Casmus Docks

        The vast stretch of the Casmus Docks drives north into the waters
of the Beacon Harbor Bay. All matter of ships are at rest here, everything
from vast cargo haulers, military transports and pleasure craft. Most of
the cargo is hauled via truck down Pikeman Circle Drive to Beacon Harbor's
industrial centers. Traffic flows rather heavily from the heart of the
city to the south. Across the bay, far to the north east, a lighthouse can
be seen out on the Point. Its light pierces the thick fog that often
plagues the bay in the early hours of the morning. A thick band of rubble,
rocks dredged up from the bottom of the bay when the docks were
constructed, forms a barrier between the shipping lanes and the long
stretch of beach to the east.



The snow is nearly blinding, whiteout conditions, but out by the docks
it's not so bad as in the rest of the city. After all, by the water it's
only the snow that's *falling* that the wind can whip about. As it is,
it'd be hard to see the problem if not for the flames.

It's the first accident in the chain that's the bad one. The tanker must
have hit ice: it plowed neatly into a smaller vehicle, a passenger car,
driving it *through* the wall of a building in a crush that warped metal
all out of shape. And whatever the tanker's carrying, it started to leak.
So far, it's only the liquid pooled on the ground that's burning. The
snow's been retarding the spread. But that still means quite a bit of
fire.

The rest of the chain causes problems of its own. The accident and the
weather combined to amplify panic: drivers trying to get clear of the
scene skidded, resulting in pileups on the main access roads. Emergency
response teams are having trouble *reaching* the site, let alone getting
equipment there.

Which is why, in this one particular instance, it was faster for a certain
young woman dressed in black to call a friend for help. Sure, the
buildings along the docks are crowded wall-to-wall. Sure, there's no
normal route through. But if someone can be walked through those walls and
fences - particularly someone effectively immune to fire and whatever
toxins the smoke might be carrying, not to mention strong enough not to
need special equipment - maybe they can give the emergency types a hand.

"You up for this?" Kitty asks Piotr, low-voiced and trying not to shiver.
The usual adrenaline glow is missing from her eyes.

Having just arrived on the scene, he takes it in for a moment, trying to
think about the best plan of action... he could start clearing cars out of
the way to help the emergency crews... he could try plugging the leak in
the tanker with his own body to prevent any further spill... he could even
throw the tanker into the bay as a last resort... "I am ready, Katya. We
have a lot of ground to cover..."

"Yeah." Kitty shakes her head, eyeing the flickering orange glow through
the driving white. "I'll check on the drivers, see if either of them are
-" still alive - "in shape to be moved?" She makes it into a question; if
there's anything Piotr can think of that she might be more useful for,
she'll happily take advice. Rescue operations aren't her area of
expertise.

Colossus thinks this through, shifting into his metal form as he does,
which helps fight the cold a great deal. Plugging the leak would just mean
he can't do anything else until the crews get there, so that's no good.
Perhaps turning the truck over so the leaking stops is a good first goal.
"Da... that is good. I'll have to turn the truck over to stop the leak...
let me know if you cannot move the driver, and I will... figure something
out."

"Right." Kitty doesn't linger longer than that - without metal to help,
and needing freedom of motion that precludes /too/ heavy clothing, about
the best thing she can do to warm herself up is run. Which she does.
Through the snow: wonderful. Up and into the building, dodging the flames
carefully and passing through the wall instead. And into the cab, which -
to put it bluntly - scares the shit out of the driver, really; the shriek
of terror is probably audible well past Colossus' position whether or not
he's moved.

Colossus does follow her, until she zips upwards... he has to go through
the building door to door to make his way through, but he doesn't have to
avoid the fire at all. Kitty gets there first, of course, and the shriek
worries him at first, until he notices the difference between terror and
pain, and realizes that Kitty can scare people rather easily. On his way
to the truck, he takes some time to right a few cars that have
overturned...

It's so good to have helpful people like Piotr around. The truck is
actually lodged about half in and half out of the building - people ought
to pay more attention to their surroundings when building warehouses. This
one was put together cheaply enough not to provide much more resistance
than tissue paper. The car the truck crushed has, for a miracle, not
exploded or burned or anything at all - yet. Despite the gasoline
spattered about. The place is just *aching* for a spark. Which means that
Kitty's re-emergence, helping the truck's driver limp (broken ankle, maybe
broken leg), is with an even paler face. "The guy in the car's still
alive," she tells Piotr. "But he's hurt pretty bad - I don't think it's
safe to move him." And the two vehicles are tangled distressingly
securely. Well. By the standards of people who aren't made of stronger
metal than either car or truck.

Colossus nods to her... at least the truck driver is getting out of harm's
way. He glances at the mangle of metal and decides the smartest thing to
do will be to remove the actual TANK portion of the truck that's doing
most of the hazmat leaking. He goes about tearing apart the connections
while making sure he doesn't jostle the wreckage with the injured man too
much... which is hard to do, but Piotr's got a good handle on finesse with
his strength. With a quick upward wrench, the tank is up and free, and the
big metal man hoists it upwards and twists it so the leak side is facing
up... and he proceeds to carry the giant tank out of the building, holding
it over the other demolished cars as he carries it away, finding some room
to set it down gently and safely, away from the devastation, which takes
him a while to do, considering there's SO MUCH DEVASTATION...

Kitty flashes a bright, relieved grin at the steel giant's choice of
solutions - that one hadn't actually occurred to her, and it's less risky
and easier than any of the ones that had. The truck driver, on the other
hand, simply stares, agape. Did his ankle hurt? Were there fractures? He's
... managed to forget all about them for the moment. "C'mon," Kitty says
after a moment, nudging the guy lightly back into limping motion. "We need
to get upwind of this." Which means walking into the teeth of the storm.
Wonderful.

Flames flicker brightly about Piotr's feet and calves, but ... really.
Even if he weren't being careful, they couldn't do much more than singe
his clothing. They're simply not hot enough to do *him* any damage, and
with the blizzard winds blowing between them and the tank he holds,
they're not about to make the thing explode, either. All it takes is for
him to get away from the stalled and damaged cars: there's no traffic
coming *into* this particular area of the docks right now, so there's more
room than there might normally be. And lots of snow to cushion the tank
when he sets it down.

It's a careful balancing act that Colossus has to do, since it's an oblong
tank that doesn't lend itself to being lifted by one man very cleanly. He
has to readjust his hold on the thing several times before he finally
reaches the drop-off point, couching it gently in the snow and making sure
it doesn't roll. As he turns to look back at the rest of the mayhem, he
doesn't even notice the char-marks on his pants. He ponders the next
phase... and notices that going out to where the accident stops also puts
him right near where the emergency crews are trying to get IN. He pauses a
moment to worry about what brandishing his power like this in public will
draw to him, but it's only a momentary concern. He approaches the
ambulance with his hands in the air, hoping not to panic them. "There is a
badly injured man at the scene of the accident... and I can get you there
quickly if you trust me..." The ambulance goes first... the hazmat team
gets the next trip...

There's a moment of dead silence as Colossus is stared at. Then the
youngest of the paramedics on the scene asks one of his seniors, shaky
voice perhaps a little louder than he'd intended, "... is that the
Terminator?"

The older man eyes him for a moment. "Look, I know you only moved here six
months ago, but - ahhh, nevermind." He draws a deeper breath and turns to
Colossus, lifting a hand to brush hair and snow out of his face. "If you
can get us past this mess, that's fine by me." Whatever you are. Ahem.

Colossus nods to them, offering a slight smirk for their confusion.
"Please buckle your safety belts. I will do my best to minimize the
bumpiness of the ride..." With that, he kneels down and gently reaches his
hands beneath the ambulance, getting enough leverage to hoist it up on one
side, then planting a hand square at the center to lift it up evenly,
keeping it right-side up as best he can as he carries it past the debris
and wreckage. As he brings it forth, he starts to worry that perhaps the
hazmat team should have gone first, to make it safer to operate... but
he's going by Kitty's tone of voice that the man is in need of immediate
help if he's going to live. His caution slows him down a bit, as he
doesn't want to disturb any of the equipment they'll need...

There is not one sound from the ambulance's passengers. Not one. Possibly
because the breathed "Oh. My. God." simply isn't loud enough to be audible
outside it.

Without fresh fuel, the fire's starting to die down - which is good news
for the emergency crews, anyhow. No cooking the ambulance. And the
ambulance is considerably smaller than the tank was. Much easier to find
space for.

Colossus places the ambulance down gently, away from the puddle, and
before darting back to get the hazmat team... he takes a look around,
trying to find Katya... wishing he had the handy radio set-up to
communicate with. He has to trust she's okay, though... the snow makes her
hard to see... no time, though. He quickly heads back to the hazmat
truck... and hopefully they won't be suspicious either... but he
approaches hands-in-the-air just in case.

Hard to see, but not impossible. Katya's a dark outline against the snow
some distance away, crouched down in the lee of a building upwind from the
fire. And where Colossus doesn't have the radio set-up ... well, the
hazmat team does, and has therefore assurance that the ambulance and its
crew /are/ in one piece. By the time *that* truck's brought back (and if
the snow weren't so thick, think of the crowd that show would be
getting!), too, the ambulance crew are clustered around the wreckage of
the truck and car, in the company of a certain slight young woman dressed
in black. Kitty's gesturing, talking quickly with the EMTs. The older one
who gave Colossus the go-ahead before looks up and waves to the steel
Russian, beckoning him over with a sort of wary, half-frightened urgency.

The hazmat truck is a bit more unwieldy than the ambulance, not to mention
the fact that it's a freakin' HAZMAT truck, so he's extraordinarily
careful in transporting it, but he gets it there safely... oddly not
making sound - no grunts of exertion, no sighs of release - the only real
indication that he's exerting some serious strength is the occasional
grimace on his face during the awkward moments. But he rises up to his
glemaing, snow-glistened height and catches sight of Kitty, smiling
slightly in relief before catching the waves... and he strides quickly
over to their position. "How bad is it?" he asks, warily... looking to
Kitty for some sense of the situation...

... Colossus straightening up to his full height. That is never, ever
going to cease to be an impressive sight. Behind him, the hazmat team
manages to overcome being stunned and get into action ... but it takes
both effort and training.

"We managed to get the worst of the bleeding stopped," Kitty answers Piotr
quickly, "but /I/ can't move him, there're neck injuries, and there's no
way for them to get in to work."

"Can you fix that for us?" the older paramedic asks, straightforward.
There /is/ equipment to cut into and through the car. But ... sometimes
individuals on-site are faster.

Colossus nods to them. "I shall try..." he says, in his characteristic
needless formality. He then glances to Kitty for a moment. "Katya... can
you start to check on all the other overturned cars and make an assessment
as to who needs the most urgent medical attention?" With that, he starts
an assessment of his own... looking over the vehicle quickly to figure out
just exactly where he needs to rend the metal in order to allow them
access without jostling the victim dangerously. One hand braces the bulk
of the vehicle to keep it from excess movement... and the other hand
crunches carefully over the tattered rooftop and tears it free as if it
were tissue paper... "Will this do?" he asks, setting the roof aside...

The experienced one nods, only looking *slightly* poleaxed, and his "...
uh - yes. Thank you," is voiced over a flurry of motion. It's the young
one who comes close to fainting on the spot. Kitty'd already answered
Piotr's request with, "On it," and headed out by phasing through the
intervening wall.

Colossus offers a slight smile to the uneasy youngster. "There's nothing
to fear... Colossus is here." He turns away to head out of the building,
rolling his pupilless eyes at himself for saying that - something even HE
recognizes as corny... but really, how often does a guy get a chance to
say something like that? As the Tin Man emerges from the hole ripped in
the building, he scouts around for Katya for a moment... then picks up one
car very gently, the driver of which has already scrambled out, and sets
it down right-side up, quickly surveying the area to better figure out
where he should go first..

The usual city teams - ambulance, towing, fire department - have been at
work in the interim; though there are still a few cars at skewed, awkward
angles, the actual /people/ have been cleared out. For the most part.
Kitty's just stepped out of one of the cars with an exception: a car seat
with its occupant still strapped more or less safely in. Her expression is
furious.

Colossus narrows his eyes a bit as Kitty emerges, and something about that
expression suddenly makes him think twice about giving out his name - even
a codename - like that. Too late now, though... business at hand. "What is
the problem?" he quickly asks, heading over to the car she's inspecting.

His codename, a version of her real name... which has, fortunately,
nothing whatsoever to do with her legal name. Patricia. Hee hee. But
that's not what Kitty's angry over. She nods toward the car's back seat.
"There's a baby in there. No driver. Somebody just went off and /left/ the
kid." Usually, times like these, Kitty's riding a high from the moment
they actually see the situation. This time? This is the first expression
she's had that's more involved than determination.

Colossus would sigh if he breathed in this form, but he goes through the
body language of one anyway, shaking his head. "Is the child alive?" He
looks back toward the medical crew, hoping there's at least one of them
not immediately occupied that he can wave over and can come and check the
baby out... and he cannot help but spare a few passing thoughts towards
his baby sister...

"Oh, yeah. Crying its eyes out - the kid's got to be freezing, and
scared." And possibly hurt, but Kitty's not letting herself think about
that part. The ambulance crews are occupied; some of the firemen, who're
often trained in the same direction, aren't. Kitty continues, "I think the
rest of this is pretty much under control, I couldn't find anybody else
left behind..." Without much thinking about it, she rests one of her much
smaller and more fragile hands against his. It's entirely possible she's
thinking about Illyana, too.

Colossus breathes a slight sigh of relief at the fact that the child is at
least alive... although life with a parent that would abandon them like
that... although it could have been a babysitter or perhaps some other
explanation... always hope for the best. His large, gleaming hand wraps
around hers with a surprising gentleness as he waves over a couple of
firemen... pushing thoughts of Illyana away as best he can for the
moment... not even doing the 'guh, she's touching me' routine he's managed
to perfect. Maybe he's doing better on that score. "I... suppose I should
right some of those remaining cars..."

"They've got tow trucks," Kitty says half-uncertainly. "Maybe we ought to
get out of here before the snow clears up enough to let photographers get
a good picture." On the other hand, there's an ambulance that would
probably now like very much to get out. The firemen that come over -
surprising how a gigantic form composed mainly of metallic muscle can
compel attention - don't have much trouble getting into the (unlocked)
car, and the child seat is removed entire for attention, a silvery thermal
blanket laid over it to keep the wind off its inhabitant.

Colossus nods to her. "That is a wise choice as well... but let me tend to
one more thing and we will be on our way..." He nods to the ambulance
blokes that give him a wordless head-gesture, and after they get in and
settle in tight, he lifts the vehicle up once again, carrying it
cautiously toward the road it came in from, and it takes him a bit of time
to do, but once he's there, he sets it down gently. "Good luck, sirs..."
he offers to them, before turning around and gesturing a 'let's get out of
here' head bob toward a snowed-in section of road... into which he just
wades as if there was nothing to impede him at all...

Well. There /isn't/ anything to impede /him/ in that snow. Kitty trails
after Piotr, and she's finally getting something like a grin. Not just
impressed, but pleased; it's not just that he was carrying a freaking
ambulance, it's that he was being polite about it. Phased, the snow
doesn't get in her way much either - she hurries to catch up with him.
Moving faster keeps her warmer. Even if it makes her tired a /lot/ faster,
too.

Colossus smiles a little to himself, too, as he doesn't get to really work
out his metal form that often... and this human snowplow thing is kinda
fun. "Are you all right, Katya?" he asks, concerned as she catches up with
him. "We will stop at the nearest place to warm up, if you like..." He
occasionally swoops a big arm around to cover their tracks...

Avalanches of snow! Kitty flashes Piotr a quick grin, shivering. "'M okay.
For a little while longer. Someplace we can find that won't scream 'hi,
we're hiding from the cameras'..." Speaking of which, she rubs pointlessly
at the dark smudges on her face with the back of a gloved hand.

Colossus shakes his head. "I think we will be okay. I put aside a set of
different clothes to change into... my 'work' outfit is a little
conspicuous in this sense. I have a coat you can wear as well... we will
be there shortly." He worries as he looks her over - the first time he's
had a chance to for a while. "You look tired, Katya..."

"I /am/ tired," Kitty admits reluctantly. "It's been a long few weeks."
She reaches over and mock-pats at his arm - well, other than that her hand
goes through his metal skin, it really is a pat. "But things are getting
back to normal, more or less. Back down to the usual background amount of
weirdness rather than getting it delivered straight to our door. I tell
you, I am /never/ running a knowledge base for a group I can't give orders
to again."

Colossus tries to pick up his pace a bit, since tired and cold weather are
a breeding ground for illness if you're not from Siberia... or made of
steel. "I... do not know what your situation was, but it seems like she
who controls the knowledge should control the group, da?" He turns a
street corner and heads toward an alley way...

"Well. If there's any kind of /organization/ going on, yeah. This was more
like herding cats." If Colossus picks up his pace, that leaves Kitty
nearly jogging. Not that she's arguing about the sense of warmth that
creates. "Pretty crazy. Some of it's still going on, a little bit, but -
I'm /not/ putting information together on that one anymore. It's Jack's
problem."

Colossus isn't entirely sure what she's talking about... but he never is
when she starts going off on happenings within her little group. It's
interesting nonetheless, though. He finally makes his way to the alleyway
that's outside a little pub, and the snow is much lesser here. He slinks
as best a giant metallic man can slink toward the middle of the alley and
uncovers a plastic bag closed and wrapped tightly, shifting back to his
human form and fishing around for the clothing... coat first for Kitty.
"Here you go... I hope none of this weirdness put you in serious
danger..." he says, naively.

It's okay. Kitty's not sure what she's talking about, either. That's why
she's abdicating responsibility for it. "Not too bad," she replies, taking
the coat and huddling promptly within it. "Oooh, /warmth/. Thanks /so/
much - no, it wasn't too bad. One of the people involved was a healer, and
another one made me some body armour, so it just got messy, not all that
actually dangerous." By her standards. In retrospect. "/So/ glad it's
over, though. We've got a backlog of things that need dealing with."