Chapter 51: Bloody Battle
At the dense woods near the Danish HYDRA Facility.
"I will take this floating guy." Steve readied his shield and annouced, he believed that he is the most powerful opponent based on his intuition.
He glanced back at his team and says, "Logan and Victor, you two take the other two sibilings. While the rest of the team was to hold on and wait if we ever take down any of the opponents or wait for reinforcements."
"Good luck, guys." Steve only hoped they would survive the ambush.
"Roger that, good luck to you too, captain." Victor and Logan showed their metallic claws surprising Susan and Melvin. It seems that they're not the only one who were upgraded during their treatment.
"Let's go." The team followed Steve's signal and faced off their respective opponents.
Steve threw his shield with full force at Master Man, but the latter deflected it with his left elbow, causing the shield to bounce back to Steve.
Master Man shook his head in disappointment and said, "Is that it, Captain America? I thought you were more than this."
Steve caught the shield in surprise, realizing he had never encountered such a powerful opponent and said, "This gonna be a tough fight."
Master Man chuckled at Steve's statement. His expression suddenly become serious before diving downward, his fists pounding the air. Steve dodged the blows sideways and tried to smash Master Man's head with the edge of the shield. Master Man leaned backward and rotated his hips at a ninety-degree angle, sending a powerful punch to Steve's face.
As Master Man's right punch closed in, Steve swung his shield at his shoulder, interrupting the powerful blow and sending Master Man staggering back. But Master Man quickly recovered, leaping into the air and hovering meters above the ground.
Steve charged and jumped forward, his shield slamming into Master Man's chest with a thunderous boom. But the latter merely grunted, his superhuman durability allowing him to shrug off the attack.
With a sneer, Master Man unleashed a barrage of punches, each one striking with the force of a sledgehammer. Steve blocked and weaved, but the blows were overwhelming, sending him tumbling across the ground.
Gritting his teeth, Steve leapt to his feet, his shield at the ready. With a mighty cry, he charged forward, his shield slamming into Master Man's face with a sickening crunch.
"What?" Master Man stumbled back, his psionic levitation failing him as he crashed to the ground.
He quickly stand up and he was surprised that despite being weaker, Captain America can go to him toe-to-toe.
"Hah." Steve took a deep breath. His 'Can-do-this-all-day' talent is activated, then charged at him fearlessly and screamed, "Again."
"As you wish, captain." Master Man also eagerly charged at Steve, gaining respect for his opponent since they were both changed by the serum from the skinny short man to a perfect specimen.
Steve and Master Man clashed in a furious battle, their strength and skill matched evenly. Steve's symbiote suit absorbed most of Master Man's punches, Steve knows that his punches is not worth mentioning to the latter's superhuman durability, so he is keen on using the shield blow to cause a damage.
The two combatants fought tirelessly, trading blows and maneuvering around each other, each determined to come out on top while accidentally destroying the surroundings soil and trees.
Both fighters were beginning to tire, sweat pouring down their faces as they continued to trade blows. Steve landed a solid shield blow to Master Man's jaw, causing the latter to stagger back. But Master Man quickly recovered and floated, cracking his neck from discomfort, and with a roar, he flew at great speed.
Steve failed to block his attack with the shield, causing him to fly across the field and slam his back onto a huge boulder, coughing blood.
As Steve struggled to his feet, Master Man charged forward again, intending to end the battle with a powerful blow. Steve braced himself for the impact, but at the last moment, he spun around and used the boulder to leap up and deliver a powerful shield throw to Master Man's gut, crashing the latter to the ground.
Both fighters lay on the ground, panting and bruised, neither able to gain the upper hand. After a moment, they slowly rose to their feet, ready for another round.
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Meanwhile, Wolverine and Sabertooth were locked in their own battle against Mother Night and Minister Blood. The two super vampires were incredibly powerful, and their blood feud with the two mutants made the fight even more personal and they fought with all the ferocity that they could muster.
Wolverine and Sabertooth were using their metallic claws to slice through the air, while the super vampires were using their superhuman speed and agility to dodge their attacks. But despite their best efforts, none of them could land a decisive blow on each other due to their powerful healing factors.
"Sister, it hurts." Melvin said to his sister beside him.
"I know, stupid brother." Susan scold his brother for being a pussy.
They look at the metallic claws of Logan and Victor in fear, although they have a resitance to common weakness of vampire such as sunlight garlic, and silver. But it's not a complete immunty, they still feel the burning sensation every time the metallic claws slash through their bodies. The westeros alloy is combined of all knowns metal on the planet such as vibranium and adamantium, including silver as one the weakness of the vampires.
Susan and Melvin were using their superior physiology to try and weaken their opponents, but Wolverine and Sabertooth were too resilient to be affected by their attacks.
They fought claw to claw, with each strike causing deep wounds, their wounds healing almost as quickly as they were inflicted.
Melvin even has his right hand sliced off by Logan, but the slice hand was quickly covered by squirming blood and it regenerate a new hand. If you compare their healing capablities, its similar to Blood God in the movie [Blade] when Blade cut off the hand of Deacon Frost.
The four combatants continued to fight with all their might, but it seemed like the battle would end in a stalemate.
As the fight continued, the sound of clashing metal and snarls filled the air. Logan and Victor symbiote suit couldn't stop the sharp claws of their opponent.
Both sides is dripping with blood and they looked like they took a shower of bloods, but none of them showed any signs of stopping. It was a battle of attrition, and no one was willing to back down
As the fight continued, the combatants became more and more exhausted. Their movements slowed, their strikes becoming less precise. It was clear that they could not keep up this level of intensity forever.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, both sides stood, panting and covered in blood, staring at each other with hatred.
Susan knew that they had fought to a stalemate and couldn't cut off any of their heads since they have this annoying alloy coated on their bones, and neither side could claim victory.
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As for the rest of the Howling Commandos, they were fighting against the two super soldiers, Warrior Woman and Mighty Destroyer and some HYDRA soldiers wearing a powered suit.
Though they were outnumbered, the Commandos' symbiote suits allowed them to hold their own against the powerful foes. Bucky Barnes, Dum Dum Dugan, Jacques Dernier, Gabe Jones, James Montgomery Falsworth, Jim Morita, Pinky Pinkerton, Junior Jupiter, and Happy Sam Sawyer all fought with all their might, waiting for the reinforcement.
Dum Dum Dugan and James Montgomery Falsworth were locked in combat with Mighty Destroyer. They tried using guns but its not effective as Mighty Destroyer is fast and using the trees and boulder to cover.
Mighty Destroyer successfully closed in and used both of his fists covered in electricity to land a blow on them.
Dum Dum and Falsworth tried to dodge his attacks, but they were too slow and has no choice but to raised their gun to block his blow but they were met with a powerful electric shock that sent them reeling.
The electric shock caused their bodies to go stiff, and they were unable to move for a while. Mighty Destroyer sent another powerful blow that sent them flying.
The two of them collapse to ground twitching and unable to stand up. Mighty Destroyer stood over them, his hands crackling with electricity, ready to deliver the final blow. But just as he was about to strike and finished them both, the rest of the Howling Commandos arrived on the scene. They had managed to take down the other Hydra soldiers and were now ready to help.
Mighty Destroyer was forced to retreat and dodge the oncoming bullets, but before leaving he said, "Your lucky, father. But we will see it next time"
James Montgomery Falsworth widen his eyes when he heard his familiar voice, he knows this is the voice of his son Brian Falsworth.
He tried to stand up but stumbled and could only ask in scream, "W-wait! Is that you, son?"
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Meanwhile, Bucky Barnes and Gabe Jones faced off against Warrior Woman, a super soldier with the ability to summon weapons and a bullwhip that could transform into any cold weapon. The two Howling Commandos were quick on their feet, dodging her attacks and firing their guns at her. But her ability makes difficult to hit, and her weapon could quickly turn into shields blocking their bullets,
Warrior Womand charged at them and as soon as she got close to them, she summoned a sword and slashed at them with lightning-fast speed. Bucky and Gabe tried their best to dodge the attack, the sword slash at their symbiote suit causing a spark.
"This will not gonna work." Bucky said while panting, even though he was injected with HYDRA SSS. He is not the same as them since what Doctor Zola gave to him is just an initial version of the serum and it needed a years of experimentation to fully activate the serum, turning him into super soldier.
"Figures." Gabe Jones said helplessly, they could see that they were outmatched.
Bucky and Gabe fired their guns at her, but she easily deflected the bullets with her sword. As the battle continued, it became clear that Bucky and Gabe were no match for Warrior Woman. She was too fast, too strong, and too skilled for them to handle.
They tried to retreat, but she pursued them relentlessly, slashing at them with her sword and summoning other weapons to attack them. Despite their best efforts, Bucky and Gabe were unable to land a single blow on Warrior Woman.
They were battered, bruised and feel like their body is falling apart. The symbikte suit is the only thing keeping them alive. But even with the suits, they were no match for her.
Finally, after what seemed like hours of fighting, Bucky and Gabe collapsed to the ground, exhausted and defeated.
Suddenly, when.Warrior Woman is about to finished them off, she crouched down and transformed her weapon into a rectangular shield block the raining bullets fired at her by Peggy Carter and Laura.
"Tsk." She glanced one last time at Bucky and Gabe and turned around to retreat.
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Susan Scarbo also spotted the reinforcemnts and quickly ordered to blow a horn of retreat, Melvin taunted their opponent, "Your lucky, you have a reinforcement. You will not get lucmy next time."
"What did you say bastard!" Victor became enraged when hearing this.
"Calm down, Victor." Logan hold him back, now standing is already strenous with their exhaustion.
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Steve Rogers and Master Man is still facing off and fighting tirelessly, both side are red eyes and exchanging powerful punch to each other with abandon.
Master Man suddenly paused when he heared the sound of retreat, he frowned and look at Captain America, he fly up and said, "It's time to go, I'm looking forward on fighting you next time, captain."
Steve watched him go, his chest heaving with exertion. He knew that the fight could have gone either way, and that he had been lucky to come out relatively unscathed since Master Man is still cannot control well his power.
In the end, their battle had been a test of endurance and skill.
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On the other side, Susan, Melvin, Master Man, Warrior Woman, and Mighty Destroyer quickly regroup.
"What happened?" Master Man floated over and ask in displeasure, he is upset that his battle is interrupted with Captain America when it is already in boiling stage.
Susan glanced at him and thought, should she try making this guy an obedient dog for questiong her in such a tone.
Despite having the urge to do this, she still dismissed the idea and answered, "Their reinforcement arrive, the rest is upto Herr Skull arrangement."
Apparently, Red Skull already has a plan of trapping the Howling Commandos inside the castle, and destroying them by using the Viking Runestone to cause an unimaginable explosion.