Chapter 214: War Machine Offline
"The psychiatrist is gone."
Bruce's voice came through the encrypted communicator.
Natasha, using the corridor wall for support, slowly pushed herself upright. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and looked toward the shattered interrogation room.
"I knew it."
Her eyes burned with anger when they settled on Lynn.
"You could have stopped him."
Lynn calmly returned the unused sedative injector to his medical kit.
"Are you certain you want to speak to me in that tone?"
Natasha's expression hardened.
She knew exactly what he meant.
Lynn had not failed to stop Zemo.
He had simply chosen not to interfere until there was a medical emergency.
Natasha said nothing.
At the far end of the corridor, the Winter Soldier was already tearing through another security door.
Steel screamed.
The electronic locks failed one after another.
The Winter Soldier's cybernetic left arm drove through a reinforced door, ripping the locking mechanism from the frame.
The system interface appeared in Lynn's vision.
[Winter Soldier Conditioning Cipher: 100% Resolved.]
[Neural Conditioning Model: Complete.]
[Masterful Copying Conditions: Nearly Satisfied.]
[A complete neurological treatment following stabilization may enable high-quality ability acquisition.]
Lynn watched the chaos developing farther down the corridor.
A faint smile appeared.
"Good."
"Now someone should get hurt."
...
The moment Barnes escaped the interrogation room, the entire detention center entered emergency lockdown.
Red warning lights flashed across every corridor.
Sirens screamed.
Security doors slammed shut.
Three tactical officers emerged from a side passage.
"Stop!"
The first raised his rifle.
Barnes moved before the command finished.
His cybernetic left hand seized the weapon.
He twisted.
The magazine dropped.
Then the rifle itself folded under the force of his grip.
The officer stared at the ruined weapon.
His face went pale.
The second officer fired.
Barnes raised his metal arm.
The bullets struck the prosthetic and ricocheted harmlessly into the wall.
The third officer attempted to flank him.
Barnes turned.
His cybernetic fist struck the man's armored vest and sent him crashing into the corridor wall.
Then—
A powerful mechanical hum filled the passage.
War Machine descended from the upper security corridor.
Rhodey landed heavily.
The impact shook dust from the ceiling.
His shoulder-mounted weapons deployed.
"Barnes!"
His amplified voice echoed through the corridor.
"Get down!"
Barnes stared at him.
No response.
Rhodey switched to a non-lethal weapon.
A compact concussion round fired.
It detonated a meter in front of Barnes.
The pressure wave tore through the corridor.
Wall-mounted lights shattered.
Dust and fragments rained from above.
Barnes raised his cybernetic arm and absorbed most of the force.
He moved backward only half a step.
Rhodey's helmet tilted.
"That's what you call non-lethal?"
He sighed.
"Great."
Steve arrived from another corridor.
"Bucky!"
The Winter Soldier turned.
Steve stepped closer.
"Listen to me!"
Barnes answered with a brutal backhand strike.
Steve barely managed to raise his shield.
The cybernetic fist slammed into the vibranium.
The impact forced Steve backward several meters.
"Bucky!"
No recognition.
Sam descended from above.
His flight harness opened fully.
He attempted to pin Barnes from the air.
Barnes reacted instantly.
His left hand caught one edge of Sam's wing assembly.
Barnes pulled.
Sam was dragged out of the air and thrown against the wall.
His wings folded violently.
Sparks erupted from the damaged mechanism.
"Okay!"
Sam rolled onto one knee.
"That hurt."
Then Wanda arrived.
She stepped into the corridor with both hands raised.
Crimson energy spread between her fingers.
Two damaged sections of the corridor's metal partition tore free.
Under Wanda's control, they folded inward around Barnes.
The steel panels closed from both sides.
Barnes disappeared between them.
Wanda tightened her fingers.
The metal compressed.
For a moment, Barnes was completely immobilized.
Then his cybernetic arm moved.
The hydraulic joints screamed.
The metal panel buckled.
Barnes pulled.
A shriek of tearing steel echoed through the corridor.
The partition split down the center.
Wanda's concentration broke.
The red glow around her fingers flickered.
She staggered backward.
Barnes charged toward the emergency exit.
Natasha attacked from the side.
She moved low and fast, using the wall as cover.
Her leg hooked behind Barnes's knee.
Her arms immediately locked around the shoulder and elbow of his organic side.
It was a clean joint-control technique.
Barnes twisted.
His conditioning overrode pain and caution.
The cybernetic left hand shot backward.
It caught Natasha by the throat.
His fingers tightened.
Natasha's face reddened.
She struggled against the artificial strength crushing her airway.
Lynn raised one finger.
The metal floor beneath Natasha's body changed shape.
A shallow ridge rose from the floor and redirected Barnes's grip.
Natasha dropped free.
She hit the ground hard and rolled away, coughing.
Rhodey seized the opening.
His thrusters surged.
The War Machine armor accelerated down the corridor like a projectile.
The impact hit Barnes squarely.
The Winter Soldier was thrown backward and crashed through the reinforced wall.
Concrete fractured.
Dust exploded into the corridor.
Rhodey stopped.
"Got him."
Then—
Something moved inside the smoke.
A cybernetic left hand emerged.
Barnes's fingers closed around Rhodey's breastplate.
He pulled.
Rhodey had only enough time to brace.
Barnes swung the heavily armored War Machine sideways.
Rhodey slammed into a load-bearing pillar.
The pillar shook.
A deep dent appeared across the rear armor.
Warning indicators immediately flooded Rhodey's HUD.
SPINAL IMPACT
NEURAL FEEDBACK OVERLOAD
ARMOR INTEGRITY COMPROMISED
Rhodey groaned.
Tony's voice erupted through the communications channel.
"Rhodey!"
Rhodey gritted his teeth.
"I'm alive."
A pause.
"But I'm starting to hate today."
Barnes struck again.
His fist slammed into the center of Rhodey's abdomen.
The armor flew backward.
Rhodey crashed through another section of wall and disappeared beneath rubble.
Tony's voice sharpened.
"Rhodey! Respond!"
No answer.
Then Lynn's voice came through.
"He's here."
Tony's holographic projection appeared beside the rubble.
His expression changed when he saw the damaged armor.
"Lynn."
"Save him first."
Lynn stepped forward.
He knelt beside Rhodey.
The All-Seeing Eye activated.
The diagnostic interface appeared immediately.
[Automatic Diagnosis Initiated—]
[Patient: James Rhodes — War Machine]
[Injury Assessment:]
[1. T6–T8 thoracic impact trauma with significant spinal-cord edema and impaired neural conduction.]
[2. Grade-II thermal and electrical injury to the armor's neurofeedback interface.]
[3. Lumbar vertebral microfractures with mechanical instability; no complete spinal transection detected.]
[Overall Mortality Risk: 4.2%.]
[Immediate Treatment Required.]
[Without decompression and anti-inflammatory intervention, estimated probability of permanent lower-limb paralysis: 68%.]
Lynn glanced toward Tony's projection.
"He isn't dying."
Tony's expression tightened.
"For now?"
"At present."
Tony's jaw clenched.
Lynn looked at him.
"Do you want the medical assessment..."
"...or emotional reassurance?"
He paused.
"The second costs more."
Tony fell silent.
Lynn opened the portable medical unit.
The compact device unfolded beside Rhodey.
Two stabilization modules locked into position on either side of his thoracic spine.
A micro-injector extended.
It entered the epidural space beside the swollen spinal cord.
Anti-inflammatory medication was administered with microscopic precision.
At the same time, Lynn placed his fingers against the damaged neural interface of Rhodey's armor.
His Quantum Electromagnetic Domination engaged.
The electrical feedback was isolated.
Damaged conduction pathways were separated from the healthy network.
The neural-feedback system stabilized.
Rhodey's breathing gradually became more regular.
Meanwhile...
The Winter Soldier had already reached the upper security level.
Steve, Wanda, and Sam pursued him.
Zemo was gone.
Bruce accessed the remaining surveillance network.
For a few seconds, a single figure appeared on one of the surviving cameras.
Broussard.
Moving rapidly toward the emergency exit.
Then the image disappeared.
"The psychiatrist is gone," Bruce said over the channel.
Natasha finally managed to stand.
One hand remained against her throat.
"I knew it."
Lynn continued treating Rhodey.
"Knowing and stopping are two different things, Miss Romanoff."
The spinal edema gradually stabilized.
The microfractures in Rhodey's lumbar vertebrae were immobilized with a temporary brace.
His lower-limb mobility would be restricted temporarily, but the immediate danger had passed.
Tony released a breath he had been holding.
Then his eyes dropped toward the electronic invoice Lynn had just transmitted.
His expression changed.
The amount was already displayed on the screen.
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