Dateline: Monday, July 6, 1981, 7:19 AM, Parisian Standard Time.

Violet was so lonely last night, that she didn't even notice her new battle injuries. But when she woke up that morning, she was sore as a stubbed toe all over. There were a few minor pains in her feet, her abdomen, and her skull. But the biggest pain was just under her right armpit. It felt like something important had been torn inside her.

Wondering if this could be a major problem, Violet tried to do a few basic things with her right hand. She found she could open and close her fist, point with one finger, give a thumbs-up, do "hook 'em horns", and even flash an obscene…wait, never mind. But when she tried to make a force field, nothing happened. She tried multiple times, all to the same effect. Violet tried to make a force field with her left hand, and she found that she could. It was just her right hand that didn't work.

"Oh, this is good," she said to nobody. "This is just what I needed right now! Well, whatever's wrong with me, I'm sure Dr. Gibson can fix it. I just hope I won't need surgery. Who am I talking too?"

There was a knock on her hotel room door. "Miss Python," said a French official, "Your car is ready for you."

"I'll be right there, just a sec," she responded. "Well, let's get this medal crap over with."

Meanwhile, in Venice, Dash and Kim were waking up after one terrible night.

"Whoa!" said Dash. "Major hangover! I think I had too much to drink last night!"

"Dash, you didn't even have half a glass of grape juice," Kim observed.

"Yeah, that's too much for me."

Kim just looked at him in disbelief.

"I'm a man who just can't hold his liquor, dear!"

"Liquor?" She ran to the other side of the room and picked up the bottle. When she read the label, she gasped in horror. "Oh my God! This wasn't fancy grape juice, this was red wine! And I drank the whole thing! No, wait, there's still some left!" She tipped the bottle up and guzzled the rest of it down. After double-checking to make sure it was empty, she gasped in horror again. "I can't believe I drank the whole thing!"

"Wow," Dash said. "Do you remember anything you did last night?"

"Yeah, everything! I remember watching three hours of TV after you passed out. And before that, I remember you soaking my fist and my feet in hot water."

"Hmm. Maybe we should start calling you Liquorgirl, huh?"

Kim laughed sheepishly.

Dash looked at his watch. "Oh, man, I gotta get back to Switzerland! They'll be expecting me to receive that medal!"

"Oh, well. Hey, thanks for helping me de-ice my hand and feet, dear."

"No problem, I love you, miss you already, bye-bye!" And he took off like the Roadrunner.

As soon as he was gone, Kim looked at the bottle of wine again. "This was good wine," she mused. "I wish I knew where to find this stuff stateside."

Back in France, Violet was riding in a limousine to Town Square. She was sick and tired of all the pomp and ceremony that goes into getting a medal. She especially didn't like having to wear her super suit when she wasn't exactly using it. In her annoyance, she began to daydream. She began to think about her life before Alpha Force was formed. Her mind wandered to a certain date in May 1980.

(FLASHBACK ALERT.)

Violet and Tony were enjoying a dinner of pasta Alfredo in the apartment they shared. It was rare when Tony cooked their dinner, but tonight was a special occasion. For the first time in a long time, they could sit down and enjoy each other's company without any interruptions. It was important to Tony, anyway, because it marked the anniversary of their first date. Violet wouldn't have known that if her life depended on it. Ironically, her love life would depend on it, this very night.

"This is nice, isn't it?" said Tony. "Just the two of us. No annoying family members, no unwanted interruptions, nice romantic lighting…" He pointed out the candles.

"Yeah, honey, it's great. I only hope it's not a ploy to get me into bed, because then you would have done all this for nothing."

"C'mon, Vi, You know be better than that. I know you're not interested in pre-marital sex. You made that very clear to me on my birthday…and on Valentine's Day…and at Thanksgiving…at on…"

"Okay, Tony," Violet interrupted, "I get it. You're killing the mood."

"Sorry. So, how was your first day at a civilian job?"

"Tolerable, to say the least. My supervisor, Mr. Black, is such a dimwit! He actually believes that this new promotion idea of his is good!"

"Well, maybe it is!" Tony suggested. "How bad could it be?"

"The Guess-Your-Weight Sale?"

Tony snorted on his noodles. "Okay, yeah, that is pretty bad!"

"I know! Anyway, I told him what I thought, and do you know what he said? He told me to…" She never finished. At that exact moment, her radio-watch went off, signaling trouble on the horizon. "Listen, I gotta run…"

"Oh, come on, Vi!" Tony pleaded. "Stay here, finish your food, spend some time with your boyfriend, maybe?"

"Tony, I can't. I have to go out there and save the world, it's my duty! We've been over this before!"

"Can't you let some other superhero handle this one?"

"Tony, what's the big deal? It's just dinner!"

Tony said nothing. Violet took that as a sign to mean that he understood, so she went off to protect mankind. While she was out doing that, Tony cleaned up the table.

(END OF FLASHBACK ALERT. RESUME NORMAL CONTINUITY.)

"Miss Python? Miss Python?" The snapping fingers of the Frenchman snapped Violet out of her dream world.

"Hmm, what? Oh, right, the medal, sorry."

She stepped out onto the red carpet and stood still for a moment. Practically all of Nice had come out to greet her. The flashbulbs of two thousand cameras almost blinded her. She stuck out her hand to shield her eyes.

"No more pictures!" someone shouted. All at once, they stopped. Violet was somewhat glad of that.

"The Sword! The Sword!" screamed someone else. The crowd roared in agreement. Violet went back to the car and got Venom, to show it off.

I have to get some kind of sheath or something for this thing, she thought to herself. This could kill somebody.

As Violet walked up to the podium where the mayor of Nice (or that's what she thought he was) was standing, she took the time to sign a few autographs, shake a few hands, kiss a baby or two, you know, schmooze. When you're a big celebrity like that, it's kind of obligatory to do so. But, I'm getting off topic again.

Anyway, Violet got to the stand and the mayor made a little speech, you know, about Violet's bravery and the vast importance of her victory yesterday, yadda yadda yadda, "I am pleased to present her with the Green Cross!" Violet stood up and shook the mayor's hand. As she did, she felt something prick her on the heel of her hand. Violet looked back at it, and didn't see anything, so she shrugged it off. She accepted her medal, then took her place behind the lectern. She spoke a few profound words, you know, what an honor this is, I was just doing my job, there's a little hero inside each of you, blah blah blah, "Vive la France!" And that was basically it.

Back in the limo, she got on her radio watch and called the rest of the team with the news…

"We fly back home tomorrow."

(A/N: Sorry this chapter was so boring. This time, I meant for it to be boring, and I don't plan to change it. You'll see why I had to make this chapter dull…sometime in the future. Until then…you know what to do!)