2013.06.19 - Brimstone Alley

The last few days in New York have been on the hotter side, and due to the cruel and unusually warm weather buildings have been more vulnerable to the possibility of going up in flames. Cace knows of this danger all to well and been on his toes all shift, just waiting for the call to come in. Sure enough the automated speakers that were spread throughout the firehouse came to life, the automated female voice giving the news of what they had all been expecting to happen sooner or later today.

"Battalion 9, Ladder 4, Engine 54, Rescue 1, respond to a first alarm fire at 625 9th Avenue. Rescue 1 be advised there are at least two confirmed trapped occupants inside."

"10-4 dispatch, Rescue 1 en route!"

Cace hoped onto the rig after throwing on half of his bunking gear, like he had so many times over the years, mentally running all possible scenarios through his head as the truck started to tare out of the firehouse. It was a quick commute, thankfully. As they pulled up to the scene the familiar blue canopy of Two Boot's pizza joint came into sight. A majority of the canopy was already in flames, and it looks like the fire was starting to inch it's way across the front of the building. Engine 54 was already on the scene, Ladder 4 was not to far off, it could be heard wailing down a nearby city block.

"Alright let's rock!"

Vorpal's route had so far been uneventful. He liked to alternate daytime and night-time patrols, varying his route so as not to fall into a rut and become predictable. It was hunger and the desire for a lunch break that had tugged him in the direction of the pizza joint, but it was his super-sensitive feline hearing that made him tear into a race through the rooftops as the wailing of sirens reached his ears. He stopped at the edge of a building overlooking the scene, arriving a little after Rescue 1 got to the scene.

'I've never done a fire before...'

'You're covered in fur, you idiot'

Despite his nagging inner voice, the cat quickly jumps off the roof, materializing several handholds in the air which he used to swing acrobatically over the crowd of onlookers. With a few leaps he lands next to the vehicle and quickly identifies himself... "I'm Vorpal, registered with the bureau. I'm here to render assistance if needed."

The sudden appearance of the feline figure next to him caught the firefighter off guard and it caused him to jump a little. Cace looked the feline over and nodded, not questioning as to why or how he got there. He was aware of super natural beings, even those that possessed a unique physique, and had worked alongside them before. Captain Jacob Richter jumped off of the truck and made his way over to Cace, eyeing the cat once he took notice of him.

"Here to help huh? Well, you can help me keep some of these people back for starters."

Captain Richter was also aware, and had no quarrel with these unique beings, in fact Cace had been rescue by a hero, and both of them owed them a debt.

"Keep them back, I will be sure to let you know if we need anything."

Cace threw on the rest of his gear in a flat ten seconds, and had his SCBA hooked up. Jacob quickly looked him over and made sure that he wasn't exposed and patted him on the shoulder.

"You're good, go on."

Another firefighter made his way to Cace's side and they started sizing up the scene and trying to come up with a game plan.

"Engine 54 to Rescue 1, entry available on Bravo side via emergency exit."

"10-4 Engine 54."

"Yes sir!" Vorpal says, receiving his instructions gladly. He moves quickly and with grace, reaching the edge of the crowd and waving his hands in a wide arc. Suddenly, a glowing purple wall, about waist-height, materializes and creates a very exact barrier between the crowd and the firefighters.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we need you to disperse and go to your homes. These people are trying to work and they'll do it better if they don't have to worry about you being in danger. Please, move, nothing to see here!" he calls out, dispersping and re-creatnig the walls a little further down inch by inch, so as not to *push* peolpe off, but definitely give them the message.

Watching the purple wall materialize was definitely a sight to see but Cace had a job to do. Quickly starting to follow Engine 54's directive him and the other firefighter made their way to the other side of the building, searching for the emergency exit that they spoke of. Flames hadn't reached this side of the building yet, and keeping their fingers crossed they hoped that it would smooth sailing to try and find the two people who were trapped inside. Kneeling low to the ground Cace laid his hand against the door, just to be safe, checking to make sure that the heat wasn't going to be to intense on the other side.

Enging 54 had already started their assault on the flames that were overtaking the other side of the building, it looked like it had actually started on the outside of the building, but something led to people not being able to escape on the side that Cace and his fellow firefighter were currently on.

Door was at a safe temperate so Cace moved off to the side of it, and pushed the door open, a common procedure to try and keep out of the way of a possible backdraft. The front door of the building was open, so that was a low possibility, but better safe than sorry.

Quickly making his way into the building Cace got on his hands and knees to try and avoid the smoke that was collecting near the ceiling.

"Fire department!" he called out, trying to get anyone's attention. A faint cry echoed through the shop and Cace and his partner started to make their way toward it.

There was a limit to the size of Vorpal's wall, and he realized the onlookers would notice that. Fortunately, he had a card up his sleeve, and he wove an illusion of the wall extending further away as well, so that the entire area was blocked off. "I've got the area covered, Captain!" Vorpal called back, "How are your men doing/"

Captain Richter had been keeping an eye on the feline's progress while keeping queued in to the progress of the other units on the scene. An ambulance pulled up to the scene, but at this point there wasn't really much they could do beside look on as the firefighters fought the blaze, and when Rescue 1 successfully extricated the people who were still inside of the pizza joint.

"Cace! I need a progress report!"

Radio static was all that he was returned with on the other end, and for a few moments the captain stood as still as a statue, until the radio finally came to life.

"We are in Cap, attempting to locate 'em"

Richter turned to the strange feline and made his way over to him.

"They are still trying to locate the victims, you are doing awesome, keep it up!'

Cace had been making his way toward the cry through the smoke, when an eerie creak started to work it's way through the ceiling. That can't be good.

"We are coming, are you able to make you're way toward me?" the firefighter called through the smoke. A small sorrowful 'No!'made it's way through the shop immediately followed by coughing. Picking up the pace he started to make his way further into the joint, carefully pushing wooden checkered tables and chairs aside, trying to locate where the cry originated from. Finally he could feel something soft, and it was definitely human, Cace felt around until he felt a hand grab onto his bunker coat.

"Captain, one victim located!"

Now Vorpal was weaving in some more illusions. He created several firefighters-- making them emerge from behind the vehicle, or from between other firefighters, so that the public couldn't see that they had been woven out of thin air. The illusory firefighters established a perimeter along the illusory walls, waving people away. "Thanks, Cap... how many people are in there, do we know?" He said, keeping his attention on the illusion.

Richter watched as the feline continued to hold down their perimeter, and soon was joined with the efforts of not only the illusions he created, but the NYPD as well started to assist in keeping people at bay. "As of right now we have two reported trapped." Again the captain's radio came to life, and the voice on the other end was Cace stating that he had located one of the victims.

"Now they are searching for a second" Assuming that the illusionist was able to hear the radio feed. Another creak rocked through the air and the captain looked back at the building.

"Ladder 4, what am I hearing?" Richter was sure he knew exactly what it was, but he had to get confirmation from the team that was in charge of structural support.

"We are getting really unstable Rescue 1, you need to pull them out sooner than later." Another firefighter on the other end.

"Cace, we need you to find the other one and get the heck out of there!"

"Working on it Cap!" Cace had his partner pick up the first person they had found, it was definitely a kid. "Fire department!"

"It's my mom!" the kid managed to say, trying to get Cace's attention.

"Where is she?" he asked, searching at the same time.

"Over there!" he pointed toward one of opposite windowed walls, the red and blue lights could be seen flashing on the other side, along with the flames.

"Alright get him out of here, I will find mom." Without warning one of the large and heavy support beams came crashing down, cutting off Cace from the kid and his partner. Damn.

"Go! I will find another way out!"

With the NYPD now fortifying the ranks, Vorpal could let some of the illusions go as well as the wall- the police were more than apt to hold the perimeter now. The feline turned to face the Captain and narrowed his eyes, listening to the radio feed. To his sensitive ears, the creak sounded horrible.

"Captain, should I go in?" Vorpal was not a trained firefighter, but he was deferring to the chain of command. It wasn't an easy feat, every fiber in his body was screaming at him to go in and help immediately- he was a cat, he didn't like orders. But the part of him that was human, and more importantly the part that was rational, reminded him that the chain of command was in place so that stupid, inexperienced wannabe-heroes wouldn't rush in and endanger everybody else.

"Captain we have the roof coming down on us, I have a kid, but Cace has been cut off by one of the support beams! An attempt is being made to find an alternative exit while searching for the second occupant. I am exiting the building, have medical on standby."

It seemed that things were starting to get out of hand pretty quickly, and despite being prepared for such an event it still left the captain tongue tied at times.

"Medical is on standby." Richter replied to the firefighter's transmission. Looking over to the feline as he stood in front of him, he thought for a moment, and then offered a sharp nod.

"You are offering to help and I will let you. But I won't let you go in like that, not without protection. Kane, suit him up!"

Cace fought through the smoke, trying to look for another way out while searching for the kid's mom. It was starting to get disorienting, but Cace had been in far worse situations than this.

"Mom!" he yelled, trying to get her attention. A response wasn't coming though, and Cace was starting to get worried. Everything was telling him to get out of there, but he was one determined son of a gun and he wasn't going to give up that easily. "Mom!" he tried yelling again. Nothing. Pushing another table over he kept feeling along what he guessed was a bar, still trying to track the woman down. Another creak raced through the air, another beam falling where he had just been. "That was too close..."

Yellow on purple. It works, somehow, even if it leaves Vorpal feeling like a Rainbow Brite sidekick. Suited up as fast as he could, he runs towards the front, all too aware of the flames. But he's counting on the layout of the ground floor to be at least open enough that he could chance a look before the flames got to him. As he makes it to the front window, flanked by flames, Vorpal's acute eyes scan quickly-- they're watering already, but he lets out a little cry of triumph when he sees a silhouette throught he smoke... and the beam of a flashlight cutting through it. He can guess the origin point... and it's at about thirty feet away. Before he loses sight of it, he focuses hard--- and vanishes into thin air!

He appears in the middle of the front area, by the order counter which is now in flames. He feels the searing heat, and he holds his breath, even though the heat makes him want to exhale so badly. Almost as soon as he appears, he vanishes again, traveling the rest of the distance and appearing, practically out of thin air, a few feet next to Cace, finally letting go of the breath he had been holding due to the queasiness of doing two Sidesteps at once. He coughs as the smoke gets into his mouth. "C-Cace?" He says, repeating the name he had heard on the radio "I'm here to help--" immediately he raises his hands. focusing as hard as he could, the feline creates a glowing purple brace to bolster up the ceiling. It's a stopgap measure, and one that won't last too long. "Have you found *cough* the other?"

Richter watches as Kane finishes up suiting up the cat, and makes a point to look him over thoroughly, making sure he isn't overly exposed. Explaining an SCBA to him was going to take to long, but hopefully he wouldn't be in there to long to be effected to much by the smoke.

"Alright, you have to do this quick!" The captain watched as the cat made his way to the front of the building, giving him room since he wasn't entirely sure what the feline was going to attempt. Within a few seconds he was gone, and almost in unison all of the firefighters on the scene started to try and spot where he had disappeared to.

"Cace, we are sending in help!" Richter barked into the radio.

"What? Who?" Cace responded on the other end. Before he knew it there was a voice behind him and out of instinct he reached up and pulled the cat to the ground. "Stay low, it'll save your life." Quickly he noticed that the feline wasn't wearing hardly any protective equipment and he wanted to try and extend his stay as long as he could tolerate it. "I haven't located her yet, her son said she was over this way, it's getting bad in here and I can't see a damn thing." Coughing started to make it's way through the air and Cace jumped on the opportunity and started to head in the direction. "This way!" he said patting the feline on the shoulder and started to crawl in the direction of the coughing.

Staying low, the feline crawls along with Cace, keeping his focus as tight as he can on the brace. His ears are perked-- but unfortunately his acute hearing is not as useful when you have roaring fire drowning everything."When we find her, I have an idea on how to get us out, but we'll have to be fast..."

"Plans are always good, so is moving fast!" Cace manages to yell over the roaring flames. Being at this for fourteen years it still surprises the firefighter that he is still able to locate people trapped through all of the chaos, you just have to know what to listen for. Making his way along the bar, moving as quickly as possible and sweeping his tool in front of him he finally hits something soft. "I think I got her!" Reaching out he places a hand on the woman and is able to quickly locate her shoulders. Placing a hand under each one of her arms he starts to lift her up. "Alright, grab her legs, and get this plan of yours rollin'!"

Following Cace's orders, he grabs her legs-- "Cace, we're crashing through the front wnidow. Don't question... just do it, I'll protect us.. but I have to remove the brace, I can't create two large objects at the same time!" He yells. He waits for Cace to acknowledge before putting The Plan -'Oh goodness I hope I don't get us killed'- in motion...

At first Cace wanted to think the cat mad, but he was running out of options and the way he had come in was blocked. "Alright, lets go!" Following the feline's orders in return he quickly started to make his way toward what he believed as the front of the shop. I hope this guy knows what he is doing. Using his feet he kicked any obstacles out of the way, including a pitched that went crashing into one of the booths and shattering on impact. "I see the window, you ready?"

"I'm ready NOW!" Keith calls out, and waits for Cace to run.

This is one of those moments were the world slows down for Vorpal. The fear of having someone's life in his hands, the responsibility, the pressure, and the crisis around him all feel surreal. As the capable fireman takes the lead with the charge, Vorpal must follow since he is helping to hold the innocent woman. As they pass the brace he erected, the glowing construct vanishes in the air just as they pass it, and the structure begins to let out a groan as support is withdrawn. Flames cover the front, and no person would be able to run through -that-... or would they?

As they head into the room, a faint iridescence forms around them... like a glowing purple bubble that encases all three completely into one unit- flexible enough to accomodate for their moving feet, but strong enough to protect them from the flames... at least if they run quickly enough. Vorpal discovers that, in fact, it is almost painful to maintain this very complex material, but he keeps at it as they near the window at breakneck speed. He needs to keep it up and keep it strong enough to break through the glass with their momentum. If the barrier were to fail a the wrong time, they could easily die sliced by the falling sheets of glass.

As Cace jumps, so does Keith, and the world explodes in a shower of coruscating glass as the lead fireman smashes through the window first, the field holding up just enough. In fact, just as Cace and the woman fall out of the broken window, the field bursts lik a bubble, Vorpal losing his footing and concentration, falling down on the ground and quickly getting back up to his feet to grab the woman's legs and continue running. They both could hear the atrocious groaning of a structure that was about to give up the ghost.

A tremendous force rocked through the front of the building as the firefighter, the victim, and the feline all crashed through one of the glass panel windows that lined the front of the shop. Force alone was enough to send all three of them crashing to the sidewalk, but without hesitation the firefighter climbed back to his feet, taking up his position at the woman's head and allowed enough time for the cat to take hold of her legs again. Once they were a safe distance from the building, he turned and watched as it gave it's structure gave it's final breath and the roof caved in.

"Nicely done feline." He said looking over to the cat, not in a derogatory fashion but simply because he didn't know what to call him. Kneeling down he gently set the woman on the ground and pulled off his helmet and mask. His fingers instinctively went for her neck, searching desperately for a pulse. Finding, though faint, he was somewhat relieved. Members from the ambulance crew rushed over to them and took over taking care of the victim, and Cace stood and backed out of their way. Though he was sure she was going to make it through this alright. "Thank you." The firefighter said, turning to the cat. "I couldn't of done this without your help."

A couple other firefighters from Rescue 1 made their way over to where the purple cat and Cace stood, including Captain Richter.

"You both alright?" he asked, concern obvious in his voice. "That was an amazing feat."

He was no firefighter, that was certain. The feline looked faint and was bent over, catching his breath from all of the smoke he had inhaled, but he didn't look ready to keel over, just in need of a breath. "T-thanks to you. I followed your lead." He coughs. At least it was smoke, and not a hairball, right?

There had been cheering from the crowd as the firefighter emerged with the victim, and a glare of a camera as a young woman with a microphone approaches the Captain. "Grace Winters, GBS news-- Captain, what can you tell us about the origins of the fire? Have all people been evacuated?"

Cace laid a concerned hand on the feline's back. "You are the one who got us out of there, I am just doing what I know. You sure you are okay? That smoke can be nasty stuff." The firefighter turned to one of the other's and pointed to the truck. "Can you get me an O2 tank and a mask?" Out of the corner of his eye Cace saw a young reporter make her way through the crowd and straight over to the captain, his rank obvious from his attire. "Sit down and take a breather." Again it seemed they were fighting some noise, but this kind of noise was welcome as the crowd continued to cheer.

Richter wasn't fond of reporters but he always did his best to try and please the media, something that sadly came with the job. Turning off his radio so it wouldn't interfere with her equipment he reluctantly started to answer her questions. "As of right we are unable to tell how the fire started, though based on what we saw when we arrived on scene it looks like it started with the canopy outside the shop and made its way inside. Both confirmed occupants have extracted and are currently receiving medical attention."

By this time the other firefighter had arrived with the oxygen tank and Cace carefully laid it on the ground. Hooking it up and making sure that all of the measurements were correct he offered the mask to the feline. "Here, this'll help. Just hold it against your face. Kane, get us some water to. The reporter gets the Captain's statement while Vorpal holds the mask against his face, smiling a little. Suddenly, there is a microphone in front of Cace's face, and a woman's immaculate grin. "That was a very heroic rescue, could you tell us your name and position with the unit?" Cace looks between the microphone and the reporter and is caught off guard by her sudden enthusiasm. "Uhh..." looking at the microphone he becomes somewhat speechless. "M-my name? My name is Cace Gallagher. I am a firefighter for Rescue 1, and I am just doing my job miss." "And you? What is your name?" the woman asks Vorpal, who is still wearing the suit and is holding a mask to his face. A few seconds later he removes the mask. "Er.. Vorpal. I'm actually not part of Rescue 1." When he speaks, his voice sounds raspy from smoke inhalation. "I came to provide assistance. The heroes here are the men and women who do this every day for a living." He coughs, and takes the water Kane offers him. "...goodness knows I couldn't do it." He gives a grin at Cace.

"There you have it, Tom. Another heroic rescue by our city's proud and capable rescue units. Although it was a tragic loss for the owners, no lives were lost and those who suffered injuries are expected to recover without complications. Back you ---"

And the camera stares at her for a second, and the light goes off. Grace Winter's smile vanishes almost as fast as the light does, and she's shouting directions at her crew as she starts moving away: "Hurry up! There's a report of a robbery on Fifth and Larson, move it! Maybe we'll get a glimpse of---" her voice gets lost in the crowd.

The cat grins at Cace and slowly stands up, divesting himself from the firefighter suit. "Gentlemen..." he says, still in a raspy voice, "I think I'm going to let you take care of the rest."

Relieved to have the microphone out of his face Cace lets out a sigh of relief, but feels bad that the reporter had just turned around and stuck the microphone in the feline's face. When he removes the mask from his face Cace takes it from him so he could have his hands free as Kane shows up with a couple cups of water. Patiently and quietly he let's the cat talk, and soon learns that his name is Vorpal. A smile is offered in return to the one that Vorpal offers him.

"You were a natural." Cace encourages. Quickly he discoveres why his captain and himself aren't terribly fond of reporters. You would think Grace was bipolar, and instantaneously he feels bad for her crew but keeps his mouth shut as they start to disappear into the crowd. When Vorpal starts to stand Cace offers him a hand up and helps him out of the smoke tainted bunker gear. Once he was relieved of it Cace offers his hand to Vorpal. "We got it from here, and I and the rest of the crew would like to thank you for your help. Without you, I don't know if any of us would have made it out of there. You are a hero Vorpal, go home knowing you saved two lives today."