Chapter 5

Hail Hydra

Hydra Island

After flying for hours they finally arrived at Hydra Island. Dean entered the cockpit and looked outside. There was nothing but ocean.

"I thought we were here" Dean said.

"We are" Viper said.

Suddenly right below them something enormous started to rise out of the sea. A round saucer with a domed top made of black hexagon panels. After the island sized dome completely surfaced the panels changed color to the symbol of Hydra.

The jet descended into the skull's mouth.

'I'm literally entering the belly of the beast, there's no way they'll let me just walk away now' Dean thought.

They landed and exited the jet.

This hangar was much larger than the last one Dean was in, and this one was filled with various types of vehicles besides Hydra jets.

There were tanks that had double plasma cannons and heavy thick armor.

Helicopters armed with machine guns, missiles, and plasma cannons.

Then Dean saw something that made him stop in his tracks.

The main part was a giant metal green skull with a big plasma cannon on top of it and underneath it were long thick tentacles that it walked on. It looked like a giant metal octopus with a skull for a head.

Viper saw Dean staring, "How many of those do you think it would take to conquer a country?"

"300?" Dean guessed.

"If the country had no outside help 100 would be enough" Viper said as she kept on walking.

"That's comforting" Dean said as he followed.

They left the hangar and followed a dark narrow path that was guarded at every door.

"Where exactly are we going?" Dean asked.

"To report to the supreme leader" Viper said.

'Oh goodie!' Dean thought sarcastically.

At the final door Madame Viper stopped Dean, "Wait here"

Dean did so as they entered. He waited a couple of minutes, heard some shouting and then he was called in.

He entered the room. It was at the top of the dome so the night sky was right above him.

The room was currently empty apart from 4 people.

Dean walked forward towards a throne that was elevated on a small platform. He walked up the steps until he was on the platform with the other 4 individuals.

Madame Viper and the nameless girl stood to the left of the throne. To the right of the throne stood a man in a dark hooded cloak.

He wore a green outfit with a thin layer of body armor over it and he had a cybernetic implant on his right arm, a long, thick, curved blade. Dean would later find out that this man was the Grim Reaper, or rather Reaper for short. He was Strucker's personal bodyguard.

On the throne sat an elderly man. His attire looked like a mixture of a soldier and a nobleman. Yellow combat boots. Roomy green pants fit enough to fight in yet you could still admire the fabric. A brown belt with an H on it, presumably standing for Hydra, with a sword hanging on it. His top was a complete mixture. Of both style and color, green and yellow. It was buttoned nicely and correctly tucked showing elegance, yet he had shoulder pads like a general and as he stood straight he radiated authority. His left arm had the patch of the Supreme leader, which was the complete version. His hands had yellow gloves like a wealthy man not wanting to get his hands dirty.

The only skin Dean could see was his face. His skin was white, old, and wrinkly with scars on his face of previous battles. He was completely bald apart from his white eyebrows. On his right eye was a solid gold monocle, something that probably isn't made anymore.

The man on the throne stared at Dean, sizing him up.

"I've been told you've done something worthy of my attention" The man on the throne spoke. He spoke with a thick German accent.

"I mostly believe it was luck" Dean tried to convince him otherwise.

"Luck does not exist, each man determines his own fate through his abilities. And yours were good enough to allow you to escape. Something no ordinary soldier could accomplish" He rose from his throne and walked around Dean with his hands behind his back, "Which means there must be something special about you"

"There's nothing special about me" Dean said not wanting the attention.

He smirked, "I beg to differ. Simply look at the evidence. 248 new recruits, all perished on your mission. Perhaps not all from the Abomination but most. He slaughtered them all. Even my second in command, Madame Viper, who is renown for her military tactics, was defeated. But you..." He stopped in front of Dean and stared at him, "A new soldier with barely any experience manages to evade him, wound him, outsmart him, and lives to tell the tale? I refuse to believe you are anything but extraordinary"

Dean gulped, this dude was good, "And what if I am?"

"I would like to help you achieve your full potential" He said with a gleam in his eye.

"To do what? We attacked a US army base, we killed innocent soldiers and for what? A superpowered psychopath?" Dean asked.

The old man looked skeptical, just for a moment, "Don't be naive, all governments are corrupt. Blonsky was once an innocent soldier, then he volunteered to become a weapon of the US army. When they thought he was too powerful to control they locked him away. I simply wished to make good use of his abilities, unaware of his now unstable psyche"

Dean wasn't aware of the circumstances, yet he still found it difficult to trust this man.

"Why would you want to help me?" Dean asked curiously.

The old man looked at the nameless girl then back at Dean, "My daughter Andrea, she yet lives because of you. I'm in your debt"

Perhaps these people could help him understand himself more, and Dean wanted nothing more than to know what or who he really is, "Fine, you help me and I'll help you. While I still get paid"

The old man smirked, "Don't worry, you'll be paid handsomely" he offered his hand.

"I'd like to know the name of the man whose hand I'm shaking" Dean said.

"Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker. And yours?" He asked.

Dean shook his hand, "Dean"

Dean entered his new private courters. At least now he had his own room, but all his stuff was still at the previous base, including his money. He'd make a point to go and retrieve it at some point.

Dean undressed and took a long needed shower. After he was done he walked into his room, with nothing but a towel around his waist.

Andrea was waiting for him, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Dean walked up to her, "Looking for something, Andrea?" He asked with a smirk as he used her real name for the first time.

Andrea was staring at him. His defined muscles were still steaming with heat from the shower. A drop of water ran down his broad chest, past his abs, all the way to his belly button. Andrea had a lustful look in her eyes.

Dean being as young as he is, he wasn't familiar with the gaze of a woman and what it meant.

"You've impressed my father, that's not easy to do" Andrea said.

"I wasn't looking to impress anyone" Dean said searching for a new pair of clothes, "So if you're the daughter of the supreme leader why were you training with new recruits?"

Andrea got off the bed and approached him slowly, "I inherited my father's skills, so I am expected to succeed him. Unfortunately, my father felt that I needed to rise through the ranks from my own deeds, so I started at the bottom" she stared at him with a devious smirk, "And now I'm here" she stopped inches away from him.

Dean noticed she awfully close to him, "Right" he hurried to find some clothes, "So uh, back in Alaska when you kissed me, what was that about?"

Andrea kept close to him, "You saved my life, and I felt like I owed you one" she traced her finger over his chest.

"Heh" Dean backed away blushing, "You never told me why you were in my room in the first place"

Andrea backed him into a corner as she smiled, "Are you blushing?" she inched closer to him.

Dean smiled sheepishly, "No, not me"

"Really?" Andrea leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "Cause I think that you've never been with a woman before"

Dean gulped, "And what if I haven't?"

"Then today's your lucky day" Andrea wrapped her arms around him, and locked lips.

The next day Dean rendezvoused with Madame Viper in the medical facility.

In front of him was a cylinder shaped machine.

A doctor pressed a button and the cylinder machine extended out a long metal bed.

"Please lay down and stay still" The doctor said.

Dean did and the bed retracted back into the machine.

The doctor activated the machine and looked into the display screen on the side. She adjusted the X-ray to see his internal organs, bone structure, everything. He began cycling through the various ways to inspect the boy's body.

"Well?" Viper asked.

The doctor stared at the screen in fascination, "He's…..very interesting"

"Elaborate doctor, Strucker is very interested" Viper said.

"Well first, judging by how developed his body is, he shouldn't be older than a teenager" The doctor said.

Viper would be lying if she said that wasn't a surprise.

"His muscles are denser the average person's but nothing to brag about. His cells though, they don't have any sign of infection, disease, or anything" The doctor said.

"A minor healing factor which will grow in time, what else?" Viper asked.

"The average human produces approximately 342 watts of electricity, but the sensors indicate that this boy produces 753" The doctor said.

"But what does that mean?" Viper asked not knowing what to make of it.

"I don't know, it's inhuman. As well as his D.N.A. strand" The doctor brought up the image of his D.N.A, "It's vastly more complex than any other I've ever seen"

"Take a sample of his blood and run some tests, perhaps you'll get some answers" Viper said.

"Right" The doctor turned off the machine and let Dean out.

"So what's next?" Dean asked.

"The good doctor will take some blood to help understand you" Viper said.

The doctor took the sample.

"Now follow me" Viper said and the boy followed.

Madame Viper stopped in front of a chair that had a metal head piece with wires coming out of it, "Sit down"

Dean sat down in the chair, "What's this for"

"You'll see" Viper said as she placed it on his head and rejoined the doctor.

The doctor activated the machine.

"And yet another soldier loses his free will" The doctor said.

"We need them to be more obedient doctor and this is the most effective way" Viper said.

Once the brainwashing process was complete the doctor turned off the machine.

Viper stood in front of Dean, "How do you feel soldier?"

"I feel a tingle in my head, is this thing electrical?" Dean asked in confusion.

Viper was shocked, the machine didn't work.

Arachne entered the chamber of the Supreme Hydra and knelt before Baron Strucker, "Hail Hydra"

"What news do you bring?" Strucker asked.

"Jared has failed his mission, he was captured" Arachne said with grief.

The two of them were close. Jared, was assigned to train her in combat and espionage when she first joined. He was one of Hydra's top agents, and as the two trained together they fell in love.

Strucker did not look happy at all, "I'm surrounded by idiots"

"My lord, allow me to take his place. I promise I will not fail—"

"On another day perhaps, I have another task for you" Strucker said.

"How can I help?" Arachne asked.

"I have a new lieutenant, I need you to help him along with his training" Strucker said.

"Whatever you require" Arachne said.

"Good, Viper should be with him now. Go find them" Strucker commanded.

"As you wish" Arachne turned around and left.

Arachne was angry. She wanted to avenge her imprisoned love not train some idiot, this is a waste of time.

Dean was in a private training room with Madame Viper and Arachne.

In front of him was a high tech treadmill with nothing to hold on to and a number display on the side.

"Let's see how fast you can go" Viper said.

Dean stepped onto the treadmill, "How exactly does this work?"

"Start running, it'll automatically accelerate as you do" Arachne said as if it was obvious.

Dean started by walking to test it out and the treadmill moved accordingly. He then started running as fast as he could.

The numbers increased slowly but surely. Dean topped off at 48 miles per hour.

Madame Viper spotted the fatigue on Dean's face, he was fast but he couldn't maintain that speed for very long.

"That's enough" Viper said and Dean slowed down to a stop as he panted.

"How fast…did I go?" Dean asked.

"48, better than most but still not the best I've seen" Viper said.

"Who's done better?" Dean asked curiously.

"Me" Arachne said proudly.

'Well not for long' Dean thought.

"Now let's see how strong you are" Viper said moving over to a different machine. It resembled a bench press but more high tech and no weights.

Dean laid down on the bench and raised the bar.

"This thing can dispense up to 20 tons, but I'm sure you won't get anywhere close to that" Arachne said as she turned it on and slowly increased the weight pound by pound.

100..200..300 and kept on growing. Around 750 Dean's arms started to feel tired.

When the number past 950 Dean started to feel overwhelmed, the bar started to drop slowly.

"I think he's had enough" Viper said as she turned off the machine.

Dean got off the bench rubbing his arms from the soreness, "Where'd it stop?"

"968, almost half a ton" Viper said.

"Above average yes, but not superhuman" Arachne said rubbing it in his face.

Dean didn't like her attitude at all but at least she was pretty, "What's next?"

"Now that we've tested you you're training can begin" Viper said.

Dean and Arachne stood across from each other.

Arachne oversaw his hand to hand combat training.

"What styles of fighting are you familiar with?" Arachne asked.

"Boxing, Kickboxing, Wrestling, Brazilian Jujitsu, and Taekwondo" Dean listed.

"Impressive….for a kid" Arachne teased him.

Dean ignored the comment, "What will you teach me?"

"Judo, Karate, maybe even Capoeira if you learn fast enough. But first I need to see how good you are on your own" Arachne said as she closed the gap between them and knocked him on his back with an open palm to the chest.

Dean didn't see that one coming, his mistake for dropping his guard. One he won't be repeating.

He kipped up and entered his fighting stance.

Arachne attacked with quick punches.

Her speed was impressive, since she didn't miss a single punch regardless of Dean's efforts to dodge.

Dean hit her with a low kick to her left calve, the attack had no effect.

Arachne punched him in the chest making Dean stagger back a few steps. When he came for a counterattack Arachne bent down and hit him in the face with an unexpected kick.

The force of the kick made Dean spin around as he flew backwards.

"Not much are you?" Arachne said thinking little of him.

Dean got back on his feet with renewed vigor, Arachne was faster and stronger than him but that seemed insignificant to him. He charged at her.

Arachne ducked underneath a tornado kick and jumped over a leg sweep. She then threw a right hook to his ribcage.

Dean backed away just fast enough to avoid it and kneed her in the stomach.

Arachne ignored the hit and kept on attacking.

'I'm not even good enough to bother her' Dean thought as he backed away from his advancing opponent.

Arachne hit him with an uppercut to the chin sending him flying upward. She then jumped upwards and knocked him back down with a double axe handle.

Dean landed harshly on the ground.

Arachne was on her way down aiming a fist at Dean's head.

At the last second Dean moved to the left, avoiding her fist, and kneed her in the chest.

Her momentum made that hit hurt more than it normally would have, to the point where it actually hurt.

Arachne doubled over in pain.

Dean moved on top of her and started beating on her.

Arachne grabbed both of his wrists and held his hands back, "A little creative" she gave him a minor compliment.

Dean headbutted her in anger but split open his own head, 'Fuck!'

"Very creative" Arachne had to admit as she threw him off.

Dean landed on his feet and ran right back at her.

Arachne dodged a couple of punches and hit Dean with a haymaker.

Dean used the momentum of the hit to spin around and hit her in the face with a kick.

Arachne swept his legs and elbowed him in the chest to knock him down.

'For the love of god does this woman feel pain?!' Dean thought in rage as he got back up and started swinging wildly.

Arachne dodged his attacks with relative ease and kicked him in the chest sending him skidding backwards.

Dean spat blood, 'She's just toying with me!' he charged at her. When he got close he slid across the floor for a sweep.

Arachne jumped over the obvious attack.

Dean stopped abruptly to spring off the ground, grab Arachne's leg, and throw her on the ground with all the force he could muster. He then started bashing her back and forth on the ground.

Dean then started swinging her around, faster and faster. When he finally went to throw her Dean found it very difficult to move her. He looked up and saw Arachne floating in the air.

"Oh you've gotta be—"

Dean was interrupted by a kick to the face, 'Great, she can fly'

Arachne then descended slowly until she was standing on the ground, "That's enough"

Good thing too, it had become painfully obvious that he was outclassed in almost every way.

Dean and Madame Viper stood in the weapons armory.

There were racks of various types of weapons and artillery across a long room.

"Quite a collection you got here" Dean had to admit.

"Enough to suit our needs. Now take your pick" Viper said.

Dean was surprised, "Really?"

"If you're to rise in rank you'll need to find what weapon will be your specialty" Viper said.

Dean walked around carefully looking at all the firearms, from handguns, to small machine guns, to assault rifles.

Once he passed the guns then came the more old fashioned weapons. Daggers, Axes, Hammers, Swords, you name it.

Dean stopped to look at the different swords. He never used a blade before but when he held one he seemed to like it. Guns are cool but they were never really his thing.

The ones Viper and Strucker had were thin and long like rapiers, they were good for speed but were more fragile. But long swords were big and bulky, you could see them coming from a mile away.

A specific blade caught Dean's eye, he took it and examined it. It was light, short compared to a long sword but not overwhelmingly so, and double edged.

Viper saw his pick, "Interesting choice"

"What kind is it?" Dean asked.

"It's a Gladius Hispaniensis, the original and longest of the Gladii" Viper said.

"I want two of these" Dean said.

"If that's what you want" Viper said finding his choice a little strange.

After a long day Dean finally returned to his room. And dropped on his bed like a corpse with his face planted into his pillow.

Andrea walked out of his bathroom with a towel wrapped around her, "Well look who's back"

"Have you been here the entire day?" Dean asked feeling surprised.

"Yeah, my father doesn't want me among the standard troops anymore after our last mission so now I get to lounge around" Andrea said sitting on the bed.

'Great' He thought sarcastically, "Look, it's nothing personal, but we probably shouldn't do stuff anymore. You're the boss's daughter which means if he finds out I'm a dead man"

"No don't worry, he knows" Andrea said nonchalantly.

"Wait what?" Dean said not believing his ears, "Why would you tell him?"

Andrea sat on top of him, "My father has an interest in you" she inched closer to his ear, "something we have in common" she whispered.

'This is fucking creepy' Dean thought.

"So? Find out anything useful?" Andrea asked.

"I'm above average but not quite superhuman according to Arachne" Dean said spitefully.

"You're definitely above average" Andrea said giggling.

"She still kicked my ass...bitch" Dean said.

"I know for a fact she can lift around 7 tons" Andrea said.

"Jesus, now it makes sense. I felt like I was getting hit by a truck" Dean said.

"Aw you must be tired" Andrea said.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted" Dean said closing his eyes.

"Let's see if I can help with that" Andrea said as she started rubbing his shoulders.

"That definitely helps" Dean whispered.

Andrea started massaging his back.

Dean felt her soft hands gently caress his sore muscles, he couldn't help but let out a small moan.

Author's note: So we finally get some numbers on Dean's stats, and Baron Von Strucker has some plans for him, wonder what that might be. And Andrea has developed a sudden interest in Dean, how peculiar.