BIOGRAPHY - page 6
When Viper next raised her head, it was to claim payment on a long forgotten debt. Years ago, when Viper was allegedly still a freelance mercenary, she provided assistance to Wolverine and his former lover, Seraph. Although Seraph died at the hands of Sabretooth during the ordeal, she extracted a promise from Logan that he would grant Viper whatever she asked for, as payment for the debt. Logan very reluctantly agreed. When Viper decided to cash in on the obligation, she did so in the vilest way possible. Viper kidnapped the women closest to Wolverine, including Phoenix, Shadowcat, Rogue, Jubilee, Psylocke, Tyger Tiger, Jessica Drew and Yukio,
poisoning most of their minds and sending them out to kill Logan. Only after the women failed and broke free from her control did Viper tell Logan it was all to get his attention, and finally lay claim to his obligation. Her price? Logan’s hand in marriage. [Wolverine (2nd series) #125]
The recent death of Prince Baran of Madripoor left that island principality under the shaky control of several rival crimelords. A coalition of the Hand and HYDRA intended to lay claim to the island and its well-respected pirate resources. Viper, secretly representing the true HYDRA on behalf of Baron Strucker and the Kraken, wanted to prevent HYDRA’s lesser splinter factions from succeeding. She intended to claim the throne herself, ruling the island and its crimelords through fear. A marriage to the island’s local champion “Patch,” respected throughout Hightown and Lowtown alike, would cement her claim even further. Logan agreed to the marriage out of respect to his obligation, and reluctantly helped Viper consolidate her control over Madripoor against the Hand, HYDRA, and even Sabretooth. [Wolverine (2nd series) #126-128]
Married life was not easy for Viper and Wolverine, however. On one occasion, Viper attempted to manipulate Logan into retrieving a lethal alien virus for her from the Himalayan Mountains, but Logan outsmarted his blushing bride and destroyed the virus and its source. [Wolverine (2nd series) #131] Viper was also kidnapped at one point by Arnim Zola the Bio-Fanatic, and his protoid creation, Doughboy. Zola mentioned delivering Viper to an old acquaintance (likely his frequent collaborator the Red Skull), but the results of that “meeting” were never disclosed. Viper next appeared back in control in Madripoor, apparently no worse for the experience. [Wolverine (2nd series) #139]
Viper next saw Logan when he arrived in Madripoor for the annual Bloodsport Tournament, lured into competing by his enemy Mr. X, the tournament’s reigning champion. Viper tried her best to become a widow, even slipping Logan some poison during his bouts. In the final match, Mr. X defeated Logan but was unable to kill him, winning on a technicality. The stakes were raised when Logan’s old sensei Ogun returned as a wandering spirit, possessing the people of Madripoor and using their as puppets against his former pupil. Viper wanted Ogun out of her country so bad, she agreed to give Logan a divorce if he helped eliminate the ninja master. Viper ended up a pawn of Ogun herself when he possessed her body to use again Logan. Ogun outmaneuvered himself, though, when he isolated Viper and Logan on a deserted dock to possess Wolverine as the ultimate host for his essence. Logan’s fractured berserker mind was impossible for him to firmly grasp, leaving Ogun no sanctuary but Viper’s body. 
And if Ogun thought Logan would think twice about attacking his own wife, he grossly misread their relationship. With Viper gutted by Wolverine’s claws and Logan an untenable host, Ogun dispersed into the sky without a form of his own. Viper tried to reneg on their deal, since getting stabbed in the chest wasn’t part of their arrangement. Logan simply told Viper she would have to honor their divorce if she wanted him to get her medical treatment before she bled out. Left with little choice, Viper agreed to the deal. [Wolverine (2nd series) #167-169]
As reigning princess of Madripoor, Viper responded when activity erupted at an ancient temple on the island. Shaitan, the forward scout for an extra-dimensional invasion force, assembled a set of gemstones that would open the gateway for the soldiers of his master, Khan. Despite the arrival of the X-Men, the portal opened and Madripoor was encased in an impenetrable force field. An orbital tower began to materialize in Earth’s dimension on top of Madripoor, acting as a beach head for Khan and his invading troopers.
Viper and the X-Men became unlikely allies, establishing a guerrilla force to oppose Khan’s scout parties. Viper’s methods did not sit well with the X-Men when, as ruler of Madripoor, she asserted her authority by killing unarmed prisoners after they surrendered. Storm of the X-Men personally struck her down, an insult Viper promised she would pay for. The opportunity came in battle with Shaitan, when Viper used her clawed gloves to slice open Storm’s spinal column, leaving her for dead. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #10-12]
Only Khan’s infatuation with Storm saved her, as he brought the X-Men’s leader back to his palatial tower to be tended to by his healers. The X-Men’s struggle against Khan’s forces proved successful, the gateway destroyed and his forces driven back to their own dimension. Viper came to congratulate the X-Men on their victory, presumably expecting Storm to forgive and forget her earlier attack. That was… unwise. After casually asking Viper if she was wearing armor, Storm shot her square in the chest before receiving an answer. Storm’s friend Sage then got in very close with a blade and made it very clear to Viper that attacking any of the X-Men was not a mistake she would be allowed to make a second time. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #17]
