A New Brand of Freedom

by Spettro138


Super Soldier: Camus and the Fly (part 1)

Hearing nothing but garbled noises and muffled mechanical sounds, Steve began to wake up, feeling like his entire body had been broken in hundreds of tiny places. Broken bones, cracked ribs, and a major concussion made him delirious as he slowly slipped in and out of consciousness. For a few seconds he could see a short balding man in a lab coat being escorted by two armed guards leading him down a dank metal hallway, but he couldn't feel himself moving, nor could he feel any of his appendages at all. Out of the corners of his eyes on either side, he was barely able to make out two figures, one of which was a beautiful, buxom jet black haired woman in a swamp green uniform that showed off her figure generously. On the other side, he could make out the arm of the thing that had put him into this vulnerable state. The giant mechanical titan that had stolen Firebrand from him. His footsteps echoed throughout the hallway, drowning out any other noises that might have been audible. His sight slowly came back to him as the end of the hallway neared and the short man in the lab coat held up his hand, signaling the group to come to a halt.

The woman came around holding Steve's shield and Firebrand's horse shoes as she handed them off to one of the soldiers.

"Take them for analysis," she commanded the soldier.

"Stop..." he weakly pleaded.

"SCHWEIN!" she snapped as she violently backhanded him across the face.

"Now, Now, show our guest some courtesy," the man in the lab coat scolded.

"Captain, what a pleasure it is to finally meet you formally. We did not really have the chance back in Austria with all of the fireworks you were causing. I am Dr. Arnim Zola." he greeted in a calculating tone without emotion. "How wonderful it is that you've awoken in time for me to show off my laboratory facilities. I trust Iron Cross has been treating you gently?"

Steve was finally able to move his head a bit better where he was able to get a more adequate look at his assailant. Its body seemed to be covered in a number of German medals and awards with the German cross emblazoned across its chest. It had no head and no means of seeing except for the single menacing red eye near his left shoulder.

"I must apologize. I'm afraid that he was a bit...over-eager earlier." he coldly added.

The woman held his head in place allowing Steve to gaze into her sick, sadistic brown eyes just before she struck him again.

"His condition is adequate for our purposes," she said to the doctor.

"Oh, how rude of me. Captain, this is Madam Hydra. Our highest ranking Lieutenant. She commands the detention area. I'd imagine that you have never met a more powerful woman in your small minded military eh?"

"I know a lady named Peggy who would love to show you how wrong you are--"

The woman now known as Madame Hydra struck Steve once again to silence him causing him to struggle against his bonds.

"Struggle all you like. It will do you no good, but I do find it quite amusing," she giggled. "Does your weakness disturb you? Herr Zola drained quite a bit of your blood for his experiments. By the time your strength returns, of course, you'll have outlived your usefulness."

"Not necessarily, Madame, there is no need for this unpleasantness, Captain. We have a great deal in common. I seek perfection, you embody it. We should be allies you and I."

"Go to hell. WHERE. IS. FIREBRAND?" he growled.

"Ahhh, your little companion. Firebrand. It is quite the fitting name. in that his miraculous abilities will help us brand the entire world in a cleansing fire once we have studied him further. Fear not, we are keeping the little one safe nearby for the time being. And he will remain that way as long as he behaves. I may be a monster Captain, but I am far from heartless. I studied him quite a long time before moving on to my experiments with the cube, you know. His abilities are unlike anything from any species on Earth."

"What...do you mean?"

"Did you really think he was truly of this world?" he chuckled. "Oh no, Captain. His genetic make up and brain wave patterns are so significantly different than any living thing on the face of the planet. We have found his bio electrical frequency to be more in tune with that of the cube I have spent many sleepless hours researching. He may very well be from the great kingdom that Herr Skull has been searching for, or perhaps even further into the cosmos from an unknown realm of magic and sorcery."

This discovery was not entirely shocking to Steve, but it was still surprising to hear it confirmed. He was entirely separated from his home and his family, just like he was. The loneliness for a child as small as Firebrand would be crushing and he knew those feelings better than anyone. However, Zola would not let him think any longer as he walked up to Steve with a large syringe in hand.

"Unfortunately, my friend. The only one going to hell right now would be you."

Steve felt the needle digging into him as he blacked out once again. The darkness of sleep continued to consume him for what seemed like an eternity. It wouldnt last though as eventually, consciousness began to return to him.

He felt things move around as Zola continued with his grand explanations of his plans. Sight also began to return to him as he found himself in a big round room.

"The late Dr. Erskine was a brilliant man. I've worked to recreate his Super Soldier Serum for quite some time now, using fragmentary notes and samples of Herr Skull's blood. But they represent his early efforts, and my results have been...flawed."

He motioned to the wall where two man sized capsules were mounted, exhaling what appeared to be a coolant of some kind.

"But now with your kind cooperation, using samples of your blood, Firebrand's DNA, and the observations I have made of the two of you in combat, surely you realize that the only reason that you have survived this long is because I wished to test your capabilities. Now I finally have the missing pieces to complete the Serum. To complete Project Master Man. To create an army of Hydra agents as powerful as you."

"Then he is mine?" the Madame asked pleasingly.

"No, not yet I'm afraid. I need him intact until my research is complete. Keep him secured, but unharmed." he commanded firmly.

Steve blacked out again as he saw the two of them leave the room. His sleep lasted for another hour, allowing them to move him to another part of the facility. When he woke up, he found himself in a cell, strapped to a table. Madame Hydra walked in through his cell door to look him in the eyes one last time.

"We shall meet again soon enough. In the meantime, I have other guests to attend to. I wouldn't want your friends to feel neglected." she stated evilly. "After what I saw on our security cameras, I have a feeling I must also attend to your little equine companion. He must be disciplined if he is to bow down to his betters. Worry no longer, for the foal will come to love and fear me just as he did to you. Zola doesn't object if I accidentally break him, should he resist."

"If you, lay so much as a finger on him-" Steve threatened in a low tone.

The woman struck him again to silence him before departing his cell to another part of the facility. Leaving Steve alone with his thoughts as he felt the bonds against his legs and ankles tighten.

'I couldn't even protect him, let alone protect my own country,' he thought miserably. 'He's alone in this evil place and I can't do a damn thing about it. I'm supposed to be America's Golden Boy and I can't even protect a single child or my best friend. He's probably being tortured again dammit!'

He looked around and couldn't stop thinking about how hopeless his situation looked. The security door was electrified, blocking anyone from even getting close to the exit, his bonds kept him from moving, all of his friends were probably captured with Madame Hydra doing unspeakable things against them. And to top it all off, he had failed the child that he had sworn his life to. For a moment, he could feel tears running down his face as sorrow and despair started to take hold of him.

Suddenly though, his memory drifted back to the night before his miraculous transformation. He was sitting at the edge of his bed alone in his barracks at the Scientific Strategic Reserve. His mentor, Dr. Abraham Erskine walked in and sat down with him, talking about the horrors of the past, and about the spectacular events that were to come. Steve could remember how kind and content his eyes were that evening. Like he was already expecting something to happen, but he didnt care and was happy anyway.

"Can't sleep?" he asked the frail boy.

"No, I got the jitters I guess."

"Me too," he replied with a chuckle.

He straightened the mattress so that he could sit down more comfortably.

"Can I ask you a question?" Steve asked.

"Just one?"

".....Why me?"

Both didn't say a word, for a few seconds, as if they were both thinking hard upon that question. Until Erskine broke the silence.

"I suppose that is the only question that matters." he replied solemnly.

He looked at the bottle sadly and turned the label towards Steve where he could see it a bit more properly.

"This is from Augsburg. My city. Many people tend to forget that the very first country the Nazis invaded was their own. But after the last war, my people struggled." he explained shamefully. "They felt weak and small. But then Hitler comes along with the marching and the big show, and the flags. And he hears of me....my work, and he finds me. He says you....you will make us strong."

Steve could remember the look of disgust on Erskine's face as he recollected his encounter with the leader of the Third Reich.

"Well I reply to him, that I am not interested." he continued. "So he sends the head of Hydra. His research division. A brilliant scientist by the name of Johann Schmitt. Now Schmitt is a member of the inner circle, and he is ambitious. He and Hitler share a passion for occult power and Teutonic myth. Hitler uses his fantasies to inspire his followers. But for Schmitt, it is not fantasy, for him. It is real. He has become convinced that there is a great power hidden in the Earth, left by the gods. Just waiting to be seized by a superior man. When he hears about my formula and what it can do, he cannot resist. Schmitt must become that superior man."

"Did the serum make him stronger?" Steve asked.

"Yeah...but there were other.....side effects. The serum was not ready. But more importantly...the man. The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So good becomes great. Bad becomes worse."

Steve didn't know what to think about that. He thought that there were other people a lot greater than himself who fit the bill of taking that great power. When doubt seemed to be sinking in, Erskine smiled at him and told him why he made his decision.

"This is why you were chosen. Because a strong man, who has known power all his life, will lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows love, and...compassion."

"Thanks, I think," Steve sheepishly replied.

He bent down and began to pour Steve a glass of Schnapps as he looked deep into Steve's eyes.

"Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing," he declared. "That you will stay who you are....not a perfect soldier....but...a good man."

He flashed back to his current position as the good memory gave him the resolve he needed to break free. He started struggling with all of the strength he had left, pulling his right arm upwards against the bond, feeling every muscle burn with pain. His efforts were not in vain as the bond broke open, freeing his right arm. Going on to his left arm, he struggled and pulled just like before until his other bond was broken off. With his feet the only things that were bonded to the table, he broke the bonds holding down his ankles until he was able to finally get up off the table and back on to the floor to come up with an escape plan.

Looking around his empty cell, he eventually found what looked to be a power box for his cell block. Ripping open the box, he hot wired it until he saw a spark. A few seconds later, something fifty feet below his cell exploded, which turned off all of the power, including the electrified security door that kept him from escaping.

Now that he was out, he walked out of his cell and started the process of climbing up to the top of his cell which was suspended by over a dozen strong chains all over what appeared to be a cavernous, dilapidated prison. No doubt created by the former occupants of the castle, but had since gone into disrepair. Ziplining down one of the chains into one of the run down cells, he began making his way up and around the prison, now on a mission to find Firebrand, his friends and liberate their weapons.

Two levels up after ten minutes of flipping, pole vaulting, and scaling the walls of the prison, Steve was at a position high enough to see that there was another platform that was suspended above his own cell. It appeared to be a security post for this part of the prison. He tried to get a closer look to see if there were any other cells on this platform, but he was accidentally spotted by one of the lookouts.

"The Captain has escaped! Capture him!" one of the lookouts barked.

Steve circled around through another tunnel to get higher so that he could reach the platform and use the bridge to get out of the cavern prison. While he was shimmying his way across ledges and beams, he heard Madame Hydra's enraged voice come in over the intercom.

"Attention all prison level security, report to the isolation block immediately. It seems that our guest was unhappy with his accommodations. Show him how much safer he is in the cell."

He soon found his way there as he was greeted by six armed Hydra soldiers who tried to subdue him by coming at him all at once. Thankfully, his training pulled through as he mowed through each of them, one by one until he was free to cross the bridge. He commandeered one Hydra soldier's arm shield to serve as a temporary replacement until he rescued his own shield from Hydra's clutches. It proved useful when another group of agents stood in his way who were guarding the exit. This time around he had a better advantage now that he had an adequate, albeit inferior weapon. They too were swiftly dispatched as Steve went into a separate room and found a communications station.

"A radio!" he exclaimed

Running up to it, he turned the knobs and unhooked the microphone as he tuned into the Allied frequency again.

"Rogers to base, come in. Over." he called.

"Captain, its Peggy, Thank God you're alive. What's your status?"

"I'm in a prison complex...probably underground. They took my shield and my supply belt. And...they took Firebrand somewhere Peggy. I...need to find him now. He needs me." Steve choked out.

"Oh my god. What happened?" she asked fearfully.

"One of Zola's giant mechanical monsters. Calls him Iron Cross. When Firebrand and I fell over the radar dish building with Strucker, old brass ass grabbed me and Firebrand and threw me across the castle courtyard. Next thing I knew, I woke up strapped to a table with Zola and Madame Hydra staring me straight in the face and Firebrand was gone. I need to know where they took him Peg, can you give me any leads?"

"He's important to Zola and his research, so I'm assuming he took Firebrand to his personal laboratories above ground. So for the time being we know that he is safe." she reassured. "Zola would not jeopardize an opportunity to learn."

Steve was silent, trying to come up with any plans or strategies he was able to, but Peggy seemed to pick up on this.

"Steve, I love him too and I want him home safely, but you need to focus on saving your men as well. They are here with absolutely no back up and right now, you are their only hope of survival."

He knew that she was right, but didn't like it either way. Punching the wall in anger, he left cracked bricks as he struggled to control his emotions properly.

"Damnit! Alright, has there been any word from the invaders?" he asked stress fully.

"They all bailed out before the crash. Dernier, Gabriel, and Morita have set up some small artillery on a nearby hillside and have already dug out some defensive trenches. They said Bucky, Falsworth, and Dugan bailed out over the castle."

"Then Madame Hydra has got them. They are probably nearby," he replied dangerously.

"I know how you feel, but be careful. Fighting without your shield will take getting used to. I'd imagine fighting without Firebrand on your back will take getting used to as well."

"I'll quickly search the area. Try to determine where they are being held. Radio Morita and tell him to stand by for coordinates. From what I have seen down here, I may need that artillery. Rogers out."

Looking towards the exit to the upper levels of the prison, he marched onward with renewed resolve.

"Hang on Firebrand, just wait for me and stay strong."

Meanwhile, the red pony in question was dreaming about living in a good place with the two people that he has come to love the most in this world. Unaware of the horrors and atrocities he was about to undergo....

Next Time - Super Soldier: Camus and the Fly (part 2)