"Screech!"
The walkie-talkie crackled with Hit-Monkey's call, signaling a magazine change. Dugan, familiar with battlefield signals from their time together, understood instantly.
He drew the pistol Rumlow had given him, cautiously eyeing Rumlow's position. No one could confirm if Rumlow was down, so Dugan stayed on guard.
"Cough, cough! I figured you'd kill me to tie up loose ends," Rumlow rasped, staggering to his feet. A gaping wound in his abdomen exposed his ribs, intestines spilling out, his face drained of color.
"To me, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s no different from Hydra—except S.H.I.E.L.D. fights for justice and peace," Rumlow said, pulling a vial from his waist.
"Attack him!" Fury shouted, firing his custom pistol.
Dugan hesitated for a split second before joining in. Their guns unleashed a barrage, preventing Rumlow from raising the vial to his lips.
"By the way, drinking isn't the only way to use this," Rumlow said, his voice cutting through. He mimicked Bul-Kathos' habit of drinking the potion for effect. Dugan's bullets fell uselessly upon contact, but Fury's shots drew blood each time. Fury's weapon, designed for superhumans and vampires, wasn't ordinary.
Yet Rumlow's body began healing rapidly.
"Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D. sacrifices for justice, but why is it never you?" Rumlow roared, his voice echoing in the office. "It's not you or me—it's the innocents forced to sign NDAs for a pittance!"
Gripping his axe, Rumlow advanced through Fury's gunfire.
"Screech!" Hit-Monkey's call came with another shot. Rumlow's axe split a narrow bullet, but a fireball engulfed him.
"Honorable? Tell me, do you think your sacrifices are honorable?" Rumlow's voice grew louder.
Bang! Another bullet was shattered by his axe, but flames consumed him.
"Tell me, scum! Do you call these sacrifices honorable?" Rumlow, now a fireball, roared clearly.
Agent Hill's face darkened, teeth clenched. Melinda's fists cracked with tension.
"Ha!" Rumlow's war cry unleashed a shockwave, extinguishing the flames to reveal his charred body. His rage fueled his first battle roar.
"I want justice—tell the victims the truth! I want you, Nick Fury, to understand sacrifice!" Rumlow bellowed, assuming a charging stance.
Bang! Hit-Monkey's shot targeted Rumlow's supporting leg, blasting a hole through his knee and the floor.
The first shots used standard rounds for calibration. Now, incendiary and armor-piercing rounds overwhelmed Rumlow's defenses.
Thud! Rumlow's intact leg slammed the ground. His hands summoned the Ancestral Hammer, and he charged Fury like a cannonball.
Bang! Another shot from Hit-Monkey tore through Rumlow's waist, shattering his spine.
But the Ancestral Hammer crashed toward Fury. A figure with fish-like fins and gills burst through the ceiling, tackling the airborne Rumlow to the ground. The hammer's impact sent shockwaves and debris, gravely injuring the newcomer.
Fury retrieved the small crystal vial Rumlow had surrendered earlier, forcing its contents into the fish-man's mouth—Amphibian, a Howling Commando and Dugan's final trump card, meant for Hydra but now used on Rumlow.
The inferior healing potion, a toy of Bul-Kathos, had been reverse-engineered by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s labs to work with Rumlow's tissue, samples of which they had plenty from his injuries.
"Nobody stops a barbarian!" Rumlow shouted, his voice weak from his ravaged body.
Fury's stoic face finally cracked. Melinda stepped forward, yelling, "I'm resigning!" She stormed out. She was a fighter, not a politician—she understood but couldn't stop it, so she chose to leave.
"Nobody can stop your will," Fury said grimly, "but if you don't die, S.H.I.E.L.D. falls."
Fury had pieced it together when he learned Rumlow was a Hydra traitor. Hydra's existence sparked this civil war, but Rumlow's actions made it spiral out of control. Fury was grateful Rumlow exposed the truth—Hydra's delay could've turned S.H.I.E.L.D. into Snake-Shield. But Rumlow's death was needed to appease the Council.
"I'm sorry, but you have to die," Fury said, nodding to Dugan, who hesitated before signaling.
They awaited the final shot.
(End of Chapter)
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