About time I return to this story, don't you think? Don't know what happened in the first place, though, I just lost the thread for it.
But now I'm back, and I'm aiming to finish it.
Chapter 9
Snake in Paradise
When Coral returned to the nest from Arden's laboratory, daytime was not far away, and the Venomous Five had already retreated to their respective rooms to sleep until sundown.
The eyes of the new mutant lingered on each of the doors to the respective mutants' rooms. She knew that they didn't like or trust her, and the feelings were most certainly mutual, as Coral held no love for any of them.
Cobra and Mamba were the worst of the five, nearly constantly at each other's throats, and for no discernable reason. They just hated each other and snapped at the other for any reason, no matter how minor. And Cobra especially seemed to be particularly dull of mind.
Nile and Gila were better, but only really because they didn't squabble and fight with each other or the others nearly as much as the two snakes. But while the snakes were more of high precision weapons, even though that could apparently be discussed when it came to Cobra, the two lizards were more of the brute force approach, still accompanied by venom and sharp claws and teeth, but still not any kind of combat experts.
Lastly, there was Komodo, and he was clearly the brains of the group. Not that that was anything to be particularly proud of, as Coral was certain that the average level of intelligence in the group was quite low. But be that as it may, he did keep the others in check, at least to the best of his abilities.
Despite all his advantages, though, it was by his orders that the encounter with the turtle Michelangelo would remain unreported.
Clearly, he was disloyal, and by following his orders, so were the others.
However, it was still only a minor thing, and while that was indeed bad enough, it wasn't enough to convict the Venomous Five of treason towards their master. More evidence was needed.
And that's where Coral found herself, in need of more evidence. But with the five not trusting her, gathering anything from them would be most difficult. Another strategy might be required.
While she didn't like any of them, agitating them wouldn't further her mission. Instead, she would have to earn their trust somehow. Perhaps even just one of them would be enough to win over the rest.
Thinking back, she remembered that Nile complimented her on her new hair style. That was in fact the only real kindness that any of them had shown her so far.
Could be worth pursuing.
But that would have to wait for another time. She was patient, and she could wait for as long as it took to accomplish her mission. For the time being, she retreated to her designated room for some well needed sleep.
Her rest was not as peaceful as she had hoped.
Images flashed in her mind as she slept.
Faces of different kinds, all of which she recognized.
The turtle Michelangelo.
His girlfriend, Kate, a viper mutant with short light brown hair.
Doctor Arden.
Then there were two faces that she did recognize, but still couldn't identify.
A Japanese man with black hair in a low ponytail.
And a young woman of mixed Japanese and American heritage with short, spiky black hair and green eyes.
There was a voice echoing in the darkness, a man's voice. Saying the same thing over and over again. Garbage.
Garbage.
Garbage.
Garbage.
"I'm not garbage!" she said loudly as she sat bolt upright in her bed, sweat running down her forehead, her heart beating hard enough to think it was trying to escape her chest.
Her eyes darted around the darkened room, searching for something that wasn't there. She was all alone, and yet she felt as if something or someone was observing her, with great disappointment. Like if she had greatly displeased a god of some kind that would now forever scowl at her mere existence.
Looking at her hands, they were trembling, shaking like aspen leaves in the wind. Placing them close to her chest, she took several deep breaths.
"It was just a dream… nothing but a stupid dream…" she said to herself, trying to calm down and push away the memories of the dream so she could go back to sleep again.
It took a little while, but eventually she managed to fall asleep again, and no dreams or nightmares interrupted her for the remainder of the day.
The next evening came, and Coral woke up and went to the bathroom to wash her face before going to get something to eat. Yet, she lingered by the sink for a while, staring into the mirror.
There was something that seemed off to her, something about her reflection, but she couldn't figure out what.
Memories of her nightmare returned to her. The faces she saw flashing before her eyes, yet the two unknown humans among them were blurry to the point of being nothing but a smear on a lens. There was something important about those faces, she felt it in her gut, but without a clear image of them she wouldn't be able to describe or identify them.
And who would she even bring this up with?
Not the Venomous Five, that was for certain. They'd jump at any chance to get rid of her.
Doctor Arden was an option, being her creator, and he might even have answers, but at the same time, what if he found her to be defective. He could have her terminated before she would be able to complete her mission.
As much as it pained her, she saw no other option than to stay quiet about all this, at least for the time being. Perhaps this was something that all of the doctor's creations went through during their early days.
Violent knocking on the door brought Coral out of her thoughts.
"Hurry up in there, you candy coloured bitch!" she heard Mamba hiss loudly from the other side. "You can't hog the bathroom all day just because you're a newborn!"
"Fine, I'll be done in a sec!" Coral responded, keeping any insults to herself, no matter how well-earned it might be.
Socialising with the other mutants was not something that came easy to Coral, especially since the others didn't trust her, and while she was without a doubt patient enough to wait, she couldn't deny how boring it was.
After breakfast, they all had time to do whatever they wanted within the confines of their nest before the sun had set properly, and for as pretty as the coming sunset could be, it as far too boring to wait for. Besides, she wouldn't get any information if she just kept to herself all the time. She needed some way to integrate herself with the others, and she saw an opening to do just that.
Nile was currently sitting in a couch and watching TV, which made for a good opportunity for her to approach him.
"Mind if I join you?" she asked once she reached the couch, remaining standing until give a response.
Nile glanced up at her, and then back at the screen.
"Suit yourself." he said with a shrug.
Showing no gratitude, nor annoyance, Coral sat down on the opposite end of the couch, keeping a bit of distance, at least for the time being.
Minutes ticked by without a single word uttered between the two reptiles, nor was anything interesting found on the TV as Nile kept flipping between channels.
Currently, the screen showed some sort of soap opera, and while Nile gave it a few minutes, the green and yellow reptile eventually raised the remote to change the channel again.
"Wait." Coral objected in a neutral tone. Nile looked at her with a raised a raised eye ridge.
"You seriously wanna watch that?" he questioned.
"Please."
Nile kept looking at Coral, studying her face for a moment, before sighing and shrugging.
"Whatever. As good as anything else on now."
"Thank you."
Part of Coral just wanted Nile to stop swapping channels, but there were also something about the show that seemed to appeal to her, almost as if she had a fondness for that kind of entertainment.
Why, she didn't know, but the drama, the intrigues, the romance, the lies, deceptions, and betrayals, they all resonated with her.
Perhaps it was because of her mission.
A small smirk spread across her lips.
The show continued for a while longer, and the two sat in silence for the most of that time, with only one real conversation taking place.
"Nile?" Coral asked, breaking the silence.
"What?"
"Last night, you said that you thought my new hair style looked good."
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Did you mean that?"
"I did. Still do. Does that bother you?"
"I don't know. I guess I'm not used to compliments. That's… I think that is the only one I've actually received. The only kindness any of you five have shown me…"
"In case you haven't noticed, none of us are exactly best friends around here. We're more like co-workers that really love our job."
"Still, I appreciate it. Thank you."
"Oh… um, well, you're welcome, I guess."
"Nile!" Komodo shouted across the room. "Shut off that boob-tube and get over here! And bring the new blood! We've got work to do!"
"Sweet! About time!" Nile half cheered, turning off the TV and standing up. "Come on, Coral, time to have some fun!"
Coral followed the lizard, constantly smiling on the inside. She had gotten a foot in. In time, she'd get the entire door open, and then, she would be in the perfect position to learn all of the Venomous Five's secrets. Both good and bad.
She truly was a snake in their paradise.
Coral is having some strange dreams, and while I don't want to give away anything yet, there are probably those among you that have figured out a few things by this point.
Regardless, Coral is making some progress in her mission to uncover the true loyalties of the V5, whatever those may be.