"GRRRRRAAAHHH!"
Something huge came bursting out of the smoke and slammed into the soldiers, sending a few of them flying several meters away. Seeing the opening, Steve ran to the side, using the chaos to put some distance between himself and the Hydra men.
The soldiers, seeing the creature, immediately turned their guns on it and opened fire. But the thing, covered in orange fur and seemingly without eyes, dodged every shot with uncanny precision, weaving and leaping from every angle as if it could sense the attacks before they even left the barrels. Each powerful jump brought another soldier crashing to the ground.
Steve could hardly believe what he was seeing. He had no idea where this creature had come from, but within moments it had taken down every soldier in the room. Then it turned toward him.
Steve's heart skipped a beat. He tightened his grip on his shield, bracing himself for a fight. The creature crouched low and leaped straight at him.
But it sailed past him instead, disappearing into the smoke beyond, leaving Steve standing there, confused.
Why didn't it attack me?
BOOM!
Another blast rocked the base, snapping Steve back to reality.
No time to waste on answers. I should find Bucky soon.
Steve ran toward the location the soldiers he'd rescued had pointed him to.
"How much time will it take to recharge?" Jack, who had already completed his mission to steal the Space Stone, asked while waiting for Morgan to recharge the time machine.
"Five minutes," Morgan said as she operated the computer connected to the time machine.
"Okay, five minutes. No problem."
Jack immediately contacted Gwen and Emma.
"What's the situation there? I found out the base is going to self-destruct, so leave soon!" Jack told them.
"What? The base is going to self-destruct? But there are still many soldiers fighting inside!" Gwen said. "Jack, why don't I help them from behind without showing myself?"
"Me too, me too! I want to help too," Emma said. "I think if I hadn't saved Steve earlier, he would have died. So we're not changing history. We're already part of it."
Jack went silent for a moment. He had guessed the same thing. His world and the movie he remembered from his previous life were already different. There was no way to completely avoid changing things anymore.
Still, he didn't like the idea of Emma going back into a collapsing Hydra base.
"Fine, but don't take unnecessary risks. If things get dangerous, get out immediately. I'll keep an eye on you."
"Okay."
Jack, in his XLR8 form, waited for a while before getting bored. He picked up a few books and started reading them. In less than a minute, he had already finished several. Still feeling like there was nothing to do, he started exercising. One thousand push-ups later, Jack stood up and looked at Morgan.
"How much longer?"
"Two minutes," Morgan said, sounding a little offended.
"Okay." But those two minutes of doing nothing while waiting around in his XLR8 form felt like torture to him.
Jack sighed and looked toward Morgan. He had already read several books and done a thousand push-ups, yet only a few minutes had passed.
Why is time moving so slowly?
"Done."
Just as Morgan finished her sentence, Jack had already taken the Space Stone, placed it in the container, and left the scene before she could even finish speaking.
"You can take it now," Morgan said, finishing her sentence while looking at the empty room.
When Jack entered the base again, it was already fully on fire. The American soldiers, freed by Captain America, were fighting the Hydra forces and destroying everything in their path.
Jack also spotted Gwen saving soldiers, but in this chaos, nobody seemed to notice her. He looked around at the burning base before looking at the box containing the Space Stone.
I don't think anyone would return a treasure that was already in their hands to an enemy.
He couldn't help but feel a little pity that this wasn't his timeline. He couldn't change the past. If he did, something even worse could happen.
Otherwise, I would have taken the Space Stone back to my Plumbers organization. We could definitely create something useful with it.
Since he had taken the Space Stone, Red Skull would have realized by now that it was missing. Jack knew from the movie that Red Skull would eventually leave the base by helicopter while Zola would escape in his car.
So Jack already had a plan to return the Space Stone in one of the vehicles , letting history continue as it should
As Jack moved through the burning base, he found Captain America fighting Red Skull on a bridge.
"Give me back what you stole from me!" Red Skull demanded as he attacked Captain America.
Steve dodged his attack and landed a punch straight into Red Skull's face.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Steve replied.
The two continued fighting as Red Skull talked about the power of the object Captain America had taken from him. Steve clearly had no idea what he was talking about, but that didn't stop him from fighting.
Red Skull swung his fist at Steve, but Steve quickly raised his shield and blocked the attack. The impact pushed him back a few steps. Steve immediately rushed forward and slammed his shield into Red Skull's chest, making him stagger backward.
Red Skull recovered quickly and charged at him again. The two exchanged several powerful blows, their attacks echoing across the bridge. Steve blocked another punch with his shield before stepping to the side and kicking Red Skull hard in the chest.
The kick sent Red Skull stumbling backward. His damaged mask cracked even more from the impact before finally tearing away from his face.
Meanwhile, Zola pulled a lever on the bridge, splitting it in half and creating a gap between the two sides.
Red Skull reached up and tore the broken mask away, revealing his red skull-like face underneath.
"You don't have one of those, do you?" Bucky asked, staring at Steve in complete shock.
Red Skull looked toward the burning base and saw that it was already beginning to self-destruct.
"Don't think you've won, Captain!" Red Skull shouted. "You have no idea what that treasure is truly capable of."
He then looked toward Zola.
"Doctor, we have to go. It's time."
Red Skull turned and began leaving with Zola.
Seeing this, Jack immediately moved. With his XLR8 speed, he reached the parking area before Zola could get there. He quickly placed the container holding the Space Stone inside the car and left.
Now everything should go according to plan.
Later, when Zola found the Space Stone inside his car, he froze. His mind was filled with questions.
How did this get here? Who put it here?
He looked around in confusion, but there was no one there to give him an answer. With no time to waste, Zola got into the car and left the base, taking the Space Stone with him.
Meanwhile, Captain America and Bucky also escaped from the base.
Jack made his way back to the spaceship, where everyone was already waiting for him. But when he arrived, he noticed that everyone's faces looked sad.
"Why does everyone look so sad? Wasn't the mission a success?"
Hearing this, everyone looked at Jack, then glanced to the side.
Only then did Jack notice that someone else was sitting there.
The moment he saw her, Jack froze.
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