El!
El has been with the site for nearly two years now and has continued to prove her value. Currently, she is heading up our site event, Battle for Liberterram, on top of keeping up with her own personal plots.
CHARACTER
SPOTLIGHT
Peggy Carter!
Lux's posts are all wonderful to read. She has done a wonderful job of grasping the new universe and incorporating Peggy into it.
CHARACTER
SPOTLIGHT
Peter Parker!
It's good to see Spidey back on the site. Watching him deal with the universe shift in his own snarky way has been nothing short of entertaining.
THREAD
SPOTLIGHT
Eight O'Clock on the Dot!
El and Lux are making magic in this thread. Straight up fireworks, and the way they've played with drawing out the reveal is top class.
Can you tell me Doctor, why I still can't get to sleep
And night time’s just a jungle dark, and a barking M16
“I’m not talking to you.” James snarled. “I’m talking to Steve. You don’t remember shit, but my brother… my brother remembers everything.” He reached out to touch Steve’s arm but then it all fell apart, and whatever was above Steve started to control James, and he turned on Walker with a vengeance unrivaled in his recent past. All of the rage he felt and contained at being captured and tortured and ridiculed and tortured again, at losing Steve, and gaining him back, and being forced to hurt him. All of it was directed at Walker.
Behind all the rage at what had happened previously was the instinctive rage that someone, Walker, had the absolute gall to attack his brother. Even to attempt it. That was what was feeding him in a positive loop. Each wave of rage worse than the last. His first pull at Walker’s shield had meant to drag him, but his body had other ideas, tossing Walker from the room with enough force that even James paused for half a second before continuing after his prey.
He reached the man just as he was standing and sent a twisted fist towards his face, to be blocked by the shield. His next swing was flesh, and connected once more with the shield. At the mention of Steve and body bags, James’ anger intensified and he added snarls. “You want to hurt my brother.” He growled, sending the man further and further away from Steve. “You think I’m going to let that happen?!” His metal fingers dragged down the shield, sending sparks up into his face just as Walker hit the wall. That was when the man took his moment, sliding out from under the barrage of attacks as James’ fist struck the wall.
Walker’s next move was to use the shield edge… for whatever reason. It was effective, at least, and as James shifted his hand from the wall, he had to work to block the sharp blows from the defensive weapon. As soon as he’d gotten his feet however, he grabbed the shield and pulled it towards him, making sure that Walker was close enough to talk to. “Why don’t you fight me like you’ve got a spine?” He snarled, twisted the shield in Walker’s grip and trying to wrestle it away from the man so he could throw it aside. There was no doubt in his mind that he was the stronger of the two, and putting Walker in his place should be easy once there was nothing between them.
’Don’t you see Rogers is just using you, Barnes?‘ Walker gritted through teeth, continuing to avoid direct action and instead opting to find something that could help him get an advantage over the trained killing machine. ’Everybody knows Rogers wouldn’t look to kill hundreds of thousands of people, Barnes.‘ Walker aimlessly bargained with a man that had been beyond bargaining after Rogers had given him the berserker treatment.
It also wasn’t helping Walker that whatever Rogers had done to him was still affecting him profoundly, his mind continuing to wander to the darkness that he had put behind him. The tough calls, the missions that went bad, the evil he had to commit to keep humanity safe, and the torture that had been his run through the super soldier program. It messed with his thinking capabilities, it overrided even his warrior instincts and forced him into a position where he was thinking two plays behind, rather than ahead.
And with Rogers wanting to devastate the world, for no reason he could fathom, the pressure was certainly getting to him in a major way. He had been given the responsibility of a world, but this had been the first time the actual world was truly at stake, and it was his task to save it. But instead of doing that, he was stuck fighting a man that was supposed to be an ally.
His psyche had been walking a fragile tight rope ever since this crapshow had begun, whether Walker wanted to admit it or not, he was close to his breaking point… Or he had already crossed it and was simply lying to himself.
Ducking a heavy metal clothesline, Walker once more went for a blow with his shield, a foolish move that had been telegraphed through overuse, his foe avoiding it and the shield slicing straight through a pressurized pipe, a jet of sea water being launched into the room barely avoiding the two of them. Getting hit by such a jet would’ve been lethal, or at least incapacitate either of them.
But the force had been enough to cause the shield to get launched out of his grasp, meaning Walker no longer had the luxury of the world’s most sturdy slab of vibranium to keep him from getting his head knocked over the fences if a strike landed.
Knowing defense was no longer a realistic option for him, John tried to launch himself shoulder-first into the gut of Barnes, hoping that if he could take the fight to the ground he might find a way to get Barnes into a sleeper hold, or simply punch his lights out. It was a kitchen sink move for a kitchen sink situation.
Time was running out, and the more they wasted time fighting the more Rogers got to finish the job…
TAG: James Barnes, Tony Stark// NOTES: It’s alright, feel free to work towards a fight-finish, or set something up. // WORDS: 500 words
Can you tell me Doctor, why I still can't get to sleep
And night time’s just a jungle dark, and a barking M16
“You don't know anything about him.” James snarled through his attacks. What would Walker know? Some fake pillar of what Steve was, or is. A boy playing dress ups with his mentors outfit. And even if Steve was just using him, then Steve had every right to, without judgement from the likes of Walker. His attempts at reasoning with James only increased the anger he was receiving, and James could feel something in his head starting to stress. The beginnings of one hell of a headache. The backtrack when reasoning didn’t work did slow the assault somewhat, but only marginally.
Unfortunately for James, his goading of his now opponent made the man think rashly and as he avoided a blow from the shield and watched it slice through a water pipe, he was doused with the side-spray of water and moved out of the way of the liquid before it could burst further and do some actual damage to him. The distraction was enough for Walker to catch up in regards to the fight and as James’ gaze slid to the shield, Walker lunged forward, punching James in the stomach with his shoulder and eliciting and oomph from the assassin as he was pushed back into the wall.
A sharp chuckle tore through his vocal chords, lacking the usual lustre of a full bellied insult. James grabbed at what he could of Walker, but all he was connecting with was the material of his suit. “It really doesn’t bother you that you’re so pathetic?” He snarled, pushing off the wall and trying to unbalance the both of them. “You have neither the strength or the training to fight someone like me.” Although he was certainly giving it a good shot, and was even coming up quite even against the assassin. How long would that last though? Did Walker have the endurance to fight him, was the real question.
Between ragged breaths, John continued struggling against the ongoing onslaught of the angered assassin who clearly had little issue in wanting to hurt him a lot, probably not even thinking twice about snuffing his lights out if the opportunity arose during the fight. Whatever sway Steve had over Barnes, it was a powerful one that worked even with Rogers out of sight and out of mind, even Walker’s own mind was still reeling from whatever the former captain had done to it.
But at least for Walker, the longer the fight went the more ‘in tune’ his mind came with the motions of battle, the unconscious part of his psyche taking over and letting him do the things he was trained from a young age to do. He had been a soldier way before he had become ‘super’, very much like Barnes had been a soldier before he had been turned into a mindless killer, but his assailant’s mind had been infinitely more frayed than his had been, and the addition of the emotions he felt for Steve Rogers made the effects of Steve’s mental torture significantly longer lasting, it seemed at least.
It also meant that if Walker’s head was clearing up from the ‘light treatment’, it had to mean that there had to be some sort of comparative thing going on in the head of the Winter Soldier, although taking significantly longer due to whatever Rogers had done. It meant that Walker had to keep his more basic human instincts subdued, and simply focus on incapacitating his foe rather than going for the jugular. He was supposed to be the best of humanity, at least that was the job description, it had to be moments like this one where he made it happen.
Such goals were easier said than done, though. And in the heat of life and death combat, options were thrown out of the window in favor of the quickest and most efficient choice a combatant could make. And if he hadn't thrown away his knife earlier, the fight would probably have been finished sooner.
Once more dodging a few shots to the face, Walker instinctively scanned the room for those quick choices. There was his shield, looking on from the sidelines, there was a pipe of highly pressurized sea water that could rip someone’s arm off in a second… and was also filling up this room, meaning disaster for both of them.
Rolling away, Walker got to a knee and goaded Barnes into kicking him straight into the chest. The air being blasted out of his lungs, the force causing his body to ragdoll a few yards through the room. Coughing up some blood, Walker cracked a wry smile as his infuriated opponent smelt blood in the water.
’Snap out of it, Barnes. This is bigger than the both of us right now!‘ Walker yelled, hacking and coughing from what had to be at the very least cracked ribs.
Ultimately, it was an idiotic attempt at a ruse which would fail if his body hadn’t been enhanced or his opponent hadn’t been turned into a berserking madman. But in this rare situation, it worked, and the moment Barnes went for the finishing blow he used the last shred of his energy to counter it and grab Barnes into a sleeper choke.
’I’m sorry about this, Barnes.‘ Walker gritted, keeping the choke tight and turning in such a way that left Barnes’ head defenseless from a knee strike to the dome. When the first one didn’t do the trick, the second one made sure as he felt the body of the Winter Soldier go limp as not even a man as enhanced as him could take unprotected shot to the head.
Checking Barnes’ pulse, Walker let out a tired smile. ’You’re gonna have a killer headache in the morning, James… If Rogers hasn’t ruined everything by then…‘ he spoke to an unconscious but alive enemy.
Using his free arm to grab the shield from the floor, he pulled Barnes back into the main hallway, slamming an emergency button that closed down the flooding room, hopefully slowing down the speed at which this base was going to go into the drink.
Calming down, he focused on relaying what had just happened to the other member of the group... ’Tony, if you can hear this. Whatever you do don’t trust Rogers, someone messed with his head… Barnes and me, we got into some complications.‘ tapping his comm a few times, he simply hoped that Stark could receive his message.
Right now though, he wasn’t going to sit the rest of the play out, he had to get back into the game, and catch back up to the line of scrimmage. This game wasn’t won or lost yet, and his gut was telling him they would need every capable body to stop whatever Rogers had in mind.
He just hoped Stark was doing better than he was right now…
TAG: James Barnes , Tony Stark // NOTES: Hope it’s good enough, J. And time to go to Steve and Tony! // WORDS: 800 words
It didn't take long for Tony to get to the door he'd pegged as his best bet for entry into sub-level five, which contained the devices and machinery that he needed to keep away from the invading forces. Of course, a containment breach meant that the door he'd wanted to go through wasn't in operation and he found himself boosting through the water towards the breach itself and pushing inside that way.
Taking stock of the area around himself, he found scraps that he could use to seal off the breach and got to work welding them onto the building from the inside. It was slower going than he would have liked, but eventually he had what he hoped to be a water-tight seal. "FRIDAY, get the computer to drain the area behind the pressure doors," he instructed and soon enough the emergency functions were under way.
The amount of water that had gotten in took some time to drain through and Tony made his way towards one of the pressure doors that had sealed off the rest of the facility when the breach happened, waiting until FRIDAY got the all-clear from the facility's computer before overriding the code to open it and stepping through. The people that had previously been in this sector had either evacuated or re-joined the fight elsewhere, as it was empty except for unfortunate corpses.
Tony grimaced beneath the Iron Man mask, but looked over the more accurate schematics that FRIDAY had pulled up for him from the security feeds while interfacing with the computers in the facility.
Sights set on the equipment he needed to get to before the enemy, Tony flagged other structural damage along the way. Should he fix it now or prioritize the device? If the damage was allowed to stand it could wind up destroying their chances of making their way out of this, but time was of the essence. "FRIDAY, which of this damage is the most dangerous?" he asked as he began to make his way through the facility as quietly as one could in a suit of armor.
There were a few moments of silence from the AI before she replied. "I've identified the two locations where the structural damage is most threatening to the integrity of the facility and marked them on your readout, Boss. I recommend stabilizing those areas before continuing on your initial trajectory."
Tony sighed a bit at the change of plans, but changed his route to get to the nearest issue.
"Enemy combatants ahead, Boss," FRIDAY added as he approached and he let out a frustrated noise. Dammit, this was going to take too long.
Conserving his energy reserves was always important in the suit, even more so when he didn't have easy access to a backup one, but he couldn't risk not getting to the device in time, so Tony used everything at his disposal to blast through the powered creeps that were wreaking havoc on the facility before sealing off the second breach in much the same way as he had the first after overriding the door just long enough to slip through. He rushed to the second spot FRIDAY had marked for him to repeat the process, aware that time was ticking down almost as quickly as his energy reserves.
"FRIDAY, I know its a longshot as to getting here on time, but send another suit this way," he ordered, trying to calculate how quickly it could get there. Probably just slow enough to be too slow. Either way, he rushed towards the last point on his map as quickly as he could, taking shortcuts where he could find them.
Just as he was about to reach the area he needed, Walker's voice came through the comms. Something had happened to Steve? What had happened to him? Why was he here? Tony tried to push the thoughts and the warning to the back of his mind as he quickly broke the codes on the door to the room he needed. The codes for the equipment itself, however... those were more complicated. He'd need to spend time with them.
He stopped short when he saw Rogers at the terminal. Well, he supposed that he'd be getting an answer as to what was wrong with him sooner rather than later. "Step away from the console, Steve," he said, checking his power levels and cursing to himself internally at how low they were.
Steve's fingers typed away at the board. The native body had gotten out of the ice ten years sooner and his typing speeds were far and away superior. Finishing plugging in the codes, he pulled up the command prompt. Green light was cast over his face as he navigated the settings. Choosing the city fifty miles away, he committed the coordinates and activated the machine. The command prompt shifted over to a new screen.
'System targeting...' the progress bar quickly climbed through the percentages as the console sent commands to the equipment.
'Generating sustained frequency in...'
The clock started countdown from five minutes--a necessary precaution in case any of the ranking officers or the President decided to abort the attack. There was no way to override it, either. Knowing he'd have to play the waiting game, Steve moved to seal the manual deadbolts, but didn't even get two steps from the terminal before Stark stepped through the doorway.
"Okay," Steve strode a few steps forward. He doubted Tony had the codes necessary the abort the command, and he knew the genius was smart enough not to destroy the machine when it might simply commit the weapon to its target. That meant Stark would need to get physical access to the terminal in order to plug in some sort of spike for an override. Steve was going to make sure that didn't happen.
The virtually imperceptible lashes flickered momentarily into existence and then disappeared as they arced out to strike the armor, fully intending to clinch the plates. In that same moment, he flexed the energy shield to life, forming a pulsing wall of mostly transparent energy, lined with a band of white light that dripped sparks. Charging forward, he held the shield close to him, hoping the lashes would cut, strike and burn and let him get in close enough for a melee assault.
((I'll post with my template later. Right now they're refusing to let me access the codes.))
Notes: somehow this got removed from my list i'm sorry - the lashes are crushing his arm and leg and his ribcage is not doing so hot either - many broken bones! Tagged:Steve Rogers
Tony's eyes narrowed behind the mask as Steve simply did as he was told. That was entirely unlike him. He aimed one hand at the other man as he stepped closer to the console. Steve had already started it. Dammit. "Friday, get in there and find the overrides for the system."
"You got it, boss. It'll have to be entered manually when I find it," the AI responded and Tony focused his attention back to Steve completely - a second too late.
Something caught around his armor - the arm that he'd aimed and leg beneath it - and Tony winced as he could feel the heat of whatever it was that had caught him. He blasted at Steve with his free right hand, but it bounced off the holographic shield that had appeared, leaving Tony to try again as Steve approached, to little avail.
The lashes around his arm and leg tightened and he could feel the plates crushing under the pressure and cutting into his skin underneath.
What was wrong with Steve? This was a man that was supposed to be good and incorruptible. What was going on here?
Tony fired again, trying to scramble out of the way only for Steve to ram full-power into his chest due to whatever was holding Tony keeping him from his move. He cursed as he felt the weight of Steve crush into his chest, the plate crumpling inwards and forcing the breath from his lungs. Tony charged the unibeam as a last-ditch to get Steve away from him, letting out a scream of pain as the lashes tightened again before firing the unibeam.
Feeling the threads ensnare the armor, the soldier's face remained neutral. Untelling. When the natural counterattack came, he twisted the shield into its path. The collision made the wall of energy bleed sparks, but the shield was otherwise unaffected. The field that formed its shape had neutralized or redirected what had come in contact with it.
Tightening the threads with thought, he watched as their unseen heat cooked the surrounding metal. It would likely weaken it further and force the suit to redirect its energies to fire suppression and temperature control. Backed by a hidden strength, the lashes pressed deeper, cracking and heating until they could burn and cut into the flesh beneath them.
That was when Steve briefly smiled. Though it was so slight it was hard to see at all.
Sprinting forward, Steve let the psionic effects of the threads amplify now that he was ensnared. The trade off was that the physical burning was more mild, but since they'd already penetrated the armor, Rogers felt it was a natural sacrifice. Deflecting the first blast, he cleared the distance and wound up for a finger-tip strike toward the arc-reactor. The plate around it bowed and Steve wound up again.
Recognizing the sound of the charging unibeam, he dipped quickly to the side, keeping his shield up to block the more exposed portion. The discharge still clipped his shoulder, though, and the heat and concussive force buffeted him back a dozen feet. His uniform smoldered and his shouldered bled dark, coagulating blood onto his scorched flesh. But the injury was far less than it would have been were he normal.
Flexing the lashes, Steve willed pure rage into the other man and kicked a chair his way so that he could arc around and close the distance between them once more.
Notes: kay tony's out for the count. someone else is gonna have to snap steve out of it so the weapon can stop Tagged:Steve Rogers & James Barnes & John Walker
He could feel his bones giving way under the assault on the suit and he knew that was going to be a shitty thing to recover from. The armor would hopefully keep him held together until he could get medical help, but that was looking less and less likely as the lashes burned deeper into the metal and it crunched further into bone.
The hit to his chest pushed the air from his lungs and Tony choked as he tried to breathe again. It was too much. He knew that he couldn't keep this going for long. He pinged their location out to the rest of the group and got on comms as calmly as he could, though the pain was clearly laced in his voice. "I need backup down here I can't last much longer and the weapon is armed," he choked out to the others as he attempted to counter the next attack.
It didn't help that this whole thing made him so damn angry that he could barely think straight anymore. What was wrong with Steve? How had it gotten to this point? There had to be more going on here than he knew and that just pissed him off even more because he should be able to figure shit like this out. He shouldn't be lagging so far behind.
Gritting his jaw against the anger that was making it harder to concentrate, he fired a few more shots off at Steve as he watched the power to the suit plummet even further.
"Boss, we're at ten percent power," FRIDAY reminded.
"I can see that," he snapped, "Status. Now."
"The hack is at a stand-still. The terminal will need manual attention."
"Options," he gritted out as he felt another bone crunch from Steve's onslaught.
"There's a component that will bring the targeting offline if it goes offline," FRIDAY said, highlighting it in the HUD.
It was the only thing he had, so he turned the last of the suit's reserves to the part of the console that she'd pointed out and fired. Smoke followed the shot and the only thing that Tony could really hope was that it had worked, as his inattention let Steve's next blow land a crack in his helmet that knocked him - painfully - out.
When the genius asked for his options, Steve's onslaught picked up. His strikes turned from perfect and measured to rapid and brutal, sacrificing precision for power. Whatever answers FRIDAY had for him, Steve couldn't allow them to be passed on. Tony was the only credible threat to the success of the mission.
His increased efforts did not prove fruitful as a blast went wide and struck something behind him--undoubtedly the terminal. Gritting his teeth, he balled his fist tight and struck the man hard across the helmet, denting it across the slit in the visor. Stark went down like a ton of bricks.
Steve then turned to survey the damage to the machine, which smoked blue and spat intermittent sparks from the section Tony blasted. As he looked it over, a new prompt was brought up on the console's display with a quick, two-note beep. 'Targeting Systems Offline... Weapon Inoperable'. Giving a severe frown and pausing for only a moment, the veteran turned from the machine and set his sights on the prone avenger. Pressing his fingertips to an earpiece, he opened a secure line of communication.
"The weapon's targeting systems have been knocked offline. Delta, see if you can manually position it from the exterior. Sigma, Beta, guard Delta until they have an answer. I'm on route." Removing his fingertips from the earpiece to kill vox, a quick series of replies followed, inaudible to all but him.
"Roger that."
"On it."
"On our way."
With only a fleeting pause after their words, Steve quietly pulled his sidearm from its unbuttoned holster. Keeping his shield aloft and tight against his chest, the veteran began his approach with guarded steps. Stopping a few feet to the right of the billionaire's legs, the soldier lined up his shot. The barrel was positioned for the scantly armored slit in the visor of the mask.
John could hear the crackle of the radio in his ear, as Tony undoubtedly was trying to tell him things from the control room. But whatever was going on had managed to jam the communications beyond intelligibility, but John knew it wasn’t going to be sunshine and rainbows down there, because Rogers had undoubtedly used Bucky to have a face-to-face with Stark whilst John was stuck fighting his ally.
Despite Barnes having put him through the grinder, the adrenaline surging through his serum-enhanced body prevented him from stalling and breaking down. There were people counting on the three of them to stop Rogers and whatever he had planned for the world, and it could just so easily be that he was the only one left standing that could put a stop to the doomsday scenario.
It was when he made it near the control room when Walker truly realized when he was on his own, his comms coming alive again but this time the message being clear as day. "Tony Stark has been knocked out trying to take out the weapon…"
Pressing his back against the wall, Walker needed a second to realize this was the personalized AI that Tony was using. Something he hadn’t the chance to speak to before today.
’What’s the status on Rogers?‘ He asked the AI who he remembered was being called FRIDAY by Tony.
"Steve Rogers is currently present, he just relayed an order to reset the weapon from the outside. I fear his next actions might be focused on further harming Tony…" the voice told Walker, who had a hard time believing the AI had any notion of fear beyond its dictionary definition.
Feeling around in what pockets he had, he pulled out a handful of scrambler grenades the eggheads at SHIELD had designed. A mix of all the good stuff, it would blind, deafen, stun the target, and hit everything with a low-yield EMP to top it all off. The latter part would help, but at the same time provide some issues for the AI present in the room.
’I’m afraid I’ll have to give you a headache, FRIDAY. But it might be my only shot to stop Steve, and save you and Tony.‘ Walker explained, setting up the door for an explosive entry.
"Whatever needs to be done, I suggest you make it quick, Mr. Walker." the machine spoke directly to him just as he finished his preparations and set himself up towards the blast with the shield in front of him. He had mere split-seconds to make this happen, and the entry combined with the grenades would hopefully catch Rogers off guard enough to stun him for long enough.
Taking a deep breath, Walker pressed the trigger and in a spectacular blast the door was blasted off its hinges. Without a second thought he threw the grenades into the room, and used the vibranium shield to protect him from their worst effects. But even then, the blasts were enough to make his ears ring and push the air out of his lungs. If it was bad for his enhanced body, he could only wonder what it would do to an ordinary person… In this case he could only wonder because Rogers was anything but ordinary.
Dropping the shield lower and grabbing his sidearm, he breathed a small sigh of relief noticing Rogers had also been affected by the scramblers. And the static in his earpiece meant that the emp had also done its work.
Seeing that Rogers was armed and pointing at the knocked out Stark, though, it meant that he had no time to dally and faff about. He had to level his gun, and squeeze off multiple rounds onto the mass of Rogers, which would temporarily incapacitate the superhuman, but probably not be enough to kill or keep him down indefinitely.
Stepping closer to Rogers, he kicked away the gun he had been pointing at Stark. Pushing his vibranium shield into his chest, he kept all his weight on him to pin him down.
’Tony, are you alright?!‘ He queried to no answer. ’FRIDAY, report…‘ he followed up, to static on his headset.
Gritting his teeth, he glanced at the dead inside the control room. Rogers’ madness had known no mercy, no semblance of humanity. A complete slaughter, men and women, all the innocent victims thrown into a meatgrinder for reasons that Walker could barely comprehend.
’What the hell did you do, Rogers?!‘ he angrily shouted into the face of a man he once saw as a personal idol, a hero.
’So many dead, for an act of complete madness!‘ Walker continued to shout, not even expecting the man to even give him an answer beyond even more insanity. He could even see it in the man’s eyes, whatever was behind them couldn’t be the real Steve Rogers, Walker knew that such a man wouldn’t even imagine committing genocide under any circumstance.
’I can’t let you live, not after all this. Not with whatever powers you gained, you’re just too dangerous to keep alive.‘ he admitted openly, his own eyes bloodshot and his mind completely frayed by the day’s experiences, his own feeling of betrayal weighing as heavy as lead. And with nobody else
The only option was putting the man down before he could regain his strength, make sure he wouldn’t be able to manipulate even more people to do unspeakable acts, to make people suffer unspeakable pains and horrors.
In his mind, the decision was a simple one, a calculated one. One that wasn’t disputed because there was nobody awake to dispute it.
Cocking the hammer of his gun, he put it between the eyes of Rogers, taking a deep breath and preparing to squeeze the trigger to finish this madness once and for all…
Can you tell me Doctor, why I still can't get to sleep
And night time’s just a jungle dark, and a barking M16
His question had been the last, and Walker maneuvered deftly into the perfect position to put The Winter Soldier to sleep. With one leg around his metal arm keeping it from reaching anything on Walker’s person that could be broken and prevent him from finishing his own mission. It took longer for Walker to clean him out than it would a regular person, mostly because The Winter Soldier also knew to hold his breath for as long as possible. But whatever he did, Walker stopped him in his better position and eventually, the stale air in his lungs and the lack of oxygen to his muscles caused his brain to shut down and his muscle to go limp. At one point, James was fairly certain, and it was towards the end of his conscious thought, that Walker managed to bring a knee up to strike at his temple. Or it could have been when he was passing out.
Whatever Walker had done, it had done the trick. His hold had only been enough to starve The Winter Soldier of oxygen for enough time to reset his cognitive reasoning and when James stirred a few minutes later, he was left with a pounding headache and a very blurry memory of the last hour. What he did remember was a threat. A threat to himself, and to Steve and he was on his feet, looking for whoever had made his head fill with white. Shaking it away, he retracted steps on instinct rather than memory, pulling out signifying areas as his heart pounded away in his chest.
Hauling himself up a stair well, James felt the blast from a nearby explosion and froze. Walker. He had his sights set on Steve, James knew it. Forgetting the pain in his head and the rest of his body, he took a deep breath and continued, pushing all of his efforts into turning corners with millimeters to spare. He rounded the last corner just in time to hear Walker say that he couldn’t let Steve live, and to see the man pull a gun on his brother.
Fear took a backseat to new rage. Not blind in the sense of brainwashing this time. When he was close enough and lunged for Walker, his metal hand, damaged as it was, still worked well enough to cover the hole as he rolled with Walker and then let the man go. James scrambled back to his feet and got between them, keeping as close to Steve as possible, one hand positioned behind him to make sure he was close enough to Steve, and the other held up for Walker to see he wasn’t making any further moves. “I can’t stand by a let you shoot my brother, John. I won’t.” His voice wasn’t the taunting of a brainwashed puppet, but a plea masked by self-assurance. “I can talk to him, John. I know I can, but I won’t let you kill him.” He took a deep breath and looked down at Steve, sacrificing his vision of Walker to try and get through to Steve. “I can get through to him.”
The grenade hit the floor and Steve leapt up into the air, throwing the shield in front of him and tucking his body behind it to protect himself from the explosion. It was an instinctive reaction, and one that was not suited to this weapon. Though the shield absorbed most of the brunt of the attack and was unaffected by the EMP, sound still traveled and the light burned through his shut eyes as arcs of energy flared up from the floor, wrapping around him.
Landing less than a moment later, Steve was knocked prone. His ears rang shrilly like he'd been next to an artillery discharge, his eyes were blinded. But he could still feel the vibration of an approach. Trying to move his arm, he found himself paralyzed. A moment later, weight bore down upon him. What little vision returned only allowed him to see vague shapes and bleeding colors.
His pupils flashed red when he felt the barrel of a gun against his skull. The threads flickered but he could not direct them as he wanted. Instead one went wide, clipping the nearby wall and scoring it with cinders.
"He'll remake this world." The veteran said, watching his final moments with defiance as his vision grew steadily clearer. Sound was slowly returning to him.
He was freed a moment later as a second silhouette wrested Walker off of him. Bracing his palms against the floor, he struggled to push himself to his feet. His movements were a little disoriented as he was wracked with the lingering effects of the grenade, but each moment he was recovering. The voice was familiar and reached some part of him that had been contained, though whether it was the rescue or the grenade or the effects of both could not be said.
"Bucky?" Steve asked. Clenching his eyes shut, he was wracked by a wave of pain that nearly doubled him over. Opening his eyes again, he now saw the other man clearly. Pressing his lips into a tight line, he pulled the shield to his chest and kept his hand near his sidearm. But he did not follow through, instead looking pained, angered and confused.
The lashes flickered through the air, now striking around the room indiscriminately.
John Walker you can be up, or if you want, Jeoff can take it and we can do Bucky-Steve heart-to-heart attempt. Just let Jeoff know if that's what you decide.
Last Edit: Jun 13, 2017 3:18:35 GMT by Steve Rogers
Can you tell me Doctor, why I still can't get to sleep
And night time’s just a jungle dark, and a barking M16
He could hear Walker scrambling back to his feet as he looked away, and heard the sound of the man preparing his gun again. James didn’t care. Walker would have to kill him before he could get to Steve. His brother was currently battling through his own demons though, and James only spared a worried glance to Walker. This was Steve, his Steve, James knew it. As the blonde stood, the assassin kept one hand up to Walker and the other was nearby in case Steve needed help.
As the sound of his nickname, only used by his Steve left the man’s mouth, James made a sound at the back of his throat that was largely ignored and both hands went to his brother, helping him remain standing even if he didn’t need it. “Who else would it be?” He tried to smile as he watched Steve get his bearings, closing his eyes and struggling to remain upright for a moment. Worry hit him again when the blonde brought his shield up and instinctively, knowing there was a danger behind him, put his hand back up to stop Walker from making any moves. If nothing else, James would be the first casualty if either of them decided to fire.
“Steve, it's me. It is me. It's Bucky.” Maybe his confirmation hadn't hit yet. “Please don't do this.” He pleaded, softer and just loud enough for only Steve to hear. James winced as the lashes from before struck the room around them. Not his Steve. “I know what it's like, Steve. I know what it's like to have your brain broken and you're trying to fit the pieces together, but I know you, of all people, can fight it. You don't have to wait for someone to find you. I found you.” He stepped forward, ignoring the flicks of the lashes against his back and legs and held the top of the shield. “I can't lose you, Steve. I need you to fight this.”
Mostly, it was selfish desire to not see his brother being brainwashed. He knew all too well what that was like, and if anyone didn't deserve it, it was Steve. He was a good man, and it hurt to see him like this. “Don't go back, Steve. Stay with me.” He begged quietly, over the shield.
