Marvelous Pals #64

Carlo shoved the barrel of the gun deeper into Big C’s back as they approached the entrance to the abandoned building, his grip firm, every step deliberate. The structure loomed ahead of them, its crumbling facade swallowed by the night. Big C stumbled slightly, his bulk almost too much to manage in the confined space, and he let out a grumble of frustration.

“There’s no need to push, you know,” Big C muttered, his tone irritated, though there was an undercurrent of fear in his voice.

“Shut up and keep walking,” Carlo snapped, not in the mood for complaints. The cold metal of the gun in his pocket was a constant reminder of the stakes, and he wasn’t about to let Big C screw this up.

They moved forward in tense silence, their footsteps echoing through the empty corridors. The smell of damp concrete and rust filled the air, a lingering reminder of the building’s long abandonment. Soon enough, they reached a large, open room, the faint light filtering through shattered windows barely enough to illuminate the scene before them.

Carlo and Big C froze in place, their breath caught in their throats. Standing in a line, like a row of silent sentinels, were five men. Their posture was rigid, hands clasped behind their backs, and the way they stood—motionless and disciplined—made them seem like statues.

But these were no ordinary statues; these men were clad in tight black combat gear, every inch of their bodies strapped with firearms, knives, and other deadly tools of the trade. The glint of metal and the cold efficiency of their presence sent a shiver down Carlo’s spine.

Big C and Carlo exchanged a glance, their eyes searching each other for answers. But all they found was the same question mirrored back at them: What the hell was going on? The tension in the air was thick, almost suffocating, and they could feel it pressing down on them from all sides.

But before they could dwell on it, a voice cut through the silence, snapping them both out of their daze. “So, you’re already here.”

The voice was calm, almost too calm, with an undercurrent of authority that commanded attention. Carlo’s heart skipped a beat as he turned towards the sound, his eyes widening as Vito stepped out from the shadows. Vito had been sitting in a chair, hidden from sight, his presence masked by the darkness that clung to the corners of the room.

Now, as he approached, the flicker of a dim overhead light revealed him fully, and both Carlo and Big C nearly jumped out of their skins.

“Good job, Carlo,” Vito continued, a small, approving nod accompanying his words. His voice held a casual familiarity, as if they were discussing nothing more than the weather, but the look in his eyes was anything but casual. It was calculating, sharp, and it held them both in place.

Carlo let out a shaky breath, his heart still racing from the shock. “Jesus, Vito,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to steady himself. “You almost scared me to death.”

Big C was quick to voice his own complaints, his eyes darting nervously between Vito and the line of armed men. “Yeah, man, what’s the big idea? Why are we here, and who the hell are these goons?”

Vito chuckled at Big C’s outburst, the sound low and almost amused, as if he found their confusion entertaining. “Those?” he said, nodding toward the line of men standing like statues. “Those are super assassins.”

The words hung in the air, heavy with implication, but they only served to deepen the confusion on Carlo and Big C’s faces. Carlo’s brow furrowed, his mind racing to make sense of it. “Super assassins? What does that even mean?” he asked, skepticism lacing his voice.

Vito’s smile widened, a predatory gleam in his eyes. “Think Captain America, but without any of the scruples,” he explained, his tone almost casual, as if he were describing the weather.

He walked over to the nearest of the five men, his steps unhurried, almost leisurely. Reaching the soldier, he patted him on the shoulder, his hand lingering for a moment.

Carlo’s breath caught in his throat, his instinct screaming at him to turn around and run, but his feet remained rooted to the spot. Vito’s actions seemed reckless, bordering on suicidal, and Carlo braced himself for the inevitable explosion of violence.

But nothing happened.

The man didn’t flinch, didn’t react at all. It was as if he hadn’t even registered Vito’s touch. The stillness of the soldier was unnerving, more machine than man, and Carlo felt a chill run down his spine.

“They were the remnants of the Nazis’ attempt to create a sort of ‘Captain Auschwitz’ during the cold war...” Vito continued, his voice carrying a hint of amusement. “Unfortunately for them, these guys turned out to be a little too violent and unstable, even for the Nazis.”

Carlo and Big C exchanged uneasy glances. The idea that these men were too violent for even the Nazis to control was terrifying, and the implications of what Vito was saying were almost too much to process.

Big C, still grappling with the information, asked the next question, his voice hesitant. “But… how come they look so young then?”

Vito shrugged, as if the answer was obvious. “Cryostasis,” he replied simply. “They couldn’t control them, but they also couldn’t just kill them off after putting so much effort into making them. So, they froze them, kept them on ice until they could figure out what to do with them.”

The casualness with which Vito spoke about such a horrific experiment only added to the surreal nature of the situation. Carlo’s mind raced, trying to process the situation.

After spending some time with Vito, he had grown somewhat accustomed to all the strange and bizarre events that seemed to follow this young man wherever he went, and yet, even he didn't expect to find himself standing in front of not one, but five nazi super assassins.

Before he could fully wrap his head around it, another thought struck him, and he couldn’t help but voice it, his tone laced with suspicion. “And what exactly are these super assassins doing here, Vito?”

He fixed Vito with a hard stare, the suspicion in his eyes clear. “You’re not about to tell me you’re secretly some kind of Neo-Nazi now, are you?”

Vito’s laughter echoed through the room, rich and full of amusement. “A Nazi? Me? Please,” he scoffed, shaking his head as if the very idea was absurd. “No, Carlo, I’m not a Nazi. But I am someone who understands the value of… untapped resources. I paid a big price to get these guys...”

Carlo couldn’t hide his bewilderment. He glanced at the motionless soldiers, then back at Vito. “How did you even get them? And if they’re so dangerous, why aren’t they killing everyone right now?”

Vito shook his head, dismissing the questions with a casual wave of his hand. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you, Carlo, are going to be their handler.”

In truth, Vito had been playing a much deeper game than either Carlo or Big C could have ever imagined. After SHIELD had rescued Bucky Barnes, they naturally found the other failed Winter Soldiers—violent, feral remnants of HYDRA’s desperate attempts to replicate their greatest weapon.

SHIELD found themselves in a predicament similar to HYDRA’s.

These men were too dangerous to control, too wild to interrogate, and too valuable to simply eliminate. Classified as war captives, they were kept in cryostasis, forcing SHIELD to pour millions into keeping these ticking time bombs alive, uncertain of what to do with them.

But Vito? Vito saw an opportunity. The moment he discovered that Pal Spheres could capture humans, binding them to his will, he knew what had to be done.

He immediately reached out to Nick Fury, leveraging every ounce of information and every shred of future knowledge he had. After hours of grueling negotiations, and after revealing several high-profile criminals—names like Baron Zemo and Ulysses Klaw—Vito finally secured his prize. The price was steep, but the potential payoff was limitless.

Of course, Vito had no intention of sharing the details of his under-the-table dealings with Carlo and Big C. All they needed to know was that these men—these super assassins—were now under his control.

Right now, they were simply human weapons, and Vito intended to wield them to get rid of his biggest enemy, Silvio Manfredi, all the while he was in a completely different world, getting used to his new mutant powers.

With five super assassins, Big C's intel on the Silvermane Mop, and Carlo to make sure the criminal lawyer doesn't get any funny ideas, Vito speculated it wouldn't take more than a week to bring Manfredi to his knees.