บท 41: Chapter Forty-one.
~~~Third Person, July 1942~~~
~~~Ischyros, Xandar DC~~~
"BOOM!"
A loud bang was heard as the sandbag suspended on the ceiling was thrown several feet away, denting the tiles where it landed.
A changed Steve, with a toned, bodybuilder's body, stood for a few seconds static, as he looked down at his hands, no matter how much he punched and tried to keep discovering what he could now do, he never ceased to amaze himself.
For a kid from Brooklyn who had always been the weakest link, to go from that to a man who could lift five tons of weight effortlessly, was a huge change, after the application of the serum, which was three days ago, President Roosevelt left to go back to the United States once he observed first hand the power of the serum.
And having left Steve, Isaiah, and Howard behind on Xandar, he departed back to the White House. Steve and Isaiah stayed behind to continue doing post-experiment tests, measuring their physical capabilities in secure complexes so they could return to America.
"You don't look like that kid I took in the car anymore," a sweet voice interrupted Steve's self-indulgence, causing him to look toward the source of the voice and see Peggy. She had stayed too, decisive in not walking away from Steve, especially now that his mentor had died making him what he was now.
"No, and that scares me, Peggy," Steve opened his heart to the woman he had begun to feel more than companionship and respect for, 'Dr. Erskine believed in me, even when everyone else didn't, and now he died making me into what could end this war but...'.
"... You fear you are not enough," Peggy finished for him, and a sigh was Steve's response, "I know there is fear and apprehension in you, anyone about to plunge into a war suffers for it, but you can't let that consume you, as great as the burden sounds, you know that now that Dr. Erskine is gone, the only ones who can stop Hydra are you and Colonel Isaiah."
"And that's what scares me, knowing I have the power to stop this slaughter, but not caring in the slightest about it, Xandar is like that, and I'm terrified of being selfish to the world just for fear of showing my gifts," Steve explained, just in time for a group of three men to walk through the gate of the complex.
"Watch what you say, Mister Rogers, I was beginning to like you," Azrael told him, which caused Steve and Peggy to look surprised and make a poorly timed attempt at a bow, "Your Majesty, I didn't mean..."
"I know what you meant, and I understand your words, but at this time, you are still too young to understand my actions, once you have to protect a group that trusts you, you will understand my reasoning in not acting impulsively to maintain the safety of the said group."
Steve was silent, taking in Azrael's words, "Come with us Mr. Rogers, you too Miss Peggy, there is someone here to see you." Azrael commented, starting to walk back towards the exit of the training complex.
"Who is this person, King Jaesyrian?" Peggy asked halfway, as they walked through the corridors of the huge castle, which was easily five times the size of the Pentagon. "He's someone you're already familiar with, Miss Peggy."
The answer confused them, not understand who she was referring to, their allies had already flown to the United States a day ago, and Howard and Mr. Bradley were minding their own business, and from Azrael's response, that someone wanted to see them, had someone from the United States arrived in Xandar?
Soon, the five of them arrived at a private garden, they had not entered the real area, which was the most protected area of Ischyros, but they could already see the increase of guards and patrols. And in the middle of the garden, a man was sitting in a chair, drinking a glass of wine, with no cares in life.
"Dr. Erskine?" Steve asked in surprise, unable to understand what he was seeing. The Xandarians had said that Dr. Erskine was dead, that a bullet had embedded itself in his spine and caused brain death, and while they couldn't see his corpse, due to some ritual the Dosh Khaleen, Xandar's leading religious group, had to perform on the dead, the Dr.'s death had been assured.
But now, not only was he not dead, he was even calmer than Steve and Peggy. "The same Mr. Rogers, the same," Dr. Erskine replied, looking at Steve with a serene and pacifying face, "I'll leave you two alone, you have a lot to talk about," Azrael said, then walked away and left the three alone.
~~~January 1943~~~
~~~Kyoto, Japanese Imperial Palace~~~
"You're all useless!"
"How is it possible that we lost another whole fleet? One damn fleet!"
"Are they so stupid as to fail to push back the enemy?!"
In the Imperial palace of Japan, located in the city of Kyoto, Emperor Hirohito was completely furious, during the last six months, Japan found no other possible scenario, other than defeat after defeat.
The advance Japan had made after the attack on Pearl Harbor had collapsed, and all because Xandar intervened in the equation.
At this point in history, everyone, or most, was aware of Xandar, that Empire that had been kept 'hidden' from the world for millennia, that Empire the size of a continent, which had been kept in the shadows with the use of unrecognized technology, and which had only shown itself to the world after Japan crossed its cloak and decided to attack one of its cities.
Because of that, Xandar decided, for the first time in thousands of years, to show itself again to the world, to show its might, and to destroy that nation that had deigned to attack it... Or at least that was the official story.
But what was clear was that the military might of Xandar was on a scale superior to what all the powers of the world expected, their ships with technology that made them almost indestructible, the use of submarines with sonic cannons that could destroy fleets in a matter of minutes without leaving any survivors.
And the use of mythological beasts with which they controlled the skies during attacks or defenses of their fleets, that different, unknown but terrifying level of power presented the beginning of the end of the Japanese expansionist era.
Japan's outposts in the Solomon Islands had been destroyed by Xandarian forces, along with docks and shipyards in Papua, New Guinea. The Xandarians were attacking with superior force, both in numbers and striking power. No outpost or scout ship was able to detect the Xandarian advance until it was too late.
And now, Japan's largest and most important outpost in the Pacific had been destroyed, resulting in the loss of over forty thousand Japanese troops, countless aircraft, and three entire fleets stationed on Guadalcanal.
Hence, Emperor Hirohito's anger.
"Three hours ago we received a report from the city of Fukuoka, they say they received refugees from Guadalcanal, six hundred men survived, although they will not be able to enter service anymore," and another bad news was brought to Hirohito, who looked at the intelligence member with a stoic face and serene countenance.
Or so it was at first, for then his face contorted in anger and madness, "Damn traitors to the war code, all of them, they should have died as soldiers in the field, not come back as men without honor!" The emperor exploded in rage as he tore apart the war cards on the table in front of him.
The weight of the truth was bearing down on him like a tidal wave, slowly crushing him with no way to break free. Japan's continuous defeats against Xandar were already well known all over the world, and the world's power shifted drastically, with Japan, who was previously in the lead, becoming one of the weakest links.
For ever since the Eighth, Fifth, and Fourth Xandarian war fleets left Tharlan and began attacking any Japanese ship in the Pacific, daily reports rained down of defeats, refugees, fleet destruction, and loss of territory. Every piece of bad news came on the heels of another. And for many the final and decisive defeat was just around the corner, which had caused morale on the front lines to plummet.
"Emperor, Emperor!" a man entered the room sweating profusely, holding a crumpled letter in his hands, with an elated expression on his face. " News from intelligence headquarters: a huge fleet has landed in Osaka and Fukuoka. It's the Xandarians, and they have brought their Kaiyu."
Silence.
If morale was low before, it was destroyed at this point, along with what was once the Japanese Empire.
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