Sachin, being fitter and a few years younger than his husband, managed to overtake Conley during their run from the mid level corridor when their pins went off. As such, he arrived at the Technology Lounge slightly before the other man. Even before he reached though, he could see and smell the smoke. What he saw when he arrived? Goldwasser. The man at the heart of all of this mess. Or at least, one of the persons. One of the MLErs was already taking care of the flames but the Ambassador raised his wand and pointed it in Goldwasser’s direction. At the same time, he couldn’t help but remember how so many months ago, Conley had warned him to stay away from the MLE Head.

Sachin, not being trained like MLErs, stayed slightly back and quiet. Still, he wasn’t someone to mess with when it came to spellwork. And had Conley joined the group yet? The Ambassador didn't dare take his gaze off of Goldwasser to find out. “Kya yah aadamee sachamuch aag mein jalana chaahata tha?” {Did this man really want to be burnt in the fire?} his thoughts raced.

Is that… burning rubber you smell?

It seemed that the fire had reached electrical cords melting the rubber around the wires of both the exploded jukebox and the microwave which were both still plugged into their power source. A power source that was shared by both the cappuccino and the vending machines as well.

And oh look! The flames were creeping closer and closer to those machines.

Aguamenti was a good idea for putting out fires. But only when there wasn’t electrical things around. Things that had electrical currents powering them. Someone with excellent hearing might notice the sparking hissing of exposed wires that was mixed in with the crackling of the flames. Better move your wand Mr. Auror (Ronan) or else you might get an electrical shock from all that water pouring from your wand as you try to put out the flaming jukebox.

Well, it had seemed his goodbye present to the Ministry had drawn a small gaggle of gooses. How funny. He was still twirling his wand around enjoying the sight of the smoldering jukebox when the first (Ronan) arrived. Of course Carter would go on defense mode. It was a bad choice as it gave him a chance to send wordless a stunning spell his way.

More arrived but neither were smart enough to try to detain him with any sort of spell. Did they (Merrieweather & Primeaux) think themselves intimidating? Because they weren’t intimidating in the least. They mostly just looked – tasty. They had no idea what Bain had endured in his 254 years and these pups would never ever, hold a candle to half of the creatures or things he had faced. At least one (Sachin) seemed smart enough to stay back.

And yes, he could smell the burning rubber and hear the sparks… Perhaps he would get an even bigger boom then he had planned on to cover his exit. ”I have no intention of burning, or of following you out of this room, Primeaux.” He really should have eaten the man when he had the chance, he lamented. With a hard downwards slash of his wand he cast a spell in the three men’s directions. ”Flipendo Tria!” as the version of the knockback jinx (resembling a small tornado) erupted from his wand, Bain followed pushing past and out of the technology center.

It wasn't that Conley was unfit. It was that wasn't a runner like his husband was. Conley preferred swimming. And yes, he did have a few years on the other man. Getting old sucked. Don't do it folks. He was panting by the time he caught up with Sachin at the Technology lounge and he immediately had flashbacks to last year when he had started a small electrical fire in the computer lab. Which was why he knew water was a BAD IDEA.

"Cater! Water - stop-" He tried to warn as he panted, but then Bain was talking and Conley was too busy watching the man's wand. He saw the slash and had an inkling of what he was casting. "Sach-" he warned reaching out for his husband, who like him was standing back. His law enforcement training, perhaps a bit rusty from years of unuse came back to him and threw up a protection shield as he turned trying keep Sachin safe.

He felt, more then saw Bain run past him. He couldn't let him get away. "Stupify!" he shot after the man.

His focus kept on Bain Saul's senses took a moment to catch up with him as he caught sight of the spars flying behind the Jukebox in the Technology Center....Technology...Oh crud. "Ronan! Change it up! No water." He shouted. Finishing where Conley had left off. Bain was starting to get outnumbered "Use an extinguishing charm." Eyes never leaving Goldwasser keeping an eye on his movements.

It was good more had come toward the Technology Lounge but who else was capable. Conley seemed out of breath, Sachin stood back, Ronan was preoccupied with the Fire. Just he and Matt stood between the Law Enforcement Department Head.

Saul tossed up a doubled shield charm the moment Bain sent out a small tornado in their direction shouting "Protego Duo!" He felt the gust of the more powerful knockback jinx hit his shield combined quickly with Conley's Shield as well. The tornado it formed spinning at them.

There was bit of reprieve when Conley sent a Stupefy at Bain. The International Cooperation Head was more capable than he made himself out to be. Saul pushed back at the Flipendo Tria's tornado with his Shield Charm and sent it toward the fires that were moving toward the Vending Machines and the Cappuccino maker. The Cyclone's strong winds should be helpful in putting out those fires. It might ruin the Cappuccino Maker, but sacrifices were being made today.

"Don't let him leave!" Saul shouted. Next angry that one man could so confidently think he could just walk out of here.

He had been hoping to make this more of a quiet affair, but that was thrown out the window with Matt's arrival effectively giving away their position. But he was grateful for the help, as well as the arrival of Saul thank goodness Bain hadn't eaten him too and the Singh-Phoras. Especially since one thing he'd forgotten in his haste to put out the flames was just how dangerous the mixing of electricity and water was. "Right!" he replied, switching from the water spell to the extinguishing charm as suggested. After using the shield spell to dodge Goldwasser's spell, of course. All spells still being done silently. Had the department head really thought a stunning spell would do a Carter in? Must not have heard just how firey they could be.

Ronan's focus quickly turned from the flames to detaining the man as he pushed past, roughly and tightly grabbing ahold of his arm. "You're not going anywhere, Goldwasser," he growled deeply. He didn't care if the man was his boss or a vampire or anything. All that mattered was detaining at least one of these alliance loonies.

Matt's wand was still pointing at Goldwasser when more people arrive and yelled instructions at Ronan. He didn't pay attention to any of that as his focus was on his 'boss'.

It was a very good thing that both Saul and that other guy had put up shields against the Flipendo Tria, because Matt's line of thought has always, always been that attack was the best defence. Even though his training had changed his perspective ever so slightly, he didn't put up his own shield this time, and yet he was protected anyway - thanks, guys. The Auror cast a "Incarcerous!" at Goldwasser instead.

Flicking his wand to make sure the rope wasn't attached to it, he then cast a Stunning Spell at the man as well just for good measure. Who even could continue on his merry way after having a couple of Stunning Spells thrown at them, ay?

Sachin instinctively wrinkled his nose the moment the foul odor reached his nostrils. That and the flames momentarily distracted him. Belatedly, he wondered if there was electricity still within the appliances. It probably was a good thing that he was standing back but Ronan? That issue would have to wait. Goldwasser was attacking them with what Sachin recognised as an extremely strong spell. Yet, he needn’t worry: the husband was looking out for him as always. Thanks to Saul as well.

Through all the hubbub, the Ambassador tried his best not to lose sight of Goldwasser. Saul would be wrong: standing back meant that Goldwasser was coming in Sachin’s direction. It just wasn’t the MLErs in the way of Goldwasser. At the exact moment that Matthew threw a spell at the DMLE Head, he threw his. “Locomotor Mortis!’’

So many spells. One of them at least was bound to hit their target.

He deflected Meriwether’s Incarcerous spell sending it towards Primeaux who was distracted with his tornado. But then he was stopped by hands on his arm. He turned towards Carter yanking his arm and Carter’s hands up towards the fangs he was no longer even bothering to hide. Either the man was going to let go or he was going to be bit. Either way, those hands weren’t going to stay on him long.

As soon as Carter’s hands were off him, he was moving again. He deflected Conley’s stunning spell back at him as he ran. Only to find his feet locked, together. He hoped once, then twice and then pointed at his feet uttering the counter-curse before he could fall. He stumbled, caught his balance and then turned.

It was a funny choice of words that Carter had mentally used. Because Bain turned, planted his feet and started circling his wand overhead as he muttered the firestorm charm.

Saul’s spell redirected the tornado towards a good potion of the flames, putting them out, but in the process the wind did damage of a different short. The cappuccino machine smashed into the microwave. A chair flew across the room smashing into the vending machine. Bags of crisps, candy bars, and other snack goods flew around the room like detritus in a storm.

And then came more fire.

The flames from Bain’s firestorm charm licked the walls as it circled over the vampire’s head, rushing upwards and out. It was a fire that would not be easily contained. It seemed the loyal Ministry employees had a choice: continue to pursue Goldwasser or keep the fire from spreading.

He hadn’t really expected his spell to land. Thankfully his shield charm held as the spell rebounded back at him. He was going to run after Goldwasser when another spell landed. For the briefest of moments, Conley found himself believing they had him. But when Goldwasser didn’t fall, he knew he was wrong. And then he went cold. The kind of cold that only came with a deep bone-chilling fear. ”Shields!” he yelled as the first flickers of fire whipped from Bain’s wand. He’d never seen anyone able to preform this spell before and he wasn’t sure what the consequences would be.

He cast the strongest shield charm he could muster as the flames grew closer, but he could tell it wasn’t strong enough. Some of the flames slipped through. Arms blocking his face, he took a step in front of his husband, hoping to block him from most of it. He cried out painfully as flames licked the sleeve of his suit coat and as soon as he could he pulled his jacket off. But the damage had already been done by then.

He didn’t care anymore about Goldwasser. His priority now was the Ministry. ”We need to contain these flames,” he said to anyone who was listening. He coughed. The smoke was getting bad. He pointed at his face and produced a bubble-head charm, knowing smoke was as deadly as the flames themselves. Then? He started casting an extinguishing charm.

He had been so busy avoiding the other's spells he hadn't even noticed that Goldwasser's arm was moving towards his mouth until......ouch! He quickly removed his hands before the vampire decided to bite him again. But if Bain thought that one little bite was going make Ronan Carter back off, he had another think coming. He used the brief second before the other man moved to deliver a powerful punch to his jaw.

He had to chuckle a little at the sight of the big, scary vampire hopping, but the chuckle ended with the ring of fire coming from said man's wand.

Yes, the flame needed to be contained, but so did Goldwasser. After all, the Ministry was only a building. The man was aligned with a group that would bring misery to so many who didn't fit their insane visions of what a wizard/witch should be. So, instead of focusing on the flames (casting a bubble-head charm on himself, because smoke kills folks), Ronan sent a silent expelliarmus the vampire's way.

Come on come on! The Flames were getting put out. Sure he was destroying all the machines in this place in the process of using the formed tornado given to him by Goldwasser but the concern turned from capturing Bain Goldwasser from preventing the fire from spreading and catching anymore of the electronics on fire so they didn't explode on them either.

Bain knew what he was doing. The Vampire was some kind of mad genius.

There was progress as he tried to move the swirling heavy winds toward the next set of flames but then he felt thick rope wrap around his body and the IUMO Chief Inspector hit the floor tangled in the spell that was redirected from Matt's wand. He made a loud umph noise. Looked toward Bain who was now struggling himself to leave. Ronan had him but he saw Bain's true nature push threw as his colleague was bitten on the arm. Saul pushed himself against a nearby wall and wordlessly cast the revulsion jinx to unbind himself from the rope ensnaring him. He stood up but had to duck as he felt the heat and saw the flames forming around the Department Head.

This situation here was growing more dire the more they continued to try and subdue Goldwasser. He was a vampire, who knows how long he had been alive and what he had done to survive so long when he found himself in more and more of these confrontations? Bain had already presumably killed some of their other ministry colleagues and there was no hesitation that he would burn everyone in this room to ash and the whole Minister's Level Offices to the ground or more to escape. He cast the Bubblehead charm on himself then moved toward Ronan. His sweater catching some flames along the way so he quickly tossed it off and back into the blazing room. "Leave him!" He shouted through the flames. "Carter, your top priority is the fire. NOW!" Who knew how many others were still on the closer floors below them, or who might else be on this level who had yet come to inspect the explosions? Lives were at stake if this fire was not put out! The ministry could burn down. For all he cared Saul wouldn't mind if it did. This place needed to be changed for the better. Letting it set aflame to let a better Ministry rise from the ashes felt poetic. Yet, his actions did not match his thoughts.

"Partis Temporus!" Saul caught quickly how Conley and Sachin were struggling with the flames erupting around them. He gave them a path to get to safety. His eyes shifted toward Matthew next. "We need to use the Extinguishing spell together. We might be able to fight back this fire if we ALL do it!" Without another word Saul begun to cast the spell as the magical spray and foam shot from his wand and toward the flames.

Haay Bhagavaan.

Oh God.

Were those FANGS?

Sachin was shocked beyond words and stood rooted on the spot for a precious few seconds. Fortunately for him, all the action around him was enough to jolt him out of it. Plus, he had a strong will to survive so that helped. What hadn’t helped was the Leg Locker Curse hadn’t worked as well as he liked. Before he knew it, there was a huge presence of fire. Sachin shrank back, flinching heavily from the heat.

Amid all the chaos of flying snacks and equipment, the Ambassador had time to register Conley was once again protecting him, at his own expense. “Con!’’ Fighting back fear for the other man, he helped him pull off the jacket. There wasn’t time to inspect any burns because things were going from bad to worst. Quickly copying Conley, he put a Bubblehead Charm on himself. Saul had created a path for them and so Sachin reached out to grab Conley’s arm and pull him back.

He threw a quick nod at Saul, both a gesture of thanks and understanding about using the Extinguishing Charm. Without a word to anyone, he too began casting the spell.

No, no his focus was no longer the fire, thank you. The longer this whole thing had been going on, the more the rage had been building in the auror. And now something he'd hoped to be able to handle quietly had built into a literal dumpster fire flaming inferno. "Snaping at me about it isn't helping either!" he snapped back at Saul. No, this ended here and now. But an evacuation of the rest of the Ministry was probably a good idea, too. As the thought occurred to him, he sent his patronus out with the message.

"There's nothing that says both can't be dealt with at the same time," Ronan growled out, looking at each man in turn. And he was taking on Goldwasser, rather his colleagues liked it or not. The pain in his knuckles and blood trickling from the vampire's bite to the floor only serving to spur him on. As well as all of the tension and angst from the past few months. Was he finally snapping?

Quite possibly.

Jane had intended to head directly to Hogwarts, but had been delayed in her exit from the Minister's office by questions and explanations, and when she at last made her way out, she was greeted by a scene of unimaginable chaos. Out of the corner of her eyes she glimpsed Bain and was tempted for a second to go after him for what he had done to her friend, but what really caught her attention was the conflagration blazing away in what had been the Technology Lounge (and soon to work its way out into the rest of the Ministry. That must take priority. She would leave Bain to the MLE folk.

Jane's first impulse was to use one of those powerful water-conjuring spells she'd learned at the Alchemical Institute, but just in time, she recalled Violet saying something to her about electrical fires and how water made them worse. And with all the devices in the Lounge, she wouldn't risk using water.

Jane caught sight of some other Order members closer to the blaze and saw the group was making a coordinated effort to use the extinguishing charm in unison, and so she joined them. Fortunately, years of alchemical mishaps had made her very good at the extinguishing charm.

Oh course Conley the boy scout would immediately insist on saving the building. Bain had counted on it. Just like he had counted on the other Singh-Phora to immediately help with the flames. But clearly Carter had a death wish. He saw the man’s wand movement and sent a fireball in his direction.

One did not reach the age of 254 without knowing when it was time to cut your losses and disappear. As reinforcements arrived (Howard) and while Primeaux was busy helping out the Singh-Phoras, he circled his wand overhead twice more, sending one more fireball in Primeaux's direction before turning and fleeing.

His one consolation was that perhaps his firestorm charm would take a few people down with him

He felt a strong fingers wrap around his non-burned arm and yank him. Something about the grip told him it was Sachin which was the only reason he didn’t fight it. A moment later they were free of a good potion of the flames and it appeared his extinguishing charm was finally in a spot to start doing some good. He spared a glance to make sure Sachin wasn’t breathing in the smoke (aka that he had a bubble-head charm on too) and then turned to see Jane join the fire fighting. Shock filled him. ”Jane!” he exclaimed loudly unable to hide his surprise. Despite his shock, his instincts and responsibility to protect the ministry and it's workers kicked in. ”Make sure the flames stay contained! he yelled at her since she was the closest to the hall. "If they get past you, follow! We need to keep this from spreading to the Minister’s offices.” Or worse, he thought, but didn’t say it. He wasn’t entirely sure if the MLE men would decide Goldwasser was more important then the flames, and he couldn’t take the chance with the flames.

A big ball of fire suddenly shot by. Reflexively Conley ducked, hand reaching out in search of Sachin. At the same time he shot ”Flippendo!” at Carter, hoping that if the auror didn’t get a shield up in time, the knockback-jinx would at least knock him out of its way, especially since Conley’s shield charms had already proved insufficient against the flames.

Sadly, Conley wasn’t as quick with the fireball shot in Saul’s direction.

Jane was aware of Bain fleeing past her but her attention was now fully on the fire and on the directions from Conley.

He didn't mention the worst case scenario, but he didn't have to--Jane knew he meant that the fire could spread throughout the rest of the Ministry. Backing up further down the hall, Jane turned and cast augmented water spells on everything that would be in the fire's path, soaking the floors, walls, and everything in between. In the area clear of the Technology Lounge, she didn't need to worry about electrical equipment any longer. Turning back, she watched to see how the others were faring. She had more powerful water spells, but they required a great deal of energy and attention, and Jane hoped they would not be necessary. Besides, she didn't want to replace a fire hazard with a water hazard.

Carter's attitude was really beginning to become more of a hinderance than the Vampire setting everything on fire. He was not snapping. The current situation was a hectic one and shouting through the roaring inferno of fireballs that Bain was tossing around was practically a necessity at this point. How else were they going to communicate. The Bubble Heads over each of their heads was adding to the need for shouting. "We need you here, Carter." Read the room, the literal burning room. Cut your loses. Bain had the upper-hand with the distraction he pulled.

He said what he needed to say to the gung-ho Auror. Then returned to extinguishing the flames. No hated it more that Bain was messing them so handily. He was gonna take this quite personally.

Pleased that both Conely and Sachin had gotten free of the flames as well and they continued to help fight the fire.

Then one more showed up. Jane, If he remembered she too like Conley as well were a part of the Order. That's what he recalled Scott telling him. Her use of Water spells to soak the room where the fire hadn't spread was ingenious. How was Matthew fairing?

He was aware Bain was still there. The fire was being put out but he could see more flames coming in from behind him so he kept fighting the fires the deadly man kept creating. Eyes on the back of his head and aware of the Vampire, Saul dropped to the floor when he felt some major heat coming right for him. The flames skidding across his back and he let out a loud yell. There was going to be a nasty burn wasn't there? The Fireball smashed into the room adding to the blaze before him. "Dammit Bain!" He turned around on the floor ready to fire back at him but he had already run off.

Just for the record, Ronan did not have a death wish, just a ‘catch the bad guy no matter what it takes” wish. Two very different things. Nor did he need protection by the bureaucrats. He did this type of thing for a living. It was practically in his job description to deal with whatever the bad guys dished out. He dodged both Conley’s spell and the fireball. Well, he got skimmed by the fireball, but it also served to suture the vampire bite on his hand. Probably not the effect that Goldwasser had intended. Still, he was going to have another one of those ‘scar-on-top-of-a-scar’ situations, this time a burn scar on top of a bite scar.

He did hear Saul out, but he had no intention of letting Goldwasser go. They didn’t really need him here anyway, especially since someone had ignored his patronus and came running. The auror took off after the vampire, running as fast as he could.

Tensions were definitely running high, especially, it seemed, between Saul and Ronan. Sachin? Well, he was still grappling to come to terms with what he saw of Goldwasser only moments ago. Ek paagal pishaach. A crazy vampire. This Ambassador had no training like an MLEr to deal with criminals and felt he was more helpful with putting out this dangerous, out of control fire. Still, he thought that Ronan wanted to die young.

Even better was the extra help arriving {Jane} though at that point in time Sachin wasn’t sure who it was as his attention was focused elsewhere. A fresh wave of heat, however, told him that Goldwasser had sent more flames on his way out. Sachin was not looking to die today. Definitely not, so he hurriedly directed his wand work at the newest set of fire cast at Saul. Conley need not worry: Sachin was still relatively safe.

The loud yell told Sachin that Saul might have managed to suffer some sort of injury Or had the yell been one of surprise? If it was the first, then hopefully it wasn’t that bad for they needed all the help they could get.

With all the heat, Sachin was starting to sweat profusely. Still, there wasn’t a chance that he was ready to back down.

Quick moves there Carter! While the fire ball missed its intended target, another spell hit it. Sing-Phora’s knockback jinx having nothing to stop it, smacked into the blaze sending it off course. The wall, weakened by the surrounding fires, gave way easily as the fireball hit it. A new rush of oxygen filled the room from the Gaming Console feeding the fire and giving some of nearly extinguished flames a boost. They surged in time with Primeaux's outburst as if agreeing with him.

Then again maybe they were taunting the small group? Because now there was more fire in a third room to contain.

At least Howard’s quick thinking helped keep the fire from spreading down the hallway.

Jane had continued soaking and re-soaking all the surfaces of the hallway all the way to the Reception Area (which was thankfully empty). She was returning back toward the Technology Lounge when she heard the cracking noise of something giving way and then the renewed sound of surging fire. Oh no. That sounded like something giving way in the structure of the building, a ceiling or a wall or something, which might allow the fire to spread out into other areas. What was next to the Technology Lounge? Jane was unfamiliar with this area and didn't know.

Cautiously coming toward the others, she caught sight of fire in a small room next to the main technology lounge, which also seemed to be full of Muggle devices. "Don't use water on it!" she called out, hoping the others would hear her, "Extinguishing charms!
. She was thinking to herself that if the Ministry was going to fill an area with Muggle devices, they should probably have included some Muggle fire extinguishers as well.

Or maybe--she was too far out to aim a proper spell, but if she could get in closer, close enough to aim a spell into that other room, maybe she knew of something that would help. Casting a Bubblehead charm on herself, she edged as close as she dared, till she could get a fairly good look inside the room, and then reached out her wand and cast an old cooking charm, one that spat out a stream of baking powder. She hoped some of it would get onto the flames; at any rate, it wouldn't do any harm.


[OOC]Oh dear, I am getting so confused about the layout of the rooms here, not sure exactly where this fire is going. Also--three rooms? the Tech Lounge, Gaming Console, and...?

To Brad, the venture up to this level was extremely rare for him, since his work took place in a different level, after all. The sensors didn't take long to activate while he was walking up the stairs, however, leading him to investigate the issue.

Fire.

Brad raised his wand about to cast some water spells when (Jane) warned against doing so. Okay.. "Does the freezing charm also fail to work?" He asked, before waving his wand in an effort to perform the extinguishing charm first. "Who or what caused this?"