Authors Note: I have absolutely no idea why chapter twelve was posted twice in the same chapter, that was some weird glitch. I've obviously fixed it, thanks to Princess of Star for pointing it out to me!
A Viper's Poison
.:Angelgrl185:.
((I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its components))
Thanks for all the reviews of Chapter Eleven!
Moon-Daisuke: Bravo! You are the first person to guess who the boss is! Congratulations! I'm glad you appreciate my humor as well! Thanks for the review!
To the Anon one: Good point about the knives, funny thing is, I knew that yet I was still stupid enough to make them out of silver, I'll attribute that to being blond. Just kidding! Thanks for the review!
midnight: Thank you for that amazing compliment! I don't like it when people's OOC characters are jumbled and don't have a set personality. If you are going to change the character, make the new personality stable, not jump around
moonlight84: thanks for the review!
Lost and alone: I'm glad the story was recommended and that you liked it! I didn't really know much about SM until my friend told me about it either. That's why I write OCC
Dark Paris: That's exactly what I was thinking!! Haha, great minds think alike! Thanks for the review.
Previously on A Viper's Poison:
"First we are going to take these plans back to Cobra, 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.
Chapter Twelve: What Lies Beneath
Serena and Mina brought Raye back to their apartment and found Andrew sitting on the couch watching cartoons. He immediately looked up, his eyes wide in anticipation and anxiety when he heard noises entering the apartment. Andrew visibly relaxed, letting out a rush of air that he had been holding when he realized who it was. Mina walked over to the couch and sat down next to him.
"How are you feeling?" she asked softly concern in her voice. Andrew's brown eyes held skepticism in them at Mina's attitude towards him.
"I'm fine." He said curtly before getting an idea. "Actually, I can't pretend anymore, no matter how much it hurts my man pride." He said changing his mind pretending to wince in pain.
"It throbs something awful and I get these huge headaches when I move." Andrew added watching as Mina's face grew compassionate.
"Don't worry Andrew, I'll get you some medicine for your headache and don't you worry about getting up, I'll bring you what you need." Mina said soothingly, running her hand up his arm in a comforting gesture. She removed herself from the couch and headed towards the kitchen missing Andrew's wide satisfied grin that spread across his face as he stretched and flexed his muscles. Serena and Raye shared a knowing look as they laughed secretly at Andrew's pity ploy. He noticed their quieted mirth and winked merrily at them before resorting back to his wounded state when Mina returned with the medication. She handed him a small medicine cup of white liquid, which he accepted warily.
"Whatever happened to tablets?" Andrew asked looking suspiciously at the cup he was holding.
"I find that liquid medicine works better to numb and heal the pain." Mina explained giving him a sweet smile. "Now you just sit here and rest, I don't want you moving an inch." She said motherly as she rearranged the couch pillows so he'd be more comfortable.
"Thanks Mina, you're an angel." Andrew said giving her a weak smile. Mina just patted his head before leaning in and giving him quick peck on the cheek. As she walked away, Andrew raised a hand to his cheek in disbelief as he watched her leave.
"I can't believe you are going along with that Mina." Serena said to her friend when she walked over to Serena and Raye.
"Go along with what?" Mina asked innocently. Raye stared at her hard, trying to determine if she knew that Andrew was faking or not.
"Andrew's little plot to make you his own Betty Homemaker." Serena told her laughing at Mina's expression.
"I am not a Betty Homemaker." She said through clenched teeth.
"Well we know that, but Andrew doesn't." Raye said laughing.
"Andrew got a little more than he bargained for that's all." Mina said wiggling her eyebrows. Serena and Raye looked at her curiously after her last comment.
"Spill Mina, what'd you do?" Serena asked as Mina burst out into laughter.
"I gave him Lactaid instead of medicine." Mina replied through spurts of laughter.
Raye and Serena's eyes shot wide opened before they began laughing hysterically with Mina. Their laugher was encouraged more when they heard a strangled shout come from Andrew in the other room and the hard pounding of feet on the floor before the slamming of the bathroom door. Mina, Serena and Raye all eyed each other, chuckling mercilessly before calming down, trying to breath as they clutched their stomachs.
"Humph, now he'll think twice before sweet talking me again." Mina said confidently.
"Mina we need you to tell him about what's going to happen in the next few days." Serena said bursting her bubble.
"Why does he need to know?" she asked incredulously.
"One because Darien is his best friend, two, Andrew was attacked and three, because he is coming with us." Serena explained.
"WHAT?" Mina screeched. "You can't be serious." She said looking at Serena who was dead serious. "I can't believe this, he's not even trained to do this." She protested.
"I talked to Darien about Andrew's capabilities a while ago in case we ever needed him." Raye began taking over the conversation. "Apparently Andrew has a love for the shooting range. He may not be assassin material, but he knows how to handle a gun. He'll be fine as long as he obeys our orders." Raye finished.
"But-" Mina began weakly before Serena shot her a stern look, silencing her.
"Fine, why don't we just bring him to the meeting then? It'd be easier to it explain it to him that way and Lita and Amy will be hearing it at the same time." Mina suggested. Serena scratched her head thoughtfully.
"That's actually not a bad idea. Fine Mina, you got out of it this time, but go get him while I call the other girls. Be careful, he's explosive." Serena warned with a smile as she nodded towards the bathroom, which Mina promptly walked towards.
Serena turned to her left wrist, pushing back her sleeve to reveal the silver communicator watch Amy had given them all. She pressed a few of the side buttons expertly before waiting as both an image of Amy and Lita appeared who waited for her to speak after they greeted Serena.
"Cobra, Python, we need to meet as soon as possible. Assemble in the conference room, Copperhead, Coral and I will join you shortly. Also, please inform Seiya immediately and have him come as well." Serena instructed receiving confirming nods from both women. "Viper out." She said before switching off the watch, looking towards Raye, Mina and Andrew as the latter two joined her in the kitchen.
"Let's go."
Serena walked briskly into the conference room followed by Mina, Raye and Andrew. She sat down at the head of the table in a swiveling black leather chair, folding her hands calmly in front of her as Mina, Raye and Andrew also joined Amy, Lita and Seiya at the table. Serena waited patiently for a few minutes as everyone situated himself or herself before she pushed the chair out from under her and stood up commanding everyone's attention.
"Last night Copperhead and I went inside Crystal Empires and with the help of Coral, extracted vital information concerning the whereabouts of Darien Shields and Crystal Empires operative station. Effective immediately, as soon as this meeting is over, we will all be leaving for Africa save Seiya who will stay here and man the Den. I am going to hand this meeting over to Seiya who is going to explain our approach in Africa." Serena said gesturing to Seiya.
"Thank you Viper." Seiya said nodding to Serena as he rose to his feet. "Viper called me late last night an informed me about what had occurred. I immediately began contacting my people in Egypt to prepare the way for us. At eighteen hundred hours you will board a plane heading toward Cairo, Egypt where you will meet with my good friend Yaten Williams." Seiya said looking at each member of the Venom team.
"Yaten will be holding a sign in the airport that will say Tsukino party. You will then proceed to walk up to him where he will ask the following." Seiya explained.
"The moon is very yellow last night." Seiya said. "Where you will reply."
"I would say it was silver."
"Yaten will proceed to say."
"How was the flight?" Seiya said. "Where you will reply."
"It was as smooth as a snake."
"Once you have confirmed identities, Yaten will lead you to his car and take you to your hotel where you shall rest the night before heading towards the desert. I suggest you bring appropriate attire, the sun is brutal." Seiya warned.
"Yaten will proceed to take you to the calculated location of the Crystal Empires base which Cobra was brilliant enough to track down for us through signals. You will then infiltrate the facility; one team taking command of the control and operations room while the other team locates Darien Shields. The team assignments are up to Viper, my only request is that Cobra be on the team heading towards the control room for obvious reasons. Cobra will be charged with disarming the missile so it will not be able to launch. After said quests are finished, you are to self destruct the facility and evacuate to where Yaten dropped you off where you will rendezvous with him and he will bring you back to Cairo. From there you can rest and return to the United States. That is all, good luck." Seiya said before giving the floor back to Serena.
"Thank you Seiya," Serena said looking briefly at Serena before continuing. "The teams for the mission will be Cobra heading up the control team along with Copperhead and Andrew. I will be leading the rescue team along with Python and Coral. Any questions?" she asked looking around the room as Mina raised her hand.
"Yes Copperhead?"
"I actually have a suggestion really. I think we should have Diamond be brought into the team. He is a huge informant of ours, he is the one who gathers most of our information and is in charge of Silver Snakes intelligence. I think it would be in our best interest to bring him in." Mina voiced her idea.
"That's actually a good idea Copperhead." Seiya responded. "Diamond can see what he can scrounge up about the facility in Africa, I'm sure he knows someone on the inside."
Seiya got up and walked over to the wall, pressing firmly on the black intercom waiting for someone to answer.
"Yes Sir?" a soft feminine voice floated through the intercom system.
"Bridget, please have Diamond come to the conference room, we are in need of his services." Seiya requested.
"One moment Sir, I will ring him." Bridget replied.
"Thank you." Seiya said before disconnecting.
A few minutes later Bridget's voice appeared once again over the intercom. "I'm sorry Sir, but Diamond cannot be found anywhere, it seems his office has been left untouched for a week now." She said.
"What? How did anyone not notice that he has been gone?" Seiya asked incredulously.
"Intelligence operatives reported that Diamond gave them instructions up till two days ago and were told to wait until further response from him before doing anything else. Over that time no one had needed to speak with him." Bridget explained.
"Thank you Bridget, I'll deal with Diamond's situation, but not now." Seiya decided as he switched off the intercom.
"What does this mean?" Mina asked worriedly looking towards Seiya.
"I don't know." Seiya replied at a loss.
"We shall continue as planned then." Serena interrupted, taking charge of the situation. "Meet at the private airline at eighteen hundred hours, you are dismissed." Serena said as everyone filed out of the room to prepare for their mission.
A sleek metallic plane rested on the black paved runway, it's long wings brandished against the setting sun. At precisely eight-o-clock, the members of Venom plus Andrew arrived at the private airline holding black duffel bags and one suitcase. The each placed the bag in the small cargo hold of the plane before walking up the steel stairs that were connected to the plane's door. Four sets of seats were in the passenger part of the plain and consisted of two seats next to each other and separated from an identical pair of seats directly across by a table. Serena, Andrew and Mina sat down in one four seat set while Amy, Raye and Lita took the neighboring one across the isle.
A petite blonde flight attendant who was all smiles walked down the aisle was making sure everyone was situated and buckled since the red seatbelt light was flashing above their heads. The Pilot's voice appeared over the intercom telling them to hold on because they were about to take off and to keep the seatbelts on until the light went off as well as do not use cell phones. The flight attendant proceeded to buckle herself in by the Pilot's cabin as the roar of the engines signaled the plane coming to life. The plane buzzed as the engine started up and began its descent down the runway, picking up speed as it taxied along. The pilot gently eased the wheel up and the plane caught wind and glided into the air, gaining altitude as it went.
When the plane was above the clouds and at the right altitude, the red seatbelt light stopped flashing and all the occupants promptly unbuckled them. Amy flipped open her laptop to work on a few equations, Raye leafed through the newest issue of Cosmopolitan while Lita happily read her newest cookbook, picking up new culinary tips and recipes.
Serena stared out the window watching the sky fade from a multitude of color to a black starry night. The window's outer edges were beginning to frost over from the chill caused by the high altitude. Restless, she turned towards Mina and Andrew and saw that they were busy watching the movie that was playing on the large overhead screen, black headphones engulfing their ears. Serena summoned the flight attendant and asked for a pillow and a blanket so she could try to get some sleep. When she was given the items, Serena stretched across the two chairs, placing the pillow against the window and covered herself with the blanket before lying back against the pillow, shutting her aqua eyes in an attempt to get some rest.
The rhythmic rocking of the plane lulled her to sleep until the plane hit an air pocket and threatened to knock them all out of their seats. Serena's eyes flew open and she was immediately alert, sitting up and looking around her surroundings. The Pilot's voice sounded over the intercom again advising them to put on their seatbelts because they were hitting some mild turbulence. Serena fastened her seatbelt and sat in her seat knowing that she would not be able to get any more rest. Another pocket of air made the plane bounce forcing Amy to grab her computer to keep it from crashing to the floor. She shut it and placed it back in its bag and took out a few notebooks and a pencil to continue her work on paper.
Serena smiled wryly when she noticed that Mina's hand had found Andrews and was now holding it in vice like grip, her knuckles clenched so tight they were turning white, her lips set in a grim line and her blue eyes were wide. She had forgotten that Mina was scared of flying. She noted that Andrew didn't seem to mind Mina's death like grip on his limbs as he transferred hands and wrapped the now free one around Mina's shoulders in a protective stance. Mina didn't protest, but seemed to welcome the comfort, anything to make her feel safe during the intense plane ride.
Serena yawned and pulled out a worn copy of Othello determined to do something to make the time fly by faster. She smiled behind the pages of her book when she realized that Mina had not removed her hand from Andrews even though the Pilot had reported that the turbulence was over and that there would be no more. Many hours later, the plane landed in Cairo, Egypt, Serena woke up to the sight of Mina sleeping on Andrew's shoulder, his arm still around hers and her hand still clasping his. Serena smiled before unbuckling her seatbelt and raising herself out of the chair. She quickly woke up the rest of the team and they went to retrieve their bags after they stepped off the plane. They were greeted with humid air and a bright burning sun. The airport was crowded with people running in every direction looking for luggage and lost family members. Airport security stood at attention everywhere one looked.
As soon as their luggage was gathered, they walked into the terminal together looking for Yaten. Raye was the first one to spot the man holding a white cardboard sign with Tsukino party written on it in black permanent marker. They casually walked over to the white haired stranger and stopped in front of him.
"The moon is very yellow last night." The man said in a soft melodious voice looking directly at Serena, his pale yellow eyes piercing her own aqua ones.
"I would say it was silver." She replied remembering the code.
"How was the flight?" the man asked again
"It was as smooth as a snake." Serena answered correctly all the while remembering vividly the bumpy ride they had.
"Wonderful, my name is Yaten Kou, welcome to Cairo." He said with a smile, extending his hand towards Serena. She shook it enthusiastically before taking time to introduce herself as well as her companions.
"If you will follow me, I will take you to the hotel in which you will be staying." Yaten said as he led them through the crowds and into the parking lot only stopping when he reached a blue minivan. The group piled in after throwing their luggage in the back and Yaten drove them to the Marriott.
"Welcome to the Marriott." A pimply red haired bellhop greeted them. "Have you checked in yet?"
"Yes, we just need the luggage to be taken up to rooms 412 and 413." Yaten instructed him, handing the bellhop a tip before motioning for the group to pile their luggage on the bellhop's golden luggage cart. All the women smiled at the bellhop causing him to blush red to the roots as they placed their luggage on the cart while Andrew just smirked.
The bellhop led them to their rooms, pushing their luggage on the way and carried it into the separate rooms, 412 for the girls and 413 for the boys. Serena offered to sleep on the cot while Raye and Mina shared one bed and Lita and Amy shared the other.
"It's not fair that Andrew and Yaten each get their own bed and we have to share plus one of us sleeps on a cot." Mina complained throwing a dirty look towards the direction of room 413.
"Well you know Mina, you could always go sleep in Andrew's bed and keep him company, I'm sure he'd love that." Lita teased and was rewarded with a sharp look from Mina followed by a pillow in the face. Lita grabbed the pillow and added it to her own pillow and laid back against it satisfied with obtaining another pillow especially since one pillow was so flat that it took two to actually made a decent pillow.
"I cannot believe you said that!" Mina said indignantly as she crossed the room and tried to retrieve her pillow since Lita refused to give back.
"I don't know Mina, I think she has good reason to say it, I saw how comfortable you two were on the plane." Serena said joining in the tease. Mina blushed furiously, grabbed the pillow from Lita and stormed back to her bed and jumped in.
"I don't understand why she fights it, she obviously really likes him." Serena said shaking her head.
"She's not the only one." Raye muttered under her breath but Serena caught what she said and ignored the comment.
"Let's get to sleep now guys. We have important things to do tomorrow and we need to get our rest." Serena advised as she got in bed on the cot. The rest followed her example and soon the room was filled with light and not so light snoring.
Serena got dressed the next morning in silence, slipping her lean body into a tight black leather suit with complimenting boots and gloves. The rest of the girls donned the same outfit, each tying their hair up in tight buns so any attackers could not use their locks against them. Before they left Cairo, they all stopped at a small shop to buy long cloaks to protect their bodies from the sun's fierce heat and to keep their bodies cool.
Yaten had them pile into a sand camouflaged hummer with all wheel drive so it could hightail it on the sand. They drove for a while; Amy giving Yaten directs where to go while she tracked signals on her laptop.
"It should be up ahead. We'll see it in a few minutes." Amy said pointing straight ahead. The Sahara desert seemed endless as the sea of sand loomed in front of them. The scenery never change, just a great multitude of sand and a scorching sun beating down upon it. A few minutes passed by and Amy began to frown.
"Yaten go back, we past it." Amy said staring at her laptop.
"I didn't see anything." Andrew said peering from behind their seats. Yaten turned the hummer around slowly and drove back in the opposite direction.
"Stop." Amy said evenly looking at her computer before looking around the desert. "Where is it? It's supposed to be right here!" she said frustrated.
"Cobra I don't see anything." Mina observed pressing her nose against the hummer's glass window and peering through at the empty expanse of desert before her.
"Are you sure you calculated it right?" Raye asked her.
"Of course I calculated it right." Amy snapped as she typed on her computer. She reentered the equations and came up with the same location.
"It's supposed to be right in front of us." Amy said confidently.
"Cobra there is nothing there." Lita said in an exasperated tone.
"It is here Python." Amy said through clench teeth.
"Stop it, all of you. Cobra there is no sign of the facility so I say we go back to Cairo and make sure." Serena said looking at them all.
"Viper, I swear to you that it's here, I am never wrong." Amy protested.
"Well there is a first for everything." Serena replied. "Yaten take us back."
Yaten reversed the hummer and spun a one eighty before driving off in the direction of Cairo. Amy looking dejected stared sullenly out the window. Her pale blue eyes widened however when she noticed the sand begin to stir. Soft swirls of sand soon gave way to a cloud of the spinning substance.
"Yaten watch out!" She shouted as sand was flung against the vehicle.
"Is it a sandstorm Cobra?" Raye yelled above the noise.
"I don't know, I can't get a reading on it!" Amy shouted back.
A huge gust of sand hit the hummer causing it to tremble forcefully. Another tremor rocked the vehicle so hard that it began to tip over. Everyone braced themselves hard against their seats and the floor as the car flipped over. A loud mechanical noise filled the air as the car began to rise off the ground, going higher into the air. The noise stopped as did the movement of the vehicle with a final tremor and the sand began to clear away. Serena sat up in the vehicle and looked out the window on the right side, which was now on the left side. Faintly she could see the outline of metal around them.
"Cobra I think we found your facility." Serena said wryly as she moved away from the window to let the others look. A happy and satisfied smirk spread across Amy's face at the discovery of the facility.
"Andrew, help me open this door." Serena instructed as she grasped the handle, Andrew joining her and they pushed hard against the door, grunting from the exertion. Slowly, but surely, the door began to move and soon it was completely open. Serena stepped out first, her foot sinking into the sand until it hit a solid surface. As the rest filed out, the looked at their surroundings. A large building made entirely of metal, with no windows whatsoever loomed before them, sand dripping of the tops as water.
"Amazing." Amy said in awe of the building.
"That is pretty smart." Raye commented. "Placing their facility underneath the ground so no one could find it."
"Yes, but why can we find it now? Why is it no longer underground?" Lita wondered aloud. She was answered by the whirling of a helicopter that appeared in the sky on the other side of the building and landed on the top.
"They have visitors." Mina observed.
"Darien." Raye said.
"No, he would have been here by now, it is someone else." Serena said knowingly.
"We should get a move on Viper." Amy said "Before it sinks back underground." She advised.
"Right, Yaten are you going to be okay here?" Serena asked turning to the light haired man.
"Yeah I'll be fine. If you guys just help me roll the hummer over then I'll just drive off once the building sinks back underground." Yaten explained.
The seven of them strained and pushed hard to get the hummer turned over and after many strenuous tries, it flipped. The group grabbed their equipment before climbing down the side of the building and looking for a door. Lita was the first one to spot a way in and waved them over. The door was locked, but Lita pulled out a crowbar and wedged it in between the two doors and pried them apart, forcing them to slide back into their slots. Slowly they filed in, shedding their desert clothes revealing their black outfits.
"Alright, here is where we break into teams. Cobra you will be leading Copperhead and Andrew, Coral and Python, you are with me. Cobra I trust you to take care of the missile while we take care of Darien. When your objective is complete, signal us on the communicators. We shall do likewise. After we have both reported in successful, we will meet back here as soon as possible. Everyone understand?" Serena asked looking intensely at them all. They all nodded and split, once they reached the top of the stairs, Cobra's team going left, and Viper's team going right.
Amy, Andrew and Mina ran stealthily up various flights of stairs following the slight beeping on Amy's mini computer she held in the palm of her hand. She was able to trace the missile on it from inside the facility by accessing the main computer, which downloaded a blueprint of the facility and gave the location of the control room, in which she proceeded to lock onto the coordinates. Amy held up her hand causing the two behind her to halt. She dashed behind a wall, the other two following her and pressing themselves against it next to her. They stilled their breathing and waited patiently as two guards walked to the hallway they were just in. When they had passed, Amy whispered that the control room was just ahead.
They crept silently back into the hallway and sided up to the control room door, Amy and Andrew on one side, Mina on the other. Andrew pulled out the two scandium commander guns that Amy had given to him prior to leaving the United States as Mina pulled out two of her whips and both waited patiently for Amy's signal to barge into the control room and seize it.
"Ready." Amy said as the three of them tensed in apprehension of the fight before them.
"Go!" she whispered fiercely, trailing behind them as Andrew and Mina burst through the doors, gun blazing and whips cracking.
Serena peered around the corner looking for any guards patrolling the floor. When she didn't see anyone, she motioned for Raye and Lita to follow her as she sprinted down the hallway, their feet barely making an audible sound at they hit the floor. Serena stopped at the end of the next hallway and looked around the corner again. Her breath caught in her throat and her aqua eyes narrowed when she saw who was coming down the hallway.
"Michael." She sneered, whispering so Raye and Lita could hear. She turned her head to look at her companions.
"You two go ahead and see if you can locate Darien, I will take care of him." She instructed. Raye and Lita gave her doubtful looks, but Serena just shooed them away.
"Be careful Serena." Raye said as she and Lita dashed around the corner.
Serena stepped out from behind the corner of the hallway and confronted Michael who glared at her in surprise and anger.
"Serena Gracin, what an unexpected pleasure." Michael said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Cut it Michael." Serena said venomously.
"What Serena? Would you like me to kill you like I did your mother? She was pathetic really, screaming and begging for me to have mercy. She was such an enjoyable thing tame when I ravished her." He sneered, his dark eyes glinting wickedly. Serena felt her blood boil in her veins as her anger rose, blinding her in rage.
"No Michael, it is you who will die." She said in an unnervingly calm voice. Serena reached behind her and pulled the Masamune from the leather sheath strapped around her back, the exquisite blade singing as it was released from its prison. Serena brandished the sword in a defensive stance before her.
"It is time." She said strongly raising the Masamune high, and then she attacked.
That is the end of Chapter Twelve; next chapter is going to be chalk full of action and drama let me tell you. All secrets will be revealed as the end is coming neigh. Hope you enjoyed it! Please review!
.:Angelgrl185:.