Re: Sky Heights trade tower

[Akai Kaji]

OOC: Dang it! Just about finished a big paragraph and I totally hit the wrong button and lost everything I wrote... *sigh* gotta rewrite it now!

IC:
A small panel was popped off of the decoy, revealing a twisting mess of wires and explosives.
"I see it! I can stop the explosion!" A younger bomb squad personnel reached his hand towards the open panel quickly, but Akai stepped on his hand, having her turn in ignoring them as he shouted angrily at her.
The timer read three and a half minutes.

Akai situated herself between the team and the strange bomb, kneeling down besides it.
Carefully, she reached her hand inside and grabbed one of the wires, running her fingers along the smooth surface and following the wire down to where it ended. She grabbed another wire and did the same... it ended up in the same place. Curiously she repeated this with several wires, they all led to the same place.
Three minutes.

She pulled her hand out and peered into the open panel, seeing everything led to the same place, a slick black orb that swallowed all the devices and wires, drawing them into itself. It clicked, and she knew what it was,
"Oh gosh..." Akai stood abruptly and staggered back a few steps.
"What?! Did you find something?" The first man asked, nervous, as the timer read two and a half minutes.
"We have to get everyone out of the fourth floor now! Get everyone clear of the vicinity! This bomb has to blow, and we can do nothing about it."
"Has to!?"
"This is the detonator! It's gonna go off if we mess with it," No matter what they would have tried, everything led right back to the orb, a fail safe device triggered to serve its purpose, genius but terrible. They would have to make the choice.
Akai was already walking briskly out the door, "You have to leave it alone!"
If they had any sense, they would follow her and listen, getting everyone clear. Akai prayed she was right, because if she wasn't, all the blame would fall on her for being the one to interfere with the prevention of this destruction. Drawing in a sharp breath, Akai assumed responsibility in her mind, preparing herself for the worst.
They followed her dumbly and in a half-daze. Slightly stunned, as never having to deal with such a choice. Either way, one bomb would go off, and it may as well be the one with less killing power.

They had two minutes to act... two small minutes to get everyone clear and safe.

[Asch]

Asch jumped back and continued to dodge, firing at Ninja until her clips ran out. Quickly she flipped them over so that the gun spikes were in offense, a feminine war cry breaching her lips as she rushed forward.
"Better brace yourself hero boy, one way or another this building is gonna shake in its foundations really soon!"

[The Ninja]

The Ninja was beginning to experience a slight headache and dropped the Genjutsu arms, instead forming psychic claws on his hands with which to combat the spikes. He began edging Asch towards the balcony, hoping to push her off so as to capture her.

[Lady Noctia]

The fire alarm was set off on the 3rd floor, and Lady Noctia proceeded to set off the alarms on the 4th and 5th floors as well. Hopefully that would alert people to get out, if they hadn’t yet. The floors were strangely quiet, however… She still hadn’t run into a single person yet.

Wait. There was a child calling for her mum. She’d heard it before, when she was confronting Asch. She could hear the child coming closer, her calls rising in frightened intensity.
Noctia set off, searching the corridors for the child. She rounded a corner and almost ran into her. The girl couldn’t have been more than 4 years old. She lifted her chubby, tearstained face toward Lady Noctia and hopefully asked, “Mama?”
“Heh, sorry baby. I’m not your mama. But we can go find her, okay?”
Noctia knelt down and started to brush some of the hair out of the little girl’s face. She froze.
The sign.
The sign was on the right side of the girl’s temple.
Lady Noctia’s eyes widened, and she shrunk back against the wall, shielding her face with one hand.
Why hadn’t she noticed? There was no soul in this body, why didn’t she sense that before? Stupid… stupid…
HA. And here she thought this was a simple case of some insane idiot’s revenge on the world. No… no, They were here, and They were almost certainly behind this, at least partially.
The child walked slowly toward her, head cocked to the side.
“Mama?”
Lady Noctia gingerly stood up and started edging toward the stairway.
“Shh. I’m gonna go find your mama right now, okay?” Noctia reassured the child as her foot hit the top stair.
“Okay.”
Facing the little girl, Lady Noctia backed down a few steps, then turned and scrambled down the stairs as fast as she could, almost running into a police officer.
She had to get to the Ninja and Asch. Nevermind that Asch was an angry nutcase, her information could prove very useful, and to get that information, she needed to be alive.

Powers Used:

[Akai Kaji]

Akai could hear the smoke alarms going off on the floor above her, and fear swept over her, was the building on fire too?!
A few idiots had remained on the second floor and they had ratted them out quickly and got them running for the stairwell.
Only moments were left before the bomb would blow... she had to get out herself now. Whatever fools were left cowering in some obscure corner would have to fend for themselves at this point.
Everyone else was already off the floor; Akai had reached the stairwell and grabbed the handle of the door, jerking it open.
That moment the bomb went off, the shock wave shoving her into the stairwell, the intense heat and deafening sound following an instant later.
Akai could feel the pain as she drew herself up tightly into a ball, more likely it was too late to try and protect herself from this. She prayed this was all, she prayed she was right about the detonation, and hoped beyond hope the whole building wasn't coming down on top of everyone.

[Asch]

Asch quickly dropped to her knees to brace herself as the building trembled, below them a bomb had gone off. The trembling stopped and she shot upright, a sneer plastered to her face, "Seems like they fools figured it out, and the whole place won't be coming down, eh?" She forced her way back towards the door of the balcony and slipped through it, pausing only a moment to speak, "Bloody good show I put on didn't I? Just think, it'll reach the news and everything!" And then ran back down the hall to escape.

[The Ninja]

"Oh boy," The Ninja muttered, and set off after her. "You can't escape that easily!" This girl is insane...

[Lady Noctia]

The blast from the bomb caught Lady Noctia off guard as she was running down the staircase. She ended up sliding through the shattered glass railing to the landing below, landing with a dull, bone-breaking thud. Plaster and metal strips fell around her from the ceiling.
When it was over, she found herself lying in the 1st floor’s carpeted hall with a broken rib or two, and who knows what else wrong with her. She tried opening her eyes.
She was not really surprised to see the little girl standing above her, but dread still clenched her stomach. Every bit of her earlier bravado had dissipated.
“I… I’m sorry… it wasn’t my fault, I swear, it wasn’t… my fault…” she weakly and quietly stammered. Good grief. What nonsense was she babbling now? Fault…
The girl stared down at her impassively, “You are weak, Zero. Improve yourself, or face the consequences.”
After having delivered its message, the hollow body faded away, leaving Noctia to fend for herself.
Who the heck was Zero?
She tried to get up, but failed. She slipped into unconsciousness, hoping someone might find her.

[Akai Kaji]

Long, long seconds passed before Akai realized it was all over. She forced herself to her knees, biting back the sharp pain and staring into the empty shell that had been the second floor and part of the third. Below the rubble lay littered in a devastating mess. But for the most part, the building still stood. She had been right. With heavy relief, Akai sunk back with a sigh, concentrating on breathing deeply to prevent herself from passing out.
She waited, staggering to her feet when she could wait no longer. Asch would still be out there somewhere, and she need to be stopped...
Akai paused, staring back down into the first floor. The explosion had caught a few people, the injured already being dragged clear of the area, all except one girl, laying unconscious.
Quickly Akai made her way down to the girl, biting her tongue hard as each step sent pain shooting through her.
She reached her side, sinking to the floor next to her. Akai had seen her before... when they'd first entered the building coming after Asch.
Akai wanted to get up, to get help, but all stamina had drained from her body, the shrapnel and broken bones in her body clawing hurtfully into her mind. She just sat there, wanting to move, but finding her conscious unresponsive, freezing in place as her body refused to budge... her mind drifting into distant memories she wanted to leave behind... the fire... the explosions... the people... hurt and dying... she couldn't forget...

[Asch]

Asch stopped short, a gaping maw in the third floor opening up to the floors beneath it. She thoughtfully tapped her lower lip, "Hmm... impressive!" And then quickly moved on, around the hole in the floor and towards the stairs. By the the elevators would be out, and perhaps the rush of terror stricken people flooding out would give her good cover for a chance to escape and make her getaway. Asch went nearly skipping merrily down the stairs, strutting out onto the first floor in proud, accomplished steps, smiling as broken glass and fragments of rubble crackled under her heels.

[The Ninja]

The Ninja finally lost sight of Asch. "We'll meet again," he muttered. "You're going on high priority in the DOTEbase." He turned his attention to the people in the building who needed rescuing, pointing some towards exits and helping others out with the assistance of his powers.

[Lady Noctia]

OOC: As I AM unconscious and unable to move... do I still need to post next? XD;;;

[Akai Kaji]

OOC: No, don't need to post, since you are blacked out
Kyle~ Ninja has already run back off to DOTE, and Asch has disappeared, so that leaves just us here I suppose.

IC: The wash of memories faded as Akai forced them back in the darkest reaches of her mind, forcing herself back into the present. She grabbed the girl's arm, partially pulling her over her shoulders as Akai stood and stumbled towards the exit. Asch had made her get-away and come clean of the whole ordeal. Though assuredly, after this, Asch wasn't just some little bank robber on the low priority list of criminals to catch, she was a threat and dangerous villain.

Outside, conditions didn't seem any better, people were still panicked and worried, police cars rolled up onto the site, and ambulances already worked to pull people off the site and to the hospital. Akai figured DOTE would be able to help them best over the average hospital, so she made her way there with the girl.

~continued here~

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