Captain Uni
Eddie Brock
Master Bruce
Sep
Cyberlad
HEROES FOR HIRE
in
A SNAKE IN THE GRASS
in
A SNAKE IN THE GRASS
This is not how I expected this night to go, that much is for sure. Then again, I don’t know who expects to run into a snake-like assassin thief breaking into a museum for some reason in the middle of the night. If nothing else, I lead an interesting life, I guess.
Copperhead moves like no enemy I’ve ever faced before, and that’s saying something. She has to be double-jointed, as she seems to slither as she moves towards me. I fall into a defensive stance and back away from her, hoping she gets desperate and lashes out before she’s ready. No such luck, however. She just keeps her eyes locked onto me and dances forward.
“Oh come on, lady,” I grumble at her. “You’re leaning really hard into this snake thing.”
“It is not a thing, infidel,” she hisses at me. “It is everything.”
“What the hell does that mea-?” Before I can finish she springs towards me, lashing out with the claws on her hands. That has to be where the poison she used on the guard is located. I don’t see any other weapons on her person, so my first goal here is to make sure that they don’t land a slash on me.
That’ll be a feat in itself, as I can’t believe how fast Copperhead can strike. Her hands lash out in blurs of metal and skin, and it takes all my reflexes and concentration to make sure they don’t land. As each potential blow fails to find its target, I can feel the wind from her swipes. They’re getting far too close for my liking.
After another close call that I happen to time right, I land a flurry of pinpoint palm strikes on her lead shoulder. While they’re not all that powerful, I know where to hit people for the maximum amount of pain. Being the Iron Fist certainly has its benefits.
Copperhead retreats and lets out a threatening hiss, “Well, you are as good as they say. It’s a shame I’m going to have to kill you.”
“Lady, would you shut up?” I grumble. I really hate when these people feel the need to tell me I’m going to die twenty times in a fight. Somehow the threats really never make it through.
“Gladly,” she smiles and comes after me again. She springs forward off her hands in a flip, surprising me and catching me with the heel of her foot as it swings around. The blow dazes me and throws me ever so slightly off my defensive stance. It’s all she needs to land a spinning backhanded blow with three of her claws across my chest.
I instantly feel the burn as the poison enters my bloodstream, but I don’t have time to worry about that. I’m taking this freak down, one way or another. I focus my energy to slow my heart rate down, ensuring it takes as long as possible for the poison to complete its journey through my body. It won’t negate its effects, but it should give me time to take out the assassin.
But I need to be quick.
Luckily, her landing the tainted strike against me has put her into a false sense of security. She begins to dance around, taunting me, “Feel that, Iron Fist? Soon, your greatest fears will come to you...and then your heart will explode.”
“Not today,” I snarl and jump into action. I slide under a surprised slice from Copperhead, bend over forward and drive my back heel up. It connects with her chin, sending her flying into the display she stole from. The glass she took the time to cut shattered around her, lacerating her skin in multiple places.
I look to press my advantage, but, suddenly, the poison begins to take hold over my nervous system. The edges of my vision blurs in a wavy halo around Copperhead as she laughs at my struggle, “I told you that your fears would come to you.”
As she stands out of the disheveled diorama, her form contorts and bends before becoming a ghastly visage of Davos, the Steel Serpent. His eyes glow red, and shadowy tendrils emanate from his black mask. Behind him, the figure of a burning K’un-Lun appears behind him. In the distance I can hear the screams of the city’s people, and the voice of Lei Kung the Thunderer echoes through my brain like a freight train, “You failed us, Daniel. You failed us all.”
“No,” I say weakly and try to bat at Davos as he approaches. The hallucination wavers, but doesn’t break. My normal pinpoint control on my own life force is breaking, and the poison is doing its job
“Oh yes,” he laughs effeminately, giving me the slight break in illusion I need. I throw out a desperate combination of strikes, managing to find my mark with one to the shoulder of Davos, who shrieks in pain and turns back into Copperhead. I can tell I’ve done damage. She sneers at me and hightails it towards the roof, with me in not-so-hot pursuit.
Once I reach the top of the building, I manage to see her leap from the roof and run into the park. I hobble after, take the leap, and try for a graceful landing. Instead, in my altered state, I land awkwardly, tweaking my ankle. I limp into the park after her, but my vision begins to fade to black.
I take out the phone again and call Luke, “Luke...Central Park...need...Claire...poisoned.”
The phone falls out of my hand and smashes against the ground below, followed quickly by my skull. Darkness overtakes me, and before long, so does nothingness.
