But Captain America, enhanced by the Super Soldier Serum, is a genuine super-soldier. Not to mention helicopters—he could even forcibly split purple sweet potato essence fifty-fifty. Even so, at this moment, he still didn't possess that level of strength.
That said, in this tug-of-war that exhausted every ounce of his power, Captain America could still generate dozens of tons of force. While pulling the helicopter down outright was difficult, gaining the upper hand was not a problem.
And because he had been placed under government control a few days earlier, the captain—along with Falcon, Rhodes, and the others who trained with him—had not been idle. They had been exercising constantly, running almost every day around the White House and the large lake in front of it.
Since the thaw, Captain America had never stopped physical training. Not to mention lifting several tons of weight every day, just his combat training alone had him wearing out more than a dozen sandbags daily. Especially after the Battle of Ultron, his training had become even more intense.
Some interesting things happened along the way, such as the races between Captain America and Falcon.
Every morning, the captain did his mandatory daily exercise—a morning run. Falcon, as Captain America's long-term partner, was always inseparable from him. The two cared deeply about who ran faster.
On days when Falcon ran ahead, he would say, "On your left." The next day, when Captain America overtook him, he would say the same thing: "On your left." Doesn't that sound a bit evil? Now Blaine finally understood why Captain America insisted on racing an ordinary person despite his strength.
As for Falcon's role, Blaine basically regarded him as an ordinary Muggle—someone with super-tech but no superpowers, no real equipment to speak of, just a pair of mechanical wings. Even those carbon-fiber wings—once damaged—would completely rob him of combat effectiveness.
Still, Falcon wasn't useless. After all, there was a reason Marvel officially created him.
In desperate situations where brute force couldn't solve the problem, this guy always had plenty of ideas. Falcon's role in the Avengers was basically equivalent to Usopp's position in the Straw Hat Pirates. And in the end, Captain America even passed the star-spangled shield—his symbol of status—to Sam.
Back to the present. The tug-of-war between Captain America and the helicopter finally came to an end when the helicopter's engine lost power. However, the building's railing couldn't withstand Captain America's pull and snapped as well.
The helicopter spun out of control and crashed downward. Fortunately, Bucky was being controlled rather than completely out of his mind, and just as the helicopter was about to hit the ground and explode, he jumped off. Luckily, there was an artificial lake outside S.H.I.E.L.D., and both Bucky and Captain America fell straight into it without injury—except that Bucky hit the water hard and passed out.
Honestly, if Blaine hadn't known how the plot would unfold later, he would probably have thought the same as Captain America—that Zemo's plan was to awaken the other Winter Soldiers created by HYDRA to destroy the world. But that wasn't the case.
"It's about time," Blaine muttered. "The fight should be starting."
After completing his five-thousandth push-up, Blaine casually brushed the dirt from his hands, ready to enjoy the show.
Originally, Blaine thought Tony would hire him as an assistant, but unexpectedly, Tony was quite independent. So Blaine was alone again. No choice—he was born to watch drama. Forget it. If they didn't invite him, he'd just go on his own. Without the Bounty Hunter's involvement, this would truly become a civil war.
On the other side, after listening to Bucky's explanation, Captain America realized that they had all been deceived. The death of the King of Wakanda and the framing of Bucky had both been orchestrated. Before being framed, Bucky had been hiding in Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
Thinking of Zemo's sinister plan in Siberia, Captain America decided to go there regardless of the Sokovia Accords.
He worried that just the two of them might not be enough, so it was more likely they needed companions to counter Tony's interference.
Naturally, Falcon—who always stood by the captain—was indispensable. There was also Scarlet Witch, who was under house arrest; Ant-Man, who was idle at home; and Hawkeye Barton, who was living quietly with his wife and child. With the help of Peggy's niece, Captain America also retrieved everyone's equipment. Just like that, an unofficial team was assembled.
Meanwhile, after Captain America rescued Bucky and the two disappeared, government officials urgently notified Tony to apprehend Captain America within sixteen hours.
Tony, in turn, began forming his own team. With the green titan Hulk and Thor absent, he first recruited Black Panther T'Challa, who was eager to avenge his father. Then came little Spider-Man—the poorest superhero in Marvel history—and Vision, who was just as idle as Ant-Man.
As for why the Bounty Hunter wasn't recruited, it wasn't because Tony was unwilling to pay. Rather, Tony felt this was an internal Avengers matter. Inviting an outsider might damage the Avengers' relationships even further. In that regard, Tony's emotional intelligence was surprisingly high.
Captain America's unofficial team consisted of Falcon, Ant-Man, Bucky, Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye. Tony's official team included Black Panther, Iron Patriot, Spider-Man, Vision, and Black Widow.
Thus, the two teams met at the airport. A six-on-six battle was about to erupt.
"Oh my god—Emma, hurry up, hurry up. I almost missed it."
Just as Captain America and Tony reached a stalemate, Blaine arrived right on time. A show like this couldn't be complete without him.
The moment he activated Shadow Stealth and released Hawkeye, the entire airport came into Blaine's view, including its internal layout. Because Hawkeye could see through obstacles, Blaine gained a complete panoramic view of everyone's movements from midair. Using flight magic, he hovered silently in the air, arms crossed over his chest beneath his hood—completely unnoticed.
"Go, go. Come with me…"
Having just released Hawkeye, Blaine immediately located Captain America and his team.
Led by Captain America, the group sprinted toward the plane parked in the distance, clearly intending to escape before Tony could arrive.
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