jigokulogs | September mini-event/catchall

[ Croix had been in the service tunnels when the bomb went off, doing her work as part of her employment with the Kappa. From her end, she had no idea what had happened; simply a rumbling and then crashing as the explosion caused the foundation of the building to collapse.

Croix immediately came running, of course. By the time she arrived, however, the tunnel had filled with debris and running water from the broken pipes. Gritting her teeth, she looked up and saw part of the surface had crumbled away, exposing the tunnel to the open air. If she wanted to get out, she would have to... ]

Hey! I'm down here! Can anyone hear me?!

[Denied access to the primary bomb site, Azula has opted to at least try to make herself useful in the surrounding environment. There's so much noise and activity, and she's so focused on putting out fires and avoiding building collapses, that she thinks she must have imagined that voice at first.

Then she sees the cracked, crumbling chunk of pavement, and she figures she ought to at least check. It's just as well that she did, because that is clearly a person down there, in the tunnels below the street- far more extensive than she'd realized, she'll have to keep that in mind. Wait, wasn't that-

Whatever, it isn't important. She has a job to do.]

Are you injured?

[ Croix's eyes widened as she heard the voice; was this some sort of karmic retribution for her? Either way, she'd have to just run with it. ]

I'm fine, but there's a lot of smoke and water down here! The way up out of the tunnels is blocked as well!

[She stares down at the gap. It was small. Very small. Azula herself would be hard-pressed to squeeze through it, and she seemed to recall Croix being a fair bit taller and broader. That could be an issue.

She backs out of view of the hole, looking around for some other means of access, or even a line she could throw, but she can still be heard calling down to Croix]

How blocked is 'blocked?' Could it be cleared?

Uh.

[ Croix frowns as she looks for the exit again, and winces as she sees all the rubble blocking it. ]

It'd require far more strength than I have available to me, I'm afraid.

[Not something she could hop down and help to clear herself, then, in all likelihood. Wonderful. And for all the wreckage and debris that had been knocked loose out here, there was no rope, no cable, nothing she throw down for her to climb up. The hole would need to be widened, even if there were.

Tch. Of course this was going to be difficult. She reappears at the opening.]

You may want to stand back.

[That, and a brief moment where she stands straight and takes a deep breath, are all the warning Croix is going to get before Azula suddenly jumps into a focused heel-kick, bringing her foot down onto the concrete in an attempt to crack it open further.

It cracks and crumbles open, but- well, the cracks splinter out further than she thought. Ah. Well, best not to do too much more of that, she's not trying to bring concrete down on her head. She'd have to hope that was wide enough. Next idea, then.]

[ Croix did what she was told, and stepped back, while keeping an eye on the hole in the ground. When it started to crack and widen, she jumped back, and stared upward, jaw hanging open. ]

Well done...I think I may be able to get through! However, I have no way of climbing up...

[She's all-too-aware of that, and the reminder doesn't improve her mood. It's too far down for her to simply reach down for her- she had no idea how physically agile Croix was, but that jump would be challenging even for Azula without the help of fire jets or some sort of wall to work with. Croix had neither.

Frustrating.

Alright. There was nothing flexible and sturdy enough to use for a line. Having her try to to pile rubble would require moving enough material that it would risk further collapse. The water fill could eventually carry her to the surface, but it would take time, but who knew what fumes or smoke could flow down in the meantime and suffocate her?

Very frustrating.

Of course, there was also rubble on the surface. Maybe-]

Don't just throw up your hands, keep looking.

[And with that stunningly unhelpful advice, she's going to head off and do the same. Surely there's something she can get down there.]

[ Keep looking? What does Azula expect her to find, down here? The water is almost all the way up to her knees, and that's without contending with the smoke that she's doing her best to ignore.

But try she does, and her efforts are rewarded in the form of a long metal rod that seems like it just might...yes, it reaches the top! Hopefully Azula returns soon, because she'll need assistance holding the pole steady so she can clime up it. ]

[Rebar had been her next idea as well, but unfortunately, the exposed sections she was finding wouldn't do. Too short. Too little exposed. Too twisted. Too heavily damaged. Ugh, this was infuriating.

Then she hears something scraping and scratching against the hole behind her, glances back, and sees-

Ah. She hadn't actually expected her to find anything. Well, whatever, she's not going to look a gift ostrich-horse in the mouth. She goes over to the hole and peers at the length of metal- not quite as solid as she'd hope, but it would have to do, so she kneels beside the gap and grasps the metal with both hands.]

I've got it, come on.

[Sorry, Croix, apparently she only has two settings and those settings are 'smug' (rude) and 'bossy' (rude).]

Right...

[ Croix takes a moment to grab on securely...and she does her best to shimmy up the pole. Never mind her overall lack of physical prowess, this is her life on the line. She grits her teeth, and does her best to climb..she's making it! She's...slipping down the pole from her wet pants... ]

Argh, dammit!

[There's a moment when Azula just stares at the display. She contemplates getting nasty, but-

Well, no. At least she tried. At least she actually found something. Azula can restrain the urge to say anything nasty, even if the look she's giving Croix could melt glass. Deep breaths. Deeeeep breaths.]

Just- let me see it.

[Without waiting for a response, she stands and tugs the rod out of Croix's hands, pulling it up and out of the hole. Holding one end of the rod at arm's length, she extends the fingers of her other hand and produces a small, intensely bright jet of blue flame, holding it to the metal to heat it up, offering no explanation of what she's trying to do or why.]

[ Croix's eyes widen, but she gives no protest. Instead, she simply eyes what Azula is doing, and wonders how exactly she's doing that. ]

[It takes a while, but eventually, once the metal is red-hot, she awkwardly turns it around to press the heated end against the ground and forcibly bend it, gritting her teeth from the effort.

Once she's managed to bend it, she slowly lowers it down the hole, bent end first, plunging it into the rising water in the tunnel to quickly cool it.

She's no engineer or metalworker, but hopefully it'll hold long enough for her to just drag Croix to the top.]

Stand on it and hold on.

[ Croix saw what Azula was driving at, and immediately stepped on once she was sure the rod had cooled enough. ]

I'm ready!

[It was a good thing she was strong, because this was going to be... awkward.

She has to strain a little- not only was she lifting a full human's weight, but the full length of metal on top of it. And one of her arms had only just recovered from a major injury.

Ah, timing.

Still, she's able to reach down and hoist the rod upward with its passenger, hand over hand, until Croix was close enough for Azula to simply reach down and seize her wrist and bodily haul her up and out of the hole, dragging her onto the ground beside her before promptly collapsing back to the pavement herself.]

You're... welcome.

[Yeah, that definitely winded her.]

[ Croix found herself grunting as she landed face down on the ground, though thankfully nothing there was injured yet. With a heavy wheeze, she pushed herself up and turned to Azula. ]

Thank you. Now...are you alright?

[It seems to take her a few moments to realize the question is aimed at her, and meant to actually be responded to.

Once she does, she shifts upright again, hastily assembling her composure, even stilling her breathing so she wouldn't broadcast being so heavily winded.]

I'm not the one who was caught in a tunnel collapse, I'd say I'm doing fine.

[There. That sounded more like her usual self.]

[ ...ah. That's almost a bit too comforting, even though Croix barely knows her.

Thus, she sighs and sits back, looking up at the sky and doing her best to ignore the chaos happening around them. ]

I'm surprised you helped me at all, to be frank.

[That elicits a smirk.]

As amusing as it would be to leave you to drown for the crime of mildly inconveniencing me, I felt it would be poorly received by the Department.

[Not that they'd have any particular way of knowing, but still.]

[ Amusing. Heh. Dark. ]

Yes, well, I'm glad you prioritized duty over your base instincts.

[Something about the phrase 'base instincts' sours her mood- maybe the implication that leaving somebody to die for a petty slight is her natural, innate tendency. Maybe the idea that she's right. The thought settles somewhere uncomfortably in her gut, and she tries her best to ignore it, instead climbing to her feet.]

What were you doing down there, anyway?

[ Croix does her best to stand up, and succeeds, though she's a bit shaky. ]

I was working in the maintenance tunnels. I heard the rumble and came to investigate, only to become trapped.

[It sounds reasonable- it doesn't strike her as a lie, anyway.]

And I assume you didn't see anything useful, either.

[It's not actually meant as accusatory as it sounds, but she's still a little frustrated that she can't get inside to investigate and apparently that's Croix's problem now.]

September mini-event/catchall

We Know Who You Are [part one] - OTA

Let me know if anything needs to be adjusted

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