Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2013 2:08:25 GMT -4
Darkness had shrouded the city and now it was the time for the predators to play. Having just exited the building from which she'd managed to gather some crucial information for Fury about this secret organization Natasha walked out casually as though having just finished a visit with an old friend; with a hobo style purse and a long flowing trench coat that cinched tightly around her lithe waist her feet flitted down the brownstone apartment building. Her booted heels clicked in a steady causal rhythm for if the tempo was too quick it would seems as though something was up and she was always ever so careful. Hands in her pockets she held the data within them; data Fury would certainly be interested in getting. It seemed the events with the Joker was simply an opening act for the true theatre about to take place and in the shadows some rather interesting players in this new organization. While she didn't have all the answers what she did manage to gather would certainly raise flags.
By the time she reached the second block Natasha confirmed that she was in fact being followed. She noticed it first when she rounded the bend on the first block but confirmed it when she crossed the street and noticed that the figure had done the same as indicated by the side mirror of a car she walked past. Her glance was cursory so as not to alert her stalker of her knowledge, nor did she change her pace. Natasha continued to walk with an even step. Looking ahead Natasha already decided upon her route, turning right towards an unlit courtyard where she knew there to be several ways to escape.
She used the reflection from parked cars or store windows to gage her stalker's distance. The street was narrow with the occasional streetlamp glowing with a malevolent yellow hue. Natasha passed an alleyway, and unexpectedly ducked out of view. Doubling back she stepped into its shadows crouching behind a trash dumpster and waited.
Ten seconds...Twenty...Thirty...Predictable her stalker arrived.
Never hesitate, just react that was how she worked and with that she managed to take her stalker by surprise as he approached the mouth of the alley pulling out her combat knife she came up behind him slamming him against the wall and holding his shoulder with her left hand as she pressed the knife edge against the nape of his neck.
"Do not struggle. Do not even move." her voice was soft almost seductive in her order. "We are going to step to the right and you will follow without incident or I shall slit your neck before a scream could even be uttered. Do we have an accord. Blink twice slowly if you comply."
Blink...Blink.
"Good." Natasha said before pulling him around into an alcove dragging the man further into the shadows to a lot them more privacy as the blade resumed its place by his neck.
"Tell me everything. No lies, and perhaps I won't kill you, yes?"
The terrified man nodded his head slightly.
"Who hired you."
"A woman."
"Her name."
"I-I don't know...she was Asian..."
The fear in his eyes and the way his heart pounded against his chest, the dilation of his pupils and the way in which he perspired from this simply encounter told Natasha this man was no professional hit man; he was an amateur, terrified and telling the truth.
"What were your instructions?"
"T-to follow you out of the Brownstone, that's all. I swear." he whimpered. "She said it would be easy money, just to follow you...nothing else. That's the truth...please don't hurt me."
The old Natasha would have killed him right away; left no witnesses, no loose ends. However that was the old Natasha she was a different person now; her own person and she didn't give into that madness. Green eyes hardened as she looked upon the man once more. He was a decoy simply used to throw her off their real objective...Oh no...Sudden realization kicked in. Viktor; her contact at the Brownstone.
This was the instant when the blade called to her and she was made to pause, aware of the temptation and the easiness of taking this man's life. This decoy sent to occupy her time while they went after her source. A darker path opened before her if she chose to sink the blade into the man for pride and anger but at the last moment she didn't allow those emotions to take root and instead practically growled her next words.
"Listen to me. I am going to walk up the street and you are going to go the other way, understand?"
"Yes."
"If I see you again, you are dead." Natasha warned bluffing about the death part but hoping to put the fear of god in him none the less. She stepped back to allow the man to leave as she moved to head back out towards the sidewalk.
Don't run. She told herself, don't show that they've rattled you; that you're scared. It wasn't her well being she feared but that of Viktor for if the Intel he gave her was accurate he had just angered some very powerful people. It didn't matter to her anymore; saving face. Natasha ran, as fast as she could climbing up a fire escape to the roof of a nearby roof tome and jumped over the ten foot gap to Viktor's Brownstone. With no skylight or fire door, Natasha had to find another way into the place as the front door would not be a good way in.
It was dark except for the glow of a single streetlight and a new moon. Removing her trench coat and divesting herself of it and her purse, her black uniform was revealed and going over the low wall on the edge of the room, Natasha scaled down the wall like a spider; her uniform doing the trick to adhere to the building's surface. Peering through the glass the apartment was filled with a greyish white smoke. Opening the window she climbed in. There was a fair bit of smoke that drifted out the now opened window, Natasha trying to get down low to avoid inhaling too much of that smoke.
"Viktor!" she called out nearly stumbling over a man that lay on his side fallen over by the coffee table. His face at the moment was hidden from her by the table but she recognized his clothing. Smoke swirled around her body as she went down on her hand and knees crawling towards the man coughing as she came up to his face to see it had been mangled beyond recognition and it was then she had heard it, the movement and saw the shadow through the fog of smoke.
Her guns were instinctively drawn and fired but the smoke dispersed the light, refracting it in strange ways to make it difficult to gage the shadow's exact location and so she missed not that Natasha remained in the same place she had been shooting in. She learned long ago to make herself a moving target so even as she fired her shots she was already on the move.
She heard the silent footfalls behind her though and once again reacted to draw her guns and fire only the barrels were sliced cleanly off before she had the chance to get out a shot. Her foot show out to sweep her opponent off their feet knowing that swing carried with it a certain momentum Natasha capitalized in sending her opponent sprawling on her back just as the pieces of her guns clattered to the ground. And upon the ground beneath the fog of smoke her opponent was revealed to her...Lady Deathstrike.
Rolling back up to the balls of her feet Natasha moved into a defensive stance just as Lady Deathstrike did the same with a ruthless grin. The long blade like nails extending from her fingers had the crimson stains of Viktor's blood upon them as she brandished them with a sadistic gloat. "Just thought I'd let you know he died painfully and slowly for his betrayal."
It at all she felt a thing, which she did, she never let it once show upon her face. Her eyes merely staring down her opponent with a cold calculating edge. "Just so we are clear; your fate shall be the same." Natasha replied.
The slash of Adamantium claws were answer to Natasha's warning, the Russian spy just managing to deflect the blow, though it wasn't without some pain as Yuriko's form was metal and Adamantium so even blocking a strike while not as damaging still hurt like hell and Natasha grimaced form the strike.
"I was told to request you hand over the Intel Viktor gave you and join us but I am going to assume we are beyond an amicable resolution." Yuriko mocked.
Natasha didn't answer and simply continued to fight, letting her strikes answer for her. There was no way she would join their league and she would die before giving up the Intel Viktor gave her.
"Good. I was hoping you'd do this the hard way." Yuriko grinned as she continued to press her attacks.
Another strike to Natasha and a dodged blow got her a slash to the side as the Adamantium claws grazed her, yet still managed to cut through her specialized suit and slice flesh to draw blood. The next blow though was Natasha's as she grabbed a metal lamp stand and swung it with all her might striking Yuriko hard upon the head causing the woman to stagger back from the force. Natasha then utilized that moment to vault over Yuriko planting her hands upon the bent over woman's head to clench down upon Deathstrike's hair and with the momentum of her flip carried Yuriko's body forward. Natasha using her own body then as a fulcrum when her feet touched the ground to toss Yuriko over.
"Is that hard enough for you?" Natasha chided with a smirk as she wiped the blood from her mouth. She knew the emotional instability of Yuriko and was hoping to throw her off her game a little with the taunt.
It worked of course. Yuriko's strikes became more wild and sporadic, less strategic, still though that did not mean it was an easy fight, just that Natasha now had a very slight edge mentally. Despite the pain of her injuries Natasha forced herself to press the attack knowing that she needed to capitalize on his moment so using the lamp stand like a bo staff Natasha moved to strike Deathstrike down, only Yuriko recovered in time to raise a hand and slice the pole as if it were nothing more than a cardboard roll. Natasha then was forced to use the now two pieces of lamp pole like Kali sticks to fend off the bladed attacks of Lady Deathstrike's hands.
Kicks and punches where exchanged though Natasha was the one bleeding from more cuts. Still she managed to leave her mark on Yuriko as well managing to jam one of the metallic sticks she was using to fight the cyborg with and lodged it by the woman's joint at the shoulder causing it to lock in place and render that one arm limp for the moment. At least this way she only had one arm to contend with. Deciding this was her only chance left to finish this, Natasha kicked the coffee table out towards Yuriko forcing the cyborg to slice through it with her Adamantium like claws but the coffee table was just the distraction as Natasha reached into her belt and pulled out two of her disc charges and let it slide across the floor to land at Yuriko's feet the tiny discs exploded with a strong electrical charge. Hoping the charge would be enough to damage or fry some of the woman's cybernetic functions.
Electricity crackled and arced all over the cyborg's body as she lit up like a Christmas tree or well that would be how Natasha would describe it. She waited though until the crackling and screaming stopped and the electricity had run its course before Natasha lunged at Deathstrike and causing both her and the cyborg to go careening out the window and freefalling down two storeys before landing on a parked car. Natasha using Yuriko's body as a landing matt to break their fall.
Car alarm blared and Natasha rolled off a very still Lady Deathstrike at the moment and staggered to her feet. Natasha's breathing was slightly laboured from the effort of the fight and she clutched at the side that was slashed and bleeding. Natasha needed to get this disc to Fury and she was about to head towards her motorcycle when she looked up to note that others now barred her path and behind her Lady Deathstrike was starting to roll off of the car roof.
"Bozhe moi" she said in Russian. This night was going to truly suck.
By the time she reached the second block Natasha confirmed that she was in fact being followed. She noticed it first when she rounded the bend on the first block but confirmed it when she crossed the street and noticed that the figure had done the same as indicated by the side mirror of a car she walked past. Her glance was cursory so as not to alert her stalker of her knowledge, nor did she change her pace. Natasha continued to walk with an even step. Looking ahead Natasha already decided upon her route, turning right towards an unlit courtyard where she knew there to be several ways to escape.
She used the reflection from parked cars or store windows to gage her stalker's distance. The street was narrow with the occasional streetlamp glowing with a malevolent yellow hue. Natasha passed an alleyway, and unexpectedly ducked out of view. Doubling back she stepped into its shadows crouching behind a trash dumpster and waited.
Ten seconds...Twenty...Thirty...Predictable her stalker arrived.
Never hesitate, just react that was how she worked and with that she managed to take her stalker by surprise as he approached the mouth of the alley pulling out her combat knife she came up behind him slamming him against the wall and holding his shoulder with her left hand as she pressed the knife edge against the nape of his neck.
"Do not struggle. Do not even move." her voice was soft almost seductive in her order. "We are going to step to the right and you will follow without incident or I shall slit your neck before a scream could even be uttered. Do we have an accord. Blink twice slowly if you comply."
Blink...Blink.
"Good." Natasha said before pulling him around into an alcove dragging the man further into the shadows to a lot them more privacy as the blade resumed its place by his neck.
"Tell me everything. No lies, and perhaps I won't kill you, yes?"
The terrified man nodded his head slightly.
"Who hired you."
"A woman."
"Her name."
"I-I don't know...she was Asian..."
The fear in his eyes and the way his heart pounded against his chest, the dilation of his pupils and the way in which he perspired from this simply encounter told Natasha this man was no professional hit man; he was an amateur, terrified and telling the truth.
"What were your instructions?"
"T-to follow you out of the Brownstone, that's all. I swear." he whimpered. "She said it would be easy money, just to follow you...nothing else. That's the truth...please don't hurt me."
The old Natasha would have killed him right away; left no witnesses, no loose ends. However that was the old Natasha she was a different person now; her own person and she didn't give into that madness. Green eyes hardened as she looked upon the man once more. He was a decoy simply used to throw her off their real objective...Oh no...Sudden realization kicked in. Viktor; her contact at the Brownstone.
This was the instant when the blade called to her and she was made to pause, aware of the temptation and the easiness of taking this man's life. This decoy sent to occupy her time while they went after her source. A darker path opened before her if she chose to sink the blade into the man for pride and anger but at the last moment she didn't allow those emotions to take root and instead practically growled her next words.
"Listen to me. I am going to walk up the street and you are going to go the other way, understand?"
"Yes."
"If I see you again, you are dead." Natasha warned bluffing about the death part but hoping to put the fear of god in him none the less. She stepped back to allow the man to leave as she moved to head back out towards the sidewalk.
Don't run. She told herself, don't show that they've rattled you; that you're scared. It wasn't her well being she feared but that of Viktor for if the Intel he gave her was accurate he had just angered some very powerful people. It didn't matter to her anymore; saving face. Natasha ran, as fast as she could climbing up a fire escape to the roof of a nearby roof tome and jumped over the ten foot gap to Viktor's Brownstone. With no skylight or fire door, Natasha had to find another way into the place as the front door would not be a good way in.
It was dark except for the glow of a single streetlight and a new moon. Removing her trench coat and divesting herself of it and her purse, her black uniform was revealed and going over the low wall on the edge of the room, Natasha scaled down the wall like a spider; her uniform doing the trick to adhere to the building's surface. Peering through the glass the apartment was filled with a greyish white smoke. Opening the window she climbed in. There was a fair bit of smoke that drifted out the now opened window, Natasha trying to get down low to avoid inhaling too much of that smoke.
"Viktor!" she called out nearly stumbling over a man that lay on his side fallen over by the coffee table. His face at the moment was hidden from her by the table but she recognized his clothing. Smoke swirled around her body as she went down on her hand and knees crawling towards the man coughing as she came up to his face to see it had been mangled beyond recognition and it was then she had heard it, the movement and saw the shadow through the fog of smoke.
Her guns were instinctively drawn and fired but the smoke dispersed the light, refracting it in strange ways to make it difficult to gage the shadow's exact location and so she missed not that Natasha remained in the same place she had been shooting in. She learned long ago to make herself a moving target so even as she fired her shots she was already on the move.
She heard the silent footfalls behind her though and once again reacted to draw her guns and fire only the barrels were sliced cleanly off before she had the chance to get out a shot. Her foot show out to sweep her opponent off their feet knowing that swing carried with it a certain momentum Natasha capitalized in sending her opponent sprawling on her back just as the pieces of her guns clattered to the ground. And upon the ground beneath the fog of smoke her opponent was revealed to her...Lady Deathstrike.
Rolling back up to the balls of her feet Natasha moved into a defensive stance just as Lady Deathstrike did the same with a ruthless grin. The long blade like nails extending from her fingers had the crimson stains of Viktor's blood upon them as she brandished them with a sadistic gloat. "Just thought I'd let you know he died painfully and slowly for his betrayal."
It at all she felt a thing, which she did, she never let it once show upon her face. Her eyes merely staring down her opponent with a cold calculating edge. "Just so we are clear; your fate shall be the same." Natasha replied.
The slash of Adamantium claws were answer to Natasha's warning, the Russian spy just managing to deflect the blow, though it wasn't without some pain as Yuriko's form was metal and Adamantium so even blocking a strike while not as damaging still hurt like hell and Natasha grimaced form the strike.
"I was told to request you hand over the Intel Viktor gave you and join us but I am going to assume we are beyond an amicable resolution." Yuriko mocked.
Natasha didn't answer and simply continued to fight, letting her strikes answer for her. There was no way she would join their league and she would die before giving up the Intel Viktor gave her.
"Good. I was hoping you'd do this the hard way." Yuriko grinned as she continued to press her attacks.
Another strike to Natasha and a dodged blow got her a slash to the side as the Adamantium claws grazed her, yet still managed to cut through her specialized suit and slice flesh to draw blood. The next blow though was Natasha's as she grabbed a metal lamp stand and swung it with all her might striking Yuriko hard upon the head causing the woman to stagger back from the force. Natasha then utilized that moment to vault over Yuriko planting her hands upon the bent over woman's head to clench down upon Deathstrike's hair and with the momentum of her flip carried Yuriko's body forward. Natasha using her own body then as a fulcrum when her feet touched the ground to toss Yuriko over.
"Is that hard enough for you?" Natasha chided with a smirk as she wiped the blood from her mouth. She knew the emotional instability of Yuriko and was hoping to throw her off her game a little with the taunt.
It worked of course. Yuriko's strikes became more wild and sporadic, less strategic, still though that did not mean it was an easy fight, just that Natasha now had a very slight edge mentally. Despite the pain of her injuries Natasha forced herself to press the attack knowing that she needed to capitalize on his moment so using the lamp stand like a bo staff Natasha moved to strike Deathstrike down, only Yuriko recovered in time to raise a hand and slice the pole as if it were nothing more than a cardboard roll. Natasha then was forced to use the now two pieces of lamp pole like Kali sticks to fend off the bladed attacks of Lady Deathstrike's hands.
Kicks and punches where exchanged though Natasha was the one bleeding from more cuts. Still she managed to leave her mark on Yuriko as well managing to jam one of the metallic sticks she was using to fight the cyborg with and lodged it by the woman's joint at the shoulder causing it to lock in place and render that one arm limp for the moment. At least this way she only had one arm to contend with. Deciding this was her only chance left to finish this, Natasha kicked the coffee table out towards Yuriko forcing the cyborg to slice through it with her Adamantium like claws but the coffee table was just the distraction as Natasha reached into her belt and pulled out two of her disc charges and let it slide across the floor to land at Yuriko's feet the tiny discs exploded with a strong electrical charge. Hoping the charge would be enough to damage or fry some of the woman's cybernetic functions.
Electricity crackled and arced all over the cyborg's body as she lit up like a Christmas tree or well that would be how Natasha would describe it. She waited though until the crackling and screaming stopped and the electricity had run its course before Natasha lunged at Deathstrike and causing both her and the cyborg to go careening out the window and freefalling down two storeys before landing on a parked car. Natasha using Yuriko's body as a landing matt to break their fall.
Car alarm blared and Natasha rolled off a very still Lady Deathstrike at the moment and staggered to her feet. Natasha's breathing was slightly laboured from the effort of the fight and she clutched at the side that was slashed and bleeding. Natasha needed to get this disc to Fury and she was about to head towards her motorcycle when she looked up to note that others now barred her path and behind her Lady Deathstrike was starting to roll off of the car roof.
"Bozhe moi" she said in Russian. This night was going to truly suck.