Chapter 42

Lukin squirms helplessly as Steve grabs him by his jacket and hoists him off the floor, yanking the gag out of his mouth in the process. "You son of a bitch. I thought I had seen every depth you're willing to sink to, but there's just no bottom to you, is there?! ANSWER ME!!"

Lukin splutters "I-I don't know what you're talking about! The man who took me here, he is mad! Have you not been watching the news, Captain? He is nothing but a rabid mutant supremacist, he's trying to corrupt you for his own sick amusement. I'm just a businessman, I don't know anything about this-this-"

Steve interrupts him "I'm not talking to you, Lukin. I'm talking to that monster you have living in your head! Whatever devils bargain you made with him, your fate is up to the courts. But I want the Red Skull, and I want him NOW!"

"I told you, I don't know what you're-" He cuts off. Something seems to shift, Lukins face seems to... change somehow, an air of malevolence in his expression. When he speaks again, it is with someone elses voice. "Rogers. I had hoped I'd never have to see your wretched face again. Very well, you wanted me, here I am."

Steve grits his teeth "Schmidt."

MVP leans closer to me "Uh, why did the Russian guy start sounding like a cartoon villain all of a sudden?"

"Trust me, the Red Skull really does talk like that. I know, you'd think after 50 years in the U.S, he'd have dropped the accent, I think he exagerates it on purpose at this point."

Steve ignores our conversation, focusing on his old enemy "So it's true, then? Sharon really is pregnant? And you were just going to..." He looks disgusted at even thinking it "If you've hurt either of them-"

"You will WHAT, Captain?!" The Skull spits out, his voice dripping with contempt "Your nauseating sense of righteousness will not let you harm me, not now when my life is tied to that of another. Oh, Lukin is no saint certainly, he's a cruel, decadent ogliarch, not to mention a willing accomplice, but it's just not in you, is it? Even knowing Lukin's sins, you wouldn't be able to take his life just to take mine as well." He laughs cruelly "No wonder you lost your little spat with your caped friends, Captain. You've never been good at making hard choices."

"The courts will-"

This time he actually groans "Oh, you and your infernal belief in the corrupt justice system of this bloated wasteland, you honestly think they will side with you over this? A man many of them see as a traitor to the country? Lukin was right, they will never believe the truth, they'll just think the corpulent untermensch who brought you back has corrupted you and made you belive some ridiculous lie. Lukin might not have the best reputation, but he's still a wealthy businessman, and that alone will make him impervious to the law. Guilt does not enter into the situation."

Ho-KAY, better step in before Steve decides to prove the Skull wrong "Actually, I might have a solution, to this problem atleast. Cap, would you kindly put Mr Skull on the ground?"

Puzzled, Steve drops Skull back down "What are you going to do?"

"Give Mr Lukin some extra headroom." Before anyone can respond, I put my hand right in front of Lukins forehead, grabbing ahold of something invisible, and I give a hard pull. There's an inhuman scream as a ghostly image of a skeletal face is yanked out of Lukin's head, and Lukin himself falls backwards, out cold. With my free hand, I wave next to his body, and a featureless mannequin pops into existance, the figure lying prone on the ground like an empty suit. I shove the still-screaming ghost face into the mannequins head, and there is a flash of light. The mannequin begins to twitch and contort as it changes shape and color, features filling out. I step back to watch the transformation, next to MVP who looks like he's about to lose his lunch at the grotesque sight in front of us. Plastic becomes flesh and skin, the face opening up into orifices, even as the skin turns red and scarred, limps cracking as the joints form, and finally, a grey smock covers the body, thankfully shielding us from the Red Skull giving us a full frontal.

MVP shudders, his skin looking pale "Okay, that right there? That was messed up."

The Skull sits up, blinking at the light from the fire, his hands flexing at the unusual sensation of being back in his own body. He doesn't have much time to adjust before Steve moves towards him again, but lifelong reflexes kick in, and the Skull suddenly jumps to his feet and lunges towards Steve, hoping to take him by surprise... which only earns him a feeble struggle against Steve's superior strength.

"What?! Impossible! We are equal!"

I sigh "You really think I'd give you a body that had gotten the serum like your last one had? How dumb do you think I am? That's your ORIGINAL body I stuck you in, you nazi sack of garbage! And not the one with military training either, the one you had as a bellboy in pre-war Germany! Aside from your face looking like a strip of beef jerky a dog has been chewing on, you're right back to just being another whiny, self-absorbed racist who blames everyone else for his shitty life!" I walk up to him and flick him across the forehead "Who's the untermensch now, bitch?"

The Skull snarls wordlessly and actually tries to pry himself out of Steve's grasp to get to me, for all the good it does him. Steve shakes him, taking his attention back. "It's OVER, Skull. You're going to pay for what you've done. ALL of it!"

The Skulls face tightens, like he's about to unleash another rant... then it just goes slack, and he actually smiles! "Fair enough, Captain Rogers. It seems you finally have me helpless. Do you expect me to beg? Plead for mercy like those mewling wretches I exterminated during the war? Offer repentance? Never. NEVER!!" He suddenly screams "What do you wish to hear, Captain? How I'd have happily torn your unborn child from the pigsow you lowered yourself to mating with?! How I'd have twisted it to serve as nothing but a host for my spirit without a second thought? How I'd have murdered both of them with an honest smile on your face, if for nothing else than to erase ANY chance of a legacy for you?! Because it's true, Captain! IT'S ALL TRUE!! So go ahead, reap your righteous vengeance on- ERK!" His horrible words are cut off as Steve grabs him by his throat and lifts him off his feet, holding the struggling Skull up by one hand.

MVP tries to move forward "Wait! Cap, don't-" he's cut off as I hold him back.

"Don't."

"But he'll kill-"

"I said. Don't!"

There's an incredibly tense moment, interrupted only by the choking noises by the Skull, until finally, Steve makes a disgusted noise and drops the Skull, leaving him in a gasping mess on the floor. Despite his pain, he's grinning.

"I knew it. I knew you couldn't go through with it. You're weak, Captain! You've never understood what it meant to be a soldier! Or even a man! That is why I'll win in the end!"

"Part of me agrees with you, Schmidt. Part of me wants to do nothing more than to bash your evil brains out against the floor of this cabin and leave you to the wolves outside." Steve sighs "But that's not who I am, and I'm never going to be that kind of man no matter who demands it. I am Steve Rogers, Captain of the United States Armed Forces, and I'm Captain America, a member of the Avengers, and that means I stand for something, even if those ideals aren't always going to be convenient. I fought a war against my BEST FRIEND to protect those ideals, you really think YOU are going to convince me otherwise?!"

"Then you're a fool, Rogers!"

"And you've lost, Schmidt. It's over." He turns to me. "We need to get him to the authorities. And we need to do something about Lukin too."

"Well, we don't actually have anything on Lukin, but the Red Skull is an internationally wanted war criminal, so we can pretty much turn him over to any country we feel like. They're all pretty mad at him, for obvious reasons."

Steve finishes tying the Skull back up before answering "Good. Now, I need to find a phone, because I have a really important phone call to make.."

"Uh, yeah, me too" MVP adds "I'd really like to tell my dad I'm, you know, alive."

As if on cue, the smartphone in my vest pocket begins to buzz, and I quickly slip it out "Sorry guys, juuuust one second. Hello?" A familiar voice greets me on the other end "Oh, hi Professor! No, I'm not busy, just... doing reality warper stuff. What? Thanksgiving? Sure, I'd be happy to have dinner at the school." I glance over at Steve and something occurs to me "But would it be cool if I brought a few guests?"