[MOD PLOT] THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS

[letsgolegion]

Who| Open to All!
What| The gravity generators on the planet Naltor fail
Where| Naltor
When| N/A
Warnings/Notes| Since a natural disaster is a bit of a heavy thing, players may opt out by handwaving their character was on a different mission doing something less disturbing. There are always many crises going on in the UP.

Despite being precogs, the Naltorians don't see it coming and this is why the entire UP is sent reeling because of the disaster. Oh, there are times some of them have visions of a disaster that aren't complete enough for them to do anything about it, and times that they have visions but it's too close to a disaster to put out a warning call.

But this time? Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Not a single Naltorian sees it coming.

The security forces and security technology around the gravity generators is dispatched quickly and quietly. The sabotage is devastating. Repairable, certainly, but it'll take time for UP scientists and any tech-inclined Legionnaires that want to help to repair them to get them up and running again.

In the meantime, disasters start plaguing the population. As the orbits of Naltor's moon and the debris field that is its broken sister planet, Detria, start to degrade, conditions on Naltor starts falling apart. The gravitational pull of both celestial bodies starts to mess with the planet's tides, causing flooding. Crashing meteors cause tectonic instability, tsunamis, and more flooding. The planet's magnetosphere interacting with the gravitational pull of the moon and destabilizing debris field causes terrible storms with high winds.

The native Legionnaires are on the planet helping, too, if the rookies need some experienced backup, but everyone is spread thin, and electromagnetic interference means communication between them all isn't always reliable. All they can do is try their best to save lives, help the Naltorians evacuate to shelters, evac ships, or threshold gates, and hope that this can be fixed in time before the planet is destroyed.

Fortunately, the UP is very organized. Rescue services are armed with very advanced technology to rescue and free victims with, such as small-scale anti-grav devices to lift debris to save people under it, and there are hover ships aplenty to help get some Naltorians safely in orbit or to take others to shelters. The planet's threshold gates have also shut down all unnecessary travel and are being used to funnel Naltorians to other worlds that have prepared disaster shelters. Most importantly of all, there's a good early warning system in place for every possible type of disaster, one that uses technology and precogs (they can see the effects now, at least, even if the initial breakdown was blocked to them), and the disaster relief coordinators are constantly piping information to the Legion so they know where they're needed most.

Kid Quantum has set up a feed so that any time the communicators are up, they'll receive orders telling them where to be, and during times they're down, they'll have standing orders to contact the nearest UP disaster relief coordinators to find out where need is greatest. While there's a lot of confusion among the masses, the Legionnaires can take solace in the fact they'll always know where they're needed most.

DISASTER THREATS

A. EARTHQUAKES

Thanks to meteors hitting faultlines and the strong gravitational pull of the moon and Detria's debris field, tectonic instability is ravaging the land. Legionnaires may need to help hold up buildings so Naltorians can escape them before they collapse, help rescue services free Naltorians trapped under debris, or pull Naltorians out of ground ruptures and sinkholes.

B. LANDSLIDES AND MUDSLIDES

The combination of earthquakes and flooding means that some areas are prone to landslides and mudslides that innocent Naltorians need to be cleared from or pulled out of. Fortunately, early warning systems, both technological in nature and because of Naltorian precogs, mean that Legionnaires may receive warnings for landslides and mudslides before they occur, so they can help evacuate areas before they're hit. In places that can't be fully evacced in time, all Naltorians have also been instructed to head for rooftops so they can hopefully be rescued.

C. FLOODING AND TSUNAMIS

Flooding due to dams bursting and countless other factors will be happening all over, especially in coastal regions or in the flood plains of rivers. Fortunately, the early warning systems mean the Naltorians will know when to head for high ground, but some may not be quick enough and others may find themselves trapped atop buildings surrounded by rushing floodwaters.

D. VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

The gravitational pull and tectonic instability mean that some of the planet's volcanoes may start erupting, leading to areas needing to be evacuated before pyroclastic flows and lava flows hit. Many of these areas have threshold gates that can help evacuees escape but they may need help getting to them in an orderly fashion.

E. FIRES

All of these disasters may lead to fires, especially things like meteor strikes. The fire relief services have very advanced equipment and can also use climate-con stations to send rain on any fires, but they still may need some help putting out fires before they go out of control.

F. LOOTING AND STAMPEDES

Sometimes people panic in the face of disaster. While keeping stores from getting looted isn't the biggest priority rescuers should have, since material goods matter less than people's lives, sometimes crowds can get violent with each other. Legionnaires may have to prevent people from hurting each other both purposefully and accidentally, and help them safely get to shelters or evac points.

G. GRAVITY GENERATORS

The gravity generators that need to be fixed are on the planet itself, something that at least makes them nice and accessible to fix. Only one station needs to be repaired to stabilize the moon and Detria's debris field long enough to avert disaster. Any Legionnaires that are technologically-inclined can help UP scientists do this.

However, they may find themselves under attack -- because the saboteurs haven't left the planet. Even non-tech-inclined Legionnaires may want to help out so that they can defend the gearheads and scientists as they fix the generators.

H. WILD CARD!

You can make up as many situations within the framework of the above scenarios that you like but if you're unsure on something or would like to make up something different, feel free to ask the mods! We're willing to include situations the mod team hasn't thought of.

Comments

open!

[unfurtunate]

C.

The neighborhood he'd been doing a final run-through of was very poorly located; close enough to the shore to fall victim to the massive flooding, and on enough of a downslope to have become stuck in what was currently a huge rushing river. Leaping from roof to roof was only barely keeping him out of the water, with most of the older houses already toppled by the vicious current and even some of the newer ones wavering under the force of the water.

And in the middle of it all, a faint noise that sounded a lot like a meow. He paused atop a rooftop, scanning for the source of the tiny noise in all the surrounding chaos, and when he finally spotted it he wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry.

A cat. Stuck in a tree. Luckily it was a large and sturdy tree that was holding up against the furiously rushing water pretty well, but he wouldn't have wanted to bet his life on it holding up.

He did have his priorities. Human (and sentient alien) life was the most important thing, he couldn't go dashing off to save every stray while there were people in need of help. He knew that.

But then again, this area had already been cleared for the most part. He'd only been doing a quick once-over to be sure of that. And he loved cats, and the thing sounded so sad and scared...

He didn't think on it for very long. Adrien extended his staff and took a running start, propping its end at the lip of the roof and pole-vaulting his way over the water. He landed perched atop a telephone pole, miraculously somehow still standing though it gave a dangerous wobble as he hit it, and used that to make the final jump over to the tree.

Either he really was just naturally great with cats, or the thing was scared shitless enough to dive on the first hope of safety it had, as it literally dove into his arms with enough force that he had to steady himself against the tree trunk to avoid falling out.

"Hey, hey -- ow!" Gingerly, he plucked its claws out from where they were digging into his shoulder and went right on with the soothing nonsense babble. "It's okay, little guy. You're gonna be purrfecly fine now, let's just--"

He turned just in time to see the telephone pole go down, finally toppled as something heavy in the water's current hit it and knocked it loose. It was swept away before he could even process what was happening, and then he was left sitting there on his branch as he took in the fresh lack of anything to jump to nearby. Even if he could reach the nearest roof at his new staff's greatest extended length, there was no room to vault from the tree, and propping it up in the rushing water would have certainly only succeeded in tearing the staff right from his hand.

He was very much stuck.

Ladybug would have killed him. He was almost glad she wasn't here to see her cat caught in the most cliched situation possible.

F.

Perched atop a shop roof, Adrien had taken charge of making sure this area was being properly evacuated. And for the most part, it was, with most of the locals having enough sense to do as they were told and hurry along to the nearest evac point. All Adrien had to do was shout directions over the noise and occasionally yell at someone to slow down where they were beginning to panic and push. Not all the locals were so reasonable, however, and his catlike hearing caught the sound of shattering glass over the mass of barely-calm evacuees.

Darting a block down towards the source of it, he found a man wrestling some large electronic out the door of a shop, and by the broken glass he very much doubted the legality of the whole situation.

"Hey, knock it off!" he shouted, dropping into the street to yell more directly at the looter. "Is that thing really worth your life? Get going!"

Apparently, the looter in question took the approach from a superhero less as 'wise advice to get his ass in gear and evacuate' and more as 'potential punishment for his theft'. He dropped the expensive-looking device he'd been hauling, and Adrien thought the guy was actually listening to him until a knife was pulled and shakily aimed at him.

"Woah, woah, no need for that!" Adrien hopped backwards to avoid a frantic first swing, hands up in that universal sign for I come in peace. But perhaps it was less universal than he thought, as the looter apparently found no comfort in it and took another swipe at him.

F.

[got_gud]

The looter's knife klanged harmlessly against an ornate shield of blackened steel that found itself between Adrien and his assailant.

The shield itself was attached to the arm of a rather intimidatingly tall man wearing a full suit of platemail, emblazoned with the Legion insignia, easily towering over the looter. Strapped to his back was a sword nearly as tall as he was, similar in ornamentation and material as the shield. In his other hand was a mace of a much more futuristic make, which crackled with electricity.

Despite his size, Alexander was more than capable of moving relatively quietly even in full plate, given all the chaos around them, leading to him taking the looter by surprise.

"Evacuate peacefully," he said threateningly, "or I'll drag you to the authorities myself."

Just because they gave him a non-lethal weapon didn't mean he would play nice, exactly.

[unfurtunate]

While a leather-clad teenager with adorable cat ears didn't do much to scare sense into the guy, a heavily armed and armored giant seemed to do the trick. The looter froze in the face of this intimidating newcomer, knife dangling uselessly in front of him, and by his expression it looked like his life had just flashed before his eyes. Given the chance to flee, he dropped the knife and abandoned his stolen goods without a word, disappearing into the moving crowd as quickly as possible.

"Wow." Yes, Chair Noir is certainly an eloquent one. Green cat's eyes followed the looter as he took off before giving the new Legionnaire before him a once-over. "Well, thanks for the help. That's a pretty, uh...classy getup."

More like classic. As in something out of one of his French Classics textbooks. But he had to admit, it was pretty cool to get saved by an actual knight. Even if he totally had the situation under control and definitely hadn't actually needed saving.

[got_gud]

Of course you didn't need any help, Chat.

"No worries, lad," he replied, crushing the knife with a quick stomp so no other idiot would pick it up and get any bright ideas. "He was one of the smarter ones. I had to make good on my promise to drag a few of the less cooperative fools over to the authorities earlier."

It was good practice for using the new mace, at least.

"I am Alexander of Astora, code name Iudex," he said relatively genially, given the situation. "You're one of the other recent Legion recruits, I presume? I've heard word of more looters further along in the commerce district. If you're unhurt, I could use the assistance."

It had been a long time since he had fought alongside anyone else, but he had no qualms about it in this situation. He was still getting used to the whole fighting not to kill thing.

[dupaindots]

For a moment, she forgot that she was supposed to be just-Marinette and that this was Adrien Agreste, not Chat Noir. Well, not that Chat Noir. Her Chat Noir.

(Wait, since when has he been her Chat Noir?)

The situation was just a little too amusing and he was being a little too...Chat-like for her to remember to play the "I have no idea what I'm doing" role. No, right now she was Ladybug and he was Chat, and she couldn't help but tease. So she flew over, stopped in mid-air behind him, and tapped her chin.

"So what do you call it when a kitty cat is caught in a tree and is acting like a cat on a hot tin roof at the same time? There has to be some way to mix the two. A cat in a hot tin tree?"

Silly kitty.

A.

[got_gud]

Assisting the evacuation wasn't exactly Alexander's area of expertise, but without a power that would be particularly useful for this situation, like super strength or telekinesis, it was about all he could really do.

Once the majority of the civilians in his area were safely evacuated, he decided it was prudent to make his way through the nearby city blocks and check for stragglers. It was a good chance to give his flight ring a proper field test as well, given that he'd only tried using it in relatively safe conditions thus far.

Of course, it didn't take long, floating above the city, before he spotted a pair of rescue workers trying to clear away some rubble which was trapping a civilian underneath. It was also at that point he noticed a crumbling pillar, precariously tipping such that it would soon fall upon the hapless rescue workers and the civilian.

Pushing his flight ring to speeds even a seasoned flyer would think twice about using in such cramped terrain, he rushed towards the pillar, aiming to put himself between it and the rescue workers. He skidded to a halt as he landed, nearly toppling over, but he quickly regained his footing.

By the time he landed, he had already drawn his massive greatsword. He had only a split second to act, so he slammed the tip of the blade into the ground and aimed the pommel at the falling pillar. The pillar slammed into the sword with a massive "THUD," sending reverberations through Alexander's body, nearly causing him to lose his footing again.

The blade was the ancient Greatsword of Artorias, forged eons ago to fight the Everlasting Dragons. It had no problem supporting the weight of the pillar by itself. Alexander, on the other hand, was pushing his body to the limit trying to support the sword.

"Hurry, lads," he yelled at the rescue workers, his voice straining. "We don't quite have a lot of time here."

The workers, momentarily dumbfounded by how close they had just come to dying themselves, were startled back to reality at Alexander's words. The resumed digging frantically to free the trapped civilian, while Alexander continued to struggle against the weight of the pillar.

[iamresponding]

This whole thing sounded like a joke. A spaceman and knight walk into a disaster area...

Rich rushed in to help.

"Lemme get that," he said of a large chunk of debris they were having trouble moving even with their gravity-thingy. He directed a beam of Nova Force energy at it -- tight and finely focused and perfectly aimed, because the last thing all this debris needed was a big shaky explosion. It caused the piece of debris to lift and roll to the side exactly where they needed it to go.

"How the hell did you manage that?" asked the rescue worker, because he'd clearly been worried Rich was going to bring the whole place down on their heads.

"Ain't my first time at the disaster relief rodeo, fellas," said Rich, working with his hands now, helping them move debris, his Nova Force arm particularly useful. It couldn't lift much more than a normal arm, but it was more flexible, like a tentacle.

He called over to Alexander, "Hey there, sir Knight, there's a shrubbery in it for you if you can hold that up at least another minute."

He knew the Monty Python joke wouldn't translate. At all. But he had to make it. It was there.

[got_gud]

Alexander continued to strain under the weight of the column. His muscles felt like they were on fire, and he was sure he might have fractured a couple bones in the impact.

Even so, he laughed. He'd ignored the shrubbery line, just grateful to have some backup.

"Take your time, lad! I can do this all day."

From the sound of it, that minute was all Rich was going to get.

G.

[nerdninja]

Helping the people evacuate, putting out the fires - that was slapping a bandage on the symptoms, but from the moment they got the distress call, Donatello was thinking about how they were going to deal with the problem at its source. And so as soon as they arrived, he took straight off for the generators.

There were already a few UP scientists at work when he entered, some working on obvious physical damage, but one was tapping at one of the control panels, with increasingly evident frustration. "The diagnostics keep stalling," she said. "I can't get a clear readout on what else has been affected."

"Let me," Donnie cut in, sliding into a seat at the console. "Has the station been cleared of hostiles?"

"It looks like they're gone, but I think security was still doing sweeps -"

That was all he needed, and he glanced over his shoulder to the Legionnaires who'd come to the generator. "Cover me for a minute while I talk to the computer and get us a to-do list?"

[deafleppard]

Her mask off and her hood down, Gwen was hovering around the generators, too. Though she didn't really know much when it came to fixing them. Messing around with machinery that messed around with the very laws of physics was just a little beyond what she had learned in school. But at least Donatello was here! Yes, someone much more qualified than her, and less likely to make things worse, would be perfect.

"Yeah, sure thing."

Gwen nodded and stood her ground next to him, though giving him enough space so he could do his work. Of course, she couldn't help but to ask...

"So, how bad is it?"

[nerdninja]

He put his hands on the keyboard, but didn't bother typing - just reached out with his power, because despite his impressive average WPM, he could think a lot faster than he could get into this system the normal way.

"Ugh. Okay, they really did a number. There's a fair amount of physical damage to the generators, but there's...something in the code that doesn't belong there, I think that's why the diagnostics are slow. I should be able to untangle that but it might take a -"

He was cut off by a sound and a flash, as a bolt of laser fire embedded itself in the console a short distance from where he was working. His reflexes took over, and he sprang up from his seat and vaulted over the console to land in a crouch behind it. "Awesome, just what we needed."

What now? Okay. The door was narrow, and the console was enough distance back that a frontal charge on whoever was in the hall was probably going to meet a very premature end. They could call in some backup, get them in a pincer, but that would take time. He looked up at the ceiling, frowning. The ducts? Maybe?

[dupaindots]

A.

We don't have much time!" Marinette cried out when she saw that another Legionnaire had joined her. "There are people trapped down there and the building won't stay up for long."

She was standing near the edge of a huge pit, a sinkhole that had formed because of the earthquake. There were people yelling from down inside it and when her fellow Legionnaire got closer, they'd see that a whole building had slid down into the pit. Some of it was still standing, miraculously, so that some of the victims weren't too badly injured, shielded by chunks of the building that'd stayed intact, but they were trapped down there with no way of getting back out. Others were partly buried under debris.

The standing parts of the building were creaking ominously, though. If it collapsed -- or if the sinkhole sank even deeper -- then the people trapped down there were done for.

Marinette didn't hesitate; she dove in, letting gravity give her some speed, using her ring to stop her fall only when she reached the people at the bottom. She was trying to do this as quickly as she could -- they had to work fast to be able to save them all.

C.

Marinette's powers were ideal for helping with the floods. Really, when you dove into rapidly rising flood waters with dangerous currents the best power you could have besides controlling water was luck, because that was sometimes the only thing that let Marinette grab people and manage to pull herself back out again. Even the flight rings had trouble working against such horrible currents.

Her yoyo helped too. Now more than ever, it was her lifeline. She kept attaching it to something solid on one of the standing buildings before she dove in so she could use it to pull herself and the victim back out again.

The rescue services were coming by and picking up rescued people from the rooftops of the still-standing buildings but right now, the Legionnaires and the UP's rescue divers were the only chance some of these people had in making it safely to the rooftops in the first place.

Marinette was already exhausted but there was no way she was quitting when these people needed help. She turned when she found she was no longer alone.

"We have to get to the city square. They said one of the levees is about to break. If we hurry, we can help people get to high ground before the flood waters hit."

Unfortunately, she'd saved all the people she could here. She tried not to think about how she no longer saw people in the water and how that didn't necessarily mean she'd saved everyone -- it just meant that the people who were already lost were impossible to save, probably already trapped or dead under the water.

C.

[got_gud]

Alexander had been throwing himself at as many problems as he possibly could today. Evacuations, looters, clearing debris, and much more. Back home, he could have probably managed all of this without much effort, but here, his strength and stamina weren't much more than that of a mortal's, and he couldn't simply drink from his Estus flask or cast a healing miracle to mend his wounds.

He was nearly at his limit.

Still, he chose to press on.

He landed near Marinette just as the rescue workers were moving off with the last of the rescued survivors. He could see the fatigue and, more importantly, the growing concern in the girl's expression. He'd seen that expression before far too many times.

"Don't think too much on it, lass. You're too young to carry a burden like that."

He'd seen far too many bright, hopeful individuals crushed under the weight of the world. It wasn't a pleasant sight.

"Here," he said, pulling out a small bundle of green, dried herbs from a pouch at his belt. "Green Blossom. Chew on it for a few seconds, it should help with the fatigue."

He'd relied on the bitter herb in desperate moments like this to get a second wind. It wasn't much, but in a fight for your life, it could be a life saver. He only had a small handful left, but the Legion technical crew assured him that in his wing of the
Habitat section could definitely grow some more.

"Catch your breath, I'll go on ahead. Catch up to me when you're ready. No point in getting yourself killed, understand?"

Alexander was one to talk, of course.

A

[notwithoutafight]

Videl rushed to Marinette’s side and looked down over the edge of the cracked and crumbling ground into the pit. Desperate cries for help resonated in her ears, where comm static reigned most of the time. A quick assessment of the sinking building and surrounding unsteady ground told Videl that even the most able bodied people trapped down there probably wouldn't be able to climb out on their own.

“Right,” Videl gave a curt nod in acknowledgement of Marinette’s words before leaping down after her.

“I'll check inside the ground floor,” she announced as she landed, dashing toward the door the moment her feet touched the ground.

Inside was dark, the only light coming in through broken windows and doors. The floor was littered with broken furnishings, shattered dishware, and fragments of drywall and plaster where the walls and ceiling had broken apart. Cries of fear and pain met Videl's ears from several different places. With renewed determination, she dug into the rubble where she heard the closest voice, extracting a battered old man, leading him outside and handing home off to waiting help, then diving back in to repeat the process.

C

[deafleppard]

More.

Anybody who was paying attention could see that Gwen was doing all she could. Swinging about from building to building, checking everywhere she could and saving as many people as she was able to. But it still didn't feel like it was enough.

She wanted to push herself to do more. To be better.

"Yeah... okay."

Adrenaline was keeping her going, and it had taken her a moment to really register what she'd just heard. Get the people somewhere safe. Okay, got it. Same as before, just somewhere else. Easy, right?

"Let's get going, they're counting on us."

E

[notwithoutafight]

Videl was with a contingent of U.P. firefighters being lead by a Naltorian woman to a densely populated neighborhood that had gone up in flame. Evac crews were already on the scene helping people onto shuttles and the fires seemed more or less under control. There were even a few Legionnaires on site helping out.

“Everything's under control here, right?” Videl asked through the comm.

She turned back to her Naltorian guide, who was still looking considerably distraught. The woman had latched onto Videl the moment the newly minted Legionnaire passed through the threshold gate onto Naltor, practically begging Videl to follow her. ‘A fire is going to trigger a huge explosion and wipe out entire neighborhood,’ the young precog has said. ‘Everyone will die. It will happen any minute.’ Videl had conceded to the desperate plea and followed the Naltorian’s lead, taking care to bring some backup. But now that they were here, it seemed like they weren't needed.

But no sooner had that thought surfaced in Videl's mind that a deafening -BOOM- erupted behind them. She and the Naltorian spun around as a two story house exploded, flames violently clawing up the sky as plumes of black smoke billowed out from every available escape. The screams inside that erupted were almost as loud as the explosion itself. She watched the door for a tense second, but no one emerged.

“They're all trapped in there!” Videl yelled. She grabbed the Naltorian woman's shoulders and guided her to a U.P. officer. “Stay put and stay out of the way,” she commanded, then spun back toward the blaze.

“Get some water over here! Something bigger than those clouds!” To her left was another Legionnaire. “You! We’re going in!”

[kingtyrantranger]

Jason had been up to his armpits in rubble and fires for hours, pulling people out and directing them to safety. Truth be told, he was starting to get worn out. This was much more stressful than the small skirmishes he was used to and it had been going on for far longer than his experiences back home.

He'd been getting a refill on his water tanks, using the U.P.'s hypercompression technology to squeeze in a lot more fluid than was otherwise possible. The tanks were fairly simple. They took in an absurd amount of liquid and and shot out it all out in an adjustable water stream. It was a chance for a breather, the tanks took about five minutes to refill, but at the sound of the explosion he was breaking things off early. At Videl's command, he checked the meter, then slung the tanks back onto his back.

"Right behind you! I've only got about two thirds of a tank, but it should be enough." Not stopping for the explanation, he's already moving for the building, squinting at the smoke. "Sorry, I don't know if we've met. I'm Jason. Amp. Whatever you want. My powers let me sense nearby life forms."

It was all a bit more complicated than that, but now wasn't the time to exchange the fine points. This was the important stuff.

/unabashedly improvises fire fighting lmao

[notwithoutafight]

Videl snatched a fire ax right out of the hands of a U.P. officer who was gawking at the fire. "Don't just stand there!" she snapped at him. Startled and suddenly empty-handed, the officer managed a mumbled 'Yes, ma'am' before rushing off to be useful.

As Jason joined her, Videl snapped down the visor on her helmet and quickly sized him up. He definitely looked capable enough and he clearly wasn't lacking in guts if he was willing to follow her into a burning building without hesitation.

"That's going to come in really handy," she remarked in reference to his power. How about that for good luck? Jason's power would hopefully compensate for the water tank he was carrying, because it didn't look like there'd be enough water to do any good even if it was completely full. But they didn't have the luxury of being picky.

"I'm Videl," she added, pulling up the collar of her shirt to cover her mouth. No time to find an oxygen tank. "Let's go."

The front door had been blown right off its hinges, leaving a convenient opening for entry. And a convenient escape for the raging fire that snarled up the door frame on all sides, making this entrance inaccessible. To the right and left, wooden shudders were closed over windows, trapping smoke, flame, and fearful victims inside. "Put out the door," Videl instructed as she went to the window and readied her ax. "I'll get some ventilation going."

[deafleppard]

[B]

If it looked bad, and sounded bad, then chances were... It was bad.

Earthquakes never really meant anything good, and she could already see that this one in particular had done number on the buildings there. Though she vastly prefered web-swinging her way around, it was just too dangerous with the buildings already looking like they were about ready to collapse at the slight shift in weight. She made her way around, using the flight ring to help as many as she could. Getting debris out of the way, helping others escape from crumbling buildings...

Just, anything she could do to help, really.

In one instance, a crumbling wall actually fell right on top of Gwen.

Oh sure, she was still able to emerge from it, but it didn't change how much she was missing her spider-sense now. That and you know, she'd just had a wall fall on top of her.

Yeah, would definitely be feeling that one in the morning.


[C]

Early warning could only help for so much, as you still have people that weren't able to escape the flood waters. Many remained stranded and in danger of being washed away. Others were simply waiting for someone to rescue them. Gwen would swing her way all around the place, leading the people towards the evac team, or at least higher ground so that she could come back for them.

Really, it felt like there was no end to it all.

Her web shooters were getting a real workout, too, being used to pull people out the waters. Most were still alive and well, but a select few...

Well, at least she was able to recover the body.


[F]

Sometimes, you'd have to save people from themselves. Gwen knew this all too well. While she's keeping watch over the evacuation, she notices something happening just down the street. Letting the evac team know that she'll be right back, she heads towards the commotion and... If you'd thought Spider-Woman was too tired to get mad, you would be so very, very wrong.

"Are you guys serious with this crap?" She confronts the looters, her mask doing a very good job of hiding how utterly pissed she looks right about now. But not how she sounds.

"Everything's practically falling apart out here and you're all busy with this?"

B

[notwithoutafight]

It was hard to be sure if the worst of the quaking had stopped in this area, or if the unsettling little tremors Videl kept feeling would soon turn into unsettling big tremors. Thanks to the flight ring and what she could only attribute to incredible luck, Videl was both keeping pace with Gwen and managing to dodge everything that came her way. Gwen’s dodging wasn’t too shabby either, Videl thought, until they were searching the particularly perilous fourth floor of a building and a wall came right down on top of her.

“Gwen!” Videl wheeled around and rushed over to the pile of dust and rubble that was now Spider Woman. She quickly set to work grabbing chunks of wall and throwing them aside as Gwen worked her way out of the pile, looking dirty and bedraggled. “What the heck happened? You can’t be spacing out in here.”

[deafleppard]

Gwen was young, but sometimes it felt like the weight of the world would just fall down on her.

Actually, that was just a wall, instead.

Cool.

"Nnnnrgh." At least she was still alive and conscious. Perfect! Wouldn't want the other walls out there to be feeling left out and uncollapsed on someone. "I'm fine, perfectly okay." She said from her comfortable position on the floor. "I was just thinking to myself how it would feel if I had something really heavy fall on me. The verdict? Like crap."

[kingtyrantranger]

H

Destruction was way different when it was happening outside of the abandoned warehouse district. Jason never had to deal with the ugly after effects. Sure, he helped clean up on the streets from time to time, but in the rare instance that fighting went down close enough to put people in danger, the emergency relief workers generally had things wrapped up pretty quickly. All he had to do was destroy a giant monster, then head back to the juice bar.

This was all on a different scale.

Jason had been at it all day. He was sweaty, he was exhausted, and he still had work to do. But even heroes had to take a breather now and then. Working for hours on end, it was easy to forget things like food and water. When the United Planet's aid workers pulled him aside and told him how long he'd been going, gently ordering him to take a break, Jason was surprised, but obeyed.

He definitely stood out, what with the red and white costume around the uniforms of the rescue workers. Jason's sitting on a barrel, wet towel laid over his head, half-heartedly chewing a ration bar with one hand while a med tech wraps his other hand in a burn-relieving material. The medico finishes up and moves off, leaving Jason to shift his weight and wince. It felt like he'd been rolled off a cliff in a barrel of boiling water and gravel.

"Almost makes me wish that I was still a mushroom factory."

[deafleppard]

"I'm pretty sure you don't." Gwen said, speaking from her spot up on the nearby wall. As in, she was sticking to the wall, her back and the soles of her feet pressed against the structure. She was Spider-Woman for a good reason, but right now... she was just taking a breather. Grabbing a couple of moments to herself, as well as some food, her mask off so she could actually eat.

Food that was meant to refuel more than anything else, but that was fine. She'd have more than enough time for the unhealthy stuff later, once everybody was safe.

"How're you holding up?"

[kingtyrantranger]

He shook his head.

"I remember the World Series earthquake from a few years ago. We got a good scare from it, but we were pretty far from the worst of it. And I saw the Los Angeles earthquake a week or two ago." He ran his hand through his hair, heedless of the goo on his handwrapping. "Man, those don't even compare to this."

Planetary devastation. And the moon and Detria looming in the sky don't help.

And someone had done this on purpose. That was the worst part. "This whole thing is just messed up."

[onthespot]

D.

Gohan didn't have a lot of experience with this kind of disaster relief. Even back home, with all the things he'd done, he was mostly the one that helped take care of the bigger threat. Not that he hadn't helped people evacuate a danger zone before, after all, that was basically what his time on Namek amounted to. But the eternal dragon had the one to pull everyone out, and Gohan had really only been in charge of transporting two person: Bulma and Piccolo.

This though? This was different. He'd never done anything to this scale before. But he wasn't going to let that stop him.

"Everyone gather together!" Gohan called out as he touched down on the street, addressing the panicking crowd before him. Glancing at the broken street for a moment, before gritting his teeth. The ground was highly unstable, from a combination of both a volcano going off earlier and the earthquakes that came with it. As such, he wasn't sure if he was gonna be able to pull this off, but... well, what choice did he have? "I can get you out of here but you all need to gather where I'm standing and get as close together as possible!"

He gave them a couple of moments to do as they were told, before flying up into the air, and diving down into one of the cracks in the street. It may not have been the most elegant way to get everyone out, but once Gohan had a good grip on the ground above him, he pushed up, slowly carrying the large slab of street up into the air. It was... a lot tougher than he expected it to be, especially given the level of strength he was used to. But at least he was getting a better idea of where his threshold was, and he could come back for more people once he dropped this group off at the threshold ga--

And then the volcano erupted again. Violently.

"... Oh no."


H.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the meteors weren't helping the situation. Everyone was focused on disaster relief, which was great, but all the while the meteors continued pounding the planet and making things worse. It had to stop.

Fortunately, it was just the sort of thing Gohan could help with.

Gohan was flying as high into the air as he could, without breaking atmosphere. Clenching his fist, and swinging it forward into one of the smaller incoming meteors. The meteor cracked and broke under the impact, fragmenting into dozens of smaller parts. Thankfully, those parts were small enough that Gohan could vaporize them with energy blasts.

And so that became the pattern. Punch the meteors with super strength, then shoot the fragments with energy blasts. It was actually working pretty well, all things considered. However, that larger meteor coming down in the distance was definitely saying otherwise...