Finding Strength (CLOSED)

"Hell yeah! It'll be so much fun" Katherine said excitedly as she jumped around excitedly. "And I'll get to wear my new kit! It has pockets!" Jack couldn't help but laugh at her boundless enthusiasm.
"I think it'd be nice for us all to get out. Have a drink and all that."

The two Butchers nodded, and went off to seperate areas to change. Julian, in the mean time, said, "It's where I got all my jobs. Stuff from hits to inconveniences. Some guy hired me to walk slightly slower in front of a guy he really hated once, but not obnoxiously slow.". He laughed a bit by that, and Calum returned, wearing simple black khakis, and a dark-grey button up shirt with long sleeves. After a bit more, Michael came back, wearing jeans and a loose-fitting black hoodie. Calum slightly chuckled, and said, "Well, Kat, if push comes to shove, we have a tent for you and possibly Jack.". It took Michael a bit before understanding what he meant before saying "Hey -
this was ridiculously expensive compared to normal hoodies, and the reason was that 'It's Big' or something like tha'.". Julian slightly chuckled at the idea of the terrifying, gigantic man angrily bargaining with retail employees.

"Nothing worse than slow walkers. Long legs like to go places."
Katherine grabbed her duffel bag, and headed into the tent to suit up. Jack followed her, only to return a moment later with his black leather jacket, and his purple hoodie. He sat down, and tightened the laces on his combat boots. Katherine emerged from the tent, wearing her new gear proudly, with her mask clipped on her hip, and holding a black hoodie.
"Beatrix is heavily sedated, and won't be up until I give her this" Katherine said as she held up a vial before putting it in her pocket. "God, I love pockets. Sounds weird though, pockets." Jack rolled his eyes, knowing full well that Katherine could go on about words that didn't sound right for hours until something else caught her attention.
"Right, everyone ready?"

Julian patted his pocket, checking for his knife. "Yea, got me knife. I'm ready, then.". The two others nodded, and Julian said, "Alrighty. I'll drive the van. Calum 'n' Mike, head on in whatever seat you can get.". At that, Julian rushed out to get in the driver seat, Calum got in the passenger, and Michael slightly begrudgingly got in the back. Julian proceeded to begin driving off.

Jack and Katherine followed them on Jack's bike, keeping a few meters behind the van. They pulled up alongside the driver's window.
"Jules" Katherin shouted to get his attention, her voice distorted by the mask.

Jumping a bit, Julian looked to the side real quick then back forward. "Yea? Something the matter?"

"What's this place like? High end, seedy, or family friendly diner?" Jack swerved to avoid a pigeon in the road. "Goddamnit Jack!"
"Sorry, didn't want to kill it. Feathers would've been stuck everywhere."

Julian shrugged a bit. "Bit high end,
bit seedy. Ya get seedy guys here and there seelin' seedy shit - a suspicously stained car with a licence plate, for example. People tryin' to sell evidence against them. Then you get the guys with stalls. Imagine a criminal flea market, basically. Guys with the stalls are typically higher end. Some of em are seedy, though I buy stuff from a good deal of 'em. My knife, a gun or two I've got, so on. Man we're meeting - he's my favorite source of targets."

"Sounds good to me. I've never understood why they call it a flea market if you don't come out with fleas. False advertising at its finest." Katherine thought for a second, upon seeing her reflection in the window. "Any masked weirdos, or costumed freaks?"

Thinking a bit, Julian said, "Seen a few every now and then. Mainly since they don't want their identity out, and it's never actual supervillains.
Also for general protection. Bout there, anyway.".

"Awesome. This is gonna be so much fun! Oh, and I'm buying us all a beer, if they have any." Jack fell back behind the van, letting Julian lead the way.
"Wanna hit a bike shop on the way back later? Figure you're gonna need your own bike for missions."
"Definitely!"

Julian eventually pulled up to a seemingly abandoned area, specifically up to a one floor yet very large building. The main decoration was incomprehensible graffiti stacked on more graffiti, and taking the keys out the van, handed them to Calum He hit the side of the van a couple of times letting Michael know they arrived, and he followed the prompt suit. Walking up to the only seeable door, there was a man next to it - bald, bouncer-looking, a few inches shorter than Michael. He smirked, and said, "Got a crew now, J? Good on ya.
Head on in. Remember, don't-" "-not, in front of them. That's water under the bridge, D. Or should I say-" "-okay, fine. Just go in.". He opened the door, and Julian, a satisfied look on his face, walked in, followed by Calum then Michael, slightly stooping to not hit his head. Inside, it was a s he described - essentially a criminal flea market. It had the same set-up and overall atmosphere of one, though admittedly shadier stuff ranging from weapons to drugs of all sorts. There were a few boards here and there, all with names and descriptions.

Jack and Katherine climbed off the bike, and followed the three. Jack looked around to see if there was anyone he knew, but eventually gave up. Katherine was looking around happily.
"It's a nutjob's nirvana, a sociopath's shangri la, it's heaven! Haha! A vintage Kalashnikov. Oh my God... a DSR-50?! Take my money!" Jack rolled his eyes, knowing they'd be leaving with a ton of guns. "And an M134!"
"We already have one."
"You have one. I need one" Katherine argued, her voice distorted by the mask.

Chuckling at Katherine's amazement, he said, "Yep. About everything y'can think of is here. Think some guy even had a sword stand around here somewhere, blacksmithery and all.". Calum was folliwing Julian primarily, eyeing every shifty person, appearing much like a body guard. Michael tapped him on the shoulder to let him know he was off to look at certain stalls, and Calum nodded, Michael essentially going into the crowd and bustle yet still seeable due to his size. Julian motioned for Katherine and Jack to follow him, and said, "The guy I normally get hits from is around this way, c'mon. Promise you can come back to look at the guns."

"Ok, fine" Katherine said with an annoyed grunt. She and Jack followed Julian closely, glancing at some stalls occasionally. Katherine seemed more excited than Jack, but this was her first time being exposed to the criminal underworld, aside from Jack's gang and business dealings. She looked over to a group sitting at a table, talking in Russian, and drinking vodka. She thought she recognised one of the men, but shook her head, and carried on walking.
"So, who is this guy" Jack asked curiously.

Julian had approached a poker table, with a man dressed in a dealer's outfit. He smiled upon seeing Julian, and said, "Ah, my man!
Come, sit. Introduce me to your group here. An odd bunch, just at first glance.". He chuckled as Julian sat, timidly followed by Calum. The man spread a few cards around, as Julian said, "The guy to my side is Cal. Tokd you bout 'im already.". The man nodded, offering a handshake. Calum accepted, and the man said, "You weren't lying about his prosthetics, huh? Don't accept drinks from strangers here, friend, they'll take all of that and a kidney or two. How about these two here?". Julian was about to say something, before he was interrupted. "No, no, let them introduce themselves. Mighty interesting pair they are.". Julian promptly sighed, and handed him a card - a standard poker card, but with a man's face and name on it instead. They both nodded, understanding.

The two sat down, although Katherine took her time.
"Jack Napier, but most call me Joker, but you can see why" Jack said with a chuckle. He was intrigued by the man that they had met. Katherine was quiet for a moment. She had everything to lose from people learning who she was, so she had to give a different name.
"Deathstroke, like the villain" Katherine said in a disinterested tone, a voice modulator in her mask making her sound a bit manly. She looked at Jack, who was hosing himself laughing.
"I'm sorry, this is super weird."
"And you are going to be super screwed if you don't watch it." Katherine turned to the man. "Sorry about that."

The man laughed a bit himself, and said, "Ah, it's fine! Been a while since I've had some Masks at my table! They call me the Dealer, for reasons you could likely guess.". He held the card Julian handed him up - a man's bearded face, labelled Aaron Princip - Corrupt Laywer. "I deal the cards.
You get the target. You kill the target. You get what you get, and if you don't get your target - and I will know - then I add you to my deck. Which of you are playing?". He idly began shuffling, with neither Julian or Calum saying anything.

"Just me" Katherine said as she crossed her arms. "In light of certain events, this is my only valid career." Jack seemed a bit uneasy at the idea of Katherine being hunted down for failing a job. He leaned over, and whispered something in her ear, before she whispered something back.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Fine." Katherine turned to face the dealer, arms still crossed.
"So, dealer, what's the coin like? Not gonna risk my life for pocket change, especially with the current economy."

"Depends on the target. You get a cashier that was a bit rude, eh, i'll give a longer time-span and less money. You get a political figure...
Lotta money in it for you. Cause of the unpredictability, Masks - the comic folks like you - don't typically come here due to honor, killing the scum, yadda yadda. You ready to take a gamble?" . He finished shuffling, quickly dealing three to her. "Pick one and show it to me.
You'll get the card and description after. No backing out after. Last chance."

"Where's The fun in playing it safe" Katherine said with a laugh before looking at the cards in front of her. She really hoped that none of them were on any of the cards, and carefully chose one. She raised the card, revealing it to the dealer.

The Dealer raised an eyebrow, took a card, and showed it to her. Beatrix La Laurie - Cybernetics Expert, with a black and white seemingly hand-drawn drawing of her face. "Seems like somebody has got competition in the cybernetics market. Good luck getting her - shes got helluva lotta protection. You'll get a lot for 'er, but you're gonna have to get me proof in less than two days.". He slid her the card, took back the other two, and reshuffled them into his deck, setting them aside, a smile on his face as he seemed to think about how much to price 'Deathstroke' when he makes the card.

Katherine couldn't help but laugh, when she saw Last Laurie's face. This was luck at its finest. If Jack wasn't laughing before, he certainly was now. Katherine regained her composure, and looked the dealer dead in the eye.
"I was hoping for something more challenging. Now, money... do I get a bonus for bringing her in in under half an hour? And do you want her dead or alive? Where do you want me to take her, because I will drag her through here just for laughs."

The man raised an eyebrow, and said, "You're telling me you...". He looked at the two of them and a smile immediately crept on to his face. "...shit, the cards sure are in your favor, my man! Know what,
I was originally going to give you around a half mil - roughly the cost to get decent cybernetics from anyone - but i'll bump it up to 750k! Holy shit, Tab, come 'ere!". A woman, in a quite revealing outfit walked over, and he said, "Get the safe ready - This new guy is getting a chunk of it!
Get him a complimentary drink, too... Er, to go... They kinda have a mask.". She nodded, heading off and followed by two men in similar vests to the Dealer's. "Bring her here if you haven't killed her. Lotta guys here want good cybernetics or repairs. Say, Cal, did you happen to get yours from her?". Calum nodded, saying, "First reciever, actually.". The Dealer was admittedly quite shocked.

"See you in a bit. Oh, and Jack, make sure the Russians over there don't leave" Katherine said with a chuckle. She took the bike keys from Jack before heading off. Jack glanced at the Russians, and shook his head before he looked back at the dealer, smiling.
"You're gonna enjoy having Deathstroke doing jobs for you. Hard worker, and bloody efficient." Jack placed a small mirror on the table, and angled it so he could watch the Russians.

Katherine returned about fifteen minutes later, carrying a hog-tied Beatrix in one hand, and an empty duffel bag in the other. She dropped Beatrix on the floor, blood trickling down the side of her face.
"You didn't say she had to be in good condition."