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As Brenda got dressed, she got herself a quick bite to eat, and then moved back down to the Batwave to locate and contact the younger Bat.

[Exit to the Batcave]

Frank listened to Brenda's warning and, as he would call it, rambling as he moved through the spacious manner. With her final words of warning, while not themselves intimidating, were paired with her hard gaze. He offered a grunt in response before pushing through the doorway and out into the open. "Gotham?" He muttered to himself. Frank stepped down the flight of stairs before the manor and headed for the gate. He couldn't really place it, but something felt very off. The foreboding was everywhere. The strange woman. The so-called "Universe-Merging." It was all too much. He wanted straight answers, and now... but something was bothering him. Like being stalked by something that isn't there.

In the midst of his walking, something was indeed watching him. A black and grey puddle of alien life-mass was creeping along the grounds; unseen and unheard. It weaved through the open space, creeping ever closer to the bundle of unfocused emotions that was radiating from Frank Castle. Once he had reached the main gate, his last obstacle out of the manor, the bundle of matter launched for him. It latched to his neck, and he reached and grabbed for it in a panic. The mass began to gain size; consuming the whole of Castle's body quickly and driving him to the ground.

Pain wracked Castle's body, he tried to scream out, but the thing was actually squirming down his throat. He could feel his very skin warping with the creature. Everything went completely black. The pain ceased.

What's going on!? What are you!?

Nothing was there, and yet he became aware of everything at once. Slowly standing, his vision cleared and he looked to his hands. A black-onyx film seamed to cover him. The whole of his body. And his clothes were molded into the very make-up of the... suit. Something clawed at his brain. It was a calming, yet utterly enraging thing. He wouldn't have noticed it had he not turned back at the manor, but something drove him to look into one of the windows. A sort of enhanced sight allowed him to view the faint reflection. The skull which had become his symbol was no longer imprinted on his chest; instead, it covered his face. And his face was likewise covered with the same onyx material that now coated his entire visage.

We... are Punishment...

"Punishment..." Castle repeated out loud, his voice holding an odd after-tone to it. Rage began to pool within him. Undeniable and engrossing the more he looked to the manor. That woman had shamed him. But now, now he had something on his side. His head was clear. Punishment was clear, goading him on. His feet gained speed as he moved back towards the manor and his hands lowered to his sides. In the midst of his run, he felt the covering of his skin begin to shift; forming blades over his hands that looked downright wicked and felt even more so. He leapt at the doorway, right for the woman.

"I'll get you, b*tch... I'll get you..." He began to snarled, more to himself than her.

Castle was astounded momentarily. That didn't even tickle... The skull now adorning his face turned to Brenda as soon as he recovered from the kick; which wasn't too long at all. The blades on his arms opened into large, clawed fingers and spine-covered hands. "What's wrong Brenda!?" He taunted, rushing in for several fast and well-aimed strikes with his now bladed fingers. He'd press her into the dirt, then bury her.

"I'm not using guns anymore!" He lunged again, this time going into a roll and finding his footing right behind her. He stabbed forward, right at her back with all five talons.

Castle's swings and strikes were coming out at a faster rate the longer he kept at them; whatever this new power was, it was incredible. He was moving her now, backing her into wherever he wanted, and he was steadily becoming more aware of it. The rage felt good, it felt great. Suddenly and without hesitation, Castle swung low, catching Brenda's legs with a side-swipe hard enough to drop her to the ground after she spoke.

"Everything is telling me I do!" He snarled as she hit the ground, raising his arm as it formed back into a long, straight blade and he primed it to run straight through the woman.

His drive with the blade had missed, if just barely, and the woman rolled to the side. Castle's blade dug hard into the dirt, actually keeping him pinned for a moment. In that moment, something changed in his mind... or, he thought it was his mind. The clawing noise happened again, followed by an intense hissing in his head. Suddenly, another bright flash of light sent Castle to his knee. It was as if the brilliance came from everywhere, and his head felt an intense THUMP.

Rearing upwards, yanking the blade free, a hideous, bloodcurdling screech went through the air. A large, inhumanly wide, mouth full of razor-like teeth opened on the face of the black and silver abomination that housed Castle, and a collection of tentacles writhed on his back. Blindly, it whipped around, facing the last direction it had seen movement with its keen senses and hissed loudly. The blades of its hands returned to clawed phalanges, and it grabbed hold of its head in pain.

"GAAAAAH!!!!" Castle's voice screamed in an enraged pain. "WHAT ARE YOU!!??" His words died back into the indiscriminate screech and it rushed ahead for where it could feel Brenda's presence.

The pellet contacted its face entirely; quickly building a thin layer of frost over the surface of the "skin". The wide mouth and long, serpentine tongue which it housed, were frosted over for several seconds, which the creature that covered Castle spend grabbing its face in a look of, what some might say, pain. After several moments, the frost snapped and Castle took an incredibly aggressive stance at Brenda, appearing to be on the verge of lunging again.

"Get... outta... my... HEAD!" Castle yelled, taking a step back and grabbing the side of his face. Whatever it was inside of him, it didn't want to fight, as the screech it gave was accompanied by it falling to a knee. It hissed as the cold cleared and looked up at Brenda with the eyes of the skull. Castle's voice played into the inhuman screaming. "Let... me just... kill her!" His gnarled words seethed but were soon overtaken by the clicking and hissing again.

Neither Castle nor the symbiote could identify exactly what Brenda was saying to them, and it showed in how the tongue in the mess of teeth squirmed as if testing the air; trying to get a sense of what was going on. Every few seconds were punctuated by the form wrenching one direction or another in confusion.

"Stop it! Get... back... in! KILL HER!!" Castle's voice spoke, causing the creature to squeal and grab hold of its head with both hands. It stood from its knees quickly and looked to Brenda with its head cocked and its gait completely awkward. Its head hung low, but with the neck craned as it seemed to be looking at the woman, and its shoulders raised and back. Castle's voice was quieted for now, but the nervous, angry twitches continued as it looked on. It gave a long, curious hiss at Brenda as it tested opening and closing its jaws from the frost.

The creature leaned in forward, its tongue playing at the air and its arms shifted back. It tilted its head curiously and hissed before a length of clicking which could be likened to a velociraptor came from the razor-maw. Internally, whatever it was, it still wasn't sure what to think. Or how to think. Or what to think about. This was new, and it couldn't even recognize it as such. Castle's pangs of rage were coming back, causing small twitches in the creature that constituted both of them, but they were suppressed... for now.