The atmosphere in the main cockpit of the descending Helicarrier was tense.
"Everybody, if there is a next life, I hope we meet again!" Eddie exclaimed with his eyes closed as he stared at the rapidly approaching forest below, bracing for impact.
He wasn't alone in his despair. Most of the survivors on the Helicarrier were screaming and crying, overwhelmed by the fear of impending death.
Suddenly, a powerful vibration reverberated throughout the ship, and without warning, the Helicarrier stopped its descent, coming to a halt at an altitude of about five hundred meters from the ground. It casts a massive shadow over the forest and lake below, causing birds to scatter in panic.
Nearby, New York civilians who had witnessed this miraculous event sat on the ground, feeling breathless and terrified as they stared at the ominous, dark military fortress hovering in the sky.
As the weightlessness and shaking ceased, the Helicarrier remained tilted but stable, returning to an eerie calm. The main cockpit was silent.
A few seconds later, whispers of disbelief broke the silence.
"Did the Helicarrier just stop?"
"What's going on?"
"Oh my God, we're still alive..."
The survivors on the Helicarrier looked around and spoke in hushed, astonished tones.
"Huh?" Director Fury, realizing that the Helicarrier was no longer descending, sighed in relief and turned to Agent Hill. "Could it be - have the engines restarted?"
"No, they haven't!" Hill, equally baffled, had stopped her virtual keyboard operations and was staring at the still-repairing system display.
With a firm grip, Steve released the door handle and landed firmly on the floor, putting Thor and Eddie down. He activated his communicator and asked in a deep voice, "Sam, did you see what's going on out there?"
"Captain, honestly, I'm not sure…"
With his Iron-like wings spread wide, Sam hovered around the Helicarrier before diving down to inspect the bottom, his brow furrowed in confusion at the suddenly suspended vessel.
Despite the Helicarrier's damaged state and inactive engines, it seemed as though a third force was holding it aloft.
Sam flew closer to the bottom of the Helicarrier, his face turning pale with shock as he saw the source of the miraculous halt. "My God!"
"What did you find, Sam?" Steve's urgent voice crackled through the communicator.
"It's Caesar," Sam replied in a trembling voice.
"Caesar? You can see him? Where is he now?" Steve demanded.
Swallowing hard, Sam's dry mouth barely managed to form the words, "He's holding up the Helicarrier!"
"What are you talking about?" Steve asked, his disbelief mirrored by Natasha, Eddie, and the others around him.
"Captain, it's Caesar! He's using his bare hands to hold up the Helicarrier, stopping it from crashing!"
Sam's voice was filled with excitement and awe as he hovered beneath the Helicarrier, gazing up at the tiny figure beneath the massive structure.
To the Helicarrier, the body of a small child was like an ant to an elephant.
But now that insignificant ant was carrying the elephant on its shoulders! Grounding it in the sky!
Caesar's body was almost completely sunk into the bottom shell, but his hands were still strong against the Helicarrier, pushing it upward with unspeakable power. With the sun rising on the horizon as a backdrop, his blond hair became extremely bright and dazzling.
Sam froze as he watched, the transcendent sight of this power to save the day seared into his mind, probably for all eternity.
"Rise!"
Caesar, having absorbed the life-giving sunlight, felt his strength returning. His once-exhausted body now surged with power. He had wedged himself into the bottom of the Helicarrier, his small hands pressed against the exterior part of the Helicarrier, pushing with all his might.
Straining every ounce of his strength, Caesar sweated profusely as he struggled to lift the Helicarrier, steadily and laboriously rising into the azure sky.
In the main cockpit:
After hearing Sam's message and witnessing the Helicarrier's ascent, Steve breathed a sigh of relief and sat down next to the unconscious Thor on the floor.
Steve smiled knowingly and muttered, "I knew it. He was always a man of his word."
"Yeah, no matter when, he always manages to pull off something amazing and give us a good scare," Natasha nodded in agreement.
Eddie, feeling lost, looked between Steve and Natasha. "What are you talking about?"
Steve and Natasha exchanged a look, chuckled, and waved it off at the same time. "It's nothing."
Director Fury quickly urged Hill, "Hill, take this opportunity, hurry!"
"Of course!" Hill replied, her hands flying over the virtual keyboard. The progress bar on the projection screen quickly filled.
"Engines one and two restarting... 3, 2, 1, restart complete!"
The announcement sounded like music to the ears in the main cockpit.
Outside, Sam looked up and saw the first and second engine turbines at the bottom of the Helicarrier slowly begin to rotate. The powerful thrust generated caused the tilted Helicarrier to quickly rise and return to normal flight.
Caesar continued to support the bottom of the Helicarrier with his hands until it was a kilometer in the air. Then he released his hands in relief. "It's over."
As his strength waned and the conversion of solar energy in his body abruptly stopped, Caesar collapsed into unconsciousness. Though he had some energy reserves left, his body's fatigue had reached its limits, and he had relied solely on his willpower to hold on until now.
As Caesar closed his eyes, he fell into a deep coma. His once energetic body now fell like a stone from the sky.
"Sam, the engines are fixed. Come to the main cockpit with Caesar," Steve said over the communicator.
Sam hurriedly replied, "Not yet!"
"Why?" Steve asked, puzzled.
"He's falling! Caesar is falling!" Sam shouted, simultaneously retracting his wings and arms to reduce air resistance as he accelerated downward toward the unconscious, free-falling Caesar.
As they got closer:
Sam reached out and grabbed Caesar, spreading the wings across his back. With the mechanical engines humming, he soared into the sky with a powerful upward thrust!
(End of chapter)
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