4: Instructor Zemo [1]

The dome filled with wailing and stupored children went quiet for a moment when a man walked in through the back door, he had his hands locked back and his face was covered by a purple mask with black streaks of vertical lines.

His uniform was a tad different from the other agents, it had a stroke of green on the edges and he had a long jacket with white furred ends, it gave him a superior and feral aura.

Followed by his arrival many agents of Hydra stormed into the building, they rushed the kids into the middle and organised them by rows and columns.

Vlad was pushed into the middle of the group with Jona to his right and his new acquaintance Ophelia on his left, he didn't seem to bother about them as his gaze was locked to the commanding figure of the masked man standing before them.

"52 seconds." The man started making the entire premise go silent, his eyes were on a small round golden pocket watch that was connected to his suit with a chain.

"It took you, miscreants, 52 seconds to order yourself, not bad." His tone took a downward dive with that end. "But not enough."

"First of all as an elite, it is courtesy to introduce myself." He took off his military hat and pressed its open end against his chest.

"My name is Helrich Zemo, the commander of this battalion."

The soldiers standing against the wall stomped their feet and raised their hands into a Nazi salute, their perfectly co-ordinated movements earned a nod from Zemo.

"Cadets of the fifth reign, congratulations on passing your first test." Zemo stated. "You have proven yourself worthy and earned the right to call yourself a member of Hydra but being a member means you have to have certain qualities, loyalty, elitism, dominance, quick thinking, improvisation are some of them and I will be training you on these aspects, starting with loyalty."

"Please let me go!" All the heads of the cadets and members darted to a boy on the first row standing right before Zemo, he had various cut marks running all over his face with one barely missing his right eye. "I want to go ho-."

*Bang!*

Zemo raised his gun and blowed the smoke coming out of the barrel, he kept the pistol back in it's holster as the body of the boy fell on the floor, some of the kids on the front rows yelped in fear while the ones on the back stayed silent watching the corpse being dragged out of their sight by two soldiers.

"Maybe loyalty comes second, we will start with discipline." Zemo corrected his posture from lazy to serious in a moment and as soon as he did, an aura of perfection radiated from him.

"Rule one of discipline, you are not allowed to talk to your superiors without their permission." He spoke while walking back and forth.

His eyes scanned each and every face on the group, memorising all their expressions, most of them were still in shock, he named them Glass as they will break under the training and become canon fodder sooner, they didn't have ambition or will to drive forward to become the top of elites, a bunch of puppets and he hated that kind just as much he liked them for their miscellaneous uses.

His view changed from them to the some still trying to accept their situation, they were adapting but still questioning their own moral value, the mediums, he called them, they will give in eventually to his methods.

Other than these two kinds there were very few who were calm and collected, the Heads, the right name for them, they would always be leading their respective groups and rise above the ranks, if one of them tried harder and pushed ahead they may even enter the ranks of the elites.

While evaluating the groups by their demeanour, his eyes landed on one of the newest cadets in the middle, a girl with green hair. She had a small grin etched on her face which made him smirk under his mask, it was rare to see a crazy one.

Crazy ones are uncontrollable or to be exact hard to manipulate, people can always disintegrate the minds of geniuses but nobody can understand what's going inside a insane one's, that's what make them a harder target and Zemo liked that challenge to train one, it is yet to know whether she is going to be a Head or Glass, only time will tell.

"I know you are tired from the test and as your first day I will let you off easy, from now on you will be calling me, Instructor or Sir Zemo." He clapped his hands and two soldiers pulled in a carton of suitcases. "Come forward and receive your rewards for passing the test."

The kids walked towards the carton one by one and received a suitcase and each time one got it, the soldiers on the back clapped three times as a welcoming applause into their ranks.

After everyone got their cases they were instructed to get back to their respective quarters.

—----

Vlad entered his room and walked towards the bed, he threw the case on and hopped up, falling back on the fairly comfortable cot, his mind began to reminisce about everything that happened in recent times.

His  eyes wandered through the chamber while at it and he sat up in a swift as he noticed the absence of the dead body, there were no bloodstains or anything of that sort either. 

He didn't ponder over it for long as his gaze lingered over the case on the corner of his eye, he thinned his lips tight and stared at the box.

Eventually his curiosity had won him over and he stepped down from the cot to check his rewards.

After a minute of searching he found a clip at the back holding the flaps together, he flipped it up and the sides parted away, he immediately opened the box and took a look at its contents.

The case had two sets of black pants, a pair of black leather boots, a set of white shirts and they had the symbol of a skull with eight tentacles embedded on the chest with the number 028 knitted below it.

"Clothes." Vlad smiled bitterly and nodded to himself. 

"it's new."