2856/Memento: We Didn't Start The Fire

Memento: We Didn't Start The Fire
Date of Scene:	09 August 2020
Location:	Washington Square Park
Synopsis:	Heroes rush to save people from a fire in a NYU dorm. But who started it?
Cast of Characters:	Mori Merritt, Angelica Jones, Alton Schmidt, Cecily Winters, Michael Hannigan, Nadia Pym-van Dyne

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Mori Merritt has posed:
It's not hard to tell there's something going on at the New York University campus. The slowly setting sun is colored red from the dark smoke that can be seen billowing up into the sky and closer up the smell of smoke is stifling. Fire engines are on scene, figherfighters doing their best to hose down the building in question. The building, one of the campus dorms, is engulfed in flames, most of the fire radiating outwards from somewhere in the middle of the building. Loud and blaring, the building's fire alarms still go off, as if somehow someone hadn't figured out what was going on.

A small cluster of dorm residents seems to be near an ambulance parked nearby, wrapped in the silvery blankets used to treat shock. Further away at a much safer distance, students and those passing by are standing in a small crowd to watch. It's hard to tell at a distance how well the firefight is going, but by the amount of smoke, there's certainly quite a fight.

"Do you think they got everyone out okay?" Someone asks.

There's a shrug in reply from someone else. "Maybe on the ground floor, but it's worse the higher up you go. I'm not sure if everyone's accounted for. Hard to take a tally but... doesn't look like a lot of students over there."

Angelica Jones has posed:
Angelica attends nearby. Not here, she's not yet graduated, but she was in the area. Actually she'd been dropping off an application to attend next year. Then...fire! Not again, not fire. It's always...it's not important. People are in danger, people are scared.

Angelica found herself near the people wrapped in blankets almost the instant they became available, offering help. "Take a cocoa," she says gently to one. She brought a pile from a nearby cafe, and is going around. With hugs and hot chocolate, and genuine sympathy. "I hope so. If not, we'll have to help out won't we? Try to rest."

Her eyes keep looking up though. No hero here.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Alton, being a senior in high school, was scouting out potential colleges, as seniors do. What's different, however, is smoke in the sky, and a building on fire. Damnit. Well, he's not gonna be able to do what he does in civilian clothing...being discovered is very not kosher.

So...Alton ducks into an empty room, and switches clothes to become his superhero self, IMP. Unfortunately, magnetics really isn't useful for firefighting, but he can still fly, so he can get people out of the top floors of the building by floating them down on sufficiently large pieces of metal, so he rips a large piece of steel out of the ground so he can get to the rescuing.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    Cecily had promised to bring Mori some food. She's got her usual gear with her. There's a shoulder holster, she's dressed as professionally as usual. Instead of her bookbag that she often carries, she's got a bag with what could only be takeout from a sandwich shop. She doesn't notice Angelica yet, her eyes are fixed on the flames, the reflection of them in her glasses. "Oh no..." she frowns, frowns hard. Her ears are splayed against her head, three tails drooped.

    Her eyes frantically trace over the gathered group, looking for a certain familiar face. "Mori?" she calls out, then yells louder. "Mori!" She's not going to dive into fire, not yet, not until she discerns the nature of others' safeety. After all, she's also not about to get in the way of trained first responders. "Hells..."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
While not a student, Mike had reason to be on campus today. But due to the sound of sirens and shouting, the training session was canceled early for the day, leaving for the musician to make his leave.

Hand holding his ballcap down as he runs towards the fire, an unnatural shadow fixes over his face, obscuring his features while his black tee becomes more of a black longsleeve. A concerned look assesses the building as he comes up to it. Eyes narrowing from beneath the shadow, he runs faster, hopping up over the gathered crowd to reach the midway point of the building, twisting his body so that the feet hit upon the bricks so he continues running up.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
'You can't just live in the lab Nadia!' 'Get some fresh air Nadia!' 'A diet cannot consist soley of coffee Nadia!' Wouldn't you know it, you actually leave the lab like people keep telling you to in order to try one of these 'bagel' things you keep hearing about and of course something explodes.

The amazing unstoppable Waspette dashes into action, though not before she grabs her bagel and cream cheese.

Flying as fast as her wings will cary her across the city she swoops out of the sky and hangs there hovering in the air as she surveys the scene of the fire, while taking a bite of her bagel and trying to figure out how to stop this blaze with SCIENCE!

Mori Merritt has posed:
A hug and a cocoa can be more than enough help from a friendly face, and it appears Angelica seems to be doing a lot to help the students who are staring at potentially their belongings going up in flames. Not something that can be easy to watch. They do stay a careful cluster together, perhaps finding solidarity in the fact that they're all experiencing it together. They do, however, offer kind smiles to Angelica for the help. Hero's a subjective term.

While the firefighters are surprised to see a beam of metal flying through the air as Alton (or rather IMP) pulls steel out of the ground, it's New York and it's certainly not the weirdest thing they've seen. They don't interfere with what he's doing, but they keep an eye on what's happening in case they have something else they need to do on their parts. There does seem to be a pair of students several stories up who have made it to their window, desperately using a bedsheet to flag down anyone who might be possibly available to help them.

It does seem like the firefighters are using a bit of an odd tactic. Rooms on the outside are put out, slowly working towards the middle... mostly because it seems like the outer rooms can be quenched, but there's something weird about the center section, especially as it seems to only getting worse. Cecily in particular, might get sinking suspicion as to the location. It's one she's been to before. From the sky, it's easier to see just the extent of the flames. Whatever started it certainly seems to be radiating from the general center of the building with the area around it just collateral damage.

Angelica Jones has posed:
Angelica is close enough to hear a voice that she recognizes. She takes a moment, warming up the area where she is with what's (to her) a very new ability that she's learned how to use! Passive, soft warmth. Which is pretty damn useful right now. "It'll be okay. I mean, how bad could it be?" She winces internally after saying that one, and then backs up a bit. "Sorry.."

Then she looks around for the person with the voice. Cecily? If she's here, there's someone around who knows what to do. It will be okay then.

She waves her hand in the air, though she's no idea if Cecily will even see it. I think she's already past. ...maybe I can help.

She hands her last cocoa to a first responder, promising to bring more, and then dashes off. To try and find something useful to do.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
The kids with the bedsheet are IMP's first priority, and, "Hop on the beam. Don't trust fabric in a fire." Cause, fabric is flamable. Steel is not.

IMP isn't sensing anything odd about the middle of the building, at least not yet, he's focused on saving lives, and probably won't go investigating till he doesn't hear cries for help anymore.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    Cecily watches, watches, seeing heroes get involved. But that sinking feeling deepens, her ears stay flat. The sounds are drowned out as her heart beats louder. At last she can't wait anymore, and even though it's only been tens of seconds at most, she moves. She runs towards one of the fire engines, snatching up a breathing mask off the side. She shoulders past one of the people holding the line, handing her sandwich bag to them. "Pass it around," she says hurriedly.

    Before she gets into the dorm, though, she spots Angelica, and it's impossible to miss the fox with those tails and ears. She pauses, breathes, waves back, then gives the girl a pained expression before diving into the building. Up the stairs, onwards, upwards. She's got the mask and canister in one hand, using her enhanced speed and agility to skip her way up flight by flight. She can hear the voices, feel the heat, smell the smoke. Without a thought she dons the mask and shoves her fist through the glass of a fire extinguisher rack and yanks it out.

    Armed with adrenaline and a fire-fighting implement, she makes for a beeline for Mori's room directly as best she can, flames be damned.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Seeing the sheet being waved, the phantasm nearly alters course but upon seeing the beam getting raised up to them, he continues onwards to the top floor.

Upon reaching a window on the top floor, he gives a hop. Despite the motion, he does not fall towards the ground but instead towards the wall he's been running on. The dream form lands on the side of the wall, continuing his descent through it, and ends up sliding across the floor inside the respective room for a few moments before he gets up, starting the process of going wall to wall, checking for people trapped.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Several SCIENCE! related options are turned over in the young Waspette's head including experimental cobalt based materials that could theoretically suck all the oxygen out of the fire, the only problem? There's no time! A mental note is made to add fire fighting equipment to her gear later, before she does seemingly the only option available to her. Engaging the full environmental containment of her suit she the winged girl dives straight into the burning building through one of the windows to try and get as many people out as she can. Hopefully the experience of being reduced and placed into PymTech safety capsules won't be too traumatic for them.

Mori Merritt has posed:
As terrifying as it is to climb onto a floating beam, the suggestion of fire engulfing them is a worse thought. The two students climb out onto the beam, the sheet that was used discarded as it floats down through the air and down below. They cling to the beam in terror. Inside the building, though Cecily finds that it's certainly not so great. It's good that she got the mask, the smoke is thick and hard to see through the higher up she goes in the stairs. It's almost impossible to see the label on the doors for which floor is which, but eventually there's a door that leads to floor six. The handle of the door's hot.

From the top of the building, it's easier to see where the higher leveled people are trapped. While they're not immediately facing flames, they're facing the difficulty of finding a stairwell they can get down safely without going straight down into fire. A small cluster of four hangs outside on the top floor, arguing in a panic of how to get down. It's understandably a stressful situation.

Flying in the window is a good idea and a bad idea. A good idea because it's quick access and a lot of the windows have been opened, but a bad idea because the fire's certainly close and the smoke's hard to see through. Were it not for some kind of containment? It'd be really hard to traverse. Just outside the dorm room Nadia is able to get through, left open when fleeing, while there's fire along the hallway, there's a door that seems to pulse with flame, setting off the fire alarm above it loudly, a continual screech.

Angelica Jones has posed:
"Cecily?" Angelica doesn't say it loud enough to be heard. She's no idea what's going on, but she knows that she shouldn't really be interrupting. Not when the fox woman is clearly on a mission. She sighs, she slumps. She takes a step back, wrapping her arms around herself.

The thing is, she can feel the energy in the air now. She can't see it, that's not the right word. Those magnetic impulses are playing havoc with her sens as well, her heart beating faster with every moment. Since she learned how to sense...stuff...she's been having troubles with these types of situations. More and more and more.

So, standing nearby, she just...ducks in, under where Cecily went, so very far behind. And once she's out of sight, she closes her eyes and...listens.

But that's not the right word either. And she's unable to breathe, and she's coughing, and her first attempt to be super...she ducks back out into oxygen seconds later, only slightly singed. But still listening.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
The floating beam turns out to be perfectly safe, and IMP holds it perfectly steady, as heroes do. He's surprised they're so apprehensive about it...he's in costume, isn't he? Superheros gotta do what superheroes do. They're not rare around here. Oh well. He's still got more people to save once he sets those two down safely.

From there, IMP flies back up to the top floor...and he can see the cluster of 4 on the top floor. "Hey, guys. This way. I'll float you down on this beam." IMP is obviously flying above the ground...intentionally. He wants the victims to feel some confidence in an actual superhero showing up. As one does in a city like this.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    Were it not for Cecily's single-minded concern, she might've stayed with Angelica. Helped the others. But she's here, on the sixth floor, tapping at the hot handle. She pulls her earplugs and gloves out of her pocket, for what good the latter will do her, and grabs the handle and yanks the door open. She's greeted by a burst of heat, flames lining the wall, and ducks in undeterred. A familiar hallway, even choked with smoke and fire.

    It's so hard to see, and so loud, that fire alarm ringing even in her plugged ears. But it's that pulsing door, the fire wreathing it unnaturally with an armored stranger standing before it. She'd seen the Wasp when she'd arrived on the scene, and feels at least some hint of relief that she's not alone in this. "Oh thank goodness," she calls out, "Quickly!"

    The fox hurries to Nadia's side, yanking the pin on her fire extinguisher, tails getting licked at by the flames around her, and prepares for dynamic entry.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Oh how nice that they have clustered together. That makes it easy. "OYE!" The phantasm interjects, waving a hand through a door frame to give a slight demonstration of what he's offering "You want out? I can get you out. All I need is for you to do is follow my instructions."

He points over to where he's standing, holding out his arms. Circle round me. face towards me, grab on to my arms, close your eyes, and no matter what you feel or don't feel, DON'T. LET. GO."

With the seriousness of following directions emphasized, and what he's focused on doing, he doesn't really process that Alton showed up at the window on the other side of the building as he takes the cluster latched onto him through the floor, mimicking an impromptu express elevator to ground level.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
This, this is not how fire is supposed to behave. Nadia temporarily suspends her search for Co-Eds to rescue. It is a hard decision, but that door, that's not normal and perhaps the key to this whole blaze. Maybe if she can somehow deal with the source the fire can be brough under control.

With skills ingrained into her by the Red Room and the strength granted to her by the variant super soldier formula in her veins, knowing she's risking being caught in a terrible backdraft, Nadia smashes her foot into the door with a savage kick, forcing it open.

The arrival of Cecily catches her offguard and for a moment it seems like she might be inclined to put her in a PymTech capsule with the other co-eds she has already recovered, though a gout of flame coming straight for the young Waspette causing her to dodge out of the way delays the question of what to do with the woman in the inferno for the moment.

Mori Merritt has posed:
There's a pulse. A pulse of heat. Like a heartbeat that sits in the middle of the building. It's clear to Angelica's senses... she can feel exactly the source of where everything's coming from. It's more than strong enough. But it's not always steady. Between 'beats' it seems to skip a little. There's not a full rhythm to it, but it's certainly there and she can certainly locate it. She can tell that Cecily went in the right direction... if she wanted to get burned.

The door caves--there was barely anything left of it from the way it burned. The apartment, recognizable to Cecily because it is indeed Mori's is a mess. It seems like everything's on fire. The couch is ablaze, the electronics are melted, and Mori's left on the floor, curled in a ball. While she's surprisingly not burned, she is certainly singed, the floor around her being scorched and not looking too stable at this point. Her hands are over her ears to drown out the continued beeping of the fire alarm in the hallway, but she's clearly in pain. The flames lick outwards in pulses, but she's certainly in the middle of all of it. Possibly not for long, by the way that floor looks like it's going.

The group of students that the phantasm gets are just panicked enough to take the 'don't let go' very seriously and cling for dear life. They're more than happy to just get out. It doesn't, however, stop them from screaming like they're on one of those elevator drop rides. With them headed to safety, it leaves Alton the freedom to search for more.

Angelica Jones has posed:
"Crap. Oh crapohcrapohcrapocrapohcrap.." Angelica, isolated and unable to actually tell anyone anything, stares up from the ground floor. She gets chills, even now, even this close to the fire. "CECILY!" She yells, cupping her hands over her mouth. Useless. "FIRE!" Oh VERY F*CKING HELPFUL Angelica!

She stops, then sighs. She eyes the door, the burning building. What could I even do if I were there? She looks up, then sees...a floating girder? A person was on the wall, earlier. OTHER HEROES! She starts waving at the ...girder guy? "HEY! You! Some...guy! Person! OVER HERE!"

First goal on her list: speaking in an emergency. Because sheesh.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
So, there's other heroes on scene besides himself. Good. He could wish the other heroes dealing with this were coordinated with him so he didn't do any department of redundancy department rescues, but that's a regret for another time. He follows his ears for screams of help...and also follows the flames and heat, if he can feel any. He has no special senses for anything but magnetic currents, but he can feel heat just like anyone else can.

Cecily Winters has posed:
    The sudden backdraft makes Cecily recoil, bringing her arm up to shield her face for a moment. Then she ducks inside, spraying down the immediate area with the canister in her hands. She clears the path for Nadia, even if she almost freezes when she sees Mori. She hadn't known the girl to handle flame, and half-expected a really, really terrible cooking accident. The nightmare scenario here wasn't even on her mind. And that floor, it doesn't look good. She tries to clear the fire around the girl, to open a way through, doing her best not to saturate the ground she lays on directly.

    Over her shoulder she looks to the stranger in the suit, "This is about out of juice. Help me get her out. Don't worry about me, just make sure she's okay!" The fox can only do so much, and it's not like she's wrapped in a jacket or anything flame retardant. It might be clear she's got some flagrant disregard for her own well-being here. At least her fur isn't igniting--yet.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
"AUUUUUUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIEEEEE!!!!"

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo!!!!!"

"IHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOUI-!!oh."

It was a quick drop of mixed reactions, but they do come to a safe stop on the first floor, the Phantasm smiles, seeing a clear route towards an exit. "Alright. Eyes open. Let Go. Exit's over there!"

Once the ride is clear of passengers, Phantasm starts to head back up. By stepping outside of the building and glancing upwards.

Second verse... Same as the first.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia is not quite sure what to make of the Fox Woman, that's definitely not something you see every day... though she has met Greer Grant. Watching the woman charge in and fight against the flames, she definitely respects her bravery.

"I'm really sorry! I know you're trying to help! But there's still several more floors I need to try and clear before this building collapses!" The Waspette apologizes before her gauntleted hand is pointed at both Mori and Cecily.

A beam of magnetically contained Pym Particles shoots forth from the emitter on the back of her hand, impacting both women and causing the to dwindle in size until they are teeny tiny before a now seemingly gigantic Waspette gathers them up and into the safety of a PymTech holding capsule.

The inside of the capsule is surprisingly spacious, like a bus with seats lining the sides and straps for one to strap themselves in if they like. The whole thing is gyroscopically stabilized within the outer shell for the safety of its inhabitants in order to keep things level and not throw anyone around no matter how the capsule is moved. Within the capsule Mori and Cecily are joined by a group of scared Co-Eds, it's not like Nadia had time to ask their permission before reducing them and placing them in here.

And just like that the capsule is pocketed and the Waspette is off again, sweeping the building for more people to rescue before it all comes down on top of her.

Mori Merritt has posed:
The collection of students being rescued is rapidly growing, between heroic rescuses via ghostly elevator and steel beams and the firefighters themselves. The good thing is that a lot of them escaped on their own, which Alton is able to quickly assess as he starts to sweep the levels, especially the ones towards the center of the building. For the most part, it seems like they're at least able to make their way out thanks to paths prepared by the firefighters. But there are two or three clusters trapped simply by virtue of the stairwell being compromised. But it's also a matter of getting out and staying out at this point. You never know when some dudebro is going to be convinced he needs to go back in after his electric guitar.

The pulses of fire continue until suddenly Mori and Cecily (and some co-eds) are safely inside of the capsule. Outside, the fire pulses stop. The fire, while still present, doesn't seem to be generating more flames, and now it looks like the firefighters are actually getting a good grasp on the situation. That's good, at least. It's likely not to fall, now, though the structural damage certainly isn't good. But that's outside the capsule.

Inside the capsule? Mori's not bothered trying to get up onto the seats, she just remains on the floor, curled up, her hands over her ears where they were before. It doesn't, however, appear that the fire is continuing for now. Right now it's just a woman curled on the floor in pain. That's a win?

Angelica Jones has posed:
And Angelica is trying. She is trying to get the attention of either of those heroes, the ones she can see doing the job. Moving people, down from the danger areas. "Oh for..." She tries to stop one, the guy with the portals. Then the guy with the floaty...girdery...stuff.

"Stop!" Miss. "For god's sakes, I need to get up there!" They aren't...

Deep. Breath.

"FUCKING STOP ALREADY!"

AND IT DOES! The fire source goes out, and she falls over on her butt and feels empty, and her eyes dilate and she curls up and...

A minute later she's got a blanket around HER, and is being given a cup of cocoa. Sigh. Useful heroes, ....wheeee..

Alton Schmidt has posed:
IMP continues his sweeps, and flies whoever's left in a stairwell out on a steel beam. Once the last person is out...well, he does have a forcefield, and the firefighters are making headway on the flames now.

There really were multiple heroes on scene, because the next thing he finds is...a Wasp? There was an Avenger here too? "...An Avenger? Cool. Did we get everyone out? Was that guy who was teleporting people out with you?"

Cecily Winters has posed:
    Cecily had not expected to go like this. She's been through some weird experiments, but shrinking wasn't one of them. The group of people? She waves to, taking off her breathing apparatus. "Well this is new.." she sighs. "Is everyone okay?" she asks around, seeing the students around, breathing a sigh of relief. For a moment, at the very least. Then there's her target, still curled up on the floor of the capsule.

    She frowns, and rushes to Mori's side, dropping down to sit next to her and tentatively reach for her. Hands to arms and shoulder, and those tails gently coil around her, too. Two limbs, covered in soot, and three tails that are ash grey, to embrace the woman. All the while, she's talking to her, in soothing tones. "It's ok, you're safe. The fire's gone. You're not up there anymore... we're getting you out... you got saved by a superhero..." she says gently.

    Then there's a soft laugh as the adrenaline dies down and her heart finally begins to slow, "...god I dove into fire for you..." she shakes her head, "...so please be okay."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
After a few more series of screams, proclamations of hatred and exuberant cheers from those who probably spend the majority of their free time at Coney Island, the phantasm has also run out of persons to evacuate. With the need for his help gone, he walks out of the building. The unnatural shadow still hides his face as he turns to walk away from the scene, fading from view as he steps into the shadows.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia continues sweeping the buildings as she moves up floors towards the roof. Students are gather quickly and efficiently with encounters going something like 'Oh thank god! Wait what are you... oh my god!' *Zap* and another very surprised and disoriented co-ed is brought into the human storage capsule.

When she runs into Alton the Waspette blinks. At least he has a Forcefield so he doesn't seem to be in trouble, "An Avenger? Where?!" she looks around to see who showed up since she knows the Avenger, but not seeing any of them it dawns on her what may have happened. "Oh, who me? No time to explain, you need to get out of here, this building isn't safe, there's been a lot of structural damage. I'm just finishing up a sweep for any remaining students that need to be rescued! Once I hit the roof I'm bringing them all to the parademics." Them all? She seems to be alone.

At least people with force fields don't require shrinking for their own safety. "I'll see you outside!" she informs Altan and zips off again as fast as her buzzing wings can carry her finishing her sweep towards the roof of the building.

Angelica Jones has posed:
Angelica? You know the one on the ground, who's managed a total of five cups of cocoa and a minor panic attack this entire time? She ends up with a bunch of medics, talking to them about their problems. Nice folks. Worth the time, every one. I think one of them hit on me...not sure which one.

Well, I did promise them cocoa. FML, is this how heroing works? You keep smiling, you do the job...even if it's just, you know.

Smiling.

Mori Merritt has posed:
The people who were in danger seem to have been evacuated, and the firefighters continue their efforts to put out the rest of it and keep people from heading back inside before it can be structurally assessed. The building's still standing, which is a good thing, but some of those rooms are a real mess. Nearby, what looks to be a reporter is interviewing a very hyped looking guy and a terrified young woman. It seems, at least, that things are under control. Well, at least with the dorm fire. Other things?

Inside the capsule, Mori slowly removes her hands from her ears, quite hesitantly. She seems at least aware that she's /somewhere/ and that she recognizes Cecily. One hand reaches out to rest on her arm before she blinks, still a little dazed. "... was that me?"