(2014-10-09) As Clear as Night and Day
As Clear as Night and Day
Summary: Domino chances upon Black Lightning, receives a special invitation
Date: (2014-10-09)
Related: NA
NPCs: Gang Members
Scene Runner: Black Lightning.
Social/Plot: Plot

Two SUVs spill through Forest Hills, Queens. It is late at night, most folks trying to live honest are in for the night, behind doors, most likely asleep. Thus the two large black vehicles are not noticed, except for the screeching of tires and occasional fire of automatic weapons at the larger van following them. Not quite hummer/military grade, it is like a spruced up armored truck. The bullets are bounding off of it.

In the front are a couple of low time street thugs, wanting to turn a quick dollar, taking the drugs they bartered for and running without paying. All as on the up and up, until the 100 decided they wanted their drugs back and to make the boys pay for taking them. And it wasn't really a process to decide, the moment they ran, the 100 was onto tracking them with malicious intent.

That intent, in the van behind them, is a similarly spruced up man. Suiting up in the back with an exoskeleton device, like a loader forklift thing that a person can get into. Its not the best, its not Iron Man armor, but it makes him more tough for certain. He is lifting a hatch on the back and raising a rocket launcher, from which he lets loose a rocket at one of the SUVs.

Not yet alerted to this, but out and about, Black Lightning takes notices as one SUV is hit, flips, catches fire and guys spill out. The armored van slows enough for several men of the 100 to jump out in flak jackets with automatic rifles, to finish anyone who tried to get out of that fire. A blue flash of lightning is inbound towards the scene unfolding.

Gang warfare can be an ugly business. It's also generally poorly planned, messy, and not nearly profitable enough to merit Domino's attention. She would have had no part in this mess if she had any choice in the matter.

This is kind of hard to accomplish when a bunch of vans come flying toward her from the other direction. Her black motorcycle's engine quickly winds up with renewed life as she ducks and swerves through the oncoming chase, but there's only so many places she can go. Just when it looks as though a collision is unavoidable a fired rocket lights up one of the vans and kicks it into the air, giving her an opening to duck through with mere inches to spare.

It happens so quickly that the mind has trouble keeping up, done and over with the bike screeching to a halt as the remaining vehicles continue to flee down the street. Looks like she won't be needing that extra coffee any longer, adrenaline's doing the trick fine!

They had the courtesy to stop, at lea-wait, nevermind. They're coming to finish the job. She can agree to this, at least. These guys are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Once more the bike revs up before launching itself around, aimed straight for the people unloading automatic weapons.

Crazy, Dom? Naaah.

Even as Domino is going matrix, Black Lighting is bounding down. He has little time to analyze the situation other than the gang war going on and the guy with the rocket launcher. So he touches down betwee the remaining SUV and the armored car going after it.

"Enough, this ends now," he demands, a hint of blue lightning flaring around him, expecting bullets wanting to stop them. What he didn't expect was the rocket launcher. Loading up more quickly cause of the exoskeleton thing (than another man shoving one in to fire again), the guy reloads and laughs. "Shove off Lightning," and blame, fires a rocket.

Even as the men are moving towards the downed van and Domino is turning her bike on them, the rocket flies overhead and right for Black Lightning. He's not sure about this, he's not taking a hit like this, so he flares up even more. Causing a bit of a burn of his reserves to do so, the rocket hits him, explodes, sends explosive rocket stuff and smoke about him. He takes a kickback from the blow, going back a good ten meters and looking shaken even as he stands up again.

The rocket guy says, "You don't know when to leave well enough alone do you, hero."

Some of those guys with automatic rifles turn towards the girl barreling at them with the bike, not sure who she's even with yet, but she's coming their way.

Dude with rocket launcher. Reloaded. And -power armor.- Any one of these things wouldn't be the end of the world. Bringing all of them together? Domino's feeling a little exposed on her bike.

This is exactly why she pushes to full throttle. Stupid, crazy, suicidal..but it's how she brings her A-Game. She's got a little time to build up speed while they're busy blasting some other guy with a rocket, giving her something of a preview of things to come. She's focusing, watching, waiting for the right moment to duck out of the way of the next rocket-


An involuntary whine comes from the bike as the rear wheel leaps off of the pavement, flinging the albino woman clear over the handlebars as if she had been launched out of a catapult. She didn't notice that piece of debris lying across the road from the destroyed van before…

Now there's a bike doing a high-speed cartwheel down the road heading right for the guy in power armor.

There's also a discarded rider sailing clear over all of the vans, to infinity and beyond.

"Dammit not agaaainnn!"

No way Black Lightning would be ready for another rocket, he could train up to it probably with his forcefield, but not off the cuff like this. He's just starting to stand, another rocket being loaded. That is about the time a flying motorcycle sails up, through the air, and into the exoskeleton. The metal bends and wraps a little, the bike, good quality but not enough for the strength of the exoskeleton. Some shards cut at the man inside.

"Christ sake boys, keep the riff raff away!" The man inside is using the arms to try and pull move the wreck of bike wrapped around him off, while still being cut. Black Lightning can't wait for another opportunity like this, luck on his side somehow, he jumps/launches at the exoskeleton, "I said it was over." He gets onto it, and starts drawing the power from the battery to recharge himself.

"The hell?! What is with you," says the exoskeleton guy, now having to use one arm to deal with the hero on his skeleton too. It seems a loosing battle for him presently. There are, however the other guys with guns, and the armored truck, which still has exoskeleton man shooting rockets from the back of it. They are stopping, the second surviving SUV barrelling out of dodge. The guys with automatics think it some fluke, ignoring the bike rider and turning to unload on the SUV that the rocket took out, to get at survivors.

It's sheer luck of the draw that where the biker-turned-longdart happens to be sailing, there's an open dumpster sitting -right there- to catch her fall. There's a second, notably softer impact which involves trace amounts of breaking glass and the WHUMMM! of a pair of boots colliding with the inner wall of the metal bin, itself.

Seconds later a black helmeted head appears over the edge, decorated at random with strips of paper that had been emptied from an older model shredder. Slow and deliberate motions free the helmet from a ghostly pale face, letting it fall to the sidewalk.

The fun's not over yet, though. There's still shooting and fighting, prompting a muttered repeat of "Aw, -hell-" as Domino stiffly grabs the dumpster's edge and hauls herself out of the debris. Nothing broken, nothing out of commission… Good. So when she pulls out a pair of .40 caliber sidearms it should all be business as usual, right?

"Alright, which one of you nutjobs has the noob tube!" she shouts out over the gunfire.

Eh, maybe she'll just start shooting now. Yeah, she'll start shooting now.

Pulling energy, and fighting a robotic like arm, Black Lightning is focusing on staying out of the iron claws while throwing punches at the man inside. The motorcycle entangled with the man's exosuit job is helping the man on the oustide it would seem. Plus the battery of the object. Not only boosting Lightning, but pulling from the skeleton itself. A few punchs and the man slumps, his face slightly pulp but recoverable, free plastic surgery - he'll look more like a thug when he comes around at least.

The drive of the armored car has it stopped and hops out. He has something like a tazer and he firest it at Black Lightning. It doesn't work the way the man was hoping as the wire coils fire out, hit the man, un shielded on the offensive and pump more volts into him. Lightning turns, "Wrong move Jack, I live off that shit." With fast reflexes, he turns to jump from the exoskeleton into a tackle on that driver.

Erstwhile, the men with automatic weapons aiming for the SUV are broadsided by Dom's sidearms. Literally. They don't have to be killed to be downed, not to say they all live just the same, just that bullets 'missing' enough to leave them alive still take them out.

As if it might be getting close to wrapping up, SUV turned around, as if to get their friends, or see what was going on. They have pistols too. Gangsters, can't leave well enough alone. Having shot a stunning bolt at the driver, when their pistols come out the windows and start firing, Black Lightning is left to dive into the armored car now, commandeering the vehicle, flipping into gear and offering that SUV a target for chicken practice.

Taser!-Wait, not being aimed at Dom, okay. She can still hear the 'I live off that shit,' all the same. Another meta? She'll have to keep an eye out there, no telling who they are or what they're all about. Aside from electricity. Don't tase him, bro.

With the other shooters down she rolls the two pistols around in her hands, quickly flinching and nearly dropping one as she hisses out "Ow cramp ow…"

It spares her from getting struck by pistol fire, a round snapping past her right ear. "GAHdamn!"

She's on the ground in a lateral roll, flicking pistols back around to the new threat while getting herself behind another vehicle for a spot of cover. An armored vehicle, in fact. One which suddenly has a new driver in it.

"Hey - Hey!! My cover!"

Now seems like the time to go all in. With her cramped forearm held back, braced across her front, her other arm reaches out at length and targets the gang banger's van. The front tire, specifically. Another shot slams through the Sig's action, brass pinging merrily across the street as the heavy slug is loosed out into the wild.

Game point!

The shot is true, but Domino might of not expected otherwise. The gangers in the van are surprised though, the tire blows, the van wobbles out of control. They're locked in the chicken game whether they want to or not. Black Lightning is sure the armored car will withstand the collison, but he's used a lot of force already and isn't about to tempt fate. Even as her cover leaves, Black Lightning lightning-flashes right out the door again before the vehicles collide, shooting to the ground and rolling to regain his feet. Enough lightning to not take injury there, he's still a bit off-set from the rocket launcher blast. Looking around, he says aloud, "Who's left …"

As if not sure if more of the gang members are up and wanting to shoot, but also thinking someone else is out there. He saw Domino on the bike before it went even crazier, but hasn't seen her since. The dumpster and then behind the armored car kept her out of site. He can see, by looking, that the 100 members with the rifles are out on the street and not doing anything, someone else is nearby.

The collision turns out to be worth watching, if not just to see the armored truck's driver pull his vanishing act before the two meet grill to grill. "Like living in an action movie," Domino says aloud as the two smunch together and make an even bigger mess of the situation. With any luck the armored one will still be okay to drive, seeing as she's now down a bike.

Speaking of battlefield pick-ups…

With people of various Thugness strewn about she starts taking stock of the situation. Literally. What guns they brought, what guns look like they're still functional, what guns are worth their weight at the range. She'll just help herself, thank you!

The last person standing that Black Lightning will see is a shadowy, and apparently quite well armed, woman. Especially with the weapons she's now picking up off of the street.

"Is there a waiting period on these or can I just take 'em home with me?"

The thug in question weakly groans in response, prompting a nod from the albino. "Cool."

The groan is probably a yes, Black Lightning takes a moment to regain some of his senses, bending hands to knees for a moment. "Five bucks says you try go through the waiting period on those and you'll never get them, probably not even registered." Unbeknownst to lightning, that's more preaching to the choir, she's probably more familiar with the way guns and such moves illicitly than he is for certain.

Then he stands, to look over the situation. "I take it, you're not like with these guys, just happened to be in the neighborhood …" Meaning he doesn't know her, doesn't suspect her, but its an odd happenstance just the same. "That your handiwork," her bullets. He can make enough sense to know they didn't all just shoot each other, meaning she's not just carrying guns as some walking gun-show, but she's probably pretty skileld by his guessing.

"So much the better," Domino replies without really thinking about it as she checks the chamber of one of the dropped rifles. "Untraceable assault weapons are good money."


She stands bolt upright and spins around, now holding the rifle in a much more battle-ready stance as she stares back at the other shadowy figure. Then grins. "Not my best, but I'll still take the credit." Grin then vanishing, her tone gets more defensive. "Hey, I was just out for an evening ride when these dingbats decided to get all Mad Max in the middle of the road. They had it coming. They're also damn lucky to still be alive." Mostly. Her 'best' work would have made sure this would never have been an issue.

Not lifting a brow even as she comments about the weapons. Black Lightning doesn't need money and hasn't considered selling off anything he confiscates (or coudl confiscate) when dealing with gangs like this, but he's not saying otherwise about her intent. Actually, he's believing everything she said, its true even if unbelieavable by some, and he's smart enough to know she doesn't fit with either outfit. Sure, she might as a merc, but that's a fee-for-service basis that he doesn't know about and she doesn't look like them

When she turns in a battle-ready stance, he holds up his hands, showing he's not moving to do anything to interfere or stop her in what she is doing. "Happenstance, I'll call it luck, you know your way around messes like this?" He can see she knows weapons, knows a little more than she lets out at face value and seems inquisitive.

The show of hands works to the guy's benefit. Domino inclines her chin slightly as if to silently ask 'you sure?' before the held rifle is shifted about to be slung over a shoulder. Loot and let loot.

"I know enough to be out of the area in less than five minutes," she replies while pushing a wounded ganger over with a boot in order to pluck the sidearm tucked into the back of his waistband. "It's called a -holster,- you idiot. Eight hundred dollars for the gun and you can't dish out another twenty-five for something generic? How you live long enough to use it on anyone other than yourself astounds me."

She'll leave them to it for the moment. She's got limited time, no confirmed escape vehicles, and someone new to talk to. "How 'bout you, Sparky? Came in with a quickness, I might think you'd been tracking these fools. Anyone you know?"

"If you can teach them to respect their own equipment, we might see a decline in crime in general," offers Sparky, er Black Lightning, about teaching the thugs that level of self respect that might make them contributing citizens of society. Though mostly, he thinks these ones are too far gone as it is.

He has a quick out himself, only caught on curiousity of this woman who knows exactly what she's looking at as she pilfers through the lot of them. "The ones in the armored car, I'm keeping an eye on, mostly because of their work down in Metropolis, personal quest - keep them from bringing more drugs and crime into the Suidice Slums down there." He stops, nearby Domino, lets her work.

"Futile, I know, just someone needs to do it, I volunteered. You deal with things a lot like this, only curious, you might know something that might help me out." He knows it could turn her away, guessing by the way she talks, yet, he tries the forward approach, being honest all the same with her.

"I'm not looking to pick up a job as an NRA instructor on the side," Domino flatly responds. Mention of the armored car is met with a slight frown, there goes her first exit. "Little far outside of Suicide, aren't they?" Not that she's going to make a big deal out of it, crime is mobile. Besides, she's got more pressing issues at hand. "Might I, now?" she asks, suspicion evident in her voice. "If you aren't planning on 'dragging me downtown' then standard information rates apply." Orrr… "Or a free ride," she adds with a sidelong nod toward the armored vehicle. Let her take the truck out of here, she'll do what she can. Supply and demand, and all.

"Free ride can be arranged, if you're not afraid of heights," returns Black Lightning, figuring out how best to respond to this woman who is rather forward. "Ya, the 100 seems to be trying to grow their outfit nationally. I find myself more in New York lately as it is." Rubbing his face hair a moment, he ponders telling more.

It seems he gives in, "Look we got an outfit up here, a few people like me, people comfortable doing what other's can't. Sort of like Justice League down in Metropolis, just less polish, less tact … more real I guess. We started re-active, but we're thinking pro-active might be needed. There's some cult like nuts in the city, maybe you might know how to find them. Willing to discuss it on the free ride?"

Hmmh. Not..the free ride that Dom is hoping for here, but any firefight she can safely walk away from… Definitely not one which involves a potential teaming up. "Look, I just want a ride, not a partner," she starts to protest.

It's the sound of sirens in the distance which stops her short, words transforming into a weary sigh. (Of course.)

On the other hand, if he's going to up and fly her out of here then she has no excuse not to stock up while she can. A few more weapons are quickly taken off of the street as she continues to mull over the offer. Maybe it's not going to turn into a paying gig per se, but all of these weapons..? And if they're running around with armored Hummers, power armor and flippin' rocket launchers?

Y'know, there might be some profit to be had out of this after all. Maybe these guys won't suck too badly, either.

"Yeah. Okay."

"I'd be forward offering to partner," offers Black Lightning, straight faced but maybe his attempt at humor, though an arm is offered all the same, not like pick her up Lois Lane style, just an arm. "And nothing written in stone, just a talk. I won't hold you to anything."

Of course as soon as she takes his arm, they're lifting up at a good speed, not to fast on account of her. He's just not sure how fast she wants to do the flying thing and the Lightning fast might not agree with her eyes staying upon against the rush of air. "Just saying, you seem to know weapons, how to handle a gun, not sure what your day job even is. All of us in this outfit have them." A day job that is, or regular life. "Just curious if you wouldn't mind helping with a bit of knowledge, following a lead, taking some fight to thugs like those guys. Not asking you to sign the paper, join us when Gorilla Grodd shows up again or something, we'll do that." He doesn't even know she's metahuman yet, just good with a gun.

Flying by any conventional means is no sweat. Heck, even jetpacks are all good fun for Dom. Taking hold of someone else's arm then suddenly leaving the ground behind, this is just plain unnerving! It's not the first time she's experienced it, either!

That this other fellow is having a normal conversation through all of this, or at least attempting to have a normal conversation, doesn't do much to lessen the shock factor involved with suddenly flying because someone else is holding her hand.

He won't hold her to anything, only his hand. If she loses that it's a long way down!

Trying to think realistically at this time isn't easily done, but she still has to look at the facts. Every day brings SHIELD closer to stepping on her toes, which is going to become a bad thing in short order. Building any sort of positive rep with other hero-sorts in the area -could- be quite beneficial. For all of the trouble she's caused, no one's threatened to take her into custody yet. This could be the 'ounce of prevention' needed to keep her ahead of the game. Superhero community service, go figure.

What ends up being spoken is much different in scope, however. "What the red hell is a Gorilla Grodd?!"

Flying..arm..very scary..!

"He," says Black Lightning, not thinking twice about flying, confident he won't lose Domino in the flying as well. Not that confidence translates so well, but he's still confident. Just short of an answer, glancing her way, "Do you read papers. He's a sentient gorilla criminal, escaped from prison not to long ago, we figure we'll need to handle that. We put them behind bars to collaborate their prison escape, we have to own it too. But the other thing, well, the cult. They're trying to revive a god, I don't know if they know what they're doing, but I think they have their own agenda."

Realizing it is not every day conversation, he gives pause, floating them over one of the rivers around Manhattan, just high up. So falling - there is water now at least, somewhere in that blackness below. "Ya, I know, not every day, it gets weirder all the time. Just going with, we have a group, Outsiders, doing what other's can't do or won't do. Bottom line, protecting the community. That's about it. We know we could use help and I think you have a distinct skill set some of us might be lacking."

"I've got enough bad news of my own to worry about without adding the problems of the rest of the world," Domino admits in a genuinely honest answer. "Sounds like a second-rate hack to me."

Then she's left dangling there, hundreds of feet over the drink. Comforting..except not at all. No strings attached, hell. This would be an excellent way to interrogate someone! She's pretty sure it'd even be Geneva-friendly. "'Outsiders,' huh," she repeats. (I'm on the outsiiide, lookin' in…) "Hey, uh..not to give you any encouragement toward letting me go right now but you do know I'm not one of the good guys, right? The safety of the community doesn't mean a whole lot to me. All of the tri-city area could be reduced to an irradiated glass bowl and I'd still be out there doing my job. But..maybe something could be worked out."

It might not even cost this guy! Directly.

One part's a good fit, though. She's also good at doing what others won't. Now, she's out a nice bike. The '100' gang is as good of a target for her blame as any, and they can afford to repay her for the loss. If she sides with these guys, if only for a little while, then she gets a free shot at cashing in.

"And these One Hundred kids fit into what's going on?" Shrug. "Sure, I can help out with that gig." It should be an easy way to test the proverbial waters.

Considering that and her admission not being good, Black Lightning nods, "Something like that. They are bad for New York, so ya, good enough targets as any for the Outsiders." In fairness, if they continue to move into the turf up here, definitely a target for the Outsiders.

"I'll peraphrase that old movie, Breakfast Club … Bender, what if your weed was on fire? We're not looking for honestly willing to do good for the greater good, but what we do comes with the aim to make a change. We're not out trying to kill the criminals either, New York already has a nut job doing that, calls himself the Punisher. Lets go with some help, when you can, I'd like to find some sells of this group trying to do the magic thing, but we can bust up the 100 all you like too."

Here's a name Dom's familiar with. The Punisher. He's one of the guys which she tries to keep an eye on, lest she wind up on his radar. That would be a most interesting day. Her 'day job' doesn't much care of the targets are good, bad, or whatever. So, this will be a change for her! It should also be a good training exercise for dealing with the Division down the road, yet more hoops to jump through in order to keep her life as her own.

"I'm not religion's biggest fan, but okay. Knock yourself out. A target's a target, all I need to know is what to hit and when." Which leads her to the contact information part of the conversation. Shifting through the various 'borrowed' weapons, she pulls out a business card decorated front to back like a Domino playing piece with a phone number on the playing side. "Maybe we can run a few gigs together."

"Hey, Domino," he says, more cause the card looks like one, then he realizes the name. "Oh, Dominon, got it," says Black Lightning, "We'll do that. I'd get my card now, but you know, the flying thing. A few gigs, see what happens. Your religion, or dis-interest is your choice. I have no clue who worships what in our group, its their business as far as I'm concerned."

Realizing they're still hovering he looks down, "Ya, still not sure, which way you wanted to go on the free ride. Anywhere is an option." Not limited to the city, but if she requests something too far away, it will have to be done at lightning speed most likely.

"My last partner was 'Checkers,'" Dom jokes with a thin smirk. "I don't care which way everyone else swings, I'm referring to your cultist infestation. I don't get mixed up with that sort of business any more than I can help." Blasted cultists, fanatical lot…

As far as where to go? Somewhere quiet enough that she can slug these extra guns to without making it obvious where her safehouse of choice happens to be. Hopefully without anyone else noticing, either. Or..heck, she can hotwire cars. Shady parking lots are all over the city, she takes a second to look around then points one out. No need to escape city limits just yet, she's made a clean break thus far.

"Guess I'll be hearin' from ya soon, then."

"I'm not thinking about the religious implications either, knowing there are other gods outthere who want to come back to Earth," says Black Lightning, going where she points and quickly enough returning to the safety that is ground. "Definitely, I'll check in with Topaz, we'll get back with you on our next move. And its Black Lightning by the way," his name, realizing he hasn't given it to her yet. "A motorcycle thing," so as to avoid confusion with the overly obvious reference in the name he uses. "You might get it," he says, suspecting that was her bike. "If you ride for fun, we can discuss those details soon too. But ya, I'll give you a call soon enough." He retreives his arm, starts hovering, but gives her enough time to respond, though not staying too long so she can get to the hotwiring.

Whew! Ground under the feet once more. While it may serve as a reminder that she had taken a spill into a dumpster not that long ago, sore joints and all, at least she's mobile again!

Huh. Black Lightning. "Fitting that I'd bump into you after wiping out on one," she somewhat bitterly remarks. Just can't hang onto a vehicle for long… "Sure. Catch ya 'round, Big L."
