Marvel vs Capcom! The Bionic Commando takes on the Winter Soldier in a battle of man and machine!
Intro[]
Wiz: Contrary to what some would have you believe, war has changed, thanks to the advent of the machine.
Boomstick: Now, you'll never be able to replace a damn good soldier, but sometimes, ain't nothin' wrong with a little robotic upgrade.
Wiz: We've already established that I have my own cybernetic arm, but it pales in comparison to what these to war heroes are packing.
Boomstick: Not to mention they each have the skills to put you in your place even without their arms.
Wiz: Nathan Spencer, the Bionic Commando
Boomstick: And Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier. He's Wiz, and I'm Boomstick
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armour and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle
Nathan Spencer[]
Wiz: For over two thousand years, humanity has been at war, and combat technology has advanced with the times just as rapidly as every other field of science. To put an end to conflict is much more than beating your enemy into the ground, as new villains will always rise to perpetuate the cycle of violence out of revenge.
Boomstick: Such was the lesson learned by Joseph Gibson, the original Commando. He was the best soldier the Federal States of America had to offer, but no matter how many times Super Joe single-handily took down armies with nothing but a few guns, new threats always seemed to emerge. Technology for war and peace needed to change.
Wiz: Faced with the crisis of a missile launch against the FSA, Gibson volunteered with T.A.S.C, the army’s science division, to test a new prototype of a bionic grappling arm, allowing him to scale heights with incredible speed and ease. The field test worked spectacularly, and the pilot light for bionics-assisted super soldiers was lit.
Boomstick: Gibson was a bad ass man, but he was just one man who couldn’t be around forever. Other soldiers were needed. And his first ideal candidate came in the form... of Nathan Spencer.
Wiz: Spencer was a former soldier for the FSA who was on permanent rehabilitation leave after losing his left arm to a grenade. Willing to do anything to put himself back into the good fight, Spencer accepted Gibson’s offer, and was outfitted with an advanced bionic arm that put Gibson’s prototype to shame. As the first in a new line of cyber soldiers, Spencer was given the code name R.A.D One, or Research and Development One.
Boomstick: Most of his peers just called him Rad after that. Imagine getting your ass kicked by Nathan Rad Spencer. “That headshot was totally gnarly, dude!”
Wiz: Unfortunately, before Spencer’s arm moved beyond the testing stage, the nation entered war against the Imperial Army. No, not that Imperial Army. In a crushing blow to the FSA’s morale, Super Joe was defeated and captured in his attempted solo mission to take down the Evil Empire. With little time but lots of resources, Spencer was commissioned ahead of schedule and given the rank of Captain. His mission: rescue Super Joe and stop the Empire’s “Project Albatros” at all costs.
Boomstick: Spencer went into battle as the head of the Doubleforce Battalion, a squad of special ops commandoes each with wire grapples inspired by that of Super Joe. They kicked all the ass, and eventually, Gibson was recovered and Hitler was destroyed. Oh yeah, Project Albatros was all about resurrecting Hitler so he could finish the construction of a massive laser cannon. Minor details, amirite?
Wiz: Returning home a legend, and standing alongside Super Joe himself in Acension City’s hall of heroes, Nathan Spencer was now the icon of bionics technology, which changed the world. Eventually, for the worse.
Boomstick: Of course, the fingers his cyborg arm are a little too big for most triggers, but not to worry, Spencer is a crack shot with all sorts of weapons with his right hand. His sniping skills are matched by few, and his ability to hit dead-on while mid-swing is nothing to be laughed at. Even when using grenades, he can get a great shot in from 120 meters away.
Wiz: Spencer is such a good shot that at the end of his pilot run, he sniped Adolf Hilter through a helicopter window, in the face, with a bazooka, while falling hundreds of feet. Yes, this is just as absurd as it sounds.
Boomstick: Spencer’s favourites include the Plasma rifle, the Steinmech M3-BC Tungsten Pistol, the Yelena Sniper Rifle, the Bulldog Grenade Launcher, the Hessler SJMG Machine Gun, the Wide Cannon, and a Flazhe AM-10 Rocket Launcer. Even though the last two are generally enough to take down any armoured vehicle Spencer finds, it’s the Drayton AA-9 Hiker Shotgun that takes the cake as his toughest boomstick. The buckshots from the Hiker are so powerful, they were designed as an anti-tank round, meaning that if you don’t have armour... you’re going to explod.
Wiz: Unlike most of Spencer’s weapons, the Hiker has very limited ammunition; only nine shots. However, the last shot is even more powerful than the first eight, so sometimes it’s worth it to waste big bangs on mere infantry. Spencer also carries an assortment of explosives, from common grenades to flare bombs used to light up dark areas or blind foes, and arnament upgrades that allow him to increase fire rate or shoot in multiple directions at once.
Boomstick: And though Spencer can fire all of these mid-swing, if he’s willing to sacrifice any mobility, then he takes out the Raytech Photonic Laser Cutter, which slices through nearly anything.
Wiz: But the namesake of the Bionic Commando is his simply-named Bionic Arm. Its primary function, aside from being an arm, is its grappling hookshot, allowing Spencer to snag onto nearly any surface and Spiderman over to it. Experts with a bionic grapple are able to climb trees and scale fortresses in absolute record time, and Spencer was no different.
Boomstick: Once, he was even able to navigate a hallway where the entire floor was covered in spikes! He was so good at swingin’, he accomplished his first few world-saving missions without jumping even once.
Wiz: That may not be true. Spencer has come forth and publicly stated that rumours of him being unable to jump were exaggerated. It’s more likely he didn’t need to, since the grapple allows him to do literally everything that jumping can, to a much better degree. Such as catch and latch onto flying jets and helicopters. The recoil of the grappling wire is so tremendous, that with repeated slingshots, Spencer can reach speeds of 300 miles per hour while using it.
Boomstick: A faster speed than any currently-known production car. His body must be hella tough to withstand that force.
Wiz: It is. Unlike many other biotics, Spencer received further upgrades in the form of alleged “bionic armour.” Rather than a suit of armour, Spencer has minor traces of nanotechnology inside his body, which help his body deal with stress much more than the average human’s. It won’t protect his flesh from well-placed bullets, but it does gradually repair damage over time, giving him a slow healing factor.
Boomstick: Can I say it?
Wiz: ... Sure, why not.
Boomstick: NANOMACHINES, SON!
Wiz: The biotic armour also allows him to wield his massive artificial enhancement with ease, which under normal conditions is so heavy that Spencer is unable to swim. With such bulk comes, if not obvious, superhuman strength. Spencer’s robot arm is capable of pulling oil drums, punching vehicles away, dismantling heavy machinery, and lifting approximately five tons. Even the grapple hook alone can pull up a 4000-pound car and send it flying with a snap. Enemies who try to hide from him often find their cover lifted and thrown away, or worse, right back at them.
Boomstick: Definitely not a guy you want to arm wrestle against. Even if you did beat him, he’d probably just pick you up, use you as a human shield, and then toss you thirty feet away.
Wiz: He can also use the momentum from his swings combined with his physical durability in order to enunciate his peak human strength. With the right pair of iron boots, he can kick a man so hard, they die instantly.
Boomstick: Not that enemy soldiers don’t keep dying instantly whenever Spencer’s around. Spout out all the nonsense about justice and revenge you want, but it doesn’t take much to see that Spencer just looooooooooves killing people. So much so that he’ll abandon stealth missions and take out entire battalions in a one-man army rampage.
Wiz: In the height of his career, Spencer was surrounded by many other biotics; However, Spencer was always the cream of the crop. Whenever the Special Forces would go on a mission, Spencer was trusted to operate solo, without anyone else to slow him down. He was so skilled that during a shifting of allegiances, he managed to kill an entire force of bionic soldiers sent to kill him.
Boomstick: And why did they try to kill humanity’s greatest soldier? Because a bunch of whiny protesters couldn’t keep their mouths shut.
Wiz: The common populace was uneasy about the rise in the number of artificially-enhanced individuals, who were no longer just limited to the battlefield. The technology had become so commonplace that it wasn’t even restricted to soldiers, seeing use for civilian amputees or life-support systems. However, for bionic technology to work, a strong bond needed to be created between the machine and the host’s nervous system. Once a limb was “synched”, it belonged to that one host; should any other individual try to use it, the strain on their nerves would drive them to insanity.
Boomstick: And because just one military officer tried to overload himself up with stolen parts to achieve immortality, everyone got scared. Okay, it happened twice, and the second guy was a traitor who launched a missile barrage at the States.
Wiz: In Spencer’s case, his arm’s connection to his nervous system is a little absurd and horrifying to think about...
Boomstick: But the Bionic Commando possesses extreme reaction speeds even without the assistance of his arm. He’s capable of dodging Venus Fly Traps, bear traps, other grappling arms, and can even aim-dodge bullets and rockets with ease on the ground.
Wiz: For reference, a Venus Fly Trap can clamp shut faster than a human blink, and rockets can fire at an initial speed of 115 meters per second depending on make and model... wait a minute, Boomstick, what I was saying earlier is important!
Boomstick: Probably not as important tangoing with the world’s deadliest sniper.
Wiz: His wife! His arm is his wife!
Boomstick: WHAT?!?
Wiz: Bionics turned out to be conscious beings, and for cooperation, the technology needed a catalyst to merge with the mind of the host. For an exceptional connection, a strong emotional bond was required. Gibson and T.A.S.C. kidnapped Spencer’s wife Emily and used her as a catalyst to create his Bionic arm, without his knowledge. Even though they don’t share any similar DNA, this connection is what allows Spencer to use his arm flawlessly, more than any other Bionic Commando.
Boomstick: That is seriously fucked up.
Wiz: So much so that it only added fuel to the fire when Spencer tracked down and killed Super Joe. Not only had the former legend killed his wife to fuel science, but in a response to growing discrimination against Bionics users, Gibson had formed an Eco-terrorist organization that nuked Ascension City.
Boomstick: Yes, the successor took down the predecessor. No easy task, since Super Joe himself could rocket-time, destroy armies by himself, and once brought down a 130 Lockheed Hercules in just a few shots. This is reason number two why you don’t turn women into robots. Reason number one involves lies and testing.
Wiz: Spencer’s incredibly stubborn attitude made him refuse to accept this... and pretty much refuse to accept death and pain. He’s fallen thousands of feet and survived, withstood grenade impacts, and can shatter bulletproof glass with his head. Though he is not unkillable, and his flesh is his greatest weakness. His arm is also subject to radiation and electric current.
Boomstick: But make no mistake. Man and machine had a baby. That baby is a walking army. Nowhere on the battlefield is safe from the sheer power of the Bionic Commando.
Gibson: You don’t know the first thing about how your technology works.
Spencer: You talk like you know what it means to be one of us!
Gibson: I helped invent bionics, Spencer. All that time wasted trying to make a machine like a human... we finally realized that the machine must be human.
Bucky Barnes[]
Wiz: In the early 1940s, the tide of the history’s biggest war was beginning to change. Bolstered by the assistance of American troops, the Allied forces were finally forcing the Axis of Evil back. But they couldn’t have done it alone.
Boomstick: With the help of a defecting German Scientist and a Super Soldier Serum that enhanced his strength, speed, and mind to peak levels, Private Steve Rogers became a one-man army of freedom and justice: Captain America.
Wiz: Even though he fought to save the whole world, Roger’s namesake and costume were designed to inspire morale and confidence in American troops, especially in the Lehigh Virginia corps which he led. He was one of the world’s most famous mascots... but he wasn’t the army’s only mascot. Enter: Bucky Barnes.
Boomstick: James Buchanan Barnes was born in Indiana, 1925, and was just a teenager when the war broke out and took his parents away. Because his dad served with the Lehigh Camp, the soldiers adopted him into their ranks despite his age, and taught him the basic army essentials. God forbid they actually sent him into battle; he was supposed to be an icon to inspire the youth of America in times of war. That’s what my mama wanted me to be; I owe her so many apologies.
Wiz: When the Camp was sent to Europe, Barnes met up with Private Steve Rogers, and because they were both rather clumsy and useless in battle, they became great friends. However, this all changed when Barnes accidentally came across Rogers changing in a tent...
Boomstick: Oh god, brokeback mountain, here we come...
Wiz: ... into his Captain America costume.
Boomstick: Thank god.
Wiz: Because Bucky was a Captain America enthusiast at the time, he insisted he joined along as Rogers’ sidekick, and promised to conceal his secret identify. Usually, this would be very dangerous, but, since this is comic books, Captain America agreed and took Bucky under his wings.
Boomstick: I mean, there was a group of boy scouts fighting the Nazis at the time, so why couldn’t a teenager with basic training? Plus, Bucky was useful in a pinch when all eyes were on Cap and he couldn’t move due to hostages or PR holding him back. But don’t worry, Cap’s a pretty nice guy who values all life. To him, Barnes wasn’t just cannon fodder, he was a legitimate reliable partner.
Wiz: Reliable? He killed Hitler.
Boomstick: WHAT?
Wiz: Yes, Bucky is one of three Marvel Superheroes who has been granted the honour of killing Hitler, alongside the Human Torch and, of course, Deadpool.
Boomstick: YOU get to kill Hitler! And YOU get to kill Hitler! EVERYONE GETS TO KILL HITLER!
Wiz: Contrary to popular belief, the second world war was fought dirty with a side of bravado. Though the United States Government claimed Bucky being forced to serve Captain America as a sidekick was a result of chance meeting, in reality, he had been planted in the position by his command intentionally. Even before he met Rogers, Barnes was trained in hand to hand combat by two legendary war heroes and the British Special Air Service; he was in the process of becoming a deadly assassin; the United States’ check to the Hitler Youth.
Boomstick: Alongside Rogers, Bucky fought in many major battles and was instrumental in stopping several Axis plans. His devotion to the Captain was so great, he once risked his life to stop him from assassinating the American Military Supreme Commander when he got brainwashed. Even without Rogers around, his ability to inspire others helped him hijack an entire battleship carrying prisoners of war.
Wiz: Bucky also served in the Liberty Legion, Young Allies, Kid Commandoes, and Invaders, fighting alongside Namor the Sub-Mariner and a robot Human Torch.
Boomstick: And Major Mapleleaf! Because Canada just had to try.
Wiz: But Bucky’s most crucial mission with Captain America would be his last, when the two set out to stop Baron Heinrich Zemo from delivering a powerful bomb through the use of a drone. High in the sky, when Rogers could not hold on and fell into the ocean, Bucky tried, and ultimately failed, to disarm the bomb.
Boomstick: Both master and apprentice were presumed dead for many decades, until Captain America was revealed to have been frozen in ice which kept him alive and unaging the whole time. And eventually, it turned out Bucky survived in a similar fashion... he just wasn’t so fortunate. So much for the only comic characters who stayed dead being Bucky, Todd and Ben. Magical amulet bullshit.
Wiz: Bucky’s body was discovered and declared clinically dead by General Karpov of the Soviet Union, but the cold of the arctic had managed to preserve his body tissue and organs very well.
Boomstick: Except for his left arm, which got totally Yanged.
Wiz: By using highly-advanced medical technology, the Soviet Union was able to bring Barnes back to life by restarting his heart, although the procedure left him with rather convenient amnesia. All he could remember was his combat skills. And when the Soviets learned they had an incredibly deadly man with a blank slate in their possession, they jumped at the opportunity to turn Barnes into a ruthless killing machine. Codename: The Winter Soldier.
Boomstick: With combat skills given to him by the allies, the soviets, and Captain America himself, the Winter Soldier became the deadliest assassin on earth. Very few people knew about his existence, making it impossible to prepare against him. Those who managed to glimpse him were usually dead within the next two seconds.
Wiz: Among his highest value kills were the Nazi Fuhrer himself, the pregnant wife of war hero Wolverine, and the Red Skull, commander of Hydra. The Red Skull had previously been such a threat to Captain America and Bucky that even though they could thwart his plans, they could never defeat or capture him. As the Winter Soldier, Barnes took him out with no trouble at all.
Boomstick: Thanks in part to a sweet upgrade. Bucky’s metal arm is a cybernetic prosthetic made of titanium, because the Russians couldn’t afford Adamantium or Vibranium. Not that it matters, since Titanium is just as strong as steel, but much lighter. The arm is bullet-proof, incredibly mobile, and is synched to Barnes’ brain. That’s right; even if it gets separated from his body, Barnes can control its movements mentally, or it can just use its emergency A.I. backup system to lend a hand. Warning: Choking Hazard.
Wiz: The arm also contains a holograph device, sensory distortion emitters, a sound-mapping system, storage for weapons, computer hacking software, an electrical discharge, an EMP disrupter capable of damaging high tech used by S.H.I.E.L.D...
Boomstick: He was even ballsy enough to use it on Iron Man!
Wiz: As well as a degree of superhuman strength, to the point where he can punch through solid metal. Though it is a complete misconception that Bucky was injected with the same serum that Captain America was. Bucky’s body is human flesh and bone, and is not biologically enhanced to metahuman levels; he can only lift approximately 650 pounds without his bionics. However, his arm more than makes up for it, and allows him to safely engage in combat with individuals capable of lifting over two tons. This is mostly due to his extreme capability in close-quarters combat.
Boomstick: Barnes has mastered several martial arts, and isn’t afraid to cheat when fighting. He’s stalemated Daredevil, defeated the Black Widow, Batroc, Iron Man, Wolverine, and even took out Ares, the God of War. And this isn’t counting the poor nameless sons of bitches he’s assassinated over the years, from political leaders to entire S.H.I.E.L.D strike teams. Even the almighty Punisher has confessed he’d only stand a chance if he caught Barnes off guard.
Wiz: An impossibility in itself. Both Barnes and his arm possess reaction time stated to be faster than any human has achieved, a record that currently sits at a tenth of a second. The Winter Soldier can dodge and catch bullets, intercept an RPG, anticipate his opponent’s next moves, and even ricochet Captain America’s shield with the same precision as Rogers himself.
Boomstick: Long story: Bucky’s memories start to return, Russians keep freezing him to reset him, eventually he escapes, wants to atone for his sins, and talks to Tony Stark after the Civil War leaves his best friend dead. In exchange for having his mind manipulated to be immune to any more brainwashing, he signs up as the new Captain America, and starts kicking ass for the good guys.
Wiz: Bucky was debatably even more deadly with the shield than Rogers, in that his bionic arm granted him extra throwing strength; while the shield usually bounced off most surfaces it hit, Bucky was capable of launching it so hard it could tear through machines. In addition to the near-indestructible and vibration-proof emblem, Barnes also gained a modified version of his former mentor’s suit. The costume was made of a mix of Nomex, Kevlar, and trace amounts of Adamantium, making it bullet-proof, fireproof, and a tiny bit everything-proof.
Boomstick: He was also gifted a custom-made Colt .45 handgun. The gun is signature operated, and will self-destruct should anyone without his fingerprint try to use it, but that boom isn’t nearly as powerful as the bullets it shoots. Though it can use conventional shells, it was designed to fire explosive rounds as powerful as grenades, tearing through standard body armour as if it were tissue paper.
Wiz: Though he can use any weapon he sets his hands upon to lethal effect, from rockets to knives to, of course, sniper rifles. Barnes’ accuracy is comparable to the likes of Bullseye and Hawkeye; he’s saved a Senator from a sniper bullet by throwing his shield to block it, sliced the arteries of a man’s heart through a down jacket with a throwing knife against heavy winds, and once plugged Crossbones four times while falling from a skyscraper. Even more remarkable, none of the bullets hit any vital organs, which make up a very large part of the human upper body.
Boomstick: He’s so stealthy, he once tracked Wolverine for a month without being detected, invaded Weapon X, and has probably broken into every S.H.I.E.L.D. base at least three times each. Of course, not as stealthy as...
Wiz: I caught you on camera stealing my lunch from the breakroom fridge. Don’t even.
Boomstick: ...No you didn’t!
Wiz: But despite being a one-man assassination squad, Barnes isn’t perfect. In his quest to redeem himself, his refusal to kill or shoot in the back has put a cap on his abilities, limiting his full potential. He’s also vulnerable to flashbacks of his past, both as a teenager and as an assassin, which can destabilize him in battle.
Boomstick: Finding a way to remove his arm makes him far less dangerous, especially if you don’t go through the measures to safely eject it. However, if he’s got the determination, he’s still a badass in CQC without it.
Wiz: He’s defeated Crossbones, Sin and the Serpent Squad simultaneously, killed a bear while his arm was depowered, fought a gorilla with a machine gun...
Boomstick: Dicks out, yo
Wiz: ...bested Captain Americas from multiple timelines, survived injection from the Infinity Formula, crushed an Infinity Cube in his bare hands, and even told Doctor Doom to shut the hell up and lived.
Boomstick: Not to mention, he’s also worked as a mercenary in space on behalf of Nick Fury! But that’s all gone now; even with the resurrection of Rogers, Bucky has earned the mantle of Captain America for good. If he sets his eye on you, you’re a goner. Because Winter is coming.
Captain America: Snap out of it, Bucky!
Barnes: Stop calling me that! Stop! We were supposed to be a team; this is my reward for being your partner?
Captain America: I didn’t know you survived, Bucky. We can help you!
Barnes: No one can help me, Rogers. While you took a long nap, the world moved on. And I moved with it.
Interlude[]
Wiz: All right, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all.
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A CYBER SUPER SOLDIER SMACKDOWN DEATH BATTLE!
Death Battle[]
A military convoy is preparing to leave a small Middle Eastern town, packing a series of crates and high-tech equipment into the back of several vehicles. The crates are marked Stark Industries, and Howard Stark himself exits a building talking to a military commander. Nearby, a hooded figure is sampling fruit from a stall with their right hand; their left hand and face are covered by a thick green cloak. As a helicopter descends down into the area, its propellers kick up a gust of wind that knocks a small piece of paper up into the air. The paper flies onto a nearby rooftop, where it passes over a tarp tent stretched across the floor; from underneath it, the barrel of a sniper rifle can barely be seen. A bird flies down and starts pecking at the garbage, while down below, Howard stops just in front of the helicopter and begins arguing with the general.
Under the tarp, a slight movement of the man’s hand presses a small button, and a few wooden fragments break and fall off of one of the crates. Howard turns and starts running over to the convoy to check on his work, and the sniper’s rifle cocks. At the sound, the bird gets scared and flies off, and the hooded figure down below looks up.
(UMVC3 Intro, 2:17-2:56)
A shot rings out; not that of a bullet, but of a grapple wire gun. A claw shoots past Howard’s face and latches onto the armoured truck behind him, and Nathan Spencer flies past him soon after. With a twist of his body, he grabs Howard with his free hand, and deflects the sniper’s bullet with his bionic arm. Spencer shoves Howard into the truck’s front seat, and waves his hand to the head of the convoy.
Spencer: Go, go, GO!
The trucks rapidly start up and take off, and the helicopter takes to the skies. Spencer stays behind and grapples his arm onto the roof, before shooting upwards. When he lands on the roof, he spots a figure running across the buildings, and fires his arm again. Sliding past the would-be-assassin, he retracts his arm and aims an uppercut at the man’s face. The man ducks and tries to punch back, with Spencer deflecting each attack with the help of his heavy bionic. Eventually, Spencer tries to bash the man’s head in with a left hook, but his hand is grabbed out of the air by the masked man’s own left arm. To Spencer’s confusion, the “skin” around the arm fades away and reveals another metallic arm. When the two soldiers break away, the assassin backflips away from Spencer and rips off his hood and goggles; though he retains a mask covering the bottom of his face, it is clear that he is Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier.
The two stand tense, staring each other down, until Bucky hops backwards off of the roof. Spencer runs over to the edge just in time to see Bucky speed after the convoy on a motorcycle.
Spencer: Oh no you don’t!
FIGHT!!!
Spencer leaps off the building after Barnes’ motorcycle, and shoots the grapple of his arm to latch onto a tree further down the road. He retracts and slingshots himself down the road, repeatedly grappling onto trees and flying off of them in order to catch up to the assassin. Bucky notices him in the mirror and pulls out his handgun, turning around to fire a few shots at the Bionic Commando, but he dodges them all by swinging out of the way.
Eventually, Spencer pulls alongside Bucky and swings towards him, trying to knock him off his bike with a hard punch. Bucky blocks the attack with his left arm, forcing Spencer to grapple away again to recover. This time, however, Spencer grapples onto the truck in front of Bucky and flies towards it. Now ahead, he grabs his own handgun out of its holster and fires a few rounds at Bucky’s motorcycle. The shots deflect off of the bulletproof windshield, and Bucky fires back with a few regular rounds. One of them hits Spencer dead in the chest, but the Commando is unfazed, and rips out a necklace with a cross on it; a the bullet is stuck inside the cross. Tossing the pendant away, Spencer opts for more power and pulls a grenade launcher out of a weapons crate in the back of the truck. The Bionic Commando then fires four shots at Barnes, who swerves his motorcycle out of the way of each shot, and the grenades explode harmlessly on the road behind him. On the fifth shot, Bucky positions his bike to the side and then zips in front of the grenade before it explodes, giving his bike a large speed boost when riding the explosion. Barnes leans back and tilts the bike up, wheelying over to the truck and planting the front tire down on the hitch.
With a front flip, he leaps over the handlebars and tries to kick down on Spencer’s head; the Bionic Commando pushes the leg out of the way with his Bionic Arm, and ducks under Bucky’s follow-up kick right after. Barnes puts his gun away and punches rapidly at Spencer’s chest, but Spencer merely stands and takes the punches before swinging a left hook at the Winter Soldier. Bucky ducks under it, and rolls away from Spencer stomping his foot down, but gets his foot caught when Spencer grapples his arm to it and hoists him upside-down into the air. After receiving a nasty right and headbutt, Spencer flips around in the air and wraps his ankles around Spencer’s neck. With a heave, he flips the commando to the floor of the truck bed, bashing his head against a storage unit as he does so; the lock pops off and the lid opens up.
Barnes stops to look at the contents of the crate, but returns to action when Spencer gives a war cry and swings at Barnes with his prosthetic again. Barnes ducks and dodges each of Spencer’s blows before moving in and wrapping his right arm around Spencer’s waist. Gripping the Commando’s shoulder with his metal arm, he releases a discharge of electricity, shocking Spencer.
Spencer: AAAAAAUUUGHHH!!!
Bucky then twists around, gripping Spencer’s arm with both hands, and with a large heave, flings him over his shoulder, over the motorcycle which is still latched on for the ride, and off the truck. Spencer recovers in the air and shoots his grapple back onto the back of the truck, and as he retracts, Barnes takes aim at him with a rocket launcher he grabbed from the special weapons deposit. The Winter Soldier fires, and in slow motion, Spencer twists in the middle of the air while the rocket passes underneath his back, missing him by just a couple inches. Back in real time, the rocket explodes behind him, and he slams into Bucky, knocking them both off the truck, along with the motorcycle.
The Motorcycle lands perfectly and continues to drive on the road, for a split second without a driver until Barnes wraps his legs around it and twists himself into the driver’s seat. The recovery doesn’t last long as Spencer falls on top of him, throwing both him and the bike off balance. The bike flips over onto its side, and begins skidding on the road at a dangerously high speed, slowly spinning around and generating a huge amount of sparks as it does. Spencer and Bucky are unfazed, and stand on the bike while swinging fists at each other. Each punch is blocked or dodged by the other as they travel by sliding bike, slowly falling behind the rest of the caravan.
Eventually, Bucky gets the upper hand by ducking and punching Spencer in the knees, causing the Commando to lose his grip and fall off the bike. He does manage to fire a grappling wire, but the wire is caught out of the air by Bucky’s metal arm, and Bucky activates his electricity again, sending sparks down the wire and shocking Spencer again. Spencer takes damage from both the voltage and from being dragged along the road, until the sound of approaching helicopter blades causes Barnes to look up. Spotting the helicopter from the town, and more importantly, a machine gunner ready to fire, Bucky yanks on the wire as hard as he can and pulls Spencer towards him. Barnes jumps off the bike and rams into Spencer in the air just as the bike gets shredded by machine gun fire, and the two tumble along the road before Bucky grabs a hold of Spencer’s arm again. By opening up a drill with his index finger and sticking it into Spencer’s arm, much to his annoyance, Bucky activates Spencer’s grapple such that it fires into the sky and latches onto the helicopter’s landing gear. The two fly into the sky as the sudden addition of weight tilts the copter over, causing the gunner to fall out to his death.
Spencer and Bucky finally reach the helicopter, and Spencer grabs a hold of the outside before trying to shake Bucky off with his free hand. Eventually, he does, and Bucky grabs onto one of the landing skids while Spencer rolls into the cabin. Spencer takes out his handgun once more and leans outside, preparing to shoot Bucky’s face off, but the Winter Soldier swings himself under the copter and grabs onto the other skid. With his momentum still carrying him, he flips up and kicks down the door on the other side of the chopper; Spencer dodges both the door and the kick, and fires his grapple at the door as it falls out the other end of the copter. He flings it back into the copter, but Bucky ducks underneath it and prepares to punch Spencer in the face. Spencer is fortunate enough to dodge, and Barnes’ Bionic Arm gets stuck in the metal wall he punches through.
Barnes struggles, but can’t get his arm free until he gets punched in the face by Spencer’s Bionic Arm; he flies to the back of the helicopter, but Spencer grabs him with his grapple and yanks him back, stomping on him before picking him up and slamming his head repeatedly against the walls of the chopper. Bucky soon breaks free, but his left hook is blocked by Spencer’s elbow, and the Commando grips Bucky by the stomach with his mechanical hand. Hoisting him up in the air, Spencer slams Bucky down onto the floor with enough force to dent it, jostling the helicopter’s flight path as the pilot tries to fly it safely.
Bucky handsprings to his feet, but quickly drops back down to avoid a roundhouse kick from Spencer. As he rises again, he tries to draw his Colt again, but his arm is shunted down by an elbow from his enemy. The gun drops to the floor, so Bucky swipes Spencer’s gun and rolls away; Spencer quickly picks up Bucky’s gun and the two point each other’s pistols at their enemy’s face. There is a brief moment of hesitation for each solider before Bucky suddenly swings his arm to the side before firing a round. Spencer fires at the same time, but while Barnes’ bullet hits the helicopter pilot in the back of the head, killing him instantly, the gun Spencer is using blows up in his hand, blinding him for a small interval of time.
The copter begins to spin in the air and fall to the ground, flying out of control, and Bucky attacks Spencer as the copter tilts. With a kick, he forces Nathan out of the vehicle, and slides a backpack on as Rad grabs onto the side of the door. Spencer turns around and sees smoke coming from the chopper’s rear rotor, and willingly lets go of the door, still 10 000 feet in the air. As he falls out, he grapples his arm onto the rotor, and pulls out the Hiker shotgun with his free hand. Firing into the air to kickstart his momentum, he spins around and rips the tail boom off of the helicopter, whipping it around and throwing it into the cabin, towards a surprised Bucky. Spencer continues to fall as the tail hits and explodes the chopper in a massive fireball, before he aligns himself in the air and falls down into the jungle. Spencer’s special boots nullify the force of his fall as he smashes down on his feet and braces his landing with his Bionic Arm.
Worried about the skills of his opponent, Spencer slings a Sniper Rifle off of his back and looks through the scope towards the wreckage. Initially, all he can see is fire, smoke, and falling debris, but soon he spots Bucky descending with a parachute into the canopy of the trees. Spencer fires, but the shot is off due to the large distance between the two; Bucky turns around and looks Spencer straight in the eye before falling into the trees.
Spencer: Shit.
Spencer runs for it and climbs a small hill before looking out onto the horizon. Scoping the area through his rifle, he determines he has landed ahead of the convoy, which will be rounding a bend and coming by his location in a couple of minutes. Spencer begins to run down the hill, but suddenly a bullet flies out of nowhere and shoots through his right shoulder. Spencer drops to the ground and takes out his rifle, but can’t find the assailant. Another bullet is shot, and Spencer rolls out of the way just in time as it grazes his cheek. By latching his arm onto a massive tree, Spencer rips it out of the ground and throws it, snapping several more trees in half, but to his annoyance, still can’t find Bucky.
The Winter Soldier finally makes himself known by leaping out of a tree behind Barnes and tackling him to the ground. The two roll a short distance down the hill until Spencer kicks Barnes off, and he falls over a small ledge into a group of bushes. Spencer leaps over the ledge, grapples onto the ground, and pulls himself down, slamming his knee into the bushes and flattening them all, but Bucky has already vanished. The assassin reappears seemingly from nowhere and punches Spencer’s temple with his Bionic arm, knocking him down the hill. As he falls, Spencer fires his rifle, and the bullet whizzes by Bucky’s head, but the distraction allows him to snag Bucky’s feet with his grapple and pull him down with him.
The two tumble through the trees and down the hill, falling towards the road just as the first truck in the convoy, driven by Stark, passes by. Spencer crashes onto the windshield and rolls over on top of the truck while Barnes takes a leap and lands on the back. With an angry Spencer right behind him, Barnes makes a run for it, and leaps off the truck and onto the second one right behind it. Spencer follows, but much faster, and kicks Bucky in the chest when he arrives, knocking his enemy onto the roof. The cloth covering the back of the truck is loosened and blows away in the wind, revealing a large trailer full of Stark Industries crates that Barnes falls down into. Spencer falls after him, crushing his ribs under an axe-kick when he lands and presses Barnes to the floor.
Spencer kicks Barnes away, latches onto a crate, and flings it at the Winter Soldier, but Bucky manages to recover from his injuries enough to duck under it. He runs at Spencer, and ducks around the Commando’s first few punches, but when he grabs Spencer’s fist again, Spencer immediately headbutts him away, robbing him of the discharge opportunity.
Spencer: Not this time!
Bucky stumbles backwards and crashes into a crate, and looks down; inside is a round metal shield adorned with a red, white and blue rim, and a star in the middle. Picking it up, his arm vibrates for a second before calibrating the shield’s weight, and he throws it at Spencer. The Bionic Commando dodges, and the shield imbeds itself in the back of the truck’s cabin behind him. Now with the Commando separating him from the shield, Spencer runs and tries to take a high jump, but Spencer intercepts him in the air, punching him repeatedly before bashing him to the ground. As soon as Bucky lands, Spencer catches him with his grapple and pulls him back into the air.
Spencer: In your face!
Spencer punches Bucky down, grapples onto him again, and pulls him into the air once more.
Spencer: In your face!
This punch flattens Bucky on the truck bed once again, but Barnes manages to roll out of the way before Spencer can attack him again. Ripping the shield out of the wall, Bucky tosses it with less force onto the floor, and it ricochets off of a few crates and the truck bed’s walls before hitting Spencer in the back of the head. Somersaulting under Spencer, Bucky reappears behind him and catches the shield; the two stand back to back before twisting around; Bucky throws the shield, and Spencer throws a punch. The shield whizzes by Spencer’s head, hits the back of the truck cabin, ricochets, and flies past the two outside the back of the truck, heading towards the hood of the next truck in the convoy. Spencer’s hand, meanwhile, finds its way around Bucky’s throat, and begins to squeeze.
Spencer: Any last words?
Bucky: иди к черту!
Bucky grips Spencer’s wrist with his Bionic Arm.
Spencer: Shit!
To avoid the electricity, Spencer drops Bucky, and the Winter Soldier rolls away before standing up. Spencer twirls the claws that make up his left hand, before giving Bucky a fierce glare.
Spencer: Bionic!!!
Spencer winds up a punch with his left hand.
Spencer: AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Spencer launches forward and swings his fist as hard as he can. Just before the punch connects, however, the shield Bucky tossed earlier rebounds back to the side of his body. Barnes holds his human arm out and the shield slides on to it, before Spencer’s punch hits and is completely nullified by the vibranium. Spencer stops cold, shocked at the shield’s properties, which allows Bucky to bash his face with the shield. Bucky then proceeds to beat Spencer to figurative pieces, alternating between punching with his bionic arm and slashing/tossing the shield. A final Sparta-kick sends Spencer flying backwards, where he crashes against a stack of crates and nearly falls off the back of the trailer.
Spencer gets up, spits out a mouthful of blood, and then punches a hole in one of the crates. Pulling out a grenade, he tosses it at Bucky, but the Winter Soldier merely catches it with his metal arm and crushes it with a clench of the fist. However, Spencer snickers and pulls his Hiker off of his leg, aiming at Bucky’s feet. Bucky notices the combustible powder around his legs at the last second, and jumps into the air, curling up behind the Vibranium shield as Spencer fires. The Hiker’s shell ignites the powder and creates a huge explosion decimating the entire truck.
As Bucky and the shield melt into the flames, Spencer takes a flying leap out of the inferno, and grapples his arm onto the next truck ahead in the convoy. His retraction begins just as a secondary explosion engulfs the truck, and he races ahead of the flames; with a yank, he rips open the truck’s back, and the crates within begin to slide out the back as he rolls over top of them. Finally, he comes to a minor crashing halt on the flatbed of the truck. Looking behind him, he sees Howard Stark driving; the inventor gives a panicked look at him, but Spencer responds with a reassuring nod.
Suddenly, a loud stomp attracts Spencer’s attention from behind. The Commando turns around, and to his anger, sees Bucky climbing onto the back of the truck, having managed to grab a hold. As the Winter Soldier pulls himself up, Spencer notices his mask missing, revealing his furious yet stoic expression. Upon recognizing the assassin, Howard floors the truck’s pedal, speeding it up and throwing Bucky off balance. The Winter Solder grabs a wooden handrail to hang on while Spencer aims his shotgun again, but Bucky dodges the bullet with a spin to the side. The shell flies past and incinerates a nearby tree as Bucky rips a plank of wood off the truck’s side and throws it at Spencer’s head. Spencer shoots the plank into splinters, but Bucky has enough time to charge him and uppercut him in the jaw with his right hand. With his left, he grips the Hiker and crushes its barrel before yanking it out of Spencer’s hands.
Barnes socks Spencer in the stomach, and while the Commando takes the hit hard, he manages to recover and punches Bucky’s face with his Bionic Arm. A knee to the stomach bends the Winter Soldier over, and Spencer crashes his Bionic Elbow onto Barnes’ back. An audible crack is heard, and Barnes rolls away, barely managing to stand up opposite Spencer. Spencer himself is badly wounded and nearly out of breath, but the two stare each other down. Knowing what it has come to, each raises their arms, both flesh and metal, and prepares to engage in CQC. As they do, the truck makes a turn and begins travelling along a cliffside, with nothing but jungle to the right, and a steep rocky cliff leading to a raging river to the right.
Spencer charges first, and swings a left; Bucky ducks under it then fends off Spencer’s attempted kicks by pushing his legs down. Bucky then dodges a right hook from Spencer, grabs his Bionic Arm, and pulls it upwards while ducking underneath it. Now behind Spencer, who has his arm twisted, Bucky punches him twice before receiving a kick to the chest, and sidesteps Spencer’s next two punches. Upon Spencer punching one more time, Bucky slides to the side and grabs Spencer by the shoulder; with his free hand, he takes a knife out of his utility belt and slices through one of Spencer’s wires. Spencer screams in pain and begins to punch harder, with less control. Bucky blocks each attack, but only barely, and takes a lot of force by deflecting Spencer’s attacks with his metallic forearm. Eventually, he finds an opportunity to get in close and slices another wire open. With this cut, Bucky activates his discharge once more, sending electricity surging through the arm and into Spencer’s body. This also causes great pain to Spencer, but not enough to prevent him from headbutting Bucky in the back of the head. Bucky flies to the ground and struggles to his feet while Spencer struggles with the pain in his arm.
Seeing Barnes try to get up, Spencer raises his left arm, while Bucky clenches his left fist. Spencer fires a downwards punch while Bucky commences a left Uppercut, and both metal fists collide. For a second, both arms are halted in the air while the force of the impact reverberates through each fighter. Finally, the strength of the collision rips both arms off the shoulders of the soldiers. With a gash of blood escaping each fighter’s left shoulder, they each fall to the ground, next to their opponent’s arm.
Spencer lies on his back, breathing heavily while coughing up blood, and Bucky is trapped on his stomach, also spitting up blood, and unable to get up. Spencer is the first one to stir, and uses his human arm to try and sit up. However, Bucky’s arm suddenly jumps up on its own and grabs onto Spencer’s throat. Spencer thrashes about, spitting more blood out of his mouth while trying to pry the robot arm off. Eventually, he succeeds, and tosses Bucky’s arm off. It latches onto the side of the truck, unable to let go without plunging into the river. Now drained of all his strength, Spencer flops back down onto his back again, but his expression of exhaustion turns to one of shock when he spots Bucky pushing himself up onto one knee.
Bucky stands up, barely able to keep his balance, and limps over to his arm. Opening up a compartment in its upper region, he pulls out a small pistol, and limps over to the window leading to the truck’s driver’s seat.
Spencer: No... no... no!
Spencer struggles, but can barely move due to his injuries. Bucky comes over to him, and seeing his struggling as a nuisance, stomps down onto one of Spencer’s knees, breaking it. Spencer cries out in pain, before Bucky stomps down on the other knee as well, amplifying his pain. Cocking the gun, Bucky holds it up in his one good arm and aims it at the back of Howard Stark’s head. Pulling the trigger, he shoots the bullet right through Stark’s forehead, killing him instantly; his head hits the steering wheel, and the truck loses its driver not too long before a turn in the road.
Spencer cocks the gun one more time, points it down at a struggling Spencer, and shrugging off the Commando’s final “fuck you”, pulls the trigger again, putting a hole in the middle of Spencer’s forehead. Spencer’s body goes limp, and seeing he’s running out of time before the truck flies off the cliff, Bucky picks up his opponent’s left arm and rolls off the truck. He hits the ground and tumbles before managing to stand up, and turns around to see the truck crash through a wooden barrier and plummet off the cliff.
K.O!!!
Spencer’s body falls off the truck and falls into the river in a similar fashion to the ending of Bionic Commando.
Bucky slowly limps away, and attaches Spencer’s left arm to his own shoulder.
Results[]
Boomstick: Oh shit, that can not be good. Bucky, please! Bucky, no!
Wiz: This was an incredibly close match. Despite their many similarities, Spencer and Barnes presented key differences which ultimately matched the Bionic Commando’s power and speed against the Winter Soldier’s stealth, durability, and experience. In the end, Barnes triumphed.
Boomstick: In every meaning of the word, Spencer had the edge in strength. His Bionic Arm was stronger, his Bionic Armour granted his flesh enough strength to surpass Barnes’ human attributes, and he had several guns with more destructive firepower than Barnes’ signature Colt. However, this didn’t mean much, as Bucky has been taking down super-powered bitches stronger than him for decades. Including the fucking God of War.
Wiz: Even Spencer’s healing factor couldn’t save him, as it is very minor compared to the likes of Captain America and Wolverine, both foes Barnes has gone toe-to-toe with on multiple occasions. One well-placed headshot could and would end Spencer, and Bucky certainly had the skills to dispense such.
Boomstick: Especially since he had the commando completely outclassed in stealth. Since Spencer usually likes to tear things up and make a mess, but Barnes is able to sneak up on even Wolverine, it wouldn’t be long before the opportunity came.
Wiz: Right. Both soldiers shared the weaknesses of flesh and blood, but Barnes was the more capable sniper of the two. Both could dodge any rounds the other threw at them when they had a line of sight on the gun, but Bucky being able to fire without being seen was the advantage he needed. Spencer may have avoided shots from the deadly sniper Thomas Clarke, but Clarke was never aiming to kill Spencer, and let him live on purpose.
Boomstick: Plus, the Vibranium shield could block any and all of Spencer’s attacks. Sometimes, it’s worth it to be the good guy.
Wiz: Especially since the shield is vibration-proof, even protecting Bucky from the knockback of Spencer’s most powerful weapons. A well-placed toss could even rob Spencer of his arm, and unlike Bucky, Spencer is very limited in his abilities without his prosthetics.
Boomstick: Spencer’s grappling speed sees more use for travel than for close-range combat. Though he can use it for melee, this is limited to either throwing large objects at a man who can react to rockets, or grappling onto Bucky himself, which was quickly proven to be a no-no.
Wiz: It should be noted that Bucky’s EMP would not work on Spencer, as Spencer’s Bionic Arm is connected and animated through his body’s nervous system rather than a series of electronics. This is also why Bucky’s EMP does not affect his own arm, so it’s kind of straightforward. However, Spencer was very vulnerable to the electric discharge, which came back to punish him every time he tried to get in a hit.
Boomstick: Trust us, Bucky’s not afraid to fight dirty, and will do anything to get the kill. That’s why he’s so damn dangerous. He absolutely decimated Spencer when it came down to hand to hand combat skills, and his ability to go toe to toe with the Punisher and Iron Man speaks volumes of his ability.
Wiz: Wheras, while Spencer may have killed Super Joe, this was not in a direct fight where Joe could use his fullest capabilities; it was when he was in a flying mech. The Winter Soldier can take on and defeat several of the world’s greatest one-man armies, but the Bionic Commando did not have that luxury.
Boomstick: Looks like Bucky was cut out for the arm-y after all.
Wiz: The Winner is Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier.
Trivia[]
This fight was nominated for "Best Battle Choreography" in the 2016 Death Battle Fanon Wiki Awards
Next Time[]
Boomstick: NEXT TIME, ON DEATH BATTLE!
