2013-01-01 Struggles Below

It is midafternoon in New York City. While it is busy up above, it is the same in the subways today. The trains rush along the tracks with their passengers packed in. It isn't the main commute to and from work so there is some standing space, but the cars are still crowded with people. There are the folks just sitting there, trying to mind their own business. There are a few groups of folks that bunch together and look out over the rest as they try to appear almost predatory. There are the honest to goodness slightly crazy folks that sit and have conversations with themselves even as people with Blue Tooth phones sit next to them and appear to do the same thing.
Matt Murdock usually avoids the subways. It is much too noisy down here for him; too many stimulations for his senses. Today, however, he was with a client that insisted they take the subway across town back towards Matt's office after buying lunch. Matt sits next to the man, cane between his knees, and concentrates on listening to his client bather on. He grips his cane tightly but someone paying attention might notice his knuckles are white.
Eddie doesn't use the subways much either, liking other modes of transit more. But today, he's on the train. Leaning against one of the poles in the car, the short teen's in jeans and a Fantastic Four t-shirt today along with his now standard Captain America coat and the backpack he's almost never seen without. He keeps his head down as he glances around the car, hoping they get to his stop soon so he can get off. The crowded trains make him a little nervous.
Only crazy people truly like riding on the subway. To that end, Domino is perfectly sane. She still hasn't gotten her car back, and trying to get around the cities in a lumbering SUV isn't her idea of fun. Not that riding the subway ranks any higher on her list, it's more to avoid trying to find parking spaces than anything.
Unknown to the pasty white mercenary, she's on the car directly behind where Matt is currently seated. It's a crowded field of smartphone-capable passengers that all try to make themselves disappear into their own little worlds despite constantly brushing shoulders with their neighbors. Worlds within worlds. If something happened down here, would anyone notice?
She would, though that might be because she doesn't have a smartphone in hand. A little OCD can sometimes come in handy there, too.
Ocasionally Norm needs to get around town. Most of the time he sticks to Chinatown and surrounding areas and takes busses as necessary, but sometimes only the subway will do. This is one of those days. After the hassle of actually getting a ticket is finished he's found a seat near the back of one of the cars. He takes up a lot of space too, mostly because of the arms. They're covered in his huge jacket at the moment, but even when the claws aren't visible he's still got a lot of bulk to him. He's also wedged between people as if he were a sardine, looking fairly miserable as the rest of the commuters violate his bubble of personal space.
Sue Storm is yet another infrequent subway passenger, considering that she can easily travel just above the streets themselves. But, she'd offered to meet Mr. Murdock and his client, knowing that the subway would be even more disconcerting to the blind man than to just about anyone else. Problem is, she missed them on the platform so is in the same car as Domino. She's tried to get an idea of where the lawyer is, but realized that it was futile. So, she waits until their pre-arranged stop so she can try to track him down then.
So no one really likes the cramped confines of the subway. That's good since it is about to get a lot worse. It starts out as a distant rumble as the train has a great many cars. Then there is a little rumble through the train which is bigger than normal travel motion. That is but an instant before the big impact hits. The roar of an explosion is loud even over the train. The lights begin to go on and off for a strobe like few moments before they fail completely and the emergency lighting of pale sodium blue kick in just over the doors. The car is rocked back and forth sending people hurling in all directions. There is the crunch of metal and scream of safty glass spider webbing as the cars crash over to their side. 
Matt is tossed from his seat. He tries to grab hold of anything, but his radar sense is on over load now. He is just a blind man in the middle of a train wreck. The clint next to him is tossed to the right and crashes against the door to the next car. Screams fill the spaces.
The rumbling doesn't get much reaction from Eddie at first. Once it gets bigger, he frowns and looks down at the floor of the train. And then there's the explosion. Eddie doesn't even have time to make noise as he's crushed between passenger and metal bar and then tossed into another person. Slumping to the ground, he just ends up tripped over and landed on a few times until he manages to roll under a seat to ride out the chaos.
Sometimes it pays to pay attention to one's surroundings. Something doesn't sound quite right... Domino's just getting out of her seat and taking hold of a support pole when the impact slams through the closely linked cars, driving her chest-first into the unforgiving metal with enough force to kick the breath out of her. Not being able to draw in air for a time beats the alternative, that pole becomes a lifeline for her to latch onto as the car gets rattled half to pieces as it comes to fall onto its side. The spot that had been her seat doesn't take the treatment well, things could have been much worse for her had they transpired slightly differently. When the other commuters fall with the pull of gravity, she's left hanging directly above them.
Waiting for the jarring and rumbling to cease is amongst the more unnerving of experiences, a quickened pulse felt within the mercenary's temples as she slowly uncurls from that bar and climbs up into the tangled mess of metal gridwork overhead, trying not to land on top of anyone around her. "Sonuvabitch," she hisses through her teeth while adjusting to the pale blue lighting. This..is going to take some sorting out. People are going to need an exit. They would have to climb to get to it, but the emergency window release overhead can still be reached, can't it..?
Aaa! Norm has a bit of weight to him, so he doesn't go careening off through a window, but he does end up getting a jolt into the wall behind him. He very politely acts as a cushion for another few people, who don't ask him his thoughts on this when they topple over on top of him. Thump-thump-thump, ow-ow-ow. The man makes a very undignified sound as he begins to push himself up, shaking his head until he can focus on the world around him again. "Am I dead? I'm not dead, am I?"
Sue Storm was just starting to look around to figure out what that horrid noise was when the entire world seems to lurch sideways with a metallic screech. As close as she was standing to the front end of the subway car, when the metal of the car buckles, she's too close to even have time to react. And for once, her personal force field didn't kick up high enough fast enough to protect her. She takes a fair blow and is instantly out, just another unconscious innocent in the middle of the chaos. With a very nicely bleeding head wound.
The train comes to a stop and the world stops turning and spinning. Where it had been blind noise and chaos a moment ago, silence now creeps in. It is as if the passengers are collectively holding their breaths as if waiting for the other shoe to fall. As dust begins to settle, a bit of metal comes loose and crashes into rubble. As if on cue, the sound of moans, cries of the injuried, and screams of the paniced begin to rise up. The emergencey exits do appear to still be usable, both the roof, and the window exit. There is not a lot of free standing things on the subway so there is little that got tossed around besides the people. These cars were far enough from the explosion to avoid the heat and explosive damage it would appear.
Matt is down at one end of the wrecked car among other people. An off duty cop had tried to his best to protect the handicaped lawyer. While Matt was braced, the cop unfortunately looks like the spill of the car broke his neck with the wrong impact. Matt escaped fatal injury, but he can feel his shoulder and ankle screaming in pain plus a mass of bruises he is sure will wake up before long. "Hello?" he tries to call out. "How many of us are there here?"
The silence is something Eddie's thankful for, using the time to try to banish the pounding pain from his head. When a different sort of chaos comes in form of panicked and injured screaming people, Eddie takes a deep breath and starts hauling himself out from under the seat. He's in pain but he's pushing through it. Not only has he suffered worse but there are clearly people in need of help. He's just not entirely sure 'Eddie' can do it and doubts he's got a chance to go get changed to 'Axiom'. Arm and ribs hurt, the teen climbs to his feet. He glances over when he hears a question that doesn't fit in with the others, carefully making his way towards Matt. "I'm n-not sure, sir. I can't tell with the dark and all these people."
People-herding. Like subways, it's not something Dom enjoys. What's worse than people-herding is victim-herding, something she's already gotten a fair amount of having to deal with these days. All the same, she can't leave these people to fend for themselves. Call it an attack of conscience and be done with it. "Stay calm, everyone," she speaks out with a wince. Did her voice really sound that bad from the impact..? Lucky she didn't snap a rib or three back there! Bruising can be dealt with. "We're going to get you all out of here, okay?"
The rubber seal around the window pops free and peels away with little effort, thank goodness for modern safety measures. With the window disconnected she can shoulder it out of the way with a slight grunt, bracing herself while visually scanning the injured crowd around her. Prioritize, find someone strong and get them up and out first in order to help the others. "You. You okay? Come on, I need your help."
It's while Domino is helping haul the first passenger out that she catches sight of what sure seems like a familiar face, detailed in fresh blood. Not looking very lively. Is that Sue..? Fudge, she's gotta get down there, quickly. To the one passenger she encouragingly says "You've got this. One at a time."
Norm spends his first few moments beginning to try and aid a few of the unfortunate individuals near him, helping people up, shaking them in attempt to bring them back to consciousness, trying to dig people out of piles of other people. It's a little messy. "I'm pretty alive." It's not a very articulate reply he calls back, but his head is still kind of spinning from the crash. So it'll have to do. He does his best to shove in the general direction of the emergency exit without too much pinching in the process. "Can anyone not move?"
Sue Storm isn't responding to any of the changing sounds around her, though one of her hands twitches for a moment before she wakes with a surprised gasp and promptly disappears from view, leaving only the traces of blood to indicate where she'd been ... or possibly still is.
Matt, and a few others, begin to make their way towards Domino and the emergency exit. There are a lot of folks that are not moving after the crash, but a good many that are too. It seems an odd assortment of folks as there are the business folks, looks like a couple deliquents, one or two crazies, and some single folks out doing their shopping. Grocery bags have been lost and there is a broken container of milk against one window. 
Many seemed to be calmed down by Domino's attempts to get people orderly and with Norm and Eddie helping folks. There are still a couple that begin screaming. "We're going to die! Oh god, we're going to die. There is going to be another explosion. What are we going to do?" The people screaming seem to find each other and just begin to spread a little bit of panic.
Glancing back at Norm, Eddie blinks when he recognizes him. Shaking it off, the teen foces on helping up a man that fell as he makes his way towards the exit. When the screaming starts again, Eddie takes a deep breath. "H-hey! Calm down! We're n-not going to die down here!We j-just have to work t-t-together and not give up hope. So calm down!" he calls as loudly as he's able. He'll be embarrassed later.
There always has to be one, doesn't there? It starts with one voice, then it becomes two, then four... Dom's rolling her eyes while carefully picking her way through the crowd, attempting to reach a person who has up and vanished in short order. Yep, definitely gotta be Sue. "And how would you know if there's going to be another explosion, huh?" comes her verbal challenge to the one to have spoken out. "You're going to -shut up,- stay calm, and help these people get out of here since you obviously have the energy to spare."
Icy blue eyes land upon another big guy, one that seems coherent enough to reply in a much more constructive manner. Norm earns her attention next, immediately following one more quick look around for Sue. Darnit, she had better be okay, wherever she went! "Pretty alive is a good place to start. You look like you can lift some weight," she observes, then mutters "and help in crowd control." Moving carefully, she finally drops down from the bolted in luggage racks to the sound of safety glass crumbling beneath her boots. Back to Norm, she says "It's your lucky day, buddy. Not everyone can climb out of here, think you can help make an exit from the side?"
"Well, if we explode you're probably going to die, yeah." Norm mumbles this as he works on herding passengers. "That is what people do when they explode. If we explode at least we won't starve down here." Norman, a bastion of sunshine and happy thoughts. At least he keeps his voice down. While he nudges people around he does notice Eddie in passing, though Domino giving him directions demands more of his attention. "Uh. Yeah. You could say that. Sure."
Off to do something heroic! Like damage property. Not that the city was going to be able to salvage this anyway. Norm elects to keep this from becoming a lightshow for now, instead setting to begin bashing his arms against a window. Which is noisy, but with a bit of work it might do the trick. Those things on his arms are pretty durable.
Sue Storm is having a hard time figuring out what's going on. The lighting is weird, almost non-existent, noises clang around inside her already aching skull like a child banging on cookware, and everything feels off-balance, like she's stuck in a funhouse. Oh, and she can tell if she tries to move she's going to throw up. So she tries her best to just NOT move, but there's still weird light and the horrid noises which now sound kind of like people shouting in the middle of a busy junkyard. Gingerly, she reaches out with one hand to see if she can find something familiar, not yet aware that she's made herself invisible.
The main screamer looks at Domino as she challenges him and glowers back. "Back off. Who left you in charge? You think going along here all quiet and peaceful is going to stop the tunnel from caving in? We've got to know what dangers we are in now rather than be lead along like sheep!" He also spins on Eddie snapping out, "And you can just keep your yap shut too. We don't need shepherds down here. We need someone that is going to get out there and do something. We need...Owwww!" The man clutches his shin as it is struck by a blind man's cane as Matt goes by. "Watch it, you blind ol' bat" he yells but the momentum he was gathering with his speech is broken for the moment.
The wall of the car is easily broken through by Norm and another exit is formed although some of the edges of the torn metal can be sharp if not careful.
Matt is being guided by helpful commuters although he does have his cane in front of him. As he gets closer to Domino looking for Sue, his cane goes out to try and tap on Sue's foot with a gentle rap. "I believe I heard something there, Miss. Maybe who you are looking for?" 
Eddie scowls as the man yells at Domino and then turns on him. He's about to respond when Matt steps in with that accidental cane smack. Eddie blinks and then frowns. "Just be quiet, sir. You're only making things worse," he says, starting to move to get people away from where Norm's working. He casts a glance at Domino and blinks when he recognizes her from a previous encounter but since he was masked at the time, he keeps quiet on that subject. "Are you hurt, m-ma'am?" he asks Domino.
When duty calls, it isn't often a glamorous or pretty thing to behold. Risks need to be assessed, solutions need to be found. Domino could stand there and argue with that mouthy individual, or she could threaten to deck him across the noggin if he doesn't shut his trap and do something useful. Most people would be shocked, possibly outraged, if she hauled off and attacked someone like that, but in her mind it's the lesser of evils. A temporary solution to an ugly problem. She's just trying to figure out some reason why she -shouldn't- go forth with it.
Then some guy whacks him a good one with a cane. Good fortune finds her once again.
"Appreciate it," she offers on the side to Matt, doing a double-take to figure out that either he really is blind or he's doing a fantastic job of pretending to be. Oddly enough, this makes the search for Sue work out even better. This guy can hear but not see. What a perfect solution for finding someone who went invisible! What are the odds.
Progress on the second exit seems to be going ..quite well. Yikes. Okay, that guy is just a little scary with those hands of his. Still, it does the trick. "Careful on the side exit, folks! Watch the edges." After jumping in to try and organize this mess, it's unexpected for someone to ask how she's doing. She spots Eddie in the pale lighting, hesitating for a second as though processing the question. "I'm fine. How about you, kiddo?"
One more thing to balance. The Invisible Girl. Dom crouches down, trying to be as discreet as possible when she says "Sue..? We can't see you."
Norm does his best to widen out the hole, the man taking advantage of the fact that he doesn't have too much to fear from the torn sheet of metal. He's careful to make as big a hole as he can before he gestures for the trapped men and women to move through, making lots of gestures to indicate 'duck head or loose it'. At this point he's not even trying to disguise the pincers that have creeped out of his jacket. "This way, this way. No, over here. Don't step on that. No seriously."
Sue Storm's questing hand finally finds something: Domino's ankle. "What? What's..." Talking isn't good for the headache or the nausea. "what's happening?" Something of Domino's words filter through and she becomes visible again after another moment. She hasn't moved yet, and head wounds just love to bleed, don't they?
Outside the train, there is even less light. There are few maintence lights along the tunnel, but for the most part it is quite dark. What can be seen of the train is twisted wreckage. The tunnel to the left is where the worst of the train lies and looks to be where the explosion had happened. That was in the direction they had been heading. Some structural damage has also been taken as the roof drops some rock and concrete from above as if it could give way soon. The tunnel is only just high enough for the train to get through and wide enough for two trains to pass along with some narrow walk ways along the side. The tracks run along the ground and do not appear to be damaged.
Matt continues with the crowd along towards Norm's hole in the side of the train rather than try to climb to the emergency exit. Soon, he is outside the train with the small crowd that has managed to still be on their feet. One off duty EMT has volunteered to stay behind to try and tend to the injuries as others try to get to the surface. The dark doesn't bother Matt as he listens to what is going on around him and allowing those that seemed to be doing the heavy lifting to get outside the train as well.
"I'll b-be fine. I've been though worse than this," Eddie replies, giving a smile even if it can't be seen easily. He's close enough to hear what Domino says, looking pretty surprised. "Sue..." he pauses, gears turning. And then Sue appears and Eddie lets out a startled little squeak. If he weren't hurting, Eddie would probably flail. "Oh man...ohmanohman," he mutters, crouching down with Domino. He glances over at the people exiting the car and his eyes widen as he hears Norm. "Listen t-to him! Don't step on the rails and stay on the w-w-walkways!" he calls, speaking from experience.
Okay, we're all back to being visible again, excellent. This kid also seems to know Sue. Maybe that will be of some use? If he doesn't get too freaked out in the meantime. "That you've been through worse concerns me slightly," Domino replies to Eddie with a tiny smirk edging across blacked out features. Then she tries to explain the situation to Sue, "Tunnel explosion. You're in an overturned Manhattan subway, clocked your head good against something on the way. We're going to get as many people out of here as we can, try to hold still for now." Pause. "..And try not to blink out again." Seems like the best course of action in her mind, at least.
That second exit is just what they needed. The ghostly white woman in black stands up and seeks out the man with the metal hands, quick to offer a "Nice job on the exit. Think you can keep people moving down the tunnel?" The most outspoken man hadn't helped, but he did speak some amount of sense. The tunnel integrity had to have been compromized from that explosion. Keep things moving, keep the people walking out of here. Keep those concerns to herself. Panic won't help anything.
Norm starts a bit when Sue just sudently pops into existance, but he lets someone else deal with that. "Well. I can try. You know how people are." His answer to Domino is mostly affirmative. Maybe he should just start pushing them around with his force fields. But that would be mean. And he'd have to hear them complain. So he opts for walking and pointing a lot to the crowd. "I'm going to do a thing," The man calls out. "Nobody panic! Please." The last is added in a near-whisper. Let there be light! A crackling yellow ball of energy pops into existance in front of Norm. It's bright enough to serve as an imprompteu light, and Norm kind if shoves it ahead of him like he's playing Katamari with it.
Sue Storm doesn't seem to be at risk of going invisible again. Instead, as she ignores Domino's suggestion to stay still and tries to sit up, she discovers the folly of her stubbornness and faints dead away. She's still visible at least. That's some consolation, right?
From the light, something goes scurring out of the sphere of illumination. It was hard to tell, but it was a lot of whatever it was. Going back the way they had come there are a couple of cars still behind them to finish the train. There are a few folks climbing out of those cars, but appears the back cars were mostly empty. The group around the heroes seems to be growing so now the survivors seem to be around twenty to twenty-five folks. There is a knot of about five to seven towards the back that still grumble about Domino taking charge although the whole group tries to pack in tightly towards Norm as his light as the shadows are long about them otherwise. The emergency lights of the cars keep those slightly illuminated, but other wise the shadows out number the lights.
Matt slowly works his way towards the edge of the crowd. People are helpful, but damn they can be condesending to someone they think is handicapped. As he gets a moment when the group is more focused on the light than Matt, he ducks into the shadows. The dark does little to bother him as he removes his clothes and pulls up the horned mask. He makes his way back around the crowd and towards Domino and Sue. "Is she going to be alright to walk or do we need to carry her?" he asks from slightly above Domino as he slips back into a cone of light.
"I hear that s-sometimes," Eddie replies, trying to keep the reply on the cheerful side. Glancing back to see if anyone needs help getting out of the car, Eddie turns his attention to Sue in time to see her faint and has that 'want to flail but hurt too much' look again. Taking a breath, he tries to calm himself down. When Daredevil appears nearby, there's another startled squeak from Eddie. "Whoa...uh..." he trails off, looking to Domino since she seems to have a better idea of Sue's injuries than he does.
Huh, that guy can form light out of thin air, as well? Luck is such a fickle beast. Dom should have never gotten onto this train in the first place, but now that she's here the pieces all seem to be falling into place with machined precision. Everything for a reason, and all that. What might the reason be for Sue attempting to stand, though? In a heartbeat the merc tries to catch the other woman as she passes out, swearing under her breath. "This is why we don't move."
If people have a problem with her taking over, they're welcome to take up the matter with her. It doesn't take long for the right people to get singled out, those whom have had experience with moments of crisis. Eddie, who's clearly concerned about the wounded Sue, is a curious case. Dom's still trying to figure out what to do there when someone -else- she knows makes an unexpected appearance. Daredevil! What are the odds of two blind men being in this same tunnel at the same time?
She can do the math later.
Timing is everything. "Looks like it's carry-out only for her, she tried to get up and went out like a light." Since these two know each other and all, she asks "Think you can take care of her?" The Red Devil, costume aside, seems to be a trustworthy sort. At least where Sue's safety is concerned. Back to Eddie, "There's still a lot of people that need to get cleared out. You up to helping me with the other cars?"
"This is...not what I was expecting to do today." Norm makes his complaint as he shuffles along, craning his head back over his shoulder to ensure the crowd is following along. The apperance of a costumed Daredevil gets a small start, but people in costumes tend to be good news in situations like this. At least when they don't come attached with doomsday devices. While he pushes his sphere along he questions, "Does, uh, stuff live down here? Like rats? Do rats live down here? Big rats?" Being underground is apparently one of the many, many things that makes Norm uncomfortable. But his questions soon just trail off into muted grumbling as they proceed along.
From the light, something goes scurring out of the sphere of illumination. It was hard to tell, but it was a lot of whatever it was. Going back the way they had come there are a couple of cars still behind them to finish the train. There are a few folks climbing out of those cars, but appears the back cars were mostly empty. The group around the heroes seems to be growing so now the survivors seem to be around twenty to twenty-five folks. There is a knot of about five to seven towards the back that still grumble about Domino taking charge although the whole group tries to pack in tightly towards Norm as his light as the shadows are long about them otherwise. The emergency lights of the cars keep those slightly illuminated, but other wise the shadows out number the lights.
Matt slowly works his way towards the edge of the crowd. People are helpful, but damn they can be condesending to someone they think is handicapped. As he gets a moment when the group is more focused on the light than Matt, he ducks into the shadows. The dark does little to bother him as he removes his clothes and pulls up the horned mask. He makes his way back around the crowd and towards Domino and Sue. "Is she going to be alright to walk or do we need to carry her?" he asks from slightly above Domino as he slips back into a cone of light.
"I hear that s-sometimes," Eddie replies, trying to keep the reply on the cheerful side. Glancing back to see if anyone needs help getting out of the car, Eddie turns his attention to Sue in time to see her faint and has that 'want to flail but hurt too much' look again. Taking a breath, he tries to calm himself down. When Daredevil appears nearby, there's another startled squeak from Eddie. "Whoa...uh..." he trails off, looking to Domino since she seems to have a better idea of Sue's injuries than he does.
Huh, that guy can form light out of thin air, as well? Luck is such a fickle beast. Dom should have never gotten onto this train in the first place, but now that she's here the pieces all seem to be falling into place with machined precision. Everything for a reason, and all that. What might the reason be for Sue attempting to stand, though? In a heartbeat the merc tries to catch the other woman as she passes out, swearing under her breath. "This is why we don't move."
If people have a problem with her taking over, they're welcome to take up the matter with her. It doesn't take long for the right people to get singled out, those whom have had experience with moments of crisis. Eddie, who's clearly concerned about the wounded Sue, is a curious case. Dom's still trying to figure out what to do there when someone -else- she knows makes an unexpected appearance. Daredevil! What are the odds of two blind men being in this same tunnel at the same time?
She can do the math later.
Timing is everything. "Looks like it's carry-out only for her, she tried to get up and went out like a light." Since these two know each other and all, she asks "Think you can take care of her?" The Red Devil, costume aside, seems to be a trustworthy sort. At least where Sue's safety is concerned. Back to Eddie, "There's still a lot of people that need to get cleared out. You up to helping me with the other cars?"
"This is...not what I was expecting to do today." Norm makes his complaint as he shuffles along, craning his head back over his shoulder to ensure the crowd is following along. The apperance of a costumed Daredevil gets a small start, but people in costumes tend to be good news in situations like this. At least when they don't come attached with doomsday devices. While he pushes his sphere along he questions, "Does, uh, stuff live down here? Like rats? Do rats live down here? Big rats?" Being underground is apparently one of the many, many things that makes Norm uncomfortable. But his questions soon just trail off into muted grumbling as they proceed along.
'
Sue Storm is easy enough to catch, and is small enough in stature that even Eddie could likely keep from from landing on the floor again. She starts to come around again quickly enough, but is still just as disoriented as before. "What happened?" is again the first thing she utters.
"Subway accident although," Daredevil says as he lifts his head and looks back further up the wreckage of the train, "I'm not convinced it was an accident." He turns back towards Sue. "Do you need assisstance walking or do I need to carry you, Miss Storm?" The horned hero nods to Domino when she asks if he can take care of her. "They are going to need you with the main group, Domino. The kid with energy in front is not going to be able to control the crowd and keep light going I think." He offers his arm and shoulder to Sue even if his body is bruised up from the tumble he took. "We are going to have to get moving to keep up with the group and the light the young man seems to be producing."
Just outside the lights, the sound of small feet can still be heard. Yes, rats do live down here and they can be big ol' suckers too. They were attracted to the train wreck as there may be something to eat inside. The main group stays huddled near to Norm and the light as they slowly begin to make their way along the tunnel. There are people for Eddie to help down from the other cars as they near the end of the doomed train.
From further up the tunnel something else sounds in the darkness. It sounds like the echoing noise of weapon actions being pulled back.
"The rats are harmless unless you provoke them. Leave them alone and they'll leave y-y-you alone. They might even be helpful," Eddie calls after Norm, having learned to watch the rats to learn things like when trains were coming and when there was danger in a tunnel. Of course Daredevil appearing has a nice effect on Eddie. Worry levels drop and the teen seems filled with new energy. As far as he's concerned, everything will be okay now since another superhero showed up. He looks to Domino when she speaks to him and nods quickly. "Yes, ma'am. I can help," he says, getting right to helping. Of course once he's got the last of them, it's time to duck back into the darkness to suit up. Especially when he hears that all to familiar sound of weapons being readied.
It's only in that moment when Red is sizing up the situation for himself that Domino releases a quick breath. "Yeah, was afraid of that." With a quick motion she swipes a small flashlight out from beneath her heavy coat, planning to help out as much as possible on that front. A sure-fire way to make a bad situation worse is to take a group of nervous people and take away their ability to see. Especially if additional danger comes into play soon after.
Rats aren't the worst of their concerns.
The mercenary stops short when she hears mechanical sounds reverberating through the tunnel. If she heard it, Daredevil had to have heard it. Only one word gets muttered under her next breath, "Shit." In a hurry she's got a pistol in hand to attach that tiny light to. Deep breath in. Hold. "Here we go." All of those civilians are being led right into a trap, they don't have any defense on point! Eddie gets a quick "Thanks, kid" before she ducks out of the subway car, taking long strides to cover distance quickly without outright running ahead. Must try to keep the people calm. Man, this would have been an awesome time to have packed a suppressor.
Just get in front and do that thing that you do, Domino.
Sue Storm accepts Daredevil's help without so much as a squeak of protest, and seems disinclined to do much moving around under her own power. Something of Domino's urgency reaches her though, and starts at least trying to stand on her own to follow the pale-skinned woman and Eddie.
From the tunnel ahead of the crowd, a massive number of high powered lights flick on towards the crowd bathing them in light but blinding them to what was on the other side of the flashlights. "Find him," comes a voice from the lights. "Or at least make sure he is dead. We want to make sure it looks like he died in the cave in. As for the rest," the lights swing over the now panicing crowd, "they look like collateral damage." 
People in the front are trying to back up even as the people in the back are pushing forward not knowing what is going on yet. It is shoving and now screaming again. From the mass of lights, two dark figures come out and towards the crowd. They have small machine guns slung around their bodies and low light goggles on their faces. A few of them start pushing folks as they try to find a face.
Daredevil slips his shoulder beneath Sue's and helps her move along as he carries most of her weight as they follow behind Domino and towards Eddie. "Looks like we have trouble, Miss Storm. Are you feeling up to doing any of your heroics?"
Eddie may have hung back in in a dark spot to get changed from street clothes to his uniform but he can still hear what's said and see those lights ahead. There's a moment of panic that shoots through Eddie. He's injured, Invisible Girl is injured, he doesn't really know what Domino can do, he can't call for help down in the subway, the tunnels might collapse, there are tons of scared people to protect. But there's also Daredevil. One glance his way and then down at the mask in hand and Eddie has all he needs to push past any fear. That mask is quickly applied and the blue and white clad Axiom starts heading to meet the others. As soon as Sue's in sight, Axiom applies a boost to her. "If you c-can't, I'll work twice as hard, ma'am," he says, mimicking Sue. His costume shifts into a combination of his own and Sue's outfit as he copies her powers. "I'm r-ready."
'Find him'..? Find -who?- Dom would love to ask these guys some questions and figure out what's what but they've got a bit of a situation on their hands, here! The floodlights only manage to become an additional hazard, likely blinding the civilians while painting impossible to miss targets for those with big, nasty, scary weapons. What's a lone merc to do?
Prize in a pod.
Her free hand yanks a flashbang grenade away from her combat webbing, tugging the pin out while yelling back to the crowd "Everyone down!" Flashbangs and nightvision goggles do not make for a happy combination, any good strike will render a person blind for a lengthy amount of time. Hopefully, that's exactly what will happen. This many people and little to no cover to speak of? Only one option. Gotta go in fast and hard.
Dom's got her eyes pinched shut and her face set in a grimace as the matte black grenade leaps out of her palm toward the gunmen, palm and pistol alike clamped down over her ears. Once that charge goes she's not going to waste a second. Targets will be identified. Shots will be fired. The best way to save the commuters is to become a whirlwind of death. Ironic, that. Good thing she's not left to face this mess alone. Here's a little distraction so the others can press the advantage.
Sue Storm lets Daredevil help her along (he can probably tell instantly that her personal force field is completely gone at the moment) until she hears Domino's shout. That sounds like something bad is happening. The bright lights ahead are making her head hurt worse, so she stops and tries to pull away from the red-clad man. "Go help. I'll just ... wait here." If he lets her, she'll just sink to the floor and sit there regardless of filth, ROUSs, lightning sand...
"Miss Storm...Sue...you're hurt," Daredevil turns his head from Sue as she pulls away from him back towards the fight growing in the front. He sinks to one knee next to her for a moment. "Get your shield up around you. I'll be back." He stands and is running towards the fray. Domino is throwing something. Small. Grenade probably. Going to have to trust the mercenary didn't use anything highly damaging at this point so close to the civilians. He uses someone at the back of the crowd and steps on them to launch himself over the crowd. As the flash bang goes off, he is leaping. The light doesn't bother him at all, but the sound clouds his radar as he gets to the other side of crowd. It is going to take a few moments to clear his head enough after the Bang part of the Flash Bang. "Hello, boys. You must be the Rats of Unusual Size we all have heard about."
The men going through the crowd stop as they hear Domino cry out. It doesn't take the lead man long to figure out and he cries out, "GOGGLES!" Some goggles get off their eyes in time, but four of the men catch the flash bang while still wearing the low light goggles. They cry out and fall over as they are temporarily blind. Another four men, including the leader, got their goggles off. They are seeing spots, but are not blind at the moment. There are still four figures back at the bank of lights that had not advanced into the crowd.
The crowd is right there on the edge of panicing. They seem to be pushing in all directions as the fight begins to break out. As Domino yells, most of them just drop like she says and puts their hands and arms over their heads and ears. There are a couple that are still standing like deer in headlights and just wavering there as they can't see or hear after the flash bang.
Axiom takes a moment to check on Sue before following after Daredevil. He brings an arm up in time to shield from the light of the flashbang, weaving his way through the crowd when the light passes. "Everyone down!" he repeats Domino's call. "And don't worry. Everything's going to be okay n-now," he says confidently. "I'm Axiom," the teen moves to put himself between the crowd and the gunmen. Since Daredevil and Domino are going on the offensive, Axiom's hanging back to defend the crowd. Once he reaches the front, Axiom concentrates and uses the mimicked powers to put up a forcefield. "And there's no way I'm letting any of them hurt you guys. So just stay down while Daredevil and our friend k-kick their butts and then we'll get everyone home," Axiom speaks to the crowd, trying to reassure them that things aren't hopeless and will be alright. He believes bringing hope is just as important for a hero to do as beating the bad guys after all.
For those heroes amongst the crowd that rely upon their hearing for survival, Domino inwardly apologizes. Everything is louder in a tunnel. Gunfire is downright mind-numbingly loud. But, what can she do? They've got guns as well, no one's going to just not use them because of poor Daredevil. She'll owe him some drinks after tonight.
Those that are blind (and not used to being so) are out of the fight, for a time. They're lucky in that they are no longer higher priority targets, maybe they'll live long enough to remember what happened down here. The others, those not completely blinded, those that still have weapons trained upon the crowd? Those are the guys that receive Dom's full attention, though she breaks almost every established rule in the book as she focuses on them. Rushing the attack, rolling across the ground, diving through the air, none of her motions make a whole lot of sense! Organized fighting techniques and combat strategies just don't seem to exist, she's moving within a constant state of flux that's one part training and nine parts instinct.
With a lot of very well placed bullets for seasoning.
The gunmen who are by the crowd begin to try and track Domino as she comes forward, but her unorthodox manner of approach keeps them from getting a steady aim. This doesn't stop them from firing however and some shots come towards the mercenary as she comes forward. Some shots miss but are defelected by Axiom's shield over the crowd.
Daredevil will survive the tunnel. Yes, the gun fight is louder but thankfully there is no train coming through right now. He cracks a kick towards the nearest gun man to him, catching the man in the chin. He steps forward and pulls his billy club from its holster. He throws it towards the bank of flashlights. With a crash of glass, one light goes out but the crowd, along with Daredevil, Axiom, and Domino are being painted with the high intensity light.
Axiom knows his ears will be ringing from the noise later but he'll deal. The lights have him squinting but the bullets bouncing off his shield just reinforce the fact that he has to keep it going no matter what. He has people to defend so he'll hold out. When the first light goes down, Axiom pumps a fist in the air. "Yeah!" he cheers Daredevil on. Glancing at that high intensity light, he decides to try lending a hand. One hand held towards the forcefield he's maintaining, Axiom points the other towards the light and tries to hit it with another forcefield to knock it over.
Luck can only carry a person so far. Multiple baddies, automatic weapons, large magazines... Luck keeps Domino alive and fighting, not completely free of harm. It starts when she draws a second pistol, arms sweeping around in a downright Hollywood-esque display of recklessness in the middle of a backflip, that the first few incoming strikes pierce clean through the thin armor surrounding most of her body. The shot that would have been lethal somehow never manages to find its mark, unlike the handgun slug that ends the other guy where he stands.
The forcefields are perfect for keeping everyone else safe. There's a downside to it, however. Those select few that are not covered by the shield are going to end up drawing all of the enemy fire. Times like this one Dom has to seriously consider a change of career. It's perhaps something to ponder while in a booze-inspired haze later on. Right now, keep moving, keep shooting! If these guys regroup it's going to get a whole lot more difficult for the train survivors.
Another light is shattered by the forcefield from Axiom. "Fall back!" comes a voice from the light bank. The gunmen among the people begin to drop back, but keep their weapons trained and firing towards the heroes. They fire off single rounds rather than automatic curtain fire. They are trying to actually take aim as they retreat backwards. Two more of them go down, however, to Domino's return fire. There is only one man left from the advanced, but he gets back to his buddies in the lights. As the man gets to the lights, two cannisters come flying forward. As they hit the ground, gas begins to escape.
Daredevil moves and manages to get behind one of the shielded areas of Axiom as he is fired upon. He gets clipped in his thigh and drops for an instant before getting behind the shield. As the cannisters fly, he can smell it before it even releases. "Tear Gas!" he cries out as the smoke begins to emit from the grenades.
Letting out a breath, Axiom returns focus to the defensive shield. Two at once wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. When he sees Daredevil approaching, Axiom opens part of the invisible barrier for him to get through. The cry of tear gas gets a startled look out of Axiom. "What? I think the shield m-m-might stop it but you'll gave to be behind it," the power booster calls to Daredevil and Domino.
They're retreating! One should be more happy about this fact. In Domino's eyes, letting even one of them escape means that they can try to do this whole stunt a second time. It's not over until they're -gone.- Unfortunately, an unbendable will can only hold out against aerosols for so long. Empty pistols get tucked away as the wounded merc rolls across the filthy tunnel ground, reaching for one of their dropped automatics. By the time she can bring it up around in the right direction, aiming is out of the question. There's a familiar blurriness creeping into her vision, a burning in the back of the throat as rounds start to chatter through the machine gun's action.
Close your eyes, hold your breath, don't let the chemicals in...
Teargas attacks a person from several directions at once. A few can be closed off for a time, but not all of them. It's blind, retreating fire as she bolts for the cover of Axiom's shields. She can't see enough to pursue them, can't even breathe enough to go into a mad sprint immediately after fighting. The people are safe, right..? That -is- their priority, here!
Why, then, does it still feel like a loss?
"If some gets through, it won't kill us. Just hurt for a while." Daredevil limps back towards where he had left Sue as Axiom tries to hold the tear gas from the crowd. She hasn't moved much and looks like she might have dropped back into unconsciencess. He can hear her heat beating and sounds a little elevated but not dangerously so. His head turns back towards Domino trying to get the bad guys, but between the tear gas and the bad guys hiding behind the bright lights, they are making a healthy retreat. Daredevil gets up to give chase, but the pain in his leg makes his collapse once more with a curse.
"Yeah, it's a p-pain. I'm just trying to keep it from getting to the crowd, sir," Axiom replies to Daredevil. He's been tear gassed before. He's not happy about Domino killing the bad guys but there's more to be worried about now. When Daredevil collapses, Axiom jumps slightly and moves over towards him. "Daredevil-sir?"
Dom's not about to ask for forgiveness for what she does. It's one of the things that keeps her off of the actual hero rosters. It's not likely going to win her any favors with the other survivors, either. The smaller woman stumbles into the safety of the barrier before dropping to a palm and knee, hesitant at first to breathe the air until discovering that it's not going to burn away at the inside of her lungs. After realizing that, she can't seem to get enough of it. "Is..everyone alright..?" Silly thing to ask, what with Daredevil collapsed on the ground beside her and all.
Now, then. Does that one outspoken commuter care to revisit their earlier discussion?
Sue Storm is just about as close as one could get to being unconscious, but she does seem to have regained her feet on her own in the intervening time and is walking toward the crowd of people and the three that just chased on the bad guys. Her shuffling gait with one hand against the tunnel wall and the gore of the blood from the cut on her head (which did finally stop bleeding, thankfully) make her very zombie-esque.
"I'll live," Daredevil nods as he works himself back up to his feet. "Miss Storm, you should be sitting down," he says even as he can barely put weight on his leg. His head turns this way and that. He slowly sifts through the heart beats around him, counting the survivors even in the dark area. "You did a good job, son," he turns towards Axiom. "Seems like the wreck survivors are still survivors."
Holding back the gas is another thing not as easy as he thought it would be but Axiom manages. "I'll be fine," Axiom replies. Of course he'd probably say the same if he was shot and bleeding but that's how he is. He frowns in concern at the reply from Daredevil but he lets it go, attention drawn to Sue. "He's r-right, Ma'an," the booster squeaks. And then there's praise from Daredevil. Axiom blinks and then grins. "Oh man...w-w-wow, thank you! I'm j-just happy we kept those jerks away from the people."
That's a point which Dom has to agree with. "Yeah kid..you did great." -Ow.- "Let's see about getting these people out of here." The sooner everyone's safe and sound, the sooner she can go hole up somewhere and get herself stitched back together. Some parts of the job she's never going to learn to enjoy.
On the other hand, free machine gun.
From afar, Sue Storm just thought of something even funnier. She mistakes EDDIE for Reed. ;)
Sue Storm misses what the others are saying or is just plan stubborn (or both), but she keeps on shuffling until she's closer to the others. Then, and only then she stops and says shakily, "Is everyone okay?"
Daredevil nods to Domino. "Lets." He moves, well limps, into the crowd a bit and finds the downed gunmen. He kneels beside one. His hand runs over the chest. "Body armor." Muffled heartbeats. "They will live too. We will have to carry them with his to the surface." He remains on his knee at the moment as it is less painful than standing. He turns towards Sue and nods. "Seems like, for better or worse, we made it through."
Letting the barrier fall, Axiom doubles over a moment to catch his breath. There's a wince as he's starting to feel the pain of his injuries more with the adreneline rush wearing off. He'll push through though, putting the others before himself. "I think I c-c-can use these forcefields I'm borrowing from Invisible Girl to do it," he says, walking over to Sue to offer his shoulder since she seems more likely to fall over.
Sue Storm sees someone approaching to help her and she leans against Eddie gratefully. "Reed? My head hurts."
Axiom just ends up blushing furiously. "N-n-not Dr. Richards, Ma'am," he squeaks. "We should go now," he says, focusing forcefields on lifting the downed gunmen and floating them along as they leave the tunnels.
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