recumbentibus
(n.)
the knockout or ending blow, verbally or physically

•••

"You can't keep dancing with the devil and ask why you're still in hell."

•••

"Here in the Red Room, we teach young women to be stronger than strong men, yet appear to be fragile women," Madame B told the final 6 girls in front of her. "Only one of you will win the title of the Black Widow. Only one of you come out of here alive. Only one of you will go through the Ceremony."

Natalia looked around at the girls in the program. Only one of you will make it out alive. Only one of you will be the Black Widow. Only one of you will go through the Ceremony. Only one. One of twenty-eight. Six left. All these girls had blood on theirs hands. And Natalia was soon to have more than all combined.

"It will not take much. Each of you have gone through all the training you will receive. I will preform final examinations throughout the next few months. Whoever shows the most promise will move on to Phase Three and receive extensive training to become Russia's most feared soldier."

The women were all different. Though as Natalia studied them, she noticed there was one similarity in each of them.

Each girl had the stare of a killer. They were all ready to do anything to become the Black Widow. Natalia didn't know if she had that look.

But she wanted that look. And she was ready to do anything to get it. The longing she had for that look was what gave her the look. She was ready to do anything for the program.

Another thing that stood out was a woman with hair as red as Natalia's. Her killer's grimace was more intense than the rest of the girls. Red hair was very uncommon. And their were now two women with the same striking red color.

Natalia was curious about the hard woman.

"Now girls. Brute combat training. We will spar. Winner may choose between a knock out or pinning. And if you die, you will have proven unworthy of the program. Valentina. Anastasia. Winner stays, next girl comes on," Madame B instructed.

Two girls stepped into the boxing ring in the middle of the room.

One of them had short, straight, black hair. She was very short and she seemed to be weak. She looked terrified. The other was the woman with the crimson hair. It reached her mid back, falling in small ringlets.  And she was very, very tall. Maybe even half a foot taller then Natalia.

"Natalia, you are supposed to be a fast learner. You will fight last. Observe what the girls are doing," Madame B instructed.

"Yes, Madame."

She turned away from you to face the ring where the two girls were ready to fight.

"Begin," was all she said before the taller red head lashed out at the shorter woman.

As Natalia observed the women, she could determine that "Brute" combat form meant exactly what it sounded like: fighting like a brute. Weighted punches. Strong kicks. Head butting. Elbowing with power. As the women fought, Madame B scribbled on a clipboard.

Natalia could observe that the redhead had the upper hand. She was delivering blow after blow to where the other had no room to fight back.

And faster than Natalia would have predicted, the redhead delivered such a powerful blow to the short woman's temple that she collapsed onto the mat, blood leaking from her ear and nose.

Two men who were standing by the door hurried over and dragged the girl off the mat and out of the room.

"Kaarina!" Madame B hollered.

A girl that she had earlier recognized as a fellow dancer stepped in the ring and like the previous spar, the red head delivered a hard knock out to her opponent.

"Good job, Anastasia," Madame B complimented.

Anastasia. Not very fitting.

Girl after girl, Anastasia dominated. Natalia began to be worried as her turn became closer. She had never done this before. And Anastasia was about to kill her.

When Anastasia delivered the final blow to the last girl, Natalia's stomach twisted in a knot.

"Good job, Anastasia. Natalia, you are up."

Natalia took a deep breath and climbed into the ring. She was scared to hit the girl. But also scared to get hit. The only rational thing to do in her mind was to count to three and throw a punch.

Anastasia hadn't even broken a sweat. And Natalia was pretty positive she had killed two girls.

"I'm not going to go easy on you, young dancer," Anastasia said in a thick Russian accent.

Natalia's heart was beating in her ears. She kept telling herself all she had to do was hit hard and not get hit.

"Begin," barked Madame B.

Before Natalia could count to three, Anastasia had already hit her hard in the chest, knocking the wind out of Natalia and not waiting a second to hit her again. But the second time, Natalia dodged it and landed a heavy blow to Anastasia's lip. Natalia had busted her lip. The first injury she had retained in all four fights. Natalia mirrored Anastasia and didn't wait for her to recover. Instead, she began punching her in the head a hard as she could over and over again until Anastasia kneed her hard in the abdomen and began punching Natalia into a corner. When Natalia ducked on the corner, she elbowed Anastasia in the back of her head, knocking her clean out.

Natalia still stood at the ready in case Anastasia would get back up. "Kill her, Natalia."

Natalia didn't believe her ears. Kill her? No. She wasn't ready. She couldn't kill another human.

She looked frantically at the beaten woman on the floor to Madame B, over and over again.

"Come here! You disappointment!" Madame B growled. She stepped out of the ring and stood feet together in front of Natalia.

And then there what a painful blow to her cheek. A powerful reminder of Headmaster Smirnov. Only there was no pride or love or fire in those eyes like she had seen from Alonya. Only coldness.

"Hesitation does no good!" Madame B screamed at her. "You may have won, but you were the one who showed weakness. Now clean up and stand in the hallway. We can test your speed."

Natalia watched as Anastasia was carried away and Madame B strutted out of the room. Could she have really killed Anastasia?

She was stunned to say the least, but there was no time for that. She did as she was told and followed Madame B to the hallway.

Throughout the next few months, she was examined extensively along with all the other girls. But as she saw all the other girls work, she realized her only real competition was Anastasia. They tested not only her physical strengths. Her knowledge of combat forms to stealth gear to weapons to fashion and beauty to the psychology of potential victims. She was dressed in formal garb and inspected for beauty. She was tested to how well she'd work under cover in different situations as different people. Her health was inspected. From her basic health to how well she could see to how fast her hair grew.

When it was over, she didn't pass as many of the tests as Anastasia did. What startled Madame B was Natalia's room for improvement. Natalia's future was full of infinite possibilities. She was the most promising woman out there; it  infuriated Anastasia, for she was at the peak of her abilities.

Within all this drama, Natalia had noticed she had felt different lately. She felt nauseated for a short period every day and her stomach had grown rounder and firmer. Her menstrual cycle had also been missing. She wasn't stupid. She knew exactly what it was. And it scared her. It clouded all her future plans she had made for herself. She had only tried to become the Black Widow to salvage a memory of Alexi. And now she could have a physical piece of him?

What was she supposed to do. To her, the choice was obvious. She couldn't do this anymore. She had to get out. But getting out was no easy task. She would have to lose her way out of the program.

With the ceremony drawing nearer, the fact that Natalia could be the one chosen scared her. By the morning when she had decided to carry out her plan, it had all crumbled down.

"Congratulations, Natalia Romnaova. You are chosen to move Phase Three. The ceremony will have two procedures and one final examination," Madame B told Natalia after sitting down with her in one of the conference rooms.

"What about Anastasia?"

"She is unbreakable, much like you Natalia. But you had things she did not possess. She is not as pretty as you are. She had tapped her potential, and you haven't, yet you seem to be as skilled as she is."

"And what will happen to her?"

"Only 28 per group, Natalia," Madame B said in a tone saying you should know this. "She will be terminated."

And Natalia did know this. She only had to hear it.  "And what are the two procedures?" asked Natalia.

"You have heard of the Captain America, correct?"

"Yes. He died last year," answered Natalia.

Madame B scoffed. "Killed? No child. He crashed into ice. It is very likely he is alive. Russia, nor America has the technology to locate and find his body and thaw it. Though America does think he is dead.

"But that is beside the point. Captain America will return. HYDRA and the Soviet Union have joined together to create forces that can kill him. Forces that can rewrite history and make things happen the way we want them to happen. We cannot do that without the serum used on Captain America.

"He had the Super Soldier Serum. You are one of two that will possess the same. You  will work more for Russia than HYDRA. The serum that you will be injected with is unlike that of Captain America's or your counterpart. We will never perfect it and Abraham Erskine did not either. If you notice, The serum  only affected the Captain's major muscles.

"The Captain has blunt strength. He is bigger. Your counterpart  is quicker, smarter, and more unforgiving than Captain; though he is weaker when speaking of muscles like the biceps or pectorals. For him, all his muscle groups were subject to change, making him less strong in blunt sense, but a more effective killer. Reports have said that he doesn't have to hit a human with his full force to kill.

"And you, Natalia. Yours is designed to where it won't show muscle or height growth. As I said the day you were first brought to the Red Room, our goal for you is not to work in the shadows as your counterpart will. You have to be beautiful, seductive and you must seem weak like the average woman. You are and out in the open worker. You will work under cover. You will use you beauty to get to the minds of your victims.  Sexuality is your weapon as the Black Widow. Therefore, you cannot look strong.

"The serum you will receive will increase the speed at which you think. Your memory capacity. Your aging will decrease exponentially.. To make the serum more feminine, it has caused the strength to be  lower that the Captain's and your counterpart.

"But the ability to think quicker and hold more memory is an advantage over Captain America," she explained. Natalia was curious about a great many things. HYDRA? Her counterpart? She'll be a physical equivalent to Captain America? Captain America isn't dead? Maybe she could hide her pregnancy and go through with the ceremony.

"I can see you have questions. HYDRA was formerly Germany's science division. But they became too powerful for that. Now they are an individual organization with the means of taking over entire countries. It is good Russia has them as allies. And your counterpart was created almost two years ago. Outside of this room he doesn't exist and neither do you. He is to be known to all as the Winter Soldier. That is all that is to be known about him at the moment. Now moving on to the next procedure."

She looked at the clock and back to Natalia who sat waiting for further information.

"After receiving the series of Super Soldier Serum injections, you will be completely sterilized." Natalia's jaw tensed. Sterilized? "It will make everything easier. Female emotions are not good for being an assassin, now will it. You will care too much. It will be easier. The serum will be more effective also. Not only will we remove your reproductive organs, but all your other useless organs. For example your gallbladder, your appendix. Anything that could get you sick and drag you down."

Natalia's jaw remained in a perfect circle. "Your going to sterilize me?" she asked in almost a whisper.

"It is for the best, Natalia. It's not like you will ever have a reason to bear a child," Madame B said with apathy .

Natalia had to admit that the news disappointed her, but she was careful not to give it away. She retained a straight face and continued the conversation by asking. "And the final examination?"

"You will kill a man. A man with a wife and children," she informed.

Natasha asked, horrified, "A wife and children?"

"Do you see, Natalia? The sterilization is necessary. You are too compassionate," she said. "Now our last day of testing is today. It will be up to you to make sure Anastasia is broken  today. And remember. This conversation? It exists only between you and I. You only exist within these walls. Now go. And do not fail."

And that was the recumbentibus. She was to be the Black Widow. Now whether she liked it or not.

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