Marvel: The Villain

Chapter 308 Trapped

A-Train stood bare-chested, his dark, hard muscles glistening under the filtered light of the canopy.

He cut a powerful figure—one that Natasha might have found impressive under different circumstances—but right now, her terror was absolute. She scrambled backward, her voice trembling and brittle.

"Stop! Your friends are bleeding and dying while you’re doing this. Aren’t you afraid of their rage? Of being cast out when this is over?"

"Hmph!" A-Train didn’t slow his pace, a predatory leer fixed on his face. "Don’t worry, they’ll understand. Besides... I’m very fast."

With that, he lunged, his hand reaching out to seize Natasha by the collar.

God, what do I do?

Natasha’s eyes widened in a look of total despair. In this moment, the woman famed for her wit and iron will was completely out of options.

Suddenly, the expression on A-Train’s face froze. After a hesitation of perhaps 0.01 seconds, he blurred backward, covering dozens of meters at a speed the naked eye couldn’t track.

What happened?

Natasha blinked, stunned. She had thought the end was here; she had been ready to simply give up. She never expected A-Train to retreat at the critical second. It was the best possible outcome, but... why?

A heartbeat later, the answer revealed itself.

A circular shield, spinning at a lethal velocity, whistled through the exact space where A-Train had been standing. Had he not moved, he would have been decapitated.

CRACK!

The razor-sharp shield sliced a massive tree clean in half before continuing its arc, finally embedding itself deep into the trunk of another tree further back.

Is that...?

Joy surged through Natasha as she whipped her head toward the sky.

A suit of iron armor—one she had never seen before—was hovering in the air. It featured a cold, reflective metallic shell with a striking red-and-blue paint scheme, and a bold American flag motif emblazoned across the chest plate.

"Steve?"

Natasha cried out, her voice thick with disbelief. Her eyes welled with tears. The metal faceplate slid upward, revealing the familiar face of Steve Rogers. However, compared to the last time she’d seen him, he looked much older, his face weathered and covered in a thick beard.

No matter how deep his pain, no matter how much he hadn’t wanted to face the world, he had come. This was Captain America—a man who could be knocked down, but never defeated.

Steve gave her a small, apologetic wave. "Sorry I’m late. I really don’t get Stark’s high-tech stuff. I haven’t slept in days trying to learn how to fly this thing."

Natasha rubbed her eyes, wiping away the tears as a brilliant smile broke through. "Not late! Not late at all!"

After the greeting, Steve’s expression hardened. "Natasha, get out of here. I’ll handle this bastard."

Natasha regained her composure instantly. She shot one last fearful look at A-Train before turning and sprinting in the opposite direction. The brief clash had taught her that the gap between her and A-Train was an abyss; staying would only make her a liability for Steve. Her only job now was to run, and run far.

"Don’t move!"

Steve barked the command, leveling both armored arms at A-Train. Every weapon system on the suit hummed to life, locked and loaded.

"Whoa, easy there!" A-Train raised his hands in a mock surrender, then pointed to his discarded clothes on the ground. "I just want to put my shirt back on."

"Does a man like you even need clothes?" Steve watched his eyes intently, trying to read his next move.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" A-Train moved slowly, picking up his shirt.

"Hmph. You are so filthy I’m embarrassed to even speak of them," Steve said, his disgust undisguised.

"Man and woman, it’s only natural. What’s so filthy about it?" A-Train shook the dust off his shirt and pulled it on. "Even in that religion you people follow, there’s the story of Adam and Eve stealing the forbidden fruit. My behavior is no different from Adam’s."

Steve’s expression grew even more revulsed. "Hearing you say that, I finally realize just how fucked the Joker organization really is."

"Is that so?" A-Train shrugged indifferently. "You’re a real Boy Scout, Cap. I was putting my head through my shirt just now, and you didn’t even try to take a cheap shot."

Steve: "Don’t mistake me. I know a sneak attack on you is pointless. If it worked, you’d already be dead."

A-Train blinked, enlightened. "I misjudged you. So, if a sneak attack can’t kill me, what makes you think you have a chance in a fair fight?"

Steve retracted his weapon pods. His left hand clenched, and a red light ignited on his forearm. Suddenly, the shield embedded in the tree was caught by a specialized magnetic tether, ripping free and flying into the air.

CLANG!

The shield snapped perfectly onto the armor’s left arm. "A gift from Stark. It only reacts to the metal in the shield. Not bad, right?"

A-Train sneered but said nothing.

Steve continued, "I know you’re fast. If this was a ground battle, I’d have no chance. But with this suit, I can fight from the air. And you..."

"Hahaha!" A-Train burst into sudden laughter. "I didn’t think Captain America was this naive."

"It’s true, I can’t fight in the air. That’s my weakness," A-Train admitted. "But for you to kill me, you actually have to hit me. With those snail-paced weapons of yours, you could have a hundred times as many and still never touch me."

Steve nodded in agreement. "True enough. But what if I can restrict you to a specific area?"

A-Train’s face fell. "What do you mean?"

A look of calculated triumph crossed Steve’s face. "Counting the time... Natasha should be clear by now."

Shit, it’s a trap!

A-Train’s heart hammered. He vanished from the spot, sprinting toward the base of the mountain.

Suddenly, a flash of blue light erupted. A hundred-meter-long blue barrier surged up from the ground. A-Train skidded to a stop, his eyes wide with shock.

What is this?

He realized the blue barrier was composed of ultra-high-voltage electricity. If he tried to force his way through at his current speed, his body would be charcoal in a microsecond. He spun around, only to find three more barriers rising. Together, they formed a perfect, seamless rectangular cage.

Well, not quite seamless—the top was open. But the height was hundreds of meters up. Even with his speed, A-Train couldn’t jump that high.

Steve hovered over the opening, looking down from his vantage point. "Do you still have that confidence now?"

Sweat beaded on A-Train’s forehead. He looked up, teeth clenched. "When did you set this up?"

"Right when your brain was in your pants and you were busy with Natasha," Steve replied.

"I’ve been lying in wait nearby for a long time. To keep you from sensing me, I set the traps a hundred meters out. I was worried it wouldn’t work, but I got lucky. I didn’t realize your mind was even more naive than mine."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. knows your powers. Did you really think we wouldn’t have a countermeasure?"

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