17262/Sifting Through the Rubble.

Sifting Through the Rubble.
Date of Scene:	10 March 2024
Location:	Burned out house in Midtown Manhatten.
Synopsis:	Could be that a man calling himself Grenademan isn't as much of a total nujob as Luca thought. At least now he has a small lead to follow to put an end to the arsons.
Cast of Characters:	Luca Bandoni, Frank Noble
Tinyplot:	Little Fires Everywhere

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Luca Bandoni has posed:
It's just before dark in the city, the sun is just setting in the horizon painting the sky hues of purples, pinks and reds. A Harley-Davidson SporsterS is parked on the curb outside the shell of a burned out house that's still surrounded in crime scene tap, although in spots the tape is broken and flapping in the wind.

He's off shift, but that doesn't matter. He's not OFI so he really has no business being here, but that doesn't matter either. Luca is a dog with a bone, a man needing answers to questions he doesn't even know to ask yet.

The front wall of the three story home is completely ruined by the flames that took the life of its owner just last week. So it's not too difficult to see the shadow of a man inside. It's just difficult to tell what, exactly, he's doing inside.

Frank Noble has posed:
Grenadmean is suprised that he was too late to stop the fire. He has a habit of being prcesiely on time to stop bad things, and doesnt realize that sometimes....late IS on time. He is nominally looking for clues, knowing that Superheroes are supposed to do that. But, to be honest, Grenadmean is not exactly a master detctive. Or even a Captain Midnight Decoder Ring Junior detctice...

But FRANK is a master chemist and looking around, he immediately sees signs that this is arson. He looks about and and bends down taking a small handful of material, taking out a portable Mass Spectrometer, which to the untrained eye might look like a star trek scanner for cehmical traces. Its not for the faint of heart and only someone who is totally a master of forensic chemistry could even begin to understand the results of shifting colors on the screen. He moves around, making sure to avoid disrupting the clues.

Luca Bandoni has posed:
More than a little surprised to find someone else shifting through the mess, Luca raises his flashlight and turns it on. "Hey!" he calls out. "You aren't supposed to be here!" But then again, neither is he... technically.

The odd thing about the remains of this burnt building is that there aren't really any signs one way or another. There's no flash point, no distinctive burn patterns, no accelerants. There literally doesn't seem to be an actual cause for the fire. The only thing that is blatantly obvious is that it burned fast and it burned /hot/.

Frank Noble has posed:
Grenademan sits over a patch of liquid stain on the ground. He looks ridiculous, and always looks more so in the light of a fliashlight with a spiked helment and a cape made of what looks like tinfoil, but he holds a scanner to the ground and begins to look around. He is, frankly, shocked. "This fire is clearly arson....but there is no chemical traces of acceleratng. None. That's not normal Citizen. It appears, that the Forces of Evil have set this fire with unnatural means...." He stands traight and looks around.

It isnt that he IGNORES what he said about him not being supposed to be here, but as a member of The Forces of Good, clearly he has jurisdiction so he assumed he might have been talking to one of the animals in the park. Or invisible people. Those are a thing too.

Luca Bandoni has posed:
The forces of evil? One of Luca's eyebrows climbs a little higher than the other. It's really easy to just jump to the conclusion that he's dealing with a complete nut job. "Okay then..." The words are drawn out just as one might think they would be. "So, yeah..."

Luca pulls his badge out of his FDNY jacket and holds it up. "Acting Lt. Luca Bandoni, Rescue House 1," he announces.

"...and you're kind of standing in the middle of a potential crime scene there, Mister....?" That's the thing about the mostly normal first responders down in the trenches, they're not always really up to date on the 'forces of good'.

Frank Noble has posed:
Grenademan says, "I am Grenademan Citizen. Currently I am a Champion of Chaos, but that's a private matter and the less you know about the better; knowledge of their demanor has been known to contanimate the mortal mind. I am here since I heard the fire on the police scanner but was unusually late. That was....disturbing to me. I am not as skilled as I could be at ..." he waves a hand, "Detective work. I am more of a man of Science and a man of action, but I can assure you that I am knowledable about Forensic Chemistry....and this feels like it should be a regular fire, but my instincts tell me to the contrary. I assure you, it is definitely a crime scene Mr Bandoni. best luck on your promotion and the completion of your merit exams. Were there any casualties or injuries?" The lack of arriving at the nick of time is clearly distributng to him....more than it should be."

Luca Bandoni has posed:
"Lieutenant Bandoni," Luca corrects, but not harshly. "One fatality, owner of the house, male. We got the wife out, barely." Why he's even entertaining this guy is beyond him. Perhaps it's simply because he's been alone on really digging into the fires. OFI is dragging their heals on outside help, insisting there has to be a rational explanation. Arson's a given, the source is not.

"Found the man down there," he nods to a hole in the floor leading to the basement. "...the hard way." The hole is just about man-sized. Looks like someone might have fallen through it. "Already burned beyond recognition. Turned out to be a recovery."

Recovery, not a rescue, it's always a difficult pill for a firefighter to swallow.

Done in that hole, there's something different. It's not so much a smell or even something that can be seen, it's felt more than anything else. It's causes the hair to stand on end a little and causes goose bumps the closer one gets to it.

Frank Noble has posed:
Grenademan is not a mage, despite his aptitude with the device, but the HELM is very snesitive and he senses the tangible evil. Frank comes more to the front at that moment and says, "I am so sorry Lieutenant Bandoni....this is a murder. I can tell you unequivically that it isnt chemical or at least chemistry that leaves a trace..." he points to the scanner, "This is a portable mass spectrometer...if they used an accelerant, this would trace it. Unfortunately, I am not a geneticist or metahuman expert, but there a number of fringe technologies or metahuman abilities that could be responsible for it...but the feeling..." he looks around, "This feels of Evil Lieutenant."

Memories crash against the spell in his mind, alchemical techniques to perform an analysis for magical residue, that he feels he knows, but clearly does not know. "All things being even this may be more supernatural than technological.

Luca Bandoni has posed:
"Anytime a man is burned to death in his own home..." Is Evil. But Luca does't finish that because he knows it's not really true. People burn to death in accidental fires all the time.

What that mass spec might pick up is the very faintest trace of sulphur. It's not enough to cause the stench of rotting eggs, not enough to have a scent at all over the scent of burn and ashes.

"How are we supposed to trace the supernatural?" He's thinking out loud, but maybe also just looking for feedback. "Without an MO, without knowing how they started, how can we figure out the why that will help us track this bastard down?"

Frank Noble has posed:
Grenademan frowns as the spectrometer beeps....trace amounts, almost a coincidence, though of course the Helm does that on a regular basis. "Sulphur...." He looks around and says, "I am no expert on the occult..." wasnt he? He felt he knew more, but felt memories locked, tangibly, without doubt and resolved to explore that later, but opp culture would do, "If its supernatural and involves sulphur and fire....I wonder if we might be dealing with a demon of some kind. I met a few some years agol nasty business but dont mention their namesl apparently it causes random explosions though somehow I doubt that is what happened here....more than likely a demon starting fires...is there a known pattern to the first that have been caused?"

Intuiveily he says, "I would begin looking for traits of goodness or positive impact or ecclesiastical or demoninal traits that might attract such a being....the fact that we cant smell it tells me its being deliberately obtuse about its nature....

Luca Bandoni has posed:
Going against everything he's been taught as a professional firefighter, Luca pulls a card from the wallet in his back pocket and offers it to Frank. "Well, considering OFI wasn't even looking for sulphur, it's more than we had before. Maybe enough to get them to actually get off their asses and call in some outside expertise."

While he's not entirely convinced that demon is the right answer, he's seen some weird shit on the job. Like zombies and someone that seemed able to control them for starters.

"My number's on there, if you're out and about and doing whatever it is to do to fight ..." A brief pause so he can gather his wits and manners enough to not chuckle and he continues, "the forces of evil and catch wind of anything or run across a fire we've not made it to yet, call the number."

Frank Noble has posed:
Grenademan Considers this, "A moment Leftennant" the ariant spelling of the word rolling off his tounge with more natural ease for some reason, and he takes out a pen and paper and begins to write. He mentions a specific test that any lab can use to verify the Sulphur, "If they use this technique, they'll find it. MY method of detection is unconventional. Something tells me you'll find trace amounts of it at every scene you are investigating to connect these instances." He also takes out a card and hands it to Luca.

It says "Grenademan, To Fight the Forces of evil!" and has two logos of a grenade and an email account.

"IF I learn anything I will let you know my Good flamewarden. If I learn more, I shall let you know."

Luca Bandoni has posed:
Grenademan. Luca really might dismiss all of this as just some oddball dude, but... "Were you, I was a first responder on the scene the night of that zombie weirdness. You were there weren't you?" He does take the card as he's speaking and tucks it away in his wallet. ...despite the fact that a fireman isn't overly comforted by a man calling himself 'grenademan'. His job is to keep things from blowing up after all.

"This isn't over," he adds quietly, not by a long shot. More people are going to die until this bastard's caught."

Frank Noble has posed:
Grenademan says, "I was. That is the matter about the champion of Chaos. There is a hole in my memory of two years; and somehow I am tied to that entire 'walking dead' onnsense...there were..." he pauses since this is odd even for him, "Talking Mice involved...which were likely related to the talking squirrels...its odd to say the least" says the man with the tinfoil cape, "I am investigating it, but have no leads on that. I am waiting for instructions from the Lich or the Fae invovled about the next steps in their twisted game.

He nods about the fire situation, "I will aid in any way that I can.""

Luca Bandoni has posed:
Luca just nods his head through that entire explanation. He saw the whole thing with his own eyes right down to the talking mice. So of course he believes it all happened. But the Champion of Chaos and the rest of it? It sails right over his head.

He's just a mutant that was raised in a mostly straight up human family filled with cops and firefighters. None of this is his 'normal'.

"Appreciate it," he finally says. "...and I'll umm, call you if I see any, uh, talking squirrels." He glances at his watch, the dial luminescent in the fading light. "I should get home. Off shift tonight and the lil lady's probably waiting."

Frank Noble has posed:
Grenademan says, "Sleep well Sentinel Against Flame." He takes out his grapple and points it to the rooftops. No place to grapple/ No problem re nanite solvent...."TALLYHO!" And is pulled off into the night."