A Viper's Poison
.:Angelgrl185:.
Thank you for the wonderful reviews of Chapter Ten!
Thanks to: serenaclutz. Moonmoore, krys, DarkParis and SalrAnime for their reviews!
DarkParis: I did have Diamond in like the second chapter, but his character never really developed into anything important, he's just one of Seiya's underlings in Silver Snakes, but if you really want him in it, I'm sure I could come up with something.
SalrAnime: Yeah I screwed up with the Lita thing, I went back and looked at it and I forgot what I had written originally, I apologize for the misunderstanding. Also, since you noticed a lot of grammar mistakes, were they in a certain chapter? I forgot to look over two cause I was in a hurry to post them so could you point those out to me? That'd be awesome.
((I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its components))
Previously on A Viper's Poison:
"I told you I wouldn't help you." Darien said through gritted teeth.
"Now that's the thing Dr. Shields, if you don't help us, your beautiful sister Raye will be terminated." Michael said pulling a finger across his neck. "We don't want that to happen now do we?"
"Don't you touch Raye!" Darien shouted lunging for Michael who punched him in the face, slamming him back against the counters.
"If you help us, we won't. If you refuse, she dies. The choice is up to you Darien. What will it be?" Michael asked evenly, watching the torment and conflict play across Darien's handsome features.
"I'll help."
Chapter Eleven: Disguised Snakes
Serena and Mina walked into the Den, greeting any employees they came across. Gradually they made their way to the equipment room where Amy was waiting for them patiently, her blue hair tucked behind her ears and a pen flicking against the table.
"Morning Cobra." Mina said enthusiastically, sitting down next to Amy.
"Good morning Copperhead, Viper." Amy replied, nodding to both women.
"So what do you have for me?" Serena asked with childlike impatience.
"This." Amy answered, pulling a long bundle of cloth from underneath the table. She placed the bundle on the center of the silver table and slowly began to unwrap the sides to reveal a long silver sword.
"It's beautiful." Serena gasped as she stared at the sword.
"This, Viper, is the Masamune." Amy said proudly, running a finger down the blunt end of the blade.
"Magnificent." Mina whispered in awe as she took in the sword's shining appearance.
Serena reached out and placed her fingers on the hilt of the sword, which was black with silver diamonds mixed in as a pattern. The grip was tight, even an oil-slicked hand could grasp the blade confidently. She wrapped her fingers around the hilt then, lifting the sword deftly into the air. It was light as a feather, equally balanced as well. Light played across the blade of the sword, teasing their eyes as Serena lifted it higher in the air. Her aqua eyes caught sight of the Silver Snakes emblem engraved on the blade near the hilt.
"It's a new type of steel we found in a mine in Africa." Amy explained pointing to the silver metal. "When beat out over extreme heat, then cooled to size, the steel becomes almost weightless. It is the strongest metal I have ever witnessed, I have yet to find a way to break it and believe me, I got pretty creative." Amy grinned, eyeing the sword fondly with her pale blue eyes.
"It is amazing, no words." Serena said as she studied the blade. She lifted a finger to run it along the sharp edge, but when she lightly touched it, not even applying pressure, the blade sliced through the creamy skin covering her finger, staining the pure white with crimson red droplets.
"Sharp." Serena observed as she watched the blood forming on the tip of her finger. "Very sharp."
"Yes, I was about to tell you not to touch the blade, but you got ahead of me.
Amy replied as she walked over to the sink and running a paper towel under warm water.
"It is razor sharp, Masamune can cut through anything, trees, steel, bones, anything." Amy explained handing Serena the wet towel who gingerly wiped up the blood and held the towel on her finger to clot the blood and stop the bleeding.
"It is the most beautiful sword I have ever laid eyes on Cobra." Mina complimented shaking her head in disbelief at seeing such a beautiful yet deadly weapon.
"One of your designs no doubt." Serena added with a grin she shot towards her genius friend.
"I've been working on it a long time." Amy said proudly. "It fits you perfectly, it was made for you Viper."
"I will be honored to wield it." Serena said as she placed the sword back onto the table.
"I have some other things for you as well, you can't just run around with a giant sword as your only weapon." Amy said pulling a black duffle bag from underneath the table.
"More toys?" Mina said appreciatively giving Serena an envious look.
"This is a Sais, it is a three prong dagger. The middle prong is fourteen inches of solid silver and very sharp. The twin prongs on either side are nine and a half inches and equally sharp. There are two for you, you can use them in both hands and are an easy and dangerous hand-to-hand combat weapon. A key feature of the Sais is the ability to twist them and literally gut your opponent." Amy explained handing the two Sais to Serena who accepted them with a look of a child on Christmas morning.
"Next we have just a couple simple throwing daggers you can hide all over you person. I added a special touch to them for you though; the tips are laced with Bacio della morte, Kiss of Death with both of you are well acquainted with. I suggest you be careful when handling and storing these daggers. Although you have built up an immunity to the poison, I'm sure you will still get a pretty bad rash or an infection if it grazes or breaks through your skin." Amy warned as she handed a set of the daggers to Serena.
"Last but not least, a standard PP7, I know you don't care much for guns, but in case all else fails, you can still pull out this baby. It's small, you can hide it easily anywhere on you so just keep it for my sake." Amy said handing Serena a small black pistol.
"That would be about it." Amy said as Serena placed her new weapons back into the black duffle bag, slinging it over her shoulder.
"Oh wait, I forgot your sheath." Amy said quickly, going to a closet and pulling out a long black leather sheath for the sword with a leather shoulder strap attached.
"Be careful when you place the sword in it, it can slice right through the leather. It's pretty tough leather though, I genetically alternated it so it pretty strong, but still the Masamune can shred it." Amy said handing the sheath to Serena.
"Thanks Cobra, you truly are a genius." Serena said smiling brilliantly as the scientist.
"All in a days work." Amy said nonchalantly, waving away Serena's praise with her hand.
Serena smiled her thanks again before a gut wrenching feeling wiped the smile right off her face. Her aqua eyes widened in fear and she turned and stared at Mina, who met her eyes with worry.
"Serena are you ok?" Mina asked concerned at her friend's sudden change in disposition.
"I'm fine Mina, but something is wrong, I can feel it, but I don't know what it is." Serena whispered as the feeling of foreboding swept over her. That's when the realization of what might of happened dawned on her.
"Darien." She whispered fear lacing his name.
"Oh no." Mina said placing a hand over her mouth.
"When need to get back now, something is wrong, we should have never left them alone." Serena said urgently, slinging the Masamune over her back and bolting out the door Mina following closely behind as Amy watched worried for them both.
They arrived at the apartment in record time, Serena barely turning off the car before jumping out and running up the stairs two at a time. She reached the door and noticed it had been forced open taking the time to pull out her Sais before barging in daggers poised and ready to strike. Serena was met with silence and evidence of struggle.
"Andrew!" Mina gasped spotting the unconscious man lying on the kitchen floor, blood staining the white marble tiles creating a red halo around his head, his dirty blond hair soaked and crusted with blood.
She rushed immediately to his side putting an arm under his back supporting his head with the other as she gently lifted him off the ground to inspect his wounds. His head a deep gash from being hit with a blunt weapon which Serena found discarded a few feet away, a smooth metal crowbar. Mina cradled Andrew's head in her arms, smoothing down his ruffled hair as Serena checked his pulse, feeling the faint but sure beating of his blood flowing through his veins.
"He's still alive, but we need to treat that wound before it gets infected." Serena said standing up and walking away from the pair. "I'm going to check for Darien." She answered gravely expecting to find his still lifeless body somewhere else.
Serena walked out of the kitchen towards the bedrooms looking for any sign of disturbance and finding none. She looked in the family room and every other place in the house, but she couldn't find Darien or any other evidence of intruders. She walked back to the kitchen confused and found Mina wiping away the blood around Andrew's head wound with a wet paper towel.
"Let me help you." Serena offered. "I'll go find the first aid kit." She walked into the bathroom and pulled out the little white box with the American Red Cross' emblem on the front. She went back to Mina and handed her a bottle of alcohol and Neosporin as well as several ace bandages and cotton balls. Mina smiled gratefully.
"It's a good thing he's knocked out." Serena observed as she dipped the cotton balls in the alcohol. "Because this is going to sting really bad."
Mina held back Andrew's bloody hair allowing Serena access to the gash in the back of his head. She placed a cotton ball softly on the wound, letting the alcohol seep a little bit in the wound as she gently wiped away the surrounding blood.
"The bleeding has stopped thankfully on its own." Serena muttered to Mina as she continued to clean out the wound.
She got up and wet a paper towel in the sink before coming back and wiping away the alcohol residue and anything else. Now that the wound was clean, Serena could inspect it more. She gingerly pushed aside the ripped flesh and tried to get an estimate on how serious of a cut it was.
"This is pretty deep Mina, he's going to need stitches." Serena observed as she pushed back the loose skin.
"Stitches, we can't take him to a hospital, it would bring to much suspicion." Mina protested.
"I know, but it needs to be done or it won't heal. We'll just have to do it ourselves." Serena said looking solemnly at Mina.
"You do it, I'm not very good at sewing." Mina said quickly as Serena nodded. Once again she got up and left the two, going into her bedroom closet and pulling out a small sewing kit she kept for patching up. Bringing it with her, she went back to the kitchen and turned on the gas stove.
"I need to sterilize the needle before I can use it." Serena informed her as hot blue flames appeared underneath the burner. Serena took a needle from the sewing kit and held it with some tongs before placing it in the flames careful to only let the tip get heated. Once the needle was hot enough, she turned off the burner and pulled on some latex gloves before grasping the cool side of the needle in her hand, threading it with black string.
"Is that going to work?" Mina asked a dubious expression on her face as she watched Serena thread the sterile needle.
"Yeah, but we have to take the stitches out manually when his wound has healed most of the way and before the skin grows over it." Serena replied.
"Don't we need to shave the hair away or something?" Mina asked looking at the wound.
"I don't think we need to, his hair is long enough that we can get it out of the way, besides we're not professionals, he's lucky he's getting stitches." Serena commented.
"Now hold him still." Mina grasped his head firmly in her hands, her fingers holding back the strands of blond hair surrounding the wound.
Serena positioned her hand right over the wound, starting at the left corner and pushing the needle gently through the tough exterior of the skin and pulling it through until the massive knot she had put at the end stopped the thread. She continued in this fashion, pushing the needle through the flaps of skin surrounding Andrew's cut, each time threading over the wound in tight black lines until she reached the right edge and tied another tight knot. Both Serena and Mina admired her handiwork before Serena placed some Neosporin along the edges of the wound and wrapping his head several times with the ace bandage.
"Good job Serena." Mina complimented her.
"Thanks, I think we should move him to his bed." She suggested as she moved towards Andrew's feet. Mina locked her arms under Andrew's shoulders as Serena lifted his legs. Slowly they moved him backwards to his bedroom, first door on the right and deposited him on the bed. Mina took off his shoes and pulled the covers out from under him before drawing them above his body. She smoothed the hair away on his forehead and placed a soft kiss on the clammy skin that was exposed. Following Serena, she walked out of the bedroom, flicking off the lights and shutting the door behind her.
"Stupid idiot eh?" Serena teased her after watching her tender display as Mina blushed.
"He grew on me ok!" Mina defended herself. "I take it Darien isn't here." Mina observed.
"No, and there wasn't even evidence of a struggle besides what happened to Andrew. They must've surprised them from behind and took out Andrew in order to talk to Darien privately." Serena surmised.
"Do you think he left willingly then?" Mina questioned.
"I think they threatened him somehow." Serena supposed as she went and sat at the kitchen table rubbing her temples with her fingers.
"With what?"
"That's the thing. Obviously something must've gone wrong with the weapon for them to even considering coming back and having Darien work for them. Naturally Darien would refuse as well so they had to threaten him with something that would make him agree to help them. But what?" she asked herself.
"You." Mina said simply. "They threatened to kill you and Darien loves you Serena so he couldn't let that happen."
"Two things Mina. One, Darien does not love me so erase whatever fantasy you have about that out of your head and two, Darien knows what I am, he knows I can take care of myself and that Crystal Empires can't touch me." Serena reprimanded her friend.
"It's Raye then." Mina voiced her next opinion. Serena looked up at her startled.
"You're right, it is Raye. Darien doesn't know that Raye is a part of Venom and she still works for Crystal Empires. Neither of them know that Raye is capable of taking care of herself so Crystal Empires is using her as leverage." Serena realized.
"We should warn her, she's probably being watched closely now, they need to know where she is at all times to keep good on their threat." Mina surmised.
"We need to get him back." Serena stated coldly, vengeance in her voice. "Crystal Empires is not going to get away with this. Call Raye on the transmitter and warn her about what has happened. I'll call Amy and see if she can get us some disguises, we're going in." Serena said, authority filling her voice as she issued out orders. Mina nodded and pressed a button on her watch and waited until Raye's holographic image appeared before telling her what had transpired. Serena pulled out her own watch and contacted Amy who told them to come back to the Den.
"What about Andrew?" Mina asked suddenly as they were about to leave.
"I think he'll be fine, they got what they wanted. Leave him a note though so he knows where we are." Serena suggested. Fifteen minutes later they were back at the Den and downstairs with Amy.
"What's going on?" Amy asked puzzled when the women arrived.
"Crystal Empires has taken Darien and threatened him with killing Raye unless he finishes working on the nuclear weapon." Mina explained quickly.
"That's not good." Amy said her face paling.
"We need some disguises Cobra so we can infiltrate Crystal Empires and get him back." Serena said.
"I have just the thing. You're going to like these." Amy said with a wink as she walked out of the room, coming back minutes later with two bracelets.
"Cobra, what are these?" Mina asked curiously fingering the silver band Amy handed her.
"They're a new development I just finished last week. You place the bracelet on your right wrist like so." Amy said, placing Mina's silver band on her own wrist.
"Then you pushed down on the center diamond to activate the program." Amy said, pressing the gem making a little holographic diagram pop up. "Then you turn said diamond to search through the different alias' and then push down again to select one." Amy finished, pressing her finger down against the diamond once more.
Serena and Mina watched amazed as Amy's bright blue hair immediately changed to long flowing black locks, her eyes no longer pale blue but emerald green. Gone was her white lab coat replaced with a saucy red dress and strapping red heels on her feet. Even her finger and toenails were painted bright red and her face was done up beautifully. Needless to say, Serena and Mina were stunned.
"Cobra you look like a whole different person!" Mina exclaimed.
"That's the point." Amy drawled her voice tinted with a slight southern accent.
"This is incredible, how does it work?" Serena asked eagerly.
"The bracelet is actually a very intelligent computerized holographic program meaning, when you select an alias, the bracelet projects a holographic image of that alias which covers your entire body. Your actually appearance hasn't changed, underneath the hologram you still look like yourself. Now the beauty is that the hologram forms so tightly to your body, if someone touches the hologram, it doesn't glitch or anything it just looks like they are touching a natural look." Amy explained as she turned off the bracelet and the hologram masking her body faded.
"This is amazing!" Mina said excitedly. "But how did you get the southern accent?"
"The bracelet also sends a slight impulse with each alias depending on which one you pick that alternates your vocal chords slightly so you sound different each time. Don't worry, it's harmless and has no lasting effects." Amy added reassuring them.
"I don't know how you do it Cobra, but I'm sure glad you do." Serena said shaking her head in disbelief.
"Thanks, just tell me how they work when you come back." Amy said, "I've never seen them in action."
"I'm sure they'll pass with flying colors." Mina grinned.
"Good, when are you guys heading out?" Amy questioned switching to a more serious topic.
"Tonight." Serena said. "There will be less security. We need one more favor though Amy, do you think you can scrounge up some Crystal Empire employee badges?"
"I think I can come up with something." Amy assured her.
"You are the best." Serena grinned.
"So you've said." Amy grinned back before shooing them out of the room.
A pale halo surrounded the milky moon in the depths of a black night when a devious redhead and sensual brunette strutted up to the glass doors of Crystal Empires. Bleached white lab coats adorned their bodies along with black slacks and black flats. Serena brushed her shoulder length fiery red mass of curls away from her face as she and Mina walked through the revolving doors leading in. Mina smiled brightly at the security guard as he checked her badge, tucking a strand of her silky brown bob behind her ear. He waved them both on and they walked off smiling brightly.
"Where should we look first?" Mina asked when they were out of the guard's way
"Well Darien showed me an Arena where they worked on the missile, but I'm sure he wouldn't be out in the open like that." Serena said.
"Still, it'd be a start." Mina reasoned.
"Alright, we'll head towards the Arena first, maybe we'll find something."
"Is Coral working tonight?" Mina inquired.
"I guess we'll find out." Serena answered as she led Mina into the Arena.
Scientist weren't as numerous as they were when Serena was brought to Crystal Empires earlier, but there were far from a few there. They hurried around frantically with charts opened, pens poised and supervisors talking fast.
"Everyone is in a huge hurry." Serena observed.
"They must be getting stressed for time in building the missile. Whoever is in charge must not be very happy." Mina surmised.
"Oh I see Coral over there." Serena said casually pointing out the raven-haired girl working at a computer. They walked over to her and sat down in the neighboring consoles. Raye looked at them blankly before continuing her work. That's when Serena remembered she was wearing a disguise.
"Coral, it's us, Viper and Copperhead." Serena whispered out of the corner of her lips while staring straight ahead at the computer screen. Raye startled before turning to look at the woman next to her.
"What? How?" she questioned puzzled.
"Cobra developed a new disguise program." Serena explained.
"Brilliant." Raye replied.
"Coral, have you seen anything that might indicate where your brother is?" Serena asked turning towards her.
"No, I've been all over the building. The only places I don't have access to are the CEO floors, but they are just a bunch of carpet and offices. They must've taken him somewhere else." Raye decided.
"Where could we access this information?" Mina wondered.
"There is a main data base computer in one of the operations rooms, but only Darien and the higher officials were allowed access to it." Raye said shooting down the idea.
"Wait, does everyone have the same pass code for each door?" Serena asked suddenly.
"Well no, we do a head scan first to identify the person and then they must enter their own personal pass code. Most rooms have everyone's identity programmed in it. The Arena is a free entry level so no code is needed, but the room where you met me, only a few scientists have access to it so only our profiles are downloaded into that specific system." Raye explained. "Why?"
"Because I know Darien's pass code." Serena said.
"What? How? I know Darien wouldn't have told you that while he worked with them no matter how much he liked you." Raye said in shock.
"I discreetly watched him punch it in and I memorized it. Good thing too." Serena explained.
"That's why you're the best, cause of stuff like that which I wouldn't even think of doing." Mina said in admiration of her partner.
"Coral, show me where this private room is." Serena said.
"Sure, but there is still one problem, you have to have his head scanned and obviously Darien is unavailable to do that because if he was, you wouldn't be here." Raye pointed out.
"I've got that taken care of, trust me." Serena answered assuring her. Raye gave her a doubtful look before leading them to the large silver door.
"I noticed while I was looking through the alias folders in our bracelets that Cobra included a profile of all of us in it as well as Darien and Andrew." Serena explained. "Tell me if someone is coming." She said before switching her disguise to look like Darien. She bent down low and let the door security device scan her pupils before entering in the pass code 775319. The pressure of the air locked door released with a hiss as the door unlocked and cracked open. Grinning at the other two women, Serena pulled open the door and they all walked in. Serena changed back her disguise before walking over to the mainframe computer.
"Try doing a search in the computer using key words." Mina suggested as she moved behind Serena to look over her shoulder.
"Alright." Serena said. "I'll try weapon first." She typed in the word and pushed the enter key. A few seconds later the search ended with no results. She tried multiple times using 'missile' 'moon' 'crystals' and 'nuclear' but each time she received nothing. When she typed in Darien's name, only an employee file came up.
"Maybe we're not looking for the right thing?" Raye suggested.
"I know, but what is the right thing?" Serena wondered.
"I don't know, what else is there to search besides the materials they're using, but it's not like they're going to have files on the type of metal they used to build it with, that's boring and unimportant." Mina scoffed as she slid to the floor in a defeated stance. Serena's eyes went wide on the other hand.
"Copperhead that's it!" She screeched as Mina looked up at her confused.
"What's it?" she asked.
"Copperhead quick, where did Cobra say she got the Masamune's metal from?" Serena questioned her urgently.
"Ugh, Africa." Mina replied still in the dark. Serena quickly typed in the search and squealed triumphantly when files came up.
"Wow." Raye said as she looked at the contents. "That's some high tech stuff."
Serena had found files pertaining to the design of the missile and information about a base hidden in the Sahara desert in South Africa.
"That is where they took Darien." Serena said confidently pointing to the desert base.
"Why were the files located under 'Africa'?" Mina asked still confused.
"Because to make a nuclear weapon with the amount of raw energy Darien was talking about, they need the strongest metal around to coat it. Cobra said she used it to make the Masamune and that it's indestructible. Why not build their missile out of the same thing?" Serena explained.
"Oh, good thinking. What are we going to do now?" Mina asked her.
"First we are going to send these plans to Cobra via the computer, it'll help her figure out how to disarm the missile then we are all going to Africa to take Darien back and stop this once and for all." Serena said.
'And get a little well deserved revenge.' Her mind added an image of Michael Borlio flashing through her mind.
"And revenge." Serena whispered quietly to herself a far away look in her eyes. She had waited for this for a long time and nothing was going to stop her from killing the man who had taken her parents away from her, no one.
That would be the end of Chapter Eleven. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm sorry to say, but Viper is going to be come to and end so in the next couple of chapters, at least I think it will. I went ahead and posted the other story because I was able to spit out two Viper stories and two HP stories since I've been back and it's only been four days so, I think its safe to say the HP story will not hinder Viper. Please check it out if you have time even if you don't know HP very well, it's a pretty good story, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Next up for the Viper they'll be hitting Africa and that is where it will all end mind. It might take me a little bit longer than usual to get these last chapters done because there is so much detail and loose ends that I have to pull together. See you then ! Please review!!
.:Angelgrl185:.