ˢⁱⁿᶠᵘˡ ⁱⁿᶠᵃᵗᵘᵃᵗⁱᵒⁿ
໒꒰ྀི'🐍‧｡⋆
[ a demonstration ]
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐠𝐞. They called it a secure prison base, but you knew. Given the walls were thick bars and were lined with ten thousand bolts in case you ever got too close.
They didn't want to try anything with you. That's one thing you were happy with; they were intimidated by you.
You've been in this shithole for a year and a half, and you were safe to assume that after six months, your insanity slowly began chipping away with each merciless attack by the soldiers. Weak fucking men who used their positions of power to do nothing but hurt you.
Beat, kick, punch, taser, cut, slice, wring. Fucking everything.
Sure, you sounded weak, but your resolve only diminished with each passing day in the cell. The change within you was subtle, and it took you a while to finally let go of your old ways of defending yourself against the guards, knowing that's what they wanted. It just caused them to hurt you even more.
Every kick, spit, needle, punch was just another means of humiliation on your end. And with each curse, scream or simple word that you responded with, the torture only continued. With each passing week- no, day, your strength began to fail you. You started to hold back on every little thing that would anger them even more, simply allowing them to abuse your body and mind.
After a while, the torment lessened. First, it would only happen every second day or so. Then it lessened to a week. You've been fortunate enough to only get a beating every four or five days, and the occasional offspring laceration or painful affliction on Sunday. Apparently, you weren't allowed to rest.
You heard the familiar scruff of boots, and you turned around, placing a hand on your hip as Griggs and a few men entered your facility room.
"Hello, Viper," he greeted with a sickening grin. "How's them teeth going? Hiss a little harder at one of my men next time, I'll sink something else into your neck."
"Maybe I should start my morning affirmations," you snapped with a tilt of your head.
"Oh yeah? And what are those?"
"First, give me my fucking meal and I'll tell you."
"They must be mean," he pouted, before nodding at one of the men, slipping a metal tray through the meal opening. It landed on the floor with a clatter, and you raised your brows in annoyance.
"How pathetic," you scoffed, before moving forward.
Reaching down, your fingers made contact with the steel before the opening of the door had your attention. It was forced forward, making contact with your head and sending you to the floor with a grunt.
Screaming, you felt their arms surround themselves around, a soldier gripping your loose hair in his hand and ripping it backwards so that your face was lifted upwards.
Griggs stepped forward, a sigh leaving his nostrils as he cocked his head to the side, taking in your form. "You seem different..." He gripped your chin, forcing your face to the side with a forceful grip. "Oh, what's this?" Leaning down, Griggs brushed a finger over a deep cut on your arm. "Who could've done this?"
"You... prick-!" you huffed out through bared teeth.
"Now, that is just so rude," he clicked his tongue with a furrow of his brows. "I mean, imagine someone just, I don't know- dug their finger in there!"
A scream escaped your lips as he plunged his thumb into the cut, a splatter of blood hitting your cheek as more bubbled to the surface of your skin. A tear escaped your eye from the pain, but a harsh glare painted your features as he scoffed, repeating the earlier gesture of grasping your chin.
The hot scent of blood filled your nostrils as he mockingly rubbed his thumb against your skin. "God, you're insane," he sighed.
"Aren't I?" you smirked breathlessly, still hinging off the ache in your arm.
He didn't respond, instead opting to chuckle deviously as he pushed you backwards once the guards let go of you. You managed to stand, yelling in fury as you rushed forward. The gate shut just as you reached it and your nails scratched at his back guarding.
"Bye-bye, beautiful!" he waved over his shoulder.
"Fuck you!" you screamed, slamming your hands on the bars.
Your world became silent as the doors shut and you sunk to the floor, a breath leaving your lips as you croaked out in discomfort, fingers dancing over the reopened cut that Griggs had once again caused.
You looked up from the concrete floor at the sound of those dreadful mechanical doors opening again. You didn't bother standing up, continuing your drawing as a mass of guards entered the room.
"Come to play again, boys?" you sang with a lull of your head, although your face was stuck in a deep frown. Had been for a while.
"Again?" a woman's voice questioned, causing your eyes to widen a fraction before a smirk flitted across your lips.
"Again," you confirmed with a soft nod of your head. "Your 'perfectly trimmed soldiers' have pretty weak belt buckles."
You heard her chuckle shortly, before speaking, "Darling little snitch, aren't you?"
"I find we tend to have some fun." You finally looked up, recognizing her immediately. Her full lips pulled into an everlasting frown, her eyes dark with apathy and a silver briefcase gripped by her red painted nails. "Waller. How wonderful."
"Lockwoods. How terrible." The corner of your mouth flitted for only a moment until she continued. "You're coming with me."
"I'm not doing shit," you scoffed.
The doors opened, and you barely had enough time before your arms were seized by leather clad hands. You yelled in retaliation, twisting your arms to the point where you were flipping over the two men. Your limbs moved on their own as you delivered swift and deadly kicks and punches to their bodies, the guards falling to the ground a moment later.
"I know how much you like bolts," you heard Waller claim and as you turned around, you felt a sizzling pain in your neck as your eyes lulled into the back of your head.
The last thing you saw was Waller; taser in hand and a smirk at her lips.
Your eyelids cracked open, a tired groan escaping your mouth as you squinted at the sudden bright lights overtaking your vision. Rain pelted down on the ground that you were lying on and as consciousness took place again, you sprung up from the floor, immediately springing forward at the first person you saw.
A poor soldier, one you didn't recognize, happened to be your victim. Launching yourself at him, he landed on the floor with a yelp as you snapped his arm in a vice, a howl leaving his mouth at the appendage now lying limp.
"See, I fucking told you that would happen!" you heard Griggs complain and your head swiveled around. "Jesus, someone restrain her!"
You stood up, leaving the whimpering man to wallow in his own misery as your eyes shifted into their venomous state. Dark slits overtook your vision as your senses heightened for a moment. There were about twenty guards, some of which you recognized, but a few were new.
"Oh, I just knew this day would come," you smirked as you sauntered towards Griggs. "I can feel it. I'm gonna kill you."
"Waller, ma'am, I am begging you to do something," he rushed out, stepping back as you advanced.
You blinked, glancing to your side as you came to a halt at the sight of the woman. "You!" you hissed. "You fucking tasered me!"
"That I did," she nodded with a slight smile. "And I will not hesitate to induce another attack if you continue."
"Continue what? My attempt at killing this dickhead?" you questioned, casting a glare at Griggs.
"How about I return all those fucking favors you served me, huh? Let's start with a simple kick and tear lesson, then maybe we can move onto something more! How about my venom?!"
"Oh, my God!" he shrieked when you leaped forward.
Suddenly, a pair of arms encased your figure, and you grunted as you wrestled against the person's hold. "Where you want her, Waller?"
His voice was deep and gaunt, a southern drawl hanging off each and every word. You weren't able to catch a glance of his face, but you knew damn well he was going to be insufferably attractive.
"In the cage," she answered, gesturing with her head to the specified area.
Not a moment later, you were thrown into a fenced unit. Rain fell against your body as your prison clothes soon became drenched. "Would someone please mind explaining just what the hell I'm doing out here?"
"You're going to show us your abilities, Miss Lockwoods," Waller stated. "I want to see the snake in you, Viper."
You didn't respond, instead breathing deeply from your mouth, not wishing to inhale any water. You didn't understand. Show your abilities? If anything, all they were going to get was a little hiss and be done with it? Besides, how else could you-
Your thoughts were cut off as a haggle of men appeared. They looked dirty and worse for wear, their feared eyes dancing across the yard they were just placed in. Prisoners. Not from Belle Reve, but still criminals all the same.
"Oh, hell no," a man shakily uttered when he saw you, spinning around and banging his fists against the fencing. "Anything! Please, I'll do anything! Not the Viper!"
You couldn't help but feel a swell of pride burst in your stomach. They were all scared of you. How sweet.
"What is this?" you asked, turning around and looking at the woman.
She simply smiled; small and thin. "Kill them."
Your eyes widened at the mere request. But she wasn't kidding. No, somebody didn't kid when they had such a serious look in their eyes.
"Wait, what?"
It was him again. The southern man. He uncrossed his arms, revealing his perfectly trimmed and ironed uniform, facing Waller with an incredulous expression. "You want her to kill them?"
"Yes," she shrugged a single shoulder, looking at you. "I want to witness the Viper. Is that so much to ask? Besides, we're getting rid of extra felonies. A win-win in my eyes."
You blinked against the rain, a sudden feeling overcoming your entire body. Finally. Even if it wasn't Griggs, at least you were able to put your complete hatred and anger on somebody else.
"... Ask and you shall receive."
You felt free. Zipping forward, you jumped forward with a hiss, forked tongue escaping your lips as your teeth bared. Your legs wrapped around one of the prisoner's necks and you vaulted forward, the man flipping over in response. You gathered a flurry of venom and spat it into his mouth, which you had forcefully gauged open. His screams filled the yard as the venom trickled down his throat.
The other prisoners seemed to gather the idea that they would have to defend themselves, so they rallied together, lifting their fists with sneers. You recognized a few of them; a couple of lowlife gangsters and people who worked for the mob. They had a fair trade of fighting.
They hadn't fought you though.
Your movements were quick, almost blurry as you pounced along each of your enemies. You threw one of them over your shoulder, effectively snapping his neck in a vice before heaving his dead body at another. He fell back with a grunt and before he knew it, you were delivering a swift set of kicks to his knees, the cracks sounding even aside the rain.
He howled in pain before you were squeezing his shoulders so hard, they compressed within the hold. You knew that his ribs had cracked, judging from the harsh sound, and from the profuse blood now escaping his mouth, you were safe to assume you had caused some internal bleeding.
You were stuck with the last man, and he backed away with pleads, mumbled prayers leaving his mouth. Surging forward, you spun on your knees as you slid beneath him, standing up and pinning your shin against his back, causing him to fall.
Before he could hit the floor, you had captured him in a fierce hold. Lifting your gaze, you locked eyes with the soldier. His face was impassive, but you could see his eyes and the caution and weariness he tried to conceal under the stony exterior.
Your eyes never strayed from his as your teeth sunk into the man's neck. It was futile, the way he clawed at your grip as the deadly venom flowed through his veins, the throbbing pain emitting from the sharp points of your teeth.
After a minute or so, you felt his body grow limp in your arms, so you let go of him. He was dead, within a few single moments, lying head strewn on the floor with two gruesome juncture points on display.
Wiping a hand over your mouth, gathering the blood of your victims, you proceeded to lift your arms and mockingly bowed. "You're welcome for the thrilling demonstration."
Waller watched your form with scrutinizing pupils, not batting an eye as the guards surrounded you once again, your shouts of agony filling the field as they hacked down your body with their battens.
For some reason, Rick Flag felt remorse seep into his stare as he advanced forward in a single step after watching you pass out on the floor. You were dragged away back to your holding cell, hair drenched with rain and smidges of mud.
Turning around, your confused gaze settled on the ten soldiers that entered the compound. It had been three days since Amanda Waller and her Colonel pet had visited you, wishing for a display of your powers.
And for those three days, there had been a subtle change with the workers. They didn't hurt you for something stupid that would usually piss them off, instead simply ignoring the action. They handed you your meals when it was the according time and turned the lights off at nine. Last night, you requested an extra twenty minutes, thinking you would be abolished, but there was no reply as the lights stayed on for the appealed-for time.
Something was wrong.
"Approach with caution," Griggs instructed in a shout, hand fastening over his gun. "She's a mean little thing. Aren't ya, sweetheart?"
"What's going on?" you questioned, flinching when the doors were ripped out. "Hey, what the fuck!?"
Immediately, they swarmed in on you without a warning and you were ripped back into your memories of the beginning. Every single day, a random group would attack you. They thought if they got you and lessened you to nothing but an obliging prisoner within the first week here, you would stay that way forever until you lived out your natural life.
"You'll see, Viper."
You were moving, and you barely acknowledged the fact that you were sitting in a wheelchair. Your eyes opened, though it was overcome by drowsiness, a groan leaving your lips as you shifted in the seat.
"Hello, sugar."
"Fuck me," you sighed in annoyance upon the smirk painting Griggs' thin lips as he lowered his head in response to your words.
"Oh, I would, but I don't take sloppy seconds. Or thirds. Or tenths. Or twentieths," he listed off on his gloved fingers.
"And I wouldn't take you ever," you snapped, watching as he bristled, huffing slightly.
"I just can't wait anymore."
"Wait for what?" you questioned quickly, and it was only now when you tried to raise your fists that you realized they were contained and stuck underneath thick, leather bonds. Glancing around, your breathing shallowed and you seethed. "What the fuck is this, Griggs?"
"Oh, you'll see, sweets."
A shaky breath escaped you at the sight of a dozen uniformed soldiers in the barracks. Glancing to the side, you caught sight of the large black boxes with dark red logos painting the fronts.
"What is that? Hey, answer me!" you demanded the woman nearing you after opening one of the trunks. "Did you all lose your fucking hearing? Hey!"
"Stand by. Arming device," she instructed as she lifted her hand.
You watched as she approached you with a shiny silver medicine gun. "Device armed," another informed.
"Hey, hey, back up, back up- Fuck!" you shrieked when something was shot into your neck.
"Injection successful- woah!"
The man backed away upon the sight of you bearing your fangs in pain, your eyes splitting into slits as you breathed heavily.
"Location verified," the woman nodded.
"Don't come near me, Griggs," you hissed as he placed his hands on your shoulders and kneaded them slightly before taking ahold of the wheelchair handles and guiding you away. "What's happening? Where am I going? I want to go back."
"You are being transferred," he answered with a scoff. "Looks like Waller found something about you and the other fucking freaks useful."
"What does that even mean?" you groaned, wishing desperately to place a hand on your throbbing neck.
"Jesus Christ, you're going on a mission for the government." Your eyes widened at his annoyed response, and he chuckled dryly at the sight of your face. "Yeah. You. A fucking villain."