Mysteries Infinite: Under a Crimson Glow [IC]

[rpgronin]

"Nonononono!"

Raising his hands in a last-ditch effort to save himself from a flurry of fisticuffs and a hail of bullets, Momentum - through a combination of luck, natural talent, and mutant prowess - stood idly as the thugs beat their fists against the nigh-invisible kinetic field protecting the young teen, whilst bullets flattened and plopped to the smoke-filled floor of the building ineffectually. Would he have had the time, Momentum might have emitted a sigh of relief at not being turned into a neatly produced piece of Swiss cheese; alas, such luxuries were not to be had, given the raging inferno and smoke filling the building, not to mention the civilians-turned-gunmen trying desperately to kill him!

And then there was a bright light; brighter than Noah had ever seen before as spots danced daintily within his peripheral vision. Too distracted by the situation at hand to know where the flash of radiance came from but nevertheless glad his goggles weren't completely useless, Momentum steeled himself in preparation for the second wave of gunfire, belaying locating the source of the impromptu flash afterward.

More surprises abounded, however, as the same helmet-headed hero who'd so serendipitously rebutted the flames engulfing the pair of buildings into much smaller pyres arrived, much to the young teen's relief. Help was definitively something the now literally wet-behind-the-ears kid needed at this point. Relegating to the no-doubt more experienced and supposed crime-fighter's expertise, Momentum turned his attention to the man calling the shots - in more ways than one - readying himself to act at just the right time so as not to accidentally step on his alleged comrade's toes. The last thing Noah needed was to unintentionally endanger the man in the funny helmet more so than he already was!

[Carces]

The mobster and his boss ready their large guns at Momentum, able to get a clear shot at him. "When ya gets ta the pearly gates, tell 'em Fanetti sent ya!" the crime lord exclaims just before being distracted by Cannonade's timely arrival.

"Huh? Awwww, GEDDOUT O' DA WAY...!" Fanetti shouts his warning as Cannonade claps his hands together, sending a powerful shockwave through the building, ripping apart the floor's cheap carpeting and blowing away the ceiling panels that hide the severely damaged electrical wiring. Both the mobster and Fanetti leap out of the way, but to no avail. Even at its weakest point, the shockwave is more than enough to blow them both back, hitting the back wall of the room hard. They both fall into an unconscious clump in the corner, thoroughly beaten.

"Aw, Boss? What happened, boss?" The other two thugs, still blind as can be, extended their arms and stumbled about, completely unaware that they had missed the fury of Cannonade's exceptional strength.

On the other side of the floor, the fire elemental uses all of his strength to heave the flaming desk squarely at Supercape! Fortunately, strong attacks such as these telegraph well, and Supercape is more than capable of dodging the flaming furniture as it crashes harmlessly into the brick wall of the building behind him. The elemental makes no sound, but the raging flames make it quite clear that it is not happy.

[Supercape]

Supercape yelled at the two heroes inside "Hope this helps! Nice spot of H20!" and proceeded to concentrate on the fast moving jet of water. It wasn't easy, as the stream was indeed moving fast, but water molecules were something he had had plenty of practice on. Something rather pleasing about them, he always thought.

With his mind's eye, the requisite molecules started to exhibit unusual attractions, and a crystal - like structure, in a funnel shape, appeared over the stream. The structure was made of water, but it wasn't ice - its molecules were held together by the power of Supercape, and it was tougher than steel.

The stream of water from the hydrant now diverted straight through the hole. It was a messy, inaccurate affair, and missed the man of fire. However, it continued to pour in, and hopefully the two men inside could use it to some advantage.

If nothing else, they could soak themselves if they caught on fire.

[trollthumper]

Cannonade swung around, putting Momentum behind him... and putting himself right in the line of the stumbling mobsters. A bit like shooting fish in a tank, he thought, but better to take 'em out before they screw this up more..

"You really had to pick today to be idiots, huh?" And with that, he brought his hands together, and forced the thunderous burst outwards to the other end of the room.

[Carces]

Water quickly begins to pour into the sixth floor, dripping down into the various holes created by the fire and the fighting and quickly washing over the fifth floor as well. The fire elemental's flames dim down once again, but do not disappear completely, as the deadly game of tug-of-war between the fiery force of nature and Freedom's Heroes continues.

"Urgh!"

Back on the other side of the sixth floor, the blind henchmen of the defeated Crime Lord Fanetti are no match for Cannonade's incredible strength and skill. They're both flung into the pile of criminals that rest against the wall, unconscious and unable to threaten anyone.

That's one crime family that won't be blindly firing at heroes during a crisis again! Unfortunately, this leaves a rather perplexing problem: You now have 6 unconscious bodies in a burning building, stacked upon a damaged, disintegrating floor! To make matters worse, the Fire Elemental is too close to the stairs, making him a danger to anyone who comes close - especially unconscious victims!

[rpgronin]

Blinking a few times as the young hero processed all that had transpired inside the now-drenched building, Momentum gawked onwards momentarily as the men who had been so intent on gunning him down met with a rather unceremonious end literally at the hands of the second man to appear near the building. It's an awkward silence for Noah, unsure what to say as he stands there soggily, hair matted and socks now uncomfortably squishy with the influx of liquid to quell the remaining flames; finally, however, he turns to address both his savior and new-found idol.

"That. Was. Awesome!" the young boy exclaims with incredible immaturity, obviously blown away by the display of raw physical power exhibited by the helmet-haired hero as his fear subsided in favor of awe. "I mean, they were all... and you were like... uh... right. Like, sorry!"

With another awkward glance, Momentum returned to the situation proper; there wasn't time to be astounded by feats of supernatural strength and blinding lights now! The newest conundrum needed to be dealt with, and dealt with quickly at that. In the wake of the unexpected development of men trying to kill him, there now remained a half-dozen formerly machine-gun toting nut-jobs stuck inside a building which - given the raging angst of the weird fire-thing - likely wasn't a good place to be unconscious in. Even if they were terrible, horrible people, Momentum knew he'd have to do something to get them to safety... but even he couldn't do it alone. At least, not without the flaming fiend flailing foppishly at the fire-enriched facility.

"We... uh... we need to get these guys out of here!" the hoodie-wearing boy insisted, pointing halfheartedly at the unconscious heaps present before scooping up the fire extinguisher he'd so haplessly dropped during all the smoke-filled confusion. "I don't think I can carry them. I mean, look at me! But you; man, you're built like a frickin' truck, dude!" Momentum prattled on, looking upwards towards the substantially taller man from what felt like hundreds of feet below. Surely this giant of a man could handle carrying one or two of the sleeping gentlemen outside, and it wasn't like Noah had finesse necessary to do so himself, much to his own embarrassment. "I... I don't know what else to do, so I'm gonna try and keep this... uh... fire-thing busy. Or something. You can handle carrying a few of these guys, right?"

The red-lined kid doesn't even wait for an answer, however, as he streaks off towards what might very well be certain doom, a red hue of kinetic energy and the rapid splish-splash of water filling the air as he goes until he comes to a stop beside the hulking entity wreathed in flames.

"Hey! Hey, you!" Momentum chided with extinguisher in-hand, waving his arms stupidly to get the creature's attention. "Over here, guy! Betcha you c-c-can't get me!"

"Oh man, this is such a bad idea..."

With one, final act of either brilliance or sheer stupidity, Momentum pointed the extinguisher at the combustible customer and squeezed the trigger, letting loose the foamy coolant towards the not-so-cool cat in defiance.

[Carces]

Momentum manages to get behind the Fire Elemental, who does not notice him, even as he yells to get the elemental's attention. Aiming the fire extinguisher, he fires a constant stream of an advanced, dry chemical compound capable of extinguishing a multitude of fires.

That is, of course, if the compound manages to hit the fire. The elemental weaves its body in an inhuman fashion and dodges the fire extinguisher's spray completely, turning what could pass as its torso in order to face Momentum. Before Momentum could react, the creature's large arm slams across Momentum's chest with extraordinary force - the kind of force that very few could walk away from.

[trollthumper]

"That. Was. Awesome!" the young boy exclaims with incredible immaturity, obviously blown away by the display of raw physical power exhibited by the helmet-haired hero as his fear subsided in favor of awe. "I mean, they were all... and you were like... uh... right. Like, sorry!"

"Hey, thanks," Cannonade said. The kid in the hoodie seemed even more new to this than he was. "Don't worry about it. It takes a while to get into the flow."

"We... uh... we need to get these guys out of here!" the hoodie-wearing boy insisted, pointing halfheartedly at the unconscious heaps present before scooping up the fire extinguisher he'd so haplessly dropped during all the smoke-filled confusion. "I don't think I can carry them. I mean, look at me! But you; man, you're built like a frickin' truck, dude!" Momentum prattled on, looking upwards towards the substantially taller man from what felt like hundreds of feet below. Surely this giant of a man could handle carrying one or two of the sleeping gentlemen outside, and it wasn't like Noah had finesse necessary to do so himself, much to his own embarrassment. "I... I don't know what else to do, so I'm gonna try and keep this... uh... fire-thing busy. Or something. You can handle carrying a few of these guys, right?"

"Don't worry, I'll --"

Whoosh!

"--take care of 'em."

With the young speedster gone, Cannonade quickly got to work scooping up the mobsters in his arms, taking care to make sure he didn't lose his grip on any of them. Once he was sure he was secure, he took a running leap out of the sixth story office and leapt back towards the apartment building. For a second, he feared that he would fall to the floor of the alley -- which would've been worse for his cargo than for him -- but he managed to land right on the lip of the building. He quickly set the mobsters down, making sure they were out of the way, before turning back to the building to see what new chaos had broken out.

[Carces]

Cannonade manages to jump to the top of the safe apartment building. After you've laid the bodies down, you ensure that there's no real danger present around this building, and the fire elemental would be incapable of attacking these men, even if it wanted to. Conveniently enough, the door leading downstairs is also locked, which means these crooks aren't going anywhere for a long time.

Your job done, Cannonade sees the monster's brutal attack on Momentum. The kid appears to be hurt from the attack and incapable of getting away. The elemental ignores the water, plodding slowly towards the heroic half-pint. This could mean some serious trouble if someone doesn't do something!

[tryrar]

It had been a good day for Dyne. He'd finalized the second stage of designs for his new generator, had lunch at a classy restaurant uptown, and even got the number of a pretty redheaded waitress. He felt good enough to just catch some air, and see what's happening in the city, and takes off into the sky.

However, as he cruises past downtown and flies over South River, he spots the giant red dome over what looks to be the newest casino opening on the Boardwalk. *Sigh*, I knew this peace would be too good to last. Well, just another day in the city. He dives for street level, takes a moment to get his bearings, and is in time to see a youth get hammered by what could only be described as a walking flame shaped like a man. Shaking his head, and muttering "only in Freedom City...", The shadow-clad hero proceeds to try to catch the menacing man of fire in a shadowy distortion of pure gravitic force, and pull him to the ground!

[Carces]

The gravitational energies created by Dyne pull at the fiery monster with an immense amount of force! However, even the all-catching power of gravity has difficulty pulling down the flames, and the monster is not impeded, even as the floor creaks and groans from the added stress.

It does, however, seem to make a decent distraction, and the elemental takes its focus off of the young hero Momentum, even if only for the moment.

[Supercape]

Supercape continued hovering outside the building. The water had helped, perhaps, but perhaps something more direct was needed. Like the new flying hero who had joined the fray. Supercape gave the man a quick salute.

Abandoning his concentration on the icy crystal funnel (which promptly expanded back to "regular" water and dropped to the ground) he turned his exotic mind to the fire elemental. He didn't exactly know what he was dealing with - but it had mass and it had molecules and that was a starting point.

Because with a few key nudges, he could disentangle them. The form as a hole would loose cohesion. In this way, steel could become as fragile as paper. Quite what it would do to the esoteric forces he was encountering he wasn't entirely clear, but a force with less atomic cohesion was one that he hoped the four heroes would be able to defeat more easily.

[Carces]

In mid rampage, the elemental stops, fighting off an unknown force. The magical power that binds the elemental buckles, but does not give in to the power of the atom Supercape possesses.

Firmly distracted, the fiery foe turns to see who would assault such a belligerent blaze. Grabbing a large, burning chair, he turns back to the building opening, where not one but two hovering heroes interfere with his rampage. With as much precision as a towering inferno could muster, he throws the chair at Dyne, Master of Gravity, giving him a taste of the battle before him.

[rpgronin]

Stars. Stars and an uncomfortable wave of heat was all Noah could see in the wake of being struck by the gargantuan elemental, his footing nearly losing itself in the puddle of water as he staggered from the concussive blow. His kinetic barrier - with what little protection it had offered - rippled out of existence in the wake of the massive strike even as the raging inferno of a fist nearly took Momentum's head off, the sudden evaporation of moisture from his being resulting in a flush of dry heat and nigh-comical elevation of once-matted hair.

"Should have... stayed in class..."

Even as the other heroic personages attempted to thwart - or, at the very least, distract - the flaming entity from incinerating the hero in the red hoodie, Noah was still busy reeling from the attack, barely aware of the situation around him as his head swam. With one final shake of his head and a caustic readjustment of his goggles, Momentum's vision cleared and his knees ceased to buckle. Things definitely weren't going as well as they could be, and the situation was only growing more and more problematic. The building's integrity, no doubt, had suffered terribly from the rampaging monstrosity's assaults; and the constant counter-attacks from the supposed good guys probably wasn't helping much on that front either. This conflict needed to end before the whole building came crashing down on Momentum's head! If the elemental just wasn't wreathed in flame, maybe the other superheroes could do something about it; put it down or extinguish it completely or... or something. If they didn't, all those people gawking outside could end up like a giant flambe'!

Despite the nigh-tangible fear lodged in his stomach, Momentum knew he needed to do his part. He was stuck, for better or worse, with the ball of fire wreaking havoc on the Boardwalk now, and it was now quite literally do-or-die in the young, inexperienced hero's eyes. Mustering up the remainder of his courage, Momentum clenched a fist and cocked it back, teeth grit as he swung his wiry appendage outwards towards the belligerent creatures' backside with all the power he could muster before zipping off to find cover.

[trollthumper]

His burden dropped off on the roof, Cannonade looked back to the burning building. The young man in the hoodie was desperately trying to avoid the burning man, and the guy in the cape looked like he studying the elemental. The kid was fast, but the fire elemental could be faster. Chances were the kid might not last long up there.

Once again, he took the measure to the building, ran forward, and leapt from the edge of the roof. Now he knew just how far it was, and how easy it was to cross. He touched down on the floor of the office as the heat washed over him. The fire elemental stood before him, and the kid was rushing to find cover.

Yeah. I really hate idiots with fire powers. Without a word, Cannonade reached for a piece of fallen masonry the size of a small car, lifted it over his head, and brought it crashing down in the direction of the burning man.

[Carces]

Under the combined might of Cannonade and Momentum, the telekinetic blow followed by a quick smothering of the fire elemental's flame via weaponry causes the creature's flame to flicker, if only momentarily. As Momentum disappears to safety, the creature's flame glows bright blue in unmistakable anger - with Cannonade as the only source of the monster's ire!

[Supercape]

Supercape continued to hover outside the building. Even with four heroes, they seemed to be struggling to take down the fire elemental. By his estimation, the building was already gutted and condemned, and it wouldn't be long before some new fuel was found.

Whilst he was thinking he once again shifted a few key atoms around the fire elemental, which bathed the creature in a blue-purple light. He wasn't particularly hopeful the radiation he had unleashed would phase the creature. He damn well hoped it wouldn't feed it.

Still, that was science for you. Trial and observation.

What it - presumably - did need was oxygen. Water had helped. The four of them were better of attacking its weaknesses rather than flailing around in an undirected way.

"Er. Chaps!" He called out to his comrades in arms. "How about popping out of the building? I think we could bring the house down to solve the problem. "

He winked, although he doubted anyone could see. With his other eye, he started scanning the remaining structure of the building and the roof.

[tryrar]

"Huh, that sounds like an intelligent plan, actually. I can help with the 'bringing the house down' part with my control over gravity, but I'm not sure the whole building has been damaged enough..." Dyne turns to the others. "If you can weaken the supports somehow, maybe we can finally put this pyromaniac out to pasture!"

[trollthumper]

"If we can do this without causing even more property damage, I'd be for that," Cannonade said. After he said it, however, he looked to the charred walls, the broken floors, and the ripped-out walls that exposed a good chunk of the building to the open air. "Then again, if it's the only option... point me to the foundation."

[Carces]

The creature visibly shakes under Supercape's subtle assault and the immense flame flickers again. It flails in a silent, intensified rage. Even flaming monsters are more dangerous when injured and cornered.

With Supercape's attack so difficult to perceive and with Momentum away from the battle, the monster turns to his only viable target - Cannonade! With all of the rage built inside the fiery elemental, it brings up its fiery appendages, slamming them down hard right where Cannonade stands!

[rpgronin]

Even from the safety of a few floors below, Momentum could still make out the cries from on high through the shattered remnants of what were once windows. Still reeling from the concussive blow down below, Momentum's mind raced as the situation upstairs supposedly took another turn for the worst. Was it really so bad up there in the few seconds he'd left the scene that the most viable means to stop the raging fire-man was to bring the whole building down on top of him?! Talk about some dire straits!

After catching his breath, Momentum zips back upstairs and into the fray, unsure what good he could really be at this point. In a flash, the young boy is once more poised for battle, taking his position opposite the helmeted hero who'd just been slugged by the massive incendiary gentleman as he came to a stop.

"Like, whatever you guys are gonna do, make up your minds and do it quick!" Momentum pleaded, popping off a blast of kinetic energy to goose the elemental and give the more experienced man in melee a reprieve... and a suitable distraction!

[trollthumper]

Cannonade felt the fiery lashes fall down upon him. He could smell his jacket start to smolder as he struggled to retain his footing. As the lashes lifted, he clutched his chest -- he felt like a train had hit him, but otherwise, he was okay. Coming to his senses, he saw the young speedster launch off a bolt of kinetic force, catching the burning man off-guard. He didn't know if the others were still going to try and bring the building down -- he could probably weather something like that, but the kid...

"Hey, asshat!" he yelled at the burning man. "That all you got? I've taken showers hotter than you!" As the elemental turned its head, Cannonade hefted up another chunk of fallen ceiling and brought it crashing down.

[Supercape]

Still too many people in the building for the deck of cards routine realised Supercape. Having said that, the flame was flickering. It did have some mass, so presumably they could subdue it with brute force.

His mind still folding and forming possibilities, he once again unleashed a burst of purple radiation around the flaming man as he contemplated the next move...

[rpgronin]

"Why won't you fall down?!"

The fiery foe was taking a beating, but he was still kicking! How much more punishment could this thing possibly take? He'd been blasted, smashed, wet down... it was like the thing was nigh indestructible! His own attacks were futile at best, and given the rather harsh beat down he'd received first-hand from the flaming monstrosity, it seemed unlikely another hit like that would be good for his health. Struggling with what else to do, Momentum deigned it best to fall back on what had been working for him thus far: supplementary hit-and-run tactics; particularly those that helped the helmeted hero beside the creature!

"I've got your back, guy." Noah exclaimed before pouring on another burst of speed, zig-zagging all about the sixth floor before going in close for an in-tandem assault with Cannonade. Rippling kinetic energy in-hand, Momentum swung hard to distract the incendiary foe before zipping off to safety, playing his speed card to the fullest effect he could muster. If he could just give the other heroes present a chance to really dish out some damage, maybe - just maybe - they could wrap this up before any other weird things cropped up. After all, there was still the talking red-aura-thing engulfing the casino to deal with...

[Carces]

With Momentum's help, Cannonade catches the Fire Elemental off guard, bringing the ceiling down on the creature's head. Just before Cannonade's improvised weapon meets its mark, the creature shoots its arms up, catching the heavy piece of stone and metal before it does any real damage.

However, this makes the elemental vulnerable from attack from behind, allowing Dyne to fire a Graviton Wave at the corrupt conflagration. Blazing in pain, the creature uses its massive strength and the structural weaknesses of the ceiling weapon to sunder off a piece, throwing it at Dyne in vengeance. As fast as it flies, however, Dyne dodges the attack in the nick of time, and the chunk of building only grazes past his shadowy form.

After the attack, the creature stumbles back again. There's very little visual evidence to explain what's going on, but its likely that the atom-wielding Supercape has found a soft spot in the creature's resilient mass.

The creature reels backwards - each step spreading the flames on the floor further and further. Things in the building are again getting hot - and this time, there's no sprinkler to help the heroes keep their cool!