October 11, 2017:
Grifter accepted a bodyguard job in Gotham. Ravager accepted a bounty-hunting job in Gotham. As usual when in Gotham, everything goes pear-shaped. Those are two mercenaries that will go home poorer and more bruised they left in the morning.
Underground casino in Gotham
Characters
![class="image1"](http://cmbeta.wdfiles.com/local--resized-images//class="image1"/medium.jpg)
NPCs: Blockbuster, Electrocutioner
Mentions:
Plot:
Mood Music: None.
Fade In…
Organized crime in Gotham has become a very complicate affair since so many of the great families members has been killed, gone insane, incarcerated (insane or not) or even replaced by ninjas, shape-shifters and the occasional weirder critter.
Small wonder the crazies are taking over. Oh, and Black Mask.
The genuine, classic style gangsters are an endangered species in Gotham. But many of them are tough survivors and cling to their little criminal empires with almost admirable tenacity. Tonight, for instance, Roberto Sabatino is trying to make a deal with representatives of the Odessa Mob. Roberto got to Gotham just six months ago, after leaving the US army. He made a strong impression among the old guard and has been hiring fresh blood. But he needs hardware to challenge Black Mask.
The Odessa Mob is technically on Black Mask side. But they are about as trustworthy as any Gothamite lowlife (despite most of them being Ukrainians). They sent an old man called Rostyslav to make a deal.
They are meeting in one of the East End semi-illegal casinos, after closing. Which means it is almost dawn outside. Roberto Sabatino expects trouble. If not from the Mob, then from Black Mask. So he has hired extra protection. Costumed mercenaries to reinforce the trio of thugs that came with him. The Ukrainian contingent is also half a dozen strong, and four of them are obviously just muscle.
Grifter accepted the bodyguard job because really needed the money. Also, they contacted with him in New York and he might have been a little drunk when he agreed to come to Gotham.
He is completely sober now and hoping Roberto is not as bad as Black Mask. Which… he won’t be unless he is the Joker in disguise or something crazy like that. At least the pay was good for just one night of work.
Sabatino and Rostyslav met in the middle of the now empty main room of the casino. Most lights are off. The roulette tables are still, with some chairs upside down on the tables. The cleaning crew was told to leave for the night. The men are chatting in hushed tones, telling each other about old common friends, most of which are dead. Weirdly polite.
From behind the walls, a woman emerges.
A tray upon platformed palm.
A blindfold over her eyes, tethered - a matching blood red band across her eyes that is in mate with teh falling petals upon the gieshan attire.
A cling to every curve, to every jut of hip, contour of breathe upon ribcage…
Much mor dominant over the months, a tell-tale told by the flare of powdered nostrils that flare.
Traveling blind is familiar, even as hips dip around edges of tables, skirting them without a violation to the knitted silk and tight-fitted satin of attire, the high eise slits exposing hips strapped in a meshed lace, leeding beneath attire.
Nevermind that…
Within hand of the blind:
Cups reside upon the tray, glass where ice clicks along the sides in a cadence of every silent bare-footed step, whispy ytails of white hair fall along the sides of the blindfold as she lowers to draw one glass after the other and serve it before those meeting within the casino.
// "Ungaii.." //
Grifter stands a few tables further from the gangsters; he has a better view of the casino space from there. Wearing a dark coat over his ‘work clothes’ (which is just some basic armor and the belt with his handguns) he would be unremarkable but for the red mask with black lines over the eye slits.
He is maybe the first to spot the blindfolded woman. Striking on satin - and that white hair. Weird, but this is Gotham. But a couple of Sabatino’s thugs intercept her before Cole can reach her. They were closer. Roberto and Rostyslav look suspicious. Most of the casino employees should have left.
“What is this, girl?” Growls one of the thugs.
Before the white-haired woman can answer, the room shakes once. Everyone pulls out guns. Including Grifter. Chances that was an earthquake are slim to none.
Then the floor caves in and they all fall to the basement. Roulette tables and all.
//"..This Girl…?" //
The tray is held out // 'blindly' //, with a -light- bow of head that cats ends of pale hair over blindfold before the silhouette of tray and beverages that carry a pale green of 'Sake' to the men before the ground ~quakes~…
The tray suspends into the air…
The liquid seems /crystalline/ in the balance as they all plummet before the descent…
But upon the ground in the /n/ether, blades are drawn and satin threads are split from the sleeves of bell-dipped plummet towards the ground, exposing upper arms to the shoulder-blades.
Even behind a blind-fold the white-hair'd woman is ready once they land, despite the slow rise above rubble, both hands held behind her back in a clasp of prayer…
But between palms is the Kherubim welded swords….
"It is Sake…" A slow bow, and the blindfold falls off the bridge of her nose, revealing two mis-matched eyes…. One paler than the next.
“Oh shit…” being some distance of the talking gangsters, Cole was at the edge of the sinking floor. He could have jumped back and avoided the fall. But the guy he was supposed to protect is -there-
Just in the middle of it.
So he jumps after, somewhat more gracefully than the others. Probably not as graceful as the white-haired woman, but still not bad. He lands on his feet among a cloud of dust, and in a dark basement. Among the screams of injured gangsters, some of which are firing blindly out of panic. Morons. “For fucks shake. Stop and think a sec,” he growls, activating the night-vision of the mask. Just in time to see an eight foot tall monster of a man charging Roberto and Rostyslav.
He dives to put the Italian out of the way. But Rostyslav gets trampled by the huge man. “Black Mask says hello!” Shouts the killer. Blockbuster.
Dust settles…
Blades rescind… Hide behind the shredded kimono sleeves, and along the draw of bowed spine in landing.
Not on the side of the Italian, the White Haired Woman is moving towards Rostyyslav, capturing him just after the stampede that has made him a form of mince ….
A curl around a body that is more meat than that of safety, and with cast - away!
The limp form impacts grond and rolls behind that of Blockbuster as the shredded sleeves from the "Geisha" meet ground, a Bloodgood fall of petals descending around pale fingertips as she rises and reaches back…
"… You ruined a lot of good alcohol…!" And from the reach those blades re-veal themselves, a pivot in wrists and the kimono finds a harder press along hem-lines, splitting them higher in loft while toes splay to grip, thighs brace and bare…
Ravager bit off more then she meant to chew… But here she is! Fuck Red Hood and Gotham!
But the swords are brought forth and her challenge is there… The blindfold falling along neck to descend towards the ground in a leaflet of red….
… A lick along thumb, un-salted draws her own threat back towards 'Black Masks'' henchman.
"Tatakai…" A pause after the come hither gesture of coiled fingers…
"Bring it, bitch!"
In the darkened basement half a dozen still conscious and armed thugs try to make sense to what is going on without much success. They have been betrayed! Is the first thought. So Italian shoots Ukrainian, and vice-versa. And Blockbuster huge mass is a shadow that draws plenty of bullets too. But those only scratch his near invulnerable skin.
Even Grifter modified .45 Rugers are almost ineffective. He puts six bullets in the face of the huge villain while pulling Sabatino towards the door of the room, and… yes, one hit an eye and drew a yelp of pain. Which is what draws Blockbuster attention, more than Rose’s challenge. His response is grabbing an injured gangster and tossing him against Grifter, who has no space to dodge and is slammed against the wall by the impact.
Sabatino is a bit smarter than his thugs and is not shooting a handgun in the darkness. Although he has one in his right hand. Instead he stumbles for the basement’s door, barely seen among the flares of the guns and what little light comes from the broken room above.
Everything Ravager sees is in flashes, like a strobe light effect while the human eye tries to parse and send big fucking RED relays of stop to her brain. The bionic eye comes to glow in the darkness between muzzle-barks of light in the darkened space of ruin and gore.
But in the midst, the woman meant for service and 'eye candy' as a Casino Lounge Girl, is something completely different, even as her very own target is smashed beneath Blockbuster! The vision of duality narrowing upon him as the blindfold slides over exposed spanse of collarbone and ribbons to her feet like blood - a prelude…
Sabatino - the 'Other' seemed to tend to and now left abandoned to his own "epic crash landing!", becomes her target. With every flash…
Ravager
is
moving….
Then gone into shadows…
The only reveal comes in a flicker of light off a sudden pivot of sword towards blockbuster, the predatorial crawl pushed into a spring seeking to draw the honed edge along his abdomen in an upward stroke while she pivots mid-air. Fingers push into hair-pins that splayed a beaded webwork of 'teardrops' through her hair - tiny daggers aimed towards the hand reaching for the Italian's exit.
A distraction for Grifter if he can get out from under his henchie-pile!
With his night vision activated, Cole could see fairly well the total SNAFU in the basement. Only semi-good news was the waitress-turned-ninja was not working with Blackbuster after all, but attacking him.
The Kheran steel blades scratch the tough skin and flesh of Blockbuster's body, drawing blood and making the huge metahuman pay attention to the girl. He flails at her with a massive backhanded sweep.
Sabatino yelps, right hand pierced by a dagger. He curses in Italian, slamming against the door, and then fumbles with his left hand to open it.
Cole pushes the unconscious gangster off him, reloading one of his guns with dazzling speed. "We gotta get out of here," he says to his employer, moving to stand between him and the other two superhuman mercenaries. Big mistake.
The door opens, the Electrocutioner is there. Sabatino barely has time to cry as the assassin touches his neck and sends several thousand volts through his body. Cole turns… too late. He shoots, angry, but the Electrocutioner was already running. There is cry of pain. At least one bullet found some soft spot in the killer’s armor. "For fucks sake," growls Grifter, seeing the Italian's gangster corpse hit the floor. He really needed those 30 grand from the job!
The landing is one that keeps Ravager on the move, a kick of bare heels where Geta has been long gone and left in splinters with the gambling tables above and below.
A roll has her moving in a motion of fluidity only accented by silken fabric and the draw of hands that could paint…. If not in blood. But the back hand is not expected where that massive bulk should fall, a wide eye'd blink before she is lifted from the ground before she can even feel the cannon ball blast of knuckles into her ribs.
But she feels her breath crushed from her lungs before she takes flight!
Should she be breathing?
A fish out of water? Mid Air?
The wall's impact and splintering is a CPR reminder that has her hitting the ground with coughs and gasps.
Ravager needed the Ukrainian as well! … Alive…
"Welcome to Gotham. The view…" An exhale and the one sword is still clutched, an empty hand making her scrape nails through flooring and rubble as if blindly feeling for… What is bloodstained at Blockbuster's side on the floor.
…. By his feet, nearly between his legs…
** GreenHork **!
"Something to be desi—-" Unless you have the view she has!
…but not right now…
The single sword scrapes before it is lifted and a haunting crawl enters into a crouched motion of sprawl that has the pale geisha leaping for Blockbuster, his parallel eye to her own falsie her target!
Electro and Grifter on the other hand are what she can "juggle"!
By now the other gangsters are dead or disabled and unconscious. Blockbuster kicks one who was fumbling for a gun against the wall. Contrarily to Ravager, he falls down in a heap and does not try to stand.
"You cut me, bitch!" Yells the giant, murder in his eyes.
Rose leaps. Grifter shots, going through the clip quickly, and hitting the back of Blockbuster's head seven times. Barely a tap, barely distracting, but in a moment any distraction is BAD.
The Kheran blade bites deep this time, cutting tendons and scrapping the bones of his collarbone. Blockbuster's scream is of pain this time. He flails, backpedaling and almost wrenching the sword from Ravager's hand.
"Time to cut loses?" Offers Cole, climbing out of the basement with surprising agility. "Nice sword," he adds. Then hesitates a few seconds and decides to offer the woman a hand to get out of the hole. Blockbuster is hurt, not down, definitely very angry. And Rose could be injured.
And he is a gentleman (kinda, sorta, sometimes).
Electrocutioner? He didn't stick around.
They teamed well, for now.
But that is when they were left with 'Nothing To Lose.'
Losses were cut and left in mince or Swiss cheese levels of ** Fuck It **.
The blade slices through and finds home between tendon, bone, muscle, sinew… Ravager's other hand finds the mated blade to the one almost two feet deep in a shut down Rent-a-video criminal. Pale fingers, nails unmanicured scrape through remains to gather a hilt she has been through Hell and Universes with! A lift and she is lifting it to lay a final blow until his mass wrenches her loose and nearly pitches her to the side and into further darkness.
Security. Henchmen. Left Wing Right Wing. Head Honchos… Or Heads With Dollar Signs..
Dead.
The count mentally and visually is taken while her hands clutch blades to her chest as if she has her own death wish, dropping the handles into their holsters just before her 'Heavenly float' through the air…
Ravager has a will to live. A massive man, orange and black.
A woman of illusion.
White on auburn…
Skulls. Masks.
** Scars. **
Ravager's bloodied hand clasps Grifter's, tugging up with a typical huff that does not give way to any harm. Whose blood is whose anyway? She looks like something from an anime.
"I know. They're almost all I got…" A slow exhale and she paints a bloodied palm across lips.
"Cutting losses." In a blur she is glancing mis-matched gaze to Grifter and exiting the structure before Sex Lights ruin the night.
Po-Po…
Someone's getting ** fu-ucked! **
Not it!