(no subject)
Continued From: http://community.livejournal.com/newmetropolis/13791.html
Oh god.
Even with the Emerald token, he was faster than me. Or maybe I just ... didn't know how to use it right. He plunged through the skies down towards the surface, and I dashed after him, but the air drag on my wings was slowing me down. Could I fly without them?
I squeezed my eyes shut as I plunged towards the Earth, hot on Sark's heels, and envisioned my dive without the wings. Suddenly I was slipping through the clouds like a dark, without any drag or updraft against my wings. I tore through the clouds and plunged towards the surface, only to come up short a few hundred feet in the air above the streets of New Metropolis.
New Metropolis was burning. Or at least, some of it. A handful of skyscrapers were smoking towards the skies, their structures crumbling in on themselves as missing peices of their supports cluttered the sidewalks and roads of the surrounding blocks. The streets were clogged with people running for cover, with Emergency Rescue Vehicles and police cars. The Metropolis Metahuman S.C.U. were on the scene now, crowding around the edges of the nearest pile of rubble and helping those who were not trapped to dig themselves free.
I plunged into the nearest collapsing building, blasting through floors and plaster walls looking for people trapped by the rubble. Fortunately, it seemed that very few people had gotten themselves trapped - and the few who were stuck - trapped under fallen girders or pinned beneath bits of debris - were easy enough to fly out through the windows and hand to firemen crews on ladders outside the building.
When the building was empty, and all the trapped people within were with the medical and ambulatory crews outside, I flew down to the sidewalk outside of the building and walked through the crowd to Dan Turpin.
"Where is he?" I asked the Captain, without formalities or pleasantries. The SCU's chief shrugged his shoulders at me in frustration, and barked an order into his walkie-talkie. "That's three confirmed disaster sites," he growled at me, clipping the radio back onto his belt. "Whole damn city's police force is cleaning the towers of injured and dying, and he's out there roaming around like a bloody ballerina."
I sat down on the edge of a police cruiser's hood and felt sick. "Three buildings, like this?" It was ... awful. And frustrating. There was no way I could go after Sark while I rescued people from THREE ruined skyscrapers. I wiped a soot-covered palm across my face, and it came away grimey, sweaty, and bloody. My coat was smoking from the fire. I must look a terror right now.
A squak came from Turpin's radio, and snapped it off of his belt and held it to his ear. I watched his face go from grim to grimmer, and then he snarled, tossing the radio against the window of his car. The window cracked, slightly, with the force of the impact, and the heavy radio bounced off, flying through the air. I caught it in my hand before it could hit concrete and shatter. "Turpin?"
"There's a fourth site," Dan growled, menacingly, clenching and unclenching his fists. "And it seems like even New Metropolis has a dark side. The underworld is coming out in force. Vampires raiding the park in the open. Demons in the subway. Gangs setting up 'territory' and shooting anyone who tries to get them to stand down..."
"And it's just getting worse, Cap," a familiar voice came up out of the press of police officers, wiping grime off of her face. Gwen gave me a grim smile and stepped up to Turpin, looking at him with a frank expression. "We don't have the numbers or the powers to fight monsters and save people trapped in that wreckage."
I stood up, mutely, staring off into the distance. This wasn't just ... bad. This was turning into a Nightmare, fast.
I need help.
"Look!" One of the nearby officers helping with the rescue efforts pointed up at the night sky. A dark shape flew by overhead, tauntingly close, and I had to grit my teeth not to go after him. People on the ground needed help. People on the ground needed someone who could break into the rubble and dig them out. They needed someone who could hold back a rising tide of demons, battle gangs...
Oh.
...sometimes, I can be a bit slow.
"Turpin!" I yelled, reaching into my pockets and pulling out a receipt for coffee beans that I'd purchased the night before, turning it over on the top of the squad car and writing on it with a bent pen that was leaking ink on my hand. I wrote down one name and a number, then another... then another... Tara ... Dana... Jason...
I hesitated for a moment, then kept writing. To hell with what they think of me. Connor... Wesley... and 'Oliver.
I handed the list to Turpin. "Call these people. Tell them Angel asked you to. Tell them... that we need help." I pointed at the top of the list, at Tara's name. "This young woman works at Champion's with me. She's my partner. I trust her. She's also a witch. Put her in charge of the metahumans. She'll find a way to get people out of the buildings and co-ordinate with you to stop the vampires and the gangs out there."
Turpin took the list with a skeptical look, then nodded. He glanced at Gwen, and she nodded quickly. "If Angel says he trusts her, we'll do as she says."
"Thanks, Gwen," I said, quietly. I looked skyward again.
"Yeah," she said, quietly, watching Turpin walk a few paces away as he started placing phone calls. Gwen looked back at me, and she lowered her voice. "Can you stop this guy?"
I licked my lips, and looked at her, then at the ground at my feet. "...I don't know."
She blew out a breath, and nodded a moment later. "I'd come with you," she offered.
"...people need you." I said, quietly. "Look, do me a favor."
"Sure," she said, wiping more soot and dirt off of her face.
"Tara... she...." I frowned, and licked my lips again. "She's important to me."
Gwen smiled, and slapped me on the shoulder. "I'll watch her back." Her smile turned feral. "Now go get that bastard."
I was airborne before she finished speaking. I soared up, over the clouds, and looked out over the city below. I caught a glimpse of a dark figure flying by, and I dove down at him, pouring my anger and my fury into my descent. "SARK!"
(Open to Game.)
Oh god.
Even with the Emerald token, he was faster than me. Or maybe I just ... didn't know how to use it right. He plunged through the skies down towards the surface, and I dashed after him, but the air drag on my wings was slowing me down. Could I fly without them?
I squeezed my eyes shut as I plunged towards the Earth, hot on Sark's heels, and envisioned my dive without the wings. Suddenly I was slipping through the clouds like a dark, without any drag or updraft against my wings. I tore through the clouds and plunged towards the surface, only to come up short a few hundred feet in the air above the streets of New Metropolis.
New Metropolis was burning. Or at least, some of it. A handful of skyscrapers were smoking towards the skies, their structures crumbling in on themselves as missing peices of their supports cluttered the sidewalks and roads of the surrounding blocks. The streets were clogged with people running for cover, with Emergency Rescue Vehicles and police cars. The Metropolis Metahuman S.C.U. were on the scene now, crowding around the edges of the nearest pile of rubble and helping those who were not trapped to dig themselves free.
I plunged into the nearest collapsing building, blasting through floors and plaster walls looking for people trapped by the rubble. Fortunately, it seemed that very few people had gotten themselves trapped - and the few who were stuck - trapped under fallen girders or pinned beneath bits of debris - were easy enough to fly out through the windows and hand to firemen crews on ladders outside the building.
When the building was empty, and all the trapped people within were with the medical and ambulatory crews outside, I flew down to the sidewalk outside of the building and walked through the crowd to Dan Turpin.
"Where is he?" I asked the Captain, without formalities or pleasantries. The SCU's chief shrugged his shoulders at me in frustration, and barked an order into his walkie-talkie. "That's three confirmed disaster sites," he growled at me, clipping the radio back onto his belt. "Whole damn city's police force is cleaning the towers of injured and dying, and he's out there roaming around like a bloody ballerina."
I sat down on the edge of a police cruiser's hood and felt sick. "Three buildings, like this?" It was ... awful. And frustrating. There was no way I could go after Sark while I rescued people from THREE ruined skyscrapers. I wiped a soot-covered palm across my face, and it came away grimey, sweaty, and bloody. My coat was smoking from the fire. I must look a terror right now.
A squak came from Turpin's radio, and snapped it off of his belt and held it to his ear. I watched his face go from grim to grimmer, and then he snarled, tossing the radio against the window of his car. The window cracked, slightly, with the force of the impact, and the heavy radio bounced off, flying through the air. I caught it in my hand before it could hit concrete and shatter. "Turpin?"
"There's a fourth site," Dan growled, menacingly, clenching and unclenching his fists. "And it seems like even New Metropolis has a dark side. The underworld is coming out in force. Vampires raiding the park in the open. Demons in the subway. Gangs setting up 'territory' and shooting anyone who tries to get them to stand down..."
"And it's just getting worse, Cap," a familiar voice came up out of the press of police officers, wiping grime off of her face. Gwen gave me a grim smile and stepped up to Turpin, looking at him with a frank expression. "We don't have the numbers or the powers to fight monsters and save people trapped in that wreckage."
I stood up, mutely, staring off into the distance. This wasn't just ... bad. This was turning into a Nightmare, fast.
I need help.
"Look!" One of the nearby officers helping with the rescue efforts pointed up at the night sky. A dark shape flew by overhead, tauntingly close, and I had to grit my teeth not to go after him. People on the ground needed help. People on the ground needed someone who could break into the rubble and dig them out. They needed someone who could hold back a rising tide of demons, battle gangs...
Oh.
...sometimes, I can be a bit slow.
"Turpin!" I yelled, reaching into my pockets and pulling out a receipt for coffee beans that I'd purchased the night before, turning it over on the top of the squad car and writing on it with a bent pen that was leaking ink on my hand. I wrote down one name and a number, then another... then another... Tara ... Dana... Jason...
I hesitated for a moment, then kept writing. To hell with what they think of me. Connor... Wesley... and 'Oliver.
I handed the list to Turpin. "Call these people. Tell them Angel asked you to. Tell them... that we need help." I pointed at the top of the list, at Tara's name. "This young woman works at Champion's with me. She's my partner. I trust her. She's also a witch. Put her in charge of the metahumans. She'll find a way to get people out of the buildings and co-ordinate with you to stop the vampires and the gangs out there."
Turpin took the list with a skeptical look, then nodded. He glanced at Gwen, and she nodded quickly. "If Angel says he trusts her, we'll do as she says."
"Thanks, Gwen," I said, quietly. I looked skyward again.
"Yeah," she said, quietly, watching Turpin walk a few paces away as he started placing phone calls. Gwen looked back at me, and she lowered her voice. "Can you stop this guy?"
I licked my lips, and looked at her, then at the ground at my feet. "...I don't know."
She blew out a breath, and nodded a moment later. "I'd come with you," she offered.
"...people need you." I said, quietly. "Look, do me a favor."
"Sure," she said, wiping more soot and dirt off of her face.
"Tara... she...." I frowned, and licked my lips again. "She's important to me."
Gwen smiled, and slapped me on the shoulder. "I'll watch her back." Her smile turned feral. "Now go get that bastard."
I was airborne before she finished speaking. I soared up, over the clouds, and looked out over the city below. I caught a glimpse of a dark figure flying by, and I dove down at him, pouring my anger and my fury into my descent. "SARK!"
(Open to Game.)