Chapter 19: The Iron Archive
The "Iron Inquisitor" didn't move like Tony Stark; there was no flair, no humanity, only the cold, calculated efficiency of a machine serving a dead timeline. As Arthur held the spatial fold, the Inquisitor's boots ignited with a violent purple flame, propelling him forward with a speed that defied the laws of 1944 physics.
The Duel of Realities
The Inquisitor's blackened gauntlet transformed, shifting into a high-frequency blade made of stabilized chronal energy. He swung at Arthur's head, the air whistling as it was sliced apart.
Arthur parried with his staff, the Tesseract shard screaming as it collided with the future-tech. The impact sent a shockwave through the bridge that nearly knocked the Howling Commandos off their feet.
[ BATTLE LOG ]
Arthur uses [Kinetic Dispersion]!
Iron Inquisitor uses [Chronal Acceleration]!
Sync Level: 29% — You are beginning to "Read" the Inquisitor's source code.
"You think you are saving them," the Inquisitor's voice crackled through Arthur's mind. "But look at your Captain. In my world, I built the bombs that leveled his Brooklyn. I saw the records of his surrender. You are fighting for a dream that has already been forgotten."
"Then it's a good thing I'm an Archivist," Arthur gritted his teeth, his [Mercury Catalyst] blood surging. "Because I don't just remember dreams. I make them permanent."
The Glitch in the Armor
Through his [Chrono-Vision], Arthur saw it—a flickering red pixel near the Inquisitor's chest. It wasn't a physical weakness; it was a temporal one. This variant of the armor was tethered to the Rift Generator. If the Generator flickered, the armor glitched.
"Steve! The base of the spire!" Arthur roared, ducking under a repulsor blast that vaporized a nearby piece of floating debris. "Destroy the cooling vents! It'll destabilize his sync!"
Steve Rogers didn't hesitate. He dived through a hail of orange plasma, using his shielded-pulse to knock back a line of Legionnaires. Bucky provided cover, his sniper shots hitting the vents with pinpoint accuracy.
The Erasure
As the first vent exploded in a cloud of blue frost, the Inquisitor froze mid-lunge. His armor flickered, revealing the hollow, translucent ghost of a man beneath.
"Now!" Arthur lunged, not with his staff, but with his bare hand. He reached into the Inquisitor's chest piece, his fingers wrapping around the jagged purple core.
[ SKILL ACTIVE: DATA LEECH — SYSTEM PURGE ]
Arthur didn't just drain the energy; he pulled the Inquisitor's very history out of the armor. Images flashed in his mind: a world of black Hydra flags, the fall of SHIELD before it was ever born, and a Tony Stark who never learned to be a hero.
With a final, violent pull, Arthur ripped the core out.
The Inquisitor didn't scream; he simply dissolved into a cloud of digital ash, his tattered red cape falling to the bridge floor.
[ BOSS DEFEATED: The Iron Inquisitor ]
Reward: +5,000 DP & [Broken Chronal Core].
Divergence: 24.5% (The Rift is becoming critically unstable).
The Final Charge
The bridge began to shatter. The purple fog was being replaced by the freezing spray of the Atlantic as the reality of 1944 fought to reclaim its space.
"The charges are set!" Steve yelled, grabbing Bucky as the floor beneath them turned into liquid light. "Arthur, we have to go! Now!"
Arthur looked at the Rift Generator, the obsidian spire now glowing with a blinding white light. He could feel the Tesseract shard in his staff pulling him toward the center. If he left now, the rift might stay open. If he stayed, he might be deleted along with the "Future Hydra" fleet.
"Go!" Arthur commanded, his [Spatial Anchor] lifting the Commandos into the air. "I'll see you on the Erebus!"
Current Status:
DP Balance: 6,200.
Sync Level: 30% (A major threshold).
New Ability Unlocked: Record Overwrite (Single Target).