3159/A Fire In Need Of Heroes

A Fire In Need Of Heroes
Date of Scene:	29 August 2020
Location:	Coventry - Miagani Island
Synopsis:	A fire at the condo of Roberto's mother has Spoiler and Sunspot meeting for what they think is the first time.
Cast of Characters:	Roberto da Costa, Stephanie Brown

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Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto had been giving his new Gotham car a spin when it happened. A fire in his mother's building. He had no idea how it happened, or how it spread so quickly, but he'd driven away a half-hour earlier with no problems only to come back to police and fire trucks all around the condominium tower and the upper floors on fire.

Stopped at the roadblock set up by the GCPD he pulled out his phone and desperately dialed his mom.

Calling...Calling...Calling... Straight to voice mail.

"Merda," Roberto curses as he pulls his car out of traffic, ignoring the honks of the cars behind him as he mounts the curb, turns off the car and dives out. He knew there were rules about powers in Gotham. Even as a half-an-X-man he knew that, but this was his mother and that was a chance he was going to have to take.

Running down the alley, Roberto delves into the well of solar power inside of him and by the time he's reached the otherside he's in the air, skin dark as pitch but surrounded by a fiery corona.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The motorcycle of Stephanie Brown glided forward. The high performance bike that was a graduation present from Barbara Gordon doesn't so much putter at moments like this as it purrs. Stephanie's making the trip back down to the University from Bristol and the Batcave a slow, relaxing one. Classes haven't begun yet but will soon. It's a fine day out. So she doesn't worry about how long it takes her to get there and just enjoys the ride, a bag over one shoulder with a freshly laundered version of her costume in it, thanks to one Alfred Pennyworth.

Her comms earbud occasionally crackles with information sent out by the Batcomputer about happenings in the city of islands. The vast majority doesn't require action by the team, but is good to know. Talk of a traffic accident here. An apartment fire there.

Stephanie is just starting forward from a red light when suddenly she sits up straighter on the bike. "1267 Parkhurst?" she repeats aloud, something about the location familiar. She thinks for a moment, pulling up memories of the area. "That's... I think that might be Nina's building!" she says of the mother of her boyfriend Roberto de Costa.

The slow trip becomes a fast one then, running red lights and weaving through traffic. The sight of smoke climbing into the darkening sky ahead confirms in advance it's not just a small, contained incident. Stephanie pulls into a nearby alley, parking the bike and making a fast change into her Spoiler costume.

The sound of Bat grapple firing is a soft shushing sound, and soon she's flying through the air being reeled up to the next building over where she'll have a good view of the burning building. Though on the opposite side of it from the flying mutant.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto has to take the long way around, there's new people showing up out front of the building and the last thing he wanted to do was show up on the Gotham 11 o'clock news. So, he circles around the building (missing Spoiler's approach) and comes around to the far-side landing on a deck and pushing his way inside.

Coughing, he shouts, "Mom!" before grabbing a towel from whoever's apartment this was, and putting it over his mouth, his powers protected him heat but not smoke, and he wades deeper into the building head on a swivel looking for his mother or anyone else in need of saving.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie eyes the building, where smoke is coming out of multiple windows on lower floors. From a few, actual flames can be seen, seeking the outside air and oxygen for fuel. She quickly counts floors, identifying the one where Nina da Costa lives, though she's on a different side of the building from the side that Spoiler is facing.

She's just fitting a new grapple head into the gun when movement on a balcony on this side draws her attention. A woman and a child of about four emerge, holding clothes over their faces that hang as if they've been wet down. "Must be smoke all the way through the building," she deduces. "Hang on Nina, if you're there," she says.

Spoiler shoots the grapple across, letting it secure itself to the top of the building, and then swinging across the gap. Her legs absorb the shock of reaching the building and she lets the grapple gun's winch pull her up to the aforementioned balcony. "Are there stairwells clear?" she asks the woman as she steps over the balcony railing.

"I don't think so, there's smoke billowing up them," the woman says. Spoiler nods and says, "Come on, I'll take you down this way." The look of reluctance gets a soft, "We'll be ok. I've done this before, I promise you."

She fastens a rope about the mother and daughter, attaching them to her utility belt for extra safety, before moving out off the balcony, an arm around each of them. The grapple gun's winch slow lowers them down to the ground, where first responders, firemen and EMTs from at least a half-dozen ambulances, move to help the mother and daughter, freeing up Spoiler to go back up.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
The door to Roberto's mother's apartment flies off it's hinges as Roberto kicks it open. Everything was on fire. "Mae!" he calls. "Mom!" he coughs on the smoke that fills the room and with a negligent gesture of his hand he shatters the windows to the deck letting the smoke vent out even as he drew the heat of the fire into himself, his clothing singeing with the ambient heat.
5rHe rushes to his mother's bedroom, ripping the door off and throwing it aside. "Mom!"

There was no one there.

He checks his room, the bathroom, and finds nobody.

"Damn i!" he roars slamming a fist into the marble of the wall sending cracks through the stone.

Where was she?!!!

He rushes from the apartment looking heading for the stairs, hoping she's gotten out safely.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Spoiler whisks back up the building, reaching the 12th floor and climbing onto a balcony, though not belonging to the apartment she most wants to check. The balcony door is unlocked on the apartment and she enters, calling out, "Anyone here? Anyone here that needs help?" Spoiler moves through the apartment though, unlocking the front door and stepping out into the hall. Through the smoke that makes her eyes water she thinks she sees a figure turning a corner at the far end of the hall, though Stephanie ignores them as she heads for a certain apartment.

The door is already open, giving her hope Nina has already evacuated. She steps into the familiar condo though, calling out, "Hello!? Is anyone here!? Anyone, are you here?" She hurries through the place, sticking her head in each room to double check. The sight of the room that is kept for Roberto, where she watched the city lights with him, sends a knot in her stomach as parts of it are already on fire. But seeing the place is empty, she heads for the balcony. Rather than use another grapple, which may end up being in short supply tonight, she jumps up, climbing the outside of the building and moving up to the floor above and heading inside an apartment there. She's soon hearing voices calling for help and begins navigating the smoke-filled hallways to find their source.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto hears the voice calling for help too, it was too hard to tell if it was his mom, so he changes direction and heads towards the sound. "Hello!" he calls. "Anyone hearing me?" he asks, his voice muffled by the towel now tied around his face to act as a breathing mask.

Spotting a figure moving through the smoke he jerks forward to grab their arms and get a close look at their face, his mouth and eyes pits of molten light against his dark black skin. He draws back when he sees Spoiler's masked face. "You're one of the Bats," he says. "Did you see if anyone got out on this floor?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown doesn't realize she and the figure she'd seen down the hall took separate routes to the same place. Didn't realize he was still there. Not until she's wishing she'd brought her mask that covers her face fully instead of the one that leaves her eyes exposed, and someone comes out of the smoke to take her and turn her around.

The man's blackened appearance makes her start at first, thinking in that first moment he's very badly burned. Though after a moment she realizes other than some clothing that looks singed, it doesn't appear to be burns that give him that black color.

"I took a mother and young girl down already, but haven't seen anyone el-" she's saying when shouts come, first from a room down one direction, and then right on the heels of the first, yells for help from the other direction.

"I'll get these," she says, motioning towards the first set of cries for help. "Are you ok, can you get down as you are?" she asks, not quite sure what the man's situation is.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
"Damn," Roberto says as Spoiler reports who she'd gotten out. "I was hoping there were more gone than that," he says, when the shouts start though he jumps into action. "I'll bring them to the deck in 1204 if you can get them down?" he calls back as he moves. He could do it himself but he's holding onto that very public card until he was sure it was needed. Though it wasn't the only thing his powers can do, as he runs he draws the heat of the building into himself his golden corona growing brighter with each heat he draws, all around him the temperature cools, giving Spoiler and the people they were trying to save some relief from he relentless hell of the fire.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The girl in the purple, tight-fitting costume - for she does definitely seem a girl rather an older woman - gives a quick nod of her head and then rushes down the hallway, calling out to find the people on her side that had been calling for help.

Before long she's bringing a father and a boy of middle school years back to 1204's balcony, figuring the more she saves her limited number of grapple heads the better, as they might be needed. "Alright, I promise you the line can handle all three of us," she tells him. She's sure of that part. She doesn't remember exactly what the weight limit is, but knows it can handle three full-grown adults at the very least.

Soon the costumed vigilante and the pair of evacuees are descending down the line, where EMTs come to help them, putting oxygen masks on them to help with their coughing. Spoiler hooks her gun back into the line and is winched back up, arriving back at the balcony and hopping over the railing. "Fire's getting worse down below," she says, eyeing her cape which billowed in some of the flames coming out a broken window down below. THe fire is noticeably climbing the building when viewed from the outside.

Meanwhile, two floors above, a pretty, dark-haired woman moves out onto a balcony, looking down to try to gauge the situation. Behind her, an elderly woman and her three grandchildren huddle together, trusting the nice woman from apartment 1204 who came up to make sure they got out in time.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto dashes down his side of the building towards the sound of the voice, he hurls that door aside and finds two women in their thirties inside the apartment, debris blocking their exit. He barely exerts himself to push the debris aside and then beckons them forward. "Come on, we're getting out of here."

The women draw back and he says, "It's okay I'm a mutant, I'm here to help."

He holds out a hand, waiting for it to be taken. It is. Slowly, and he helps first one and then the other woman into the hallway, guiding them towards 1204. They arrive as Steph is going down the side of the building, and Roberto takes a suck of smoke free air. Not seeing the women on the floor above as he struggles for breath.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Spoiler comes back over the side of the balcony. She takes a couple of breaths on a small, portable rebreather and then passes it over to the dark-skinned young man when she hears him coughing. She says to the two women, "I'm going to take you down. Don't worry, you're the third trip already today, it's safe," she says to reassure them.

One of the women looks to Sunspot, telling him, "Thank you very much. You mutants, you're good people like everyone else." Spoiler gets them set back up. If Sunspot hangs onto the rebreather she leaves it with him, otherwise it goes back in a belt pouch until needed against. Soon she's lowering down with the pair of women. Spoiler glances up and sees something - an apron? - being waved from a balcony up on the 14th floor. She makes a note to check it out on her next trip back up.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
The rebreather is taken with gratitude. "Thanks," he says taking several deep breathes before handing it back. "Going in to check for more and check the stairs as well," he says before he heads inside giving the women a wave. "Be safe," he tells them. Mutantkind needed all the friends it could get these days.

Then Roberto heads into the building again, the two women above still going unseen.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Spoiler watches the ebon-skinned mutant head back into the building. "I know this upgrade is supposed to be fire-retardant, but I can't even imagine walking into that," she says to herself of her costume, the flames easily visible from the balcony at this point.

She looks up, gauging which balcony the waving apron was on, and then starts up, winching upwards and then running sideways on the building to get to the right one. She climbs over the railing and finds Nina da Costa there with the elderly woman and three children.

The girl's blue eyes widen and she just stops herself from blurting out Nina's name. Nina's on her phone, saying into it, "We're on the 14th floor, I saw someone on a rope below and... oh and she's here! I think we'll be ok!" she hangs up on the 911 operator.

Spoiler looks into the apartment. It's not burning, but she sees a flurry of flame beneath the door and then it disappears, smoke sucking back under the door. She's not an expert on fires like, say, Batman would be. But she's seen the movie Backdraft and recognizes there might be a fire on the other side of the door, starving for oxygen, and ready to explode when it gets some.

A quick look at the group and Spoiler makes a decision, already getting out the lengths of rope she's been using to tie people to her for the trip down. "Listen, the line can't take all of our weight. And I don't know there's time to make two trips," she says, eyeing that front door to the apartment. She holds up the grapple gun to show it to Nina. "You're going to have to take them down. Use this trigger, just squeeze it gently to lower yourselves. The harder you pull, the faster it'll descend so go gentle. When you reach the bottom, untie and leave the gun on the line and I'll pull it back up. Ok?"

Roberto da Costa has posed:
"Mae de dios! Thank you," Nina da Costa says as she sees Spoiler climb over the railing, she rushes forward to help the young woman over, putting down her phone. "Thank you," she repeats. Though when Spoiler speaks, she listens, glancing back at the people on the deck and then over the side. It was a long way down and a lot of people to care for.

She nods to Spoiler. "Okay, how do I use your grapple?" she'd been on excavations before and knew a little bit about climbing and the gear involved but this was going to be something new. "And how are you getting out of here?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Spoiler removes her utility belt and fastens it about Nina's waist. "The grapple's attached to this, so even if you dropped it, you won't fall," she promises. "Just don't rummage around in the pouches. Don't want you hitting an electric batarang or something," she says, giving Nina a quick wink to try to help her stay calm about the 14-floor rappel she's about to do.

Spoiler goes over the controls again, giving Nina a chance to try it there on the balcony. "Don't worry about me, I'm covered," Spoiler lies. "Just unhook once you're all safely on the ground, quick as you can," she says. Spoiler steals a look back into the room. The smoke is still being pulled under the door, a sign the fire is still seeking oxygen, but not able to pull in enough beneath closed doors in the well-made building.

Spoiler gets the elderly woman and her grandchildren hooked up to Nina. "Ok, now over the railing... that's it. Nice and gentle. And relax back and let the line take your weight. See, not a problem," Stephanie says as she gets everyone in position. "Ok, just use the trigger then," Stephanie says. She looks into Nina's eyes and says reassuringly, "You got this."

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Nina listens, and lets herself be girded with the utility belt and shown what to do, trying very hard not to think about the long drop below them or that she's fairly sure Spoiler is lying about being okay.

When it comes time to act, she nods, pulling Spoiler into a quick hug. "Thank you, and God go with you,"

Then she lets herself and the others be helped over the side before letting the line slowly spin out lowering them towards the ground and safety.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The hug that Spoiler gives Nina back is a tight one, but kept quick to make sure the woman gets herself and the children and elderly woman down safely. She leans over the railing, gazing down at them, blond hair that spills out from beneath her hood blowing about her, while a trickle of smoke out the balcony door frames the image of her.

Stephanie turns back, eyeing the apartment and the front door. She hurries over to it, meaning to put the back of her hand to it to feel for heat. But she can tell before she gets her hand near it that it's roasting hot, perhaps soon to catch fire itself. That's assuming something elsewhere on the floor doesn't give way first and let oxygen rush to the starving fire.

Spoiler returns to the balcony. Below she can see Nina and company nearing the ground. She lets out a breath of relief. "Hey! Mr. Mutant Guy!" she yells with cupped hands. "Think it's best to get out of here!" she shouts, hoping he can hear her. "Flames are too bad!" She sees Nina and the others are free of the line, and Spoiler starts to pull it back up, the grapple gun attached, though 14 stories of line is a lot to pull in.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto is just finishing his search of the building and coming up dry. He staggers onto the deck of 1204 and falls to his knees, coughing and hacking.He hoped his mother was already downstairs, but he had to be sure that she and everyone else was safe. He glances around for the Batling and struggles to his feet drawing some more heat to him to restore his reserves of power and give himself a boost of energy.

He sees the line dangling by the balcony by then and looks up, "Hey, you okay?" he asks his voice a hoarse croak now from all the smoke.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Spoiler pauses briefly from pulling the line up as she hears the voice call up to her. She's two stories up and one balcony over, so not that far. She looks over the edge to see the ebon-skinned man below. "Yeah, will be heading down soon as I get my grapple. I can take us both down," she tells him. "Here, take this!"

She leans over, letting him see the small rebreather she gave him before. When he looks ready for it, she tosses it down to him. She gives a small cough of her own then begins hauling the line back in.

"I'm worried there's a backdraft ready to blow!" she calls down to him. The grapple gun is halfway up the building now.

But that's all the time they get. On the other side of the floor a door gives way and air is sucked in through it. Flames that were kept tamped suddenly erupt full force, blowing all the doors open and even taking out walls.

A plume of fire blows out of the balcony where Spoiler is standing. The force of it hits her in the back and sends her blasting through the balcony railing and tumbling out into open air. Dazed, her body starts the long plummet towards the ground.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto catches the rebreather, and shouts, "Thank, but I can get us-"

WHOOSH flames rush overhead.

"Merda!" Roberto curses as he dives off the balcony and blasts full speed after Spoiler snagging her in mid-air, and speeding towards the opposite rooftop. His trajectory is clumsy and his foot catches the edge of the roof sending both of them spilling onto the rooftop and rolling together until they come to a stop.

"Oof," Roberto says, "Not my best landing," he sits up. "Are you okay?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Dazed, Stephanie sees the sky briefly, and the burning building, the two images tumbling together. Or maybe it's she that's tumbling? There's a weightless feeling and something in her head tells her there's nothing to do but relax now.

And then hands are grabbing her and the world gets chaotic again. Tumbling and rolling with someone else, Spoiler's body laid out on the rooftop. Her cape, though flame retardant, is smoking, as is part of her costume. Her hair is singed, the gold locks shortened unevenly by several inches, though her eyebrows made it.

She's still dazed at first. Her mind seems to want to fill in the moments with something pleasant, imagining that it's Roberto asking her if she's ok. Though her vision and mind clear enough to take stock of where she is. The black-skinned mutant. "I thought it was a beautiful landing. Much better than... ouch... what I was going to have," she says, a hand going to her side where her ribs are.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
For his part Roberto is doing fine though his clothing is near unrecognizable as such, just enough of it clinging to his ebon form for modesty and that's about it. He stands slowly, and looks down at Spoiler. "Glad I could help," he says, offering her a corona wreathed hand. "Don't worry it's not hot, just warm," he tells her.

"What's your name by the way?" he asks. "Mine's Sunspot."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"Spoiler," she says in a pained voice, that hand holding to her side suggesting she might have bruised or broken some ribs, whether in the explosion or the tumble onto the rooftop, or both. "Thanks for the save there, Sunspot," she says.

The blond coughs a bit hoarsely, some of the smoke she'd inhaled getting to her. The other building has flames licking up the sides of it on the outside. Though the firemen are deploying their ladder trucks and streams of water are starting to spray onto some of the upper levels.

She takes his hand and lets him help her to her feet. As she does he can see her costume isn't just smoking. A bit of debris - a fragment of apron? - is caught in the neck of her costume beneath the mask, the cloth catching fire.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
"What do you go around shouting 'Darth Vader is Luke's father' and 'Snape kills Dumbledore?'" Roberto asks with an amused look on his very inhuman face. "Sorry, shouldn't make fun of your codename you've had a hard day."

Spotting the burning bit of apron he shouts, "Woah," and yanks it out of the collar of Spoiler's costume. "Got something stuck on you," he tosses the bit of cloth away.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The young woman gives a laugh, though at the cost of another groan at the end of it. "Nah, I just keep forgetting to put the milk back in the fridge," she quips back at him.

Thankfully Sunspot notices the burning cloth before the flames make it to her skin. It's pulled away, the neck of her costume tearing a little bit as well. "See, I'm on fire," she says as if referring to her jokes. "You're a pretty handy fella to have around for a fire, Sunspot. Just wish I had something to make s'mores with for you," she says.

She walks over to the edge of the roof and looks down. "One of those oxygen masks looks kind of good about now," she says, spotting the ambulances waiting below. "Think my grapple gun is done for. Give a girl a lift?" she asks.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto laughs "Oof so much worse," he says of her reply shaking his head as he does.

"It's okay you can owe me some s'mores next fire," he says easily.

Joining her at the edge of the building he nods. "Yeah, I hear you there, but I should get going, I hear your boss is a stickler about powers in his city. But I cand definitely give you a lift," he holds out his arms for a basket carry. "Hop on," he says ducking low.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The blond heroine turns back to Sunspot, saying, "Yeah, he can be a bit... dour... on the subject." She moves over to Sunspot and slides her arms around him, though relying more on him holding her than otherwise. She's still a bit shaken by the explosion even if she's trying to quip and joke like normal.

Below, on the ground, evacuees from the fire sit inhaling oxygen out of masks until they stop coughing. Some have blankets around them. Others are being taken away in ambulances already, those with the most serious burns. One of them is the familiar figure of Nina da Costa. She's staying with the elderly woman she'd helped, and the woman's grandchildren, breathing from one of the masks though setting it aside as if she's feeling better.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto holds Spoiler tight as he blasts off to the rooftop to land in the alley beside the building with a view of the rescue efforts. He sets Spoiler down easily and straightens up looking out over the rescue scene, breathing easier to see his mom amoung the survivors.

He sighs and turns to Spoiler. "You going to be okay?" he asks her.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Spoiler can't help but feel a bit of a thrill at the controlled flight. Not that swinging about on high tensile strength lines isn't fun - hint: it's REALLY fun - but having someone fly under their own power is quite a different feeling.

She lets go of Sunspot when her feet are back on solid ground. "Yes, should be good now," she tells him. "Time for me to get out of here. Some of Gotham's finest can't really decide what to do with people like me," she tells him.

There's a sound of something crashing to the ground, nearby, but it's just a railing from one of the balconies that gave way and tumbled over. If Sunspot turns towards the sound, when he turns back, the caped vigilante is gone as if she'd never been there.

Or maybe not quite that completely. A scrap of her costume that tore when he pulled away the burning cloth lies there on the ground. So too does something that glints golden. A necklace with a charm on it, the chain broken.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto turns at the sound of falling debris only to find Spoiler gone. "Huh, so that story is true," he says about Gotham vigilantes. "Huh."

Catching sight of the glint of gold in his hand, he looks down at the necklace and it's charm. A compass with diamonds at the direction points.

Molten eyes blink. "Steph?" he says looking into the air where Spoiler stood only moments before.