"Specifically? I'm not sure either. You'll have to ask Karl about that."
Tony shrugged. Honestly, he barely even knew who Bucky Barnes was. If Bucky hadn't been involved in the bombing, Tony probably wouldn't even know Steve had a wartime best friend.
Very quickly, Nick Fury called Karl through an encrypted line. It was one of the communication channels Tony had set up for the Avengers back in the day.
"Karl, we need to ask you something."
As soon as the call connected, Fury switched on speaker mode and activated the video feed.
"Karl, it's Tony. What's the deal with this fake Bucky?"
Tony immediately asked.
"So you found out?"
Karl sounded slightly surprised, though he instantly figured out what happened. Gwen and the others must have told them. He had only mentioned it to Gwen, Skye, and Wanda—and he'd conveniently left out the part where he personally killed the real Bucky.
"We know."
Tony nodded.
"I don't know all the details either. I only know that the real Bucky is dead, and the current one is an impostor. That part is confirmed."
Karl didn't elaborate. He intended to keep the fact that he killed Bucky buried forever. Nobody had witnessed it anyway, and Bucky had been wearing a mask at the time. Who would've recognized him? Even Steve hadn't.
"We need to notify Steve immediately."
Natasha said at once. Unfortunately, they had no reliable way to contact him—not even Sharon could reach him. The only option was to find him first.
Suddenly, Natasha's communicator buzzed.
"Agent Romanoff, we found Captain America's location. Signal traces place him at the airport."
A field agent reported Steve's position.
"They found them. They're at the airport."
Natasha immediately informed the others.
"Then move out immediately. And remember—capture the fake Bucky alive. We need him to reveal Zemo's whereabouts."
Fury said while pulling out his communicator to contact Coulson.
Once Steve's location was confirmed, Tony took Natasha and Peter and headed out at once.
---
At the airport, Steve and the others had already secured a helicopter and were preparing to leave when blaring alarms suddenly interrupted them.
"Looks like we've been spotted. Suit up immediately!"
Steve ordered decisively. Since a fight was unavoidable, they might as well face it head-on.
The group quickly donned their gear and rushed toward the helipad. The helicopter was still intact, but just as Steve was about to board it, a red device suddenly slammed into the fuselage.
A burst of high-voltage electricity crackled through the aircraft, and smoke instantly poured out from the engine.
In the sky above, Tony hovered in his nanotech armor. The device he'd fired was an electromagnetic pulse charge.
A moment later, Tony and Rhodey descended from the air, landing directly in front of Steve.
"Listen, Steve. The situation is critical right now. You need to come back with me. We'll sort everything out once we're back."
Tony didn't want to alarm the enemy by exposing the fake Bucky's identity too soon, so he could only pretend he wanted them back for questioning and try to lure the impostor back to the base.
Naturally, Steve didn't buy it.
"Tony, I can't surrender. None of this was Bucky's choice. He was brainwashed. The real culprit is someone else, and I need to find him!"
There was no way Steve would go back with Tony. Tony hadn't believed him before, and Steve was convinced they had to investigate this themselves.
Just as Tony was about to continue, two figures suddenly appeared, leaping high into the air before landing between Tony and Steve.
Black Panther T'Challa and Erik Killmonger.
And with Black Panther's arrival, the balance between Tony and Steve shattered completely. T'Challa and Erik belonged to neither side.
"Steve, Ross gave me seventy-two hours to bring you back. One day's already passed. I have to take you in and calm this whole situation down first."
Tony retracted his helmet. He wasn't sure Steve would trust him otherwise.
"You're arresting the wrong person, Tony."
Steve immediately replied.
"No, Captain. We're not arresting the wrong person. Trust me—your old war buddy has serious problems."
"I know. HYDRA brainwashed him. During missions, he wasn't even conscious of what he was doing. He wasn't in control. You can't blame him entirely."
Steve thought Tony was referring to the bombing incident. He never once considered that this Bucky himself might be the problem.
"Steve, Tony's right this time. You need to come back with us. All of you—including Bucky."
Natasha suddenly appeared behind Steve and echoed Tony's words.
"No. Impossible. Listen to me—you're seeing this all wrong."
Steve still refused to budge.
"Then we don't have a choice. Sorry, Steve."
Tony sighed heavily. He couldn't directly expose Bucky as a fake in front of everyone, or the impostor might flee immediately. If that happened, catching him would become much harder.
"Peter!"
Tony shouted.
A web suddenly shot through the air, snatching Steve's shield away, followed by another that wrapped around his arms.
Peter flipped gracefully through the air and landed atop a truck in a classic superhero pose. He even had enough spare energy to mimic one of Captain America's trademark stances.
"Whoa~~ I finally get to fight like Captain America! But seriously, how does this shield always bounce back? Like this?"
Peter babbled nonstop while pretending to throw the shield.
"Hmm, I don't think my stance is quite right. Does this move really work? Wouldn't it throw out your back?"
"Okay, okay, Peter~~ we got it. This is a serious moment."
Tony quickly cut him off before Peter kept rambling forever.
"Steve, you've already dragged too many people into this. Barton, Scott, Sam—they're all about to become fugitives too. Now, right now, come back with us. Once we're back, I'll explain everything."
Tony was losing patience. From the beginning until now, he still hadn't seen the fake Bucky. He was starting to suspect Steve was deliberately stalling while giving Bucky time to escape.
"Steve, stop tearing the Avengers apart."
"Tony, the Avengers split the moment you signed that agreement. Look at us now—we're fugitives. And what did we even do? Our only crime was refusing to sign that damned treaty."
"Okay~~ Steve, hand over that damn Barnes already and come with us!"
Tony had finally run out of patience. He didn't want to argue anymore. If necessary, he'd drag Steve back by force and make him see just how badly he'd been fooled.
"Cap, we found it. There's a Quinjet parked on the runway behind us."
Sam's voice rang out.
Standing beside him was the fake Bucky.
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