ic Room of Danger (second edition)

[EternalPhoenix]

The building was on fire, and it wasn’t Facsimile’s fault. It wasn’t Woodsman’s fault, either. Just to set the record straight. The two weren’t sure of a lot of things. Like how they’d gotten inside a burning office building. What floor they were on (spoiler: the second of three). And, oh right, exactly who was the other one in the room (that was just a little on fire). What the two young heroes were sure of is that the building wasn’t empty besides them, there weren’t any sirens to be heard, and above all, there was something slightly…off, about everything. It was like the idea of a burning building from someone who’d never actually been in one.

[Exaccus]

Jeeze self It was just that one time. 

 

This was the thought that came immediately after confirming that he had indeed not spontaneously combusted from unknowingly mimicking the properties of some flammable substance, in the prior case it'd been gas from a leak, but that was another tale entirely.

 

Right now he needed to examine the situation and act as swiftly as possible, looking around him he could summarize that he was not on the ground floor, turning into a particularly dense material such as his old favourite of steel was not feasible ,he'd fall right through the structurally weakened buildings floor instead he would go for the plastic of a nearby chair.

 

safely in his new form he turned his attention to the other person in the room and was surprised (pleasantly too for once.) that it was someone he knew, a classmate in fact.

Edited October 19, 2017 by Exaccus

[Avenger Assembled]

Woodsman stood stock-still, hardly breathing, for a long couple of seconds while he considered the situation. This was not the last place he remembered being - and he'd been the victim of psionic attacks and other kinds of illusions before. Unlike his Claremont classmates, he had the training and willingness to kill if necessary, and that was something people were willing to exploit. Lots of people. Nightmares about Feral attacks were sometimes matched by nightmares about things he believed were Feral attacks until it was too late to stop himself from murder. "Hey, Facsimile!" he called, recognizing the other Claremont student. "You have any idea how we got here?" As he spoke, he was taking a knee, loading his crossbow while digging out a rebreather from his bag. 

[EternalPhoenix]

Before the object mimicking hero could answer the young archer, the time honored signal for heroes to leap into action was heard. What was it? A woman’s terrified scream. It echoed through the half open doorway of the room the heroes were in. A desperate cry for help. Barely had the first subsided, before a second desperate (and higher pitched) cry for help  reverberated throughout the floor. A quick glance out said half open doorway would show a flaming hallway. To the right, only the stairway was available. To the left, a private office’s door hung off it’s hinges. There were other departure options, but they were well obscured by both smoke and active flame. What was behind them was anybody's guess.

[Exaccus]

Oh yeah codenames, Codenames are cool.

 

"Not really, Woodsman.I was just riding my bike one minuet and then poof I'm here and everything is on fire, I thought i exploded or something at first." he confesses as he elongates his plastic legs and bounds towards the sound of the scream twisting and squeezing his now extremely ductile body to dance through the flames before him as best as he's able.

 

"place has a weird vibe though."he says "can't taste the smoke...little creepy." he confesses as 5 ten foot long tendrils of black plastic spurt from his back and begin attempting to make a path for his classmate to follow through safely, he was honestly a little bit afraid, ever since his kidnapping by that foundation or whatever he'd been scared of something similar happening again, though he and Riley were not extremely close he knew enough to know that he knew fear wasn't weakness or cowardice, it was wisdom, acknowledging danger by instinct and surviving..

 

"Don't worry though, I'm not rattled enough to let it slow me down."

Edited October 19, 2017 by Exaccus

[Avenger Assembled]

"Me neither."

 

With the slow, methodical air of someone making difficult but long-practiced movements, Woodsman finished loading his crossbow. 

 

"Okay. Find shelter." He raised his crossbow overhead, took aim at the roof over their heads, and fired. "Timer," He commented to Facsimile, his tone almost conversational, as he ran forward and took shelter behind a old table that would put a few inches of solid wood between himself and the explosion as the fuse embedded in the bolt overhead ticked down to nothing. Three, two, one...

[EternalPhoenix]

The highly explosive bolt did exactly what Woodsman expected it to. It blew a hole in the ceiling. Debris fell from the hole and clattered off the table Woodsman was sheltering under. It was fairly light, until a firm thud grabbed the young hero’s attention. The yelp of pain (high pitched, naturally) was a dead giveaway that it wasn’t drywall that had landed on the table. The young woman was dressed in sooty business attire. She lay there on the table, looking surprised out of her shoes. Apparently literally, as she was barefoot.

Edited October 20, 2017 by EternalPhoenix

[Exaccus]

"why what are you..." is about as far as he got before his common sense won out over his deer in the headlights moment and he flattened himself against the ground, honestly it was a silly question to begin asking in the first place, questions were best saved for afterwards, right now it would be better to focus on being a team and communicating which woodsman had been kind enough to do before setting off an explosion.

 

More warning than most folks give.

 

However even he couldn't hide his surprise at what happened next, a young barefooted no less lady falling through the roof and onto a table with a dull thud "woah, you heard her up there? thats some good ears you have on you..." he states matter of factly as he makes his way over towards the stranger.

 

"Hey, miss, you ok?"

 

 

[EternalPhoenix]

“My hair’s all sooty, my outfit is ruined, I’m trapped in a burning building and I just fell through the floor.” Her mood was somewhere between indignant sass and mortal terror. She coughed a little. “I am so far from okay I can’t remember what it looks like." Her eyes abruptly widened, and she moved. Bare instants after she’d cleared the table, a table fell through the hole in the ceiling and smacked into where she’d been lying. Now seated on the floor, she couldn’t help but whine as her mood shifted decidedly closer to mortal terror. “I can’t take thissssss…” And then she was crying.

Edited October 22, 2017 by EternalPhoenix

[Avenger Assembled]

Huh. Okay. Woodsman decided to let Facsimile continue the conversation with the lady. He loaded another crossbow bolt, this one fixed to a stout climbing line he attached to his bow, and fired upwards. This time the bolt flew up and up, lodging itself next to the hole he'd blasted in the ceiling material. He fired another few bolts, balancing the need to stay secure with the need to avoid the fire, and then hooked his bow over his back. "Time t'go." He took the rope in hand and began to climb, heading upwards towards the room he'd just blasted open, trusting Facsimile and his companion to follow him. Guy had crazy powers, he could probably carry a girl and himself at the same time, right?

[Exaccus]

Oh Nice, Smooth Move bud.

 

"Yeah? sounds like you're having a really rough day miss, but don't worry, me and my buddy here are trained for situations like this we'll make sure that we all get outta this." he said, trying to be as reassuring as he could, gently putting his hand on her shoulder.

 

"Now, we need to get you back up onto the next floor do you mind me carrying you? I can elongate myself back up there with you if you're OK with that." he offers.

[EternalPhoenix]

“…okay…” The young woman sniffled and made a weak attempt at levity. “Just don’t get handsy, okay?” She pulled herself to her feet. And a (figurative) lightbulb struck her. “My boss. He was trapped in his office. Brandi went to get help from, well, down here.” She looked around frantically. “You haven’t seen her, have you?”

 

For Woodsman’s part, the third floor was also on fire. Aside from the hole in the floor, though, the room he emerged in was standard outer office. It used to have room for two desks, one of which was now downstairs. The inner office was blocked by a flaming beam lodged in the door way. The little that could be seen of the inner office through the door showed a man collapsed in front of an opulent desk. The exit, however, was free of any flaming debris.

[Avenger Assembled]

Woodsman appeared briefly to call down through the hole. "Man hurt up here. Need powers." 

Looking around, he considered his options for a moment as he waited for Facsimile and the civilian he was escorting to join them, cautiously checking the exit door.

[Exaccus]

"I've not seen her." he says calmly as he wraps his arm about the ladies waist and elongates himself up through the hole "But once we get that man free, ill drop back down here and look for her ok? it sounds like he's in a bad way and if your friend was able to walk and look for help they're in a better state than him yeah?" he explains gently as he sets her down and flows himself onto the floor

 

It seemed that the floor was fairly stable up here, enough that the beam hadn't immediately smashed through the floor, good, stuff, load bearing material too, so it should grant him some degree of superhuman strength, so it was a natural next form at least for now.

 

Touching his hand against a particularly not on fire part and focusing his mind on assimilating its traits into his own. "you think you can have a quick look for brandy whilst im doing this?" he says as he gently attempts to tease the beam loose "Don't wanna go ripping it out so it might take a minute." more than certain woodsman would be up to the task whilst he saw to this and stayed with...well shucks he didn't know her name.

Edited October 27, 2017 by Exaccus

[EternalPhoenix]

Facsimile shifted into steel, as that was what the exposed part of the beam he touched was made of. He had the physical strength to move it, even. The problem lay in the fact that it was still attached on the end that hadn’t broken off and fallen to the floor. He was strong enough to pull it free, but what would that do to the rest of the ceiling? There was only one way to find out, unless the young hero had another idea.

 

Meanwhile, the woman reclaimed her shoes and purse, as well as the missing woman’s accessories. The only thing she could do was look increasingly worried over their situation. The third floor of a burning building was not a place anyone wanted to be.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Well, okay..." When the beam was out of the way, Woodsman pressed a small silver flask into Facsimile's hand. "As far as you know, I found that here and passed it to you, so no harm, no foul." He stepped past Facsimile and headed into the room with the unconscious executive, giving him a quick onceover as he reloaded his crossbow. "Hey listen," he said to Facsimile. "I'm gonna blast us outta here, but that's gonna give us flashover inna room this size. Can you, uh, turn yourself into a shield or somethin' 'n cover these folks?" Riley's suspicions about their current circumstances were palpable - but there was real suffering going on in here too. 

[Exaccus]

"huh? what is....Oh! no dude, like there's another lady who works at this place who went looking for help, her name is brandy, i meant like did you wanna go look for her whilst i was figuring this beam out." he says with a laugh and hands back the flask "Thanks all the same though buddy."

 

he ponders the following question for a long time "its....possible...I think? I've never actually tried it,  most of the disaster training i undertook boiled down to basic first aid and finding badguys to sit on whilst the emergency services did their thing; you think i could cancel it out with shock-wave clap? though im still worried about this other person we've not found yet..maybe its better to secure an exit and get these two to safety first and then come back?"

 

It is then that his eyes catch the soft glint of clear plastic in the distance "hold the phone for a sec...issat a cooler? I could just turn into water!" he says excitedly as he looks back to woodsman "that'll put a dent in it yeah!" and springs off to pour himself a slightly melted plastic cup full to mimic from.

 

"Much better! now lets see what we can do..." he hums and flings his arms wide releasing tiny droplets of water from all over his form at high speed and pelting the entire room with what is roughly equivalent to a Omni directional heavy rain designed to suppress and extinguish the fires around him all at once.

Edited October 29, 2017 by Exaccus

[Avenger Assembled]

Without comment, Woodsman fired his crossbow near the frightened civilian - then hooked the line on the other end of the bolt to the far wall. If this was a mad dream, he was going to act like a normal person during it, dammit. He slung a loop of thicker rope from his belt to the line, then leaped across the gap, sliding along until he reached Brandi's side. "Hello," he said out loud for the first time. "Got yer ride," he commented out loud, showing her how to hook the rope to the line he'd strung across the gap. "Like zip line," he said out loud, though the angle of descent wouldn't be exactly the same. "Don't let go," he added, as he tied the rope firmly around her wrists - and hooked it there with clips while he was at it.

[EternalPhoenix]

Facsimile had easily soaked down the entire inner office. Even the outer office was only smoldering. This made Woodsman’s search for the frightened Brandi much, much easier. In the damaged (third floor platform busted and second on fire) stairwell where the young hero found her, she blubbered gratefully and follow where he led. In the inner office, there was a secretarial reunion between Brandi and Kandi, both of whom then fussed over Mr. Johnson, their boss and the man on the floor. Then the building shuddered slightly, and faint cracking noises along with the moaning of tortured metal could be heard. Fortunately, faint sirens were also audible.

[Exaccus]

"I believe that is our Cue to get out of here ladies and gentlemen." he said quietly slightly sobered by the feeling and the sound of the building creaking and shuddering sending ripples through his currently entirely fluid form and turning his attention to the outerwalls of the floor he was on began to gather a bowling ball sized mass of water in his palm.

 

"I think we don't need to worry about a back draft any-more so whenever you're ready woodsman, make us a door and ill get a waterslide going."

 

 

[Avenger Assembled]

Woodsman did as asked, though this time he skipped the explosion. Instead he drew his hatchet and covered his hand and face, then headed to the nearest large window before carefully breaking it open with a few well-placed blows of his hatchet. Once no hail of bullets or superpowers followed, he broke the glass away more freely, making an opening big enough for human beings to pass through. Broken glass was not like its movie self - either he or these young women could be badly hurt if they took a cut while going out of the building. "You fly?" he asked Facsimilie, cautiously peeking out the broken-away window with a mirror on an extendable pole.

[EternalPhoenix]

The street outside should have been full of concerned spectators. A three story building on fire isn’t something one sees every day, and maybe a superhero would show up to save people. However, the street was instead scorched. Only Woodsman’s eyes were sharp enough to spot the young woman half hidden by a pillar across the street. She appeared more or less like this, minus the sword of fire. She seemed bored; occasionally glancing at the roof of the bulding Woodsman and co. were in. Woodsman couldn’t see anyone up there, however.

 

With the window broken, the sirens were louder. The fire department would be here shortly. The building’s structure groaned again, and there was a loud thud as something fell elsewhere in the building.

[Exaccus]

"I've had limited success with that so far." he confesses as he looks down  out of the hole "But I have something else in mind that'll probably be a bit safer.", it wasn't too far off the ground, 30 or so feet, he had more than enough  water to work with. it would however take some doing and some concentration to pull it off.

 

Tossing the Bowling ball of water he'd gathered together in his palm out of the water and sending it falling to the ground, expanding as it goes landing of the floor with a viscous wobble not all to different to gelatin, it would make a cold and wet landing but a safe and soft one, next he bent all of his concentration to the task of drawing up a spiralling strand of water, curved deeply into a half pipe and ready to be slid down "You go on ahead folks, i'll need to concentrate to keep this one up."

 

Sweating when you were made of water Is a heck of a weird sensation.

[Avenger Assembled]

Woodsman stared out the window as Facsimile went about his work, considering his options. "Hostile down there," he said out loud for his fellow superhero's benefit. "Can't stay up here." He considered his options carefully as he studied the slide. "Gonna go down first," he said reluctantly. "You take rear and close slide up afterwards." He hated to do it, but he couldn't let those women go into danger on their own - not when that woman below might be a sniper or a meta watching the fire for anyone escaping. It was standard practice - if anything could be said to be standard practice about today. "Hang on," he said, before testing his balance and sliding down, keeping a careful grip on his crossbow as he went.

[EternalPhoenix]

The woman spotted Woodsman more or less immediately, and left the relative concealment of her pillar. “Hi, I’m Dawnfire, and I’ll be your proctor today.” She instantly looked confused. “No, wait. I am your proctor today.” She nodded. “Yep, that’s it. If everyone can exit the building in an orderly fashion, Ally-your other proctor-and I can get the second phase underway.” She pointed up above the roof of the building on fire, and there was a woman floating slightly above it, out of view from the windows. “That’s Ally. She’s making sure everyone gets out before we get started.” This was Ally, only not in that pose and the bow was on her back.