2013.05.23 - Super Beli, Part 2

WHEN LAST WE LEFT OUR HEROES (well, protagonists, at least)...

... Roy Harper, wondering what had happened between his 'contact' and a well-known Triad leader, managed to convince Domino to stake out a Madripoor strip club in hopes of catching the Triad Leader, Sam Leung, alone.

A bit of peacemaking, followed by an 'Oops, this wasn't -authorized- but I'll pay you' confession from Roy later, and Domino stormed in to brace Sam Leung.

Only to discover that Sam wasn't alone... he had Vasilia Belikova, Roy's 'handler', with him.

After a shootout, Belikova surprisingly forced Domino to hold -her- hostage.

One furious escape later, with Roy driving the getaway car, Belikova crammed between him and Domino, and the Triads pursuing...

"Dammit, I don't -know- the best way to drive to lose them, especially if they know where -you- can be found, Contact!" Roy shouts, sending the '69 Dodge Super Bee into a furious drift to take a corner, driving his way -out- of the city and trying to hit the open roads alongside various canals.

Behind them, at least three or four black cars (Roy couldn't exactly -count-, driving as he was at -night- in the middle of busy streets...) were chasing them, and closing the gap somehow. It was only a matter of time before they started shooting.

"Beli, whatever's going on, explain -now-!" Roy shouts. "At the least, if I'm gonna die in a car wreck or a shootout, I wanna know why!"

"Harper, -now- is not the time..." Belikova begins.

"Now is exactly the right time," Domino snarls while leaning out the window, firing round four out of her cut-down Mosin Nagant 'pistol' from over her shoulder. "Way I'm seeing it, we have two options. You tell us what the fuck is going on or I throw you to the wolves myself, and I'm not gonna tell Roy to slow down for it!"

In a nutshell, things have gone from bad to worse. The scent of Chinese food still lingers within the car's interior (along with some of the food itself, yet uneaten.) The job should have been simple and straightforward. Catch Sam Leung doing something he shouldn't be, act as appropriate. Either Dom's luck suddenly decided to reverse its polarity on her or it's setting her up for something much bigger.

All she knows is, right now nothing seems to be going as planned. Or even in a good direction. There's no visible end to the hill they're currently flying down.

"I am so sick of these games, Beli! Either come clean here and now or I'm going to give those boys exactly what they want!"

As the food slides around, Roy grabs ahold of an egg roll, popping it into his mouth and starts chewing furiously, getting both hands back on the wheel.

"Fine!" snaps Belikova as she tugs down on her torn dress, ripping the burned strips across her hands and starting to make new bandages for the rope burns. "Although you shouldn't have been there in the first place!"

"Excuuuuse me, don't you think -we- would have been a little -concerned- over the drug-running -boss- you were totally consorting around with?"

"I see you've been expanding your vocaburary, Harper..."

"Never -mind- my vocaburary, stop deflecting and answer her before..."

Gunfire opens, in response to Domino's aiming, as glass shatter on both the Super Bee and the pursuing cars.

"Sam's one of -ours-!" Belikova replies, being shoved up against Domino as Roy takes another corner hard, looking for the roads to the canals. Tires squeal, protesting against the strain... and if Domino times her shot perfectly, yes, indeed, a car is going to lose control and go crashing into a lamppost...

"We would have known not to be there if you had bothered to keep us up to date!" Domino snipes back, wrenching the fifth round into the tube with a musical -Ping!- as the casing from number four gets flicked into the back seat.

Roy's response gets a "No shit" in agreement from the albino before she starts cutting back into the Russian woman, "Or did you already forget that you hired a hero that has a personal vendetta against narcotics?"

With the breaking of glass Dom hunkers down into her seat with another muttered "Shit," arms held up over her head against any falling debris. Even safety glass can cause problems.

With the rear window shot out she levels the Mosin over her other shoulder, firing from the corner of her vision--

--right as Roy takes a hard turn.

The report is deafening within the Super Bee, the cut-down gun smacking into the side of the headrest at the point of firing. The last round in its mag shreds a front tire of a pursuing car, sending it screeching off-course. Lamp post 1, radiator 0. One less car in pursuit.

A quick glare is shot back at Beli as Dom snaps the bolt open and reaches for a handful of rifle bullets situated along her left bicep. "Maybe one of yours, but he wasn't one of mine. When I play the game I know who's part of my team. Maybe playing a close hand has worked for you in the past but in case you haven't noticed, we're not just another pair of armed thugs!"

"I didn't -forget-! I just -needed- to find out... wait, Sam's one of -ours-?" As Domino echoes his thoughts verbally, Roy adds, "Yeah, you -know- damn well what I think about drugs!" Roy exclaims, spitting out little bits of the egg roll he was trying to eat..

Belikova inches a bit closer to Domino to avoid the food spray, taking a minute to grab a napkin from the shifting bag of food as Roy continues to drive at a neck-break speed through the streets, cars still in pursuit, the gunfire flashing in the night, and using it to wipe herself off. "Look, Harper, we were put in place a while ago. Myself -here-, Sam -there-. And no, before you ask, 'Sam' isn't his real name either."

"Well then why did you send -me- and Catwoman after -his- satellite codes?" Roy says, a moment before Belikova puts her napkin-clad hand over his mouth.

"Drive, and -chew- your food," Belikova sighs. She glances at Domino. "It's a complicated situation. Sam has to remain the 'leader', but he also has to protect -himself-. So I had to have a pair of anonymous 'agents' steal from him. Although you -could- have been a bit more discrete..."

As usual, this situation is a mess. These guys are also shooting up Dom's car. She's come to be rather fond of this old Bee, and you just don't mess with the classics. While the two are arguing she drops five more rounds into the Mosin, locks up the bolt, tosses it onto the back seat, then climbs between the two to drop herself onto the padded back bench.

"Of course it's not his real name," she sighs while hauling out both of her 9mm sidearms. "No one is ever who they say they are--HEY! Quit shooting my car, jackholes!"

It's followed up with the rhythmic snapping of pistols being alternately fired, shattering glass, destroying headlights, clipping mirrors, and perforating bodywork. A few passengers catch some of the loosed rounds, too. One gets clipped just enough to bump his sawn-off shotgun, exploding the head of his neighbor in a flash of yellow and a pop of red.

"Catwoman?" Domino calls back in surprise, immediately followed by a more confused "Satellite codes?" What..?! "Of course it's complicated! Everything's fucking complicated!" she blurts out while hunching down across the seat, arms held out to the sides as two spent magazines drop to the floorboards. "If we knew to be discrete then we would have been discrete! A lack of communication is the number one reason for failed relationships, you know!"

"Hey, I'm Roy Harper," begins Roy, having finally chewed his food and swallowed, as he wads up the napkin and tosses it outside the window without as much as glancing at it.

"Got proof of that, _William Bard_?" Belikova retorts in dulcet tones, almost -smiling-. She sighs, however, when Domino interjects. "Well, one of the Ah Kong's acquisitions were abandoned warehouses. However, when Sam went to inspect everything, he discovered -something-, something so significant he called -me- in. We'd been together as part of an undercover gig. Himself in the Ah Kong, myself in... well, never mind, it's not important -now-."

"The point is, as far as I can -tell-, these satellite codes represent -specific- codes for a nuclear strike. And the nuclear bombs are hidden -somewhere- in one of the abandoned warehouses."

This time Beli beats Dom to the punchline. "And That Other Guy," she seethes back at the driver.

When Belikova tries to tell her yet again that something isn't important Dom's about ready to go ballistic on the other woman. Fortunately for her, she keeps explaining. What she happens to explain is a doozy. In an instant the albino's blood runs cold when those words are spoken.

Nuclear Strike.

"..Lovely."

In this moment she's not sure what to make of the news. Her mind is already busy processing the variables while she reloads her sidearms, her angered voice replaced with the clinical Chak-Chak! of the slides returning into battery.

First matter of business first. "You should have told us what the stakes were, Beli. 'Nukes' and 'flying blind' do not go together."

And now they have themselves yet another dilemma. She needs more answers. She also needs to clear her head to think about this. That part means getting rid of their tails. Up she goes for another Parabellum Barrage, casings tinking against the Dodge's bodywork as both barrels light up in the night sky.

When she drops back for cover again, she pointedly asks "If you find these warheads first, what are you going to do with them?"

"It -had- to be done discretely. Sam couldn't afford to make it look like he'd just -given- the codes away discretely, it had to be -stolen-."

She gestures to Roy. "Except that he couldn't leave well enough alone, he had to -poke around-."

"I thought we were just stealing his -Swiss Bank account- codes or something! Roy protests. "Hold on to your panties, ladies, because..."

There was a truck in front of them, a two-way street, and incoming traffic. Which is why Roy stomps on the accelerator, swings out to pass... right into incoming headlights. Speeding even quicker, Roy manages to cut -in front of the truck- just before the incoming car zips past both car and truck.

Unfortunately for the incoming car, the triad cars had a similar idea, and...

The incoming car manages to keep going, as do a couple of others, but the one triad car that had tried to follow Roy, distracted by Domino's gunfire and not realizing there was incoming traffic, ends up kissing a hydrant, water splashing down, as the Madripoor city lights dance across its hood with the water.

"... sorry, Contact, I know you don't wear panties, but..." Roy begins with a smirk.

There was a resounding Gibbs smack on Roy's head, and then Belikova studiously ignores Roy as she turns back to Domino. "Decommission them, of course. Apparently the Soviet Union brought them over during the Vietnam War, intending to have them in hand in case of escalated war. Everything was kept top secret, and only the very top brass knew..."

Belikova ducks, as more incoming gunfire comes, and then waits for Domino to return fire before resuming. "The United States lost the War, of course, and the bombs remained in the warehouse, all the top secret paperwork lost, and age taking its toll on the military brass, of course..."

"Think I would have preferred the bank account codes," Domino mutters while bracing herself in the back. "In fact, I know I would have preferred bank account codes."

Car chases, never relaxing. Trying to put up with one while not belted in becomes something of an acrobatic/contortionist act, then she gets to add gunplay on top of it all!

Actually, it's a lot of fun.

"Hold on? What are we--Oh, shhhhit!"

Even while being braced she gets tossed about in the back, focusing more on not accidentally firing off one of her guns while letting the armor handle bruise control.

"Too much information, Harper!" she blurts out while peering over the back seat, catching another car as it gets taken out of the chase. "Nice driving, though." Then there's a sly grin, she knows the sound of one hand clapping the back of his skull.

Time for (another) new plan. Two more pistol mags are run dry, then another sharp turn leaves Dom almost neatly tucked into the back footwell. "..Ow."

Amidst charred brass and pebbles of safety glass she works on reloading once again. It's a bit slower going this time around. "Well, we've already played up taking you hostage, Beli. I see one clear way out of this." Insert a weary sigh here. "Roy and I are going to have to double-agent this mess. There's another player out on the field that would love to get hold of these nukes." Which means keeping an eye on them, and misdirecting if necessary. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

"Once our trip down memory lane's over, my contract to you is terminated. I've got a job offer with the Baroness, already. Now sounds like an ideal time to accept it."

"What?!" Now Roy jerks his head over to look at Domino.

"Eyes on the road, Harper!" Belikova exclaims, grabbing ahold of the wheel.

There's a narrow-eyed look as Belikova regards Domino, while Roy focuses on the road, as two cars remain following. "Well, well, I -did- expect a better offer to come along for you, Thurman," Belikova says softly. "But Roy...?" She turns to look at her.

As the Super Bee departs the city limits, and hit the open roads of the canals, the two Triad cars still trailing, Roy hesistates. "What do you have in mind, Dommie?" he says, rather than respond to Belikova right away.

Despite the grin that passes over blackened lips, Domino's less than amused. So much for keeping it simple...

"To be fair you didn't give me much of an offer from the start, Beli. I could have worked for you or I could have gotten shot forty-seven ways to Tuesday. Now--stay with me, here," she grunts while prying herself out of the footwell.

"I dragged you out of the club at gunpoint. Roy's been an accessory to the whole thing. He's driving the getaway car. We're both in this shitstorm together. I know where I need to go. Even if Roy wasn't playing accessory here, do you really think he'd let me go wandering into the happy little hive of terrorists on my own?"

Pause. Grin. "Besides, it'll give him that many more opportunities to check out the Baroness' assets."

Two 9mm pistols come up, their slides slamming forward around fresh rounds.

"This conversation is now open to counter-offers."

Jerking his head over to look at Domino, Roy considers. "... So basically, because we've just blown up dragging Contact out of a Triad club, we've got -both- the Triad -and- the Black Lagoon after us? Dammit, Dommie... I -told- you to wait!"

Belikova, however, looks thoughtful. "We do -still- need to find the abandoned warehouse the nukes were stored in. All we have are the code and the information that such a thing exists. And more forces looking for it..." she says slowly.

Now Roy looks wild-eyed at Belikova. "You're suggesting that..."

"You're fired, Bard." Belikova says, her normally dulcet voice flat as she cuts another strip off her dress, and then holds it out to Domino. "Your proposal has merit." She smiles suddenly. "We'll discuss your new terms of employment -after- you take that bitch for all you can soak, and find the nukes." And then she says those words that Domino must relish for all it's worth. "Now tie me up, and throw me out of the car."

"Yeah. Isn't it fun?" Domino asks Roy with that grin shifting to favor the left side of her face.

True. If she had waited things might have played out better. Different, certainly. But, Dom's learned a long time ago that things happen for a reason, and luck doesn't always make sense. Sometimes it seems downright unfair, for her! The pieces would come together. Of that she's willing to bet her life on. And Roy's. And Beli's.

Which is a good thing, because that's exactly what she's proposing to do.

"So you keep looking for the nukes. We'll try to make sure the Baroness doesn't lay hands on 'em first."

Now for the fun part. She's not even going to try to hide her look of amusement. Already things are starting to come full circle. "Try to hold 'er steady, Roy. I need to abuse your old boss."

"What the...?" Roy exclaims.

"Oh come on, Harper, relax, you're -not- really fired. What your esteemed -partner- is proposing is that you're working -for- Baroness. You'll have another shot at busting up your drug enforcers since they're -also- competing with your Baroness." Belikova hesitates, as her hands are bound behind her, and then she leans forward and kisses Roy on the cheek. "Don't look so down, Roy. This is just a whole new cover for you, that's all." She pulls back, glances at Domino, and nods. Keep an eye on him, will you? her eyes say, before she steels herself for the inevitable.

"Just keep driving, Roy!"

What fun little games they play. Beli's taking it well. Domino's ..frustrated, but complicated is part and parcel with most of her gigs. Simple is rarely in the cards any longer for mercfolk.

"Everyone hates drug runners, Harp. We'll always find time to kick their collective asses."

To the inquiry she passes cold blue eyes back to Roy, releasing another slow breath. Roy's already figured out how to look out for himself, using her power. "I don't think that'll be a problem. Tuck and roll, I'll try to be gentle."

She tends to reserve brain injuries for people she isn't planning on taking jobs from.

Climbing back into the front seat she pops the door catch, saying "On three. One--"

Push!

"I lose more passengers that way," she nonchalantly tells Roy while dropping into the seat and muscling the door closed. "Are the last of 'em going to take the bait or insist on getting shot off the road?"

Belikova isn't even -tense- as she hits the grassy road, tucking and tumbling.

In the rearview mirror, Roy notices one car pulling over to chase down Belikova, which left...

"Aw crap, Dommie, one more car," Roy notices, deciding it was wiser to -not- comment on exactly how much pleasure Domino seemed to be taking in shoving Contact out of her seat.

Ahead of them lay a downhill incline, which would make things -really- tricky, and at the end of it, a bridge.

"So, Dommie, do you -really- want to keep this car...?" Roy asks casually, as he drives down the hill.

Domino checks the mirrors while sunk deep into the seat, both keeping her head down and confirming Roy's announcement on their pursuit. They've divided their remaining forces. "Guess these guys still have a couple of brain cells left to rub together."

Downhill dash. A bridge. Roy's question. Before saying anything at all she's reaching for the seatbelt, clicking it home and -wrenching- on the lap belt. She does not want her butt to leave this seat until whatever he's got planned is through and done with.

"It's expendable," she says, her tone remaining purely no-nonsense. It's a nice ride to be sure, but as with everything that her hands fall upon, they're resources. They serve their purpose, then they get replaced as necessary.

If it really is necessary.

"You know, I could just cap the driver on that last ca--whoa!"

What's worse is, and Domino is going to see this for herself, the bridge is a drawbridge. And the lights are blinking, something that's apparent as they're driving at it at a ludricious speed.

And wouldn't you -know- it, there's a ship coming towards the drawbridge, meaning the bridge is pulling up, the gates coming down.

And it becomes obvious why Roy asked how expandable the car is.

"Well, then," exclaims Roy, as he accelerates. "YOU KNOCK THAT CAR OFF BEFORE WE JUMP THE BRIDGE!"

Oh..Hell. Domino's been thinking that Roy needs to learn the hard way that her good luck only favors her, that one of these days he's going to try and roll the dice and wind up getting smacked down while she walks away scott-free.

She could make a grab for the wheel.

She could reach for the shifter.

She could do a hundred different things to place 'control' back into her hands.

She does nothing of the sort.

''Hell, if Roy really wants to try this and see what happens, let him. This car only cost a few grand.'' Dom reaches around and swipes the Mosin from the back, her shoulders twisting about as she levels the portable cannon and takes aim.

Odds of Roy surviving: 1 in 6. Odds of the car surviving: 1 in 300. Odds of the enemy surviving: 1 in 823. Odds of Domino surviving: Sucker bet.

BAM!

One thirty cal AP bullet later leaves a neat entry hole through the pursuing sedan's windshield, a bloody hole through the head and seat back of the driver, an even uglier hole through the head of the guy immediately behind it, and an incredibly messy exit through the rear window on its way into the cobblestone street.

Dom whips herself back around, fingers already closing around the bolt knob as she sees the bridge.

Blue eyes widen.

It's funny how much easier it is to do crazy shit like this when she's the one doing it.

Wood fragments shatter as the gate shatters before the impact of a nearly 160 KPH car hitting it, before bouncing up onto the slowly opening drawbridge.

Fortunately for Roy, at least, it was a -good- speed to hit it at because the incline was slowly becoming steeper.

And as the car behind them spins off and bursts off the bank into the river, Roy stomps hard on the accelerator, trying to stave off the inevitable slowing down of the car and...

And as the boat passes underneath the Super Bee, there's screaming coming from the car as it jumps the gap overshooting the other half of the bridge by a bit so that there's quite a -jolt- as the front bumper scrapes hard against the asphalt, before the rest of the tires meet the road...

And -somehow-, the car does -not- flip over, and keeps on going, driving onwards...

There was a pause, before Roy realizes he'd let go of the wheel and grabbed ahold of Domino. Grabbing ahold of the wheel again, Roy hits the brakes gradually, coming to a stop.

There was a moment of breathlessness from Roy, before...

"HOLY SHIT!"

Roy had let go of the wheel.

Domino had taken hold of it.

It couldn't have been helped. She couldn't do nothing. Luck or no luck, she couldn't just throw her hands into the air and let fate play out all on its own. Nothing happens unless you attempt to make something happen.

Of course, he had abandoned the wheel to cling onto her, instead. "..You can let go now, Harper."

When he takes hold of the wheel she (reluctantly) relinquishes control back to him. She's still staring. And pale. Definitely pale. Not just by default.

"I'm sure Hal can buff that out."

The hand that had gone to the wheel now blindly goes to her lap, catching the yet-uneaten piece of crab rangoon that had decided to land there somewhere along the way. It's cold by now but that doesn't stop her from ripping a bite out of it.

"Alright, kiddo. Here's the plan."