Red Skull's Hydra Base Hangar
The loud booms of heavy impacts, clanking of metal meeting metal, and sound of gunfire echoed out while flashes of green, red, and blue light could be seen on one side of the hangar as Clark and his allied faced off against Metallo and the three remaining Maschinensoldaten while Hydra reinforcements came to their aid. Clark was thrown back and tumbled to the ground after being hit by a Kryptonite energy beam when he saw Red Skull and Savage run into the hangar towards their massive bomber jet. His eyes glowed red and he was about to fire a burst of his heat vision when he was left foot was grabbed and he was yanked away, causing his heat vision to veer off to the side. Metallo got on top of him and pushed his head to the side, forcing his heat vision away from hitting him while he punched him in the stomach and chest repeatedly. The lead plates in Clark's suit cracked and crumbled with each blow as Clark struggled to get him off until Amaya leapt on him from behind.
The aura of a large anaconda appeared around her before she wrapped her arms around the arm Metallo was using to punch Clark while her legs wrapped around the arm holding his face to the side and pulled. She was able to pull him off and restrict his movements before falling back and throwing him to the ground. Metallo quickly got up and threw out a punch but Amaya slipped between his legs and wrapped her arms around his left leg. With a vice grip she pulled as she rolled to the side, forcing Metallo to one knee allowing Clark to come in with a push kick to the chest plate. The kick had enough power to crack the container holding the Kryptonite but not enough to break it. Schmidt and Savage clearly learned from the mistakes of the Maschinensoldaten for Metallo. Metallo powered up his Kryptonite heart but quickly jumped back to avoid getting hit by Shayara with her mace. Clark quickly pulled Amaya to the side to avoid getting blasted with a Kryptonite laser from a Maschinensoldaten when Dan sliced it on the side with his arm swords. Amaya rushed forward and channeled the power of the Rhino and punched it in the side when Clark saw Carter get thrown to the side so he super sped forward and punched a Maschinensoldaten away before dodging a punch from another.
While the heroes were occupied, Red Skull and Savage climbed up the ladder into the massive bomber jet, the Valkyrie, to leave before the ensuing battle nearby harmed the plane. The bomber pilots were next but only a few made it as Taskforce Vanguard and the Howling Commandos had arrived and gunned down anyone trying to climb up the ladder. More Hydra soldiers arrived on the opposite end of the hangar as the 107th began flooding in and soon the hangar quickly grew into a chaotic battleground. Red Skull and Savage managed to get into the cockpit with the former securing the Cosmic Cube into its generator which powered up. Red Skull took his place at the controls as all the systems turned on. Life support, diagnostics, bomb bay controls, and the navigation with the course charted to take it to its first target, New York City.
By now the fighting in the hangar was in full swing, which is what Steve saw when he entered. He saw the 107th pushing the offensive against Hydra who were retreating. Off to the side he saw Clark and his friends facing off against Metallo and the Maschinensoldaten but the most important thing was he saw the rocket engines on the Valkyrie power up as it turned onto the runway. Seeing his target, Steve took off running. He knocked aside one Hydra soldier with his shield before punching another in the face and then shield bashing a third as he kept running. He leapt onto a crate and jumped into the air, grabbing a chain to swing over the men fighting and clear any obstacles. When he landed back on the ground he resumed running.
Clark had a Maschinensoldaten by the leg and threw him into the ceiling which in turn caused some rubble to come down on top of him when they hit the ground. It got back up only for Clark to fire a quick burst of his heat vision at its chest, melting through the armor and the Kryptonite. With it gone he super sped forward and punched it into a wall. That took care of one Maschinensoldaten. The second was fighting a losing battle with Carter since he managed to slice off its left arm with his axe before punching the chest plate with his gauntlet and ripping the Kryptonite out. It used its right arm to grab Carter by the neck, making him drop the Kryptonite but Carter flapped his wings and took it into the air. The third was fighting against Amaya and Shayara while Dan had created metal maces on his hands to face off against Metallo. Clark turned back to the bomber and saw it leaving when he saw Steve running after it so he was about to help him when he was blasted from behind by a Kryptonite blast and tumbled to the ground, seeing Dan land next to him.
"SUPERMAN!"
Metallo leapt into the air so Superman rolled to the side to avoid getting squashed. He dug his hands into the ground a ripped out a chunk of gravel before throwing it only for Metallo to punch it to pieces and blast him in the chest with another Kryptonite blast. Superman flew back and skidded on the floor as Carter sliced the head off the Maschinensoldaten he was fighting so he could now help Clark deal with Metallo.
"Carter! Get Steve to the bomber! Hurry!" Clark shouted as he rolled to the side to avoid Metallo's punch into the ground.
Carter looked and saw Steve running after the bomber which was speeding down the runway so he flew as fast as he could. Steve ran as fast as his legs could take him but his super soldier physique couldn't outrun a bomber with rocket engines. That's when Carter flew in from behind and picked him up by the armpits. "I got you. Hang on!" Carter flapped his wings and accelerated forward, closing the distance. Still, Carter's wings wouldn't be able to outmatch rocket engines but he was able to get him closer. "Grab onto the landing gear!"
"Do it!" Steve brace himself as Carter threw him forward. Steve flew through the air and managed to grab onto one of the wheels of the landing gear. He gave Carter a thumbs up as the jet continued down the runway.
While Carter was helping Steve get onto the bomber, Shayara managed to take out the Kryptonite in the second Maschinensoldaten after a few well-placed blows with her mace thereby eliminating the serious threat and Dan managed to do the same with the third though Amaya helped. Some Hydra soldiers rushed over to try and help so Amaya made quick work of them. Clark dealt with Metallo, giving him a solid punch to the face and sidestepping a kick only to get an uppercut to the chin. He fell back and Metallo blasted Clark into the ground with his Kryptonite beam only for Dan to come in from the side and slice him with an arm sword. The blade managed to cut into the metal on Metallo's left shoulder as Dan saw the sparking of wire before he was punched back. Amaya then came in and kicked him in the face, knocking him to the ground. He got back up just as Shayara flew at him with her mace.
"His left shoulder!" Dan shouted and Shayara saw the sparking wires so she had a new target.
"HA!" Shayara brought her mace up over her head before bringing it down in a powerful blow that hit the cut Dan made earlier. In that weak spot her mace bashed through the metal armor and dug into Metallo's left shoulder.
"AH!" Metallo screamed as his left arm went limp and dropped to his side while sparks shot out from all the wires. Metallo punched Shayara away but the mace remained embedded in his shoulder until he pulled it out and tossed it aside. Seeing his left arm as useless, Metallo ripped it out of its socket and tossed it aside. Superman sped towards Metallo, picking Shayara's mace up off the ground and swung it at his chest with all his strength. A loud clang was heard as Metallo was thrown back and slammed into a wall. Somehow, Metallo managed to crawl out of the hole his body made and smirked. "Like I told you before! I am stronger than before! I am better than before! I am Metallo!"
"Maybe but one thing about machines is that they can break!" Clark then threw the mace with his super strength like it was a javelin and it flew through the air towards Metallo's chest. Flying at the speed it did, it hit with enough force to shatter the protective chest plates, damaging them and while the Kryptonite had managed to stay secure, the secondary chamber below it holding the Cosmic Cube energy was damaged. The damage caused the components to begin misfiring as it sparked with blue energy that quickly became unstable and built up with a distinct electrical hum. "Hydra's energy source isn't exactly stable!"
Metallo realized what was going to happen so he scrambled to try and remove it from his body but the hum was getting louder and energy getting brighter. "No! NO! NOO!"
[Explosion]
The Cosmic Cube chamber on Metallo's chest exploded, damaging his metal skeleton and provided the force necessary to expel the Kryptonite from its containment. It clattered to the ground as Metallo reached down to grab it but quickly froze as his usual green eyes went dim until they were not glowing anymore. Without the Kryptonite's power, there was nothing to keep Metallo operating. Dan saw the Kryptonite on the ground and turned his hand into his blaster to vaporize it.
"Thanks." Clark told them before he super sped over to the runway and saw the bomber take off into the air. With the runway, he might be able to pick up enough speed to aid his super jump to catch it. He wasn't going to let Steve face Red Skull and Savage alone. Clark looked over to the side and saw his Peggy and Colonel Phillips standing with his team as the battle was winding down. Peggy saw Clark looking at her so she gave him a smile.
"Good luck." Clark's super hearing picked up her words and he smile before he took off running down the runway. His gaze focused on the task at hand as his legs moved faster and faster, propelling him down the runway. The wind brushed against his skin and the ground cracked underneath his boots from the tremendous power in each step he took. The bomber was pulling up into the sky over the mountains, rising tremendously fast. Clark's window of opportunity to catch it before it was gone was running out. He emerged from the hangar's runway out into the open on the last two hundred feet built out of the mountain. The sun re-energized his body as he took one more step before crouching low. His muscles tensed up, the ground cracked underneath his feet and even some small pebbles began to shake and float up around his legs before Clark leapt high into the air.
[Boom!]
The biggest super jump Clark has ever done in his life left behind a large impact crater as he soared high into the air. In that moment, he felt weightless as his body defied gravity itself and ascended into the air. With Clark's fear of heights, he still felt a gnawing sensation in the pit of his stomach but it was much less than it was years ago. Alongside that gnawing sensation in his stomach there was also a sense of weightlessness, freedom…and awe. Being in the air, soaring up into the clouds felt incredible as well as terrifying. Perhaps with enough time the latter feeling would go away. Clark got closer to the bomber but as his jump passed its apex he saw it begin to slip ahead of him. He reached out his hand as he began to fall to the ground and by the tip of his fingers, literally, he dug them into the metal of the left wing and held on.
Clark was quick to reach his other hand up and dig into the metal and begin crawling his way towards the body of the aircraft. Just as quickly as he found the feeling of flying freeing and incredible, hanging onto the wing of a bomber ascending up into the clouds brought his fear of heights back with a vengeance. 'This is getting ridiculous.' Clark thought to himself as he dug his hands through metal.
[Boom]
Clark felt the bomber shake like it dropped something and soon saw something fly up over the bomber. It was a small, single-seat aircraft like a fighter plane but with a much smaller profile and a rear propeller instead of a front one. Clark used his x-ray and super vision to see it was Steve piloting the aircraft, which made him glad he was alive as well as surprised that he knew how to fly a plane. As Steve flew by in the aircraft around the front of the bomber the two gunner pods on the top of the plane turned around and began firing at him, shooting energy bolts. Steve swerved to avoid getting hit so Clark's fired two bursts of his heat vision and took out the gunner pods. He waved at Steve when he saw him fly back around and approach the bomber from the rear before crashing the bomber pod near the engines. Clark finished crawling over the wing to the center of the bomber and tore open a large enough hole for him to drop in.
Steve climbed out of the crashed bomber pod and made his way back to the bomber bay where he recovered his shield. He heard some banging and groaning of bending metal before a large hole was ripped above him and Clark jumped down. "Hey, sorry I'm late."
"No, you're right on time. Thanks for the help." Steve said, referring to taking out those cannons on the bomber.
"You're welcome." Clark replied when Steve saw something from behind.
"Get down!" Steve grabbed Clark and pulled him to the side.
[Gunshots]
The distinct crack of a German Mauser C96 pistol echoed throughout the bomber bay as Vandal Savage fired three rounds of the 7.63x25mm Mauser pistol ammo only it wasn't regular bullets as they were glowing green. The first bullet missed but the second skimmed Clark's left arm while the third hit him in the back.
"AAAAHH!" Clark fell to the ground and Steve threw his shield. It hit Savage in the stomach and knocked him back, allowing Steve to quickly pull Clark behind some cover. He saw the glowing green bullet in Clark's back having penetrated his suit and dug into his skin. The material of the suit combined with the distance of the shot was why the bullet hadn't penetrated too deep. Clark got lucky. "Pull it out."
"Hang on." Steve dug his finger's into the bullet wound as Clark groaned out, feeling tremendous, horrendous pain. Steve unfortunately dug into Clark's skin before he was able to pull out the Kryptonite bullet. Steve tossed it aside and Clark felt better as he began to heal. He got to his knees and touched his left arm, seeing the blood on his sleeve. That bullet just skimmed his arm and with the bullet that didn't penetrate too deeply in his back Clark's lucky streak saved him.
"Thanks." Clark gave Steve and thankful nod and he returned it. They looked over and saw Savage begin to get up from having the wind knocked out of him by the shield. "I'll keep him distracted. Steve, you've got to get to the cockpit and stop this plane."
"No, Kal. I can't leave you like this. Those bullets could kill you if Savage gets a lucky shot." Steve warned him.
"A lot more people will die if we don't stop this thing. Savage is obsessed with me so I can keep him here. Schmidt has to be in the cockpit. Go!" Clark ushered him on before he peaked his head out and saw Savage get up so he got up and ran in the opposite direction. Savage saw him run so he fired another bullet but missed when Clark closed the door connecting the bomber bay to the engine room. Savage ran after him and when he was gone Steve came out from cover and recovered his shield before heading to the cockpit.
The loud hum of the engines echoed throughout the room as Savage burst in when he saw Clark standing to the side. His eyes glowed red and he fired a quick burst of his heat vision but Savage was quicker and fired a bullet before diving to the side. The heat vision melted part of the walkway where he had been standing while Clark got hit in the chest with a bullet. He fell back and quickly scrambled behind some cover. He looked down to see the Kryptonite bullet embedded in his suit but he didn't feel the horrible pain as last time, just some slight discomfort from the Kryptonite being so close. He reached into his suit and pulled out the bullet to see it had bent, embedded in a small fragment of the lead plates underneath. With all the fighting at Schmidt's base, the lead plates Howard made for Clark's suit were crushed and broken. Savage's Kryptonite bullet which would have hit him in the lung was stopped by the small fragment.
"Thanks, Howard." Clark muttered before he tossed it aside when Savage fired six more shots at his general location. The Kryptonite bullets near him slowly began to have an effect so Clark crawled away to get some distance. Savage emerged from his cover and loaded his pistol with another ten-round stripper clip of Kryptonite bullets.
"Feeling injured, Captain Elbert. It took me some time to figure out the correct method for smelting Kryptonite into bullets but patience pays off. No more grand speeches! No more toying with you! This ends now!" Savage shouted.
"I couldn't agree more!" Clark poked his head out from cover and fired a burst of his heat vision at the ceiling, causing a support rafter to come down. Savage rolled forward and fired two bullets at Clark who dove to the side, managing to not get hit. Savage took aim at Clark's head and squeezed the trigger when the plane suddenly did a nose dive. The bullet came out but the sudden movement sent Clark forward and it skimmed his right cheek and the side of his head. It hurt but he didn't die. Savage slammed into one of the engines and was shocked by the energy, losing grip on his pistol as Clark grabbed onto a support pillar before letting go so he dove towards him. He slammed into Savage before grabbing him by the chest and throwing him into the ceiling. "GOODBYE SAVAGE!"
Clark's eyes unleashed a powerful beam of heat vision that engulfed Savage and pierced through the hull of the bomber, penetrating the roof, and shooting into the sky like a beacon of fire. Savage screamed in defiance at his defeat as he was incinerated before the sudden change of pressure caused a suction effect and sucked his body out through the hole Clark's heat vision made. Vandal Savage's body was partly blasted by extreme sun-like heat before being sucked out of the bomber and falling thousands of feet where it would crash down into the freezing cold Artic ocean.
The plane suddenly leveled out and Clark fell to the floor, groaning in annoyance but got up and looked at the hole he made in the ceiling. Savage was gone and Clark was sure there was no way he would survive the incineration and even if that didn't do the job then the impact of falling thousands of feet would seal the deal. Clark saw the pistol with the Kryptonite bullets on the ground so he melted it with his heat vision. Vandal Savage was defeated.
[Loud boom]
Clark turned his head to the cockpit where he heard the noise coming from and ran. He burst through the door to the cockpit and saw Steve struggling against Schmidt hand to hand as they wrestled one another for dominance. Their hands interlocked as they both pushed the other away from the glowing energy core that was sparking with blue energy like it had been damaged. Clark saw Steve's shield embedded near the door giving him the feeling that with it out of reach Steve tackled Schmidt into that glowing energy core and they were continuing to fight as it began producing whisps of energy. Clark covered his eyes from the flashes of bright light and soon enough he saw a portal open up over Schmidt and Steve revealing a glimpse into the cosmos. The energy fluctuations got more erratic and enveloped the two like an energy dome.
"Steve! Get back!" Clark rushed forward but was hit by a stray streak from the energy dome which propelled him backwards into the door. He got up and saw the energy core release a powerful pillar of energy like Clark's heat vision and it shot straight through the ceiling up into the sky. "STEVE! GET OUT OF THERE!"
Clark fired his heat vision but it couldn't penetrate the energy dome. Soon enough, the energy dome glowed brighter and brighter before Schmidt and Steve began to glow as well. Schmidt's body was enveloped by the energy as he screamed while Steve looked back at Clark. "Finish this, Kal…" Steve said before giving Clark a smile.
"STEVE!"
[Loud Boom]
Clark covered his eyes as Schmidt's body was completely enveloped by the energy before being deconstructed into a beam of light and sent skyward while the energy dome collapsed in on Steve. A powerful shockwave rung out and the light died down. The energy core cracked and sparked as the Cosmic Cube inside melted through the secured housing and then through the bottom of the plane before falling down into the water below. The cube was gone as was Steve and Schmidt. Clark would have loved the time to mourn his friend but the plane was still in the air so he had to deal with it. He rushed over to the pilot's chair and saw the navigation was locked on New York. The plane had some kind of autopilot and their course had them flying directly over the Artic. A quick scan of the controls and he realized he had a bit of a situation so he turned on the radio and dialed it to the frequency he and Taskforce Vanguard used.
"Come in! This is Captain Kalvin Elbert! Do you read me?! Is anyone there?" The radio buzzed before he heard a response.
"Captain Elbert, it's Richard we read you." Back at the Red Skull's base, they had successfully taken over the base with all the Hydra personnel either dead or captured. The 107th were in charge of cleanup and securement. Taskforce Vanguard, the Howling Commandos, Captain Phillips, Agent Carter, and Clark's friends were in the main security room for the base waiting for word from Clark or Steve about the plane. "Glad to hear from you. What is your position?"
"I'm on the plane. I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that Schmidt and Savage are dead. The bad news is the plane took a lot of damage. It's locked on autopilot and I can't override the controls. It's moving too fast and heading straight for New York. It'll get there in maybe ten minutes." Clark told them.
"Give us your coordinates, we'll find you a safe landing site."
"There's not gonna be a safe landing with this thing. It's still got six bomber pods active." Clark told them as he looked at the map again. He was currently over the Artic ocean with nothing but ice and water for miles so if there was going to be a time to take this thing out then this was it. "I'm gonna need to take it out. I'm in the middle of nowhere so no one will get hurt. I'll regroup with you all as soon as I can."
"Roger that, Captain. Where is Captain Rogers?" Colonel Phillips asked and as Clark gathered up the words to speak, he felt his throat clench up, his stomach drop and his heart ache.
"He didn't make it." Clark said and his voice trembled when he spoke. "I'm sorry, Anna. He sacrificed himself to stop Schmidt. Steve is gone." Back at the base, everyone in the room looked at Anna who looked heartbroken. Peggy gave her a comforting hug as everyone felt the loss. Hearing that they lost Steve in a noble sacrifice hurt them all. "I'm not gonna let his sacrifice be in vain. We do what he would have wanted. End Hydra once and for all. I'll see you all soon."
"Kal…" Peggy's voice came over the radio. "Be careful."
"I'll be back soon. I promise." Clark shut the radio off before he got out of the pilot's chair. He walked over to the wall where Steve's shield was embedded and yanked it out before securing it on his arm. With it firmly in his grasp he ran towards the cockpit window and bust through the glass, freefalling to the ground. Suffice to say that Clark learned freefalling to the ground was more terrifying than clinging onto the roof of a bomber but he was focused on the task at hand. He turned his body around so the bomber was in his gaze before his eyes glowed red and brighter than they ever had before as he was about to unleash the mother of all heat vision blasts. Clark was in the middle of nowhere so no one could see but his heat vision got so bright that it looked like a star was freefalling through the sky as his eyes lit up like the sun.
"RAHHHH!"
The most powerful and destructive beam of heat vision up to that point was released from Clark's eyes creating a literal pillar of red light that was seen from miles away and likely could have been seen from space. The massive beam of inferno engulfed the entire bomber, incinerating it like it just flew into the sun. It was so powerful that the bomber was vaporized so not even the bombs in the plane exploded. They just turned into dust.
Clark kept up the heat vision for about ten seconds and felt like he had run around the planet one hundred times. Using that kind of power was exhausting but thankfully the sun was still up so he got some rays to slowly replenish the energy he just spent with that supernova he unleashed.
The ocean was fast approaching so Clark braced himself as he crashed down into the water below, dropping thirty feet down from the impact before he was slowed. The ice-cold water was certainly a shock to the system as he swam to the surface. He let out a sharp exhale when he came up, seeing no bomber plane and no wreckage. Everyone was safe. Schmidt's final plan failed. Clark then realized the shield was no longer on his arm, likely falling off when he hit the water so he dove back down and saw it sinking so he swam after it. Kicking at super speed he grabbed the shield before swimming back up and over to some nearby ice. He picked himself up out of the sea and sat down, putting the shield next to him. He gave himself a moment to catch his breath and let his body absorb some more yellow sunlight. The sun was setting so he only had maybe half an hour but the more he absorbed the better he felt and the more he felt his energy return. He was just glad this dunk in the ocean wasn't as bad as the last one and that it wouldn't result in him getting sick again. Hopefully.
Clark looked at Steve's shield by his side and now that he had a moment to catch his breath, he also had a moment to let himself feel the loss of losing his friend. Clark placed his hand on the shield and closed his eyes. Remembering what he said to Steve when he lost Bucky…we can't save everyone but we can respect their wishes and honor their memory.
"Goodbye Steve." He would honor Steve's memory and his wishes. He wouldn't stop until all of Hydra was dead or captured.
Clark bid a tearful farewell to his friend as he sat there in the artic for a moment of mourning in solitude.
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