52 Chapter 52: Countermeasure

Red Skull stood amidst the ruins of the Hydra research facility, his black leather boots crunching against the rubble as he surveyed the destruction around him.

His expression contorted with anger and annoyance at having to sacrifice the Viking Runestone and a Hydra Facility. But what infuriated him the most was the fact that Captain America and the Howling Commandos had somehow managed to escape his trap and magically slow down the explosion of the Viking Runestone, buying them precious time to flee.

He turned his gaze to his second in command, Doctor Arnim Zola, who stood meekly by his side.

"How could this have happened?" Red Skull demanded, his voice rising with each word. "How could Captain America and his band of misfits have escaped our trap and slowed down the explosion of the Viking Runestone?"

Zola stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse, but Red Skull was having none of it. "We are failing, Doctor," he spat. "Our plans are being delayed because of these pests."

Their race against time with America to create a weapon of mass destruction was now in jeopardy due to their failed entrapment operation against the Howling Commandos. He can already see miles away that they will continue to trouble him if they couldn't destroy them.

Red Skull then turned his ire towards his other subordinates - Master Man, Warrior Woman, Mighty Destroyer, and Susan and Melvin, who covered their bodies in dark robes because they were uncomfortable with the exposure of sunlight.

"And you," he snarled, "you are all supposed to be stronger than Captain America. How is it that you have failed to destroy him and his team despite promising you could easily destroy them once and for all?"

Susan raised her eyebrow at Red Skull's incompetent furious expression and responded, "Well, I admit that we underestimated them. Especially the two wild beasts of their team. It appears that they have undergone experiments on their bones, making them a difficult opponent."

"Herr Skull, I think their special armor is the most troublesome thing," Warrior Woman interjected. Her battle with Bucky and Gabe proved to be difficult because of the armor. "They are like cockroaches, no matter how many time I beat them down, they somehow could still stand and fight. It takes me a lot of time to bring them down to exhaustion."

"Did anyone of you know who provided them with that kind of armor? We need to get our hands on it. It's better to bring the inventor to our side," Red Skull said with a serious expression.

"The design of that armor is many times stronger and more advanced than the powered armor Doctor Zola invented," Susan added.

"We are already working on it, Herr Skull," Doctor Zola spoke in excitement when talking about the special armor. "For now, we can be sure that someone in SSR is providing them with armor. We sent Baron Blood and some agents to England. It's best if I get a sample of the armor and reverse engineer it."

"Good!" Red Skull nodded in approval of his plan. Then his expression became crazy. "You know what, Doctor? I think this is not enough. I need more super soldiers!"

"I'm afraid it's difficult. Out of tens of thousands of subjects, only four people survived," Zola explained.

"I remember you ran a test and checked the genes of Sinthea and the other four children, and the result is they have a higher chance of becoming super soldiers," Red Skull said.

"I supposed it's not a good idea to experiment on the since they are still children. I doubt they would even survive," Doctor Zola tried to reason with him.

"I don't care. Do something about it," Red Skull roared.

"Are you out of your mind? Sinthea is your child," Susan scolded him. She already treated the five children as her own and its difficult for her to ignore this.

"That's right. She is my child, and it's her duty to contribute to Hydra," Red Skull insisted. "If you think they are too young to survive, then make them into adults!"

"I will do anything even to sacrifice my daughter, as long as we can overwhelm the simpleton with a shield and his allies," Red Skull clenched his fists in anger, vowing to redouble his efforts to destroy his enemies and bring Hydra to ultimate victory.

It seems that his brain twitched, and he come up with this plan. Just like in the comics, he performed an operation on Sinthea and others to accelerate their adulthood.

Susan wanted to punch this bastard in the face, but she held herself back and controlled her anger. She even thought of using her ability to change his mind.

"Melvin, guard your sister," Red Skull ordered her brother. "I don't want any problems later."

"Yes, Herr Skull," Melvin nodded. Although he loved his sister, but his mind is already clouded with the strong desire for revenge. Becoming stronger was more important as long as they could defeat the Howling Commandos.

"Are you stupid, brother?" Susan screamed in disbelief, not expecting her brother to side with Red Skull.

"Master Man," Red Skull called, then nodded at Master Man. The latter received his order and flew beside Susan.

"What are you doing?" Susan stepped back and asked in confusion.

"I'm sorry, but you need to be silent for now," Red Skull apologized, then continued, "Don't worry, I will also let you out after this."

"Hmph! Although I'm physically weak now, it doesn't mean my ability is also weakened," Susan's eyes glowed red and her hypnosis ability was activated.

"What's going on?" She was surprised that her ability didn't work on Master Man and she was knocked unconscious by him.

Red Skull smiled. Unfortunately for Susan, he was already on guard against this kind of thing and had implanted an anti-hypnosis device to Master Man, Warrior Woman, and Mighty Destroyer after they were successfully brainwashed to become loyal to HYDRA. He doesn't want any problem of them suddenly turning against him, just like the situation now.

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Meanwhile, the Howling Commandos returned to SSR Headquarters after narrowly escaping from their mission. The team still had lingering fears every time they thought of what they had gone through, it feels like a dream they managed to survived.

They immediately called a meeting to discuss a countermeasure against Susan, Melvin, Master Man, Warrior Woman, and Mighty Destroyer. Moreover, they also had a headache after learning that Brian Falsworth is the Mighty Destroyer.

The room was tense as Captain America, Colonel Chester Philips, Howard Stark, Peggy Carter, Lorraine Westeros, Bonnie, Connie, Laura, Wolverine, Sabertooth, and other members of the Howling Commandos sat around a long table.

"Ok, we want to know what really happened," Colonel Philips spoke first. "But first, let's talk about your mission objective."

"The mission is true. Red Skull is studying a dangerous mystical stone object. We are lucky to escape when he detonated it," Steve Rogers confirmed.

"So other than being ambushed, the information they leaked is really true," Colonel Philips lost in thought. Maybe HYDRA is already on the forefront of making a W.O.M.D.

"Then let's talk about the five people you encountered. We already know about the Scarbo siblings, what are they called again?" Colonel Philips asked.

"They are called mutantkind, sir," Lorraine Westeros answered.

"Oh right, mutantkind." Colonel Philips nodded. He thought he needed to look out for this kind of people in the future, but for now, it's more important to talk about HYDRA.

"Then you said that they appeared again and somehow could rival Logan and Victor." He knew how strong Victor and Logan become after coming back from Umbrella, especially their metal bones. Even Steve had difficulty fighting them again.

"Logan and Victor have the most to say about them, sir," Steve said. Then the colonel looked at them to speak.

"Yeah, they are really not worth mentioning when we first met them. But somehow, they become stronger, or more like a monster," Victor clenched his teeth. Every time he remembered their fight, he became more depressed when he thought that he is stronger now and couldn't even defeat a woman.

"That's right, their healing ability is on stonger than us," Logan has a grave expression and remembered the punchable face of Melvin showing off his instantly regenerate hand that was cut off by him.

The room fell into silence thinking of the troublesome abilities of Scarbo siblings.

"Uhhm, guys," Laura the Autograph Seeker raised her hand, "I think based on your description, aren't they simple to handle? Because they look like vampires, and vampires have a lot of weaknesses."

"Impossible," Colonel Philips was the first to object. "Based on our recorded files, vampires are not as strong as them."

"Hey colonel, I think she is right," Howard Stark agreed with Laura's opinion. "Don't forget that Logan inflicted them with serious injury and only by becoming a vampire could save them from the brink of death and somehow could fight them again within a month."

"You are right. It's really not strange if HYDRA could enhance their vampiric powers," Colonel Philips also agreed when he thought carefully.

"Speaking of which, I remember that Melvin guy crying it hurts every time I slash him and asked me if my metal claws are made of silver," Logan said. Even Victor nodded when remember the expression of Scarbo sibilings looking at their claws.

"Guys," Peggy Carter interjected and said, "I think that's the biggest problem. It means that a common vampire weakness is not effective against them."

"Don't forget that there is another guy who saved them in Czechoslovakia. I presume he is also a vampire," Logan reminded them. He still couldn't forget when that guy stabbed his waist.

"Hmm, this is really a big trouble," Steve Rogers rubbed his chin. "We also don't know how many of them are in HYDRA."

The people in the room lost in thought when they heard this, their campaign against HYDRA will become much more difficult if they were always fighting against super vampires.

Seeing them like this, Lorraine Westeros had no other choice but to reveal one of their weaknesses. "I think you guys have some misunderstanding. Even if they somehow managed to develop a resistance against common vampire weakness, I don't think they would be comfortable to move during the day, just like how Melvin Scarbo is afraid of Logan's metal claws."

"Haha, you are right. Thank you for your reminder," Steve laughed when he heard her explanation. "So from now on, we will raid HYDRA during the daytime."

"Wonderful plan," the other people also cheered up and agreed with Steve's proposal.

"Then let's talk about the guy who called himself Master Man," Colonel Philips said.

The cheerful atmosphere suddenly disappeared. Based on Steve's description, Master Man could take the Howling Commandos alone. He has many ways to incapacitate them while flying, but he chose to fight Steve in an upright manner.