Corrupted - The Tigris Series Book 1

Chapter Two

September 30th, 1947

"Gah!" the Winter Soldier grunted in pain as his back hit the floor.

The Tigris stood over him, peering down at his defeated body with her glowing, terrifying golden eyes. The captain of Hydra's military ordered a sparring match between Tigris and the Winter Soldier as a test run to see just how skilled the Tigris was. Zola had spent three days completing his work in programming her to be unstoppable; and so far, she was proving to be just that.

"Molodets, Tigris." the captain congratulated.

Well done, Tigris.

She responded by standing up strait, and stepped over the Winter Soldier to stand next to the Captain. He smirked, silently admiring Zola's work and his choice in picking who was going to be the Tigris.

The Winter Solder quickly stood back on his feet, keeping his stone-cold glare on his face as he awaited further instructions.

"Punish him." the Captain ordered his men.

The men all dressed in uniform grinned ear to ear, and pulled out a few clubs, crowbars, and tasers. They all quickly surrounded the Winter Soldier, preparing to "punish," him for losing the sparring match.

As soon as one of them raised their arm for a brutal swing, the Tigris lunged forward, breaking the man's wrist before he could even blink. He yelled out in pain, completely in shock from the sudden attack. She then kicked him hard in the leg, breaking it instantly, and roughly grabbed him by the throat, making sure to dig her claws into the skin. He choked under her grip, unable to breath from how hard she was squeezing with only one hand. She slowly lifted him off the ground, glaring deep into his eyes as he stared down at her in terror.

The other men watched in horror, not daring to interfere with the fight. The Winter Solder watched intently, unsure as to why she suddenly leaped to his rescue.

Was it part of her programming? He wondered.

She snapped her head over to the other men with the clubs and crowbars, glaring at them with a fire that none of them had ever seen before. They jumped at the sudden action, frightened by what she was about to do.

"Sir, she's out of control-!" one of them shouted in fear.

Before anyone could respond, the Tigris threw the man that she had in her grasp as hard as she could as the other men, letting out an angry scream as she threw. He crashed into three of the other men, taking them all down instantly. The remaining men yelled out in fear, and backed themselves against the cell bars that lined the concrete walls on each side of the room.

The Tigris glared at all of them, never moving from her spot beside the Winter Soldier.

The Captain smirked, devilishly at the scene before him. "Actually gentlemen, it is quite the opposite. She is in complete control." he stated, his German accent thick on his tongue.

The remaining men glanced at them, confused by what he meant. "But-"

"The Tigris has a special programming, of which she is required to protect the one she serves, and the Winter Soldier, from any harm that may come to them in her presence." the Captain explained, stalking behind the Tigris as he spoke. "The Boss will be glad to hear that the Tigris Project was a big success."

The men looked amongst each other, unsure of how to feel about the situation. They were unsure if they felt safe with the Tigris now fully functional; what if she was to attack for just the sole purpose that they could bring harm to the Winter Soldier? Where was their protection?

The captain rolled his eyes at the men's fearful behavior. "If you gentlemen cannot get ahold of yourselves, I will have to replace you with men who can handle the job."

They widened their eyes, knowing what the captain had meant behind the seemingly innocent words. They instantly stood off of the wall, straightened their postures, and forced a stern look onto their faces.

"Yes, sir!" they yelled in unison.

"Good. Now, take them to bed. They have a long, long day ahead of them." the captain chuckled, and turned to exit the cell room.

The men circled around the Tigris and the Winter Soldier, and lead them towards the opposite exit of the cell room, passing by each of the cells of which they kept their "prisoners." The Tigris and the Winter Soldier stayed silent as they followed, their stern faces never faltering for even a moment.

The men lead them up a flight of stairs into a large laboratory where they kept all of Zola's equipment for the Winter Soldier and Tigris projects. There, they kept the memory suppressor machine and the two cryostasis chambers. It was a rather dark room; the only source of light was a moderately sized lamp that hung from the ceiling in the center of the room.

The memory suppressor machine was a metal chair with a large metal ring that would move above the chair when activated, and had two large circular lights that pointed down, intending to temporarily blind whoever was sitting in it. It contained many restraints, and was connected to many different devices with wires.

The cryostasis chambers were like a large, spherical glass bottle that contained many tubes that connected to what looked to be the back of a small, leather chair. Bright lights hung from the top so you could see who resided inside of the chamber when it was occupied. They gave an orangish-yellow tint, creating an eerie atmosphere within it.

The men lead the two of them to the cryostasis chambers, and punched in the passcode on the control panel. Cold, frosted steam instantly poured from the chambers as they were lifted up; it's frost instantly touched their skin. They stepped aside, allowing the Tigris and the Winter Soldier to step into their chambers.

"Get in." one of them ordered, sternly.

The Winter Soldier was the first to move, and stepped into the chamber without a second thought. Two men walked up to him, and secured him into the seat. The Tigris glanced around at the men, then at the Winter Soldier, and eventually stepped into her chamber as well. The Winter Soldier glanced over at her as they hooked her up as well, still unsure with his thoughts of what had taken place just moments ago down in the cell room.

The men noticed this, and peered at him as they closed the chamber doors. It was out of character for the Winter Soldier to look so distracted by something; they made a mental note to mention it to the captain.

As soon as the chamber doors clicked shut, the Winter Soldier and the Tigris were instantly frozen in place, left to preserve until they were needed. The men stared at the now frozen Tigris in her chamber, looking deep into her golden eyes that shone brightly through the ice.

The sight unnerved them.

"Pochemu yeye glaza tak izmenili tsvet?" one of the guards asked aloud.

Why did her eyes change color like that?

"Ya ne znayu," another replied, slowly turning his back to walk away.

I don't know.

And with that, the men left the Winter Soldier and the Tigris to rest.