InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I don't like you. Leave!"

Warren Peace (peacewithfire) wrote in cityofnewhope,
@ 2009-03-05 11:52:00

Entry tags:

charlie mcgee, warren peace

WHO: Warren Peace & OPEN(preferably someone he hasn't met in a 3rd person thread)
WHAT: Ever wonder what makes New Hope tick? What sort of system keeps it up and running seamlessly, day in and day out, without any seeming need for repair? (Yet, that is...) Now is the chance for your character to find out, as they discover the 'mainframe' of the city. (Note: Security measures are in place so if your character isn't capable of bypassing them intentionally or otherwise, they might want to partner up!)
WHEN: Afternoon
WHERE: Center of the city
RATING: TBD
STATUS: Incomplete

Warren had been hanging out with Kara in her room all morning, and he enjoyed every minute of it, but when he slipped up again with his powers, he needed to get out. He took off in search of a place that he could do some target practice to work on his control. He figured he needed to work on control, rather than to let go on a building like he and Kara had done before. He was thankful that she was fireproof, that he could be around her and not have to worry about hurting her. He just needed to get it under control, and he wasn't going to get it there around kara. The way he felt about her made the heat increase even more.

He took off down the street toward the center of the city. He hoped there was something there he could use for taget practice. When he arrived he found a building directily in the center of the city without any windows or doors. He was curious as to what this building was for, if it didn't have any doors, the must not have wanted anyone to get into it. He used his powers to make a massive fireball between his hands that should have been hot enough to melt anything. He didn't look to see if anyone was around before he did it, sure that most people there knew about his powers from the message boards. He pushed the fireball out of his hands and at the building with enough force to take out the entire wall. It didn't bring down the whole building, it only blew a hole in the wall.

He started walking toward the hole he had just made in order to step through it when he heard someone coming up behind him. He stopped mid-step and turned to see who it was.

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justbackoff
2009-03-05 11:31 am UTC (link)

Charlie had decided to spend the afternoon exploring the city. There really wasn't much else to do, if she were being honest. Besides, she hoped she might find something of use, either to aid in life in New Hope or get her out of it and back where she belonged.

Any noise, really, stood out in the city. Charlie's own footsteps sounded almost loud to her at times. Occasionally she would hear something else, and then had to make the choice to investigate or not. The sound of an explosion - the telltale sizzle of fire that seemed to almost call to her - it was more than enough to get her attention and keep it.

She rounded the corner at a casual pace. Her expression was carefully neutral, her stance nonthreatening. She didn't know what had caused the ruckus, but she didn't want to get off on the wrong foot if she could help it. As the part of the building that had been destroyed came into view so did the one she assumed was responsible.

Charlie paused when he turned toward her. She blinked, then looked him up and down. A slight grin flickered across her face. "I probably should have figured it was you," she commented, stepping a bit closer and eying the destruction with an appraising look.

"You managed to avoid the support beams, too. Impressive," she said as she turned back to him.

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peacewithfire
2009-03-05 06:57 pm UTC (link)

Warren raised an eyebrow when the other girl said it had to have been him. Then, of course, this wasn't the first time he had made something explode in this city. He started to turn back to the hole in the wall when she critiqued his work, then turned back toward her.

"Charlie..." Figuring only another pyro would have done that. He gave her a half smile and lit another fireball in his right hand, teasing her. He extinguished the fire and turned back toward the hole and started to walk toward it.

He called back over his shoulder, "I'm gonna see what this building is about. It doesn't have any doors or windows. You can tag along if you want." He stepped inside the building and over the rubble he caused making his entrance.

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justbackoff
2009-03-05 08:35 pm UTC (link)

"You're breaking into a building with no doors and windows by blowing up a part of a wall," Charlie commented as she followed behind him without any real pause. Why not? This was the most interesting thing to happen since she'd arrived. No way was she about to miss it.

"This, uh, doesn't sound like it's a plan you really thought through all the way." Her tone was light, slightly teasing. Truth be told, she was in a bit of shock. Seeing his hand light up like that - clearly his power was handled differently than hers. It made her wonder just how many versions of pyrokinetics might be possible. It also made her wonder which one of them was more powerful.

She really hoped she never had to find out, truth be told. She doubted the city could take it.

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peacewithfire
2009-03-06 04:57 pm UTC (link)

He looked back at her over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow when she teased him. He hadn't thought it through, but he needed to figure out what was putting his powers off and this building was very suspicious.

"Not quite, just curious, I guess" He didn't want to tell her everything, especially that his powers had been off lately. He just wanted some answers about this city and hoped he would find them in this building.

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justbackoff
2009-03-06 09:11 pm UTC (link)

Charlie kept right on grinning as she glanced around once they'd stepped through the hole. Immediately she noted something was off. Her body tensed slightly, hands instinctively curling into fists at her side. The pain of her fingernails biting into her palms helped keep her focused.

"The lights are on, down there," she nodded, unnecessarily unless he'd just gone blind of course, in the direction the artificial light was streaming into the room from. A hallway, if she had to guess. She didn't hear any sounds of people, though. Just the low hum of what could pass for a very quiet computer, or possible an extremely quiet generator.

"I don't like this," Charlie added, even as she fell into step alongside him once again. "Why would there be lights on, if they didn't build any doors or windows?" Her gaze slid to her right as they passed by some sort of panel. She was about to suggest they see what it might be, if possibly there was writing on it, but a loud whirling sound had her spinning back toward the front of the room before looking toward Warren.

"What in the-" Anything else she might have said was lost in the roar of something large falling from the sky - and fast. She didn't even have enough time to register what it was before the blast of wind that it caused as it slammed into the ground beside her caused her to go skidding back a few feet. She landed in an ungraceful heap, the wind knocked out of her.

A heartbeat passed before Charlie sucked in a lungful of air. Pressing her palms into the ground, she slowly raised her head... and found herself staring at some sort of large... box, for lack of a better word. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized exactly where it had landed.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, scrambling to her feet. "Are you okay?" She was all but yelling as she dashed toward him.

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peacewithfire
2009-03-06 10:18 pm UTC (link)

Warren had already seen the lights, and was already heading to them when she mentioned them, so he just nodded and kept going. He heard the hum and just assumed it was some sort of system that seemed to be running in every building in the city.

He started to feel off. He knew this feeling well, having just graduated from a school that trained the future superheroes of the world. Something wasn't right and he started to tense, on his guard. He was ready to throw fire at anything that came around the corner. "Yeah, Something's off." Then added with a small grin, "We must be on to something."

Warren hadn't noticed that Charlie had slipped behind him until he heard the large roar of the box falling from above. It was about to land right on top of him, but the bottom opened just before it hit him and he was trapped inside. He had been knocked to the ground before he had known what hit him. He got up and lit a flame in his hand so he could see to look around. The box was made of metal, and he was sure that if he got a big enough fireball, the wall would blast open, much like the outer wall to the building, but then the flame went out. He had not extinguished it, but the box must have been sealed and his flame had eaten up the oxygen. Without any oxygen in the room, he couldn't light another fire nor could he breath. He started to gasp for air and hoped that this wasn't happening to Charlie.

He lowered to his knees, still gasping for any sense of air. He hit the wall trying to find some door or opening he could use to get out, but it was a failed attempt because the lack of oxygen had made him weak.

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justbackoff
2009-03-06 10:38 pm UTC (link)

Banging on the side of the metal box, she spotted an area that seemed to slide open. Quickly she yanked the small panels apart, but unfortunately was greeted with thick glass. She could see inside, but it didn't provide an escape.

Still, a look inside would tell her what Warren was facing. If Warren was inside and not under it. She grimaced at the thought, braced herself, and peered through the pane.

"Oh God," she whispered as she watched him gasping for air. No oxygen. That meant no fire.

Wasting no time, Charlie began backing up from the container. Once she was a few feet away, she concentrated all of her energy on the metal casing. She could feel the inferno inside of her, burning deep within her belly, and she forced it outwards through her mind - aiming it all at that damned box.

An unseen wind blew through the room with a flourish, causing Charlie's short blond hair to lift away from her head. Her eyes narrowed and she continued to push the fire outward, toward her target. It took three, maybe four seconds in total before the metal was melting at a rapid rate. A second or two after that, the wall gave way and exploded.

Shrapnel was slung across the room, one piece narrowly missing her cheek as it whizzed by. She didn't care, though. She was too busy moving through the wreckage toward the center, where she knew Warren would be.

"You okay?" she questioned, exhaling slowly and forcing the rush of power back inside of her. Back off, she thought to herself, already feeling her control returning. She offered Warren a hint of a smirk.

"Some welcome wagon, huh?" she half-joked.

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peacewithfire
2009-03-06 10:55 pm UTC (link)

Most of the box had landed on top of Warren, including most of the top. If all of that metal had landed on a normal person, they would have been seriously hurt. Warren, on the other had caught his breath, and pushed most of it off of himself before Charlie had gotten to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just couldn't breath or light." He said with a very breathy voice, still trying to get his breath to normal. He pushed the rest of it off of him and got to his feet.

"We must really be on to something. Security measures like these speak for themselves." He returned the half-joke. He still wanted to go on to see what was worth protecting this much in the city.

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justbackoff
2009-03-06 11:00 pm UTC (link)

Charlie nodded in agreement. "Definitely. Who knows, maybe this is our answer out of this place," she exclaimed, grinning at the thought. Her expression turned a bit more somber, however, as her attention fell to the hallway that would lead them further along their path. There was no telling what to expect next. She was almost excited at the thought of taking out another trap.

As it turned out, however, Charlie was to be disappointed. The next security measure was little more than a large gate that dropped abruptly down in front of them, cutting off their route, then another that fell behind them, cutting off their escape.

She didn't think they were made of iron, but they were definitely metallic in nature. Which meant they would burn if made hot enough. Really, it was almost too easy.

Turning to Warren, she quipped, "Do you want to do the honors on this one?" Hey, she'd gotten to take out the box-o-doom. It seemed only fair she offered the next one to him.

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peacewithfire
2009-03-06 11:48 pm UTC (link)

When they became trapped again, he was a bit dissappointed with the unimpressive nature of this security. Although he was a little weary of lighting another flame for fear of burning up the air. When she offered the blast to him, he gave an uneasy smile.

"Yeah, No problem. Stand back." He lit a fire between both hands and put them above his head until there was a fireball slightly larger than his head. He threw it at the wall and it caved without any problems. He didn't even need the size fireball he had used.

He stepped through the rubble and flashed Charlie a small smile. He wondered what was next, so he could she her use her power. If she could blow up the box, it had to be impressive, and he wanted to see it.

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justbackoff
2009-03-07 10:43 am UTC (link)

Nice. Charlie was impressed with the fireball. Or maybe more the way he'd made it. The using of his hands, the fact that he seemed to almost physically throw the flame rather than have it act on its own accord, it was all so very new to her. She'd only ever known her way. Never had a clue there had been any other.

The next two rooms offered nothing but doors that led to other parts of the building. They were all locked and, while she could have broken into any one of them, Charlie wanted to see what was at the heart of this area. Just what were these scientists wanting to protect so badly?

Continuing forward, they came to another room that, from a distance, appeared to be covered in light blue string. As they drew closer, however, Charlie could see what they really were. Lasers. Motion detectors, she was willing to bet. A glance across the room revealed the panel that turned them off.

"If you don't mind, I'd like a crack at this one," she finally spoke, tossing Warren a grin before turning her attention back to the panel. Less than a heartbeat later the panel began to smoke. Then fire shot out of it, climbing neatly up the wall toward the ceiling.

By the time the sprinklers overhead had picked up the smoke from the flame, the line of fire had already reached them and managed to burn just hot enough to melt them until they were mostly sealed. Water still dripped out (to relieve the pressure so the pipes above didn't explode) but it wasn't a steady rain.

And best of all, the lasers were no longer active.

Swallowing hard, Charlie willed the flames toward the water until they were all dispersed. The entire ordeal had taken possibly thirty seconds, at most. With an exhale, she looked back to Warren, unsure what he'd think of the way she did things. Almost self-conscious, she motioned him to continue forward into the room.

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peacewithfire
2009-03-07 11:13 pm UTC (link)

When they came to the lasers, Warren was a bit hesitant on using his fireballs to fix it, they would have been caught by the sensors before they got to the panel across the room. When she offered up for her to do it, he had no idea that hers worked differently than his, but before he could protest, she had already started in on the panel.

She didn't even use her hands at all, she wasn't even moving. He followed the fire as it moved up the wall and through the ceiling. His jaw dropped as he looked at her work. He wanted to know more about how it worked. "Wow. That's different." He said, as she finished and looked back at him.

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justbackoff
2009-03-07 11:20 pm UTC (link)

Charlie's smile was an easy one at his comment. "I thought the same thing when your hands lit up," she replied lightly. With a hint of a shrug, she did her best to explain. "It's inside me, but it's mostly here." She tapped her forehead, before giving a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"I have to concentrate, or everything will burst into flames all around me. The only way I can keep my control is to really, really focus." Stopping it, of course, was another story entirely. She didn't get into it at the moment. How they ceased using their power wasn't the topic of discussion.

"I can make fireballs, but they're not like yours," she added. "I've never used my hands. I don't think I could, really." Her brow furrowed a bit before she shook the thought away and focused back on what she'd been saying. "Mine tend to simply appear and go where I want them to go."

There was a haunted look in her eyes. Charlie deliberately turned her attention to the corridor in front of them, rather than Warren as she struggled with memories she hadn't thought of in quite some time. "I don't do that too much, though. Making something burst into flames works just as well for me most of the time."

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peacewithfire
2009-03-08 12:31 pm UTC (link)

Warren nodded at her explanation of how her powers worked. He wasn't really sure how his worked, he just knew that it worked through his hands and then spread to the rest of his body, depending on his anger level.

He lifted his hand and looked at it for a second. "Yeah, mine is only here, and the trigger is my temper, sometimes that's a bit hard to control." He wondered which one of them was more powerful, but it didn't matter as long as they weren't fighting.

He could see there was something more by the look in her eyes, and he figured it had something to do with what she had said about the government in the message boards. He didn't want to press that though. Instead he looked up at a door across the room, "I hope what this building is for is behind that door."

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justbackoff
2009-03-09 04:55 pm UTC (link)

Charlie didn't want to even really consider what would happen if they fought. Granted part of her wondered; that was just idle curiosity, though. Instead she realized almost with startling clarity that they would probably work well together in other situations. Not that she expected many 'situations' in a place like this, but it was good to know someone else was around who would at least understand her particular way of dealing with things.

"Like I said before, I learned a few tricks that help me keep my temper in check for the most part," she offered him a slight smile. "But I'm far from perfect." She also was the one of the two with no formal training, although she had yet to really realize just how much training Warren had been given. As far as Charlie went, though, controlling her power was something she'd had to learn all on her own. And usually while on the run, too.

"I hope so," she agreed, eying the door. It looked like a normal door made out of some kind of metal. Idly, she wondered if getting into it was really going to be this easy after everything else they'd come across thus far.

Of course, there was only one way to find out.

"Well," she finally stated, glancing at Warren. "You found this place. Seems only fair you're the one who gets the first peek."

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