The Winter Warrior // Captain America

«Chapter 46»

"Don't start celebrating yet, guys," Rhodey's voice said in through the ear comms. "We got more incoming outside the dome." 

Four more spaceships came thundering down and hit the ground right outside the edge of the dome. I sent a quick prayer to the tribes that lived there and hoped they got out on time.

Two more followed and a wave of dust was blown toward the dome.

"Steve, are you seeing this?" I asked my brother. 

"Yeah, we're seeing this," he answered. 

"We will hold them off," T'Challa's voice sounded. 

Minutes later, they exited the palace. T'Challa in his Black Panther suit surrounded by the entire Dora Milaje. "Let's go," Steve said, coming up to us. 

"Where are we going?" I asked, walking beside him toward our mystery destination. 

"The border of the dome," Natasha answered. 

"Why?" Bucky asked, jogging after us. 

"To stop the aliens," Steve said. 

"Aliens?!" Bucky exclaimed. 

We were led onto a hovercraft to get us to the border faster, along with the tribes, Kingsguard, the Dora Milaje, and our small group of alleged superheroes. I stood next to Bucky, holding on tightly to his hand while my throat felt dry. 

"How we looking, Bruce?" Natasha asked in her earpiece. 

"Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it," Bruce answered and I looked over my shoulder, seeing a giant version of Iron Man flying over my head and landing in front of our hovercraft. He landed and started running ahead of us. "Woah, this is amazing! It's like being the Hulk without actually-" 

He was cut off as he tripped over a boulder. "I'm okay, I'm okay," he muttered. 

"I got two heat signatures breaking through the tree line," said Rhodey. He and Sam flew over our heads toward the edge of the dome. 

The hovercraft came to a stop and we got out. I took Bucky's hand that he held out and landed on the grassy surface. We stood beside Steve, America, Natasha, and T'Challa as the Jabari tribe arrived. 

"Thank you for standing with us," T'Challa told M'Baku, their leader. 

M'Baku replied in Xhosa, their native language, one that I did not fully understand. I had picked up a couple of words over the past few months, but not enough to understand everything they said. Kemwe once told me M'Baku had an accent too, but that was a bit hard to believe. 

Two figures approached the dome from the outside. One was short and thin while the other was tall and bulky. Steve, Natasha and T'Challa stepped forward, walking toward them. 

"Steve," I called and my brother turned around. "Please be careful." 

He nodded. "I will." 

They talked with the outsiders for a bit before the smaller one raised their sword in the air and the spaceship behind her opened. 

The three of them came rushing back. "They surrender?" I asked sarcastically. 

"Not exactly." Steve sighed.

Through the trees, I could see hordes of creatures sprinting toward us, the only thing between us and them was the dome that I hoped was strong enough to keep them out. 

"Yibambe!" T'Challa exclaimed. 

"Yibambe!" the army surrounding us repeated. 

Yibambe was a word in Xhosa that meant 'Hold strong'. It was the word that stuck with me the most of all the words and phrases I had picked up on.

"What the hell?" Bucky muttered beside me. 

"Looks like we pissed her off," Natasha commented.

The creatures threw themselves against the dome and most of them died on the spot, being electrocuted by the highly dangerous technology in the dome. But a few of the creatures got through, even if it was just half of them.

"They're killing themselves," America noticed, her words sounding perplexed.

I glanced up at my brother and found him staring at the scene in front of us with nothing but determination in his eyes. 

Even after all these years, it was still strange to see him like this. I was used to the brother who was four years older than me and at least two inches shorter. Now he was not only taller but also a whole lot more dangerous and skilled. Even though I missed the old Steve, I was happy he had become who he was now. And that he had found someone to look after him when I couldn't because, believe it or not, Steve got himself in a lot of trouble. 

The first couple of aliens got through without amputating their limbs and the Jabari army activated their shields. They opened fire at the incoming aliens and I took the gun from my back, taking off the safety.

I shot Bucky a smile and he kissed the back of my hand before taking out his own gun. 

I peered through the spyglass and began shooting down aliens. 

Even with an entire army shooting at them, the aliens managed to get too close to us for my liking. One of the aliens coming at us jumped up but was shot down by Sam, who was just in time to fly in over our heads and open fire. 

"You seen the teeth on those things?!" he exclaimed through the comms. 

"All right, Sam, back up," Rhodey said while the rest of us continued shooting the aliens down.

Rhodey flew close past the dome's edge and dropped a handful of bombs, blowing up the aliens in the process. 

The aliens that were still outside the dome started circling around it. 

"Cap, if these things circle the perimeter, there's nothing between them and Vision," Bruce said, voicing my thoughts. 

"Then we better keep 'em in front of us," Steve stated. 

"How do we do that?" I asked.

T'Challa looked at my brother for a short moment. "We open the barrier," he said. He held his finger to his ear. "On my signal, open North-West Section Seventeen," he told the person on the other side. "On my signal." 

"This will be the end of Wakanda," M'Baku commented behind me. 

"Then it will be the noblest ending in history," Okoye said and I couldn't help but think of Ilanga and the other goats. I prayed for them to be safe. 

The clanking sound next to my head snapped me back to reality and I saw Steve had gotten a new set of shields. They were attached to his forearms and made of black vibranium.

T'Challa cried out a Wakandan phrase and the shields of the army disappeared. He walked past them and stood at the front. "Wakanda forever!" he exclaimed and we all charged forward. America sped off and left my view, but seconds later, I saw her knocking over some aliens. 

At first, Steve kept pace with me, but he quickly sped up and sprinted ahead of us with T'Challa, the two of them faster than the rest of us. I deliberately didn't go at my top-speed because I didn't want to leave Bucky on his own.

The barrier opened and the aliens piled inside, rushing in our direction as soon as they got the chance. Our army soon collided with theirs, and all around me, aliens were slain, people were bitten, and lives were ended.