Hearing this, A-Train couldn't help but applaud. "Impressive," He said. "I'm genuinely surprised SHIELD could go this far. But don't forget—the Joker Organization never fights alone."
Steve replied with absolute confidence, "Jarvis has been monitoring the battlefield. Within a thousand-meter radius, there isn't a single soul besides us."
"Maybe you're right," A-Train countered. "But don't forget, not all members of the Joker Organization are human."
Steve shook his head in disappointment and deployed his full arsenal. "Stop trying to stall. Your life ends here."
As soon as he spoke, the weapon bays of the Iron Armor opened fire simultaneously. Hundreds of specialized micro-missiles streaked toward fixed positions within the trap zone. It was clear Steve intended to saturate the entire area with fire, leaving no blind spots.
"Stalling?"
With crisis looming, A-Train didn't panic in the slightest. He looked up directly at the incoming missiles and chuckled. "I don't need to!"
BOOM!
The missiles hit their marks and detonated, instantly turning the trap zone into a sea of fire. Four barrier locks kept the boiling flames tightly contained, forcing them to surge upward along the walls of the barrier.
Steve immediately dodged away. The fire erupted from the top of the barrier like a volcanic eruption, raining down as a sheet of flame that ignited all the surrounding trees. Looking into the barrier from the outside, the blue-purple cube had turned glowing red, like a towering crimson monolith.
If Jason were here, the familiarity of this scene might have awakened some of his memories.
"Stark's weaponry is really something..." Looking at his handiwork, Steve couldn't help but feel a touch of admiration amidst his surprise. The Stark family produced nothing but geniuses; whether it was Howard or Tony, they were era-defining masters of weaponry.
"The temperature of those flames is high enough to melt a tank into liquid iron. A-Train might have superpowers, but he's still flesh and blood. There shouldn't even be bones left by now."
Steve hovered in mid-air. Once the flames inside had mostly died down, he retracted his faceplate and slowly descended to the ground.
Fire and water truly are merciless. What was a lush forest moments ago was now scorched earth. Countless plants and animals had perished in the inferno, and the air temperature remained terrifyingly high.
Steve searched as he walked, hoping to find at least a fragment of bone. Instead, he stumbled upon a pitch-black, hemispherical object.
What is this?
Steve leaned in for a closer look. The suspicious sphere was about ten meters in diameter, its surface covered in charred soot, revealing nothing. Steve raised his hand, preparing to blast it with a repulsor ray to see what would happen.
BANG!
After one shot, the thing remained unscathed.
It's incredibly hard!
CRACK!
Just as Steve was preparing a second shot, a sharp sound reached his ears. It was cracking open!
To be safe, he powered up his thrusters to hover in the air, repulsors at the ready. The cracking sound grew louder, and numerous fissures appeared on the surface of the sphere. With a loud crash, the structure collapsed, revealing two figures inside.
Steve's pupils dilated as he gasped, "You..."
"I warned you," A-Train emerged completely unharmed. He brushed the dust off his shoulder and turned his head. "Didn't I, Alex?"
Since he knew A-Train was going to do a live broadcast, Alex obviously didn't want to miss it. However, he was worried that if he stayed out in the open, A-Train might be too embarrassed to go all out. So, he had decomposed his body into a mass of biomass, hiding in the bushes like a nest of small snakes, leaving only a pair of eyes to watch the show.
He hadn't expected to get caught in Steve's trap along with A-Train. Fortunately, this trap was specifically designed for A-Train's speed. For Alex, who can regenerate from a single cell, this was nothing. A-Train had spotted him while looking for an exit, leading to this moment. As for the charred object, it was simply a protective shell Alex had fashioned from his own flesh.
"Hey Steve, long time no see!" Alex returned to his human form and waved.
"..." Steve slid his faceplate open, staring at him with a cold, dead expression.
Stay calm. Stay calm. I have to stay calm.
Seeing his enemy made his blood boil, but Steve forced himself to maintain control. Impulsiveness was a demon; it solved nothing and only created a fatal weakness.
Seeing Steve's frozen silence, Alex played his trump card.
"I recall the anniversary of Sharon and Peggy's deaths was just a few days ago. Did you visit their graves? Or, you could tell me where the cemetery is, and I'll go pay my respects personally."
THUD.
The words hit Steve like a sledgehammer to the chest. His lips trembled, his eyes became bloodshot, and a surge of white-hot rage rushed to his brain. The scene he had spent over a year trying to forget involuntarily flashed before his eyes.
Seeing Steve clench his fists, Alex smiled. He was deliberately provoking Steve because he wanted to break him all over again. Last time, he hadn't just paralyzed Steve; he had shattered his will to fight.
According to reports, Steve had spent the last year in a daze, doing nothing but drowning his days in alcohol. Alex didn't care how he had recovered or where he got the custom armor from Stark—it didn't matter.
How many times does a person have to be crushed before they lose all hope and choose suicide? Alex wanted to know the answer. That's why he didn't plan on killing Steve this time, either. He wanted to kill Natasha right in front of him, dragging him back into the hell of guilt and despair.
Alex: "Do me a favor."
A-Train: "You saved my life. Ask anything."
Alex: "Help me grab that woman. I want her to watch the show."
A-Train: "No problem, but I can't get out of the barrier."
"I'll help you." Alex placed a hand on his shoulder as strands of biomass surged from his body. He wrapped A-Train from head to toe until he looked like a mummy.
Alex: "With this on, the lightning won't hurt you. Go ahead."
A-Train gave an appreciative thumbs-up.
Alex looked back at Steve. "I know you want to save her, so let's play a game. Just like last time: if you win, I let her go. But if you lose..."
"You fucking piece of shit! Not this time!" Steve snapped back to reality, firing two full-power repulsor blasts.
WHOOSH!
In a flash, A-Train vanished.
Steve turned back in a panic, accelerating toward the exit. "Dammit!"
In a split second, he decided to ignore Alex and save Natasha. While killing Alex with his own hands was his life's greatest wish, saving the living was far more meaningful than avenging the dead.
"Hey! Do you really have the energy to worry about someone else?"
Steve whipped his head around to see a pair of steel claws inches from him. He quickly raised his arm, blocking with his shield.
CLANG!
The claws slammed into the shield, sending sparks flying everywhere.
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You can read advance chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.
pat reon.com/GreenBlue17
500 power stones.
Top 100. All time.