(open) crash into me

[whatsupcroc]

Date & Time: Mid-afternoon Sunday, May 5th
Location: The Hold and Housing Complex
Characters: All who wish to be in the vicinity!
Summary: The Initiative asked for the Housing Complex to be evacuated starting early morning on 5/5, in preparation for the expected landing of the spaceship stolen from the United Earth. The landing goes horribly wrong when an undiscovered bomb detonates onboard the ship, causing partial engine failure. The ship proceeds to be crash landed into the Housing Complex; no lives, however, are lost.

Warnings: Spaceship crash landings it's all horrible!
Notes: Respond in action tags or prose, as you please!

The ship breaks cloud-cover as a spot of light in the dreary skies, leaving behind the beauty of sunlight above the broken cloud layer as it continues to descend. With the Initiative having instigated an evacuation of the area ahead of time, just in case, those watching in the light drizzle may find it an interesting sight to behold.

Doubtlessly, the United Earth, from its great distance, may have also found it interesting.

The first sign of something going wrong is an explosion visible from the ground. People who hear it might startle; the ship itself goes from a smooth, controlled flight path to one wobbly and filled with dark, flaming smoke. The whine of its remaining engine is slower to reach the ground, though the ship itself seems to pick up a spiraling speed, still controlled to those familiar with watching things that fly come crashing down to the ground.

The Initiative members on the ground are calling for people to get back and take cover. Inside the main Hold, one man at the transport pads hears his radio blast to life and swallows past his own fear, glancing at the active pad waiting to pull in another unlucky soul.

When the ship hits the Housing Complex, it demolishes the upper levels, though the force with which it hits doesn't seem to be the same as what it should be. Combined telekinetic buffering and excellent piloting from a former Guardian of the Universe Galaxy keeps damage to a catastrophic minimum.

Welcome to the fallout. What will you do from here?

Comments

open, idiot ahoy

[velveteened]

( he's accompanied by a wagon that rolls around with him without needing any particular guidance, and in it are the signs that he'd been prepared - some of this and that, teabags, a jacket, knickknacks, and most definitely a small cat, pawing through the things. he'd followed the evacuation orders dutifully, moved some safe distance away to watch the spacecraft land.

only it doesn't, and what he thinks of when he sees the explosion isn't of the building or any belongings still in there at all, but caesar and collette and everyone else who'd been in the spaceship.

and so, stupid as it is, he starts to run in the direction of the housing building. )

[copia]

[ said wagon rolling around without guidance is what will catch this young girl off-guard. she is also heading towards the housing complex — best to rendezvous with Kido and/or Kano, or anyone else she knew, and she'd go from there. but right now, Step 1 is to get to the Hold.

she's so glad she chose a smaller milkshake to down earlier.

she's not so glad that she is about to crash into aforementioned wagon. quick thinking and reflexes make her come to a stop as if she is on an ice rink, waving her arms a bit to get herself to straighten up again. talk about a close call! ]

—oh!

[velveteened]

( whoops! he slows and looks over when he hears her exclamation, starting guiltily. stupid - he should be more careful lest he causes someone else to get hurt. )

I'm sorry - are you alright?

[copia]

[ Balance regained and wagon — and herself!! — still upright, she lets out a relieved sigh, giving herself a few seconds to let the panic go away a bit. She still has to find some people, after all, and then head for the catacombs.

She looks up at the blond and smiles reassuringly, giving a thumbs up. ]

I'm fine, thank you. I didn't expect to come across a wagon, especially one that isn't being pulled by someone!

[velveteened]

Aah.

( he pulls back, mentally. returns her smile and makes it look sincere, even manages a laugh. )

It's incredible, isn't it? I'd never seen anything like that before coming here, either.

[copia]

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. At least it's not like a chair or something following you around, and plus you can carry stuff in it like you're doing now!

[ She puts her umbrella over the wagon once she notices the small cat. ] It's easy to guess you are also heading towards the Hold?

[accidentalrebellion]

[It's around this time that Katniss finally returns to the area. When she returns to a scene she'd had no preparation for. An explosion, painfully loud even from a distance. Some kind of... hovercraft wobbling out of control, falling and falling and falling until--

Impact.

She's helpless to do anything but watch it happen.

Who'd been left inside? Had it been Rue? Peeta? Were they....--?

The worst-case scenarios flashing through her mind effectively freeze her to the spot.

A sight out of the corner of her eye, though, eventually propels her into action: Oz (or, at the very least, who she vaguely recognizes as Oz), running toward the housing building. Before she can even think about what she's doing, her feet tear off in his direction. When she catches up with him, a hand reaches out to grab for his shoulder in an effort to stop him.]

[velveteened]

( he's moving to shrug her off before he even looks at her, mind still trying to wrap itself around the horror. collette, who'd said she could find him anywhere, treasured in her heart and memory; caesar, who'd trusted him; ellie, with whom he'd had that talk, said she should meet elliot; and others too, that just looking at the impact -

- because fire and smoke and blood is a combination he's no stranger to, and the last time had ended so so so horribly, because a pile of blood and corpses is too horribly familiar to him but not here -

he looks at her only long enough to recognize her, for once not about to make light of her sudden appearance )

What?

( impatient, a little sharp )

[accidentalrebellion]

[Somewhere along the way, a dissociation begins. Her mind loses its capacity to keep track of the actions of her body, because it only truly sees one thing. Smoke. Fire. Ruins.

Ashes.

The wasteland around her isn't in some far-flung future with time travel. It's something much more salient. Intimate. She's back among what remains after the fire that started purely from her own hands. Back--

But it's the voice that pulls her into reality once again, eliminates the separation. Her face hardens, her grip doesn't release, and her tone is equally as sharp.]

You don't know what's happening in there.

[velveteened]

I know exactly what's happening there!

( no, he doesn't. he thinks he does but hopes he doesn't, still has some wild notion of doing something instead of standing by helplessly with everything happening, burning down to nothing and that's how this endeavor, this story, comes to a close. he tries to jerk away from her, but his movements are unfocused, panicked, and in any case he's not as strong as she is. )

[accidentalrebellion]

[He really doesn't, no more than she does. And it's that brand of stupidity that's currently fueling her anger. Anger, which is, in turn, the only thing that's fueling her. As long as it's there, she has a purpose; no matter how hard he tries to jerk away, she's not giving in.

As long as it's there, her mind is clear.]

It's a good way to get killed.

[whatsupcroc]

( Collette barrels around the corner, looking for the rest of everyone and worried about Gamora and Nate and -- and calling out for them, on a private channel, when she catches a familiar scent.

Lifting her nose in the air, she breathes in deep. Who was that... ah. Oz! Switching directions, she clambers over carefully settled debris, trotting around a rolling wagon (wasn't that the weird wagon?) and bumping companionably against his leg. )

< Oz! Found you. >

[velveteened]

( there aren't dogs here.

and for that matter, he'd certainly seen this dog - morph - around before, so there's a rush of relief when he sees her, hears the sound of her not-quite-voice. )

Shouldn't I be saying that?

( for all the looking he's done at least, and he crouches down to see her on closer to eye level.

he doesn't comment, but he remembers what her morphs - what the act of morphing - can hide. )

[whatsupcroc]

( he comes down to her level. she appreciates that, showing it with a wag of her tail for a lack of actual desire to say thank you.

it doesn't feel like enough, so she goes with something sillier -- shifting around and dragging her tongue over his face. it's really as awkward as when she did the same for Miles, back when he'd been so frightened under the city during the bombings, and it had that weird element that Oz knew who she was, but she figures she can live with that.

most likely. )

< Not when I'm the one following my nose! Hey, did everyone mostly evacuate? I don't hear a bunch of screaming, I think they did. >

[velveteened]

( there's a surprised sound that escapes his mouth at the lick, but it's after scarcely a beat that he laughs, reaching around her to scratch behind the ears or something - dogs like that right? - while answering )

They did, don't worry.

( she's so reassuringly warm and present, alive, that his arms don't do what he intended originally at all, hands coming to rest around her spine in an awkward sort of hug. )

[whatsupcroc]

( its relieving, hearing that people were okay. she needs to verify on some personally, won't rest until she has, but this is a reassurance about the people she couldn't have helped ahead of time, even if she wanted.

when Oz slips his arms around her, pulling her into a hug, she leans into him, curling her head around to the side to press her neck against his neck. Dogs weren't built to hug the way people were, but she could do this much.

It's reassuring, and ever little bit of reassurance matters. She has a feeling that's important for Oz, too. Especially when he's smiling. )

< We all got down okay too, you know? Even Gamora and Nate will be fine. >

[silenceandcards]

[Little tykes shouldn't play firefighter, at least not alone. Or so Keith thinks when he sees something blond and small come running and recognizes it for who it is. He doesn't think much before he lunges forward and reaches an arm out to either grab him by the scruff of his shirt or around the middle, whatever will stop him.]

Where d'you think you're going?

i laughed so hard

[velveteened]

( his shounen cred is getting ruined!!

he doesn't even notice keith in his haste and panic, and so it's an abrupt stop he comes to when he's suddenly yanked backwards by the force of his own momentum. it's a comically surprised sound that he can't help making, flailing for a moment before he hears keith's voice and looks backwards and up in recognition. frustration takes over in an instant, however. )

I know you saw it too!

( irritated, visibly so for once, because of course the crash was difficult to miss. )

i am happy to hear this

[silenceandcards]

You think?

[It's right in front of us, Oz. It's not like it's not glaring at us in the face. But he only sets Oz upright before he starts walking forward, taking him along.]

Calm your head before you run in.

[velveteened]

How am I supposed to calm - ?

( there's a part of him that knows keith is right, if for the wrong reasons. it's all too strange to him, being open and vulnerable and raw, so that needs to be - fixed.

but -

eleven people in that craft, including ellie and caesar and collette, it's nightmarish. )

[imperfect]

[At least he's not the only person around who sees absolutely nothing wrong with running towards explosions; Ed almost sprints straight past this kid without a second glance. The self-propelling wagon catches his eye, though - and once it does, so does one of its fluffier passengers.]

Wh-? [He stops so abruptly it's probably surprising he doesn't literally screech to a halt.] Hey, you!

[velveteened]

( he doesn't notice ed at first, even with the abrupt stop and sound of surprise, but being called to makes him look around, slowing to a stop himself when he sees ed. )

What?

( it's rare to find him so impatient and irritated - congratulations, ed. )

[imperfect]

[It's not as if Ed can't rise to the challenge.]

What do you mean, what? What exactly are you hoping to accomplish dragging a damn cat into that pile of rubble?

1/2

[velveteened]

( that gives him pause, looking from ed down to the cat in the wagon as though he'd forgot it was there - too caught up in the immediacy of the crash.

he hadn't thought, of course, and that was incredibly stupid. )

...ah.

[velveteened]

( chastened, he adds: )

You're right.