King Tide: Matt and Angel

[x-daredevil.livejournal.com]

As the tsunami hits, Matt and Angel race against time to get a trapped family out of a building and to safety.



As the tsunami hit, Matt's sonar allowed him a near crystal clear view of his nearby surroundings. The clarity and detail was not something that he could appreciate right now though, soaked through to the bone as he and Angelica tried to rescue a family trapped in a building. "They're this way!" he called to her, half swimming, half wading through the rising water. He could hear their terrified heartbeats through the wall.

"Damn," Angel hissed as the water crashed in. She followed Matt in the air, swooping down as the water continued to rise. She couldn't stop it, but she could at least make the job easier. "Here." She held her hands out, creating a fiery shield in front of them, using it as a wall of sorts to shove the water out of the way. "That should get us moving a bit faster." Time was of the essence right then.

"Can you get us through the wall?" Matt asked. That would be important with all this water, and a challenge. He was pretty sure that using the door knob was not an option right now.

That was going to be an interesting challenge. "I can probably burn a hole through," Angel said with a frown, gritting her teeth. The water would keep the fire from burning out of control - though a little fire was the least of everyone's problem. "Burn a whole big enough to get everyone through, put it out before it gets too bad, use the water to cool the burn hole down so they can get out safely."

"Do it," Matt agreed. He wasn't the senior X-Man there, he wasn't even the senior Red X volunteer, but this made sense to him. "Make it up higher, I'll climb through and boost everyone up," he said, thinking that would be easier than trying to do it in the water. He wasn't worried about the heat.

Angel flew right to the wall, knocking hard against it. "Back up from the wall!" She called as loud as she could - which was quite loud. "We're going to burn a hole through to get you out, keep everyone back!" She waited for the muffled, panicked affirmative that everyone was clear before pressing her hand to the wall about a foot above the water line. The plaster sizzled and smoked as it heated, and she pressed her other hand to the wall as well, containing the fire within a flame shield so it would burn the way she wanted it to.

"Alright, here we go," she said with a measured calm as the hole slowly grew, and she was able to see in. There were two adults and two children, the oldest no more than four, sitting on the adults' shoulders to keep them above the water. "Good, here," Angel said quickly, grabbing the bag off her shoulder and pulling out a blanket (fireproof so she could carry people without burning them). "Here, let me have them, and he's going to come through and help you two out."

The children were handed through the hole, and Angel cradled them both in the blanket as she backed off. "You're up," she told Matt. "Just be careful going through."

Shimmying through the hole with a lot less grace than he'd prefer, Matt ignored the warmth on his hands, "Okay, let's go," he said, taking the woman's hand and boosting her through without hesitation. The water was still climbing.

"Now you," Matt said to the father, cupping his hands together to give him a boost. Thank goodness for his height, though his jeans were chafing in awkward ways.

Once the older man was through and had his kids, Matt pulled himself back through. "We good?" he asked, reaching to take the older daughter so she could ride him piggy back.

"Yeah, let's move. We need to get to higher ground." Angel turned quickly in the air, mind moving fast. Her eyes zeroed in on a nearby tree, taller than all the others. "That tree, come on!"

"I-I can't climb," the woman stuttered, and Angel gave her a kind a smile.

"We'll get you up there, don't worry." Then, to the group at large, "Let's get going, kids."
"Trust us," Matt agreed, "We'll get you up there." Thankfully it wasn't far and Matt handed the little girl to her mother before grabbing the branch and swinging up with ease. Despite being water logged, his gymnastics training made it easy. "Okay, mom first. Grab my wrists and I'll help pull you up."

The woman took Matt's hands to let him pull her up, and Angel took the smaller child from the man so he could climb. She kept the little boy cradled as she floated up to the top. Despite the fear of the whole situation, the little one let out a squeak of joy at actually flying.

While the others climbed, Angel inspected the tree critically. "Try to get up to here," she called back down, waving a hand at the area she was hovering at. It was still high above the water line, and the branches looked stronger. From that point up, they seemed to get weaker, and it would defeat the purpose of getting up high if a branch snapped and someone went plummeting back down.

It took some monkeying about, especially by Matt, to get them all up to the higher branches and still be safe. "We good?" he asked Angel. Despite his familiarity with climbing and acrobatics, trees were not something he climbed all that often. City boy and all that. He had a few times at Xavier's, but not in years. "I think the wind's getting worse!"

"You're good," Angel called back as she handed the boy to his father before landing herself. Matt was right - it was getting windier and she didn't want to be in the air. "Everyone grab on and hold tight!"

Matt wrapped himself around the mother and her daughter, trying to shield them with his body, however much good that did. His hands were beginning to sting and throb, but he paid it no attention. He could handle a little pain and a lot more cold and wet. They were so unprepared for this in their jeans and Red X jackets. Wetsuits would have been better. Or maybe just wrap themselves in plastic. The water stung as it hit his skin, but he continued to hold on, ankles and wrists locked to each other.

Angel kept a close eye on the water as everyone clung on to the tree. Small waves lapped at them, like dogs hopping against the trunk, desperately trying to reach them, but it didn't quite reach. The little boy clung to her, whimpering, and she hugged him tight, trying to offer as much comfort as she could. She jacked up her body temperature a bit when she felt shivering, trying to give him some warmth.

"I think that's the worst of it," she called after a moment. "Everyone okay?"

"Uh huh!" the mother called, holding her daughter close.

Matt paused, listening carefully, something didn't sound right, but he couldn't quite tell what it was. Something with the father, but he had no idea if it was a heart attack, something with his respiration or his powers. "I think we're good," he called cautiously, deciding to keep it quiet for now. Maybe it was nothing? Everyone was exhausted and their hearts pounded with adrenaline and the cold water, this was probably nothing more than what everyone else was going through. "Can we get down?" he asked Angel.

Angel frowned, looking out over the branch. "I don't think so," she called back regretfully. "Water's probably even over your head now." Matt was the tallest in the group. "They'll probably be bringing a boat or through to rescue any survivors, I can fly ahead and let whoever know that we've got people here."

Good thing she could check that sort of thing, that would be a nasty sort of surprise to get if he jumped down, even from a lower branch. "That would be good, this wet can't be good for the kids," he agreed. It wasn't like a telepath would pick him up either, though maybe Angel. Thankfully, Avalon was in a warmer climate, maybe they would begin to dry out a little more. His hands were really beginning to bother him as well, but he still didn't say anything about that. They were starting to throb.

Angel handed over her fireproof blanket for the family to wrap themselves up in -- it was only temporary, but it would keep the warm in the interim. "I'm gonna go let the right people know you're here and see if I can find a first-aid kit." Everyone had a variety of scratches, and she could see that Matt's hands had gotten hurt. "You guys hang tight, I'll be back soon."

And she took off into the air, speeding off.