From Steve Rogers' perspective, the situation still seemed manageable.
Even though Tony Stark was furious, he wasn't using lethal lasers or heavy weapons. The confined space of the underground base also limited how much damage his armor could unleash. With both Steve and the Winter Soldier restraining him, Tony quickly began to lose the upper hand.
Tony's eyes locked onto the face that had murdered his parents.
His teeth clenched violently.
Then he shouted.
"Ethan! Help me!"
At that moment, there was only one person who could change the outcome of the fight.
And Tony knew it.
"Alright."
Ethan answered casually.
In the next instant, telekinetic power exploded outward.
Steve's body froze in place instantly as an invisible force locked him down. The powerful psychic grip yanked him completely out of the fight and suspended him in midair.
At the same time, the Winter Soldier's mechanical arm twisted violently.
Metal shrieked as the adamantium limb crumpled like soft clay, crushed into a useless mass of scrap.
Ethan didn't kill him.
Because Ethan understood something very clearly.
The man who should decide the Winter Soldier's fate was Tony Stark.
Tony deserved that revenge.
Tony glanced at Ethan with silent gratitude before slowly walking toward the immobilized assassin.
"Ethan! What are you doing?!" Steve shouted angrily. "Let me go! Tony's going to kill Bucky!"
Despite struggling with everything he had, Steve couldn't break free from the telekinetic prison.
Ethan looked at him calmly.
"Captain," he said mildly, "shouldn't I be asking you that question? Tony just wants to kill a HYDRA assassin. Why are you so desperate to stop him?"
"Bucky isn't HYDRA!" Steve insisted immediately.
In his mind, the man who had fought beside him through war could never be a HYDRA agent.
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"Not HYDRA?" he replied calmly. "Then why is he here? And earlier Garrett called him the 'Winter Soldier.'"
Ethan turned his head toward Natasha.
"Natasha, does S.H.I.E.L.D. have any information on this guy?"
If Ethan explained it himself, Steve might refuse to believe it.
But Natasha's words would carry more weight.
Natasha Romanoff sighed helplessly.
She had just finished releasing the shutdown command for the Iron Soldiers, and now she was being dragged into the conflict between two of the strongest people in the room.
Still, both Steve and Ethan were looking at her.
She had no choice but to answer.
"The Winter Soldier was a Soviet assassin during the Cold War," she explained slowly. "According to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s records, he carried out more than thirty confirmed assassinations. All of them targeted high-level political figures across the world."
She paused before continuing.
"But now it looks like the Soviet connection might have been a cover. The Winter Soldier probably worked for HYDRA the entire time."
Steve fell silent.
Ethan glanced back at him.
"So Captain," he asked calmly, "anything you want to add?"
Steve's expression twisted with inner conflict.
But no matter how painful it was, he couldn't abandon Bucky.
"Bucky was controlled," he said firmly. "HYDRA forced him to do those things. We need to free him from their control."
Ethan tilted his head slightly.
"And when he killed Tony's parents… was that also him being controlled?"
"Bucky didn't choose that!" Steve said urgently. "Ethan, let me go!"
Ethan shrugged.
"Sorry. Tony asked me to stop you. If you want to be released, ask Tony."
Across the room, Natasha and Clint exchanged glances.
That excuse was so lazy it was almost insulting.
Ethan continued speaking calmly.
"Captain, let me ask you something. Imagine a HYDRA agent killed Bucky Barnes… and then killed Peggy Carter as well. Would you spare that person?"
Steve froze.
Ethan continued.
"Let's say that HYDRA agent was also mind-controlled when it happened. Would that make everything okay?"
Steve didn't answer.
Because the truth was… he didn't know.
Across the room, Tony had already reached the Winter Soldier.
Without Steve's help and without the mechanical arm, the assassin stood no chance against a fully armed Iron Man suit.
Moments later, the Winter Soldier lay battered on the ground, barely able to move.
Tony raised his arm.
The repulsor cannon in his palm began gathering energy.
Just before he fired, Steve shouted desperately.
"Stop! Tony! Bucky is innocent!"
Tony slowly turned his head.
His eyes were red.
"Innocent?" he growled. "He killed my parents."
Steve shouted back, his voice shaking.
"No! Tony, you know it was HYDRA who killed Howard. Bucky was only their weapon. HYDRA is already destroyed. You've already taken revenge!"
His voice softened.
"Please… don't kill him. Bucky isn't guilty."
By the end of the sentence, Steve was practically begging.
For a long moment, Tony said nothing.
Then suddenly—
"AAAHHH!"
Tony roared.
The repulsor cannon fired.
A massive explosion shook the room.
Steve closed his eyes in despair.
When the smoke cleared, Tony had already rocketed out of the base without another word.
Ethan frowned slightly.
Not because Tony killed the Winter Soldier.
But because Tony didn't.
The blast had destroyed the assassin's remaining arm—the same arm that had murdered Tony's mother.
But the man himself was still alive.
Ethan briefly considered finishing the job for Tony.
Then he shook his head and dismissed the idea.
Tony had made his own choice.
And Ethan respected that.
After all—
Tony Stark was Iron Man.
On the ground, Steve suddenly heard a weak groan.
His eyes snapped open.
Bucky Barnes was still alive, writhing in pain.
Steve rushed forward and grabbed him, relief flooding his voice.
"Thank you, Tony… thank you."
Watching the scene, Ethan suddenly felt strangely uninterested in everything around him.
He glanced at Natasha.
"The cleanup here is yours," he said casually. "Let's go, Wanda. Pietro."
The twins had been standing quietly on the side throughout the conflict.
At Ethan's signal, Wanda opened a glowing portal.
The three of them stepped through and disappeared.
The room fell quiet.
Natasha and Clint stood there awkwardly.
Watching Steve kneel beside Bucky, they both felt like unnecessary extras in someone else's emotional drama.
Clint sighed.
"Let's go home," he muttered.
Meanwhile, somewhere far away—
Wanda sat beside Ethan on the couch.
Her voice carried a hint of worry.
"Ethan… is Uncle Tony going to be okay?"
Pietro also looked uneasy.
During the past two years, Tony Stark had treated the twins incredibly well.
Wanda alone owned enough designer handbags to fill several shipping containers, and nearly all of them were limited editions.
As for Pietro, Tony had gifted him hundreds of sports cars.
No matter how angry they once felt toward Tony, that resentment had gradually faded.
People weren't made of stone.
Ethan thought for a moment.
"You two stay here," he said finally. "I'll go check on him."
With that, he vanished in a flash of teleportation.
A moment later he appeared inside Tony's Malibu villa.
Tony Stark sat on the floor in his armor, slowly pouring himself a glass of alcohol.
Beside him, Pepper Potts knelt quietly, trying to comfort him.
....
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