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Viper || Madame Hydra [indie rp] nihilist/toxicologist/capitalist/terrorist veneficious: adj. having...
Just a reminder to new followers (in case I haven’t messaged you already) that this is an inactive account to archive threads from an rpg. Please follow my indie rp sideblog instead, thanks!
Everything prior to this post is archived - if you’re looking to rp with an indie Madame Hydra, please follow my sideblog instead.
top hats & waistcoats \\ viper + flash {circus au}
“If I call you ma’am, then everyone else does too.” Flash said with a smile, sliding into the space beside the woman. “They should have respect for you, it sets a standard. You can’t let them see you as too human, you know. They’ve got to have a little bit of fear, it keeps them on their toes.” The blond was a fan of rank and order, going back to his time spent in the military. His life had been a mess without the kind of discipline the army had offered him and even though he’d been a civilian for years now, he still kept things regimented and controlled. It was the best way to deal with the freaks and the lost that made up the circus. He could keep a firm hand on them, bringing some sort of order to their chaos, not enough to make them jump to attention but just enough to make sure that acts went out on time and that the thousands of safety checks on their equipment was carried out with precision. Someone’s life would be on the line if they slipped and Flash wasn’t going to have any accidents on his watch. He owed it to them and especially to Ophelia to do everything he could to keep them safe.
“Everyone’s working hard, I’ve never seen them so motivated before. It’s going to be a really tough decision. Have you given any thought about what you’re going to do with them? They keep asking me for any updates and I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to hold them off.”
"Ma'am sounds so old," the ringmaster protested rather childishly. The upwards twitch of her mouth, however, made it clear that she didn't mind Flash's need for regiment. He'd done too much for the circus for her to every truly become angry with him. In fact, there were few in their large, chaotic ensemble that Ophelia did not get along with. Their uppity and increasingly snobbish magician was perhaps one of them, but even he was tolerable once she'd had her morning coffee. Besides, Sarkissian banked on her circus' loyalty to her - she wasn't entirely altruistic when offering her home to the many strays she'd acquired over the years. They all had something to offer to the show, else she would have done nothing for them. Absentmindedly drumming her fingers against the steering wheel, the Hungarian worried her lower lip with her teeth; what Flash asked was rather difficult to answer.
"Mr. Osborn and I are still in talks," Ophelia finally replied in a low murmur for fear a wandering ear might overhear the two. "The man's an absolute brat, but I am not completely convinced yet that I can't convince him to become our patron, rather than selling him a part of the circus. I wish I knew what to say, but so much is up in the air."
ladies and gentlemen... \\ viper + bruce {circus au}
"It was one time!" he exclaimed, still laughing as he chased her outside. "One time. And my arm still works… See?" He held out his left arm and opened and closed his fingers into a fist a few times. The movement was a little stiff, disjointed even, but still there was movement, and he was grinning like a kid at Christmas. "Mostly works, anyway. So I consider it an evening well spent."
Expression softening, he shook his head. “No. You looked faint to me. To the untrained eye, you’re just as gorgeous, and peppy as ever.” He smiled and offered her an arm. “I, on the other hand, think you could do with a few hotdogs, and maybe some leftover popcorn. Or cotton candy! Do you think they’ve stopped making the cotton candy?”
"One time too many," Ophelia remarked with a pointed frown. Of course, the audience had been amazed and believed it all to be a part of the show - resulting in much higher ticket sales for the rest of the performances. But still, it was the principle of the matter. "Oh don't show me," she continued wrinkling her nose as he displayed his poor dexterity. "I think I'd quit if my arm ever ended up like that."
After all, the acrobatics involved with the aerial silks required strong and flexible muscles and joints. The Hungarian's shoulders relaxed at Bruce's words and with a dazzling smile, she linked her arm with his. "Well, in that case, hot dogs and popcorn and cotton candy sound perfect."
It'd be nice to not worry about the future of the circus for a little while.
ladies and gentlemen... \\ viper + bruce {circus au}
Bruce smiled, and stopped blowing on her, laughing as he moved to face the woman. “You’re not going to let that go, are you?” he teased, raising an eyebrow. “Geeze, you get bitten in front of ONE live audience, and you’re forever ‘that guy who got bitten by a lion in front of a thousand people’…. I finished the show, didn’t I? Or were you referring to the mauling? Because that’s the only injury that actually counts…”
He studied the ringmaster’s face, and instinctively felt a slight heat rising in his cheeks.
"You, ah… you finished the show out beautifully tonight," the lion tamer smiled. "But you did look a little… well, faint. You eaten anything tonight?"
With dark curly hair and deep eyes, Bruce Banner made an attractive performer. Add to that his tanned skin and his ability with a whip and a good many of the older women who came for the show ended up staying past to catch a glimpse of the tall, dark and handsome lion tamer. Meeting his gaze steadily, her red coated lips automatically curved upwards. There was something warm about the man she found herself drawn towards.
"You collapsed the moment you got off stage," she responded, teasing tone laced with concern (even if his exorbitant hospital bills were problematic). "We sat in the emergency room in full costume." She paused as the call to pull down the tent went up. Stepping past the lion tamer, shoulder brushing against his chest, the ringmaster made her way out, knowing he would follow.
"Faint? I looked faint to the audience?" Ophelia asked, eyes widening. How was she to keep a high standard for her performers if she couldn't manage to simply close a show with enough energy? Frowning, she added, "I had lunch."
ladies and gentlemen... \\ viper + bruce {circus au}
"Thank you and good night!"
She ended with a front flip transitioning into a low bow, waving as the audience slowly filtered out of the lit tent into the cool night. The seats weren't as filled as she would have liked, but that could hardly be helped now. As the bright lights were turned off, Opehlia kept a sharp eye as the set was dismantled with godlike speed. It was their last show in this particular town, and most of the performers were probably mingling with the crowd as they appreciated the marvels of her Unusual Congress of Mortals.
Her neck felt sticky with sweat, and she knew there'd be streaks of forest green from the temporary dye in her hair. She pulled her locks to one side, and shrugged off the Ringmaster's jacket. A soft breath of cool air kissed her bronzed skin, but there was no breeze in the tent; the heat of a body behind her made it clear exactly who was in her presence.
"My own private breeze?" Ophelia asked with an arched brow, of the lion tamer blowing lightly on her neck. "Must be my lucky day. Especially since you managed not to get yourself bitten again."
top hats & waistcoats \\ viper + --------- {circus au}
The circus had been Sharon Carter’s life since she was a young teenager. She had joined after running away from the orphanage she had been raised in. Never knowing whether she was truly an orphan or if her parents had simply not wanted her had been something of a devastating wonder. The thoughts often plaguing her mind into the deep hours of the night. Sleep deprivation was a curious thing, it made the human body able to do things it wouldn’t normally be able to do. Hence, how Sharon often found herself in a bath barrel, holding her breath for long moments of time, much longer than one should ever be able. But, it helped. She would spend as much time as she could underwater, until the sleep would begin to take her while she was under. Only then would the young girl rise to the surface. After many years of doing this, Sharon had developed a certain tolerance against needing air for extended periods of time.
When Sharon turned the young age of 14, she realized no family would want to take her in. She was too old, too ordinary. So, she ran. It wasn’t long before she found the circus and decided to see if her skill would work there. After all, people enjoyed seeing strange and fascinating things. And while she knew that she herself was nothing special, she knew her unlikely talent could be. After much thought, Ophelia decided to take her in and use her in the show. They had worked out the performance, if that’s what you would call it. Sharon would simply go into a see-through tank filled with water, in a mermaid costume and move around underwater until she couldn’t any longer. By now, she could remain underwater for up to an hour without needing a break. It amazed her still to this day that so many people would stand and watch her, mostly when she really didn’t do any trick under the water. But, with her long blonde hair, slender body, and the skimpy mermaid costume she wore, she could see how people could be slightly fascinated with her. She truly did resemble that of a mermaid at times.
Sharon finally had what she had always wanted, a family. Even if they were called freaks, this was her home. And when she had hear the news that one of the shows was going to be sold, she drove herself mad with worry. What would she do without all of these people? Sometimes she knew they didn’t get along, but that was true within any family. But, the announcement had caused a rift between the members of the two shows, one that made Sharon feel like she was a young girl at the orphanage again. That was why she was up, not that she ever really slept much anyways. She couldn’t sit still any longer and decided to see who was still awake. As she passed through the seats, she could tell she might be the only one. But, she knew someone had to be driving the bus, so she made her way to the front.
Seeing the dark hair and tanned skin, she could tell who it was without getting up to close. Ophelia. When the other woman spoke, even though it was quietly, she jumped a little. “Sorry, I couldn’t sleep.” She thought about turning back around, but then changed her mind. She would be able to talk to Ophelia after all, the woman had practically raised her, had given her a home when she had thought that to be impossible. Taking a seat on the floor next to the woman, Sharon gave out a sigh. “Why are you selling one of the shows? I know it’s not really my place to ask, but I just wanted to know.”
Ophelia spared a quick glance over her shoulder (she was many things, but she was most definitely not a bad driver), catching familiar sandy blonde hair and the sort of features that could look ethereal in the right light. The dim low lighting of the bus was not that sort of light. Sharon who-knew-her-last-name was talented. Perhaps her talents were too specialized to be used in a more traditional career, but what girl hadn't dreamed of being a mermaid once in their life?
Well - Ophelia had preferred princesses; she'd never really liked water after a harrowing incident back when she was a performer herself. Whitehall had wanted to try a combination aerial and water act, but when she had allowed herself to fall from her silks into the pool, the fluid hadn't exactly provided the most cushioning descent. The aerial artist had managed to hit her head at the bottom of the tank. That itself wouldn't have been problematic if she hadn't been concussed, under water, and completely blanking on how to swim. But that was neither here nor there, and if Carnival Fabulon's ringmaster was hesitant to enter water, well then no one was the wiser.
"Hm," she hummed noncomittally. Lack of sleeping wasn't too unusual. Some of the circus folk snored, Ophelia was well aware of that. But Sharon's next question was more probing, and the ringmaster was forced to pay more attention to her circus freak. "I told you all earlier," she sighed. "Carnival Fabulon has been losing money for a while. I can't afford to keep all of you on."
top hats & waistcoats \\ viper + flash {circus au}
The books didn’t lie and as many times as Flash went over the numbers, they still didn’t add up the way they were supposed to. The ledgers were heavily in the red and even with the new acts, it was going to take a miracle to pull them out of this slide. The blond sighed tiredly and rubbed his eyes. Things just weren’t the way they used to be back when they started, it had all seemed so full of promise back then. Maybe they were idealists or it could have just been because they were naive idiots. They’d put so much into a dream that they couldn’t recognize that it was all falling apart.
Flash had put everything into this place from the time he was a teenager, some drop out nobody kid looking for a place to hide. The circus had seemed like a romantic idea, way more exciting than his tiny apartment in the city that didn’t offer a single hiding space from his father’s fists. The circus had been escape, a place where no one cared about where he came from or what his family was like as long as he did his part and worked hard. And he had, starting as a laborer and working his way up through the ranks until Ophelia had started trusting him to take care of things as her partner.
Now it was all falling apart and he didn’t know how to stop it. This was the only family he’d really known and he was going to lose everything. There had to be a way to salvage something from this mess. “Just wanted to check in and give you a status update ma’am.”
When Ophelia had first inherited the circus, it hadn't taken a genius to notice she was flying blind. To be fair, considering her lack of formal education - who had time for college when your moneymaker was your body anyway - she managed to do a decent job keeping the circus afloat. It helped that the quiet blonde laborer, who somehow managed to always be near when she struggled with paperwork and numbers, could clear up the clutter of financial jargon with a few lowly murmured words. How he knew such things, she never asked, but she did keep an eye on him nonetheless.
Things got difficult when she took on more and more strays and runaways - offering them the same chance Whitehall had given her. It wasn't the most practical of solutions, but for all her famed strictness, the Hungarian-born had a rather soft heart. She was so very loyal to those she pledged her allegiance to (though she would never say those sorts of words aloud - the charming, vivacious woman had a reputation to maintain, after all) that this whole business of selling part of the show was truly tearing her apart. Especially since she had a very good idea of which part it would be.
"You don't have to call me ma'am," Ophelia automatically retorted, jade eyes still fixed on the empty road stretching ahead. "You're my business partner." Promoting him had made sense since he was just about as loyal to the circus as she was - he'd been there longer than anyone else too. "I shouldn't be reminding you of this yet again."
"Um… Actually I was just wanted to know if you needed anything. A few of us are going into to town to get last minute provisions for the show later."
".....oh. Well. If you can find temporary green hair dye, it would be much appreciated. My stock isn't going to last the week."
"What if I said I could help with your financial difficulties?"
"It’ll mean screwing over a lot of the circus’s paying customers but hopefully most of ‘em won’t notice until we’ve left town anyway."
"I assure whatever it is you've thought of, I've probably already considered and dismissed."
".....but I'm also desperate. You have 60 seconds to explain how exactly you're going to solve my problem."
"Of course I do. Not everyone is barging in here asking about that, you know. I happen to be looking for the doves that I’m supposed to make fly out of a patron’s hat during the next show. Have you seen them? I’m beginning to fear they’ve ended up as unintentional lion food…”
"That falls no where near my list of duties and I have enough to worry about as it is. But, for the record, I have not."
"While I have you here - there's a good chance I'm going to need you to cut down your act by 2 minutes."
"Yes, one of the shows will have to be sold; No, the buyer and I haven't settled on which; and I don't know, I haven't decided the theme of the show so I haven't decided who to feature yet either."
"Does that answer your question or do you still have a reason to be in my tent?"
top hats & waistcoats \\ viper + --------- {circus au}
Since the Carnival Fabulon had began its slow descent into debt, Ophelia had made every effort to reduce unneccessary costs - this included the drivers they usually hired to drive their trucks and buses from city to city. Her circus was rather traditional, nothing like the new Cirque Du Soleil show. No, the Fabulon was a breath of something old: the large red and white tent that was mantled and dismantled overnight leaving not a trace behind, and outside the tent the marvels that drew in curious audiences. For years, the nostalgic charm of Carnival had been its best feature, aside from the talented circus performers and the street rats who could transform themselves into the ridiculous and eerie and make the audience believe it.
And because Ophelia was a rather fair ringmaster, one who wouldn't ask the others to do something she wouldn't be willing to do herself (most of the time anyway, even she had her limits), the jade eyed woman had taken the night owl shift of driving the bus. The road was rather empty, peaceful almost, and most of her performers had settled down as well. Tensions had risen since her announcement, but thus far they'd managed to keep their interactions civil. She spared a glance in the rear view mirror. Without their vibrant costumes and ethereal make up they all looked so...mundane. None of the superlatives Ophelia used to describe their work applied to them like this. To be fair, in a loose cotton top and sweatpants, hair pulled in a haphazard bun, she looked just as human as the rest of them.
Focusing back on the road, she hummed quietly to herself - one of the Romanian Folk Dances by Bartok. She was hoping to use the score as a theme for their next show; the music was both enchanting and exhilirating; perhaps a slow acrobatic act for the third movement, she mused. The ringmaster's hands tightened slightly on the wheel when she noticed the reflection of a figure in the windshield. Quietly, so as to not wake the others, she tilted her head and spoke in that lilting voice that entranced so many others, with the barest hint of the Hungarian accent she'd never quite managed to hide.
"Did you need something?"
The Rise of the Magnificent Ophelia Sarkissian
White-Out Christmas || Viper & Bruce
"Consider it an early Christmas present," Bruce said, softly, gently pushing the duffle bag across the linoleum floor of the cafe. He kept his dark brown eyes on the chemist’s, and gave her a small, sad smile. "I know you’ll take good care of it."
"I'm not in the habit of accepting gifts from those who've tried to kill me," Viper drawled. Nonetheless, she rested tip of her boot against the edge of the lumpy bag. Her arms were crossed defensively, not enjoying the public space the scientist had chosen for them to meet. "But if I were to hypothetically accept this gift, what exactly would I be taking care of?
Not You Again || Viper & Spider-Woman
poisoncoatedlips
It was only supposed to be a routine kind of mission. There were some thugs harassing some citizens and all that needed to be done was taking care of the thugs. It wasn’t supposed to be difficult; in fact considering her experience, it should have been almost literal walk in the park for Jessica. So of course, it wasn’t.
Once Jessica, under the guise of Spider-Woman, had arrived at the park in which the thugs had been concentrating their efforts, she saw that this mission wasn’t going to be so simple. Because why would anything be simple for her? In the middle of the commotion stood one of the very few people Jessica would have preferred to have never seen again.
Viper.
"Clear the area," Jessica yelled to any of the civilians stood by watching the whole area. "Go on, get out of here. If you had any sense, you’d run." Trust me, I know I’d rather run than stay here and face her, she thought to herself.
Jessica hurried as many people out of the way as possible before turning to face the villain known as Viper. She had hoped to never lay eyes on her ever again but apparently that was too much to hope for.
"Whatever it is you’re planning, Viper, stop it. This ends now."
It was a common logical fallacy among those hero types that the cold, ruthless Madame Hydra was incapable of love. This was false; the criminal felt emotions deeply though she guarded her affections more zealously than most. She had entirely valid reasons for doing so, including a rather awful experience when she’d been manipulated into believing herself to be the mother of a certain Jessica Drew. Viper had nearly forgotten how much she’d cared for the girl until she saw the heroine in costume approaching a business transaction that was rapidly dissolving into a fight.
Really, it was her own fault for expecting more civil behavior from such brutes. And then Spiderwoman addressed her, and it took all the dark haired terrorists control not to huff impatiently and roll her eyes. Nonetheless she responded in her natural sultry voice. “You say that as if you have the ability to stop me. I think we’ve established several times that SHIELD cannot quell the might of HYDRA.”
And yet, much to the jade eyed woman’s chagrin, there was a sting of betrayal in her tone - she’d offered Drew so much and yet she chose to side with Nick Fury. Crossing her arms, as the men who had turned their attention to the HYDRA leader rather than continuing their ridiculous efforts to one up each other for money. A common enemy was all it took to unite the thugs who mere moments ago been at each other’s throats. “Why re-hash old arguments, Jessica? Go home, child, there’s nothing you can do here.”
"Nobody cares what your father once told you."
"Not even if it’s how to get into the Avengers Tower, with a good hour or so before anyone even realizes you’re there?" Harry asked, blinking innocently. "Huh. Well. Okay, I suppose I’ll just keep quiet then…"
"Of course this is the one time your father came up with anything useful."
