An Assassins Folly

[Dominique II]

It wasn't often that Dominique came to New York City. But when she did, she was always taken aback by the manmade superstructures of glass an concrete. She was never able to truly take in the sights of the magnificent city, as she was always in The Big Apple for work, never pleasure.

A product of a Japanese ninja cult and the same Weapon Plus spinoff that spawned the clone X-23, the second generation Dominique was only ever let out when she had a job to do; a job that often required her to kill. Exactly the reason why she was in New York City in the first place.

Break into the Hellfire mansion. Assassinate her targets. Escape.

Those were the parameters of her mission, but it was up to the second generation Dominique to come up with her own way of infil and exfil of the hotzone. Her handlers at the Facility hadn't given her much to go on, and provided her with no mission support aside from being smuggled into Manhattan. You know, plausible deniability just in case the whole operation went south. Even though Dominique had proven herself to be quite valuable over the years, she was still regarded by a lot of people as nothing more than a burnable asset. She didn't care, or she didn't show that she did, at least.

Destination in place, the kunoichi took to the skies of Manhattan, leaping and diving off of rooftops in a manner that would make Spider-Man proud. For someone without any sort of safety contingency or superhuman physical abilities to make up for any lack of equipment, Dominique was extremely daring in her liberal usage of rooftop to rooftop dives, even going so far as to make nearly impossible cross-street leaps that would likely give Captain America pause; she did it without even flinching.

It was during one of these leaps that she came across a scene in one of the many New York alleyways littered hundreds of feet beneath her. She couldn't make out anything exact, but she did notice that several humanoid figures were rapidly and aggressively moving in on a smaller, likely more vulnerable group.

And despite her task at hand, Dominique's curiosity got the best of her, and she broke her mission parameters and began to descend to the streets below...

_{to be continued...}

[Dominique II]

The curious assassin perked herself on a fire escape, not yet daring to drop down to the streets below. The situation down at ground level merely piqued her interest. . Had she been with her handlers, surely she would've kept to her task and continued to proceed toward the Hellfire Club mansion. But when she was alone, she allowed herself moments to catch glimpses of the world she tended to see as a blur.

And the moments when she Dominique was afforded time to stop and gaze, it was often in the process of killing someone. Sort of like tonight.

Regardless, the scene that began to unfold was something that she hadn't really experienced before. Two children--teens; one male and one female--they couldn't have been any older than she was, they were being verbally abused and backed into an alleyway by a group of maybe five or six men. Their outfits were as colorful as their language; often spouting words that Dominique herself didn't quite understand. Spoken dialog was never her forte after all. She was a girl of few words--no words more often than not--and was not afforded the chance to expand her vocabulary. And if she could understand what these men were saying to the teens they were antagonizing, chances are, she wouldn't have liked it.

Dominique II didn't completely understand what was saying between the two parties or the history behind the parties involved, but body language was one thing she was quite fluent in. The subtle ticks in muscle movement, the tones that individuals spoke at, posture; these all told the assassin a story. The group intended on exploiting their superior numbers and size in order to get what they want from the two teenagers.

Dominique should've left the scene and continued with her mission. Her handler would've told her to do so had they been with her. Liquid would've chimed into her ear had she been wearing a com device. Unfortunately, she was on her own until the extraction point post-assassination.

And fortunately for the teenagers, she opted to drop to the ground level instead.

And there she stood.

"..Tha fuck is you?" One of the guys toward the middle of the pack stared down Dominique, confused as to who she was and why she was here. All he knew was that she wasn't Spider-Man or Daredevil. The Avengers or Fantastic Four tended to go for the bigger fish, and Dom for sure was not a member of either team.

"Fuck the ninja bitch! She ain't no Spider-Man; waste her!!!!" That shout was all the group needed to hear in order to change their target for their aggression to Dominique. Very few of the words spoken she understood, but the minor shifts in posture and tone told her more than enough. The assassin's brain went into overdrive as she immediately locked on to the form of the guy in front of her.

The man had barely even moved, and based on subtle ticks he gave off, Dominique had already figured he would go for a concealed weapon. By time he managed to reach into his pocket, she'd already latched on to his primary arm. A bit of for later, and he had a dislocated elbow. His scream was muted by a solid strike into his throat, and he dropped to the ground a second later.

The first was barely down before Dominique moved on to the second and third. A gun was being drawn from a jacket; the person aiming to use it was unimportant to Dominique. By time the weapon was even partially visible, she was already on the man and snatched his arm into her control and pointed the weapon into his face. She could've overpowered his trigger finger and ended him there, but she didn't. Wonton death and destruction was not her specialty, finesse and precision were. This man was not one scheduled to die tonight, so she didn't kill him. Instead his sidearm was smashed against his face multiple times until his skull split open and he dropped to the ground.

Barely conscious, but alive.

The assassin then flowed seamlessly into a single palm strike into the rib cage of her adjacent attacker. The shriek he gave off and the feeling of bones crunching didn't even phase her. Hell, she didn't even look at him when he hit the ground. Instead, her eyes turned toward the remaining thugs. She could see the fear in their eyes. And in those moments of fear, another reached into his jacket and pulled a gun, and then fired.

And much to his surprise, Dominique dodged the round.

His face quickly met the pavement seconds after that. The remaining party became discouraged after witnessing their friends easily dispatched by the ninja bitch and immediately took off running. She didn't bother to give chase.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!" Tears streaming down her eyes, the rescued teen ran over to Dominique and embraced her in a hug. These emotions were not regularly encountered by the assassin, so she didn't properly know how to respond, so her training kicked and and she merely mimed the one she accidentally rescued from harm. Moments later, the girl's companion peeled her away and the two made off, likely to find the nearest safe haven, and Dominique went back up to the rooftops, aiming to reach her destination without another hiccup.

Unfortunately, there was a witness to her little rescue...


"That garb...she's of the Shinto!!!"

_{Up Next: Kasumi Tattori}

[Kasumi]

Kasumi Tattori was a long, long way from her village, hidden in the Japanese wilderness.

To be fair, so was her brother.

For some time now, the kunoichi's brother had been missing, and no one within her clan told her what was going on. Either they were ignorant or complicit in the disappearance of her family. Kasumi wasn't certain either way, but she set out to find out, against the orders of her elders of course. In turn, she was declared a rogue, and the ninja was deemed an enemy of her Collective and sentenced to death by anyone of her ilk who laid eyes on her. So far, she had been attacked thirty-seven times on her journey; the last time being in Madripoor; an encounter she barely survived without calling in a favor with one of the local crime families.

Unfortunately, tonight would make encounter 38.

While in Madripoor, Kasumi picked up several leads on a bunch of ninja-like people moving through North America, mainly centered around New York City and parts of Canada. So, North America she went. What little money she had was spent on the airfare alone, so the vast majority of her time in the Big Apple was spent slumming it up. It was fine by her for the most part, she needed to draw as little attention to herself as humanly possible. If those of her clan were around, it was likely word of her desertion has spread, and she couldn't risk being attacked by large numbers while she was injured.

Not until she found her brother.

The vast majority of her leads pointed her correctly toward small bands of shinobi, but they were of either the Hand or the Chaste. The Hand were old adversaries of hers, but had little to do with her current objective, so she left them alone and continued on her search. Navigating through rhe concrete jungle was difficult enough and quite frustrating, even more so due to her not coming up with any sort of link to the Black Cult's operations in the city, or even in Canada.

That is, until she heard a scream.

Curiosity got the better of her, and Kasumi maneuvered her way to the scene--or the end of it rather--and witnessed as a single woman downed a group of men with ease and allowing two teenagers to run off to safety. Stories of these types of superheroics had reached her ears, but she'd never witnessed anything of the sort first hand, even during her trips to Tokyo. However, upon closer inspection, Kasumi steadily realized that this woman wasn't some ordinary superhero, she appeared quite familiar.

"That garb...she's of the Shinto!!!" The woman quickly slipped back up to the rooftops, and curiously, Kasumi did the same. It was not common practice for their clan to involve themselves in civilian affairs such as protecting people from random muggings; or at least, not to her knowledge. Not to mention, not being seen, especially in a foreign country, was part of the operationg procedure. If this ninja went out and openly attacked the group, maybe she was one of the famous superheroes who lived in New York City.

And if she was a member of the Black Cult, maybe she would've heard about her brother. It was worth a shot.

As the other woman leaped across the rooftops with fantastic grace, Kasumi, with all her skill, struggled to keep up. Yes, she was still injured from her attacks in Madripoor, but even that couldn't fully explain the massive gap in agility. Eventually, the other woman came to a stop as Kasumi was in mid-jump. As her body impacted the rooftop, she glanced up at the younger ninja.

"You are of the Black Collective, are you not?" She asked, speaking in Japanese, "A former member, perhaps?"

No response. Nothing but a blank stare. Kasumi couldn't read the other female. If she could, she probably would've been able to predict the shuriken that flew toward her face. Quick reflexes allowed her to dodge the projectile, but she was wide open for the palm strike into her midsection. Her ribcage bent in ways abnormal and she immediately collapsed to one knee. "Heh, i guess this makes number thirty-eight." With a slight gesture using her left hand, Kasumi creating a psionic wave through the air that rapidly collected any and all moisture in the vicinity and turned it into a powerful blast of water into the back of her attacker.

As expected, the attack worked and sent the younger kunoichi flying directly into Kasumi's uppercut before being laid out across the concrete rooftop. "I had hoped that this would be a peaceful encounter, but you are nothing more than another out for my head. You shall not claim it, but you will provide me with information on my brother!"

_{To Be Continued...}

[Dominique II]

A face-plant, and then a cartwheel.

By time Kasumi finished her statement, Dominique was already back on her feet. The other woman's words meant nothing to her; she was just an obstacle that was delaying her completion of her already delayed objective. She would have to be put down quickly so that she may be back on task. Unfortunately, her opponent's ranged attacks would make that somewhat of a nuisance. Wouldn't stop her, though.

A second shuriken was tossed, and Kasumi went into an elaborate gesture to summon up a wave of water to catch the projectile before she forced it off into another direction. Unfortunately, she took her eyes off of Dominique for barely a moment. Had Dominique been anyone else, Kasumi would've had plenty of time to see Dominique lunge forward to attack. Unfortunately, Dominique moved far faster than anyone Kasumi faced before and was in her face before she could even register it. As Dominique's punch was thrown, Kasumi diverted her water wave downward with another gesture. The wave had more than enough force to knock the limb and its owner off balance, so Kasumi quickly followed up with a downward axe kick aimed at the back of Dominique's hand.

Unfortunately, seemingly inhuman speed came into play once more, and Dominique had her arms up to catch Kasumi's leg. "What the...." It was all Kasumi managed to say before she was flipped into the air. While upside down, Dominique attempted a straight kick to Kasumi's spine, but Kasumi was quick enough to summon up a shield of water to catch Dominique's limb. As Kasumi went into a flip and returned to her feet, Dominique was suspended in liquid that wasn't letting her go any time soon. "An entertaining exercise," Kasumi exclaimed as she took a few steps toward her ensnared opponent, "You are bound and you are conscious. You are of my clan; I am sure you have information pertaining to the one I seek. So, tell me, where is..."

A chop of Dominique's left hand obliterated Kasumi's water trap before her eyes. A lunging palm strike to the inside of her left thigh took her down one leg. An elbow strike then soared that would surely knock her out, but a high pressure blast of water launched Dominique backward, and then quickly turned into solid ice, trapping the young kunoichi once more. "Now, that should hold you...."

Unfortunately, it didn't. The very same hand that blasted through Kasumi's water trap glazed through the solid block of ice just as easily as it parted the water earlier. As a result, both she and the shattered remnants of Kasumi's attack were scattered across the rooftop. Though in no time, Dominique was back on her feet and rushing Kasumi once more. A gesture later, Kasumi created an ice lance and launched it at Dominique. That too was cleaved in half and set out of the way. In retaliation, Dominique launched a kick aimed at Kasumi's side, which she barely managed to block in time. An elbow strike was launched in turn, but Dominique weaved out of it's way before delivering her own elbow into Kasumi's left side.

The elder ninja howled in pain, but didn't relent in her own attack. Now that she knew that direct strikes against this girl was useless, she knew she'd have to use her powers in more creative wayss and created a stream of water to strike Dominique in her eyes. Temporarily blinded, Kasumi fought through her pain and struck Dominique twice in the stomach before delivering a solid uppercut, causing her to stagger. Not letting up, Kasumi followed these strikes up with a pivoting back hand and a spinning back kick to Dominique's chest. The final blow sent the girl backward a good distance away. Even through it all, Dominique didn't drop despite Kasumi putting her full force behind the strikes.

With nary a reaction to the blows and her pain, Dominique regained her fighting stance and caught a glance at her wristwatch in doing so. t was only upon witnessing the time did she even react to anything. Confused, Kasumi put up her defenses, only to see the girl turn around and break into a run. But before she could even pursue, a sheet of thick, gray smoke bellowed into her face; she'd just fallen victim to one of the best sleight of hands she'd ever seen in her life.

Moments were spent coughing and choking and removing herself from the smoke, by time she glanced up, Dominique was nearly a dot off in the distance. "You will not escape me!" Kasumi boomed before summoning up a wave of water. Adjusting the buoyancy, she stood on top of the floating mass and then shot it forward, flying through the air on a mini-tidal wave of her own creation. Dominique had a head start, but Kasumi would surely catch up and cause the girl to finally answer some questions.

_{TBC at the Hellfire Club
End Thread}