Chapter Specific Warning(s):
Danger noodles; mind the rating!
Opening Notes:
This chapter was something else to put together. Can't say that I've ever invested this much time into a single chapter before, but I wanted to turn the clocks back and explore the world that Adrian chose to leave behind. As you might have guessed at this point, this is a flashback chapter and it is massive. Expect more of these to be sprinkled about as we move forward in the story.
Enjoy!
VIII: Crazy Eights
New Providence: [REDACTED]
Date: [REDACTED]
The Doctor
Adrian awoke to the sound of muffled applause and the triumphant swell of orchestra strings. The ovation soon gave way to the steady drone of a nearby radiator, which worked to stave off the cold that stirred him from his slumber. Indeed, the man awoke to find himself lounging on a chair that faced what appeared to be a dressing station. Fluorescent lights lined a set of mirrors that were obscured by a mixture of colourful orchids and stemmed roses. However, these kinds of flowers paled in comparison to that of potted amaryllis, which matched the specked red walls of the backstage dressing room.
The Elder's propaganda covered the room, but each also featured a vibrant woman. Her striking blue eyes and long blond hair contrasted that of her elegant red dress. She was beautiful in every sense of the word, but there was so much more to her than what laid on the surface.
Adrian gave his cheek a few gentle taps with an open palm, as though to uproot the grogginess that held him in place. He immediately felt the cold kiss of a platinum band around his finger, which drew his gaze back to the dressing station's surface, where several programs were fanned out alongside a large letter box. The man opened one of them and found the word Broadway bolded in frilly letters and followed closely by Advent's Amaryllis — The Voice of the Elders.
The man fought back a tear and broke out into a warm smile. His nightingale had taken all of Europe by storm with her beautiful song and she had finally made it to New Providence—they no longer had an ocean between them. Gauging by the reaction that had stirred him moments before, she had already won over their hearts like she had done to him and so many others back in London. However, the man couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness knowing that her status over the years had meant that they remained star-crossed lovers.
As much as it pained his nightingale, Advent had made sure that she would never announce their union publicly. After all, she was Advent's sweetheart and their favorite posterchild, while he was just the blighter tasked with entertaining the remnants of her security detail, which were more or less there to keep him out of sight.
Adrian then heard a series of knocks on the door, which came across more as the raspy taps that you'd expect from a nightmare that laid in wait somewhere in the darkness. Nevertheless, Adrian stood up and dusted himself off. He then made his way towards the dressing room door and opened it.
He was greeted by a wall of yellow scales and the padded chest of one of his guards—a rather large viper. She carried an Advent Species Designation (ASD) of X3-00-0320, or 320 for short if one wished to simplify matters. However, he had long since given her the moniker Marmalade, mostly due to the off colour scales that hinted at her age and size.
He really had a bad habit of naming his vipers.
Marmalade was the unofficial matriarch and the longest serviced viper tasked with watching over the couple for the event. The Elders weren't completely without mercy when it came to their relationship; however, this had also given them an opportunity to test some of the newer intraspecies developments in the public eye.
Vipers as a whole were a testy bunch, but they seemed to mellow out with age as their psionic synapses dwindled and their connection to the psionic network proved less reliable on the frontlines. Reaching her disconnection date, Advent had left the weathered viper under his care in order to get adequate use out of her. Despite the fact that he was still very much in the honeymoon phase of his newest role, he greatly enjoyed the scientific freedoms that had come with it, and Marmalade was one of them.
As for the viper, the augmentations that he continued to make to her body in an effort to further his research, could be considered a breach of his medical oath. However, the only alternative for the aging viper was to be officially 'disconnected' and genetically recycled. While large for a stock-standard variant, he much preferred her kind to that of the newer hybrid variants, which were often next to impossible to control. At least in his eyes, she was the perfect candidate through which to conduct intraspecies studies.
Marmalade shifted the beam rifle in her four-fingered hands and lowered herself to address him, her red eyes now level with his green ones.
"Is doctor still comfortable? Singing done. Perimeter secure. Will she arrive shortly."
The viper had recently been given the gift of human speech, and while her husky voice now matched that of a human woman, she was still piecing together this newfound skill.
"Yes, I'm doing fine Marmal. And…it should be: she will arrive shortly. Otherwise, you end up framing your sentence as a question."
The viper's hood twitched in frustration. Sentence structure was her kryptonite, but she was making an honest effort to learn from her mistakes, which was yet another reason that she had become his favorite.
"She…will…come soon," Marmalade repeated back slowly, cocking her large head back and forth with each pronunciation.
Upon the second attempt, her voice now also came across as strained and malnourished.
"That's much better. Here, let's sit down and rest a bit while we wait for her to come backstage."
Adrian motioned towards a loveseat in the corner of the room. Marmalade nodded her head in obedience and followed him back inside, the thick yellow tail dragged behind her and eventually allowed the door to be closed. The doctor let her lean her weapon against the wall and settle down first, which left little in the way of space for him. Regardless, the doctor squeezed himself between the giant alien and the nearest arm rest. He then offered her a large container of water from a nearby cooler, making sure that she also had a bendy straw to assist her efforts, as the inquisitive viper had taken a shine to them after she stole one of his Advent Burger beverages while in the labs.
"You've been neglecting to drink water at regular intervals like I've told you Marmal. Your body needs it now more than ever after the operation. I don't want you neglecting to take care of that new voice of yours." The little doctor chastised the viper, who accepted his gift in her clawed hands, began to forcefully suck on the straw, and reached adequate levels of hydration in record time.
"Uhm…I guess that works. Let's give your body a minute or so to adjust and then we can start with some questions."
Marmalade let out a huff before she brought her hands to her hips and turned to face the mirrors. After he discarded the container, Adrian used the opportunity to appraise the viper further. As he grabbed onto one of her arms and turned it over in his hands, he noted the abrasions and craters across its surface, despite her most recent shed. She had lived a hard life in the service of Advent and was in fact his senior.
The origin of their species was highly classified and still a great mystery to him, but he couldn't help but wonder what it meant to live as a 'Viper' before they had come to occupy Earth. He would have asked her to share her pre-invasion memories with him, but there were none, as they had long since been ripped from her skull.
"Let's start with some simple yes or no questions. I just want to get a general sense of how you are feeling today. Is that alright with you, Marmal?"
The viper looked down at the little human and darted her long tongue at him several times before responding.
"Yes…"
"Good." The doctor began to apply pressure along the different muscle groups in her arm.
It was a common misconception that viper's spindly arms left them incapable of lifting objects to the same degree as humans—they were in fact stronger, but not by a significant degree.
Up to this point, Advent all too often failed to supply their troops with the necessary nutrients to maintain their massive bodies. When it came to quartering Advent peacekeepers, much of the task fell to the lucky homeowners, who now found themselves living under the same roof as a giant humanoid snake. In Marmalade's case, she had come to outlive her usefulness and had been practically starved while in transit to New Providence. She had long since recovered, but he was now in the process of stimulating further muscle growth before he'd apply a similar technique to one of his other, more difficult test subjects.
A bicep bulged as a result of his prodding and the man looked back up at the viper.
"You mentioned back in the labs that you were experiencing muscle pains. Did the pressure that I applied with my hands just now cause you any unwanted discomfort? Please answer me truthfully."
The viper once again stuck out her forked tongue before answering.
"No."
"How about this?" Adrian moved back to the other side of her arm and cupped his hand around the dense muscles there as well.
"No."
After he repeated the same process on her other arm and received the same answers, the doctor was satisfied and gave the viper an honest smile.
"Thank you Marmal. It pleases me to see how far you've come since we've first met. Now, I'm going to open the floor to you. Do you have any concerns that you wish to voice at this time?"
"I…pain infrequent. Aim difficult…frustrating. Harder to defend little doctor."
Her voice already sounded much better. He held his smile and placed a comforting hand on the base of her large tail.
"This 'little' doctor appreciates it. Oh, and you were missing a conjunction of be in those first two sentences. Remember, a living organism expresses the state of its existence this way. It should be: pain is infrequent."
"Am I?"
"Are you what?"
The enormous alien was no longer looking at him. Instead, she observed her own reflection in the mirror and brought her other scaled hand to her face, moving it across the numerous scars that littered its surface. A spark found its way into her eyes, which produced a single tear that fell into her scaled palm.
"Am I…living?"
She had turned the questioning around on him in an instant. While he wished that he could say that this was uncharacteristic behavior for Marmalade, she had an increasing tendency to question her own existence. Unacceptable behavior in the eyes of Advent and something that he'd have to note in his report. Luckily, the spark quickly smothered itself out of existence. Perhaps another cranial scan and psionic chip was in order—he'd submit the necessary paperwork upon their return.
Doctor Fairchild sighed. He then took his hand off of her tail and stood up.
"Very good Marmal. That's enough questions for one day. Everything seems to be in order."
The viper didn't get a chance to respond as the dressing room door swung open and another pair of vipers entered—both newer variants.
The first was X3-72-0052, or 52 in the simplest of terms. However, again he typically referred to the viper by her given name: Jara. While Marmalade was currently the larger of the two due to her advance age, Jara served as the muscle of the squad and carried with her a beam cannon and physique that caused many to give her a wide berth. Her coils were considerably bulkier, heavier, and paid homage to the terrestrial influences spliced into her genome. She also carried a larger than average hood, which made her cobalt appearance all the more intimidating.
With her unique mutations, Jara would outgrow her counterparts throughout her lifespan. Funny enough, the frightening viper was actually the most well behaved of the newer variants, even when her chip was placed on standby while she was inside her cell. Her temperament meant that she was one of the few heavily augmented vipers allowed into the public sphere. However, Adrian was slow to trust anyone whose armored body was nearly impervious to conventional small arms. Nevertheless, she was the next one due for a vocal tune-up, so he'd have to get comfortable with her rough exterior at some point.
The second viper was X3-77-0047, or 47 for short. However, he now called her Sprout. The small viper had snow white scales and cranial implants, which theoretically enhanced her psionic abilities—she carried an SMG as well. Like many of his younger test subjects, she was handpicked based on her unique genetics. Unfortunately for him, the mute viper had a very abrasive attitude and proved quite resistant to his efforts to further enhance her psionic potential.
He had started by referring to her as Snowball. However, she was quick to demand a new one after she tore through a reinforced mirror and held him effortlessly against a concrete barrier. He was then forced to run through an exhaustive list of names until he found a 'cute' one that was to her liking. How she smiled afterwards as they carted her away towards maximum confinement. She spent a week in there, yet came out plucky as ever.
Like the other difficult hybrids, she was kept in check through her reliance on inhibiters while her chip was inactive. Sprout suffered from constant migraines and her only relief came in the form of analgesics. Unfortunately, being constantly plugged into the psionic network only exacerbated these issues, so much so that Adrian had been tasked with finding a solution. Regardless, the snowy viper was having a good day and had been allowed outside of the labs. However, she had to be outfitted with psionic dampeners in order to make that happen—he stopped taking chances after their first incident. While she was a pain in his ass in more ways than one, even she couldn't hold a candle to Eight.
A tall figure trailed behind the two hybrids and was every bit as beautiful as she appeared on the Advent posters. Azure eyes that you could get lost in, a confident smile that could melt even the coldest of hearts, and a manicured figure that placed her well out of his league.
She was perfect, and at least for tonight, she was all his.
The woman passed through her guards, pulled at his collar, and forced his mouth to meet her red lips. She wasted little time stimulating his own as she forced her tongue around his—she was being exceptionally frisky tonight. The couple stood locked together until she had her fill and released him from her grasp. Afterwards, she moved towards the dressing station and started to sort through the cluttered area. Adrian was left to stare at his rosy reflection in the mirror.
He spotted another reflection as well, which by the looks of it, Marmalade was equally as flustered. The scales around her face tightened and a sense of longing found its way into her red eyes—perhaps he would leave this fact out of his report. Adrian took the opportunity to turn around and offer both of his hands to the alien, who humored the small doctor as he grunted and pulled her upright. With his face once again level with her armored chest, the human gave the viper one final pat on her long arm and turned back to face his wife.
"I sincerely hope that you weren't bored to tears while I was away Adrian. Afterwards, they had me reading off another script to those damn reporters."
Adeline slipped off a pair of red gloves, which revealed a matching platinum band. She then pulled out a leather purse from behind one of the potted amaryllis, digging through its inner pockets until she found what she was looking for—a wooden jewelry box. She opened it and brought forth a necklace in the shape of a silver dagger with a yellow cobra wrapped around its blade, which had A&A etched into its back surface. After she secured the necklace around her neck, the woman turned back to him and waited for an answer.
"Well…Marmal came in to keep me company. We even managed to fit in a quick health checkup." Adrian couldn't help but rub the back of his neck. Perhaps he should have worded those sentences a bit better.
"Oh, and how is my big girl?"
Adeline made her way towards Marmalade, who lowered herself for the smaller human's sake. The woman immediately wrapped her arms around the viper's wide torso.
"Thank you Marmal for watching over my husband and keeping him out of trouble. I know that he has a tendency to doze off at these sorts of things. The nerve of some men let me tell you."
Marmalade let out a soft grunt as the human continued to squeeze her larger body in an ever tightening hug. The poor viper looked to him as though he would come to her rescue. However, with Adeline, it was best just to let her express herself—she was a hugger and a lover of snakes.
Snakes. A seeming mundane topic that turned into a night of drinks and laughter, which turned into an official date, a second official date, and only continued from there. This wonderful woman couldn't get enough of them, so much so that it soon directly impacted how he developed in his own career. He ultimately had her connections to thank for his newest promotion. However, with each success also came an added bar to his songbird's cage. The heaviest of which was the fact that Adeline was not allowed to bear children, nor was she allowed to even discuss the matter openly. Despite this, she had come to love interacting and keeping up with her newly 'adopted' children.
"And how is her new voice coming along? I'm afraid that I've been literally living in Jara's shadow all day."
Jara only huffed and turned her giant plasma cannon back towards the door. Sprout matched the other viper with her own SMG. At least both of their psionic chips seemed to be working as intended. Maybe a few adjustments would be required down the line, but they had thus far kept themselves out of trouble.
While many would like to believe that the occupation forces were mindless husks while connected to the network, their individual personalities still bled through. They were just often expressed in a heavily diluted state, as the network served to block out undesirable thought processes and emphasize ones more aligned with Advent's values. There were also different tiers through which a given unit could be influenced—the highest was ushered in during direct combat.
Tactical decision making was kicked into overdrive upon contact with an enemy combatant, whether it be on the offensive or out of defense. Advent asset protection protocols largely blocked out an individual unit's input, which more or less rode out the experience as though it were a fever dream. In this case, the network was the invisible hand that steadied a soldier's weapon and the soothing voice, which compelled that same soldier to pull the trigger, regardless of what was currently lined up in their crosshairs.
"Her voice? 3-20 is definitely making progress after—"
"Stop Adrian. Numbers don't carry the same sentience that she does. This woman is a living creature the same as you and I. Her name is Marmalade, so please refer to her as such," Adeline chastised the doctor.
He didn't have the heart to remind her about the chip planted inside the viper's head. Even if it currently seemed to allow Marmalade to express herself more readily than she outright ought to be, she was still a tool for the Elders, just like they all were, and there was no way around it. However, Adeline's fantasies proved harmless and gave her an outlet for which to exert some semblance of control over her life. Despite being outwardly conveyed as a powerful woman, she had chinks in her armor that he had become all too familiar with over the years.
"I…Marmalade's grasp of the human language is coming together. She's struggling a little bit with sentence structure, but her progress has otherwise been remarkable."
Adeline landed a soft kiss on the viper's scarred cheek. Marmalade flinched, yet knew better than to push his wife away.
"I knew that she had it in her. What do you think Marmal? Do you like your new voice?"
"I…it is sufficient." The viper's husky voice, which befitted her size, reverberated off of the red walls.
"Good." The human woman smiled and turned to face him. "Now Adrian. I know that they're still working out the details for your new high-rise penthouse, but I want you by my side the rest of the night."
Adrian made an attempt to interject, but Adeline continued forward.
"I know what you're going to say, so I'm just going to stop you right there. I've already made arrangements with your superiors. They'll keep the masses busy while we slip away for some much needed…R&R."
His wife walked up to him and took hold of both of his hands. He then lifted his eyes to gaze into hers.
"It has been nearly two months since we've last seen each other in person. Please let me take advantage of one of the few good things that I've still got going for me in this life."
"Please? That's twice now that you've used that word. Who are you and what have you done with my Addy?" Adrian couldn't help but smile and follow his accusation up with a kiss, which she readily accepted. However, their moment was interrupted as a set of claws came to rest on his shoulder.
"Forgiveness, but limos have arrived. Need to depart soon to destination," Marmalade stated as she rose to her full height and made the humans feel even more like children. With a silent command already given, the other two vipers filed out and waited for them in the hallway.
"Of course, thanks for letting us know Marmal. I'll slip out of my dress quickly, pack up the rest of our things, and then we can be off. Adrian, please be a doll and grab my jacket from the coat rack," his wife requested as she dipped behind a panel divider and began to change. Articles of clothing flew in every which direction as the remaining viper and human were left transfixed on the ensuing wardrobe commotion.
Forcing himself out of a daze, Adrian went for the woman's leather jacket, but a yellow tail looped through its hanger and brought it to him instead. The tail's owner all the while leaned down and shuffled the beam rifle back into her hands. After he took his wife's jacket, the viper returned to the rack and retrieved his own for him. Adeline had since changed into a pair of red velvet pants and white top, and once again faced the dressing room mirrors while she slipped the remaining last minute items into her designer purse.
"Thanks for the assistance, Marmal. Please wait outside with Jara and Sprout. Adeline and I will be out shortly."
Marmalade huffed, but did as she was told, her long tail nearly stretched across the entire room before she made it to the threshold and joined the other two vipers outside.
With all witnesses sufficiently distracted and himself now fully covered, Adrian moved to wrap Addy's jacket around her body. He then grabbed onto her velvety hips and set his chin on her closest shoulder. Surprisingly, his wife flinched at the sudden human contact.
"So…what kind of mischief and mayhem did you have in mind tonight? We could travel to the river district, traverse the boardwalk, maybe convince our drivers to let us slip into a nearby techno club instead. It would be like we were back in the East End. In fact, my co-workers mentioned a place just off of Trinity—"
"No Adrian. I already have a place in mind," Addy curtly replied.
"Really now? I guess that you're the planner and I'm the disorganized half-wit," Adrian tried to mimic her voice and moved to grab onto her hands; however, the woman shook him off and turned abruptly away from her reflection in the mirror.
"Addy, is everything alright? You're acting strange all of the sudden."
Her thin brow furrowed, but the woman said nothing until she reached back and slung the purse around her shoulder.
"I'm fine Adrian. Just thought about something that a prick said to me before I headed backstage."
"Oh. Is it something that you'd mind sharing? We can talk about it if you'd like."
"It is nothing that you need to be concerned about," his wife responded tersely.
Adrian sighed and offered his hand as a means to lead her out of the room. Although it would only be for a few precious moments, he would take every opportunity that he could get. Luckily, his nightingale returned and chose to link arms with him instead—she always had to do things her way.
"Wait. Should we bring your wooden jewelry box along as well?"
"No Adrian. Leave it with the letter box for the clean-up crew. They have to move all of those damn flowers to my suite anyways. Besides, I have everything that I need right here."
The man couldn't help but break out into a wide smile. Addy was playing all the right cards tonight and he was excited for what the rest of the night had in store for them. The pair then turned to leave the room, only to find a set of red eyes and a wide hood hanging around the uppermost reaches of the doorway. The viper's large body blocked their path.
"Marmalade, what have I told you about poking your head into places that you shouldn't?"
The nosy viper had gotten herself stuck on several occasions the past couple of months. The worst of which was when she was compelled to follow a mouse down a series of pipes and got herself in a bind midway through. He had to literally lather her up in grease and convince his superiors that a bullet to the head was not a sensible solution.
Both man and alien worked at it all night and were exhausted after over twenty feet of viper was freed from her predicament—he never did find the mouse afterwards. His hands remained numb even as he filled out a report the day after the incident. He had written a lot of reports in the short time that he had been in the position, but Marmalade's...quirks were far, far from the worst.
"Leave her be Adrian, the big girl is just curious. Isn't that right Marmal?"
The scales around the viper's cheeks tightened once again as she pulled her long neck back into the hallway and allowed them to pass.
"A-apologies. Took too long…and went to check if okay."
In an apparent effort to shrug off her embarrassment, the large viper moved to take stock of all the members in the hallway.
"All here. Told to meet at loading dock. Little doctor stays back with Sprout until safe."
Adrian couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh. Of course, the 'inconvenient baggage' would be situated at the rear like before. He gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek and moved to his place at the children's table next to Sprout, who failed to suppress a snort. The party then began to make their way towards the loading docks. After he suffered another series of snickers at the hands of his scaled adversary, the man finally had enough.
"What in the world is so funny Sprout?" He made an attempt to call out the viper.
Sprout's purple eyes fell to him and she motioned with a silver hand her own height against his, and unfortunately for the human, even the stunted viper still had him beat by over an inch. It would appear that her plucky attitude was shining through after all. If she was currently tucked inside her cell, he would have retaliated by referring to her by her old name, but didn't want to run the chance of her being compelled to skewer him into a wall with a psionic lance.
"You've grown a couple of inches, what of it? Vipers are supposed to be taller than humans. If you'd like, we could keep you at this size, or better yet shrink you so that you could fit inside a pickling jar. Maybe give you a little bit of dirt to roll around in and some artificial sunlight to keep you warm. You wouldn't be so smug then."
Sprout's eyes narrowed, her icy tongue then shot out of her maw and into one of his eyes, partially blinding him and causing him to stumble.
"Ow. What the hell was that for?!"
"Adrian, stop picking on Sprout because of her size!" His wife turned back and gave him an icy glare of her own.
"What? She's the one who started it! Maybe I'm sensitive about my size too?" Adrian gave an indignant reply.
"Oh hush. You more than make up for it in other places."
Silence immediately filled the hallway as Marmalade and Jara looked back, their eyes fell to one place in particular. Marmalade looked about as flustered as she's ever been and even the stonewall that was Jara couldn't hold on to her poker face. In an attempt to hide his own embarrassment from their predatory gazes, the man shifted his body to face the snowy viper, who now had a very different look in her purple eyes. He was never going to live this down—damn his beautiful songbird and her quips.
"Alright girls, eyes off of my husband. Unless…you'd be willing to arm wrestle me and trade places for the night, although I should warn you, I don't take any prisoners."
"Addy…" Adrian pleaded as he felt his cheeks burn even brighter.
"Fine fine. We've dawdled enough anyways. Come Marmal, let's get a move on."
His wife then pulled Marmalade's closest arm down and forced the viper to lower herself and link arms with the human. The poor alien was then left to juggle her beam rifle in the other arm, but refused to voice her discomfort as the pair awkwardly continued down the hallway.
"Yes, flower lady…"
Jara quickly matched their pace, which left him with Sprout, who now chose to trail ever so slightly behind him. He only needed to look back once to figure out why—her wandering eyes were now fixed squarely on his posterior. The tactical readiness report that he was expected to submit to his superiors upon the conclusion of the night was going to likely include some omissions. With luck, the rest of the night would go off without a hitch.
[—]
It hadn't taken long for the party to reach the loading docks. From there they sectioned themselves off and filed into their respected limousine. Jara and Marmalade were far too large for both to fit into a single vehicle, so Jara and Sprout were relegated to an escort car further up in the convoy. Marmalade rode along with Adeline and himself in the protectee vehicle, which had modified suspension in order to accommodate the viper's immense weight. In total, four vehicles made up their convoy as it slowly passed through each Advent checkpoint.
After a minute into their journey, an early autumn drizzle began to pepper the surface of their armored vehicle. He was informed by their driver that a front was rapidly approaching from the west, but wouldn't curtail their plans, wherever the hell they were going. He had queried his wife an additional time, but she once again deflected his question. While he was all for surprises, she was being a little too evasive for his tastes.
Left with nothing to do during the start of their trip, Adrian chose to look out his window and take in the towering vista that was downtown New Providence. To the Elders, the city was a beacon of Unification under the Advent banner. Their propaganda was everywhere and reminded its citizens that big brother was always watching. However, if one forced themselves to look past its dystopian shell, what remained was nothing short of an 80s wet dream. Florescent hues and neon lights darted across the inside of the limousine, and their reflective glow formed in shallow puddles etched throughout the streets. A bouquet of red and black umbrellas took form and then began to slowly disperse amongst the reinforced concrete spires.
The noise of it all could be deafening at times, but there was a part of him that loved the neon city. Regardless, it was ultimately business that brought him here, and the night was far from over.
As for Addy, she had already raided the minibar and was currently in the process of reading off wine labels with Marmalade and asking the viper to repeat them back to her. Marmalade's yellow tail winded across the limo's length and spooled itself neatly into one of vehicle's back corners, closest to where he currently sat.
"Shat-ow…bore-ducks."
"No Marmal. sha-tow, bor-dow. Try it again."
Marmalade narrowed her red eyes and gave his wife a look of pure annoyance, as though the human was intentionally conning her. The viper then tapped the label with a long claw.
"Negative. Little 'x' at end, must be bore-ducks."
"Not in this case Marmal, the 'x' is silent. It is pronounced bor-dow."
"Why would humans say like that?"
"You'd have to call up the French to answer that one. Frankly, this German just likes the way that their wine tastes."
"French humans make things difficult with funny rules." Marmalade pouted, but finally began to see wisdom in Adeline's words. "sha-tow…bor-dow."
"Very good Marmal! I'll pour you a glass to celebrate."
As funny as it would be to see the giant viper tipsy, it was more or less his job to make sure that Marmalade behaved appropriately tonight, so any and all alcohol was off the table.
"Perhaps another time Addy. Advent needs Marmalade to be at her best tonight," he managed to interject as she popped the bottle's cork. Both human and alien turned to acknowledge him for the first time since their departure from the theater.
"I believe she's earned a chance to try something different for a night, don't you?" The woman collected a pair of stemmed glasses from a rack and began to pour wine into the first of them.
"Marmalade is part of your security detail, which means that it is her job to keep you safe."
"And if keeping me safe also involves keeping me company?" Adeline scoffed. "Because lord knows that I've needed it over these last two months, being surrounded by nothing but sycophants, liars, and fools. Marmalade is an honest, gentle soul, which is more than most humans can say about themselves."
Gentle. His wife's opinion on Marmalade would likely change if she saw the viper in action. Adeline had since started to pour her favorite Bordeaux into the second glass.
"I understand, but Marmal is also my patient and as her primary caretaker, I forbid her from consuming any alcohol at this time."
This earned him another frown as the woman finished up with the second glass. She set the bottle down and shoved the cork back into its neck.
"Fine. Sorry Marmal, I'm afraid that my husband is beholden to the will of his superiors, and you're stuck wetting your whistle with more water."
With that, Adeline brought forth a water bottle from the fridge, unscrewed its cap, and offered it to the viper, who gripped it in her clawed hands and was immediately confounded by the enigma that was its tiny plastic opening.
"Well, go on Marmal. The water isn't going to drink itself."
With the added encouragement from his wife, Marmalade made an attempt to solve the mystery of the skinny water bottle. However, her only solution to the problem came in the form of an extended tongue, which had no hope of fitting inside the opening. After her fifth attempt, the doctor sighed and stood up.
He nearly tripped over the yellow coils several times, but managed to make it from the back of the limo to a seat opposite of Marmalade, who redistributed her weight across the vehicle. He then reached into his jacket and brought forth an Advent Burger special deluxe (located next to the paper napkins and ketchup packets) bendy straw with little alien caricatures littering its surface. Said bendy straw soon found a home inside the plastic water bottle and the enigma was solved, the viper began to nurse her drink immediately afterwards.
Adrian leaned back into his seat and momentarily shut his eyes, once again taking in the din of the city and the patter of raindrops off of the roof of their vehicle. He felt a displacement of air in front of him and opened his eyes—a stemmed glass filled with French Bordeaux awaited him.
"Drink. Don't make me have to hold you down and pour it down your gullet," his wife commanded.
"If you tell me where we are heading, I'd consider joining you in a toast."
"Shouldn't you know this city like the back of your hand at this point? You tell me."
Always with the games. Yes, he was becoming somewhat familiar with the city's layout and its individual districts, but was in no way an expert. Asking him to serve as a tour guide for a day was a sure way to find yourself in a watery grave.
"Well, we seem to be heading north towards Unification Park, which is still several blocks up. After that, I have no idea…the zoo? No. That's closed at this hour. Wait…don't tell me you're taking me to another art exhibit? Bloody hell Addy, you are, aren't you?" The doctor groaned and took the glass of wine from his wife.
"Oh hush. I'll be situated in New Providence for a little while now, so we'll have more than enough time to get lost inside the nearest techno club. We could maybe even bring Marmalade along and show her that walk of life."
His wife smirked, then she gave the viper a wink and a nudge along the base of her tail. Marmalade had since finished her water and was in the process of figuring out what to do with the empty bottle. Luckily for her, he once again came to her rescue after he set down his glass and took hold of the offending object. However, his first attempt to find the disposal was met with an armory of handguns. He quickly shut the wrong compartment and found what he was looking for afterwards. He then placed the glass of red wine back into his drinking hand.
"You know what? I'll make a toast to that." Adrian raised his glass alongside his wife.
"To 80s techno."
"And to Marmalade."
The pair of glasses clinked in front of the yellow viper as each human began to sip and savor their drink. Leave it to the French to ferment world-class wine.
"What is tech-no?"
Both humans looked up at Marmalade, who cocked her wide hood to the side, which caused it to compress against the ceiling of their vehicle. Curiosity once again found its way into her red eyes.
The edges of Addy's lips tugged into a wide smile. She took a quick sip of her wine and set it on a nearby table. She then pulled out a box behind her seat and thrust it into his lap—a bunch of old records at first glance. A warm, fuzzy sensation suddenly coursed through his body. Adeline had brought these all the way across the ocean.
"It would be better to let you experience techno firsthand my dear. Adrian, start to comb through our collection and I'll get the turntable set up."
With that, his nightingale moved to open a compartment from the main console and chose to use Marmalade's wide tail as a seat while she fulfilled her end of the bargain. All the while, he flipped through each vinyl one at a time until he paused and looked over his shoulder.
"Detroiter?"
"No, give her something from a German—I want her to feel it."
"Frankfurter?"
"Natürlich."
Adrian smiled at the confirmation.
"I think that I have just the one in mind."
The doctor flipped back a couple of times until he found what he was looking for. He then set down his own glass and moved to hand his wife the chosen record, which she spun in her hands and placed it onto the turntable platter.
"Marmalade, please come here dear. I want you to be the one who makes the magic happen."
Adrian chose to sit next to his wife after the viper was allowed to shift her thick coils and come closer to the turntable. With everyone situated shoulder to shoulder, Adeline palmed Marmalade's closest hand and moved it towards the front of the tonearm.
"This part is called the stylus, there is a little needle that reads the individual grooves of the record. Each groove contains coded information, which generates an electric signal and transfers the signal via a cartridge out to an amplifier and set of speakers."
"Cartridge," Marmalade parroted back and felt the weight of the object as she lifted the tonearm.
"Very good Marmal. That little cartridge is very important, because without it, the vibrations from the needle don't become audio signals and the message is lost. The system is only as good as its cartridge. But enough of that, you originally asked us what techno is, so let's…"
The human guided the viper's hand and moved the stylus' needle over the top of the record.
"Explore that question together."
The human and alien allowed the needle to contact the vinyl, which found its way into the nearest groove and the sound system began to pick up the vibrations. The base drum immediately kicked in on each quarter note pulse, a snare and open hi-hat soon followed, then the synthesizer took over, and then finally they were coupled together into a dark, yet hopeful confluence of musical expression.
A wave of nostalgia overtook him as he turned to gauge his wife's reaction; however, she had her own head turned towards the viper, who was already enraptured by the music as she rode the heavy backbeats and the corners of her reptilian mouth lifted into a smile. The pressure waves rebounded off of her large sonar dish and found their way into her body, which began to sway with each measure. Her long tail curled inwards and outwards as its tip made an attempt to match every beat.
"I like tech-no."
"Like I thought you would dear."
Adeline then wrapped an arm around Marmalade's and allowed her fingers to match inside the grooves of the viper's clawed ones. He soon found the woman's other hand land palm up on his thigh—a platinum band fixed on her finger. The doctor smiled and joined her in a warm embrace.
Adrian let the musical symphony overtake him as he turned to look outside. By the looks of it, their convoy had made another turn and now skirted the expanse that was Unification Park. They were likely minutes away from their destination and unfortunately, it looked like the blanket of rain was only growing thicker, so much so that he could barely see into the park. In spite of this, he was just happy to have shared this moment.
The man turned back to thank his wife, but now found a very different expression written on her face. Her smile had wilted and the mask had slipped. He saw a mixture of uncertainty, fear, and remorse in her deep blue eyes—the same emotions that he saw rise to the surface back at the theater. The hand that held him in place began to shake and tighter further. Catching his gaze, she made an attempt to hide from him and steady herself. Marmalade too seemed to sense that something was wrong, which forced his wife to look out into the dark tree line.
"Is flower lady unwell?"
"No Marmalade. I'm fine, just got something in my eye."
Adrian moved his free hand to wipe a tear from his nightingale's cheek, which felt as though it was a sheet of ice, the colour had long since drained from her face.
"Addy…you're as pale as a ghost."
The woman suddenly went limp and slipped from their grasps, one of her hands caught the tonearm and caused the music to come to an abrupt stop. The sound of heavy rain filled the cabin of the vehicle as red wine splashed across the far seat and seeped passed an Advent logo stitched into the upholstery.
Adrian was immediately at the woman's side and lifted her back up. Marmalade moved to offer her tail as additional support.
"I'm sorry Adrian," the woman murmured. "I should have never convinced you to come with me tonight."
"You wanted me to stay home? Addy, you're not making any sense. Please talk to me…"
"Arm yourself…"
"What?"
The woman looked back into the tree line; a mixture of gray shadows emerged from the haze and weaved under heavy branches.
"I said—"
An explosion suddenly rocked the front of the convey as a ball of flames spewed high into the air and the lead car turned into a husk of twisted metal. Adrian immediately looked to the viper, who still hadn't entirely pieced things together.
"Marmalade, watch over Addy for me!"
The viper took the dazed woman in her arms as he rushed to the front of the limousine to speak with their chauffeur.
"What the hell is going on out there? You need to get us out of here!"
Another explosion behind them went off and littered the area with shrapnel, a large tree fell and nearly toppled onto their vehicle.
"They just flatlined our forward and rear guard. We're boxed in and they've barricaded our east exits, I'll need to find a hole."
"This thing is built like a tank, so get creative and make one if you have to," Adrian hastily suggested.
"This armor won't do shit against goddamn gauss rounds!"
Adrian made his way back to the compartment that he had opened earlier in error. The man was a piss poor shooter, who couldn't even remember the last time that he had fired a gun, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He grabbed a snub nose revolver and began to load individual shells.
"Marmalade, how is Addy holding up?"
"The asset is stable. We should get moving."
He quickly looked up and saw a very different viper stare back at him. Her eyes narrowed to slits and her motions calculated and deliberate—those asset protection protocols seemed to be finally kicking it. Adrian turned back to address their driver.
"You heard the viper, let's get a—"
A flash of red streaked from the tree line and made contact with the hood of their vehicle, which crumpled like tissue paper and a wave of flames licked the engine compartment's foam lining. Additional explosions caused the front windscreen to deform into localized pockets as Adrian was knocked back onto a set of yellow coils, which shrugged him off and caused him to tumble to the floor. Their vehicle was now being focused on and peppered by a very different kind of shower. Luckily, the reinforced armor was doing its job and had a bit more fight left in it.
Adrian scrambled back to his feet and made an attempt to assist the shell-shocked driver, but a red buzz saw beat him to it as it punched through the driver's windscreen and the other man's head was removed clean from his shoulders, smearing the windscreen in a wave of burnt crimson. With the engine and driver disabled, they were little more than sitting ducks.
He suddenly felt a clawed hand wrapped around his body and pull him into a wall of scales.
"Vehicle is compromised. Watch asset while this unit works on door."
Adeline was unceremoniously dumped into his arms as the viper's massive body began to pry open the rear passenger door that was blocked by fallen debris. Adrian ran a hand through his wife's golden locks and looked into her watery eyes.
"Are you okay."
"I'm sorry Adrian…I should have just—"
Something heavy impacted the passenger door, which gave a deafening groan as the glass continued to splitter against the large caliber rounds. The man reached up and lifted the seat cushions, doing whatever he could to form a protective barrier against the possibility of shrapnel.
"How is that door coming along Marmalade!"
No response.
He chanced a glance backwards, but was immediately blinded by a flash of red and a massive explosion that lifted the armored vehicle off of the ground and its frame finally bowed inwards. Fire and water soon kissed his lips as twisted steel gave way to the crisp autumn air. The concussive force alone was enough to cause the man's ears to ring and him to slip in and out of consciousness. One moment he was trapped in a fireball holding onto the woman of his life, the next he was left face down in a patch of unforgiving asphalt.
Puddles formed around him as he reached out towards his displaced revolver. It was just out of reach and seemed to cry out to him. No. The cry was that of a human woman, being dragged away by an unknown force. His blurred vision only registered long shadows, which took her from him as she called out his name, but he was powerless to come to her defense—he was just so cold all of the sudden.
As the sound of heavy gunfire continued around him, Adrian felt warmth return to him as a set of claws reached down from on high and took hold of his extended arm. Again, his consciousness faded in and out. One moment a wall of yellow served as his shield as the stench of plasma and gasoline filled his nostrils, the next he was in some dark alleyway, alone with a set of red eyes that stood guard over the narrow corridor. The eyes then called to him, but the ringing in his ears had yet to cease and the man was still left shell-shocked. They tried one more time as the muffed sound of gunfire closed in.
They were on the move again, towards another alleyway and then into what appeared to be a vacant synagogue, where he was laid out on the altar steps. Luckily, by that time he had recovered his senses, which did little to numb the pain in his sides—bruised no doubt, but he was still very much alive.
"Doctor Fairchild," the creature before him lowered herself and appraised his wounds, her long tail winded out into the rows of pews.
"I…yes Marmalade?"
"Unresponsive until now. Injured and need medical. Must reach extraction point first."
The man lifted himself back onto shaky legs, grabbing the raised platform for support and then letting go to gauge his balance. He gazed across the massive structure and its numerous stained glass windows, which sat inside towering archways. A second floor laid just above them and ran the entire perimeter of the holy temple, offering numerous places to hide, all of which put them at a disadvantage.
The sound of heavy rain from outside suggested that the storm had yet to let up, at least they could use the environment to their advantage. With his night vision almost adjusted to the darkness, he addressed the glowing red eyes, which hovered just above him.
"We're not going anywhere until you relay to me what happened after that explosion. I spent most of it face down in a puddle of water."
The viper's eyes narrowed and he felt her forked tongue take in his scent. She shifted the large beam rifle in her hands, its barrel still glowed from repeated use.
"Hunted. Discuss later."
"Hunted? And no, we'll discuss this topic right here and right now."
"Resistance. They are well equipped with gauss weaponry. Initial attack proved this."
"The Resistance? That's impossible. Advent infiltrated their old headquarters and blew it to smithereens. Hell, we drove passed its cold shell on the way here. They were forced into hiding years ago. Furthermore, why surface and attack now?" Adrian's frowned at the notion.
"Cannot explain. Must move. This unit carried you most of way and almost there."
With that, the viper pivoted on her tail and began to slither towards the back entrance of the building. However, a human hand offered resistance in the form of a tug on her arm. Marmalade let out an aggravated hiss and turned around. He couldn't help but flinch at the reaction as her maw continued to hang open and a pair of white fangs shone through the darkness.
"I'm…not leaving this building until I've learned what happened to Adeline. Where is she? What happened to my wife?"
"Asset extracted by units X3-72-0052 and X3-77-0047. She is shaken, but alive. Is explanation sufficient?" The viper waited impatiently for a response.
Adrian sighed. Nothing like a near death experience to get a psionic chip to work as intended. However, the network certainly had a way of shoving a metal pole straight up an Advent species' ass—this 'unit' was clearly no exception. At least Jara and Sprout made it out of the ambush alive as well.
"As long as she's safe. Alright Marmalade, please tell me what you want me to do."
The viper continued towards the rear exit, forcing him to keep pace with her larger body.
"Doctor will remain close, but out of firing line. Hide when told to do so," Marmalade's low voice rumbled through his bones and forced a shiver. The predatorial eyes took immediate notice at his show of weakness. "Worn and with only four shots. Objective only to survive encounter."
Four shots? The man felt inside his coat pocket and found his snub nose revolver. He opened the cylinder and counted the rounds; the viper was unfortunately correct.
"Slipped inside jacket. Use only if necessary. Old armory is objective. Must cross street and pass through residential courtyard first. Expect..."
The viper suddenly wrapped a clawed hand around his arm, pulling it with enough force to dislocate a shoulder and forcing him into cover behind one of the large archways nearest the exit. His eyes watered from the pain, but he managed to suppress a wail. Marmalade's tail soon wrapped around his nearest ankle, ready to pull him to safety if required.
"Confrontation…"
The word came out as a low hiss as the viper aimed her rifle towards the secondary level, preforming coordinated scans across the set of archways. Despite the added night vision, Adrian's limited human eyesight left him unable to detect whatever caught her attention. His protective barrier wasn't doing him any favors either.
"What is it Marmalade? What do you see?" He whispered to the viper, who grabbed his arm again and forced her massive body between him and their apparent adversary, she then promptly steered them towards the doorway.
"Rain messing with pheromones. Not Advent or Resistance, but cannot stay here. Must move now."
With that, she pushed him behind a nearby pillar and slowly opened the door, pausing when the sound of human chatter broke through the rain.
"How the hell did you lose sight of a viper anyways? The things may as well be longer than the goddamn limos."
"This one looked different, okay? Also, the rain isn't helping. We should have called this whole thing off at the first sight of the storm."
"What's the matter Stone? Wet socks too much for you to handle? You fledglings are all the same. Back in my day, we slept in foxholes and lived off of the rainwater while we avoided the alien death squads."
"See Foster, this kind of bullshit is why no one gives any of you old war dogs the time of day."
The pair of gunmen stop short of their entryway, warming themselves under an overhang.
"Fuck this. Let's just wait things out inside the synagogue until we get the signal. We've done our job by laying barricades and disabling the lead car," the man known as Stone suggested.
"No. Preacher would put a round in both of our heads if we do. We keep searching, might have double backed in an effort to throw us off their trail. Those vipers are crafty. I'd give my left nut to have one of their heads mounted above my fireplace. Maybe even make me a pair of snake-skinned boots, would be a nice conversation starter."
"No one is going to want to talk to you regardless you decrepit coot. Fine, the rain seems to be finally tapering off anyways," Stone conceded as the pair set off again in the direction that they first came, their voices slowly drowned out by the storm.
Adrian felt a clawed hand tug at his jacket as the viper hugged her body to the ground and poked her head out into the alleyway. She checked each side before readjusting her height.
"Area clear. Stick close to this unit's body."
The viper and human then found themselves back in the rain. While the viper came with her own umbrella, he was left completely exposed to the elements. Nevertheless, the pair continued until they crossed the intersection and ended up in a shallow alleyway. Two buildings lined either side and a brick wall topped with an iron fence cut them off from the courtyard beyond. There was a set of dumpsters pushed against the wall and the area left little in the way of cover. There wasn't even piping that could theoretically be used to get to the upper levels.
"Dead end. Should head further north to enter courtyard, then to armory," Marmalade suggested.
"Has Advent HQ been alerted?"
"Affirmative. Dropships inbound. Resistance running out of time."
"Good," Adrian acknowledged. "We should—"
"The fucking snake went that way!"
The distant voice cried out as the sound of heavy boots splashed through the puddles and appeared to be converging on their location. They were trapped and needed to act quickly.
Adrian suddenly felt himself leave the ground as the giant alien hoisted him up and onto one of the dumpsters. He looked down in surprise as the viper moved behind what little cover was offered to her.
"Go Doctor Fairchild. Climb fence now."
Adrian looked at the fence, which at second glance offered the little human a way out. He turned back to the viper.
"What about you?"
"Too heavy. Will find other way. Meet on other side of courtyard."
"What if you're killed?"
"Unit is disposable. Wait until dropships arrive. Stick to the darkness. If unit doesn't return…go alone."
Adrian could have sworn that he saw the same spark that he had seen earlier enter the alien's eyes. It showed him fear and it should him uncertainty. However, like before, it was but a fleeting moment as the network assumed control over the viper.
"Now disperse!"
The viper flashed her fangs one last time as he made his decision and pulled himself over the fence, avoiding its sharp barbs and falling to the ground below. His handgun once again slipped from his pockets and landed on the paved surface beneath him. He quickly righted himself and retrieved his weapon, then took stock of his surroundings—a large flower garden.
Fanflowers, petunias, and geraniums overflowed from wooden planter boxes that littered the mazelike courtyard. Dirt patches edged up against cobbled walkways and were filled with cascades of burgundy, brown and gold sweet potato vine. Meticulously manicured hedges created pockets of cover alongside the occasional dwarf tree and stone park bench. Stringed lights served to illuminate the area.
As he took his first step into the courtyard, the sound of shouting and gunfire erupted from behind him, yet the distinct whine of a beam rifle failed to answer their call—he was on his own now. The man looked up and spotted a faded moon break from the clouds. The rain had finally tapered off, but the autumn air now laid heavy.
Left with no other option, Adrian continued to make his way across the long garden. He stopped occasionally to monitor the situation, but it was as if the earth stood still and the deafening silence became almost unbearable. Finally, he made it to the other side of the courtyard and looked out towards the old armory, which was just up the road. It had long since been repurposed, but still served as a visible landmark. He was going to make it. The man was actually going to—
A suppressed shot rang out and a bullet found its way into his leg. The doctor collapsed in an instant, smashing his head against the cobblestone and finding his weapon thrown towards a nearby planter. Before he could right himself, a steel boot made contact with his face and drove him back to the ground.
"Would you lookee here. We may have failed to bag Advent's Rose, but I guess that I'd be willing to settle for her main squeeze."
His captor grabbed a fistful of his hair and forced him to look up. The other man wore a balaclava and the urban camouflage matched his weapons. His armor and equipment reminded him of the days of XCOM, as did the heavily modified, high-caliber rifle along his waist.
Adrian couldn't help but smile through bloody teeth. After all, the night had to end this way, given his all too familiar run in with bad luck.
"Something funny asshole?"
"Amaryllis."
"What?"
"It's Advent's Amaryllis, you absolute pillock."
He immediately felt a pistol barrel shoved into the base of his neck. Its cold steel drew in his heat. The click of the safety followed soon after.
"A comedian huh? How about I just forget about the second half of my payment and bash in your ugly skull instead. I dare you to fucking say that to me again. Go on, call me pillock one more—"
"That's quite enough Preacher!" A gruff voice called out from behind. His tormentor looked up.
"Go kick rocks Dutch. This straggler is mine."
The other man came into view, alongside another guerrilla fighter. Both were outfitted in a similar getup as Preacher. Dutch carried a grenade launcher and the other had what looked to be a modified gauss rifle.
"Use your brain for once in your damn life son. We're almost out of time and the damage is done. Leave the straggler and stick to the plan. He's just inconvenient baggage."
Adrian held his smile at the use of the term.
"You mean your plan old man? Because that has worked out great for us so far. We let the damn target slip through our fingers and then let ourselves be hunted freely from the shadows. Stone and Foster now lay face down in a pool of their own blood and you're to blame. The rest are scattered and going underground."
"I didn't consider the possibility that they would send one of them after us."
"Didn't consider it? You make a deal with the devil; you best be ready to get fucked. We should have never—"
The nameless guerrilla fighter's body was suddenly thrown through the air like a ragdoll as an enormous silver bolt penetrated through both the gauss rifle and his armor. He didn't even have time to scream as he was pinned to a nearby wall and the sickening crunch of his bones was felt throughout the rest of the courtyard. A cloud of poison followed in tandem and fighter began to choke on his own blood while the mangled remains of his body was left to cook.
Adrian was slammed back into the cobblestone as his captor gave him a swift kick to the chest and readied his rifle.
"Stay down dog. I'll come to collect your tags later."
With that, both Preacher and Dutch moved to cover the other's back, situating themselves in whatever full cover was available to them.
"Fucking demon. We should have just leveled the second story of that synagogue when we had the chance."
"And bring more attention to ourselves? I'm beginning to think that bringing you along on this op was a mistake."
"I'm all for second chances," Preacher stated as he motioned to a pair of Advent dropships that flew overhead in transit to the armory. "We're fucked either way."
Another silver bolt escaped from the darkness and skimmed the top of Dutch's helmet. The shower of sparks did little to slow the man, who responded by releasing a grenade onto a nearby apartment balcony, which exploded in a shower of shrapnel and debris. The fighters' attacker was caught in the blast and landed behind a patch of cover close by, its weapon of choice bounced off the walkway several times before it came to rest out in the open—a bolt caster. They were all now trapped inside the courtyard and the playing field had been leveled.
"Alright you alien fuck…come out and play," Preacher sneered as the pair of humans moved up in cover and boxed their attacker in.
Despite the pain, Adrian felt some control return to his body. He looked to his revolver in the distance—six feet never seemed so far. Despite the chaos, he managed to slowly drag himself to within a couple of feet before the fighters forced his attention.
"Preacher watch my six, I see a trail of yellow blood. The damn thing was injured in the blast. If we do this quick, we might still have a chance to slip away," Dutch stated as he readied a flashbang and a handgun in an attempt to blitz the creature.
Preacher fell back and gave Adrian's body another violent kick.
"You move another foot dog and that face of yours is going to look very different real quick." The other man looked to Dutch.
"Do it."
Dutch tossed the flashbang around the corner and broke from cover. After the concussive blast, he charged around the corner and stopped short of a pool of yellow blood, which headed towards a noticeable opening in the ground.
Meanwhile, the storm drain cover next to Adrian lifted and was pushed to the side. A set of clawed hands followed soon after, along with a set azure eyes that painted his body for but a moment before they locked on to their next target. Its ebony silhouette was fitted with long blue stripes that hung low to the ground. The creature slithered passed him and the all too familiar viper prepared her body for a strike. Unable to hide his shock, the doctor couldn't help but let her name slip from his tongue.
"Eight?"
"Fuck! It's moved into the stormline!"
The viper immediately lunged forward, trying her best to wrap as much of her tail around Preacher's body as she could. While initially successful, her small body struggled against his bulk as she began to tear into the straps and rip off his Kevlar armor. She then made an attempt to sink her fangs into his neck. However, a series of shots came as a reply and the viper's body was kicked across the courtyard, smashing into a planter box and grinding to a bloody halt.
"Are you crazy?! You could have shot me!" Preacher stated furiously as he quickly checked himself over for entry wounds, noticing that his sidearm was now also damaged beyond repair.
"I just saved your damn life son. Now put a bullet in its head and let's move. We'll leave the area utilizing the same method as before."
"No…"
Preacher stormed over to the injured viper, who attempted to fire off another salvo of poison, which the human dodged without issue. The man then unlatched a contraption that closely resembled a dog muzzle from his belt and forced it around her hooded face.
"You're uncommonly small for a viper, but I've had more than enough time to perfect my craft."
Eight made an attempt to swipe at his face, but Preacher caught the lanky arm with ease.
"All of this suffering and heartache because of these little box cutters."
Preacher twisted her arm over the edge of the planter.
"You broke something of mine, now I'm going to break something of yours."
The human brought down his elbow on the extended arm and it responded with a sickening crunch. Eight cried out in pain as she still fought with all her might to escape the larger human, who kicked her repeatedly in the ribs until she ran out of breath and was driven into submission. The man stood up and now wore a sinister smile on his face.
"Dutch."
"Yes Preacher?"
"Is its weapon still loaded?"
The other fighter turned to the nearby bolt caster.
"Yes."
"Bring it to me."
"Fucking hell Preacher, let's just get out of here. The thing has suffered enough, just put it out of its misery."
"The more time we spend arguing, the more time we're stuck here. Do it," Preacher hissed.
"Fine," Dutch conceded after he holstered his sidearm and walked over to pick up the alien weapon. "Surprised the thing can even carry it, yet alone manage its recoil, but then again…Stone and Foster would be alive otherwise."
"Their loss, our gain. Now hand the weapon over to me."
The other fighter obliged and Preacher swung his rifle around his back in order to make room for the bolt caster. Both then turned to face the injured viper—a final mistake and a window of opportunity. Adrian covered the remaining ground and latched on to his revolver, then slowly pushed himself to his feet, using the planter as support.
"Any last words bitch," Preacher taunted.
Eight only unlatched her lower jaw and gave them her best attempt at a menacing hiss.
"Thought as much, now let's see what those hybrid insides of yours really look—"
"Stop!" Adrian cried out, extending an arm and pointing his weapon directly at Dutch. "Let her go or I'll shoot."
Preacher looked over his shoulder while Dutch kept both of his hands at his side. Adrian must have been in a very sorry state, because both men failed to suppress a laugh and clearly didn't perceive him to be a threat, even now.
"Man looks like he's never handled a gun in his life Dutch," Preacher smirked.
"I know. The hell are you trying to do here son? I've given you every opportunity to stay down and out, but you can't help but stir up trouble," Dutch replied.
"I'm warning you!" Adrian tried to maintain his posture, but his wounded leg continued to shake and felt like it was about to give out due to the added pressure.
"Watch that damn viper Preacher." Dutch moved his hand next to his sidearm. "How about this son: you make the first move, because I have a feeling that both of us know how this will end."
Adrian's eyes shifted momentarily to X3-88-0088. Eight's azure eyes darted between him and the bolt caster that was currently pointed directly at her. A blue tongue slipped through the side of the muzzle and seemed to drink in the heavy mix of blood that hung in the air. While her escape from the labs came as a pleasant surprise given his current situation, he'd be powerless to prevent her from disappearing into the night after the dust settled. Figures that Crazy Eights would be the last viper that he'd ever lay eyes on before he'd pass into the great beyond.
"Go on. Take the first shot, otherwise stand down and learn your place."
Adrian shifted his eyes back to Dutch, who still hadn't removed the smile from his face. He was out of options and had played his hand. As much as he had come to loathe Eight, he needed her for his research and Advent would be furious if she were to pass. It was now up to lady luck to pull both of their asses out of the fire. The man made his decision and squeezed the trigger.
The hammer fell, yet nothing happened.
Preacher immediately broke out into laughter and Dutch only shook his head in disappointment.
"Dutch, kill the idiot and let's be done with this."
"Glad to see that we're finally speaking the same language. Sorry son, you had intended to kill." Dutch drew his sidearm with the dexterity of a gunslinger and fixed the doctor in his crosshairs. "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to kill you for that. I'd ask you for your final words, but I've—"
A beam of superheated plasma pierced through the courtyard and struck Dutch in the back of the head. Needless to say, the man was dead before he hit the ground as his charred innards spewed from his neckline. Preacher immediately pivoted his body and leveled the bolt caster against the courtyard's newest occupant. However, a black and blue bullet launched itself from the nearby planter and latched on to his exposed neck. Momentum alone knocked the gunman off balance and Preacher fell backwards against the cobblestone, ending up a foot or so from Adrian's feet.
With the wind completely knocked out of him, Preacher lowered his defenses for only a moment, but that was all the time that Eight needed to begin enacting her revenge. Despite a hanging limb, the viper had somehow Houdinied herself out of the muzzle and improvised with her tail as it enveloped one of Preacher's arms, which collapsed in on itself and the alien weapon slipped from his unrecognizable limb.
The bloodcurdling screams were only the beginning as Eight slid off the balaclava and allowed venom to drip freely from her fangs. The splotches of venom contacted Preacher's skin, which offered little resistance as the acid continued towards the other side of his skull—there was no hope of saving him now.
Having seen enough, Adrian made an attempt to placate the enraged viper.
"Eight that's enough."
She ignored his command and now went for the gunman's throat. She clawed at it again, and again, and again. She used all of her energy and refused to let up.
"Eight please."
Adrian's bad leg finally gave out and he was forced even closer to the continued carnage. She had finally reached a major artery and the man's screams were swallowed up by the sounds of him hopelessly choking on his own blood. The other man's legs shook violently as if Preacher's brain hadn't quite realized that death was inevitable and escape was impossible.
"Eight!"
Adrian let his gun fall to the ground as he grabbed onto the viper's good arm instead, doing his best to hold the bloody claws in place. Her blue eyes shifted to focus on him, still crazed, yet now also filled with tears. She had always portrayed herself to be strong and fearless, yet now, he had caught her in a moment of weakness. Venom continued to seep out of her extended fangs. The man underneath her mutilated and unresponsive.
"Eight…calm down. It's okay, it's over. He's gone and can't hurt you anymore."
The ebony viper's blue tongue took in his scent and her pulse appeared to slow down. With the situation more or less resolved, the man looked over Eight's body, which had come to be an ugly mess covered in a mixture of yellow and red blood. It also appeared that during her daring escape, she had neglected to wear any armor and chose to instead wear a now tattered undershirt. At a second glance, it was one of his…the little kleptomaniac had broken into his office again.
The man loosened his grip on the viper's arm and looked up as he sensed their savior converge on their position. They wore yellow scales and had numerous scars littered across their body, yet each was distinct enough to tell him who they ultimately were. A standard issue beam rifle also occupied their four-fingered hands.
"Thank god you're still alive Marmalade. Let's—"
A charcoal fist impacted the side of his face and his head immediately made contact with the ground. He was then forced to look on while Eight emptied what remained of her venom into the dead man's body. With her dark deed completed, she then collapsed next to him out of sheer exhaustion. Adrian felt his own blood flow in a steady stream and coalesce with that of his least favorite test subject. As human and alien were left to look into each other's eyes, his body finally decided to given out as well.
As his consciousness faded, Adrian felt himself be lifted into a set of scaled arms and a yellow hood fell into his outer periphery. The other viper all the while continued to stare back as Advent peacekeepers began to flood the courtyard in swarms. Eight offered some resistance as a pair of Advent stun lancers came forward to detain her, but as the black and blue viper was carried off in the opposite direction, he felt her azure eyes continue to drill into his soul, even as the man's vision slipped and he fell into a final state of wistful unconsciousness.
[—]
Closing Notes:
Huh. I just realized that this is in fact the eighth chapter in this story as well. Neat.
Special thanks to everyone who continues to give this story the time of day. I feel like things are really starting to come together.
Questions and feedback welcomed!