Flash Floods and Cold Snaps (Jorge)

“Wait…wait, dispatch, dispatch, please repeat…”

“Repeat…10-30 in progress. X-Men have suspects held up…calling for assistances…

“MRC, responded, get an APB out!”

Jorge slammed his foot down on the gas, sending his car soaring down the street as he weaved around traffic. From his understanding, the X-Men were calling for assistance in a bank robbery. They were holed up in some factory, trying to blow the guy to smithereens. Not only could he not get close to them, but he was pinned down as well. And from his eye witness account, they had some pretty heavy firepower. Just great.

The detective knew that the S.W.A.T. team were better prepared for this type of stand-off but they were still busy across town. By the time they would arrive, it would more than likely be far too late for whichever X-Man they had locked down. The sooner he got backup, the better. At least in his opinion.

Heading towards the factory that dispatch had given him, Jorge focused on the road ahead and tried to get there as quickly as he could. He had met a few of the X-Men already, that Irish blonde who threw up in the plant, the strange wind woman, that Japanese kid, all of them were so young. It was a wonder none of them had gotten themselves killed yet. Then again they seemed like they knew what they were doing…though this was not exactly the best example. Who goes after armed to the teeth bank robbers by themselves?

Jorge had little time to contemplate this as he make a sharp turn and barreled down the street. Already he could see the factory row coming into view: the large buildings, the smoke stacks, the little worse for the wear exteriors…perfect place to hide out after a bank robbery…

Ka-BLAM!!![/i]

Jorge snapped his attention up and watched down the street as a van seemed to be magically transforming into Swiss cheese. From his vantage point, he could barely make out a gunman or two, the flashes from their muzzles were distracting, like sparks lighting up the darkened windows of the factory. But the closer he got, the more clearly he could see a small figure ducked down behind the van they were firing to hell and back. That must have been the X-Man who called into the MRC. Where were the rest of his team?

No time like the present to introduce himself. Jorge drove into the scene, slammed on his brakes and stopped not far behind the X-Man. As he leapt from his car, Jorge, gun in hand, ducked down behind his door. The flashing of his red and blue lights immediately drew the gunmen’s attention and he had to throw himself down as several rounds flew above his head. He used the opportunity to maneuver around his car and dash to the hidden X-Man. His lips slanted into a grin as he nodded to the man and flashed him his badge.

“What’s up, son? Jorge Cervantes, MRC detective. Looks like you got yourself into a bit of a bind.” he said as he peeked over the edge of the van. “Where’s your team? S.W.A.T. is across town…looks like you’re just getting me ‘til the rest of the backup arrives.”

Sam Johnson, sounded…all-American or something. Jorge really said nothing as another wave of gunfire struck the van they crouched down behind. The poor vehicle was getting more breathing holes than a pet in a shoebox. For a moment the detective was a little at a loss as to what to do. They needed to get into that building, but in the meantime, they gunmen had them pinned down pretty good. So for the moment, it was just him and the X-man verses a squadron of supposedly armed to the teeth thugs.

It was then that the mutant began to recite to him the details he had so far.

>> ”Guess, you’ll have to do till help arrives…Few gunman, didn’t see the exact number but I’m guessing five, they have a hostage. Why I didn’t want to wait for back up, they didn’t have a problem shooting anyone before and I didn’t want to give them a reason to lose their bargaining chip.”

“That’s as good a reason as any.” Jorge admitted.

He had to admit that for the moment he was slightly impressed with the kid. He threw himself in the way of danger to protect whatever hostage they had. That was noble, but also a little stupid. Sometimes those were the best decisions to make, he only hoped that the next time the X-Man did it, it did not get someone else hurt or killed.

As he thought this, he glanced over and saw the ice forming on the Sam’s hands. For a second he feared that maybe the kid was being affected by some unseen mutant but seeing the unconcerned face on him, proved to Jorge that this must has been his mutation. He must has had some ability that connected with ice, frost, whatever the case. Ironic pairing, the two of them made.

>> ”I have a few ideas, however. They destroy anything that I manage to create…You a problem solver?”[/color]

“Depends,” he admitted as he pressed himself back against the van and closed his eyes.

He felt out, reaching, calling to his oldest and most loyal ally in all his years of being a cop. First there was just blackness, he could not feel anything at all, but just as he reached the brink of his senses, he caught it, a large store of water was somewhere in his vicinity. He looked across as he spied a broken manhole cover, the water must has been coming from down in the sewers. He would have to use that for now.

The detective quickly reached out with his hand, flicked his wrist and suddenly a mass of water began to roll up from the sewers. It swept over the first, debris filled street, underneath his car’s tires and rolled with the speed of a wave towards them. Then, another flex of his fingers and the water stopped and held back, waiting for more instructions from Jorge like the loyal friend that it was.

Jorge sighed, thankful to have water nearby. He then turned to Sam and gave him a nod.

“I can work with this,” he said. “How much time you need?”

At first Jorge was a little unsure as to what the X-Man’s plan was. He seemed impressed at the water that he had summoned and quickly took advantage of it. Jorge could tell that the man’s powers had something to do with ice, but he was unsure what that would entail. At first it seemed as if he was just washing his hand, but before he knew it, Sam had pulled his frozen hand out of the water, melted it, and created an icy, slick platform underneath one of the van’s tires.

The detective wanted to ask what the man had in mind, but the X-Man seemed to glean this knowledge before hand and explained as he summoned more ice underneath the tires of the vehicle.

>> ”Range dictates those guns, meaning…The closer we get the more effective my powers are, as it is now they are out of range. I want to close the distance…When we get close enough we can take out those guns.”

Jorge caught the wicked grin, then saw the man push himself against the van, effectively moving it across the slick ground. It was only then that Jorge nodded and pressed his shoulder against the van.

“I think I can follow that plan.” he said with a grunt as he began to shove back against the van, moving it along with Sam’s pushing. “Let’s hope yours and my aim are better than theirs!”

As if hearing this, another volley of gunshots erupted against the van and on the concrete grounds. Jorge did his best to ignore the sounds of metal clanging and slicing through metal. The bullets were quickly making short work of their impromptu shelter, but the detective and the X-Man were not going to give up their advantage anytime soon. Slowly Jorge shoved and shoved and shoved with his shoulder as his free hand held his glock 9mm at his side. The ice that Sam had placed underneath the tires were really aiding in moving the behemoth of a van but it was still heavy as hell. The weight of it was alone was breaking apart the sleet that Sam had placed underneath. Jorge hoped that the man could create move with the wave of water he had summoned.

Kr-krak! Kr-Krak!! KR-KRAKK!!!

The tiny explosions from the bullets all around them was getting even louder the closer that they got. Jorge cringed at the sound of the gunfire making shrapnel out of the van. He was praying that they were getting in range of those gunmen since he doubted very much that the van could take much more punishment. As much as he had faith in American vehicular engineering, there was only so much that it could do.

Finally, as they got closer, Jorge reached out with his gun hand and summoned as large globe of water of float forward and hover close to him like an alley. He focused as he made it hover close and readied it to fire a jet stream of swift moving water into the faces of whatever gunman he could see.

A glance over to Sam and he nodded, waiting for confirmation that they were close enough. It was time to make these guys regret robbing a bank today…

Jorge had to admit that it was a marvel to watch the man’s abilities be at work. To watch him as he pulled from Jorge’s summoned water and turn it into ice before his eyes was definitely a marvel to behold. In many ways, it reminded him of karma, because had any other MRC officer responded to this, how would it have turned out? He was sure that somehow they would have found a way to pull this off, but right now, but it definitely would have lacked the ease that the Jorge / Sam team-up provided.

Another volley of gunshots and Jorge ducked down, pressing his back against the shot up van. So far they had managed to push it pretty close but there was no way it was going to hold up much longer. But thankfully, they seemed to be close enough for them to get a good shot in.

A glance over and he watched as Sam began to make gestures, referring to the locations to the two gunmen who had them nailed down pretty well. Jorge had to wonder how the man could have possibly know where those were, but he would not have enough time to ponder it. Taking a firm grip his Glock 9mm, Jorge positioned himself ready to take out the second gunman from the general area that Sam had pointed to. Before he knew it, the X-Men pulled more water from the stock they had, turned it into ice made ready.

Fwwoosh! Fwooosh!

Invisibly the balls of ice flew out of Jorge’s line of sight and towards the building. He would have missed them had he not been watching the X-Man for his next move. Instantly though, they had apparently hit their mark, leading Sam to yell…

>> ”One down! Go!”

Jorge, over his time in New York, had begun to trust when an X-Man said something. Already he had worked with several of them and they seemed to know what they were doing. Though he still felt a little apprehensive, especially since he did not know the full extent of the man’s powers, Jorge had to trust. There was no other way this could possibly work if he did not have just a bit of trust for these men and women. So…with steeled up courage, the second Sam had yelled “Go!”, Jorge was up on his feet and ran.

Charging forward, the detective raised his gun high, took aim where he saw the glint of a confused looking gunman in the window and opened fire. He was not really looking for a kill shot, or even a hit, simple he needed to scare the man. His bullets flew like screaming angry bees through the air at high speeds and struck the concrete around the window where the man had been hiding.

Crack! Crack! Shatter!

Detective Cervantes heard the concrete of the wall be struck, as well as the sound of a window shattering. The man had good aim, he knew that, so he knew that if he had not killed the man, he had at least wounded him.

Both taking advantage of the momentarily stopped gunmen, Jorge ran next to Sam, straight towards the building and directly towards rest of the bank robbers inside…

>> ”Nice shot!”[/i]

The approval fell on deaf ears. Jorge ran, ran with all his might into the warehouse, thankful that he had either disabled or at least scared off one of the gunmen. So far so good working with the X-Man. He hated leaving behind that supply of water, but the building looked like it was still active. There should at least be a source somewhere inside he could tap into if he needed it.

Charging into the building, Jorge immediately took note of the heat. It was a lot warmer in the building than he expected it to be. Why was that? Was there some fire mutant around now? Jorge did not have time to comprehend it, though. If that was going to be what he had to face, then so be it.

Pushing himself back against a wall and keeping an eye out for any surprises, Jorge checked his clip, readied his gun, and continued to run in next to the Sam.

The X-Men quickly informed him of the situation.

>> ”One is on the second level towards my left and the other is a little further forward to the right, he is crouched down…I lost the other one and can’t see the hostage.”

However he could see them, Jorge was thankful for the information. At least they would not be going into this blind. With a nod, Jorge came to a stop and made the X-Man stop behind him. He quickly gave him a signal to keep his back safe and began to creep down the hall.

Jorge, being the experienced detective that he was, knew something about a fugitive’s mind. When backed into a corner, they loved to pounce to the attack so that meant he had to hiding some place down. Sam mentioned the man was further up ahead, crouched down. But where? His eyes roaming the scene, Jorge paused on a small dark alcove and knew that must be it. Gun drawn, Jorge slowly stepped forward and managed to squeeze himself behind a jutted out piece of wall. It would have to do for his cover. Gun ready, took a deep breath before he suddenly leaned out, grabbed a fallen piece of debris and hurled it into the shadows.

THUNK!!

“GAH!!” a gunman screamed as he partially came into sight, his rifle held loosely in his hand while his other palm covered his now injured eye.

Taking the opportunity, Jorge came forward and covered the man with his own pistol. “NYPD! Freeze and drop your weapon!”

One down…three to go.

The man complied, dropped his gun and raised his arms. Apparently he knew when he was outnumbered and the detective was relieved by this knowledge. If there was one thing he hated was to spill blood when it did not need to be done. Though these gunmen were not going to think twice about murdering them, it would do no good for them to descend to their level. At least that is what Jorge always believed. Yes, he has fired at criminals before, and he has killed a few in his time, but those were live or die circumstances. He did it only when there was no other option. Thankfully this man was able to use reason and logic.

But apparently that sentiment would not be matched by his cohorts.

“Sam,” he said over his shoulder as he began to cuff the gunman to a pipe on the wall. “Can you see where the others ar–?”

“GO.”

The fizzle and the crackle of a radio and Jorge glanced down to the man’s belt. There, a walkie talkie was situated. It was obviously the way in which these guys had been keeping in contact with one another. And now that it was on, it only proved as a way to show the others that they were in the building. So much for their element of surprise.

Then Sam had quickly joined him and tapped him on his shoulder.

>> ”Jorge…We want to move quickly.”

A glance over to the area in which the X-Man indicated, Jorge nodded his head as he continued to cuff the man to one of the pipes leading out of the wall. The man, with greasy hair pulled back into a ponytail, grinned through his bruised and blackened eye as he glared directly at Jorge. The detective met the man’s gaze before he suddenly punched him square in the face, effectively knocking him unconscious and therefore no longer being a liability of knowing their exact location. But, the scramble of noise from above proved that it was too late.

A glance up and Jorge watched a man suddenly leaned over the side of a railing, gun poised directly at them.

>> “DIE PIGS!”

Very original, Jorge grunted in thought as he suddenly got up and ran to the indent that Sam had pointed out.

Instantly a rain of thunder and bullets flew at them as they ran. Jorge did not bother to open fire on the gunman. So far he had the advantage of having both the high ground and a stronger weapon. But thankfully, as Jorge ran towards the wall, the mop bucket immediately signaled that there was some hope to be had. Dashing to the location at which the X-Man already was, Jorge flung out his open hand and summoned as much of the dirtied water as he could. It spilled and moved quickly across the ground before suddenly floating up and past Jorge’s shoulder. Quickly is spun into a fast, thin wall liquid that not only partially hid Jorge and Sam but spun fast enough so that any bullets that strayed too close were quickly deflected and set veering off course.

Crouching down, Jorge groaned as he kept the water spinning as fast as he could, but those bullets were coming fast and in large numbers. He could not keep it up for long. Gun in hand, he glanced over at Sam and nodded.

He grinned and nodded to him. “I took down the last one. Think it’s your turn this time.”

Jorge had to admit that it was a wonder to watch the X-Man work. He had run into the elemental types before: men who turning into lightning, fire children, even a fellow water bender once, but none of them, even himself, had the control that Sam seemed to have. While Jorge provided the cover with his water shield, the ice manipulator actually formed ice to creep along the walls. The detective could barely see through the swirling mass of water that protected them from the bullets but from what he could see, there was ice forming near the gunman. That’s a hell of a range.

Then, what looked like a creature actually made of ice sprang up and distracted the gunman long enough to send him hurtling off the side.

>> ”Gahhh!”

THUD!![/i]

Jorge winced as he saw the man fall and then land roughly onto the ground below. The shock from the fall must have been enough to knock the breath out of him. At least that was a total of at least three of them down. The detective slowly lowered the wall of water he had put up and moved it back into the bucket from whence it came. As he did so, he watched the X-Man secure the gunman by encasing him partially in ice.

Well, that was helpful, he thought to himself as he began to ease his tension though. There were will one, maybe two gunmen left that had them pinned down outside.

>> “And there is mine…You’re next up to bat!”

“Thanks for the reminder,” Jorge replied with a smirk as he nodded further down the way.

Stalking the hallways of the old building, Jorge immediately felt the heat rising a little. Something in this building was keeping the building pretty warm. That was just great, as if he did not have enough problems. He trusted the X-Man’s vision but there were still other gunmen in this building. At least two, maybe three had been secured, but the rest of them would be growing desperate. A desperate criminal never made good choices. He prayed everyone could keep a level head here.

As Jorge rounded a corner, he immediately heard the sound of more voices talking. Though he could not hear what they were saying, he had to assume that they were the perps here. Their voices sounded scared, on the edge of panicking. That was not good. On top of that, where they were felt much, much warmer. What the hell was giving off all that heat?

Jorge paused at the edge of the hall and nodded his head to bring Sam over.

“Can you see their positions?” If he knew where they were, that would help him devise a better plan.