Chapter 39 - Winter Soldier

"Young Master!"

"Boss"

Sebastian and Angel anxiously called out to him.

Faust icily look at the two.

"Young Master, I'm sorry to disturb your reverie but we need to leave. A convoy of armed men was approaching us."

Right after Sebastian said that, a strong blinding light lights up the room followed by the explosion of the windows.

A man with a wearing mask rolled in and stood up. His long hair was swaying and his metal arm is glinting marked by a red star.

He stared at them like a predator looking at his prey. Then a group of men wearing a complete combat gear came in pointing their gun at them.

Seeing this, Angel suddenly shouted.

"Get down!"

Bang! Bang! Ratatatatatat! Bang Bang!

The three of them manage to to find a cover under the hail of bullets.

"We need to escape."

Angel looked at the sturdy table and she suddenly got an idea.

"I'll count to three, after that we run as fast as we can. Is there an exit here somewhere."

Sebastian nodded and said, "Yes, at the backyard. Down the Hall way, on the left. From there, there's a trail going to the woods we can use for cover."

"Okay, get ready. On three.. two.. one."

Angel sent the sturdy table flying towards the group of men.

"Now!"

The three of them sprinted going to their planned route. However, as they were running for the lives, they heard someone following them. They turned and saw the guy with the metal arm charging at them.

Then he suddenly jumped past them blocking them from leaving.

"You go ahead, I'll hold him off."

"No!" Faust snarled.

"You got to go. I can handle him."

"We need to leave, young master. "

"I said, No--"

Angel pinched his neck which rendered him unconscious. Then she turned to Sebastian and said, "Take him to safety."

"I will, but are you sure?" Sebastian asked worriedly.

Angel nodded and said, "Go, hurry up!"

Angel immediately charged at the winter soldier as she threw a punch. However, it was easily evaded by the winter soldier as he started his counter attack.

Meanwhile, Sebastian easily carried the unconscious Faust on his back and sprinted towards the woods. He occasionally look back hoping to see Angel following them but he didn't see any shadow of her. He continued his journey for half an hour when he suddenly saw someone at the back. He smiled thinking that Angel finally caught up to them but his smile disappeared when he saw the guy who followed has a metal arm.

With a grim face, he faced the enemy with a defensive posture ready to fight.

The winter soldier didn't waste time and immediately charged at them giving Sebastian a punch in his gut that sent him flying.

Bang!

"Ughh" Sebastian winced in pain.

The winter soldier followed him and when he caught up, he pinned Sebastian down while he pummeled him with his fist. Sebastian on the other hand tried to to defend himself by covering face with his elbow out.

While this is happening, Faust who was thrown to the ground stirred up. He was woken up by the impact when he fell to the ground from Sebastian's back when he was sent flying.

As his consciousness return, Faust saw Sebastian trying to stop the knife that was pointing at his face. Somehow, it appears that the winter soldier wanted to finish him off by stabbing him through his eye.

The knife was already slashing Sebastian's left eye which made the old butler grunt while he gritted his teeth from the pain. If his left eye was the price to survive, he was willing to pay for it. He thought that he cannot die yet as he needed to bring Faust to safety as his priority.

As Sebastian was about to be stabbed to death, Faust blurted out a string of words.

"Longing," "rusted," "furnace," "daybreak," "seventeen," "benign," "nine," "homecoming," "one," "freight car"

After finishing it, the winter soldier suddenly froze then he stood up in attention turning to Faust.

"Go and slaughter everyone who goes here with you." Faust said in a cold voice.

The winter soldier nodded then sprinted towards the direction where the villa is.

After watching the winter soldier leave, he turned to Sebastian who fainted from exhaustion. He stared at him but he didn't wake him up. He carried him in his back and started to walk slowly towards the east side direction of the woods.

--

Three days later

Faust was sitting in the dining room of the villa. Compared to the bustling scene where servants work happily here and there before the massacre, the villa now feels empty and cold. It was like an abandoned house as debris from the incident still scattered everywhere.

In the past two days, they have already reported the incident to the authorities but they knew it was pointless. They knew that whoever did this was powerful enough to pull some strings specially Faust. He already found out who's organization targeted them. Based on Sebastian's story and the recording he found on John's body, he strongly suspects it was the Hand who killed his parents and it was Hydra who commissioned them to do it. Their target? It's obviously the kree technology they possessed that somehow got leaked.

As for who ordered it specifically, he didn't know so he had to make a plan for his survival and revenge.

As Faust was mulling over the lost kree technology from the company's vault, he couldn't help but get angry at their circumstance and himself. He couldn't help slamming the table with his hand.

Bang!

"If only.... God I hate this feeling of unable do anything. I'm still a fucking weakling. We paid too much price for the things we didn't deserve. Even Angel was gone. I hate this feeling of being weak. Tell me, Sebastian, do I deserve this?" Faust said in a hoarse voice.

"No, Master Faust. But I want you to know that I'm still here. I'm at your disposal." Sebastian sigh trying to console Faust.

"I swear I'm gonna make them pay a painful price."

"I know you will, Master Faust. On the other hand, I know that we had just attended the funeral of Sir and Madame but you have to sign the papers for inheriting your parent's wealth. Additionally, the company is waiting for you to manage." Sebastian said carefully.

Unfortunately, silence was the only reply he got. Little did he know, Faust's brain was thinking in high speed as he planned what he's going to do next and the preparation for his revenge.

Sebastian didn't leave his side and is patiently waiting for his decision.

Half an hour later, Faust finally broke his silence.

"I'll sign the papers later. But I need you to prioritize ordering a large amount of alcoholic drinks and packs of branded cigarettes."

"May I inquire for what purpose?"

"I need to appear weak and hopeless. Plus, it suits my mood. I think alcohol will help me numb my pain somehow."

Sebastian hesitated for a moment before accepting the fact that Faust needed time to grieve.

"As you wish, Master Faust."

"MmmmM, as for the company and our remaining assets, they hold no meaning any longer but they will be helpful in my plans. Secretly sell all of the assets we have, and transfer all the money to an account overseas including all profits from the company. Since you have the highest authority after me, you will act as a villain who looked like you're disatified with my behavior, so you decided to cut ties with me. But before doing so, you will try to bankrupt and steal money from the company since the wastrel and miserable me still indulges in sorrow, unable to make any decision. I won't be having time to manage you and you will exploit this to corrupt the company to the ground. Do you have a problem with this arrangement?"

"I-- No, I will do as you arranged. However, Can you tell me why we have to let go of the company?"

"That company is no longer the same as before. I bet it was now infested by Hydra Agents to monitor our growth. So let's burn the house along with those pests."

"Understood."

"That's it for now. I'll tell you the rest after completing the task."

"Oh by the way, order some punching bags and hang it in the study. Do it discreetly."

"Yes, I'll do it right away."

--

Faust didn't waste anytime and started to implement his plan right away. Sometimes, he showed up in the company drunk and smoking without any care.

He even started a fight in a club to make it more realistic. When the news spread to the higher ups of the company, they regarded him as failure. Fortunately, in their eyes, Sebastian was there to save the day.

Things came true as Faust expected. Their enemies didn't send anyone to assassinate him anymore as they regarded him a waste of time.

Faust was bidding his time when the money needed for his revenge was ready.

He wasn't planning on using them for research continuing his strength enhancement project. He knows that they are still in their enemy's radar so he wasn't going to do anything that stupid. He had plans for the money on a long term basis much bigger than anyone thought.

Months have passed and Sebastian suddenly reported to him that all of their assets has been sold and the accumulated money his family have along with the company's financial balance has been transferred to an account overseas.

"It's done, Master Faust. Additionally, I have a few bank cards here that has 5 million each for our pocket money."

"Well done! We can finally proceed to the second phase of the plan. Here's what we're going to do..." Faust told Sebastian about the plan he hatched to escape the eyes of their enemy.

Faust gave Sebastian a mission to escape Texas and go to New York to establish a force in the underworld. He told him he can use the money he 'stole' to build an intelligence and arms trade group while he's going to handle the bankruptcy of the company.

One day later, he showed up at the company in a nice suit to check its performance. Then he 'accidentally' discovered that a large amount of money vanished in the company's account. He then call for a meeting and accused Sebastian for taking advantage of his grief on the death of his parents to steal the company's money. He ordered to find him immediately to explain what happened but they couldn't find Sebastian anymore. They know that he already escaped with the money.

Faust continued his acting though he suddenly obtained a lot of debt as the result of company's bankruptcy. All the shareholders was fuming with anger and they turned all the blame to Faust.

Of course, Faust wasn't planning on paying anything. He was just showing them that he is innocent in this incident. He officially announced that Sebastian was fired and he called his attorney to file a case a against him.

Meanwhile, Sebastian was already heading his way to New York determined to fulfill the mission given to him by Faust to prove his loyalty.

Faust on the other hand, returned from his vice of wallowing in alcohol and whoring. Atleast, it's what he is showing on the surface.