The scenario, which was already a little dismal, was getting worse and worse by the second. One of the Winter Soldiers was now fighting both Natasha and Sharon Carter at the same time. Sharon, in trying to help her friend after finding Natasha barely clinging to life as the Winter Soldier pinned her to the car roof choking to her death, jumped up to shoot him only to have him disarm her in the blink of an eye. It was enough of a distraction, however, for Natasha to kick him away.

Gasping for breath, Natasha slid to the ground on one knee, holding her neck and spluttering while Sharon handled the Winter Soldier as best she could. Fighting Bucky had inadvertently prepared her for this very situation and she was better prepared. It still didn’t make the fight any easier as he dodged her attacks with ease and sent punches and kicks to her body that felt like bits of her soul were being chipped away with every blow. It wasn’t long before Natasha had gained enough strength to return to the fight.

Dr. Frost was still handling Wanda with relative effortlessness but now she had a new adversary to contend with; Steve Rogers. As she fought to hold off Wanda’s angry attack Wanda also helped propel Steve forward with her power. His movements, already faster than a normal human’s, were accelerated due to Wanda’s aid, allowing him to dodge Frost’s lethal projectiles.

Rolling forward he kicked at her knee. She cried out, falling down only to send him flying backward with a powerful punch to the stomach. He landed on his back, groaning. Her strength was definitely unnatural. His attack left an opening for Wanda as she flew forward, throwing a bolt at the HYDRA villainness. Dr. Frost screamed as she took the hit. Wanda wasn’t done. She landed on the ground, sending forth a stream of energy that enveloped Dr. Frost.

Her teeth gritted as she struggled to defeat her. Steve Rogers sat up, cradling his side with a pained expression as he watched the duel unfold. Dr. Frost, kneeling on one knee and holding her arms skyward, screamed.

“Enough!” Dr. Frost yelled.

Her arms fell down and a wave of power rolled down the street sending Wanda flying backward directly into the gate surrounding Parliament. She crumpled to the ground. Steve slid across the cobblestoned street. Natasha and Sharon, who were still locked in fierce combat with the Winter Soldier, were sent flying backward. The Winter Soldier was thrown directly into a car headfirst. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Sharon managed to grab onto a nearby overturned car. Natasha wasn’t so lucky. Her hands desperately grasped for purchase but they found nothing. She was thrown all the way down the street and right over the bridge.

“Natasha!” Steve and Sharon screamed.

Natasha, however, wasn’t going to let this be the end. As she plummeted to the River Thames she spun in the air and a grapple shot from her wrist to the stone wall. It hooked into the wall and she was sent careening forward but instead of crashing into the stone she stopped herself with her feet. A jolt of pain lanced through her due to the impact but, being alive, she sighed a breath of relief.

“I’m fine,” she said over the comms.

There was only static. She cursed. The Metal Witch must’ve busted the communications. It didn’t matter. There were other ways to get in touch with people. She held her wrist up to her mouth.

“Fury, we need extraction. Hurry!”

Meanwhile, Dr. Frost stood, her white coat and dark hair billowing about her as the wind swirled in every direction. Her golden mask seemed to be illuminated. Steve’s eyebrows furrowed as he gazed at the HYDRA scientist. Yes, this power that she had been granted was not of this world. That was for sure.

“You think you can stop me!” Dr. Frost yelled, walking forward. “I am the most powerful opponent you have ever faced! Loki would bow before me, Ultron would be my pet, and you, the mighty Avengers, are nothing more than the feeble reminder of how truly weak you all are.

“No! It is my time. My time to rule! And the world will never know war or fear under my direction! But first, there must be a great cleansing. One that sees those like you annihilated!”

“Stop this!” Sharon Carter yelled.

Dr. Frost stopped, looking toward Sharon who struggled to stand against the mighty whirlwind. Frost gasped, her eyes widening behind her mask as she beheld the very person she had never expected to see again; her sister.

Sharon walked forward. “Olivia, stop! You don’t have anything to prove. What you are doing is wrong! You’re using your power for your own gains when you could be using your strength to help save the world.”

“I am saving the world! Didn’t you just hear my speech?!”

“Saving the world doesn’t involve killing innocent people!”

“There will be fatalities along the way. I cannot change that. But once my plan is complete the world will understand what I did and appreciate me for it.”

“Who is spouting these lies in your head?” Sharon looked around at the destruction surrounding her. “Where did you get this power?!”

“I don’t have to answer to you. Not anymore.”

“I never asked you to answer me. I only stayed out of your way.” Sharon stepped forward, nearing Dr. Frost.

Steve watched her carefully, his heart pounding in his chest. He didn’t like where this was headed. He reached for a scrap piece of metal, prepared to throw it at the doctor’s head at a moment’s notice.

“I ignored you because my parents told me to ignore you,” Sharon continued with tears in her eyes. “We abandoned you. We treated you like garbage and I know that now. I can’t speak for my parents but I am deeply, deeply sorry.”

Sharon stopped a few feet away from Dr. Frost who gazed at her quietly. And then suddenly Frost began to laugh hysterically.

“As a child…I wanted nothing more than to hear you speak those very words. To hear you…” Frost continued laughing, “finally apologize for all of the heartaches you gave me. Now, I’m grateful.”

“Grateful?” Sharon asked, smiling.

Before Steve could even react Dr. Frost yanked Sharon forward with a rush of wind and stuck a sharp blade of metal directly into her. Sharon couldn’t even scream. She could only gasp in wide-eyed horror.

“Grateful to know how glad I am that I ran away all of those years ago.”

Sharon slumped to the ground gasping for breath as a piece of metal stuck out of her abdomen. Steve threw his makeshift weapon at Dr. Frost but it was a futile attack. She held up her hand, stopping the projectile and turned to look at the quickly advancing Steve Rogers. A small smile touched her lips.

“Oh, Captain. You are weak without your shield.”

She readied herself for his attack, completely unaware that Sam Wilson was diving from above until the last second. He yelled kicking her directly in the sternum. She collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Steve didn’t hesitate. He dropped to Sharon’s side. When Sam saw her he gasped.

“Oh no,” Sam said.

Sharon’s breaths were ragged.

“This isn’t good,” Steve said. “She’s barely hanging on.”

He suddenly heard movement and when he looked Dr. Frost was rising but there was something wrong with her body movements. Her face was there but it was veiled by a translucent alien face with sharp fangs that emitted horror, her arms were moving strangely, and her body contorted into a hunch-backed stoop.

“You’ve lost, Captain. Accept your fate,” she spoke but her voice was distorted by a grating voice that Steve knew would haunt him for years to come.

“Not if I have anything to do with it,” a woman’s voice suddenly spoke from the near distance.

Steve looked to see who had spoken and his eyes widened as he beheld Shuri approaching in traditional Wakandan garb, the feeble rays of sunlight filtering through the smoke placing an angelic glow behind her and her Black Panther gauntlets raised for the attack.

Jumping from the roof of a nearby building King T’Challa appeared, falling into a crouch with his Black Panther suit ridged with glowing purple lines.

“Do not worry, Captain. Help has arrived,” King T’Challa said.

To Steve’s left, he heard more feet approaching and couldn’t help but smile when he saw the Wakandan general he had met–Okoye was her name–wielding her spear in preparation for the fierce battle ahead. There was a beautiful Wakandan woman at her side with dark skin, reddish-brown hair fashioned into distinct curls about her head and bright green clothing. In her hands, she held two ringed weapons that shined with the patented shimmer of vibranium.

Dr. Frost, or whoever it was inhabiting the woman’s body, twirled, looking at its new opponents. “No matter. You cannot defeat me,” it said.

Circle it and be careful, T’Challa spoke in isiXhosa. We’re just here to keep our friends safe.

Agreed, Okoye said, twirling her weapon and eyeing the beast carefully.

Stay tight. We’ve never fought a foe like this before, Nakia commented.

Oh, whatever, Shuri replied, walking forward. We’re the most powerful warriors on the planet. We got this. Form up. Wakanda Forever!

Wakanda Forever! her fellow warriors echoed before charging forward.