18198/Flush

Flush
Date of Scene:	05 June 2024
Location:	Union Square
Synopsis:	Two rounds of trouble merge into one in an unexpected twist.
Cast of Characters:	Neena Thurman, Dominique Thiebaut

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Neena Thurman has posed:
It's a warm cloudy day in New York City with more light rain brewing in the west despite the roads still being damp from the last round of showers to pass through. A lot of the residents are making use of the window to get out and do their business, though one individual remains sitting idle.

A blacked out rider on a blacked out bike sips coffee from a to-go cup from beneath a shaded overhang, comfortably away from the busy streets and sidewalks. In her other hand rests a smartphone which she has been paying close attention to for the last fifteen minutes.

Finally seeing what she's waiting for the phone is pocketed, the coffee gulped then tossed into a garbage bin, a leg is swept over the other side of the bike and she is off like a shot. All of the pieces are starting to come together now...

Shots ring out in the distance. Tires screech, horns blare, the sound of a bad traffic accident comes to pass, but the shooting continues. Multiple automatic weapons produce an echoing staccato throughout the urban canyons. People on foot scatter. Those in vehicles struggle to find the fastest ways to safety. No sirens yet but it's certainly only a matter of time before those join into the cacophony.

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Cyblade doesn't patrol. She doesn't sit around her dorm with a police scanner. She investigates. She looks for targets and finds them. This bunch of losers, she's been hunting for a few days: their weapons have a certain megacorp's fingerprints all over them, and she wants to know where they're coming from and why they're being used for something as bone-stupid as robberies. She might also want to kill a few of them, but she's trying to set that feeling aside as she runs along rooftops, chasing their van (it's *always* a van, if you ever see a van you should immediately assume there are at least four armed criminals in tactical gear in the back) and keeping track of them with occasional pink explosions from her heels rocketing her forward over alleys and throwing her into bursts of speed. She's in her armor, or her costume if you prefer that term, ready for a fight but preferring a surgical strike. Fights, especially fair fights, are things you can lose. She'd rather not risk such a thing.

Neena Thurman has posed:
New York City is a big place with a lot going on at any given time. Usually there's enough space for everything to find a place of its own. But every once in a while the stars align and events collide.

There's a certain van being hunted by one lady who has taken to the rooftops.

There's another vehicle being hunted by one lady on a sport bike.

What would have normally been two ships passing at sea suddenly becomes absolute madness with the shift of one little albino-sized variable. Her mark, a large and heavily armored truck done up in matte black paint for that proper sinister vibe, has been caught off guard in all of the right ways by the bike-riding Domino to have swerved and crashed, right in time to completely block off a certain van full of fancy high tech weapons. It's a million in one opportunity! Or thereabouts.

The bike cuts in close behind the armored transport, popping up onto its front wheel to sweep around in a half turn. As it lands it's in the perfect spot for the rider to reach out and slap something bulky onto the back doors. An explosive charge for anyone remotely knowledgeable of such devices. But the incoming van? That's new! It catches her off guard enough to almost miss the guards pouring out of the front of the armored transport with compact assault rifles in hand.

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Rubber screams in heated protest as the van's slamming brakes make the tires lose enough of their tread to probably no longer pass inspection; but the trip into the busy intersection does not end in a head-on T-bone collision, so the van's occupants are likely counting their blessing. Cyblade is cursing mentally. This is the absolute last thing she wanted: a public confrontation where civilian lives are in danger. Damn, double damn, and--why not, she can afford it--triple damn.

The only way forward now is to engage before they have the chance to cut down any innocents. Fine. She jack knifes off the edge of the building, palms extended forward over her head. She throws a little explosion from her (stupid) blue gloves and bounces off it like she's doing somersaults in mid-air, each successive explosion catching her momentum and slowing her enough that a jump from sixty feet above doesn't crush her bones when she lands in a wide-kneed hunker on the van's hood, her right arm cocked back at ear level as if to throw a punch, her fist surrounded by a pink nimbus that coalesces into a very pointy blade about two feet long that hums a bit like the Van De Graaff generator. Its point is aimed directly between the eyes of the dazed driver.

She'd prefer not to kill him, but she doesn't always get what she wants.

Neena Thurman has posed:
Another figure appears, not exactly from 'nowhere' given Cyblade's descent but one with all the right amount of drama as she lands on the front of the van and ..does something. Something with pink light and a weird hum and--

The snap of bullets pulls Domino away from the unexpected distraction, the bike's back wheel breaking free with a shriek of rubber and whine of engine as she spins about with one foot dragging on the road. Who this other lady is and why she's attacking the people in the van are questions for later! /Soon,/ but still later!

Armed and armored soldiers pour out of the transport into the street, one of them in particular /trying to use the van/ for cover. "You are hereby ordered to vacate the area!" he yells at Dominique. The way he starts raising his rifle could sure seem like he's intending to aim it at her as well. Maybe he isn't going to but it's hard to tell!

Not far away the spot-eyed albino is leaning hard and sliding both her and the bike down behind a wrecked SUV for cover as the soldiers again open fire, riddling windows and white paint full of holes in short order...

...But Domino has an idea. Rather than shoot back at THEM she takes her chances and shoots at the VAN. Why not try to give everyone some extra targets? It'd make her life that much easier!

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Cyblade's lips are split in a frustrated snarl as she realizes she just can't convince herself to murder these men in cold blood. Instead she leaps from her froggish crouch, forward and to the right, toward the driver's door. She swings her bladed arm down in a buzzing crescent chop as she does. The superheated energy shears through the cheap metal door like butter, cutting it off its hinges and leaving a line of bright orange slag to mark the scar. Before anyone has a chance to react, she drops into another low crouch and strikes again, this time in a wide, low sweep that makes both the driver's side tires explode like the world's loudest balloons (her own ears are rather battered by this explosion). The van's starboard side drops three inches, and axles groan as they bend under the suddenly uneven weight. Cyblade is already on her toes, bouncing away toward the armored car, just in case the blown-out tires cause the vehicle to go on its side. That *shouldn't* happen, but one never knows.

Also, it seems like a good idea to keep the guys in the armored, not to mention the woman shooting at them, in her peripheral vision.

Neena Thurman has posed:
The upshot for Cyblade is the armored guys don't seem to be gunning for her, though there is no shortage of alarm at the use of some hefty powers right by where they're working.

"META, we got a meta!" the one nearest yells.

The double doors at the back of the transport burst open from the inside, heedless of the placed charge already waiting for them. Domino doesn't give any warning before triggering the charge, sending concussion and shrapnel toward the next wave right as their boots hit the ground.

The guys in the van don't seem to be putting up a fight, that's a pity. Still, the lady with the flashy pink lightshow is putting on one hell of a distraction and Dom can make use of it!

As the van's tires are slashed apart and the vehicle sharply lists to the side Cyblade goes to perch atop of the transport, immediately getting the attention of the blacked out soldiers whom had been driving it around. Two of them step further out of cover to get a line of sight on Cyblade while two more fire toward the albino to keep her pinned down and cover their buddies.

In theory it would have worked out well if not for Domino firing at an angle beneath the SUV, skipping a bullet off the pavement to catch one of the guys taking aim at Cyblade. Maybe that crazy powered gal can offer more support than the van's occupants, who knows! There's but one way to find out and that's to roll the damn dice.

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Ever try to open a car door that's been severed from its hinges? It's not easy. The door's weight drags down hard enough to risk bending the latch in the catch, and it won't open on its own: the driver needs to grab something, like the arm rest, and lift the entire thing enough to be able to shake the door out of place. That takes a few seconds to figure out. And Cyblade, who is neither blessed with luck nor possessed of the supernatural awareness her lightsabre powers would suggest, needs every second she can wrestle out of the situation. In the meantime? The dudes in the armored van are less impeded than her own targets, who now have to get out of the wrong side of the van and cross over to fight her, so she risks turning her back on them to find the nearest armored car thief and sweep her bladed arm upward in a vicious arc that cuts his assault rifle in half just before the banana magazine. If this guy was a professional, that would be enough to stop him, but she can't count on him not being a moron, so she emphasizes the point with a hard, stomping kick to the outside of his left knee. Nothing like a dislocated lower extremity to convince someone to listen to your arguments about them wanting to be out of combat.

Neena Thurman has posed:
Score! Cyblade takes out one guy, Domino another, which leaves the two still gunning for the pale mercenary. Fortunately (for her) the loss of two of their own has caused some further alarm. They break the engagement to seek deeper cover but one more goes down with a yell as Domino leans around the SUV's tail lights and snaps off several pistol shots. "Thanks, girl!" she calls to Dominique.

Oh, but the helpful assist doesn't end there. The fourth soldier starts to find his cover but the spotted biker gal is pressing the offensive. From the pieces of rifle which Cyblade had cleaved in half comes the /perfect/ addition to Dom's arsenal. A nearby abandoned car with the engine still running and the door wide open earns her focus, extending the stock on the ruined rifle half to jam it into the accelerator.

Moments later the last soldier standing is getting pinned up against the ruined van as the car runs into him, the windshield getting stitched with bullets before his rifle slides off the fender to the road below.

A quick look around is followed by a victorious fist-pump, but Domino's work isn't over with yet.

"Hey, you!" she calls to Cyblade. "Yeah! Borrow you for a second?"

As it turns out, this lady's peculiar power /also/ seems like the exact sort of thing that would greatly assist with Domino's goals.

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Cyblade nearly bristles at the 'girl' thing, but a second glance reminds her she really *is* a girl to this one. Okay, fine. Focus. With no enemies instantly to bear, she cuts off the open passenger door of the armored truck. She's not just repeating a trick: when the door is severed, she lets her blade dissipate, and she grabs the falling hunk of reinforced metal in both hands, holding it up before her like a very clumsy shield as she backs toward the albino. If you can call someone that white with such dark eyes an albino, anyway.

"What?" she barks. She's too focused on bracing for incoming gunfire to waste words on the 'do you want' conclusion to that question.

Neena Thurman has posed:
Uh. Wow. Um. Domino had been trying to be cute more than condescending but seeing this 'girl' cleave the entire armored door off of the transport and /hold it like a shield/ has her making a few quick reassessments.

"Over here!" she calls out while hurrying into the back of the transport. Not only is there space for the four soldiers to sit which are now left vacant by their unexpected departure, there's a second secured door back there.

"Oh, right. Uh, let's see..." she quietly thinks. The guards are all outside, which means their access keycards are also outside.

Except for the one lying on the floor. It must have fallen out somewhere along the way. What a shame!

Keycard taken, swiped, secure door open, and...there's a tank in there. Like a solid metal pressure tank, though one which has been reinforced to be nigh apocalypse-proof.

Domino hooks a thumb toward this container and eyes up the other woman, asking "Mind popping that open? Even a narrow cut should do."

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Cyblade is extremely cool and badass and you are very correct to be impressed by her mad skills. Never mind that when the gunfire from the tail end of the van starts, the impacts drive her back three staggering steps and knock the door from fingers not strong enough to hold it in the face of all that violence. But that's all part of the plan, just like her dive to get behind the armored car's back side! Now her hands are free to manifest her blades again! See how that works? She's so cool and not at all winging it!

Also, she's getting tired. That door was *heavy* and her adrenaline is going to fade soon as her stores of the precious chemical run low. So if making a blade and poking a hole in a tank end this thing all the faster, then yes, let's do that.

Neena Thurman has posed:
"Oh hey, the guys from the van woke up" the alabaster assassin comments, reflexively ducking slightly as incoming fire smacks into the transport's armored hide. "Name's Domino. Got a mark of your own today, huh. Killer timing."

As soon as the tank is punctured something akin to pale orange Kool-Aid starts rushing out, but beside the color there's something a little off about how it's pouring out. There's no sign the tank had been pressurized and the way its contents are leaking seems a little too ... controlled?

'Controlled,' and very animated. It doesn't pool on the floor so much as pool /upward/ as it starts taking a humanoid form right there beside them both. There was a PERSON trapped in that tank! They take on a human form but being made up of nothing but transparent orange fluid there's no easy way to tell where they're looking other than a turn of the head from one lady to the other.

What results is a bubbly sounding "Thanks!" before the figure splashes down with gravity and pours out of the transport toward the nearest storm drain, getting a casual salute from the albino in passing.

"You've just helped free another mutant. Want a hand with your problem now?"

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Cyblade stiffens and almost asks 'who said I'm a mutant?' but realizes at the last instant that, in the second place, the answer to that question is too likely to be 'because you just told me,' and in the first place is really not the thing to focus on right now. "Sounds fair," she bites out instead, and suddenly drops to her right side as a small fan of blood sprays out of her thigh just above the kneecap. The oddly clothlike metal armor apparently isn't armor enough to stop weapons fire of this caliber. She lands hard on her shoulder, teeth gritting, forcing herself not to go into shock by pure stubbornness, and lets the blade in/on her right hand dissipate as she conjures a new one in her left hand; a three-bladed triangle about a foot in radius no one would ever use in a real fight. But it's a great size for throwing at a man's calves, since she's down at that level anyway.

He's fifteen feet away. Her energy bolts lose power very rapidly as they get away from her. She wonders idly if she's about to cut the man or amputate his shin.

She can work with either.

Neena Thurman has posed:
Hmm, potential issue. Dom didn't notice this other gal took a bad hit, though she's not out of the fight yet. As Cyblade puts out a deadly looking triangle thing Dom's looking around the back of the truck. A secured locker hangs from one wall. With the key still in hand she shrugs and swipes it across this other lock, gaining access to a rack full of extra rifles. "Paydirt. Gotcha covered, hang in there."

Shooting from cover would be the smart play. She doesn't seem so keen on the idea! A leap and roll out the back of the truck and she's sending rounds toward the van like it's the last day on Earth. THEIR vehicle isn't armored, is it? She should be able to punch rounds right through it.

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
You know what's faster than a thrown made up blade thingie? A bullet. That's just a fun fact for you.

The downside is, Cyblade never gets to see what her blade does to the man's shin. The question will no doubt haunt her. The upside is, she doesn't find out because Domino's bullets just so happen to find the van's gas tank, and just so happen to shear through the metal in a way that drags a cascade of sparks behind the slug like a comet's tail, igniting the gas and detonating the van like you only see in action movies. Cyblade is lucky to already be prone so the shrapnel passes overhead. The remaining gunmen were less fortunate.

"Funny how things fall in place," Cyblade mutters, pushing herself up from the asphalt. What is it with her and road rash lately?