556/Putting all the Dominos into place.. (NSFW)

Putting all the Dominos into place.. (NSFW)
Date of Scene:	22 May 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	257, Domino

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Copperhead (257) has posed:
It's rare for a minor league thief like the guy known as Copperhead to reach out to a world class assassin like Domino through the criminal grapevine. Most people still think of him as that crazy guy in the snake costume who use to rob banks and museums by crawling through vents. He was always associated with the big players but was never one of them. It's strange when Domino gets an invitation to meet him for a job. What is even stranger is where he asks to meet. It's a half scuttled cargo ship that crashed off the coast of Gotham during one of the many, many catastrophic events that seems to plague the city.

The instructions included were to meet him in the bowels of the old, rusting heap at 3am. There was a 10 grand incentive paid just to get her to come to the meeting. When she gets there she can scope the place out like a professional would. There are no guards, no hidden traps, not even any cars around save an old busted up looking van that is locked and looks like someone is living in it.

The ship is huge but empty. Everything of value was long ago stripped from it, there is no power, no lighting, it feels like a ghost ship. It's the kind of place you go for a meeting when you want to make sure you are alone. Thick metal walls to block any transmissions, not even the best spy satellite can penetrate the old rusty hull of the ship.

It could be a trap, but that idiot human in a snake outfit would have to be a complete moron to pick a fight with Domino. After all, he's just a man and she is so much more... right?
    Down in the darkness of the hull, the empty depths of the ship lay slightly slanted to one side making it a little awkward to walk because the ground isn't entirely level but it only takes a moment to get use to. After the first few steps past the latter down into the lower levels the light from above fades into total darkness and there. The note said he would be in engineering, back of the boat in the lower levels.

Domino has posed:
She's come loaded for bear.

Proverbially speaking.

The moment Neena set foot on the docks, her abilities were calculating the odds for her. Last minute change of equipment and weapons, everything relatively concealed in a long black overcoat left open in front, the hemline just an inch or two off the ground. Hands in her pockets, a sea breeze tousels hair as black as night. She makes her way down into the belly of the ship to meet with her intended contact.

Her footfalls are slow and rhythmic; that and any breeze carrying her scent will give away her approach long before Copperhead can see her coming - but Domino doesn't have to rely on stealth to accomplish her tasks. Things just have a way of falling into place for her.

"Knock Knock," she says aloud. "I'd wipe my feet but I can't find the welcome mat. Don't worry, I'm not here to ask if you've got time to talk about our lord and savior C'thulhu."

Copperhead (257) has posed:
Entering the bowels of the ship she finds herself alone. He isn't joking around about keeping this meeting secret. The only above water entrance to the after section is at the front of the ship. As she travels the depths of the ship, the narrow hallways, the cramped spaces she happens on several interesting things. Trip wires made out of a thin filament connected to small explosive devices. Not the kind that kill you, but the kind that splatter you with neon paint. He's testing her. Trip wires, mines, laser activated paintball guns. There are only a few traps, easy for her to avoid but he must have wanted to know she was as good as her reputation said. At one point she has to cut through a kitchen to avoid a set of doors rigged to slam shut on her and lock her inside. For her these things are childsplay to avoid.

She ends up in the engineering section easily enough but in the light of her night vision the pit of darkness is a illuminated green room of catwalks above, broken scaffolding and stripped engine parts. When she announces herself his voice echos from above her. Looking up to one of the scaffoldings the figure of Copperhead can be seen in a pair of nice, slim jeans wearing a jacket closed around his muscular body with his hood up. "Thankss for coming." he says as he starts to walk down the stairs to the level she walked in on, "Sssorry to put you through sso much trouble. I had to make ssure you were alone." if she was being followed they would have set off the traps but he knew she wouldn't. In the light of the night goggles with the hoodie obscuring her vision, it's hard to make out his face but there are hints of scales and a snake head like his old costume just much more life like. Maybe he got a new costume? "I need to hire you to attempt to kill me." he says as he reaches up to unzip his hoodie, "I've got the detailss for the assssasssination attempt in thiss folder. I jusst need sssomeone good enough to do it but not get caught. Sssheild hass been trailing me. I want them to sssee sssomeone try and ssnuff me then let them think it wasss ssomeone I want desstroyed." he says getting right to the point.

Domino has posed:
Domino smirks. "I understand. Foreplay makes a better impression on a girl." Yes, those words actually just fell out of her mouth, partially because she enjoys cracking wise, but mostly because setting someone verbally offguard can tip their hand in multiple ways.

She holds open her hand for the dossier to have a look at it. "SHIELD involvement isn't going to come cheap, I'll tell you that much. Not that I haven't slipped under their radar before, but faked death is easier to accomplish than fake and frame. Still, if the coin is right, I'll make it happen for you."

She pauses and sighs softly, smirking. "You know, on second thought, that opening line ..." She shakes her head. "Oh well. We're all turning tricks for someone."

Copperhead (257) has posed:
Offering her the folder, the man smirks an off smirk under his hood and says, "Foreplay with me isss much, much more interesssting but I am trying to be a better man sso let'ss not go down that path. I'm not sssure where it would end."which is an odd thing to say.

The folder contains has a clip on light source that runs off of a battery like a little reading light for her to use. The contents detail a company called BioGen LLC, the index of employees from their web page, the phone numbers and departments, the locations of their properties, "Thiss company wass doing a tesst on a drug that mutated people into freakss. I don't think it wasss the company itsself that did it but ssomeone inside the company. I need to find out who, and why which meanss giving Sss.H.I.E.D. an excussse to ssieze control of the company'ss computers and assets without resssistance. It you go on a nicsse public ssshooting sspree trying to kill me and leave a believable trail of evidencsse leading back to them then they can invesstigate freely. " he explains, "It will exsspediate my planss by monthss. Iss thiss agreeable?" he asks keeping his head low with the hood covering most of his face.

Copperhead takes a few steps back from the merc because she is rather enticing and he has been alone for a very long time which makes him nervous. He's going to keep it professional no matter how tempting the prize may be and most of him is in agreement with this plan.

Domino is an observant girl and she would notice that something isn't quite right with him. His head is too wide, and even with the night vision goggles she can see that his chin and lower jaw are covered with scales. When he talks there are no teeth to reflect the dim light like on most people and the hand he held out the file too her with wasn't wearing gloves like he use to have, his hands just seem to be claws... almost as if it isn't a costume any more.

Domino has posed:
"You off to work at the business factory while I sit at home and complain about how you never spend any time with me or the eggs," is Domino's initial quip as she opens the folder and scans through the material. "which would be a step up from my last relationship, all things considered." She is keeping an eye on Copperhead out of her peripheral vision as she flips pages. The altered physiology doesn't miss her either, but in this world, some things are no longer shocking. She's seen more than her fair share of the strange. It's not hard to put two and two together for this man, and she makes a wager that this is personal. She tries to avoid 'personal' because once emotions get involved, the whole thing just turns into a clusterfrag ... but at the same time, if what she suspects is true, she can't blame him for wanting this. If he'd approached it in a different way, she might even have done this pro bono.

"I can do this for the right price." She closes the folder and looks back up at him, eye to eye. She wants to probe further, and this is one time she wishes she had one of her old teammate's mind-reading abilities. Domino isn't quite like other mercenaries. Motives count.

Copperhead (257) has posed:
He doesn't know it, but he would be really glad she didn't bring a telepath. When she talks about her and eggs it makes the snake man stand up a little taller and those slim fit pants start to get a little tighter in certain places. She seems to know how to hit his buttons and as much as he wants to stay on task he find himself interested in her life, at least with enough interest to use against her to maybe lower the cost. Yeah, he tells himself. He's trying to get her to lower the cost and he's interested in her for no other reason. He's not at all picturing doing naughty, naughty things with her creamy body and SHUT UP BRAIN!

"Want to talk about it? Ass you can sssee, I don't have a lot on my ssschedule." he offers as he finishes unzipping the hoodie and takes it off. She was right, he is more snake than man now. Someone has turned him into a mutant or something close to one. He is bare chested under the hoodie, muscular, strong, scaled but well evolved, whoever did this too him did it right. He is a work of genetic art, if you are into rattlesnake men. He reveals himself to her in the dim illumation of the book light because she will need to know what he looks like to almost shoot him and for no other reason... No. Other. Reason. Stop thinking about it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!

Domino has posed:
"I'll be up front, since you're also being ... 'up front'." Domino watches him and observes what is obviously a forced mutation. "This is personal for you, isn't it? I've heard about you before - don't sell yourself short as far as reputation goes - but the last I heard, it was a costume and effort. Unless gone full Conners, I'm guessing this wasn't a choice for you."

She's starting to stack the tiles, stepping closer. "Once this is all over, what are you doing to do with yourself? Don't tell me I'm going to cover your ass just so you can continue to get away with murder."

Copperhead (257) has posed:
Perhaps it's the head full of hormones, the pants full of pressure or maybe she's just lucky enough to be his kind of broken, the snake looks at her with his golden eyes and tells the truth, "Actually, " he says and smiles, "This is the bessst thing that ever happened to me. I feel more alive than I have ever been! More powerful, more in control of my own life. I feel like I could ssteal the sstars from the sssky and pick the pockets of Godss." he says and chuckles, "I was ssso afraid, ssso blind and helpless before but now the future layss out before me like a road and I can choosse to take whatever path I want." he says as he steps closer to Domino. His eyes gleam in the light as he meets her gaze with a primitive fire, perverse and berserk lurking just under his skin.

"I know that thisss is a world full of heroess sso I've ssset a plan into motion to turn sshield to my advantage. " he says as he raises a clawed hand. Almost but not quite touching her smooth perfect skin he withdraws his hand as if fighting to control that passion within himself, "You sssee I've laid out a plan to convincsse them they sshould invesst in me, give me ressourcess to sstart my own evil empire. They can take down the worsst of the worst, the people sso desstructive they endanger everyone by sspying on them from insside my orginization and in return, I and my persssonal friendss get immunity for our crimess." he explains as he takes a step back, taking a deep breath before he continues, "I am a killer now, it's in my blood, in my bones, and I can't sstop forever thiss way I can usse my sstrengths to make the world a better place for everyone. We all know you can never ssstop crime but with the help of the right kind of people, I can control it, limit the dessstruction and live the life of kingss and queensss while we are doing it." he says, "No more crazy people like the Joker or mad men blowing up ssschoolss, no more chaos, just good, honessst crime." like it's the kind of life he thinks everyone should aspire to. Evil for the greater good.

Domino has posed:
It doesn't take goddess of desire to figure out what's going through Copperhead's mind. At least, what he's trying to suppress anyways. 'One of these days,' Domino thinks to herself, 'I have got to fix the zipper on the front of this suit.'

It's a mental flip of the coin; everything can be used for gain or control if you know how and when to pull the trigger in your hand. Her nerves are crackling beneath her skin, read to make impossible moves to escape danger at a subconscious level. The snake is well and truly in control of what was once a human mind. It's hard to tell how much criminal thinking, or animal avarice.

A job's a job, however, and if he's got the money, what's what really matters. Maybe it was a mistake to try to figure out what's going on behind those eyes, it's not professional, not the way a good mercenary works, but sometimes Dom has a fit of conscience. It's quelled by his explanation. "I can agree good, honest crime." It pays the bills, after all, and if Copperhead doesn't come through with his end, there's someone else that will. She decides to up the ante as she steps closer and presses her chest against his, looking up at him.

Dom knows exactly what she's doing with that teasing smile. "You tested my skills before... I think I ought to test yours. After all, faking your assassination might have to be get painfully convincing. All pain and no pleasure makes Jack a blue boy."

Copperhead (257) has posed:
Looking down at Domino the snake man narrows his eyes and clenches his fist. He wants to.. He really, really wants to. Pressed this close to him she can feel how ready he is but he's trying, desperately to not do anything that will screw up his plans.

Again, taking deep calming breaths the snake focuses and centers himself, "It ssoundss like you just got out of a bad relationssship and you want to move forward. I would.. Sso very much like to be the one you ride until my cockss are raw to help you move forward but I don't think that would be very professional and I don't think it would help you asss much asss you think. You need to talk thiss out." he says pressed up against the metal with nowhere to go. He can't exactly get away from Domino and he really doesn't want to. "I really, really want to take advantage of you but I'll jussst leave you sore and full of regretss afterwardss. Be sssure you want to do thiss." he warns her.

Domino has posed:
Domino smiles an evil little smile, not moving an inch. "It's sweet of you to think about my reputation and feelings, but you have to understand, Copperhead, I kill people for money. I'm not tender maiden that needs saving from a broken heart or a bad time." She leans back and gives him running and breathing room; it's these moments of mental churning that make the cream of one's character rise to the top. She's satisfied with her assessment. It's usually far more straight forward than this, a business transaction, usually a bar over a few shots of tequilla, but this time? This situation required a different method of handling. She privately wonders if she's getting softer these days, as she gives him a second look.

"Gotta hand it to you, your self control is impressive. Probably better than mine, really. But regrets are not something I have." A second glance below the belt. "All snake there too, huh? Not sure about sore, but ... definitely would walk out of here full."

Copperhead (257) has posed:
Trying desperately to look at only Domino's eyes and failing the snake-man starts to breath deeper like he's been running as she backs away from him. "Thanks. Like I said, I'm trying to be a better person. It's ssstill a work in progress." but wait, did she catch that? That little slip up? His lisp went away for a moment there. It's almost like he's so flustered he forgot to do it. He says, "I have a lot of resspect for you as a professsional. You have a reputation for not only being the besst but for being the kind of persson you can trusst to have your back. I'm trussting you with my life and my future." he says then he walks, stiffly, over to a cabinet and opens it. He takes out a metal briefcase with a pair of bloody handcuffs hanging off the handle. Something he cut off of someone's arm. She might have heard about something like this. A Gotham crime boss had a transfer of diamonds and gold coins intercepted. Everyone was killed but it wasn't the kind of crime you report to the police. He's paying her in stolen mob treasure. He carries it over to her as if it weighs almost nothing then sets the case down at her feet. For her it's going to be a bit heavier. She'll have to get the gold melted but it's more than she would normally get paid for a simple job like this, a lot more.

Domino has posed:
She doesn't mind the handcuffs, thought she makes note of it. Payment comes however it comes. She opens the suitcase and has a look quickly, inserts the folder of information handed over before, and then closes it. It's heavy, but she'll manage. Domino reaches into her coat with her free hand and tosses Copperhead a disposable phone. "I'll be keeping in touch so we can arrange your untimely 'demise'," she jokes, grinning, as she turns around, preparing to leave the ship.

"Oh and next time? My place. Patron on ice, a little mint, a little lime."

Copperhead (257) has posed:
Shiverers and catches the phone. The snake says, "Make sure you have renter's insurance. You'll need a new bed, kitchen table, a couch, and maybe new carpeting depending on how messy things get. You know how things splatter." talking about sex.. Right? He lets her leave but stays behind himself to work on reducing his... stress levels after encountering the vixen.