The Paragons

Chapter 1: Where It All Began

That same night, in the city of Mercury Heights, three men were attempting to break into a car parked on the outside lot of the local hospital's massive, five-floor parking garage. They all wore dark clothing---so they could hardly be seen---and were carrying flashlights, empty suitcases, and sacks slung over their shoulders, ready to plunder the vehicle and steal anything of value they could find. One of them was of a relatively average height and build, but of the other two, one seemed to be shorter than normal, and the other one appeared to be somewhat overweight.

"How are you enjoying your first week in this line of work, Junior?" asked the average one, who seemed to be directing the other two.

"Meh.....I don't think he's really up to talking, boss," the pudgy one replied. "He's taking this all pretty hard."

"It's true...." said the short one. "I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for my girlfriend breaking up with me. I mean....I did technically cheat on her, but she's never around the house anymore because of her job. What did she think was going to happen?" He sighed. "Now I'm left with nothing, and have no way to start over. Don't get the wrong idea; I'm not doing this because I like it. Someone approaches me with a way out, I'm dropping both of you in a heartbeat."

"Come on, now," the leader responded. "If she can't spare a moment for you, then you shouldn't be sparing any moments for her, either. Besides.....isn't this more fun?"

The trio continued chatting casually, unaware that on the third floor of the garage in front of them, a figure was standing on the edge of the cement wall looking down at the lot, observing them.

Her long, straight, dirty-blonde hair blew magnificently in the cool, night wind. A black domino mask outlined her sharp eyes perfectly. Her bright, green eyes---with dark, slit pupils---burned brightly with purpose. She wore a light-green, form-fitting, midriff-exposing, short-sleeve top with a black "V" emblazoned on the front, now enhanced with yellow lining around the letter, as well as a pair of dark-green, elastic combat shorts that barely reached the top of her thighs which contained numerous straps and two holsters---one on each hip---for her dual pistols. One of the loops also contained a pair of twin daggers, but she rarely used them. She also wore a pair of sleek, green boots with a comfortable, woolly interior which came up to about halfway up her lower leg, which, combined with her shorts, left almost nothing to the imagination. In addition, she possessed two gauntlets, one on each hand. The one on the left held her retractable Toxin Blade, which allowed her to inject her foes with a debilitating poison that, while incapable of killing them, would cause them to suffer immense pain, convulsions, and mouth foaming before eventually going unconscious---the perfect condition to arrest them and bring them in; the blade could also be shot out of its socket for long-range attacks. The one on the right instead held her grappling hook, which was her main method of getting around the city very quickly; she used it to swiftly swing across buildings in a similar fashion to Spider-Man. Finally, her right wrist had a special watch whose purpose was twofold; it allowed her to quickly change in and out of her costume on a dime, as well as alert her of any emergency calls from the citizens that came in through the Viper Hotline, her emergency contact number that was separate from her normal self's phone, that acted akin to 911.

As The Viper crossed her arms and monitored the criminals' activities, she frowned disapprovingly. It really didn't matter how long she had protected the city; there would always be those stubborn few who never learned. Her nightly watches had struck fear into some, successfully dissuading them, but others often disregarded her activities until they found themselves on the receiving end of her epic beatdowns, which would more often than not result in them being dragged off to prison.