2012-09-23 Them! Continued

New York was due for it's first Autumn storm and this one looks like it'll fit the bill. It won't be winning any awards for special effects, but some standard thunder and lighting, plus a reasonable helping of rain, will do.

So, it was a dark, and stormy mid-afternoon. Times Square isn't exactly deserted though, even on a rainy Sunday, because it's /Times Square/ in the city that never sleeps. People bustle about, doing their shopping under mainly black umbrellas, and overcoats. Cabs honk, life goes on. All that's really missing are the food carts, except for one brave hotdog vendor, camped out under an awning, and not surprisingly, he is doing a brisk business. Your pluck and fortitude are paying off in spades, sir!

Standing in the only hotdog line available is Luke Cage. The Heroes for Hire office is just upstairs from here, and he's been smelling the hotdog cart for an hour now, and really, the man deserves a medal for going /this/ long before coming down. He's in his regular jeans and tight yellow t-shirt outfit, unperturbed by the chilly air, but he's also huddling under a normal-sized, black umbrella, which appears to be amusingly small when held in his hands. Apparently, he just doesn't like getting wet.

Across the square from Luke, interested parties will find the storefront window for the newest religious cult in town, The Universal Brotherhood. The window makes all manner of claims, promising happiness, wellness, prosperity...ness. And to the enlightened viewer, their marketing is definitely aimed at luring in the indigent, with promises of 'no strings attached' meals and beds as available. Today, they look pretty much closed. The rain will send the homeless to shelters quickly, and the UB's beds have already filled up. There's a glass front door and plate glass window showing a dark lobby. For folks snooping around, it's pretty easy to tell which door on the back side, in the alley, is theirs as well.

 Luke Cage says, "http://marinachetner.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/csc_0697.jpg"

Things have been happening as of late in Hawkeyes usual stomping ground, Central Park. Simply put, people have been going missing. Unfortunately, it hasn't been any of the bad elements. The druggies, the pushers, the thieves, and worse, are all still there. Instead, it's the people who are harmless, the people that don't do anything truly wrong, who have been vanishing.

People like the homeless that actually call the park home.

People like those who are just drifting through.

People who under other circumstances, could be called 'people no one will miss'.

The thing is, someone noticed them missing. Hence why a search began. And hence why the female archer called in a friend as she found a strong lead. One that brings her to Times Square...

So, what does a lunatic with a passion for giant ants want with a large group of indigents high on brotherhood and.. well, actual food? It's the first question that comes to Frank Castle's mind when he tracks the fugitive's funds to this purpose, cross-references rentals with reports from the crazy's landlords and neighbors to lead himself to this storefront. Castle's already seen the pamphlets all over town-- they ring with bitter irony, now, the offer of a way out. Perhaps even forward.

On this rain-soaked afternoon the shop's facade is momentarily obscured by a large, worn truck still bearing a pest control logo in faded relief on each paneled side as it pulls to a stop in front, brakes squealing a long whine that quickly fades like everything else into the sounds of the city. There's a momentary twinge of hesitation; what if he's wrong? What if the guy really -is- trying to make good for the shitten-on? This is New York City, Frank; no one catches you if you fall in New York. The Punisher seats a large, ominous black gas mask over his features securely as he steps out of the back of the truck, armored from head to toe like.. well, the world's most paranoid exterminator.

The Punisher wears two large tanks on his back, each hooked to a propellant barrel held in one hand-- if he didn't park the truck to obscure his path into the alleyway, the whole block would likely start freaking out about just what kind of critters might be down there. Better they don't ask, remains Castle's cynical guess.

That friend was ready to go as soon as he got the call from Hawkeye. Even though he no longer lived there, Axiom still felt a connection to Central Park and the people that lived there. He'd noticed a decline in their numbers as well but until now, hadn't been focusing on it. Unbothered by the rain, Axiom's at the archer's side and looking a bit grimmer than he usually does.

Rain continues to spatter the square. It pings and pangs off of the Punisher's various metal implements. It thwaps against Luke's umbrella. It falls on Kate's and Axiom's unconcerned shoulders.

Frank will find just a short walk down the alley, and be able to turn the corner to be behind the building in question. Back there is an unremarkable metal door, bearing just the street address of the shop in question.

Kate and Axiom take in the view from the front and are rewarded with a flicker of shadow from inside as someone moves about in the unlighted office front.

Meanwhile, Luke struggles to hold his umbrella in the crook of his arm, essentially letting it slide down to rest nearly on his head, and holds his hotdog in one hand and a coke in the other. He thanks the vendor, takes an enormous bite (nearly half!), and is washing it down with his coke when he sees the two costumes across the square eyeing that building. He's been around the block enough times to tell the difference between real supers, and the photo-op buskers. Also, the buskers don't come out in the rain. He walks up to be next to them, looking at the building, and says, "Hey, something goin' down?" Apparently he thinks he doesn't need to introduce himself.

Yes, Hawkeye is unconcerned about the rain. After all, if something bad is going on, then the rain is not only the least of their worries. In fact, it might even be a bit of a help.

And yet, as Luke comes over to them, and makes himself known, the female archer jerks a thumb at the 'church'. Oh, she recognizes him. And is even a bit impressed. But she tries not to let it show as she remains calm and focused.

"People have been going missing. The info we've found leads us to here. We're thinking a nice, polite knock on the door and asking a few gentle questions while in costume might be in order. After all, what good natured religious institution /wouldn't/ want to help find missing homeless people and the like...?"

Is Kate being serious when she says that? It's hard to tell to be honest, even as she glances at Axiom to judge his reaction to Luke. Heck, maybe she isn't even sure how serious she is herself.

Also, it's probably a /VERY/ good thing that she hasn't noticed Frank here.

It's the kind of door the Punisher has seen a thousand times. Everyone in this city has a heavy metal door reinforced against forced entry, for one reason or another. Everyone has something to protect, and in New York? Someone to protect it from. Another day, another place, Castle might just blow the door frame out-- there's nothing reinforced about the piece of shit surrounding the metal, after all.

Here, he keeps it quiet, professional, mostly un-alarming, stooping with a professional lockpick set to shimmy the tumblers a moment, quietly working the backdoor open.. after removing the now-adjusted gas mask from his features again, because that really does make it a lot easier to see-- and breathe. For now.

That folks are getting ready to knock on the front door? That's just providence, considering what Frank has in mind. God smiles on him again; The Punisher just frowns, and focuses on his work.

Axiom jumps when Luke approaches. And for a moment, fanboyism trumps the whole attempt at being cool and serious. "Wow," he murmurs. Thankfully Kate speaks before he can fanboy further. Recovering, the teen in blue and white...which isn't the best color in the rain but at least he's more covered than Hawkeye...just nods along to the archer's words. "And if they're not as good natured as they claim..." he trails off, just turning towards the building then actually knocking on the door.

In the alley in the back, Frank finds a little more trouble than usual with the lock. This thing has been upgraded to a top-of-the-line unit, preventing all but the most professional lock-smiths. Castle gets through it eventually, but respect must be given. This is an expensive upgrade for a shop in an admittedly 'good' part of town. When the door opens a crack, Frank is rewarded with a vision of smelly, dirty people, laid out on cots, or sitting down with with styrofoam bowls of soup. He's also just in time to notice the worker who's on his way to the back door now with a big old bag of nasty garbage in hand. Better duck back, Frank!

At the front, the door is answered right away by a kindly looking grandmotherly type wearing a heavy, knit sweater and wraparound gargoyles... to hide her eyes... from the sun? She musters up a smile showing several teeth, unlocks the door and opens it a crack. "Oh hello dears. I'm sorry, but we're full up today. You can try the Salvation Army down the block." A hacking coughing fit stops her from saying any more at the moment.

Luke glances down the street in the direction of the SA, knowing which one she means, but shakes his head. "I'm sorry ma'm, we're not here for food or anything. We just wanted to see if we could help out with anything." And take a look around. For missing hobos.

"Oh, we're fine, thank you, we don't need any help. You take care now." She steps back and starts to close the door again, reaching for the bolt to lock it if it gets closed.

And as that door starts to close, Hawkeye grabs her bow and tries to swing it fast and low, to jam the door open. (After all, why risk hurting her feet?)

"Ma'am. We're also looking for someone. A couple of someones actually." is said either way, if the door remains open enough or not. "A few friends of ours have gone missing. It's.... Important that we find them."

And if that door is closed, the female archer doesn't even raise her voice as she says that. But she will start to reach for something in her quiver while offering Axiom, then Luke a quick glance...

Duck back? In an oversized exterminator's suit reinforced to take gunfire and enough gear to wade into an alien hive? Not too many places he can go, so Frank just calmly closes the door quietly once more, stands up, steps back, and takes out a small PDA-looking device customized to take samples of the air on demand, and monitor the surroundings passively-- for fire ant pheromones and stridulations, respectively. It's good to have resourceful friends. He's standing there taking readings when, presumably, the worker opens the back door to dump the trash.

"'ey, 'ey man, we got reports of invasive, stinging insects in the area. You seen anything unusual or heard odd noises from the basement? Keeps leadin' us back to his block." Frank lies well, in a native accent that's perfect, but not his own. Castle's heard it his whole life nonetheless.

Grandma's eyes go wide, or at least, one would assume they do behind those glasses based on how high her eyebrows go, when Kate wedges the door open. But rather than hop back out of fear, she yelps in surprise, bares her teeth at the people outside her door, and pushes to hold the door in place, while trying to kick at the bow to dislodge it. My. Isn't she spry? "Oh! You fuck right off, you self-righteous bastards! Your friends aren't here!"

Beat. Cage is stunned by the woman's language and response for a solid couple of heartbeats before he registers the struggle to open the door. Sure, they're technically breaking and entering, but he also thinks the lady doth protest too much. Reaching out and over Axiom and Hawkeye, he pushes against the frame of the door, sliding it /open/, and the old woman /back/, sliding several feet in an arc until it's wide enough for them to step through. He waits, holding it open, to come in after the other two. "Lady, we don't want any trouble. Just let us poke around a little bit."

The old woman backpedals once she sees she can't hold the door, and scrambles for the welcome desk. "I'm calling the cops!"

Out back, Frank's pheromone reader isn't getting much in the wet, stanky alleyway, but the stridulation meter goes off when the guy opens the door to take out the trash, and wanes again as it swings mostly shut behind him. When he sees Frank, he shrugs and says, "Sorry, no idea. We don't got no ant problem here." Also, there's no sound out here of the scuffle up front. Just a confused looking shelter worker, getting increasingly suspicious of this 'exterminator's' gear.

Oh, you just had to say that line, didn't you?

"Axiom, I think you might want to be ready to work your magic if things go south." is whispered to her friend as Luke pushes his way in. Then Hawkeye actually glances at the woman and... Smiles?

"Please. Feel free to call them. i'm pretty sure they'd love to have all the evidence we've gathered dropped right into their laps." is said as the female archer enters right after Luke.

"After all, that would mean they wouldn't even need a search warrant with what we have. After all, probable cause mixed with missing persons...? Well, even the ACLU wouldn't have a problem with that, and most lawyers wouldn't try to defend that, and oh... Odds are if the cops /did/ come, and did that search, considering where you're located you'd have more or less ever major news outlet in the area sticking their noses in. And well... Let's face it..."

The woman in purple lifts her bow up, and keeps her other hand by the arrows in her quiver.

"Do you really want an institution like yours in the spotlight that badly, in such a bad way...?

Axiom's surprised by the old lady's reaction as well, pushing sllightly back against the door. When Luke leans over and just opens it easily. Hawkeye gets a blink. "On you?" he whispers back. He then gives the old woman a look. "You won't call the cops. The c-c-cops don't get called to these places unless someone dies," he says, further doubting this place is the real deal.

It's probably the oldest trick in a detective's handbook. Gather enough evidence to be sure of something, and lead a suspect into an easy lie about it. The unfortunate part is that people will lie for all kinds of reasons besides guilt, but in this case? Castle is willing to take the circumstances at face value, given the risk involved. The device is hooked carefully into his belt, as Frank steps forward towards the door, and the man.

"I didn't say shit about ants." Castle clarifies, in his own, grim voice, even as the concerned 'exterminator' lunges, kicking low at the man's legs as he seeks to drop him groundward. The veteran vigilante would catch him on the way down in a viselike blood choke around his neck-- if the Punisher gets his way, his new friend won't even get a chance to cry out.

Her bluff thoroughly called, Granny collects herself standing in front of the desk in her big frumpy sweater, and turns back to face the costumed heroes. "Well fine," she says, huffy. "So much for freedom of religion." How does she get 'religious oppression' out of this situation? "Come with me, I'll show you who's here. Don't you bother anyone who doesn't wanna talk though!" Or what?

Granny leads the way through a door in the welcome room, to a narrow hallway with a couple doors on either side, and one door at the other end. She leads the way to this last door, opens it, and reveals the cots and soup room Frank saw earlier. If anyone tries the doors to the sides, they'll find them locked. In the shelter area, they have about a dozen 'guests', lying down or sitting with soup, while a lone worker is cleaning out a giant soup pot, while giving the back door the evil eye, where she most likely lost the one other person helping out who is certainly taking his /sweet time/ with that garbage.

Following Hawkeye and then Axiom, Luke rests a big hand on the younger man's shoulder and says quietly, "Nicely played back there, kid." And Cage actually /is/ impressed with the line about the cops getting called to a shelter like this. Cage feels a connection to the poor, and to the indigent almost as deeply as Axiom does, and his new found respect for the young man could easily be pinging Axiom's powers.

Jared, the garbage guy, never stood a chance. He takes the shot to his shin, and then Frank's hand is around his throat before he can even cry out. He struggles weakly for just a moment before he finally goes limp in Castle's hands.

With a glance at Axiom, and a jerk of her head at Luke, she simply responds to that question from her friend with a single word.

"His."

Then though, as she follows the woman, Hawkeye blinks once, and even frowns as she notices something. Something that definitely a bit off. Hence why her bow remains in hand as she follows the woman into the room, and glances about...

"They aren't here. None of them. Is this the only room...?" is asked towards the older woman by the archer in purple.

Axiom just frowns deeper at the mention of religion. That's another something that's only ever brought him trouble. He nods to Kate, ready to boost Luke if need be. Luke makes him jump and Axiom offers a small smile. His powers were already pinged by Luke but it was stronger now. "Th-thanks," he murmurs.

He glances around when they get to the room, paying close attention to the doors and the people.

At least he knows he has the right place. Castle upends this ever-so-smooth Jared guy into the dumpster with a casual heave, tossing the bag of garbage in behind him. While walking right in there and reiterating infestation while following his readings has a certain appeal, Frank moves to check his other theory, first. A prybar is plucked from his belt as he stoops near the alley's municipal access, carefully finegling his heavy gear to drop it down ahead of him, and restrap the pack once he's followed down after.

The first thing back in his hand is his ant-finder, waved about in a slow, full arc around the sewer tunnels, his flashlight shining through the darkness in tandem to seek out unusual passages-- or visitors. It's not only alligators that live down there.

Granny makes a show of looking offended at Kate's question. "Well of /course/ this is our only shelter space. The rest is just offices and storage. We don't have the donations for anything bigger." Granny looks around at the young woman cleaning pots and asks, "Ella, where's Jared gone?" Ella just shrugs and looks sufficiently miffed. "Having a smoke, I guess." Granny doesn't look too pleased with the answer, but she's more concerned with her visitors. "Well, I guess you'll be on your way then. Like I said, your friends aren't here." She moves to usher them back out to the front, coming face-to-face with Kate.

Cage looks stumped, apparently not ready to throw down on Granny and her helpers without more to go on. He's hesitant to leave though, not able to ignore than feeling in his gut.

When Frank hits the service tunnel, it's a damn good thing he's got that gas mask with him. The smell is unbelievable. And when his sensor device deadends in a nearby wall, some closer inspection reveals that the bricks here have recently been torn down and put back up, and in fact are rebuilt to let this portion of the wall swing in like a door. Looks like it doesn't even have a latch on it. Peeking in, Frank is rewarded with a scene out of nightmare. Pylons of some kind of sticky, translucent, amber substance, reach from ceiling to floor, and inside each one the form of a human figure can be seen. Well, mostly human. All of them appear to be in different states of metamorphoses, sprouting four legs from a new abdomen, or face mandibles, or even wings. Sometimes combinations of these. Only a few seem to have no changes at all. There are maybe two dozen pylons in total. Walking around are several worker ants, each with electricity arcing between their two antennae, and several other horrid, insect-human hybrid types, apparently inspecting the pylons. None have noticed Frank yet.

While others might not have noticed certain things, Kate has. In fact she's noticed enough, that she just says, "Axiom. You might want to get yourself and mr. Cage ready... That is if you don't mind the help Mr. Cage." before she looks at 'Granny' again as the woman tries to usher the trio back out.

"And... I don't mean to be mean, or nosey.... But between your eyes, and that thing with your back... I'm curious. Thus I've got to ask something, which might sound a bit personal..."

"Are you a mutant, meta, alien, or something else...?"

Yeah, Hawkeye does try to sound as polite as she can asking that, but well, considering how personal that question is...

"I mean your eyes, even with those glasses are pure black. And the way your back moved... Well... Do I have to say it?"

Axiom starts to ask if they can speak with some of the guests when Hawkeye gets his attention. Nodding, he glances back at Luke. "Um...brace yourself, sir," he offers, preparing to use his powers on the older hero. When Kate mentions things, Axiom glances and frowns. "Please don't be a demon..." he mutters quietly. He's had too many demon run ins!

Frank seals his gasmask immediately. "Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me." This is way beyond his pay grade. As the primitive stonework door swings in, Castle is left with a scene out of a nightmare-- or a bad horror movie. The nozzle is unhooked from his left tank, and brought into corresponding hand. A similar one is unhooked from the right, and mirrors the first as it's brought to bear-- at least, right up until the pilot light is lit.

The former, non-flaming weapon is brought to bear and starts to spray concentrated insecticide in wide, sweeping arcs as the Punisher advances into the room, back to the wall, intent on keeping the electro-ants and worker hybrids at bay; no, scratch that. Each of them is treated to a far more precise column of flame sprayed like dragon's breath from the other nozzle, looking to spatter the lot of them with potent pesticide, then fry specific threats to a crisp one by one.

Granny seems to get about 4 inches taller as she stands up straight at Kate's question. "None of the above, /deary/," she says in a sneer, her voice also losing the whispy grandmotherly quality to it, and now just sounding like an adult woman. Even her wrinkles flatten out some, and she looks much closer to 50 years old than she did a minute ago. Nice trick, Granny, dropping 20 years like that. Should bottle that stuff! Oh wait. "I'm one of His Chosen." She turns to Ella who was already tensing and shouts, "They can't be allowed to leave! Peto somnus!"

Ella dives behind the kitchen counter, and comes up with a bizarre rifle-type weapon of some kind, with a lot of tubes and other modifications. At Granny's latin recitation, all of the homeless 'guests' sag down onto their cots, unconscious. Granny leaps at Hawkeye then, insect wings bursting from her sweater, causing it to fall to tatters on the floor, revealing a chitinous chest piece as well. At her wrists, stingers dripping with poison of some kind emerge and she tries to stab Hawkeye with them. She's stronger than she looks!

Cage takes a step forward, but he's too slow to intervene directly on Hawkeye's behalf this time around. Instead, he only manages to put himself between Axiom and Ella when she fires the first burst of sticky, amber goo from her gun. Hitting Cage in the chest and arms, it immediately starts to harden, making it hard to move. It's looks like a close thing, but he's not quite strong enough to break free. Yet. "Sweet Christmas, that is dis/gust/ing!" True, he's struggling, but he almost seems more offended than concerned, just yet.

As the Punisher bursts into the room, all 'staff' turn to look at him and immediately take aggressive postures. When he attacks, the ones nearest don't stand a chance. Two electros and a hybrid go down in writhing agony, afflicted with combinations of burning fuel and pesticides, both of which seem pretty effective. Several hybrids towards the far end of the room manage to bolt up the stairs, but the other dozen or so down here turn to take on the intruder. Electric bolts arc across the room, but not as many of them as one would think. It's almost as if they're being careful of the pylons. In fact, they'd probably make damn fine cover. One of the hybrid though sprints across part of the room, runs up the wall, and then his knees bend the wrong way before he leaps the remaining distance, trying to get behind the Punisher.

And Archer Rule 1 strikes again! After all, how the heck is an archer suppose to be an archer when things are leaping at you point blank? One of these days Hawkeye will remember to take care of this before things go to hell!

Of course that's no real help right now, is it?

Thus as Granny tries to lunge at the female archer, said archer tries not only to duck, but also to spin on one foot, in an effort to get below the 'bug woman' while drawing, aiming, and hopefully even firing off a single normal arrow, even if it is at close range! And hopefully she succeeds, because who knows what those nasty looking stingers will do to her if they connect!

"Cage! Axiom! We gotta end this /NOW/!"

Axiom's eyes flare up bright blue as he activates his powers. He's grateful Luke protects him and pays it back by boosting his powers. He also mimics those powers, his costume shifting to a blue and white fusion of his uniform and Luke's outfit. He even bulks up a bit, getting more muscular thanks to borrowing Luke's powers.

Confident that the increase in strength will give Luke more than enough strength to handle the goo and the woman that shot it, Axiom moves to aid Hawkeye. "Yes, Ma'am!" he says, trying to grab granny-bug's arms to pull the stingers away from Hawkeye. "Who's chosen?"

Getting tased sucks, don't let any tough guy tell you different. It's the sustained pulse that's incapacitating, though, and Frank's not poorly insulated either. The bolts that hit the heavier sections of his body armor largely dissipate, and after the first solid pulse-- and the searing impact itself-- Castle starts using that natural cover. It's not really comforting when one considers they're just protecting eggs, but hey: one problem at a time, damnit.

Speaking of: the Punisher is almost uncanny in returning poisonous spray to the sniping ants, counting on the spatter and accumulating, nerve-destroying chemical agents to win him this one as time simply passes. The mobility of his foe isn't something he's about to let rob him of the element of surprise, either, keeping up with the motion on his flanks and filling the space behind him with fire as he sets his stance and projects insecticide forward, and flame back before he rushes forward to use the grid of pillars to obscure his advance.

If Granny had actually caught Hawkeye by surprise, the old lady would have gotten her for sure. Her movements are swift and precise as she leaps and grabs for the younger woman, but she only manages to scrape her fingertips against Kate's costume, and not the stinger bit. When Kate spins out of the way and back, she's able to get a clean shot off, but the bug-woman's inhuman agility and speed allow her to avoid a fatal shot, and instead the arrow shoots through her upper arm.

Just as the arm sprouts that arrow, Axiom is there to grab the woman's flailing arms. But as fast as she is, her strength is no match for Axiom's new found strength. He's easily able to grab her from behind, and keep control of her arms. She's struggling, and too spitting mad to comment any further.

Encouraged by her successful attack on /Power Man/, Ella fires another volley of gunk, hoping to disable him. And it works, for the span of a heartbeat. And in that time, Axiom's power flows into Cage, causing him to grow larger as well. At nearly seven feet tall, Cage bursts free of the hardening shell and throws a massive hunk of it at Ella. It's like hurling a chunk of concrete and it smashes through the soup table, sending Ella flying, out for the count. This makes him just in time to be the prime target for the two hybrids who ran upstairs from the basement.

They both leap onto Cage's back, seeing him as literally the biggest target in the room, but their wrist stingers are not able to puncture his skin as they stab at him, clinging on for the ride.

While the hybrids seem much more resistant to the pesticide than the ants, the opposite is true about the fire. As the hybrid lands in Frank's back trail, it is immediately engulfed in flames. Meanwhile, more of the worker ants are circling to try and get safe angles to attack with their electro bolts, but they're getting increasingly wobbly as the air gets worse. They're aim is worsening, but they're also capitalizing on teamwork and trying to surround their prey before everything is lost. They're fighting like their lives depend on it, because they do, of course.

The one hybrid left downstairs opens up on Frank with an uzi from the cover of a pylon near the stairs going up. Apparently he's not concerned about chipping the pylons. They're pretty thick after all, and even on a direct hit, bullets don't seem to do much.

If there's one thing Hawkeye doesn't want to do, ever, it's kill. Granny though, and her hybrids are going to make this hard for her. After all, on something like this. it is kind of hard to know where you can aim without killing something... Someone?

Oh well, Axioms got Granny taken care of for the moment, thus Kate shifts her attention as she reaches into her quiver, and pulls out a cell phone. A cheap, disposable, 'pay as you go' phone. But a phone none the less. one that she flips open, and dials an easy to remember number, before sliding the phone off to the side.

What number is that? 911.

Yeah, that's right, Kate is calling for backup, after a fashion, even if she isn't speaking on the phone. After all, won't the cops have to check up on the call?

With that done, she tries to fire a second arrow as she grabs one and spins around. this time though not at Granny, but instead at the arm of one of the hybrids attacking Luke.

"We should have blue inbound!"

"That's new," Axiom stares a second as Luke grows. He's still getting used to all his powers can do. Shaking it off, he focuses on trying to force Granny-bug down to the floor. "Pretty sure this is above their pay grades, Hawkeye," he may not like the police but he doesn't want them hurt or worse.

There's a grim smile behind the alien features of the gas mask as the colony coordinates and swarms in to surround him-- it's what his hacker friend said would happen. There's a fair bit of pesticide left in his tank, but the flamethrower just devours its fuel source; all the moreso as a 9mm round grazes the tank and it springs a leak. Thankfully for Castle, these things don't tend to explode into flames the way the movies say. Still, it's a moment the Punisher has prepared for, detaching one tank from the other and dropping both off his back, he holds the pesticide container in both hands and swiftly presses a few buttons on a pre-rigged cube of C-4. It's not very big, but it's large enough to project a powerful shockwave and a cloud of poison gas outwards in about ten seconds-- and make one hell of a bang.

The IED is tossed to one flank where the ants fill in, shocking desperately around Castle's crouched position at the base of the pylon nearest the stairs, a final gout of flame is blasted up the route forward from his dying flamethrower-- then Castle charges the base of the stairs. The uzi bites into his body armor on one sweep while he brings a long barreled Smith and Wesson revolver free of its holster, clicks a laser sight on in seemingly the same snap-draw motion in which he fires a .44 magnum FMJ round dead on for the angry antman's forehead, the cylinder cycling ominously.

The phone dials, and for someone with excellent hearing, like Hawkeye or Axiom, they might even hear the operator trying to figure out who's on the line. After trying to speak to the caller, the operator finally says, "Ok, we're tracking your position and we'll have a car out to you soon."

Granny is /almost/ as strong as Axiom, but not quite enough. He is able to wrestle her to the ground and hold her in whatever sort of submission move suits him best while she struggles vainly in his grip.

"Thanks!" Cage shouts, as Hawkeye's arrow pierces the hybrid's arm. That one is unseated enough that Cage is able to reach back and rocket the thing into the pile of rubble Ella was sent into. There's a sickening crunch as the bug-man hits the debris there, and then he lies still. Apparently Luke is really enjoying how much harder he can throw. With only the one guy left, he's able to grab him with both hands and hold him out in front of himself in his newly vice-like grip, clamped around the bug-man's arms, holding them against his body. He headbutts the bug, and lets him drop at his feet in a crumpled pile.

Down below, the ants swarm to follow Castle as he arms his bug-bomb, not realizing the device isn't dropped because it's dead. Most of them are right on top of it when it goes off. Two are blown apart just from the shrapnel and explosion, which can be heard and felt through the floor, all the way upstairs. The rest are either dead or dying from pesticide exposure, and are out of the equation.

The ant-man at the base of the stairs sweeps his uzi, trying to stop him, but his small caliber ammunition just isn't enough to punch through Frank's armor. He just stares, his mandible-face opening and closing incredulously as Frank draws his gun and blows the ant-man's head clean off. Well. Not so clean, but off, anyway.

"Axiom... Unless you can get The Justice League, or even SHIELD here yourself, this is the best we'll get." is all but shouted as Hawkeye spins again and tries to fire an arrow into Granny's leg. "Besides, the boys in blue should know how to call them in to deal with things like this!"

Then she feels the explosion from down below. And that causes the female archer to curse before she shouts and tries to move towards one of the unconscious homeless individuals.

"We need to get them out of here now!"

Axiom just winces at Hawkeye's reply. He thought she had SHIELD's number. "All I've got is the Titans," even if he only he only knows how to reach Bunker and Nightwing. He's using one of those Asgardian submission holds he was taught but once the arrow is fired, he nods. Pulling back a fist, he tries to knock Granny-ant out. "Right!"

Immediate threats all twitching or leaking here and there around the subterranean lair or not, the Punisher doesn't relax a great deal. Glancing back at the stairs with rhythmic, paranoid regularity, Castle quickly sweeps through the basement with his magnum at the ready-- while it's a foregone conclusion -what- is going on down here, why and how are still important questions that lurk unanswered.

When no further threats head down those stairs, and a cursory scan reveals little beyond more gangbanger gear for hybridized ant-men, Frank takes them himself, kicking open the door at the top and slicing the pie into the shelter. ... which looks to be mostly contained. Masked visage passes from vigilante to vigilante, then over the sleeping people. Luckier than some..

And... the building's sprinklers go off. Great. Now its raining /inside/ too. Fire alarms sound as well, and generally add to the chaos and cacophony in here.

An easy target, Granny's leg is pierced and pinned to the floor. Distant sirens can be heard, even over the alarms, but more immediately, everyone can smell smoke. And chemicals. It's wafting up through the door to the basement.

When Axiom cold-cocks Granny, she's out for the count.

At Hawkeye's mention of the homeless here, Luke snaps out of his battle reverie and nods. "Oh shit, you're right!" With nothing else attacking at the moment, he starts scooping up cots as best he can, passing as many to Axiom as he can manage, and picking up several himself. If only humans were more easily portable! The weight isn't an issue so much as their floppy awkwardness. At least in the alley they'll be able to get some fresh air while they sleep off whatever Granny did to them, even if it is raining on them.

When he sees Frank coming out of the basement he tenses, and peers, trying look past the gas mask. None of these guys had masks on, and that guy looks familiar. Finally, the tumblers click. "Hey! It's you! Holy shit... What happened down there?"

And then of course, as she attach's her bow to her quiver, so she can try to grab and drag a homeless man out, Hawkeye notices who comes up the stairs.

And she blinks.

And she tries harder to get that person out.

Yeah. She's /not/ going to comment about The Punisher, especially since Luke asked the most important question.

And as for those sprinklers, they don't bother Hawkeye that much. After all, she was standing out in the rain earlier.

Sprinklers don't bother Axiom either. He just carries people as Luke hands them over. The sight of the Punisher makes him pause though. He's heard the rumors and he's not a fan. A scowl is shot the Punisher's way as Axiom gets back to work carrying people out.

The spray of the sprinklers lay bare a white skull scarcely concealed on the armor itself-- a tool for inspiring terror that Castle had little need for, this time. Most of the beasties downstairs don't really care who he is, after all. As he emerges into cleaner environs, the gas mask is unclasped and allowed to fall free around his neck, a frown cast to the side as he hears distant sirens.

"There used to be a brood of them making men into monsters." Frank answers helpfully. "Now there's just a handful of the poor bastards caught midway through." Frank spits to the side, his throat already acrid despite protection. "Locked in some kind of secretion, maybe." The only thing the Punisher knows to do for them is put them out of his misery-- perhaps why it's left to others to decide, this time. "I'd let it air out down there if you really want to take a look, no sign of how they're doing it.. or their Queen." It's dry enough that even Terminex might not be sure Frank just mocked him. There's a subtle, dangerous anger under the recitation nonetheless, as water weighs down his short black hair, and streams down his heavy gear.

The Punisher finally slides his sidearm back into its hard shell of a holster at his side. "If you're going to do anything for those people-- hell, maybe these people, you better get on the horn to a hospital now. Not to mention the University and maybe some Nobel Prize winners in Biology." Yea, it's that bad. Castle? He looks about ready to exit out the back, passing off a business card with three numbers to Cage. Apparently he's heard of the guy, too.

"I'm going back underground, see if I can track this brood back to the colony. They've got to have contact, and if I don't miss my guess this doomed asshole has a lot more ants somewhere."