"Why? What are you talking ab--" He paused at that sound. That weird, horrible sound. He frowned slightly and turned his head, unsure if that was a malfunction of his explosions or they damaged something like a water pipe or something. It was an uneasy sound that didn't sit right with him and he wasn't sure why. He shot the guy next to him a look, trying to read what he was getting at.

That smile, it wasn't pretty. He'd seen that smile before on the original Trickster's face when he tried to blow up all those kids at Christmas, that sort of cruel, sadistic amusement that prompted laughter from Axel once upon a time. Not entirely genuine though. He wasn't a sadist, not by any merit, he just didn't care much when people got hurt.

But this? This was something new. He couldn't have been prepared for it. He barely took in everything else, it was the guard he was focused on. That noise, his face-- Axel backed up swiftly and nearly fell over his own feet as he backed away.

What. The. Fuck.

"Holy shit, dude." Axel's eyes widened as he watched, unable to look away and wishing he could. "What the hell happened?"