Chapter 37: Living Legend Part Two

The word "hopeless" was not in the dictionary of Harry Potter, especially after all that he was through during his entire life. The young magical mutant did not do hopeless, even if the word "hopeless" threatened to dog every step of the day that he had. Those who used the word hopeless liberally were also quitters and that was not something that Harry Potter would be. He was not a quitter, despite the fact that very few would fault him.

Despite the fact that many would quit if they had the pressure that he did.

"It always looks darkest before the new day."

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Harry asked Captain America when he voiced these words before he amended. "The…..after everything that's happened in the world, you still being around in this modern world, I don't want to be the one to break it to you but things have changed."

Captain America was not fazed by this; in fact he shook his head a little bit and a smile crossed his face. He suspected from the moment that he woke up he had a lot of adapting to do. "The world has changed, the world will always change but there is one thing that no matter what the world will always need and that is heroes. Even if there are moments that they do not appreciate what we do or don't understand what we do, people who will fight until their last breath no matter what the cost, they're always needed by the masses."

"Nice to see you haven't lost your touch," Logan responded when he looked at his old friend before he shook his head and added with a ghost of a smile. "And it's damn good to see you back in action, Cap."

"It's good to see you here as well, Logan," Captain America added without another word as he saw Jean, Rachel, Iron Man, Mockingbird, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Bruce Banner all ready. Yet for some reason, Arcane stood the tallest of them all with the most confidence on his face, yet he had the most to lose if they did not find a way to stop this plague.

With a flash, the sorcerer supreme showed up in all of his glory and Harry inclined his head towards him with a smile. It was good to see him all things considered and Strange moved over to look at the plague victims.

"It's far worse than I thought," Strange stated when he scanned them. A sad expression flickered through his eyes. "There are both scientific and mystical elements in this plague cocktail and whilst I can limit the effects from the mystical elements, there is a chance that it might cause the scientific elements to accelerate and kill your friends faster. It is uncertain what I can do without a sample of the plague virus. All we can do now is alleviate their misery as much as we can."

Captain America shook his head and stood on his feet, to some a long time had passed but for him only mere months since he got put to sleep when the super soldier formula started to affect him. He gone to sleep with the hope that HYDRA was crippled and the Red Skull was destroyed. Neither was true when he thought about it and that caused him an insane amount of frustration. What was worse now HYDRA was more dangerous than ever before and Bucky died in vein.

"So, I think we've traced the most likely location of HYDRA's base of operations but it could be a mask," Iron Man stated when he looked at the scanner and the several points.

"HYDRA is aptly named, once you cut off one plan, two more grow in its place," Black Widow stated when she set her face to determination that could not be measured.

"Then we will need to strike it hard at once," Harry responded when he looked at Kitty, Rogue, and Amara on the bed. Their sick faces flickered through his mind. Rachel shared his thoughts as well, it was not personal until now.

Now it was personal and HYDRA would be ripped down, even if Harry had to do it brick by brick and there would be no one left standing. It was about time to see how dangerous Harry could get when he was pushed to a level beyond anything that he ever was inspired to reach before. He met the gaze of Jean, Rachel, and Logan, they were the only ones left standing, and even their leader Charles Xavier lapsed into a coma. Xavier was stabilized but there was no….there was no sign if he or any of the others would be making a full recovery.

Of course, now was the time for them to put that out of their minds, no matter how hopeless everything might seem. Decisive action was needed for them to win the day and to put HYDRA into the ground once and forth all. Black Widow, Mockingbird, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, and Captain America were al capable enough to go in there or so Harry found out from what little he could find out about them .And if Banner got the right motivation, that being anger, he could be a force of nature.

He knew what his team was capable of.

"Well you're the leader of this X-Men, I believe you know them better than anyone else," Captain America stated when he looked at Harry, that was what Fury told him and no one bothered to correct him.

The assigned leader was currently on the bed with a shuddering moan filling his body when he shivered a little bit but he remained rigid all things considered. That was the only signs of life his body made but the rest of the team was stabilized.

"Yes, he is," Jean agreed without a thought against the matter, looking at Harry with a smile.

Harry opened his mouth to protest but decided against it. Now was not the time to argue.

"So are we ready to do this thing?" Iron Man asked in a calm voice. "So um, people, you know we should really have some kind of team name to refer to ourselves in. After all, if we have no name when we're avenging these wrongs by HYDRA, we're going to look kind of silly, aren't we?"

Black Widow's eyes snapped towards Iron Man, flashing with a tiny bit of fury in them but she remained mostly calm all things considered. "We can worry about team names later, right now, we have to worry about decisive action and make sure that HYDRA does not spread this virus past this trial run. This merely may have been a test run, the next run could cause destruction throughout the world."

"Are you all feeling alright still?" Harry asked towards Rachel, Jean, and Logan.

"Yeah, I'd be better when they're all out of the woods," Logan responded when he inclined a finger to the team on the bed.

"Yeah, likewise," Jean stated when she looked at Harry, admiring how he was not losing his head in a crisis and trying to take the easy way out. He was calm, cool, collected, and ready for action, that was what a leader should be as far as she was concerned.

Mockingbird and Hawkeye walked forward to give them the news.

"So the base, it's in Philadelphia," Mockingbird stated when she looked over the shoulder at her partner.

"Yes, it is," Ms. Marvel added when she chimed into the conversation. She cupped a hand on her chin. "It is one of the twelve or thirteen locations that HYDRA is rumored to be holed up at all over the Eastern Half of the United States."

"If that's what's rumored, I hate to see what they're hiding and no one has picked up on," Hawkeye remarked in a flat tone of voice.

That was a statement that all of them would have to agree about but there was no time to throw around theories. It was the time for decisive action and the time for all of the members of the group to push themselves forward. Captain America stood up with his head up high, very little fazed the decorated soldier. Even if he was a fish out of water from a different time, he was not going to let that stop him defeating the HYDRA menace. It was war and they declared it with the first attack.

It was making that final attack count that was prompt in a war but Captain America turned to them.

"I must warn you that HYDRA is unlike any enemy you might have ever faced, especially Red Skull," Captain America responded when he looked at them. "I know we're going to have to break a few potential moral rules and take a bit more of a lethal stance against them but if it saves lives, then you can justify doing so."

Captain America was a soldier and knew when it was time to kill and when it was time to show mercy. Going up against HYDRA, there would be no mercy shown, especially when he faced off against Red Skull. There were times where he paused and then that cost them big time. Bucky was the biggest example of this, his sacrifice would not be in vein.

It was quiet, a bit too quiet at the HYDRA base when the group exited the SHIELD transport vehicle. Harry snuck ahead, using a combination of invisibility and stealth spells to make sure that there were no secret traps around the entrance. Whilst SHIELD made sure that there were no nasty surprises, the magical mutant never took the words of others at face value. Rather he believed what he saw with his own eyes.

There was a guard around on the inside but before Harry could react, Captain America nailed him with a shield shot to the back of the head that echoed with a loud "ker-plunk". The guard's knees crumpled and Harry levitated him into a bush cover. Iron Man moved forward, followed by Ms. Marvel, Mockingbird, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Jean, Logan, and Rachel. Banner stuck to the side, not turning into his green alter ego unless they needed his assistance.

'Okay, I've got us linked up mentally, so we shouldn't….we shouldn't have that much trouble communicating and we won't raise the alarm,' Rachel thought to the group at large.

'Good, but don't go too deep into my mind,' Iron Man thought to them.

'Trust me Stark, no one wants to know what goes on in your mind,' Logan thought through the mental link Rachel set up.

'I'll have you know that only a quarter of those tabloid rumors had any sort of truth to them,' Iron Man thought to them all through the mental link that was set up and shook his head.

Black Widow allowed a look of annoyance to cross her face, even though at another time she would have found some kind of amusement from the actions going on around her. Still now was neither the time nor the place. They were going to stay focused through everything that happened and they had to keep moving. If they faltered a little bit, then well it would be on their own heads to be honest.

Jean put one of the guards to sleep, they were grunts, and she wondered if they even knew a bit of what HYDRA was doing. She did not delve into their minds too deeply, there was no time whatsoever. Curiosity was not a sin but Jean tried not to let it get the better of her.

Harry paused and took a look at the blinking light.

'Sensors,' Harry thought to them and he waved his wand, creating a reflective charm around the space one inch ahead of it.

That did its job in numbing the sensors and allowed them to slip inside but they were not out of the woods yet.

The loud thumping of the footsteps of the various HYDRA agents put the entire group on edge and sure enough they edged forward, looking at their adversaries. The HYDRA guards were on their feet.

Until Black Widow dove in, using the skill sand reflexes that one would expect from a world class spy and shot a heavy jolt of her widow's sting at her enemies. They dove down with a screaming fury when the three of them were caught in the crossfire. An arrow from Hawkeye shot and blinded them with an explosion, allowing Captain America to dive in for an attack.

"These guys, they're just low level grunts," Jean stated when she tapped into their minds through her telepathic abilities.

Harry turned their weapons into glue which stuck their hands together and then this allowed Iron Man to launch them through the wall with a sadistic crash. The HYDRA agents dropped down to the ground, rolling over and wincing from the impact. They really took a hard shot all things considered but the fun was not over.

Logan grabbed one of the larger goons and sent him flying, he slammed to the ground with bones cracking and snapping.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE TOUGH!"

"And they found Banner," Iron Man stated in a dull voice, when he heard the loud attacks from the outside.

"So much for stealth," Harry stated, shaking his head but secretly he was amused when the heads got clonked together outside and the Hulk ran through. "So, clear a path, I guess."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Hulk grunted when he made his way into the room, rushing forward step by step, when he ran over everything in his path and began to smash with his fists of fury. The HYDRA agents crumpled to the ground, folding up like tissue paper and there was no end in sight to the Hulk's fury.

Black Widow snapped her eyes around before she exclaimed. "Clear the path, don't stop now!"

Hulk grunted, he wished that people would stand back and allow him to do what he did.

He reached down and scooped up Logan, before he hurled him several hundred feet towards an unsuspecting group of HYDRA soldiers with a super powered fastball special. The mutant flew through the air, claws bared when he sliced through the guns and then Harry caused the platform to turn into quicksand, which sank the guys through the moment Logan hopped into safely. They screamed before they drowned in the quicksand, suffering a most painful death.

Ms. Marvel whistled when she looked at Harry, blasting three goons with her hands that were unfortunate enough to be close by. "Remind me not to get on your bad side, ever."

Harry smiled at her before they pushed through. More goons went up and out, HYDRA had an infinite number of minions. "Noted."

"None of these guys know anything," Jean responded when she shook her head.

"Then this base is a bust," Harry answered when several of the HYDRA agents arrived.

"Stand down, none of you are leaving."

"They're joking, right?" Hawkeye asked but Hulk snorted.

"Well they're not being very funny if they are."

The Hulk stampeded forward and with a sadistic smash, knocked them all down, before Jean grabbed him and held him into place.

"What did you do that for?" the Hulk demanded when he snorted but Jean carefully and calmly stood her ground.

"Because, one of these guys knows something, all I need to do is read his mind," Jean responded when she looked at him, fire burning through her eyes. "Ah yes, your mind is conditioned but you know what, try not to think about the place where you have the plague."

By telling the person not to think about the place with the plague, it caused him to think about it.

"It's the next lab, right….it was right underneath Bayville," Jean stated when she shook her head.

"Under our noses the entire time, that's about right," Logan growled as he cracked his knuckles.

Harry knew that was how things went sometimes but now he had to keep going forward and lead them. The fate of the world and more importantly the fate of many close to him were on the line. Without a direct sample to the plague, any curing spell was only temporary at best and would only speed up the decaying of the bodies of the infected at worst.

Sin folded her arms together, her eyes were almost swollen shut from the plague but she refused to be put down. Dying now would show weakness and that was something that her father taught her not to show. The woman inclined her head a little bit to try and remain on her feet, knees buckling and swaying slight. The young woman slid forward another inch, feeling the thump of her heart beating against her chest. The daughter of the Red Skull would not be denied her glory; she clutched her chest when her heart thumped heavily and stood up straight, eyes flashing with malicious fury. This would be her day and the one that she would win.

Bayville was the place and she knew that there would be certain parties that would come here. HYDRA would create a suitable reception for them; that much was for sure. The young woman rolled her head back slightly and sighed deeply when she stood forward on the ground, her knees cracking and leaning forward a tiny bit. Sin thought over everything in her mind and closed her eyes tightly.

The loud crash from outside could be heard and Sin backed off, to see the doors burst open and the not so jolly green giant known as the Hulk march in.

"Back, creature," Sin stated in a snarl which filled the room but the Hulk stood, with a sadistic glint in his eye when he stared the young woman down.

"I don't think you can make me," The Hulk responded when he crossed his arms a little bit and turned his head with a twist, a smile crossing his face when he looked forward. The rest of the team showed up.

There was a moment where there was a pause before Harry broke it.

"You," Harry remarked when he looked at Sin.

"Yes, Arcane, it is me, my father decided to pull one over my eyes," Sin responded when she looked at him. "I suppose that it is only just, flesh and blood does not mean anything for him. All that matters is the survival of the fittest and the broken spirit that is my body."

'Okay, time out for a second, the Red Skull is your father?" Iron Man asked when he looked at the team but the SHIELD representatives did not say anything, they already knew.

"Yes but I wish to help you shut down my father's operation," Sin answered but Harry gazed at her.

"And what makes you think we should trust you?" Hawkeye asked, stating what everyone was thinking.

"She….does seem to want to help us," Rachel stated with disdain, but still that meant little.

"The Red Skull has likely trained her in the art of deception," Black Widow stated when she folded her arms. Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, and Mockingbird closed their eyes and tried to figure this out. "But she may be our only lead."

"Jean, Rachel, one of you pick her mind, I don't have any time for her games right now," Harry responded but then Sin took a step back.

"I'm willing to….to help you and this is what you're going to do," Sin responded in a harsh voice. "I expect that sort of thing for someone like Scott Summers but not….but not from someone like you."

The slap stung the most was the one drilled right into the face of young Harry Potter and he was half tempted to hurl the woman across the room on sheer principle. Rachel looked about ready to kill her for what she did but Sin crossed her arms, she showed no fear in her eyes. The young woman crossed her arms over her chest before she pushed her foot down on the ground and the ground cracked a little bit underneath her foot.

"You better not double cross me," Harry stated, he kept both eyes firmly on Sin.

Captain America knew that this young man had been through a few wars to show such rigid reflexes and attentiveness. It was a behavior that he saw from men who had fought against some of the harshest armies in the world. People who saw death with their own two eyes and did not blink about it, not in the slightest, that was what this Arcane was showing now. They understood that there were a lot of sacrifices that were made to win the war.

Sin's face crossed into a calculating smile. "I wouldn't dream about double crossing you. I know you're far too smart for that."

'She better not be patronizing you,' Rachel projected through them, ready to take down Sin, just give her an excuse.

'So what do we do?' Mockingbird asked, relaying the information through the rest of their team.

'I'd suggest that we play her game for now but make sure that this is not some kind of trick,' Captain America stated, willing to give her the opportunity but at the same time he was not going to be stupid about it. When the Red Skull got his hooks into you, he tended to mess with someone's mind.

Harry could tell that Sin was conditioned not to show any weakness whatsoever, he saw it in her eyes. He saw something that had been in his eyes when he was around the Dursleys, although to be fair her case was far more extreme. The young man stepped forward and made her lead the way, not wanting to put his back to her and the other members of the party agreed.

The pitter patter of HYDRA feet could be heard and more agents showed up to face them.

"Great, we got lead right into a trap, didn't we?" Ms. Marvel asked when she rolled her head back and prepared to fight.

Hulk grunted and pounded his fist into his hand. "Depends on who is being trapped."

Hulk stampeded forward with fury and swung his fist. Said fist smashed into the face of one of the HYDRA agents but they blinded the beast.

Harry swooped in from behind then, flicking his wrist, and sending lassos of magical fire, burning into their protective armor. This allowed Black Widow and Hawkeye to get their shots in to put the HYDRA goons down and out for the count when they crashed on the ground with a thud. The group moved forward down the corridors where a never ending number of HYDRA goons popped up.

"I don't think we're…..what was that?" Iron Man asked when he turned his head over his shoulder and he heard the cackle of thunder and lightning from above when he saw another individual show up for the battle.

"I believe you will give me a challenge!"

The man dressed in armor with golden hair arrived and swung a mighty hammer. Said mighty hammer slammed into the HYDRA goons and sent them flying into the wall which Harry transfigured the wires on into snakes. The snakes bit into the necks of the goons, causing them to collapse down to the ground, with dazed fury. The dark haired wizard shook his head when they went down.

"Then again, perhaps I was mistaken," the man stated before he slammed a heavy shot forward and sent his enemies flying forward. "Perhaps you did not give me the challenge that I sought when I came through this realm. Never the less, you will be punished for your actions. FOR ASGARD!"

Harry thought the man was a bit boisterous and over the top, but he did get some results as his hammer proved to be rather useful in knocking enemies down one at a time. Most of the HYDRA goons were down in no time, smashed and down for the count. This man was a warrior and he brought the fight to his enemies.

When the dust cleared, Logan turned around and addressed the man.

"Just who are you, bub."

The man was only too happy to enlighten Logan on his identity. "I am Thor, God of Thunder."

Iron Man's voice suddenly became skeptical before he shook his head. "Right, and I'm the Tin Man, and there's the Scarecrow."

He pointed to Hawkeye.

"And there's the Cowardly Lion."

He pointed to Logan who growled at him.

"And there's Dorothy."

Iron Man pointed to the Hulk who crossed his arms with a snarling expression on his face but Iron Man paid this no mind.

"Really, you're a billionaire playboy who joyrides in a suit of armor, and you're with someone who can pop claws and a mild mannered scientist who turns into a hulking green monster when he gets angry, and that's what you take offense to," Hawkeye stated before it added and he shook his head before he added as an afterthought. "Not to mention the army officer who got her powers from an alien ship and the kid who can warp time and space."

"And you're perfectly normal," Mockingbird stated but Hawkeye shook his head.

"More normal than them maybe," Hawkeye stated when he looked at them and he got a few cross looks. "Not that any of you are not normal but it's just that….you stand out in a crowd."

"Watch what you say, cupid," Hulk stated when he crossed his arms and stared him down.

"Hey, I'll go a few rounds with you any day, tiny," Hawkeye stated but Harry looked at them.

"Gentlemen, enough," Black Widow stated when she threw her head back. "I believe our query may be beyond this door."

The door opened and then a view screen popped up. Captain America's face contorted to one of fury when he saw the face of his greatest enemy appear on the screen to taunt him and taunt him he did.

"Good evening, Captain America, welcome, welcome," the Red Skull stated when he looked at them. "No doubt my daughter has tried to undermine me, shows that she has ambition for once in her pathetic right. But the joke is on you, my friends, for the plague isn't even at this facility. Did you think that it would be that easy? Did you think that I would allow you to stop my plan? No this was merely a test run."

"We'll stop you, no matter what," Captain America stated when he held his shield and it was at this point where Harry was trying to fine tune a signal but it bounced off of ghost routers and false IPs everywhere, the Red Skull had all of his bases together.

"I do not have to defeat you, time already has, Captain America," Red Skull stated when he lit up a cigar and stared down the team. "You see in this day and age, you're nothing in this modern world. Where superiority always has a place, your good old fashioned idealism is nothing these days, the world has grown cynical."

Captain America stood tall, despite there being certain truths for that statement, he refused to back down from his stance. The Red Skull stared back down at him.

"Let's track him down and make him pay for this," Hulk growled when he cracked his knuckles, fierce and ready for a fight.

"We need to find him first, big guy," Iron Man stated when he turned to the hulk who grunted.

"I think….I think he might be somewhere on the West Coast," Harry responded when he shook his head.

"Are you sure?" Black Widow asked, to be honest she had no leads but then an incoming transmission came in from SHIELD. "Yes….west coast….imagine that….yes Commander Fury, we'll check on it right away."

Black Widow turned around to face Harry, a bit of a tense expression crossing her face but she shook her head. Her red hair framed her face when frustration reigned through her mind and she closed her eyes before she sighed a little bit.

"So we're heading out west," Hawkeye stated and the group all nodded, they were heading out west.

They all hoped that they were not being sent on a wild goose chase by the Red Skull.

"I'm coming as well," Sin stated but Hawkeye turned to face her.

"Of course you are, because we're not leaving you alone with your own devices," Hawkeye responded when he looked at Sin but she scoffed and sneered at him.

"I wasn't talking to you," Sin stated when she turned around to face Harry.

'And we're going to have to solve this soon, and hope that we can get over there,' Harry thought.

'Maybe you can transport us over there?' Jean suggested through the mental link that had been established, putting her hand on Harry's. He did not retract it. 'I think you can do it.'

'I know he can do it,' Rachel thought to them.

'Okay, stand tight,' Harry thought to them and he concentrated as hard as he could before he transported them away to the location of the facility that he got from the Black Widow's mind that Fury relayed to her. Hopefully they would get there.

The only problem was Sin knew of that particular abilities but they kind of needed her help because she had intimate knowledge of the HYDRA base and some natural immunity of mind reading abilities. Whether or not that was the case, they did need her assistance for now. The group hoped that it would not blow up in their faces.

The Red Skull sat upon a throne high above the main chambers in one of his HYDRA bases. He knew that there were individuals that were on their way here, these heroes foolishly decided to engage him. Even if they did not have the slightest chance, they continued to go against him. The Red Skull's face twisted into a malicious grin, let the heroes come, they would serve as an example.

"The second phase of our plan is ready, my liege."

One of the chief HYDRA officers stepped up and looked up at the Red Skull who nodded, sadistic intentions going through his eyes.

"Very good, make sure the plan goes on without a hitch, and make sure these heroes show up at the proper moment for their suitable reception," Red Skull responded in a crisp tone of voice, crossing his arms.

The plan would go on without any of the issues that he knew would come with a scheme like this. Being the master tactical officer he was, the Red Skull understood the nature of having both a plan and a back up plan. The backup plan was currently being set up underneath a mountain up North.

A figure showed up dressed in black with his hair slicked back and bent on his knee to face the Red Skull. His face was obscured slightly in the shadows and the leader of HYDRA turned to face the man on the ground.

"All is ready for Captain America and his crew," the young man stated. "Forgive me for speaking but Captain America should have been taken out while he slept and you should have…."

"Enough," Red Skull responded when he shook his head. "I must fight Captain America to the death and prove his inferiority over me. HYDRA will rule the day and with his last dying breath, the spirit of all that is weak with the United States of America will fall over due to the superior race."

It was at that point where bits of metal began to contort in the Red Skull's base.

"What is this?" Red Skull demanded before he dodged several jagged pieces of metal flying at him.

"You have poisoned mutants, did you really think that I would allow you to get away with that?" a voice stated from the shadows, with a purple cape billowing in the breezed and a red helmet.

"HYDRA, eliminate him!" Red Skull yelled but the Master of Magnetism was not going to be eliminated so easily.