Brighter Than The Moon (IC)

[Fox]

"Not unless they have pacemakers," Mara absently replied, borrowing a flashlight as she carefully made her way down into the crawlspace. "Or they're cyborgs. Very easy to find cyborgs - parts are a little smarter, like to talk. Can't always understand them, but much easier to notice. Otherwise, not really, unless I made something right now. Infravision, but that's it."

She crouched, frowning, playing the light over the weapon. She could see it, in her head - pull it apart into pieces, turn each piece around to examine it. Unbidden, her brain did what it always did: it made the design better, rearranging bits and replacing parts in ways that would make the thing safer to transport, more lethal, larger blast radius or even a more selective weapon if friendly targets were smart enough to--

no - none of that She brushed the thought away like a cobweb, frowning as the motion caught an actual cobweb, too. "You two are done. Go away," she called back toward the hole, and then blinked. "....sorry. Harsher than intended. Thank you, but better for you to be at a safe distance. Will be more help outside. Point my employees my way if you see them, though, so they know where I am when they're done."

[Avenger Assembled]

There were no more holdouts left in the apartment after the departure of the Mad Maple and the Weather Mistress, a small blessing on what was already promising to be a very strange day. Steve followed them to the edge of the perimeter, the police and AEGIS agents on scene wise enough not to provoke the still-tweaking criminals into a fight near the indifferently-secreted explosives, and watched as they flew away in separate directions with the aid of their respective talismans. With the police calling in an APB, Steve trusted that the job was done and headed back to the building to join Mara and Erin at their work. The basement was empty now but for them when he arrived; Mara and Erin's escorts all having sensibly evacuated the building. There was no cowardice involved, it was simply a safe place to be!

Of course, it wasn't any of their jobs to be safe. "Maple and Mistress are gone," Steve murmured to Erin from their position near the door, having kept their distance so as not to disturb Mara at her work. "Police helicopters were in the air, but if they are caught, it will be well outside of our concern. There are heroes enough to handle that. The media present may be a larger concern," he went on. "But so far the authorities have them under control." He'd only seen the trucks pulling in as he'd left, but it was certainly something to keep in mind.

Meanwhile, Mara found that the missing pieces of the bombs were all there, secreted away years before her own birth. That meant the bomb had begun to fail, but that did not mean her work was done. Bigeye's chemical components had begun to decay and rats had been at the wiring, but of course that made things no less dangerous, as the several long-dead scavengers (now skeletonized by hardier cockroaches) down below in the cement hole could tell her. Even rotting, Bigeye was a dangerous thing, and the explosive components still had the power to destroy the building itself and scatter toxins across the neighborhood. The loss of hundreds of people would still be terrible.

[Electra]

"Great, that's just what we need," Erin muttered. "The feds really screwed the pooch on this one. Bystanders all over the place, media rolling in, why don't they just send a parade down the street to really make things exciting?" She rigged another of the lamps she'd brought along, bathing the cramped and dirty crawlspace in brilliant white light. If they were going to deal with this literal time bomb, at least they'd be able to see what they were doing. "Is there anything we should be doing to help," she asked Mara, "or should be just be staying out of the way?"

[Fox]

"Mmh. Can do one thing: if I tell you to run, run. You and Steve leave, get out of the building, get people out of...mmmh." volume approximated to be estimated chemical decay approximate spread of chemical weapons in urban environment "....maybe several blocks at least. And then get anyone you can to help contain it. No weather types unless you know they're competent. Dangerous."

Her choker flared as her suit washed over her, though she notably did not bring up her personal defenses - no sense putting that kind of interference anywhere near this thing. [bg=#555555]"So. Hello. You're kind of worse for wear. What do you have left in you....?"[/bg]

[Electra]

Erin simply nodded at those instructions, which weren't anything she hadn't heard before. In most situations she'd have argued against a directive to retreat, but there wasn't a damn thing she could do to help if things went pear-shaped here, and a lot of really dumb people outside who still didn't deserve to die in an explosion. Just to be on the safe side, she pulled up the city grid on her phone again and began plotting routes, then trying to decide who would be available to call upon if the need arose. Just to be on the safe side.

[Fox]

For a while Dragonfly didn't seem to do much of anything - she just crouched near the bomb, tilting her head at it and periodically shuffling a foot or two in one direction or the other to change her point of view.

She didn't know how long it had been when she finally sat down, her armor making sitting cross-legged somewhat awkward but thankfully doable. [bg=#555555]"Good news: can probably fully disarm this and make it safe for transport. Without killing us. Bad news: have to disable it and do patch work before I can move it, even to fold it into my pocket. Need to separate components without causing leaks or premature detonation."[/bg] The heroine flexed her hands, plates on her gauntlets lifting apart as a dozen little tools on delicate, articulated arms folded out; she started gently pulling aside some of the wires. [bg=#555555]"Time wasn't kind. Don't know how long it will take; could be a while. But promising."[/bg]

[Avenger Assembled]

Crack. And then another, gunshots echoing down into the basement level through the thin walls of the tenement as Erin and Steve lifted their heads to the sound of the action. Steve had kept his armor on here away from the view of the others, and as he did so he heard the voice of the police outside on the radio. "We're taking fire!" one of them yelled, then another, "It's Firebug! It's that crazy maniac Firebug! He's got some kind of crazy power armor!" If he'd had a face behind his armor at the moment, Steve would have made such an expression. Why is everyone in Freedom City insane today? That is not supposed to happen in the fall! We are supposed to be eating pumpkins now!As it was, he muttered a curse and headed for the stairs, his weight shaking the wood beneath his feet as he ran up them. (He didn't dare risk flight, not so close to the bomb Dragonfly was working on!) "I will engage him in my other identity from the air," he suggested. "No one need connect Caradoc to this place!"

[Electra]

"Good idea," Erin agreed, not breaking stride as she raced up the stairs and spun open her bat. "There's an abandoned lot a block south of here, past the perimeter and away from this building. We'll flank him and drive him in that direction. Do whatever it takes, non-lethally, to bring him to ground there. IWhatever you do, don't let him get any closer to the bomb site." With scant thought to seams or buttons, she gave a hard tug to her uniform top, revealing her costume beneath it the staid blue fabric. A super-battle in the sky risked the attention they were trying to avoid, but she could hardly fight a supervillain in public with a HAX uniform on. They'd have to take their chances that one more skirmish between good and evil would fall under the radar in Freedom City.

[Avenger Assembled]

Wander and Caradoc found Firebug engaging the police and AEGIS agents on the street outside, his fiery blasts driving them back under the cover of their armored vehicles. The armored pyromaniac usually wasn't that tough, but it looked like he'd brought a special suit of fire-engine red steel for this battle, one that let him project searing-hot blue and white flames as he marched towards the apartment. STAR Squad and AEGIS probably still had the resources to take him down eventually, but not before he set the building on fire! "I'm coming for you baby!" he was yelling blurrily at the tenement as he staggered closer and closer. ""No lousy Canuck's gonna take my baby away from me!" Firebug added in a shout. "Even if you hide behind every cop in Freedom City! It's time for some Canadian bacon!"

Bullets bouncing off his armor, Firebug fired a blast of flame at the building, a searing blast of blue and white fire that flew directly towards the upper stories of the massive structure! Dodging the blast in the air, 'Caradoc' appeared riding a shining curtain of his own flame; a shining knight of valor and honor and cunning holographic sophistication. "What ho, villain!" called Caradoc as Steve landed himself between Firebug and the structure. "You bring your romantic squabbles here, in the middle of this beautiful day!?! You shall surely know the taste of my STEEL!" Steve was trying his best, but as Firebug eyed him suspiciously and advanced on him, he didn't seem to be impressing the armored pyromaniac.

[Electra]

Wander didn't spend any time trying to impress or intimidate Firebug; she'd had just about enough of the Thieves Guild for one day already. Racing out of the building at full-tilt. she leapt into the air just in time to use her body as a shield against the fireball the blaster had aimed at the building. It wasn't hot enough to burn through her impervious skin or even ruin her uniform, but the smoke still had her coughing a bit as she landed, plus there was an ominous whiff of burnt hair. At this rate, she'd never finish growing out the misbegotten short haircut, and it was all the fault of guys like this.

As soon as her feet were solidly back on the ground, she was moving forward, taking advantage of the path cleared by the fireball to launch into a dizzying series of handsprings. Each one ate up the distance between her and Firebug, till on the last one she came up bat-first and smashed him solidly across the forehead with the center of the bat.

[Avenger Assembled]

Wander's massive blow sent Firebug's head ringing inside his suit, and he staggered back as his flames went out, unable to do much of anything despite the fiery tank he'd been walking around in. Before he could gather himself, Caradoc landed before him, golden sword shimmering with holographic energy. "Time to go," said Steve, his flat voice throwing the quip off for a moment before he swung a wide, massive blow that struck the armored pyromaniac in the midsection and lifted him high into the air with a massive concussion like the world's biggest bat hitting a baseball. (Steve had been watching a lot of human sports lately.) Firebug still didn't make it quite as far as the distant park, but he went hurtling end over end and smashed back first into a cleared area of street just behind the police barricade. The AEGIS agents moved in quickly to restrain him and get him out of the suit, and it looked like the lovesick villain would be no more threat that day.

"Excellent work, fair maid," said Caradoc. "I thinkest thee should check on your boss. You have the radio," he added, before flying over to assist the AEGIS agents and Freedom City cops in making sure this particular Lothario would be spending his romantic evenings with his attorney in the near future.

[Electra]

"That's supposed to be 'Thou hast the radio,'" Wander muttered under her breath. "Fair maid." Even with the silly language, Steve was quite correct, so she put her earbud back in and activated her communicator. "Firebug's taken care of," she reported. "There is no perimeter breach, and we're back to condition green up here. How's it going?" She thought about mentioning that she wanted to have Steve stay uptop to keep an eye on things while the AEGIS agents were distracted, but thought better of it. She'd had enough practice dealing with Trevor when he was working on delicate projects to know when extra verbiage would probably not be appreciated.

[Fox]

[bg=#555555]"Could be better. Could be worse."[/bg] Dragonfly's voice came back clearly enough that she had apparently - for once - decided to actually talk to reply, as opposed to projecting her voice into whatever radio-capable device was nearby. The inventor was still sitting cross-legged near the bomb, which had its metaphorical guts hanging out as she disabled, repaired, or removed bits as necessary.

[bg=#555555]"Significantly less likely to die. Think I want to strangle whoever made this,"[/bg] she wryly commented, one of her little tool-arms reaching back to gently unfasten a tube that no longer had anything in it. [bg=#555555]"Reckless and disregard for proper construction standards. Government contractors. Could build better."[/bg] have built better [bg=#555555]"Thank you, anyway. Do not want to have to do this in burning building. Never did perfect radar scatter - hard enough to keep track of wires when I can see them. Anything else happening outside?"[/bg]

[Electra]

"Seems okay right now," Erin replied, at least as relieved by the genius' relatively chatty tone as by her words. If things were bad, they wouldn't be talking. "Caradoc is going to stay up here and monitor the situation till the AEGIS agents finish with Firebug. I'm returning to your position. And if you do find whoever made the bomb, make sure to leave a piece for me, okay? Not only did they leave us a mess to clean up, but I've seen three members of the Thieves' Guild in their underpants today. Someone ought to pay for that." With one last look around, she swung back into the building, heading down to the crawlspace where the bomb waited.

[Avenger Assembled]

With Firebug in custody, Caradoc borrowed a police radio to report to the others. "Ye fiery man is in the hands of the authorities of yon realm," he said with a grandness that sounded false to him even now. How did heroes simply stand here and talk like this with no hesitation in their voices? "His suit of foul infernal heat will be taken away to the custody of the sheriff and the reeve." Miss Americana had gotten him some books on medieval history and he'd studied them as best he could, but he was not at all sure what this culture found so romantic about what seemed to be a deeply unpleasant era. "I will return to yon Camelot," he added, before heading off into the sky on a curtain of flame and smoke to slide out of view of the humans below so that Murdock the security guard could eventually return to his employer's side.

[Fox]

Dragonfly made a satisfied noise as something her little articulated tools were manipulating inside the bomb clicked and released, her free hand gently cradling a tank of QL that was no longer connected to anything else in the once-deadly contraption.

[bg=#555555]"Okay. Very not going to die now,"[/bg] she assured Erin, rapidly and efficiently stripping the remaining, less dangerous parts down. [bg=#555555]"Except that,"[/bg] she corrected, gesturing at something to a little piece that sat off by itself. [bg=#555555]"Wouldn't touch that. Cosmic energy tap...or battery. Not sure, would have to open it up to be sure. Not doing that in bad conditions. Would have used tap, myself. So probably battery. Hopefully drained, but if it starts vibrating, throw it as far into the sky as you can. Before it explodes. Just in case."[/bg]

She didn't seem to consider that too likely, though, muttering cheerfully to herself as the rest of the bomb got broken down into parts for transport. [bg=#555555]"Think I'll atomize components, provide blocks of raw elements back to government as proof of destruction. Think I can make them wait until Christmas, and provide carbon as coal? ....no, probably not. Might do it anyway."[/bg]

[Avenger Assembled]

Steve and Erin were standing guard outside when Mara made her way outside with the dissassembled bomb components stored in her dimensional pocket; her two bodyguards looked a little the worse for wear as a result of their adventures with the seamy side of the Thieves Guild, but they had won the day nonetheless. This has been a good day, thought Steve. Far better than it might have been. Or so he hoped. Perhaps soon the entire Thieves Guild would show up to try and burn the place down, or the media would descend and...no, dwelling on unpleasant possibilities was no way to go about his work. He had enough of those in his life as it was.

"The road is clear," one of the AEGIS agents called to Mara. "We have people standing by blocking aerial and road traffic."

[Fox]

"Bomb is disarmed," Mara called back. She'd de-armored before going back outside, as 'Dragonfly' wasn't really supposed to be there - no sense in inviting any more trouble than they'd already found.

"Already transported remains to HAX for proper disposal." close enough to true - might as well be there - relatively speaking no further from there than here "Should be okay to let people back into their homes, do any necessary final sweeps of building. Would not let anyone into crawlspace before proper chemical team performs checks, though. Just in case."

[Electra]

Erin, back in her blue uniform, looked around suspiciously at the quiet building and the dispersing crowd. It wasn't that she wasn't glad that the bomb was disarmed, far from it! And it wasn't as though she didn't trust Mara's ability to do all manner of scientific miracles between breakfast and lunch, because she'd seen enough of that with her own eyes. It was just that, even with the comical shenanigans of the Thieves' Guild, everything had been too easy. Despite all the security leaks, things had stayed quiet and calm. Erin didn't trust easy. "Is there anything else for us to do here?" she asked Mara, even as people began to brush past on their way into their vacated homes.

[Fox]

"Mmh. No, think we're done." Mara glanced back at the building, unconsciously reaching up to touch the choker that was her link to both her suit and her stashed bomb components. Idiotic villains aren't our problem - for now - and will have work to do back at HAX. Going to take a couple days to really dispose of everything safely."

She hummed for a moment as they made their way back to their vehicle, briefly distracted by plotting out what she'd need to neutralize and break down everything she'd acquired. "Thank you," she said, snapping back to things that weren't machine designs. "Both of you. Kept everyone from dying. Good day's work."