Red. | marvel [1]

p r o l o g u e

"And again." The Russian words echo against the walls of the pristine studio. The girls have all been over the same routine seventeen times already. Elana Sokolov has been keeping count. Her legs, unlike the others, are not burning. Her lungs have enough oxygen. It's been a while since she's been out of breath whilst dancing, and her teachers have not failed to notice.
"Good, Elana!" The praise causes her to stand taller, her moves become more fluid. 'Good' was considered perfect with Miss Cameov as the teacher. She feels some other girls look at her in jealousy, but they were the ones who missed the next set of turns. The girl's blonde hair is pulled tightly behind her, the Pointe shoes on her feet helping her stand on the edge of her toes as she spins. The music stops at the exact same second the most advanced dancers do- but that's not on Elana's mind right now. Her next class is looming; the class where she might have to kill one of the same girls she's dancing with right this second. That doesn't seem to bother the rest of the class however, as moves are executed, and hair is perfectly tied.

During the next lesson, she had been lucky- extremely lucky. Two more classes; that's all the chances she had left. She hadn't been forced to kill this lesson- but two more lessons and she would have to; it was kill or be killed. The Red Room project is all she knows. Elana has never been anywhere else; not that she can remember anyway. Being locked in the same house in the same town and never being able to leave alone can have bad effects on somebody's mind, especially when she doesn't want to be there. Elana knows she was somewhere else, but she can't remember it. Her Before memories are gone, and her Now memories are dark. She walks back to the living quarters. Seventeen and trained to kill.

The next lesson rolls around quicker than last time. In all her twelve years at the Red Room, she had never felt so intensely sickened by what she has been forced to do over the years. It was this week or next week- there is no escaping her fate.

или быть убитым.

Kill or be killed.

The lesson comes around again. The final lesson; her name is called. So is the name of a classmate, an equal. Sonya Keromova- one of the girls who are filled with jealousy. She is fuelled by the need to be the best, the need to be better than Elana. Elana is fuelled by the need to stay alive, the need to keep her place in the Red Room. There is zero tolerance to failure. She picks up her electrified batons. She feels everyone's eyes on the pair in the centre of the room. Even some other professors have come to watch the protégé fight. The fight begins, but Elana refuses to strike first. So Sonya does. Elana is too quick. Their weapons collide, as do the two girls' fates. One kills the other, one walks away, the group thins by one final body. Then the Graduation Ceremony.
Right now, Elana is not pushing hard enough. She sees her teacher frowning. She refuses to be made a fool of however, and uses her hard batons to trap Sonya's arm and bend it. Sonya drops her weapon with a cry, her knee colliding with the floor harshly. A crack could be heard. She flicks her other leg around, causing Elana to have to move and release her arm hastily. Elana's mind is sharp and her movements are quick- as Sonya tries to throw a punch, Elana ducks under and turns so she's facing her back when she stands. She hits Sonya's knee and captures her arms behind her.

This is it. This is the end.

"Пусть Бог покорит вашу душу."
May God rest your soul.

(Cover by spiderbruh- )

EDIT (AUGUST 2021): just a quick disclaimer to say that Red was written long before Black Widow was released. This was written back in 2017, i think, which makes it nearly 4 years old. Inconsistencies in the timeline and major plot holes are present due to the canon information we now have access to thanks to Black Widow (2021).

Whilst an edit is in the works, i am currently working on writing and releasing the final two instalments of the series before i come back to this. When i do finally edit this story, hopefully it will make much more sense and will be more consistent with what we now know about Russia and the Red Room.

If you're reading this as a new reader, i apologise for the bad quality writing and the messy plot.