Red Skull's Downfall

Alex had originally planned to charge straight in and destroy the plane and all the missiles aboard. But when he saw the figures through the windows, he realized he could not do it alone and had no choice but to give up.

He teleported back to camp, where everyone in the Howling Commandos was already fully armed and waiting in battle formation.

The moment Steve saw Alex appear, he hurried over and asked, "Alex, how did it go?"

"I found the way in!" Alex said as he put on the uniform and weapons Carter handed him. He then turned to the others and warned, "Once we're inside, go straight into combat. Don't let your guard down for even a second!"

Everyone had grown used to Teleportation and entering battle immediately afterward. They all nodded, looking relaxed.

"Alright, move out!" Alex shouted. His Psionic Power spread out and wrapped around them, and they vanished from the camp through Teleportation.

When they appeared again, the group of six was already inside the Hydra base, in the spacious room with its own windows.

The Hydra soldiers froze briefly at the sight of the six people who had suddenly appeared. Only Red Skull reacted at once. To Alex and the others' surprise, Red Skull did not charge forward to fight. Instead, he turned and ran.

Red Skull's reaction was beyond Alex and the others' expectations. Facing the swarming Hydra soldiers, Steve flung his shield and knocked one of them down, then turned to Alex. "Go after him. Leave this to us!"

Alex had originally intended to stay by Steve's side to make sure he was safe. Hearing Steve say that, he hesitated. But on second thought, if he went after Red Skull, Steve probably would not be in danger.

Once he had figured it out, Alex did not hesitate any longer. He immediately activated Teleportation and chased after Red Skull. However, the base's passages twisted and turned, with many sharply curved corners that severely limited Teleportation. Hydra soldiers also rushed out from time to time. After chasing for a while, Alex actually lost Red Skull.

Cursing under his breath, Alex gave up searching inside the base and chose to wait by the stump for a rabbit outside.

While searching for the windows, Alex had noticed an airstrip built along the cliff. There was no doubt that it had been prepared for that enormous bat-wing aircraft. After losing Red Skull's trail, Alex decisively chose to wait for him there.

Before that, however, Alex needed to send Steve and the others back. He could handle the rest of the fight himself. But when Alex returned to the room they had entered through, Steve and the others were nowhere to be seen!

"FUCK!" Alex cursed. He could only abandon that plan for the moment and return to the runway atop the cliff.

Alex had only just returned when the sealed doors at the end of the runway opened, and a massive bat-wing plane raced out from within.

Teleporting, Alex appeared directly at the front of the plane. There was a transparent section there, through which he could see Red Skull sitting in the pilot's seat. Alex intended to deal with Red Skull first, then destroy the missiles in the rear of the plane.

What Alex did not notice was that a speeding car followed close behind the plane as it burst through the doors. Four people sat in the car—Steve and the other three!

Not long after Alex chased Red Skull out, they had also taken care of the Hydra soldiers in the room and followed after him. Alex got lost while chasing Red Skull, but with Logan there, Steve's group followed Red Skull's scent all the way to the airfield.

Red Skull was clearly startled when Alex suddenly appeared before him. He hurriedly jumped out of the pilot's seat, grabbed an energy gun from the side, and warily raised it.

Alex instantly appeared behind Red Skull. The dagger in his hand slashed swiftly across Red Skull's arm as he kicked high toward Red Skull's wrist.

Though Red Skull had only been injected with an incomplete Super Soldier Serum, neither his combat skills nor agility were inferior to Alex's. He raised an arm to block Alex's kick, twisted Alex's wrist, and wrenched it. Pain shot through Alex's hand, making him release the dagger involuntarily. It clattered to the floor.

Red Skull had knocked away Alex's dagger, but Alex was not disappointed. His leg also sent the gun in Red Skull's hand flying.

Neither of them gained the upper hand in the first exchange.

Worried about the missiles in the rear of the plane, Alex did not waste any more time. He grabbed Red Skull and teleported away from the plane while dragging him along. After the fight on the train, Alex had discovered that this move was quite useful, so he did not hesitate to use the same trick on Red Skull.

At first, Red Skull had not been on guard. Only after Alex dragged him out of the plane did he realize something was wrong. He clutched Alex's hand even more tightly, not daring to let go, his ten fingers almost digging into Alex's flesh.

But Alex had prepared for this. He had specifically gone to find Strucker and obtained some Death Spores from him, all for this very moment.

The Death Spores virus could leave its victims weak, in agonizing pain, or even dead. But it obviously could not kill Red Skull. The Death Spores virus was ineffective against superhumans, and Red Skull, having only been injected with an incomplete Super Soldier Serum, did not count as a true superhuman. Therefore, the virus would affect him to some extent.

Alex did not expect the Death Spores to kill Red Skull. He only hoped they would temporarily leave Red Skull weak and powerless. That way, Alex could easily break free of Red Skull's hands and let him fall to his death!

Watching Red Skull's body plummet rapidly, Alex chuckled and quickly returned to the plane. Just as he was about to head toward the rear, his gaze suddenly fell upon a machine in the center of the plane. A brilliant blue glow shone from its core—the Tesseract was inside!

"Something this important should stay with me!" Alex thought. He reached out, removed the Tesseract, placed it in a nearby case, and teleported it back to his Brooklyn apartment to hide it. Only then did he return to the plane and run toward its rear.

He had only made it halfway when Alex heard several familiar voices.

"Steve? How did you get here?" Alex was extremely surprised to see Steve and the others emerge.

Steve smiled faintly at Alex and pointed behind him. "We've already taken care of them. Where's Red Skull?"

"He should have fallen to his death!" Alex was not sure whether Red Skull was actually dead. There had not been enough time for him to check.

Nick strode past Alex and rushed into the pilot's seat. Looking at the rows of buttons before him, he turned toward Alex and asked expectantly, "Can this thing still fly?"

Alex shook his head. "Probably not!" The plane was powered by the Tesseract. With the Tesseract removed, there was no way it could still fly.

"Then what do we do now? Wait for it to crash on its own?" Nick glanced around, looking regretful.

"I'll send you all back first!" Letting it crash naturally was too dangerous. Alex needed to sink it into the ocean, just like in the movie. "Then I'll send it into the sea!"