ic Man vs Nature: Here Comes the Boom

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

La Isla de la Reina Venerado
Friday, September 5, 2014
4:20 PM

 

La Isla de la Reina Venerado is a country rife with turmoil.  The local dictatorship's only real competition in maintaining its power has been the foreign corporate interest seeking to gain control in either its medicinal advances or the illegal drug market.  The island's illicit drug market is the ire of many a hero whose quest to end their local drug imports run into a wall with getting cooperation from the island.

 

It is the sort of place that tends to shy away from foreign aid.  That was until the category 5 hurricane hit.  Hurricane Dave was a small highly focused storm that seemingly would only hit the small area of the Atlantic that housed this small island nation.  As hurricanes are categorized by wind speed and not size, many wrote off the danger as it would not hit any truly populous land masses.

 

Which did nothing to help to the solitary island in its plight.  Not prepared for the catastrophic damage that would occur after ten hours the government finally sent out a request for foreign assistance.  By the time heroes finished braving the 186 mph winds, it was estimated that the tropical cyclone was in its final hour of life.  But the relief effort had only just begun.

Edited November 15, 2014 by HG Morrison

[Thevshi]

With a rush of wind and a faint sonic boom that arrived after she had already come to a stop, Velocity appeared a few miles inland in one of La Isla de la Reina Veneado's major cities.  The heavy winds that still remained whipped her brown ponytail (from the wig she wore in costume) around behind her as the yellow clad speedster steadied herself.

 

The Freedom League member would likely have been here on scene hours ago, but her status as a member of the League had meant she had needed to wait until the island's government requested help.  Once that had come, she had wasted no time in getting ready to get down here to help.  The only thing that had delayed her was a call from her old friend, Grimalkin, who had wanted to get involved in helping as well.

But even that had been only a slight delay.

 

"Okay, we're here."  Velocity stated over her shoulder, towards the slightly open backpack she was wearing.

[Heritage]

"Okay, I'll be right out." A small head with spiky brown hair and pointed ears poked out from under the flap; Grim squinted her eyes into the powerful wind whipping past. "Oh my God, that's strong! I might be grounded while I'm down here!"

 

Grabbing the edge of the pack, the tiny fae flipped herself out and returned to normal size in one smooth motion, dropping into a crouch as she landed; she wore a short-sleeved version of her normal costume, with matching fingerless gloves, shorts and light hiking boots for better traction. Her short hair flew around her face in the unrelenting spray. "So do we need to check in with the local Red Cross office or something? Relief work like this is kinda new for me, at least back here on planet Earth."

Edited September 15, 2014 by Heritage

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

While the equivalency of a Red Cross relief station was not immediately available to either of them.  Velocity's goggles provided her with a quick visual scan of the immediate area.  In the distance a bridge had partially collapsed.  A bus full of school children overturned and a few meters from the edge of where the bridge had collapsed.  People scrambling to run away from the bridge, or trying to with the wind bearing down on them, outright abandoning their vehicles.

 

Smoke billowed in the distance, neither in a position to clearly make out the source.  Both able to faintly make out the sound of a siren elsewhere.  The streets were filled with abandoned vehicles.  With many civilians having already found shelter while the storm raged.  Some buildings having visibly lost power.  Not a single window left standing.  For lack of a batter term the city was half dead as it were.

 

Raindrops violently whipped against the heroines.  Leaving a slight stinging sensation in their wake.

Edited September 11, 2014 by HG Morrison

[Thevshi]

Velocity took a moment, a very brief moment, to take in their surroundings after Grim's question about where to start.  There was clearly much that needed to be done, where to start was always hard to decide. 

 

"I'm not sure there is any Red Cross office here, or even if there is, how organized it is at the moment."  The speedster began.  "We can try to keep an eye out for it as we get moving, but for now, I think the first place to start is the partially collapsed bridge over there."  She pointed off in the direction of the collapsed bridge.  "There is a bus that looks to be full of children right be the edge of the collapsed section, so how about we start with getting them clear of that?"

[Heritage]

The faeling nodded as she looked off in the same direction. "Yeah, that looks like a good call; I can conjure up a lot of stuff to help out over there. Ramps and barriers and stuff." She sighed as she looked the speedster up and down. "It's just going to be faster if I go piggyback again, isn't it?" Grim shrugged, shrunk back down to tiny size and zipped back into Vel's backpack, from which a muffled cry could be heard.

 

"'Fly like the wind, Bullseye!'"

Edited November 25, 2014 by Heritage

[TheAbsurdist]

Amir's entry into this was a bit different.  He was involved with dealing with some governmental things in regards to a deal.  He did, however keep an eye on Dave.  And when it veered towards La Isla de la Reina Venerado he broke off his portion of the meetings, as everything was well in hand.  And he took off.  On the plus side he could fly around it.  On the downside, flying around it tacked on a lot of time, and his communication devices weren't really able to get a signal in a place that called itself a 'republic' almost sarcastically.

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

Asad's view of the opposite end of the island from above gave him a fresh view of the coast line.  More specifically the severe signs of flooding were shaping place.  Water filling the streets, and still active power lines struggling to remain rooted into the ground.  The next big wave risked fishing boats heading onto land. The vehicles were a risk of crashing into homes and other structures.

 

At the same time Asad found a building struggling to maintain its structural integrity under the weight of the rainwater pouring down from above.  Showing early signs of collapsing as the persistent water continued to pound away.  It would have been something worth ignoring.  If not for the fact that the building in question was a pharmacy.  With the uncertainty of when medical relief efforts would begin to arrive after the storm fully died down lingering.

 

---

 

Velocity with Grimalkin in tow cut through the streets with little concern.  Both her movement and vision where hampered by the gale force winds and rain whipping around.  However, even slowed down she still moved with blinding speed.  Running directly over obstacles as they came about with fleet footedness.

 

When they arrived at the bus there wasn't a single sound being uttered.  There was blood seeping from below the bus.  And a quick visual scan allowed Velocity to confirm that everyone inside was breathing.  Albeit with not a single sign of consciousness from any of the passengers nor the bus driver.

[Thevshi]

"Oh no." Velocity stated as she and Grim arrived near the overturned bus and she spotted the blood seeping out from underneath. The speedster was relieved to see that everyone inside seemed to be breathing, but that did not mean that they were not injured.

"You start checking on them to see if any are injured and how badly, I will try to find some shelter to move them to so they are out of the storm." Once Grim exited the backpack, Velocity was off again in a blur.

It was scant seconds later that she had returned to the bus, skidding to a halt and then quickly climbing in after Grim. "I found an old bomb shelter not too far away. It looks like the best bet."

[Heritage]

"Gotcha." Lithe and limber Grim wormed her way inside the bus, which smelled of blood and gasoline. She'd always meant to get some medical training, but somehow there had never been the time; nevertheless, she did the best that she could, trying to spot the worst cases, the ones with the shallowest breathing. The sight of so many innocent children in such peril went right through her like a bayonet in her heart.

 

All of these kids have families, mother and fathers who might not even be alive. We have to do everything we can to save them.

 

When the speedster returned, the fae crawled to one of the shattered windows to meet her, and nodded her head as she listened. "Okay, I've got an idea, though it might sound weird." She traced a circle in the air with one finger, and a hole in the world appeared; on the other side, a sort of bower could be seen, like a small dry cave underneath the roots of a massive pine tree. The smell of loam and pine needles wafted out of the bizarre opening.

 

"This a small safe place I can access through magic; I could carefully lay three or four kids at time in here, close it up, head over to the shelter and then reopen it for unloading over there. They'd have plenty of fresh air and would experience no movement at all in transit." She gave Velocity a shrug. "Whaddya think?"

Edited November 25, 2014 by Heritage

[Thevshi]

Velocity watched as Grim opened the portal to...somewhere else, somewhere certainly a lot more inviting than La Isla de la Reina Venerado was at the moment.  When Grim explained the portal and her plan, the speedster gave a small nod in agreement.  "Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.  Certainly quicker than moving them all one at a time."

 

"I will move those that seem less injured, so likely to be able to handle me moving them the entire distance the normal way, and at superspeed.  If we find some that seem too badly injured...we'll have to try to figure out what we want to do then."  She stated, as she quickly moved over and found one of the apparently less injured children and picked them up to carry them to the shelter.

[Heritage]

"Alright, let's get this party started." Grim began to gently lower some of the children into 'the Vault' as she thought of it (and no, she didn't use that term with other people, especially when talking about putting kids in it); she created some soft bedding to lay them out on, and made sure their breathing was in no way obstructed. She picked the smallest four she could find, then closed up the hole with a pinch of her fingers. Before she headed out the shattered window, she looked back and the others and softly murmured, "Be right back."

 

She then shrank down to pixie size and darted outside, praying her tiny gossamer wings could handle the hurricane winds.

Edited October 27, 2014 by Heritage

[Tiffany Korta]

Above the island among the howling torrent drifted a figure in blue and yellow seemingly oblivious to the rain and lightening around her.

But Triakosia was aware of everything her eyes scanned the island and her ear listened to the cries of distress and help. It was almost overwhelming, it might have been if it wasn’t for the sound of other helping, and despite her speed she couldn’t help everyone. All she could do was find the best place to help and hope that would be enough.

 

Her mind made up she sped toward her target.

[TheAbsurdist]

While battered by the wind and rain, he was largely over it.  Sighing softly he dropped down, towards the pharmacy.  While electricity was going to be well and good, what really mattered right now was the drugs and pharmaceuticals.  Because that was going to be really useful shortly.  He was already starting to glow as he dipped and burst down towards the building with a roar.  He wished he had a bit more flexibility here, as he was better at taking down buildings than supporting them.

 

The containment suit kicked off, bleeding off pulsing blue light from the tracework lines.  Resembling an old movie about visions of computerized future.  He landed hard into the soft earth, a bit closer from his intended target, absorbing the impact readily before skipping up and then angling himself, hoping he wasn't making a huge mistake, before he brought his hands together.  The intent was to use the resulting shockwave to blast the water off the roof that seemed to make it creak and groan.

[Brown Dynamite]

GM
 
Grimalkin's wings held up against the might of the hurricane as best they could.  But, her flight still looked like an aerial game of pinball as her newfound shift in weight meant becoming easier to toss around.  The moment she had exited the bus, she was sent sent sprawling back inside by a gust of wind to the front of the bus.  Where the largest source of the blood became apparent.  Despite being the only person with a seat belt on the vehicle it was only the bus driver whom could be considered in a life threatening state.  A portly man in his mid forties wearing a blue uniform.  The professional chauffeur currently had a chunk of glass deeply embedded in his abdomen.  Hanging in front of her unconscious he was attached solely by his seatbelt.  With blood rushing downwards due to the effects of gravity.
 

---

 
Velocity's sprinting between the bus and the shelter was smooth sailing for the goggle wearing Speedster.  Unfortunately, upon rapid fire knocking on the door no one answered.  No one dared open the door during the raging storm.  Even if just the tail end of the disaster.  All the while Velocity could hear the sounds of feet and hushed whispers on the other side of the door.  The boarded up windows meant no one could actively see her at the time.  But hearing was another matter entirely.

 

 

Asad's shockwave had the intended effect of blasting the water of the roof.  Unfortunately, the roof having been battere also took some impact from the passing force.  Chunks of building sent flying into the wind.  Where they would then act as missiles breaking through brick and glass all around.  Despite the hiccup the building remained intact.  The rain continued to persist, but for the moment the stop gap measured helped to prevent the now weakened pharmacy from collapsing on itself.  Upon close inspection he could make out the sight of a man in an apron hunched over inside the pharmacy itself.

 

 

Triakosia's travels brought her to the center of the island stopped by an abrupt flash of lighting.  Lightning that hit the most unfortunate designation of hitting a gas station near an apartment complex directly.  The ensuing massive explosion quickly turned the area to flames.  The already limited amount of oxygen inside of a hurricane's atmosphere was put to further test.  The heat from the fire began to cause convection and circulation swirling into a funnel with the raging wind pretty quickly. The flames moved upwards and now Triakosia was face to face with the ever rare sight of a tornado of fire.

 

Her X-Ray vision leaving her privy to the fact that not all the families in the apartment complex had abandoned their homes.  They were now treated to ringside seats to a flaming ring of fire.

[Heritage]

Grimalkin's wings held up against the might of the hurricane as best they could.  But, her flight still looked like an aerial game of pinball as her newfound shift in weight meant becoming easier to toss around.  The moment she had exited the bus, she was sent sent sprawling back inside by a gust of wind to the front of the bus.  Where the largest source of the blood became apparent.  Despite being the only person with a seat belt on the vehicle it was only the bus driver whom could be considered in a life threatening state.  A portly man in his mid forties wearing a blue uniform.  The professional chauffeur currently had a chunk of glass deeply embedded in his abdomen.  Hanging in front of her unconscious he was attached solely by his seatbelt.  With blood rushing downwards due to the effects of gravity.

 

Grim shook her head, her ears still ringing from the impact; clearly flight was impossible. But then she got a good look at the driver, and she groaned. All the first aid pamphlets tell you not to move someone who's injured; the movement can reopen a would that's partially clotted and cause someone to bleed out, plus neck and spinal injuries often respond poorly to any jarring. But an abdominal wound is bad news, and that position he was could not be good.

 

"Oh God, I'm gonna regret this..." Crouched on the upturned roof below the driver, Grim conjured up a thick layer of cotton padding the size of a mattress, then returned to her normal size. Bracing her body for impact, she flicked out her razor sharp claws and prepared to carefully cut the seat belt and lower the injured driver on to the padding. Before she made the cut, she quickly prayed in Hebrew, and then got to work.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Heritage

[Thevshi]

Velocity let out a slight sigh of frustration at the barred door to the shelter, although she could understand why those inside would want the door sealed off from the storm.  Right now she did not quite have time to delays in getting the door opened, so she gently sat down the child she was carrying off to one side of the door (and as out of the elements as she could manage.

 

Then the yellow clad speedster began vibrating her molecules so that she was able to pass right through door and into the room beyond.  Once in there, she would slow back down near the door and take in the scene around her before trying open the door.

[Tiffany Korta]

Rapidly assessing the situation Triakosia flew down to the base of the fire she began to spin around it, in the opposite direction to the spinning column of fire. She hoped it would either starve the fire of it’s much needed oxygen or cancel the swirl of the turbulent air. If she was really lucky then it could do both.

 

She wasn’t a speedster but in flight she could manage a decent turn of speed, hopefully it would be enough to halt the fire and protect everyone around from the flaming column of air.

[TheAbsurdist]

He shifted and dropped down to the ground in front of the pharmacy.  "Right..."  He had a feeling that he would have to cheat a bit, as the building was going to fall down, he might be able to punch a hole through the roof to allow for it to drain better, but you know... Medicine.  That was his best bet.  Hopefully he could communicate with the guy into getting some information, maybe of where they needed to take the stuff.

 

"Sir!... ah... crap... Um..."  Pausing a moment as he switched to Portuguese, " 'Hello!  Sir!?' "

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

Velocity's entry into the shelter was met with surprise.  Those standing anywhere near the door jumped back.  With a portly man landing on his bum.  The frightened looks on their faces told a story all on its.  They did not know who the Freedom Leaguer was.  With a raging storm as a backdrop the some may have even believed she was responsible.

 

Velocity's ability to take a quick scan of the area due to her goggles proved handy.  Filled over capacity the room was essentially a giant empty space.  There were multiple shelves stacked with survival supplies on the back wall.  Some cots had been clearly passed out.  Though not enough to cover everyone that was inside the structure.  Some people in yellow raincoats had tools like flashlight and radios for keeping track with the outside world.

 

An elderly woman wearing a teal turtleneck dry swallowed before stepping forward.  Parting her lips to address Velocity speaking in a thick spanish accent.  "He-hello?"   They all gasped as she turned around and unlocked the door with ease.  Slightly relaxing as a child made their way inside.  A scream could be heard in the distance before a woman came darting to meet the pair.  Followed shortly after by a man shaking his head in pure disapproval

 

---

.  

 

Asad's Portuguese did not completely bridge the language barrier.  Due in no small part to the fact that the gentleman inside the pharmacy was busy actively praying and repeatedly saying "Nonono" while shaking his head.  Once slightly caroused into paying attention by Asad's efforts he looked at the hero with pure fascination.  "Hello."

 

The greeting sounded almost like a plead for assistance with how desperately it was croaked out.  The man's white toned uniform an apron indicated that he may have been the pharmacist at this particular building.  The thinning of his hair hinting at a relatively stress filled life even before the world threatened to swallow up his livelihood whole.

 

The longer Asad spent inside the pharmacy the more privy he grew to the fact that it could give way.  

[Thevshi]

Velocity took in the scene inside the shelter quickly. It was already rather crowded, but hopefully they would be able to find space for the children from the bus. Of course, communicating with the people here already seemed like it was going to be something of a problem, but at least one of them seemed to speak some English. The speedster just hoped it was enough.

"Hello, I'm Velocity, from the Freedom League, and I am here to help. There is a whole bus full of children that crashed not far away, and I need a place I can bring them to get them out of the storm."

[TheAbsurdist]

Looking bedraggled, as that containment suit glistened from the water, and the gold and blue lines over it, as he started to speak back in Portuguese, knowing this was going to be awkward and they had very little time.  "Look, look at me, we have to go, this place is going to fall."  Pantomiming things falling over, as he looked at him.  "Come on, I...  Wait... wait."  Then he moved out the building, and he looked for a covered truck or something similar.  Hopefully a van.

 

He couldn't save the building, that was outside of his abilities.  He could save what was in the building.

[EternalPhoenix]

Rain and wind whipped against Queenie. She’d been feverishly working in the Southern Queen’s kitchen not five hours ago. She knew people would need help down here. Once she was finished with her cooking, she packed it all up in a big hiking backpack and flew it down here at top speed. The winds had been a special kind of hell, but she’d fought though them and arrived. It was like an the apocalypse she’d learned about in Sunday school, only with less fire. Maybe Noah’s storm was a hurricane? Nevermind that. Focus, McQueen. Somebody here needs help. Someone here needs a good meal. Let’s do this.

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

Asad was able to spot a large semi-trailer truck sitting outside of the pharmacy.  It looked even older than the hero.  Making it quite questionable how well the vehicle would hold up in roadside conditions.  Something that would have been a concern for a land bound hero.  Asad was no such hero, the radioactive titan wasn't even hampered by such conventions.  It was at this point the pharmacist got his first full look at the hero.  There was an odd mix of awe and concern on his face.  A capitalist savior was a mixed bag, but in the end the pharmacist nodded in recognition that things falling over would not be good.

 

---

 

Queenie could not hear anything over the sound of the raging wind.  No audible cries for help. No starving masses huddled together.  That wasn't to say they weren't around.  But, her ears could not make out the noise.  Having further away from the eye of the commotion, her hearing had found itself quickly handicapped.  Her eyesight was having a slight better go at it.  Able to move out of the way as a stop sign flew through the air the Aura powered heroine was able to make out the faint sign of a building that had fully collapsed on the top of a hill.  Sliding debris moving its way towards a residential section below.  To speak nothing of the possibility of anyone being trapped within the initial rubble.

 

---

 

Triakosia's aerial maneuver choked created of a funnel of wind around the flames.  Siphoning off the oxygen from the flame pillar.  And readily doing the same to her immediate area.  For a slight moment there was a faded orange hue in the sky above as the flames dissipated.  With the flames fully died out, she was free to focus on other dire matters.  A high pitched whistling noise at a frequency far above what could be discernible to human ears was going off in the distance.  The investigative journalist in her was able to measure that the rise and fall of its pitch was akin to what one would expect from an alarm.

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

Grimalkin's emergency life saving efforts served to free the man from his imprisonment.  Buckling under the weight of the man suddenly falling on top of her there was a brief moment in which the air was forced to expel from her lungs.  It didn't do the bus already on the edge of the bridge any further favors either as the sound of metal scraping afterwards could attest.  She tried her best to apply pressure after removing the protrusion from his body.  Instead, she managed to worsen the internal bleeding and force the man into shock.

 

His health was rapidly deteriorating and mortality becoming readily apparent.  But, Grimalkin was able to catch sight of a familiar flash of red and blue from beneath the nearby waters. The lights to an ambulance were making their way to the surface.  Slowly dimming as it sunk further in.  She couldn't guarantee how sealed it was.  Much less, if the first responders themselves were still inside, let alone alive.  But the possibility for some equipment.

 

However, the bus and its child passengers still needed attending to.

 

Velocity didn't have it any easier.  The woman who had initially greeted the heroine had simply repeated the word "yes" a couple times and nodded enthusiastically.  Apparently filled with some sort of appreciation. But the lack of continued rapport made her understanding of the conversation fully established yet.  The words Freedom League seemed to have a mixed bag of reactions around the room.  Some expressions were that of relief while others were holding on to some form of scorn.

 

The woman whom cried out earlier immediately kneeled down upon reaching the child.  Embracing him tightly while tears streamed down her face.  In an act of recognition the little boy hugged the woman back.  Calling out "mama" all the while.  Then came the problem element.  The man whom had also ran up to the scene.

 

"Over capacity.  I am sorry Miss Velocity.  But we are over capacity.  No busses."  The man exclaimed in as best of English he could manage.  His face was worn from stress and lack of sleep, but Velocity could still make out a posture of soldier.  The yellow clad speedster could see that there was enough space for the children inside of the facility, though it wasn't as if the shelter had their natural disaster standard operating procedures printed out for the world to read.  It was clear that if there was an occupancy limit it was a matter of procedure over actual shelter design.  The old woman's face visibly soured upon hearing this.

 

"I go."  She offered.  Apparently attempting to add more space to the shelter by volunteering to leave.