(A.R.G.U.S. Secret Base, A year Ago)
Nikita's first full memories were of her mother and her litter mates. The sense of safety that folded over her as she snuggled into her mother and siblings for warmth. The sweet scent of mother's life giving milk. All her life consisted of was eating and sleeping. Sometimes a human would come and take her or one of her siblings away. They would take their weight and prod them. Sometimes they would stick them with a sharp needle that always made them cry. Some of the needles even contained chemicals in them that would hurt so bad that the pups screamed for hours on end. It was those days that upset their mother the most. She would whine and gently try to lick her pups, trying to sooth them, but the touch would make the pain worse. Sometimes, the pain was so bad that her siblings stopped moving all together. The humans would come into the room and remove them from the cage that housed them and Nikita would never see them again.
As the days passed, Nikita became stronger and braver. She started to explore the environment that housed them. This was mainly to alleviate the loneliness and boredom that she felt since the last of her siblings fell still and was taken away. Her mother would whine lightly after her but she wouldn't stop her. She would explore what little space they called home and then would return to the safety of her mother's warmth.
One day, the door to their home opened up and a man Nikita had never seen before reached in and picked her up. He quickly shoved her into his pocket and closed the door. She could smell the nervousness rolling off this man and it scared her. She started to wiggle and squirm, trying to get away from the man. He scruffed her painfully and dangled her in the air at his eye level. "If you don't stop you little run I'll make sure you never squirm again." He pulled a burlap bag out of his pocket and dropped her into it. Darkness descended over the young pup. Smells unfamiliar to her assaulted her nose as she found herself and the sack dropped into a box. Nikita tried to wiggle from the sack but something loud rumbled to life, hurting her ears and causing her to crouch in a corner in fear. It was a long time before the roaring finally stopped. The man who had taken her out of her home opened the box and pulled the sack out, slamming a door behind him.
The next thing that Nikita knew was that she was being pulled from the sack painfully by the scruff of her neck. The bright lights above her caused her to blink rapidly. Somewhere near by she could smell other dogs and an unfamiliar coppery scent. She could hear their deep rumbling growls and even some screams of pain. Fear struck through her and she tried to struggle away from the man who held her.
"This is the dog that I'm paying you for. Its a runt." The man snarled at her as he dangled her by the scruff.
"THAT is no regular puppy. It's a wolf and not just your run of the mill wolf either." The man who had taken her from her mother told the other man. "She's special."
"And what makes her so special." The man dropped Nikita back into the bag and tied it off once more. "You better not be playing me, Sam."
"I'm not, Frankie." The man, Sam, replied with a knowing smile, "Trust me. She is going to make you a LOT of money. Well worth the price."
Frankie sat down and pulled out a joint. He lit the end of it and took a drag before passing it to Sam. "So tell me why I should pay you double what you had originally asked."
"Besides the fact that if my job found out that I took her I would be in worse trouble then to just get fired?" Sam took the joint and inhaled deeply. "She is our Tax dollars at work. Created by our own government to replace Military K-9s and to save soldier's lives. "
"I'm listening."
Sam took another drag before passing it back to Frankie. "She was engineered to be faster and tougher then a normal wolf and...unless you use silver, she is going to be Damn near unstoppable. She can heal almost any wound. The reason I mentioned Silver is because the Government wanted a way to be able to put their "Super Soldiers" down if they needed. So...they made them HIGHLY allergic to silver. It's like acid to them. Hurts like a bitch and hard to heal." He leaned forward and tapped the bag sharply, causing the pup to whimper. "She was the only one out of 8 litters of wolf pups that they tested on that not only survived the experiments but showed proof that they were successful."
"Shame you found it dead in it's cage." Frankie said as he opened the bag once more, looking at the pup.
"Yep, and it's a shame that someone also already signed off on the body to be disposed of." Sam replied with a laugh. "Think about it Frankie. A Pit dog that not only is strong enough to take out the competition but also one who won't slow down because of a broken bone or a ripped throat."
"You sold me." Frankie nodded to someone just out of the pups sight. "Yancy will get the money for you."
"Awesome!." Sam stood up and shook Frankie's hand. "Pleasure doing business with ya bud." He started to follow Yancy out but paused and turned around "Oh, one more thing. She has a Microchip that needs to be removed and I would do something about the Tattoo on her thigh." With that he just turns and leaves.
# # # # # #
(Starling City, Present Day.)
The fights were being held in a burned out husk in the Glades. The warehouse had once been a machine factory but now it was scheduled for demolition. The loading bay door was standing open and two burly men were working as bouncers at the door. Beyond the door, the warehouse was lit up with the headlights of several cars parked around a makeshift round pen topped with barbwire. Several metal kennels were lined up around the walls, all but hidden by the shadows.
Oliver flashed a roll of cash as he pulled the invitation from the inside of his black leather jacket. "I hear tonight is supposed to be an interesting night." he told the bouncer as he handed it to him. "Who do you favor?"
The man checks the invitation over before handing it back to Oliver. "I don't have an opinion."
Oliver reached into his pocket and pulls a few hundreds off the top of the roll. "Really? No tips on where to spend my money?"
The man hesitated and looked around but no one was paying attention. He took the money from him and pocketed it. "I hear Slater has an ace up his sleeve."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." He nodded to the bouncer and walked into the warehouse.
The people inside were crowded around the large pen in the center. People were cheering and screaming, egging on their favorite dog in the ring. Several men were walking around the crowd, taking last minute bets. Oliver got close enough to see inside the ring and the sight sickened him. A large red Boerboel was facing off what looked like a wolf or wolf hybrid. The dog had at least 50 pounds on the wolf but it seemed to be holding it's own against the massive African mastiff. Every time the mastiff would lunge, the wolf would dance out of the way to circle it's opponent until it had an opening.
Oliver stepped away from the ring and once more entered the crowd. The com in his ear buzzed to life. "We are ready whenever you are, Detective." He moved a little away from the crowd, his hand going to his ear. "Hold your position until I get a positive ID on Freddie Slater."
"Yes Sir..."
"We are bringing that bastard in. Tonight!"
# # # # # #
Nikita stood in the center of the make shift ring, patiently waiting for her opponent to be brought out. All around her, bets were being placed and the crowd yelled and cheered. Pain was shooting up her right flank. The last dog she had faced had gouged a large tear through her muscle and to the bone. It would heal but it would take time, time her Master wasn't giving her. She gazed across the blood soaked dirt floor to the large beast they were entering into the ring with thick metal poles on each side of it's head, controlling it. The grizzly roared in anger and tried to swipe at one of the handlers bringing it into the ring. Nikita could hear the shock and smell the singed fur as one of the men behind it shocked it with an electric prod, causing it to roar once more in anger. With one final push, the men managed to get the bear into the ring. They dropped their hold on the poles and quickly locked the gate. The focus of it's anger gone, the bear turned around and, with another rage filled bellow, charged Nikita.
Nikita waited until the bear was close enough to swipe. She dodges to the left, her teeth snapping down onto it's shoulder, ripping a chunk of fur and muscle loose. The bear bellowed again in pain and turned to face the wolf. It wasn't fast enough, Nikita was already moving behind the bear, nipping and snapping at it's heels. As the bear raked a massive claw at her, Nikita sprung onto hit back, biting deep into it's shoulder as the bear tried to sling her off.
Nikita was about to strike a debilitating blow to the back of the bear's neck when she was suddenly hit by a sense of Deja Vu. She had been in this exact position before but when? The sudden image of a young man with long blonde hair and stormy blue-grey eyes entered her head. "Oliver?" At the thought of his name, memories started to come back to her. She was so stunned that she froze. The bear reached up and grabbed the wolf on it's back, slamming it into the floor. With a bellow of rage, the bear bit into Nikita's exposed stomach. Pain shot up through her as a paw swiped at her, slamming her into the wall and ripping open her side. Screaming in pain, Nikita brought her focus back onto the bear. Pain and blood lose made her legs shake as she regained her footing. She was supposed to put on a show, to prolong the kill and allow more bets too be raised or placed but she was too distracted. As the bear once more swiped, Nikita dodged and darted into the bear's space. She silently lunged, her teeth sinking into the bear's throat. She allowed her weight to fall to the floor, her grip tightening. Blood spurted into her mouth as her teeth sunk in deeper, her body weight helping her to rip away the bear's throat. She limped back as the bear gurgled and staggered. For a second it looked like it was going to continue fighting but then it just dropped to the floor with a loud thud. The crowd erupted in screams. Some in celebration and some in anger.