2013-01-26 Raining Crane

The Upper East Side in Manhattan has some of the most expensive real estate in the city. Probably the country. Skyscrapers pierce the sky housing successful businesses that can afford the - literally - sky high rent. And there's always demand for more space. A new building has been going up for months and even on Saturday, constructions workers are busy at their jobs. but where there's the opportunity for profit, someone will often try to rake it in and corners have been cut. What and how will be determined in the ensuing investigation. But now the important part is that the crane 250 feet up has broken free of its support. The cab toppled, tearing metal away from the side of the building and sending girders hurtling toward the ground. The arm swung free, crashing into the side of the building. And then Sentinel's flying up from the ground, a giant green hand catching the crane as it falls.
Ursa swoops down from the air and...that's about it, she's not looking to save anyone, and she's not looking to be heroic. Instead she hovers in mid air and observes the accident with the crane, curiously considering how the humans aim to resolve this problem.
Axiom doesn't patrol the Upper East Side too often simply because the high buildings and his inability to fly on his own make it pretty hard to get around. But today he's in the right place at the right time it seems, moving through the alleys when the crane starts falling. Letting out a surprised little noise, the costumed teen isn't too sure what to do since it's a bit above his weight class so to speak. But then there's Sentinel. For a moment Axiom thinks he's looking at his friend the Green Lantern but he can see his mistake a moment later. "Get back! Everyone away from the building!" he calls out, trying to usher pedestrians away from the zone of falling debris.
Even when you know you can't afford them, it is always fun to check out the most expensive penthouse apartments, even if just to have something to dream about. Caitlin had just exited one of the best on Park Avenue, 999 or something like that, when she hears the screams of people running. As girders slam into the pavement, trapping people in their cars, she moves into action, slaming her hands into the roofs and peeling them back like cans of sardines, and lifting people out of the cars, directing them to follow Axiom's directions, "Follow where he guides, you. Get clear. Your lives aren't worth whatever property you have in the cars." moving on to free others, wasting little time to used emptied cars as huge shields to carry to protect against further debris.
Denver, Colorado
Superman exhales as the readout in the dark room flashes light on his face. A nervous, middle aged man with fading hair and thick glasses looks to him. If the short sleeved, white dress shirt and black tie doesn't give away that the man is an engineer, perhaps the pocket protector does. "It-it worked!" Superman nods to him, but still looks as if something is bothering him. "You've got some serious problems with the coolant for these rods. Once they dry out you'll need a tech crew in here to figure out how to fix the problem. Until then, you're going to need to remain offline. Put in a call to the Department of Energy, you're going to need to get power from somewhere, but this plant is no longer operational." The engineer nods slowly as Superman begins to make his exit, as if he's just seen his life flash before his eyes.
Moment's later, when Superman is airborne, the nuclear power plant complex looks as if it is a winter sculpture. The entirety of the area is covered in brilliant ice. Superman's head jerks abruptly as he notices something. Within in a millisecond he springs into action, streaking across the sky. He arrives on the scene just after Axiom, Alan, and Fairchild but does not yet notice Ursa.
Superman does his best to assess the situation. Axiom looks to be on crowd control. Sentinel has the crane. Further debris? Superman springs up from the ground and attempts to 'catch' as many of the falling girders and pieces of steel as possible.
Sentinel does indeed have the crane though he's mometarily at a lost as to what to do with it. Given the chaos on the ground, there's no spot big enough to put it yet so he's kind of stuck. Girders are quickly scooped out of the air by Superman but they're actually the least of the problems. The glass already installed on the lower floors are cracking and falling and their trajectory is erratic given they're flat and it's windy. ON the ground, people are panicing and running away as quickly as they can. The ones a bit less paniced, listen to Axiom. Some don't. Some don't look where they're going, some fall, some get stepped on. Caitlin's car-shield serves her well as debris crashes against it.
Ursa observes the scene developing before her with a level of detachment, almost like someone studying ants running about an ant farm. But her interest is piqued up when she spots Superman. He clearly has not spotted her yet, and she doesn't go out of her way to be noticed, she just observes, but mostly observes what it is that Superman does.
Axiom winces momentarily when he sees what Caitlin is up to but he quickly shakes it off and gets back to work. "This w-way!" he calls, still waving people away from chaos and danger as best he can. When he spots people falling and getting stepped on, Axiom makes a frustrated little noise and starts running for them. "Clear a p-path for the injured please! Watch where you're stepping so you don't fall!" he adds to the instructions he's giving, helping people up where he can. He hasn't noticed Superman quite yet though or Ursa for that matter.
It is trickier saving people with only one hand free, but it is also safer for them and Caitlin, her improvised shield helping her to protect others as well as herself. She slows her can opening rescues, and begins doing escort, carrying the car above as many people as she can and pausing to help fallen people up, she notices Axiom and shouts, "Use the parking garages, they're reinforced and you can set up a triage area for injured. We need to try to coordinate our efforts. I'll shield and escort people." sadly she doesn't know Axiom's powers, and therefore can't suggest courses of actions based on them.
With arms filled with metal, Superman's eyes go wide when the glass begins to crash downward. He resists the urge to yell "Great Scott!" and instead does the first thing he can think of. He attempts to use his ice breath to create a large shield-barrier between the people and the falling glass and to give Axiom and Fairchild some cover as the young heroes attempt to get people to the safety of the parking garages.
"Superman!" Sentinel yells. "Catch!" And the giant hand he's created tosses the crane straight up into the air. Once it's released, the hand disappear and he forms a a large bowl under most of the falling windows. The ones he misses, crash harmlessly against the ice shield Superman made and between the two of them, the only glass that gets to the ground is in the form of slivers and dust. Some people will be cut but none killed. And though chaos seems to go on forever, in reality it's over in seconds and the only thing left falling is the crane that started it all. Cars are crushed, people are screaming, those that aren't unconscious. Some are running away, others are trapped. Some just stand there shell shocked. One crying, little girl grabs onto Axiom. "Where's my Mommy?" Fortunately, he can see a woman not far away screaming hysterically for her daughter.
"Pathetic," Ursa mutters to herself as she continues to survey the scene, helpless people in hysterics, none seem capable of looking after themselves, and then a bunch of heroes who go out there to do their best to help them. There's no real goal, no real benefit, it seems so empty for her. And yet, those people who are rescued, who are saved, have this look of reverence about them. Perhaps that is the heroes' motive? They want adulation?
Axiom just gives Caitlin a 'what?' look when she mentions triage. He can help with first aid but that's about it when it comes to medical stuff. Either way, he's leading people to cover in garages and just away from the rain of danger in general. The sudden ice shield draws Axiom's attention upwards and he grins at the sight of the Man of Steel. Just like that, Axiom's got new energy. He's going to work twice as hard since Superman is there. Right back to work, Axiom pauses when the little girl grabs him. He looks around quickly and perks up when he sees the woman. "I see here. C'mon, let's g-get you two back together," he says, taking the little girl's hand to lead to her the screaming woman. "Excuse me, Ma'am. I think I f-f-found her."
A sigh, as Axiom shows that despite all the heroics, he's still a somewhat inexperienced teenager. She too glances up at the ice shield, but with Superman and Sentinal covering the potential threats, she moves to do what Axiom can't. Directing people to divide themselves up within the coverage of the Parking garage, "Those who are uninjured or have only minor scrapes, nicks, bruises, or injuries you can treat at home with some rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide and bandaids please move to the parking spots on the east side of the garage, unless you have first aid or other medical training, then please assist with the more severly injured. If anyone is unconscious but breathing please help carry them to the west side of the garage. People with severe injures, if you can, move to the South Side of the garage, and if you can't then remain where you are and we will get someone to assist you or trat you where you lay." she then begins to create makeshift stretchers from the rooftops she tore off earlier
Superman nods to Sentinel as the crane is 'thrown' through the air in his general direction. In other circumstances, such a measure might seem ridiculous, but oddly there doesn't seem to be any concern about the matter to Sentinel, no Superman. A floating Superman catches the crane with ease and brings it soaring to the air, up and over the top of the parking garage. He sets the crane down, a poor lifeless technological device that has likely seen its last day, before heading back to the scene to try and help Axiom and Fairchild.
The mother lets out a happy cry and rushes to bearhug her daughter. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" he keeps repeating in between sobs. "NO!" one woman near Caitlin shouts. "Don't move anyone. They could have spinal injuries." Though she's bleeding from her head, she starts seeing to the injured nearest her, concentrating first on those who seem to be most seriously injured. Another sheet of glass falls but Sentinel catches it with the others. This entire block is going to be off limits till crews can get the building secured. Sirens are getting closer as the first responders... respond. There's plenty for the heroes to do. Some people are still trapped in cars, some are under construction equipment that toppled on the ground, others are bleeding and more just need someone to help calm them down.
Meaning to try this new theory of hers about reasons the heroes are helping those undeserving people, Ursa swoops down lower, and lands by a car with a man trapped inside. She reaches for the door and violently rips it apart, allowing the man to escape. The man who doesn't know any better, still thanks her, as he makes his escape, to which Ursa snorts, "be more careful."
"You d-don't need to thank me, ma'am. I'm happy to help. Now you two should get someplace safe and wait for the EMTs to check you over," Axiom tells the mother and her daughter. He glances up at the sound of the glass shattering into the rest Sentinel has and then around at the rest of the work to do. Eyes fall on someone trapped under some equipment and he cringes. A quick glance at Superman and Axiom smiles. "Superman! I n-need to boost you a moment, sir! Brace yourself," he calls, eyes glowing bright as he applies his abilities to Superman. Once the boost is complete, Axiom mimics the Man of Steel as well. His costume shifts to a combination of his own and Superman's complete with a cape and S-shield on his chest. He takes a moment to adjust to the new power before setting out to help with more heavy lifting rescue as well as calming people down. "It's alright, everyone. We've g-got the situation under control!" he chimes. When he notices Ursa, Axiom gives her a curious look but since she's helping so far he doesn't say anything.
With triage begun, and people tending to the injured, Caitlin moves on to her next action, pulling out her StarkPhone she dials a number and then begins to give a dramatic performance, "Debris... limo smashed... help... so much blood... dozens look like they're dying... please send ambulances, firetrucks, police, Superman, anyone..." she pauses a moment, then seems to stutter out the cross-streets as if she is crying, "Please... please hurry... don't know how long I can hold on." then swipes the end call button. She then turns to the damaged empty vehicles in the streets, and begins to kick, toss, pile, and flip them, only pausing in her seeming rampage on the defenseless abandoned vehicles to free someone from theirs or from under construction equipment. It might not be obvious at first, but her rampage has a purposes, she's clearing the path for the emergency vehicles to get through en masse, as well as using the damaged vehicles to create a sort of barrier to shield against the potential of the building colapsing. The unharmed vehicles she is more careful with, moving them to the other side of the street, lined up neatly as if near perfectly parallel parked. She barely acknowledges she's no the only one freeing others, but unlike Ursa, she doesn't scold the people, nor does she wait around for gratitude if they seem otherwise okay besides being blocked in, in addition she tends to only rip open cars that have their doors jammed shut, instead prefering to remove obstructions and debris when possible.
Superman reaches up under a car and lifts it into the air. Underneath, he exposes a trapped man who will no doubt need medical attention. The Man of Steel does a quick check of the internal injuries-none are life threatening. "You've got a break to your leg, but you'll be okay. Keep it straight, I'm going to get you to help."
Superman nods to Axiom, "Do what you need to," before he starts looking for others who might be hurt.
Sentinel lowers the glass to the ground and the bowl disappears. He then directly lifts a girder off a man trapped under it, instead of using an energy construct to do it. Everyone's super strength comes in very useful in freeing trapped people or just moving things that look like they might fall over. Police, fire fighters and ambulances show up and start taking charge. Given what happened, casualties are very light.
Moving as fast as Kryptonians can, Ursa is soon flying right next to Superman, <She speaks in Kryptonian.> but she doesn't linger for a response, just like last time they met, she just zooms away into the air.
Axiom blinks as he overhears Ursa with those mimicked senses of his. He looks over his shoulder towards her but she's already gone. Frowning, he glances to Superman to see if everything is okay before getting back to work with helping people. Caitlin's rampage gets another odd look before Axiom sighs and starts pulling the doors off a car to help the people that had been trapped inside it.
Oblivious to the Kryptonian conversation and Axiom's odd looks, Caitlin directs the ambulances toward where the Triage area has been set up then goes back to freeing people. She cares little for recognition or adulation, and actually would prefer neither, just doing what she feels needs to be done. She pauses and smiles at some children, stuck in the back of a minivan, who are too busy ooing and ahing at the Man-of-Steel and the eretz Teen-of-Titanium to be afraid of the dangers. Caitlin smiles and waves to the children, envying their carefreeness, before heading around to check on their father in the driver's seat. Unjamming the man's door she checks his pulse and gives a sigh of relief as she realizes he just freaked out and fainted, eaving for the children to buckle up. She then closes the man's door, carefully hefts the Van, and parks it safely in a spot far away from the trouble, giving a conspiritorial 'shhhhh' gesture to the rambunctious kids and saying, "After everything is okay, I'll see if Superman will come give you all autographs, okay?"
Superman gives Ursa a look before she flees. She's never done anything he's caught her with. She's sneaky, cruel, and probably the perpetrator of great abuse against Lor-Zod. She's also innocent until proven guilty. What he needs is some probable cause to bring her in. But she's smart enough to just stay outside of his reach. Superman gives a nod to Axiom as if to let the young man know that everything is alright. He returns as the Police and ambulances are arriving and begins working with the local authorities in any capacity they might need.
The last of those trapped are freed and the first responders seem to have everything in hand. The polce are cordoning off most of the block and escorting out those who weren't hurt. The others are seeing to the injured. Sentinel flies over to Superman, giving the man a nod then looking at the others where they are. "You should do that breath thing on most of the building." he suggests. "Freeze the windows in place so they can't come off. Since it's supposed to be below freezing for another few days, they'll stay frozen till crews can secure them."
With people freed and first responders taking over, Axiom moves out of the way. He helps where needed but otherwise just floats over to join Superman and Sentinel. The emerald guardian's suggestion makes Axiom perk up. "I c-c-can help," he offers, eager to do so.
With everything generally in hand, Caitlin plans to wander off and just disappear back to her attempts to starting a new life, but she pauses and moves over toward the trio of heroic males, since she has a promise to keep. She overhears the suggestion and then waits, "That sounds like a decent plan, though too cold and the glass may just crack faster." she pauses, "Oh, Superman, there are a gaggle of kids over there in that minivan who would really appreciate a visit from the Man of Steel, when you get a moment." she giggles, "I don't think there is a pretzel and soda in it for you, but I think it would really make their day, and it might help reassure their carpool father that it is still safe to pickup and drop off these kids at their various extracurricular activities."
Superman nods to Sentinel and Axiom, "After you, Axiom." After the younger man begins doing the superbreath thing, Superman will join in, freezing the joints into place as best as possible. Once that's done, he's more than happy to start signing autographs.
Sentinel watches the two take off and freeze things then turns to survey the construction site. He uses variously shaped energy constructs to move debris from the street and it's clear in just a couple minutes. "Thanks for the help." he tells Caitlin.
Axiom nods quickly and quickly starts to freeze things with the mimicked superbreath. He's clearly not as good with it as Superman himself is but he's giving it all he's got to help make sure people don't get hurt. Odds are that he'd probably ask Superman for an autograph too if he had an autograph book with him but for now he's content to just work with him.
Nodding, Caitlin smiles, "It was really nothing." before turning and starting to wander off. She got Superman's autograph, on her special 'S'ignature shirt, so no need to stick around and pester him... plus she really needs to look into finding an apartment and a job, and she's not likely to find either while standing around gawking at Superman. The situation is handled, the media will be here soon, and that is all the more reason for Caitlin to depart while she can do so in a somewhat surreptitious manner... well as surreptitious as one can be when you're taller then even Superman.
After the joints of the building have been frozen, Superman reaches over to clasp at Axiom's hand. He nods to Sentinel, "I'm not sure we know each other."
Sentinel nods to Caitlin. If she doesn't want to stick around, it's her choice. And not all that uncommon either given the suspicion some people have toward those with powers. "Sentinel." he tells SUperman. Everyone knows the Man of Steel, of course.
Axiom takes a moment to catch his breath when finished freezing things. He's a little surprised at the sudden hand clasp, not fighting it. "I'm Axiom," he chimes, more for Sentinel than Superman since the Man of Steel met him once before.
"I'm Superman," he responds to both Sentinel and Axiom. Sure, most people tend to know who he is, but it's kind of awkward not saying anything in response. "Wow, I'm sure you guys know this, but you did a real fantastic job out there. These people owe you their lives. Awesome job."
"Nice to meet you both." Sentinel says, giving them both a smile. "It's just luck we were here at the right time. It could have been bad." As it is, there were a few deaths. Someone's ass is going to be on the line for that once they figure out who's responsible.
Axiom blushes at the words from the older hero. "I w-was just doing my best and trying to help out," he murmurs a little shyly. He offers a nod to what Sentinel says. "I'm glad w-w-we stopped it from being worse."
"Well, just doing your best was good enough to save the day, kid." Superman smiles at the young hero and gives another nod to Sentinel, but he stops abruptly. "I've...got to go..."
"As should I." Sentinel agrees. He was on the way to a meeting when he saw the crane begin to sway. Looking around at the scene, it seems incongruous to say something like 'have a nice day' so instead he just gives them a nod and flies off.
Axiom's the only one who really doesn't have to rush off but he doesn't say anything. Just nodding, he stops boosting and mimicking Superman and returns to his normal appearance. "B-bye," he offers, already planning some excited texts to his best friend.
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