made a few last coughs to get the smoke out of his lungs before he regained his composure once again. Firebrand took a minute longer to recover but he soon opened his eyes too as well to see what happened.

They found two Hydra combatants, a Screamer and a Scorcher. The Screamer had smashed back first into the chest of the Scorcher, sending both sprawling on the ground. One of Firebrand's horse shoes had jammed into what used to be the chest plate of the Screamer while the other took off the Scorcher's right arm entirely. It laid limp on the ground ten feet from the Scorcher's body, bleeding from the stump. A sight that made Firebrand feel sick to his stomach. The colt recalled his precious new weapons back on to his feet before turning slightly green and burping.

"I won't lie to you buddy, it WILL be worse than this," Steve said. "You'll probably see even worse than this as long as I'm around you."

Firebrand shook his head sickly, forcing himself to calm down.

"I'll be fine daddy," the foal replied sickly. "I just feel a little funny."

Firebrand wanted to remain strong for Steve, so he pushed back the tears that were coming up and started running forward in one particular direction. Steve still concerned for his health, stayed close to him as they went on their way through the tunnels. He got ahead of the foal, and turned a few more corners

'Once we get back up top, he'll be right as rain,' Steve thought. 'His animal senses are getting everything here a lot better than mine and its making him sick.'

It went on like this for another mile as Steve breezed through the small amount of soldiers that had remained behind in the tunnels, while Firebrand stood back, trying to breathe carefully. The little colt was starting to sweat and sway back and forth as if he was starting to get dizzy. Thankfully, the tunnels began going uphill as Steve finally found a gate that led back into the castle. It was just another dilapidated corridor, filled with empty tables and filing cabinets, but it was much better than what Firebrand was forced to go through.

Steve looked down at the foal and saw that he was starting to return to normal. The foal finally couldn't hold it in any more as he wretched into a nearby trashcan that was moved under one of the tables. He heaved a couple more times, as his body tried to acclimate to the normal environment. He rubbed the foal's back a couple of times, trying to make him feel better.

"Feel better?"

Firebrand pulled his head out and weakly looked back at the human and smiled.

"Still funny, but better," he replied.

"Let's go then, Falsworth doesn't have much time," Steve said grimly.

The colt nodded simply and followed behind him as they finally found a door that led back outside into the night time air of the Bavarian Mountains. Firebrand breathed in deeply and felt refreshed at the blast of cold air as a light breeze brushed his face. It reinvigorated him and soothed his eyes somewhat that were still stinging from the smoke down below in the sewers.

Steve noticed that they found themselves in a ruined courtyard where signs of over a dozen tanks moving in and out of the area could be seen. The ground seemed to be permanently marked with the treads of Hydra's super tanks. All the grass had been kicked up and died a long time ago, leaving only rugged earth and rocks. A fountain that once stood in the center was now leveled to the ground. Shards of marble forming a circle and a couple of stray pipes being the only form of proof that the fountain ever existed. Old boards were piled up against a low hanging wall that seemed to divide the courtyard in half.

On the far side of the courtyard, where the last remaining stone stairway was led up to a terrace surrounded by buildings covered in all manner of scaffolding and rigging. Four steel beams in a circle held up a helicopter landing pad with a suspended walkway that reached over to the adjacent buildings. All of it was significantly newer than the castle it was built into.

Steve could faintly hear a group of guards massing at the other side, waiting for Steve and Firebrand to appear.

"I hope they are stupid enough to come through here," one said diabolically.

"Spread out and keep an eye out for them swine!" a louder voice barked.

Hearing nothing but the sound of a warbler bird's call in a nearby tree and the sound of heavy footsteps on the other side, Steve and Firebrand carefully made their way across. Careful so as to not make any loud noises to alert the guards to their presence. Steve knew that they were quickly running out of time. Getting into long fights with the guards would only waste time that Falsworth did not have. He occasionally stepped on a few twigs or crumbling pieces of old tiles but thankfully they werent loud enough to attract any real attention. A Scorcher at the top of the terrace was facing the other direction, watching the other entrances and exits for Steve and Firebrand to appear.

This gave Steve the opportunity to kick the back of his legs in, sending the Scorcher on his knees. Using the incendiary rocket launcher still attached to its arm, he sent a barrage of rockets flaming towards the squad of grunts. They were killed on contact as each rocket exploded into a fiery blaze.

"I wuv the smell of napalm in the mornin," Firebrand chattered menacingly.

Firebrand watched all around for any hidden enemies and spotted a glint of light up by the rooftops. Without thinking, he reached over to Steve's head with his forehooves extended and deflected a sniper's bullet just in the nick of time.

"Thanks," Steve grunted as he kept firing.

One of the rocket's blew the door of a beer hall into a million splinters and cinders that sparked. The shrapnel from the door and pieces of brick blown off the building knocked the other grunts off of their feet, giving Cap the chance to go in for the kill.

It didn't take long as there was only a small patrol in this courtyard village guarding the way towards the chapel. Unfortunately, Steve had an aching suspicion that things were only going to get a lot worse from here on out. Falsworth had been in enemy hands for hours. There was no telling if he was even still in the castle. Let alone if he was even still alive. Still, he was one of his Howling Commandos, and a brother in arms. He knew he had to at least try, no matter what horrors him and Firebrand would bear witness to.

With a single hand, Steve broke the rusty locks off of three old locked iron gates that were preventing the duo from progressing. Each step through wet bricked caked in moss and rust sent a solid clack down the dark alleyway. He adjusted his right sleeve of his uniform that had rolled up from the wrist and tightened the strap on the back of his shield, preparing for anything. Firebrand noticed this in his adoptive father and started to get nervous himself. It made him want to stare into his horse shoes as if he expected the magical items to say something to him. The colt could see his reflection in the polished black metal of the horse shoes. He could tell that the past few days had not done anything kind to his tiny body.

Looking into the reflection of his golden eyes, Firebrand caught a glimmer of silver light flickering like a candle flame across his irises. Followed by a thick breath of cold vapor that billowed from his mouth like a small cloud. It was only for a moment, but it startled the colt. Then he heard a familiar deep laugh echoing in his mind, which made him look all around. The owner of the laugh was nowhere to be seen in the tunnel. This only panicked him even more, wondering what was going to happen in the battle to come...

Next Time-Super Soldier: Church on Time

Author's Note

I'm back! Did ya miss me? I definitely needed the hiatus. I was releasing chapters of stories too far apart and too inconsistently and having multiple stories going at once was hurting my efforts.

I'm going to focus primarily on rehauling many of the previous chapters and finishing this story up, but I am going to try a lot harder to put real good effort into making this a decent, cute story that people can enjoy. My stories are a little rough around the edges sometimes, but I am hoping that I can fix it up enough for you guys. Like I said in my blog post, I'm gonna be replacing a certain plot element with something more Norse to fit the theme here. The Narnia stuff was only confusing people.

I also hope that my story continues to be entertaining and decent enough for you Josh!

Super Soldier: Church on Time

Every step forward brought Steve and Firebrand further and further into a labyrinth of alleyways and backlots. The places people rarely seemed to venture into in this place. The walls on every side were brown and cracked from neglect, covered in slime and fungi. Stagnant puddles covered every inch of the cobblestone, stinking up the passageways in an assortment of foul smells and textures that he didn't want to think about. All the windows were dark in this place, making Steve wonder what the castle town might have been like when it once thrived. If the Zemo family was ever benevolent enough to allow common peasants inside the boundaries of their mountain-top home. The buildings reaching high blocked out most of the cold, grey sky but Cap could tell that a blizzard was on its way to the mountain. The air around the duo was dropping in temperature rapidly, which meant they wouldn't have much time left until the fortress was completely enveloped by the storm.

Firebrand didn't like the silence, save for the sound of his father's feet clacking and splashing over wet cobblestone. It reminded him too much of the silence in that cold place from his dreams. So he thought about asking Steve something to push the thought out of his head.

"Daddy, where do we live?" Firebrand asked twiddling his forehooves.

The oddness and spontaneity of the question made Steve halt his running for a moment as he turned his head to look back at the foal with a raised eyebrow. Firebrand lowered his head in embarrassment partially expecting a negative response, but Steve just smiled.

"Right now, that's a bit complicated little buddy." Steve replied softly. "Before the war, I didn't really have a home of my own. I have just kinda been living with Uncle Bucky for a few years in New York. At the moment though, the S.S.R is our home. After the war...I guess we can go back to New York together...If you want."

"New...York? Where's that?"

"Far to the west on the other side of the ocean pal."

"The Ocean?" the foal inquired.

"Oh yeah, I guess we were too high up over the clouds to see it. Plus, I didn't get to teach you everything I wanted back in Tarvisio." Steve replied as he went back to running. "Its water that covers most of the world bud. Small sections of the ocean are called seas. Don't know too much about it myself. I didn't get much schooling on that kind of thing. All I know is all different kinds of fish, animals, and plants suited for water live in it and its largely unexplored. The most I've seen is the Hudson and the bay around New York. That's just mostly filled with trash, oil, bass and bottom feeder fish. I stopped a Hydra sub from escaping into the Hudson a few months ago."

It was a rather disappointing response for the both of them. Steve wished he could answer every question Firebrand had about the world. He was still only a child after all, and growing faster than any living thing should be. Steve had a thought about taking time in between missions to visit any library he came across. He needed to learn more about the world himself.

"Can we see the ocean?" Firebrand asked hopefully.

"...Sure," he replied. "If we get a chance during these missions or after the war, I'll take you myself. We'll go swimming and fishing."

"Can mamma come too?" Firebrand asked sweetly.

Steve felt his face heat up as he imagined Peggy in a swimsuit.

He cleared his throat and pushed his mind back to the mission at hand.

"Yeah, we'll all go. We'll have the time of our lives."

After that, Firebrand put his mind on more pleasant thoughts as they continued their way through the Castle Town's labyrinth of side streets and alleyways. It only took another ten minutes to find their way out as they turned another corner and found a stairway back out into the open. The streets started to open up wider again and their objective was finally in sight. The chapel was situated on the highest point of the Castle Town across a stone bridge that looked out over the whole place. The chapel was covered in sentry towers and communication wires that didn't blend into the original architecture at all. It was rather sad seeing what must have been a beautiful building at once, turned into an amalgamation of Hydra structures.

"There's the chapel...and its well fortified. Falsworth has to be inside."

Firebrand heard someone closing in near their position and jumped down out of his harness again to prepare for another fight.

"What's wrong?" Steve whispered.

"I smell the big oily men." he replied.

"Scorchers? Where?"

Firebrand ran to a street corner and peeked around the side of the building. He found a battalion consisting of thirty troops and Scorchers blocking the way towards the chapel. It was an open area with an ornate fountain in the center. Its centerpiece was a horse that looked like it would have spat water out of its mouth into the trough below. For whatever reason, Firebrand felt a pang of familiarity to the fountain. All of the buildings around the open area were badly damaged. Large holes were blasted out of the second story walls, showing fires inside that were slowly starting to blaze out of control. Even the colt knew that they couldn't stay in this place for much longer. He waved Steve over who peeked around the corner carefully as well.

"Gotta get through them quickly," Steve stated.

Firebrand looked around and found a nearby communication pole that was broken from its foundation from the nearby disturbances of the Sleeper. The pole was barely holding on to the cracked chunk of the cobblestone road that it was installed into, with bits and pieces of rebar sticking out every which way. It was buzzing faintly, like it was short circuiting internally. Firebrand came up with an idea on the spot that would either help, or hinder Cap's chances of getting through faster.

He launched his right horse shoe to the left side of the pole, much to Steve's fear and dismay.

"What?!" Steve panicked quietly.

The shoe sailed and broke the pole free from the road, sending it falling down off to the right where the soldiers were. Steve could only hear their shrieks as the pole crashed into the fountain and broke the trough, sending the last bit of stagnant water from the rain flowing across the ground and past their boots. They were startled by the sudden apparent accident, only to feel a wave of pain tingling into their bodies as most of them collapsed to the ground, twitching. Then a shower of glowing red bricks came out of nowhere, pelting the last grunts as they were quickly taken out.

The juggernauts were still on their feet however, not entirely affected by the electricity. A sound of them activating their grenade launchers could be heard which clued Cap in to an opportunity to act. Without thinking, Cap took advantage of the diversion Firebrand had made and quickly knocked out the remaining Scorchers with his shield. When the fight had ended, Steve finally stopped and his brain started working again.

As he caught his breath, he took a moment to take a look around at the chaos, trying to comprehend what had just happened. A pile of still twitching grunts and juggernauts were laying in a heap being perpetually electrocuted. Firebrand retrieved his shoe and walked out into the open. He looked around at the devastated yard seemingly admiring his fine work of destruction. A brick fell from one of the roofs right by his head with a knock and a crack, startling the colt.

"If you are finished having fun, we gotta get up there," Steve urged gently.

Firebrand nodded with worry as they tried to go up the next flight of stairs towards the town square. Two statues of olden German knights holding swords sat in tree islands on either side of the stairway. They came up to a second open terrace where remains of an old medieval marketplace once were. On the other side, they spotted Hydra soldiers dashing away around the corner.

"Its them! Block the way! Don't let them reach the church!" they bellowed.

A massive fiery explosion on the other side followed suit and nearly shook Steve off of his feet.

"What in the world!?" Steve yelled.

He dashed up the next flight of stairs with his shield raised, expecting a hailstorm of bullets headed in the duo's direction. Instead, they finally found what used to be the town square. It was completely blown away, leaving a hole a hundred feet deep on every side. The broadside faces of the surrounding buildings were either completely destroyed or damaged in the blast. Bits and pieces of rubble everywhere were still smoldering with red hot embers.

"Daddy over there!" Firebrand cried.

He looked over to where Firebrand was pointing far off to the left and found the bridge leading to the chapel on the other side. It was being blocked off by three of Hydra's specialized energy tanks that he had seen back in Austria. They were shooting into the sky to ward off the allied fighters attacking the castle.

"We're gonna have to stay out of their line of sight pal."

Firebrand noticed a grunt across the chasm on the third floor of a building standing ready by a mounted rocket launcher. He tried to step forward to get a better look at it, but Steve had noticed it too and pulled him back behind cover before the foal could be spotted.

"I don't think we can take the straight path buddy. We can make some carnage and mayhem later," Steve dryly remarked.

"Awww."

Looking around, Steve found a path up and across a covered cross section of building that reached over to the other side like a bridge. It would cover their advance perfectly as they approached.

He picked up Firebrand by the scruff of the neck who yelped as he was swung back into his harness and tightened down with one of the straps.

Climbing up the sides of the building and across the bridge section proved to be more difficult than he thought. The handholds were smaller, forcing Cap to strain his fingers and test his luck even more as he shimmied towards the other side. Firebrand tried not to move as much to help him keep his balance. They made it across regardless, and found an opening around the south side of one of the buildings facing an alleyway.

The building was in complete disarray, but Steve managed to find pieces of rubble to jump off of and make it to the second floor. He found another anti aircraft cannon placed in the blasted out side of the building which gave it just enough room to aim, but not enough to be spot from the outside. The fuse box providing power for the cannon wasn't hard to break into as he disarmed it fairly quickly and went back to looking for a way to the third floor.

Across the hall, a Warden broke through a pair of double doors and tried to halt their progress. Steve made sure to keep facing his opponent to keep the Warden's claw from grabbing ahold of the colt. Unfortunately for the both of them, Firebrand came up with another diabolically stupid plan of his own to deal with their obstruction. As the Warden tried going for an upward slash, Firebrand levitated a nearby explosive gas barrel in between them. Before they could halt their attacks, Steve and the Warden collided with the barrel as it exploded outward.

Steve was luckier than his opponent as he had his shield covering himself and Firebrand. They were blasted down to the floor where Firebrand had his lungs crushed by his massive human father. Unfortunately for their opponent, the Warden was blasted through two walls, one of which appeared to be a security door that couldn't stay mounted in the damaged doorway, so it fell with a bang completely intact.

"Owww," Firebrand wheezed out painfully. "Bad me. Sorry daddy. "

"Ow is right. Warn me next time you are gonna try that," Steve snapped. "I'd rather not get the same face that the Skull has."

After that little misstep on Firebrand's part, the colt decided that he should take a breather before moving again or trying anything else. Getting crushed by a 220 pound man certainly hurt. Getting the wind knocked out of himself again was annoying. It took a couple of minutes for Firebrand to breathe normally without gasping. The bruising he would have to bite through until they were safe enough for him to complain about it.

The stairway up to the third floor was just around the corner as they took out any remaining grunts in the building. Steve finally spot the grunt guarding the mounted rocket launcher and snuck up behind him before delivering a sharp chop to the neck. The grunt collapsed to the floor like a sack of potatoes, leaving him to jump on to the turret as dozens of soldier were starting to pour into the area, forcing Cap to blow the alleyways to smithereens. Volley after volley of explosive incendiary rockets lit up the town like fireworks as squad after squad of Hydra soldiers were completely wiped out.

Moving on to the fourth floor, they found the wall facing the chapel was blown off. An artillery marker was left there for soldiers to mark any invading planes for the anti aircraft tanks to target.

"Perfect. I can use that to mark the tanks for artillery strikes. I don't want to push my luck with that explosive spell of yours little buddy. There's no telling how much strain those put on your body."

"Awwww. Okay. Let me see the boom boom tubes then" Firebrand complained.

"I think we can arrange that," Steve chuckled.

Cap activated his communicator and contacted one of his friends on the other side of the canyon.

"Morita, stand by for coordinates. We got some tanks over here that need shelling. I'm just a few hundred feet away from the chapel."

"I've had an itchy trigger finger all day and they've been firing on us for two. Mark em up for us Cap!" his squad mate said gleefully.

In a dark, untouched corner of the room that had not been damaged by Hydra's reckless destruction of the town, Firebrand spotted a secret compartment in the wall that hid another gold family Zemo falcon. The colt levitated it up and placed it in Steve's pouch while the soldier in question went over to the marker and aimed one charge onto the nearest tank to themselves. The charge burnt out the battery in the Range Finder, causing it to smoke and send up a telegraph of the tanks coordinates.

"Coordinates locked in. Fire at will!" Cap commanded.

Firebrand still aching from his self inflicted injury pulled himself over Steve's shoulder to witness the bombardment of the Super Fortress squadron flying above. The first tank was blasted to pieces as it seemed to turn into a bonfire in an instant. The colt was wildly entertained with the fiery rain and destruction all around. Doing nothing to curb Steve's mild concern for the foal's mental health.

"The dish is toast. I bet they have another on the other side of the plaza."

"Awww, we have to wait for more colored rain?" Firebrand asked humorously mournful.

"Give me just a few minutes and I'll have more on the way."

Cap moved down a few more hallways and ruined buildings, searching for a path on the other side while Firebrand took a breather in his harness. They could still hear the other tank firing away at the sky, which made Steve pick up the pace as they ran through a maze of ruined hallways and Baroque Era architecture.

Firebrand shrugged and decided that he should at least make himself useful until his extreme soreness had healed up somewhat. He pulled the falcon statue back out of Steve's pouch and examined the figure for another of Zemo's journal entries. It didnt take much longer as the bottom popped off satisfyingly just like the other times. Placing the bottom back into Steve's pouch, Firebrand reached in and found another entry. The page was folded into a neat square but severely yellowed from time and moisture. Clearly exposure to the elements was not good to this entry.

He unfolded it carefully with his magic so as to not rip the page and read the words the mysterious Baron Zemo had written though he didn't understand them himself:

The Skull has summoned more detestable lieutenants, including one young fellow who also claims to be a Baron like myself. Yet he allows the Skull and Zola to order him around like a common domestic. And the woman...if the Baronesses who lived here could see her mannish affectations and scandalous attire, they would faint dead away. I tolerate this duo's presence only with difficulty; should they vex me, they will pay the price.

"What did you find Fire?" Steve asked the colt.

The question startled the foal, but he handed the page to Steve who quickly read through it before handing it back. Firebrand neatly folded it back up and placed it back in his pouch.

"I guess Zemo really did hate them as much as we do." Steve said thoughtfully. "Kinda funny in hindsight I guess, but we'll have to see if we can find him after we deal with Zola. I have a feeling Zemo was privy to all their plans and strategies."

"Is he gonna be a new friend?"

"I certainly hope so...though his attitude does concern me. He had an unhealthy obsession of his own and it seems some dangerous ambitions. He just didn't get the chance to enact them himself when Schmitt got here."

Soon enough, the two found the second range finder on the western side of the plaza. Charging it up, he pulled it down to aim at the last tank blocking the bridge and locked on, burning out the mechanism once more.

"Target locked! Fire when ready!" Cap barked into his communicator.

"Stand clear you two!" Morita yelled back.

Just a few seconds later, a line of bombs lit the plaza ablaze and sent the last tank skyward. It exploded bigger and brighter than the last one. Firebrand ooed and aahed at the display, getting his excitement and energy back.

"How did we do Cap?" Morita asked.

"Aces back to back. Good work!"

"Great news, Cap! Bucky and Dugan are en route to your location. Get in and get Falsworth out of there!"

"I just pray that we're not too late." Steve hoped.

He hopped down from the fourth floor down to the plaza below and vaulted over an iron gate. Three scorchers tried to impede their progress but they were cut down quickly with a bash from Firebrand's horse shoes and Cap's shield as they sprinted for the chapel, ready for whatever horrors were awaiting them within its once hallowed walls, now touched by evil...

Next Time: Super Soldier-The First of The Few

Author's Note

I'm really, really late with this but I hope you guys all are enjoying it. I have the next chapter started and I'm getting into a four day groove. Each chapter will hopefully be released every four days depending on the length. I've been doing some serious editing on the past chapters with room to do a lot more, and I've replaced a bad plot point with some more norse mythological stuff that actually fits within the confines of the Marvel Universe.

Happy New Year to you all!

Super Soldier: The First Of The Few

The American kicked open the giant hardwood double doors of the chapel, fully expecting anything and everything to jump out at them at any moment. Firebrand though found himself completely enraptured by the size and scope of the chapel. Red, Black, and Yellow banners carrying the German emblem lined each side of the entrance hallway for a hundred feet. Ornate golden chandeliers brightened up the entire church as good as any electrical lighting ever could. The ceiling of the church was so high that Firebrand had to stretch his neck all the way back just to look at it. Images of angels and holy men were carved into the stone of the walls and columns, each telling a story that Firebrand knew he would have to ask his father later.

Pieces of Hydra equipment and remote generators were scattered about all over the place. It was clear that Zola and the Skull cannabalized what used to be a beautiful building and turned it into another laboratory for their nefarious goals. No light came in through the sky lights but Steve knew that wouldn't last for too much longer. Dawn would be on the way in a few hours and he was determined to finish the mission before then. Extra lights were installed into the entryway pillars that were clearly not part of the ancient architecture of the cathedral. Any old furniture or artifacts of significance had long been taken away from the premises to make way for whatever purposes Hydra for the place.

None of these things were even close to being a priority in Steve's mind as his blood turned cold at the sight of what was up on the altar of the Cathedral. A massive apparatus with two arms running through each side and cables attached to the ceiling that were both connected to an open containment unit. Across the shining silver metal was the emblem of Zola's Master Mann project that Firebrand and himself have been learning about in the castle for the past two days. Inside the containment unit was their friend out cold, but in severe pain.

"Uncle Fally!" Firebrand wailed as he tried to run to the unit to help him.

Firebrand was frantic and he tried looking for anything that might help him release his friend, but the controls were simply too complex for the foal. So he raised his hooves in anger and frustration, ready to break it into pieces of scrap metal.

"Wait! We gotta try to phone for backup first. Falsworth is gonna need some medical attention little buddy. We can't just pull him out of that willy nilly. We might kill him by accident!" Steve explained sternly.

Firebrand gave him a look of fear and then helplessness as he looked back at the silent form of their English compatriot and stifled a sob. He placed

Cap tried to signal for help from Dugan and Bucky, but unfortunately, all he got was static and a shock to the ear which made him recoil.

Suddenly, something from outside violently shook the whole church as the front doors opened with a bang. The duo looked back to what caused the disturbance. They readied themselves for another harsh fight as a massive metal figure stomped across the velvet carpet and towards them. This figure was another robot, just like Iron Cross. Only, there was something different about this one. It was taller and more thin for one thing. Its body looked like it was more suited for quick strikes and proper combat. Unlike Iron Cross before it which was suited more for brutal shock and awe with its wide powerful swings.

The robot had a small head on top of its body, carrying a single gleaming yellow eye that pierced into their souls like a blade. Suddenly, a hatch in its chest opened up to reveal a black screen with a powerful motor that whirred loudly within the giant automaton. The screen activated and a familiar portly face appeared on the screen that made Firebrand's irises shrink in fear. Cap however steeled himself and cracked his knuckles in anticipation of whatever was going to happen next.

"Zola?"

"You thought me dead?" the scientist laughed. "I am beyond life and death. I have transcended flesh. Mastered it. Including your English friend. You and your little companion have inspired me Captain. Your colorful symbolism. The way your inferiors follow you around like obedient sheep. After I have killed you, taken back the colt, and drained your blood, I shall create a more powerful Super Soldier Serum with the colt's magnificent powers...and use it on your friend. Transforming him into a symbol like you."

Firebrand and Steve looked back at Falsworth and noticed a flag in the corner. The Union Jack of Great Britain. The duo finally comprehended what the mad German was trying to accomplish.

"He will be my puppet. The perfect assassin!" Zola gloated with enthusiasm.

Firebrand jumped in front of the container with a hateful look in his eyes and let out a guttural hiss as if he was a wild animal.

"We know this man. He would die first. And I will die before I would ever allow you to lay a finger on either one of them!"

"How nice," Zola replied calmly. "We both want the same thing."

Steve felt his grip on his shield tighten as he advanced on the Zola bot who bounded towards him. Firebrand didnt want to move so much as an inch from his spot. In his mind, if he even moved, it would only give Zola a chance to hurt Falsworth. He wasn't going to let that happen to his new friend for any reason.

Zola began his assault on them by firing a rapid laser from his robot's head. The eye seemed to act as an offensive weapon and a stun weapon as it let out bright flashes every now and then that temporarily blinded Cap. That kept giving Zola the chance he needed to close the distance as he tried killing Steve with an overhead swing from his spinning claws. Steve had to act faster than his mind as he just managed to block the first blow from one claw. Unfortunately, that left him open as Zola managed to get in and swipe him away with his other claw.

Before he could hit the wall painfully and shatter his bones on solid marble, Steve felt a soft warm cushion break his backward movement. He looked down and found he was leaning up against a glowing red cloud of magic.

Steve looked over and saw that Firebrand had instinctively come up with a new spell just in the nick of time. Just in time for him to swing his shield at the neck of the Zola bot, causing him to falter, allowing Steve to jump in between and knock him back with a spinning butterfly kick. Firebrand helped even more by igniting and throwing a nearby full toolbox at Zola at full speed, knocking it on its back.

"Get the hell away from him Zola!" Steve growled.

The face of Zola on the screen just laughed as his robot body stood back up.

"Your fear is understandable. The more super soldiers I create. The more irrelevant you become." Zola said with delight.

"There's nothing special about me. Nothing that sets me part from any other good man fighting this war." Steve proclaimed.

"You are right in one respect Captain. You will all die."

Zola retaliated by firing another volley of shots from his head cannon and a quick short charge to catch Cap off guard. However, Steve was completely prepared for this as he dodged out of the way at the last second and let Zola run headfirst into a pillar. One of his claws became stuck, giving Steve the moment he needed to critically damage the robot.

"That day might come. Maybe even today. But it will not be by your hand." Steve shot back defiantly.

Steve punched the robot with a beat down of successive blows to the mid section and then swung his shield upward. The blow knocked the Zola bot's head back, freeing it from its momentary trap, but stunning it even further. He quickly followed up by leaping five feet off the ground and side kicking the bot in the neck, making it stumble. Firebrand added to the damage by launching a horse shoe from his position right into the waist of the bot, causing it to collapse to the ground. Steve found the chance he needed and pulled the chest cavity back open with all of his might. The face of Zola showed a look of disdain and anger before Steve shut it off forever by shattering the screen with the edge of his shield.

The bot, finally destroyed burst into sparks and fell into a pile of scraps on the floor of the chapel. Steve turned around and ran back to the capsule to release his friend.

"Falsworth! Hold on!"

"How do we get him out?" Firebrand cried desperately. "We can't leave him in there daddy!"

Steve looked around the area of the altar near the capsule, looking for anything that might help him disengage the entire device. He knew he couldn't wait for Dugan and Bucky to help him. The Sleeper would be right on top of them any minute. They didnt have the luxury of time any longer. Cap's luck paid off once again as he found a series of power stations that inverted and converted power from many sources coming from the castle into the Master Mann capsule.

"Fire. You can help me out here," Steve said. "Go to that metal box opposite from me and open the shiny panel that looks like a door. Just pull as hard as you can until it comes off."

"Okay."

Firebrand ran over and ignited his horn. He focused his magic on the panel that he was talking about. The colt strained and struggled for a moment but he managed to break the panel from its bolts to reveal the electronic circuitry inside.

"Good. Now pull out any of those little colored strings and touch them together. We have to do it at the same time."

He did as the human asked, pulling out the circuit board and looked for two wires of different colors to tear apart. Just like he had seen him do many times in the past two days. Hidden in one of the ridges of the circuits he found a green and a blue wire on separate sides. Carefully tearing them with his magic, he pulled the two wires close but didn't touch them together. He looked over and found that Cap had already done the same with another power box.

"Ready?"

The colt nodded vehemently.

"NOW!"

They touched their sets of wires at the same time, causing a cascading series of internal combustion in every power box. Each one sputtered and spat, clattered and clanked with a fit until they finally all blew simultaneously. The Master Mann capsule died with a whine as steam was released from the door and it opened with a clunk. Before he could fall to the ground, the duo caught the man and helped prop him upright. He went in and out of consciousness for a minute until he finally came back to his senses, albeit very exhausted.

"Just take a moment James. You were drugged." Steve said gently.

"Thank you my friend." he panted out.

Firebrand came up to the man and hugged his leg tightly, cooing softly. Falsworth chuckled lightly and gave the goal a pat on the head.

"I'm alright little friend. Thank you too. When I get a stiff drink and some quality food, I'll be right as rain." he assured Firebrand.

He stood back up with a little difficulty and tried his best to explain to Steve what had happened.

"Zola was about to put me under entirely before you showed up. If you hadn't, he would have..."

"It wouldn't have worked. He lost his chance."

Firebrand noticed something shining right behind out of the corner of his eye. It was Zola's robot body. The eye was somehow still active as the brightness of it became like a floodlight. He narrowed the his brow as the light turned off. At the same time, speakers set all over the chapel were beginning to turn on with a low whine.

The doors to the church suddenly opened up once again. The three turned around and were pleasantly surprised to see two friendly faces running toward them.

"Falsworth! Are you alright?" Dugan asked.

Falsworth smiled wearily at his friend.

"Dugan, I thought you were well rid of me."

Dugan and Bucky went up the stairs to check on their compatriot, before Dugan turned around to get a look at the broken Zola bot.

"Careful, Zola somehow put his mind into that thing. No telling if it's active or not still."

"Ha! Butterball didn't like his own body, so he got a new one huh? Dugan laughed as he kicked the bot. "Wish I'd been here to put him down myself."

Suddenly, one of the speakers screeched on as a chilling voice came through.

"Your ignorance is exceeded only by your arrogance." the voice of Zola sneered in reply. "None of you could put me down. I am far beyond anything that you can conceive of. You thought yourself the next step in human evolution, Captain? I'm afraid not...I am. And it is the duty of the Cro-Magnon to cleanse the earth of the Neanderthal."

Bucky raised his pistol to silence the annoying scientist, but Firebrand beat him to the punch by blasting every speaker in the cathedral with rapidly firing shots of his magic. All that was left was a ring of black soot encircling the main chamber where the speakers used to be on each section of wall.

They all looked down at Firebrand in surprise who blew the smoke from his smoldering horn.

"Its my duty to make annoying fat man shut up," Firebrand shot back.

"I love it! He's already growing a massive pair," Dugan cackled.

"A pair of what?" Firebrand asked innocently.

"Not now! We got to get out of here so that the planes can bomb this place" Bucky snapped.

"Wait! There's something underground. Something big burrowing up here fast. I'm not sure if the planes can stop it. Or even survive it."

"Well, then we'll deal with it," Falsworth replied calmly.

"WE nothin, you're going outside where the rest of the POWs are." Dugan chided. "The rest..."

"No. You're all going."

Bucky turned back to Steve with a heated look in his eye.

"Cap, if you think you're putting me on the bench again..."

"I'm not, we need everyone on the field."

"Even me?" Firebrand asked hopefully.

Cap looked down at him with an unreadable blank stare for a few seconds and picked him up, slinging the foal back into his harness.

"Yeah...you too. I think you will come in handy on the battlefield Firebrand. I can never seem to keep you away for long even if I tried to send you away. But please promise you won't tell Peggy?"

"Hmmm...Maybe."

The others snickered at the foal's response. Steve just sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Good enough I guess. The Sleeper, that's what its called is their ultimate weapon. Or at least they want it to be. They can't even control it properly yet. I'm not sure Firebrand and I can stop it. I'm not sure all five of us will be able to stop it. We will need heavy firepower. Long range support. I'll need you all manning the mortars.

"Dugan and Falsworth can do that," Bucky suggested.

Dugan raised an eyebrow at him.

"Or you Barnes, what makes you so special?"

"Stop. None of us are special," Steve proclaimed.

Firebrand all of a sudden found himself transfixed on everything his adoptive father was saying. They were words that gave him a sense of strength that he felt as if would remain for the rest of his life.

"If we win, that will be why. Because Zola, Skull, and Hitler think they are some master race, and we know they're not. We know no man in this war or at home is more valuable than any other. Our souls all come from the same place and we all bleed the same blood. We know it'll take all of us to stop this evil from spreading. All of us standing together. Doing our part. At the moment, Firebrand and I are the best equipped to go down there and see if there's anything I can do to stop it. To find out what I can and relay it to you. But the truth is, it will probably be more than we can handle. Which means it will be up to you and the Allies to stop it for good, whatever you have to do to blow that thing back to the pit of hell it crawled out of. Either we win together or we die together."

Feeling a new sense of strength and relief in Steve's words. Falsworth stepped forward and shook Steve's hand.

"We'll do our duty. Have no fear of that."

As Steve and Firebrand descended the stairs, Dugan gave each of them a friendly slap on the back.

"Give em a boot to the head for me, will ya?"

Firebrand had a devilishly clever idea pop into his head as he mischievously rubbed his forehooves together.

"When the evacuation plane comes, you need to be there to meet them. With or without us..."

Next Time: Super Soldier- Went The Day Well?

Author's Note

Here's another fun one that I hope you all get a kick out of. With that, my story has reached the 100,000 word count mark and I'm not even done yet. I will probably revise this later in the week as needed.

Super Soldier Finale: Went The Day Well?

The tanks were still lit ablaze by the time they exited the cathedral back into the cold mountain air. Clouds were rolling overhead, sending a sign that the weather was about to take an icy turn for the worse. On each side of the plaza, they lit the entire area in a red glow, as the flames cracked and sparked with each gentle breeze that blew through. The breeze carried the echo of many disturbances that were happening all over the Castle. Another clue to that effect were towering clouds of inky black smoke billowing high into the sky, placing the mountain in a miasma of toxic fumes. All of this and more gave the duo a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs that things were about to take a turn for the worse any minute now.

The plaza was dead silent; not a single sign of activity or any sign of life whatsoever entered into the place. If Zola and The Sleeper were nearby, there was no way to tell where they were hiding. Let alone how one could hide a massive titan of metal on a mountain top. Thinking more and more however, Steve answered that question himself. If they weren't able to see it, they would have to hear where the Sleeper was going to emerge from the ground. It had not yet broken through to the surface and would create a massive amount of destruction burrowing through.

"Firebrand. I got an idea," Steve stated. "Try using those ears of yours. We need to get a fix on the Sleeper's location."

"My ears?" the colt inquired.

"Yeah, just listen for any really loud noises or rumbling in the area."

"I can try."

Firebrand closed his eyes as his fuzzy red ears perked up, rotating around for the slightest hint of the kind of sound that Steve was talking about. It was almost as if they were a second pair of eyes, how expressive they were. When Firebrand's ears suddenly stopped, his eyes opened up again and he turned back to his father.

"I hear a big tumbly rumbly back down the way we came from daddy," Firebrand said.

"I guess we have to do a bit of backtracking then. Ouch." Steve lamented sarcastically. "We're backtracking a lot on this mission aren't we?"

"No open world levels for us," Firebrand babbled. "Lazy designers."

If the foal's statement didnt confuse Cap first, he looked off in a random direction like he was addressing a group of people.

"Regardless," Steve replied to break the awkward tension. "We should probably hurry up and find the Sleeper before the planes get here."

Steve activated his communicator again and tuned the frequency to his nearby comrade just outside the perimeter of the castle.

"Rogers to Morita. Bucky and Dugan are on their way out with Falsworth. Listen carefully, we've got a really big target to hit. Tell the Colonel I need bombers inbound as soon as possible."

"Copy that Cap, I'll get him on the horn right now. What's the primary target?" Morita asked.

"You definitely won't believe us even if we told you," Cap laughed grimly. "You'll see it. Stay alert with the artillery and tell Dugan to be ready. Firebrand and I are gonna need everything that we've got."

"More boom boom sticks! More splodey pineapples! More pop balls!" Firebrand cried maniacally.

"Yes sir!" Morita replied cheerfully.

"Hey, don't give him any ideas. Jeez!" Steve laughed as he shut off his communicator.

They were unfortunately pulled out of their happy moment as the voice of Zola rang through the night air from an unseen speaker somewhere nearby.

"Your efforts are futile Captain, I am everywhere." the voice said coldly. "You should have escaped with your friends, Stephen. Now I have no choice but to destroy you and take back the child. I assure you, he will be better in my hands."

Firebrand was beginning to get annoyed at hearing Zola's voice, but he just simply remained silent to let Steve think about the battle ahead. As they went back in the direction they came in though, Firebrand felt that familiar demonic cold fury trying to sneak its way back out again. Trying to coax him back with promises and false hopes. It made him feel guilty just thinking about any of them. He shook his head and concentrated, as he staved off the feelings and thoughts for the time being.

Cap found plenty of handholds and swing bars left to make his way back without any problem. The deafening silence only made the atmosphere that much more heavy. The constant bombardment of Zola's jeering and insulting only made things feel that much more worse for the duo.

"Call your flies Captain, their buzzing and bombing are at best a minor annoyance. You only bring them to their demise that much quicker. My power is now beyond your primitive understanding. You cannot hope to stand against it."

The impending battle weighed heavy on their minds as they pondered all of the events of the past two days leading to the climax of their first real mission together. Every pain, every laugh, every thought, every moment of sorrow. It was all precious to the both of them. Steve was glad that Firebrand decided to disobey him back in England. A few dozen hours ago, he would have scolded the colt harshly for doing any of this, but now, he wouldn't have traded these experiences for the world. He was starting his path to fulfil what Dr. Erskine wanted for him. Not to be a perfect soldier, but a good man. More than that even; a good father for his new son. The feeling gave him a new sense of strength. Even Zola's mad ravings were no longer phasing him.

They found themselves back out in a more open area of the castle where they brought down a tower carrying a massive anti aircraft cannon not a few hours earlier. Another loud speaker activated, but this time, Zola's voice was soothing and inviting. So arrogantly sure of his own victory, so as to give one last boast.

"Count yourself lucky, Stephen. Tonight, you will bear witness to the birth of a new world order. Come and join me in the main courtyard. I have saved you a front row seat."

"You really love to talk don't you?" Steve rebutted in reply. "That's going to be a problem going forward."

Firebrand pointed down the steps and towards a set of double doors leading off to the left. Presumably, that was in the direction of the courtyard that Zola was taunting them towards. Steve laughed at himself when he looked over the balcony and saw just how much collateral damage that him and Firebrand had caused on the way to the chapel. He could only imagine that before the dawn arrived, everything around them would be completely wiped from the face of the earth. He went down the stairs quickly, around the rubble from the destroyed anti aircraft cannons and towards the door. Steve reached for the handles to open the double doors, but just before his gloved fingertips touched the brass handles, he stopped.

Once they set foot inside, they knew there would be no going back. Cap turned to the foal in his harness and lifted him up and set him on the ground for a moment, much to Firebrand's confusion.

"I won't lie bud, this is a huge risk we are taking here." Steve said grimly. "Once we go out there, there's no telling what is going to happen."

"What do you mean papa?"

"You've already seen a lot of destruction and death around here and taken it well enough without any problems. At least, not many problems. Bad things are gonna be happening in there no matter what we do. Our friends might get hurt really bad. I just think you should be prepared for that."

Firebrand looked down to the dirt with an uncertain look on his face, trying to comprehend what he meant. He enjoyed much of the excitement that came with fighting the bad people who had hurt him and his friends, but he never really stopped to consider what was really happening. It confused him as he sat there on his plot, but Steve knew they didn't have any time for a philosophical discussion. Not then and there at the least. He slung him back in with one hand and tightened him back down.

"You won't fully understand any of this for a while bud, and I'm kinda glad you won't." Steve replied in a forced happy tone. "I just don't want you to get blindsided like I was when something bad happens."

Firebrand didn't know what to say to any of that. The only thing that went through his mind was he only could hope that he understood what he was saying before it was too late.

"Okay. I'll try not to," Firebrand replied softly.

Steve kicked in the door and found himself back inside one of the many corridors of Castle Zemo. It was well furnished like all of the others with all manner of portraits and paintings from local artists adorning the walls. The door to the courtyard on the other side was only a few hundred feet at most. Yet, his fear and uncertainty played tricks on his mind. As he was fixated at the door on the other side, the hallway almost seemed to triple in length as if it was stretching out. It gave him a momentary feeling of vertigo that he had to shake out of his head.

He progressed forward, being comforted by Firebrand's presence on his back. It gave him a strange comfort, especially knowing what was coming. Tightening the strap on his shield and adjusting his gloves, psyching himself up to be ready for anything as he finally kicked through the last set of double doors to the main outside courtyard of the castle. Or at least what used to be it.

A familiar robot was there to greet him on a massive walkway that encircled a smoking crater that may have been a very beautiful topiary garden at one point. The lone robot on the balcony overlooking the crater was the only one that Steve and Firebrand could see, but he figured that more soldiers had to be close by. The biting wind began blowing violently through the castle as if to signify the daunting battle that was sure to come shortly. Cap could only wonder how much longer until a full on blizzard would arrive.

A squadron of four fighters flying overhead, gave Steve the signal that the Allied invasion of Castle Zemo had begun. Firebrand let out a squee of excitement as he watched the fighters flying around in unison, firing away at parts of the castle.

The robot's single eye on its head lit up brightly as it stood up straight and started walking forward. Its chest opened up to reveal another screen carrying Zola's smug face.

"The castle is in ruins, your work here has been buried under tons of rock and rubble, its over Zola!" Steve snapped.

"How wrong you are Captain. My victory is only just beginning."

"All those people...the ones you killed...tortured...turned into monsters. And for what?"

"For what? For this! One learns just as much from failure as success." Zola said matter-of-factly. "My goal should have never been improving flesh, I see that now. Rather leave it behind all together. You had your body altered. Improved. Now I have improved upon you, with thanks to advancements your little friend has helped me with. The two of you are but footnotes on the evolutionary path...ones that will soon be very extinct."

"If this is your idea of a body, you are sicker than I thought."

"You small minded fool. A body is merely a casing. My true power resides in my mind...in what it controls. LET THE SLEEPER RiSE!!!!"

The ground began to shake violently like an earthquake as a massive metal arm the size of a building erupted out of the ground. It climbed out without any effort, revealing the metallic black titan in all of its horrifying glory. Its torso up to its head was easily five stories high and its fingers were the length of school buses. Clicking and clanking, its hands flexed and clawed at the air, as a show of intimidation to its enemies.

Steve's eyes widened when he saw what was running through the robot to power it. A familiar warping, pulsing red energy that ran through its entire body like molten blood. It was Firebrand's magic flowing through the entire length of the robot. It gave off a fearful aura of rage and hate, that was trying to make the duo flee in panic. Its head was a massive dome with two piercing green eyes spread far apart that loomed down at all three of them like a giant. Its first demonstration of power made Steve's stomach sink to his feet.
The Sleeper's eyes extended outwards and slid along a track going up its forehead, until they were pointing upwards. It made a sound like it was charging up for a shot and fired a steady emerald green beam into the sky. It sliced through three bombers, causing them to helplessly dive to the ground in a smoking heap.

Watching the planes fall to the ground and explode, made Firebrand feel sad and angry. He did not know why at the time, but at the back of his head he knew that it had something to do with what Steve was talking about. What he would have to deal with all the time while traveling and fighting with him.

"Hahaha! Impressed little one?" Zola taunted. "Your magic is quite the powerful energy source! It meshed with the power of the cube almost perfectly. With some slight difficulty. Once you are back in my hands, you will make Hydra's Tesseract Arsenal virtually invincible."

"My red magic is in there? Red and Blue...That makes purple right daddy?" Firebrand asked. "A Purple and Green army sounds silly."

"Oh God, just imagine if that color scheme catches on..." Steve quipped.

"SILENCE! Behold the glory the is the Sleeper and be in awe!" Zola commanded. "With its new power, your allies will fall even faster than the two of you!"

Zola tried firing off a grenade from his wrist, but Cap bounced it back to him, blowing it in his face. It made the Zola-Bot stagger as Steve leaped forward and used the edge of his shield like an axe. Zola tried countering with an uppercut to the gut, but Firebrand had Steve's back by launching a horseshoe into his right leg servo, collapsing the robot to its knees. Cap struck the side of the robot's head, knocking it sideways. The act seemed to anger Zola as he expelled a magnetic wave from his other hand that tried pulling Steve's shield away. The wave was much stronger than the Screamer's telepathic abilities and it tested Cap's endurance to a new degree. Firebrand lent a hoof by pulling back with his red telepathic field and kept the shield steady.

Zola tried to close in for a strike by getting closer, but Firebrand saw it coming and recalled his horse shoe, knocking the bot onto its knees on the way back. The wave was interrupted with that action as Steve regained his footing and swung his shield upwards like a golf club, sending the Zola-bot sprawling.

"You are too late Captain!" Zola spat rebelliously. " Don't you see? I have transcended flesh. Destroy my housing and I will simply find another."

"You can only run for so long, and we will always be there to stop you Zola," Steve proclaimed.

Zola tried swiping at Steve with a claw as he was on the ground, but he blocked it easily as he went in and ripped open the Zola bot's chest. With a swift strike with his shield, the screen was shattered, and the bot was destroyed, holding back Zola's attacks for the moment.

The two turned their attention back towards the Sleeper who was busy firing away at the invading planes.

"Those planes won't stand a chance Firebrand. We got to get its attention somehow." Steve panicked

"An artillery strike maybe?" Firebrand offered. "Have the mortars and cannons on the ground fire away at its eyes while we have some of the planes bomb its head as a distraction?"

The eloquence of Firebrand's speech made the foal cover his mouth in surprise and confusion.

"How do I know all of that daddy?"

"Beats me." Steve laughed. "You must have been a Commander in a past life. But that's actually not a bad idea. We're gonna have to find two range finders to take out its eyes and blind it.

Steve turned on his communicator momentarily and relayed the plan to his friends on the hill. They assured them that two of the planes had extra bombs and they would follow along with the plan.

He turned it off and they ran down a ruined side path a few hundred feet until they found the first range finder. Carefully aiming it at the left eye of the Sleeper, he locked in the coordinates and burnt out the apparatus.

"Morita, I got the coordinates locked in! Now tell our boys to drop a few bombs to distract it! Then fire away at its ugly eyes!" Steve barked into his communicator.

"Aye, Aye, Captain!" Morita replied. "One distraction with a side of blindness coming up!"

The two only had to watch for a minute as two planes broke away from the main group and started dropping bombs all around the Sleeper, some hitting its shoulders. That gave Morita and Gabe the opening they needed as they fired away and shot out one of the robot's eyes. The eye exploded in a cloud of green dust and smoke as the remaining eye slid back down the head and looked down at the duo, clearly angered.

They ran back along the path back towards the balcony as the duo shouted and jumped around to draw the Sleeper's attacks away from the planes. It rotated its torso to keep its sight fixed on the both of them as they moved around.

"Down here you ugly science project!" Steve jeered. "Over here!"

Both felt their irises shrink in fear as the Sleeper replied by slowly raising its arm and clench its fist before slamming down inches in front of their faces, smashing through the balcony. Steve barely moved out of the way and moved on to another pathway to escape death. The Sleeper began firing its green death ray at the both of them as they flipped, jumped and launched around the ruined walls of the castle's courtyard garden. Each time, the beam fired within mere inches of zapping the both of them to dust. Firebrand tried keeping away the beams that came too close by smacking them away with his horse shoes whenever he could.

Cap found a smaller balcony leading inside that he pulled himself up on and leaped inside to safety. He found an empty dirty hallway leading further down filled with nothing but bricks and electric lights. Unfortunately, the safety wouldn't last as the building began to shake. Steve had to concentrate for a moment to keep his balance before sprinting down the corridor before the Sleeper could bash in the walls of the castle. As the corridor started to collapse around them, Steve sprinted to the door on the other side, feeling himself launch off of the tips of his toes with every step. He felt like a linebacker in many of the games that Bucky would take him to.

The soldier smashed through the double doors on the other side and into another emptied out room with a ruined wall that had a view out over the courtyard where the Sleeper had been rampaging. Inside however, Steve found a familiar site that made him grit his teeth in anger. Another Zola Bot that had been laying in wait for them to appear. Its head expanded up and its eye lit up like a beacon, blinding both.

"Damn, I'm really starting to hate that trick!"

Zola tried charging while they were stunned, but Steve used his other senses and leaped up high to avoid a swipe. While still airborne, he back side kicked the Zola Bot square in the eye.

"Keep switching bodies all you like Zola! We will smash every last one of them." Steve said.

As if to answer him, four Hydra grunts came bursting through the door and surrounded them.

"You are welcome to try...pity you only have the one." Zola sneered.

The four grunts tried charging into him, but Steve bounced his shield off of one, going of to the other three in a pinball like fashion, knocking each one to the ground. Firebrand blasted a magic grenade at Zola which pushed him back. Gas flooded into the doorway of the next corridor, blocking the way forward as two more grunts wearing gas masks came through. Using one of Zola's double fist ground pounds against him, Cap used the impact to knock the two grunts away and sending them smashing into the walls out cold. Three of the four previous grunts got up and moved in on Steve while Zola closed in from behind.

He was pushed back to the balcony where he had to watch his footing carefully or risk falling into the chasm below. Firebrand loosened his harness with his mouth and jumped out, ready to assist Cap at a moment's notice. He jumped out at the right moment as two of the grunts hammered away with their batons from both sides. Steve struggled to concentrate on both as Zola approached. Firebrand shot one of his shoes at the third grunt trying to sneak in from behind and knocked him over the railing. The colt began to panic as Zola got closer and Steve was still struggling with the two grunts.

He looked down to their shoes and had an idea as he quickly untied them with his telekinetic grasp and tied them together. Before Zola got too close, Steve used a burst of strength to push the grunts off and send them sailing as they fell over each other from having their shoes tied. At the last split second, he caught Zola trying to knock him off the railing with a hammering strike. He lowered his shield in time and the arm got sliced off on the edge of the shield.

"Daddy charge!" Firebrand commanded.

Steve didn't question why, but he instantly what the colt meant as he knelt down and pushed off his feet like pistons, charging forward with his shield held vertically in front of his face. His shield struck the Zola bot head on as it sailed into the opposite wall, breaking through and into a room on the other side. The soldier didn't hesitate as he rushed forward and picked up the downed Zola bot and ripped open its chest, breaking its screen and tossing it aside like a pile of garbage.

"The Sleepy is firing again!" Firebrand cried.

He didn't even take a breath as he ran back over to the balcony to see what Firebrand was yelling about. The Sleeper had its eyes pointed skyward again and was starting to charge up its laser.

"Its targeting the planes again! We can't let it draw a bead."

Firebrand shouted something and drew Steve's attention to a rocket launcher mounted to the balcony in the next room. Presumably for defense against invaders coming into the castle. For their purposes however, they were going to have to modify it. He snapped the mountings of the launcher in half so that it would be pointing upwards. Without losing a beat, he started firing at the face of the Sleeper to draw its attention on the two of them.

Rocket after rocket, they blasted at the chin of the giant, sending streams of light and smoke careening into the air. Each one exploded harmlessly against the Sleeper's chin, but it was enough to pull its focus back on them. Its remaining eye slid back down to stare down at the duo as it lifted its arm and prepared to crush them. Steve grabbed Firebrand and began to prepare to make a run for it.

"That's right, down here! Eye on me Cyclops!"

When the Sleeper charged up its beam and aimed at them however, Steve held his ground, knowing he wouldn't be able to dodge what came next. Firebrand however had a different idea in mind.

Firebrand's magic and the Sleeper's own power coalesced inside the robot's head, flowing like water to its remaining eye. The combining energy created a spiral of red and green light that spun faster and faster as it focused into the eye, quickly building power. Firebrand's horn lit up on its own as the Sleeper finally fired off its spinning beam of light. As the beam came towards him, the colt jumped in front and stood up on his hind legs with his forehooves crossed. The colt closed his eyes, expecting to be blasted into dust.

"Firebrand!!!"

Firebrand heard an impact against his hooves and a sound like a giant church bell ringing followed by a steady hum. He didn't feel dead but the colt couldn't know for sure. Through his eyelids, he could see a bright green glow and feel something warm against his face.

"Firebrand, you might want to open your eyes pal!" he heard Steve shout insistently.

Risking it, he opened his eyes and saw something terrifying. The Sleeper was still firing its beam straight at him. The only problem for the robot is, it was being blocked by the foal's shoes. Even more than that, the black shoes were starting to glow a bright green and steadily glowing brighter and brighter. The beam began to split apart as it made contact, turning into two separate beams that were absorbed into different places. Firebrand's magic split off from the robot as it was drained away and flowed right back into his horn. His ebon black shoes, now pulsing, radioactive green were getting heavy, even for the colt as he struggled to stay on his hind legs. Before he fell, the Sleeper ran out of power for its beam and charged up for another shot.

Firebrand stared down at his shoes in amazement as they pulsed a bright neon green light, giving off a small cloud of steam in the cold air. They were heavy but with a little effort, he raised his left forehoof and held it in front of his face.

"Thanks for the assist pal," Steve said. "Let me take over for this one."

Another beam was fired a few seconds later at Steve's shield, hitting with a bang as he kept a solid footing on the balcony.

"Shield, don't fail me now!" Steve bellowed.

His muscles strained and screamed for relief as he pushed against the mighty strength of the Sleeper's power and used his adrenaline to push through the beam and smack it back like a baseball.

The beam ricocheted off of his shield and was fired back into the Sleeper's remaining eye, blinding the robot for good. It reeled back as if it was in pain, now both of its eyes blazing with fire.

"Just like what Ma used to tell me..." Cap started.

"You'll shoot your eye out, kid," Firebrand finished.

Steve activated his communicator again and relayed the good news to his ground forces.

"The bot is blind. That should buy you a few minutes! Fire and I will handle Zola."

The Sleeper leaned its head down towards them and started sending sonic blasts at the building they were in, trying to collapse the building they were standing in.

"We got its attention buddy. Let's get out of here before we get flattened into pancakes."

The colt nodded in agreement and leaped back into his harness as Cap dashed down the hallway and outside while Firebrand kept looking at his horse shoes.

Steve spotted an entire squad of grunts and soldiers on another balcony close by waiting for the two of them. The hallway was blocked off at the end by a collapsed doorway, but the wall to their right led out to plenty of handhold and flag poles to climb over to the other side. Leaping forward to the first flag pole, he swung off and ran through a corner to the next one, launching off and finally making a three point landing down on the last balcony where Zola's last bot was waiting for him.

"Nowhere else to run Zola! Even a mind as twisted as yours needs a body to survive," Steve growled.

"Perhaps I will take yours before I take back the Child, its annoyingly durable. KILL HIM YOU FOOLS!"

Over a dozen grunts in full armor charged at them at once, and Steve knew they would overwhelm him. He pulled Firebrand out and held his shield down just like before during their fight with Madam Hydra and Firebrand knew what to do instantly. Swinging both hooves down onto the shield, it was supposed to only create a shockwave to knock them back. Instead, with his hooves supercharged. it created a wave of green energy that blasted outwards in all directions and vaporized all of the grunts in one fell swoop. All that was left of them was glowing green dust.

"What? Impossible! The child never had this power before!" Zola shouted.

"He learned a few tricks."

Zola roared in anger and began firing rapidly at everything on the battlefield, trying to keep the two away from him. Steve just charged forward and tackled into the Zola bot's abdomen, lifting it a few inches off the ground and pushing it to the ground. It made him retreat after shooting a grenade at their faces point blank range. Steve backflipped a yard backwards to avoid the explosion, giving Zola a chance to get back up on his feet. He charged forward with a double ground pound that knocked Cap over. Rolling to avoid a follow up strike, just inches from his face, he leaped back up on to his feet. Firebrand helped give Cap an opening by charging up a shot from his horn and blasting the Zola bot right in the eye.

That gave Steve the chance he needed as he went into a leaping side kick to the side of the head and pounded away relentlessly at Zola's torso. It had taken enough punishment as Steve ripped open its chest to reveal the face of an enraged Arnim Zola.

"STOP! YOU CAN'T! I AM SUPERIOR! I AM TRUE EVOLUTION!" Zola wailed.

With one last strike with his shield, the screen shattered, turning off the robot.

"If you're evolution...I'd rather go extinct."

Firebrand laughed as they turned their attention to the last threat in the whole of Castle Zemo. The Sleeper.

It was just standing there, looming down at them with its empty black sockets where its imposing green eyes used to be. Part of Firebrand felt bad for the giant as it pawed away at its face, pathetically, but he knew they had to destroy it before it could cause any more harm. He looked up and down the length of the robot to look for anything that might help them. He caught something glowing hidden just under its head, being somewhat blocked off by a piece of its chest. Firebrand tapped Steve on the shoulder and pointed up to what he was seeing.

"Good eye little buddy. No pun intended." he thanked. "Dugan, Firebrand spotted something useful on the Sleeper. We need you to expose its neck!"

The communicator sputtered for a few seconds, but they heard Dugan's chipper voice come in loud and clear not a moment later.

"You got it Cap! Let's light em up boys!"

A mortar shell and a 50 caliber shot were fired off and blasted open the Sleeper's chest, revealing three thick power columns. All three columns were packed with cells containing Firebrand's magic and more of the robot's power source.

"Those cables...that has to its weak spot!"

Feeling the entire world slow to a halt, Steve concentrated all of his instincts and physical energy left into aiming his shield right at the Sleeper's neck.

"Firebrand. As soon as I give the signal. Hit the bottom edge of my shield as hard as you can." Steve said firmly.

"Okay!"

The colt hopped out and stood on his hind legs at the reads as Steve steadied his arm and leaned over into a launching position. Reeling his shield arm back, he tensed every muscle in his body for this one swing.

"NOW!" Steve shouted.

As soon as Steve's arm began to move like a fulcrum, Firebrand smacked the back of the shield with all his strength and the disc flew off with a bang, like a bullet out of a gun. The shield arced and cleanly sliced through all three cables with ease as if they were made out of wet tissue paper. It was almost too fast for him to catch, but he caught his shield on the return before it could hit him.

The Sleeper's head exploded into green fire and fell off while its body began to die and slump down. Its chest ruptured open, sending a blaze of green smoke and fire showering skyward. The duo just watched as it fell back down into the cavern it climbed out of, like a demon being sent back to the lake of fire whence it came. The crater began to glow a blinding red as the entire castle around them began to rock and shake. Steve knew they were officially out of time. They had to abandon the castle.

As soon as Firebrand was safely back in his harness, Steve went off like a shot through the castle trying to find any way out. He ran faster than he had ever run in his entire life. Faster than any normal human should have been able to. His blood pumped through his veins faster than sound, enhancing every sense in his body as he sped through collapsing corridors and falling tunnels of rock, wood, mortar, and metal. Firebrand helped him stay focused as he blasted away any falling rubble from behind while Steve used his shield to bat away any rubble from the front. What was really taking only a few minutes felt like hours as he ran back through the castle that had troubled him for the past two days.

Steve knew there was only one way left out of the castle and neither of them were liking it. The Skull's dirigible docks below that stuck out far into the canyon separating them from the rest of their friends. It only took five more minutes to reach it at top speed as they could feel the entire mountain beginning to explode behind them. Fire and brimstone were on their tails as Steve sprinted up and around a spiral staircase leading up to the docks and vaulted over railings for a short cut. The edge of the docks was finally within reach. He had no idea if he was going to survive it, but he hoped that his shield and his body would hold up from falling two thousand feet to the valley below.

From the outside, a massive tower of green light could be seen piercing into the sky where the Sleeper was finally destroyed. Captain America's Howling Commandos were cheering victoriously at their accomplishment while waiting for their two heroes to return.

As Steve ran across the last catwalk, Firebrand felt a familiar tension began to build up in his body and into his horn. The colt's horn started glowing brighter and brighter as his headache began to get worse and worse. The castle blew the mountain away as Steve launched off of the last catwalk and into the canyon as Firebrand finally couldn't take the tension any longer. His eyes opened and they glowed like a lighthouse and the colt released every ounce of power at once.

"KA-BOOOOOOOM!!!"

Back on the separate peak, the Howling Commandos saw the castle collapse and the mountain side blow open like it was a volcano erupting. They reeled back from the blinding light of the explosion and stood back up when it was safe enough to look.

"If Rogers and Firebrand were still in there..." Falsworth breathed out fearfully.

"They got out," Bucky harshly interjected.

Dugan looked at the younger soldier sympathetically and shook his head mournfully.

"Buck, that explosion removed that mountain from the face of the earth." Dugan replied sadly. "You should really prepare yourself for the possibility that-"

"HE GOT OUT!" Bucky snapped back.

After that, they were all left in awkward, but a gloomy silence as they watched the fire on the separate mountainside blaze out of control and begin destroying whatever was left. Bucky found his eyes wandering down towards where the Red Skull's zeppelin docks once were and saw something glowing floating through the thick clouds of black smoke. He narrowed his eyes carefully, wondering what it was. When it finally came out, he recognized what it was instantly as his heart leapt out of his chest.

"THERE!" Bucky shouted.

The commandos looked over to where Bucky was pointing and they couldn't believe their own eyes.

It was Captain America and Firebrand, floating safely over the canyon in a big glowing red bubble. It touched down on the edge of their mountain peak and the bubble disappeared. Firebrand seemed to slump in his harness with exhaustion as Steve thanked him and proceeded towards them. Both looked tired and beat up, but they had a proud and triumphant look in their eyes that the Howling Commandos would remember for many years to come.

All six of the commandos cheered, hooted, and cried into the air with glee as they clapped and headed over to meet their leader who had come back safely.

"Well done, both of you." Falsworth congratulated. "The two of you really are an unstoppable fighting force."

"Never doubted you for a second!" Dugan lied cheerfully.

"You did it Cap," Bucky said with a big goofy grin.

"The POWs?" Steve asked hopefully.

"In the forest. We got them all out."

"Then you did it. You got those men out. You saved their lives. And every one of them is a key to winning this war. They were here for months. They saw Zola's experiments...worked as slave labor on his assembly lines...heard the details of Hydra's plans. Hydra didn't bother keeping secrets from them because they weren't supposed to survive. Each men we bring back to the SSR is an intelligence gold mine. Thanks to them-thanks to all of you-we'll be ready for whatever Hydra throws at us from here on out. We're that much closer to finding the rat holes they hide in. And we're booking ourselves to come back to Europe...at the head of a full invasion force."

All of the Howling Commandos felt themselves welling up with pride and excitement just thinking about all of the possibilities.

"You did it. We all did it. Now come on...fall in soldiers. Let's get those men home."

"SIR YES SIR!" they chanted.

"Sir yes sir!" Firebrand repeated. "Can we have some chocolate cake when we get home sir?"

The others just laughed as they followed behind their Captain into the forest, fully prepared for whatever the new World War had in store for all of them.

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed Hydra base, Arnim Zola turned off his mind transfer device in disappointment and unhooked himself as his master the Red Skull approached him from behind. He looked down at the scientist with a blank face of indifference.

"I trust you've had your fun Arnim. Now stop wasting time on failed projects and get back to work. I assure you. We will see the both of them again soon enough."

Next Time: Regroup and Respite

Regroup and Respite

As soon as they made their way to the forest, snowflakes had already begun to fall from the skies at a rapid rate. Firebrand was completely enthralled with them as he batted away, trying to catch one on the tip of his forehoof. Steve was focused on the path ahead through the trees. The sound of grass, twigs, moss, and toadstools crunching beneath his boots. His Howling Commandoes following closely behind. Silence for the moment was suiting them just fine. Focusing on the sounds of the woods and the weather happening all around was unsettling, especially after two days and two nights of violence, overstimulation, and pain. Steve's healing factor was still weak from Zola draining his blood and it only contributed to the extent of his injuries. Dugan and Falsworth he could only imagine needed medical attention after what Madame Hydra had put them through.

Steve's only desire was to load up and go after the Skull as soon as possible, but tending to his squad and Firebrand's health had to take precedent over everything else. His men had to be in top condition before they could begin their campaign. Their mental condition had to be put under a fine tooth comb after the horrors they were subjected to. Any distraction would be deadly for them. Things weren't all bad though. Now with the men they had rescued, they had a treasure trove of intelligence. Every potential advantage had to be utilized against men like Zola and Schmitt who could think a thousand steps ahead of their enemies.

"So, what's next up on our agenda Cap?" Dugan asked to break the silence.

"Where are we going next?" Firebrand asked eagerly.

Steve let out a sigh of annoyance and sympathy.

"I hate telling you all of this and I wouldn't do it if it wasn't absolutely necessary, but we need to regroup back at London HQ. Debriefing those men and all of you getting checked out by a doctor is my top priority right now." Steve breathed out.

Dugan and Bucky tried to protest but Steve held up a hand and stopped.

"I know how you all feel. I want to go after Zola and Schmitt the most. Four of you including my new son were captured and tortured, experimented on. But I want you all at 100 percent before we go at Schmitt with full force. Nothing can hinder or distract us."

"Fair enough Captain," Falsworth said solemnly with a nod.

"Its your call pal," Bucky replied.

"I don't like it but, I guess a pint would do me some good." Dugan added.

"Just make sure we get back out fast." Gabe urged.

Firebrand tapped his forehooves together nervously and his eyes darted back and forth in thought.

"What about me?" Firebrand asked.

"What about you?" Steve repeated.

"Can I...come?"

Steve was silent for a moment as they walked along.

"You know, if I remember correctly, you were supposed to be grounded when we got back young man." Steve said in a sing song voice. Your...mother wouldn't like it if I just brought you along everywhere."

Firebrand just slumped down sadly and went back to twiddling with his hooves. After a moment, Steve let out a small chuckle

"I guess all the timeouts in the world isn't going to keep you from following me. You've been a great help during this whole thing. Besides, I think Peggy knows that sadly, the safest place, despite the risks...is with me. I'd rather not let you out of my sight again. Schmitt and Zola's goons could be hiding anywhere."

"He sticks to you like glue," Bucky added.

"Furry glue with metal shoes that can knock your block off," Gabe noted humorously.

"Just all part of the fun eh Cap?" Morita asked.

"You guys aren't gonna make this any easier for me are you?" Steve asked rhetorically.

"Nope!" Dugan replied with a big grin.

The others just laughed as Steve rolled his eyes.

A half hour later, they made it to the rendezvous point where they were to meet up with the rest of the POWs. Steve thought it was a good idea to keep Firebrand covered with his shield to avoid the reactions he had gotten from the 107th the first time they all saw him. He didn't want to risk the chance that one of the POWs might spill the knowledge of the colt's existence to the public. Or that one of them might have gone under mental reprogramming in Hydra's torture chambers. Firebrand complied, albeit reluctantly as he remained silent and tried not to make any sound.

Most all of the POWs greeted Cap and his commandoes with zeal and enthusiasm, glad to be back out in fresh air for the first time in months. They went to the front of the group to lead them down the mountain and into the valley where the transport planes were all waiting for them to return.

There was no lack of talking from the men, especially with how stir crazy they must have been. He could tell right away that a few of them were rather fragile, despite how upbeat they were trying to present themselves to the others. He shook the hands of the ones that were close to the front of the group, hoping to break some of the tension they might have been feeling.

Snow was accumulating on the ground as the hours went by, creating a thin sheet of white over the mountain range. The sky was turning a pale pink, a sign that dawn was closing in. It would still be night back in England, but at least they could enjoy the sunrise that much longer. Steve looked out over the mountain ranges, thankful that they weren't walking down any of the steep drops that the mountains of the Bavarian Alps provided. Out in the distance far to the West past a few mountains, Steve could make out the jagged saw like peak of Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany. Its snow capped peak was like a mighty beast peering over a hill to get a good look at its prey. He had heard that part of its summit was blown up by the Nazis only a few years prior to make way for the construction of a flight tower. It was rather a shame that such a natural wonder was defiled in such a way. Part of him would have loved to have seen the mountain in its prime.

Deer and rabbits ran across their paths every now and then, startling a few of the more delicate men. Once or twice, Dugan had to straighten out a man who tried doing some impromptu hunting as they went along their way. If any enemy forces were still in the immediate area, they wanted to err on the side of caution and stealth just in case. Most of the men were at poor physical condition, including Steve's friends. The past three days had done bad things for their health and they were on their last legs, despite putting up a strong face for the others. Steve was the only one who was recovering faster thanks to his healing factor.

It didn't take too much longer for the group to wind their way down the mountain as the sun began to slowly peak over the horizon and shine through the clouds. The land started to open up and the trees began to part as they approached the valley down at the bottom. The valley was much more open and clean, but still just as covered with blankets of snow as any mountain top in the range. Only another mile later, and they finally came across the makeshift rendezvous point where the C-47 planes had been waiting for them to escape.

Boarding was slow and arduous, but it gave Steve and the others a chance to personally meet each soldier. The three planes that had waited for the group had just enough room for everyone. Dugan and Bucky kept a watch on the surrounding entrances into the valley in case they were followed. Once everyone was on, Steve went in, but gave a last look to the sky, watching the black smoke from the ruins of castle Zemo rise above everything else. Just knowing that things weren't going to be any easier strengthened his resolve. The coming days would tell if he was ready to lead his men to victory, let alone raising a magical infant.

Once they were seated near the front, away from the other POWs, Steve allowed Firebrand to come out to breathe. Being strapped in, with Firebrand on his back would have made sitting down impossible without hurting the colt.
Though Firebrand had to keep his shield on in the seat next to him at all times to prevent any unexpected encounters.

"I'm gonna want some real food when we get back," Dugan groaned.

"I know a good little place by the water. Wilton's. Best oyster bar in Westminster." Falsworth replied. "Owner is an old friend."

"I didn't take you for a seafood guy. I'll bite."

"Sure, count me in." Morita added.

Gabe relayed to Jacques Dernier, the silent, but passionate Frenchman of their team and he enthusiastically agreed. The next hour was spent with them talking about different kinds of food their families made for them back home. It all sounded so mouthwatering that Firebrand himself was finding himself getting hungry too. Firebrand tried asking to come along, but Steve wasn't entirely certain how much of human food the colt could eat. Until he experimented, he didn't think an equine eating meat of any kind was a good idea. Perhaps that would be a prudent question to ask Howard Stark once they returned to base.

Once they did, many of the soldiers were unloaded to be debriefed and placed under medical care. Steve's team mates in particularly were given multiple once overs to ascertain their condition and provide the right treatments. Dugan and Falsworth had to get their blood checked out after the SSR was made privy to their tortures at the hands of Madame Hydra. The SSR was the only military organization during the war that had access to specialists of the relatively new practice they called "psychiatry" and a few of the more at risk men were ordered to seek counseling from them.

A day later after hours upon hours of debriefing and a long, loud mouthy lecture from Peggy with many curse words and shouting, Steve woke up to another bright and early morning at the SSR office in London. Firebrand was sleeping under the crook of his arm, curled up like a cat. Not caring in the slightest that both were smelling terrible from their previous venture.

"A hot shower for me and a bath for you is definitely gonna be on the itinerary today," Steve commented.

Steve gave a whiff of the air around him and coughed. A sour odor was radiating off of Firebrand and permeating through the whole room.

"Whoo! You more than me. I didn't think you could eat scallops, let alone that many."

Steve grabbed the colt with a single hand and leaped down off of his bunk,

"Hey!"

"We both need a shower, and I have a meeting with the Colonel at noon today." the human said sternly. "Then we need to talk to Howard. I'd like to know what or who snuck into your head back in Bavaria."

"Awww."

After a quick flash rinse with some gritty soap, Steve quickly put his uniform back on and ran into the map room where Colonel Phillips and Peggy were patiently waiting. Firebrand followed closely behind, adequately cleaned and dried off. The cool air of the intelligence office circulating through the corridors made him shiver from head to hoof. A group of intelligence officers were going through stacks and stacks of documents Steve had siezed from Castle Zemo before it was destroyed.

"Well, if it isn't the star spangled man with a plan?" Phillips said with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you turned into Sleeping Beauty on us instead when you didn't arrive on time."

"It was my fault sir, I will be sure to be up earlier next time," Steve said stiffly as he stood at attention.

"Well, see that you do Captain. Regardless, we have decoded and discovered quite a lot from the men and documents you brought back from the Castle." Peggy explained.

"After cutting through all the garble, we've managed to pinpoint the exact locations of every Hydra base on your map." the Colonel continued. "After your little escapade over there in Bavaria, Hydra is pushing their plans faster now. Intel suggests that they are pushing out more and more weapons every day."

"Is Mr. Zemo with them?" Firebrand asked. "He could help."

"Zemo? The owner of the Castle?" Peggy asked.

"The latest Baron Zemo provided his Castle to Hydra willingly, but if those journal entries were any indication, he got tired of Schmitt and Zola really fast." Steve explained. "He was with the Skull every step of the way. If we can put tabs on him and bring him in, we might be able to find that last Hydra base a lot faster."

Phillips nodded and had one of his subordinates send out a bulletin to their allies to look for the lost Baron.

"Anyone in Hydra we can capture before they take one of those bloody cyanide pills will do for me." Peggy remarked dryly.

"First things first, we have more lights to fire and feathers to ruffle. Are you still up for it Rogers?" Phillips asked seriously.

"Yes sir!" Firebrand squeaked out with a hoof raised in salute

"Yes sir"

"At least someone here answers immediately." he replied with a half grin before going back to a stern expression of indifference. "Now, if that report from those pencil pushers in the cryptology department can get here faster, we might just be able to get you out faster Captain."

A middle aged officer with a tall, pale face, twinkling eyes and oaken brown hair came to the map table with a stack of papers and handed them off to Philips. Steve didn't know why but he had a feeling that there was something special in this man. Firebrand could see it too. A sort of merry jovialness one might see from a school teacher.

"The intelligence for the Baltic Base sir." the officer stated. "I certainly hope it is to your liking."

Phillips eyes scanned across the pages as he flipped one after another over the corner, by its paperclip binding. He looked to the officer in question and shook his hand.

"That's the best german to english translation I've seen. What's your name lieutenant?"

"John Ronald Reuel Tolkien sir. Always a pleasure." the man replied happily.

The man turned to Steve and Firebrand and his eyes almost seemed to alight even brighter. He politely asked to shake Steve's hand, to which the man quickly obliged.

"Captain Rogers. It certainly is a great pleasure to be working with you as well. I hope our humble work here can help your efforts to beat Hydra."

"Every little bit helps John," Steve replied with a smile.

He looked down at Firebrand and kneeled down for a quick pat after getting Steve's permission.

"Quite the charming little fellow."

"Yeah, he has his moments."

Firebrand relished the attention as he pushed his head into John's hand. Locks of his mane went through his fingers like golden waves of grain.

"You smell like books and ink," Firebrand said. "I like you Mr!"

"Oh! So you do talk!"

"I can say lots of things!"

"If we can get back to business, I believe you should be getting back to your own work lieutenant.", Peggy said firmly.

The middle aged man stood back up and coughed awkwardly as he gathered his materials.

"Oh, quite right. My apologies maam. Sir." Tolkien replied as he gave a quick salute and went off somewhere.

They watched as he walked away, he started quietly singing a small tune.

"The road goes ever ever on, over rock and under tree..."

Turning their attention back to the map table, the Colonel began to spread out the intelligence.

"Nice guy." Steve commented.

"Yes, he was quite accomplished in the last war and he's one of the best linguists we've ever seen." Peggy said. "Created his own language and even published his first book a few years ago. Haven't had time to pick it up myself, but I hear good things."

"With those talents, we've been able to discover the routes and supply chains going in and out of Hydra's bases. How about it Rogers? Ready to cut off some more heads?"

"Yes sir. I can leave as soon as I hear my team has been cleared for combat."

"Good. Now get your little imp over to Stark's lab on the double. I want to know what made him go berserk." the Colonel concluded. "I read your report and while I didn't believe in magic before, there's a lot coming to light that's way above my pay grade. I'd rather keep him as an asset and not a liability. Get me?"

Cap saluted and sped out of the room with Firebrand following closely behind. The colt could tell that something was wrong and he had a good idea as to what. The tense feeling in the air that Steve was starting to give off only made Firebrand feel guilty. Whatever had possessed him and however it did, had scared the super soldier intensely. For as short of a time as he's really known his adoptive father, he didn't like the idea of Steve being afraid of him.

"Did I do something wrong?" Firebrand asked sullenly. "You look angry."

Steve looked down at him and shook his head.

"Of course not buddy, but someone is trying to hurt you from the inside. We're just being cautious. That's all. Uncle Howard and his friends are gonna give you another look."

Just around the corner, Howard Stark and his scientific team were experimenting with more of Hydra when the two entered the room. Howard was in a pair of head mounted magnifying glasses examining what appeared to be a dead Warden. Taking a pair of pliers and tweezers, they watched him carefully take apart the plating of the Warden's large claw arm. On a table to the right was a Scorcher. One of the Scorchers that had been recovered in France at the Hydra Maginot Line factory. Just like its own namesake, it was completely burnt from head to toe. The flamethrower arm was no longer attached.

One of Howard's aides spotted the duo waiting patiently in the doorway and tapped Howard's shoulder. He turned off the lamp illuminating his workspace and turned around towards Firebrand and Steve. Both had to resist the urge to snicker as the magnifying glasses mounted to his head made his eyes look almost as big as the pony.

"Yeah, Yeah, laugh it up, but you did us a great service. These specimens were shipped in late last night." Howard said as he took off his spectacles. "Once we reverse engineer a lot of Hydra's machines, we'll be able to better combat Zola's creations with my own."

"Can we ask you something?" Steve asked.

"Anything my friend."

"I'm sure you already read my report. Something tried to worm into Firebrand's head back at Castle Zemo and I need to figure out what. I don't know the first thing about magic."

He got up out of his chair and brushed his silky brown hair back in thought.

"I unfortunately don't know the first thing about magic either." Howard admitted. "But I do know how to read brain waves and energy signatures. Let's see if we can find us the source of his insanity."

He pulled Steve and Firebrand over to an operating table where he had a lab assistant pull an electroencephalogram to hook the foal up. Firebrand was interested in everything that was happening as they hooked wires up to his tiny head. Howard instructed the foal to lay back and try sleeping. Firebrand was unsure, but after getting a nod of affirmation, he curled up on the operating table and tried going to sleep. Howard helped the process along with a low powered sedative that placed the foal into a deep REM sleep. He made a slight grunt of discomfort at the needle but then his eyes started to flutter and close.

"Now what?" Steve asked.

"Now, we wait and see what he dreams about."

The two just stood there with Firebrand's chest slowly rising and falling, allowing himself to be taken to his dreams.

Little did they know, that an ancient power had already foreseen this effort to detect his presence and adapted accordingly...

Next Time: War Horse

Author's Note

A bit of a pleasant filler chapter. I might modify this chapter as time goes on.

This reference thankfully is in the realm of reality. Yes, J.R.R Tolkien was rumored to be a cryptologist or code breaker during the second world war. Also yes, during world war 2, most military organizations didn't have immediate access to organized psychiatry yet, so many soldiers were unfortunately left without any mental care.

War Horse (part 1)

The week that followed was long and arduous. Two days evolved into seven full days and each and every one of them seemed to take forever. Briefing every detail of their mission in Bavaria was the only thing to break up the monotony. Falsworth and Dugan were put under rigorous mental stability tests to determine whether or not they were under any subconscious suggestion induced by Madame Hydra. Firebrand was monitored every hour for three days for any sign of whatever had taken control of his body. They had suffered just as much as he, some more than others. During all of this, he was left to train and heal up alone. His grandiose plans for the war would have to be held off.

In the meantime, he would take the time to study up on the various European countries, their terrain, and the Hydra intel that coincided with each of them. In the next couple of weeks, he was determined to wipe out Hydra as fast as possible

Steve and the rest of his team would just as quickly leave London once again and be on their way towards Basque Country in Southern France. Their campaign against Hydra had begun as the world war raged on. Firebrand stuck closely to Steve, hoping to continue proving his worth to their efforts. The flight took little more than a few hours to reach a remote hidden forward operating base in southwestern France. From there, the team pinpointed the location of the next Hydra base in the area. Just over the border and into Spain, it was only a half mile away from the Bay of Biscay. Local intelligence had suggested that it was acting as a impromptu blockade against Allied and Axis advance in the area.

Everyone had already started getting ready as they unbelted from their plane seats and hoisted themselves into their parachutes. Firebrand's harness was moved around to Steve's chest to make room for his own. Firebrand grunted as the straps were tightened, digging uncomfortably into his fur.

"Sorry little buddy, I'd rather you didn't fall out while we go for a dive." Steve apologized.

"Are we landing?" Firebrand asked. "I want to see Spain! Uncle Dummy said there's pretty dancer ladies here!"

The other SSR members nearly fell out of their seats from laughter.

"Not today squirt! We're taking the deep dive here." Dugan cackled.

Firebrand's giant golden irises shrunk to the size of pinpricks.

"Dive?" he asked fearfully. "How...high are we?"

"30,000 feet I believe my dear lad," Falsworth replied sheepishly.

Firebrand looked down like he was looking through the floor and his limbs snapped back and curled around Steve's torso for dear life.

Jacques stood out of his seat and patted Firebrand comfortingly on the head.

"Ne t'inquiète pas, mon petit ami poney. Oncle Jacques te surveillera comme un faucon" Jacques said cheerfully.

"Uncle Colonel Philly's orders little buddy, sorry. This plane can't be seen in neutral territory. We still don't know how buddy buddy Francesco Franco is with ol Adolf." Bucky consoled.

Steve checked his Beretta one more time, looking up and down to make sure it was combat ready before holstering and buttoning it to his hip.

"What we are about to do is the first of its kind from what I understand. The Colonel calls it a HALO jump." Steve announced. "Stark gave us some masks to help us with...discomfort. The air is going to be really thin up here, so we'd better strap them on right away."

He pulled out a crate from a storage compartment and cracked it open, revealing what looked like modified gas masks stacked up on top of each other. The first one looked like it was made specifically for Firebrand and it had a small note taped to the forehead.

Try not to suffocate

Howard

"I'm not so sure about this daddy," Firebrand mewed as Steve grabbed the mask and put it over the colt's face.

His breathing sounded ragged and slightly panicked through the filter but Steve knew he could handle it.

"It smelly funny in here!"

"Its gonna smell even funnier in mine by the time we get down there," Gabe burped as his face paled.

"You'll be fine." Bucky said.

Everyone took a mask for themselves and tightly fastened it to their heads. Dugan forced the strap to go over his bowler hat so he could wear it through the mission. Steve couldn't help but laugh at the idea.

As the doors opened with a screech, the group was greeted to a wall of thick smoky grey storm clouds, and whipping wind shrieking through the air. Droplets of water splashed into the plane as the others approached the opening.

"Come on ladies! Let's move out!" Dugan barked.

Steve ran and leaped out into the gale of wind and rain as Firebrand shrieked. The others fell in behind and began the dive, staying close to Steve as much as possible.

Firebrand did his best to keep his eyes open to stay brave for Steve. Admittedly, he found the wispy clouds and rain flying by rather beautiful. The rain soaked into his fur and mane, flattening them down and matting it. His golden mane whipped and blew around as they dropped like a rock hundreds of feet a second. Firebrand struggled and panicked for a little bit trying to breathe normally through the mask. The strong smell of fresh rubber along with the goggles fogging up with every breath was rather mesmerizing but a little overwhelming for the colt.

"My tummy is going into my legs!" Firebrand whined.

"That's all part of the experience."

Steve saw Firebrand try to ignite his horn and blast at the clouds. He pinched the tip of his horn, causing the foal to yelp under his mask.

"You're just gonna have to deal with the lack of visibility same as me pal. You're gonna have to learn that in war, remaining hidden at all costs is very much a good thing."

"How am I gonna be able to see around me then?" the colt inquired.

"Use your other senses when one goes out. Sound, Smell, Touch. Even instincts can be a sense. Just know when to use them at the right time. However, I think we'll be fine for now."

At that, the cloud coverage gave way to open sky with the Northern Spanish coast down below. It was definitely a lot more lush and green than Steve had envisioned. At least what he could see was. Very few patches of lights dotted the surrounding landscapes, presumably the various small villages in the area. The Bay of Biscay was relatively easy to spot even without the moonlight illuminating the water. Thirty miles off to the Northwest was nothing but flatness after an arc of cliffs suddenly dropped off. That could have only been open water.

The moment Firebrand opened his eyes, he almost screamed but shook his head and slapped himself before he gave away their position. Not realizing how hard the impact would be, his hoof felt more like a steel pipe with his horse shoes still on.

"You okay?" Steve asked/

"Owww..."

Firebrand rubbed his face from the impact. He had seen Dugan do the same thing after a drunken night, but underestimated the hardness of his own hooves.

"Use one of my gloves next time," Steve quipped.

When Firebrand was able to focus, he looked out down towards where they were going. It was quite dark in many places so he wasn't entirely sure what he was always looking at.

The rendezvous point was not far off, but quite hard to spot at night. Aerial surveillance photos detailed a small clearing only a mile from the Hydra factory. Firebrand guided Steve to it, having the better eyesight of the two.

After reaching the thousand foot level, they all parachuted in the rest of the way, silently floating down to the small grassy clearing surrounded by small patches of trees. Steve silently dropped to the ground with a roll, letting his parachute drag behind before unclipping it. Dugan and the others weren't far behind as it only took another minute for all of them to drop in. When everyone was present and accounted for, Steve went over the plan one last time.

"This factory is a lot smaller but its also close to a populated town, which means we need to get in and get out before the Spanish government catches wind of us." Steve urged. "Dugan, you and Jacques plow through the front gate and draw their attention."

Dugan pulled out a Stevens Model 520 shotgun from behind his back and pumped it menacingly.

"Oh you just spoke my language Cap," Dugan replied.

Jacques pulled out a duffel bag of glass bottles with red caps that made made Steve instantly nervous.

"Est-ce que cela fonctionnera?" the frenchman asked.

"Only a few my friend, we don't want to burn down the countryside." Steve said sheepishly.

"Oooh! What are those?" Firebrand asked curiously.

"White phosphorus grenades with black powder and latex." Bucky laughed. "Great smokescreen and incendiary grenade. Used one myself on a Panzer that got too close to our FOB in Austria, but it burned down three acres of forest too."

"That just means it worked!" Gabe quipped.

Firebrand had a devilish thought come to his head as Jacques zipped up his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

They took off like a flash through the forest, pulling out their weapons and keeping their heads on a swivel. Firebrand's glowing horn made an excellent flashlight for Steve moving through the brush. Just bright enough for him to see but not bright enough for any enemy to see from the outside.

Hydra's local base was just outside the edge of the forest, a wide dirt road separating them from the main gate. Two grunts were patrolling the fencing up and down, stiffly marching in the same long line. Steve signaled Dugan and Jacques to remain while himself and the others circled around to the other side.

On the south side, Steve and Firebrand waited for five excruciating minutes for the perfect moment. Hidden in the bushes, they kept their muscles tense, hearing every cricket and slight rustle of every leaf.

Suddenly, a loud bang ringed across the open lot with smoke billowing with black clouds into the night sky. The sound That was the signal they needed as Steve took off like a shot with Gabe, Morita, and Bucky following close behind. Bucky sniped two watchtower guards who fell to the ground screaming. Gabe and Morita took care of the four guards patrolling the south wall as Steve kept going.

Steve heard a shout as tanks approached them from the main warehouse. Two of them started firing on the group, sending blue energy blasts their way that boomed from the end of the tank barrels with each shot.

"Firebrand! Flame Grenade!" Steve barked.

The colt grinned and cackled evilly as he charged up his horn, launching three volatile balls of glowing magic over the fence and into the path of the tanks. Hydra's tanks continued towards them as Steve leaped into the air and over the barbed wire fence with his shield held out in front of his face. Firebrand's magic grenades detonated and sent the tanks three feet into the air. Their power banks ruptured and exploded, blowing blue light across the yard. Steve's shield deflected most of it heading their way and anything else flowed off of Firebrand's flame retardant fur.

As they landed on the other side of the fence, a tank turret blown skyward was falling at them. Steve ducked out of the way, letting the turret smash the fencing into pieces, giving Bucky and the others a way in.

More soldiers poured out, trying to halt their advance, but Steve and Firebrand plowed through every soldier and cyborg while Bucky and the others cleaned up the rest. The side buildings were quickly cleaned out as the group met back up by the doors of the main warehouse. Dugan and Jacques were comedically covered head to toe in black soot coughing up a storm.

"Great guys, I'm pretty sure the whole area saw that." Bucky said unimpressed.

"Now we should really get out of here before Franco's goons catch on to us" Morita replied.

"Aw shut up, Barnes. I got it handled didn't I?" Dugan snapped.

"Well, that just means we'll get this done faster," Steve replied confidently.

Steve kicked open the warehouse, and everyone pulled out their guns firing away at anything in sight. Firebrand shot weak magic blasts at grunts trying to charge them from behind. It did the job as they were knocked off of their feet, giving Dugan a chance to finish them off.

A platoon came right at them, desperately trying to protect their munitions. The warehouse was filled with ballistic missiles and Hydra ammunition that could vaporize the entire countryside if they were allowed to use it. A small platoon coming out into the warehouse from the backside brought out what looked like a modified mounted machine gun. One of them clicked a button and the mount automatically launched out the bottom and clamped to the ground. Steve noticed that this particular energy weapon's normal blue energy had acquired a violet shade as it began to charge up.

"HIT THE DECK!"

They jumped behind cover as the gun began firing. As soon as it did, the other grunts that had not been taken down by their onslaught had tried to rally and fire upon them.

The violet energy had a familiar signature to the colt that he definitely didn't like.

"Looks like Zola got more out of you than we thought pal," Steve grimaced.

Dugan and Bucky sniped the remaining grunts up on the catwalks and scaffolding from behind a concrete divider. The divider was being demolished quickly by the machine gun and Cap knew they didn't have long.

Firebrand spotted Jacques and his open bag of phosphorus grenades left and acted on his scheme. He pulled one out with his magic and placed it in front of his horn. Touching the glass to the tip, he ignited and the entire bottle filled with viscous red light.

"Papa! I made a Boom Boom Bottle!" Firebrand chattered excitedly over the gunfire

Steve looked over his shoulder and saw something floating inches from his face. He grabbed at it and saw it was one of Jacques phosphorus grenades.

"A Boom Boom Bottle huh? I gotta remember that one," Steve chuckled dangerously as he realized what Firebrand had in mind.

"Quel?" Jacques responded when he looked over. "Un moment!"

Steve held out his shield at a perpendicular angle and rolled out into the path of the machine gun, being protected from fire but giving him just enough room to toss Firebrand's little creation. He had no idea what kind of effect his magic would have but he knew it was going to be bad.

"HEADS DOWN!" Steve yelled.

Everyone obeyed as they all hid back behind cover as the glowing grenade flew through the air and smashed against a grunt.

The last thing Steve and Firebrand felt before all visibility went to zero was a flash and a blast of scorching hot air before the entire building was blown completely to smithereens. The grenade set off a simultaneous reaction with the energy munitions and sent a flash of blinding light all across the Northern Spanish countryside.

When the light had died down, Steve and the others tried to stand up to see what was the result of their work. Smoke covered the whole field like a thick blanket of fog. Half of them went into coughing fits and tried to keep their eyes closed for a few seconds.

"It seems that your grenades might have been a bit too powerful Jacques," Dugan coughed out.

"Ce n'était pas le mien" the Frenchman insisted.

When the smoke cleared, they found the entire complex leveled to the ground.

"Holy crap!" Dugan squeaked.

"Damn" Bucky agreed.

"That was great!" Firebrand shrieked. "I think this calls for another one."

The colt gave Jacques' bag a hungry look as he hopped out and started chasing the cursing Frenchman around the demolished field. Everyone started to crack up until their stomachs hurt. It was a good feeling amongst all the chaos and destruction the war was bringing.

Steve gave Firebrand a look but just smiled and laughed under his breath.

Next Time: War Horse (part 2)

Author's Note

Sorry for the lateness on this folks. Tax season and urgent family business kinda ruined my mojo. I was recently hospitalized for a bad infection. But I'm getting back into the action. Firebrand and Cap's adventures are continuing accordingly and soon here, we'll be reaching the climax of the movie in only a few chapters.

These two chapters are a little bit of creative liberty on my part. It is the 2 minute war montage meant to show us what appears to be months of fighting across the whole of Europe and beyond.

I hope you are still enjoying it Josh! I will certainly keep giving this story my all.

War Horse (part 2)

Weeks went by like this, Steve and Firebrand with their Howling Commandos, scouring the whole of Europe for every last Hydra base. Their next one was in Poland by the eastern edge of the Baltic Sea, right in the middle of a fire fight between Allied, Axis, and Hydra troops. Steve had to risk Firebrand's existence being discovered to rally the American forces against the invaders. But that also meant he had the chance to use his new mode of transportation. His combat Harley outfitted with dozens of built in gadgets by Howard Stark himself. Firebrand enjoyed the ride enough as they rode straight through gunfire and detonated grenades being thrown at them from all sides. Firebrand always had his back, firing away at anything that obstructed them.

From observing their team mates and constant practice in the field, the colt was starting to learn how to fire spells from his own horn as accurately and fast as an assault rifle. The ability was proving to be an invaluable asset to their efforts. Firebrand's "Cherry Bombs" as Steve took to calling them were just as useful for lobbing a strike at incoming tanks from Nazis or Hydra. Steve's shield continually protected them both as he rode. Howard outfitted Firebrand's harness with a powerful magnet Steve could rest the shield on when it wasn't in use. But when he did, Firebrand was always the first to quickly hand it over before Cap leaped into action with it. He was also making better use of his shoes every day, knocking out heavy Juggernaut soldiers that blocked their path or tipping over enemy transports.

Hydra's Baltic base was on the edge of an occupied town only a few miles from the water surrounded by scattered German minefields being set off every few minutes. Soviet landing parties attacking from the water were being decimated by the occupying forces. Hydra tanks and armored transports guarded the perimeter with a curtain of gunfire, trying to push back the invading armies. Steve and Firebrand sped through town, blasting away at every obstacle. The rest of the team was assisting an Allied charge down the hillside, firing down the line at Axis troops holding themselves in barb wired trenches. Troops on both sides were being pelted away by mortar blasts and tank fire.

The duo charged right into the main factory, set off one of their missiles and broke through the opposite wall before the entire structure fell down on top of them. Multiple explosions were set off through the collapsed factory which chased them on their motorcycle through half the length of the battlefield.

The very next day, about a hundred miles to the east, they had tracked down an armored convoy sending armaments and weapons to the other hidden factory in the area. Somehow, they had missed the convoy before they arrived to help the Allied invasion of the area. Steve and Firebrand figured that they had heard of the invasion beforehand and turned around back towards where they had come from. It was close to dawn, so the forest was still covered under a thick layer of fog which made visibility for both sides rather difficult. Lucky for them, Firebrand's eyes were better than anyone's there.

Twenty armored vehicles and tanks slowly but surely made their way down the road Steve's motorcycle couldn't maneuver through the trees properly, so they had to do an overwhelming guerrilla charge on foot. Almost immediately, they were met with volley after volley of gunfire from the convoy. Dugan had his modified shotgun out to provide a better advantage at close range in the confines of the forest. Gabe however ran with his choice M1919 which blasted away at the enemy, providing them with ample cover fire. Firebrand often used his shoes to deflect bullets away from Steve's shoulders and torso where the shield had no reach. A stray bullet caught Steve in the leg, causing him to grunt, but not stop.

"Pay attention maggot!" Firebrand barked. "I'd rather not bring you bag to Mommy in a sack!"

"Bag," Dugan corrected with a chuckle as he cocked his shotgun.

"I know! I know!" Steve replied with strain.

Bark, wood and dirt were exploding into the air from gunfire and grenade explosions being lobbed at them. Ray shots from the cannons obliterated the trees around their position as they continued their charge.

"Keep pushing!"

Out onto the road, grunts poured out of the back of jeeps and other transport vehicles while the convoy kept moving. Four unlucky grunts were set ablaze when Gabe aimed at their truck and ruptured its gas tank. Steve leaped out of the trees and on to the dirt as he went to work, firing away with his pistol and knocking out any grunts that came to close.

"Fire! Take out their tires The "stinky black rings" Steve instructed.

"Yes sir!" the foal replied with zeal.

Hopping off and dashing under the legs of unsuspecting soldiers, one after another, he smashed through the wheels of the transports and demolished their axles to keep them from escaping. Only two each to save on time. When he came to an upgraded tank, he looked back at Steve and saw him using his signature under swing shield toss to slice a mortar in half.

"Daddy won't mind if I do a little extra," he said out loud.

Carefully walking up to the treads of the tank to avoid being seen by the driver, Firebrand looked at his horse shoes and back at the dangerous, grinding wheels and treads.

Steve heard a loud crank and grinding that banged through the forest; it was coming from the front of the caravan. The others kept firing away at each vehicle while darting around the road to avoid being shot. Dashing to the front, the man found five scorchers pouring out of a broken down laser tank. He shot one on the spot and slung his shield, knocking the others off either to the ground out cold or killing them with a broken neck.

"Firebrand! where are you?" Steve shouted with worry.

"Here! Help!" Firebrand's muffled voice rang out.

He dashed over to the other side of the tank and found the colt stuck shoe first in the treads of the tank. The colt looked like he had been slapped into the dirt after the tread took one last cycle. His crimson red fur was all caked with dirt and mud and his mane was covered in oil and grime. He was face first in the mud and the colt was clearly unhappy.

"You should probably wait until you have a lot more body strength before you do that again," Steve said. "Those treads could have chewed your leg off if you didn't have those boots. Please be a little more careful."

He broke the tread with his bare hands, letting the shoe fall heavily with Firebrand's forehoof beside him.

"Ouch." the colt whined

Steve just laughed and slung the colt back into his harness. Falsworth came up to the two with a serious face.

"We've received word of another Hydra base that wasn't on your map Captain. A mobile one in Copenhagen ."

"Mobile?" Steve asked slightly nervously.

"Scmitt on a shingle has got himself a super tank Cap," Dugan said bluntly.

"He's had the town under an iron grip for over a year now," Bucky explained. "Hitler only allowed him up there cause he thought Schmitt would be an asset. Joke's on him I guess..."

"Where's Copper...Coopen...that place?" Firebrand asked.

"Denmark little buddy," Gabe replied. "About a few days Northwest of here."

"Big city. My cousin lived there for ten years before the war broke out," Falsworth added. "It's supposed to be neutral territory, but that didn't stop the Germans."

"We're gonna have to hitch a ride around the coast to the western edge. From there we'll need to signal HQ to send us transport. We can't let the Germans see us."

Back at the SSR's London Office, Agent Carter and Colonel Phillips were giving demonstrations and reports to their respective American and English dignitaries. Senator Brandt and Senator Frank Kelly presided over the American delegation while England's local representatives included Secretary Elizabeth Nel and Party Leader Clement Atlee. The Prime Minister was unfortunately indisposed with his responsibilities and set to visit their headquarters at a later date. Howard Stark displayed his blueprints for various different generators he claimed would propel the world into a new age of sustainable energy, yet he did not yet have a sufficient element to go off of. His first blueprint of such a generator was a theorized "arc reactor".

Their visit was followed by a display of footage straight from the front. Everyone gathered in the darkness of the projector room to see the fruits of their labor in the war so far. The operator in the back room activated the projector as it whirred and clicked to life, sending light and images from their film onto the white screen. Everyone remained politely quiet while it played as they were shown transports of their troops moving along the countryside, Hydra bases exploding, and weapons that were confiscated from them.

Everyone showed a particular interest when the footage went to the Captain and his Howling Commandoes planning for their next assault. Steve Rogers and Sergeant James Barnes were overlooking a map alongside a third unseen figure just out of the frame. They were all given a bit of a scare when a big golden eye looked into the camera with interest. It was a very large, gooey, inhuman eye much bigger than anything they had ever seen. Whatever it was quickly had been pulled out of the frame before they could get a good look at it. They looked to Agent Carter and Colonel Phillips who only laughed and rolled their eyes in response.

The Captain began to point down to specific places on their map and make new markings. When the Captain pulled out his compass however, Agent Carter felt every eye in the room on her somehow. It was a picture of herself and a tiny head of blonde hair presumably to a child just out of sight. Phillips looked at her with a kind, but sly smile she had not seen in a long time.

The Colonel understood perfectly what was going on. However he wanted to leave it up to Peggy whether or not to return what the Captain was offering her. So he kept silent as Captain Rogers placed his compass away and went back to their silent planning of their next assault.

Bucky was silently set up in a ruined building, watching the entire area through his scope. The entire city of Copenhagen was put under such a tight lockdown that no man, woman, or child was allowed out of their own homes. Two massive super tanks wandering through the city created a mobile factory split into two separate parts The team was forced to split up to destroy both tanks in one shot.

He watched Steve and Firebrand weaving their way through the wreckage of the city, scanning their immediate vicinity. Like clockwork, he spotted another sniper on the opposite building to Steve's position. He acted quickly as he went in for the shot before the sniper could, cocking his hammer back, and slowing his breathing. Breathing in and out to steady his aim, he could hear his own heart beating into his ear. Pulling the trigger, he felt the crack come from the tip of his barrel and only a moment later, the other sniper fell to the ground with his head blown open.

Firebrand mimicked Steve's movement as they both looked in the direction the shot came from and gave Bucky a salute of thanks.

"He's a keeper Steve, I'll give you that. Maybe I'll bring him along when I'm on a date," Bucky chuckled quietly. "I just hope the little guy's plan doesn't go up in smoke."

Steve snuck into the city under Bucky's watch, taking down any patrol unlucky enough to get close. They couldn't be seen by either Hydra, nor the townspeople who were still in the city. They had no way of knowing how they would react to their rescue nor was it guaranteed they would keep silent. So the two erred on the safe side by rolling past any windows and sticking to the shadows.

"How far do we need to go?" Firebrand asked. "They're gonna see us! I'm not sure why they haven't spot us now in broad daylight!"

The colt looked up to the smoke covered sky and decided to correct his statement.

"Broad day smoke."

"Stark thankfully put a silencer on Bucky's rifle, so there's that. Don't worry, we shouldn't be too much farther from the southside center."

In the distance, Steve began to hear explosions which cued him to begin their forward advance.

Dozens of squads who were patrolling the main streets were distracted and separated to investigate the disturbance. Hundreds of angry German voices were overlapping, creating an incoherent cacophony of noise. Firebrand smelled a group of Scorchers passing by their alleyway before Steve did, but the human was already running too fast to stop.

He launched a Red Cherry against the far corner of the alleyway just outside the sight of any incoming soldier. It bounced and launched into the adjacent sidewalk. Without missing a beat, Steve held up his shield as he leaped out of the alleyway and into the main street just as the explosion enveloped their would be pursuers.

The roar of the explosion only made him push more energy into his legs to run faster. Hydra soldiers screaming in German and Austrian in all directions at where the blast came from echoed through the streets. In the corner of his eyes, Steve could see dozens of eyes peering out at him from behind the windows of the town.

'No time to worry now. I just hope Firebrand remembered what I told him.' Steve thought flippantly.

Taking out his pistol, he gunned down the first few soldiers that tried firing at him before hearing another sharp shot from behind. Bucky still covering his back no doubt. More explosions in the distance rose higher over the rooftops, blackening the sky even further.

Down the street, the rumble of the tank seemed to vibrate the entire area. A lone stack of crates carrying milk bottles by the side of the road tipped over and shattered, sending broken glass all over the road. The sound startled the colt hiding in his mobile human hiding place firing off a red bolt in a random direction as Steve kept sprinting. The soldier himself felt a hot stream of energy shot past his ear and towards the rooftop of a random building that exploded in a blaze. Hot shards of tile, brick, and mortar were sprayed in every direction, launching something else big that was hiding there.

"Aough!"

Steve stopped for a moment as a body fell from the rooftop and landed on the pavement with a thud.

"Don't take my head off!" Steve nervously chided.

"I got him!"

The two blasted and bombed their way through another fifty soldiers guarding the main street, not too concerned anymore with stealth and anonymity.

A massive bang coming from the other side of the city was all Steve needed to go even faster. They circled a corner and walked right in front of a massive cannon barrel pointed right at the street where they were standing.

"We knew you were coming Captain! Time to die!" someone inside shouted.

Firebrand learned many new swear words that day as Steve jumped forward, watching the massive super tank warble and growl as it spat out a bolt of blue energy at the two. From one sidewalk to the other, a crater sized chunk of the road was completely gone, leaving black smoking slag. They ducked in closer to the tank, hoping to close the gap but they were only met with fire from gun ports cut into the body of the machine. Firebrand poked out and tried his best to swat away any streams of bullets coming their way.

"Can I have it?" Firebrand asked madly referring to the massive vehicle.

"I'll see if Stark can't whip you up a little colt sized one back home," Steve said wryly as he ran alongside the length of the tank with his shield held up.

The tank was longer than it was side, reaching half the length of a football field.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Dugan and the others sprinting down an alleyway from the east. They began to draw the tank's fire with volley after volley of shots, killing some of the riflemen on the right side. Steve noticed a grenade belt Dugan had hanging from his shoulder as he dashed around the corner.

"Dugan! The belt! Toss it over!"

The burly man obliged as he slung it over while Steve and Firebrand slid around to the back end of the tank. As it flew through the air though, Firebrand noticed a riflemen inside caught this and tried firing it out of the air. He grabbed it out of the path of bullet fire and shoved it away, before it detonated into the backside of the tank, stunning any rifleman looking through the ports.

"Ah come on!" Gabe whined. "That was our last one!"

Steve and Firebrand ducked into the alleyway before the tank's barrel could begin to turn around to face them.

When they were momentarily out of danger, Firebrand climbed onto Steve's shoulder, pulled off one of his shoes with his pearly white teeth and smacked Dugan on the head before smacking Steve on the head as well. The mustached man rubbed his head nervously as he watched the foal start to steam.

"Don't do that when we are getting shot at by dozens of guns from the same direction, OUT IN THE OPEN!" the foal fumed.

"I'd have to agree, now that I'm thinking about it out loud," Steve replied.

"What do we do now? We used up all we had on the last one in the North side of the city."

"Gunpowder, nitroglycerine, notepads, fuses, wicks, glue, and paper clips, big ones. Office supplies as you Americans say." Jacques stated dryly. "I have some nitroglycerine left."

A warble and a glow from outside the alleyway signaled them to hit the deck while Steve shoved Firebrand to the ground with his shield covering his body. Half of the building next door was vaporized, with brick and mortar falling on top of them. Steve heard a series of sharp pops echoing above the rooftops hitting the tank. Bucky was trying to give them cover fire.

"We should probably get up and destroy that thing daddy," Firebrand's insisted in a muffled voice.

Everyone jumped to their feet and crouched behind the building that was still standing momentarily.

"What's the plan Cap?" Dugan asked. "Barnes won't last out there by himself for long."

As Steve scratched around in his head, thinking up a way to destroy the highly defended moving fortress, Firebrand spotted something halfway hidden under a tarp in the demolished building. A many variety of other colorful devices and props were stacked up, fallen over, or rusting badly, gathering dust. Falsworth noticed his enraptured state and humored him.

"Circus acts! Always nice to see a bit of something from home." Falsworth happily replied, if a little strained from the stress of the situation. "That in the center is a human cannon. Delightful little act, but respectfully, my dear colt, I fail to see how that will help us at the moment."

Firebrand noticed the length of the barrel barely hidden by the cloth and came up with an idea.

"Daddy! Jacky! Human Howitzer," Firebrand cackled madly. "We can destroy the tank right now if we use the right firepower!"

"Howitzer?" Steve asked before realizing what Firebrand had in mind. "Oh no..."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Dugan asked incredulously. "...I love this kid."

"He has a death wish if you ask me," Morita mumbled. "But I'm listening."

Steve ran over and ripped the cloth off, pulling it out of where it was haphazardly stored.

"Sadly, its the best idea we've got. I can't get up there without being pelted by a thousand rounds at once, even with my shield." Steve lamented. "Dugan, Morita, Jones, lay down some cover fire with whatever you have left. Jacques, see if you can't get a fuse and something to ignite this thing with."

"Oui, Mon Capitan!"

They obliged and started firing away at the tank, trying to buy their comrades some time. Their french demolitions expert quickly set up a small fuse with whatever he had left in his pockets and arranged a small pocket of gunpowder and nitroglycerin in the back of the cannon.

Firebrand unfortunately was getting too excited in the bubbly madness of his destructive idea that he lifted his human father up with his magic and stuffed him in. Much to his dismay and vocal protests. Firebrand kicked the cannon with his shoes through the last standing brick wall and out into the middle of the street. He quickly stunned the only riflemen left with his own Quickfire spell and readied his mad plan. While the others were keeping the riflemen busy, it was clear the main operator had noticed them and started to turn the barrel of the tank towards them. Steve was about to jump out to end this suicidal idea before the colt did something unexpected.

"You feelin lucky Fritz?" Firebrand said with an evil grin.

The colt leapt into the barrel with Steve and maniacally ignited it, as they felt a hot sting of pain hit their feet, followed by a blast of searing hot air and fire that jetted them straight towards the cannon with their weapons held out.

"YA-HOO-HOO-HOY-YA-HOY!"

It was over before they hit the road on the other side of the street. When Steve looked back he saw a clean hole bored right through the barrel of the tank and out the front before the tank lit up the entire city of Copenhagen in a storm of metal and fire.

"YOU ARE FAILING!!!!" Johann Schmitt bellowed.

The supreme commander of what was to be the true Third Reich walked through the pathetic rubble and remains of a factory. One of many destroyed by their brand new enemies. His diabolical cohort Dr. Zola accompanied him to assess the full extent of the damage and salvage whatever remained. He flexed his new robotic hand menacingly, remembering the equine who had destroyed his old one.

"We are close to an offensive that will shake the planet and soon the very universe to its foundations. Yet we are consistently delayed because YOU CANNOT OUTWIT A SIMPELTON WITH A SHIELD AND AN EQUINE INFANT WITH METAL SHOES!!!"

His stocky, round partner twiddled his thumbs in embarrassment and adjusted the glasses on his pink nose as he fumbled his words repeatedly trying to come up with a suitable explanation.

"Its hardly my area of expertise, I merely develop the weapons and armor, I cannot fire them my friend!" Zola stuttered out.

The Red Skull gave the doctor a displeased scowl that bore right into his soul.

"Finish your mission Dr. Zola before the American finishes his! You have business with the Latverian Romanies to attend to. If the foal will not return to me willingly, I must gain a much needed boost in dark power in addition to the Tesseract. I will succeed where the Furher has failed."

A beaten, weary Hydra commander was escorted before Schmitt by three Scorcher officers.

"I am sorry Herr Schmitt. We fought to the last man," he stated tiredly.

The Skull pulled out his energy pistol and disintegrated the impudent subordinate with a blue flash that reflected off of his face.

"Evidently not!"

Next Time: Snow Train

Author's Note

Find the Wilhelm scream.

Firebrand's classic finisher, the Party Howitzer gets a rediscovery.

The Red Skull will attempt to contact dark forces with supernatural powers to combat our red hero. Stay tuned to find out who.

This story was more messed up than I thought, so I prioritized editing and fixing it up all March before I committed to making any new chapters. I'll try to be more consistent in the coming days now that I am getting back into the swing of things.

The Snow Train

Firebrand was rather lucky being covered in a thick layer of fur and having a human body warmer. For their current assignment, he was going to need it badly. Wind speeds alone were making their vantage point on the ridge miserable. The rock beneath their feet was ash grey but slick in some places. Their ridged boots kept a grip on the otherwise dangerous footing. A few badly placed steps and trips forward would mean a straight drop into the depths of the valley below, obscured by a thick layer of ice fog. Steve looked out over the ridge down at a frozen railway track on the opposite side.

Three months had gone by since Steve and his cohorts had began their crusade against Hydra. Four months since Steve had personally taken it upon himself to become Firebrand's new father. Every day, he could see Firebrand was growing. If not in body than certainly in mind. Every assault, he picked out the weaknesses in the enemy defenses and formulated a plan to exploit it. After hearing that Zola was the target on this latest mission, Firebrand was reluctant to join Steve. After everything that had happened at Castle Zemo, Steve didn't know if the colt could handle it. He tried to have Firebrand stay at the London office, but the Colonel was firm.

"Sorry Rogers but no can do. We already have the extraction plan for you and your team but we cannot divert a single plane at the moment. Not with ol Adolf's ass getting puckered and hot. We were just hit with the worst bombardment in months and are trying to move top secret assets back to the States. Your present company hanging off of you excluded."

He could tell in his voice that the decision was bothering him as well, but there was nothing to be done about it.

It still weighed on his mind as he stared out over the mountain side listening past the whistling wind for the pumping, airy sounds of the train.

Cap had the team launch a steel cable into the icy rock on the other side of the gorge while Morita and Gabe listened in to Hydra communiques. Bucky walked up to the cable and wobbled it around with one hand, watching the taught cable sway in the wind slightly.

"Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?" Bucky asked his friend nervously.

"Yeah, and I threw up?"

"This isn't payback is it?" he asked glumly.

"Now why would I do that?"

"I didn't know you got sick daddy!"" Firebrand giggled.

"Drinking four bottles of root beer beforehand was probably the main reason."

The silence after that short moment of levity was palpable. Firebrand jumped out of the harness for a short moment to take a look at their surroundings. The radio whirring behind Firebrand, the wind whipping around, the sound of snow and ice being crunched under their feet. Firebrand tried to look out over the scenery to clear his head of unpleasant thoughts. The snow capped mountain range before him was picturesque. It reminded him of something he had seen back in Bavaria.

His eyes shrank when he looked upon the mighty face of the mountain parallel to their spot. Or rather, the giant man's face that appeared upon it. It leered down at him with eyes like lifeless granite and a wide grin filled with demonic white icicles. It was the giant from his dream of a dead tundra. The one who spoke sickly sweet words into his ears and made his insides feel hard and cold. The fur on the back of his neck prickled when he noticed he was backing up and breathing faster. Firebrand had to resist the urge to scream as the mountain seemed to cave and flex up and down.

...like laughter.

It's shadow seemed to grow and loom over him creating a phantom weight that made the colt fall on his back. When the shadow reached his face, the garbled sound of the radio blaring loudly shocked him back into reality.

Herr Zola ist auf dem Weg zum nächsten Kontrollpunkt. Öffnen Sie den Gasschnellzug! Wir müssen das Ziel bei Sonnenuntergang erreichen!

"We were right! Dr. Zola is on the train!" Gabe announced. "A Hydra dispatcher just gave their Schnellzug permission to open up the throttle! Wherever he's going, they must need him bad."

Cap nodded and strapped on his cowl while the others began to pack up and load up their weapons. Firebrand looked back at the mountain and angrily threw one of his shoes at it, hearing a solid crack of rock before recalling it back to his hoof. Frost caked the shoe as it slid back through the storm and onto his hoof, chilling him to the bone.

"You alright little buddy?" Steve asked with concern.

"...yeah. I just...thought I saw something." Firebrand lied.

Steve went back to checking his gear but knew something bad was up.

Before long, they could hear the sound of the train's horn roaring in the distance just around the bend. Falsworth pulled out a pair of binoculars and watched the train carefully.

"Let's get moving lads, they're moving like the Devil." Falsworth said stiffly.

Steve scooped up Firebrand back into his harness and latched a zip line handle onto the cable.

"We only got a ten second window, if we miss that window, we'll be bugs on a wind shield!" Steve barked.

"Mind the gap," Falsworth added.

"Then we better get moving bugs!" Dugan cackled to the others.

Jacques acted as the timer as he waited for the train to reach the second bend in the track before giving the signal.

"Maintenant!"

Steve went first as he leaped over the edge and let his weight push him fast down the cable. The others followed suit closely behind as they flew over the gorge and over the train that was passing in a parallel path just underneath their feet. Firebrand still felt a little nauseous from the height but handled it better than before. Cap gauged the distance as the gap between them and the top of the train began to close. He released his grip and fell, expecting to land on his feet without a problem. Except when he did, the ice was much to slick for him and he felt himself starting to slip off of the train.

Firebrand acted accordingly and flung his shoes onto the roof. He wrapped his hind legs around the straps of the harness and held his forehooves out. Reaching out with his magic, he created a tether to the immovable shoes and pulled themselves back in like a winch. Steve didn't know what was going on but he hazarded a quick guess as he regained his footing and balanced himself.

"Oi watch yourself Captain!" Falsworth scolded.

"That was my bad," Steve breathed out with relief. "Where did you learn that?"

"When Uncle Howard tried giving me a mane cut," Firebrand said sheepishly.

"Ah."

Being more careful, Cap and the Howling Commandoes inched along the train, watching their footing and heading to the engine. Steve found a rounded off car with a ladder encircling it for maintenance purposes. He went down and wrenched open a door on the side and hopped into the interior. Bucky followed closely behind and closed the door with a clunk.

It was a storage car of some sort filled with cases and shelves. Everything was uniform but he had a feeling that it was important. The main shelf was placed right in the middle separating the car into two compartments. Bucky went down the right while Steve and Firebrand went along the left side.

They took a moment to inspect the car's inventory and found many things of interest. Rifles, ammo cartridges, armor, cybernetics presumably created by Zola and Strucker. An improved version of a Warden's claw laid on the bottom in one case.

Along the middle shelf, Firebrand felt a strange familiar aura coming from a small box. Steve noticed his interest in it and carefully opened the lock, being sure not to make any loud noises. Inside was a small talisman inscribed with some ancient Norse script he couldn't readily identify. What was unusual about this talisman was the feeling it gave off. The runes upon it glowed and steadily pulsed with red light. Steve just had a strange feeling that it was going to come in handy, so he pocketed it in a side pouch for later.

The port to the next car was opened wide and it seemed to be empty, but he sensed that this wasn't the case. So he pulled out his pistol and readied himself as he walked over the threshold. The middle hallway interconnecting the two cars was empty, but as soon as the duo passed into the next car, both doors slammed shut with a bang locking in place and separating them from Bucky in the last car. Steve began to panic as he tried forcing the door open but it was electromagnetically sealed. Bucky turned and fired at someone Steve and Firebrand couldn't see.

Unfortunately for them, they had their own pressing matters to deal with as the sound of an energy cannon charged forcing their attention to the front of the car. It was a new Juggernaut, with energy cannons strapped to each arm. He tried firing right between the eyes of his new adversary but the bullets harmlessly bounced off. Two concussive blasts were fired their way as Firebrand swatted them away with his right hoof. The blasts melted holes in the wall of the train, letting super cooled air inside. Steve ducked behind a row of crates and carts as the Juggernaut continued firing. Swinging his shield in such a confined space would be difficult without enough room for movement.

"Stop him! Fire again!" Zola's voice shouted through a speaker.

Steve tried to come out while it was firing, but he lost his grip for a moment and his shield tilted, making him lose his balance for a moment. He could hear Bucky engaging in what heard like a viscous firefight and it didn't sound good. When the Juggernaut entered into what appeared to be a short cooldown period, Steve leaped to a craning mechanism that slid him across the car and over their enemy's head. It whipped around to blast them both, but Firebrand leaped out and stuck both hooves into the large barrels of the Juggernaut's cannons just before they fired. Blue light exploded out the backs and launched the man like a rocket backwards, smashing the door down separating them from Bucky.

"Thanks buddy," Steve quickly said as Firebrand looked at his smoking horse shoes.

Firebrand saw Bucky crouching down behind some crates, clearly out of ammo as he smashed the window with a swing of his hoof. Steve broke a nearby terminal, cutting power to the door and pulled it open. He signaled to Bucky and tossed his own pistol to his friend.

Steve took a chance as he charged back into the car with a bellow and slammed shield first into the middle shelf, which pushed a long heavy container down towards where one of the grunts was hiding. The grunt reacted quickly, but badly as Bucky shot him in the neck, followed by a box dropped on his head Firebrand tossed over with his magic.

The three turned to each other and with a nod of understanding they believed they had a moment to catch their breath.

A chunk and a charge from behind said otherwise as another Juggernaut's cannons opened up like flowers pulsing with red energy.

"GET DOWN!"

Firebrand moved faster than Steve did as he leaped out of the harness, but before he could hold up his shoes, the blast was absorbed into his horn and exploded outwards, bursting the train open like a tin can. All three were knocked back and dazed as they heard Zola egging it on.

"Fire again! Kill the Americans now!"

Bucky looked over and saw Steve and Firebrand received the worst of it. He was struggling to get on his feet and Firebrand was gripping his head in agony as his eyes watered and his face paled from the pain. Cap's shield laid on the floor caught his attention immediately when the Juggernaut started charging up again. He grabbed it and started firing, but the Juggernaut's blasts were stronger as he was launched back to the edge and dangled off strips of metal, holding on to a railing for dear life. The man tried to finish Bucky off, but Steve pushed through his foggy head and leaped back onto his feet. Grasping at his shield he flicked under armed and knocked the Juggernaut back. Firebrand got up a moment later and followed up Steve's attack with a double hoof slam to the helmet, knocking out the Juggernaut.

They focused their attention back on Bucky who was still trying to hang on.

"BUCKY!"

Steve held on to the train wall that had been burst open and tried sliding out as far as he could to reach out to his friend. Firebrand still dazed and in immense pain came out to the edge and watched intently, barely able to stand up on all fours.

Bucky tried to reach out for a moment but Firebrand could hear the metal begin to buckle and snap.

"NO!"

The handle snapped off and Bucky began to fall. Firebrand shrieked in searing pain as he tried holding Bucky up with his magic. Steve looked back and saw Firebrand shaking and sweating pools. His horn was singed from the previous blast and was in bad shape. Firebrand screamed as he tried hoisting Bucky up close enough to where Steve could grab. Cap leaned over as their hands were just an inch away, when Firebrand reached his limit and his horn cracked, which cancelled the spell. Bucky screamed as he fell thousands of feet into the icy waters of the river below.

Firebrand just stared down at the river below like he just had his heart ripped out of his chest. He was wheezing for air and his golden eyes were red. He had popped blood vessels from the extreme effort and bruised them. He could hear his own heart beating violently into his ears like a persistent knocking at a door. Everything came to a head as every sensation seemed to die in an instant. He felt like death. Steve was weeping silently into the metal as he moved back into the train.

The colt's eyes stared into the icy abyss and he felt something else stare back into him. Unseen eyes with a silvery slick familiar voice.

"Let me in...you don't need to be afraid of the cold..."

"I love the cold..."

"Yes...you do."

Then his eyes turned black.

Steve couldn't believe what had just happened. Everything seemed like a dream now. A nightmare. To make things worse, his hands were feeling like they were being scorched by the walls he was leaning on. Everything seemed to be growing colder as well. Frost began to encrust the entire inside of the car and around his feet and fingers.

"What?"

He looked down at Firebrand and his blood chilled. The colt was still as a corpse and his breath was thick and viscous like clouds being puffed.

"Firebrand?"

He tried reaching for the colt, but before he could, he let out an inhuman shriek like a banshee and all color drained from his fur. His scream was so loud and so demonic that he knew the colt could never have made it himself. Every ounce of ice and frost in the train car shattered in an instant and turned into a swirling blizzard that raged and roared. The colt seemed to levitate off the ground as he screaming grew louder and louder like a shrieking wind. The cold bit into Steve's face and it made everything nearly impossible to see.

"No," Firebrand hissed. "Frostbite."

Cold air exuberated from the pony and his fur and mane began to crust over around his lifeless black eyes. The ice were soaked into the colt's fur and mane changing it into that evil blue and silver that Steve knew too well.

Firebrand turned in the direction of where the engine was and blasted through each metal door, freezing through and shattering them like glass. He flew on gusts of cold air rocketing through the train cars and out of sight as Steve began to hear screams of terror and un natural sounds.

"Oh no..." Steve breathed out.

He shook off his stupor and ran through the cars as fast as he could, chasing after the demon who took his son. Cap could only hope that he got there quickly before it did too much damage.

Next Time: Loss and Capture

Author's Note

Another chapter another day! I have started on the next chapter and hope to have it done in the next couple of days.

More Norse mythology and Marvel universe lore for all you nerds out there.

Loss and Capture

Why did everything have to turn out this way? The plan was airtight, everyone was prepared for everything and ready for every contingency. Or so they thought. Steve's world was being torn down right around him and he was going to do everything to keep it from happening. His mind and sanity were at its limits, he was emotionally drained and his will had just taken a major blow. With the cold pelting his skin, his body would be the last one to go if the world had its way. The unnatural wind shrieked like a stadium filled with exuberant spectators. He could barely hear the sound of other Hydra troops Firebrand was smacking aside like they were tin cans. He could hear a voice over the wind that sounded like Gabe's, but at this point, the wind could have been playing tricks on him.

In the engine, Dr. Zola and his guards were in a panic, trying to lock down themselves from the rest of the train. He could not detonate the cargo in the train, or the Skull would have his head. No, all he could do was wait for them to come to the next Hydra checkpoint to drive off the Americans with reinforcements. Yes, that was the most suitable course of action for the scientist. He had to contain the foal and study his new power. Pressing a button on the control panel, the doctor opened two wall compartments in the last car before the engine room, hoping his new creations would buy him enough time. Two hulking figures stepped out of the dark, heavy steps clanking against the floor like a hammer hitting an anvil. He watched the security screen with glee and delight as he tapped his fingers against each other in thought. The figures turned toward the camera and two sets of glowing yellow eyes illuminated their vibrant dark green bodies. They each thrusted both arms into the air diagonally with their fists clenched in salute for Hydra.

"Protect me, my faithful prototypes. This will have to be an early test of your capabilities I am afraid." Zola said to the brainless machines. "Go forth, and kill them all my Mankillers! Knock the child out cold, and bring him to me alive and unspoiled if possible. If not, kill him so I may harvest his body."

A loud bang from behind him shook him out of his sense of accomplishment. Suddenly, the entire control panel of the engine began to crust over with frost and ice. In the security camera, the same was happening to the previous car as the armored door on the opposite side looked like it had been hit with a speeding bus. Right before his eyes, it completely froze over as something tore it off of its hinges and sent it falling to the ground.

Zola's glasses were beginning to crust over as well, forcing him to take them off and fling them onto the control board. On the security camera he could see thick fog rolling into the car, as thick as one would see in a harbor, concentrated in the train. Something small and blue levitated into the doorway of the car. Its silvery mane flickered in the wind weightlessly as if it was alive separate from the main organism. It's black eyes turned to the camera and sneered, revealing a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, white, like icicles. It let out an inhuman scream into the car that shook the Mankillers but sent them into a defensive posture.

"Your toys won't keep you from me Zola," the foal growled.

Although the Doctor could tell it wasn't his voice. It was like two voices overlapping on one another. Creating a sinister reverb that made it simultaneously deep and high at the same time.

"Go forth and engage my pets!" Zola barked into the microphone.

In an instant, the Mankillers rocketed towards the foal who caught their punches in a constant beam of subzero air that repelled their fists like a magnet. The colt pushed them into the walls of the train which made multiple dents. The metal banged and creaked violently under the pressure, like it was close to breaking open. They still remained on their feet, but noticeably shaken. Frostbite took the opportunity by creating a storm of ice needles and flinging them at high speed. The machines batted them out of the air but missed the colt dashing behind them to freeze their leg servos and break them with a thought. Their torsos collapsed to the ground but still tried vaporizing him with yellow energy blasts from their eyes. Frostbite managed to dodge one set, but the other blasted a hole in the colt's foreleg and cut his cheek.

The act sent Frostbite into a howling fury as he held the damaged appendage and crimson red blood seeped out. With a will from his master and a silvery glow from his horn, ice magically inserted itself into the hole and forced the flesh to heal over. Frostbite twitched and scowled with pain as he did this but when he was finished, he crusted the walls of the car in ice and threw them against each one. The act broke open the walls like liquid nitrogen on a flower, shattering to pieces. Their silent screams would never be heard as they fell into the fog covered valley below.

Zola looked on in terror as the foal turned back towards the camera, now alone in the train car before the camera went dead.

"Where did--" the engineer began before he was sucked out the ceiling sky light screaming.

The armored door was slowly ripped from its hinges as the colt that destroyed his finest creations yet stepped forward with a dead look on his face but a cold fury in his black eyes.

"I am Frostbite, Zola. You owe me a scream for what you did to my vessel." it said sadistically.

"I'm sure we could come up with a mutually beneficial arrange--" Zola started.

"Shut up and die."

Frostbite held his hooves together as they whispered and shrieked with magical power. Opening his hooves, a massive dagger made of ice coalesced into being, crackling and fusing together into a solid object.

Zola screamed as Frostbite raised the dagger over him and was about to go into a thrust before something large slammed into him from behind and smashed the colt's face into the console. It hissed as Frostbite tried to get up and turned around from being dazed. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was a familiar figure with a starred chest giving him a sharp chop to the back of the head to finish the job.

"I'm...sorry...little...buddy," Steve coughed out as he shivered and tried to break the ice from his body.

He went to pick up the foal, but didn't see as the stone in his front pouch began to glow. When the pouch touched his hoof dangling out over the console, Steve watched as the blue and silver coloration retreated from his body like a swarm of insects from water.

Gabe jumped down the already broken skylight and pointed his rifle at Zola who cowered back in fear.

"Now, now, my friends, I'm sure we can work this out," Zola said before Gabe smashed his face with the butt of his rifle and knocked him out.

A dark and cold void once again graced Firebrand's unconsciousness. Empty blackness with whispers of nameless horrors just out of earshot. Before Firebrand could feel a number of things and could see a number of things. Fragments, sounds, voices from the outside. He was shoved to the backseat of his mind when the creature had taken control again. It was a horrifying sensation. When everything went dark, he could only have assumed that the creature had lost control. Floating and wandering in this endless abyss would haunt his sleep.

That is, if someone had not intervened.

"Firebrand...Firebrand...Firebrand...you must awaken." A familiar commanding feminine voice called out. "Much is to be done before you are to meet me properly. You must complete your mission. I will do what I can to keep him out, but the rest is up to the two of you."

The next thing the foal knew, he was waking up somewhere different. He no longer felt dead and cold like before. Instead, something warm and soft had wrapped him up tightly in its embrace. Hot air brushed against his face and a satisfying crackling came to his ears like freshly popped popcorn. Firebrand's eyelids fluttered open and he saw he was in a study in someone's house. It was daytime, that much was certain, but smoke and other pollution dulled the sun's rays somewhat. A charming hearth above a fireplace. The white paint on the walls was cracked but brightened up the room considerably. It was somebody's house.

He could hear a sizzling coming from the kitchen and a delightful smell that hit his muzzle like a ton of bricks. It helped his mood improve somewhat. Especially at the prospect of hot food after his...experience. There was another smell that he couldn't identify but it smelled juicy, crispy and familiar. Not familiar in the traditional sense though. Just a feeling that somewhere, sometime in the past, all of these sights and smells he had seen before, he had felt before.

The foal looked down at his hooves, wondering why he was feeling this way. Like there was a memory he couldn't grab onto with his own two hands even if he tried.

'Hands?' the colt thought. 'That's funny. Where did that come from?'

Suddenly, he heard a small sound like the coo of a dove and turned his attention to the doorway where a pleasant sight greeted him.

"You're awake! Splendid. I am not certain if you can speak English sweetie. If not this will be rather awkward for me."

It was a woman with shoulder length curly black hair, white flower earrings, a pale white face and ruby red lipstick. Almost like his Mama, but not quite. Firebrand could sense an unsure and somewhat nervous quality to her, but still a pure kindness just the same.

"Who are you? Where am I? Where's my daddy?" Firebrand asked tiredly.

"Oh, dear me. Forgive my rudeness. I am Elizabeth Nel dear and this is Chartwell. 39 kilometers from London if you like. When Captain Rogers came back with...the scientist you helped capture, the Prime Minister wished to speak with him privately. He wouldn't let you go for anything, but with much convincing, the Prime Minister let you stay here until you awoke. It was rather endearing."

Firebrand tried getting up and found he was laying in a small bed in the middle of the study. His head was pounding and felt cool. As if his blood hadn't fully warmed back up yet. His horn felt like it had been smashed with a hammer and to boot, his ears were ringing. He held his head in discomfort and Elizabeth went out for a moment before bringing someone familiar in. A cocky man with greasy jet black hair, a sly look in his eye and a sickeningly charming thin mustache Firebrand knew all too well.

"Uncle Howard!" Firebrand cried with excitement.

"How are you feeling sport? Also hi there Ellie."

The woman coughed politely into her hand and blushed slightly as she curtseyed to Howard politely.

"Like snow was poured into my skull," the foal groaned.

"I think I have an easy solution for that." he replied with certainty.

He pulled something rectangular out of his pocket and began to unwrap it. Firebrand watched in interest as the paper exterior wrapper gave way to a secondary golden foil wrapper. He peeled that back to reveal something sugary and sweet Firebrand loved.

"Is that chocolate?" he asked hopefully.

"All yours little pal. Just a bit of glucose and theobromine to fire up your blood flow and activate your neuron receptors. Should warm the rest of you right up."

He handed the bar to Firebrand who took it gladly and began to gingerly munch on it, savoring each nibble. Suddenly, the colt could feel warmth move back from the tips of his four hooves, all the way to his brain. The silky, rich taste of the chocolate danced across his tongue. Firebrand looked at the bar for a moment, before remembering something that brought the dead feeling back into his soul. He gently placed the partially eaten chocolate bar on the small table next to his bed. Lifting his hooves up, he rested his head in them and started to silently sniffle.

"Its my fault."

"What?" Elizabeth asked.

"I messed up, and now Uncle Bucky is gone." Firebrand wept quietly.

"No, you didn't buddy. I read the report. You nearly killed yourself trying to help him. "

"I could have saved him. I SHOULD have been able to save him."

"You did everything you could and more my boy, never be ashamed of that," someone else said. "Damn anyone else who says differently.

Firebrand saw a rather round man wearing spectacles come into the room. He had a strong, commanding presence, and he had a sense that he should know who this man was. He had a big cigar held between his index and middle finger, still smoking. A black bowler hat sat on his head just like the one that Dugan wore. In his left hand he loosely held a cane that he barely seemed to be using. A testament to how lively this man likely was in public.

"Prime Minister. You're back early." Howard replied. "Thanks for letting us use your pad here."

"Not at all, Howard my dear boy. I had to meet our second new champion. A leader must be proactive with his troops." he replied. "Especially one as unique and young as you Firebrand."

"Who are you?" Firebrand asked.

"Winston if you may," he said with a wink as he sat down in a chair and puffed on his cigar. "Now, I hear you are having some internal and external trouble that is eating you up if you'll pardon the expression. I may not be a head doctor but I am a very good judge of character."

Firebrand looked back to Elizabeth and Howard who nodded in approval. He looked at the man as tears continued down his face.

"I couldn't save my Uncle Bucky, I tried to kill my daddy, and something keeps jumping out of me. Something mean and cold. Its making me feel powerless."

"Sergeant James Barnes seemed a good man and a terrific soldier. The Allies will miss him terribly and both America and the whole of the United Kingdom will remember his sacrifice. I can tell you with certainty my lad that he knows how hard you fought for him. You fought through harsh injuries and literal demons that would break lesser men trying to save him. Nobody can take that claim away from you. You have the Almighty watching out for you personally, I'll damn well bet my fortune on it."

The colt shifted, not knowing what to say as he continued looking into his white bedsheets.

"I can't tell you the road ahead is going to be easy my lad. It sure hasn't been for either of our nations We have faced our darkest hour and there are surely darker to come."

Looking out the window pondering in thought, the foal caught a Union Jack on a flag pole dancing in the wind. He saw the flag draped over Falsworth back at the castle but didn't quite understand what it signified. The flag emblazoned upon his father's chest held no meaning for him yet, but he felt like it was something he needed to know.

All this time, he had gone along with his new father and the others, not smart enough to understand everything that was going on yet, but was glad enough to be of some help. The shooting, the hurting, the beating bad guys up, sure it was fun, but there was also an obvious sense of danger around it all. Getting hurt repeatedly in Castle Zemo assured him of that. All who fought against Steve was bad, but Firebrand couldn't fathom why. Everything that was happening was clearly bad, but he didn't know what it was, how bad it was, or why they were all fighting to begin with.

"Mr. Winston, can I ask you a question?"

"Fire away." Winston replied as he took a deep drink from a glass he had filled with something brown that smelled strong.

"Why are you all fighting?"

The entire room seemed to go silent at the weight of that question. For a moment, nobody knew how to respond. Elizabeth twiddled her fingers nervously and Howard sighed sadly. Winston just gave Firebrand a small smile.

"For Freedom my boy. Duty, Country, Honor, and Freedom. Against the forces of those who would seek to take it from us. That is the short answer. The long answer I am afraid you are too young to readily understand. Let alone know about."

"Huh?"

"We are fighting a war. The biggest war there is so far. With no end in sight and our backs against the wall. A demented man in Germany saw fit to enforce his will upon the rest of the world. Along with carrying out the biggest mass murder there ever will be. Man, woman, and child needlessly slaughtered every day. Something a child like yourself should have never been born into."

He knew he wasn't born here, but he didn't interrupt the man.

"When this Nazi menace came to our front door and our former leaders, including my predecessor tried to appease them, I stepped up. After all, you cannot negotiate with a tiger when your head is in its mouth!"

"Nazi? I thought Hydra was the bad guy." Firebrand asked with a tilted head.

"Hydra and Schmitt my lad, was the other side of the coin we should have anticipated. Johann Schmitt is the cold calculating side of Hitler's burning rage. I trusted Howard here and Colonel Phillips enough to deal with Schmitt while George and I deal with Adolf. Unfortunately, it seems Schmitt saw fit to break away from Adolf to take the world for himself."

All of this was overwhelming the foal, but he was beginning to understand the brunt of it. Him and his father were a small part in something bigger than he could comprehend. Everything he and his father did, impacted normal people, for better or worse. From that moment, he decided to make sure that it was always for better.

"That's why the Captain was chosen and why we are glad you picked up the fight alongside him. Abraham made a very wise decision choosing Steven. Did you know him?"

The colt shook his head and looked up to the ceiling in thought.

"Daddy's teacher. He told me about him and how he got his...powers too." Firebrand replied.

Churchill nodded and struck a match on a matchbook he had in his chest pocket, lighting the cigar again and puffing out a small cloud of somewhat robust smelling smoke.

"I suppose teacher is an apropos word. Dr. Abraham Erskine was one of the most brilliant minds the world has ever known. The only thing that matched his brain was his heart. His sympathy to the Allied cause of ending the tyranny of the Axis powers gave us Steve Rogers. And then Steve Rogers found something special in Austria. You. Though even I had my doubts about you I am afraid. I believe in miracles, but not fairytales...yet at least."

"He's more than a fairytale. He's a walking talking magical unicorn who can blow through enemy forces like tissue paper!" Howard exclaimed.

Winston guffawed at that comment as he scooted to the edge of his chair to lean in closer to the young pony. His spectacles clung tightly to the brim of his nose as he gave Firebrand an expectant look.

"Aren't I supposed to be a secret?" Firebrand asked.

The Prime Minister smiled and tapped his nose.

"As much as we possibly can, but unfortunately rumors of a small red creature that assists the Captain in his crusade against tyranny have already spread through the ranks. All we can do know is make sure they remain folktales and unprovable stories. Do you think you can help me with that? At least until the world is ready for such an encounter."

"Yes sir Mr. Winston sir," Firebrand tiredly saluted to which the Prime Minister gave a good natured chuckle but returned the salute with all due respect.

"I'm jumping through a lot of hoops and paying off a lot of people to keep you out of the mainstream." Howard added with a raised eyebrow.

"And we are all glad that you are Howard," Winston replied. "Now, after a little bit of proper food in your gullet, I think that taking you back to your father is in right order. He is in a terrible way and he will need all the support we can give him."

The colt flung the sheets off of himself, feeling much better already, he stood up on all fours.

"Where is he?" Firebrand asked with growing worry.

"He remained in town to drink his sorrows away. I would imagine Margaret is giving him a talk he desperately needs right now."

'He must mean mommy' Firebrand thought.

The Prime Minister stood up out of his chair and straightened his hat.

"Now, I'm afraid Elizabeth and I must be off. Georgie gets cranky when I don't attend his strategy meetings," Winston stated. "KBO, Firebrand. KBO."

"KBO?"

"Keep buggering on my boy! Keep buggering on! I can say with certainty that as a first contact with a new species, I am quite glad that it was you."

Winston held out his hand to the colt who took it earnestly and shook it. The Prime Minister grabbed a cane that had been sitting in the corner of the room and tapped it to the brim of his hat, giving Firebrand another wink.

"Do give my love to Margaret won't you Howard? She's the best Agent to come out of my bureau."

"As long as she doesn't try to punch me again," the man said wryly.

"And keep me posted on the Colonel's interrogation of Zola. I want to know everything that goes on in the good doctor's grimy little head."

In a bombed out part of the city, Steve had found the ruined remains of an old pub. It still seemed cozy enough, despite the extensive damage. He payed no mind to the curfew orders on the loud speakers outside. He just came back from Bucky's short funeral memorial service, in his whole Army uniform, dress greens and everything. It felt odd on him.

So he figured he would help himself to a drink. Or at least try to and think things over. Everything that had happened was doing a number on his morale. He tossed a few coins on the vacant counter and grabbed an entire bottle of Peppermint Schnapps. Just like what his old mentor drank. He grabbed the entire bottle and plopped down into an empty chair that was still intact. He gave a big swig, hoping to feel some semblance of numbing to his senses.

It didn't. Only adding to his feeling of self-loathing he was wallowing at the moment. He heard the crunching of shoes going over rubble and broken glass, followed by them tapping over the floor.

It was Peggy, coming to check on him. He was glad to have the company, if in somewhat bad circumstances. She walked over slowly, looking him over with a sympathetic expression.

"Dr. Erskine said that the serum wouldn't just affect my muscles. He said it would also affect my cells. It would create a protective system of regeneration and significantly slow the aging process. Which means...I can't get drunk. Did you know that?"

Peggy sighed and shook her head as she grabbed a dusty bar stool and sat down in it, peering over the taller American.

"Your metabolism burns four times faster than the average person. He thought it might be one of the side effects."

She could sense how miserable he was feeling, especially after what he saw Firebrand turn into again.

"None of that was your fault Steve," she said sternly. "Try to remember that."

"Did you read the report?"

"Yes".

Steve scoffed at himself.

"Then you know that's not true. I let that Scorcher overpower me just like I let that hunk of junk Iron Cross knock me out and drag Firebrand to be experimented on."

"Don't do that to yourself Steve. These things are far beyond any of us expected the enemy to have come up with. You did everything you could."

Steve looked down into the bottle in shame. He turned the bottle to look blankly at the label, absent mindedly wondering what Dr. Erskine was thinking about on his last day alive.

"Did you believe in Bucky? Did you respect him?"

He looked back up with Peggy with a small hint of that fire that she saw when they first met. That indomitable will was still in there. She just had to ignite it again.

"Then stop blaming yourself. Allow Bucky the dignity and honor of his choice. He damn well must have known you were worth it. You still have someone else to look after. Firebrand. He needs you Steve, his father. He would be ashamed to see you beating yourself up like this."

Peggy could tell she was getting through to him. He started swirling the liquid in the bottle in thought before throwing it against the wall and shattering it into a thousand pieces. Steve stood up, feeling something new and good starting to creep in.

"I'm going after Schmitt. And I won't stop until all of Hydra is either dead or captured. Firebrand deserves to see the world without war like Bucky would have wanted him to." Steve proclaimed.

He remembered back to their talk in Tarvisio. All of the things that they promised they would do together when they got back to New York. Introduce Firebrand to the country that would hopefully become his permanent home if nothing else changed with his living situation. See the other states for the first time, now that he had a bit of money to do so. He would have to do it all in Bucky's memory.

"You won't be alone," she replied confidently. "There is one more Hydra factory to hit before we can go after the main one. The one on the Island of Patmos in Greece. With Zola captured, Schmitt will no doubtedly have accelerated his plans. The Colonel will be busy with Zola while we finish off the last factory."

"Well...I've always wanted to see the Pantheon."

Next Time: Mediterranean Vacation

Author's Note

Everyone needs a pick me up after something horrible. Firebrand just got one from someone famous.

Just one more base to go before the climactic finale. Stay tuned to find out what awaits our heroes in the treacherous waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

I'm really inconsistent with my writings, I know, I know, with no co writers and proofreaders available to help, its been a nightmare trying to keep up. Life always gets in the way.
Regardless, I hope you are all still enjoying.

Especially you Josh!

Return and Final Plan

On the way back to England the U.S government tasked Cap with assisting with a few small missions and publicity events to increase the morale of the troops. One such event was a meet and greet in a bombed out town in Southeastern France. U.S and French resistance were desperately trying to gain a footing against the Nazi's iron grip of the country. A line of tanks and anti aircraft cannons were dotted around the town and several battalions kept up a constant pressure on Hitler's Luftwaffe who pelted the town every few hours.

Firebrand like always, kept low and out of sight, observing and listening to the language and behavior of the people. He felt empathetic for all of them, seeing how banged up they were and hearing the sadness and cries of joy, in their voices.

While the colt couldn't fully comprehend the pain, suffering, or loss these soldiers were going through, he could plainly see the impact his father was having on these troops. All the hurt they had all seemed to melt away for the moment, as Captain America took time to shake each of their hands. Young men and women, roughly two decades older than he was, covered in dirt, grime, blood, sweat, and a variety of other things. Some missing limbs or badly wounded running, walking, and hobbling up to him just to have a chance to meet the Star Spangled Man With A Plan.

Even then, his father showed his undying compassion and kindness, coming over to them most of the time. Despite being pressed for time, Steve wanted to meet as many people as he could. Through these troops, Firebrand heard countless stories of glory, brothers and sisters lost on the battlefield, tragedy, betrayal, love, and sacrifice. He finally realized what Steve meant when he said that some things he wouldn't be able to understand until he was older.

Seeing that red, white, and blue flag plastered over his chest meant so much to them. Even though he was not born in America or experienced the country firsthand, Firebrand could see a special spark in their eyes that he often felt himself being around his father. He was more than just a commanding officer to them, more than just a human. The man they knew as Captain America was a symbol. A role model that represented the best ideals of humanity and carried its shared goals for a brighter future. Some even compared him to holy men of the past who uplifted the soul in the best possible ways. The way everyone admired him and talked about him inspired even the colt. It gave him something new and hopeful to think about.

The man however, that piqued Firebrand's interest the most was an old general with four golden stars on his worn green helmet. He spoke with such power and command that his father would often use. In his right hand, he carried a swagger stick that smelled of blood and dirt. His father and this general had a lengthy conversation about the war and tactics that Firebrand somehow felt obligated to listen to and memorize. This had to be the "Georgie" that the Prime Minister was referring to.

When they went to talk further in a private area, Steve felt safe enough to introduce the colt to the General. After a humorous few minutes of explanation, Firebrand was received quite pleasantly by the elder, the pony standing at attention rigidly and saluting properly like he always saw everyone else. This display made the General smile and chuckle, but he returned the salute respectfully.

"At ease soldier," he said in a deep, gravelly voice.

Firebrand relaxed, but the General kneeled down and kissed Firebrand on the forehead. The gesture confused the foal, but it was rather comforting.

"When Chester told me we had a child recruit in the SSR, I thought he was nuts," the General started. "But if half the stories of your exploits and injuries are true, then you are certainly worthy of being a soldier in my army Firebrand."

"Yes sir! Thank You sir! I just hope I helped. I only want to help my papa."

"You have, absolutely. Every fight you and your papa have fought you have won and gained us an edge in this war. Just remember Firebrand. America loves a winner and will never tolerate losers. Keep close to this magnificent bastard of a father of yours. He'll always be a winner. I wouldn't give a hoot for a man who lost and laughed."

"Sir yes sir!" Firebrand cried stiffly.

"In time, you just might be a full fledged American soldier Firebrand. Screw anything those backwards facing bureaucrats in Washington think otherwise."

The General started towards the door to leave but turned back to the duo with a smile.

"Tear out their living guts and murder those lousy bastards Captain," the General growled with pleasure. "I leave Schmitt to you while I rip Hitler a new one."

"Yes sir!" the two said.

When he was rudely captured by the uncouth Americans, Dr. Arnim Zola was shackled in irons, covered with a burlap bag over his head and shoved into three separate transport vehicles. The contents of the train to his horror, he knew would be confiscated by the Allied Powers. While he could not see, he could tell that he was always being moved around from place to place. For a few days, he had even been on a boat. Or at least he thought so from the rocking, the smells, and the sound of Americans swearing. Once or twice, he could feel things being thrown at him. Filthy foreigners, he always thought. The itchy burlap bag over his head made the experience all the worse. His skin often flared up in unbearable rashes that felt like fresh sunburns. His finely woven clothes and glasses had been confiscated from him and replaced with a poor oversized dirty cotton shirt that hung a foot below his waistline and a hand-me-down pair of brown trousers.

As he arrived at his final destination in London, he was pulled out of a moving van and into an undisclosed facility. He could hear so many voices and people running around him, though for what purpose he could not readily surmise. Long hallways over clean laminated floors he went, being roughly escorted by two strong men that held a firm grasp of each arm to force him along. Soon enough, he was thrown into a dark room and finally had the bag removed from his balding head. It was an interrogation room somewhere in the bowels of an English building. One of the men who had been forcing him along had an MP on his helmet. Military police if Zola had remembered correctly. He gave Zola his glasses back and shut the metal door behind him. Locking him in from the other side with what sounded like six heavy duty locks.

The room he had found himself in was completely white and sterile like a hospital room, yet somehow dark and dank. Barely illuminated by the one lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. A black one way window loomed over him, obscuring anything or anyone that may be watching him on the other side. A grey gurney sat on the other side of the room, past the simple metal table and two chairs that accompanied it. Zola could feel himself sweating when he spotted something on the floor that looked like spattered blood. The old faucet by the door dripped every few seconds, only adding to the intimidating nature of this room. It reminded him too much of Baron Zemo's laboratory.

Suddenly, the door swung wide open and a well dressed American officer stepped into the room, carrying a tray filled with food. A steak, some broccoli and a few small potatoes on a simple white plate. Accompanied by a short glass of milk and two salt and pepper shakers. Zemo was terrified by how calm and controlled the man seemed to be. Absolutely no emotion whatsoever seeped through his wrinkled brow or his earthen brown eyes. He reminded Zola of the legendary Sphinx of Egyptian myth. This was certainly a man of high rank, as his uniform led the scientist to believe. His gravelly voice need only uttered two words to capture his attention and obedience.

"Sit down".

Zola obeyed, willing to play the man's game, to see what he was up to.

He was confused however when the American pushed the tray of food towards him. Not understanding what was going on. The man stood up and turned the tray around.

"What is this?" Zola asked.

"Steak."

He was up to something, Zola was sure of it.

"What...is in it?"

"Cow."

His simple answers only made him more nervous, but he used all of his mental prowess to not let it show outwardly.

"Doctor...do you realize how hard it is to get ahold of a prime cut out here?" he asked plainly.

"I...don't eat meat," Zola replied slowly in a display of defiance.

"Why not?" the man asked innocently.

"It disagrees with my stomach."

"How about stomach pumps, spinal needles, anesthetic, drills, and cyanide?" the man asked in a dangerously low voice. "Do they give you the rumbly tummy too? Getting your hair ripped out, boring holes into your head and sealing them up with a laser? That would certainly do a number on mine."

Zola was sweating but simply smiled back, immediately knowing who and what he was referring to.

'He must be one of the Captain's little friends' Zola thought.

The man turned the plate back around to himself and started to enjoy the quality meal in front of Zola.

"Every Hydra agent we have tried to take alive has crunched on a little pill before we could stop him. But not you."

Zola couldn't speak. Enraptured by the stoic, controlled nature of this man and how bold he was.

"So here's my brilliant theory," he continued. "You want to live."

"You're trying to intimidate me Colonel," Zola replied quietly.

"I bought you dinner," he replied with a shrug.

Without skipping a beat or moving his head, the Colonel grabbed a document he had brought in with him and slid it over to the Doctor to read. Zola touched it and adjusted his glasses, reading aloud.

"Given the valuable information he has provided, and in exchange his full cooperation, Dr. Zola is being remanded to Switzerland, pending a future trial?"

"I sent that message to Washington this morning. Of course, it was encoded. You boys haven't broken those codes have you? That would be awkward."

The colonel salted a piece of potato and ate it while Zola just stared at him with an incredulous look on his face.

"Schmitt will know this is a lie," Zola replied.

"He's gonna kill you anyway Doc. You're a liability. You know know more about Schmitt than anyone. You brought severe mental and physical harm to our youngest recruit. The world's first documented sentient species outside of humanity. And the last guy you cost us was Captain Rogers' closest friend, so I wouldn't count on the best protection. Both the Axis and the Allies have it out for you. Its either you or Schmitt. That's just the hand you've been dealt."

Zola could feel the walls of the interrogation closing in on him. He was getting light headed.

"Schmitt believes he walks in the footsteps of the gods." Zola stated. "From my last encounter with dear little Firebrand, it seems they are indeed real."

The Colonel chuckled mockingly with a mouth full of food.

"Only the world and the whole of creation itself will satisfy him. The foal, he hopes will lead him to it."

"You do realize that's nuts don't you?"

"The sanity of the plan is of no consequence," Zola said shaking his head.

"And why is that?"

"Because he can do it!"

"What's his target?"

"His target...is everywhere."

Colonel Phillips stopped chewing and just stared at him, fully understanding the gravity of their state of affairs. The feeling of something terrible was on the horizon, and he needed his troops to be ready for it. He couldn't let go just yet though, he had more questions.

"That's well and good. Thank you for that Doctor. But there's another significant problem."

"What might that be?"

"Something has slithered its way into my recruit's head. I want to know what."

Zola pushed his circular glasses up against his crooked, chubby nose and smiled with a look of excitement and glee that Colonel Phillips didn't like. The chubby Swiss scientist stared into the Colonel's eyes as if battling for dominance. Neither one gave an inch.

"I thought Schmitt's stories were utter fantasy, you must know this Colonel. The idea of extradimensional beings traveling by a rainbow bridge through nine realms including ours would have been called the ravings of a lunatic." Zola explained.

"That much we have in common Doctor."

"After what I witnessed firsthand, it is clear to me, one of the ancient ones that Schmitt reveres with so much passion has taken it upon himself to inhabit your...recruit."

Phillips sat up straight and placed his arms on the table, clasping his hands together as he leaned over to the Doctor with a look of interest,

"Who?"

"I focused primarily on furthering the goals and technology of Hydra, but in my sparse studies on the subject that plagued the Skull's mind, one name came up: Aurgelmir.

"Who is he?"

"Lord of the giants. God of ice and death. The first being. The other gods killed his mortal body and fashioned their home with pieces of him. The ground from his flesh, the seas from his blood, the mountains from his bones, the stones from his teeth, the sky from his skull, and clouds from his brain. So the tales say."

"How do we get him out?"

"Who knows Colonel? What could possibly have enough power to drive out a primordial being?" Zola jeered. "I certainly hope you find a way before little Firebrand finally snaps."

The Colonel trying to hold back a scowl, adjusted his tie and stood up, pushing the metal chair out of the way with a loud scrape. He proceeded towards the door and called out to the guard who opened and let him out, leaving Zola behind to gloat about the possibilities of chaos and mayhem that were sure to come.

The trips and side paths back to England took the next three days but soon they made it back to the SSR office that had become their home for the past year. Steve could hardly believe it had been that long since he first found Firebrand in Austria. For them both, it now seemed like a lifetime ago. It was a rather surreal feeling. So much had happened and Steve wondered idly what the future would have in store for the both of them. After the war was over, what would be next for the duo? It was a question however, Steve and Firebrand would never get the chance to properly answer.

They had a few hours to meet back with everyone and debrief in the mission control center. Colonel Phillips had gathered the entire American and English branches of the SSR into one room to discuss the endgame. A massive map of a mountain range was splayed over the wall the Colonel had been facing and everyone's eyes were on him alone.

"Johann Schmitt belongs in a bug house. He thinks he's a god and he's willing to blow up half the Earth to prove it," the Colonel said. "And he's starting with the U.S.A. My country."

"He's working with powers beyond our capabilities, if he gets across the Atlantic, he could wipe out the entire eastern sea board in an hour," Howard added.

The entire room sat in silence, Steve and Firebrand looking at the surveillance photos of the last Hydra base.

"How much time do we got left?"

"According to my new best friend, under 48 hours." the Colonel replied grimly.

"Where is he now?" Peggy asked.

"In the Alps. Five hundred feet below the surface."

He threw the photo of the base to Morita who inspected it with a sigh of anxiety.

"So what are we supposed to do? Its not like we can just knock on the front door."

Looking between Firebrand and Howard Stark with a look that made them smile with confidence, Steve looked back towards Colonel Phillip with one of his own.

"You know what? That is exactly what we are gonna let Schmitt think we are doing." Steve said.

Afterwards, Howard called Steve and Firebrand down to his lab for a few last gifts before they were to go off for what was to be their last mission. This time however, it was for Firebrand. He walked them over to a glass case covered by a large cloth. Firebrand followed alongside Steve, wondering what the eccentric man had in store for them this time.

"You can thank the Colonel for providing the base. I took it upon myself to make some...adjustments." Howard said as he pulled off the cloth in a dramatic fashion.

Underneath was a bomber jacket with flame patches on the sleeves. It had an unusual sheen and sparkle to it. It was somewhat smaller than a normal human jacket, but also still a bit big for the colt yet. The collar was sharp and smooth with a 91st logo on one of the edges. A golden pin of a flower on the breast pocket shone against the rest of it, complimenting the look. It was clearly tailored to fit the body shape of the colt.

"What's this?" Steve asked.

"Protection for the little guy. Figured the General's gift would make the perfect opportunity to try out my idea." Howard replied. "Though I may have oversized it. He could grow into it I guess."

Steve opened the display case and held the jacket in his hands, noticing how rigid but flexible it felt.

"That's a special coating I made, mixing tungsten, leftover dust from the portal the kid made, and another extra terrestrial substance we've taken to calling Orichalcum. Its heat absorbent, bullet proof, and repels electricity."

Firebrand cooed with delight as Steve helped him try the jacket on, but found that it was a bit big for him. The sleeves hung low to the ground and Firebrand's mane was the only thing that visibly poked out of the collar. Suddenly, Firebrand got an idea as he ignited his horn in a red glow and focused on the jacket, remembering what Howard said about the metal dust he used. The jacket shrunk down in an instant to fit his child body and conformed perfectly to it.

"Didn't know he could do that," Howard said goofily. "You surprise me every day!"

"He always does. How does it feel bud?"

The colt stepped around in it, liking how the jet black coloration complimented the ebony look of his shoes. Something about it though made him pause in thought. Another sensation that tickled the back of his mind. Like deja vu all over again. It was a good but troubling feeling.

"I love it! But somehow...it feels really familiar. Like I've worn it before."

Steve saw how he looked and could tell what he was feeling.

"A memory?"

"A little bit. More like a feeling. Just something that feels right."

Howard pleased with his work, handed a note off to the two of them from Colonel. Steve held it up to the light and read it aloud for everyone in the room to hear.

"I Colonel Chester Phillips with my power over the Strategic Scientific Reserve and support of Senator Grant, hereby recognize the unicorn Firebrand as a citizen of the United States of America and give him the honorary title of Lieutenant Colonel. As displayed by the golden flower pin I have given with this jacket given by General George Smith Patton Jr. Let the world know his title until such a time as he achieves the rank officially after he reaches the age of 18. Until then, he will be known to all as Commander Firebrand."

"Thanks Uncle Philly!" Firebrand cried out the door.

They could hear laughter coming from all over the hallway with that remark.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that!" the gruff Colonel yelled back.

Steve got a small chuckle out of that himself before turning back to Howard, wondering what else he had in store for them.

Several of Howard's technician's were gathered around another large object that was covered by an even larger cloth. Whatever it was reached up to 8 feet high and was five feet across. Some ducked underneath, making a few observations and writing them down in logs for future reference. Others were working on various new rifles and knives for the troops to use, but the primary focus was on this one object.

"I heard about what happened in Denmark and as silly as it sounded, it gave me a bit of an idea. Firebrand's capabilities make him completely fireproof and coupled with his shoes and his new jacket, I think its time to unveil my latest bit of insanity yet. I haven't worked out the kinks yet so this may be a one off until I have it perfected."

Howard dramatically pulled off the cloth, letting it fall to the ground in a heap with a soft flutter. What the duo saw, they weren't sure, but Firebrand was sure excited about it.

A miniature howitzer tank only one quarter the size of a real one with what appeared to be an oversized collapsible primary barrel and a moving base that could clamp down into the dirt whenever it needed to fire. The technicians showed them a cavity in the back for climbing into. It was four foot across, allowing easy access for any human...or pony for use.

"What in the world?" Steve asked.

"I used my special magnetic induction technology on the barrel. In theory, when pressed against each other, it should provide enough force to launch the occupants out at 1400 miles/hour."

"How and why would we ever use something like this?"

Firebrand looked at it and laughed, rubbing his forehooves together menacingly. Just imagining the destruction he was going to cause...

In Bavaria, the Red Skull was finally ready for his final offensive. Despite the temporary loss of the foal, he had obtained additional assets to assure his victory. Doctor Zola had done well until his capture. He knew that little time remained until the Americans and the Captain were at his doorstep. His bomber, The Valkyrie was nearly ready for final deployment. The only thing left to do was to prepare his thousands of heads for the day of victory that was to come. Even without the book from the Latverians, he still had a page ripped out that would provide him with the edge he needed against the Captain and the colt.

In the hangar, his hybrid uber-troopers had assembled before him and he had popped open a bottle of his finest vintage to celebrate the occasion. With synthesized power from the colt in his eight elite soldiers combined with the power of the Tesseract, he would finally have his vengeance.

"Tomorrow...Hydra will stand master of the world. Born to victory on the wings of the Valkyrie! Our enemies weapons will be powerless against us. With the capture of the unicorn...and his magic, the Tesseract will give us a path to conquering the universe and beyond. If they shoot down one plane, hundreds more will rain fire upon them!

He poured a glass filled with the blood red wine and raised it high to his troops.

"Cut off one head...two more shall take its place...Heil Hydra!"

Every one of his uber-troopers simultaneously thrusted both arms upwards into a salute for their supreme overlord.

"HEIL HYDRA! HEIL HYDRA! HEIL HYDRA!"

The Red Skull turned around and grinned madly as five square miles of soldiers roared their proclamation, creating a blasting cacophony.

"HEIL HYDRA! HEIL HYDRA! HEIL HYDRA! HEIL HYDRA!"

Next Time: Cut Off One Head (part 1)

Author's Note

I hope this gets all of you hyped for the epic climax that is to come!

This is for you Josh! An enchanted fireproof bomber jacket and the legendary Party Howitzer makes its first appearance.

Also, I hope the cameo of another great historical figure was not an unwelcome cameo.

Cut Off One Head (part 1)

The plan was simple, yet potentially problematic. Everything should work like a cinch, Steve said as they made their final preparations for the invasion. There would be no way for the Red Skull to escape this time. He had something special in mind for cornering Schmitt like the rat he was. Howard had contacted his company in the states to be ready just in case the worst had come to pass. Tensions were high, but everyone kept their wits about them. The whole of the Howling Commandoes were handling the stress of what could be their final mission as best as they could have. By reinventing themselves to honor not only their fallen friend, but to live up to the expectations of the Captain and what he stood for.

Dugan was psyching himself up by practicing his aim at their makeshift underground range in an empty storage room. Bucky's loss gave him something to aspire to and think about. This war and his experiences with the Captain had matured him, and the colt had softened his heart in a way he never felt before. Every few minutes, he would practice his out-boxing style on a nearby pole until his knuckles bled. He didn't care, it was rather cathartic. It was his own way of dealing with anxiety and it served him well. Jacques had been inspired by the colt's ingenuity by mixing magic with his own explosives and incendiary devices. It encouraged him to spend a time with Howard's technicians, asking as many questions as he could. He even began to pick up more and more English the more he listened. The colt's patience and perseverance had inspired both him and Gabe to learn more about their respective languages. The Frenchman had grown to love his English and American comrades and wished to work with more like them in the future.

Peggy was with the Colonel, contacting local and reinforcements from the U.S. Everyone would be needed for this final attack and every available troop had to be spared for the operation.

Falsworth himself had another way of dealing with what was to come. Contacting family. He had more than his own friends in the SSR. He had a daughter serving in Britain's Women's Voluntary Service for three years. None of them knew about her except for Agent Carter and Colonel Phillips. It was required for the SSR to have detailed information on family and close friends.

He didn't mind that, but he wanted to wait until he felt it was right to discuss his family. It was a matter of pride and security for the man. Though with how much was at stake, including the possible loss of his own life, he knew he had to talk before it was too late. Four years ago, his daughter Jacqueline had been attacked by a self proclaimed vampire named Baron Blood. A known Nazi collaborator he had discovered at a later date. The attack sent her into a coma for months and she required several blood transfusions. They had kept in close contact since the war began, and even when he was captured, they still sent letters to one another. Unfortunately, when the Howling Commandoes were formed, he had lost touch.

Sitting down in a lonely cubicle in a corridor just off the main stretch of the office, Falsworth took careful consideration to pen what could be his last letter. He grabbed a nearby fountain pen and some slightly yellowed lined paper and placed it in front of him. Staring down at the empty sheet, wondering what he could say. The anticipation made it hell for him, just thinking of what to tell his daughter. Fighting Hydra and their legions was much easier than this. He decided on speaking as honestly as possible, right from the heart.

My Dear Jacqueline,

I am terribly sorry for my silence this past year, there is no excuse for it. Even with the war on, I should have found ample time. Much has happened and much is still to happen before the war is to end. You remember Colonel Phillips? The one you met in Westminster General? He had me and the rest of the 107th Infantry march into Austria to capture a member of Hitler's inner circle, Johann Schmitt. We never knew just how far the man had separated himself from his former brethren. Nor how advanced he had become. I was captured along with the rest of my comrades. Thankfully, we were rescued by a fledgling Captain America. You have more than likely read the papers and seen those ghastly films of his heroic exploits. Lord, I hate those things. He recruited me to his squad along with six others. One we lost in the Alps... Him and his adopted son have taught me much about true strength and the power of the soul. They are an unstoppable force to be reckoned with and I am blessed to call them my friends. I hope one day you can meet them. As a commando in his squad, I have assisted him in many missions. All of which unfortunately I cannot disclose the specifics of. You understand. This next mission however just may be our last. I have no knowing if we will survive or not, but I will sure do better than my best to. You are always on my mind my sweet and moving forward, you always will be. After this, I will come visit. Then we can talk about visiting Iceland like you always wanted. I do love you Jacqueline, never forget that.

With all my love,
Father.

Steve and Firebrand spent their time just talking with each other. Mostly about what life was like for the man before the war. What Bucky was like growing up and what his parents were like. Many stories of times long past, making what was about to come feel even more significant. Down in the motor cade in one of the Army transport vehicles, Firebrand and Steve sat across from each other in opposite seats. Just sitting down properly like that felt natural for the American. Since the war began, so many things had been happening and he never got a chance to talk about his feelings or thoughts on anything. Cap sat on the edge of a seat while Firebrand let his back hooves hang down over the edge. The colt did his best to mimic his human father's position as he held on to the armrests with his forelegs, having a grip on the chair. Though the position did provide a small amount of pressure on his tail, he got used to it pretty quickly.

"I don't think I've ever told you about your grandpa or grandma have I?" Steve asked rhetorically.

Firebrand shook his head.

"Your mommy and daddy?"

"...Yeah."

Firebrand could tell that this was a difficult subject for his father, despite his immature mind, he still knew how to read people. He would have to tread carefully with everything.

"What are they like? Or...what were they like? Grandma and Grandpa? Uncle Bucky...seemed like your only family member other than me. I don't see you write like the others do. I always see the other men writing letters to people."

'He's smarter than I give him credit for...'Steve thought sadly.

Steve looked up at the colt and he could see a glimmer of happiness in the man's eyes among all the sadness and regret.

"Twenty years ago, the country went through a...Depression of sorts."

"A Depression?" the colt asked with his head cocked to the side.

"Right after the last big war. Everyone was down on hard times, especially my Ma. I never knew your grandpa all that well, but I have a few memories. He was in the 107th Infantry like we are. He fought in the last war and got hit by mustard gas in Kaiserschlact. The Kaiser's Battle in Northern France. A million and a half lives snuffed out. Dad...was just one of them."

He couldn't fathom that feeling. Watching his own father die right in front of him was a terrifying enough feeling. But never knowing what happened and being told afterwards? That thought made Firebrand feel even worse.

"Not your fault buddy, that war was even more complicated than this one. We didn't even know why we were fighting to begin with or who we were fighting."

"Its still not right!" Firebrand sniffled out.

"I know. A lot of things aren't. Your...Grandma and I had a hard time after that, going through the depression. I stuck to studying at local libraries as best as I could so I could try to get a job. Ma had to take multiple jobs herself just to keep us going. One day though, she took a job as a nurse at a Tuberculosis Ward. It paid the bills for a while...

Firebrand remembered from his readings in Howard's office. Tuberculosis. A pretty deadly disease a caused by bacteria. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but can also damage other parts of the body.

"Mom got hit by it...couldn't shake it. I met Bucky not to long after. His parents were friends of my parents and we always got along. They took me in and raised me the best they could. I mostly just turned into a scrawny wimp who couldn't protect himself."

The colt looked down in sympathy and sadness, never knowing that his human father had demons and uncertainty of his own. Steve just smiled and stood up, walking over and lifting the colt's chin up with a finger.

"Then you came along after my transformation," Steve said with a smile. "You gave me something new to care about."

"Really?"

"I'm not always good at talking about this kind of stuff...but yeah."

Steve nodded as he sat down next to the foal and ruffled his mane with a gloved hand. They continued their private talk as Steve diverged into many different topics, feeling more free and open than he had been for years.

They were deployed quickly ahead of the others, Steve told Firebrand the whole plan in detail beforehand and while reluctant to leave him, he trusted his father's judgement. The Superfortress that transported them brought their gear and parachuted them down into the misty Thrandt Forest of the Northern German alps. A place known for many myths and legends, fantastical tales of fairies, beasts, monsters, and horrors of every kind. Stories of werewolves and vampires were not uncommon in this place. Thick blankets of fog enveloped the thick labyrinth of trees like a soupy miasma. Cap's bike was deployed as he leaped on, clicked up the kick stand and rode off into the mist.

The access road right to the base wasn't that hard to find. An open path with fresh tank treads ground into the moist forest soil. Rumbling underneath, his bike sped on through finding no clear obstacles in sight. Only stray branches that had fallen down off of the local evergreen trees were crushed under the combined weight of Steve and his bike. Tiny water droplets of the forest mist sprayed his face, giving Cap a temporary feeling of refreshment in what was to be his hardest battle yet. Any animals that may have been in the area before would have surely ran off from the foreign sound of the human machine. It was better that way; no distractions or innocent life to get in the way of the wanton destruction he was about to cause.

He went around a bend in the road and suddenly he heard a terrible roar coming from behind him and the sound of bullets flying past his ears like bats chasing after pest bugs. Turning back to get a look, he saw a small squadron of nine Hydra bikers in super bikes of their own. They were clearly disciplined, sticking together in a tight formation as they took pursuit of Cap. With each tight turn in the road, they all turned in unison, keeping their formation with masterful precision. Steve looked ahead and saw two parallel trees that would be perfect for one of his newest toys. He pressed a button on the right handle which launched an electrified line into the two trees. Four ducked while the other three weren't fast enough and were shocked into violent convulsions as they were ripped off of their bikes.

The next toy up Cap's sleeve was a special afterburner Howard Stark upgraded at last minute, being inspired by Firebrand's abilities. The afterburner released a jet of napalm filled with tiny white phosphorus canisters. The resulting blast immolated one bike to a crisp, sending one biker flying and the other was melted entirely, biker and all. The smoke blinded the others and sent them off the road and crashing into the forest with explosions. The other two he missed down a fork in the road, but found them quickly as he came up from behind and pulled out a special glowing red bottle of volatile magic Firebrand had made himself for the American. The foal had called it a Blood Moon after hearing the name of the alcohol it had contained before.

'Let's see if the kid made something good'

He sped up and threw it onto the ground behind him. It created a fifty foot fireball that lit up the forest like the Fourth of July, vaporized the trees around it and propelled him twenty miles faster than he should have been going. He didn't dare to look back to see what kind of devastation the item had caused.

"American moonshine and unicorn magic, who knew?"

Just ahead, he could spot the concrete bunker walls leading right to the entrance of Hydra's primary base. The base was built right into the mountain which most assuredly reached a thousand feet up. Two bulky guard towers standing just ten yards off the ground at a slant would be perfect for driving up. An uber tank blocked the way in, firing at him with blasts of blue energy, forcing him to duck and dodge.

"Time to give the boys an opening," Cap said aloud.

He reached for his shield and mounted it onto his steering column, providing him with a good deal of protection. Cannons from inside the two bunkers, plus the uber-tank in the center gave Steve a run for his money as he weaved through a constant volley after volley of energy shots, listening each time as they charged up with an electronic whine. Each shot hit the road, sending dirt and rock into the air with clouds of dust.

As Steve got closer, the tank approached, giving him little time left to react properly. He flipped an analog switch on his left handle, firing two small missiles from the front of his bike, and blowing up the uber-tank instantly. The remains of the tank flew skywards, giving Cap the opportunity he needed to put the petal to the metal as he grabbed another Blood Moon and threw it into the left side bunker as he rode up and over it, letting the structure blow into a hailstorm of rubble with a loud bang.

Dozens of tanks, jeeps, and assault transport vehicles were damaged or destroyed in the second explosion. The rubble acted as fire cover, pelting minor grunts and troops to the ground, killing some and knocking out others. Seeing the main entrance into the mountain base, he rigged the bike to explode and aimed it as he leaped off and onto the back of a nearby Scorcher. The bike obliterated the thick steel door, leaving a gaping hole. Steve felt somewhat sad at the destruction of his little vehicle. It had been with him and Firebrand for a long time through the course of the war and now it felt like he was saying goodbye to an old friend.

He knocked out the Scorcher and aimed its rocket launcher at multiple groups of grunts and other Scorchers that tried to approach. Blasting away a hundred troops and still more and more kept on coming towards him. He launched his shield and chained together a dozen hits on twelve separate grunts, knocking out each one. When another Scorcher tried shooting him from behind, Steve launched himself off of a nearby tank, leaped into the air, swatting away the shots as he smacked the Scorcher down and used the edge of the shield to bore into the man's neck. His head was nearly sliced off entirely in the kill. Blood spattered across the edge and into the dirt, staining the earth.

"Glad the kid didn't see that," Steve groaned to himself.

The distant crack of a sniper's bullet coming higher up the side of the mountain made him react as he batted the bullet away and blew a whole through the head of a Warden that tried to charge at Steve. Fifty armored troops swarmed him, forcing Steve into his "overdrive mode" which he tapped into a few times at Castle Zemo. Each punch and kick resulted in a grunt being launched skyward over thirty feet away, either smashing into something or coming back down to earth with a fatal injury. He could feel bones snap and break with each point of contact. It was rather invigorating. He let loose with his shield, racking up a record twenty impacts against twenty separate troops. It was a rather amusing sight to behold.

Unfortunately, Steve's fun was cut short as he found his overdrive mode leaving. Six Scorchers with two flamethrowers each cornered Steve in one spot, blowing flames at each other as if making a wall of fire. Then an armed platoon of two hundred soldiers came out and aimed right at him...

Meanwhile, Firebrand was strapped tightly to Dugan's back as they continued their way up the mountain. While Cap was distracting the others, the Howling Commandoes were sneaking their way up to a proper vantage point that would prove useful to their plan. The surveillance photos had taken a shot of a window that looked over the entire mountain range. Just a few thousand feet up. They brought only the bare essentials that was needed for the battle at hand, leaving behind anything that could be spared. Though one particular piece of equipment was lugged up with them that was a vital part of the plan. Falsworth had found maintenance paths winding up and around the mountain, giving them the proper way they needed. Firebrand was psyched up more than ever, realizing what was going to be needed for the final stretch of their war with Hydra as they approached the peak.

The colt adjusted his jacket and menacingly rubbed his hoof up and down his secret weapon, relishing what it was going to do to the Red Skull and his troops.

Next Time: Cut Off One Head (part 2)

Author's Note

The final battle has begun and Firebrand has something up his sleeve to give the Red Skull a painful blow. Tune in next time to read the epic conclusion to our final battle!

I hope this is still to your liking Josh!

Cut Off One Head (part 2)

Millions of eyes were upon him, watching his every movement, listening to his every breath, and attempting to discern his every thought. Through corridors and hallways they went, keeping a tight grip on the American that had plagued their every waking moment for the past two years. Ever since the traitor Dr. Abraham Erskine had given his super soldier serum to the Americans, all of Hydra had been on edge. Desperately trying to keep progressing their technological advancements to get an edge in the war. It was all for naught as the American Super Soldier had thwarted their every plan and had destroyed every last major factory they had established on the European Continent. They kept up their guard even more, not knowing why the American was so calm and focused, not paying any heed to any of the troops around him. He kept his eyes straight ahead, on his next destination. His infernal indestructible shield was taken from him when he was captured. Safely away from him where he could not use it.

Four other armed Hydra grunts accompanied the others escorting him exactly to the person that he wanted to see. Steve was taken into an elevator that went up well over a hundred floors. The sound of the pulleys groaning as it ascended helped him concentrate on what was going to happen next. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to enter a meditative state as the ride took longer and longer.

An hour earlier just a few miles from the mountain, Colonel Phillips had arrived with an entire Brigade of 4,000 American, French, English, and Free Polish troops all hidden outside in the forest. Agent Carter had arrived with him and was assisting the man with his rifle and helmet. The rest of the 101st Infantry was at the forefront of the Brigade, heading the invasion force. Men crunched around in the dirt, getting into position to wait for their best chance to get a crack at the Red Skull. Everyone was tense with anticipation. Jeeps were rolling up as quiet as they could, unloading more and more troops at a time. Many of the Platoon commanders met with the Colonel to know what was to happen next.

"Quite the gathering you have here Colonel," Peggy mused.

"General Patton and General Montgomery wanted this to go off without a hitch, so they provided me with a bit of extra manpower." Phillips agreed. "They would rather only deal with Adolf instead of Hydra too."

"Any contact from the Russians?"

"Not a peep. Screw them, they've been shifty little bastards since the war began and I got a bad feeling they want a crack at us after the war's over."

"One army at a time Colonel," one of the commanders said as he marched up and gave Phillips a salute.

He saluted back and shook the man's hand.

"What are our orders sir?"

The Colonel pointed with his rifle at a secondary peak poking out of the trees parallel to Hydra's mountain fortress.

"Captain Rogers Howling Commandoes and the Commander are going to fire off a flare just as they initiate their attack to signal us to begin the charge. Meanwhile, we are gonna heat up that mountain with charges."

He snapped his fingers and a subordinate grabbed a lump of plastique explosives which the Colonel displayed to everyone around.

"If the kid wants us to heat up the mountain, then you'd better as hell deliver men! Let's bring it tumbling down onto that Red and Green son of a bitch's head!"

He threw the explosive putty back to the soldier who caught it fearfully, thinking it would blow up at any moment.

"Let's move out!"

Firebrand was off of Dugan's back and preparing for their next move. Morita and Jacques had set up a mobile listening device to wait for the right moment to strike. They found a window, almost invisible from afar but among a wall of icy rock, black glass stood out like a sore thumb. Falsworth investigated with special heat vision binoculars Howard had come up with and found a signature inside that matched the Red Skull perfectly. Firebrand had his secret weapon all set up and Gabe was all prepped with their line launchers. All that was to happen next was wait.

The wind blew strongly like always. At this point, Firebrand was beginning to get used to the cold. Their mission on Patmos was probably the most drastic change in climate the colt had ever experienced. Just to be told that there were warmer places on Earth out there waiting for him. It was a rather exciting idea if a bit strange. All he had known was dark and cold until Steve had saved him from Austria. It was as natural to him as breathing. Firebrand had discussed this with the others but when they would try to console him, he just shrugged and felt empty. He knew his darker side may have had a part to play in all of that. The armored woman in his dreams promised she would help him be rid of it, only if he accomplished something great.

So, to that effect, Firebrand had a feeling this would be his finest hour yet. All of his anger and righteous fury he would properly focus on the one man who had caused him so much despair through this whole ordeal.

Firebrand looked back and forth between his special device and each of his friends, wondering who would be the perfect man to break it in. His eyes immediately fell upon the bulky Dugan who was standing around with a bored expression on his face. The colt suddenly had an idea, an awful idea, the colt had a wonderful, awful idea. He could feel his mouth curl into an unnaturally excited face.

"I know just what to do." he purred as he held up a forehoof.

"What was that?" Dugan asked as he and the others turned to Firebrand.

"Uncle Dummy! You go in first!"

"What?"

"We're gonna blow out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks!"

The last thing Dugan saw was Firebrand's horn and eyes glow a menacing red before feeling himself being lifted off the ground in a field of magic.

Steve felt the elevator reach its destination as they came to a stop and the doors opened with a whir. The six grunts pushed him forward into what looked like a giant laboratory with a desk near the window. A painting sat on one side of the room along with a various assortment of maps and documents stacked around in a neat and mannerly fashion. A shiny record player sat on a nearby table with its needle off until someone is ready to use it. Lamps barely lit the room, only serving as mood setters at best. Most of the ambient light came from the window, bringing in a soft glow into the otherwise shadowy room. The walls were made of some unknown metal, but in a fractal honeycomb pattern, for some scientific purpose. A telescope sat by the window leaning up towards the stars.

A familiar stiff silhouetted figure stepped out of the shadow with a groan of annoyance as he approached Steve. Not in anger, but in irritation and genuine interest. Steve noticed that the Skull had a new mechanical hand covered in green runes and glyphs. He idly remembered, that was the hand Firebrand had shattered in his darker form. It seemed to be juiced up by something dark and powerful. Each digit fluidly moved as if it was still organic and the wrist articulated perfectly with barely noticeable sounds of tiny motors in the new extremity firing off.

"Arrogance...may not be a uniquely American trait...but I must say you do it better than anyone!" the Red Skull snapped.

The Skull acknowledged his honored adversary and gazed into his eyes as if he was probing for something.

"But...there are limits...to what even you can do...Captain. Or did Dr. Erskine tell you otherwise?"

Schmitt's cool, collected voice was rather soothing and it strangely kept Steve focused on the next step and ready for whatever might come next.

"He told me you were insane."

That response almost seemed disappointing and saddening to the man. He looked down in thought before hardening his stare back on Cap.

"Ah, he resented my genius and tried to deny me what was rightfully mine, but he gave you everything." Schmitt scoffed. "It seems the unicorn had the same idea. He is my ticket to glory and conquering new worlds and yet he would rather keep his secrets from me. That is fine. I am a patient man. I will not make the same mistakes Zola did. I have acquired a source that will force him to give up his precious secrets. Where is he...Captain? Your little...companion."

"Away from you. I wouldn't risk his safety."

Schmitt's new mechanical hand began to glow bright green as he backhanded Steve across the face. His face was on fire and Steve could almost feel his own brain being bounced around inside his skull. The metal hand not only applied more force to the blow, it felt hot. Unnaturally so. It was not unlike that of a red hot poker one would stoke a fire with. Only with ten times the force. It burnt his skin and knocked his head back with so much force that he thought he would get whiplash.

"A gift made by my allies in the ancient kingdom of Latveria." the Skull explained. "I assure you Steven, I spared no expense in assuring your utter failure."

The grunts were barely able to hold him up as the Skull kept pounding away. He hit Steve to the ground with a punch to the gut that broke the grip of the grunts for a moment and sent him sprawling. The wind was completely knocked out of him again and it felt as uncomfortable as always. Wheezing in pain as the grunts quickly recovered and pulled him back over to the Skull. Steve however, was resilient as always as he pushed through the discomfort and stared the Skull in the eyes.

"I can do this all day!" Steve spat.

"Oh, of course you can of course, but I'm afraid I'm on a tight schedule."

He pulled out his energy pistol and activated it, hearing that familiar whine as the cartridge inside began to glow violet. Steve figured the Skull had gotten a reserve of Firebrand's drained magical energy. The barrel was aimed right between his eyes and Schmitt had every intention of killing him right then and there.

Then, two cracks just outside the rock wall drew everyone's attention outside. Four figures were ziplining down towards the window while on the opposite peak, a miniaturized cannon painted red and gold had extended out its comically large barrel and fired off with a loud bang. Something large, glowing red, and obscenely fast came flying out of the barrel like a falling meteor.

"YA-HOO-HOO-HOOOOY!"

Suddenly, the entire window and wall of the laboratory blasted open with an echoing boom as embers, shattered glass, shards of metal, and broken equipment flew everywhere. The sound of the blast could be heard for miles, cracking like distant thunder. Everyone was tossed around into the walls as the force of the impact shoved them off of their feet. The Red Skull's office was completely obliterated in whatever had hit them. A large section of the mountain fortress was destroyed in the explosion caused by whatever had hit them. Alarms all over the area blared loudly alerting any nearby troops to the presence of the new intruders.

The Skull and Cap were the first to recover their senses as the former tried firing at Steve, but he grabbed a grunt to use as a human shield just in time. The grunt disintegrated and when the others came through the opening, everyone began firing at the remaining grunts before they could get back up. Schmitt sprinted out of the room before he was next to be killed.

Steve got up and found Firebrand and Dugan on the ground, with black smoke coming off of their bodies. A small flame started on the man's shoe, to which Firebrand licked his forehoof and put out quickly.

"What the heck was that?" Steve laughed.

"The Party Howitzer!" Firebrand chattered.

"One heck of a party kid!" Dugan grumbled as he held his stomach and threw up into the remains of a trashcan.

More grunts poured into the ruined lab as the Howling Commandoes fired away at them to give Cap a chance to escape.

Falsworth grabbed his shield and threw it over to Steve who nimbly caught it.

"Rogers! You might need this!"

"Thanks!"

Firebrand ran to Steve's side and kept up with him as he pursued the Skull down dark, metallic hallways.

Suddenly, another nearby explosion violently shook the entire facility to its core as parts of the lower levels were beginning to collapse.

Lower down, a maintenance hatch blew open and a squad in all black body armor and bandannas over their faces came in firing at Hydra soldiers blocking their path. One threw a frag grenade into the group which blew most of them to bits before they finished off the remaining stragglers The leader called into his radio to everyone outside.

"We're in! Assault Teams one through five Go! Go! Go!" he bellowed.

Just outside, Colonel Phillips had received the radio message as he signaled to everyone to begin the attack.

"Good man Price! MOVE OUT MEN!" the Colonel shouted. "Time to show the kid the strength of the U.S Army!"

Through the trees and the thick brush came pouring out countless soldiers holding their rifles high and cocked, ready to fire at a moments notice. Out into the open, the Allied soldiers received heavy fire, many getting mowed down by Hydra's energy blasts. The unlucky ones were disintegrated into dust in a flash of blue light, but the brave many began to overwhelm the grunts left over from the Captain's rampage. The battlefield was a hell storm of chaos and carnage as everyone rushed forward, not caring in the slightest what might happen to them. Each heavy energy shot kicked up dust clouds into the air, filling the entrance with a thick viscous miasma of smoke, dirt, water vapor, and blood.

Peggy ran along with them, firing away into the fray with the men she swore her life and limb to fight with. Brothers in arms and family all united against a common enemy. Here there was no past, present, or future, only the battle as she charged on. The earth was bombarded and kicked around as if under the attack of a shower of meteorites falling from the sky. Ground and rock flew all around, showering both armies. The overwhelming assault from the Allied armies pushed Hydra back into the base in retreat. Men fell on both sides as the chaos from the outside leaked into Hydra's headquarters.

Back inside, Dugan had found an Plasma Rifle and mowed through dozens of grunts trying to hinder their progress. They turned a corner and ran into a pair of Juggernauts. A Warden with a massive riot shield and a Scorcher with a Plasma Launcher.

"Oh shi--" Dugan began as they ducked to avoid the first volley and dove in towards the Scorcher.

The Warden pushed back Dugan with his shield as Falsworth and Gabe focused their fire on the Warden to draw its attention. The Scorcher peaked out and Dugan took the opportunity to fire at the helmet, pushing him down. Dugan took out a flashbang and threw it over the shield. Turning away for a second, they could feel the Warden begin to stumble. They rushed all together at once and held the Warden down, allowing Dugan to blast at the neck and kill him. The Scorcher tried firing away as he was down, but Dugan shot down the barrel of the Plasma Launcher and the resulting blast blew the Scorcher's arm clean off. A scream of pain could be heard from behind the mask.

"Goodnight sunshine," Dugan said as he fired through the damaged helmet.

The Red Skull was in a panic, trying to make it to the hangar, dashing through the corridors at high speed as his subordinates were in a wild scramble all around. He would make it to the Valkyrie and cast the ritual given to him as the ultimate defense. He had to.

A nearby hatch blew open and many grunts fell to the ground dead. Dozens of Allied troops came pouring through, forcing Schmitt to grab a Plasma Rifle and fire away at the soldiers. It did the trick as all of the troops that came in were instantly disintegrated, giving him the chance to run off to an alternate path.

Meanwhile, Colonel Phillips had made it inside and already faced down a platoon of armed officers with his own. They came around the corner being gunned down like a flock of ducks. All they had to do was sit still and keep firing. Bodies piled up in the corridor, slowing the grunts down even further before one grunt tried one last defiant act with a plasma grenade.

"CUT OFF ONE HEAD, TWO MORE--"

The Colonel sprang up and shot the grunt point blank into the chest of the armored officer with a 12-gague before kicking him back. Allowing the grenade to finish its work, the passageway lit up in a ball of fire as the Colonel cocked his shotgun, letting a round fall to the ground.

"Let's go kill two more boys!" Phillips proclaimed.

Steve and Firebrand finally caught up with their fleeing adversary as a rapid exchange of attack and defense ensued while on the run. Miles of long, twisting empty hallways gave them plenty of room but stretched the pursuit out longer and longer as both Firebrand and Cap had to constantly dodge and block the shots as they gave chase. Steve and Firebrand tried to finish off the Skull with a double teamed attack. Firebrand leaped up and on the swing, hit Cap's shield which went off like a shot, slicing through the doorway Schmitt tried to escape through. They heard a loud grunt, affirming they had hit their target and done some damage, but not before a familiar adversary came off a side corridor the duo had not checked. A modified Mankiller mounted with weapons and equipment from the Scorchers.

Cap ducked behind a doorway to avoid the stream of fire from its dual flamethrowers while Firebrand just sat there and took it. The flames all around felt as good as a hot shower, cleaning off the muck and scum from a hard day of work.

"HAHAHAHA! Stop it, it tickles!" Firebrand said sarcastically. "My turn."

Drawing the flames into himself, he absorbed the fire into his mane which began to glow and grow spiky and golden as it blew around with no breeze. He concentrated the fire into his horn and sent a compressed ball of fire right into the chest of the Mankiller, which dented the chest plate and pushed it back across the floor. Unfortunately for the colt, the Mankiller opened its chest and was about to fire off its six missiles point blank at the pony.

Thankfully, Peggy and a Battalion of Allied troops caught up with them, the English agent sporting a massive machine gun as she fired off fifty shots right into the Mankiller's chest and blew it apart before it could fire off its rounds.

Steve peeked around the corner, looking back and forth between Peggy and the carnage she had caused.

"You're late," he reiterated with well meaning snide.

As he approached her, he felt a moment of connection between the two of them. Fire, smoke and smoldering metal only made the electrified moment stronger as he awkwardly approached her and nearly leaned over when Firebrand smacked him on the hand.

"We have a bad guy to catch!" Firebrand said expectantly.

They ran through the doorway and found the shield embedded into the ground, sizzling into the red hot metal. Grabbing the shield they ran off after the Skull before he could escape. The Allied Forces followed right behind him as they continued through several more miles of barracks, laboratories, hallways, and testing rooms. Taking out any remaining grunts hiding within the bowels of the facility.

A cavernous hangar at least five miles in length stretched out before Steve and Firebrand as they exited the tunnels and passageways. A fire fight had begun with the remaining resistance of Hydra's legions with a supermassive jet black Horten H.XVIII Intercontinental Bomber beginning its take off sequences. Steve remembered the reports about the proposed plane that the Nazis could never implement. The H.XVIII was one of many proposed designs by the Nazis the Luftwaffe could use for an attack on the United States, and would have carried sufficient fuel for transatlantic flights. The SSR never imagined that Hydra would be the ones to do so. If this beast was anything like the original designs, they had little time to act.

"GET ON!" Steve shouted to the foal who jumped onto his back.

Steve went off like a cannon as he went into a full on dead sprint on the tip of his toes, pushing any grunts out of his way. A stack of crates gave him the perfect opportunity for a boost of speed. He vaulted over and grabbed onto the chain, gallantly flying through the air as he batted away energy blasts being aimed at the duo. For a moment, he began to keep up with the plane as his muscles burned and screamed with raw adrenaline just trying to keep up. Soon however, it was becoming abundantly clear that his own speed wouldn't be enough. Luckily, Peggy and the Colonel came riding up beside him in a beautiful swamp green Duesenberg.

"Schmitt's?" Steve asked.

"GET IN!" the Colonel urged to which the duo quickly obliged.

Colonel Phillips pressed all the way down on the pedal, testing the very limits of what was supposed to be the pride and joy of the Red Skull himself. The Horten accelerated even faster, forcing the group to come up with a plan and come up with it fast. At his wits end, the Colonel pressed a conspicuous looking button by the steering wheel which didn't seem to do anything at first. Firebrand feeling a familiar spark of fire, ignited his horn and drenched the entire car in a bright red glow. The back end spat out a whirlwind of fire and exhaust as the car went as fast as the plane and soon they were right on its tail again. Steve and Firebrand got on the edge of the car, getting ready to jump onto the wheels of the plane.

"KEEP IT STEADY!" Cap exclaimed.

"WAIT!" Peggy retorted before pulling the man into a passionate kiss as they were accelerating well over two hundred miles an hour.

The subzero air whipping and biting across his face just seemed to make that tender moment last forever. Something though in the pit of Steve's stomach gave him the feeling it very well may be the last. He wrapped his arms around his love, making the kiss all the more sweet, feeling their hearts connect in that eternal moment both wished would last forever. In the heat of battle, at what seemed like the end of the world itself, he finally found a proper dance partner. A thousand million thoughts went through his brain at the speed of light, wondering what could be, and how it could be. Everything more beautiful than the last. All of it they would share with the unicorn that had touched both of their hearts. Firebrand watched all of this not understanding it, but feeling something special nonetheless.

"Go get him!" she said as her voice began to break.

Steve allowed the moment to finally pass as he pulled away, dumbstruck. He absent mindedly turned to the Colonel who only look back at him with an unamused expression.

"I'm not kissin ya," he stated.

Firebrand only smiled and jumped over and gave the elder a gentle peck on the helmet before giving him a salute. Phillips sat there looking at the foal for a moment before giving Firebrand a warm smile and returned the salute proudly. He pulled a small medal out of his pocket. A red ribbon with a Bronze Star at the end of it. The Colonel pinned it to the breast pocket of Firebrand's bomber jacket and pat him on the back good naturedly.

"Colonel?" the colt asked. "Isn't this yours?"

"You can have it squirt. You've earned it. You're a soldier now. Go do our country proud! Ya hear?"

Firebrand felt a wonderful warm sensation well up inside as he raised his forehoof for a second salute.

"SIR YES SIR!"

"GOOD MAN! NOW GO! GO! GO!"

They moved towards the wheels as they passed under the propellers, forcing everyone to duck before they were shredded to bits. Steve could feel Red Skull cringing internally as one of the propellers scratched the side of the car. Steve could see a light rapidly approaching from the end of the tunnel, signaling he had only a split second longer to react before they all went over a cliff. The duo lept to grab ahold of the wheel column as it slowly swung upwards and clung to the innards of the bomber. Firebrand and Steve panicked as Peggy and Phillips hit the brakes of the car hard, but they weren't slowing down fast enough as they rapidly approached the edge. Firebrand acted quickly but felt himself straining from reaching so far as he erected a barrier large enough to stop the car in its tracks. The simple trick did well as the Duesenberg smashed back first into the barrier. The barrier cracked but didn't shatter as he allowed it to finally descend.

The unicorn started to sweat as he breathed hard from exertion. Peggy and the Colonel stood up looking out at them as the plane flew further and further away. Hundreds of miles of snow capped peaks flew underneath as they finally ascended into the super massive bomber. Steve found a catwalk that was safe enough to jump onto as he went over a handrail and walked about the place, getting a look at his surroundings. The first thing in this area of the plane didn't bode well for anyone. A series of six pods lined this cargo bay area up and down the width of the plane. Each with names plastered on the sides that made Steve's stomach sink to his knees.

"Chicago, Boston, Miami, Maryland, Philadelphia...New York. He's gonna hit home with these things..." Steve breathed out.

Suddenly, he heard several dozen Hydra grunts scrambling downstairs to check whatever had caused the disturbance they heard. He leaped up to a pipe above to conceal himself while the officers walked about the catwalk underneath. Firebrand hopped onto one of the grunts and smashed his face with a swipe from his hooves before leaping to the next one. Cap took the distraction and jumped down, catching three grunts off guard as one came out with a machete and the other tried escaping into a pod to evade capture. Steve knocked out the first and went over to a control panel, pulling a lever before the grunt could get in. A hatch opened up sending the bomb careening out of the plane, along with the grunt who lost his grip. Another grunt on the other side tried escaping but Firebrand slung a shoe at him, knocking him out. He picked up one who tried to catch him from behind and threw him out the open hatch finishing him off.

Firebrand heard something fly through the air and nimbly caught it by chance before it hit Steve right in the chest. It was a big knife which the colt stopped only inches from his heart. He slung it back at its owner in the dark who groaned and fell with a clatter.

"Schmitt knows we're here now," Steve stated uncomfortably.

They made their way towards the front of the plane, fully ready to meet whatever was up next.

A small metal door creaked open as Steve and Firebrand went through, trying to keep as quiet as possible. Silence made things all the more uncomfortable as they entered the main cockpit. It had to be the biggest cockpit he had ever seen. In the center of the chamber was a massive receptacle with a bright blue light giving off an eerie ethereal glow. Firebrand didn't know why, but it felt extremely familiar. Alive and powerful. With the capability to engulf everything.

"Daddy...there's something in there..." Firebrand whispered fearfully, pointing to the glowing blue cube.

"HOW RIGHT YOU ARE!" Schmitt proclaimed as Steve whipped around and saw a bolt of green light flying at them.

He lifted his shield and the bolt bounced off but knocked Cap back, breaking a hole into the glass.

"You don't give up do you?" Schmitt asked rhetorically.

"NOPE!" Firebrand and Steve retorted in unison as they lunged forward.

Schmitt used his enchanted hand to swipe at the air, sending emerald green scratches towards them. Both weaved under as Steve closed in for hand to hand combat. He tried swiping at the Skull's neck, but he backed away and narrowly avoided the slice. Firebrand tried leaping in from the side but the Skull backhanded him away, sending him flying into the wall. He tossed a shoe at the Skull, knocking him to the side, giving Steve an opportunity to go in for a beat down which Schmitt took and gave right back just as easily. Cap wrapped his arms around Schmitt's neck, trying to choke him out while Firebrand stumbled up to get back into the fight.

Schmitt struggled but as his hand glowed brightly, he smashed it into Steve's gut, knocking the air out of him for a moment and fell to the ground in a heap. The Skull held up his palm for another blast but Firebrand jumped in and held up his hooves, absorbing the blast.

"That's the same stuff the Sleeper threw at us," Firebrand thought aloud.

"Very good, young Firebrand yes," the Skull congratulated. "The ancestors of the Latverian Romanies were a mighty people who dabbled in the mystic arts. Often calling upon the demon lords of old to give them power. Fusing metal, blood, and mortal souls was a common practice. It stood to reason that their ancestors most likely created the Sleeper and a number of other beautiful abominations of power. The mighty demon Prince Andras Goetia of Discord gifted them with an artifact of unimaginable power. The Book of Sins. Or as the locals called it, the Darkhold. A book to which I hold a page of now."

Schmitt reached out and pulled in Firebrand with his own telekinetic grip, holding on by the neck. The colt struggled greatly but couldn't seem to break the hold quickly enough.

"You will complete it child and assure me my ultimate victory."

Steve lashed out and swept the Skull's leg as he was distracted and caught Firebrand who needed a moment to shake off the effects of Schmitt's magical attack. Steve went in for another chokehold and the Skull responded by struggling even harder. Over the power receptacle they rolled and began battling for dominance over Cap's shield. Schmitt got ahold of it for a moment and bashed Steve across the face with it as he pushed Steve down over the power module. Cap headbutted the Skull in response and kicked him off. His head still fuzzy and his vision still blurred, Firebrand dashed for the Skull and with a quick switch of his shoes, bucked at his midsection, sending him smashing into the main throttle of the bomber.

Sparks flew into the air as the control pushed all the way forward and then they all felt weightless as the plane began to take a deep dive downwards. They were so high up, that they could begin to see the curve of the Earth and the tops of the clouds. It all changed just as quickly as the force of their momentum sent them to the ceiling. The Skull's eyes glowed an angry green as thirty draconic heads with beady, shimmering yellow eyes erupted from his mechanical hand. A manifestation of the very creature he worshiped in name.

"Hail Hydra!" the Skull hissed as the heads all focused on Steve and blew emerald green flames at him.

Steve whipped around a pillar to avoid the majority of the attack, but felt his hands and parts of his back suffering from severe burns.

"Dad!" Firebrand cried.

The colt tried climbing or grabbing onto something vainly to get control, but the lack of hands and apposable thumbs proved to be a challenge in of itself. He could see the Skull continue his attack on Cap as he bounced around in the lower parts of the control room. The pillar was already starting to turn red hot and he could smell the steel begin to melt. He had to act fast. He felt angry and powerless. Fearful and vengeful. Emotions that led to something else deep inside trying to gain control of him.

'Let me out!' a familiar voice sing songed in the back of his mind. 'I have all the power you ever need little buddy.'

It was the voice from the being he remembered all too well. The spirit from the giant of ice he had allowed to control him in his weakest moments and nearly go on a homicidal rampage. Frostbite.

Frost started crusting over his legs and the tips of his mane began to turn silver again. Half of his cutie mark had already turned into the icy crown he dreaded in his nightmares. Firebrand knew what was coming this time and headbutted himself five times against the metal wall. He hit the upper part of his foreleg against the railing and threw himself back first into a nearby pillar knocking the wind out of himself again. It hurt and gave him a massive headache, but it got the result he wanted.

"Shut up," Firebrand snapped as he held his throbbing temple.

'Imagine what we could do together if you let me out and let ME handle this fool'

"I AM and I don't like it. You nearly hurt my Daddy last time and I will NOT let you out." Firebrand spat back.

'I don't ever recall giving you a choice Burner,' Frostbite retorted.

"Burner?"

'Oh, you don't know? tsk, tsk, tsk. Poor, pathetic little Firebrand, still confused and naïve as always. You want to know? Too bad. I'm not telling.'

Firebrand's eyes snapped open in rage and he ignited his horn, feeling his power heat up his entire body and scorch the very inside of his mind as he pushed Frostbite back into dormancy.

"Try that again, and I'll break your frosty head around so much that It will face your butt."

He instinctually wrapped his back hooves around a nearby guardrail and slung both of his horse shoes into the back of the Red Skull's head. It broke his focus on the spell and nearly knocked him out as the whiplash from the hit sent him into a forward roll in the air. One of the hooves missed but struck his hand and mangled it, as the hydra heads dissipated and retreated back into oblivion. Steve was able to finally retreat from his hiding spot, but the Skull had shimmied down back to the control board and initiate the bomber's auto pilot as they finally leveled off and fell back down to the floor. He held his mangled mechanical hand but forced magical power to continue course through it as he began building up power for one final blast.

"YOU COULD HAVE THE POWER OF THE GODS!" Red Skull roared. "YET YOU WEAR A FLAG AND A MEDAL ON YOUR CHESTS AND CLAIM TO FIGHT A BATTLE OF NATIONS! I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE CAPTAIN! THERE ARE NO FLAGS! ONLY MINE THROUGH THE WHOLE OF CREATION!"

"NOT OUR FUTURE!"

Steve jumped out from behind a corner and grabbed his shield in a roll and Firebrand jumped out from the other side. The Skull unleashed his final blast of power as a twisting circulating beam of hellish energy. Firebrand and Steve held up their respective weapons together, each holding back the emerald beam. The power was too evil to absorb, and too much to take all at once, so they did the one thing they thought of and pushed forward and leaned into the beam with their arms held out. The duo could feel the unholy and inhuman heat coming off of the beam, but persevered with every step. When they were inches from the Skull, Firebrand and Steve together used a double Shield Charge using the last of their adrenaline, and the Red Skull's hand exploded. He fell back into the power module and damaged it, sending blue sparks into the air.

The blue cube fell out of the receptacle with a clunk and the Skull scrambled to grab it.

"What have you done?" Schmitt asked fearfully.

It groaned and sputtered alien sounds as shapes and images fluttered all over the control room. Firebrand recognized what looked like images of glowing, gaseous branches of a giant tree fading in and out of existence among the sparks. Shining white wind whispered and creeped through the air. A clear picture was displayed of space and a multicolored galaxy. Like back in the SSR but the image was different this time. Of a different place than the forge world he had visited briefly. Firebrand felt something strange begin to happen. The Red Skull's presence was being drained from that place and being sent somewhere else entirely. Like water being drained from a sink down a pipe. Schmitt began to scream in utter terror as the process began to take place. Blue plasma engulfed the Skull's body disintegrating him, starting with his hand as his entire body seemed to be evaporating into a pillar of light that stretched him out into the sky before everything finally burst into a shockwave and disappeared entirely.

The light died away and the cube dropped, melting through the floor and out of the plane, down into the ocean below.

Steve and Firebrand looked at each other before running to the cockpit chair and looking around at all of the complicated controls. He found the autopilot switch, but it was smashed. The Skull had done everything to make sure the Valkyrie would never stop. A screen off to the right appeared to display a map and the direction they were going. They were somewhere over the North Atlantic ocean, quickly making their way towards America and New York City. Looking out at the clouds, Steve realized just how bad things were becoming.

"Can't you turn this thing around?" Firebrand asked frantically.

He tried turning the helm, but the control's were locked in place. A million buttons, switches, gauges, and indicators on the panel.

"No...it would take a mind like Stark to know how all this junk works and even then, the only ones who knew how to operate it were Zola and Schmitt. We know how they turned out." Steve breathed out.

Firebrand tried to help, but just like back at the Castle or every other base they destroyed, he was severely out of his league. He witnessed the inner workings of some weapons, doors, and communication devices and even helped dismantle them, but that was about it. On the left-hand side, he saw a device that they both knew well. It was merely slightly modified without the detachable microphone.

"Dad, a radio," Firebrand said.

Steve looked over and to be sure, found a radio built into the control panel. He turned back to the colt with a hopeless look seared into his eyes and despair begin to sink in. So he went to call the first person he could think of. He activated it as the static told them it was still active thankfully. He tuned into the correct frequency and called in.

"Come in this is Captain Rogers, do you read me?"

They heard Morita on the line for a moment, but he was cut off by Peggy who jumped in.

"Is that you Steve, are you alright?"

"Schmitt escaped somehow! He had some kind of power source that...sent him someplace else."

"Its what he's been using for his weapons this entire time," Firebrand added. "He definitely didn't create it, that's for sure."

He could hear the others swearing and kicking in the background.

"What about the plane?"

Steve desperately tried flipping random switches and playing around the controls to get some kind of positive result.

"That's a little tougher to explain."

Peggy felt herself begin to break down.

"Give us your coordinates, we'll find you both a quick landing site." she said hopefully.

Firebrand looked in the heads up display and saw that five of the six suicide bombs were still active in the cargo hold.

"There's not gonna be a safe landing. We're gonna break the controls and try to force it down."

"I'll get Howard on the line, he'll know what to do."

"There's not enough time! This thing is moving too fast and its headed right for New York!"

His eyes turned back to Firebrand who seemed to understand what was about to happen. The golden globes in that innocent face he met so long ago had finally connected with him. The pony only nodded back in reply.

"We have to go forever now...don't we?" Firebrand asked with a sad smile. "No sacrifice, no victory...right?"

"I can get you out of here in one of those bombs," Steve offered without hesitation. "I can just rip out the explosives."

The colt only embraced him tightly and shook his head.

"No time, you just said it. Besides, I'd rather go down with my family if I do have to leave too," the colt replied.

Steve couldn't believe what he was hearing out of the foal as he began to cry, but he maintained his composure and finally responded.

"I got to put her in the water." he choked out into the com.

"Please...don't do this," Peggy begged. "We have time. We can work it out."

"Right now we're in the middle of nowhere," Steve replied as he checked the map. "But if I wait any longer, a lot of people are gonna die."

Silence filled the bomber as the arctic air filled the plane through the break in the observation glass. Firebrand's mane and Steve's hair whipped across his face and they looked down to the barely visible ocean below.

"Peggy...this is our choice," he said with finality.

"We're gonna save people...right? More families like ours get to live. Nobody else knows about me or cares, so I doubt it will matter that much," Firebrand continued.

"You're wrong sweetie," Peggy cried. "We care. I care. I love you. That is enough."

"I know, Mommy, I know."

Steve grabbed his compass with the picture of his love inside and placed it on the control panel. He stared at it for a moment, trying to sear the image into his brain forever. The duo struggled but broke the helm controls out of their locked position and pushed the bomber into a diagonal downwards descent. The clouds rushed by and soon, ice and water as far as the eye can see was within view.

"Peggy?" Steve called out.

"I'm here..."

"I'm gonna need a rain check on that dance..." Steve said glumly.

"...Alright." she replied quietly. "A week, next Saturday at the Stork Club."

"You got it."

"Eight O'clock on the dot. Don't you dare be late," she sobbed. "Understood?"

"I still don't know how to dance," Steve joked.

"I'll show you how...just be there."

An icy landmass filled the glass from top to bottom.

"I'd hate to step on your---"

Static filled the radio as the call cut off. The sound filled the entire radio room back at Hydra's now conquered base. The Colonel stared at the machine with sadness seeping out of his gruff exterior.

"Steve?...Firebrand...Steve?...Steve?...Steve?" she wailed.

Colonel Phillips with his head held low and his spirits crushed, slumped out of the radio room to give his friend a moment alone.

Steve with his eyes fluttering and struggling to stay awake, looked back at Firebrand who was having the same problem. Only a shard of light from the morning sky broke through to illuminate both.

"Its gonna be morning in Manhattan buddy." he whispered. "Maybe if we dream hard enough, I can show you some stuff from there."

Firebrand activated his magic and began to glow as he wrapped himself around his human father, trying to act like a living hot water bottle. His light and his body was warm as the bomber finally began to sink below the surface and the light from the outside died off entirely.

"Sure, I'll do my best," he replied. "Can we see Central Park?"

"...Yeah. We'll go play some ball. I have a good spot picked out. We can go to Coney Island after. The carousel guy knows me. "

"That sounds nice..."

His hooves clasped tighter and Steve's arms squeezed even harder until they were in a deadlock. Everything inside was flash freezing quickly and the temperature was plummeting. Captain America laid his face in his son's thick golden mane as he finally began to linger off to sleep. Firebrand then started to close his eyes not long after, the glowing beginning to die down as the ice creeped over and covered the duo for the last time.

"Well done, Firebrand...well done. You have far exceeded my expectations. You may now join me in my realm of Vanir so that we might forge a contract," he heard a caring familiar feminine voice say before his mortal body drifted off into unconsciousness for the foreseeable future....

Somewhere in another realm, an elder king sitting on a golden throne with his trusty steed at his was suddenly distraught when the muscle bound, eight legged horse began to whinny in anger and despair. He reared up four front forelegs and neighed loudly like a cry. The king felt what his companion felt and was deeply troubled by it.

"I feel it too old friend." the king stated. "It seems two of your new shoes have chosen another bearer. "A quite worthy one at that. Brokkr and Eitri's blunder was fate it seems."

The horse nickered and stomped his hoof in frustration as a response.

"Yes, the power of ice has shifted its attention on Midgard in a most unpleasing manner. If Ymir knows of the colt, then we have to investigate quickly. Guards!"

Two of his men in golden horned armor approached the throne and knelt with their spears pointing high.

"What do you require my king?"

"Fetch my son. I have a mission for him as the last leg of his training begins," he proclaimed. "It will take a few years, but we must uncover Ymir's intentions."

"Yes my lord," the guard said as he bowed and ran off.

The king retreated into his thoughts, meditating on the identity of the colt. Wondering what such being of righteousness could over ride the power of himself and that of his mighty mount Slepnir.

"There was something else I sensed among the disturbance my friend. Something from the past. Something uncomfortably pleasant..."

In the weeks and months that followed, the gallant tales of Captain America and Commander Firebrand had spread in fantastic rumor to every branch of the United States military. Though an unspoken agreement in them all decided to leave out the existence of the fantastical unicorn. Captain America himself spread to the homeland and became a legend, inspiring all to finish the war and give courage to every man, woman, and child who knew of him. When Victory in Europe Day finally arrived, the Howling Commandoes met in their favorite bar to pay tribute to their heroes. Their leaders. Falsworth led the group in the raising of glasses to a toast of honor.

"To the Captain," he said. "To Firebrand. May their spirits never leave us."

"To the Captain and Firebrand!"

Their glasses clinked together and they drank. It felt right. All decided to carry on and continue the fight as long as there was one who could stand and carry a gun. On their left sleeves, all had patches of a mighty red unicorn rearing up its legs alongside a wolf howling at the moon.

Next Time: 70 Years On Ice, One Day Abroad.

Author's Note

All's well that ends well. Or does it?

The Red Skull is out of the picture and the dark forces that influenced him have faded into obscurity...for now.

Stay tuned for the final two chapters!

One Day Abroad, 70 Years On Ice...

Adrift in the void, floating aimlessly in darkness once again. Between dreams and reality. Mind and matter. Quiet emptiness was all there was. All there ever would be. Every once in a while, he felt like something was missing. Someone missing that he dearly cared about. Then the feeling would be lost again, and he would be content in his dark neutrality of senses. Something far off then suddenly began to approach him. Something warm and bright that drew the colt outwards. Everything went fuzzy and he suddenly found himself somewhere else.

He felt dirt and moss rubbing against the side of his face. The air was crisp and cool, but not cold. It was a perfectly mild temperature with a light breeze blowing across his flank. Red eyelids fluttered open and the first thing to grace his sight as he was in a truly beautiful forest. Tall pine trees towering overhead with bark that looked like the scales on some massive beast. Birds chirping and flying from branch to branch. It certainly was an idyllic sight. Though what set this forest apart especially was the sound of angelic singing carried on the wind. It was enchanting and hypnotic. Like no mortal being could ever attain such a heavenly sound. The colt trotted around the immediate area, trying to find any trace of his father, but came up empty.

Where was the plane, the ice continent, or the ocean for that matter? Nothing around him felt natural to normal nature, but it felt right. Clean and pure. The air all around lacked any of the smells of blood or oil that the European forests reeked of. Firebrand still being a pony smelled everything a lot more sensitively than his human counterparts did and that certainly proved to be a disadvantage at times in the past. Here, however, there was nothing to worry about. So far at least.

Without having any better plans, he slowly walked through the wood towards the sound of the singing. Daylight shone brightly overhead, but somehow even the Sun itself felt off. Not wrong or bad, just off. Like it wasn't exactly the one he was used to but was fooling his senses just enough for it to pass as a copy. The wood ended abruptly and rolled out to an open emerald green meadow with a carpet of long, thick blades of grass and wildflowers of every color. The meadow sat beneath a sky dotted with puffy grey clouds that floated about, giving the entire place like it had just been after a thunderstorm and the landscape was freshly cleaned of impurities of any kind. The wind blew freely here, being somewhat stronger but still only gentle enough to make the grass dance and shake.

The song sounded stronger on the other side where the forest continued onwards and having no other plan than to find friendly people to help him, he moved onwards. Every so often he would just stop and breathe in deeply, enjoying how much everything smelled in his nose, felt below his hooves, and the sounds of untamed nature in his expressive fuzzy ears. He would then continue closer and closer to the sound over the rolling hills of this expansive meadow that seemed to go on for miles in one direction. To the right, he was surrounded by trees on every other side. Somewhere just out of eyesight, he could hear the sound of animals and creatures sneaking around in the grass. Most likely they have noticed the colt's presence and hid, not knowing whether Firebrand was friend or foe.

Trotting along, he came to the edge of the wood where the angelic singing was reaching a crescendo. The trees had grown so tightly together that they appeared to form an impassible wall. He tried pushing through but to no avail. An opening formed in the trees, as they began to move and warp on their own. Creaking and cracking like living things, they bent and hunched over, allowing the colt passage into the next part of the wood. The forest made a tunnel for him, illuminated by bulbous flowers that glowed radiantly like torches inside a castle.

Firebrand reached a hoof inside the tunnel and when nothing happened, he ran through, afraid the tunnel might collapse on him at any moment if he hesitated.

'What is this place?' he idly thought. 'Definitely not Earth. I don't think trees move on Earth.'

In his mind, he suddenly heard a good-natured laugh at his comment. Not a cruel or intimidating laugh. A laugh one might hear at something said that was genuinely amusing.

It made Firebrand wonder and think. He recognized the voice, but couldn't place it. He would have to find out once he reached the end of the tunnel.

Long and winding, the tunnel went on and on for what seemed like miles. He could no longer feel the refreshing wind from the outside that he liked. Much of the smells in this place are comprised of more moist moss and mushrooms. Most of which he wasn't sure if he could even eat. It made him wonder what he would eat if he was to stay in this place for any long period of time. Before, he would have only been concerned with the sights and sounds, but his year-long experiences in the war had forced him to learn much in only a short period of time.

Wanting to get out of the tunnel, he went into a full-on gallop. Seeking the freedom of the outside, whatever may be waiting for him on the other side. For what took only two hours, but felt like days, he could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. His legs burned for relief and rest but the colt would not relent, trying to escape the passageway as soon as he possibly could. The light grew larger as he approached, blinding him temporarily as he emerged into new surroundings.

What lay before was among nothing that mortal eyes could have ever imagined in their wildest dreams. A fantastical kingdom of wood, light and visible magic built out of gargantuan trees at least a hundred times larger than the ones outside. Everything was alit, the same way London was, but the light was much warmer and felt more natural to the colt's senses. A grand waterfall, reaching three hundred feet in length alone thundered down into a massive river that flowed through the city and off into a direction Firebrand couldn't readily see. Mist gathered below the waterfall, spraying the far end of the city in a mysterious fog. The river fell into a secondary fall that seemed to separate the city into two main areas. Several snow-white bridges rose up and over the river, allowing the passage of what was looking like hundreds of people at a time.

Unusual people were rushing about. Human at a glance, but clearly something else once Firebrand took a better look at them. Everyone was in grand robes and clothing that draped to the ground. Their faces were pale as snow, but beautiful and ancient nonetheless. Veils covered their faces and eyes, leaving the colt to wonder what they looked like underneath. Firebrand could sense magic coming off of them. A pure kind of magic. What set them apart however was their sharp pointed ears that seemed to grow back per their other angular, but elegant features.

As soon as he set hoof into the city, he could hear the thundering of shoes across the ground as a procession of a hundred armored soldiers approached him. He froze, not realize that they could see him at first. Their helmets and ornate armor only seemed to heighten their features as they got into position, each company standing opposite of Firebrand. They all held out spears in a ceremonial manner and stood still, keeping their position with a military stiffness. Citizens walking by noticed this and tried approaching to see what was making the commotion. One soldier in particular with large adornments on his armor, a laurel across his brow, and a hand grasped on a massive longsword approached the colt and knelt.

Firebrand could barely see his eyes through the veil that covered the majority of his face. It was a little unnerving, to say the least. His mouth though was visible beneath the veil and was filled with glowing white teeth that thankfully looked fairly human, despite the many alien characteristics this individual carried ownership of. His sharp ears were very distinctive to this man, just more proof for Firebrand that he was no longer on Earth. This soldier tried to calm the colt's nerves with a small smile before going back to stern and stoic. A little bit of tone whiplash for Firebrand's intuition, but welcoming nonetheless.

"You are the unicorn known as Firebrand Rogers?" the man asked firmly.

"Y-Yes?" Firebrand asked clearly confused.

"Welcome to the City of the Vanir. Her Majesty wishes to meet with you, at once, young one. I suggest you follow along quickly and not dawdle. My lady does not like to be kept waiting."

He gulped nervously but nodded as he decided to follow all of his instructions to a T. Wondering what this grand greeting was all about and who "Her Majesty" was. The warrior stood up and beckoned Firebrand to follow as the soldiers formed together in a tight group around the small pony, not allowing any passerby to see him. Firebrand could smell all manner of strong spices on the wind as their first sight was what appeared to be a marketplace filled with canopies and stalls where all manner of merchants sold their wares.

They all spoke in a language that Firebrand could not understand. It was stern and dignified, but flowing and gentle.

"Na- -ye sanda?" one said. "Tange -lma heri tyel- ainima a aráto?"

"Lá. a mairo onwë nóna menel" another replied.

He had a strange sixth sense that they were talking about him just by the hushed tones. It made him feel somewhat self-conscious all of a sudden.

Their path led down busy streets and towards the edge of the river where he was told to clamber into a longboat, white and wide as the bridges they rode under. The water was steady and calm, but still rushed on in one direction as fish and aquatic creatures of every kind swam about. Firebrand looked over the edge and held a hoof in the water. To his surprise, he could not feel the surface, nor could he get wet, but he could feel the cool brushing of the water.

"Please remain in the boat child, I would rather not go fishing for you if I can help it," the warrior groaned with irritation.

"Sorry!"

He sat back down obediently as eight rowers began pushing and pulling their massive paddles against the current and towards the first waterfall of the city. Under bridges which casted dark shadows over the river and under platforms and columns supporting huge buildings partially built over the water. The sound of the first waterfall grew louder and they passed into the first cloud of mist at the bottom where they stopped at a guard post where two armored soldiers waited. They nodded and gave some alien salute Firebrand couldn't understand as he followed the warrior out of the first boat and up another tunnel that climbed up the cliff of the first waterfall. The tunnel's stairs were built right into the rock and those same luminescent flowers grew alongside the walls, providing ample light. It was a tiring climb for the foal, but the soldier was completely unaffected.

Leading their way up, they emerged at the top of the falls and in the higher part of the city. People in this area of the city noticed the colt's presence immediately and looked on at him with adulation and adoration. He could hear them whispering questions about what he was, how old he was, and why the "Queen" chose him. Many other questions of that nature followed to which he wish he could immediately answer. This time, the warrior led him alone to the next dock where they went into a much smaller boat attended by only four rowers. Their boat went towards the biggest waterfall that came down and crashed into the river below like constant thunder. They were dwarfed in size and a twinge of fear crept through Firebrand, wondering if he was going to be crushed like a bug under the massive weight of the water. As they passed under the water, a stone waterway provided them access through the powerful deluge that would have destroyed them otherwise.

Instead of a simple dock and guard post appearing in the fog like before, a long platform with fifty heavily armored guards stood steadfast in front of a giant set of oaken, carved doors that towered up the side of the cliff. As soon as they were within sight, the guards all struck their spears down simultaneously to a beat. The sound was like that of a bull whip being cracked. The warrior stood up and properly stepped out of the boat while Firebrand had to get out with a hop. A line of the guards cracked their spears again as the duo came out and the massive wooden doors opened up, allowing the two passage inside.

'Let's see if I can't get some answers as to what this is all about,' Firebrand postulated.

The first thing that couldn't be missed no matter how hard he tried was how white the interior of this place was. A cavernous grand hallway with columns that were white trees with their branches curled into the structure to give it support. It was completed saturated in magical energy. Even the novice child Firebrand could sense that much. Everything was alive and even some branches were moving around. Thich vines wrapped around the columns in beautiful twisting and curling ways, just adding to the atmosphere. Rays of light from the outside came through the roof and shone down on the entire hallway. Bigger versions of the bulbous flowers that gave of luminescence hung from the ceiling like natural chandeliers, all leading up to a throne at the end of the hallway. It was unoccupied at the moment, but that didn't seem to bother the warrior.

When they reached as far as the throne, the warrior turned to Firebrand and bowed respectfully.

"I shall take my leave, spirit student. The Queen will be with you momentarily."

"Spirit Student? What do you mean sir?" Firebrand asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You are not really here. I believe that would have been apparent young one. Did you not notice your lack of interaction with many things?"

It struck him, he couldn't touch the water, animals flee from his presence even though on Earth, animals were drawn to him, and he could barely feel the ground under his feet. He was so focused on finding where he was, he never stopped to think how he was there at all.

"Am I dead?" he squeaked nervously.

"Not as such. My lady has assisted you in projecting your spirit across the void and into our realm."

"Who's...your lady?"

The sound of clopping hooves against the ground was then suddenly heard from around a corner. Firebrand's partner bowed low again and quickly departed out the other way back towards the entrance of the palace. He watched as the massive doors opened again, and allowed him back out, only for them to close behind him, leaving Firebrand alone in this big place.

Suddenly, a smell hit his nose, giving him another feeling of deja vu. His own scent. The scent of another equine. It drove his attention back towards the throne where standing above him was someone he knew. An impossibly beautiful woman with long flowing golden locks that draped down to her waist, a bronze cuirass that formed to her body perfectly and emerald green eyes like the meadow he had passed through on his way here. Her smile was warm and welcoming as she beamed down at the colt. What gave him pause was her mount. A snow white pegasus with majestic feathered wings that were neatly folded across the sides of its body.

"Welcome dear Firebrand," she said kindly.

"Its you!" Firebrand exclaimed happily as he galloped up to her.

She nimbly leaped down and knelt down to the colt.

"I never got to thank you for helping me and my Daddy! Thank you!"

"Absolutely dear one. Thou caught my interest quickly and thou needed my assistance, so I provided what I could."

"Who are you ma'am?" Firebrand asked. "I like you, but I don't even know your name."

She gave a tinkling laugh that was like a wind chime.

"How proper," she said. "Well, Firebrand. To the mortals of Midgard, I am the Goddess of Love, Abundance and Fire. To thee, I am Queen Freya of Vanaheim."

"Its nice to meet you Your Majesty," he replied, giving a deep bow.

"And you. I trust Captain Ellisar provided you with a suitable welcome?"

Firebrand nodded his head rapidly and gave her a big grin. Just glad he was in friendly company.

Her pegasus walked up to Firebrand slowly and sniffed him, wondering what he was exactly. The colt in question was a little intimidated but allowed the interaction. It knickered and licked Firebrand's face.

"It seems she has taken a liking you you."

She stood back up and moved to her throne to which she sat down lightly. Her steed walked along and stood beside her. Freya beckoned Firebrand to approach to which he obeyed gladly.

"Do you know why you are here young Firebrand?"

He shook his head.

"You are a very pure creature. Too pure for Earth. Too pure for many of the realms. You are not of Earth, correct?"

"Yes, milady. My Dad found me in a Hydra lab. The bad people we were fighting," he explained.

"A trial that you faced and vanquished valiantly, my sweet unicorn. That arrogant fool thought himself as great as a god."

"I don't know where I'm from but Red Skull said he believed I wasn't from this universe at all."

She nodded and looked up out of a window in thought.

"I had suspected as much. Many of my kin sensed your appearance on Midgard from across the barrier of our universe. As did many other of the higher races of the nine realms. The Timeless Void is one thing both tribes watch over for all extraplanar threats to the Nine Realms."

Firebrand was being bombarded with so many things he didn't understand.

"Midgard? Nine Realms?"

Freya got up from her throne and walked along the hallway. Firebrand followed close beside as the goddess gave a detailed explanation of how their universe began and what it formed into. Of course, they had the two inaccessible meta-physical dimensions of light and the fiery pits of evil that all of creation know of. Their universe was started when seven singularities blew apart at once and formed seven mystical stones that were spread all over the cosmos, though the seventh was lost at some point in history. She went on to explain that the universe became split into nine separate planes of existence, all linked together by the branches of a cosmic tree. Yggdrasil. There were Nine Main Realms in all and several small realms that some races dwelled in. Midgard which was Earth, Vanaheim home of her and the Vanir, Alfheim home of the Light Elves, Jotunheim realm of the Frost Giants, Muspelheim the realm of the Fire Giants, Hel domain of the dishonored dead, and Svartlfheim realm of the Dark Elves.

The last three she did not mention immediately interested him the most. She seemed to dodge his questions about Asgard. Seeing a hidden pain creep into her eyes. A sorrow which she desperately tried to push down.

"NIdavellir is the halls and mountain ranges of the Dwarves. A hardy people. The finest craftsmen of diamond, gold, silver, ruby, jade, and sapphire. Many of the greatest weapons in creation have exited its halls."

Firebrand remembered the chunks of metal from the scruffy cave men hammering on weapons. Looking down, he realized again that he was not wearing his horse shoes.

"They cannot follow you as a spirit," she explained for the colt as if she read his mind. "It is curious as to why the U'uru would choose you over...him."

'Who's him?' Firebrand thought.

"How do you know about my shoes?" he asked. "How did you find me? Only Dad and Hydra knew about me."

"I have...an old friend who visits me from time to time. He informs me of peculiar happenings occurring in the universe at large. Of course, I sensed your arrival, but it was only when he told me where you emerged that I took immediate action. As a denizen of nature, I can enter the dreams and mind of any beast to soothe their troubles. Even a beast as wonderful as you are my child."

Firebrand's ears drooped and looked down to the floor in shame.

"The ice man from my dreams is from one of those realms isn't he?" Firebrand whispered shamefully. "I have...something bad inside me that he probably put inside me."

"Your insight serves you well. Yes...that would be...one of the great enemies of Yggdrasil."

She walked over to a tapestry hanging on the wall. A picture of a great tree and smaller symbols and images scattered amongst it. She pointed to one of the lower ones sitting alongside the roots of the tree. The image was familiar to the colt alright, no matter how hard he tried to forget it.

"Niflheim, the primordial death realm of ice and the domain of Ymir. The mountain father of all giants. In an age long past, The Allfather vanquished him in glorious combat and used his body to construct the halls of Asgard."

Firebrand felt sick from the idea of using someone's body to make a building, let alone an entire kingdom. The logistics of the thought were troubling.

"What happened to you is just another one of my numerous failures," she said. "I am sorry."

"It's fine," the colt replied shaking his head. "I had people supporting me along the way. Even though you weren't with me, I could hear you looking out for me. I at least now know not to talk to any strangers."

"I am not?"

"You're no stranger your majesty! Though I'm glad I know your name now."

Freya knelt down and kissed Firebrand on the forehead sweetly, like a mother would with her child. Her lips were like the softest satin blanket in the world.

"Your chivalry is matched only by thou boundless courage," Freya replied. "Thou father is teaching you well. I have high hopes for the both of you. But as to how I know of your shoes, I didn't. But when I entered your mind, I felt a familiar...aura if you will. All U'uru weapons have it. Which brings me to why I brought you here this day."

Freya led him down a hallway and up to a balcony with a veranda that looked out over the entire city. Her faithful pegasus The primary waterfall crashed below, and Firebrand could see how it winded around the city and off to the west. They were so high up that the people below looked like ants. Chariots and other horses strolled about the city assisting the lives of the citizens.

"My family has long since been lost to me dear Firebrand. A war long ago forced us apart, trapping me here in the forgotten realm of Vanaheim. The Vanir are scattered, leaderless. Even with me on the throne, I can only do so much. My being as a nature goddess has allowed me to help thee and watch over the realms from afar. I was once the Captain of the mightiest warriors in the universe. Our winged horses we rode into glorious battle, smiting evil wherever it may hide. After our defeat at the hands of...a great traitor. Only a few of us remained. It seems some like Johann Schmitt saw fit to mock us in death by rubbing our name in the dirt."

"The Valkyries!" Firebrand exclaimed.

She nodded before turning back to the window and leaning on the railing.

"A war is coming Firebrand. Unlike any that has come before. Its battles will be numerous and countless lives will perish. I need a champion to spread my will and my power on Earth. I cannot count on my family to eliminate this evil. They have their own lives and evils to fight."

Firebrand thought it over for a moment. He did not know Lady Freya for very long, but he was impressed immediately in the short time he had come to know her. She had helped him fight off Ymir's presence and relieved him of his nightmares. In the course of the world war, he had learned there were countless people out there that needed his help. His service alongside Steve and the Howling Commandoes affected everyone. Perhaps he could do the same for the rest of the universe.

"Just tell me what to do," Firebrand finalized. "I'm just a stupid kid, but all the fighting. hurting, and pain with daddy made me realize something. The universe generally fails to be a fairy tale. But you know what? That's where I want to come in. If there's anything I can do to help you. Then I'll help you. I wanna be your friend."

Freya smiled and hugged the colt, nearly breaking down, overjoyed with his words.

"You have wisdom beyond your years. I assure you of that. Very well."

She stood up and pulled a longsword out of her scabbard. It was encrusted with jewels and inscribed with elegant, flowing lettering etched into the blade.

"Kneel, Firebrand Rogers," she said with all due respect and distinction.

The pony obeyed as he got on his hind legs awkwardly and knelt down like a human as Queen Freya placed the flat of the blade by his shoulder.

"As your heart belongs to something even more powerful and greater than I, I will not ask that you worship me. I am content with your love and your friendship if you will allow me to have it." Freya relented. "Therefore, I will ask, do you swear to use my power to protect the ancient and holy things of the world?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to spread my message of peace to the people of all realms and worlds beyond and fight evil as you see fit?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to uphold the ideals and morals of good that your father has instilled upon you?"

"I swear!"

"To keep to the light, resist the temptations of evil, and redeem all those who need to be saved?"

"I SWEAR!"

Tugging back on the sword with a sharp SCHING, she placed the blade on his other shoulder and touched the jeweled pommel to his horn.

"Then as Captain of the Valkyries and Queen of Vanaheim I dub thee Paladin Firebrand Rogers of the Oath of Devotion," she declared. "You will be my partner and the avatar of my power on Midgard. I will watch over you and protect you always as if you were my own."

Suddenly, a rush of heavenly light enveloped his spirit and warmed his entire being from head to hoof. His golden eyes turned into flash lights that burst with power. To him, he was walking on air and light as a feather. It overwhelmed his senses and filled his being. His hooves touched back down to the ground and he opened his eyes to the loving smile of his new Lady.

"The presence of strong evil registers on your senses like a noxious odor, and powerful good rings like heavenly music in your ears. Your very body will contain a blessed touch. Thou can use it to heal wounds, but use it sparingly. The shields you create will have several more affects. Protection from Evil and Good alike, a Zone of Truth to dispel deception, and a sanctuary to ward any attack. Several new powers I have bestowed upon you as well. Your Beacon of Hope will restore hope and vitality on those who have lost it. Your finest ability will be to deliver a Searing Smite to all who oppose you. Your weapon of choice flares with white-hot intensity and burns them to ash as soon as it makes contact."

"I'll do my best to use these powers to assist you my lady," Firebrand replied respectfully. "Most of all though, anything more I can do to help my Dad I will gladly use."

"That is all I can ask for."

A bell rung in the distance, its haunting melody echoing through the entire city. Suddenly Firebrand began to stumble and grow dizzy as the entire castle started to fade from his sight. Darkness once again began to overtake him.

"I am afraid our union must be cut short. Go now and awaken anew in a new world. Seek out your father and continue your fight. Until the day we meet in the corporeal realm my sweet Firebrand, farewell..."

Steve awoke with a start, confused, disoriented but alive. He had to reiterate that to himself. He was alive and well. On a soft bed somewhere to boot. His eyes snapped open and the first thing to greet him from his slumber was a fan spinning overhead. Steve turned his head to one side and then to the other. A lamp, a radiator, a simple table with a glass of water, and a radio at the other side of the room accompanied by some white roses. The New York skyline sat outside the windows, but even that set off alarms in his head.

He pinched the bridge of his nose from confusion and exhaustion. Everything around him felt very, very wrong. Something vital was missing. Someone...

"FIREBRAND!" he berated himself.

The radio flickered on and Steve's head cracked over to listen to the broadcast. The Brooklyn Dodgers. Only something bothered him. He recognized the names and what the announcer was saying.

A woman with shoulder-length black hair, a tucked-in white shirt, and a black skirt that reached down to her ankles entered the room through the door and shut it.

"Good morning," she greeted calmly before looking at her watch. Or should I say afternoon."

"Where am I?"

"You're in a recovery unit in New York City."

He almost believed her for a moment before turning back to the game playing on the radio and came to a harsh realization. He knew the game.

"Where am I really?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand," the lady replied.

"The game. Its from May 1941. I know cause I was there," he said with a growing temper.

Steve could tell he had her. It didn't show much, but this "nurse" went through several nervous micro-expressions trying to keep her control of the situation. He stood up, hearing the spring mattress creak from his weight and walked over to the lady, intending to get answers out of her.

"I'm gonna ask you again...where am I and where is my son?"

She clicked something small in her hands that turned red.

"Captain Rogers..." she whispered with insistence.

"WHO ARE YOU?"

The door opened again and two armed guards entered the room. They tried to restrain him but he round house kicked the lamp into one and smashed his knee into the other's face. The fight ended quickly with him smashing them through a wall, revealing a much bigger facility on the other side. He escaped the fake room and saw that the New York skyline was only a façade meant to deceive him.

"Captain Rogers wait!" the nurse pleaded.

He had to escape and find Firebrand. So he ran as fast as he could and smashed open a set of double doors with a kick, breaking them from their hinges with his bare feet. His legs carried him faster and faster as he heard the woman speaking into an intercom.

"All agents Code 13! I repeat, agents, Code 13!"

Around the corner, he found a hallway filled with men covered in unusual clothing and armor that all tried to rush at him. Steve pushed many out of the way, going down several more flights of stairs and seeing a number more of unusual sights until he found what looked the closest to a pair of exit doors out of the building. He jumped out into the streets and was assaulted by a number of sights, sounds, and smells that were completely alien. Everything his eyes met was strange, so he kept running, trying to find out exactly where he was. Several more blocks he sprinted down at full blast until he began to recognize the street signs. An open area with thousands of people crossing around all at once is where he stopped.

All around, moving signs, strange movies playing on screens, cars the likes of which he had never seen before, people talking to plastic squares with glass, When he tore everything down in his mind, he finally realized where he was.

"Times Square," he breathed out fearfully.

Dozens of black cars with tinted windows pulled up around him and hundreds of people gathered, wondering who he was. Several more of the men came out and remained standing there.

"At ease soldier!" someone called out.

Steve turned around and saw a tall man in a black trench coat with an eyepatch over his right eye. This man approached him slowly and deliberately, letting him know subconsciously that this was a man he should at least hear out. His demeanor was relaxed, but respectful, allowing the super soldier to take a breath and wait for the other to speak.

"Look, I'm sorry for that little show back there, but we thought it would be best to break it to you slowly," he said.

"Break what?" Steve asked with a bit more force than he may have intended.

The man looked into his eyes with a hint of sympathy and compassion, but it was only there for a moment before returning to his controlled state.

"You've been asleep Cap. For almost 70 years..."

Blood began to drain from his head in an instant. Pins and needles all over. He felt himself collapsing to his knees in a heap, his legs felt wobbly, and his heart began to beat like crazy. It was all a blur. The man in the eyepatch and one of his men grabbed him by the shoulders and hoisted him to his feet. After a moment, Steve was able to balance himself and stand on his own again, but watching himself for more dizzy spells.

"Easy there. Take it slow."

"Sorry sir...sorry. Where...where's my son? Where's Firebrand?"

He gave a quick good-hearted chuckle to Steve and patted him on the back.

"The kid? In our special ICU. We're keeping him safe and cozy until he wakes up. I'll set up a place for you to sit in his room. I have to admit that we have questions about him, but I'd imagine you want some time before we do that."

"Did...did we win?"

"Hell yeah, unconditional surrender on both fronts. Taking down Hydra hurt their morale. Tojo's forces surrendered not long after. The method as to how I bet you are gonna want some context for. We'll gather something together to bring you up to speed."

Steve nodded looked off into the Manhattan sky, fully coming to grips what this all meant for the both of them.

"Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, its just...I was gonna propose..."

Next Time- Epilogue: An Agent Goes Back To Work

Author's Note

This chapter is a little clumsy I pulled it right from my imagination, so you can offer any creative writing tips to make it flow better.

Vanaheim is like THE big mystery of Norse mythology so there was very little to go off of in terms of lore.

Firebrand has undergone a contract which will prove useful to him and his new goddess friend. What secrets will he learn about her in the future and how will they affect his path?

The duo has awoken in the modern era, with everything and everyone they ever knew gone forever. The future is uncertain, but they will face it together.

Epilogue: An Agent Goes Back To Work

1946

After the war, Colonel Phillips became the official Director of the Scientific Strategic Reserve and allowed his friend the decency of mourning. She had essentially lost her love and who she had hoped to be her adoptive son. Peggy took a few months away from everything, moving to America finally and establishing herself in the place where her love once lived. She found and bought a nice little apartment on the west side of Manhattan. Often finding herself staring out of the window, wondering what could have been if things had gone differently. Many bouts of depression had arisen in her and she retreated into herself. In that time, the SSR set up a main office in New York, prepping the U.S for their inevitable conflicts with Russia and the Cold War that was to come.

She threw herself back into her work to preoccupy herself and give herself purpose. With a glowing recommendation from the Colonel, Peggy got a job at the New York office. Just not the one that she expected. Or wanted for that matter. She was quietly demoted by the bureaucrats of the agency to be a secretary for the agents back at home. Without the Colonel's consent. Most of her days were filled with pushing documents, taking calls, making coffee, and taking lunch orders for the staff. The days of serving her new country seemed long past. Until one day, rumors had been spreading around about Howard Stark's recent business deals in the east. Six pieces of his technology had turned up either on the black market or in the arsenals of enemy states. The man was brought in for questioning at Capitol Hill multiple times but disappeared the third time he was called.

The U.S government had declared Howard Stark, a fugitive from justice.

Despite Peggy's insistence on her old friend's innocence and loyalty, they refused to believe her. Some in the office treated her as less of a human being. Not all. A few had her back but had to do it silently in fear of angering the higher-ups. Howard met her at night and explained what had happened. Someone had broken into his vault of inventions too dangerous for anyone and had sold them to a Russian terror organization called Leviathan. They had tracked down the bombs but five other of his inventions were still missing, leading Howard to get out of the country and leave Peggy to her work. His butler Edwin Jarvis assisted her in many of her missions, despite his outwardly weak and proper appearance.

Two agents from Leviathan failed to kill Peggy and as a result, the SSR got ahold of an advanced messaging system that was sending coded messages to and from an undisclosed location.

When Howard tasked Peggy with retrieving another one of his devices in the labs of the SSR, she uncovered a dark truth. Howard had saved the last vial of blood from Project: Rebirth. Captain America's creation. She completely lost trust in Howard and was painfully reminded of the loss she had felt in losing her family.

Soon, the coding system was cracked with Peggy's help and she had a new destination to search for Leviathan. The Mar'ina Horka Forest in the Soviet nation of Belarus. The agent she had dealt with was going to trade Stark's technology and 200,000 American dollars for something called the Havoc Reactor and an experiment called the Malen'kiy rog magii (Little Horn of Magic.) That name gave her grave suspicions about what the Russians may have found. With a bit of convincing from Peggy and a call to her old friends in the 107th infantry, Peggy was finally on an official mission for the SSR for the first time since the fall of Hydra.

Later that evening over Soviet airspace, Peggy and a small number of other SSR agents were about to make a jump into Belarusian territory. She had the mild displeasure of having the insufferable Agent Jack Thompson sitting across from her, fidgeting in his seat. He served in Iwo Jima with the ground forces, so he had a small amount of sympathy for him.

"Relax, you'll sprain something," Peggy said. "It's just as you remember it."

Thompson looked back at her with contempt. His brow furred in irritation and loathing.

"You a mind reader? Or is that just your woman's intuition speaking?"

"How's this for woman's intuition, this is your first jump isn't it?" she shot back.

He was silent for a moment, clasping his hands together anxiously. Sweat noticeably was dripping off his temple from anxiety.

"Ninth. Eight training jumps."

"You've infiltrated hostile territory before. You'll be fine. Just follow our lead."

"Thanks, Carter, but I already have a mother. What I need right now are soldiers."

The siren blared, signaling everyone to stand at attention and the pilot shouted through the loudspeaker.

"Agents, prepare for drop!"

"Let's go, boys! It's go time!" Thompson called out. "The drop will put us ten kilometers from our tac team, assuming they're where they're supposed to be."

"They'll be there," Peggy insisted.

"They better be..."

At the bottom, they hid their parachutes in the bushes to conceal their entrance into Belarus. The lack of any moonlight was both an advantage and a disadvantage to their mission. On one hand, the enemy wouldn't be able to see their approach through the dark evergreen forest. On the other hand, however, the 107th infantry might not be able to see them. The snow on everything made it just a bit more visible, but just barely enough to see where they were going and the people around them.

"We're about eight clicks from the RV. I'll take lead, Carter you watch our six," Thompson ordered.

They trudged through three feet of snow for miles, watching for any tripwire or land mines that may have been left behind in the war or set up recently. Most of the agents were twitchy from their days in the war, but Peggy was still calm and collected.

When they came close to their destination, sticks cracked in the trees, bringing everyone to hold up their weapons and call out passwords to determine who was there.

"Emu" a familiar deep voice called out.

"Ostrich man, Ostrich."

"Shut up! Emu!"

"Carter, Dugan forgot the password again." another familiar voice said.

She laughed internally, knowing full well what kind of dolts were hiding out in the trees.

"The password is "Eagle" you nupty!" she playfully jeered.

The bulky, bowler hat-wearing Dugan stepped out of his hiding spot with a wide goofy smile.

"Oh, hi Peggy. Fellas," he greeted.

The others stepped out of where they were hiding to greet Peggy and the other agents.

"Jack Thompson meet Mike Li, Rick Ramirez, Junior Juniper, Pinky Pinkerton, Happy Sam Sawyer, and you already seem to know Dum Dum Dugan. Some of the best in the 107th infantry."

"You guys are the Howling Commandoes!" one of the agents said gleefully. "You guys fought side by side with Captain America didn't you?"

Dugan's face fell and looked back to his friend.

"Yeah...but not as long as she did."

She only nodded, just glad to see a friendly face.

"Agent Jack Thompson, I'm running point for the SSR." the Agent greeted as he firmly shook Dugan's hand. "We head east until we hit the border."

"We'll hit a wall of Reds before we reach the border." Dugan lightly scolded. "Let's head up into Lithuania, cross over into Russia at Ashmyany."

"You plan on walking halfway across Lithuania?" Thompson argued.

"You can if you want, but me. I'm taking these. Peggy, let's go."

He led the others a quarter of a mile to a clearing where they had transport vehicles all ready to go for them to use. They were on their way, quietly driving down backroads and watching out for any patrols coming their way. Dugan sat down with Peggy to talk about old times and things that have been happening recently.

"Did you bring what I asked for?" Dugan asked hopefully.

Groaning internally, Peggy pulled out a tall brown bottle of liquor and handed it off to the grateful man.

"From my private stash."

"Attagirl. See, Germans are geniuses when it comes to beer, but no one knows Bourbon like the U.S. of A.

They grabbed two mess kit cups and filled them with the brown liquid. Raising their cups, the duo toasted and drank heartily, letting the drink warm up their insides and fill them with good feelings.

"Alright, so tell me, what's the story with Stark and these Leviathan jerks?" he asked.

"The SSR is convinced that Howard is trying to sell technology to enemies of the United States. They think Leviathan is a potential buyer."

"And you disagree?" Dugan asked.

"Howard isn't selling weapons to adversaries of the United States. Not to Leviathan, not to anybody. He may be an utter wanker but he's still one of us."

"So you think the whole deal is a trap? It's always a damn trap."

"That's why we bring the guns..." she said dryly.

"Question is if Leviathan is trying to lure us in with promises of catching Howard. And...something else."

She remembered the mention of the "little horn of magic" experiment, wondering what it could be.

"Maybe they just want the pleasure of your company."

Dugan pulled out a Cuban cigar and tried to light it, but Peggy threw it to the side, much to his dismay.

"You smell bad enough," she said.

"And you used to be fun. That party at Sean's Bar in Ireland comes to mind. You had to bail me out of that fight. That guy from Kerry had one hell of a left hook."

"Once Upon a Time..."

She huddled back into her corner of the car, looking out of the window and into the cold night air. As her eyes glistened in the silvery moonlight, Dugan could immediately tell who she was thinking about.

"Yeah...I miss them too. Even now, they still give us the spirit to push forward. The kid especially..."

He showed Peggy their patches which had images of what they imagined to be the colt all grown up alongside a howling wolf. A golden Ultima or Omega symbol encircled the inner image like a horseshoe. It somewhat brightened her mood, thinking about Firebrand and what watching him grow up may have been like. It was silly, but it meant something special to her. Imagining Firebrand, her little boy Firebrand growing up into a fine stallion. She could picture him as big as any horse with a mane more golden than Steve's hair was and his muscles bulging just like his father. His horn was crimson and long as the tip of a spear. She imagined him in strapping Army dress blues being given a medal of honor for his various acts of bravery while Steve and herself, perhaps married while they looked on with pride. A noticeable mound growing in her belly...

Nothing more than lost dreams. Peggy could feel streams coming down her face again.

Dugan lightened the gloomy conversation with tales he and his comrades had made for themselves throughout the world. Inspired by their Equine friend, they had been searching all corners of the globe for legendary beasts and monsters of legend.

The next day, they finally came to the Russian facility where the signal had come from. Everyone split into groups of four for safety in the event of an ambush. Infiltrating without being seen proved to be easy enough. Too easy and Dugan and Peggy picked up on this right away. It looked like a normal office building from the inside until they entered some of the rooms. One, in particular, was a perfect copy of an American classroom. She had discovered that the Russians were using cartoons imprinted with subliminal messages to indoctrinate the children there.

They heard a little girl crying in the next room and discovered a dormitory filled with sterile beds. Attached to each of the posts were handcuffs, which they realized must have been used on the girls. Dugan found the little blonde girl and tried to calm her down, showing her his bowler hat. Not realizing just exactly what this little girl really was. She grabbed his knife and tried to stab him, but was stopped by his body armor. Then grabbing one of their pistols, she shot and killed Junior while dodging everyone. The little girl escaped into the ventilation system before they could catch her.

"Damn," Dugan swore.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, the vest took the brunt of it."

He looked down at Junior sadly and grabbed his dog tags, pocketing them before taking anything meaningful he had on him to return to his family.

"We gotta get through this place and get out of here."

Thompson joined up with them and they split off into more groups to search out the facility.

Down into the depths underground, they found a laboratory with recovered Hydra technology halfway opened up with tools laying about.

"They're trying to reverse engineer Schmitt's little gadgets," Thompson said.

"We have to set charges here!" Peggy exclaimed. "I will not allow the Russians to create another Hydra after we fought and died for so long to defeat the original."

"Sawyer has the charges. Once we meet up, we'll quickly double back and blow this place sky high once we get clear of the building," he agreed.

Suddenly, they heard a noise like a wailing from deeper into the lab. They held their guns out, fearing it might be another one of those indoctrinated girls before cautiously moving forward. Stepping over discarded scrap metal littered over the floor and anything that may make a loud noise. Peggy stepped to the front of the group as they entered the room where the wailing was coming from. It was some kind of open testing facility with a second-level gallery for officials to spectate.

'What were these animals watching anyway?' she thought.

On a table near the entrance, she found several documents, all written in Russian giving details about an experimental subject.

"The subject does not respond well to our reeducation and does not listen to any voice of authority. Anyone who approaches it is bitten and attacked. Recommend Termination," she quietly translated.

A hermetically sealed metal box with small viewing ports was where the wailing was coming from and it was getting louder just by being close to it. Whatever was crying was definitely in trouble.

"They can't breathe in there!" Peggy cried.

"On it," the two men with her said in agreement as they went to the hatch in front of the box and found metal crossbeams to pry open the door. With a bit of elbow grease, they broke open the box with a clank, and whoever was inside stopped crying. Everything was silent. Peggy held up her rifle as she approached the front. It was dark in this lab and was hard to see anything, but in the ambient light, she found something incredible.

A small pink unicorn with a frazzled purple and red mane stepped out into the light, coughing and sniffling at the same time, making for an unseemly sight. A mark of a turquoise quill pen was emblazoned on her flank. Peggy idly wondered what that could mean.

"What the heck am I looking at?" Thompson asked.

"I'm not sure,"

When the unicorn stopped coughing and opened its eyes, she looked at Peggy and was terrified. It tried to huddle back into the cage and cover its head with its tiny hooves. Peggy felt her heart melt and her soul leap with joy. She had found another one of Firebrand's kind. This one by the build and the eyes appeared to be female.

"It's alright sweetheart, I will never hurt you. I promise. I knew someone like you." Peggy said. "Please come out."

The little filly stepped out, still wheezing and coughing a little from being inside her prison.

"You don't know what that thing is Carter, I wouldn't recommend touching it," Thompson warned.

"This "thing" as you call it is someone I trust more than anyone in this entire building," she spat back.

Her words were comforting for the filly as she ran up and tackled Peggy's chest. She hugged the little pony and just sat there for a moment, allowing it to sink in.

"That's alright. Everything's alright. We're gonna take you out of here."

Peggy pointed at the documents on the table. One of the other agents with them walked over to it and looked them over.

"Leviathan must have found her not long after Captain America found Firebrand. The stories of his powers must have been too tempting for those animals." the other Agent deduced.

"Better bring her along with us," Thompson groaned. "I'd rather not be the pet sitter until we get back to the States."

The little unicorn's horn flashed to life and she grabbed Thompson's ear in her grasp and pulled it down.

"It seems she doesn't appreciate being called that," Peggy retorted.

She let go of Thompson's ear who walked away back to the entrance groaning and cursing under his breath.

Peggy took the filly and lifted her up in her arms before following the others.

"What's your name sweetheart?"

She rubbed her eyes with her hooves, brushing away the tears and the tiredness from them. Peggy could tell that she was tired, hurt all over from whatever the Russians were doing. Most likely hungry as well. The filly was silent for a moment and Peggy berated herself, not knowing if ponies are able to speak at this age or not. Only having her adoptive son as a reference. She would have her answer immediately though as the filly opened its mouth and spoke in an overly articulate, but tiny voice.

"I'm Aramau. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Captain America and Commander Firebrand will return in The Avengers: An Avenging Fire

Author's Note

Thank you all for coming along with me on this first journey in my own PWNY verse series!

I will continue to edit and cosmetically fix this story as time goes on just to clean up its flow.

More are to come in the future, especially with Commander Firebrand. The next PWNY verse subject for me will be the indubitable hippogriff Silver Quill of After The Fact.

Thanks to you especially Josh! This story had a bit of a rough and weird start but I hope it has been changed around to your liking!

Extra: Tribute to the Man Who Started it All

While dream walking along the winding paths of Vanaheim's capital, Firebrand met many strange people with many different stories. All of them bowed their heads in respect when they caught sight of the golden laurel placed upon his head. A sign of his apprenticeship to their lady and an official induction to being honorary royalty. The colt didn't think much of it, but he bowed back to all as a sign of equality with the people. He did as his father had told him and knew that he must never arrogantly prop himself up to being better than anyone else. While at the same time respecting the gifts and powers he was blessed with. Whether or not the people of Vanaheim recognized his intentions, he did not know.

An interesting denizen of the kingdom, in particular, caught his interest. An elderly man sitting alone on a stone bench covered in moss overlooking the river. A simple slick black shirt with pearly white buttons and a pair of khaki slacks fit him neatly. He was wearing darkened aviator glasses but the colt could see how his eyes twinkled at everything he looked at. His hair was grey and whitened, a sign of his age, if the only one. Such a man to the untrained eye was neither seen nor heard by most. Normal, ordinary, uninteresting.

Something about him gave Firebrand the impression that he did not belong in this place, but he treated everywhere like it was his own sandbox to amuse himself in. This man's spry movement seemed to suggest that he was still youthful in spirit. Taking a chance, Firebrand decided to approach this man.

The old man spotted the colt almost immediately, his thin grey mustache curling into a giddy smile.

"Well hello, there little friend! You must be new around these parts!" he greeted.

His voice was rather fitting for him, ragged, but still playful and so full of joy that he might jump out of his chair and start dancing a merry little jig.

"Yes sir. The Queen just started training me to be her Paladin of Devotion."

"Oh! You must be Little Freya's new prodigy! Good to meet you son! That girl needed something to catch her attention," he exclaimed. "She's been moping around so much that I might have started hitting her upside the head!"

'Little Freya?' Firebrand thought

He reached his hand out and Firebrand allowed him to grip it firmly as they shook for a few seconds. His grip was still strong, a testament to the spirit and strength this older fellow still had.

"What's your name son?" the old man asked.

"Firebrand Rogers sir, or...Josh apparently."

"Josh huh? I'll call you that for now, seems like an important name."

The colt didn't know how to respond to that statement.

The man motioned for him to hop up onto the bench, which Firebrand did quickly, not wanting to miss a second of time with this enchanting man. His eyes were fixed on the river for a few seconds before turning back to Firebrand in an instant.

"You aren't from around here are ya Josh?" he asked.

"No, sir. I'm from Earth." Firebrand replied.

"Not quite what I mean son," he chuckled. "You aren't from around any place here are you?"

Firebrand lifted his head and widened his eyes in realization as to what the old man was inferring.

"But how could you possibly--" he started.

He laughed again mischievously and tapped his nose.

"Let's just say me and my best friend Jack knew all the ins and outs of every realm and universe we...had a part in."

"Had a part in what?" Firebrand reached for an answer.

The old man's eyes twinkled.

"You'll find out soon enough. Normally, something like you shouldn't be here, but I don't mind letting you stick around. Just keep an eye on your dad for me, won't ya?"

There was something obvious about this old man that Firebrand was missing and it was driving him crazy. He clearly knew a number of things that Firebrand did not, and had knowledge of things that he currently had no dream of knowing yet. The only thing he could think of doing was agreeing with his request, never knowing whether the old man's intentions were for good or bad.

"Yes...sir."

"I can't tell you much about what's gonna come in the future Josh, that's up for you and your Dad to figure out. I don't know why you were sent here, but I'm glad you were," he stated. "But, you being here, just might give any new friends you make in the future a certain...advantage that they didn't have before. Had you not arrived here to begin with."

So something was going to happen that he and his father needed to be ready for. That was unsettling to say the least. Especially since there were too many unknown variables. The old man saw Firebrand begin to worry and just smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Eh, don't worry about it too much just yet. You'll have plenty of time to prepare for anything. But before you wake up again, can you do me one little favor?" he asked.

The colt could have said no, but his conscience was telling him that felt wrong somehow.

"What kind of favor mister?"

He took out a piece of parchment paper and a pen that clearly didn't belong in Vanaheim and drew what looked like a bug of some kind. A spider.

"Go to Queens and find the young man who wears that. He'll need you and your Dad's help from time to time."

Firebrand agreed and stared at the image for a long time, burning it into his memory. Never knowing the importance it would have in his future.

"Just remember. Any kind of impact you have from here on out, make sure it's a positive one. Do what the best of humanity would do for their fellow man. Treat everyone equally even if they may not treat you equally. Blessed are the pure in heart."

The old man thanked Firebrand and shook his hoof firmly one last time before standing up. He began walking off down the road before Firebrand remembered something.

"Wait, mister! I never got your name!" Firebrand cried out.

The old man turned around with surprise and chuckled, walking back to the colt and knelt down to eye level.

"Stan Lee."

"It was nice to meet you, Mister Lee. I...hope I see you again."

"Oh, you can bet on it. I'll always be watching. Excelsior Josh, Excelsior."

Away Watching, but Never Gone

Stan Lee
1922 - 2018

Jack Kirby
1917 - 1994

Author's Note

I'm BACK!!!! Did you miss me? I took a bit of a hiatus for the holiday season, but I'm confident 2022 will be filled with more content than ever.

Thought that this little bit of extra content in this was a good heartfelt warm-up to come back to Fimfiction with.

Prologue: An Arctic Discovery

Time: Unknown
Location: Unknown

The icy cold wind of the north whips and whistles in the starless night, covering the frozen wasteland in a raging blizzard that eliminates all visibility for any living thing that dares to live in this inhospitable land. The only thing that can be seen for miles around is two pairs of headlights slowly growing larger and larger in the distance as they approach their final destination in this unforgiving landscape. To help them on their way, a figure holding a beacon, waves to the vehicle, signaling it to approach him. Soon, the car comes to a halt as the occupants of the vehicle step out in thick winter clothing and goggles, suitable for the climate that they are daring to enter.

Both men that came out of the vehicle approached the man holding the beacon who greets them professionally.

"You the guys from Washington?" asks the man. "We've been expecting you for a while."

"You get any other visitors out here?" one man replies sarcastically. "Other than the polar bears, lemmings, and caribou?"

The other man ignores his travel companion as he gets straight to business as they began walking towards what brought them there.

"How long have you been here on sight?"

The man carrying the beacon holds his hood down to protect his head against the ice.

"Since this morning sir," the man replies. "A Russian oil team scanning the area called it in about eight hours ago."

"I'm surprised they didn't try to take it for themselves," one of the men joked.

"That's why we have guns," the other man said in a mocking tone.

The first man from the vehicle gives the man with the beacon staff a questioning look as they continued onward crunching through deep snow.

"How come nobody has spotted it before?"

"It's really not that surprising sir," the man with the beacon says with a shrug. "This landscape is changing all the time. Do you guys have any idea what this thing is exactly?

"I don't know, but it's probably just a weather balloon," the first man concludes dismissively. "Probably just from a local meteorologist."

The man with the beacon simply laughed at him in a disbelieving manner.

"I don't think so. You know, we don't have the equipment for a job like this. We figured you guys did. Your other pals arrived here with the stuff just about two hours ago."

"How long do you think before we can start craning this thing out?" the second man asked quizzically.

"I don't think you boys quite understand this," the man with the beacon chuckled again. "You guys are gonna need one hell of a crane!"

Then he stopped as he moved out of the way to show the two men what he was talking about. The first man widened his eyes as he stared up at the hunk of unknown black metal towering up out of the ice. Snow was beginning to cover it, threatening to make it disappear entirely. Another man was standing on top of it, examining it with a flashlight.

"The CIA guys got here I'd say about eight hours ago and started surveying the immediate area. Figured that they must have gotten the tip about the anomaly first."

"It's more like we allowed them to see it first," the second man chuckled. "Chain of command and all that."

"The Director has a pretty wry sense of humor that way," one of them said.

"Sounds like something Coulson would pull."

The first man looked at it with fascination, trying to figure out exactly what it was. The trio hurried to the other side to get a better look at it. When they got to the other side, the first two men saw hundreds of tiny red beacons outlining something big that was no doubt connected with the piece of metal sticking up out of the ice.

"What in the world?" the second man exclaimed.

The man with the beacon signaled one of his men to bring something, and after fifteen minutes of waiting, his associate drove up in a high-tech vehicle carrying several instruments used for various scientific purposes. The man directed him to a specific spot in the outline and gave him a hand signal when he wanted him to stop and start operating.

The first two men watched as a robotic arm came out of the vehicle and poked a hole in the ground. A long blue laser came out of the robotic appendage, slowly cutting a hole into whatever lied just below the thousands of layers of ice and snow. The two men watched the procedure as a group of others move around various pieces of equipment.

Soon enough, the laser halted its drilling as a piece of ice and metal fell down forty feet and clunked against something. The team set up a pulley system to let the two men go investigate below. Then they got into protective suits as a precaution against any toxic substances or chemicals they might contact before they were lowered down.

The first man descended into the dark below, grasping a flashlight in one hand and the line in the other. When he reached the bottom, he unhooked himself and awaited his associate while examining his immediate surroundings.

The second man followed him down soon after and radioed the people above.

"Okay, we're in."

He looked around and observed that they appeared to be in the corridor of an airplane of unknown make.

"What is this?"

"I don't know." the other grumbled.

Who made it and why it was there were questions that they intended to answer as they began their slow and steady search throughout the inside.

The duo slowly inched through the plane, carefully moving their lights along every inch of it to determine what it was. They kept their guard up, preparing for anything that might happen.

"This looks like a cargo bay," the first man said to himself. "Everything must have decayed a long while ago."

Soon, they came to one end of the plane where they saw the main cockpit window was located. Their feet crunched through the inches of snow that had accumulated within the confines of the plane. The first man stumbled on an unseen obstruction for a moment, to which the second man cautioned him. They both began scanning different parts of the cockpit. As the first man slowly, but surely approached what looked like the pilot and co-pilot's seat, he looked around the immediate area for anything of interest. Surely enough, something caught his eye right behind the seats while he was scanning with his flashlight. Something that was hiding just underneath a thin layer of snow. With one of his gloved hands, he brushed away much of the snow and found what was there. The man stopped as he could feel his eyes start to widen and his jaw begin to drop in awe.

"Lieutenant?" the man asked with a slightly alarmed voice. "What is it?"

The second man froze in his tracks, not believing what he was seeing. Wiping crusted snow and ice off of his wide black goggles with his sleeve, he did a double-take.

"My....god!"

The second man activated his radio once again, reporting to one of the men back on the surface.

"Bay? Go and get a line to the Colonel right away. We found something I think he would like to see."

The man on the other end was silent for a moment and then responded.

"But it's 3 AM sir. He's probably asleep."

"I don't care what time it is!" the first man snapped with urgency. "These two have waited long enough. Far too long...."

The two were left in silence and the darkness of the submerged frozen plane once again as they stared at the star-covered shield in the snow and a pair of black horseshoes with fire-red accents that were laying right beside it. They looked up to the cockpit seats and found two figures one human-sized and one infant-sized, frozen solid together as they appeared to be embracing each other.

Author's Note

Here we go, the start to my third project and the start of my own PWNY-verse stories. Give me your thoughts and tell me what you think. Make sure to like and favorite!

And if you didn't catch it on the title page, YES this does follow the canon of the movies and the game. I will slip in a bit of comic lore here and there, but I will tell you when I do.

Last Days of Vacation

Author's Note

Sorry about the slight change of plans folks. Had a bit of writers block and finals have been absolutely killer on my plans. Rest assured, the next chapter should be coming out quicker than this one did. As I'm writing down my plans this time around on outlines, that I can put down to paper as chapters a lot quicker.

Last Days of Vacation

Steve and Firebrand spent the next two days enjoying themselves as much as they could on their first leave. In the early part of the second day, Steve had taken Firebrand to the local library in town. During much of his childhood, one of his favorite pass times was reading. Particularly, fantasy novels were his primary go-to genre of books as a kid. In the back of the library, they found a pristine copy of his favorite childhood book: The Wizard of Oz. Sitting up against one of the bookshelves, Firebrand sat in his lap as Steve read to him. Steve began to notice that Firebrand was a bit more intelligent than most toddlers of his age. More intelligent than he should have been. He seemed to be following along with him and even trying to vocalize some of the words in the book that he pointed to with the tip of his tiny red hoof. Steve picked out a few other books among the collection that were actually printed in English to test out his apparent rapidly growing intelligence. He thought that perhaps he could treat Firebrand to a private screening of The Wizard of Oz movie.

On the third day, Steve and Firebrand went exploring the surrounding forests around Tarvisio. For most of the hike, they just walked through the brush and tall trees of the Italian mountains, taking in the cool, crisp air and appreciating the natural beauty of the forest all around. While on their walk, they heard a rustle in the thick brush. Thinking it might be a bear or some kind of predator, Steve instinctively pulled out his dented shield and his survival knife in the event they needed to fend it off. Fortunately, what came through the brush was a harmless family of deer. A doe and her two fawns came out of the brush carefully looking around for any sign of danger. When her beady eyes fell on Steve, they froze, trying to blend in with the background of the forest. When Firebrand turned around in his harness and looked over Steve's shoulder to see what made him stop, he began to coo at the sight of the deer. He hopped out of the harness and gently landed on the ground. The deer seemed to be intrigued by Firebrand as it slowly but surely made its way over to Firebrand to get a closer look at him. Steve backed off a few feet to give the animal a bit more space, so it could feel more comfortable with him around.

Firebrand was intrigued by the doe as well, as he also walked in her direction. When they were a few inches from each other, the doe began to sniff him. Sticking her nose into his red fur in an attempt to identify this strange red deer she saw. The sniffing made Firebrand ticklish as he began to giggle. In response, the doe nuzzled the little colt lovingly and gave him a lick on the face. Steve smiled watching the display unfold as the doe seemed to call her fawns over to meet the colt. The two spotted fawns came out of hiding and slowly approached Firebrand. They were unsure of him, keeping their eyes on him and waiting for him to come after them, so they could run away. Thankfully though, Firebrand sat on his plot and patiently waited for the fawns to come to him. The doe walked towards the two fawns and pushed them towards Firebrand with her snout.

Steve leaned up against a nearby Hornbeam tree and watched Firebrand play with the fawns for a solid two hours. Soon though, the doe called her fawns off so that they could continue with their foraging. Firebrand waved goodbye to them and went along with Steve back on their peaceful hike through the Julian Alps of Tarvisio. It wasn't much longer before they saw the Sun slowly sinking below the horizon and turned the entire sky into vibrant shades of gold, purple, red, and pink. Seeing Firebrand beginning to doze off in his harness, Steve decided to start heading back into town before it got too dark.

The walk back into town was fairly uneventful except for catching a few of the members of the 107th fooling around with the local girls at the lake. Most of the town's citizens had been cleaning up and heading in for the night to prepare for the next day. He then found Dugan and Gabe, and at the local pub competing in a drinking contest.

As soon as they made it back to the south part of town, they checked back into the inn that they had been sleeping at for the past two days. Steve was beginning to feel the effects of sleepiness beginning to overtake him as he let out a big yawn. Making his way up the steps and down the hall, he made it to his room where the door opened with a groaning creak. Seeing the small bed on the other end of the room, he unbuckled his belt carrying his gear, and slung it over a nearby coat hanger. He then closed the door and used a nearby chair to jam it closed.

"Can't be too careful especially with Firebrand now being with me," he whispered to himself. "We're in a war after all."

He then moved over to the middle of the room as he slowly took off his stuff. Carefully taking the harness off, he set it down on the bed and picked up the sleeping form of Firebrand. Placing him on the bed, he slipped under the covers right beside him and stared up at the ceiling.

'Well, might as well start getting to sleep. Won't have any time for rest until we get to England,' he thought.

He looked over to Firebrand who was snuggled up next to his side and smiled.

'You've been quite the handful for the past few days haven't you? I have a feeling you are going to cause a lot more trouble for me'

Turning his head to the nearby oil lamp on the end table, he twisted the nob until the light was extinguished, leaving the room in total darkness.

He then wrapped an arm around Firebrand and slowly drifted off to sleep.

As the golden morning light of dawn began to peek over the mountains, Steve slowly, but surely stirred from sleep. His drill sergeants saw to conditioning his circadian rhythm to force them to awaken at the crack of dawn, no matter how late they stay awake. When his eyelids opened, he noticed the room was still mostly dark. Turning over to his left side, he saw that Firebrand was still sound asleep in bed. His little fuzzy chest steadily rose and fell as the small colt's breathing was barely audible even among the palpable silence of the room.

'I should probably start packing away my stuff before Firebrand wakes up,' he thought to himself. 'The Colonel will have my head if I'm late meeting the rest of the 107th.'

He did just that as he gathered what little he brought with him on their brief vacation and packed them away in his backpack. Carefully making his way over to the door, he carefully tried to pull the chair out from underneath the doorknob to unjam it. Unfortunately, he found that it was difficult to remove without making a sound.

'Damn, must have jammed it in there better than I thought I did' he thought as he struggled against the chair.

When he tried pulling harder, he accidentally broke the chair in half and fell backward on the floor. The doorknob launched off of the door, across the room, and impacted against the opposite wall. Jamming itself into the drywalling.

"Shit!" he whispered nervously.

He held his eyes closed for a moment expecting Firebrand to wake up wailing his lungs out.

After a few seconds, Steve was glad to see that Firebrand remained sound asleep in bed. He carefully got back up on his feet and sheepishly opened the door, thinking he probably would have to apologize to the owner of the inn and pay for the damages using the last of his vacation money.

He quickly walked back down the hallway and the rickety stairs, seeing if he could find some food to give to. Luckily, as soon as he came to the bottom of the steps, he found the innkeeper prepping the inn's tiny dining room for breakfast. She was setting up tables and opening the curtains once again for a new day. She was a sizable woman with rosy cheeks and a kind demeanor.

Steve opened his mouth for a moment, but then remembered he didn't know that much Italian.

"Uh...Scusi?" Steve asked sheepishly.

The large woman turned around and her face lit up as soon as she saw him.

"Ah, welcome! You are quite the early riser caro (dear)." she greeted cheerfully. "Are you here for breakfast dolcezza (sweetie)? I'm afraid I haven't quite finished setting up the dining room yet, but you are welcome to sit down. I can get you a small cup of caffe (coffee) if you wish?"

Steve let out a sigh of relief, thankful that the woman appeared to be able to speak English, albeit with a very thick accent.

"No thank you, Senora," Steve politely declined. "I have an infant with me who is probably gonna be hungry in a few minutes here."

"Awwww, your little bambino?" she asked with a loving look. "I think I still have some of my niece's formula for her own baby bambino left over."

She left the room for a few moments, leaving Steve in the still dark dining room with only the candlelight illuminating everything.

When she came back out, she had a glass baby bottle filled with formula. She then handed the bottle to Steve and then began impatiently shoving him out of the room, much to Steve's confusion.

"Mangiamo Ragazzo, Mangiamo (Hurry up, boy, Hurry up!) Get that milk to your baby bambino (boy) right away or I'll start using my rolling pin as a billy club".

"Alright, Alright!" Steve replied bewildered.

He walked back into the main hallway of the first floor and started walking back in the direction of the stairs to the second floor. As soon as he got halfway down the hallway, he heard a loud wailing coming from the second floor.

"Ugh, hold on little buddy, I'm coming," Steve muttered.

Steve began sprinting down the hallway and up the steps and made it back to his room in a matter of seconds.

He opened the door and found Firebrand wailing at the top of his lungs.

"Hey, hey, I'm here!" Steve called out to him as he came closer.

He came over to the bed and picked up Firebrand, trying to calm him down by rocking him back and forth gently.

Firebrand made a questioning sound as he halted crying for a moment when he heard Steve's voice. When he opened his eyes and saw Steve standing there, he buried his face in Steve's chest and began to whine.

"It's alright, Dada's here, I didn't leave you. I promise," Steve reassured with a comforting smile.

"Da-Da sta?" he babbled out with a sorrowful look in his big eyes. "Da-Da din lev?

"No, I didn't leave you, little guy, I promise. You don't ever have to worry about that. I was just getting you a little bit of breakfast before we head out, that's all."

He pulled out the glass bottle filled with formula and Firebrand took to it immediately as he cooed with delight and suckled down on the rubber nipple. Before long, Firebrand had drunk down the entire bottle as Steve took it out of his mouth and Firebrand gave him a big satisfied smile. Suddenly, Firebrand hiccuped loudly and launched a hot fireball from his horn. Steve barely had enough time to react as he quickly bent over backward watching the fireball glide just over his nose and impact against the wall on the other side. The wallpaper sizzled and smoked as it turned into a big black spot.

"Wow, that I did not expect out of you." he chuckled as looked at the black spot on the wall with uneasiness. "I hate doing this, but we may need to leave this place quickly little buddy. The costs for the door are already probably gonna blow away the rest of the money I got from Peggy."

Next Time: Arriving in London

Super Soldier: Camus and the Fly (part 1)

Author's Note

I am sincerely hope you are all being entertained by this. Comment, like, subscribe, and give me a thumbs up!

I hope you are still enjoying this Josh!

Forgive me for the weird schedule on this story, I've been having some computer problems

Super Soldier: Camus and the Fly (part 1)

Hearing nothing but garbled noises and muffled mechanical sounds, Steve began to wake up, feeling like his entire body had been broken in hundreds of tiny places. Broken bones, cracked ribs, and a major concussion made him delirious as he slowly slipped in and out of consciousness. For a few seconds he could see a short balding man in a lab coat being escorted by two armed guards leading him down a dank metal hallway, but he couldn't feel himself moving, nor could he feel any of his appendages at all. Out of the corners of his eyes on either side, he was barely able to make out two figures, one of which was a beautiful, buxom jet black haired woman in a swamp green uniform that showed off her figure generously. On the other side, he could make out the arm of the thing that had put him into this vulnerable state. The giant mechanical titan that had stolen Firebrand from him. His footsteps echoed throughout the hallway, drowning out any other noises that might have been audible. His sight slowly came back to him as the end of the hallway neared and the short man in the lab coat held up his hand, signaling the group to come to a halt.

The woman came around holding Steve's shield and Firebrand's horse shoes as she handed them off to one of the soldiers.

"Take them for analysis," she commanded the soldier.

"Stop..." he weakly pleaded.

"SCHWEIN!" she snapped as she violently backhanded him across the face.

"Now, Now, show our guest some courtesy," the man in the lab coat scolded.

"Captain, what a pleasure it is to finally meet you formally. We did not really have the chance back in Austria with all of the fireworks you were causing. I am Dr. Arnim Zola." he greeted in a calculating tone without emotion. "How wonderful it is that you've awoken in time for me to show off my laboratory facilities. I trust Iron Cross has been treating you gently?"

Steve was finally able to move his head a bit better where he was able to get a more adequate look at his assailant. Its body seemed to be covered in a number of German medals and awards with the German cross emblazoned across its chest. It had no head and no means of seeing except for the single menacing red eye near his left shoulder.

"I must apologize. I'm afraid that he was a bit...over-eager earlier." he coldly added.

The woman held his head in place allowing Steve to gaze into her sick, sadistic brown eyes just before she struck him again.

"His condition is adequate for our purposes," she said to the doctor.

"Oh, how rude of me. Captain, this is Madam Hydra. Our highest ranking Lieutenant. She commands the detention area. I'd imagine that you have never met a more powerful woman in your small minded military eh?"

"I know a lady named Peggy who would love to show you how wrong you are--"

The woman now known as Madame Hydra struck Steve once again to silence him causing him to struggle against his bonds.

"Struggle all you like. It will do you no good, but I do find it quite amusing," she giggled. "Does your weakness disturb you? Herr Zola drained quite a bit of your blood for his experiments. By the time your strength returns, of course, you'll have outlived your usefulness."

"Not necessarily, Madame, there is no need for this unpleasantness, Captain. We have a great deal in common. I seek perfection, you embody it. We should be allies you and I."

"Go to hell. WHERE. IS. FIREBRAND?" he growled.

"Ahhh, your little companion. Firebrand. It is quite the fitting name. in that his miraculous abilities will help us brand the entire world in a cleansing fire once we have studied him further. Fear not, we are keeping the little one safe nearby for the time being. And he will remain that way as long as he behaves. I may be a monster Captain, but I am far from heartless. I studied him quite a long time before moving on to my experiments with the cube, you know. His abilities are unlike anything from any species on Earth."

"What...do you mean?"

"Did you really think he was truly of this world?" he chuckled. "Oh no, Captain. His genetic make up and brain wave patterns are so significantly different than any living thing on the face of the planet. We have found his bio electrical frequency to be more in tune with that of the cube I have spent many sleepless hours researching. He may very well be from the great kingdom that Herr Skull has been searching for, or perhaps even further into the cosmos from an unknown realm of magic and sorcery."

This discovery was not entirely shocking to Steve, but it was still surprising to hear it confirmed. He was entirely separated from his home and his family, just like he was. The loneliness for a child as small as Firebrand would be crushing and he knew those feelings better than anyone. However, Zola would not let him think any longer as he walked up to Steve with a large syringe in hand.

"Unfortunately, my friend. The only one going to hell right now would be you."

Steve felt the needle digging into him as he blacked out once again. The darkness of sleep continued to consume him for what seemed like an eternity. It wouldnt last though as eventually, consciousness began to return to him.

He felt things move around as Zola continued with his grand explanations of his plans. Sight also began to return to him as he found himself in a big round room.

"The late Dr. Erskine was a brilliant man. I've worked to recreate his Super Soldier Serum for quite some time now, using fragmentary notes and samples of Herr Skull's blood. But they represent his early efforts, and my results have been...flawed."

He motioned to the wall where two man sized capsules were mounted, exhaling what appeared to be a coolant of some kind.

"But now with your kind cooperation, using samples of your blood, Firebrand's DNA, and the observations I have made of the two of you in combat, surely you realize that the only reason that you have survived this long is because I wished to test your capabilities. Now I finally have the missing pieces to complete the Serum. To complete Project Master Man. To create an army of Hydra agents as powerful as you."

"Then he is mine?" the Madame asked pleasingly.

"No, not yet I'm afraid. I need him intact until my research is complete. Keep him secured, but unharmed." he commanded firmly.

Steve blacked out again as he saw the two of them leave the room. His sleep lasted for another hour, allowing them to move him to another part of the facility. When he woke up, he found himself in a cell, strapped to a table. Madame Hydra walked in through his cell door to look him in the eyes one last time.

"We shall meet again soon enough. In the meantime, I have other guests to attend to. I wouldn't want your friends to feel neglected." she stated evilly. "After what I saw on our security cameras, I have a feeling I must also attend to your little equine companion. He must be disciplined if he is to bow down to his betters. Worry no longer, for the foal will come to love and fear me just as he did to you. Zola doesn't object if I accidentally break him, should he resist."

"If you, lay so much as a finger on him-" Steve threatened in a low tone.

The woman struck him again to silence him before departing his cell to another part of the facility. Leaving Steve alone with his thoughts as he felt the bonds against his legs and ankles tighten.

'I couldn't even protect him, let alone protect my own country,' he thought miserably. 'He's alone in this evil place and I can't do a damn thing about it. I'm supposed to be America's Golden Boy and I can't even protect a single child or my best friend. He's probably being tortured again dammit!'

He looked around and couldn't stop thinking about how hopeless his situation looked. The security door was electrified, blocking anyone from even getting close to the exit, his bonds kept him from moving, all of his friends were probably captured with Madame Hydra doing unspeakable things against them. And to top it all off, he had failed the child that he had sworn his life to. For a moment, he could feel tears running down his face as sorrow and despair started to take hold of him.

Suddenly though, his memory drifted back to the night before his miraculous transformation. He was sitting at the edge of his bed alone in his barracks at the Scientific Strategic Reserve. His mentor, Dr. Abraham Erskine walked in and sat down with him, talking about the horrors of the past, and about the spectacular events that were to come. Steve could remember how kind and content his eyes were that evening. Like he was already expecting something to happen, but he didnt care and was happy anyway.

"Can't sleep?" he asked the frail boy.

"No, I got the jitters I guess."

"Me too," he replied with a chuckle.

He straightened the mattress so that he could sit down more comfortably.

"Can I ask you a question?" Steve asked.

"Just one?"

".....Why me?"

Both didn't say a word, for a few seconds, as if they were both thinking hard upon that question. Until Erskine broke the silence.

"I suppose that is the only question that matters." he replied solemnly.

He looked at the bottle sadly and turned the label towards Steve where he could see it a bit more properly.

"This is from Augsburg. My city. Many people tend to forget that the very first country the Nazis invaded was their own. But after the last war, my people struggled." he explained shamefully. "They felt weak and small. But then Hitler comes along with the marching and the big show, and the flags. And he hears of me....my work, and he finds me. He says you....you will make us strong."

Steve could remember the look of disgust on Erskine's face as he recollected his encounter with the leader of the Third Reich.

"Well I reply to him, that I am not interested." he continued. "So he sends the head of Hydra. His research division. A brilliant scientist by the name of Johann Schmitt. Now Schmitt is a member of the inner circle, and he is ambitious. He and Hitler share a passion for occult power and Teutonic myth. Hitler uses his fantasies to inspire his followers. But for Schmitt, it is not fantasy, for him. It is real. He has become convinced that there is a great power hidden in the Earth, left by the gods. Just waiting to be seized by a superior man. When he hears about my formula and what it can do, he cannot resist. Schmitt must become that superior man."

"Did the serum make him stronger?" Steve asked.

"Yeah...but there were other.....side effects. The serum was not ready. But more importantly...the man. The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So good becomes great. Bad becomes worse."

Steve didn't know what to think about that. He thought that there were other people a lot greater than himself who fit the bill of taking that great power. When doubt seemed to be sinking in, Erskine smiled at him and told him why he made his decision.

"This is why you were chosen. Because a strong man, who has known power all his life, will lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows love, and...compassion."

"Thanks, I think," Steve sheepishly replied.

He bent down and began to pour Steve a glass of Schnapps as he looked deep into Steve's eyes.

"Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing," he declared. "That you will stay who you are....not a perfect soldier....but...a good man."

He flashed back to his current position as the good memory gave him the resolve he needed to break free. He started struggling with all of the strength he had left, pulling his right arm upwards against the bond, feeling every muscle burn with pain. His efforts were not in vain as the bond broke open, freeing his right arm. Going on to his left arm, he struggled and pulled just like before until his other bond was broken off. With his feet the only things that were bonded to the table, he broke the bonds holding down his ankles until he was able to finally get up off the table and back on to the floor to come up with an escape plan.

Looking around his empty cell, he eventually found what looked to be a power box for his cell block. Ripping open the box, he hot wired it until he saw a spark. A few seconds later, something fifty feet below his cell exploded, which turned off all of the power, including the electrified security door that kept him from escaping.

Now that he was out, he walked out of his cell and started the process of climbing up to the top of his cell which was suspended by over a dozen strong chains all over what appeared to be a cavernous, dilapidated prison. No doubt created by the former occupants of the castle, but had since gone into disrepair. Ziplining down one of the chains into one of the run down cells, he began making his way up and around the prison, now on a mission to find Firebrand, his friends and liberate their weapons.

Two levels up after ten minutes of flipping, pole vaulting, and scaling the walls of the prison, Steve was at a position high enough to see that there was another platform that was suspended above his own cell. It appeared to be a security post for this part of the prison. He tried to get a closer look to see if there were any other cells on this platform, but he was accidentally spotted by one of the lookouts.

"The Captain has escaped! Capture him!" one of the lookouts barked.

Steve circled around through another tunnel to get higher so that he could reach the platform and use the bridge to get out of the cavern prison. While he was shimmying his way across ledges and beams, he heard Madame Hydra's enraged voice come in over the intercom.

"Attention all prison level security, report to the isolation block immediately. It seems that our guest was unhappy with his accommodations. Show him how much safer he is in the cell."

He soon found his way there as he was greeted by six armed Hydra soldiers who tried to subdue him by coming at him all at once. Thankfully, his training pulled through as he mowed through each of them, one by one until he was free to cross the bridge. He commandeered one Hydra soldier's arm shield to serve as a temporary replacement until he rescued his own shield from Hydra's clutches. It proved useful when another group of agents stood in his way who were guarding the exit. This time around he had a better advantage now that he had an adequate, albeit inferior weapon. They too were swiftly dispatched as Steve went into a separate room and found a communications station.

"A radio!" he exclaimed

Running up to it, he turned the knobs and unhooked the microphone as he tuned into the Allied frequency again.

"Rogers to base, come in. Over." he called.

"Captain, its Peggy, Thank God you're alive. What's your status?"

"I'm in a prison complex...probably underground. They took my shield and my supply belt. And...they took Firebrand somewhere Peggy. I...need to find him now. He needs me." Steve choked out.

"Oh my god. What happened?" she asked fearfully.

"One of Zola's giant mechanical monsters. Calls him Iron Cross. When Firebrand and I fell over the radar dish building with Strucker, old brass ass grabbed me and Firebrand and threw me across the castle courtyard. Next thing I knew, I woke up strapped to a table with Zola and Madame Hydra staring me straight in the face and Firebrand was gone. I need to know where they took him Peg, can you give me any leads?"

"He's important to Zola and his research, so I'm assuming he took Firebrand to his personal laboratories above ground. So for the time being we know that he is safe." she reassured. "Zola would not jeopardize an opportunity to learn."

Steve was silent, trying to come up with any plans or strategies he was able to, but Peggy seemed to pick up on this.

"Steve, I love him too and I want him home safely, but you need to focus on saving your men as well. They are here with absolutely no back up and right now, you are their only hope of survival."

He knew that she was right, but didn't like it either way. Punching the wall in anger, he left cracked bricks as he struggled to control his emotions properly.

"Damnit! Alright, has there been any word from the invaders?" he asked stress fully.

"They all bailed out before the crash. Dernier, Gabriel, and Morita have set up some small artillery on a nearby hillside and have already dug out some defensive trenches. They said Bucky, Falsworth, and Dugan bailed out over the castle."

"Then Madame Hydra has got them. They are probably nearby," he replied dangerously.

"I know how you feel, but be careful. Fighting without your shield will take getting used to. I'd imagine fighting without Firebrand on your back will take getting used to as well."

"I'll quickly search the area. Try to determine where they are being held. Radio Morita and tell him to stand by for coordinates. From what I have seen down here, I may need that artillery. Rogers out."

Looking towards the exit to the upper levels of the prison, he marched onward with renewed resolve.

"Hang on Firebrand, just wait for me and stay strong."

Meanwhile, the red pony in question was dreaming about living in a good place with the two people that he has come to love the most in this world. Unaware of the horrors and atrocities he was about to undergo....

Next Time - Super Soldier: Camus and the Fly (part 2)

Mediterranean Vacation

Salt water and the smell of flowers blew through the air as they approached the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. For hours, they had been crossing mass expanses of emerald green and blue waters. It was something new and beautiful to Firebrand as he gazed down out the window, now a bit more used to the height from the plane as long as he didn't think about it too much. The rattling of the propellers outside and the rumbling of the engine at the front of the plane seemed to be dulled out as he focused on the clear early morning skies. It was dawn and the horizon had bands of pink, purple, and gold slowly growing larger and larger. The gold began to outshine the other colors as dull blues signified the day was waking up.

Steve and Falsworth were watching the colt enjoying himself, despite the mission that was sure to come. It couldn't be helped but they were all glad that they had a brief respite from the chilling colds of the Northern countries. Unfortunately, they would have little time if any for rest in this paradise of a region. With the capture of Arnim Zola, they had been receiving reports from all over the world of outlying Hydra outposts scrubbing everything and massing back towards Central Europe for a last final invasion. Meanwhile, Schmitt was clearly up to something in the Mediterranean Sea. The holy monastery isle of Patmos was turned into a heavily guarded island fortress. The fortress was so large it engulfed half the island and spread out onto the water. Aerial surveillance had taken photos of more anti aircraft cannons like the ones back at Castle Zemo.

"So where is our stopping point again?" Gabe asked.

"We can't arrive by air, night or day. Their surveillance will spot us a mile away." Steve explained. "The only reason we were able to do that in Spain is they had minimal defenses. We can't go by boat the normal way either. Zola must have known we were on to them cause five of our transport vessels were vaporized by their energy cannons. We'll have to go by sub halfway and deploy diving gear the rest of the way. Colonel Phillips is having a team of Navy Frogmen assist us with the infiltration from the southern side of the island. While they thin out the patrols and defenses in the village, we will be dealing with the monastery."

"One of their boys owes me a bourbon." Dugan grumbled. "I had it freshly shipped from Kentucky too..."

"Frogmen?" Firebrand asked curiously.

"Specialized combat divers old boy." Falsworth replied. "The best in the business of war. Now there is a type of soldier that will go far. No disrespect to my country's divers but America's are quite impressive."

"Their balls are bigger than their brains, that's for sure." Dugan added.

"Language in front of the boy fellas," Steve lightly scolded.

Firebrand looked down at the rippling expanse of water below with slight apprehension. He had never come into close contact with such a big body of water before and wasn't sure how he was going to handle it.

Before long, they had reached the drop off point where they were to meet their target and everyone was hoisting parachutes onto traced as he was strapped to Steve's chest as he slipped on his own parachute.

"How deep is the ocean here?" Firebrand asked reluctantly.

"Over 14,000 feet deep mon ami petit," Jacques explained. "The Calypso Deep in the Hellenic Trench is 17,000 feet deep the last I checked."

Firebrand felt himself audibly gulping as he looked down into the emerald green waters, not able to fully comprehend how deep that was, but still feeling a bit of apprehension.

"Just focus on the water in front of you and you should be fine." Steve reassured. "Maybe in the near future I'll see if we can't do something about learning how to swim."

Firebrand nodded but was still a little flustered as he gazed out at the open sea, how far the water went in every direction. It was a little daunting to see for the first time, but still beautiful.

Their Jump Master counted down as the bay doors at the back slowly opened, with a satisfying whir and a gush of salty warm air slowly creeped into their Skytrain. Pale light from the Mediterranean dawn in the east illuminated the water in golden bands that slithered down from the horizon.

"Three, Two, One! GO! GO! GO!" the Jump Master barked as he led the others into a dive out into the open sky.

Steve and Firebrand were side by side with the man as the others followed closely behind. The colt was a bit more used to the open sky, even enjoying feeling the wind in his mane a lot more. He watched the sun slowly begin to glow brighter and brighter over the horizon as it rose in the distance.

As they reached the 2,000 foot level, everyone deployed their parachutes and slowly descended into the water below. Firebrand expected it to be hard, but surprisingly, their splash was somewhat soft as they landed in warm, salty water. Steve quickly detached his parachute and kept himself and Firebrand above water to keep breathing. The foal didn't know what was happening as he felt himself being lifted up and down by the rising and falling waves. The rest of the squad touched down seconds later and gathered together to discuss what was next. Steve warned Firebrand to keep his massive eyes closed and keep breathing normally.

"So what now?" Dugan asked annoyedly as he spat out a mouthful of saltwater. "Gotta get the kid out of the water Cap."

"The sub should rendezvous with us any second now. We're on a tight schedule. If they miss our entry window we'll be sitting ducks for the patrol boats." their jump master said grimly.

"Well, then we'll work through it."

"Its tastes salty...and sweet," Firebrand said as he let a small amount of the sea water on his tongue.

"The best ouzo is always made with a little bit of good ol' Mediterranean sea water." Dugan said cheerfully.

"Timothy! I'm impressed." Falsworth exclaimed. "I didn't know you partook in such a delicacy."

"I knew a couple of ladies in Athens before the war," the man winked to the others. "Man, the parties there were wild and hairy."

"You give any more "hairy" details in front of the kid and I'll shoot you upside the bowler," Gabe retorted humorously.

The others laughed loudly.

All of a sudden, they felt a rumbling a hundred feet away and a massive strip of water began to bubble and sputter as something massive and metal arose from the deep. A central part towered out of the water first and soon, half of the metallic behemoth was visible.

"Can I open my eyes now?" Firebrand asked nervously.

Steve and the others swam up to the side as the top popped off and an officer greeted them. Everyone clambered in from the ladder on the side. Seeing Firebrand with Steve shocked the crew as they bombarded them with questions. The trip took three hours thousands of feet below the surface as Steve helped the colt deal with the claustrophobia. The intense pressure for the first time was beginning to give the foal a headache.

Within ten miles of their destination, everyone was given the latest in military diving gear, courtesy of Howard Stark himself. The commander gave Steve a box after shaking his hand firmly and thanking him for his accomplishments. Inside was pony shaped pair of goggles and what looked seven peculiar mouth pieces. The flippers and hand fins were strange, but seemed useful enough.

"Stark says just strap these to your faces and breathe naturally. Be quick though, they'll last only for 24 hours and then you're toast." the commander warned.

"No tubes or snorkels?" Steve asked apprehensively.

"No idea myself, but if Stark made it for us, we should be okay," Dugan affirmed as he and the others each took one out of the box.

"We're gonna have to go out there aren't we?" Firebrand asked dejectedly.

"Yeah, but we'll be okay. Just try not to move too much okay? I still don't even know if you can swim."

Steve grabbed his mouth piece and looped the strap around his head so that it was tightly fitted to his face. He was unsure of the mechanism, but trusted Howard's ingenuity and tried taking a deep breath. The sound felt a little strange coming out the other end of the mask, but he had no trouble inhaling or exhaling. Firebrand levitated his in front of his face with his magic and inspected it for a minute before slipping it over his head and over his mouth.

"You gonna be okay with that?"

"Et feews weed," the colt mumbled through the mouthpiece. "Ah ca beeb ok do."

Steve helped put the mask on Firebrand first before sliding on his own over his cowl. They were escorted to the main airlock port of the sub which was then locked off from the rest, closing them into a dark metal chamber. Firebrand could feel Steve's heart beating fast into his back, wondering if this whole experience was scarier for the human than it was for him. A conversation for another time perhaps.

The hatch above opened with a chunk and a bang, slowly letting in thousands of gallons of sea water. When it was opened everyone swam out with their gear into the open water.

It was a natural feeling for Steve being out in water. The Hudson River was plenty treacherous swimming in growing up. Many hidden dangers were hidden in its murky depths. Pieces of trash, metal debris, fish that had wandered in from the ocean, boats, ships, toxic chemicals. Here though, it was night and day. The water was much more clear and open for miles, especially in daylight. Many local fish were scurrying about close to the surface, but still gave their human visitors a wide berth. Some fish curiously came up to inspect them. Firebrand was in a trance of wonder as he witnessed all of the colorful marine life that they passed by.

Some cleaner fish that swam along spotted Firebrand as the group continued quickly making their way through ten miles of dark waters. Firebrand reached out and to his surprise, the bold little fish came up to his large golden mane and began pecking at it. They were looking around through his hair, cleaning out any bugs or pieces of algae that had gotten stuck there. Steve laughed internally as he saw it out of the corner of his eye.

The hours passed by with sporadic bits of levity with amusement from the local marine life. They clustered together in a tight group whenever a shark would pass by to dissuade the predator from approaching.

When it reached close to noon, Steve signaled to the others to surface and quickly check their position. Steve patted Firebrand on the shoulder and did as he was instructed to do back in the sub. Everyone exhaled out of their "rebreathers" and safely came to the surface. Everyone momentarily took off their mouthpieces to examine their surroundings. Just off in the distance the island of Patmos towered out of the water in the beautiful Greecian sun. Unfortunately for them, the island had become a mish mash of black metal and watchtowers. The medieval monastery dedicated to the Saint John was built over and looked more like a palace of wrought iron rather than a humble place of worship.

Steve felt anger rise in him, seeing such a holy place being defiled in such a manner. It only strengthened his resolve to annihilate Hydra once and for all.

Suddenly, a group of divers arose out of the water fifty feet to their right and they swam over to greet them.

"Good to see you boys could catch up with us," Dugan jeered playfully.

"It isnt a race, but we would win if you didn't have Dugan slowing you down," one of them snapped back with a jovial demeanor.

"Good to see you too Soap," Dugan said drawling.

"Captain Price. Glad to finally meet you." Steve said addressing the main diver at the front.

The diver pulled off his mask revealing his blonde bearded face.

"The pleasure mine sir, we've arrived to assist you boys." Price replied.

"Well, we're glad for the help I assure you," Falsworth politely retorted.

"Word is the entire village is on lockdown. Nothing goes in or out. Four guard towers on the south beaches alone, so we'll have to go up through the small river leading into town. Its clogged up with enough seaweed to conceal us. I hope Stark gave you something to scale that sheer cliff cause we couldn't find any safe ways up on aerial surveillance."

"We'll wing it if we have to, we always do." Morita said as he miserably treaded water.

"I have...an idea if it comes to it," Steve said thoughtfully.

"Are you the Frogmen? Do you eat flies and croak?" Firebrand asked innocently.

Two in the back snickered while Price swam up and ruffled Firebrand on the head.

"We sure are little man. And no...well, Soap has."

The others had a laugh while the one called Soap slapped the back of their heads.

"That was one time! Dugan here gave me a bad bottle!"

"Hey, that was on you, don't blame the bourbon. You stole it from me. I just happened to show you the way to the garbage chute."

"What did he tell you it was again?" another in the back asked with stifled giggling.

"A portal to the women's restroom," Soap deadpanned.

The laughing got even harder for a moment before they swam away and quickly reviewed the plan.

"Get in fast, but silent and get out quickly," Steve urged. "Colonel Phillips has a strafing run on standby the moment. The moment we blow the factory, the shore is gonna get hit with a barrage of gunfire to keep them from following us."

"Copy that Captain," Price replied as he put his gear back on and dove back in the water.

It took another three hours to accomplish keeping the unit together, but they managed to make it to the cliffs on the northward side of the island where there was little to no security at the bottom. A short rocky beach covered in slippery. jagged boulders met them, making it a chore just trying to climb out of the water.

As Steve pulled himself up to solid ground, he looked up at the monastery and looked around at their surroundings. The sound of the crashing waves against the rocks, pebbles shifting in the winds every so often, seagulls gliding around and shrieking their call above.

"What was this place exactly daddy?" Firebrand asked curiously.

"A leper colony in ancient times," Steve replied. "The Romans often exiled...dissidents to this place."

"St. John was the most prevalent dissident." Falsworth added.

"Leper?"

"Leperosy. Nasty disease from what I hear," Steve replied with a shrug.

"I'm glad it died off a while ago or else I'd have to start cancelling dates," Gabe said.

"Speaking of dates gentlemen, we're on a tight schedule." Falsworth scolded. "How are we going to get up there? All we brought was our rifles."

"Just remember gentlemen, this has to be a stealth mission. I won't be responsible for the destruction of an ancient landmark." Steve reminded them all sternly. "So no funny business with explosives. Make clean shots and pick up any Hydra tech you can find. Their energy seems to do more harm to people than buildings in short bursts."

"Which means we can use this again!" Firebrand exclaimed excitedly.

He pulled a familiar item out of his harness that he had not seen since Castle Zemo. The Hydra stun baton they had picked up from one of Baron Strucker's grunts. However, it seemed different. More components, cleaner, and more streamlined than before.

"I thought we lost that thing?"

"I held on to it thinking it might be important and Uncle Howard gave it an upgrade! He said its now...ellastible?"

"Collapsible." Steve corrected with a chuckle.

Firebrand offered it to him and he took it, liking how light it felt in his hands. He activated it by the button near the pommel and it sparked to life. He swung it a couple of times in the air and then turned it off. Collapsing the baton into a six-inch metal canister, Steve stuffed it back into one of his pouches until he needed it.

Dugan looked around and found what looked like an old drainage pipe leading up to the monastery above just a hundred feet away.

"That could work!" he exclaimed.

"Hm?"

Steve looked over as Dugan ran excitedly to the pipe and with a bit of elbow grease, he opened the grate leading into it. It was a massive opening, big enough for a human sure, but whatever was above was anyone's guess.

"I know what you're thinking Cap," Dugan started. "You're thinking if we can't pull this off, who knows what might happen to Greece."

"Actually we were thinking there must be a better way in than that pipe," Morita said apprehensively.

"Well there isn't." he replied matter of factly. "I've analyzed it from every possible angle, and this is the best opening."

Firebrand felt himself giggling from the way Dugan had said that.

"I'll try climbing up first and if its clear for us, I'll call down," Dugan stated.

"Well, you found it. Good luck." Steve said encouragingly.

Dugan pulled out his pistol and turned to go into the pipe before hitting his head against the opened grate. They chuckled as they watched the bowler wearing man scuttle off into the grimy darkness and bang around as he climbed up.

Jacques saw something just a short distance away and called everyone over. To there surprise, they found a stable looking maintenance ladder leading up the cliffside.

"Oops," Firebrand and Steve said simultaneously.

Meanwhile in the pipe, conditions were slowly getting worse as a foul smell permeated throughout the whole thing. Dugan coughed in disgust, wondering what was in there. Five minutes later as he was almost to the top, he could see a light at the other end of the pipe steadily shining. It was likely the inside of the facility. Suddenly, he heard what sounded like a metal rope being pulled down, followed by murky colored water falling from above.

At the top of the ladder, Steve found a maintenance hatch leading right into the bowels of the monastery. It was older than the Hydra base but newer than the monastery itself. The townsfolk must have done relatively recent renovations of the historical site. Inside, they came to a hallway with a dozen Hydra guards which they took down relatively quickly.

At the end of the hallway, a door off to the left side opened and Dugan came out covered in a copius amount of fecal matter. The smell permeated through the whole hallway and burnt their noses.

"Got held up did we?" Falsworth quipped.

"Whooo! That's ripe man jeez." Gabe whined fanning the air.

"Oh get a grip, its only a little bit of Hydra turd." Dugan growled. "Shoved the jerk down the john myself before killing the other two."

Firebrand holding a hoof to his nose jumped down and shoved him back into the bathroom and found a shower which he closed him into and turned the hot water on high.

"AH! AH! AH! HOT! HOT! HOT!"

Heading down the first hallway, they came into one of the many cavernous areas of the monastery. Arches and raised platforms filled the room. Signs of artifacts and mosaics still shone through cracks in the plates of metal that covered the room.

"Why are they just covering up everything daddy? It looks like there's something under the metal walls." Firebrand said thoughtfully.

"The original walls of the monastery. Oui, mon petit ami. A shame. Such a beautiful place being covered up by scum like Hydra," Jacques replied in sorrow.

"Are they superstitious?" Gabe asked reaching for an answer.

"If Schmitt fills his troops heads with crazy stuff every day, I would say yes," Steve replied.

Four Hydra guards entered the room from a narrow hallway off to the right, forcing everyone to duck behind cover. Steve pulled out his baton and flicked it open waiting until their backs were turned. He swung his shield and knocked out the first two guards before stunning the other two with swift strikes to the neck with his baton. They convulsed and twitched madly before going quiet as they pulled the grunts behind their hiding spots and moved on.

The entire top portion of the monastery was heavily guarded. It went on like this, silently killing their opponents and hiding their bodies as they made their way down. In a side room, they found monitors showing live footage of places all over town.

"Its more of those crazy tiny cameras Zola was watching us with back in Austria," Dugan said with discomfort.

"Its a wonder how he got them so small..." Steve agreed.

There was a beep on one of the consoles in the room followed by a red light. A familiar voice that made Firebrand and Steve nervous yelled through the intercom.

"THIS IS MADAME HYDRA! WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING UP THERE? YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED IN HOURS AGO!"

Uncomfortable silence filled the room, each of them looking at each other at the edge of panic, wondering what to do. Gabe tried remedying the situation by jumping onto the console and responding with as much of a modified voice as he could muster.

"Äh, alles ist unter Kontrolle Frau Kommandant ." Gabe said. "Situation Normal."

"WHAT HAPPENED YOU INCOMPETENT FOOLS?"

Seeing his luck was still with him, he tried probing.

"Äh, wir hatten eine leichte Fehlfunktion der Waffen, aber äh... alles ist im Moment perfekt. Uns geht es gut. Wir sind jetzt alle in Ordnung hier, danke. Wie geht es dir?"

"I'LL SEND A NEW SQUAD UP TO SEE THAT YOU FOOLS STILL HAVE THE PERIMETER UNDER CONTROL! WE HAVE A TIGHT SCHEDULE AND I MUST SEND OUR SHIPMENT TO HERR TOJO IMMEDIATELY!"

'Tojo is a supporter of Hydra...' everyone realized simultaneously as they realized how bad their situation was becoming.

"Äh, äh... negativ, negativ. Wir hatten hier oben einen Patronenbruch. Geben Sie uns ein paar Minuten, um es zu sperren. Großes Leck, sehr gefährlich." Gabe said.

"DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH? WHO IS THIS? WHAT IS YOUR OPERATING NUMBER?"

After a moment of hesitation, Gabe fired into the console and shut it down.

"Boring conversation anyway. Guys! We better get a move on! We're gonna have company!"

They searched around until they found a staircase and started rushing downwards into the mountain, wondering what they would find when they arrived.

At the bottom of the mountain, Madame Hydra was frothing at the mouth with rage.

"Its the Captain and his little friends, I just know it!" she growled in her makeshift office.

She picked up a nearby filing cabinet and through it out her observation window, shattering it and sending all the contents spilling out below. Pressing a button by the door, she announced to the area to be ready for combat.

"THIS IS MADAME HYDRA! THE CAPTAIN IS HERE! INITIATE THE LAUNCH SEQUENCES IMMEDIATELY! I WILL NOT ALLOW THE AMERICANS TO OBTAIN OUR NEW WEAPON!"

Looking out the window into the cavernous cove below, she watched as Hydra soldiers and technicians rushed about and began entering the titanic super submarines her dear Zola had constructed for her. She pressed a button on her desk, sending a signal to her personal guard nearby.

"Mankiller mark 2 prototype unit activated," a robotic voice in the intercom said.

Stairs used to be a big problem for Steve, especially back home living in a city filled with massive skyscrapers. Now, they felt like no problem at all. He was running at a brisk pace, but allowing the others to keep close to him as they descended further.

A light at the bottom signaled that they were close to their objective as they stepped onto a catwalk. They found what looked like a massive cove hollowed out at the base of the mountain. Floating platforms and metallic scaffolding stretched out over the sea water below. What caught his attention the most though were massive silver submarines of unknown make and design lighting up and sending roaring sounds through the whole place.

"Zola must have just completed them not long ago," Falsworth said.

"Impressed boys?" a familiar voice cackled. "I must say, I am too. You arrived here much quickly than I anticipated."

Down to the left, Madame Hydra was waving around her energy pistol and strutting down the catwalk like she was a fashion show diva. Her face had a new large scar going down the left side of her face, adding to her intimidation factor.

"That must have hurt," Firebrand said bluntly.

"This child? I told you. I consider this a trophy. An honor bestowed upon me in the service of my darling Red Skull."

"Looks like she slapped bacon on her face," Dugan jeered at the woman.

Madame Hydra snarled back at him.

"What are you doing here Ophelia? How is Hideki Tojo involved with any of this?" Steve asked sternly.

"Oh, my dear Captain. I thought you would have figured that out by now. Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Herr Tojo is one of us. He knew Hitler couldn't last for much longer, so we are handing him the key to win the war in the Pacific. Uber Submarines powered by the Tesseract itself. Within a week, these can reach the Pacific and begin causing devastating mayhem to your pathetic fleets."

Heavy footsteps bounded from somewhere nearby, metal against metal clacking and thumping. The catwalk underneath them felt like it was beginning to shake and vibrate with such intensity that it would give at any moment. A familiar whirring and warbling told Steve all he needed to know about what was coming.

"I'll leave you to my little pet. Try not to die gentlemen. I would love to have you for another "play session". Especially you Dugan dear," Ophelia said in a sultry way.

When Steve tried chasing after her, an explosive object came flying at him from nowhere and pushed him 8 feet back.

A green robot covered in spikes came out of the shadows and started shooting missiles from its chest cavity, forcing everyone to scatter.

The fight was on as everyone exchanged gunfire with the robot while Steve and Firebrand faced it head on. For every strike Steve could dish out, the Mankiller was ready for it, blocking his every punch and dealing with the same force or more. Every quick blow and haymaker he was forced to use his shield to deflect. Every bullet the Howling Commandos fired at the Mankiller's body barely made any noticeable damage.

Firebrand jumped out and tried tripping the robot with a strike to the back of the legs but the robot saw it coming and tried cooking Firebrand with a blast of its flamethrower. Gabe and Falsworth panicked thinking their little friend was roasted alive only to breathe sighs of relief when he jumped out unscathed.

"You could have mentioned he was fireproof Cap!" Morita snapped.

"Must have slipped my mind," Steve said wryly.

When the Mankiller charged up for a barrage of missiles from his chest cavity, Firebrand came up with an idea.

"Everyone, keep up the pressure until it fires again!" the colt exclaimed.

"Does the little guy have something in mind?" Dugan asked the others.

"Just listen to the boy and do it!" Steve barked.

He jumped back in and everyone started firing away at its head to damage its optics. After a few seconds, a well aimed bullet cracked the glass and hindered the robot's vision. When Steve and Firebrand went in for another barrage of punches, the Mankiller opened its chest cavity to fire.

Firebrand launched his shoes into the holes while Steve leaped forward and covered up the rest with his Shield. The resulting blast blew out the back of the robot and sent it flying. It flew off of the catwalk and into the cool blue water below. One of its power cells ruptured and exploded in a viscous rage, sending sea water into the air and soaking the team once more.

"That took too long," Steve lamented.

They looked down over the catwalk and into the cove and saw the subs were starting their engines and about to disembark out to sea.

"They're gonna escape!" Gabe yelled.

Steve looked around and saw a duo of Scorchers with rocket launchers guarding the other submarines. Then he gazed over at the wall surrounding the exit into the cove.

"I have an idea. If we can't stop them, we'll trap them in place." Steve said.

He lead Dugan, Gabe, and Falsworth off the railing and into the water below while the others sniped the soldiers from the top. When they splashed down, already they were met with intense gunfire from all around. Bullets whizzing by them in the water barely missing by a fraction of an inch. Firebrand gulped internally as the bullets were followed by energy blasts that were electrifying the surface of the water. Steve and the others noticed this as they dove back down, desperately trying to not get hit. A couple of bullets grazed Gabe, as blood dispersed into the clear waters.

'We'll drown if I don't think of something fast!' Firebrand mentally panicked.

In the moment, he once again thought back to the castle and how his horse shoes could absorb energy. As Steve was jerking around trying not to get shot, Firebrand concentrated and stuck out his foreleg as he focused on the electricity and imagined it coursing through his hoof. The shoe obeyed his mental command and absorbed the energy into itself, thus gaining another ounce of power.

Steve seeing the opportunity swam up and leaped out of the water like a fish and nimbly landed on the catwalk. The Hydra soldiers there trying to escape into the subs focused their fire on him, not paying any attention to the others as they swiftly swam towards the mouth of the cave and up onto the protruding docks.

"DISEMBARK NOW!" one of the grunts screamed .

The submarines began to move slowly, forcing the others into overdrive. Jacques and Morita sniped any shock troopers trying to get in their way while Steve and Firebrand went for the Scorchers. The first one sent a volley of blasts his way, rocketing past him every time and impacting into the granite walls of the cove. Bits and shards of wet rock sprayed everyone, giving them new scratches they didn't have before. The first Scorcher tried batting Steve away with his massive rocket launcher but Firebrand caught it in his shoes, giving Steve the opportunity to smash the soldier in the face with it. Stunned, the Scorcher waved its arms wildly, but Steve dove in and used a Judo throw to finish the job.

"Cap! We're out of time!" Dugan cried as he shot another technician.

Two of the subs had already made it out while the others weren't far behind. Suddenly, a loud roaring bang echoed into the cave and the entire place shook violently as if it was going through a major earthquake.

"That's our signal!" Falsworth yelled back. "We have finish this and swim out or we'll be blown to bits."

Steve picked up the rocket launcher while Firebrand took out the other Scorchers with a Cherry Bomb from his horn. The red ball of magic bounced and tinged off of the metal of the catwalk and exploded within a few seconds. The remaining Scorchers were blown off of their feet and injured. Firebrand took his electric baton andd finished the job with a jab to the neck.

"Firebrand! Double whammy!" Steve said.

The colt understood as he jumped onto the rocket launcher and wrapped himself around the barrel. Steve aimed at the roof of the entrance to the cave and pulled the trigger. The blast from the barrel was held in place by Firebrand's shoes as they began to glow a bright red and searing hot. He held the energy in as long as he could as a screeching buzz grew louder and louder until he finally let loose and released a beam of energy that obliterated the walls of the cave and sent massive boulders from the cave down onto the super subs. The weight of the boulders sunk the subs to the bottom as the cave began to collapse on top of them.

Steve was dumbfounded by the colt's abilities as he turned to him with a goofy smile.

"What do you call that one?"

"The Spartan Laser!"

"Holy shi--cow" Dugan corrected himself as Steve gave him a raised eyebrow. "That was spectacular!"

"Brilliant my boy!" Falsworth applauded. "Absolutely brilliant."

The cave once again started to shake as more rocks came raining down everywhere.

"Looks like we won't be able to get out that way," Steve said referring to the collapsed entrance. "We have to get back up to the monastery and off the island before this coast is bombarded with bombs and missiles!"

They dashed back up the stairs and back up into the monastery as rocks were falling behind them. Even the passageway into the cove was collapsing on top of them, as if it was chasing them away.

They made it back into the monastery and ran outside as they could see a small fleet of ships and planes just on the horizon. On the southside beach, they saw Price's squad waiting for them in a small boat at the edge of a dock and sprinted across the island as fast as they could.

Steve could tell his new friends busy as buildings were blown apart, hydra bodies lied everywhere and citizens of the island were dashing about in a panic. Firebrand smelled various baked goods, saltwater, herbs, meats, and flowers. Pleasant smells he wish he could have remained to experience a bit longer in the Greecian isles.

The Howling Commandoes used every bit of energy they had left just trying to keep up with the super soldier sprinting at full blast.

Soon the docks were finally in sight as Price and Soap were rushing them to climb aboard quickly so they could all make their escape together. Turning a few corners and jumping a few steep stairways, Steve jumped onto the aging wood and into the commandeered boat with the others jumping in only a few seconds later.

"Punch it!" Price barked to his subordinate.

They revved the motor as far as it would go and blasted out to open water. A few minutes later, the entire area was under what Steve could only describe as a bullet hurricane. Planes and naval ships bombarded the waters around the island in a huge ring, devastating anything except the island itself. Which they had barely missed. Explosions fired off into the air on the north side of the island, telling Steve that the last of the super subs had been obliterated.

"Cut it close didn't ya?" Soap jeered at the others.

"I thought you boys were supposed to escape from the North end?" Price asked.

"Madame Hydra had a cave filled with more of Zola's toys," Dugan explained. "So Cap and the little sucker here had to send it to kingdom come."

"That's quite impressive," the grizzled commander said to the duo. "Looks like the stories about the two of you were true after all."

"I hope most of them are good things." Steve said tiredly shaking his hand.

"Oh of course, we'll be working with you on the last assault of Schmitt's hidey hole in Bavaria so we'll see more of you in action I hope,"

"If we can get through that alive."

Firebrand suddenly felt a familiar chill in the air and a haunting whisper creep down his spine as they approached an English naval vessel.

"Shut up," the colt hissed. "Get out."

"Did you say something pal?" Steve asked.

Firebrand shook his head and jumped down to look at the water.

"No. Sorry daddy."

Steve was unconvinced but leaved him alone, certain that they would deal with whatever was troubling the young foal soon enough. Zola would have the answers that they needed, he was certain of it. If he didn't he would beat the answer out of the Skull.

Firebrand gazed down at his reflection in the ocean water and didn't like what he saw. A silver mane, blue fur, sharp white teeth, and empty, dead eyes sadistically staring back at him.

Next Time: Return and Final Plan

Author's Note

This chapter is an original story from me loosely based on one of the comics made for the MCU.

An obscure reference to a great game franchise thrown in.

The climactic conclusion to our story is just around the bend! Stay tuned!