The copter began to fly off from the helipad, as Doom made his way back into his fortress. Among her equipment, Cheshire found a solitary white note pinned to her parachute. It read only one word.

Viper.

"Agreed."

Cheshire lowered her aim, and Viper kicked open the ventilation shaft's wired cover, and slipped through like the reptile she was named after. Cheshire sighed, and entered the dark shaft.

"What are we after?" she asked Viper who was up ahead, tinkering with the alarm system by the end of the shaft. And with one fell swoop, she managed to disarm it, and get down the ladder that she was anticipating. "Doom did not tell you anything?" Viper asked, somewhat bored, as she checked on any onlookers by the next corridor.

"We're supposed to meet the Latverian contact down in the laboratory, on the whereabouts of a certain BlueChip Doom had plans to use on. Based on the schematics he has given me, it is imminent that he will be building some sort of powerful database network, an access to all the black files."

Cheshire shivered at the cold intonation of Viper. Her words were a slick as her name. "I guess not, surprisingly," Viper remarked, as she began to run down the grey corridors in a style of stealth that opposed that of a ninja.

"I'm guessing you know more than just totting a desert eagle, Viper," Cheshire commented, as she heard footsteps across the hall. Guards were coming to check the disabled alarm system. Viper and Cheshire readied their guns, and fired. Two guards fell at their initial outburst. The other five pulled back, trying to recover from the ambush.

"Monelli, guard your back!" one of them said in Italian, firing at them with a heavy Gatling gun. Viper took to the air, taking him down with a kick in his jaw, and breaking his arm. The one he addressed as Monelli, a woman in her mid-twenties, used an FAMAS against Cheshire, who took the brunt of the blow through her kevlar. Cheshire hid behind a wall, until the moment was right, and fired away with her magnum. The magnum bullets pierced her body, and Monelli fell dead on the floor. One of the remaining members flung a smoke bomb, and disappeared in the chaos that ensued. Viper choked as the fumes began to circulate. Then they heard a sound -- a sound of steel metal upon the hard floor.

"A trap. The oldest trick in the book," Cheshire muttered. The metal walls that shut them in the corridor with the smoke gas was impenetrable. Viper turned around, checking her surroundings. "Where is that thing?" she muttered, checking the wall's surface.

Cheshire stared at her in disbelief and curiosity. "Just a question, and don't be offended--but what are you doing?"

Viper then stopped, and aimed at the wall. She fired through it, with a hole revealing a intricate circuitry. Viper took a look at it, and began to ponder. "Damn, this is not good . . . " she mumbled. Cheshire moved in, and took the circuitry as her own. "It's a big one. Connected to the main generator. Needs a tune-up," she grumbled, as the gas began to get to the two of them. "This is not a good way to die," Viper moans, trying to break the walls down. Cheshire took a plier from her waist belt, and pondered on which circuit to cut. "We have 8.13 seconds to complete this . . . " The panic in her voice began to show. The gas was nearly intoxicating, as they held their breathe. Either way, they might not get out alive. "Red . . . could be connected to . . . "

"Cheshire! Do hurry up!"

"Blue . . . explosions . . . if it was a usual case . . . "

"Cheshire!"

"Green . . . could be it . . . "

Red, Green, and Blue. Aligned and readied, Cheshire recalled Doom's words. And knew what to do.

She cut off the blue wire.

The explosion rendered the corridor useless and hazardous, as fire swept through that wing of the facility, and the lights cut off through the whole. Indeed, it was an explosion, but the metal walls fell off, and Cheshire and Viper made their way from the wreckage.

"How did that happen?" Viper mumbled, trying to stay focused from the aftereffects of the gas.

Cheshire placed the pliers back in her waist belt and proceeded on. "Doom told me," she explained, as they ran through the corridors, alarms in full swing.

"What is that you commented?"

"Doom told me. This is not the usual case. The facility would apply certain tricks to fool even the best spy."

"Are you implying that we got out there unscathed because you took a guess? A trick?" Viper said in disbelief. Cheshire was quiet, still focused on the mission.

Viper harshly commented to her, "Then you are more of a rookie than I would have guessed."

Doctor Doom sat in his war room, observing the duo in their actions. Clearly, Cheshire's attempt in tomfoolery has been guised more by her expertise in the state of technology. Doom sighed under his suit, and tinkered with the head of a ruined Doombot in his right hand.

"Alas, poor Yorick. I had known him well," Doom whispered to the metal walls, as he dropped the empty head onto the floor. Calculating the possible scenarios that once amused him, Doom took most care of this mission. "I will need someone with the greatest of assassination skills, and expertise that marks beyond genius. Indeed, these two will go far. But how far?" he asked the computer.

"To be or not to be? Cheshire experiences . . . mild trauma whilst compare to the swift judgement and vile intent of Viper. However, she has wrestled over the power of Hydra and won . . . such a victory is not a token to be kept away." The computer did not reply, yet Doctor Doom was content. "A fellow of infinite jest. This . . . scenario thus amuses me."

"Computer? Record and Save information. Password; Werner-Greta."

As the cold technology placed all information in secret at his command, Doom sat on his steel throne, and admired his work.

"Indeed, of infinite jest."

Thanks to Cheshire's flare, the corridor was dimly lit enough to pave the way for the two. Viper checked the laboratories for the contact, but as of yet, no one has been found alive. After they came through. Viper, partially annoyed, began to tire of searching. Then, it came to Cheshire.

"Viper?"

"No, no one here. This is too quiet for it to be the work of Doom's hand . . . "

"Viper."

"What is it?"

Cheshire pointed at the dead body in Laboratory AC. Underneath his trenchcoat, the symbols of the Latverian flag were etched on the side.

"Well, he should not show his colors," Viper commented, searching for the contact's ID. "Where will we find this BlueChip?"

Cheshire was too focused on one thing to pay attention to Viper's words. There had been dossier files underneath the lab table, smothered with fresh blood as if it was done not so long ago.

"Someone doesn't want us to find out," muttered Cheshire, trying to wipe the blood off with a rag. Viper checked on the cabinets, to see if there were any dossiers hidden in them.

"Okay, here we are," Cheshire pointed out, calling to Viper to come check on the information.

"The 4XJLSA BlueChip is a prototype for advanced military equipment. Proving to be too deadly to be of use, Professor Margolluar has secured it in the Black Room."

"In English yet."

"Not all the employees here are Italian, Viper. English is the international language that bridges people. In case you didn't know," Cheshire implied, checking on the other pages. "Here's the map. It's ten corridors down the South Wing. Not too far from here, if the map is correct."

"Let me see that," Viper said, taking the dossiers, then paused for a minute. "Fine, let's go."

The feet dragged across the Center Facility, unaware that they have been spotted by several operatives. By the fifth corridor, Cheshire made a detour into a room.

"What are we doing here?" Viper whispered, as Cheshire opened one of the cabinets in the room, revealing a fully equipped armory.

"Just taking precautions, Viper," she said, taking a FAMAS and an AK-47. "This is a heavy duty artillery. Shouldn't be going on without one."

Viper grabbed the AK-47, and placed it into her arms, like a mother cradling her child. "I prefer using this lighter one, thank you."

As soon as they got outside, however, bullets flew straight at them. They both dodged them, and realized the ambush. "More guards!" Cheshire yelled, as the bullets barely missed her in mid-air. Viper, calm and excited, dodged the bullets with her graceful acrobatics.

"No," she said. "More prey."

Like the snake that the name implies, Viper took no remorse to the battlefield, taking down more in less seconds than the quantity of her opponents. Cheshire, in the midst of the battle, fired at two of the guards, before she noticed Viper, in her best of talents. Then Cheshire also remembered that, along with her name, Viper carries the malice and cruelty that were inscribed in her actions well.

"They are undone," Viper said, as the last of the guards, bullet riddled, fell onto the cement floor. "What was that you were saying about heavy artillery?" she said grimly, as Cheshire now knew more about her partner than she intended.

"Baron Doom," Boris, the man's faithful servant, implied, as Doom took the helicarrier at the helm of Latveria's best pilots. Doombots. Doom turned to the old man, and Boris shuddered, as the metal mask resembled much of Doom's true personality. There was no man behind the mask. Only Doom. "Boris, you know what to do," he said, breath freezing outside his suit, yet he was fully insulated. The Helicarrier lifted off, making its way to the west of Latveria. Boris took to the automated pilot back in the castle, and pinpointed its destination.

The Italian Alps.

"This is not a versatile program," Cheshire grumbled, as once again, the codes to the Black Room were denied. "So far, none of these codes work. Italy, Venice, Verona, Vatican, L.Maggiore, Alps. The dossier hints the code being about how Italy's shape came to form to the eyes of man. What does that mean?"

Viper pushed Cheshire aside, and took to the controls. "Let us see . . . the shape of Italy? How about . . . "

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap. Cling.

=BOOT; Access Granted=

Cheshire just was plain disillusioned as the doors swung open for the duo. Viper just stepped in. "Remember, you told me that this facility houses tricks that befuddle even the most adequate for the profession," she said cunningly, as the two entered the room.

There it was, the gargantuan CPU database that housed the BlueChip. Viper stood in awe, as Cheshire went to the helm of the computer. "This is the end of the road for this mission, Viper," Cheshire said, as she sighed and typed in the BOOT password.

Cling.

"Now, to reveal the chip we have been looking for," she said, as she searched for it on the databanks.

No results have been gathered.

"What!?!" Cheshire exclaimed, and tapped on to it again.

No results have been gathered.

"This . . . this is not happening . . . " Viper moaned, as Cheshire continued to try and gain access. "No, that's not possible! How's . . . "

No results have been gathered.

No results have been gathered.

No results have been gathered.

Then an explosion. Not from the database, but rather, the wall beside it. There, Doctor Doom stood in brilliant light, that of his helicarrier, as the monarch made his way towards the two. "Miss Cheshire. Miss Viper. It would be seemingly obvious that the 4XJLSA BlueChip is not recorded or stored in the computer unless it does not even exist. This database in flawless, I assure you. I created it, thus I know."

"You created this?" Viper said, disbelieving the despot. Cheshire then came to ask "Why?"

"Believe me, had I not seen you both in action, I would have not anticipated the players to move in a scenario I had not expected. I had created this whole facility, this whole scenario, as a byproduct of my plans; a test to see which one of you may succeed in completing it. However, as I have monitored your actions on the screen, it seems your uneasy alliance has been formed."

Viper then became annoyed, enraged at Doom. "You teamed me with this rookie? She doesn't even display the potential to be a hero! She has risked both our lives in a very unprofessional way."

Rookie?

Heroine?

Risk?

The words did not sit well with Cheshire. After all, who wouldn't if they were undercover, not allowed to prove that they are indeed, powerful beyond measure.

Beat her on her own terms. Beat her as you are, not as Hydra's leader.

He sat on the ruined metallic helm, and observed the two disillusioned ladies. "But time is not of the essence, I shall only pick one . . . " Under his mask, he smiled cruelly. " . . . to the death."

Viper began firing what was left of her AK-47's bullets at Cheshire, who fell back, wounded slightly by the harsh blow. Using the FAMAS gunbutt, Viper fell back, then Cheshire tossed it at her, barely scratching Viper. She moved instantly, taking a knife from Cheshire's waist belt, and plunged it down Cheshire. She stumbled back, and fell, barely breathing. Viper, triumphant, turned to Doom.

"I have won," she said. Doom, unmoved, just sat still.

Then a shot. A fire in the night, and before Viper could take her Desert Eagle in hand, Cheshire shot her again, using her prized Magnum. Viper dropped to the floor, as Cheshire, wounded, knelt before Doom.

"As I told you, Miss Cheshire, it is only certain one of you will be the victor."

Cheshire took a moment to gasp, and recollect everything she experienced that night.

I am not a rookie

I am not the hero.

I took risks to save my life.

"Is Miss Viper still alive?" Doctor Doom asked, as the Doombots dragged Viper's body outside, alone and isolated, until the authorities come to inspect the scene.

"Flesh wounds. She wore heavy kevlar under that suit. She'll heal."

"Then, come. While the world is a price that we can yet obtain," Doctor Doom moved towards the light of the helicarrier, as Cheshire, taking the knife out of her, followed suit.

Cheshire's last thought faded away as the light of the helicarrier blinded her, and made its way back to Latveria.

There is a great difference with the Magnum and the Desert Eagle, Viper.

One has to be better than the other.