The worst situation had appeared...
Bucky had always been doing his utmost to avoid running into another him, especially in front of Steve, but unfortunately, human schemes were ultimately inferior to heaven's will.
In order to distinguish the two Buckys, we will temporarily call Hydra's Bucky the Winter Soldier.
The Winter Soldier's mood was even worse at this moment. His mind was completely a mess, and he only stared dumbly at Bucky. That face almost completely identical to his made some emotion deep in his heart surge, stirring up the remaining memory fragments.
"Bucky... Barnes..."
His eyes were filled with confusion, and a trace of pain appeared on his face. "I... I seem to have... heard this name somewhere."
"..."
Bucky remained silent, his eyes lowered.
He neither chose to explain nor answered the Winter Soldier's question. He only used a complicated gaze that no one could understand, blended with many emotions, moving back and forth between Steve and the Winter Soldier.
"What... exactly is going on?!"
Steve was completely stunned.
If one had to use a description to describe his current mood and feelings, it would be like happily putting on a brand-new pair of underwear on the first day of the new year, only to discover that someone else's poop was smeared all over it.
From the initial confusion, to later dumbfounded shock, then to his whole person being struck as if by lightning, and then disgust and anger, his mood was like a roller coaster, rising and falling and falling and falling and falling.
But immediately afterward, when Steve sized up the Winter Soldier, his gaze fell on that metal arm, and he suddenly remembered something he had initially overlooked.
At the old S.H.I.E.L.D. base in New Jersey, the "Bucky" who chased him and Natasha had such a metal arm, while the "Bucky" who fought him had an intact left arm.
Then here came the question...
Who exactly was the real Bucky?
After hesitating for half a second, a somewhat complicated look appeared on Steve's face. He turned his head to look at the silent Bucky, with a trace of doubt in his eyes. "Bucky... I remember that in Siberia, your left hand should have been crushed off by the train wreckage, right?"
Back then on the Siberian ice field, they were attacked by Haschwalth, and the entire train was overturned. Bucky happened to be struck by falling heavy debris, resulting in his entire left arm being amputated.
This was a fact he had seen with his own eyes!
Of the two Buckys appearing before him, one had his left arm replaced by a metal prosthetic, while the other's left arm was intact. Which was real and which was fake, the answer was already ready to come out.
"You... who exactly are you?!"
Steve's voice trembled slightly. His fists were clenched tightly, his knuckles protruding, and several veins appeared on his neck. It could be seen that he was very agitated right now.
Perhaps even he himself did not know who he should believe right now, but at least... he was more willing to believe the Bucky who had joined Hydra.
"I... am Bucky Barnes."
Bucky looked at Steve forlornly, with an indescribable exhaustion in his eyes. "Whether you believe it or not, I am Bucky Barnes. I have never lied to you about this."
"Then what about your left hand?" Steve's expression was quite ugly, as if he was deliberately suppressing some kind of emotion, and a violent look flickered in the depths of his eyes. "I saw it with my own eyes back then. Your left hand was crushed off by the train!"
"Heh heh... saw it with your own eyes?"
Bucky sneered, shook his head, and asked in a tone that carried three parts questioning, three parts contempt, and three parts self-mockery, "But back then, didn't you also see with your own eyes that I was devoured by a Hollow?"
Steve was momentarily speechless.
Indeed, this point could not be denied.
Bucky had been devoured by a Hollow back then, and he had personally blown up that Hollow until not even the slightest dregs were left.
Logically speaking, whether soul or body, Bucky could not possibly have survived, but the fact was that two Buckys had appeared.
"Steve..."
Bucky said with a complicated expression, "Sometimes, what you see with your eyes is not necessarily the truth."
"You two... who exactly is the real Bucky?" Steve's mind was now a lump of paste, and he had no intention of thinking about the deeper meaning behind those words. He only wanted to figure out who the real Bucky was.
"Is that very important?"
Bucky fell silent for a moment, then asked him in return.
"Very important!"
Steve's expression was solemn as he said, "At least to me, this is very important."
"If he is real and I am fake, then how do you plan to treat me?" Bucky's eyes flickered as he asked again.
Facing the question, Steve froze.
Because he had never thought carefully about this question. He had only spoken quickly on impulse, but as for how to deal with the fake Bucky, he himself did not know either.
Kill him? Imprison him? Let him go?
These three options, no matter which one, did not seem to be the most correct option, yet he had no choice but to force himself to make a choice from among them.
"I have a question, Steve."
Bucky's gaze carried a trace of pressure as he looked straight at the somewhat flustered Steve and said, "If we possess the same memories, the same past and feelings, and even the DNA genetic sequence is completely identical, then may I ask... how should you define the 'real' and 'fake' you speak of?"
Steve's expression became exceptionally ugly, and a trace of horror appeared in his eyes. He had vaguely guessed a bit of the truth, but he did not have the courage to say it out loud.
"Bullshit, of course you look at how they were born!" Sam, who was standing to the side, really could not hold back anymore and interrupted, "Even if they have the same experiences and memories, even if they have the same DNA and body, a clone is still a clone. That can't change that you are a product created by science!"
"A clone... is not a person?" Bucky asked in return.
"Don't try to disturb us this way!" Sam aimed the firearm on his arm at Bucky's back and said coldly, "Regardless of whether a clone is human or not, at least you definitely aren't the real Bucky."
"This... is your answer?"
Bucky did not care about Sam behind him. He only stared fixedly at Steve and asked, "Answer my question. This is the answer you want to tell me, right?"
For some reason, Steve suddenly did not dare meet his gaze. Those eyes were so sharp, like two pointed knives, stabbing fiercely through his chest, blood gushing out like a fountain.
"I'm... sorry..."
Steve's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz. He slightly turned his head away, avoiding Bucky's questioning, and a complicated look surfaced in his eyes, containing both guilt and regret.
"I understand."
Bucky sighed deeply, and a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes. His whole body seemed to have had its spine pulled out, slumping as he arched his body. His voice became cold. "But unfortunately, I have to disappoint you. The truth is not what you think."
"What do you mean?!"
Steve and Sam both trembled, revealing surprised expressions.
"According to the scope of your definition, I am indeed not the real 'Bucky.'" Bucky looked at them faintly, then slowly raised his hand, pointed at the still dazed Winter Soldier, and said word by word, "But likewise... he is not Bucky either."
"The real Bucky... died long ago."
"He died on the Siberian ice field, devoured alive by a Hollow because he saved his close friend Steve Rogers."
"As for me..."
Bucky pointed at himself and said, "A clone born from Bucky's corpse, possessing all of Bucky's memories and past, revived by an unknown power..."
"And him, the Winter Soldier Bucky."
Bucky pointed at the Winter Soldier, his voice like a cold wind of more than ten degrees below zero, invading everyone's marrow and giving off waves of chilling cold. "He is an artificial clone created using DNA genetic factors after I was captured by Hydra."
Both... clones?!
Steve and Sam's minds seemed to have been swept by a storm, and their thoughts fell into stagnation.