Scheize!!"
Steve heard Zemo curse as the President and his wife vanished in a flash of light alongside Sunshine, and let out a sigh of relief. "It's over, Zemo. It doesn't matter what you do to me, the President is safe!"
"I wasn't after the President, dumbkopf!" Zemo spat "He was merely a useful piece of leverage! It does not change the position you are in, Kapitän! You will die here, at my hands!"
Steve straightened up, holding up his shield as he shifted to a fight position "You're welcome to try, Zemo. And now, I don't have to worry about keeping anyone else safe over taking you down!"
Zemo smirked under his hood "Oh, but I think you do, Kapitän! The President might be gone, but are you willing to risk the lives of everyone else still unfortunate enough to be trapped here alongside you?"
Steve looked around at the carnage around him, he'd been too distracted before, but now he could see that there were still other survivors among the wrecked cars and the remains of the street, people who had been too injured in the attack to run away. He could hear the groans of pain coming from all around him, he could see a few people huddled among the wreckage trying to make themselves small enough to go unnoticed.
"I think not" Zemo said with sadistic glee "You are soft. You've always been soft. And because you care about the weak and the wretched, you will die alongside them!"
"Hey, Zemo!" A voice interrupted them, and Steve saw the man in the striped shirt appear from behind one of the wrecks "Was that the Sunshine twerp?! You promised me I could crush that fucker when he showed up, and he just ran off again! What gives?!"
"Silence, Sandmann!!" Zemo snarled impatiently "I've told you all you will have your chance for vengeance! The Captain will merely be the first!"
"You'd better be right" another voice cut in, as several other figures began to walk into view. An enormous man in what looked like some sort of rhino costume shoved a crushed car out of the way as he stomped towards Zemo. "We're taking on a lot of heat working for you, and the only reason I'm here is to get my hands on The Hulk! If I find out you're playing us..."
There was a murmur of agreement from the group stepping out of the ruins.
A man in a pointed helmet and a blue cape with a strange device strapped over his chest. A knight in black plate mail armor carrying a lance. A large, oriental man with glowing, green skin.
"Quite a bit of backup you brought, Zemo" Steve said "Were you that worried that you wouldn't be able to take me in a fair fight?"
"BAH, there is no such thing as a fair fight!" Zemo spat with contempt "A general goes to war with the strongest army he can find, and this just happens to be mine. Allow me to introduce my Masters Of Evil! Once we've assured your death, I have promised them that the deaths of your Avenger friends will follow suit!"
Steve gritted his teeth, raising his shield "Then come get me!"
.....
Houston Street is an even bigger mess than I thought, now that I have a chance to actually get a closer look at it. Segments of the street is just gone, sunken into the earth, some of cars have plunged into the sinkholes left behind, and there's a mass of molten metal and rubber where the security detail seemed to have just... melted somehow.
And there are bodies EVERYWHERE. It's even worse than Halloween.
I can't think about that right now. I have a feeling Cap is going to need all the help he can get.
I zero in on the remains of the limousine where I left him, and rematerialize in a flash of light, though this time he doesn't react. The six people standing in front of him do however, a familiar purple hood in front stepping back in surprise. Steve gives me an appreciative nod.
"Sorry about that, Cap! Had to run that errand real quick. What'd I miss?"
"Mr. Sunshine, good to have you back. I'd like to introduce you to Baron Heinrich Zemo, Nazi war criminal and all around scum of the earth... and associates!"
"I thought that stupid hood looked familiar. You pick that out yourself, or did the Fuhrer just choose ridiculous accessories for all his buttkissing yes-men so his moustache would look less stupid?"
"SCHWEINE!" Zemo snarls, reaching for the gun at his side.
"Hold yer horses, Zemo! You ain't shooting this prick, he's mine!" An unpleasantly familiar voice says, and Flint Marko shoves himself forward through the group gathering behind Zemo. I figured he'd be here considering what I saw earlier, but it's still a disappointment. Marko was a dick in the comics, but he's actually working for Zemo now?
"Sandman. I see you're much less of a statue than the last time I saw you."
"Oh, I've been waiting for this, you smug little shit" Marko says, cracking his knuckles "I wuz stuck deaf, dumb and blind for weeks before Zemo busted me out! Yer going to pay for what ya did to me!"
"What I DID to you?! You're mad that I didn't let you attack a school? And you're the one working for a fucking Nazi, you're really not in any position to judge morality."
"Fuck you, Sunshine! I'd work for the devil himself if that's what it took to get back at ya!" Marko growls, his arm morphing into a spiked mace, while the other changes into a hammer head. "I'm gonna bash yer fuckin' brains in!"
"Enough Sandman, you are part of a team, and you will act like it!" Zemo holds him back before turning towards the rest of his men, snapping his fingers "It's time to do what we came here for! Masters of Evil, attack!"
Steve steps backwards, holding up his shield, as the Masters move towards us, readying themselves. The Melter clicks something on the device strapped to his chest, and the center core begins to glow, The Black Knight lowers his lance, the tip glowing red with energy. I can hear the smugness in Zemo's voice.
"You are outnumbered, Herr Sonnenschein. If you had any sense at all, you should have hidden away with the President rather than return for a dead man walking..."
"Shit, really wish I brought some backup..." I say with mock concern, just in time for a roar to ring out somewhere above us, and a massive green blur suddenly slams down, sending a shockwave through the ruined street. The Hulk stomps forward, throwing the wrecked cars out of his way as he glares at the Masters. A shadow falls over us, as Giant-Man suddenly grows into view from behind one of the buildings, the red and blue form of Spider-Man climbing up over his shoulder. A thunderclap, followed by the sound of jets, heralds the arrival of Thor and Iron Man, hovering above us.
I hold out my hand, and the Wasp suddenly appears in my palm, growing up from microscopic size, before flying up to join Pym and Spider-Man.
"Oh wait, I DID!" I give a wave towards Stark above me. "Nice entrance guys!"
Iron Man gives me a thumbs up back "It's all about style, Sunshine! And thanks for the ride!"
The Masters look around in a panic, their numbers advantage reduced to nothing. Zemo's smugness is gone, replaced by furious disbelief.
"How? HOW?!"
I lift my sunglasses, allowing my eyes to glow with light "Zemo, I can move people at the speed of light, why would I stop with just two? Why would I walk headlong into something that was obviously an ambush when I could easily get help? You're the one who thought attacking the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITEDS STATES just to get to another guy was a good idea! Which one of us lack sense, exactly?"
"It does not matter, this was always how it was going to end!! MASTERS OF EVIL, ATTACK!!"
I nod to Steve "Captain, want to do the honours?"
Cap smiles before lifting his shield in the air "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!!"683