6574/Coming In, Hot and Fast

Coming In, Hot and Fast
Date of Scene:	15 June 2021
Location:	Building 368
Synopsis:	A life is saved and a venerable building /isn't/ burned down.
Cast of Characters:	Simon Lasker, Clarice Ferguson

---

Simon Lasker has posed:
Building 368 is an old tenament that is /supposed/ to be abandoned. Thats why people use the civil designation from an old urban renewal program. The other reason is this has been a bad part of town for long enough for the street sign to fall down and then the name on it to be forgotten during the wait for a new sign (It still hasn't arrived).

The building itself was built to last. Despite no repairs at all, it is still standing just fine as a 100 year old building. The back yard is mostly bare dirt with the occasional dandilion or grass tuft. Lately a gang loosely affiliated with the Church of Humanity has taken up residence in side halls so heavily grafitti'd that you can't quite tell what material they are.

Simon doesn't have a good reason to be in this part of town. He has been frustrated lately. He had quit school to go to work, (It turns out there are a couple civilian applications for pyrokinesis.) but now that he quit work after the way his coworkers were imediately willing to believe he was a murderer, he has nothing to do. While Xavier's provides food and a roof over his head, it hasn't solved his frustration with the world.

Today Simon is angry and kind of hoping someone will try something, so he will have an excuse to do something monumentally stupid. Naturally of course when someone is up to no good, the universe is happy to furnish opportunity. He saw a scaly green man get led into this building and now he heard a scream. He knows he isn't welcome inside this building, but thats the whole point really.

He makes a fist sized ball of flame and walks to the door.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice had not scheduled herself to patrol today - but she found herself with extra time, and so the young mutant was walking the streets of Bushwick anyways - alone, with her Bushwick Neighborhood Watch armband displayed prominently on her arm. Her features are unique - from her pointed, elfin ears, to the magenta tones of her hair, to the marks over her eyes, and slashing below one eye, with an almost claw-like appearance - and a matching diamond between her eyes. It's a face known from the news - a face that often emerges from a portal, followed by Magneto himself.
    She kicks at a discarded can, sending it skittering away - and then tosses a silvery javelin from her hand which strikes the can, and causes it to vanish. Just and idle bit of target practice. That's about when she hears the scream, and turns her head in that direction. It sounded about a block away - and with a gesture of her hand she summons a tear in reality - a portal, tinged around the edges with purple energy, which she steps through, emerging on the street not far from Simon. Her gaze goes to the unfamiliar mutant and his ball of flame, before scanning the street. "What's going on?" she asks - pitching her voice to carry to the youth, but hopefully not go so far as to warn others of her presence.

Simon Lasker has posed:
Simon had been expecting a sort of company in this activity, so someone asking what the big idea was didn't really surprise him. It was from behind him which wasn't ideal. You never really want to be surrounded after all. He had however assumed it would be someone less mutant. That part was unexpected. Thankfully he had managed to notice her appearance before trying to roast her, which would have been embarrassing.

Is that Blink? Simon had seen her once or twice in person, but it had been a while. He isn't sure what she will do with what he is about to tell her. "Ah. Well I saw a mutant being led into the building and then I heard a scream. I intend to investigate." The fiery glow in his eyes flickers a bit. Its hard to be that fiery while talking to somebody vaguely friendly. Will she try to stop him? Will she join in? He has no idea.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "So we shall," Clarice agrees striding towards the building, while glancing cautious around the block to see if there is anyone else keeping an eye on this building - perhaps prepared to warn its occupants of approaching trouble. She tries to keep out of view of the windows as she approaches, crouching beside a window to peek inside. If there's nothing to be seen, she'll continue on around the building, checking each window in turn as she seeks a glimpse of what is going on inside.
    Over her shoulder towards Simon she adds quietly, "I can make us an entrance - as soon as we know what's up." A cool, determined mask is on the usually cheery mutant's features. When there's business to take care of - there's no time for joking around.

Simon Lasker has posed:
The building itself often has people nearby looking at it. That said a fair number of those people seem mostly to be interested in making sure whatever is happening in there doesn't spill over to their place. There are gawkers of course, but if there is a look out, they aren't doing a very good job as no one seems to be sending any sort of warning. The first two floors are mostly full of passed out addicts and the occasional dealer (and every once in a while you might see the muscle throw somebody out.) Near the higher floors there is some talking and a fully blacked out room that probably houses the drugs. Oh and the sound of someone begging for their life.

Simon paces impatiently out front. He tosses a head sized ball of flame between his hands. People across the street murmur to eachother and start heading indoors. Mutants casing a place on this street is unusual, but they know when something that the police are going to ask about is about to happen. Thats fine with Simon. He is probably better off with no witnesses.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Hate doing it blind," Clarice mutters - but she has no way of peering into a second floor window. It simply isn't in her skillset. She gestures Simon over towards her - and opens one of her portals in the blacked out room. She tries to control the destructive force that her portals generate - but when you generate one where someone is standing? No amount of control can protect them, and one of the drug dealers collapses to the floor, his arm a bloody pulp from the displacement wave that shredded through it. There's also the shattered remains of a chair - but that's just literal fuel for the fire.
    Piercingly green eyes take in the room in a moment, as she summons javelins into each hand. "So. How many of you want to die today?" She asks the room - tossing one of the javelins at a man who reaches for a gun - the gun vanishes, along with the man's hand.
    Blink doesn't play around.

Simon Lasker has posed:
He had dreamed of this moment before. It was frustrating trying to peacefully coexist with humans who seemed incapable of returning the favor. Now that the moment is here, he feels butterflies in his stomach and his mouth is dry. He has been in a fight before, but not like this. He never used his powers to hurt somebody before. He is almost scared of it. Simon had not infact been teleported before. It doesn't really agree with his stomach, but other than that, he thinks it is in fact cool.

The room /had/ a cool vibe going with mostly blacklights to illuminate the place. Then fire and street light entered the room and now the orange moving glow has made the place alot less chill. Simon notes that the dried spraypaint on the ceiling appears to be blistering with proximity to his flame. He has no idea if the actual structure of the building is flamable, but the grafitti certainly is.

One of the employees is a comedian apparently-- "I think you have the wrong place, the circus is next door." People in the building have definately noticed that something is up. An uncomfortable quiet has settled over the rest of the building. This makes it especially easy to hear footsteps running in all directions above and below them. Unfourtunately their green friend isn't here. The people in this room aren't quite ready to risk it by acting, but they aren't in any hurry to co-operate either

Seeing dismemberments up close elicits a wince from Simon, but in his mind it is too late to back out now. He feels like he needs to do something, though he doesn't have a great idea what. There is one thing he can do well, so he does it. Simon, starts setting things on fire. A tendril of flame reaches out and passes through the broken furnature. He is actually anxious. He isn't sure if he is ready to roast somebody yet.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Wrong room. Damn. Wasting a perfectly good entrance and everything - and now there's two guys babbling about their hand, and their arm... And she's //Blink.// And she's wearing her armband. Just great.
    "I //hate// porting in blind," she grumbles, before adding more loudly, "Don't do drugs. And you guys might want to do something about that fire." Maybe that will keep them busy - while she summons a second portal to bring them up another floor. Maybe she'll even get it right this time.
    She doesn't look forward to explaining this one to Mystique - but at least she doesn't shred anyone with her portal as they arrive this time - instead it's a little property damage to one of the walls - including some of the wiring, to judge by the sparking - though, why does this place even //have// electricity?

Simon Lasker has posed:
As they leave the previous room, a string of explitives and slurs follows them.

This room is illuminated by the street lights outside. There is a dented old desk in the room and a worn and discolored patch in the middle of the floor were a bruised and bleeding mutant lies sobbing. There are four people here two of them have guns already out, and one of the other people is holding a bloody baseball bat in his hands. They are facing the wrong way. Various Church of Humanity paraphenalia decorate the walls.

"What'd I say? They are coming for us!" one of them manages after a moment or two of confusion.

The scene is more or less everything that Simon had thought it might be. He had heard stories about this kind of thing, and now he is face to face with it. Bile rises up in his throat. This time he just stares. He is fuming and still working up the nerve to actually do violence to somebody.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    There is a faint sound as the pair appear in the room - the 'bliiink' of the portal, and the sound of their feet finding their place on the floor. When Clarice sees that mutant - curled up and sobbing on the floor, her teeth grit, and she forgets the mess she left downstairs. No - this is all justified. They're here to save one of their own.
    She takes a step to the side - so she's partially blocking Simon from what is about to happen as she calls another of her javelins to her hands. She's never fully understood how she creates them - but do you really need to understand it if it just works?
    "I really recommend you drop your weapons and leave," she says in a cold voice. "The streets of Bushwick are patrolled. We aren't your prey."
    Of course they don't listen. The two men with guns level them at Blink and open fire - but she was ready for them. She lifts one hand summoning a portal directly in front of her. The bullets fly into the portal...
    And they fly out the exit portal she aimed at their legs, causing to the two gunmen to collapse, screaming.
    "Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit - she's Magneto's bitch!" one of the men scream - pointing at Blink.

Simon Lasker has posed:
The gunmen continue to fire, but it is hard to aim when you have just had your legs shot out from under you. As a consequence their bullets spray wildly into the ceiling. That is until there is a blinding light at the muzzles of their guns and they explode in their hands. Do the ends of pistols normally look like partially melted candles?

Simon feels a little better about this episode. He has finally done somthing productive. Should he just run forward and grab the injured mutant off the floor? Could he move him fast enough? Would it be safe? These are all reasonable questions that are running through his head as he wreathes himself in flame and runs forward. Thinking ahead is hard. He tries to grab the mutant off the floor.

He remembers that when he used to be a firefighter, they always used to tell him he needed to work out more. Normally he doesn't feel bad about his choices, but right now he wishes he had listened. Pulling people is hard. Hopefully Blink can cover his back. He has never been shot before. It sounds like it sucks.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice advances on the men - intent on keeping herself and her portals between Simon and the injured mutant - and these aggressive humans. "I am Magneto's ally," she counters in a cool voice. "And I will allow you to leave if you will tell people the consequences of harming mutants." She flings a javelin towards the man with the baseball bat - and the bloody weapon disappears from his hand - and reappears in hers, so she can give it a warning swing that sends the men jumping backwards. Well. The two that aren't on the floor screaming in pain.
    "...maybe we should go, bro," one of them says nervously.
    "Listen to your friend. And help them out of here," she nods to the two injured men. "The second floor miiiiight be on fire."

Simon Lasker has posed:
Simon looks at them through his eyebrows, smoke coming out of the corners of his eyes. Thankfully the guy in his arms is still breathing, otherwise he isn't sure what he would... He would do nothing. He never does anything. Its always just talk. They were gonna kill a mutant right in front of him and all he does is look at them. He feels sick. Wouldn't he just have let them walk away? He sees the injuries they have sustained, and some how it doesn't feel like enough.

The two people with working legs help the two that are on the ground exit the room. They know when they are outmatched.

"Are you okay?" The mutant is badly injured, but his legs appear to work. He doesn't reply. He doesn't appear to be doing to well. "I think we should go."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Yeah that's what I thought," Clarice mutters, tossing the bat aside. She moves towards Simon and the unknown mutant - crouching down as she checks on the man's condition. "He's in bad shape," she murmurs in concern. "Sir? Sir, I'm Clarice. Can you tell me your name? Sir?" She lets out a sigh. Head trauma was involved - for sure. "I need to get him to the Asteroid for treatment. ...but I also need to make sure that either that fire is out, or this building is cleared. Can you stay with him while I make certain of that?" she asks urgently.

Simon Lasker has posed:
Simon is still furious, but he tries to hide it. "I can take care of the fire. Just get us out. I don't know if I can get past every one else here." he then answers the hypothetical question. "My power lets me put out fires as well. I was a firefighter for a while." Simon feels like he didn't do enough, and wants to show the famous mutant that he isn't quite as useless as he feels at the moment. "I just need to see the flames." That said, he isn't exactly about to argue with her.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice considers her options for a moment. Get all of them out of there - and leave the humans to their fate? Take all of them down a level to deal with the fire? She doesn't like either of them. She'll go with option C. "Alright. I'm going to send him to the Asteroid for medical care. We'll handle the fire - and then join him. Assuming you'd like to know how he's doing, and see Asteroid M?" She flashes Simon a bright smile - then reaches out to put her hands on the injured, scaley mutant. "I'm going to send you somewhere to get help," she promises in a soothing voice. Then she takes a moment to concentrate.
    Getting him onto one of the beds in medical was going to be a precision job. She closes her eyes, concentrating her energy on the intended target, and carefully restricting the displacement wave so the medical bed won't be distroyed in the process - and the man disappears from view.
    "Alright. Let's go downstairs," she adds. Dropping them one floor down is less of a concern - but she tries to remember the shape of the room, and drops them as far from where the fire may have started as she can manage. She'd rather not reappear inside an inferno.

Simon Lasker has posed:
Simon is considerably less frustrated now. He has never been to Asteroid M, but he has heard about the place. The prospect of a visit has done alot to ease his bad mood.

To Simon's mind it is mildly disappointing that the fire is not larger. It makes sense given how little time it had to spread, but still ... this isn't really a heroic and impressive situation.

The room is burning, but most of the flames are embers (like you might find on burned paper. The plastic sheets that were on the window have melted so the smoke is managable, and the fire from the destroyed furnature hasn't burned all the way through the floor. After a few moments the main consequences appear to be that the room is blackened and the floor is more unstable than it was before. Simon wonders what kind of tree burns that slowly after being dried out.

The whole situation is sort of anticlimactic. Simon actually feels bad for burning the building after seeing how well it held up (he now has respect for it as an example of fine turn of the century architecture. 'Buildings these days go up like candles if the sprinklers fail. I hope when I get a place of my own it is as well built as this.') "That seems like everything. I suppose the people downstairs are lucky the humans upstairs didn't fight back more."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "That they are," Clarice agrees. She glances around the room - some of the occupants are so drugged out of their minds they haven't even moved. She shakes her head in disgust. "Let's go check on our guest," she invites. "You won't be able to wander the Asteroid without an escort, by the way. For now - stay with me, please. I'm responsible for your conduct up there." That said, she concentrates on their destination the pair disappear once more.