CHAPTER 63
Read 25 chapters ahead on pa*treon.com/Draul_TheOminous
–––––––––––––––––––––––––
The facility in front of them reminded Draul of Hogwarts. It looked like some medieval castle with the big walls and architecture which was proof of its almost century old existence.
At this moment, Draul, Bucky and Steve were near the facility hiding from sight as they cased the surroundings with Draul's help since he was the best scoper someone could ever have.
He didn't have the ridiculous limitations of not being able to see through lead like a particular underwear-wearing hero from the studio next door.
"What have we got?" Steve asked.
"Good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first." Draul asked after he finished surveying the parts of the facility he could due to the range limitation of his sight.
"Let's hear the good news first." Steve answered.
"Bad news, got it." Draul said with a chirp in his voice that made the two super soldiers roll their eyes. Only Draul could feel happy in such a situation, but then again only he could flip his emotions to the extremes like pancakes. It was something the two super soldiers haven't been able to understand even after all their time together. Draul not knowing what was going through the heads of his makeshift teammates continued on. "Since we are breaking into the heart on enemy territory, 99% of the people we are to encounter are probably enemies so be advised. Keep your guards up at all time. At. All. Time. Even if you come across children, keep in mind that you are inside an assassination school. Everyone should be seen as an enemy."
Steve frowned as Draul explained the bad news which his other teammates took notice of. "I'm not saying that we go in guns blazing, killing everyone inside along with the kids. Geez! I'm wicked not evil. We'll try to render them incapable which would make the mission magnitudes higher than what it would have been if we were diabolical freedom fighters."
Steve nodded at that while Bucky just stood silent, his eyes not leaving the facility for a second.
"What's the good news then?" Bucky asked.
"We can go in guns blazing since they already know we are here." Draul simply stated with a wide grin to which Bucky only nodded while Steve fastened his shield to his hands.
"Whose turn is it to call it?" Draul suddenly asked killing the momentum which the soldiers surrounded themselves with before going to battle.
Bucky and Steve sweatdropped at this rapidly changing emotions as his face took on a serious expression after he asked that question.
'Damn bipolar overpowered meta.' Both of them thought.
"I think it's Steve's turn." Bucky coolly said with his expression not betraying his thoughts.
"Well then, call it Cap." Draul said as he cocked the gun in his axes were destroyed in the last fight.
Steve just sighed but he did his part nonetheless. "Eyes peeled everyone. The objective is to suppress who we can. Lethal force should be the last option, but it's still an option nonetheless." He then turned to Draul, "the honors if you will."
"Aye aye Capitan." The meta said with a Spanish tone as he gave a salute before he formed a yellow orb that floated above his palms as he sent it flying towards the front gate of the facility.
BOOOM!
With what served as an opening fire, the facility became rowdy as they could hear the hurried sounds from the panicking widows-in-training.
The trio went in without anyone saying anything… without the two soldiers saying anything.
"You have two choices. Those who want to fight on one side and those who want to be saved on the other!"
The entire facility quieted down as that statement was made. Even the two soldiers were not exempted.
"What the hell are you doing quacks?" Bucky was able to keep the question in an even tone but there was no doubt that the bewilderment coming from him was palpable.
"Trying to see if we can make our work easier." Draul shrugged.
At this point, they were being slowly encircled by the steadily increasing audience of belles who had different expressions of confusion, awe , bewilderment and hope. All of which were likely faked.
Even the way some of them had reddened eyes as if they would start crying any moment soon while they clutched their dress for whatever form of support they could find.
Some had eyes that laid within hidden hopes but were smart enough not to show it.
Some held impassive faces that didn't betray whatever they felt with their hands to their sides as they stood at the back of the crowd.
And then there was the children. Little girls who did nothing but cry and sob and they struggled within the grasp of the older ones who prevented them from running towards what they identified as hope.
"Quack…" Bucky didn't say anything else but his intended question was clear. This was getting harder than they thought. How were they supposed to save them when they couldn't bring themselves to not be suspicious of each of their victims intentions and actions.
"Yeah, I know." Draul muttered. "To make this endeavor easier on both you and us, I'll advise those who want nothing more than have our heads to please wait while the others in need of help are-"
"The Undying Draugr. What brings you to our humble institute."
Draul's speech was cut short as a man walked down the stairs with a woman by his side. He looked to be in his early fifties while the woman beside him looked younger, but also had the look of an elder woman.
"If by institute you mean a brainwashing nest for unfortunate children and women then it isn't really as humble as you said."
"And pray tell what you thought you would achieve by coming here with such old relics." The man said as he pointed at the Winter Soldier.
"If you are thinking that this was a thought out plan then you are wrong on that front. Heck I didn't even remember that a place like this existed until the fuck up that happened yesterday." Draul shrugged but his senses were peeled and his eyes scanning everyone for those who had weapons, which turned out to be most of them.
"A fools errand then? And I thought you were as wise as you were strong. Kill him."
The moment he said that, the expected attack started as an eight year old girl who was the closest to Draul pulled out a knife from the sides of her maid-like outfit and stabbed at Draul's crotch due to the inefficiency of her height.
Without even being surprised by the attack, Draul grabbed the hands of the little girl and made an ice dome over her, keeping the little child away from the likely gruesome fight. Just because she had been trained to killing at such a young age didn't mean he felt okay subjecting her to the horrors of battle.
Bucky and Steve had already engaged with the other girls but the sheer numbers of the girls were proving to be a problem for the two soldiers and they couldn't freely use their weapons in a place like this as it was crowded, but the female assassins didn't have that restraint so they used whatever they could to beat the asses of the two men which still proved to be a hard task.
They opened fire, even if the bullets injured some of their mates or outright killed them. They didn't stop with some even going as far as to hold down the trio for the others to get a shot in.
Draul was fighting off against six women which was harder as he had to hold back his punches a lot not to outright kill them since he knew not all of them were doing this of their own choice. They were doing this simply for the reason that they didn't have one.
And as much as Draul would hate to admit it – these women were far better at handling weapons than he was. Their firearms mastery and the way their moved it through their hands was an art of its own. They turned a lethal knife into something more. More lethal, more ferocious, more deadly. The Red Room truly was a terrifying organization.
The man seeing as how his girls were keeping the three intruders at bay decided it was time to move. The moment he turned to leave was the same moment an ice lance pierced him through his back.
He fell to the ground surprised, still not believing the turn of events.
The room stopped as the audience all watched the man die. The three intruders didn't have much of an expression to show but that couldn't be said of the women and girls they were fighting.
Some looked shocked as they started to process the implications of what the man's death meant. Some looked unsure, almost desperate even, while others made a choice they had wanted to make since the day they were brought here.
All it took was someone to make a decision before the like-minded women followed.
The first to choose was a young woman who dragged an even younger girl with her.
Some were still undecided as they looked between themselves and the two groups that were quickly forming.
The woman who came with the man saw the open dissention and immediately lost it. "Kill them! Kill them all!"
The girls who were still on the fence and didn't know what choice to make reverted back to their dominated psyche and immediately carried out the order without even realizing it.
They open rapid fire which would have killed a majority of the ones who jumped ship had Draul not erected and ice wall that separated the hall they were in into two sides.
"Are you going to kill them?" Asked the frightened young woman who was first to switch sides. The tone she used in asking that question carried an hidden plea for leniency. Although they were part of the same organization which forced them to kill each other at such a young age didn't mean none cared for the others. It was just that they didn't have the luxury to worry about the others situation when they could do nothing about theirs.
The hall descended into a gunfight of bullets and ice as Draul controlled the ice to form vines which wrapped up the bodies of the hostile widows.
Try as they might, the widows-in-training couldn't resist until they were all immobilized and the hall regained its silence.
"Couldn't you have done that from the start? Saved us all the trouble." Steve asked Draul as he saw the restrained girls who were frozen to their waist and had ice vines that held their hands, preventing them from doing anything.
"And what? Miss the chance of you and Bucks having your asses kicked by a bunch of girls?"
Draul walked through the frozen girls and came face to face with the woman who looked like she ran things around here.
"I'm going to keep it short. I want everything you have concerning the Widow program, files and everyone who were in it, from the names of officials to the girls who were unfortunate to be a part of it."
"And you seriously think I would give you what you want?" Spoke the woman with her clear Russian accent. "Torture me all you want, but I'll give you nothing."
"I seriously doubt that."
Draul turned to look at the room of young girls who were all looking at him and he grew confused.
"Didn't think that far did you? Well it's not like you ever do anyway." Bucky said, seemingly reading what was going through the meta's mind.
What was Draul to do with a room full of lost girls? Giving them to S.H.I.E.L.D was just changing their masters from the worst to bad.
'Let's just wing it.' He shrugged as he came to that answer.
"If you'll excuse me, I have to question this hag here." He grabbed the woman by her neck as pulled her to a room which he locked behind him. "Don't let anyone disturb me." Those were directed to his teammates and also the girls.
They were expecting to hear shouts and screams, which some would say they would have been glad if they heard it, but unfortunately no sound came from the room.
This silence went on for an hour before a gunshot was heard and the doors were opened as Draul stepped out looking the same way he did when he went in, meaning that there was no instance of torture.
"What did you find out?" Steve asked.
"There's another facility that they train the other girls and send them on missions. If this was a training facility to bring out the best of the Widows candidates, then the other one is where they mass produce their soldiers by tempering them through constant missions. It has a higher mortality rate than even this one." A gasp was heard as Draul said that which prompted the three men to look at the source of the sound.
A certain redhead had her hands over her mouth but try as much as she could to compose herself, she still couldn't stop as her shoulders slightly shook.
"Is the something wrong miss?" Steve asked.
"Most likely she had someone taken from her and sent to the other facility." Draul said and both men had a look of understanding.
"So what are we to do next?" Bucky inquired.
"We go and rescue the others." Steve said since this mission was his call.