2012-10-18 Finding a Bruiser

It's a chilly, grey-sky sort of morning, a bit mist yet hanging in the air with a generous helping of small puddles scattered about. Mingling with the traffic is a black Jaguar, the driver looking bored beyond sanity while crawling along with the rest of the traffic. At least there's plenty of time to have her coffee, making a face at the radio and reaching out to stab one of the pre-set buttons only to catch a glimpse of something ..unusual, and strangely familiar, off to the side of the street. Is that..? "Hell, how's -that- for luck." Down goes the coffee, the merc making a sudden turn out of her lane to park at the first spot that she sees. It's..a slightly tight fit. Like, 'one wheel up onto the sidewalk with the back end hanging out' sort of tight. Someone behind her taps their horn, to which she casually extends a middle finger without bothering to look behind her to the source.
Coffee back in hand, Dom jumps out of her car and quickly hops onto the sidewalk, closing the distance to this odd looking woman. "Crappy weather, isn't it?" Yeah, and 'hello' and stuff.
Knockout is one of those people who prefers to be left alone more often than not. The desire for that has only increased since her arrival to Earth. Sure, she has made an effort to go out and learn about the planet and the people who call it home and everything else. But the more she has gone out one thing has become abundantly clear:
She just does not, nor will she ever, fit in.
It's a fact that she has become aware of more thanks to the events that took place during that dinner and, even though she's been able to maintain a 'honey badger attitude' about everything the fact of the matter is that she knows people have noticed her and seen what she can do, and it has her a bit unsettled.
Kay has been out today while trying to get her mind wrapped around everything, still, all of the events and interactions she has had since arriving here mulled over as if she was contemplating some kind of life mystery or an important scientific theory. She's so pulled into her head that Domino manages to sneak up on her, her voice somehow able to register, the resulting surprise getting her to jump a bit. "Oh..." Clearing her throat, Knockout merely looks around before looking at the other woman fully. "Yeah. Real... crappy."
Dom's not spent enough time around you to know what's going through your head yet. Or what mood you might happen to be in. She's pretty sure that your current mood doesn't involve beating her over the head, so things are off to a good start there. However, there's enough of a vibe for her to ask "Everything alright, kiddo? You're looking a little lost." Nevermind that you always seem to look a little lost whenever she sees you. There's a pause as she sips from her coffee, then she motions toward you with an outstretched finger, the cup filling the same hand. "I might be able to help with that."
"From what I gather, you're no stranger to conflict." (God, I sound like I'm trying to sell a car.) "Here's the deal. I do some work with a small group of individuals that like to cause some trouble and get paid for the effort. We're looking for someone that ..matches..your description..." What is it that you -do,- anyway? Heck, she's going to assume your appearance isn't just for show and hope for the best. "If you'd be up for that sort of thing."
Her mood isn't too bad, truly. She's not throwing heavy things around and isn't tormenting the general population, at least. So she must be at least feeling alright despite being lost in thought. Dom's offer is listened to at the same time she thinks about her question, Knockout knowing she is indeed alright although something's nagging at the back of her head. "Yeah, I'm fine," she grunts after a little longer, her arms folding about herself. "Just thinking about how my life is now, is all." That answer is a bit clipped, her tone perhaps enough to warn Domino off from asking for elaboration. The Fury takes a deep breath then as she eyes the other curiously and openly so, not bothering to conceal how she does. "Sure. I can be up for it. What do you need, exactly?"
Yeah..Domino can refrain from asking too many questions. Point to you, she recognizes that tone and feels like you might be able to properly back it up, which is great news for the job position she's trying to fill for the group. "We're looking for a Bruiser. Pretty simple, really. You get to be a badass, beat people up, and draw the attention of whomever we happen to be up against at the time. Collateral damage tends not to be much of an issue, so you're welcome to go wild and make a mess more often than not. The pay's good, and you get the perk of being part of a small, fun, dysfunctional family. We tend to get drunk and make fun of one another when we're not on a job," she finishes with a small grin. "There's some travel involved as well, if you happen to get bored of this city and all of the gawkers."
"So in other words, things would be like it was when I was in the Furies." Not exactly a good comparison, that. She still has a bitter taste in her mouth with how she was cast out and the memory causes little twinges of anger to start welling. "The last time I was brought in to fight for someone they wound up sending me away because they didn't like my attitude," Knockout explains. It is said to explain a bit about herself but with how she reacts to the mere memory of how she was made to leave Apokolips it's probably a warning as well - do not discard her. A hand slides up and under the mass of hair that hangs at her nape and fingers are raked along the flesh, her eyes sliding closed. "Alright, I... suppose I can give it a shot," she eventually grunts out, sounding a bit hesitant but at least she's willing to give it a chance.
Err..weyll, Domino doesn't know about the Furies or what it had been like, but she hears the hesitation in your words. "They didn't like your -attitude?- What sort of attitude was that?" A moment later and you agree to sign on with the team, but it feels like a hollow victory, somehow... The moment is given some extra consideration before she looks back to you and motions onward with a jerk of her head. "Come over this way once?" She wants to lead you into an alley, where another one of her bad ideas can play out.
It's here in this alley that Dom would check to make sure no prying eyes exist before doing something foolish. Foolish in the way of pulling one of her knives out while rushing toward you. Any normal person would get slammed back against the wall with a sharp edge to their throat. She's rather counting on not making it that far with you.
Rolling her eyes, Knockout follows despite not being in the mood for games, Domino kept an eye on while she leads them both into the narrow connecting road. "I don't know what you have in mind..." she starts to intone darkly but soon her intentions are made all too clear when she pulls out the weapon and lunges forward. The insinct to block is strong although not necessary, the latter thanks to how the weapon glances off of the bared span of her lower arm when she blocks. She should be bleeding but there's no mark to hint to where the knife touched her skin. Annoyance flaring into anger, Kay lunges forward herself now, seeking to wrap a hand around Domino's throat. "You ever try a stunt like that again..."
Close enough..! In fact, -better- than close. Domino learns right off the bat that you can't be easily injured by normal means, which is ideal for being a Bruiser. The other thing she learns is that this really isn't the best thought-out plan that she's ever come up with. The knife is dropped, it's served its purpose. That, and she needs both of her hands free to latch onto the wrist now extending from her neck. "That..!" she chokes out, "-That- is what..makes you right for the group..! We respect..power and skill, and -I- respect you..for not taking..any shit from me!" Turns out it is possible to bring a little color to an albino's face.
Enough pressure's given to the squeeze to perhaps put something of an ache to the merc's throat and even maybe leave a mark behind, that so Domino can have a reminder of what happens to people who try to play games with Knockout. "You take too many risks," she points out while /slowly/ loosening her grip, taking her own sweet time in letting Dom go. "I should kill you but I understand what you were attempting to do." In hindsight, of course. During the time when the 'attack' was happening all she could do was react. "Alright. So... how do I get with these people you know?"
All that Dom can manage is a strained, toothy grin, looking slightly nervous. "It's what we do." Once she has a chance to pull away that's exactly what she does, coughing dryly and gently rubbing at the indentations ringing her neck. "Helluva grip you've got there..." The bruises ought to look real nice! "Look..Knockout, we're not going to take advantage of you because we -know- what you can do. Maybe things didn't work out for you so well last time, but to us you're a valuable part of the pack. You've passed the interview with flying colors." Cough. "Easiest way is you can get a ride with me. If you don't have a phone, we'll have to get you one."
The discoloration that is coming up to the surface of Dom's flesh gets a cruel smile to form, Knockout not about to try and mask the pleasure seeing her hurt creates. "I have a phone," she offers while pulling it out of a pocket, it offered to her so she can take down her information. "But yes. I think I'd like to go with you and meet these people." Hopefully they won't try to push her like Domino did otherwise things might end up in a wee bit of a blood bath.
"So, like, on the one hand, I'm almost sure Hot French Chick is involved with this She-Hulk wannabe," Deadpool mutters. He looks at his other hand, sitting on a roof with his back to the roofwall. "On the other hand, Domino is, like, a friend, and also seriously hot." He mimes a voice talking through his left hand. "But Senor Deadpool, if Domino gets beat up, she can't help the team!" it squeaks in a high pitched Spanish accent. Deadpool nods at the hand. "That's a good point, Senor Dexter."
His left hand chimes in. "Oui oui, but ze Franch Cheek is the uber-hotness. Eef you kill her frien', then no lovin's will transpahr!" it adds in a ridiculous French accent.
"Have faith in ze Spanish! We will show her our Sensual Latin love and melt her hart," Right Handy says.
"Ze Franch love is more than ze Spanish floutin' of ze genital! We will woo zis Camille, but we mus' woo her hart!"
"Puta! You think you know how to amor a chica?!"
"Scoundrel! I will teach you mannerz!"
Deadpool's hands fight for a few minutes, then the Frenchie falls limp. Spanish Hand stands triumphant. "No no, ze French surrendah! Do as you must!"
"Oh si si, verrah nice," Spanish Hand coos.
Deadpool gets up and puts his sniper rifle to his shoulder, aiming at Knockout from the rooftop. "No, ze Spanish will get ze Franch lovin'!" he says, atrociously mixing both accents up.
Right, then. Domino'll just go ahead and add 'sadistic' to the list of Knockout's qualifications. Yeah, she totally had it coming, but she's used to playing rough. No harm, no foul. Information is exchanged and a dropped knife is (carefully) retrieved, and put away. Hiring can be dangerous work in its own right, but it's also quite fun! "Good. You'll fit right in. Before you know it you'll be terrorizing lesser men and aiding your allies, all while getting paid. One second."
Dom hooks a tiny earpiece into place then calls up a number on her phone, ringing up none other than Deadpool. She's got a way with timing. She's also still rubbing her throat. Sounding a little rough, there.
Dom could probably sell snake oil to the Natives with how much of a fast talker she is but if Knockout is feeling like she's being had she keeps it to herself. "Hmmhmmm," she intones with a smirk, that being all she says when she sees Domino is having problems speaking. While a call or whatever it is she's doing is made with the Fury looks up, her eyes narrowing.
Deadpool turns on his own earpiece. "Wilson Crematorium, you kill 'em, we grill 'em." He waits a beat. "Domino! Hah! Too funny! I'm looking at you right now! You know what's funny? That chick you're talking to totally skunked me on a job last week. Yeah, that Chemical Plant gig you passed on. No, it's all good, I've got the base of her skull in my rifle sights. Hang on, lemme kill her and I'll head down to you."
Uuuh-huh. Domino may have gotten Knockout to sign up as an ally, but she is sooo not turning her back on the big alien chick right now. Especially after what she did, trust will take some time. But, hey. Bruiser! "Yeah, Wade, you--What?-" It is not possible for color to drain from an albino's face, or else it would be. "No, stop! We needed a Bruiser, Wade, and I found us one!" Pitching her voice into a quiet hiss, she adds "Whatever prompted this, call it off!" Eugh, yeah. Timing... Another half of a second and this interview would have ended very poorly. Three guesses who Knockout is going to think sold her out for getting shot at in this alley.
"But... but..." Wade Wilson is totally sexy and awesome, but he's not good at saying 'no' to Domino. "Fine," he grumps. "I'll be down in a minute." He breaks down his sniper rifle into its portable configuration and in short order, has his sniper hide put away. He takes a few steps and easily ninja-jumps down the side of a building, using carefree skills at parkour, and lands on the ground in the alleyway a block off. Dusting off his gloves he walks towards Domino and Knockout, looking a bit put out over the whole thing.
Not that Wade could actually take Knockout out of the picture with a sniper rifle, but he doesn't know that the only thing that'd come out of his trying is a spent round and no fruitful result. Dom's acting strange now and that puts her on alert, Knockout looking around as her body tenses, putting all those muscles that line her shouldrs and upper arms on display. "What is going on," she asks, near-angrily. She is suspicious by nature to begin with and then she catches sight of the figure walking towards them. Yes, she's believing this is going to end in violence.
How is it that for all of the luck in the world, Domino still ends up in the middle of situations like these..? (Oh yeah. Deadpool.) Sigh. With Knockout getting tense and the Mouthy Merc on approach vector, she's suddenly feeling like she's stuck between a rock and a hardhead. She's quick to hold up a hand to place against Knockout's sternum then hesitates, staring, falling a few inches shy of making contact. Kind of attached to that limb, she is. "We're good here, everything's fine... Turns out that our team leader is a lot closer than I realized. So--" she hesitates long enough to plaster a big, friendly grin across her high-contrasted features, "we're all on the same side now." Let's quietly forget the time when Knockout tried to grab Deadpool by the neck during one of Dom's recent jobs. And anything else that's transpired between these two since then.
"Oh. Oh! This is the new recruit, huh?" Deadpool's entire demeanor changes as he looks Knockout over. "Wow. Yeah, I know what kinda damage this lady can do. So, like, did Dom bring you up to speed, or do you have questions about us, the team, Dental, 401(k), that kind of thing?" he inquires of Large and Not In Charge there.
The hand is glared at but the subject of almost being touched is left alone although Domino's aborted attempt is met with a low growl despite how she never followed through. "Yeah, this is the new recruit," she hisses, her frown able to be heard. When he makes a joke she snorts and looks away at the same time she brings a hand up as if to dismiss the subject along with everything else like how Dom points out they're all on the same team. "I don't need anything like that," she adds although she has no idea what he just said. 40... what? Damnit. When will stuff stop confusing her?
"New recruit, yes," Dom says nice and slow as if there's a need to remind Deadpool about why they're here, and who shouldn't be shot at by who. It's probably just luck that she doesn't have gray hair already, dealing with these situations. Now she's going to put her hand down, lest it somehow get detached. "Let's..try to keep things simple to start, okay? Knockout here has a lot of catching up to do in general, confusing civilization and all, let's just find something for her to wreck and call it a day," she suggests. "Speaking of, do we have another job lined up yet?" She's almost looking hopeful. The beast has been lured in, now it must be kept entertained lest things go horribly wrong for everyone else.
Deadpool whips out a pair of his brown, geek-chic glasses and puts them on over his red mask. He produces a small notepad, licks his gloved thumb, and starts whipping through it. "We've got... a search and destroy in California, a Silent Scope op in Beirut, there's an avalance that needs... avalanchin' in Colorado, and there's a kidnapping I'm passing on, 'cause bratty kidnap victims are boring." He looks over his glasses at Knockout. "Feel like getting your feet wet?"
Well, at least they're willing to keep her entertained. That's a good sign. Means they understand the importance of keeping Knockout occupied already. The list of jobs is nodded over even though she doesn't know any of those places Deadpool ratted off, the Fury at least wanting to try and act like she's a bit smarter than she is. "Sure. Just tell me when and where," she adds while cupping a fist in an open palm, the other hand then squeezed around it. Several loud *pops* sound as she cracks her knuckles, a sign of her excitement over possibly getting to destroy something. Or someone. She really isn't picky.
There Domino stands, watching the popping of knuckles, picturing each pop being the snapping of a spine where it meets the base of the skull. Maybe she did play that stunt a little far... Suppressing a tiny shudder, she forces her attention back to Deadpool. "Seconded on the kidnapping, not my idea of a fun time. What's this about an avalanche?" Sounds like a great excuse for making a mess, which should work out quite nicely for their Bruiser. "The Beirut job sounds a bit stealthy, might want to hold on that. Can't say I'm anxious to run back to Cali, but that might be another starter option."
"There's a ski ranch or ski bunny... bunny? No. There's a thing that needs smashy," Deadpool explains, helpfully. "But it's gotta look like an accident. It's like, some, Boy Scouts of America convention at a resort lodge in Colorado, and they need to be removed." He squints at the notepad, then lifts his glasses off and squints squintlierly. "Is removed the same thing as isolated?"
And once again they talk over her head. Might as well be discussing quantam physics for how they are speaking of things Knockout knows squat about. "What are you guys talking about. Ski bunny? Boy scout?" Domino might notice how the Fury's clenching her teeth, a sign that she is growing dangerously close to blowing up and, with this being Kay, it's safe to assume that if she does it'll be epic. "Just... pick one. I'll go."
Domino quickly snaps her fingers, "Let's do it. Colorado, lovely state. Lots of snow. Stuff to destroy. It'll be fun!" And sometime between now and then Deadpool is -so- taking over her job with entertaining the new gal. "I think they have a very specific use of the word 'removed.' Out of sight and out of mind doesn't tend to work out the same way."
Deadpool handwaggles. "I'll check on that. Boy, would /that/ be awkward?" he asks the girls with a laugh. "Ok. Dom, I'll text you the address and mission parameters. You, uh... whatsyername. Welcome to the team. I'll send you an informational pamphlet next time you stop by the clubhouse," he informs her.
Well, this is nice. Everyone knows what's going on but the one who really should be clued in to everything is being left in the dark. "The name is Knockout," she grumbles when providing Deadpool with her name while a thumb is hiked towards the other female. "She knows how to get in touch with me. You can get the information from her." Not wanting to stick around, now, she turns and leaves. A undeserving metal trash can is kicked, dented as her foot impacts the container which is sent flying. At least she's being nice and not trying to hurt anyone.
Category:Logs
Category:RPLogs