Mysteries Infinite: Under a Crimson Glow [IC]

[Carces]

An uncomfortable silence washes over the boardwalk, as the onlooking crowd watches in fear and fascination. While it seems that the tension mounts, even a short silence is a rare opportunity to think, to plan, to reflect, and to rest.

Several heroes have made it past the dome to save the people trapped in the casino and to seek the source of the magic. In a wise move, not every hero has ventured forth and some have opted to stay outside the dome to protect Freedom City. The Crimson Dome is a product of extremely powerful magic; it is not simply a barrier to keep trespassers away, but a living thing all of its own. From what you've seen, it is not a friendly thing either.

The crimson of the dome shifts and glows as its power builds. Rally, heroes! You may not get another chance...

[rpgronin]

"Huh." cooed the red-clad hero-in-training, peering wide-eyed through his goggles off towards the outlandishly large sphere of crimson as he soared through the air from his prodigious leap, the familiar rush of air rushing its way through his hoodie as the young teen plummeted towards ground zero of the incident. "I guess it really is a big deal..."

When Momentum received the Twitter feed about a giant thirty-story tall red sphere engulfing a newly-opened casino on the Boardwalk in the middle of his first period class, he was slightly skeptical at the description given. This was unfamiliar territory, and sounded like it was some sort of elaborate hoax or publicity stunt to draw in potential customers. Sure enough, throngs of people stood prominently out from below like a field of ants, their tide stemmed by a motley assortment of what the hero-on-high could only presume to be Freedom City's boys in blue.

This could be it for Noah; his chance to prove that he had what it took to stand side-by-side with the world's greatest superheroes on their home turf and join the big league of super-heroics!

"How hard could it be, right?"

With a tumultuous thud and an awkwardly clumsy stumble as he landed, the up-and-coming hero-to-be known as Momentum hit the scene with all the poise and dignity of a drunken rhinoceros, barely managing to keep his own footing as he came to a stop behind the awe-struck crowd within its moment of intense silence. Glancing about warily to take in the strangely picturesque situation from the rear, Momentum straightened himself up, attempting vainly to emulate some form of heroic stature as he began wading through the gaggle of citizens ogling the far-fetched sight before them towards the policemen trying desperately to keep the peace.

"Excuse me. Hi. Hero comin' through and stuff..." Momentum murmured to the townsfolk as he pushed through, oblivious to nigh everything save for the apparent cause of distress and the line held at the forefront of the city's denizens, feigning as much confidence as he could muster despite his lack of... well, suffice it to say that this wasn't exactly his field of expertise. With bountiful strides for such a short fellow, he finally presses onwards and through to reach the officer on the front-lines outside of the hazy red hue.

"Hey," chimes the surprisingly chipper kid, his voice rich with a far northern accent as he greets the elderly officer with a tentative, but very unheroic wave. "So what's the deal with the..." Momentum begins, but trails off as he catches a glimpse of an enigmatic fellow in an unusually large cloak and his lovely female assistant atop the familiar Channel 3 Action News Van; no doubt here for the same reasons he was. He'd yet to actually see any other superheroes in-person since his arrival, and this at least gave him some relief that he wasn't the first super-schmuck on the scene.

"Sorry. Kinda, uh, spaced out there," Momentum hummed, returning his goggled sight towards the policeman. "I bet you've already gotten this, like, a million times already, but what's up with the big red dome-thing over the casino, officer?"

[Carces]

The police officer scowled a bit as he saw the young hero

"We're still figurin' that out, son. You'd best be goin' back home, though. That thing's even managed to make a few big super heroes disappear, and it doesn't show any signs of stopping."

As if on cue, another police officer with a megaphone blared over the sounds of the restless crowd gathered before the dome. "Please evacuate the area in an orderly fashion. This dome is considered dangerous and unstable. Please return to your homes immediately."

Anxiety fills the air as the murmurs of the crowd rival the sounds of the police megaphone. Despite the warnings and police orders, no one moves.

[rpgronin]

A little irked by the thought of being shooed off like some sort of annoying gnat, the young man just stands there for a few heartbeats, blinking silently as the policeman with the megaphone barks his commands towards the massive crowd behind him. With a certifiable interest, Momentum turns to face the unflinching crowd, their movements as still and immobile as when he had to force his way through only moments prior.

"Don't... uh... take this the wrong way or anything, sir," the hero in the hoodie replied earnestly, turning back to face the senior officer, "but I think you, like, need all the help you can get right now."

Surveying the increasingly crotchety crowd behind the ominous sphere of crimson, it didn't take a rocket scientist to deduce that the situation was becoming increasingly more hostile. If this... whatever-it-was that had engulfed the The Luxury was as big a threat as it seemed and definitively not a hoax, then it was clear that these people had to go. Now.

Turning decisively to face the on-lookers for what already felt like the umpteenth time, hands upraised in as calming a fashion as the inexperienced hero could muster. "You heard em', guys! This is... um..." Momentum hesitated, unsure how to address the delicate situation. "This is just a... a technical issue!" feigned the young teen. "Yeah, that's it. The electronic-bits and stuff are just on the fritz and junk, generating inaudibly high-frequency jigga-watts that could totally cause the building to explode from the... uh... compressed sound-wave-stuff. This red thing is just, erm, a counter-measure. It's all very complicated. The Luxury'll be, like, opening later tonight. Probably really late tonight. Sorry for all the hype and stuff. You can all, uh, go home now. Like, right now."

Perhaps it wasn't the most noble thing to do, but hey; when the truth doesn't suffice, sometimes you need to twist words a little bit, right?

[trollthumper]

It had been a rough night for Joe. The 4Ses had managed to get their hands on... some evil book or another, and summoned up a giant bruiser of a demon in the middle of Lincoln. He'd managed to pound it back to Hell and round up the gang members, but that thing had given as good as it had gotten. He was looking forward to a standard day at the plant to help get back in the rhythm of things.

Then again, that plan was neatly dashed when he headed for the subway and saw the crimson dome rising from the Boardwalk. There's never a normal day in this town, is there? He pulled out his cell phone and put on his best "dear God my throat's tearing itself apart" voice. "Hey, Frank, it's Joe," he said, making sure to cough pathetically. "I don't know what the hell I came down with, but it ain't doing me any favors. I've still got a sick day left, right?... Good. Hopefully I'll be well enough to work the line tomorrow. See ya then." He hung up, and rushed back to his apartment.

A quick rummage through the closet later, and he was leaping across the rooftops of Southside as Cannonade. He touched down on the pavement just at the edge of the Boardwalk, and pushed forward to the massing crowds. He kept his eyes locked on the dome and his ears opened. Some guy was telling folks about how the whole thing was some sort of new tech on the fritz. He just stayed at the ready in case things went weird... er.

[Carces]

As Momentum addresses the crowd, murmurs continue. You can see a few stragglers at the back leaving, but for the most part very few people leave, despite your efforts and the efforts of the police.

It's likely that, regardless of your efforts, they simply won't buy the story from a kid. Too bad!

However, Cannonade has another idea...

Looking about and listening well, much of the crowd is repeating a few words to each other:

"It's just a technical issue..."

"...It's dangerous here..."

"We should go..."

"...not safe..."

The crowd is buying what the kid and the officers are telling them. And yet most of these people show no signs of moving.

[rpgronin]

"At least some of them aren't total idiots..."

With his verbose speech given and proven to be at least somewhat effective, Momentum gave himself a mental pat on the back, rather proud of himself for a job well done. Or he would have, had the bulk of crowd actually started to dissipate after his instructions from the ominous red aura engulfing the no-doubt once magnificent Luxury casino.

Faltering as the crowd murmurs its acknowledgment of the situation but refuses to move, Noah furled his brow and clenched his fists in annoyance. Clearly, the bulk of the public concession were only vaguely listening to him at best; haplessly humoring the young be-hooded hero at worst. Either way, he didn't like it!

"Well? Go on! Like, get goin'!" he chimed, a little wounded that he had to redouble his efforts to shoo the onlookers away before the police could do more than just hold the crowd at bay. "Didn't you hear me? Are you guys deaf or something? I said go home already! It's not safe here and junk!"

Looking back at both the senior officer and the gargantuan crimson effigy, Noah bit his lower lip, now at a loss as to what to do. Clearly, these good people need to get lost, but they were either too stubborn, too sheepish, or just outright disregarding Momentum's attempts at getting them to do so.

[Carces]

9:00 AM

From the crowd, the sound of a watch beeping indicates the time has changed. The crowd hushes in an eerie silence as the synthesized alarm pierces the ambient noise.

Now, even the police drop their hands to their sides, their attempts to turn the crowd away from the spectacle has ended. Everyone, save a few costumed heroes, stare unblinking into the ruby void.

The last tone of the watch rings. From the dome comes a voice, made from discord itself, as if one were to weave the sound of glass breaking and scratching together with screams of rage echoing meaninglessly into a cold, dark night. And the voice is laughing. It is laughing at you.

Heroes wish to steal away my tribute? So be it. What I have taken, I will return in kind.

There is no doubt that the voice comes from the crimson dome itself. As the laughter continues to boom, the wretched sound becomes almost painful. While you feel the desire to cover your ears, the audience merely stares ahead, motionless and without expression.

The voice screeches on. The first gift I grant is the heat that burns in the soul. The flame that causes the blood to boil, the eyes to glaze, and the mind to wither. You can have your fire BACK.

As the words are spoken, giant pillars of flame tower beside the dome, leaping to two large buildings on either side of the dome. The fire is spreading unnervingly fast.

[Supercape]

Disliking the crowds, Supercape had floated up above the dome and was now surveying the scene. He didn't pretend to "get" magic.. as far as he was concerned it was just science that defied his understanding. However, fire he understood.

There was something about the voice. Gifts? He knew a little mythology, of course, from his days studying Latin at school. Fire was a common gift from the gods. Very Promethean, this he mused to himself.

None of which, of course, solved the problem that fire burns and kills people.

He looked up. A few clouds in the sky. He hadn't tried it, and meteorology wasn't his thing, but perhaps coaxing some rain might work. Now, what causes precipitation again?

[rpgronin]

With visible pain etching its way into his face, Momentum cringes as the horrific voice speaks forth from the red hue beyond where the Luxury Casino once existed. Its terrifying threats curdled the young hero's blood, his own lips furling inwards as he bit downwards out of sheer terror from the ominous presence clearly present somewhere in the sanguine haze, vividly afraid even as a caped crusader hovered overhead; applying no comfort for the teen mutant.

Things only proceeded to go from bad to worse as the anonymous entity made good on its threat, flames streaking outwards from the red dome and engulfing the pair of adjacent buildings with unnatural speed and efficiency. Whatever it was this frightening voice wanted to accomplish, it seemed malicious in its intent to do so; enough to attempt incinerating an unknown number of civilians inside the humble buildings!

A little white in the face, Momentum turned back to the elder officer, a pleading disposition plastered in his eyes. This was way out of the young Canadian's league, and he knew it.

"You've got to do something! Call the fire depart--" but the youth trails off, the officers gazing off towards the titular sphere of crimson from whence the voice originated, their faces now as blank and listless as those of the patrons Noah had so desperately tried to disperse. They looked strange, their eyes glazed as they focused on the glow, oblivious to everything else around them; either out of a sense of mortification, awe, or some other sensation Momentum was unfamiliar with.

Whether it was in his realm of experience or not, it became quickly apparent that Momentum would have to do something. He needed to at least try!

"Uh... you guys stay here, 'kay? Don't move!" the wimpy-looking hero pleaded, motioning towards the crowd of civilians to simply stay put. Turning towards the right-most inflamed building, Momentum felt the familiar tightness in his throat as an amalgam of fear and adrenaline filled his being. It was up to him and the other heroes present to do their thing, or those people inside were going to end up really crispy. It was time for the boy to step up and prove he could really handle himself, even if that meant forgoing logic in favor of youthful optimism.

With a burst of kinetic speed, Momentum streaked off towards the workplace-turned-pyre, a bright red streak trailing behind him as he arced towards the entryway with blinding speed. If he was quick -- if he poured on the steam -- maybe he could get everyone out of the building before it was too late. Maybe, assuming he didn't burst into flames trying to crash through the front door!

[Carces]

Momentum enters the building to the right, smashing through the doors with little effort. A testament to both his luck and speed, the external side of the building is a raging inferno, but it the flames are much smaller inside the building - especially on the first floor. Undoubtedly, this will change soon.

This building appears to be an office building. Standing in shock while covering her head is a receptionist trapped behind her desk. From a cursory look, you can see 2 elevators and a single set of stairs for escaping a fire - all of them in unknown condition. The ground floor of this building has a fire alarm near the entrance/exit that has yet to be pulled, and a fire extinguisher inside a glass case.

The lady reception tries to speak, but coughs out the rapidly-spreading smokey fumes that have begun to build. The fire is startlingly fast - far too fast for a normal blaze. However, it does seem just as dangerous, as the heat continues to rise.

With your speed, it is easy to vault over the desk, get the receptionist, and leave before the fire has a chance to get you. That's one person safe... for the time being.

[trollthumper]

Cannonade quickly tried to take the measure of the building. As far as he could tell, the flames were strongest around the fifth floor... but that was as far as he could tell. He didn't have any training for this sort of thing, and for all he knew, there could be a deeper burn on the floor above.

Screw that, he thought. This needs to be put down, now. He wondered if he could do it. He'd seen it done, of course, in old footage of the Centurion's crime-fighting days. He wasn't the Centurion -- he knew that much -- but if it worked the same way...

He leapt up to the roof of a nearby apartment building -- it was far enough away that it remained safe from the flames (for now), but close enough that he could do this without losing any impact. He cleared his mind. Just think of it as a candle, he thought. A freaking big evil birthday candle.

Cannonade inhaled deeply, taking in the sudden rush of air like he was about to plummet to the bottom of the ocean. He positioned himself just right, aimed, and exhaled. He was almost knocked back in surprise -- a solid torrent of air blew forth, heading towards the burning building.

Hope this works...

[Carces]

You blow with all of the power you can muster. Despite an entire side of the building engulfed in flame, your lungs seem up to the task, generating a personal hurricane-force wind to fight the flames with. The flames die out, bit by bit, saving the apartment building's side from any real damage. The scorch on the side of the building is ugly, but easy to fix.

As you feel your lungs start to empty, your attention is drawn back to the fifth floor, where you surmised that the fire was strongest. There, a very large hole has been made and a towering, circular inferno stretches itself between the ground of the fifth floor and right to the ceiling of the sixth floor. With the rest of the building extinguished, you are free to concentrate your air directly on the fire.

Oddly enough, this fire does not dance about to the winds you have brought forth. Instead, as you concentrate the last of your breath, you watch as the fire... turns around?

The being of flame, vaguely humanoid in form, looks up at you with intense, fiery eyes. Despite the winds generated by Cannonade, the huge elemental being does not seem impressed. In silent response, it grabs a rather ugly-looking lime green couch from the floor and watches it burst into flame before hurling the improvised weapon as a javelin.

Despite the cover granted by the apartment rooftop, the attack is extremely accurate. This is going to hurt...

[rpgronin]

Coughing a bit as he and his secretarial escort emerge from the building unscathed, Momentum sputtered a bit as the sudden influx of inhaled smoke makes its own escape from his system. His impromptu outfit little singed in some places despite his absurd speed, the young hero was otherwise unharmed, sharing a similar condition to the woman he'd so recklessly charged in to save only seconds before. Even now, however, Noah knew there had to be more than just one lone receptionist inside the office building suffering from a strangely bizarre conflagration courtesy of the ominous entity locked away within the sanguine dome.

"You okay, lady?" the hooded teen inquired, exhaling the last of the smoke before straightening up, her physical condition looking none the worse for wear from what little the hero knew about being swept up in a fire. He knew he'd need to get right back into the inferno, and he had to get the people out before both buildings became wholly engulfed...

And then a miracle happened. From atop a nearby building, a lone man in a strange helmet let loose a torrent of air, the flames flickering from the buildings in the wake of his super-human exhalation even as Noah's own hood dropped off from his head from the unnatural gust. A smile creeps its way over the youth's face, a wave of relief so profound washing over him that it was night palpable as he looked skywards towards his savior; all too grateful for the assistance.

Or he was, right up until a flaming couch came sailing through the air and right into the fellow who'd so prodigiously extinguished the malign fires! Whirling around, Momentum's eyes went wide through his slightly foggy goggles as he saw the figure who had no doubt launched the comfortable projectile. It was... something. Something he'd never seen before, and was hard to understand. It looked somewhat like a person that was set ablaze, but not a person. His mind fumbled the concept, far too preoccupied with other thoughts. Chief amongst those being that while the building wasn't currently emulating a massive barbecue, it was now populated by some sort of... fire-creature-thing, sharing its occupancy with people still trapped inside! And whatever it was, it seemed like it was intent on causing harm; and it obviously meant business. But what could Noah do against something that looked like it was made of pure frickin' fire?!

And then came the epiphany.

With another burst of kinetic speed and leaving a familiar trail of vibrant red energy in his wake, Momentum once more rocketed back into the building. He'd seen it when he first came into the smoke-infested workplace, its own red box with white emergency letters eye-catching even in the once hazy room. There, at the entrance, he spied it once more: the as-of-yet unused fire alarm. Maybe -- just maybe! -- if he tripped it, the sprinklers would cut on. If it worked and nothing else could be accomplished, maybe it'd be enough to at least turn the focus of the unknown thing on the fifth floor's attention away from the superhuman in the helmet. It was worth a shot at the least!

With one forceful tug, the goggled teen kineticist pulled the lever of the alarm.

[Carces]

As Momentum rushes around, the receptionist manages to utter "Th-there was a conference. Upstairs, on the sixth floor!" After she speaks, she continues to cough, leaving Momentum to get to a safer location.

Up above, in the middle of the building, the fire elemental grabs a particularly flammable chair, readying another shot to finish off Cannonade. Suddenly, the unmistakable sound of a fire alarm rings and the sprinklers go to work. Each droplet of water turns instantly into steam when it hits the elemental, who shields itself with a large, fiery arm. The monster lets go of his makeshift projectile, and the chair crashes 5 stories below onto the pavement where it smolders.

The elemental appears to have turned its attention towards the sprinklers, saying nothing as it steadily continues its rampage.

[Supercape]

Seeing the carnage below, Supercape swept down from the clouds. No time to fiddle with weather systems... not sure I could anyway he conceded. Things looked like they were getting serious, and getting serious fast.

Like the giant man made of flame. That looked pretty serious.

What this needed was a good bit of H20. Damn, I hope "magic" fire needs oxygen too... he mused as he cast his eye around for a solution. The fire hydrants looked attractive. If he could direct the stream...

With a snap of his fingers, he unleashed the power of the atom, directed right at the cap of the hydrant...

[rpgronin]

With the sprinkler system in full swing, the now-soggy de-hooded hero stood agape as the massive fiery chair clattered destructively to ground level, wood splintering and crackling from the impact as its remains smoldered in its wake. While it remained an uncertainty to Momentum as to whether the hulking creature wreathed in flames had been deterred from its original target or not, that remained a mostly moot point for the time being. The guy in the helmet was a superhero; he could probably take care of himself anyway!

"Sixth floor. Sixth floor. Sixth floor." Noah repeated, his mental mantra a conscientious reminder for the ultra-important task at hand. Somewhere upstairs civilians remained inside the danger-ridden building, and between the sudden conflagration and the appearance of a malign entity intent on causing damage, there was no telling what else laid in wait five floors up from where the young hero now stood.

"I can't believe I'm missing second period for this!"

Through wasting time, Momentum pulled his hand into the sleeve of his red-hued hoodie and struck the glass where the fire extinguisher lay in wait to be claimed like some sort of vital inventory item in a video game, unsure of whether or not the fiery fiend above had been quelled or not, let alone potential pyres inside sealed rooms which were unable to be extinguished. The last thing he needed, after all, was finding a slightly-toasty executive upstairs! Extinguisher in hand and pushing a wet strand of hair from his face, Momentum once more burst into action, a visible redshift the token signature of his own enhanced speed as he careened up the stairs towards the sixth floor and the endangered citizens.

[Carces]

The cap of the fire hydrant explodes as water gushes on the street with an excellent amount of pressure. That should certainly come in handy!

Momentum rushes up the building to the sixth floor with a new fire extinguisher in hand. What luck! The stairs are intact for the entire trip - the part of the building that the fire elemental had been destroying was on the opposite wall as thee staircase.

Arriving on the sixth floor, you note that the flames are particularly voracious here as the evil elemental launches volley after volley of fiery doom above him in order to stop the sprinkler system. The mix of steam and smoke make it difficult to breathe and see, making you cough.

After a little searching and trying to avoid the notice of the distracted fiery foe, you find figures in the heat. They all appear to be huddled together in a corner, as far away from the fire elemental as possible.

It's only after you're right beside them that you notice that they're finishing assembling and reloading machine guns. And two of them are finished.

"It's a flippin' HERO! I dunno how you figured out where we was doin' our business, but you an' your fiery pal are gonna REGRET the day you messed wit' da Fanetti Family. GET 'IM, BOYS!"

Two of the five men behind the angry crime lord Fanetti ready their machine guns, pointed squarely at the young hero Momentum, armed only with a fire extinguisher. The other three ready their weapons.

[trollthumper]

Cannonade was still trying to get his head straight. One second, he was fine; next second, there was a flaming sofa coming towards him. The smell of burning fabric filled his nostrils, and he looked down to see the smoldering couch resting not four feet away. Oh, that's where it went He looked across to the building, where the being of fire stands on the rim of the open area.

"Goddamnit, I hate jackasses with fire powers," he muttered to himself. He could try leaping the distance, but at this distance, he couldn't even tell if the flaming being had a body. It'd be hard to punch fire into unconsciousness. If only there were a good way to test it...

He looked down at the burning sofa. The lower sides hadn't yet been consumed by fire... Quickly, he slid a hand under the sofa, then took aim.

"Catch!" Cannonade yelled, just before hurling the flaming sofa at the burning man.

[Carces]

The sofa flies through the air at high speeds. A well-placed shot to the massive beast's flaming body finds its target...

...as the entirety of the body twists to avoid the couch's impact. Even distracted by the sprinklers, which he has nearly destroyed, the fiery elemental was one slippery adversary. The attack had missed its mark...

...On the other hand, he had dodged the attack. That takes effort - the kind of effort that an insubstantial fire wouldn't need to use. It's not conclusive evidence by any means, but it certainly doesn't rule out the possibility of a physical attack.

[rpgronin]

Cupping his free hand over his mouth and coughing lightly in the hazy aftermath of the incendiary cloud conjured by the raging elemental targeting the sprinkler systems, Momentum made his way gingerly towards the group of men cowering from the sudden attack. Relieved to have found them unscathed by the inferno brewing atop the sixth floor, it was now simply a matter of quietly escorting the endangered individuals out the way Noah had just come whilst the inflamed individual terrorizing the technological hydrants remained preoccupied.

And then the unthinkable happened.

"What the crap?!" Ashley sputtered out between panicked coughs, his own matted down hair whipping him in the face as he jerked from the sight laid before him even as the fire extinguisher clattered to the ground. Sure, the clickety-clack of metal-on-metal was nothing new to the teen hero's ears, but when the lot of the 'civilians' turned to face him with machine guns, a tightness took hold in the boy's throat, and tension filled his stomach. These guys weren't board executives; they were criminals!

Like today wasn't bad enough already.

Momentum had to think fast or he'd be pumped full of lead, but he couldn't just leave them here to face the creature of searing flames alone! Stepping forward as quickly as he could muster, the goggle-clad teen cocked back and clenched his fist, adding just a bit of familiar kinetic oomph as he let loose with a mean right hook towards the gun-toting crook's jaw, silently praying the other man wouldn't risk firing at his friend... or Momentum!

[Carces]

With a quick motion, Momentum makes contact with the closest gun-toting thug, easily knocking him out. The force of the blow sends the unconscious mobster into the second armed goon, causing him to misfire wildly in the air as he's knocked over.

Your victory is short-lived, however, when two of the thugs ditch their disassembled weapons and focus on a more direct approach. One whips at Momentum with the stock end of the gun while another tries a hook of his own - right for Momentum's gut.

"Dat's it, boys. Show dis little twerp who's boss 'round here." The crime lord pulls out a long, ornate pistol engraved with a flowery "F". He chuckles to himself as he aims the gun right for Momentum.

"Say g'night, hero."

Elsewhere, the elemental has spread his fire throughout the fifth floor, thoroughly melting and destroying the pipes of the sprinkler system. The intense heat surges again through the building, and it may not be long before floor five and six collapse altogether in a fiery inferno! Despite Supercape's first step in firefighting and Cannonade's projectile, the elemental ignores the heroes in favor of spreading the fire, bringing ruin to the building as well as concealing its own form. Fortunately, as a tall, man-shaped inferno, the flames that currently exist do not properly hide the monster. Should the flames rage higher, however, that may not be the case in a few moments...

[Supercape]

As the firehydrant streamed its watery good upwards, Supercape followed suit, to the gaping hole in the building. All mayhem was breaking loose inside. And it looked like the "innocent" civvies where anything but.

It was going to be a devil of a job getting the water into the building as it was. He could do it, but he needed a bit of an edge. A larger hole, maybe, or perhaps dropping his fiery friend down a few floors. Attractive options, but perhaps he could start off by doing shedding a little light on the situation.

The goons and the fireman wouldn't see this coming. Hopefully, they wouldn't see much but the after images of blinding light for a while either.

With a furrow of his brow and a click of his fingers, an atom in the building shifted slightly, lost some mass, and an explosion of blinding blue light filled the room.

[trollthumper]

Cannonade looked up to the burning man. He'd dodged. If he was made of pure flame, he would've just let the couch go through him and get burned up. There had to be someone at the middle of the bonfire he could knock to the ground.

His reverie, however, was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Cannonade looked up to the sixth floor, to see a bunch of suits were opening fire on the young speedster who'd been tearing through the office. He took a step back, judged the distance, then took a running leap towards the sixth floor. The streets of Freedom lay far below him, and for a second he thought he might have misjudged... until he felt his boots touch down on the floor of the office. He turned, and saw he'd landed right in front of the gunmen.

Guess I do know my own strength.

Without a word, Cannonade brought his hands together, forcing the concussive burst outward towards the gangsters.

[Carces]

With a sudden burst of light, 3 of the thugs grab their eyes in pain. "Boss! We can't see!" one shouts, as he stumbles about into another.

"You idiots!" The Crime Lord Fanetti brings the arm that shields his eyes down as he berates his useless cronies. "Gimme dat machine gun! I'll take care of this pipsqueak myself!" He motions for the other, lucky thug who isn't blind to grab the other working machine gun, as they train it on Momentum. Cannonade heroically leaps into the scene, positioning himself opposite the crime lord and the thug, preparing a strike.

Meanwhile, the being born of fire is not blinded by the sudden explosive light, but his attention is certainly drawn. He grabs a large, wooden table that easily ignites under the elemental's power, readying another projectile to swat at an annoying pest - none other than Supercape!