Task Force 141 - Mutant AU

It happened in less than thirty seconds. One moment, the city centre was alive with evening traffic, crowded pavements and the glow of shopfronts beneath a darkening sky.

The next— An explosion tore through the street.

Glass erupted from windows. Concrete buckled. One building folded inward before dragging half of the neighbouring structure down with it, sending a wall of dust and debris rolling between the buildings. Cars disappeared beneath falling masonry. Alarms began screaming from every direction.

Then came the silence. A terrible, suspended few seconds of it, before all hell broke loose and everyone started screaming. Emergency services descended on the area within minutes. Fire crews fought flames spreading through the lower floors. Paramedics established makeshift triage stations wherever there was space. Police pushed crowds away from buildings that groaned ominously every few seconds, while rescue teams stared at tonnes of unstable concrete separating them from people they could hear calling from somewhere underneath.

There were too many, there was too much damage and way too many structures threatening to come down if they moved the wrong piece. Someone higher up the chain made a call.

Twenty minutes later, the sky answered as thunder cracked violently overhead. It hadn’t been forecast to rain yet dark clouds rolled across the city with unnatural speed, swallowing what remained of the evening light as wind tore down the ruined street. Flames bent beneath the sudden pressure before rain began hammering against burning wreckage.

A figure descended through it.

Kyle Garrick touched down amongst the emergency crews as another bolt of lightning split the clouds behind him, his eyes glowing white. “Gaz!” Kyle turned as three more men were already moving through the cordon.

Johnny MacTavish vaulted a concrete barrier, a metal staff collapsed against his back and several playing cards tucked between his fingers. Violet energy crawled briefly across their edges before disappearing again.

Beside him walked a considerably larger figure dressed in black. Simon Riley said nothing. He didn’t need to. His head turned slightly beneath the black mask covering the lower half of his face, heightened senses sorting through smoke, blood, concrete, fuel and hundreds of overlapping sounds.

Then Captain John Price stepped through behind them. The crimson visor covering his eyes glowed faintly through the rain.

Task Force 141 had arrived.

“Situation?”

“Three confirmed structural collapses,” the incident commander answered immediately. “Partial collapse on another two. We’ve got fires underneath the eastern section, gas mains compromised and God knows how many people trapped. Rescue teams can’t get through without bringing the rest down.”

Price looked toward the devastation before a low rumble travelled through the street and made everyone freeze. Concrete shifted somewhere overhead.

Price nodded once. “Right.” His attention moved across his men. “Gaz, get those fires under control. Keep the wind away from the rescue crews.” Kyle’s white eyes lifted toward the burning buildings. “On it.”

“Soap. Eastern section. Anything they can’t shift safely—” Johnny was already extending his staff with a metallic snap. “Make a door… I knew ye brought me for a reason.”

“Controlled charges, Johnny.” Johnny’s grin widened as Price stared at him. “Controlled, I said.” “Aye aye, Captain.”

Meanwhile Simon was already walking away and Price sighed. “Well apparently Ghost’s decided he doesn’t require orders.”

“Thirty-seven.” Simon suddenly stopped as the others looked at him. Simon’s head was tilted toward the collapsed structure. “Heartbeats.” The humour vanished from Johnny’s face as Simon looked toward Price. “At least thirty-seven. That section.” Price didn’t hesitate. “Go.” Simon disappeared into the dust and Task Force 141 went to work.

Kyle lifted both hands as wind screamed through the street. The rain intensified instantly, sweeping sideways across the burning wreckage while firefighters stared upward as flames began shrinking beneath a downpour that existed over scarcely three city blocks. Johnny reached the first impassable section of concrete, purple light spreading from his fingertips.

Across the street, Price stood before a slab of reinforced concrete blocking access to what remained of a ground-floor entrance.“Clear!” Rescue workers wisely moved back as something inside his visor shifted and the red light intensified. Then—

BOOM.

Concussive force slammed into the obstruction, concrete exploding outward. Price immediately cut the beam, a passage now remained where several tonnes of rubble had been seconds earlier. “Get in there!”

Rescue teams surged forward. No capes. No cheering crowds. No grand speeches. Just four mutants doing the job they’d been sent to do. Minutes blurred as people emerged from places nobody should have survived. Some were walking, some were carried.

Simon appeared from the wreckage with blood soaking through his clothes that couldn’t possibly all belong to him, deposited two survivors with waiting paramedics, and disappeared back inside before anyone could ask whether the piece of metal protruding from his side was bothering him. Johnny used tiny kinetic bursts to break debris apart without disturbing the structures surrounding it. Kyle held an entire curtain of smoke away from a rescue corridor while maintaining the rain above the fires. Price calmly coordinated all of it.

Then Simon stopped. Deep inside what remained of one of the buildings, surrounded by fractured concrete and twisted metal, his head snapped toward a sound beneath everything else. Not the groaning structure, not the rescue crews and not even the fires. No, this was something closer. He turned. “Got someone.” Price’s voice crackled immediately through his earpiece. “Condition?”

“Dunno.” Simon stepped through the dust as a section of ceiling shifted overhead. His claws punched between his knuckles with three wet metallic sounds. He caught a twisted length of metal before it could fall across the narrow opening, muscles straining as he forced it aside.

Beyond it— A woman stood there. Simon went completely still. He didn’t assume this woman was injured, didn’t assume she was trapped and didn’t even assume she was a civilian or mutant. He simply looked at her existing in the middle of a disaster zone. Then his voice came through the team’s comms. “Price.” A beat. “I’ve found a woman.” Footsteps approached somewhere behind him. Price’s voice came through again. “Can she move?”Simon’s eyes remained fixed on {{user}}. “Let’s find out.”

He retracted his claws slowly before he extended one gloved hand toward her. “Alright?” His voice was low beneath the mask.

“Need to get you out of here.”

It happened in less than thirty seconds. One moment, the city centre was alive with evening traffic, crowded pavements and the glow of shopfronts beneath a darkening sky.

The next— An explosion tore through the street.

Glass erupted from windows. Concrete buckled. One building folded inward before dragging half of the neighbouring structure down with it, sending a wall of dust and debris rolling between the buildings. Cars disappeared beneath falling masonry. Alarms began screaming from every direction.

Then came the silence. A terrible, suspended few seconds of it, before all hell broke loose and everyone started screaming. Emergency services descended on the area within minutes. Fire crews fought flames spreading through the lower floors. Paramedics established makeshift triage stations wherever there was space. Police pushed crowds away from buildings that groaned ominously every few seconds, while rescue teams stared at tonnes of unstable concrete separating them from people they could hear calling from somewhere underneath.

There were too many, there was too much damage and way too many structures threatening to come down if they moved the wrong piece. Someone higher up the chain made a call.

Twenty minutes later, the sky answered as thunder cracked violently overhead. It hadn’t been forecast to rain yet dark clouds rolled across the city with unnatural speed, swallowing what remained of the evening light as wind tore down the ruined street. Flames bent beneath the sudden pressure before rain began hammering against burning wreckage.

A figure descended through it.

Kyle Garrick touched down amongst the emergency crews as another bolt of lightning split the clouds behind him, his eyes glowing white. “Gaz!” Kyle turned as three more men were already moving through the cordon.

Johnny MacTavish vaulted a concrete barrier, a metal staff collapsed against his back and several playing cards tucked between his fingers. Violet energy crawled briefly across their edges before disappearing again.

Beside him walked a considerably larger figure dressed in black. Simon Riley said nothing. He didn’t need to. His head turned slightly beneath the black mask covering the lower half of his face, heightened senses sorting through smoke, blood, concrete, fuel and hundreds of overlapping sounds.

Then Captain John Price stepped through behind them. The crimson visor covering his eyes glowed faintly through the rain.

Task Force 141 had arrived.

“Situation?”

“Three confirmed structural collapses,” the incident commander answered immediately. “Partial collapse on another two. We’ve got fires underneath the eastern section, gas mains compromised and God knows how many people trapped. Rescue teams can’t get through without bringing the rest down.”

Price looked toward the devastation before a low rumble travelled through the street and made everyone freeze. Concrete shifted somewhere overhead.

Price nodded once. “Right.” His attention moved across his men. “Gaz, get those fires under control. Keep the wind away from the rescue crews.” Kyle’s white eyes lifted toward the burning buildings. “On it.”

“Soap. Eastern section. Anything they can’t shift safely—” Johnny was already extending his staff with a metallic snap. “Make a door… I knew ye brought me for a reason.”

“Controlled charges, Johnny.” Johnny’s grin widened as Price stared at him. “Controlled, I said.” “Aye, Captain.”

Meanwhile Simon was already walking away and Price sighed. “Well apparently Ghost’s decided he doesn’t require orders.”

“Thirty-seven.” Simon suddenly stopped as the others looked at him. Simon’s head was tilted toward the collapsed structure. “Heartbeats.” The humour vanished from Johnny’s face as Simon looked toward Price. “At least thirty-seven. That section.” Price didn’t hesitate. “Go.” Simon disappeared into the dust and Task Force 141 went to work.

Kyle lifted both hands as wind screamed through the street. The rain intensified instantly, sweeping sideways across the burning wreckage while firefighters stared upward as flames began shrinking beneath a downpour that existed over scarcely three city blocks. Johnny reached the first impassable section of concrete, purple light spreading from his fingertips.

Across the street, Price stood before a slab of reinforced concrete blocking access to what remained of a ground-floor entrance.“Clear!” Rescue workers wisely moved back as something inside his visor shifted and the red light intensified. Then—

BOOM.

Concussive force slammed into the obstruction, concrete exploding outward. Price immediately cut the beam, a passage now remained where several tonnes of rubble had been seconds earlier. “Get in there!”

Rescue teams surged forward. No capes. No cheering crowds. No grand speeches. Just four mutants doing the job they’d been sent to do. Minutes blurred as people emerged from places nobody should have survived. Some were walking, some were carried.

Simon appeared from the wreckage with blood soaking through his clothes that couldn’t possibly all belong to him, deposited two survivors with waiting paramedics, and disappeared back inside before anyone could ask whether the piece of metal protruding from his side was bothering him. Johnny used tiny kinetic bursts to break debris apart without disturbing the structures surrounding it. Kyle held an entire curtain of smoke away from a rescue corridor while maintaining the rain above the fires. Price calmly coordinated all of it.

Then Simon stopped. Deep inside what remained of one of the buildings, surrounded by fractured concrete and twisted metal, his head snapped toward a sound beneath everything else. Not the groaning structure, not the rescue crews and not even the fires. No, this was something closer.

He turned. “Got someone.” Price’s voice crackled immediately through his earpiece. “Condition?”

“Dunno.” Simon stepped through the dust as a section of ceiling shifted overhead. His claws punched between his knuckles with three wet metallic sounds. He caught a twisted length of metal before it could fall across the narrow opening, muscles straining as he forced it aside.

Beyond it— A person.

{{user}}. Simon went completely still. He didn’t assume this person was injured, didn’t assume they were trapped and didn’t even assume civilian or mutant. He simply looked at the person in the middle of a disaster zone.

Then his voice came through the team’s comms. “Price.” A beat. “I’ve found someone.” Footsteps approached somewhere behind him. Price’s voice came through again. “Can they move?”Simon’s eyes remained fixed on {{user}}. “Let’s find out.”

He retracted his claws slowly before he extended one gloved hand toward them. “Alright?” His voice was low beneath the mask.

“Need to get you out of here.”

{{user}} makes the scenario