//------------------------------// // Super Soldier: A Back Room and a Chilling Meeting (Updated: 12/15/20) // Story: A New Brand of Freedom // by Spettro138 //------------------------------// One of the biggest problems of being below ground is one tends to lose all sense of time and direction. Everything feels cold, dark, and heavy. As if the darkness became physical matter and began oppressing anyone who stepped into it. Only cavernous places like Castle Zemo could ever give off that feeling. Each step for most in a place like this would feel taxing and would wear away at one's sanity. Even the occasional light in Hydra's manufactured tunnels and passageways didn't seem to stop that ominous feeling. Steve wasn't bothered by it as much. He had come to be very used to an atmosphere such as this one. However, the same could not be said for young Firebrand. Even under the comforting cover of sleep, Firebrand could not escape this feeling of evil. The cold air of the tunnels gave way to sights and sounds in his dreams that he had seen once before. A dark tundra of glistening trees of ice and snow once again came to the eyes of the red colt. It frightened him greatly, being there without his father beside him. Especially after what he had encountered in this place before. At the back of his mind, Firebrand knew for certain that he was supposed to be somewhere else, but for the life of him, he could not recall where and why. All he remembered was who helped him the last time he had visited this dangerous place, and he was hoping that he would see the glimmering armored lady again. Looking down to his hooves, he was glad to see that he still had his enchanted horseshoes attached. He could once again protect himself should he ever run into any more trouble. The tundra seemed to go on and on forever, with no clearing or edge to it in sight. He was confused as to why he did not feel as cold as he should have been, despite his freezing surroundings. The icy fields went on and on, miles in many directions. Rolling dead mountains stood up out of the ground creating jagged patterns on the horizon like the teeth on some planet-sized beast. Snow and icicles completely covered the spread-out trees in the tundra, erasing any green or brown coloring they might have once had. The icicles were like massive thorns that made Firebrand nervous. At any moment, if he made a wrong step, dozens of the frozen javelins could come falling silently to impale him in the back. No sound could be heard in this place except for the roaring of the distant wind blowing against the mountain tops. Life in this place was absent, if there was any life here except for the trees, it must have died off long ago. He found many frost-covered skeletons that blended into the snow almost flawlessly. Soon, the trees began to part, and the path the foal took came to an icy ridge overlooking a valley completely guarded on all sides by three massive mountains. This frozen valley was completely bare of any trees or any sort of life. Layers of snow piled up, creating a smooth pillowy surface that ate and bit at the ankles at anyone who would dare to walk across it. Firebrand felt himself start to shiver violently when he gazed upon the sight that lay right in the middle of this frozen valley. A castle of solid black ice, rock, and shimmering steel made of spires that towered right into the cloud-covered grey sky. Eerie glowing lights radiated from this place, and yet, Firebrand felt only more cold staring right into them. The center spire of this palace of ice towered higher and higher far past the others, reaching up to as high as halfway up the mountains that surrounded it. The entire structure was aesthetically beautiful, and yet the foal couldn't help but feel that something was off about it. As if it was hiding a great, powerful evil. Out of the corner of his eye, Firebrand spotted something that the darkness could never hide from his sight, imprinted right into the very snow he was walking upon. They were the massive prints of a large man. These prints were massive, certainly belonging to no regular mortal man. Five feet in length, they could have been mistaken for dried-up ponds that were filled with snow. They were clumped together in a large group, leading all the way down into the valley, and right towards the castle. His mind and body argued with one another as to if he should approach this unusual, but beautiful place. On one hoof, Firebrand was quite literally and figuratively frozen stiff with fear. On the other hoof, however, Firebrand was quite curious about the secrets that the castle of ice held inside. His request it seemed, would be answered for him, as a tall, imposing figure approached from behind, emerging from the forest. Despite his size, he remained quite silent walking across the soft snow. The foal was still unaware of this figure's presence, but he was now well alerted to his. He was not expecting any visitors at this time of night to his home and was quite tired from patrolling the borders of his mountain kingdom. When he laid eyes upon the colt, his eyes alit with a cold, but fiery light. A light that hid an ulterior motive. Firebrand intrigued him greatly. In all of his long immortal years of living, he had never felt the level of magical power from a creature like a foal before. Save for his own mortal enemies in Asgard. He saw Firebrand marveling at the majesty of his home from the ridge and curled his lips into a cold smile just above his beard. "Do you admire my home little one?" the figure spoke in a kind booming voice. Firebrand was startled by the sudden break in the silence of the falling snow as he turned around, and came face with one of the most intimidating men he had ever seen. It was a giant of a man, rising to the height of the evergreens. The first thing that caught Firebrand's attention was this massive man's icy white beard that hung all the way down to his waist. It was crusted in snow, ice, and pebbles. Almost as if it was pulled right out of the Earth itself. His hair was just as white as his beard. It was stringy and ragged, flowing down his back like the foam of a waterfall. He dressed elegantly, but also lightly as if the environment around him didn't bother him. A long flowing regal grey robe of fur went down to his ankles, covering his bare chest. Firebrand could tell that this man was wearing some sort of scaled armor that went across his rippling muscles. In the dark, Firebrand could have sworn that his skin was made out of more steel-hard ice, and rock than actual flesh. The shape of a pauldron bulged out from underneath where his shoulder was. The most intriguing thing about this man was his ancient face. Firebrand couldn't help but stare right into his glowing blue eyes. All of his other senses told him to run as fast and far away as his hooves could carry him. Yet, a tiny sensation at the back of his mind told him to stay put. Like a slithering voice of malice. He had no idea as to who this giant man was, but seeing as to how he seemed to be nobility of some kind, he remembered the lessons in manners Peggy taught him. "Y-Yes Millord," Firebrand clumsily attempted in a sign of respect. "I was lost in that scary forest, and I found your pretty castle." "Quite respectful and uniquely colored for an animal. Especially for a unicorn. Unusually so. And quite intelligent for one as young as you." he mused. "What is your name...young pony?" The voice of this giant was strange and rumbling. Like the echoing of rocks falling down a deep hole or the growl of a mighty beast hidden in a cavern. "F-Firebrand, your grace," he shivered out. "My daddy taught me to be polite to royalty." His smile slightly widened as he beckoned for the foal to come closer with a giant white hand. "How did you happen to come into my dominion of Niflheim Firebrand?" he asked expectantly. "I don't know milord. I was in Baaa-varia, with my daddy fighting Hydra," Firebrand explained clumsily. "All I remember was a train crashing and then waking up here." The light in his eyes seemed to dance when the colt mentioned Bavaria, albeit in an improper fashion. "You look so cold," he uttered with false concern. "Why don't you come follow me into my home and get a bit more comfortable? Perhaps I can provide you with some refreshment while we...talk. I have heard of this Bavaria before and I would very much like to hear more about it. Tales of visits to Midgard are...scarce in my realm." "O-okay," Firebrand reluctantly agreed. The colt looked at him warily but still followed. Strangely curious as to what this mysterious giant had to offer. Though he knew he would have to find a way out of this hostile new land and get back to Steve. His father told him to be careful about strangers, but this man had a mysterious quality about him. As if he could never be strange to him or anyone he met in a million years. Following closely beside the giant, Firebrand went down the hill, through deeper snow. While he continued to glide across as if he was completely weightless. The walk made Firebrand tired very quickly, but something kept telling him at the back of his mind to keep up. He wouldn't dare allow himself to fall behind this imposing man. It was as if his body was in a trance that would not allow it to respond to the better senses of his mind. Soon the two were crossing the field of ice, all the while keeping up a brisk pace. Halfway across as the castle drew closer, Firebrand looked down to the ground, hearing the ice crackle underneath. It made him feel very uneasy, to say the least. Any moment, he could fall right through and probably never come back out. Yet the man walking alongside him was completely unfazed by all of the hazards of her frozen environment. The front doors of the castle were in sight, towering high over the two of them. For a moment, Firebrand stopped as he started getting a really foreboding feeling about the place that he was about to enter, much worse than the feeling he got from the giant man. Reluctantly, Firebrand continued further and went through the titanic front gates, not realizing that they were closing behind him. Steve continued his way down the long passageways underneath the castle, doing his best to find a way back up to the surface to locate the Red Skull. The tunnels were chilling being so far beneath the earth. Every cold breath Steve took let out a stream of vapor. It wore down at his patience with the place greatly. Despite his enhanced healing and constitution, Cap was wishing for a warm slice of apple pie and a warm fire to sit in front of. He eventually found two more passages leading off in different directions. Steve took the one that led uphill, hoping it would give him a way to escape the train tunnels. Looking back for a moment, he grabbed ahold of one of Firebrand's hooves and was grateful to find that the foal's heart rate was somewhat quicker, but still normal for having slight head trauma. Now and then, Steve noticed that Firebrand would toss and turn in his harness. Rounding another corner, Cap stumbled into another large part of the factories created by Hydra. Scientists and Engineers walked all around, working on the massive tanks and pipes that were spread throughout the entire area. The sound of rushing water being pumped through pipes could be heard through the entire sector. The sound was dulled, but still loud, which led him to believe that there had to be a huge source of water nearby. Suddenly, Steve's communicator began buzzing, and Bucky's voice yelled through. "Cap! What was all of that? Are you and the kid alright?" he asked. "We're fine. We took out one of Schmitt's precious super trains. Unfortunately, Firebrand got his first case of shell shock." "Jeez. Make sure you keep him as still as you possibly can for a bit. My case of shell shock was misery when I tried walking around." "Oh yeah, wasn't that when you tried peeping into the nurses' tent a few months ago?" Morita chimed in the background. "Nearly got your headshot off." "Aw shut up Morita," Bucky snapped. "He did the same thing at that club on 15th street," Steve chuckled. "Tried sneaking into the ladies' dressing room." "I thought we promised we were never gonna discuss that again," Bucky growled humorously. "Getting back on track though," Steve chuckled. "I found some sort of power plant when I went down a branching path." "Power plant? What the hell is the Skull up to?" Bucky asked through the comm unit. When Steve was about to answer Bucky's question, a Hydra grunt walked out onto a catwalk ahead of him and spotted Cap standing there. The grunt's first reaction was to alert all of his comrades to Steve's presence. "IT'S THE AMERICAN! KILL HIM!" he bellowed. "FIRE AT WILL!" "Sorry bud, I got company. I'll keep in touch," Steve said quickly before jumping out of the way of a stray rifle shot. Tossing his shield at an acetylene tank, the tank ruptured and exploded. The resulting explosion killed four troops coming towards Steve from the left walkway. Trying to push through the rest of their reinforcements, Cap tried sprinting across to the next section of the power plant. Turning onto a narrow catwalk, three more grunts tried blocking his path to push him back. At the same time, he heard clicking from a rifle coming from above. Not taking the chance as to who the unseen rifleman was aiming at, Cap held his shield above his head at an angle and let the bullet ricochet off and into one of the grunts. "Do not let him through!" one of the Hydra officers cried out. "We must secure the area quickly!" The rightmost grunt tried hitting Cap with his stun baton, but he grabbed it by the handle and turned it back on the grunt. With a palm heel to the butt of the weapon, the stun baton jabbed right into his chest, sending sparks of electricity coursing through his body. When three other guards tried pushing him into the railing, Cap smacked his shield against the concrete and sent them flying in all directions. He spotted a catwalk higher up in the power plant where the sniper was posted. The sniper unloaded his rifle onto Steve, trying to peel open his defenses carefully to hit either him or Firebrand. He looked back at Firebrand who was still in a deep sleep. The colt twitched around now and then but remained unconscious. "Jeez, he sleeps harder than Dugan does!" Steve remarked. "Wonder if Peggy still has that Macy's catalog? Might have to get an alarm clock for both of them." Slapping two bullets away consecutively, Steve managed to down both of the snipers in the room, finally giving him a moment to breathe and thoroughly investigate his immediate surroundings. Leaning over the railing carefully, he noticed that all the water being pumped into the plant was being funneled in one direction. The whole plant appeared to be hydroelectric in design, though he could not tell if boiling water was what occupied the massive tanks all over or something else entirely. Some of the pipes appeared to be electrical in nature, most likely funneling the blue energy used in many of Hydra's weapons he had encountered thus far. Looking up towards the ceiling of the power plant, he found one of the pipes glowing red instead of the usual blue. 'Oh no...' Steve thought fearfully. 'I really hope that's not from what I think it's from.' Turning his communicator back on, Steve reported what he was seeing. "Buck, we've found something. Most of the energy in this plant is being diverted to something...big. I have an aching feeling about what it is, but I don't know for sure yet. I'm gonna try to shut this place down." "Okay, but hurry and watch your back! We're picking up a lot of chatter here. The Skull's on the move," Bucky replied. "Don't worry, we will. I'm kinda hoping though Firebrand stays unconscious when I do confront Schmitt and Zola. I'd rather him not get mentally traumatized for the rest of his life." "If he's with you Steve, then he probably already is pal," Bucky replied grimly. "I have a feeling though if he sticks close to you, he'll be alright. You're a great role model. You did learn from the best!" The communicator turned off again, leaving Steve alone with the many mechanical sounds in Hydra's main power plant. Examining one of the giant tanks in its entirety, Cap noticed a catwalk attached to the top of the tank with a control panel, but no apparent ladder or walkway up to it in sight. It seemed that once again he would have to make his own way through the many obstacles of the room. "If I can get up there, I can bring the whole setup down," Steve mumbled to himself. First, he tightened the straps on Firebrand's harness to keep him from falling out. Normally that wouldn't have been an issue considering the foal's iron grip, but until further notice, Cap knew he had to be more mindful about the foal's health. Leaping to a pipe, he swung himself up and around the tank, vaulting around beams and grabbing on to cables until he made his way up to the catwalk. The first thing he noticed was that it was falling apart. He found tool marks and scratches on the metal, suggesting Hydra was trying to keep him from reaching the tanks to prevent him from doing what he precisely was about to do. Popping open the control console, Steve tried grabbing two of the wires but received a painful shock instead of pushing him back a few feet. "Ow, what the heck was that?" he asked no one in particular. Looking into the opened console, he found a small glowing device the size of a baseball attached to the inner machinations. "Looks like Zola is wising up. They're booby-trapping these things." Pulling out his pistol, he carefully aimed and tried shooting it clean through. Instead, however, he created a bomb that detonated the whole tank. It began to go up in flames, giving Steve only seconds to leave. Using the catwalk like a diving board, he bounced and leaped down to the pathway below as the tank blew apart. Going into a mid-air flip, he landed flawlessly feet first back down onto the pathway below. The sudden change in pressure from the loss of the tank made pistons poking out of an adjacent wall push outwards, giving Cap a path upwards to swing across. Pushing off another wall with a kick, Steve grabbed onto the pistons and swung himself around and up. Reaching out, he grabbed onto the railing of a balcony and pulled himself over, heading into the next floor of the power plant. "If I target the right equipment, I might be able to take this whole plant offline," Steve thought out loud. "Firebrand's abilities might have been able to help here, but that's nothing I can't handle." The second room was far larger in scale, but held fewer guards than before, making Steve's job all the easier. Two more objectives popped up on his itinerary as he found not only the main Heat Exchanger for the whole plant but the primary Tank Array that funneled the power towards Hydra's operations. They were massive structures, which made Cap realize he would have to use his special putty this time around. "Gotta plant explosives where they'll do the most damage," Meanwhile, Firebrand was being led deeper into the mysterious man's frozen castle. The first sight that came to his eyes inside the gates, was a large courtyard filled with an army of unusual statues. Made of equal parts ice and stone, the sculptures lined the main walkway of the courtyard like a haunting gallery. Each sculpture was of an armored warrior, each with a unique weapon and wearing gilded armor. They were posed in a manner of staring up at something in crippling fear. One in particular interested Firebrand. A man with flowing hair wearing a winged helmet and holding a giant block of a hammer. The statue just opposite was an unusual creature. Wearing the same armor but carrying an ax with a hammerhead. The face resembled that of a lizard somewhat. "Do you admire my work?" the giant asked coldly. "What are they?" "My enemies. On many endless cold days I wander my gallery, pondering on the day I will enact my vengeance against them. They stepped into a long throne room with a floor that gleamed and shined, reflecting everything around. The ice the castle was made from gave everything inside a tint of blue, making Firebrand feel even colder. At the end of the hall was a giant throne, presumably for the man. Firebrand halted as he watched her sit down in the seat and call out one of his servants. Out of a side hallway, came a small man only a few feet taller than Firebrand. He was just as muscle-bound as his master. Presumably a worker of some sort. An ornate helmet sat atop the little man's head. "Do you require...drink?" the giant man asked loudly. "Y-yes please your grace," Firebrand said respectfully. He sniffed it from afar but came closer when he recognized its familiar sweet aroma. He ignited his horn and grabbed the goblet by the neck with his magical grasp. This action of magical skill sent a wave of curiosity and glee through the woman, now even more interested in Firebrand than before. He lifted the drink to his nose and inhaled. It was Hot Chocolate, just like the kind he had back in England at the SSR. He put the goblet to his lips and let the hot, viscous liquid go down his throat, not bothered by the temperature of it at all. The flavor was rich and creamy, sensing a wave of heat through his body. The chocolate relaxed him so much that he strangely felt as if he could let his guard down in front of the woman. He could no longer hear the warnings that his mind was giving him and instead gave in to the intoxicating atmosphere of his new surroundings. Soon he was finished with the drink and handed it off to the tiny man who bowed to both of them and walked off somewhere. "Now...if you are thoroughly refreshed. Where do you hail from young Firebrand? I wish to know everything about you." he asked in a commanding tone. "You are unlike anything I have seen in my long life." Firebrand then felt himself talk and talk, explaining everything that he could remember up to that moment from Steve finding him for the very first time. Everything about himself, the SSR, Hydra, and Steve came spilling out of his mouth. His tongue felt loose and couldn't stop himself from talking as the man just sat there, completely enthralled with everything Firebrand said. Next Time: Hell is For Heroes