2013-01-22 YAL: Wild Dogs: Part 2

Two hours ago, the 'New Hope' shelter in the Bronx had been attacked by a group of armed psychopaths called the Watchdogs. They kidnapped the mayor, the director of the shelter, and a few others. A few members of the Young Allies had tried to stop them but been unable to. The expert archery skills of Hawkeye and some menacing of one of the thugs had provided the team with a means to track the Watchdogs down though. About an hour after the Watchdogs made their internet demands, the team was able to track the Watchdogs down to a warehouse down by the docks in the Bronx. And the call went out for as much of the team as possible to assemble and rescue the hostages. The warehouse is pretty non-descript, old to the point that the company logo has worn off the building. There's no sign of the Watchdogs outside but the van they used is parked in the back.

"Okay," Axiom pauses as he slips through a hole in a fence and gets back to the spot where the team is supposed to meet. "I think I f-found a way in. Is everyone g-g-good to go?"

With what happened, Kate Bishop a.k.a. Hawkeye made sure to grab not only her usual equipment on her way over to the warehouse. But she also grabbed some extra equipment, and made an extra call. To someone... Someone who didn't know her costumed identity, but more than likely does now. because after what happened, she knew one thing. They needed all the help they can get.

"I'm ready." is said in a low tone by the archer, sounding a little calmer than she did earlier, but not much. "Let's do this."

One of these heroes is not like the others, one of these heroes just doesn't belong~

The hero in question would be Terrance "Terry" Ward. Not exactly a hero, evidenced by the fact that his costume of choice consists of a black hoodie -- with said hood pulled up to obscure his identity a bit -- and jeans. No, no spandex for this one. Be grateful that he's not wearing /all/ black for a change. Looking over towards the purple-clad archer he says, "You know, I expected community service to mean giving out food at a soup kitchen, or picking up soda cans in the park. This... well. If I don't end up killing you all," A very realistic possibility in his pessimistic mind. "I'd say this makes us pretty well even." Finally, looking over towards Axiom, Terry takes a deep breath and nods his head. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Quite," Xavin states as she appears beside the fence and dutifully begins crawling through the hole.

Literally, one moment there was nothing, the next: Xavin, already in uniform.

"I followed you for a few blocks," she casually offers once she's standing with the rest of the team and brushing dirt from her purple and black garb. "You were in costume; I'm sure you understand." After frowning at and futilely shaking her now dusty hands, Xavin gingerly folds her arms over her chest, peers around at her fellow Allies, then cracks a small smile.

"Who are we going to war with tonight, mm?"

"Don't worry. You'll b-be fine," Axiom speaks to Terry, smiling his way. Endless faith, Terry. Welcome to it. Xavin's sudden appearance makes Axiom jump, quickly covering his mouth to keep the squeak from being heard. "Please d-d-don't do that," he requests. He holds the fence for the others to crawl through, pointing towards a loading door the lock is broken off of. "Crazy people c-called the Watchdogs. They kidnapped the mayor and some other people. We can get in through there. I didn't see anyone near it when I p-peeked in the window," he explains. "There are a bunch of them in there though."

While Hawkeye doesn't jump as Xavin appears, she does tense up a bit. That is before she glances at Terry.

"Usually that is what I do. but this time... Look, these idiots aren't only right wing hate filled nuts, but they /attacked/ a homeless shelter. They attacked a place meant to /help/ people. /Then/ they kidnapped its director, and the mayor, just like Axiom said." There' a pause as she glances at Eddie.

"They need to be stopped."

Then, she takes a deep, calming breath before saying, or doing anything else.

"Xavin, considering how you just 'appeared'... Do you think you can scout on ahead? Maybe try to get the 'big shots' out, while we distract the Watch Dogs? Or...?"

Xavin's sudden appearance causes a jump from Terry as well. "Whoa! Where'd you come from?" ...at last count, he'd only seen two people with him, and they were both people he knew under certain circumstances. This new girl... well, she's new to him as well, but on the plus side? She doesn't appear to be ambushing them or anything, so... "Anyways, uh... hi?"

"Right, I don't doubt the goal, or anything like that." Is the reply to Kate, along with what looks like it's trying to almost be a smile on his face, before he looks back and forth between her and Axiom. "I guess... just tell me what to do when it comes down to it." ...not that that'll help too much, since his powers more or less auto-pilot at this stage.

Xavin jerks a thumb down the street to answer Terrance's question. 'Right everyone else', pretty much. She then glances towards Eddie to breezily assure, "Of course."

No telling what the chances of her actually remembering that promise, of course; popping up in unexpected places is kind of ingrained in her nature.

Regardless, the Skrull's expression darkens /considerably/ when Hawkeye mentions the shelter, and while her arms remain folded, her fingers are visibly tense against her bicep; if they /were/ loose, they would undoubtedly be balled into fists. Her eyes snap to the archer.

"Yes," she replies, tone low and devoid of anything beyond cold, determined readiness. Without another word, she takes off running towards that unlocked loading door, vanishing further and further into thin air with each stride. She will, as requested, try to slip in as quietly as she can, try to get a sense of the place's layout, and - more importantly - keep her eyes peeled for anyone who looks especially dangerous.

Axiom gives a small concerned look to Hawkeye when she takes that breath. He's pretty angry himself right now but he can tell that both of them being mad probably wouldn't be good. Especially not after the whole flare arrow thing earlier. So it's back to what he did for years, bury it under the whole hopeful fanboy thing and keep a stopper on it for as long as possible. "We'll stop them. And we'll get everyone b-back. We're superheroes, those b-bad guys don't stand a chance," he says as confidently as possible. As Xavin goes in, Axiom takes a breath and reaches out with his powers to boost and mimic the skrull again. Both to help his teammate and make himself a little more useful.

The loading door is easy enough to lift even for someone without the strength of someone like Xavin. Apparently it's been used recently. Inside is a lot more active than outside. Watchdogs patrol the catwalks above, all armed with semi-automatics. The floor itself has been cleared of crates and shelves for the most part, things set up to make the place sort of livable. In one corner a few of the Watchdogs are maintaining some guns. Another area has a few of them sitting around a TV and drinking beers while watching a newreport about the earlier battle. Of course between boasting and bragging, they're hurling every racist, homophobic, and sexist insult they can think of about the anchor, the Young Allies, the cops and anyone else on screen. Similar conversations are happening in an improvised obstacle course and gym that several of the Watchdogs are running through and training. And in the center of it all is that oversizes dog crate. The hostages including the Mayor are hudled against the far wall with those modified shock collars around their necks. A few are pretty roughed up, likely smacked around by their captors.

And as Xavin moves in, Kate... No, Hawkeye, reaches for her bow, and one of her 'trick' arrows. That is before she aims it for a spot in front of the building.

"All right. let's buy Xavin some time. If we can get inside and help, we do it. Otherwise lets keep these guys as busy as we can, and take as many as we can out for the police."

And with that said, the female archer fires a 'Flashbang Arrow' at the ground not too far from the entrance. And when it hits..> Well, large explosion sound and a large flash of light, but no real damage should be done. In other words, something that in theory should draw the thugs outside.

Hopefully.

"...Right." replies Terry to both the heroes he knows, making the mental notes and letting his mind wander. Get inside, check. If not, knock a few heads together... check. So since he's still in very human form at the moment, the teen just starts making his way closer to the compound... seeking out the minds of their enemies in order to try and seize upon their fears. He knows it's the only way he's going to make himself useful right now... and for a change, the only 'good guys' around (with the exception of Xavin) have already seen his uglier side. Even though it's a dangerous situation... it has a certain inherit safety about it in a /different/ way.

The explosion at Xavin's back causes her to wince, but not stop--or even slow down very much. While that explosion makes it somewhat unlikely that they'll be fighting the Watchdogs inside, she still makes the catwalks her first destination; better to remove the already armed men from the fray as quickly as possible, she figures.

Slowly - at least, as slowly as whatever panic the flashbang might have raised amongst the bigots allows - she climbs the metal stairs to creep along the catwalk, positioning herself to slip behind the nearest Watchdog. Her plan is fairly simple, despite her sophisticated cover: cinch him in a chokehold, cover his mouth, squeeze until he's unconscious, then slip away and try to do that to the other catwalk dwellers before they catch on--or head outside.

Hope's burning bright tonight. That bang causes a few of the Watchdogs to start opening doors and windows. And when they get a look at the heroes out there, there are calls back to those inside that there's trouble. The first Watchdog out the doggy door? Well he happens to be a rather severe Ophidiophobe. Big tough guy with a gun afraid of snakes. He and his buddies are in for a surprise. Before another can even raise his gun, he's sent sprawling by a fireball from Axiom as he mimics Xavin's abilities and his costume becomes a fusion of his own the skrull's outfit. "You Watchjerks should g-give up now before you g-g-get hurt!" Axiom demands, letting out a little squeak and forming a forcefield as he gets bullets fired his way in reply. Others start heading for Hawkeye.

Inside, that first unfornate Watchdog goes down just as he's trying to climb on the railing to look out a window. The others up there don't quite notice yet. They're both too distracted by heading towards stairs and ladders to get outside and by the armored man that's apparently the leader of this cell yelling for everone to get moving and to unpack his 'surprise' before the 'spandex freaks' get inside.

Spandex freaks?

It's probably a good thing that Hawkeye doesn't hear that phrase over the shouts of the other watchdogs. Especially not as she takes aim at the guys running out the door, and she starts firing arrows at them. Plain. Ordinary. Arrows.

Not trick arrows.

But regular arrows.

Thus if they hit... Ouch!

Jackpot. That ophidiophobia stuck out to Terry like a sore thumb... or in this case, a golden shiny wire of hope. It all starts happening quickly, his eyes turning to blank white orbs, skin losing pigmentation... body reshaping according to the foe's worst fear.

"I know what you fear!" calls out Terry as his body changes further, arms and legs fusing to his body and clothing being replaced by shiny green scales - by the end of it all? What was a nearly 6' teenager has transformed into a rather large and monstrous looking serpent!

Without a further word, Terry slithers through the crowd of people -- trying to wrap his body around the legs of his enemies to trip them over. Oh -- and then there's those fangs that are going to be seeking out a lucky victim at the end of his path!

Xavin is only one Skrull; she can't stop all of the 'dogs from getting away, but the couple she /does/ get her hands on will probably be out of it for a couple of minutes.

Maybe a little longer for the guy she shoulderchecks over a railing near the armoured individual, but as long as he wakes up /eventually/, she won't lose much sleep over it. Holding her breath, she follows that guy down by slingshotting herself over the railing to land in front of the Watchdogs' ostensible alpha, and once she's stable, she lets her invisibility fall away so that she can see her glaring at him.

"Wouldn't you know it," she murmurs as she gently presses a temple to her forehead in readiness, "they're already /here/."

Ouch indeed! Watchdogs get knocked back as arrows punch into body armor and body alike. Several go down before they get smart enough to try taking cover behind things like discarded crates and barrels before shooting towards the archer.

That ophidiophoba lets out a scream at the sight of Terry changing. He stumbles back and starts firing erratically, clipping a few of his fellow Watchdogs. Others trip and tumble over the serpent among them and that unlucky guy at the end lets out a comedically high pitched scream of his own when bitten by those fangs. Of course other Watchdogs are starting to try to kick or stomp on Terry.

Inside, it's a good thing the Watchdogs wear helmets. Especially for the one that takes the longest tumble. The fall attracts the attention of the Alpha and he starts to say something only to stop when he sees Xavin. Of course the first words out of his mouth are a slur about her race and another her gender. A pistol is drawn quickly and fired Xavin's way as the Alpha Dog starts running backwards away from the skrull.

It seems the guys fighting Axiom are the luckiest when it comes to injuries. He's just knocking people out and smacking them with fireballs but he's also being pretty noisy. "You guys made a huge mistake kidnapping the Mayor! You're lucky it was us and not the Justice League coming after you. D-do you guys really think you would have stood a chance against someone like Superman?" he send a Watchdog flying with a strike from a rocky hand. "N-n-not that you have a chance against us."

Knowing these guys, despite the fact that Superman is an alien (thus not human) they'll claim that he's the 'right race'.

Or at least that's what Kate would say, if she heard Eddie.

Instead though, Hawkeye just continues to fire arrows. Regular arrows that is. Only as the dogs run for cover, the female archer starts to run, jump, and basically move along the rooftop to get a different spot (or since she's moving, spots plural) to fire from, and maybe hit those guys behind cover. And if that doesn't work... Well... She can start to pull out some bigger guns'.

Of course as she does that, she sort of keeps track of where eddie and Terrance are so she doesn't fire at them. And she also hopes things are working out for Xavin.

From a friendly fire perspective, Terry's in rather good shape -- the snake-form he's taken stays close to the ground and it's not /too/ difficult to tell which of the legs belong to Axiom or Hawkeye -- although he hasn't seen Xavin for a while, he's /pretty/ sure he hasn't bitten the new girl. From a defensive perspective? Well, Terry's new body isn't exactly small, and he's opening himself up to the attacks of many opponents at once, so there's a few hisses of pain coming from the reptile on the ground -- but he still does what he can, trying to move quickly and trip up or bite as many of the enemies as he can. At least they're not shooting him! ...yet.

The bullets ricochet off of--/something/ a few feet in front of Xavin, creating brief, translucent blue flashes in the air. Those epithets didn't /entirely/ land - gender/skin-based insults against a shapeshifter, come on - but she understands the sentiment well enough that the smile she flashes as she advances on the retreating Alpha is tinged with a healthy dose of smug pride. If the Alpha were to squint, and turn his head just so, he /might/ just be able to make out the gossamer surface of her Axiom-boosted protective field--provided that not too much light falls on it, anyway.

"Tell me more," she casually goads him, "about this surprise of yours. What it is; where I can find it." After another step, her skin rapidly lightens until there are roses in her freckled cheeks; at the same time, her hair shifts from brown to golden blonde. "Perhaps this will make it a little easier for you," she then tauntingly offers, smile broadening.

Arrows continue to prove effective even as gunfire chases Hawkeye along. Watchdogs keep falling, yells and curses ringing out among the sounds of battle. A pair of brave Watchdogs are climbing up to the same building Hawkeye's on though.

They're not shooting at the snake just yet, no. One of the men that's been tripped is taking out his knife and stabbing at the Terry-snake though. Knife guy there's got a pretty strong fear of death though. The snake-phobe that started it all is starting to shoot his pistol since his main weapon ran out of ammo but he's still only hurting his fellow Watchdogs more than anything else.

Axiom continues putting borrowed powers to use. Super strength and fireballs send Watchdogs flying while invisible forcefields stop bullets. There's some stretching happening there somewhere too. If you squint a little. "Hawkeye! I'm headed in!" he calls. "C-call if you need me!" is added, Axiom grabbing a Watchdog that tried to hide inside and tossing him over his shoulder before running inside to back up his alien teammate.

The Alpha's eyes go wide at the stopped bullets. He just ends up cursing as Xavin changes appearance in front of him. "Shut up you dirty little genequeer!" he snarls, turning and running towards something under a tarp. Two Watchdogs near it open fire on Xavin as the leader ducks under. There's some whirring of machinery before the tarp is ripped away by of all things...an eight foot tall industral lifting suit. Humanoid, glass covered cock-pit, a pair of clawed arms...there's the Alpha's surprise.

"Go! Go!" is shouted back at Axiom as he mentions going in. All while she runs. The fact that she hasn't been hit by a bullet is probably pure luck. And one of these days her luck is going to run out regarding that. Heck, as she ducks for cover behind a chimney, the female archer even curses the guns being used. But as she eventually leaps out, she frowns as she notices to guys climbing up the building, thus she reaches for one of her trick arrow, another 'flash bang' arrow, and fires it down at the climbing guys, leaving her a wide open target for the gunmen farther away.

So, slithering his way through the crowd was working pretty darn well... at least until the knife guy gets lucky. Terry's stabbed and it /hurts./ It also refocuses his attention on the newly offending Watchdog. His form starts to converge in upon itself and the scales give way to bones underneath. Bones that grow before the man's eyes as a skeletal figure rises from what was a serpent, a black cloak manifesting itself around the creature's body and it's eyes glowing red.

"I know what you fear... and now Death itself comes for you!" announces the figure as skeletal fingers reach out for the knife-wielder.

"'Genequ--'" a puzzled Xavin begins to inquire before gunfire cuts her off. The bullets aren't any more effective against his field than the Alpha's were, but they /are/ good for keeping her too busy to cut him off from the tarp, much to her chagrin. Since it's out of her hands now, she resigns herself to watching the tarp intently once the whirring begins, and once it's actually cast aside to reveal the machine beneath... she drops back a few steps and puts both hands out in front of herself, palms facing the robot.

And that's how Axiom will find her: maintaining the barrier between herself and the Alpha while she studies his trump card. "This," she informs her teammate after checking over her shoulder to confirm that the new arrival is friendly, "is their leader." After tipping her chin towards him, she crosses her arms protectively in front of her face, the vaguely perceptible barrier before her vanishes, and dense orange rock races from her fingertips up her arms. The earthen armour is still sprouting from various parts of her body - around her midsection, her back, her left leg - when she drops her arms to charge the Alpha; armoured fists are evidently good enough for her.

"Let's show him how very stupid this whole endeavour was, eh?" she suggests as she cocks sledgehammer-like fist back to throw an Axiom-assisted punch at one of the machine's legs, hoping to shatter - or at least crumple it - in one thundering blow.

Flashbangs are fun for the whole family! Except when you're geting shot with one, then...not so much. The Watchdog takes the arrow right in the chest, yelling out in surprise and pain as he falls from the ladder and knocks his buddy down too. They both land in a heap among the debris the base of the ladder. Several of the other Watchdogs find their vision affected by the flash but they keep shooting Hawkeye's way and with her still, those bullets get closer and closer to being 'way too close!'. Especially when one clips a hole in Hawkeye's scraf as it blows dramatically in the breeze.

There's a whole new round of terrified screams as Terry becomes that skeletal form. The man with the knife drops his weapon and starts to babble out pleas to have his life spared. There's a torrent of apologies from the man as well and promises to repent. Other start running for cover though one of those Watchdogs head for the water nearby. Apparently he intends to swim for it.

Axiom's quick to toss a barrier around the hostages in their cage when he spots them, just in case of any runaway bullets. He makes a surprised little noise at the sight of the Alpha in his suit. "Okay...that's n-not good," he says. Turning to Xavin, he nods and flashes a quick smile. "R-right!" he chimes. "Don't worry Mr. Mayor, everyone else. We'll be back to get you out of there in a sec. We j-just have to take down that crazy guy," he says to the hostages quickly before moving forward. As Xavin goes in for the punch, the suit swings one pinsir-arm only to have it stopped by a barrier from Axiom. The punch connects, metal crumbling and a few profanties yelled as the machine falls to one knee and swings that other arm Xavin's way.

What can anyone do when they're being shot at like this? Standing there isn't really an option. And while her team mates may be able to do all sorts of things, Kate is sort of a one trick pony. Sort of.

All right, so she starts to run again. Then she docks behind something, and appears to tie a rope to something. Then she starts running yet again. And /THEN/ she jumps off the roof. Yes, off the roof. While holding that line.

Thus she can't really fire off any arrows, but she does swing a bit, nearly dislocates her shoulders, and makes an almost controlled fall to the ground. But at least its a sudden change in direction that /hopefully/ buys her a moment or two. Right?

"Terry! Can you spook those gunmen please!" is shouted a moment or two after she crashes into what ever is down below, indicating Hawkeye is at least alive.

Of course, when it comes to fears he can only take them as far as the person truly fears -- precisely the reason that Terry's skeletal form has no scythe despite resembling the Grim Reaper. So when the man begs forgiveness - and when some part of him that's aware of his surroundings catches wind of Hawkeye's call for help - there's a terrifying gaze given to the source of the fear along with one word. "Repent." It's not a confirmation of what the man was offering, more of a command... an order not to be trifled with.

Once that's done, he seems to glide across the ground towards where the gunmen are, bony finger extended and cloak billowing in non-existant wind. He's already probing their minds for a new fear in order to better frighten, although the one he's got right now seems to be doing pretty well with many of the foes!

"Oh," Xavin exhales when Axiom calls out to the mayor. "Right." The Skrull glances that way herself, calls out, "Don't worry, humans: we'll save you from these ridiculous bigots!"

She returns her attention to the power loader /just/ in time to catch a claw-arm to the side; it sends her into a table not too far away, which in turn sends bullets and magazines flying /everywhere/.

"Rrr," she groans as she braces a rocky hand against table shards to help herself back up so that she can jog back into the fray. "Well." When she's close enough, she'll try to catch the kneeling machine with a kick to the cockpit--just hard enough to crack the glass without shattering it. Or, at least, without shattering it /too/ badly; she doesn't quite know her Axiom-boosted strength. Either way, it'll maybe spook the guy, which is all she really wants.

"I hope /that's/ out of your system," she growls.

Hawkeye's action movie moves not only look stylish but they buy her plenty of time to avoid bullets. Those gunmen weren't expect Hawkeye to go all daredevil on them and can't re-aim fast enough.

The man that's provided Terry with his grim form nods so much one might suspect that his neck has been replaced with a spring. Other Watchdogs continue to scream and scatter when they see death coming their way. When he gets closer, Terry will be able to detect a fear of needles in one of the men that had been shooting at Hawkeye. A pretty bad one even if it's not quite phobia levels.

"Xavin!" Axiom yelps, tossing a volley of fireballs at the loader as he struggles to its feet. One strikes the damaged leg and melts clean through it, bringing the machine crashing back down. When Xavin drops in with kick, that glass shatters and the Alpha dog yells as he gets a few cuts. He's spooked but not done fighting, swinging his own fists at the alien shapeshifter even while still strapped into the machine.

Action movie moves? To others maybe. But to Hawkeye, it was foolish, crazy, one step away from suicidal, and in her mind probably looked silly.

Either way though, as she scrambles to get up onto her feet again, Kate reaches for her bow (which thankfully landed right next to her), before she starts reaching for arrows. Regular ordinary arrows, as she starts running and firing them yet again. And yes, she does try ducking behind what ever cover she can every now and then, but she's not targeting any one watchdog or group of them for long. Instead she keeps switching targets. After all, she did say that her job was to provide a distraction for the guys inside. Or to help Terry with that.

Death itself smiles at the newest target for Terry, as the skeletal figure starts to grow skin and clothing before the man's eyes. "cyI know what you fear, too..." he intones, and it won't be long until the man is staring at his mirror image. With two notable exceptions -- for one the Terry-clone is bleeding from the knife-wound he suffered earlier in the fight, and the other? One by one, the bodies of needles are starting to grow out of his very flesh. Pinhead, eat your heart out.

Terry reaches out for the gunman he mirrored, a syringe growing out of his palm. "Help me... it hurts so much... they're everywhere..." he begs, knees starting to buckle as he's practically falling over on the guy. Kate's efforts to assist in the distraction are /definitely/ appreciated... he's probably been spared a few bullet holes by a few well-placed arrows.

"Stop," Xavin tersely demands after letting the guy test his fists against her rocky hide a couple of times, "before you hurt yourself." Rather than give him the choice, she reaches right in to try and rip the straps away and haul him out of the cockpit by an arm, his armoured collar - whatever she can get a hold of, really - after delivering that warning.

"Your soldiers are fighting a losing battle outside, I promise; if /this/ was your surprise, you should consider surrendering." After a beat, her eyes harden, and she tacks on two more words, icier than the rest:

"Or don't."

The combination of Hawkeye and Terry proves quite effective. Terry's needly new appearance not only makes the source of the fear actually wet himself but it stops those around him too. They start backing away only to be arrowed. If Kate and Terry look around, they'll find that other than a few still running off in the distance, they're surrounded by defeated Watchdogs. Most happen to be trying to stop bleeding or are just out cold entirely.

Inside, the Alpha grunts when yanked out of the cockpit. "Shut your mouth, you filthy gene-scum. Don't think you've heard the last of us just because of this," he growls. At least he's not fighting anymore.

Axiom meanwhile is busying himself with breaking open the cage and freeing hostages from their collars.

With what's going on outside basically taken care of, and the others running, Hawkeye lets the runners run.

That is before she starts to move into the warehouse, only as she manages to see what has happened inside, the female archer does let out a bit of a low whistle at the handiwork of Xavin and Axiom.

"Looking forward to it; maybe you'll have figured out a way to /challenge/ us then," Xavin snidely replies. With that, she throws another punch - far, far gentler than the metal-rending first - to knock the Alpha out, then hoists him onto a shoulder so that he can be carted outside.

Of course, as it turns out, Kate is a couple steps ahead of her, there; when she sees the archer, tilts her head towards the armoured jerk on her shoulder and explains, "What passed for their leader." After giving her a quick onceover, the Skrull adds, "Good; you didn't make liars of me. The hostages are..." She glances around briefly before just waving in the vague direction of the cages.

The Alpha goes out like a light with that punch, goggles broken. He's then not much more than dead weight for Xavin to carry. Only he's still alive so...uh...alive weight?

Axiom stops boosting and mimicking Xavin as he gets the last collar off the hostages and then lets out a squeak of surprise as he's swept up in hug and handshakes as the former hostages start thanking him and the other Young Allies they see. "S-someone should probably call the cops."

Call the...

Provided it hasn't been hit by a bullet, or broke in the fall, or any number of things...


 * Cough*

Yeah. As Kate hears Axiom say that, she reaches into a pocket on the inside of her quiver, and pulls out her smart phone. Which thankfully is still in one piece. She then starts up an app, and...

"I'd guess maybe five minutes. Tops. And they'll be here." is said towards Eddie and Xavin. "So if you don't want to have to answer their questions..."

"Right," Xavin grunts as she shrugs the Alpha off of her shoulders. She doesn't wince, or even glance at at the heavy thud when his body hits the ground; she just walks - briskly - out of the warehouse, gesturing for Eddie and Hawkeye to follow suit.

Axiom wriggles himself free from grateful people and nods. "Okay, Mr. Mayor. The police will b-be here soon. Just hang t-t-tight. Oh and we're the Young Allies. Bye," he calls as he follows Xavin and Hawkeye out to meet up with Terry so they can all get out of the area.