Baron Zemo’s Final Chapter

"Zemo!"

Inside the Weapon X Research Center, in the deepest part of the Hydra base, Hawkeye and Songbird had fought their way through every obstacle. With their combat prowess, those slow-to-react Hydra soldiers were no threat at all.

After fighting their way to Baron Zemo’s room, Hawkeye held a knife in one hand and an arrow in the other, eagerly announcing his arrival to Zemo.

The door slowly opened. In the dim room, Baron Zemo’s signature purple combat suit stood out starkly. He sat quietly in his chair, showing no sign of panic at Hawkeye’s arrival.

"It really, really is you!"

The tip of Hawkeye’s knife pointed straight at Zemo. His clouded eyes were filled with complicated emotions, and for a moment, he fell silent.

"After all these years, Zemo, I dreamed of the day we would face each other again. I even prepared a long speech for it, but now…"

Old Hawkeye lowered his weapons, his breathing growing somewhat ragged. "…I only want to know one thing. Why? Why was I the one left behind? Why did you spare my life and let me linger in this world?"

When it came to Clint Barton’s question, perhaps the person who understood him best was Songbird beside him. Sometimes, she too wondered why Hawkeye had spared her. She had clearly been a sinner as well.

Songbird, Hawkeye, and Baron Zemo were all participants in that old war. At the same time, they should have been the only ones still alive after the battle of Las Vegas.

At that moment, Songbird wisely did not interrupt Barton. She merely stood quietly to one side, leaving time for the two old enemies before her to put an end to their past grudges.

Baron Zemo sat quietly in his chair without making any move. He did not speak, merely gazing silently at Hawkeye, his eyes filled with hatred and resignation.

"Nothing to say? Are you just going to sit there and mock me?!"

Seeing Zemo’s reaction, Hawkeye became agitated. He raised his weapons again and shouted furiously at Baron Zemo.

"Stand up, Zemo! Take up your weapon, and let’s settle this in a real fight!"

As his words fell, Zemo finally made a slight movement. He gently activated the switch on his chair, and amid the sound of the wheelchair turning, Baron Zemo slowly rolled out of the shadows.

Only then did Hawkeye and Songbird truly see what Baron Zemo looked like now.

Zemo lay slumped in the wheelchair, countless tubes connected to his body and extending into a life-support pod built into the wall. Zemo could no longer stand at all.

After being paralyzed in his chair for so long, Zemo’s muscles had atrophied beyond recognition. Like Hawking, he could only move with the help of his wheelchair. Even to speak, he could only use buttons to produce sound.

He was completely different from the tall, burly figure in his earlier hologram!

You should not have seen me like this.

The electronic voice rang out in the quiet room, jolting the stunned Hawkeye and Songbird back to their senses.

"No… impossible."

Hawkeye could not help staggering back several steps, only stopping when he hit the wall. All the strength drained from his body, and he slowly slid down the wall to the floor.

"This isn’t how I imagined it."

He could not accept this scene. He would rather have fought Zemo in a real battle. Even if he died at Zemo’s hands, Hawkeye would have accepted it. But he truly could not accept that Zemo had become like this.

I do not need your pity. I am Baron Zemo, the thirteenth heir to a noble bloodline, while you, Clint Barton, are merely a bastard raised by a circus. You humiliated me and even took over my Thunderbolts.

"Hmph, yes, that’s who I am. But in that most crucial battle, you won. Back in Las Vegas." Barton replied coldly.

No, damn it. You won.

Baron Zemo’s fingers moved across the wheelchair keyboard with difficulty, pressing out the words he wanted to say.

Perhaps because of that ‘noble bloodline,’ I suffered a stroke. Now, I am the one breathing through tubes.

"What a fitting punishment. All these years, I dreamed of revenge, but it seems time got there first. Zemo, you really deserve this!"

With that, Hawkeye turned to leave. Seeing Zemo as he was now, his wish had already been fulfilled. Rather than help free him, it would be better to let him live like this. That would be his greatest punishment.

No! I am still Baron Zemo. I will not let you leave after learning my weakness. Not even Red Skull knows my current condition, and I will not let you leave here alive!

"Is that so? We’ll see." Old Hawkeye paid him no mind.

But when he saw Hawkeye preparing to leave, Baron Zemo panicked.

Like Hawkeye, Barton could not accept all this. Zemo himself found it even more unbearable. He had waited far too long for Hawkeye’s arrival. Now, he only wanted to die at Hawkeye’s hands, not be mocked by him before watching him walk away without a care.

He was Baron Zemo, the incomparable Baron Zemo of noble blood. He could accept being killed by a "hero," but he would never allow himself to die from this damned stroke.

You are nothing but a [expletive]. Your [expletive] would not even let you die alongside everyone else. Want to know why I left you alive, Barton? Because you [expletive] will always be a [expletive].

Every venomous insult Zemo could think of poured forth. He used every ounce of his willpower to hammer at the keyboard, desperate to provoke Hawkeye.

I have been watching you all along. A failed husband, a failed father, a failed hero. You even watched the woman you loved die by my hand and did nothing. Barton, admit it. You [expletive] are a [expletive].

"Say her name one more time and see what happens." Hawkeye lowered his head, the hand gripping his knife trembling slightly.

Do you know, when I drove my blade into Natasha’s body, it was the most wonderful sight I had ever seen.

Barton knew Zemo was deliberately provoking him, but damn it, he had succeeded.

Turning around and looking at the utterly defenseless Zemo, Old Barton slowly raised his knife. He decided to avenge Little Na with his own hands. However, he did not intend to let Zemo die so easily.

Meanwhile, while Hawkeye used inhuman methods to torture Zemo to death, Songbird entered Zemo’s room and searched through intelligence related to Hydra.

Baron Zemo had secretly been conducting super-soldier experiments here, which meant the other Hydra leaders would naturally not have been idle either. She had to find some intelligence about Hydra’s inner workings here.

But when she saw Red Skull’s latest announcement on the computer, Songbird froze where she stood.

Then she turned slightly and called out to Barton, who was still demonstrating his slow-slicing methods on Baron Zemo.

"Clint, y-you should come take a look at this!"