42 Chapter 39 - The World on Fire Part 3

POV: Baldur

Madripoor, 1943 

"Who might you be?" Jonin asks.

He was the only one who ignored my golden armor and Sigel. I ignore them and go to Logan, he's regenerating at an alarming speed.

"Intruder, state your intentions now!" Strucker shouts with an authoritative voice.

"Sssss! I'll take care of you in a few seconds."

My response infuriated Strucker. I can see one of his veins trying to pop out of his face; it must have been a long time since someone ridiculed him in such a way.

I place my hand on Logan's chest, activating my runes and enhancing his already abnormal regeneration; his powers combined with mine heal him almost instantly. Logan stands up and looks at me confused; he realizes that I helped him in some way.

"Thanks for the help, but what are you doing here?"

Logan still seems wary of my presence here.

"I came for the bald one."

"Which one?" Logan asks, smiling.

"The one with the eyepatch using that ridiculous gauntlet."

Strucker becomes increasingly irritated with the situation. Not only did I disrespect him, but I'm also ignoring him, yet Logan seems to be starting to like me.

"And you?" I ask him.

"The girl."

Natalia or Natasha, who was showing no emotion, furrows her brow; I didn't know he and the Black Widow had a relationship, but it doesn't matter since we don't share the same goals.

"And what about the other bald one?" Logan asks, referring to Jonin.

"Small fry, I don't care about him."

"How dare you speak like that about The Hand's leader!"

One of the ninjas who was just observing becomes irritated with what I said about their leader and attacks me. I grab the blade of his katana with my bare hands and twist it, breaking it. I then thrust the broken blade under the ninja's chin.

"It's rude to interrupt someone while they're talking."

My strength and the ease with which I killed the ninja make everyone more cautious.

"So, Mr. Logan, do we have an alliance?"

"I like your style, bub. Now, less talk and more action."

He wastes no time and extends his claws, attacking everyone head-on. I also don't waste time; I leave Sigel stuck in the ground and grab a katana lying near a body, joining the fight. It's been a while since I've been involved in such a physical fight. The ninjas fear no death and now attack us head-on with their katanas; all are cut down by me or by Logan, who fights like a wild animal. Some smart ones choose to attack from afar by throwing shurikens at us; I use their comrades' bodies as shields to defend myself, while Logan doesn't even care.

Seeing that the situation is turning and the number of their men is dwindling, Strucker orders his soldiers to join forces with The Hand's men. The outcome was not very pleasant for them; our advance didn't stop.

The last surviving men join together and attack all at once; I cut two of them in half with one motion, and a soldier comes at me from behind, attacking me with his bayonet. Logan jumps and thrusts his claws into the soldier's neck, covering me.

From a distance, I see that they're going to use RPGs again, even though some of their men are still nearby. I grab two shurikens and throw them, hitting both of them in the forehead, avoiding the rocket launcher attack. Jonin seems to have become apprehensive about the direction of the battle and moves towards Natalia once again with the potion in his hands. Logan, seeing this, grabs a pistol and fires.

Bang! Bang!

The first shot catches Jonin by surprise, hitting his hand and causing the potion vial to fall to the ground. The second shot wasn't as successful and was defended by his katana blade; he wouldn't be the leader of The Hand if he lacked combat skills.

"You cursed beast! I'll torture you for days because of this," Jonin says, referring to his wound.

The two finally attack us directly. Logan attacks Strucker, who dodges his blades with his gauntlet; unfortunately, Logan makes a mistake and Strucker manages to grab his hand.

"Die!"

"AHHHHHHHH!"

The Devil's gauntlet releases an immense surge of energy, causing Logan to kneel on the ground, screaming in pain.

Jonin also attacks me head-on with a perfect sword movement. Unfortunately for him, my physical abilities are far superior; I dodge the first attack and kick him in the face, making him fly a few meters away from Natalia.

The blow was strong enough to make him take a moment to recover. Meanwhile, I head towards Strucker.

Seeing this, Strucker releases Logan's arm, which falls to the ground, recovering. Logan's arm is now blackened. Strucker grabs a pistol and shoots at me.

Not wanting to prolong this anymore, I approach with all my speed. When I stand right in front of him, he is surprised by my speed. I twist his wrist, breaking it and making him drop the gun. I grab his neck with my hand, lift him, and slam him against the wall behind him with all my strength. Strucker still doesn't give up and grabs my face with the Devil's gauntlet.

"I won," he says, smiling, certain of his victory.

I feel a great amount of energy running through my body, but contrary to what was expected to happen, I don't even scream, which leaves Strucker in panic.

"It tickles."

"How is this possible!"

Without answering him, I grab his gauntlet and squeeze with all my strength.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

The steel of the gauntlet breaks and crushes Strucker's hand, making him scream in pain. After that, I punch him in the face, making him fall unconscious to the ground, and just to be sure, I take a powerful analgesic drug from my belt and inject it into him.

(First objective accomplished.)

I look back and see Logan getting up, completely recovered from the shock.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"That thing caught me off guard, it won't happen again," he promises angrily for falling for such a stupid trick.

"Good, now there's only one left."

I see our only remaining enemy recovering from the kick I gave him earlier. He gets up, feeling a bit dizzy, and looks at the situation he's in. He sees his last ally on the ground surrounded by his dead soldiers; I can see in his eyes that he's going to try to escape.

"AAH!"

Out of nowhere, he lets out a yell, and we all see why. A blade tip is protruding from his chest; Jonin falls to his knees, and we can see who the attacker is. Natalia, the girl who was trapped throughout the fight. Natalia approaches Jonin's ear.

"Romulus sends his regards."

After these words, she pulls out the katana, leaving Jonin bleeding on the ground.

So her mission here was to be captured to have the chance to kill Jonin on behalf of another. Romulus is a stronger version of Logan; he's not human but rather a species that evolved from wolves instead of monkeys. He commands another secret crime organization, and they and The Hand have been fighting to see who's the most powerful for a long time.

I really didn't expect Natalia to work for one of Rome's founders.

"It seems the girl you came for doesn't need to be saved, my friend."

"I'm trying to save her from herself, from the fate of being just a living weapon," he tells me, sadness in his voice.

After killing Jonin, she walks towards us with the katana still in hand.

"Logan," she says emotionlessly.

"Kid," he replies.

Then they stare at each other for a few seconds.

"Are you going to try to stop me?" She asks.

Now that the mission is completed, she will either return to the Red Room or carry out another assassination.

"You don't need to do this, kid. I can protect you."

After a few more seconds of silence.

"Are you going to try to stop me?" She asks again.

"It's pointless. It's impossible to try to save someone who doesn't want to be saved."

Logan seems to have understood my words and lowers his head, accepting them. He steps back, making room for the kid to leave.

"On the other hand, kid, you could also come with me. I guarantee that neither the Red Room nor the Soviet Union can do anything to you."

I know it's very difficult to try to recruit this younger version of the Black Widow, but I have to try.

"Are you telling the truth?" He asks me, with a sad and hopeful expression on his face.

The change was too fast.

"Yes," I say, smiling.

"Thank you," I see tears in his eyes as she approaches as if she wants to hug me.

"Watch out!" Logan shouts.

When Natalia is close to me, her expression returns to normal. A cold face. She attacks me, aiming for my eyes. I must say it was a good blow; she observed me during the fight and saw that bullets couldn't hurt my armor or my skin. She chose to blind me.

Having already seen through her pretense, I'm not surprised and hold the blade with my bare hands, which scares her for the first time.

"You acted very well, but you were too fast."

She tries to pull the blade from my fingers without success. She lets go of the weapon and jumps back into a defensive position.

"Here, kid, take this."

I toss her a golden tube, which she takes without fear of it being an explosive. If it were, I would also be in the blast radius. Normally, people would move away in situations like this, but this kid thought rationally the moment I threw the tube.

"What is this?" She asks me, looking at the golden tube full of drawn runes.

"Something you will be worthy of in the future, but not now."

She seems not to understand my words. I gave her one of my weapons, hoping for what she might become in the future. I'm not afraid that the Red Room will keep her; there's an enchantment on the tube that will always return it to its owner even before she can use the weapon.

"Now go."

She runs past me, disappearing through the mansion's door.

With everything finished, I put the still unconscious Strucker on my shoulders and look at Logan.

"That was a good cooperation. Thanks for the help."

"As if you needed it, hub. What's your name?" He says, smiling.

"Baldur, and you?"

"Just call me Logan."

"Pleasure, Logan."

I shake his hand and smile. After that, Logan also leaves, leaving a way for me to communicate with him if I need to. I return to my ship and take off towards Genosha. Strucker will be locked in a maximum-security cell until the army captures his other leader. Then they will be judged and executed, which will be fun to watch.

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