Chapter Three
Location: Somewhere in Russia
Timedate: 12 Hours Ago
The night was still fresh, dark, and young as a single train with a few several freight carriages rode along the track in between the valleys and trees, its front lights illuminating the way ahead and its wheels stirred and clattered against the rails. Within each of the carriages, a few anonymous people, in fully-covered armour of either black, yellow, or both, stood about silently and watched over some particularly stored packages. Meanwhile, following this convoy from behind and above, a Chinook helicopter hovered like a mechanical phantom stalking the veil of night, its twin blades whirring and buzzing endlessly. Inside this unique chopper, holding on tightly and steadily, three secret spies sat close together quietly and patiently in their seats.
The first was the middle of the three, in both height and age, the most immediately notable features of this girl were her armpit-length black hair completely dyed in bright cyan, and her irises of red. She was donned in a similar suit of matching cyan with a few symmetrical trims of blacks as well as her right arm being completely sleeved while her left arm was sleeveless. Along with this, she possessed a pair of black gauntlets around her wrists, a black and red belt around her pelvis with a gun holster attached at each side, and a single katana strapped behind her back. Nina Kedrova, the Cyan Widow.
The second, slightly taller and older, was a seeming well-built and notably muscular-looking woman with loose black hair just long enough to reach and end all over and around her shoulders, tipped with simple green dye, along with eyes of magenta. She wore a matching green suit, nearly identical in design as the other Widows, complete with twin gauntlets and a belt of matching gold with that same familiar red symbol. Masha Churkina, the Green Widow.
The third and last, slightly shorter and younger than the other two, was an almost lean-looking girl with lime-green eyes, and long hair reaching down to mid-back and completed dyed in the colour of indigo. She also wore an identical suit but in the matching indigo colour as her hair, with the same sort of golden belt and gauntlets. Khioniya Yuzhina, the Indigo Widow.
"So what is it that we're supposed to do again?" Indigo Widow questioned, breaking the near-silence.
"We're going after a train", Cyan Widow explained. "One that's said to be carrying a very special package on board, en route to who knows exactly where".
"Do we even know what it is we're looking for?" Indigo Widow continued.
"It's not exactly known or confirmed yet", Cyan Widow speculated. "Perhaps a special experimental weapon, or a very unique resource of power. Whatever the case, I doubt whoever it's for will use it for peaceful intentions. We'll be able to find out for ourselves once we land on that train".
"Is it gonna involve some bum-whooping at least?" Green Widow asked.
"Likely so", Cyan Widow answered. "The train's occupied by agents of both HYDRA and AIM, so no doubt they'll be ready for anyone trying to catch on board and take it".
"Then why don't we get started?" Green Widow cupped her right hand fist against her left hand palm, her face grinning with determination and anticipation.
Just then, a red light went off along with a deep-buzzing alarm, instantly catching the three Widows' attention. Know that would be their queue, they unbuckled their seatbelts and got up before grabbing their parachutes and strapping them on good and tight. The three stood side-by-side together just as the wide rear-door hatched open, revealing the night sky outside as well as the dark forests and even a faint glimpse of the train down below. Strands of the Widows' hairs ruffled in the intense air and yet even that wasn't enough to interfere with their vision.
The red light then turned green, signalling the three Widows to dash forth together and leap off the helicopter hanger one-by-one. Down through the sky they soared just as they could see the moving train far below enough. As the three dove through the dark yonder like falling stars, they each spun and rolled about like acrobatic dancers. Then one-by-one, they each opened up their parachutes, slowing down their descent while still enabling them to follow the train's path.
Eventually, the three Widows reached for the last carriage of the convoy, and one-by-one they landed with the roof clanking against their feet and relived themselves of their downed parachutes. They stood carefully and held firmly onto the enclosed cover goods van, even at the speed it was in. Cyan Widow herself climbed down over to the side of the carriage, hanging on as she pulled out a device and latched it onto the door. Moving back to one end of the cargo train, she set it off and caused the door itself to unlock instantly before looking up at the other two Widows on the roof and signalling them in with a thumbs-up sign. Both the Green Widow and Indigo Widow nodded before the Green Widow stood just above the door while the Indigo Widow too climbed down to the opposite end of the carriage.
With both the Cyan and Indigo Widows in place and ready, each with one hand holding onto the train and the other hand wielding a loaded pistol, the Green Widow used her own strength to pull open the two halves of the side-door. Noticing this along with the unlocking sound from outside, two agents inside looked out to see what or who it may be, only for both to be knocked out with a boot to the face each as Green Widow swung her way in. Following suit, Cyan Widow and Indigo Widow climbed in as well, standing right next to Green Widow with guns armed and ready as a third enemy agent loaded up and cocked their rifle while a fourth whipped out two long tasers.
Cyan Widow and Indigo Widow took on the agent with the tasers, firing a few bullets which all got deflected aside by said tasers, while Green Widow would tackle the other agent, kicking the rifle off their grip and swinging a few punches that would be dodged at first. The Cyan and Indigo Widows threw a kicks at the taser-wielding agent, missing a few times but managed to get a hit other times. In turn, the agent swung and jabbed their tasers at the two Widows, who then managed to block off such attacks with their gauntlets.
Meanwhile, Green Widow took a few punches from the agent fighting her and gave a few back, huffing and grunting yet still keeping that suave smile on her face. She then delivered a head-butt right onto her opponent, causing them to stumble back and land with a harsh thud to the floor, seeming out cold. In the meantime, Cyan Widow and Indigo Widow continued fighting the last remaining agent at both opposite sides, even attempting to grab at the tasers and pull them away from their wielder. Indigo Widow soon managed to grab the agent by the head and slam it down on her knee, disorienting them before Cyan Widow spun around and tripped the agent back.
Once the remaining two enemy agents were dealt with, the three Widows turned their unified focus to the big wooden crate in the middle of the carriage. Surrounding the crate, they used the tasers to pull off the wide top lid like crowbars and move it aside. Whatever laid inside was revealed, a large device of strange yet intricate design, almost resembling a bomb of sorts. In the centre and middle of the deice, within a cube-shaped glass container was a greenish-blue crystal submerged in what seemed to be water, surrounded by a few metallic details.
"What is that?" Indigo Widow asked.
"Wait..." Cyan Widow looked closely and observed. "I seen photos of this sort of thing before". Her eyes widened upon realisation of what this particular crystal might actually be. "It's Terrigen!"
"What?" Green Widow questioned.
"A Terrigen crystal, a material of alien origin with some... special properties", Cyan Widow explained with a brief pause. "If this thing breaks or explodes, it releases a vapour that could..." She paused again, unable to find the right words to properly describe the effects that this crystal, or rather specifically its mist, would do.
"Could what?" Indigo Widow questioned, wondering just what Cyan Widow meant.
"Why don't you ladies find out for yourselves?" One of the downed agents groaned before pulling out what seemed to be a detonator and pressed on its button.
A tiny bulb of red lit up as the bomb ticked off and beeped, yet it didn't explode, right away at least. The water inside the container started to bubble up and simmer around the crystal. The three Widows looked at each other with brows furrowed with shock and unease before glancing at the bomb again. They could've easily fled and escaped the train while letting the bomb itself go off, but with the train going at the speed it was and the vague knowledge of what they knew something like this could do, Cyan Widow herself could only think of one other option to tackle on.
"Come on, we gotta disable this", Cyan Widow spoke up.
"Are you seriously-" Indigo Widow questioned.
"Yes, I am serious", Cyan Widow cut off. "And my name's not Lee".
"How are we gonna do that?" Green Widow asked.
"Every bomb has gotta have a failsafe of sorts", Cyan Widow brought up as she walked around the device, closely observing any and every single detail she could spot. "We just need to look for a way inside and see if there's any wires. We don't know how much time one of these things has before going off".
As the water reached boiling point, and the crystal itself start to crack, the Widows gathered closely around the bomb and crouched down, desperately looking around for anything to open up into and cut any wires. Anything they could find, remotely resembling a bolt or a hatch of sorts, would already welded in deep and tight, preventing any quick chance of cutting open and screwing open, and yet they still persisted.
Inevitably, the crystal ignited, scattering and breaking through the glass container, and bursting into a gust of green vapour. Forced back, the three Widows shielded their eyes and faces with their arms, hoping to not get cut or scraped by any tiny piece of glass flying and ricocheting all about. The mist itself spread outward until it filled the whole interior of the freight carriage. Because of this, the three Widows ended up incidentally inhaling the mist and they began coughing.
To be continued...