2013.10.24 - Let's Play a Game!

The Young Allies communicators started to buzz. A familiar voice ran over the feed, "Umm...uhhh...guys? Hello? If anyone can hear this come to Central Park...you...might...want to take a look," said the resident spider of the Allies. What he didn't know was the message went over the Fantastic Four feed too.

Central Park was a welcomed sight during the day, but the night was a different story. The darkness has snuffed out the sun shadows have consumed the land. Some public lights illuminated parts of the famous park. However, many shadows still lingered especially when someone moved inland away from the soft orange glow of the city alongside the park edges.

With communicator in hand the resident spider stared at what he was calling the team for: two dead bodies.

Now, two dead bodies in New York wasn't a new thing. What made these two stand out, besides location, was how they were killed. The first, what looked like a male with blond hair, had no eyes. Something big clawed and tore them away. Blood had flowed from the empty sockets over their face and it pooled around them. A large cut around the same person's throat caused more blood to flow down their neck and added to the crimson pool.

The second body was harder to identify. Multiple lacerations ran across their face, chunks of hair and flesh were missing from the same cuts. More flesh was missing from everyone on the body. It looked like something had fileted bits of their skin off randomly with savage cuts. Like the first victim blood pooled around them from the multiple injuries.

Blood and pieces scatted through some of the trees and grass. Victim one laid underneath a light and was hard to hide. Victim two rested face up in the grass, visible thanks to a street light, but two feet to the right and the shadows would have hid her until sunrise.

"So I ran across this," Ben said as he sat on the edge of the light when others arrived. His brown eyes were looking over the bodies, the light barely reflected off of his long dark red colored trench coat that covered most of his black cargo pants and matching t-shirt. He was just trying to figure out what could do something like this.

Sue Storm was in the middle of rotating a load of laundry when Cel (one of the HERBIE robots that infest the Four's residence) zips past and D (anoter HERBIE unit) announces, "Something's happening in Central Park," then zips out after Cel. Sue blinks in surprise, then hastily starts the dryer and RUNS.

Less than three minutes later, the Invisible Girl, blue costume and all, is travelling toward Central Park as fast as her force field can carry her.

Perhaps surprisngly to some, a response came over the communicator from Channel, indicating that she was in town and would be there shortly. True to her word (and with the help of her ability to fly), Jocelyn arrives on the scene rather quickly from when Ben puts out his call. She's dressed in a plain grey jacket that keeps her costume hidden for the time being. She wasn't sure what was going on, but the energy absorber didn't want to take any chances. Plus by wearing a costume she'd not worn in public before, it would throw off anyone who might wonder why she was here and not in Genosha.

Jocelyn walks over to where Ben is and looks over the bodies, then looks off in the distance, scanning the area for any lifesigns, particularly those that have energy signatures that aren't present in normal humans. "Whatever did this was big. Might be more than one, and from the cuts, I'd say pretty savage. I'd put my money on either not human or some type of meta with animalistic characteristics. Never seen anyone cut up that badly or with that fresh of blood and have that many wounds before, and I'm afraid to say I've seen more murders than I care to count," the inner city Detroit girl comments.

"On my way," came Axiom's reply almost immediately after Ben's message went out. He was nearby, down under the park specifically. Sometimes he takes the tunnels as shortcuts around the park and city in general after all. When he arrives and sees the scene, Axiom pales. He's quiet for a moment, frowning deeply. "Oh man," he mutters. "If the blood is that fresh than wh-whatever or whoever did it is likely still in the area..."

Central Park is a lot of things to a lot of people. To some it's a place to relax and hang out. To others it's a place where they work. To still others it's a place they go through to get from point A to point B.

But to Kate Bishop a.k.a. Hawkeye, it's more than that. It's almost like a second home, hunting ground, and protectorate all mixed into one.

Hence why she was already in the park, on patrol, when that call came in. Hence why it's almost as if moments after that call goes out, the female archer arrives at the site that The Scarlet Spider is calling about. And hence why, as she arrives, she pulls out her smart phone and starts snapping pictures?!?

And yet, even as she arrives and does that, she remains strangely silent,

Lor-Zod was in the Terminal when the call came in, laying down in one of the subway cars. If he was sleeping, though, he certainly wakes up quickly, as when he arrives on the scene, in his 'costume'/Kryptonian clothes, he's not looking the least bit sleepy. He does, however, look like he'd be sick if it wasn't for his Kryptonian stamina. He nods to Jocelyn's assessment as he looks up from the bodies, "Not human, I don't think." Axiom's comment, though, has him turning quickly to look around with his enhanced and X-ray vision.

As luck would have it, Xavin was in Hell's Kitchen when the call came in, learning that despite having a pretty decent poker face, he's terrible at actually playing the game. As such, it only takes him a few minutes of flame-assisted flying before he's touching down amongst the gathering crowd of heroes.

Unlike his Allies, he doesn't check in before arriving; the fire, he figures, should make him easy enough to spot.

After listening to the possibilities of what exactly occured tonight, he slides his hands into the pockets of his purple and black uniform and offers, "I can perform reconnaissance; if there's even a chance that it's still nearby..." with a glance towards Eddie; the right half of his body fades from sight as he finishes the thought.

I don't recognize "eddie".

Ben rose up and stepped into the light. The freckles on his face showed. He pointed to Xavin, "Take a look around. It's probably still out there, whatever the f*ck did this," the teen said rather bluntly. His brown eyes looked around the group. Seeing Eddie he extended an arm, "Been a while." Taking one hand of Eddie's Ben pulled the guy in close and did one of those half-hug, half-hand shake motions. As Ben talked Eddie could see the new chip in one of his front teeth. "How ya been man?" It had been a while since the friends did speak. Slowly Ben's coat started start to move as tendrils extended outward from the edge of the sleeve and up Axiom's arm. The red engulfed Ben's hand and it was trying to go up Axiom's arm even more.

Going invisible before reaching the Park, Sue takes a moment to locate Ben and stops to hover overhead, just close enough to overhear, but not close enough to bump into anyone. Of course, the sight of the two murdered people is ... very disturbing. Now she almost wishes she could have dragged a few of the HERBIE units along to help with searching and all that. But as it is, all she can do for the moment is wait and watch.

Aww, hell no. "Nasty," Channel comments even as she reaches out with her energy absorption power and beefs up her physical capabilities. Then she reaches out to the psionic energy she was detecting. That was a bit of a psionic link there, and Jocelyn intended to break it. Even as she does so, she pulls in some kinetic energy and lets out a vertical burst of energy, aka her Stargate Kawoosh, and places it directly between Ben's back and the coat. Her plan is to launch the coat off Ben and knock it out.

"It's the coat. I'm reading it as alive! Trying to break it's link to Scarlet," the woman declares to the group, even as she hopes to free her friend of it's control.

Axiom glances around as the others arrive, giving them quick nods. Zenith gets a concerned look and for a moment it looks like Axiom might ask him not to look at all the gore but it's a little too late. "Let m-me know if anyone needs a b-boost," he offers to those searching. He was a little surprised when Ben cursed but figures the situation is a decent excuse for it. Usually he never turns down a teammate's hug even if he does thing the situation is a little odd for one. The chipped tooth gets a frown and Axiom starts to ask about that before answering the question. The appearance of tendrils cuts him off though. "Wha-whoa!" he yelps. "Spider!?" he's trying to pull back even as those tendrils try to grab his arm, glancing Channel's way. "Whatever it is, we're k-kicking it's butt as soon as it's off him!" possessing one of Axiom's friends is a sensitive subject these days.

To be honest, the archer in purple is taking the pics to try and get info from her other contacts and sources. Or at least she was. For as Ben grabs onto Eddie, and as Jocelyn shouts that the 'coat' is alive, there's a curse from Kate as the phone is shoved into her quiver, before she pulls out... A taser?!?

"We need to get it off, and contain it!" is all but shouted as she tries to fire the taser at the 'coat'. But considering who it's attached to, and who it's trying to attach too, the shot might be a bit 'tricky'.

"Zenith! Think you can do some 'cold breath' the freeze it in place?"

Zenith shakes his head, "I don't see any..." But then the source of the problem becomes clear, with Jocelyn and Axiom's shouts. He nods quickly to Kate, not even taking the time to verbalize an answer as he takes a breath, and in a blink is over by Axiom and Ben, blowing out freezing cold wind on the coat.

As Ben's coat begins to rebel, Xavin's right arm and leg slide back into view as if a cloak is being drawn away from them; at the same time, he dashes around the Spider, trying to circle towards his back so that by the time he's fully visible again, he can snap both arms forward and shoot thin streams of fire at the coat from fingers curled into guns.

"I can contain this--thing once they've been separated," he exclaims as his burning shots twirl through the air to splash against the spots that Zenith is cooling; shocking the strange organism into submission seems to be the Skrull's goal. "I don't suppose any of you knows what it might be."

Feeling the hot, cold and psionic push away the coat Ben cried out from the sensations. One of the taser darts dug into his flesh. He barely flinched as the volts surged through him, "This isn't my first time." As the combination of attacks worked at the back the coat tore away and landed. While the sleeves tore away from Ben, and Eddie, it managed to not loose itself. When it landed it swirled about in a crimson puddle.

Moving on instinct Ben rushed to the puddle still holding the communicator. After moving so far away the taster dart ripped out of him. The red swirled up his body and consumed him. Black Spider-Man eyes rested over his face, the black outlines of the white eyes were the starting points of black veins that went across the mask. The black spider on his chest caused more black veins to splinter down his body.

A red claw pointed to Channel, "You had to ruin my fun. I mean c'mon! You don't stop a guy when he's working on number three!" He smiled under the mask, if it could be called that given what it was, "Wanna know what helps me relax? Blood," His middle finger joined the extended pointer finger and they extended outward slightly. The two claws looked perfect for digging out eyeballs. "Blood and that Dr. Phil. Have you ever seen something funnier!?" he jumped into the are and waved his left arm. Crimson colored shards rained down toward Axiom and Kate. The jump was pushing the Spider closer to Channel. The right arm pulled back for a punch, that looked too far away to connect, as it extended the arm turned into a large red colored blade going toward Channel. "You've got a Spider here already! He owes me a royalty check! Call me Crimson Spider, nice to met you victims three through ten!"

Wait, what? Sue looks at Channel sharply then at Ben in alarm. Dropping the invisibility, she throws her hands out to create a force field between the red shards and Axiom and another to protect Kate and yet a third to protect Channel. She's spreading herself kind of thin, but if she can keep someone from getting hurt, it's worth it.

Channel is about to let off a blast when she spots the force field's energy appear in front of her. Which is fortunate, because it gives Channel something to work with. At the moment Crimson Spider strikes the force field, Jocelyn reaches out with the intention of blasting him in the face with the force field's own energy. What happens, however, is that the mutant's powers do something unexpected.

The force field's energy 'changes', for lack of a better word, and becomes a wall of electricity as Channel converts the energy type. There isn't enough electricity there to kill someone, as it's not that strong, but it would be more potent than a taser, and with that timing, if it all works out, Crimson Spider just punched right into it.

"Okay. That's new," Channel says, stepping back and taking up a defensive position, glancing at her hand in a bit of shock.

Axiom yelps as he gets caught in the cold and shock thanks to Ben's hold on him. When he pulls back, he ends up falling on his rear on the grass. He's getting up quickly though. Eyes watch that puddle carefully and he frowns. "You s-said psychic link, right?" he asks Channel. His expression darkens as the Crimson Spider speaks and starts making a claw. "Alright whatever you are, how about g-getting off our friend and fighting us yourself?" he says, hand dropping to his weapon. When the shards start flying, Axiom hits the deck since he's unaware of the forcefield until he sees it stop the shards. "Thanks, Xavin," he calls, thinking his Super Skrull teammate did it.

The way that 'The Crimson Spider' is hit, and the 'coat' is torn off of him does give Kate a brief, momentary flash of hope. But that is mostly short lived. For as Ben rebonds with the... Whatever it is, the archer in purple is reaching for her bow and a 'special' arrow...

Right as that forcefield goes up and protects her.

"Thanks." is in turn said towards Sue as the older woman becomes visible, and as arrow is aimed, and should the forcefield be dropped, let loose. What is that arrow? A tranq arrow.

"don't let up! If it's separate again, freeze it! Slap a forcefield around it! Don't let it escape or touch anyone!"

Zenith takes to the air as soon as Ben is reabsorbed, and flies in a fast circle. Even as Crimson Spider attacks the others, he's launching attacks of his own, blasts of heat vision from varying directions, while staying what he thinks is out of reach. "Let go of our friend!"

"Do not thank me yet," Xavin exhales as fire consumes the left side of his form. He took a few wary steps back during the Spider's transformation, but its attack - not to mention the accompanying confession - are evidence enough that they're dealing with a hostile combatant as much as a hijacked friend.

At least, that's what he tells himself as he moves in towards the Crimson Spider's flank to try and catch him with a flurry of flaming, knife-handed blows to the ribs and stomach--hopefully as he's reeling from Zenith and Channel's attacks. The Skrull will try to slip out of the symbiote's reach with a few quick steps and flowing movements after his assault is delivered, lest he be the next one to be accosted by a biological blade.

Seeing the barrier stop the shards Crimson Spider growled low, "All we want to do is stab some hearts, play with some organs!" He cried out. Then when the large stabbing weapon pressed against another force field he let out a frustrated yell. The noise was snuffed out quickly as the blade caused him to be electrocuted. All of the energy surged through him and he fell to his knees for a moment, "Ooooh. That's...That's good. That's...More...Like it. We like it when they squirm," he breathed hard and slowly rose. Obviously all of the electricity was getting to the man's muscles under the costume. "All of you think...we don't want this? That we're something that doesn't want this? Oh we do," he smiled under the mask.

More screams leave his mouth as heat vision slammed into his back. Slowly the red opened up to reveal flesh. Crimson made red stretch out like a web and he swung off toward a different spot. By now part of his side was exposed but closing, "Then there's the matter of our employe-," the tranq. Arrow found its mark. The tip pierced into Crimson Spider's flesh under the rib thanks to the opening Lor-Zod created. Slowly the combination of electricity and tranquilizers caused his muscles to loosen.

Then came the flank from the Skrull. Crimson was able to above some of the attacks, but again and again the flaming organic blade cut and seared flesh. The flames were making the costume expose the flesh underneath as the flaming weapon came close. Sluggishly the Spider dug into a pocket and held up a photo. Ben Reilly was bound and beaten in some abandoned office building. In the lower right corner of the photo was today's date, "Yoooouuu doooon'tttt," the words slurred before he fell over. By now most of the costume had left Crimson's body. A few traces remained. The photo rested near him.

When someone came close to the photo and the body of Crimson screamed, "Psyche!" and red claw shot out from a remaining piece on the shoulder.

The red consumed the body again and Crimson stood there as if nothing happened. The suit was able to cure against diseases and filter sedatives. Stun guns were new and focused on part of the human host the suit couldn't. What he was trying to hide was how heavy his muscles felt. "Wanna hear the rub?" Crimson offered knowing he was outgunned here. "You're so concerned about Ben you're not looking at the obvious." His eyes went around the group, "What if we're not him?" Right now bargaining was the only thing Crimson had. Eight human victims would have been easy and fun. Eight super powered victims alone was a lot of work. A lot of hard work, which was potentially impossible, had to be done if that were to happen. Something had to give. "What would you do then? What would you do to get him back?"

Seeing the barrier stop the shards Crimson Spider growled low, "All we want to do is stab some hearts, play with some organs!" He cried out. Then when the large stabbing weapon pressed against another force field he let out a frustrated yell. The noise was snuffed out quickly as the blade caused him to be electrocuted. All of the energy surged through him and he fell to his knees for a moment, "Ooooh. That'sThat's good. That'sMoreLike it. We like it when they squirm," he breathed hard and slowly rose. Obviously all of the electricity was getting to the man's muscles under the costume. "All of you thinkwe don't want this? That we're something that doesn't want this? Oh we do," he smiled under the mask.

More screams leave his mouth as heat vision slammed into his back. Slowly the red opened up to reveal flesh. Crimson made red stretch out like a web and he swung off toward a different spot. By now part of his side was exposed but closing, "Then there's the matter of our employe-," the tranq. Arrow found its mark. The tip pierced into Crimson Spider's flesh under the rib thanks to the opening Lor-Zod created. Slowly the combination of electricity and tranquilizers caused his muscles to loosen.

Then came the flank from the Skrull. Crimson was able to above some of the attacks, but again and again the flaming strikes connected and seared flesh. The flames were making the costume expose the flesh underneath as the flaming chops came in. Bruises formed with each strike. Even an audible "Crack!" and "Crunch!" made it into the air. Someone was going to have some broken and cracked bones thanks to skrull training. Sluggishly the Spider dug into a pocket and held up a photo. Ben Reilly was bound and beaten in some abandoned office building. In the lower right corner of the photo was today's date, "Yoooouuu doooon'tttt," the words slurred before he fell over. By now most of the costume had left Crimson's body. A few traces remained. The photo rested near him.

When someone came close to the photo and the body of Crimson screamed, "Psyche!" and red claw shot out from a remaining piece on the shoulder.

The red consumed the body again and Crimson stood there as if nothing happened. The suit was able to cure against diseases and filter sedatives. Stun guns were new and focused on part of the human host the suit couldn't. What he was trying to hide was how heavy his muscles felt. "Wanna hear the rub?" Crimson offered knowing he was outgunned here. "You're so concerned about Ben you're not looking at the obvious." His eyes went around the group, "What if we're not him?" Right now bargaining was the only thing Crimson had. Eight human victims would have been easy and fun. Eight super powered victims alone was a lot of work. A lot of hard work, which was potentially impossible, had to be done if that were to happen. Something had to give. "What would you do then? What would you do to get him back?"

Sue Storm startles and all of her force fields disappear when Channel converts one to something completely different. At least they did their jobs and protected everyone they were meant to. She follows Crimson as he tries to get away, ready to toss up a force field for him to slam into, but then the photo is revealed. Okay, that wipes the concerned look off her face to be replaced by an angry glare the likes of which would make even Ben Grimm very very scared. "No one threatens my family." She holds off on just flat out squishing this red thing, though, because there is still a human underneath.

"There are a lot of ways to find someone who is missing," Channel responds to Crimson. Jocelyn had a few magic and psychic friends in her contact list. She didn't think finding Ben would be all that difficult, considering the circumstances. Not to mention Lor-Zod could just fly around and X-Ray vision everything until he found Ben. With Lor-Zod's speed, that wouldn't take long at all. "And you wouldn't be dealing if you didn't know you were stuck. That comes right out of Street Thug 101," the woman comments. "What's your reason for this? You called us here. You knew you were going to be outmatched if we all showed up. What is it you actually want?"

Even while questioning, Channel is keeping an eye out for anything unpleasent with her energy sight. She doesn't trust that Crimson actually came alone, and is fully expecting them to be jumped again.

Taking note of all the information, the way Crimson fights and speaks, and the way fire and heat seem so effective, Axiom frowns. "We're d-dealing with something like Venom," he tells the other. Fanboy knowledge go. He chases after Crimson alongside Sue, a bit surprised to see her as he didn't notice her before. The photo makes his expression turn grim as well. "What she s-said," he replies. The question from Crimson just gets a little smirk as Axiom draws his staff and points it at Crimson while keeping it in it's collapsed state. He's faced down things a lot scarier than Crimson Spider for his friends. "Where are you and whoever s-sent you keeping him?" he asks firmly, having caught that cut off 'employer' earlier.

"If you're not him, we're still gonna set who ever is there free from whatever that goop is, /AND/ we'll find him." Kate all but growls as she tries to get some room in between herself and that last bunch of claws that go flying.

Quickly she reaches for an arrow but doesn't fire it this time. Especially not as Eddie calls out that little factoid. Instead she mutters, "Keep it contained."

Which considering who's here, hopefully won't be a problem.

It barely qualifies as chasing as Zenith keeps up with the fleeing Crimson Spider, just a blink and he's hovering in the creature's path. He nods and says, "You're not going to be able to blackmail us to get away. We'll stop you, and find him." Taking his cue from the others, though, he holds off on attacks for the moment, while the thing's talking.

Xavin presses his left hand to his temple as the fire wreathing him flickers out.

"It is contained," he crisply says as electric blue ripples briefly permeate the air around the symbiote; they are the only obvious sign of the otherwise infisible bubble that the Skrull erects around Crimson Spider. His eyes then narrow on the symbiote's - dark and malevolent as they are - and he adds, "'Not him' is the worst thing that you could be right now, creature; I would suggest that you make your answers to these questions good ones," to his allies' queries.

"My Employer Edwig Stanton wants to offer a game. His team versus yours because he's been a fan of your work, I mean you've won awards and have the whole ragtag story like the Bad News Bears. What's not to like?" Crimson said knowing people were watching him like a flock of hawks. He looked between everyone, "You play the game and if you win, which you won't because the team is people like me, you get him back. You lose then you'll probably die. Either way he wins," and those were the simple terms. Someone had been watching the Allies and enjoyed their pursuits. The fact they've gotten so stagnant lately had bothered Edwig so very much lately. "You can kill me but then that won't free your friend will it." Pulling the Allies communicator from his shoulder, it had been kept under the costume, under fake layers of what looked like shoulder muscles, "If you don't believe me then why do I have this?" he asked into the communicator knowing everyone could hear him. "You'll want time to thin-" A flash of gold light and the invisible containment bubble was empty. Apparently someone knew someone with a teleporter.

I don't recognize "eddie".

Sue Storm frowns, not recognizing the name and not at all liking the implications. But then the flash of gold light... "NO!" She rushes at Xavin's now-empty bubble. She looks THIS close to cursing aloud, then turns to look at the others. "Tell me everything you know about this Edwig Stanton." It's entirely possible that Mr. Stanton has made one very grievous error. He might want the Youn Allies to play the game, but now they're going to have the knowledge, resources, and help of the Four to back them up.

Lashing out with her energy absorption, Channel attempts to cut the teleporter off, but isn't quite able to do so. However, she does wiggle her fingers and look down at them. "I am seriously beginning to hate magic telepor...". Then Channel literally passes out in front of everyone, her nose bleeding.

"Stanton?" Axiom blinks. He's only heard that name once before and never attached to the first name 'Edwig'. "We don't kill," he says firmly, just like he did in the Terminal the other day to Zenith and the twins. When the teleportation happens, Axiom jumps and moves forward as well. He turns to Channel when she speaks though and is quickly at her side when she passes out. "I d-don't know anyone by that name," he says to Sue, checking Channel's vitals quickly.

That name doesn't ring any bells with Kate. Which in its own way is slightly odd. Since the fact that it belongs to this oddball's employer does indicate that the owner of said name does have a certain amount of money to back them up. But obviously they don't have any connections to Metropolis's 'High Society', or any known connections to many of the big name companies that she knows of. Hence why as Sue asks her question, the archer in purple frowns slightly and shakes her head.

"I've never heard that name before..." starts to come out, only before the leader of The Young Allies can say much else, Channel up and passes out, thus she tries to rush towards the taller girl, even if odds are someone else will get to her (or use their powers to catch her) first.

Zenith zips in to catch Channel, setting her down gently so Axiom can check on her. He looks back to Sue and shakes his head, "I haven't heard the name before either. Whoever it is, we'll find them."

The bubble impolodes once it's empty, thanks to Xavin balling his hand up in frustration as he watches their lead vanish; it makes a soft sucking noise in the air before disappearing completely. Channel has enough people tending to her that he's hesitant to try and add untrained hands and another body to the crowd; whatever rudimentary first aid skills might still be rattling around in his head from his time in basic training are unlikely to be of much use in treating a mysteriously collapsed girl anyway.

So instead, he just grows a foot or two so that he can check on her over the rest of the team's shoulders. "That will have to change," he declares once the rest of his team mentions not knowing Stanton He swallows forcefully afterwards, and his eyes don't waver from Channel.

Sue Storm takes a deep breath when every one of Ben's teammates answer in the negative, and almost goes to join the others in checking on Channel. She's been where that girl is. Too many times. "If you want, bring her back to the Baxter to make sure she's okay. And we'll start trying to find out who this Stanton person is." Because she's sure as hell not just going to leave this as is.

The girl's vitals are fine, to those who check. Channel pushes herself up, shaking her head as she comes out of it. "Ugh. Sorry, and thanks for the catch, whoever caught me". Channel pauses before continuing. "I tried to cut the teleportation off. The mystical energy gave me a parting gift. I'll be fine in a bit," the woman says. "But, the good news is that I managed to snag a little bit of it". Channel looks over at Sue. "If the Four have a way of analyzing energies, including mystical, and something I can deposit it in safely, then we might be able to find ourselves a way to track them down," the redhead says. She knew the Fantastic Four usually dealt with science, but it really was just energy.

"With luck, they won't be able to track this small bit of magic, or won't think to," the mutant adds. "If Wiccan can look it over as well, that might help too," she suggests. Channel wipes at her nose and sighs. "Why is it always a nosebleed anyway?"

"D-did you catch what kind of magic it was? Like if it f-felt familiar at all?" Axiom asks. "Wiccan tracking it m-might be just what they want. You heard what that g-g-guy said," Axiom sighs as he stays close to help provide a shoulder for support if Channel wants it. "It's a brain thing," he answers the question.

"..."

Yeah. One possibility does come to mind in regards to why it might be nosebleeds, but she doesn't mention it to Channel. Not right now. Not in front of the others. On the other hand...

"Axiom, if Channel goes with Ms. Storm, please go with her, just to play it safe. And call Wiccan too, to see if he can get there ASAP to analyze it."

After all, if containment is needed in the transport, or an 'extra carrier' is needed, he can do either job, or possibly make it so Sue or Jocelyn could do it more easily.

Then, there's a nod at Xavin, before the female archers gaze drifts towards Lor for a second.

"Oh. It will change. Soon. If The Fantastic Four can't find him... If we can't, we're gonna have to go all out. One thing a lot of people forget is how connected this team is. The Asgardians. The Avengers. The Fantastic Four. The Justice League. Plus others. I don't want to pull people in that we don't have to, and would prefer to keep this 'in family', but if this Stanton pushes us, then he's underestimating just who and what we could bring in to take him down."

Zenith nods seriously to Kate, but smiles a bit, reassured by her words it seems as he glances around. Then he says, "I bet they're hiding somewhere I won't be able to see, but should I start searching the city anyway, just in case?"

"I will gather what intelligence I can while you see to the energy signature," Xavin promises as he begins walking away from the gathering. Inches are shed with each step, until he's eventually back to his 'normal' six feet. "My communicator will be active; I may not be able to answer immediately, in order to maintain cover. You understand."

After a beat - during which he glances over his shoulder to survey the rest of the group - he quietly appends, "--well. Maybe," with a wee smile, then fades from view.