//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Fire Rescue // Story: Superlad // by DanishDash //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash was enjoying the movie. The action scenes were amazing, the stunts awesome, and the story exciting. Still, not as exciting as a Daring Do movie, but still very good. Rarity was of course mostly interested in the romance, which she had to admit was very, uhm, interesting, but she'd never admit that to any of her friends. The movie was well within its second act when suddenly the whole room shook and a large bang could be heard, shocking everybody inside. "What was that?" Sunset asked as the movie projector stopped and the fire alarm suddenly started. The whole building was groaning, like the metal itself was bending and the concrete was cracking. "We gotta get out of here!!" Pinkie screamed and like so many others in the theater all stood up to run for the emergency exits. A crowd quickly built up there, but to their alarm they couldn't get out. The doors wouldn't budge! "What are we going to do?!" Fluttershy asked in a slight panic. "The doors!" Applejack called, pointing to the ones they came in through.  If they could get through those they could get to another emergency exit, or at least that was the hope.  Others had the same idea, as the theater started to fill with smoke a panic started and the crowd started to move towards the doors all at once. The crowd was thick pushing one another to get out, the group were stuck in the middle of it and were doing their best not to get separated. "Girls!" Fluttershy called in a panic, making them all stop and try to find her, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Fluttershy! Where are you!" Rainbow Dash called, walking against the stream of people while the others were stuck where they were. Rainbow kept moving, she looked back once to find her friends trying to get to her, but they were just creating a blockage. "No, go ahead! We'll catch up!" She called. They didn't look too happy about leaving their friends, but she was right. Standing around in the hallway would only slow everything down, and so they moved, Applejack though needed to be pulled by Sunset.  Turning around, Rainbow continued to push forward, but the crowd was thinning out so she made more progress. As the last man passed her she spotted Fluttershy on the floor next to Rarity. Rarity seemed to be in pain as she held a hand to her ankle while Fluttershy tried to help her. With tears in her eyes she looked up at Rainbow. "She fell, n-no one stopped to help.." Rainbow gritted her teeth, they just left them? "Don't worry, I'll help you get out Rarity, Fluttershy, help me out." "O-okay." Both girls went on each side of Rarity and helped her to stand. She winced in pain, but otherwise did not complain as she knew they had bigger troubles than her ankle. The smoke was getting thicker, the hallway hotter and they all knew they needed to hurry, already they could hear the sirens outside. "Come on!"  Rainbow coughed, trying to shield her eyes and mouth the best she could, but it hardly helped. Together, they managed to navigate the hallways and get into the main hall, the sight that met them was terrifying. The whole mall was an unrecognizable mess of broken pillars, shattered windows, collapsed walkways and fire, lots of fire. None of them could understand what could have happened, was it an attack of some kind? Fluttershy was so terrified she froze up. "Fluttershy, we need to get moving!" Rarity told her, trying to get her friend's attention over the noise. Even Rainbow Dash was shocked beyond belief, what the hell had happened? She wasn't even sure which way to go, she recognized nothing, there was smoke, destruction and a blazing heat, all of it was almost too much, but she needed to push on. If they could just find one exit, emergency or otherwise, then they would be safe. Forcing her fears down she led the girls forward, Fluttershy was moving slow, afraid of everything around her, which was understandable enough. As they walked Rainbow started to get an idea of the layout again. They just needed to pass one more walkway and they were out! Damn! One of said walkways had collapsed a few meters from the exit, creating a wall of fire and debris. Behind them was not much better, there was no way they could get through that mess again, it had only gotten worse, as if the fire itself had lured them into a trap like a hungry predator. They were trapped! "But our friends are still in there!" Applejack argued with the officer trying to hold them back. "I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous for any of you to go in there. Let the firemen do their job!" He ordered with all the authority he could. Applejack knew he was right, so did Sunset and Pinkie. None of them could do anything from out here, they'd likely get killed before they ever got a chance to even find them in the first place. Still, what else were they supposed to do? They couldn't just leave and go to the hospital, they simply refused to do so before they knew if their friends were okay. They couldn't go in there either, it was too dangerous and they would only create more problems than they would solve. So here they stood, desperate and with tears in their eyes as they knew somewhere in that inferno were their friends. They had no idea if they were still alive, or even they had died, either by falling debris or smoke inhalation. None of them were sure which thought was worse. "Look, up in the sky!" Someone yelled and they turned around to look up. Something was coming towards them, whatever it was it was fast.  "It's a plane!" "It's.." Applejack squinted her eyes, then as it got closer her eyes widened. "It's a man.." "What?!" Sunset and Pinkie exclaimed looking shocked, but as they looked up they could see she was right. It was hard to see, but there was no doubt about it, they could see the arms and legs, it had to be a person. "I don't believe it.." Applejack said in disbelief, Rainbow was right. Then a thought struck her, if this person was real, if he could do what Rainbow suggested and more, then he might be able to save their friends! She started waving. "HEY! THERE'S PEOPLE INSIDE! HELP! PLEASE!!" Getting the idea Sunset and Pinkie started doing the same. The officer was too shocked to really notice what they were doing. Anon, floated in the air far above the mall. He could hear Applejack and her friends and he understood instantly. "Alright Anon, you can do this, just focus.." He looked to the mall, focusing his eyes and his mind trying to see if he could find anyone alive in there. At times it worked, but it was like he kept going in and out of his x-ray vision. Gritting his teeth he cursed at himself, demanding his eyes to do as he wanted. To his relief the image became clear, he could see through the walls, all the way down to the basement. Working quickly he moved from room to room, floor to floor. His eyes moved quickly, making sure he did not miss anyone. It didn't take him long to spot Rainbow, Fluttershy and Rarity. They were trapped! Surrounded by debris and fire, coughing as they tried to shelter themselves from the flames. They were still alive, but not for much longer if he didn't figure out a way to get them out, and fast! He knew he could use his breath to blow on the flames, but he wasn't strong enough to make it cool enough to kill the flames. No, if anything he would just give it more oxygen. There wasn't anything he could do for this structure, it was finished. The only thing he could do was to save the girls and get out of there before the building itself collapsed. His eyes moved over the building, he seemed to remember there was a big skylight right in the center of the mall. Yes! There it was! Moving quickly he flew towards and through a large opening. Applejack, Sunset and Pinkie Pie could do nothing more now than wait, wait and prey. "Applejack!" Someone called behind them, and the girls turned around to see a panicked and exhausted Twilight running towards them "Twilight!" The girls ran to her and they all embraced. "Oh thank goodness you're okay, I thought you, wait.. Where are the others?" They all gave her a look of sorrow and worry, Twilight knew instantly that they were the only ones who had made it out. She watched the extent of the damage, not sure if she believed what she saw. Her friends were in there and their only hope of their rescue rested solely on Anon. She bit her lower lip, watching the mall quickly turn into a ruin and whispered. "Please Anon, save them..." Rainbow coughed into her sleeve, trying her best to keep her airways clear, but the smoke was thick and the flames were hot. She did her best to protect her friends, but her energy was quickly vanishing. Fluttershy and Rarity were curled up, trying to protect themselves as much as they could. It would not save them, it would probably only buy them a few seconds at the most, but it was human instinct. They were all getting tired, soon Rainbow Dash imagined they would all drift off. A somber thought crossed her mind, it would be better for them to sleep in because of the fire than to burn alive. The thought was horrible, but Rainbow would rather die painless, she wished the same for her friends. They were helpless, trapped, and Rainbow could see no way for her to save them from the fate that awaited them. Life had seemed to have had endless possibilities for them, and now it was all ending far too soon than she would have liked. The building gave another groan, like the building itself was giving up the fight to stay up. Above them she could see something that caused her eyes to widen in alarm. Whether it was another walkway or the ceiling itself she did not know, but whatever it was it  was coming crashing down towards them. She and the other girls screamed and huddled together as if to form a human shield. All closed their eyes tightly, waiting for the incoming crash. But it never came. It took a few seconds before they dared opening their eyes to see what had happened, and what they saw filled them with new energy and switched on their minds as their eyes widened in disbelief. Standing next to them was a young man, his arms above him, holding up a concrete pat, keeping it from falling on them. "No way.." Was the only thing Rainbow Dash managed to utter while the others were completely speechless. The girls watched as the young man kept the platform above his head, gritting his teeth as he held it in place. Anon felt his eyes moving back and forth, trying to find the safest way of disposing it. He looked to the girls, then the way he had come from. He was sure he could get them out safely if he went about it the right way. He could throw the platform at the entrance behind him, creating a path among the rubble, but there was a chance he would hit the firemen and the police that were standing outside. The only way was to go to the center and fly out! "Listen to me!" He said, making his voice more serious and just a tad deeper than his normal speaking voice. "I will throw the platform over us and create a path, you three just follow me and stay close. Got it?" Fluttershy was too scared to answer, Rainbow was still shocked, so it was Rarity who spoke up. "My ankle, I think I have twisted it!" Even Anon could see she was doing her best to remain calm, even though she was terrified and in pain. He was impressed, but thankfully it would not be an issue. "I'll carry you, just try to keep yourself close to me to avoid any random flames, okay?" Rarity nodded a little, still in awe of the young man who kept God knows how many tons above his head. Rainbow comes to her senses and nods as well. "Fluttershy, you stick to me, okay?" She asks the girl, and she doesn't react at first. "Fluttershy!" She jumped a little and then nodded. "Y-yeah! Please, let's get out!" Anon nodded and took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." With a careful inner calculated throw he tossed the platform across the hall, making sure not to toss it so far it was out of reach, or going to destroy more and make something else collapse faster than it should. The result was as he wanted. The large platform formed a sort of bridge over the debris that blocked them from going farther into the mall. Bending over he picked up Rarity, making sure to be careful with her.  "Oh my!"  She was a little startled by how easy it was for him to pick her up, but then again after seeing him toss concrete like it was nothing she probably shouldn't have been surprised at all. Slowly, yet with a certain urgency, they started to move across the concrete bridge he had created, while avoiding the flames the best they could. Rainbow and Fluttershy followed closely behind, holding hands to make sure they did not get separated from each other. With one hand Rainbow held onto Anon's red cape, and with the other she held onto Fluttershy. With Anon leading them he made sure to clear any obstacle that might stand in their way, making the trip as easy as possible for those he tried to protect. Despite the danger they were in, Rarity and Rainbow could not help but notice how he didn't seem bothered by neither the smoke or the flames. He never flinched like they did whenever a flame got close, he never coughed in the thick smoke, he simply walked through it with little to no effort at all. Suddenly he stopped, and with a quick glance around, not to mention a little imagination, Rarity deduced they were in the center of the mall, right below the great skylight. A simple glance up confirmed what she knew as she saw the evening sky above them. "Now what?" Rainbow asked, her voice shaking slightly as she tried to keep herself calm. Anon turned, then gestured for Fluttershy to come closer. She did so, only because she knew he was trying to save them and this was probably their best option. "I'm going to fly you guys out of here!" He said, speaking loudly so they could hear him clearly over the noise around them. "Flutters-eh, I mean miss, I'll carry you and her in my arms." He said, nodding towards Rarity. "You." He said pointedly at Rainbow Dash. "You look more physically fit, do you think if I let you on my back that you can hold on?" This was crazy, did he really expect to fly out of here? If this was any other scenario Rainbow would have called him crazy, but taking the circumstances into account she couldn't really afford to refuse. "Sure, I can hold on, just get my friends out."  It was the noble thing to say, but Anon could see she was terrified of being left behind. "Hey." He said, getting their attention. "We will all make it out, okay? Now you, come over here." "EEP!" Fluttershy was suddenly taking into his arms, her rear end sitting on his arm like it was a bench, her arms on his shoulder. Rarity was sitting the same way, waiting to grab onto something before after Rainbow had come up. Getting down on one knee, Anon allowed Rainbow easier access to his back. She quickly got on, moving her arms around his neck which was quickly followed by Fluttershy and Rarity's. Giving them a moment to get as comfortable and secure as they were going to get, he looked up, making sure everything was clear. "Hold on tight!" Anon said as a final warning. He felt them squeeze him a little tighter, checking his own balance one final time, he took a deep breath, calmed his heart rate and then suddenly leaped up into the smoky air! All three girls let out screams and their grips suddenly became a lot tighter. All of them looked as the floor suddenly seemed to vanish beneath them and the sky above them came closer. Anon made sure not to go so fast that he would lose balance and crash, not to mention Rainbow sliding off, but at the same time he needed to get them out of here and to the ambulances parked outside. Finally they passed the skylight and reached the open air, Anon moved them away from the smoke and the girls could finally take in the fresh evening air. The cool air felt good as they flew across the roof and towards the parking lot, the people watching all gasped and pointed to them. None of them could believe their eyes as Anon made his way down towards the officers and the EMTs. Twilight and her friends all ran towards him, pushing past the amazed officers, the EMTs following right behind them. Anon slowly descended, painfully aware of all the eyes and the cameras on him as his feet gently touched the ground. Rainbow carefully slid off and Anon carefully put Fluttershy down, for now he kept carrying Rarity until the EMTs could arrive with a stretcher. Twilight and the others were the first to reach them. "Are you okay?!" They quickly checked their friends, though still eyeing the muscular wonder boy who had just flown their friends out of a collapsing mall. When the stretcher arrived he carefully sat Rarity on it. "She twisted her ankle, but it's not broken." Without another word he took a step back and leaped into the air once again, ignoring the calls for him to wait from the girls. He didn't want to be rude, but he did not feel like staying around to get filmed or questioned. Besides, the girls needed to go to the hospital fast, him staying there would just delay it even more.  Applejack and the others watched Anon flying away, the only one knowing about who he really was was Twilight. "Well Rainbow, I'll be damned. You were right." Rainbow simply looked as the boy vanished, then let out a sigh of almost disbelief, but of course still managed a small smirk. "Told you so.." It took hours before the girls were all told they were going to be fine and they could go home in the morning. Rarity had gotten a cast, and other than a few scrapes and minor burns, the girls were going to be alright. They had been lucky when it came to the smoke, the doctor even commented he didn't understand how they did not die, but told them it had to be a miracle. Twilight wondered about that, suspecting it might have been their magic that protected them a little? There was no way of knowing, and maybe it really just was luck. The three of them all shared a room, and for now they were alone with Twilight and others, talking and laughing while their parents talked to the doctors and did whatever paperwork that might need signing. Fluttershy was sitting in her bed, clutching a stuffed animal her parents had brought her to calm her down. Rarity sat with her sketch book, and Rainbow Dash with her phone which thankfully survived the ordeal. "I mean I still can't believe what I saw.." Sunset said. "He flew, he actually flew." Now that she had calmed down and she was no longer in danger, Rainbow's smugness came back full force. "I told you so." "Excuse me sugarcube, but you never said he could fly." Applejack pointed out, but that didn't make Rainbow falter. "No, but I told you guys he existed!" She looked triumphant at Twilight. "And you said he didn't exist."  Twilight had known that for over 24 hours now, but that didn't matter. Rainbow was safe, so was Fluttershy and Rarity, that was the important part. Anon had saved them, she owed him a lot, though she wished she knew if he was okay. Twilight scolded herself for not having gotten his phone number earlier, but there was nothing she could do about it now, she'd just have to wait for tomorrow to talk to him. So smiling at Rainbow she replied. "You're right, he does exist, and I'm glad he does.." The meaning wasn't lost on any of them and a heavy silence filled the room. It was like a small breathing room for them to really realize what would have happened if Rainbow's mystery person hadn't existed. They would be under rubble and flames by now, the thought brought tears to some of them. They had escaped death, but only narrowly.  Rarity wiped her eyes and put on a smile. "Now now, let's not think about that. Let's instead be happy we were saved by a gallant hero!"  Rainbow followed suit and wiped her eyes with a small grin. "Yeah, a superhero!"  "He was very brave, and strong.." Fluttershy joined in, though blushing hard as she hid her face in the blanket. "Handsome as well." Rarity added. "Though I must say I liked what he was going for, but if he's going to be a superhero he simply can't run around in a hoodie." Rarity almost gagged by the mere thought of it. "No no, that won't do." Pinkie tilted her head, then suddenly appeared beside her wounded friend. "What are you drawing, Rarity?" She asked with carefully contained excitement. Despite her happy outgoing nature, Pinkie was well aware she had come close to losing her three friends and so decided to remain more calm than she usually would. Rarity grinned, and with great pride she turned the sketchbook around to show them all. On the paper was a brand new design of Anon's outfit, there was no color though, but Twilight could easily imagined the blue, red and yellow. "It's a work in progress, but I think it has potential." It looked like one suit, with boots and a cape. The S was still on his chest, the top fit neatly, showing off his muscles. The sleeves were short, just like on a T-shirt. Rainbow thought it looked awesome, but then pointed to a certain area. "Uhm, Rarity, why are his underpants on the outside?" Rarity rolled her eyes. "Those are not underpants you fool, those are shorts. If I don't put them there his.. Uhm.." She blushed. "Bulge, would be more noticeable.." There was silence for a few seconds, then Pinkie burst out laughing, only making Rarity blush even more. "Besides, strongmen used to wear them back in the day, which I think will fit just nicely for him, don't you think?" Twilight smiled, it certainly did look great. Then an idea crossed her mind. "You know Rarity if you were going to make this, may I suggest a few things?" Rarity nodded happily and turned the book towards herself again. "But of course darling, suggest away." "So the test was a failure then?" A cold voice asked. The person the voice belonged to sat in a big and expensive office. He leaned back in his chair, looking out upon the city. The smoke from the fire was visible even from this distance. "Uhm, not exactly, this was just a test run, and the device performed as we expected sir. Only minor tweaks here and there is needed.." A nervous voice replied over the speaker. "And besides, no one was hurt." "But now we have the police snooping around, that could bring unwelcome attention." The figure huffed out a puff of smoke from his cigarette. "This better not become an inconvenience for me." "N-no, of course not sir. No one can link this to you no matter what technical information they might obtain." "For your sake, I hope that's true." Without another word he hung up. "Frost.." He called and a young woman stepped out of the shadows. "Please keep an eye on him, I think he is losing his nerve. If that's the case be ready to terminate his employment." The young woman nodded, giving an almost sadistic smile. Then she turned her attention to the television, the volume was turned down, but the pictures on the newscast showed videos of this flying man carrying three girls to safety. "Interesting.." The man mumbled. "A flying wonder that saves damsels from fires." He chuckled as he put out the cigarette. "What has the world come to."  "Do you think he's going to be a problem?" The man leaned forward a little. "Hm, no. He knows nothing, but we should keep an eye on him. This could have potential to benefit us." "Or bite us." Frost replied. She could not see it, but Frost knew her boss smiled slightly as he said. "That's what I have you for, to remove these sorts of problems. Now, leave me." Frost bowed. "Of course Mr Blueblood." She walked out of the massive office, her heels clicking as she left. When the door closed the man leaned back in his chair and chuckled. "Very interesting indeed..."