Big Trouble In Little New York City (open)

The call that came to his desk was one that made his brain cringe, which was unfortunately because so far had been having a pretty good night. Things were going well in the office, the MRC had managed to make headway in a few cases that were real brain stumpers but through perseverance and hard work they managed to achieve some headway. So far it seemed like it was going to be a pretty successful night, but then the call came in…anti-mutant gang had apparently clashed with pro-mutant citizens. Of course…guns were fired because of the altercations. It was something that Jorge Cervantes hated to hear…but he was no stranger of it either. With a grumble and a sigh, the detective had dashed out of the office, jumped into his car and made straight for the scene.

So far police were already responding to the scene, but they were going to need MRC there to handle whatever agitated or wounded mutants there would be. News was sketchy at best as to what had started it or whether there were even any victims to speak of. Be that as it may, though, they always had to assume the worst case scenario.

He left buildings behind in a blur as he drove through the city streets, his sirens blaring in riots of blue and red lights. The buildings momentarily were painted all shades of colors and flew past him as he drove, weaving in and out of traffic. His mind slowly began to drift back until it became a finely focused unit intent on tackling whatever would be thrown his way. He ignored all outside distractions, paid no attention to the passing buildings, or cars ahead and instead became almost robotic as he drove all the way to the scene. Then, upon arriving, up ahead he could see the rest of the black and whites that had responded to the scene and already he didn’t like the looks of it.

Uniformed officers were perched behind open doors, guns raised as they looked for any stray people caught in the presence of a burned out, warehouse looking building. That could only mean that a stand-off was going on.

Jorge groaned and shook his head as he pulled up close behind the other cars and joined the scene. “Exactly what my day was missing,” he said in his growling voice.

Gun removed from its holster, Jorge leapt out of his car and jogged forward until he had joined the rest of the police and ducked down behind one of the squad cars being used for cover. He immediately began to ask for information on what had happened as he glanced over the trunk of the car he hid behind and eyed the building.

It looks pretty abandoned. he thought to himself. Thank god. I’d hate for hostages to be in there at this time.

There had been a time in the not so distant past that Amber hadn't minded the police. In fact, even now she didn't really have anything against them as they had saved her in the past. Or at least one particular officer had saved her in the past. But the sound of sirens was no longer the sound of safety, due in large part to her adopted sister Aura's influence. She had learned that the police could sometimes be just as dangerous as the criminals of the world, if not more so. They had the weight of the law on their sides, after all, whether or not they actually chose to obey it themselves. There was always that aura of authority that surrounded them, regardless of whether or not it was actually warrented. Sometimes it was and sometimes it wasn't and that was the sad truth of the world.

Because of her sister's wisdom, the sirens did not provide Amber any comfort although they also didn't provide her any dread on top of what she was all ready feeling and what she was currently feeling was an immense amount of dread indeed. It took every ounce of willpower she had to continuet to climb up the stairs in search of safety and to prevent her body from shifting on its own. These thugs, whoever they were, were targetting mutants and she was, whether she liked it or not, a mutant and not one that could easily hide herself. Unless an unusual amount of luck was with her and she was able to find a whole in the wall small enough for a Compsognathus and enough time to actually shift into a Compsognathus before the thugs downstairs made up upstairs.

Amber could hear the men down below her although she tried desperately not to. Bad enough to know that they were nearby and targetting mutants, worse to know that they were in the same building as her and at any moment they might spot her or hear her and she would become the new target for their agressions. Itching burn across her skin increased and spread and she didn't have to look down at her own arms to know that they were now almost fully covered in scales.

"...You... who are you?"

So tight were Amber's nerves wound that she actually jumped at the unexpected appearance of the familiar figure. "Amber." Her voice came out hoarse and slightly garbled as her teeth had begun to sharpen and multiply.

"What was that? I think someone's up there..."

Amber didn't need to be told twice that running was by far the best option. She allowed her arm to be snagged and stumbled after Andrea, half running and half being dragged.

"Ay... S'just a couple'a... woah... Freaky lookin broads." Andrea spared not a moment, but turned and snatched up Amber's arm once more. A tug in the right direction, up a second flight of stairs and to the third floor. She needed to get away, she needed to get amb-.... Amber! Now she recognized the girl.. if only by name, and slight recognition. Without missing step, or stopping her near dead sprint, she turned to look over her shoulder. "Amber... I know you... You were at the dance." Yes, she was sure of it. Her toes caught the last step, and she released Amber's hand as she stumbled onto the third floor. Below, Tony watched, mildly annoyed as they vanished upstairs, and dropped Andrea's coat onto the floor. He turned to rodger, "Run down stairs and tell the others that we've got it. I'm gunn ahead up and take care of our guests." A little smirk accompanied his statement, and he chambered a bullet into his gun. Rodger chuckled back, and hopped back down the steps to spread the word.

"Oh... little mouses..." Tony sing-songed, and half jogged up the steps. At the top, Andrea recovered from her fall, and paled. She sent a look Ambers way, brought a finger to her lips- a signal to keep quiet- and dragged herself up. Quietly, she padded across the room, pointing out the open doorway of an Apartment towards the back of the hall. "This way..." She was tempted to drag Amber along again, but figured she was more likely to trip her up, than help her. Once she was too the doorway, she saw that the room she had chosen was empty. It lacked furniture... and hiding places. She felt her face pale even more... Had she just doomed them? She glanced around her barren room, wondering what she was supposed to do. Two of the three windows of the place were intact, save for a few small holes here and there. Rocks and debris littered the floor, along with old rags of blankets that looked as if they had been used recently. She moved over to the last window, which had been broken nearly all the way out and the wall connected to it had been rotted away by rain and abuse. She could see the building behind the complex, and what looked to be a fire escape... and an idea hatched in her head.

On the stairs, and down on the first floor the weapon toting men all went silent as a soft creaking resounded from further back in the building. Rodger paused at the bottom of the staircase, then dropped his gaze to Markus. "There are some girls upstairs, Mutants. Hiding on the third floor, What do you want us to do?" Markus glanced over from his seated position next to Dan by the window, a frown heavy on his lips. "Well, We ain't got much of a chance down here... an' we could always them chicks up there are hostages." The others nodded, and moved to make their way up the steps. "Eh, one'a you help me lug this fool up the steps." Taking one last peek out at the squadron of cops littering the road, he darted away and helped heft Eddi up onto his feet. The gang made it up the stairs shakily, but quickly, and dropped Eddi at the foot of the stairs.

Tony nodded in greeting, his gun held out at his side. He had stopped near the middle of the stairwell when the creating had started up. He assumed that it was just the two muties though, up there on the floor above... probably running about like mice trapped by a cat. "Well, two'a you should come up with me, since you're all nice n' cozy up here." Tony suggested, grinning nearly from ear to ear. "God knows what kind of abominations are hiding up there..." And the others agreed... for the most part. Dan and Rodge trotted up the steps with him, intent on helping Tony fish out the girls quickly. Markus however, set about trying to bandage up Eddi, all while cursing him under his breath. And Ryan shifted on his feet again. He glanced from Eddi, to the stairwell, and back to Eddi. Then he turned his eyes to the red and blue flashing along the wall... and his nerves finally got to him. "#*@k this..." Before Markus could shout, or throw something at him, Ryan turned and bolted into the depths of the complex. He knew there had to be a few ways down and out, and he was going to take full use of them..

The complex was dark but the detective’s trained eyes scanned all corners as he walked stealthily in, gun trained and eyes sharp. He knew there were at least four or five suspects in here, at least one or two were armed. They attacked a mutant on the street and one of them had been injured in the altercation. Jorge sighed as he checked all his corners and moved around another corner, leading a small squad of five other officers, when he heard the thundering of footsteps. At first it sounded like it was coming from up above him, but as he pressed himself against the side of a doorway, he heard it echoing down the hall. Someone was running away from them, but it did not seem to be a run of attacking, instead it was out of fear.

Jorge motioned for the other officers to follow. The detective hurried until he heard the sounds of groaning and cursing. He peeked around a corner and saw a man, sitting at the foot of a staircase, in pain from a rather serious wound. That was definitely one of the perps. Quickly Jorge and his team moved out and covered the man.

“Freeze! NYPD!”

“Damn! Okay okay!” the thug breathed heavily.

Jorge slowly stepped closer, keeping his gun trained on him. The second he was close enough, he began to check the man in his seated position. When he was cleared of any weaponry, Jorge had a nearby officer cover the man until an paramedics could get in and take care of his injuries. With that taken care of, he looked up the second staircase, trained his gun, and slowly began to move up again.

The old smell of rotted wood and soot assaulted his nostrils but he did his best to ignore it. It seemed that these guys were just boxing themselves in because they keep moving up in the building. He did not know what drove them to do that, but it could not be good. Still though, he had a job to do so Jorge continued on, leading the dwindling number of his group further up the building, over creaky stairs and through hanging cobwebs. The beams of their flashlights barely pierced the dark and all they saw was a building that should have been condemned and torn down ages ago. Some of the walls were so burnt that they had large cracks and holes in their surfaces that allowed him to see the night outside. Because of that a chill was biting all around their limbs but they had to keep climbing. And that was when he heard more rushing footsteps.

Up above there were bodies running, but they were light and softer than the heavier footsteps that followed them. It could mean anymore. Maybe their leader was just a big guy and everyone else was much smaller? Whatever the case, he had heard no reports about hostages and it was doubtful anyone lived here, unless they were squatting. The prospect of that filled Jorge with a type of dread. The last thing he needed was innocent civilians to get caught up in all of this. But they could not take things so slow anymore. They had to hurry because best case scenario, the thugs were looking for a way out and he could not allow that.

Nodding to his fellow officers, Jorge began to climb quickly the stairs and peeked into the floor to see a couple of the preps running away from the stairs. They had not seen them so quickly Jorge climbed onto the floor and once the rest of his officers were up and well protected, Jorge threw himself behind a doorway and screamed out into the hall to get everyone’s attention.

“This is the N.Y.P.D.!!” he screamed. “The building is already surrounded! Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up!” He peeked over the side of the doorframe, his gun held ready in hand. He prayed that he could sense running water somewhere, anywhere, just for a back up.

Two girls, both were somewhere hiding from the thugs that had been chased in here. Just great. That was all the detective needed right now. So far they were the ones who had the advantage, they had more room to operate, they had the high ground, and there was the potential for hostages. Jorge and the police with him were at the distinct disadvantage here but then…there was a sound that drew his attention.

Drip…Drip…Pat…Pat…Drip…

Immediately Jorge’s senses sharpened and closed his eyes. He could feel it, that gather of water in various spots around him. The rainwater outside began to seep in, collecting in old puddles of grimy water, rolling down web covered, dirty walls, and dripping through cracks in floor after floor before colliding with the ground far below them. The detective had never been so happy to feel the sensation of the water around him. The smell of the rain, that musty smell of clean water mixing with the days, months, years old dirt that clung to every space of this building. It was welcome sign.

Maybe down the scales have tipped a little in his own favor.


But it was one misstep from one of his fellow officers that started it all the chaos. One officer, a bit braver than he should have been, peeked out from behind his opened door, causing the hinges to creak loud. It was like an invitation, a spotlight in the darkened hall that showed off his location. Before the detective knew it, he heard gun fire from further down the hall…the thugs were unloading round after round in their direction.

Jorge ducked back behind the frame, gun in hand as he listened to the sound of threats, splintering wood, and angry bullets buzzing through the air. He wanted to fire back, but there was still no telling where those girls were. They could be on the top floor, they could be in hiding, they be being used as human shields right now. Jorge did not know. What he did know was that he really did not want to take the chance. He would have to rely on something a little more subtle.

Creeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaak…Ka-SPLASH!

Jorge snapped his attention back to the hallway, hearing the sounds of men sputtering that had been drenched with water. Apparently the ceiling had caved in somewhere ahead due to the sheer weight and damage of the water on the wood. It created a mini downpour on a couple of the gunmen. That was all he needed…

As he glanced out from his doorway, he spied them, sputtering from behind some fallen debris. He turned, nodded to his fellow officers to keep ready. They knew about the girls, so they too had to make sure not to do anything stupid. Jorge, on the other hand, would let his natural gifts finally come to play.

Steeling himself up, Jorge closed his eyes, uttered a prayer and finally leaned out just enough to shoot out his open hand. He could feel the immediate reaction. The water he was focusing on, those puddles and the drenched clothing of that pair of gunman, responded and sprang to life. With the smallest twitch of his fingers, he pulled enough water to form a tight, swirling orb of water around their heads. It must have been a surprise, and agonizing for them to suddenly be cut off from their precious oxygen. But Jorge did not let up. Their silent screams and flailing was enough to give him and his team time to scramble closer as Jorge did his best to keep up the floating orbs around their heads.

Once they have collapsed, passed out due to partial drowning, Jorge released his hold on the water and sighed a bit contentedly. Two down, only a few others to go.

But first…he needed to find those girls…

Gun in hand, Jorge sprang to his feet and joined the rest of his team, being careful not to give away their locations and searched empty rooms for the pair.

Rooms were checked, cleared and moved on from. Jorge and his team were quick, surveying what they could, keeping an eye out for the two mystery girls that one of the thugs claimed had been. So far there had been no sign of them in the dark, dank rooms. The only thing they found were discarded whole and broken furniture, trash heaps, piles of debris, and the sources of many of the more pungent and grotesquely odious smells. It was obvious that few, if any people really stepped into this place. After all, what was in it for them besides a place to squat? It really could not have been converted into someplace illegal, especially because so much of it was so rundown and everything looked easily flammable.

The detective peered into another room and cleared it when suddenly another officer shouted.

“Sir, over here.”

Jorge made his way over and peered into the room. One officer had his gun drawn, covering a fallen man. He was not sure what ailed him, but he could already see another officer putting the cuffs on him, as well, as others checking the room. He sighed as he stepped in, gun down to his side and peeked around.

He was about to leave the room and move on when suddenly he caught the smallest of movements out of the corner of his eye. He turned his attention back into the room and stepped in. Another officer was kneeling, trying to coax a young woman out from underneath one of the dilapidated pieces of furniture. She was extremely pale and sickly looking…Jorge recognized her almost immediately. He helped her once, protected her from a street gang that was attempting to harass for how she looked.

It really was a small world.

He ducked down and kneeled, smiling over at the young woman. “Hi, you remember me? It’s Detective Cervantes,” he gave her a warm smile. “Listen, go with these officers okay? They only want to get you out of here safely, I have to go find your friend. I will talk to you when I get outside, okay?”

Another warm, cop smile, and Jorge reluctantly turned his back and headed back out into the hall with a couple more members of the team. He really wanted to stay and assure that young woman that everything was okay, but he had bigger fish to fry. There was one more girl missing and still at least two other gunmen, but where were they?

Then he heard a shouting echoing to him from much further down the hall…

>> "Don't bother comin' any closer, officers. We've got us a hostage, and if you so much as show your faces I won't think twice about splattering her mutie brain all over the wall!"

Damn it… he thought, followed by another string of expletives that he dare not repeat.

They had the other girl. This was definitely not a good sign, Jorge could already tell. They had managed to pick off most of the men, but now that the hoodlums had the girl, the power balance had definitely shifted. If so much as a wrong move was made, she would be paying for it. But if they did nothing, they she would definitely find herself in a bad situation. It was one of those catch-22’s, damned if they do, damned if they don’t. The girl needed help, but it was evident that the men were serious, they would harm her…

What else could they do? A chance had to be taken.

The smell of the rainwater was still fresh in the air, which could only mean that there it must still be raining outside; which could only further mean that there must be puddles of it everywhere. That was good, at least he would not have to worry about being weaponless…it was just trying to get to that girl. Then, as he crept down the hallway, he reached another hallway and looked down it. There, he could hear one of the men attempting to pry open another door…an exit to the outside.

Jorge stood there, glanced back to his men and gave them the motion to keep him covered. As he crept down the hall, Jorge reached out with his abilities and felt that there was plenty of water around. If he could just manage a little sleight of hand and have a bit of lady luck on his side, he just might be able to do something useful here.

He inched his way down the dark, musty smelling hall. Thankfully the pitter-patter of rain was make the ghastly, empty building echo from all around. He doubted they knew he was approaching, but that did not mean their paranoia was not pretty high. Jorge played it cool, and got as close down the hall as he felt comfortable with and waited. The men were desperate now, at least one was, the one that was prying open the door. He would be easy to get rid of…it was the other, the one holding the struggling girl that made him fearful.

He prayed some lucky star was shining down on him that night.

“I almost got it!” he heard the other man whisper forcefully before finally, with one last final nudge, he threw his weight against the door and sent it flying upon to the outside. “Got it!”

Jorge was quick to move, he reached out with his open palm again and immediately seized the multitude of water that was pouring from outside. Practically manipulating from mid-fall through the air, Jorge pulled as thick a flood of water as he could muster and sent it flying directly towards the man, making it seem as if the man had been hit with a wave of it that have been hanging precariously pouring down from above. It was enough of a distraction to knock the man down and sent him hurtling off to the side…into another room.

Quickly, in the wake of the open door, Jorge manipulated the water that poured down outside and brought it slowly seeping it the room. It was only then that he revealed himself and spoke calmly…

“Hey, buddy,” he said as he held up his empty hands, luckily he had reholstered his gun into his belt at his back. “Why don’t we end this nice a quiet?”

The thug, snarled at being discovered immediately put the green skinned girl in front of him, holding her neck tight with a gun aimed at her head. “Not another step!”

“Now, now” Jorge said as his fingers twitched invisibly in the dark hall, subtly more water moved in and began to swirl around the young woman’s feet but not enough to draw the man’s attention. “Let’s not get trigger happy. We can talk nice and calm about this. Why don’t you just let her go, and we can walk out calmly outside?”

The thug only met his request with an angry string of curses and once more pulled the hammer back of on his gun, arming it and keeping it pointed with pointblank accuracy at the girl’s head.

Jorge sighed, knowing his attempt to negotiate was futile. Thankfully, he figured it would be and simply continued to manipulate more water around the young mutant. It swirled and sloshes around her feet, but still seemed to escape the man’s attention. Jorge locked eyes with the mutant…

“Listen honey, you’re going to be okay…”

“Shut up!”

“Don’t listen to him, I’m going to get you out of this…”

“I said shut your mutie lovin’ mouth!!”

“Why don’t you tell me your name?” he asked the female.

Attention off of him, the thug snarled as he glared directly at Jorge. He could get the girl out of this, he could, but he needed two things: first of all, he needed the girl the trust him, and second, he needed that man to get angry enough to raise his gun on an unarmed cop…

Come on, Lady Luck…you owe me…