[center][img]http://imageshack.com/i/pnZVpkj9p[/img][/center]
[center][color=35902B][h1][b]「 ARDENT 」[/b][/h1][/color][/center]

[sup][center]Inside Flaming Municipal Recycling Plant, Brookside[/center][/sup]
[hr]

Once Ardent learned of the homing function of his enemy's fireballs, avoiding them wasn't so much trouble. He let the flames crash against wrecked furniture and pieces of recycling equipment around the plant as he aimed to maneuver closer to Torch. It wasn't going to be easy, or so it seemed.

Briefly taken into some sort of illusory world by Marisol's power, Ardent took a moment to parse the confusing chain of events as the blistering heat soon returned to the room. The fight was over. Was the fire fake? No, it was the water that had been fake, to confuse Torch, and Ardent himself had also been caught by that hallucination for some reason. It was good to see their government oversight finally taking action, but she then immediately decided it would be a good time to offer a critique of his moves.

[color=35902B]"Who asked you?"[/color] Ardent bristled. Had she only gotten involved because she thought he was actually going to [i]lose?[/i]

[quote][color=F52A23]"You should make yourself useful and try and carry him out of here. Better you than me."[/color][/quote]
[color=35902B]"Ohh, oops. I was totally planning to leave this guy here in the fire, because I'm either evil or an idiot. But come to think of it, you're right. Lemme get on that."[/color]

Nothing was worse than being told to do something you were already about to do. Ardent made his indignation known and tried to needle the agent a little, but the flames were getting pretty thick, even without Torch adding any more onto them. Time to go.

Ardent picked up the unconscious villain and slung him over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Then, he affixed a small, oblong device to his own mouth. His compact rebreather. State-of-the-art tech, by the standards of a vigilante, at least. With that done, he extended his free hand to Mari, offering the chance to catch a flight out with him as well. It seemed she didn't have much trouble coming and going from this place, but he wasn't going to turn his back on her without quickly making the offer.

Whether he was carrying one person or two, he took to the air, flying well above the flames. Up there, the worst problem might have been smoke inhalation, but Ardent's rebreather saved him from that issue, and his passenger's gas mask presumably did the same.

As he flew, Ardent passed above Freakshow, who seemed to be making her way back inside the building. Moving alongside her were Terrazards, ignoring her in favour of doing even more damage to the burning building.  He slowed down overhead, putting himself in view of the transformed hero just to make sure she didn't think he or Torch were stuck burning to death in the depths of the plant. He offered a nod, a thumbs-up. As far as he knew, this side of the crisis was handled. Hopefully she could grasp that much.

Moments later, a fresh hole was blasted through the wall, and Ardent emerged into the sun with his cargo. The hero's face and hair were slightly marred by soot, and the green jacket around his waist was little more than a pair of sleeves, but he was basically unharmed. He plopped Torch onto the grass, beside Lab Rat and the twins. Leaning down, he pulled the tranquilizer dart out of the villain's skin and then yanked the stupid mask off of Torch's face. This annoying dickhead wasn't much of a looker, Ardent was guessing.

Then, pulling the rebreather off his face, Ardent surveyed the scene. The Terrazards were under their control, the villains were all captured, and no hero was hurt. On the other hand, they couldn't completely relax, since one of the twins was quite badly injured and there was still an inferno raging at the plant. These were issues, but not high-priority ones in Ardent's mind. They could afford to take a practical approach.

He wiped soot from his face with his forearm and took out his phone, the screen only slightly warped from the heat.

[color=35902B]"Okay. I'm calling 9-1-1."[/color]

If there was a special line for heroes to call when they needed things cleaned up, the former vigilante didn't know anything about that. For him, this was the usual move in the aftermath of a destructive fight, with an injured villain on the scene.