"Warning! Warning! Engine failure! Aircraft out of control! Repeat, engine failure!"
The piercing electronic alarms mixed with the groans of twisting metal, filling the entire cabin. The quinjet had become like an iron bird struck by a shotgun, trailing thick smoke as it traced a desperate parabola over Washington, plummeting toward the urban buildings below!
Inside the cabin, everyone was tossed about by the sudden rolling; sensations of weightlessness and high G-forces alternated. Fixed equipment was torn loose, flying around the cabin like lethal projectiles.
"Tony! We need backup! The plane is crashing!" Natasha shouted into her communicator, gripping a seat bolted to the floor. Before she could finish, the plane flipped violently again; she kicked away the "Winter Ghost" that had just released an EMP, sending him crashing into the bulkhead, temporarily silenced.
"I know! I'm working on it!" Tony's voice came through the comms, more anxious than ever. "This damn thing is too heavy! I can only slow it down and try to push it into the river!"
Outside the jet, the engines of the red and gold Mark VI armor were pushed to their limit. Tony used all his strength to brace against the jet's belly, trying to alter the trajectory of the falling hunk of steel, though with little effect.
Inside the chaotic cabin, another life-and-death struggle continued.
Steve used his shield to brace against the hack of a "Winter Ghost." Amidst the violent jolting, the two rolled from one end of the cabin to the other, clanging against the walls.
"Bucky!" Amidst the rolling, Steve saw his best friend frozen in place, strapped to a seat with vacant eyes, as if his soul had already left his body. He roared with all his might, "Help me!"
Bucky's pupils constricted violently. He watched the two "Specters" who were nearly identical to him; every movement and every killing move felt like a red-hot branding iron searing into the depths of his buried memories.
Seventy years of being frozen in ice, thousands of missions, countless faces losing life before his eyes... Those sins turned into cold seawater surging into his heart, threatening to drown him.
Consumed by endless self-loathing, the "Specter" facing him seized the opportunity. Using the centrifugal force of the rolling plane, his body glided along the floor at a bizarre angle. The Vibranium dagger in his hand was like a viper's fang, silently bypassing Steve's defense to strike at the opening in Steve's back!
"No!"
This scene overlapped with the image of Steve charging toward him without regard for his own safety on that speeding train seventy years ago.
"I'm with you 'til the end of the line."
The words exploded like a clap of thunder in Bucky's chaotic mind.
No... I can't let him get hurt for me again.
I am not the Winter Soldier.
I am James Barnes.
I am his friend.
Bucky moved.
He violently snapped his seatbelt. His silver metal arm lunged out like a falcon, striking second but reaching first. Instead of parrying the lethal dagger, he clamped onto the "Specter's" nape with unbelievable precision!
That was the interface where the "Winter Soldier" program implanted control chips and emergency shutdown commands! He knew that spot better than anyone!
*Crack!*
Bucky applied force with his fingers, and the hard metal casing shattered. Without a moment's pause, his fingers reached in with precision—a pull, a yank!
A glowing red, still slightly twitching biological chip was brutally torn from the Specter's spinal connection!
The "Specter's" body stiffened. The cold killing intent in his eyes faded, replaced by confusion and emptiness, before his eyes rolled back and he slumped over.
He didn't kill him.
This was his [Judgement]—liberating another "self" from HYDRA's control.
"Nice work, Bucky!"
Steve felt a sense of relief. Seizing the chance, he slammed his shield into the head of the enemy before him, knocking him unconscious.
The crisis was not over.
The plane had fallen to an altitude of less than three hundred meters, with the dense urban area directly below! The fuselage began to disintegrate from the intense friction with the air, sparks flying everywhere!
"Lin Huai! Stop watching the show!" Natasha's voice was distorted by the massive G-forces. "We're about to become a pancake!"
"Don't worry, I'm coming, I'm coming."
Lin Huai's voice remained calm. He took a deep breath, pulled a few paper effigies from his pocket, and slapped one onto everyone present.
Just then, the plane jolted, and the speed of the descent suddenly slowed! It was Tony! He had successfully pushed the plane away from the city center, aiming the nose toward the wide Potomac River!
"Hold on! We're going in for a crash landing!"
Tony's roar echoed through the communicator.
A second later, the quinjet plunged at a sharp angle into the freezing river water!
BOOM!!!
A massive plume of water shot dozens of meters into the air. The impact tore the fuselage apart, and freezing river water surged in frantically.
Everyone felt their bodies lighten as an invisible air cushion enveloped them, dampening most of the violent jolting. The [Paper Clone Substitutes] took the brunt of the impact, preventing secondary injuries.
A few minutes later, by the riverbank.
Drenched, everyone crawled out of the cold water onto the shore, gasping for breath after their narrow escape.
-
Steve walked over to Bucky, looked at the still-flickering chip in his hand, and gave his shoulder a heavy pat.
"Welcome back, Bucky."
Bucky looked up at Steve, then at the metal arm that had just saved his comrade. For the first time, there was a spark of life in his eyes.
He didn't speak, but silently crushed the chip into powder.
"Alright, everyone." Lin Huai wrung the water from his trench coat and clapped his hands, interrupting the tender moment. He pointed toward the three Helicarriers in the distance, which had already ascended higher and were about to enter their attack positions, and grinned.
"The warm-up is over. Now, it's time to get down to business."
He looked at the group.
"Natasha and Sam, you take the one on the left! Tony, Hulk should be arriving soon, so you and Hulk take the one on the right! Captain, Bucky, the main ship in the middle is yours! Johnny and I will go kill that iron serpent."
"No problem."
Everyone responded in unison.
Tony's Mark VI armor restarted, carrying Lin Huai into the sky. Sam deployed his mechanical wings and glided upward with Natasha.
Steve and Bucky shared a look, seventy years of unspoken understanding and trust evident between them. Steve threw his shield, and using the momentum of its return, he swung himself and Bucky toward the nearest building. They were going to board that massive steel vessel hanging in the sky using the most primitive yet reliable method!
Three groups, three directions, launching the final charge toward their ultimate objective!