Navigating the darkness, Su Ming draped his cloak for cover, stealthily retrieving his helmet from his pack and donning it. Stranglehold coated the mask, making his head appear larger.
Night vision made him feel at home, the pure darkness from the vanished star as comfortable as returning to his element.
While Gin, with her godly physiology, moved effortlessly, the mage struggled. His human eyes rendered him near-blind in the pitch black, so the magic prince opted to rest his eyes until combat called for an illumination spell.
Su Ming analyzed the data on his visor—air composition, wind speed, and other metrics—preparing for battle while tracking Zemo's group.
He spotted them.
On the distant coast, in a mangrove-like wetland, a group in iron-gray uniforms stood out starkly in his visor.
"Stay put. I see familiar faces."
Su Ming accelerated downward, ordering Gin and the mage to hold back. It wasn't just Zemo—there was also a Nazi special unit, the Super Axis, a seven-member team and old foes of Steve's Howling Commandos.
The lineup: Master Man, Axis Agent, Runemaster, Blood Baron, Iron Cross, Lotus Lady, and Battle Maiden.
Master Man was an enhanced Captain America, pumped with every variant of Nazi super-soldier serum and augmented with mechanical legs from the waist down. Losing certain… functions twisted his mind and behavior, and Hydra's brainwashing turned him into a manufactured psychopath.
Axis Agent, a clone, always wore a false face, his true identity unknown to most. Specializing in stealth and assassination, he was a male Black Widow, not overly powerful but endless in number—killing one just spawned another.
Runemaster, an alien, had his brain transplanted into a mechanical body. Once Brunnhilde's enemy, he fled her wrath in a spaceship, only to crash in Germany, his body destroyed save for his head. A master of runes and a genius physicist, he was a formidable mind.
Blood Baron was self-explanatory—a vampire with a noble title, marking him as ancient. The older a vampire, the stronger, and he possessed nearly all the powers of a progenitor.
Iron Cross, another genius physicist, developed a high-tech exosuit—a primitive Iron Man armor powered by Cosmic Cube energy, not an arc reactor. His contributions included Germany's miniaturized missile tech, making him a walking arsenal.
Battle Maiden, a super-soldier from the original infinite formula, wielded a whip and dressed in SM-queen-style leather, her thighs and arms exposed. The formula's side effect: gigantism. Over two meters tall, her thigh was as thick as Bucky's waist. She once whipped Steve and Bucky into howls, their shield ill-suited against soft weapons.
Lotus Lady was why Su Ming kept Gin and the mage back. A suspected mutant, her power was a weaker version of Professor X's—mind control through hypnosis.
Less potent than the Professor's but broader in scope, she could control not just humans but even androids like the Human Torch. Unlike Poison Ivy, who needed a kiss to charm, Lotus Lady required only a glance, a lip movement, or a gesture to dominate her target.
Only Steve, through sheer willpower, was immune.
Stunningly beautiful, with the elegance of a Yamato Nadeshiko, even Red Skull had fallen to her wiles.
Her presence explained Zemo's earlier freedom of movement. It wasn't the Stone of Fate granting invisibility but Lotus Lady's hypnosis. A single spell, and weak-willed guards sleepwalked, oblivious to the group.
Su Ming's willpower, honed by a Green Lantern ring, wasn't an issue. But he couldn't risk Gin or Monarch falling under her control and turning against him.
So, he went in alone.
Primary target: Zemo, then the frost giants, then the Super Axis team.
Immune to mind control, Lotus Lady posed the least threat—a frail woman with no physical strength. Blood Baron, with his spell-like vampire abilities, was the one to watch.
As Su Ming dove, Zemo noticed him, seeing Odin in his place.
"The star's secured. Retreat."
Zemo ordered the frost giants without hesitation, and they obediently began arranging the Stones of Fate to activate their teleportation.
No need for Zemo's prompt—the giants knew they were no match for Odin. Despite their numbers, millennia of bloodshed had proven numbers meant nothing to the god-king.
Arranging runes took time, and the frost giants' limited intellect faltered under pressure, botching the sequence.
Runemaster swiftly corrected the mistake, adjusting the runes with his mechanical claw.
But that delay was enough. Su Ming landed amid the group, braving a barrage of energy attacks.
Unsure of the portal's nature—trap or not—he kept his distance, positioning Zemo within striking range.
The moment he touched down, a swarm of Hydra soldiers rushed him, buying time for their leader. Their eyes blazed with fanaticism.
With a sweep of his Godslayer spear, Su Ming cut a swath of them in half, blood thick in the darkness.
Giants and humans alike, all in Hydra uniforms, were fully indoctrinated, fearless of death.
"Hail Hydra!!!"
Even bisected, they shouted slogans, followed by a chain of self-detonations.
Blue Cosmic Cube energy flared, too dangerous for even Su Ming to tank. He stepped back, raising his cloak against the flames.
When the explosions cleared, Zemo had vanished through the portal, shielded by layers of protection.
"Godslayer!"
Su Ming willed the spear to extend, its tip curving like a giant backscratcher, thrusting into the portal.
Before it closed, he hooked someone.
Just his luck—not Zemo, but Iron Cross, snagged by the spear's tip catching on his angular armor.
Dragged by one leg like a trapped rabbit, Iron Cross flailed as he was yanked from the portal, which snapped shut, plunging the area back into darkness.
"Tch," Su Ming sighed in frustration.
None of Iron Cross's comrades tried to save him. A true hero would've grabbed his arm, tugging against Su Ming in a show of loyalty.
But Zemo didn't look back, nor did the others.
Su Ming knocked Iron Cross out with a blow to the head. The primitive steel armor couldn't withstand the force, a shallow groove denting the helmet like a reverse mohawk.
He spared Iron Cross's life. The man would later be Hydra's enemy, and his daughter—a genius physicist with Captain America's morals and a vague tie to Bucky—would bring him to justice at an international tribunal.
Su Ming had seen Bucky's pain watching Steve and Peggy. A love triangle was dull—why not add a fourth?