2014.11.03 - Hawkgirl Back In Action!

It's that time of day that is between late morning and early afternoon, where the sun shines brightly in the cold morning sky. Thankfully, it has yet to start snowing, but the crispness in the air definitely portends that fall and eventually winter are near at hand.

Either way, from the air and even from the ground, all looks quiet, but in reality a small poor neighborhood is on the verge of an emergency. This neighborhood is almost a throwback to an earlier time, where the buildings are so close together, the sides nearly touch each other.

With that in mind, for some what happens next might not be too surprising. Somewhere in one of the three storied apartment complexes frayed wiring sparks and in that moment, instead of simply dissipating into the air, the spark lands on a blanket and like tinder ready to burn, the blanket lights on fire. It takes some time for the residence to notice their building is on fire, but when they do, it's already too late.

From the sky, it's easy to see the crisis as black smoke begins to smudge the skyline. From the ground, it may be slightly harder. The first inkling that something is wrong is the wail of sirens as they immediately begin to sound with the first frantic emergency call. The second, for those that tap into the emergency response frequencies, is the amount of calls for that one specific neighborhood and that one specific apartment and all tell of a fire burning a three story building and the possibility of people being trapped.

For Hawkgirl, while she does typically tune into the 9-1-1 calls, her first clue that something isn't right is the smoke. Her eyes will narrow as she streaks across the skyline of NYC. "Huh." She murmurs to herself, "That cannot be good." Already her wings are tucking tight to turn her more towards the source of the smoke.

It is no longer to see Nate in Brooklyn, since flying is not an option anymore. But some of Stormwatch old haunts in the area need to be periodically checked, and it was a slow morning at Halo.

He spots the smoke early on, but fire fighting is not something he knows anything about, so he ignores it for a minute, until he begins hear the panicky thoughts of people trapped in the old place. Cursing all the greedy landlords of New York, he runs to the place, trying to telepathically pinpoint all the people that are really trapped and just nudge those that are too afraid or too dumb to move to leave the apartments.

Slum lords are a terrible thing and while most people would like to think they no longer exist in this time and age, they are sadly mistaken. Hawkgirl definitely understands this, having been on the streets long enough to see what really goes on.

Laser focused now, Hawkgirl is quick to drop altitude and as soon as she realizes the apartment complex is on fire, she swears beneath her breath. Her acute vision allows her to, at least, see vague movement behind the glass of a window on the second floor. Already flames are starting to backlight the people running around in the apartment -

"Dammit." She swears yet again, but that doesn't stop her from barreling towards the window like a human sized cannonball. At the last minute her wings will close protectively over her face and arms as she bursts through the window into the small apartment. To say the residence are shocked into stillness is an understatement.

For Nate, as he approaches the complex he should be able to see the rickety fire escape that runs the length of the building and its refusal to drop the last portion of the ladder down to the street. He should also be able to 'hear' the two teenagers, a boy and girl, struggling to get the ladder down.

The approach of sirens are definitely getting closer, but it'll still take minutes for them to get here.

Nate is a mutant; of course he knows slum lording is still a thriving business. Have you seen Mutant Town lately? Buildings in poor repair are pretty common in a city that gets two alien invasions and twenty insane super-villain rampages every year.

He can see Hawkgirl diving, barely a blur to his eyes, but her mind is nicely focused, very sharp against the general fear, confusion or idle curiosity of the usual crowd inside or around the building. |"There are two children in the apartment just over that one"| he signals telepathically. If she is startled by the communication, he adds, |"just telepathic scanning + trying to help. I am just outside. Firescape ladder is stuck. Will take care of it"|

Inside the apartment the family is small, just the mother and her two young children. "Quickly, we have to get out, the fire is spreading fast." Hawkgirl says, as she hoists the two boys upward in her arms, a quick head jerk to the mother to indicate how she can get a ride out, "You're going to have to ride piggy-back, Momma. I only have two arms." She offers a quick smile, to try and soothe any ruffled feathers from the trio. The young boys show now fear, as they allow Hawkgirl to pick them up. Instead they go wide-eyed as they look at her wings. One even ventures, "Woah. Cool wings." Young children, only they can seem un-phased by emergency situations. What few possessions the mother had gathered, are quickly tucked away, as she hops upon Hawkgirl"s back. The mother tucks her head low, to try and shield her face from the buffering of wings.

And just as Hawkgirl is about to step through the window again, that voice in her head brings her own head upward in surprise. Not at telepathy, per se, but at the fact that someone is speaking to her telepathically. She hadn't been expecting that. Narrowing her eyes, she says both verbally and mentally, "Children. Got it. I'll be down in a minute with this family and then grab the other."

And true to form, Hawkgirl once more flies through the window she used for her entrance. Once she has the family safely away from the apartment complex and across the street, Hawkgirl once more darts towards a window, specifically the one Nate mentioned to her. As she flies, her keen eyes will look toward the ground to spy who's chatting with her.

As for the stuck fire escape ladder, it'll take a few good heaves to get it unstuck, but once it is the ladder drops down towards the ground with an angry seeming metallic screech. For Nate, as he continues to scan the apartment complex, a fading mental presence will be heard a floor above the apartment that Kendra is now heading for. The smoke is so dense in the apartment above, it's all but crowding out all the clean oxygen for the lone man.

Nate system to get that ladder down is bringing in a 'volunteer' with a truck, climbing out and kicking the ladder until it drops. He is still trying to lead the bulk of the residents out with minimum hassle, so he can feel a headache coming.

And he almost misses the man in the fourth floor! Fading... likely he was sleeping and now he is asphyxiating without even waking up. He spared some offer to try to wake him out. But it is not working. |"Another man in the upper floor,"| he transmits to Kendra. |"Already unconscious"|.

The children are hoisted into Hawkgirl's arms just as Nate gives the update on the man slowly suffocating to death. "Dammit!" She exclaims and the kids turn to look at her, eyes wide. "It's okay." She says hurriedly to them, before she's leaping out of the window. This drop to the ground is very hard, at least for Kendra, as she barely cushions the fall via her wings. Crouching absorbs some of the stress to her knees, but when she straightens there's definitely a wince, "Here take the children. Keep them safe." She says to one of the rescuees. Turning towards Nate, she'll give him a quick nod, before her wings unfurl and she's rising upward for that same window. Her spike-headed mace is freed from it's clasp upon her belt. "Ping me if you feel anyone else dying. We're not losing a soul over this stupid fire. Except maybe the 'landlord'." She all but growls. Yes, she's talking out loud and mentally still. She's only been a hero for a short time, telepathy is still quite new to her.

The herd of people that Nate's helping out are moving fairly quickly, though every once in awhile he'll have a rather hysteric person. Understandable, but not good in an emergency situation.

"What should I call you? Dude with the telepathic powers seems kind of long." Hawkgirl asks mentally, even as she lands back inside the apartment that's below the man's. Her mace makes quick work of the floor and as soon as a hole appears, the smoke pours downward into the apartment Hawkgirl is in. Taking a breath of clean air, Hawkgirl jumps upward into the gloomy interior of the man's apartment. While the smoke still clings furiously to everything, that doesn't stop Hawkgirl from kicking down every door, looking for the man.

Hysterical persons get mind-controlled into walking out anyway. Nate is not very good at calming people or subtle tricks, but he strong enough to control several normal humans at once. And now the fire escape is functional, he can use it to evacuate a few extra folks.

The firemen will be here in less than a minute. But that would have been too much for the man in the 4th floor. Kendra finds him just in time, the heat in that room is quite unbearable.


 * "Codename Scion. But I don't have a secret ID. Nate works fine."| He projects, but only when she is pulls out of the now hellish apartment.

All is silent from Hawkgirl for a few seconds, as she lifts the man upward into her arms. There's something to say for enhanced strength, that's for certain. Instead of going down the rabbit hole she had made, she instead exits through the man's window thanks to a well placed mace smash.

As soon as she's out with the man, she'll take a much needed lungful of air, then she's checking on him to make sure he's breathing. Realizing he's still very much alive, Hawkgirl finally spirals downward towards the ground.

For the people that were hysterical and then mind controlled, one minute they were in their apartment, or on the fire escape and then the next they found themselves across the street. Mostt looked around with confusion and some even offered up a puzzled, "Huh? What just happened?" But their attention is once more drawn towards their homes. Now burning so brightly.

Once the man is handed over to the EMTs that have just arrived, Hawkgirl will lift off once again and land lightly near Nate. "Scion or Nate, huh? Think I'll go with Nate. The name's Hawkgirl, as if the bird motif wasn't clue enough." She'll gesture with a soot-smudged hand, "Everyone's out, right? I have to admit, it would have taken me way longer to find everyone without your help. Thanks."

Nate is still by the fire escape, since although everyone is safe, he wants to find the slumlord. No luck, the man is in Las Vegas. Big surprise. Then Hawkgirl lands at his side. "Nate is better," he admits, giving the young woman a lopsided smile. "You did the harder work, no need to thank me." He looks at her wings briefly. Flight was the best thing of having telekinesis, he misses it.

"Hawkgirl, hmm? What is with all those 'girl', 'boy' and 'kid' codenames? Was Hawkwoman taken?" He keeps his smirk, though. Teasing all the girl/boy/kid heroes is a running joke for him.

"Well, if there's one thing I'm good at, it's being the muscle." She says with quirk of a smile, "So, because of that /someone/ had to be the brains in this operation."

As to his question? A vaguely odd look flickers across Hawkgirl's expression, though the majority of that expression is hidden, but perhaps Nate will sense the slight spike of confusion that clutters her thoughts now. "I'm sure Hawkwoman was available, but this name is sort of a family tradition." And while that confusion still lingers in her minds, Hawkgirl at least offers her own zinger back to Nate, "And besides, as if you have so much right to talk, right? Scion? That's not pretentious, /at all/." She smirks, to show she's teasing before she nods towards the building, "We should get away from the burning building just in case it blows. The firemen have their work cut out for them, though I don't think they'll be able to save it."

"If you knew my family..." replies Nate. He misses most of her confusion, since he is no longer in her head. But he agrees to move away from the burning building. There isn't much more they can do. "Family tradition," he smirks. "That is why my sister goes by as Marvel Girl. To my eternal amusement." Rachel badly does need a new codename.

"Did you get burn?" He questions, seeing she ended up with spots of soot all over. "You could check by the paramedics," he offers.

"What a marvelous name." Hawkgirl adds with amused sarcasm, "Powers run in your family, I take it?" Hawkgirl asks curiously, even as she reaches out to casually walks away from the building as well, though she will keep a keen out towards the EMTs, policemen/woman and firemen/women, in case there's trouble.

Burned? That question causes her to give herself a quick inspection. Mostly singes and cuts upon her arms and hands, but no terrible burns can be seen. "Nah, I'm good, besides I heal quickly. These scratches will heal in a day, at the most." Possibly part of her own powers? Her wings will be given a quick shake, to dislodge as much soot as she can. It's enough to cause a small cloud of particulates to rise up from the feathered appendages.

"Yeah, second generation mutant," explains Nate. "X-Men stuff. All much, much more complicated it should. I'd tell you, but not now, I have business to attend. Take care, Hawkgirl. Good luck with the codename," he snickers, walking away.

Finished!