PERSONAL

Gender: Female

Kit: Normal

Location: Hono City, Khazan

AFFILIATION

Alignment: Villain

Team: The Syndicate

VITAL STATS

Strength: standard (rank 1)

Agility: superior (rank 2)

Mind: superior (rank 2)

Body: superior (rank 2)

Spirit: (rank )

Charisma: (rank )

RECORD

Infamy Points: 0

Personal Wins: 1

Personal Losses: 4

Team Wins: 0

Team Losses: 0

Tourney Wins: 0

Tourney Losses: 0

STATUS

Status: Active

Pseudonym

Unconsciousness is not an unpleasant feeling. Instead of struggling to swim against the current, one floats down the river of time, unaware and at perfect peace with the world. That's what she told us. But paralysis is nothing like unconsciousness, though the symptoms be the same.

A-19 found Lady Serpent on the floor of her basement IV'd to an industrial sized tank of her own paralytic agent. Her eyes flashed with an impotent fury. Her makeup was perfect and untouched like a layer of smooth porcelain over her delicate, pretty face. She was like a statue, or as A-19 began to think of her, like a trophy.

Once the Kennelmaids realized she had gone missing, they had separated in order to search. A-19 found her frozen in place, submerged in the river of time, drowning but not dying. She was no longer fit to be in charge, so A-19 decided to take her position.

At first she disposed of everyone she thought dangerous to her. She joined A-22 in her search and hid her beneath the stairwell. Then she went to meet A-24, the one who had always been the smartest, and drowned her at the shore. After all her competition was dead, A-19 went back to the Kennel. She had to get ready for her debut.

The light of the bathroom's vanity shined down as A-19 decided what make up she would be using. She wanted to separate herself from her predecessor. Instead of working very complicated patterns, she applied one layer of ivory white all over her face. Then, for colour, she applied deep red lipstick. Her mask was complete and simple. Instead of hiding her face, she merely accentuated it. She was no longer herself, no longer A-19.

None dared to question her authority. There was an unspoken understanding that the previous Lady Serpent had died and a new one had come to take her place. A-19 heard from the Kennelmaids words that she herself had said countless times before, "To your service, Lady Serpent, we commit ourselves."

Thus A-19 became Lady Serpent, but not by the words of the Kennelmaids. Their mindless, perfunctory chanting was nothing but procedure. A-19 didn't become Lady Serpent when she heard other people call her that; she became Lady Serpent when she found her predecessor, alone in her basement, and seized the opportunity.

Lady Serpent sat alone in her jacuzzi, alcoholic beverage in hand, letting the warm jets of water soothe muscles sore from physical training. In the corner of her room, the Painted Trophy stared back at her. It served as an inspiration to do better and a warning as to what torture comes to losers.

All four members of Lady Serpent's personal guard entered. The Kennelmaids unit had been disbanded, the new Lady Serpent didn't much want for maids. She kept the four most competent at fighting and fired the rest, dumped them unceremoniously on the street somewhere. Those girls were pretty, Lady Serpent was sure they'd find a life doing something else: unconcerned, but sure.

Lady Serpent sighed and look at those who had intruded. "Did you find her?"

The tallest of the guard, who seemed to have become the leader either by virtue of her height or actions spoke first "No, ma'am." The other three remained silent, standing at attention.

"Then why are you here?

"We have reason to believe that people are moving in on our turf." The other three nodded in agreement.

Lady Serpent sat up straight and put down her drink on the side of the jacuzzi. "Let the goons be concerned with turf like obsolete feudal lords. My power is not in terms of land owned. I don't own land; I own people and pay rent. You know this."

One of the guard interrupted: this one had a softer voice. "No, our sea transport route into Khazan City. Someone is claiming control."

Lady Serpent rolled her eyes. "When it becomes important. We will attend to it. For now, your mission remains the same. Find her."

Lady Serpent's Guard

     Commander: supreme (rank 3)

"We found her"

Step One: Collecting

Kabuki was walking down the street, arms laden with groceries that she was bringing back home to her apartment. In the darkness of the street, where the spotlights couldn't reach, a van followed slowly behind her.

Kabuki bent down to tie her laces and the door to the van slid open silently. One of the members of the guard leapt out, vaulted over a car to get to the sidewalk and leaned into an elbow drop. Kabuki rolled away, making sure to keep the groceries from falling over. The guard pulled into a controlled somersault and sprang up from the ground, arms up ready to throw another punch.

Kabuki turned to outrun her aggressors. Another guard tipped off a passing truck, swung off a lamppost and kicked out at Kabuki. She didn't see the kick coming and went down. Her groceries spilled out all over the street. Kabuki rolled over and jumped to her feet, but she was surrounded by four people. She struck out with a radial, sweeping tae-kwon-do kick. One of them caught her foot and slammed her into the facade of a nearby building. Kabuki jumped back to her feet, ribs hurting where she hit the molding on the doorframe. There was no chance of outfighting all four of these people. She waited for one of them to throw a punch, ducked under it and broke free of the circle, running top speed.

The tallest of the guards looked at another and addressed her directly. "Three, go get her. We'll be right behind you." The other guard nodded and took off at top speed toward Kabuki. The other three, who couldn't run as fast took up the rear. The shortest one bounced off a garbage can to get up to the rooftops and followed from there.

Three caught up to Kabuki and attempted a running tackle, wrapping her arms around Kabuki's waist and putting all her momentum forward. Kabuki let herself fall backwards in a pankration sprawl. Her elbow slammed the assailant's head into the pavement. The wrappings around her head started to shred against the concrete. Three held on as tight as she could while Kabuki rained punches down on her head; she didn't have to win the fight: she just had to delay.

The other two on the ground caught up quickly and put Kabuki in an armlock, stopping the bludgeoning of their partner. The small one who had taken to the roofs walked calmly out from the alleyway in front of Kabuki where she had hidden in case Kabuki broke free again.

The guards produced rope quickly and tied Kabuki up: feet together, arms pinioned behind her back like chicken wings, hands between her shoulders with wrist tied together and again to a rope wrapped around Kabuki's shoulders like a bear hug. While two of them worked with the rope, the tallest one looked Three over to make sure she was okay and said, "When we get back to the palace, I will help you."

They brought Kabuki back to the car and threw her in the backseat. Lady Serpent in the front seat turned around and smiled back at her captive. "It's been a long time, A-13."

Lady Serpent's Chemicals

     Creation: standard (rank 1)

When the Painted Trophy operated, before she was a trophy, she had a list of chemical recipes to make her various paralytic agents. Her successor took that list and added to it. Lady Serpent was deadly with her store of chemicals.

Step Two: Shipping

The four guards held Kabuki still while Lady Serpent put the sedative in her neck. Kabuki's muscles strained and flexed under the sharp pain of the needle, but soon her body went limp. Lady Serpent drove out to Dockside where a rented boat would take them to the palace up in Hono City on the north side of Khazan.

The chemical injection into Kabuki's system also included a time dilation effect. When the sedative woke up and Kabuki found herself awake in an iron storage container, the four hour long ride would feel like weeks to her.

The boat loading went splendidly. Lady Serpent paid the guys who owned the boat, plus a little extra to have him ignore the unconscious woman being carried into the storage crate. Before the boat left, Lady Serpent walked into the storage crate to talk."

The iron door cranked closed, leaving Lady Serpent alone in the darkness with a sedated Kabuki. There was no light, so she couldn't see. In the darkness, Lady Serpent let herself go.

"Why am I doing this?" she asked the body. "Why am I hunting you down and hurting you? To be honest, I'd much rather let you go but would they respect me if I do? What if I let the one person who escaped from the Kennel go?"

The room rang with silence. Lady Serpent's desperate words echoed around in her mind. Tears started to fall. "You don't know what it was like. You were the favorite." The body was unapologetic. Lady Serpent continued. "She dressed us like dolls. She made us feel like immature children. But you, she empowered you."

Lady Serpent started to feel silly with her emotional outburst. She turned away and knocked twice on the wall. One of the guards pulled it open from the other side. Lady Serpent sighed and said emotionlessly, "Let's go."

Lady Serpent's Art

     Martial Arts: standard (rank 1)

The boat sped over the gray water west of Khazan. The trip had been going on for an hour. Lady Serpent was sitting and having her guards inform her on expansion of the Serpent Operation. There were forty women in the palace right now, all of which were regularly bought and sold. Lady Serpent was pulling in a good amount of money, enough that within a year she would be able to afford the boat she wanted, hopefully. But she still wanted to expand the operation.

Their conversation was interrupted by a grappling hook wrapping itself around the bow of the boat. Lady Serpent cocked her head to the side in confusion. She heard one of her guards say, "uh oh".

"What is happening?" Lady Serpent barked. A person climbed up the rope and onto the bow of the ship. His suit was completely dry.

"This is the problem we had mentioned," said a guard.

The man approached. "My name is Wernher, and you, madam, are in my waters. You have not paid your tax, and that is not acceptable."

His approach was so sudden, and his pitch so confident that Lady Serpent was struck dumb. After a second she spluttered, "No."

"What?"

"No, get off my boat." Lady Serpent motioned for her guards. All four stood directly behind her, ready to strike at any moment.

"I will not get off this boat," Wernher pulled a knife out of the inside pocket of his blazer. "And since you refuse to pay your tax to me. We're taking this boat and your cargo."

One of Lady Serpent's guards broke protocol and spoke, unspoken to. "We?"

Wernher snapped his fingers and a swarm of wires whizzed through the air connected to grappling hooks which anchored themselves to the railings on the side of the boat. Twenty men, armed with knives, pipes, and other assorted weapons boarded the ship.

Lady Serpent turned to her guard and barked her orders. "You guys take care of this trash on the bow, I have to make sure they aren't disturbing our cargo." The four guards leapt into the fray while Lady Serpent turned on her heel and dashed towards the back of the ship where Kabuki slept.

Lady Serpent's Defense

     Reflection: superior (rank 2)

Eleven men were standing by the door to Kabuki's box trying to cut around the lock to which Lady Serpent had the key on a necklace around her neck. She entered with a flying kick to the skull of the one holding the knife and bounced off his head landing in a defensive pose. The men stood, stunned for a second. One adventurous man charged, switchblade in hand, arm raised and ready to swing. When he did, Lady Serpent sidestepped the blow and used the man's own momentum to slam him to the wooden deck.

Two more men attacked; Lady Serpent slammed their skulls into each other. She could feel one man's nose break against the other's and it made her laugh.

The rest of the thugs hung back, watching to see what would happen. Lady Serpent looked at them and shouted, "Either fight me or get off my ship."

They charged, Lady Serpent quick dispatched seven of them. The last one, she bounced his head off of Kabuki's container. Eleven men squirmed on the deck. Lady Serpent started pushing them toward the side where she could throw them over.

She heard a creak behind her and stopped. The door to Kabuki's crate had opened slightly when Lady Serpent pounded the thug's head against it. She stumbled out, panic on her face, looking back and forth from her left hand to her right. She looked up and bellowed, "Why is everything moving so slow?"

Lady Serpent's Perfection

     Combat Supremacy: superior (rank 2)

The sedative had worn off. Now there was a pissed off, drugged up martial arts master on the boat along with almost fifty thugs. There was no indication as to how the guards were doing with Wernher who might have been some kind of wizard judging by his unblemished suit.

Kabuki caught sight of Lady Serpent and charged. She struck out with fists and elbows, doing her best to do damage. Lady Serpent weaved around the blows, filling in the spaces between the punches, making sure not to get hit. Kabuki was similarly nimble enough to evade all of Lady Serpent's blows. Neither of them was able to hurt the other.

"Face it, there's nothing you can do," taunted Lady Serpent, "This boat is taking us far away from here and there's nothing you can do about it. Once my guards get over here, we're gonna put you down again and this time, for good."

"This boat is going away from Khazan." Kabuki repeated to herself. She broke away from the Khazan and ran to the back of the boat. Lady Serpent realized her mistake too late and gave chase with just enough time to hear the splash of Kabuki jumping off the boat and into the water. In the moonlight, Lady Serpent could see the ripples moving out from where she landed. She leaned over the side of the boat and screamed at the top of her lungs in impotent rage and frustration.When she had tired herself out, her lungs and throat hurting, Lady Serpent sighed and turned around to see her four guards were watching. She stood silent,waiting for them to comment on her failure. The tallest one cleared her throat and said, "We've dispatched the intruders. What shall we do with them?"

"Throw'em overboard. Let's just go home."