"Under the red moonlight, at the crossroads of the world, I will deliver a wonderful performance..." .... When Ryan wakes up in the unfamiliar yet familiar world of Marvel, he finds himself with a System which gives him character cards which gives him the ability to transform or gain ability of the said character. In short, this is a story of constantly changing bodies in the superhero world.
Bucky was on guard against Dio's movements, so the moment he heard his words, he raised his gun and shot towards him.
The barrage of bullets that struck Dio's body did not stop him from moving forward.
As Steve said, Dio was now a complete monster.
As he watched, Dio kept moving forward. In his current state, Steve couldn't fight Dio head on.
Boom --
Just then, with the sound of an artillery barrage, members of the previously retreating team arrived with a backup.
"Looks like you got lucky, Steve." Turning his head to look at the heavy artillery fire coming from beyond the base, Dio's footsteps didn't stop. Instead, they quickened, and he grinned, revealing his sharp teeth, "But I wonder if they're faster than me?"
"Steve, catch!"
Noticing that the bullets had no effect on Dio, Bucky dropped his submachine gun, lunged to the ground, grabbed the shield that had fallen and threw it in Steve's direction.
Bang -- bang --
Raising his hand and catching the shield Bucky threw at him, Steve gritted his teeth and blocked Dio's fist.
He wasn't in good shape, especially since the vampire's previous attack had made his left arm useless. The fact that he was barely able to fend off Dio's attack made Steve's existing severe wounds even more serious. The blood that continued to seep from his wounds stained his uniform a bright red color.
"I wonder how long you can hold out, Steve?"
Noticing the injuries on Steve's body, Dio's expression grew increasingly frenzied and his punches rained down on Steve.
"Dio!"
As he watched, Steve was struggling more and more. At that moment, there was a sudden shout from behind him.
"Huh?"
Dio turned around, and saw Bucky standing on a tank that was driving straight at him.
"Do we have to do this?"
Inside the tank, the surviving team members looked at the Dio, obviously feeling hesitant. They weren't here when Dio had turned, so they weren't clear about what was happening.
"It's the only way to save Steve!"
In response, Bucky answered firmly. He took control of the cannon's aim, and fired at Dio.
Boom --
The heavy projectile, propelled by the explosive fire power, struck Dio's body with a powerful explosion and sent him flying. While Steve, who was closest to the impact, blocked most of the damage with the shield. Eventually, staggering, he collapsed to the ground.
...
"Thank you."
At the secret base underground base of the SSR.
Steve touched his bandaged wound and thanked Agent Carter.
"Steve, you should know that Dio's incident is not your fault."
Looking at the silent Steve, Agent Carter couldn't help saying a few words of comfort.
A full report on what had happened in the battle was submitted to the Strategic Scientific Reserve, including Jim's death and everything Dio had done.
"I know, it's just ..."
With difficulty he stretched out his arm to grab his clothes, Steve's expression was somewhat downtrodden, "I was thinking that, if the Doctor had chosen Dio instead of me, maybe none of this would have happened."
"You should already know why Dr. Erskine chose you, Steve." Stepping forward and taking Steve shirt to help him put it on, Agent Carter added, "The serum would make the good better, and the bad, worse. Dio's actions is proof that the Doctor chose the right person. You are the perfect candidate."
"..."
Agent Carter's words left Steve somewhat silent.
...
"So, that's all that happened in Hydra's base?"
Colonel Phillips frowned as he heard about what had happened from Bucky, "Are you saying that, that mask, turned Dio into a monster that can't be killed with bullets?" With that, Colonel Phillips turned his head to Howard, "I thought you guys said there was nothing unusual about that mask?"
"I'm sorry, Colonel. I'm just an engineer. You can't expect me to find out everything about that mask in that short amount of time."
Faced with Colonel Phillips's vaguely accusatory question, Howard raised an eyebrow and replied.
"Because of your carelessness, I lost two good soldiers."
Colonel Phillips had always had expectations of Dio, and even thought he was the most suitable candidate for Project Rebirth. He just never thought that, in the end, that guy would make such a choice.
"Did you find Dio's body?"
"No." Shaking his head, Bucky frowned and replied, "After what happened, we searched the place a couple of times. We didn't find Dio's body."
"Maybe he was torn apart by the cannon?" Howard hadn't seen the power Dio had displayed after turning into a vampire, so he clearly didn't think that Dio could have survived that impact.
"No, he must be alive."
Walking into the office, Steve responded with certainty.
"If, the Stone Mask is what he said it was, then he must have turned into a vampire because of it."
"Vampire?!"
"There's no mistaking it. According to the data we found, Hydra found that Stone Mask and the vampire in Tønsberg. Dio found out about it from the data he read in that first Hydra base, before it blew up. However, Hydra didn't find the key to the Stone mask's power, while Dio did ..."
Steve's remark somewhat silenced the group in the office.
"Where's the mask now?"
Colonel Phillips suddenly asked Bucky.
Glancing at Steve, Bucky replied, "I don't know. It might have been blown to bits."
Actually, Bucky wasn't talking about the explosion. Steve was actually the one who destroyed the mask.
Dio's transformation made them realize the dreadfulness of the Stone Mask. To prevent anyone else from exploiting the evil powers of the Stone Mask, Steve destroyed the mask the moment he found it.
His approach was certainly commendable, but it was actually meaningless.
After all, the so-called Stone Mask was nothing more than a showpiece.
Ryan's vampiric powers actually came from the system's card.