DEFYING GRAVITY || MARVEL (4)

SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SUXTEEN: TAKE BACK THE SHIELD

JOHN HAD GONE TOO FAR WHILE THE WORLD WATCHED.

Maggie, Bucky, and Sam followed him into an old warehouse in the city of Riga. John was on one knee in the middle of the warehouse. The shield was tainted in blood and supported him in the front. After what all three of them had witnessed, they knew John was not worthy of the shield. He never was and shouldn't have been given it.

"Time to go to work," John muttered to himself. He cracked his neck, got on his feet, and walked towards the the trio with shield in hand.

"Walker," Sam called.

"You guys should see a medic. You don't look so good."

"Stop, Walker."

"What?"

"Listen, I understand what you're feeling right now," Maggie started calmly. "We all do, but-"

"You saw what happened," John tried to reason. "You know what I had to do. I killed him because I had to! He killed Lemar!"

"He didn't kill, Lemar, John," Bucky replied. "Don't go down that road, John. Believe me, it doesn't end well."

"I'm not like you."

"Listen," Sam stepped in. "It was the heat of the battle. Okay? If you explained what happened, they may still consider your record. We don't anyone else to get hurt, John." Is he paused, his expression getting dark. "You gotta give us the shield, man."

John looked at the trio with realization, which then became a mixture of anger and denial. "Oh, that's what this is. You almost got me."

"You made a mistake."

"You don't wanna do this," John said, looking between Maggie and Bucky.

Maggie held a stance as green mist gathered into her hands while Bucky looked up at John.

"Yeah we do," Bucky said.

All four of them lunged at each other. John missed Maggie's blast and held up the shield as Bucky punched him and kicked back Sam. He then back kicked Bucky and elbowed him as Bucky tried to reach for his gun. John turned around and punched him. When he raised the shield to stab Bucky, green mist the knock it out of his hands.

Maggie became his center of attention as she dodged his punches as well as blocked them. John soon enough got the upper hand, kicking her in the stomach and pinning her down to the ground. He yelled at her in fury, trying to the edge of the shield down Maggie's neck. Maggie stopped it just in time as green mist covered the shield.

"You don't want to do this," Maggie breathed.

"Then why are making me?" Growled John, pushing the shield down with both arms.

Maggie slipped one of her hands down allowing green mist to wrap around his ankles. She flipped him on the ground, allowing her to get back on her feet. John got back up, pulling back the shield and raised it above his head, but Sam picked it upwards.

John turned to Sam, but Sam hit him with his wings. John then blocked Bucky's punch with the shield. He then tried to swipe Sam's legs, but he activated the thrusters and jumped. John hit Bucky's head with the shield while blocking Maggie's energy blast. He aimed the shield's edge at Maggie's heart, but she instantly dodged it. However, it was able to graze her side, and she gave a groan of pain.

When Bucky heard her cry out, he launched at John, punching the shield repeater as John held it up and stumbled back. Bucky had him pinned against some type of machine and pressed the shield against him. John hit Bucky's knee and then his shoulder. Bucky ducked to avoid the shield as John did the same, hitting the pole behind him. John rolled forward, kicking Sam and threw the shield at Bucky, making him fly and hit a pole. He then ran towards Bucky, crushing the shield against him.

"Why are you making me do this?" John growled. "Why are you making me do this?"

He grabbed the shield and swung, making Bucky hit an electric pole. His vibranium arm crackled and and twitched with electricity when it came in contact with the switchboard. Sam flew towards John, buy John caught him, pinning him down. John raised the shield to bash him, but green mist froze it, allowing Sam to roll off. He tripped John with the wings, flew backward and landed beside Maggie.

"This isn't you, John," Sam said.

"We could have been a team," John scoffed, giving a sadistic smile.

John jumped at Maggie next, raising the shield as Sam flew upawards. Maggie blocked the shield with a blast and swiped John off hos feet. However, John hit Maggie's head with the shield and threw her back. Her head met the ground while Sam hooked the shield and tugged it as John pulled it back. Sam and John fell to the ground from the impact, shield in between then. John went to grab it, but quickly got to her feet and pushed John back. He pinned her to the ground, punching her and wrapped his hand around her neck.

"You're not as strong as I thought," John growled at her. "It's a surprise that you were the one to defeat Thanos, yet you couldn't save your first child."

Sam flew to get the shield, but John grabbed him mid-air and pushed him to the ground, grabbing his wings firmly on both sides. His helmet fell off, revealing an expression of pure fury.

"I am Captain America!"

John tore the wings and raised the shield to decapitate him. However, Maggie and Bucky jumped in and tackled him. Maggie fell back to the ground, feeling a liquid drip down the back of her head. She touched it with her fingers and saw her own blood coating them as her vision grew cloudy. Sam pulled the shield off of John by breaking his arm, giving a loud crack. Sam then rolled to the ground with the shield and Bucky walked towards him, spitting his blood on the ground.

"It's over, John," painted Sam.

"It's mine," John said, getting to his feet. "It's mine!"

Suddenly, a gold energy blast sent John flying back. Maggie's eyes were glowing gold instead of green, same with her telekinetic energy. He hair was waving as if the wind was moving it as the expression on her face was one of pure anger. While Bucky was helping out Sam, Maggie sent blast after blast towards John. The force was too quick for John to dodge or block, making him keep stumbling.

"You are not worthy to own that title," Maggie said, but her voice was different. It sounded as if it was more than one voice, it sounded much more horrifying.

Fold mist wrapped around John's body as he was lifted into the air. Maggie gritted her teeth as her eyes glow brighter, making the mist tighten around his body. John cried out from the sound and feeling of two of his ribs cracking as Maggie contimued.

"You are NOTHING compared to me," Maggie sneered.

Maggie then threw John across the warehouse with the gold mist. He hit one of the poles and fell to the ground unconscious. The gold glow then left Maggie's eyes and the mist disappeared as well. She softly gasped, looking down at her hands in surprise. Her powers had turned gold again, just like they did in Siberia. However, she was in control of it that time and was able to remember it. She leaned against the wall, checking on the healing slice on her side. The cut on her face from John's punched was healed, dry blood only remaining. Blood dried up under her nostrils as well.

Sam held the shield, on his knees heavily breathing. Bucky made his way to Maggie, who was still leaning on the wall.

"Are you okay?" Bucky asked, immediately checking for injuries.

"Yeah," Maggie breathed, softly nodding. "I'm fine."

Bucky wrapped his arm around her waist before she almost lost her balance. He kept her close, supporting her as the they walked out of the warehouse and left Sam with the tainted shield.