| The Demon League and Training |
| Summary: | Black Lightning asks Lillian to go undercover with this new league that is in the rumors to see no humans or metahumans are being mistreated or killed off (not to stop the league, if the combatants are willing, they can do what they like) … Wanda and Kyani show up, team training is discussed |
| Date: | (2014-10-03) |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
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Presently Black Lightning is in the main room, he tends to avoid some other social rooms in the base as some seem more serious. While the kitchenette is nearby, this room also as the fish tank and the garden as well, with sitting spaces about for comfort. He is near the fish tank, in costume all the same, but going over something from his regular life. It looks like he is reading student papers, making use of his time to do that while being on-call at present if needed.
He has been looking and asking around for Lillian, if she's connected to the net, or has a user name/e-mail/etc. in their own system, he might of left a message for her too. Just wanted to touch base with her, so he's keeping a hopeful eye around the place in case he chances on her too.
Lillian Crawley mostly just has a cellphone, a disposable flip she can get texts on. Inexpensive and she's not the type to sit around playing games on the Internet in her spare time. Kind of an analogue throwback, in her own way. Still, she gets the text and makes her way to HQ, sliding into the door with her trademark hoodie in place. "Yo, sparky, you called," she yells out, making her way towards the kitchenette to snag a beer, "Got some work for me to do, big man?"
Putting the 2-page paper aside, he grins and looks up. "Lillian, ya, thanks for coming so soon." He stands and chin thrusts at the kitchen, "More beer on tap even this time." Well, at least, in cans or bottles. "I was curious, if you've heard any rumors about a new meta fighting league. In New York now?" He might be more curious, but what he knows could be redundant and she could well know more than he does already. He knows enough to know there is a new one in town that has raised his interest.
Lillian Crawley takes a sip of her beer, hopping up on the counter, "Here and there. Like any new league, they try to be discreet at first, keep things on the down low. Some of the rumors are weird, though. Satanism and stuff. I dunno if it's a kill league or not," she says, lighting a cigarette to go with her beer, "I figured s'worth a train ride at least to check out. Why, you heard somethin' more?"
"No, that's about it. I think demon was more a rumor, but if there is Satanism involved," he shrugs, getting himself a beer to drink with Lillian. "I don't care what they do to each other, but if humans or metahumans are involved, I'd like to know. Especially it its against anyone's wills. If the fighters are willing and its not to the death fights, its their business." She would know he was okay with that, he met her staking out the league down in Gotham to go after members of The 100.
Lillian Crawley takes a drag on her smoke, "Yeah, sure, I can poke my head in," she says, kicking her feet idly from the countertop, "Do you want me to wear, like, a wire or somethin', or do I just go in and then come back out an' tell ya what I found? I mean, I know, like, the TV stuff wouldn't get past, but, for all I know, you've got some sort of super-science shit that nobody would notice. Camera on a contact lens or some shit."
Shaking his head, Black Lightning offers, "No, nothing like that, I trust you. Unless you are worried they might try to keep their fighters leashed. Doc Mid-Nite has subdermal nanites I think. He uses them to monitor his vitals while on the job, was gonna hook me up with some so I can get readouts after missions. If you like, we can try to get you some. Don't know if we can pierce your skin with a needle, but swallowing might work too." An offer if she needs them, "But, no, no wire. I trust you to know what you're looking at and for."
Lillian Crawley shakes her head, "Nah, s'okay. If they got psychic type crap to leash folks, ain't much t'do for it anyways, but I doubt it. Plenty willin' to do it as is, plus slaves need upkeep an' feedin' and cleanin' up after. Most of your average gangsters ain't gonna be much interested in playing babysitter to a pack of meta zombie gladiators," she says. "I'll be okay. Be kinda fun, playin' secret agent."
Chuckling a little, "Perfect undercover for you, you'll fit right in?" He grins, though he could imagine her doing dress up secret agent stuff, he doesn't imagine it will fly if he even joked about it and he's probaly not ready for a flying fist of vengance for making such a joke. Black Lightning nods, "We'll assume they don't, just leave a message where you're going, so we have a place to start looking if anything goes sour. If you want, we can send you in with another disposable phone, you make any call from it and we'll know there's trouble, but untracable as far as anything else goes?"
Lillian Crawley nods, "No problem," she says, throwing the beer back a bit and cracking her knuckles, "Just to make it clear: I never go into these places intending to really hurt - or even kill - anybody. But I'll do what I've gotta do, if it comes down to it. I know some of the others might have a problem with that, and I don't mind bein' the black sheep. But I want ya to know that, if I have to do something…then I'll do it an' try not to lose sleep."
"If its true, and their demons, I won't loose any sleep," responds Black Lightning, "If the humans are being infected with like nightmares and tortures, not knowing what to expect, I won't loose any sleep. If your threatened enough you have no other way but to … I won't loose sleep." Taking more of his beer, "Priority is you get in, and have a way out, we make sure nothing really bad is going on." Other than people beating each other up, willingly, along with risks that come from various trauma, including instant deaths.
Lillian Crawley nods, "Then we should be cool. I'm sure I can snag an invite and, if I can't, I can find out who's offerin' 'em and beat the hell out of 'im until I get one," she grins.
Grinning himself, Black Lightning nods, "You know, Captain Atom has the gym hooked up, you can punch away in there too. Realizing, its not like the real thing, but I don't think we should let you go too long without getting around to hitting something." Like leave her pent up in any way.
Lillian Crawley grins, "I might like tryin' to throw a few punches on the Captain sometime. He's all shiny and clanky," she laughs, "Bet he's a boy scout inside that shell, though. Military guys go two ways: knights and thugs, and he doesn't strike me as a thug type. I should know - I'm a thug."
"Quiet as he is, he might like that," offers over Black Lightning. "He was in town recently, might be here now actually. Honestly, I think your the only one to crack his military front, with all the seriousness. I didn't know the guy could move his lip muscles until that day we helped Wanda."
Lillian Crawley finishes her smoke, grinning, "Yeah, well, I'm not sure how you can not get a little silly, hangin' out with a big silver dude with all of his muscles and stuff outlined like that. It's like, "Hello there!". I Googled him, it didn't say much, but he's got some crazy powers just from the bit of news footage I saw. I just hit stuff."
Black Lightning is talking with Lillian in the main room, near a couch close to the big fish tank. It seems more conversational at the moment. "I'll give you that much. If it were some silver lady all outlined like that, I'm sure I'd look more. He's a dude though, I'm not looking just in case I see too much." Completely implying he doesn't know about his silver private bits or not and isn't curious to find out.
The door from the club opens, and Wanda emerges from there, clad in her 'civvies', in this case a particularly nice business suit as befitting the Ambassador, and she glances around. Seeing BL and Lillian, she nods and smiles, moving over towards them, "Good afternoon."
Lillian Crawley grins, "Well, who knows, maybe I'll find out. I admit, this sort of superhero type stuff seems kind of weird to me…" she starts and then looks up as she sees Wanda coming in, arching an eyebrow, "Damn, here comes the money. What's up, princess?"
"Don't think of it as superhero, that implies cameras and stopping meteors or saving trains from colliding," responds Black Lightning to Lillian, and pauses to follow as she looks up. They both have a beer in hand it would seem too. "Wanda, good to see you." He might ask how she is, but Lillian covered it with the what's up princess. Not sure how Wanda might roll with that one, he's more curious to see.
Wanda tilts her head, and snickers, "Oh don't give the press any ideas, I try to keep my parentage out of the media." She glances between the two, "Everything's alright, my schedule opened up today, so I thought I'd take advantage of that to come down here."
Lillian Crawley grins, "You want a beer or anything? An' yeah, I know, I'm still playin' on the down-low, I'm just used to fightin' for myself first and foremost. Used to do it 'fore I got all invulnerable, an' still do the same," she says, looking Wanda up and down for a moment, "Oh, yeah, me, too, I managed to squeeze it in 'tween my mani-pedi and my meeting with Oprah later today. Is Oprah still a thing? I don't watch TV," she says.
Turning a grin to Lil, Black Lightning shakes his head, "Yes and no, not just her own show, she has a network, its hit or miss these days." Just to keep her in the loop on important matters. He does offer a smile for Wanda, hopefully Lillian wasn't taken overly serious by the Ambassador. "No, we won't give the media any ideas, we'll try not to focus on that with us. Lillian and I were curious about this new underground fighting in the city, Lillian is willing to go underground and see what she can find on us, she knows her way around these circuits."
Wanda, for her part, looks mildly amused, and tilts her head, "How would you get a mani-pedi? I mean, wouldn't you need like a sandblaster or something?" She hmms, "That sounds like a good idea. I'd probably be too high profile for something like that, even if I attended as a spectator."
Lillian Crawley grins, "You did your homework, Red, good for you. True enough, now that you mention it," she says. "Just sounded like a fancy thing that gets done. I hope you managed to drop your trail o' paparazzi and spies followin' you here. This HQ is, like, totally a secret and stuff."
Black Lightning is sure Wanda could shake any tail, plus he's certain Lillian is just poking fun for the moment all the same. "Its secret, and rest assured, we have the resoucres to relocate should it be compromised." For Lillian, just in case she was actual curious even. He takes a sip from his can for the moment. He's not drinking fast or much, just in case. "I'm afraid I wouldn't fit in as a teacher and if I went costumed someone might just recognize me." Not high profile, but his public one is growing. Nor would he be willing to actually enter a fight in such an outfit for that matter.
Wanda smiles faintly, "Not nearly as much as you might think, Lillian, but I made quite sure that I wasn't followed here, never fear." She chuckles, "And a manicure is something that is a luxury, but not necessarily a sign of haute couture."
Lillian Crawley shrugs her shoulders, turning and going into the kitchen to get another beer, "I wouldn't know," she says, lighting another cigarette as she pops the top, "Closest I ever got to…what you said is shoppin' in the big mall in Winnipeg."
Black Lightning came off the streets, but going to the Olympics has been around all walks of life. "We all have different backgrounds, but the same intention, protect the people." As if to ask not to keep at the differences of lifestyles that ones where born into. "And we'll have to trust each other," he offers the same. "I haven't had a manicure or been to Wennipeg."
Wanda smiles wryly, "Well, it's rather relaxing, but that's neither here nor there." She nods a bit, "Winnipeg is a nice town, I visited there once, when I was still seeking asylum here in the States."
Lillian Crawley shrugs again, taking a drag on her cigarette as she leans on the entryway into the kitchenette. She tries not to snort at Lightning's assertion, both about his own inexperience and about the unimportance of background. Lil's been around the block long enough to know the only people that say money don't matter are people that have it. "Yeah, asylum. I admit, I ain't much on politics or the news, the whole bit. I thought you had like an Embassy and stuff?"
Black Lightning came from no money in the Suicide Slums to Olympics by his own hard work and determination, his family had no money. "Wanda comes from Genosha, an island where, originally, those who turned out to be metahuman when, all this happened to us, were enslaved as I recall. I don't know the details of what happened there, but it sounds messy all around, politics and otherwise. Glad it worked out for you."
Wanda shrugs, "I /was/ an up-and-coming politician, when my metagene triggered. I had to flee Genosha for the United States, and was seeking asylum as a result." She smiles, "I've only been able to go back to my homeland recently, as I worked with Magneto to restore law and order to my home. And thus, voila, I'm now the ambassador to the United Nations."
Lillian Crawley mmmmmmmms and nods, "Messy, sure. Hey, I ain't got no love for my homeland personally. Miss the Tim Horton's, that's pretty much it. My bitch mother and whatever crackhead she's shacked up with can burn, if they haven't OD'd already," she says. "Anyways, I prob'ly better get headin' if I'm gonna make New York today. You'll be hearin' from me soon enough."
Nodding to Lillian, Black Lightning returns, "Thanks Lil, and I can't amend your paste, but I'm glad your with us." For whatever that's worth to the woman. He puts his half finished beer down, "I'm sorry your country went through what it did. I couldn't imagine that," well, mostly, the streets can seem like a civil war on some nights.
Wanda chuckles, "Yeah, it wasn't exactly something I'd wish on anyone. Still, I think we came out the better for it, though I don't know if I like the cost."
Black Lightning and Wanda are near the fish tank in light conversation at the moment. A beer can is nearby, seeming to be the thing going on after hours between shifts. Also a hint of smoke lingers in the air. Captain Atom hasn't come to correct anyone on smoking in the facilities.
"Isn't the saying, war is a necessary evil? Not sure if I wholly agree, but the resolution of any conflict should be hopeful in some ways. We're focused on New York City, Wanda, but if the Embassy should need anything, there are some of us that would certainly help your cause." Being metahuman themselves that is.
Wanda hmms, "True, and I would appreciate that, but I don't know if it would be necessary. If it does, though, I will definitely keep that offer in mind." She smiles, "It's nice to be a part of a group, again, I must admit. We had a group of sorts, when we were gathering to liberate Genosha, but that wasn't quite the same thing.
"Its good when they all play nicely together," returns Black Lightning to Wanda, "Sorry Lil took some jabs at you there. Not to say you can't handle, you probably get worse in politics, but same team here. I'm considering group sessions in the Gym, would you like to join us? I'll post something for all our members too."
Kyani walks in, his messenger bag slung over his shoulder as he enters into the base. He walks past everyone, but he waves. He looks exhausted and possibly down on calories right now, so when he comes back and sits down he has two two liters of Mountain Dew and downs them both along with a few sandwiches and chips, "Hey." he says as he leans back in his seat.
Wanda laughs softly, and nods towards Kyani as she glances at Black Lightning, "If that was a 'jab' she should stay out of politics. And I wouldn't mind some work to better coordinate our efforts."
"Brilliant, I'll post session times later, but good to know there is interest." Kyani enters, looking tired even, a first for Black Lightning to see him like this, "Speaking of interest, here is our prime candidate for team efforts." Looking at the food downed and being eaten, he pauses, "You okay there Kyani?"
Looking up as he finishes, "Umm…yeah." he says. "Working for Tony and finishing the last of my runs for Tommy kinda drained me today." he smirks. "I had to go pretty far out and be on time at Stark Industries down town today." he grins. "So what are you signing me up for?" he asks.
Wanda grins, "Hello Kyani… and yes, I'd be wondering this as well." She looks curiously over at Kyani, then back to Black Lightning.
"A few group sessions in the Gym here, open sessions for anyone to attend if they have the time, would help with your ideas on team building," he says to Kyani, "Wanda here is willing to join us. We just have to see what all we have in there to work with and what the Captain can get us to really test us." Other than mundane old gym that is.
"Well you already know I'm all about that, so sign me up." he says. Kyani is always pushing to have the team do stuff together, so what little bit he can get is all the better. A brow perks up about Wanda joining them, "Well, let me be the second to welcome you to the team." he smiles and bows his head, his braids falling around his face
Wanda smiles at Kyani, "Thanks, I appreciate it. Hopefully I'll be a good asset for you all here." She nods, "Well, I might be able to arrange a few things myself, I'll see what I can do."
"If you have time, we can go look now, get a good gauge on things, most of it is untouched," offers Black Lightning moving to head for the door that go back further in the base. Pausing to see if he's along though. "Whatever we get, we can have Doc look at, hate to run him through all that, but the man's a genius. Almost like we have to ask him first."
Nodding his head, Kyani smiles back at Wanda and winks at her. "Come on." he says as he gets up. "Ive been in there a few times, but never really used anything." he says. "I need to see if he and possibly Tony can rig something up for me though." he says. "I feel a bit needy due to well…." he shrugs, "My abilities and I know the good old doc don't mind me coming to him to use his wind dome or whatever you call it, but yeah."
Wanda gets a call, she had time, but the Embassy needs her.
Black Lightning lets her go do what she needs to, then nods to Kyani, "Tony's working up something for you to train on," he asks, still going towards the gym. "We might have to see if the Captain can get some private contractors able to give us some more space." He holds the doors, as they head for the gym.
Shaking his head, "Nah, I was thinking of asking him or at least see about him and Doc working on something." he says. He walks inside of the training area, looking around for a moment, he's been in here a few times, "I need to figure out my own style of fighting myself." he chuckles. "That would be helpful, he's done a lot for us already, but it's what we needed."
"Everyone gives what they can, because they beleive we're doing something. It doesn't hurt to ask, and we'll all say no if its too much," offers Black Lightning. "Take you for example, a lot of pride in your work, I can see it. But if you needed help with one delivery, you know I could take a few power lines and get nearly anywhere in the states within minutes, depending on getting the right lines is all. I'd do it once if you needed, maybe twice, but if I didn't have time for school, I'd say that. It never hurts to ask."