ISSUE #1: FOWL PLAY
Who: ANYONE.
Where: The UCLA Campus sinkhole.
When: Early afternoon, January 28th.
What: A sinkhole has eaten the Fowler Museum!
Warnings: Violence and natural (?) disaster casualties.
[Have fun! Again, if any questions, please contact the mods!]
Where: The UCLA Campus sinkhole.
When: Early afternoon, January 28th.
What: A sinkhole has eaten the Fowler Museum!
Warnings: Violence and natural (?) disaster casualties.
[Have fun! Again, if any questions, please contact the mods!]
Outside the entrance
Of course this happens, who is Starbuck kidding? This close to finding something from home, and the whole frakking building starts sliding into the frakking planet.
Starbuck was minding her own business, skulking around the grassy area by the museum, trying to decide if she should go in and see the exhibit or not, when there was this rushing sound, growing louder and louder, until the ground shook and the building started to crumple. She got on the phone with her superiors immediately, but Alpha Force went in before she could even take two steps. They, as much as she hated to admit it, probably could handle the actual ground-sliding Earth rebellion better than she, so she’s been spending the past however the frak long hauling civilians away from the building towards safety and trying to help the police until more CONDOR personnel showed up.
But the ground seems to have settled now, and more and more heroes are surrounding the place. They can cover taking care of most of the injured, she figures, and the other CONDOR agents don’t have the same stake in this she does.
Starbuck’s never been one to pass up a little action in a wrecked museum. She’s going in.
No one’s going to question anyone walking straight into the museum right now, since the police are tied up with worried parents and distraught curators at the moment, so that part’s easy enough. However, the door near the amphitheater where she started this while adventure at is busted in, rubble covering it entirely. Starbuck moves a few pieces of rubble and tries to squeeze through, but she can’t find any gaps large enough, and there’s a huge girder that fell and is now blocking her path.
She looks around. There’s three thousand flying assholes around this place, at least one of them has to have super strength.
“Hey! can anybody give me a hand?”
JUST COMIN' THROUGH-
"Did anyone go in there?" she asks, nodding her head at the big hole in the ground.
Re: JUST COMIN' THROUGH-
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
[the other thread got long] [this is long too D: ]
She's just about to figure out how to jury rig a rope out of fallen signs and banners when she sees one tied to a concrete support pillar (and look how much good that did!) dangling into the abyss. The gods must be smiling on her today.
Starbuck awkwardly holds the flashlight in her mouth as she descends, trusting the rope to hold. Luckily, the rope doesn't end until about five feet above what's now the museum floor, and the other people wandering around here are otherwise distracted. She should have a minute to look around.
A broken sign shows her that this is where the exhibit, Lands Apart, was just a few hours ago. She shines her flashlight around the floor, seeing scraps of pottery and jewelry and statues, odds and ends from thousands of years past. Some of them don't ring any bells in her head, but a few seem to remind her of the Colonies -- she thinks she might see the crest of the Twelve Colonies just barely etched into one stone, a tiny statue with the distinct build of a Centurion, something that could be a crude model of a Basestar. But none of those things feel right. Not ... not what she was called here for.
And then she sees it. Half buried in dirt, a slab of slate with something like a star map. A crude one, and she doesn't know the astronomy of this world half as well as she did her own, but she half recognizes a constellation or two. In the corner of the map, where a compass rose might be, is a familiar symbol -- the mandela she knew all too well, had painted on her apartment, had followed through the skies. The Eye of Jupiter.
Could just be a coincidence. But at the same time, all of this has happened before and all that frakking bullshit. Holding her flashlight between her teeth once more, she takes a few quick pictures of the thing. Frak, she really should have just gone to the exhibit. Not like she could take this whole thing with her.
But as she turns around, grumbling, she almost trips over something -- a little plexiglass box, with two small pieces of metal in it. She kneels down, picks it and the label out of the broken glass surrounding them.
The label has way more exclamation points than probably necessary, and talks about "the extreme unlikelihood of any Earth technology to craft metal in this way over 100,000 years ago!!!" and the "possibility of alien currency?!!" but she knows instantly what these are. Hexagonal, about the size and thickness of a quarter, with a small hole bored near the top -- dog tags.
Sure, the edges are worn, any inscription on the front has been worn away long ago, and they're crusted and tarnished, but she knows with an otherworldly certainty that that is what these are. Whose could they have been? It would have been someone she knew. Hot Dog? Helo? Apollo? The old man? She puts a hand to her mouth for a second, before putting the small case inside one of her pockets. She snatches up a few of the strange crystals, too, and shoves them in her other jacket pocket, before briskly walking away. This was a reminder, but she wasn't sure of what.
She should probably go do her actual frakking job now.
i definitely meant to tag you 2 days ago WHOOPS
haha ITS OK
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
With the piles of wounded people
There aren't as many injured as there could be, but there's enough. Quite a few broken limbs, and just as many head injuries. This is going to take a while to deal with, even if he just goes for the things that are risk of complications.
Jack is sort of floating among the wounded with the paramedics, trying to figure out where to start. Head injuries? Head injuries.
He kneels down to the nearest person bleeding from the skull, and raising a hand to the space above her head.
"I know this is usually the opposite of what they tell you to do for concussions, but I need you to close your eyes for a minute. Uh...magic and stuff. Don't worry about it."
He finds himself looking over to the hole repeatedly, though, wishing he could take a closer look.
"...Hey!" he shouts to no one in particular. "Hey! Can anyone else heal around here?"
WHAT THE HELL, LET'S GO INSIDE THE MENACING SINKHOLE
He hears someone ask for healers, but he is better at self-care than the care of others, especially those fragile human creatures. As he flies near the sinkhole, he makes sure to yell "Not interested!" to the shouter in question.
The hole is deep, deeper than he initially suspects. He peers through the darkness with his shining golden eyes, but only a small glimmer betrays the seemingly infinite chasm.
"This must lead past Hell," Sun Wukong whistles, taking out his staff from the inside of his ear. No doubt there would be something down there in the depths, though he is not sure what to expect. The modern world is at times a more dangerous place, but strange occurrences are strange occurrences, and Sun Wukong likes feeling as knowledgable or as ignorant as everyone else.
He somersaults downwards, the darkness swallowing him whole. His golden eyes can make out faint shadows of the surrounding walls, and he recalls the chasm inside the umbrella of the Northern Heavenly King. But this time, he can leap upwards as well as he is falling downwards. This cave is not a trap, but an opportunity.
Re: WHAT THE HELL, LET'S GO INSIDE THE MENACING SINKHOLE
But this is not a void. A few paces in, the Monkey King's golden eyes notices the gleam of a crystal, stealing some light from the world above. He tucks it into his tigerskin skirt and looks for more in the small sandy dunes. He is as happy as a child in a candy hunt; he gathers eight in total before he encounters another living being.
"Can you help me?" he rasps. He is old and leaning against a large shield gleaming gold. "I can't seem to move my legs."
Sun Wukong is much more entranced by the shield than by the human, but at once his headband activates and the obligation winds itself like a serpent in his brain. "Alright, old timer. Hang on a bit." The nearer he moves towards the shield, the more it buzzes like an angry fly. Like metal wanting to be alive.
Connected with the thread below!
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
FOLLOWING AFTER CYNTHIA, GOSH
She doesn't like the idea of flying straight into the dark, and so she begins scaling the depths of the pit, shooting flaming arrows at intervals, which continue to burn in the shifted earth and lighting the way for her.
"...Flourish?" she calls downward. It feels like this tunnel goes on forever.
no subject
When Cynthia hears Katniss' voice echo down to her, she turns up towards the top of the sinkhole. She can see a few points of light along the sinkhole walls. "Mockingjay! I'm all the way down here!" Cynthia reaches down to her flashlight, and she waves it around in the air. She's not sure if Katniss can see the light, but it's worth a try.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
This seems like an uncanny coincidence, so soon after her announcement to rebuild the team – could it be deliberate? And whether it is or isn't, what does this mean for her? Should she remain here, so that Alpha Force doesn't have to lose its last member? Or should she risk it, knowing at least that if she meets the same fate as her comrades, she might be reunited with them and help them find their way back?
Either way, she can't hesitate here much longer. She mustn't seem indecisive, she thinks. But for this brief moment, she lingers here, her hands a little too still at her sides.
no subject
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
"You are Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, founding member of the Alpha Force." Their optic plates raise and lower in turn. "You are concerned. Inquiry: is this due to perceived similarities between this incident and the disappearance of Alpha Force members Druid, Fissure, and Zoom?"
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
Right now, she's contemplating a large pile of rubble, where two or three stories of building had collapsed inwards. She can smell someone in there, but the scent is faint and they won't be able to breathe for long. It would take hours for firefighters to clear the way with tractors and cranes, and Ammy doesn't have that kind of time.
Fortunately, there are a few trees - in shock at their abrupt uprooting - that she can use to help. Amaterasu focuses her will, reaching out to the foliage and making her wishes known. Her tail waves slowly back and forth, almost absently, and the roots of the nearest tree begin to move.
It's an accelerated, precise rendition of a tree's natural growth through soil and rock; rubble shifts as the thick, strong roots wind their way through the pile. By the time her work is complete, there will be much less danger of causing an inadvertent collapse; the roots will hold the structure in place.
Ammy sniffs around, chooses the most promising location, and begins to dig. As the roots progress, she hastens her excavation with a few well-aimed blows of her shield, moving more rubble than the gesture should be physically capable of.
no subject
He'd already found a couple groups of students in some of the more sturdy rooms and had messaged their position back. And he'd just made it to one of the more decimated sections of building when he heard someone calling out for help. Scrambling over the rubble he managed to find a break in the wall, where he found a couple more survivors, trapped in what looked like was once a stairwell. Maybe. Most of the walls had caved in and a pretty significant column was blocking the doorway. Metabee got as close as he could, but even he couldn't fit through the gap.
"Hey, you guys ok?"
Wow, well, considering how banged up they were he was seriously doubting it. The one who had been calling looked around confused till they saw him.
"John's unconscious, I think he has a broken rib. Can you get us out of here?"
"You bet-cha, just let me call in the cavalry, OK?"
He scrambled back down from the pile of rubble, getting on the comm to radio in the situation.
"Yo, so, I found a couple of civilians who need a doctor asap. They're trapped in this tiny room so if anyone is around who can lift a giant column, there is a giant column that needs lifting."
no subject
no subject
Some time later, when it sounds as though the destruction has at least paused temporarily, he gathers up his mental focus and suddenly bursts forth from the wreckage like a goddamn zombie from the grave, surfacing to Milly's left and coughing and shaking his head as he struggles to his feet.
(some of the rubble he flings happens to fly off and shatter a still-intact window. whoops.)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
WHAT IS IT BOY!?!? IS TIMMY STUCK IN SOME RUBBLE???
BARK ONCE FOR YES, BARK TWICE FOR "NO IT'S THE WELL AGAIN"
Re: BARK ONCE FOR YES, BARK TWICE FOR "NO IT'S THE WELL AGAIN"
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
Weh weh weh shut up Neku
LMAO NEKU U TITTYBABY. COME HERE
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
"Just a minute! I'll have you out in a second, okay?"
He starts to shift a big girder, but the whole pile wobbles dangerously. Maybe this is a two person job.
"Hey, Starbreaker! Could I get a hand over here?"
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
do you wanna wrap this up around here? :>
no subject
The run from the base to the site wasn't too strenuous. She got the usual shouts of alarm from citizens who weren't used to seeing a massive prehistoric cat running down the street and up and over cars, but she was used to it by now. She wasn't going as fast as she probably could because of her passenger, but since she knows Mockingjay and Flourish are already at the scene it's less of a emergency.
They make good time and reach the site in around ten minutes and Nessa skids to a halt in amongst the rubble not far from the crowd forming around the cordoned off area that surrounded what she could see of the massive hole. She pants heavily, catching her breath and gives a small growl to Karkat to make sure he was alright from the trip, before padding toward the crowd.
no subject
He steps up on some stable-looking rubble to get a better look at the situation, and immediately grimaces at the sight of the hole. "Holy dick. Shit, Wildcat, if this isn't some port to alternate dimension then I don't know what the hell is, they're probably already gone." He's less sarcastic now than he was on the Watch network – or, well, he is, but underneath it he's genuinely concerned.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
But even an impassive observer like himself can't plainly ignore the civilians in need of help, especially not with Daimon whispering in the back of his mind that they can't possibly just leave them there like that. They're weak, helpless. They're in need. Baelheit's primary interests are investigating the cause of the sinkhole and any unusual circumstances linked with it, but he will stop to help a survivor if he sees one.
no subject
She approaches the gentleman who brought a number of important-looking devices with him. He's probably her best bet on finding out what caused this. With a thick Japanese accent, she asks, "Do you know what happened here?"
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
She sees the strange-looking robot -- or what she assumes is a robot, anyway, because it definitely doesn't look like any part of it is human -- and gives it a slightly startled look. "Was that you? What was that?"
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
Closed; Jon Snow
She hadn't seen him in a while, so it would be great to have him around, even if the reason for him turning up was a bad one.
no subject
"Hey," he says. "We'll make our way counterclockwise around the campus. Keep an eye out for anything weird."
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
Projecting his human avatar at the scene, he opts to take a closer look first hand. Police and rescue teams are scurrying everywhere, but the chaos is such that it's not too difficult for him to move closer to the edge and assess the situation further.
The avatar strokes his chin thoughtfully. If only he could get down there some way himself... this is not the sort of thing he'd like to rely on another individual for doing, but there's no way the range of the avatar broadcast will reach to the bottom of that thing (not that he would be able to carry anything out of there even if it did), and there's no way that a jet launching in from out of the blue and diving to the bottom would go unnoticed with this much attention focused on the scene.
No, he was going to need assistance. He scans around the surrounding area, looking for a good candidate....
the camera zooms in on an innocuous portion of the sinkhole wall, ten feet below the rim
The innocuous portion of wall splits in half and slides open with a massive GRRNCH. THE BOULDER stands in the newly formed opening, headlamp on and arms outstretched. Behind THE BOULDER stand five Team Magma grunts, peering nervously around THE BOULDER'S mass.
THE BOULDER glances up at the circle of sunlight above, and then down into the shadowy depths of the sinkhole. "This... was not in the mission briefing."
Re: the camera zooms in on an innocuous portion of the sinkhole wall, ten feet below the rim
Once he reaches the open air, he jumps from the Ruyi Jingu Bang, which by now is a verifiable pillar, and holds out his hand to catch the mystical staff as it shrinks to the size of an embroidery needle, which he then sticks inside his ear. Near him is a large human, so the monkey gestures towards him.
"Hey! You, with the muscles! Can you take the old man off my shoulders?" Both literally and figuratively--Sun Wukong did not know what kind of magic is turning him to metal, and does not want the responsibility of fixing him.
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
He's not going to be happy about doing it, though.
Especially because he's probably going to need some back up. He can scan for the mental pulse of hidden survivors, but his telekinesis just doesn't have the finesse needed to excavate anyone.
no subject
The dorkily-costumed Jake stood at the edge of the hole, peering down into its depths. "Shall we?"
no subject
Dirk, who was not in any way Jake's sidekick and in fact considered himself the guy in charge here, hopped on the rocket board hovering in front of him. He couldn't see down to the bottom, but that just made it more fun.
He turned to look at Jake. "Race ya."
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)