Viper's Bite

Chapter 9: Retaliation

At Drevis's lab, the organization had just finished their late dinner. The Crawler was monitoring the Crimson Skulls' status on a monitor, when he saw something that took him by surprise. "Boss!" he called. "One of our team members' vitals just flatlined!" "What?!" Drevis exclaimed as he ran over to see for himself. "Hmm....well, that's too bad." the doctor responded in an almost casual tone. The Crawler was taken aback by Drevis's lack of compassion. "Wait....what?" the reptilian said softly. 

The doctor paced around the room. "So....The Viper did this to my soldier? It appears that she can fight back. Well....I don't like that!" he complained, totally unaware that the grunt had committed suicide of their own accord. Just then, The Crawler came up with an idea. "Drevis, sir! This menace only shows herself at night, correct? What if we restricted our 'field tests' to take place only during the day, like when we hit that school a couple days ago?" 

".....Crawler, you're a genius!" Drevis cried. "Let's also turn it up a notch; I'll dispatch four snipers this time instead of just one. And I know exactly where they should go next...." 

He tapped a few buttons on the touch-screen table, and a holographic projection of a familiar-looking church popped up before him and The Crawler. 

"This place of worship holds a yearly carnival, and the first day of the festivities is tomorrow," Drevis explained. "There's going to be a lot of people for sure." 

The Crawler's eyes lit up as he realized what the doctor was planning. "That sounds perfect!" 

"But wait, there's more!" the doctor continued. "A band of three graffiti ruffians apparently tagged this very same church a couple nights ago, and as a result, there's going to be beefed-up security. And you know what that means.....several police officers with their guns at the ready." 

A sinister smile spread across his face. 

"You see, Crawler, I've made an additional modification to the Herculean Serum aside from infusing it with The Viper's powers. Now, not only will it remove fear and bestow her abilities upon any who are infected, but it will also greatly heighten their paranoia and aggression, coercing them to view everyone in their vicinity as a threat, and to begin taking 'defensive' action, if you know what I mean. 

I'll assign the snipers to take positions around the fairgrounds; one will be on a distant balcony across the street, one will be on a rooftop in the far back, one will be in a car on the side road of the parking lot, and one will remain in their house, aiming out the window. Once the clock hits 12:00PM, which I like to refer to as 'High Noon', we'll give the snipers an order to shoot the nearest police officer they see with the newly upgraded serum, which I have compacted into a small pellet.

Once that's done, I'll order the snipers to fall back, and we can all watch the ensuing carnage from the comfort of our control room. 

And the best part? The Viper won't be there to help them." 

The Crawler rubbed his hands in anticipation. "The very thought of it excites me, boss," he said. 

Drevis nodded. "Go and select four Crimson Skulls to carry out this task. Let them know that it will take place during the day, so they won't have to worry about being killed by The Viper." 

With that, the scaled sidekick departed. 

Drevis chuckled darkly. "Let's see how the officers like it when their protectors don't come to save them....." 

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The Viper was thinking of ending her shift early that evening; she was tired, and she needed all the strength she could muster if she was going to infiltrate Drevis's base the next night. Just then, she heard police sirens in her vicinity, so she landed on a nearby balcony and turned around to see what was going on. 

A security team showed up at the base of the building that the sniper had fallen from after she interrogated them. They immediately got to work, sectioning off the area and declaring it a crime scene while discouraging passersby from lingering for too long. 

The Viper wore gauntlets; her fingerprints wouldn't be detected on any evidence they might obtain. They had also both been on the roof, one of the few areas that the security cameras didn't cover---it was also a reason why the sniper had picked that spot as their perch to begin with. Still, as she gazed at the fallen figure from the shadows, she felt a tinge of sadness. She had potentially saved someone from a brutal attack, but someone else was dead as a result. Someone who had likely been nothing more than a pawn to evil and who had minimal alternative options. 

It was at this moment that she started to feel a little regret for what she had done. Perhaps she could have removed their skull mask---thus making them appear like a normal citizen---and attempted to call for medical attention, under the guise that the sniper was having a seizure as a result of some other cause. 

No.... she thought as she tried to reason with herself. They were on Drevis's side, so they had it coming....right?

She sighed as an officer stepped forward and slowly put a tarp over the dead sniper's body. Then, she slowly turned around and swung away, feeling deeply conflicted. She decided that she would stay out a little while longer, hoping that more emergency calls would come in to take her mind off of things. 

By perfect timing, her watch beeped, indicating a location at the corner of Millstone and Corkscrew, two streets which she just happened to be passing by. She quickly scanned the area and initially found nothing, but right under a broken, unlit streetlight, she could barely make out the shape of two figures; a man holding a woman at gunpoint. 

"Give me the bag, lady, or else!" the suspect exclaimed, holding the barrel of the pistol against the woman's heart. With panic overwhelming her and tears streaming down her face, she held out the purse towards him, and he was about to take it when suddenly The Viper swung in from the side and kicked him to the pavement. Undeterred, the robber picked himself off the ground and attempted to engage The Viper in a fight, but just like before, the heroine dodged every blow at a superhuman speed, returning with swift and decisive punches and kicks whenever she saw an opening. 

Once he was weakened, The Viper infected him with the Toxin Blade and left him writhing on the ground to be apprehended by the police. She picked up the bag and gave it back to the woman. "I believe this belongs to you, citizen! Have a good evening...." the heroine's voice trailed off as the woman's appearance started to look familiar to her. 

"Ahhh, Viper, it's you!" the woman said happily. "My name's Amy. Thank you so much for saving me and recovering this.....it contains something very special!" She reached into it and pulled out a voucher of some kind. "My husband Dean and I are planning on surprising our daughter for her birthday on Monday by taking her out to dinner!" 

The mentioned names brought a sense of closeness to The Viper, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions too quickly. She asked one more question just to be sure. 

"Ma'am, if I may ask.....what's your daughter's name?" 

The woman smiled. 

"Her name's Hailey!"