Man Out of Time - A Captain America / Avengers Fanfiction

Chapter 50

And now ... drum roll ... a chapter with a plot bunny that's been hopping around in my head since Chapter 7...

Thanks for reading!

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Chapter 50

Smoke and sulfur stung Steve's eyes as he half crawled, half walked down the narrow pathway Washington had followed earlier to an unknown fate. Yasur grumbled like a dog protecting its bone, sparks stinging his face wherever there was bare flesh. He used his shield like an umbrella, shielding his head from the heat of the three erupting vents spewing lava into the air like a pot of spaghetti sauce forgotten on the stove too long to boil.

"Washington!" Steve shouted. "Hang on, buddy! I'm on my way to get you!"

It was impossible to tell whether the sound coming from beneath the overhang was Washington calling for help, or simply part of the general rumble of the volcano. There were three vents on the caldera floor, puffing smoke, pumice, and the occasional fountain of molten lava, as well as a newer crack that was too even to be natural. Some sort of lid? Steve suspended his sense of disbelief and focused what he'd come down here to do. Bring home the last man, whether dead or alive.

Another eruption shook the caldera, almost causing him to lose his footing and go tumbling into the nearest vent. He threw himself against the unstable ash, covering his face with the shield just in time to avoid a face full of lava. A football-sized glop of molten rock plopped onto his thigh and molded around it, neither liquid nor solid. Oh god! It burned! He screamed in pain as he used the shield like a spatula to scrape it off of his leg. Thank god for Tony Stark and his pansy joke of a uniform! The skin underneath was a bit cooked, but the magma hadn't burned all the way through the armor.

"Thank you, Tony Stark," Steve shouted to the sky. "I swear if I get myself out of this mess I'll cut you a little slack.

The blowhole died down, gearing up for another blast. Steve threw himself beneath the under hang Washington had disappeared into without looking, barely avoiding Yasur's next fiery breath as the god of fire made its displeasure known. He rolled and landed partway on his feet, nursing the burned leg beneath the armor.

And just barely missed being decapitated by a gigantic claw...

"Crap!" Steve shouted. Only years of experience in the Army dodging grenades and enemy mortar shells saved him from the shadow which clawed at him. He swung his shield at whatever grabbed at him and made contact, his shield making a dull 'thud' against the alien's exoskeleton. Dozens of smaller arms with tinier claws all grabbed at him simultaneously. Steve hit the creature again and again, dodging the armored claws, which for some reason his shield could only scratch, and the smaller ones, which were vulnerable if he cut them off close to the torso. He was so busy fighting that he couldn't even pause long enough to get a good look at it.

He tripped over something and fell backwards, smashing the back of his skull on pipes which gave a hollow ring. The alien snapped at him, both claws trying to get past his shield to get at his throat. Steve rolled and realized what he had tripped over. Washington. The Marine's chest rose and fell, but blood trickled out from the edge of one eye, visible even against his chocolate skin. The same wound Natasha had sported after the attack which had cost them the USS John F. Kennedy. Only this wound was a lot more messy. Because of the volcano? Or had Steve interrupted whatever it had been trying to do? One of the claws gripped the edge of his shield and tried to tear it out of his hand.

"Oh no you don't," Steve shouted, kicking the torso of what appeared to be a gigantic, seven-foot-tall bug. Not what he'd been expecting, but he had caught glimpses of whatever the hell he'd cut in half the night the aliens had stormed the Triskelion. A panther-like maw, two crab-like primary claws, and dozens of smaller ones. The thing Count Rugen had tried to warn him about. The alien had sets of eyes on every claw, peering at him from every direction.