A blaring horn sounded from the outside, echoing through the house like a war cry.
A voice followed, magnified through a military-grade speaker.
"Nathan and Klaue inside, surrender immediately!"
"You're surrounded! Escape is no longer an option!"
"Winter Soldiers are en route. If you cooperate now, you might suffer less."
Inside the house, as the final gunshots from Klaue's security team faded into silence, a cold stillness settled. Klaue's jaw clenched tightly as he looked down at his daughter huddled in his arms. Then he turned to Nathan, his eyes resolute.
"I can see you're not ordinary," Klaue said. "Save my daughter, and I'll owe you twenty million."
"On top of that, I'll give you the Vibranium. Help me craft a new arm—deal?"
Nathan didn't hesitate. "Deal."
"We need to move. If those Winter Soldiers get here, I won't be able to escape either."
Klaue nodded in agreement. "After we deal with the unit outside, I'll take you through a secure escape route. HYDRA's thugs won't find us."
Nathan quickly surveyed the room. "Give me something heavier. I'll take the frontline."
Klaue looked at him like he had grown a second head. "You're going to face them alone? That's an elite tactical squad. Modern warfare experts."
Nathan held up his hand, calm and confident. "Just give me the weapons."
His greatest advantage was this: they couldn't kill him. HYDRA had strict orders to take him alive. As long as he avoided getting stunned or tranquilized, he could do serious damage.
Without another word, Klaue walked to a far wall and pressed a hidden panel.
The wall split open, revealing a secret weapons cache.
Pistols, assault rifles, grenades, smoke bombs, even a few rocket launchers lined the walls in pristine condition. It was practically a personal arsenal.
Nathan's eyes widened. It was a Marvel-style armory—extravagant, overwhelming, and real.
He didn't waste time. First, he snapped the informant's neck and let the traitor drop to the floor with a thud. Then he loaded up: several grenades into his belt, an assault rifle in one hand, a rocket launcher in the other.
He moved to the window.
Breaking out the front door would be suicide.
But a flanking maneuver? That was his play.
Klaue stared, stunned, as Nathan shouldered the massive launcher. "Is he seriously going to take them on like that?"
Nathan kicked the window open and vaulted through. He landed smoothly against the exterior wall and took position, rocket launcher poised and ready.
The HYDRA squad spotted him immediately.
"There! Nathan's at the side window!"
"Switch to tranquilizer rounds—capture only!"
"He's holding a rocket launcher, spread out!"
But it was already too late.
Nathan pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
The shell launched like a thunderbolt and exploded in the middle of HYDRA's formation.
Flames erupted, bodies flew. One-third of the squad was instantly wiped out.
The ground quaked slightly beneath the blast. Screams tore through the air as chaos took hold.
Nathan ducked behind a wall, then pivoted and opened fire with the rifle.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rounds flew.
Blood splattered.
He kept moving, never staying in one spot. Bullets whizzed past, some brushing dangerously close, but he remained focused, alert.
All the while, he scanned for stun guns, darts, or anything that could incapacitate him. One misstep, one hit—and he'd be taken alive.
He wasn't letting that happen.
"What the hell is he?!" one HYDRA agent shouted. "He's wiping us out!"
"This can't be right! He's just a scientist!"
"Researcher or not, he moves like a damn assassin!"
"He's dodging fire like a ghost!"
Nathan didn't stop.
Grenades flew from his belt, detonating among the enemies. Smoke bombs followed, disrupting vision. Screams rose and were silenced just as fast.
In a matter of minutes—
Silence.
The last gunfire echoed and faded.
Nathan re-entered the house, his body calm but glistening with sweat, his breath slightly irregular.
Klaue looked at him like he was staring at a ghost—or a god.
"You—you handled them alone?"
"Are you a super soldier? Some enhanced human?"
Nathan just shrugged, tossing aside the steaming rifle. "There weren't that many. Just a standard tactical unit."
"If they'd brought more, I'd be in trouble."
He wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Let's move. The real threat's inbound."
Klaue didn't press further. He nodded.
"Right. Let's head into the mine."
Still clutching his daughter, Klaue led the way out of the house and into the darkness toward the nearby quarry.
Nathan followed closely, eyes scanning the sky.
Because he knew what was coming.
Four Winter Soldiers. Elite HYDRA assets, the closest thing to legends. If even one of them was Bucky Barnes, things could spiral fast.
Soon, the entrance to the mine came into view—a black void in the rock.
They entered quickly.
Klaue pulled out a flashlight and illuminated the path ahead.
Just as they crossed the threshold—
WHOOOSH!
The shrieking sound of tearing air echoed from above.
Nathan stopped cold.
He looked back.
They were here.
The Winter Soldiers had arrived.
His voice dropped to a whisper. "Hurry. They're here."
Klaue didn't hesitate. He held his daughter tighter and ran into the twisting darkness of the mine.
The passages were narrow and twisted. To an outsider, it would be an impossible maze.
But Klaue knew every turn.
"There's a secret passage deep inside," he whispered.
"It was dug decades ago by a miner trying to smuggle ore. He found a natural cave system that leads straight into the forest behind the mountains."
Nathan frowned. "And that miner?"
"Executed. By my grandfather."
"This mine's been in our family ever since. Only we know about the tunnel. It's our last resort escape route."
As he finished the story, they arrived at an uneven wall.
Klaue pressed his hand against a hidden pressure point.
RUMBLE!
The stone wall slid open, revealing a mine cart on steel tracks.
"Get in!" Klaue urged.
The three climbed aboard. As the door sealed behind them, the cart lurched forward, descending into darkness.
The only light came from Klaue's flickering flashlight.
In the dim glow, Nathan's expression hardened.
HYDRA had gone too far.
Someday, somehow, he'd destroy them. All of them.
Meanwhile, back at Klaue's house—
A sleek fighter jet landed vertically, engines shrieking as they cooled.
The four Winter Soldiers stepped out, dressed in combat black, eyes scanning the scene.
Their leader—a man with a metal arm—surveyed the destruction.
Bodies were everywhere. Their soldiers, HYDRA's elite tactical team, all dead.
He scowled.
"They're gone."
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