2012-12-05 YAL: Becoming Allies 4

The story so far...

Kids from all over New York City, and some from Metropolis have been kidnapped.

Some have turned up, apparently brain washed and in costumes, being lead by other teen aged costumed villains, in kidnapping more kids.

Some turned up being held at an illegal fight club where they were being used as combatants.

But /most/ of them are still missing.

What clues from the previous incidents have lead to one place, a place that Axiom discovered. The hows and whys are up to him to tell people, but because he found this place, Eddie called in who he could from those who helped in the previous incidents. Hence why the teen aged heroes have descended into the city, and are now in the tunnels below a block wide park in Brooklyn, a park that is called St. Andrews Playground...

"Still more missing kid, seriously?" Looks like Tommy had underestimated the magnitude of the problem. The truth is he didn't pay much attention to normal humans going missing. Now he feels a little guilty, many of the kids are probably runaways or street rats, and he always has time spare. "Sorry, rhetoric question." He sighs, "of course there are always more missing kids."

In the tunnels in costume, Axiom is staying pressed close to a wall. He doesn't seem at all bothered by the general environment down there. It's all sights, sounds, smells, and textures familiar to him. "Alright," he keeps his voice hushed. "I d-did some digging and came out here to look around...please don't tell Wiccan, he'll get mad..." he pauses to frown. "I found out the orphanage that big g-g-guy mentioned is actually down here...and a lot of the tunnels got blocked off. A bunch of others have those kids in the black suits as guards. So this is d-d-definitely the place we're looking for."

Needless to say, Karolina Dean was in.

Although she had essentially just met most of these people here, (with the exception of Eddie! <3), Karolina had discovered that the problem that had brought them together at the central park was only really the tip of the iceberg. So when Eddie came a'callin', she responded from her temporary home at the Amazonian embassy. "Yes, seriously," Karolina tells Tommy.

All around her, there was a faint glow - she had her bracelet off, so her body was covered with a certain rainbow corona sort of thing. So in the dark of the tunnels, she certainly stood out a bit. And hopefully, people will forgive her if she was hovering just a foot or so above the ground, instead of walking on this dirty floor. But Tommy's takeback seems to satisfy her, and she favors him with a smile, before her eyes turn towards Eddie.

Karolina was kinda lingering behind, so her light didn't give them away. "Do you guys see anything up there?" she says, her voice a hushed whisper.

While they don't glow, there are multicolored bubbles surrounding one of the others that Eddie's called. Robbie Baldwin, a.k.a Speedball, is in his costume and his kinetic field is active. So when the call came, Speedball bounced into action. He's with the others, scouting ahead, but keeping a hand over his mouth. Whether for the smell, or to actually physically force himself to keep quiet, no one is sure. He turns at Karolina's question, and shakes his head. Though, he takes an extra second to look at the glowing girl before he turns around. He's getting better, though.

EARLIER

"Yes, hello? This is..." Xavin glances over a shoulder to see if the guy who owns the S-Phone she's currently using is on his way back from the bathroom yet. "... Axiom, right? It's Xavin." Beat. "The tree," she adds, muttering. "It's been a few days; are we any closer to having someone to punish, yet? You'll need to speak quickly..."

NOW

"Not the /worst/ place for an orphanage," Xavin quietly muses as he brushes cobwebs from his uniformed shoulder. "If only to teach the children something about hope."

After a brief, contemplative pause, he hastily adds, "--not that I won't do, just, /awful/ things to whomever is in charge of it, if they're really connected to that--/arena/," while quickly glancing around.

To be perfectly honest, Axiom didn't even have to ask Hawkeye if she was in. All he had to say was when and where. Hence why the female archer is here, even if she is moving silently with the group. Much like she has in the past when it comes to these incidents, she's remaining very quiet, and focused on what has to be done, while the others banter. Even if she does have her bow and a trick arrow at the ready.

All though as that group makes its way towards one of the areas that isn't sealed off, there appears to be a single one of those black clad thugs from the previous incidents, one of the ones who was also wearing a metal helmet, standing guard. Or at least they /should/ be standing guard, because in fact, if one where to listen, it'd sound a lot like the guys is loudly snoring as he stands next to the door that he is probably suppose to be guarding.

Tommy goes first, of course, because he is faster and man, his life is all about waiting for others to catch up. "Okay, this is the right place," he murmurs, "Axiom got it right, and looks like the thugs are not getting enough sleep, or maybe boredom got him," he snickers, pointing to the guard. "What is this place anyway, Eddie? Some kind of secret base or another illegal fighting ring?"

There's a small, wry chuckle out of Axiom as Xavin mentions living underground teaching someone about hope. They've got no idea. "The orphange wasn't made down here. It was shut down," he explains. When Tommy points out there's a thug ahead, Axiom frowns. "No idea b-but I think they're keeping the other kids here. C-can someone take that guy down quietly?"

At first, when Karolina sees the guard, she reverses the direction of her floating, looking first to Eddie, then the others. A beat, and a sorta hard line touches her lips, and she softly alights upon the ground, a tinkle of metal sounding as she fetches her suppressing bracelet from a jacket pocket. Settling it upon her wrists, she does tie it on, and the effect is immeadiate. The glow fades from her clothing and skin, and the smile that was so easy to come to her lips before kinda fades in intensity. Bringing a hand up, she brushes her hair back behind her ears, moving near Eddie. Biting on her lip, she gestures to Robbie. "Can you... throw those really really hard and quiet?" she says, her voice a low hushed whisper, before her eyes flicker to Xavin, an unspoken question in them.

"If I had to guess," Speedball whispers, and with his voice the way it when in hero mode, it's really strange. "This is where they train their foot soldiers. The arena'd have to be someplace a little more accessible to people seeking it out. Considering the crowd, they wouldn't come down here." He shakes his head again when Karolina asks a question. "Fraid not. They move with me." He looks back, past Karolina towards the archer.

Xavin also glances from the guard to Eddie, but as soon as the latter asks whether or not the former can be dealt with, he sets his eyes squarely ahead and keeps right on walking as the rest of the group debates options. As he pulls away from the group, he slips effortlessly into a lowered posture and slowed, softened footsteps to quiet his approach; eventually, he is behind the slumbering guard.

And then, in a flash, he lashes out not once, but twice with the edge of his right hand, striking the guard once on either side of his neck and causing him to crumple into a heap on the ground. With that taken care of, he looks up with a tight, almost sated smile.

"Shall we?" he wonders, sweeping his hand towards the entrance. The glowing stranger gets a quick, curious look - whatever question she may be carrying, /he/ certainly isn't privy to it - before he turns his attention to the door.

It's funny that you should ask that Tommy. Because this place is....

Well, that should become apparent in a little bit.

But since Eddie brought it up...

"The Brooklyn Orphan Asylum was where a chunk of St. Andrews Playground is now. It use to be one of, if not the largest orphanage in the city. During World War I it was used to house troops who were about to be deployed in Europe, who were shipped out via the cities ports." Hawkeye explains, even as she watches Xavin do his thing to the poor guard, knocking him to the ground, where he doesn't get up, and even continues to snore. Thus she doesn't need to fire as per Speedballs unsaid request

Instead the female archer casts a glance at Speed, then Karolina. "After Axiom told me where, I did a quick search of my own. I'm surprised I didn't connect that to this before."

Thus she just moves forward, and pulls on the door to see if it'll open, and it does...

But what lies beyond the door...

Well, as the group enters the area beyond the door, they'll be greeted with a bit of a sight. Namely what ever is beyond the door is wide. Wider than any subway tunnel has any right to be. Maybe as wide as three subway tunnels, if they were right next to each other. And if that wasn't strange enough, if one were to go towards the center of this long and wide 'room', they'd be greeted with an old cast iron fence. One that blocks people from randomly going over an edge, because yes, there's a long 'ol gap between this side of the room and the other. but this gap goes down, revealing that what ever this facility is, it has three levels. The second one is just like the top, and the bottom is actually one solid 'floor'.

But, if that weren't bad enough, there are beds everywhere. Not all of them are filled, thankfully, but there's over a hundred scattered between all the levels that are. And all of these beds look a bit medical. Sure, they all hold people (or at least the beds that are occupied do) dressed in the black outfits of those 'thugs', but many have IVs dripping stuff into their arms, others have earphones on, still others have screens in front of their faces flashing random images.

And, on top of all of that, there's no sign of anyone up and walking around in this giant chamber at the moment either.

Tommy was going to mention he could grab the guard and... but nevermind. The door is open and he checks for more guards, none. The speedster hops forward and moves quickly, checking the closest 'thugs', which now look more like victims of weird experiments. He returns frowning. "It is me or it looks like something out of a sci-fi movie about brainwashing and indoctrination?"

Axiom winces as Xavin just drops the guard. Shaking his head, he moves with the others into the area. When he sees just what's going on, his eyes go wide. "It's n-not just you," Axiom remarks to Tommy even if he hasn't seen any movies like that. "We've gotta get them out of here..." attention turns to Hawkeye and Axiom frowns. "Should we try to find the p-power or something and shut it down?"

Watching the other alien deal with the guard, Karolina keeps that curious look in her eyes, before she sweeps her gaze across the others. "I'm... Karolina, by the way," says the runaway Majesdanian, her voice in a hush as her eyes glance over the others. Before this time would have probably been the best to say such things, but that time is a bit past. Still lingering near Eddie, the person she knows the most, she says, her voice still low, "Just how many people have you found for your group! There's so many." Compared to the groups Karo had been in, at least.

Of course, small talk could wait. Pursing her lips tightly, Karolina follows the group into the room of the facility, her expression twisting to something akin to revulsion. "What is going /on/, here?" she says, still whispering. Tommy's hypothesis kinda draws her attention for a moment, and she looks thoughtful, before looking to Axiom. "Turning the power off would let everyone know we were here - what if we just take... all that crap off of them?" she asks.

"How many? Sometimes I can barely keep track," Speedball answers, still keeping mostly quiet. "Ask Axiom; he's the...guy everyone seems to know." He turns to Axiom and smiles; some private joke of theirs." He rubs his chin as he moves forward a little. "Is it okay to just yank the needles out of them? I don't really know much about first aid, but someone could get hurt. Still, this is...sick."

"'Sci-fi movie'...?" Xavin's nose wrinkles as he creeps through the rows of black-suited thugs. "What a strange thing to call an atrocity." His hand hovers near one of the bed-ridden soldiers in passing, but it doesn't quite fall upon the poor soul's shoulder; instead, he looks up to the rest of the group, frowning gravely. "But yes: this is a sci-fi movie of incredible proportions," he lowly--agrees?

Well, the sentiment is there, anyway.

"We'll have to find some way to free them," he quietly concludes. After a second, he thinks to shift his eyes towards Karolina and throw out, "Xavin."

There's actually a chuckle from Hawkeye as she hears the question from Karo in regards to Eddies friends, even as she enters the chamber. But before she can respond, her eyes go wide as she looks up over her shades, as she in turn lets out a faint, "Woah."

But, before the archer in purple has much of a chance to say or do anything else...

"You won't need to find the power!" can be heard as a voice that may sound more than a bit familiar after the other night echos through the entire chamber. Yes, that's right, the woman who was announcing at the fight club is responding to what was said by Axiom. But wait, that's not all. Her image appears on every screen in the place! And she looks... Well, at times she looks old. Or at least old-ish, since she does have some white hair and wrinkles. But at the same time, its as if her expression radiates a pure fire of anger, and her eyes just barely conceal her hatred.

But then, the old woman appears to respond to Karolina, Xavin, and Speedball...?

"And my dears, it's exactly what your friend thinks it is. Here, let me show you what it is, and that you don't have to worry about removing any needles or freeing them.... Everyone, we have /INTRUDERS/." is said in a voice that sounds strangely calm and almost sugary. "Would you please be dears, and get up out of bed..." is then let out before that 'fire' returns to her voice as she shouts, "AND KILL THEM FOR YOUR GRANNY!" Then there's another pause, as the voice goes back to sounding sweet. "And if you could take it outside too, Granny Goodness would be happy. After all, we don't want to destroy all of her 'toys' now do we?

And with that, slowly in some cases, and so fast that they practically jump out of bed in others. And in every case, once they're up, they start to head right towards the group of teenaged heroes!

Meanwhile, all the screens suddenly go blank, as down at the far end of the chamber' a door opens, and a lone figure starts to run up a spiral stair case...

"I am Tommy, Speed," says the white-haired young man. Xavin gets an old look. But then again, someone said he was actually a plant? A shapeshifting plant. Maybe they don't have movies in the vegetable world. "I er... will explain later, Xavin. 'Cause looks like we have a crazy grandmother to deal with." Now, the fun thing is stop the hundred or so probably mind-controlled kids from kill them. He accelerates himself and lounges forward, punching the closest ones and trying not to do too much damage.

Thanks to Speedball and Karolina, Axiom ends up blushing faintly. "A lot," he offers with a little shrug. "I c-can introduce you later," he adds. Of course when that voice rings out, Eddie tenses. He scowls up at the nearest screen. "Her..." he trails off, having a face to put on the voice now. And then there's the swarm. "Oh man, n-not good," he mutters. Scanning around quickly, Axiom pauses when he notices the running figure. Frowning, Axiom starts trying to fight his way in that direction. Punches, kicks, throws, tripping...he's not strong or big but Axiom's got some training and he's working hard to try to take down the kids without hurting them too badly.

"Speed, Xavin..." says Karolina Dean, the odd sound of the latter's name drawing her attention briefly. All too briefly. A moment, and she glances towards the ground, before looking up at the two others with a fluttering little smile on her lips. "I just wish we could have met under better circumstances, but this will have to..." Karolina jumps in place at the first sounds of Granny's voice, looking for all the world like a child who had just been caught by her mother with her hand in the cookie jar. A demeanor that quickly fades.

Fades into something akin to tension, when the situation goes from bad to worse. Karolina's expression turns grim, and she flicks off the bracelet again, her body and clothing flooding with that rainbow corona of light again. And she just couldn't help the little smile that threatens to tease the grimness away. Although Karolina's eyes flicker towards that spiral staircase. "Look! There she is!" Karolina points up towards the staircase. "I'll catch her!" she says, kicking up off the ground, and starting to fly in the direction of the far end of the chamber. She was maintaining what she thought was enough distance between herself and the ground to avoid easily being grabbed, but she also wasn't paying too close attention to the mob below...!

"Speedball. Robbie," the masked teen with the bubbles says, as he turns on a heel once all of the screens light up. He stands there, frozen, listening to the speech, and her orders to take them. "Oh man," he says. "We're gonna need bigger reindeer." Hey, 'tis the season. "Heads up!" he says, as he tucks, rolls into a bounce to get right into the thick of things against the thugs coming right for them. "Say the word, guys, and I can try and break down the tech!" By force. It could get messy.

For a moment, the loving, agonizing strains of Granny's voice has Xavin standing at attention, staring intently at the screen with a mixture of fear and hatred for the monstrous matron. When she sets her soldiers upon them, the fear fades, and his skin and uniform shift as one to the texture and colour of Elm bark.

"Try not to injure them too badly!" he shouts as his arms stretch and split into half a dozen leafy vines to try capture some soldiers and hold others at bay. It's rather an uphill battle, but if he can just manage to keep them from mobbing his allies while they chase the figure on the stares, he figures it will be worthwhile.

And, as if just to make things easy for Karolina, the archer provides a name as well, as she starts to fire her trick arrows into the small groups of figures forming on other levels or over that chasm. Figures that quickly find they're dealing with things like tear gas and the like.

"Hawkeye."

Meanwhile, the punches and kicks, be it from Axiom or Speed, knock these kids down. And strangely enough, it's almost as if they have glass jaws, because not only are they falling but they aren't getting back up. The same goes for Hawkeyes arrows, and Speedballs bouncing knocks these kids down left and right, and they just aren't getting back up. Even Xavin as he grabs some of them is having similar luck, because it's almost as if they're passing out as soon as they touch him

Of course for someone like Karo who isn't fighting, things actually are a bit easier. It's as if she's being left alone for the moment. Heck, even as she heads for that staircase, it's as if a dozen or so of the costumed and helmeted kids closest too it turn and start to run up it too. And yet as she gets closer to that staircase, she might see that there's an opening at the top, one that looks almost like an open manhole cover. In fact normal sounds of the city, like city traffic and a helocopter can be heard coming from the other side as that first person climbs out the hole.

"Thisisnotnormal," remarks Tommy as his half-strength punches take down the black-clad kids way too easily. He is going very fast, so he runs out of people to punch quickly. Pause for an energy bar, nomnomnom. Wait! Looks like they missed some that are trying to climb up some stairs. He chases after, picking on those kids from behind, taking off the helmets and tossing them back down.

Axiom isn't too pleased by what he sees even if he's relieved it's not a difficult fight. He doesn't get through it without taking some hits himself though, occasionally taking a punch here or there. "Xavin, I've got an idea!" he calls, making his way to the other. "You can change into p-people, right? Do you think changing into that old woman and telling these kids to stop fighting could work?"

Karolina only had a moment to glance back at Speedball and Hawkeye before she was off, and fixed on her goal. Karolina was focused on what she was doing. Keeping her eyes narrowed, the ease of the 'fight' seemed... suspicious. No one was trying to grab her, and a quick glance showed that these brainwashed guys were much easier than the initial night at the park. Biting her lower lip, Lucy in the Sky (dumb codename, she /knows/), reaches that spiral staircase. Lingering behind the half dozen helmeted persons, Karolina takes a moment to glance back towards the rest, "I'm going up!" she shouts, although she doubted to be heard above the chaos. Furrowing her brow, and tightening her grasp on the staircase rail, she persues - even going so far as to stick her head out of the manhole, assuming she gets that far.

"G'luck," Speedball calls out as Karolina shouts, just barely hearing her as he's rebounding around the room, and the thugs. "This is so messed up," he thinks, out loud, and he alters his course as he bounces. He's not aiming for the thugs, but the beds, trying to crash into the equipment and break some of Granny's toys, which she specifically said not to. And Speedball was never that good at doing what he was told.

After the first few easily downed kids, Xavin catches on and shifts from using his vines for constriction to merely trying to turn aside what attacks do come. "I have no idea!" he shouts to Eddie, head swiveling so to glance towards the smaller boy through the veil of thrashing vines. "There are /so many/ of them, and I am only /so loud/, and she--"

The Skrull hesitates as a strange, uncomfortable chill passes through his body.

"--I--don't know if I would be very convincing," he concludes, in a softer voice. To punctuate that unsettled admission, he snaps a vine at a piece of machinery to try and assist Speedball a little.

Yeah, people shouldn't be pleased that these kids are falling way too quickly and easily. But they are. Excpet for those ones on the stairs. Speed at best might be able to get the helmet off of one of them as they charge up, and end up outside, but they just aren't falling as easily as the others. On the other hand, and maybe this is a good thing (good being relative that is), this group is quickly up and out before Lucy gets there.

All though between Lucy, and probably Speed, they will find an interesting sight. namely they're out in the open. In a park, in new York city. And there isn't just that figure who ran out, who is standing under a cloak off to the side, nor is it just that group that ran out the stairs out there, but instead there's another small handful out there, all of which show signs of having powers. One or two float in the air. Another looks like their entire bossy is covered in a strange blue flame. One is visibly vibrating at an insane speed. Things like that. And all of them are arranged around that manhole to the 'chamber' down below. In fact, the flame one actually tries to throw a blue fireball at Lucy as she comes out...

And if that wasn't bad enough, there actually is a helicopter in the sky, and it appears almost the be shining a spotlight in the direction of the group on the ground.

Down in the chamber...

Even as Speedball and Xavin destroy the equipment, and the other keep knocking down the thugs down there like they're nothing, a voice can be heard echoing through the area. To be more exact, Granny's voice.

"I see you weren't ready yet. You were too weak still to serve Granny. Oh well.... At least the Furies are outside, and I can have them test their abilities on that flying rainbow girl..."

That in turn prompts Hawkeye to start firing arrows in the direction of that stairwell, in possibly a vain effort to clear a path to it.

"Everyone, we gotta get /OUTSIDE/!"

Oops, Tommy assumed these guys were also weak. But they stand up and come at him again. But that is no big deal, he can hit much harder, and many times in a second. Still, the voice of the old woman outside means the trouble is outside. Even before Hawkeye said it, he rushes up the staircase, to see the crowd outside. And an incoming fireball!

Axiom offers a smile to Xavin quickly. "You would be," he says, showing Xavin some of that unending faith. Granny's voice stops any further encouragement of the plan though, Axiom looking up quickly. "Lucy!" he nods to Hawkeye's yell, making a dash for the stairs.

Huh? (Type "help" for help.)

Just as Lucy sticks her multicolored head out of the manhole... her eyes widen and she releases an involuntary shout, throwing her hands up, both of them, a shield made of the same color of energy appearing before herself that the fireball strikes and disappates against. Even as her hair whips in place, owing to the motion of the very fast Tommy Shepherd. "It's a trap!" she says, pausing a moment further, "Help!" she cries then, lifting up out of the manhole cover and starting to float to the side. Gritting her teeth, she twists in midair, and forms a shield, multicolored energy flowing from her and forming a wall - not between herself and the enemies, but between the manhole cover and them. Hopefully, the rest of the group would have safe passage out.

The next few moments for Speedball are a blur of crashing furniture and technology with little rhyme or reason to it, but he notices no one is trying to hit him and he's all right with that. The call from the others is enough to get him to stop his chaos-crashing and bounce towards the exit. "Thought her name was Karolina," he mutters, just as he clears the entrance. He stops short at the shield. "Woah," he says, staring at it. "That's trippy."

"She can have as many names as she likes!" Xavin exclaims as he runs towards the stairs. "As long as none of them are on a headstone after tonight!"

About halfway there, he sends several vines hurtling down the corridor to wrap around the spiralling stair railing.and pulls himself the rest of the way there, vaulting over the rail to race the rest of the way upstairs once he's close enough to do so.

And among the heroes running up that staircase is Hawkeye. One she's outside, she gets yet another arrow ready to fire, especially as she looks at the rest of the group, before she tries to run around Karo's energy wall, she she can fire an arrow at one of those villains.

... And of course she just /has/ to fire at that vibrating guy, who moves with a sudden burst of speed that allows him to catch the arrow!

"Lucy. Take cover!" is also shouted as that fire guy tosses another fireball at the flying alien.

Strangely enough, the other thugs, even though they have visible powers aren't moving to attack, even as the heroes come outside. Not even as that person that made it outside earlier turns around... And removes their cloak.

No, they /aren't/ Granny. Instead, they're The Persuader, who actually turns and charges at that shield with her 'atomic axe'.

Elsewhere in new York City...

In fact, on plenty of television sets in New York City...

"This is Miranda Veracruz de la Hoya Cardinal in the KNYC News Chopper, coming to you /LIVE/ over St. Andrews Playground in Brooklyn, where it appears that we have a super powered showdown going down! It appears we have a showdown between a pair of super powered groups! One group looks almost like it could be The Titans with the colorful costumes.... In fact... Yes, it looks like they're a group of costumed teenagers! The other group, apparently lead by a girl in a hockey mask, is dressed all in black..."

Said TV sets not only show Karo and Hawkeye, but also Speed, and Axiom, Xavin, and Speedball as they come up the manhole.

"The colorful group appears to be coming up from the cities sewers..." Pause. "Well, if they're mutants, at least they're not turtles, because they're moving fast. Unlike my career."

Tommy jumps out to see the fireball hit Lucy's barrier. Erk. Next time he is going to look before he jumps. Fortunately there was a barrier of light. "Hey, speedyguyismine!" He grins and runs around the barrier, then lounges. Fast, but not really fast until he is very close to the vibrating arrow-catcher. Then he breaks the speed of sound. BOOOM!

Climbing onto the street, Axiom's eyes go wide at the sights. "Oh m-m-man," he squeaks. Seeing Persuader, Axiom scowls. He'd looked her and her cohorts up online and he didn't get much info but he did get one thing. "Lucy watch out! Her axe isn't normal!" if what he read online was true anyway. "Hey!" he calls to Persuader, readying himself for the fight. "You're not g-getting away this time."

Karolina heard her name, and heard that command. One of the things she had grown used to, when working as a team - even if she didn't really know her team this time, was to trust the others. So when Kate shouts that out, Karolina dives, immeadiately, turning her head back to look towards the manhole... they were almost out, just one more moment...!

The Persauder's axe strikes her shield, and that sends reverberations all the way back towards Karolina. It was like being punched in the brain, and the shield shatters into a world of little sparkles that quickly fade out. Gritting her teeth, Karolina veers in midair - mostly, at this point, she was just trying to stop herself from slamming into the ground. And even if unassisted in her now very-rapid descent she would land safely, if a bit roughly.

Almost as soon as Xavin makes it outside, Tommy explodes through the sound barrier, the Persuader unveils herself and attacks, and someone is hurling /fire/; the vines growing from his right shoulder momentarily twitch in the pyrokinetic's direction, only to be drawn back with a frown. An airtight field would do /wonders/ with a burning man, he imagines, but--appearances.

"Hawkeye, Karolina-or-Lucy!" he shouts over the ringing in his ears - even as the latter hurtles to Earth - "keep their flyers covered!" As for the Persuader: he'll try to keep her occupied with vines that snake along the ground and whip through the air to try and capture her about the ankles and arms.

Elsewhere in the city...

As that report goes live, it appears on a screen. And the woman sitting in front of that screen mutters a faint, "This has become too public. Worse that whole facility is compromised, and maybe a dozen conversions were completed."

Then, slowly Granny Goodness leans forward and speaks into a microphone.

"Persuader, I'm starting the recall. Delay these do gooders! We'll destroy them next time!"

Meanwhile, back at the park...

That news chopper continues to circle, even as the sirens of police cars can be heard in the distance.

Persuader on the other hand all but snarls as that shield is destroyed, possibly because of what she hears over her communicator. And yet, despite that, she continues to try and charge forward swinging her axe. only she swings it almost wildly, as if not caring if it hits Eddie, Karo, or someone else all together.

The speed guy on the other hand doesn't appear phased by Speed as he does his sonic boom. Why? Because for some reason he's starting to fade away into nothingness. Just like the bulk of the super powered beings here. Oh sure some start to sparkle. And others appear almost like they're being converted into energy. But aside from the fire guy and Persuader, all the thugs appear to be vanishing left and right...

Speaking of fire guy, Hawkeye turns out to be his target even as Xavin manages to grab the Persuaders legs with a vine, causing her to trip.

Hawkeye herself tries to dodge the fire, and even returns an arrow at the guy hurling the blue flame, before she even has a second to register what was just shouted at her.

Axiom grits his teeth as the villains start fading. There's not much time to comment on it though, Axiom too busy evading that swinging axe. He dives to the side, landing in a crouch and doing a quick scan of the available people and powers. Settling on Speed, Axiom lets his powers reach out. Boosting Speed up once again, Axiom mimicks him. His costume shifts into a combination of his uniform and Tommy's outfit. His hair even goes white. With his new superspeed, Axiom rushes at Persuader and tries to tackle her while avoiding axe-swings.

Karolina lands in the earth, harder than she would have liked, gritting her teeth against the scraping knees through her jeans as she skids on the earth. And she was eternally grateful that Axiom was deciding to try to keep Persauder busy, as she needed a few moments to shake the hurt from her head, and gather herself to her feet again. "They're getting away?" she says, sounding confused about the whole thing. Casting a glance towards Persuader, Karolina taps into a meanish part of herself, and does chuck a little bolt of rainbow-colored kinetic energy at the fading Granny.

Xavin gives the tendril wrapping around the Persuader's leg a sharp yank as Axiom barrels towards her, just to force her off-balance before the fast-moving teen makes contact.

"Of /course/ they're running," he distastefully spits as the leafy protrusions whip protectively through the air around his body for the moment--just in case one of the remaining villains gets any ideas. "They're thugs, little more; they can't be bothered to fight a real fight."

In another party of the city...

It's probably a good thing that people only heard Granny Goodness and saw her image. It's also probably a good thing that she had The Persuader draw their attention out of the lab like she did. After all, it helped create the illusion she was there when she was no where near there. And, sure she lost almost all of her 'subjects', between tonight, and the raid on the fight club a few days ago, but still...

Still, as the 'Super Powered Thugs' who got away appear and walk through a door, Granny Goodness can't help but grin.

"At least I still have my most powerful." is said before she moves back to her microphone and speaks into it. "Persuader, feel free to drop a hint or two. I might as well give my new furies a full test, once these kiddies figure things out."

Back in the park...

The bolt that Karo throws passes through where one of the teleporting villains use to be, but unfortunately doesn't strike anything Axiom and Xavin knock the Persauder down, and instead of getting up, she all but shouts, "Granny! Get me out of here! Granny! GRANNY!?! Take me back to the Hospital on the island! Take me to the birds!"

If someone was quyick enough, they might be able to restrain her.

The fire guy meanwhile vanishes as well, before Hawkeye can even get another volley at him.

Of course the show isn't over just yet! to as police cars, and a news van come screeching up to the sight of this fight! In fact, the news crew is ahead of the police by just a little bit with its camera on, and a reporter shouting at the heroes.

"Who are you guys? Why are you here? Are you heroes? What's your groups name? Are you new members of The Titans?"

Axiom stops mimicking Speed as soon as he ends up knocking Persauder down. Instead he shifts his boosting and mimicking to Xavin, uniform transforming to a combo of his own and Xavin's. There's a slight pause, Axiom surprised by the powers but not letting it distract him too much. Instead he pulls the same trick Xavin is doing, making his arms go vine to work on restraining Persauder. He'll let someone else handle the media for the moment.

Giving her head one final shake, Karolina glances towards Xavin at the grim thing the man mentions, pursing her lips then. Bringing up a hand to brush her hair behind her ear - the two men seem to be doing fine with Persauder at the moment, and goodness, did that woman have a wicked swing - Karolina Dean lets her eyes track to... the media. Erk.

"Hi! I'm just kinda along for the ride!" Karolina says, giving the reporter a dazzling smile. Sparkling might be a better word for it. "But um... no, no, we're not members of the Titans, I can tell you /that/ much," Karolina says. She, having been a member of the Titans until... a month or two ago, probably brought that question to mind. "But you'll have to excuse me for now, please!" she says, with a little wave, taking off into the air and starting to arch back towards the team - mostly, Kate Bishop. "Um. Do we need to run or something?" she asks her in a hushed whisper.

Vines creep and curl around the masked hatchetwoman's body, prompting an alarmed Xavin to quickly look around for mysterious new super--

No, wait, it's just Axiom, mimicking him. The Skrull begins to let out a breath of relief until he realizes--/Axiom is mimicking him/. With the Persuader well in hand(after a fashion, anyway), Xavin's own thrashing extremities quickly coil and shrink together until they're just wood-toned arms. Eventually - when he realizes that there's a /reporter/ on the scene - the shocked expression with which he watches his ally restrain the Persuader fades and he turns to stare at the camera for a few seconds. "A terrible sci-fi movie was committed here, today," he nervously offers after swallowing; he jabs a finger down to indicate the subterannean facility. "If there are any doctors watching this, you might want to come here--quickly."

With that, he starts backing away, edging towards the treeline; he won't disappear /entirely/ without Kate's say-so, but he's definitely ready to be elsewhere, away from prying eyes. The whole way, he keeps a wary weye on Axiom.

And with the villains down and/or out...

Hawkeye smiles, and waves slightly for the cameras for a moment, before she whispers back to Karolina, "Until the police have her." she jerks a thumb at The Persuader. "We can't leave. Besides, it's not like we can up and turn invisible." Then as Xavin moves over as well, she blinks, before shouting back at the reporters, "We may be young, but we're just a bunch of allies." Then she jerks a thumb at the shapeshifting alien. "And you might want to get doctors here, if not get the people down there." She points at the manhole they came out of earlier. "To the hospitals."

Speaking of Persuader, and Xavin and Axiom restrain her, she fights back a little, even as her /axe/ vanishes in a teleporting effect similar to the one that got the other thugs away. But she's still left behind. In fact a /trio/ of police officers, come over and try to restrain her, cuffs and all if the two heroes give them enough room, so that they can do that, and in turn get her into a car so she can be 'brought in'.

Of course once the super villain is dealt with, then there's a slight, "Let's get out of here." to the others.

"Watch her. She probably has s-some kind of b-b-beacon on her that the others will try to use to retrieve her," Axiom tells the offers as he hands Persuader over to the police. It's then that he notices the cameras. Vines turning back into his arm, Axiom blushes. "I um...wh-what they said! We're a new team!" he squeaks out. "Careful down there, they are lots of people that need some help. Like hundreds!" he calls as he backs away with the others. Xavin gets a quick curious glance as the team flees but no comments from Eddie.

Was the team fleeing? The confusion danced upon Karolina's features as she looks to the news reporters - with a cheeky smile - before her eyes turn back to the others. Kinda rocking on her heels, and feeling incredibly awkward under the intense scrutiny of the cameras, Karolina didn't have to be told twice to flee. A trail of ~rainbow~ behind her as she darts to the treeline, snapping on her bracelet once she was more or less certain the news wasn't watching, letting the color drain from her appearance.

"Do... you guys have a place to stay?" Karolina asks, moving to keep pace along the other fleeing persons. "And if you are all going to be a team? I so want in. If, um. That's okay."

As soon as Axiom looks at him, Xavin averts his eyes to the ground and more or less keeps them there. The bark-like texture of his skin and uniform shift back to their natural(human) state as they recede from the public eye, and once he's more or less back to normal, he quietly offers, "Whether or not we are, they'll certainly think so /now/."

One of the officers helping take Persuader away nods at Axiom as he says that, before tucking her into the back of the squad car. only as he gets in the front of said car, he sticks on an odd pair of... Glasses?

Well, if he does, that's something to explore another time.

Well, as Eddie speaks up, a reporter calls out something, before another chimes in, and then another.

"You're juts a bunch of young allies then?"

"But he just called them a team!"

"Are you guys a team called 'Young Allies?"

To Karo, as Hawkeye joins the others behind the tree line, Hawkeye shrugs.

"I have a place. And if you need a place to stay, I can help with that too. But that can be talked about later. All though if we /are/ a team, I think we should get the others in that have helped us since this all started. After all, we wouldn't be this far without them."

Then there's a pause, and a nod at Xavin.

"Yeah. They think we are now. Don't they..."