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ACT 1

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⏳ 2016

The dark hallway stretched out before me, engulfing me in darkness.

I raised my hand, it glowing gold to light the way. My eyes drifted over the paintings hanging on the walls of men on horses riding into battle and noble kings adorning gold crowns, priceless artwork left to rot, age ravishing a place that was once beautiful.

To be honest, it was a miracle the castle was still standing after centuries of neglect. It was a shame that it was going to be destroyed by us. That is if our target didn't give himself up willingly. If not, I'd be able to scratch 'Destroy Bad Guy's Castle' off my Bucket List.

"Andi, status?"

"No sign of him yet, Cap," I replied.

"She's not gonna find the guy straight away," Tony remarked. "It's a castle. He's probably hiding out in a secret room. Castles always have secret rooms."

"D'you think he'd be able to install secret doorways in this old place?" Nat wondered. "It's pretty old. I don't think it could sustain such constructs."

"You'd be surprised, Widow. The guy's crafty."

My foot kicked the metal helmet of a toppled suit of armour, the loud sound echoing down the hall. "I second that. A crafty one indeed."

"Don't take him on your own, Andi," Cap warned. "I've dealt with him before. He's dangerous."

I scoffed. "Dangerous, smagerous. I've beaten up William Wallace."

"I loved Braveheart," Clint jumped in. "Mel Gibson was great."

"I liked him in Lethal Weapon," Tony added. "What a crazy mother–"

"Wasn't he in Mad Max?" Sam wondered. "Like, the first few? Man, I love those movies."

"Time and place," Cap broke up the conversation.

"You're just grumpy 'cause you haven't seen any of those movies," Tony remarked.

"Andi, make sure you call us in when you find him. Don't forget to say the code word."

I didn't reply as I reached the end of the hallway. It opened up into a massive hall. Moonlight filtered through the domed glass of the grand ceiling. The décor was dusty and rotted, once lavish, a place for the elegant and wealthy. Cobwebs plagued stone statues lining the pillars holding up the arched ceiling, painted with angels aflutter and intricate flowers. Three rows of dusted chandeliers bearing sheltered candles were held high above.

My boots echoed ominously as I crossed the hall warily. My eyes flicked from left to right in the darkness, wary about my surroundings, my senses keen.

I almost jumped out of my skin when the sounds of claps reverberated around me, slow and loud and sinister.

"Very good, Time Walker. Very good."

The sound of the lights switching on roared as white light bleared to life, blinding me. As my eyes adjusted to the bright environment, our target strolled into view.

His eyes squinted behind his purple mask. I assumed that he was smiling, the rest of his face covered. He gripped the hilt of his rapier as he went to stand in front of me.

I smirked. "Baron Heinrich Zemo. Hello to you, too."

"Time Walker," he replied, his German accent thick. "What brings you to my humble abode?"

"You know, the usual: you cause carnage, my friends and I find out, we devise a decent enough plan that usually always goes wrong, we come in to capture you, prison's your best friend, everyone skips into the sunset. Just another day at the office."

"Hmm, indeed." Zemo unsheathed his rapier and took a fencing stance. "But you will have to defeat all of us."

From behind him, four men of varying sizes walked into view. Fabulous. The Wrecking Crew. Just what we needed.

Bulldozer cracked his knuckles. Piledriver balled his fists. Thunderball readjusted his grip on his wrecking ball. The Wrecker swung his crowbar in a wide arc in a practice swing.

Zemo chuckled. "And your friends are nowhere to be seen. How unfortunate."

I grinned. "I wouldn't say that. They're just stopping off to get takeaway shawarma."

The Wrecking Crew pulled confused faces, looking at each other. Zemo chuckled. "Yet here you stand alone."

I began to back away as I whipped my hands to the side. My palms glowed golden, and I felt my eyes illuminate. "But I'm not alone."

I just said the code word.

And then the castle began to shake. The Wrecking Crew gazed around nervously, gripping their weapons. I grinned. The Calvary had arrived.

I held my hands high and created a shield as the back wall of the hall exploded. Zemo dove out of the way as Iron Man soared out and slammed into Bulldozer. The rest of the Avengers appeared through the hole. Cap pitched his shield at Zemo, who dodged it in time. Falcon shot out and collided with Thunderball. Hawkeye and Widow took on Piledriver. The shield around me dissipated and I fired a ball of energy at the Wrecker, throwing him through the open hole, and I left him for another opponent.

Zemo swung his rapier at me, and I ducked. Cap went to slam his shield into the Baron's chest, but he held out his hand to stop it. With a kick to the shield, Cap flew back. I swung out my legs to trip the Baron. He jumped and kicked me in the face. Pain exploded through my nose. I felt blood drip down my nostrils. Before I got a chance to wipe it away, he kicked me in the chest. I gasped as my back slammed into the floor, the wind ripped from my lungs.

I looked up in time to see the Wrecker about to bring his crowbar down on my head. I reached up and grasped it, inches from my face. My hands began to glow, and the crowbar turned to dust. The Wrecker looked at his hands in confusion. I grinned as I held my palms up, beams of gold firing at his chest, sending him flying. Falcon wasted no time in kicking the Wrecker's head, knocking him out cold as he crashed to the floor in a plume of dust.

I watched my friends finish off the others: Widow easily took Bulldozer down. Hawkeye fired an arrow at Piledriver's feet, foam springing around his body and keeping him still before whacking him across the face with his bow. Iron Man and Falcon grasped the wrecking ball and flew around a pillar with Thunderball being dragged after them, the chain tangling around the construct. Iron Man picked up a statue and smashed it over the enemy's head, knocking him out.

Baron Zemo was the only enemy standing, he and Cap standing off.

Tony landed next to me and crossed his arms. "D'you think we should help him?"

Zemo stabbed and Cap dodged to the side. Cap jammed the flat of the blade between his shield and himself and pulled, snapping it at the hilt. Before Zemo could take in his situation, Cap slammed his shield into his face. He flew into the wall with a sickly crunch, sliding to the floor, unconscious.

I smirked at Tony before wiping the blood from my nose. "Does that answer your question?"

❈Author's Note: Hey, there! I hope you're excited for this third instalment of the Time Walker series. I thank you for taking time out of your day to read this [hopefully] amazing story.

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