Day 2
The 'Kickers wearily walked back into their base.
When they were all gathered in the Control Room, Hyper asked. "Did you find anything?"
"No one's talking, Hyp. They all know what's gonna happen to us if we can't find these guys in time," said Jack, minor cuts and scratches all over his armor and face.
"And they're willing to take a beating if they think they can get back at us in a few days at the Zig," said Burning, his costume showing tears as well.
Hyper bowed his head. "I was afraid of this. All right, how many did we take down? I have by my count near the six hundreds."
"Seven," said a woman, walking into the room.
In the dim lighting, it was hard to see who she was, but when she stepped into the brighter light, there was no mistaking.
"Noc!" shouted Jack. For a moment, everyone seemed to get renewed energy as they hurried over to see her.
Nocturnal Sun had come back to the 'Kickers.
While everyone was hurrying to greet her, they missed the shadows flying past behind them...
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"I think I found who you're looking for," said Noc with a grin. "Their base isn't far, it's over by-"
Suddenly there was an explosion down the hall.
The lights began to flicker, and then turn red as the emergency power turned on.
Hyper cursed and ran to the energy room, the other 'Kickers not far behind.
The stopped and stared, not at the wreck that was their generator, but at the clones of themselves.
"We already did this once," said Hyper. The others nodded, readying to fight.
Hyper-Man's clone seemed to nod as it pointed at the 'Kickers, sending them charging.
Burning quickly flew to the side, aiming to hit a large group at once when his copy came up behind him, stealing the heat from the air around him and freezing Burning Brawler in a block of ice.
Jack Power leapt forward, bringing both hands down onto the clone's head, and heard a familiar clang. "These aren't clones, they-"
Suddenly, it gripped his throat, lifting him into the air, and sending him flying across the room.
The large man rubbed the back of his head as he stood. He quickly shook it off and charged back in.
Hyper took careful aim, and shot his copy with a strong bolt of energy.
The copy's head spun all the way around. "Great, robots..."
The android sent a wide arc of force at Hyper, knocking the hero back into the others.
Super Shard leapt away from the pile of heroes and looked for his own clone.
He didn't see it until energy wrapped fists slammed into the back of his head, sending him back into the ground.
The copy wordlessly shot a beam of ice, trying to freeze him.
Chris Lancelot ran in to help Jack when a fist caught him from behind. He slid back as he turned to face himself.
He waited as the clone ran for him, then grabbed the punch, and swung it into Jack's copy.
The two collided hard, making a loud clang that rang through the room, letting everyone know what the copies really were.
Danica moved to help a group of 'Kickers that were having trouble, doing a fast spin kick that sent one stumbling back, and slamming both fists into the chest of another.
She quickly moved to grab one's outstretched arm when her feet were knocked out from under her.
She looked up at the clone of herself, and quickly wrapped her legs around its, and twisted, sending it to the ground as well.
She rose quickly, slamming both palms onto its legs.
Violet Tigress and Java Juggernaut stayed together, Violet helping him move quicker and attack faster with boosts of helpful radiation while he quickly fought back the Phantasm attempting to attack them.
Vi sent her own to help him as she suddenly felt dizzying sick. She clutched her stomach and saw her copy coming into view. She quickly sent a healing burst of radiation into herself, and ordered her own Phantasm to attack.
The copy's leapt in the way of the blast, returning its own.
It wasn't long before either cat woman had surrounded the other in illusionary copies, and was forced to heal themselves from the damage that seemed too real.
Java was about to help Vi when he himself was struck with a bolt of energy. He picked himself up off the ground, rubbing his head as he saw himself lining up another shot.
His eyes widened and he rolled away just in time while throwing a ball of force that exploded, sending the copy flipping.
The ice around Burning quickly melted as the flames around him flared.
He turned to his copy, sending a powerful beam of fire. Metal slowly dripped off the android copy, and a hole began to form as Burning tried this repeatedly.
The copy swooped down, firing blasts of its own. Burning quickly rolled away, and wrapped the clone's legs in ice.
It fell to the ground like a rock, and joints creaked.
Jack caught his copy as it stumbled from being hit by Chris's. He gripped its arms tightly, and wrenched down, taking them clean off. "Not as unbreakable as the original are you?"
Electricity shot from the open arms, sending Jack into spasms.
Hyper had disconnected himself from the pile of 'Kickers, and was already bringing one energy wrapped fist into the copy's stomach. As soon as he connected, he shot a hard burst of force that dented and cracked the metal.
The copy quickly head-butted Hyper, making his helmet ring as he stumbled back. It sent him back even further with a quickly flurry of energy, as it quickly flew forward, delivering a heavy uppercut.
Hyp shut his eyes tight as he landed, waiting as the copy rushed in for a finishing blow.
He suddenly exploded in a massive burst of energy, knocking out his, and several other clones at once.
He panted heavily as he stepped back from the fight to regain his strength.
Shard fired his own beam of ice, trying to force it back onto the clone when Hyper burst. The attack knocked his copy's shot wide, and allowed Shard to rushed forward, grapping its arms and freezing it thoroughly.
He grinned in satisfaction, hearing a grinning as gears froze. His fists quickly wrapped in energy as he hit it hard in the face, knocking the head back and snapping frozen joints.
He dropped the finished robot to the ground, and turned to help the others.
Chris grabbed the Jack clone's head, pulling it away from the original. He slung it into his own advancing copy, sending it sliding back. He ran over to make sure Jack was okay, when he was hit hard in the back of the head.
It struck him again in the back before he could turn, knocking him onto the ground.
The copy moved in to finish him when it was suddenly floored as Nocturnal Sun came crashing down from above.
She looked around in mock disappointment. "No copy for me?"
The Chris clone grabbed her ankles, twisting its arms at an impossible angle, and rolled over, aiming to crush her.
Sun wrenched her feet free as Chris and Jack both stomped hard on it, effectively shattering most of its insides.
The Jack clone stumbled forward, a leg severely dented and electricity still crackling from its arm sockets.
The three nodded to each other and rushed forward. Needless to say, the android didn't last long.
Danica's copy sprung its legs up at the last moment, catching the woman in the chin.
Danica stumbled back, and moved her jaw, hearing small cracks.
The copy spun in a wide sweep that she easily leapt over, coming down onto the android's abdomen.
She quickly bent down, striking it hard across the chin, and spinning the neck.
The clone gripped her ankle and squeezed with unnatural strength.
Danica grimaced and slammed her sharpened heel into the androids face, it going straight through. She jerked her leg, destroying a piece of equipment that caused its arms to go loose.
The legs spun wildly until she stabbed her other heel in, ending its movement.
Violet laid layer after layer of dizzying radiation onto it. She grimaced in frustration at its seeming ineffectiveness until she angrily shot an EMP burst.
There was a clack and whirr as it stumbled and finally fell over. Mentally hitting herself for not realizing it was an android, she turned in time to see Javas clone explode in a burst of force like Hyper.
Her eyes went wide as her husband fell back.
She quickly ran to him, placing her hands on his chest and trying to heal him.
The clone shot a wide arc of energy at her that her Phantasm quickly intercepted knocking it back.
Javas eyes slowly opened. He smiled. Thanks.
They turned to the clone. Violet fired a smaller blast of EMP radiation that seemed to slow it, as Java and the Phantasm took turns hitting it with powerful bursts of energy until it collapsed.
Burning had just finished off his copy when the others grouped back together. Is that all of them? asked Hyper.
I think so, said Jack. So, Noc, what were you saying about the-
There was a creak and groan, causing the Kickers to turn and look at the source of the noise.
The androids were shaking, and suddenly began to snap together, drawn by an invisible force.
The locked together perfectly, as if that had been their purpose all along.
As the giant mech towered over them, the Masters faced a same sight, finally coming to the end of the tunnel.
Both heroes and villains knew the fight was nowhere near over.
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Elitist yelled the order to attack, sending the monsters rushing at the construct.
Its body was something of a modified Warhulk, only twice the size and a silver color rather than brass, and instead of a glass head it had small missile racks and cannons.
The cannons quickly fired wide laser bursts, cutting down much of the remaining undead Blightlord had brought.
Tyrant ordered his bots forward after throwing several EMP grenades that seemed to have no effect.
Elitist, Editor, and GeoWatt were the first to rush in. They came only to the middle of the thing's waist, but that did not stop them from finding a good point to beat on it mercilessly.
Smashing Pumpkin came up from behind, leaping onto the top of the thing and bringing both nether energy wrapped hands down on top of it.
It should have been hurt much more, but all he had to show for the shot was a small ding.
He didn't even have time to wonder out loud what the thing was made of before a cannon spun around and fired another laser burst.
He was flung back, leaving the mech able to swipe at the others pounding around it.
Harlequin grinned as she tried to reach for its 'mind' and throw its AI into chaos.
Blightlord ordered his remaining undead, a small amount of Grave Knights, a handful of zombies, and Grime.
The Lich began casting spells, trying to weaken it as the zombies spat volleys of acidic vomit. All that happened was a slight peeling of the edges, barely any damage to it.
The Knights rushed in, hacking at the things legs, trying to bring it down. Each swipe took a small chip, at this rate they'd never get through.
That is, until the bots joined in. Lasers flew, striking likely weak points, mostly focusing on removing the weapons.
Before the mech could turn to remove them, Knave of Spades, Void Brawler, and Ruby Blade had all managed to climb atop it, and were now quickly striking.
Together, Knave and Ruby were able to send one cannon flying away, snapping off the screws with the force of their hit. Obviously the pieces holding it together weren't as strong as the shell.
Before the missile rack could turn to them, they had leapt off and were fading into the shadows.
Ruby struck hard at where he assumed the 'brain' of it would be.
His sword bounced off, and he lost his grip on it.
It flew across the room, leaving him virtually weaponless. The missile rack was now trained on him. His eyes widened in surprise as he rocketed off of it, speeding quickly around the room to make the targeting computer lose him.
He grabbed his sword as he passed it, and the missiles fired.
They seemed to follow him, locked onto something other than a heat signature.
Nictus Brawler reached out, and began slowing the missile by amplifying the gravity around it.
Eventually, it clattered to the ground, or would have, if Nictus didn't teleport it back onto the mech.
The missile exploded, leaving a deep dent, on its top.
Elitist quickly leapt up, and slammed his fist down into the dent, buckling the metal more.
Editor and GeoWatt were right behind him, coming to make the dent wider as Smashing leapt up, taking several shots at the missile rack.
Every time it swung around to meet him, he would lead over it, and hit it several times before repeating the process.
The mech aimed an arm at the gathered group of villains, and let a large burst of energy fly.
Some scattered, and others made it away in time.
The undead had begun making progress on the legs, and soon the first came offline as a wire was cut and a Knight barbecued.
The robots knocked off the second cannon with a concentrated laser blast as Grime cast another spell that bound the mech's arms with dark tendrils.
The blast it had been readying fired into the ground, knocking the mech into the air, and the ones on top of it off as they finally breached its thick shell.
Quickly, all the Masters focused on the opening in the toppled mech. In a matter of seconds, the inside of the robot was nothing but slag, and spare parts.
Elitist kicked the downed robot as he passed it, and stood before the Masters. After the fight with the Legion and now this, they each had a few cuts and bruises to show for it.
He was about to say something when a small beeping could be heard from inside the mech.
"That better not be what it sounds like," muttered Tyrant as he drew a force field generator.
Blightlord scowled and pulled a scroll from his belt. "I did not wish to use this..."
He read it, the words disappearing from the papyrus as he said them, and they disappeared in a flash of red light, before the room was filled with flames.
They reappeared in their base, and a few cast odd glances at Blightlord, asking just with their eyes why he didn't use that before.
"Believe me when I say your being teleported as well is an unfortunate side effect of the scroll."
***
Burning, Hyper, and Java were each readying a shot as the others leapt at the large robot.
Johnny sped around its legs, slashing them and at the waist as he ran. Danica flew for the cannon, doing a quick spin kick that spun the cannon the other way, sending the laser blast into the wall rather than the heroes.
Jack and Chris circled around, each leaping up from opposite sides, and grabbing the missile rack. The pulled until their faces reddened from strain, but it wasn't budging much.
It fired a missile, and the recoil sent the two flying away.
Violet quickly sent her Phantasm, which leapt in front of the blast, causing the missile to explode closer to the mech than them.
Shard quickly fired a beam of ice into one of the cannons. It seemed backed up until the laser blast finally broke through, sending him flying.
Burning, Hyper, and Java fired simultaneously. They struck the legs hard, causing the mech to stagger back and leaving large dents in them, but not downing it yet, although Johnny Velocity was now making a lot more progress, until the robot swiped at him, sending him flying back.
Violet sent copies of the heroes, decoys, to confuse it. They quickly let loose with all sorts of different powers as she tried an EMP burst.
Nothing.
She grimaced, and began placing layers of radiation sure to weaken it.
Jack and Chris came back at it, now hammering the missile rack. Nocturnal Sun leapt up behind them and grinned. "Need a hand?"
She came up behind it, slamming her fist into the back, causing small dent with each punch.
The other two hit with renewed energy as the thing slowly came apart.
Danica took a hard kick at the cannon, causing a small dent.
Burning swooped up behind her, firing a thick burst of flame, and weakened the metal even more.
Danica crouched down and swung at the steel rod holding the cannon on. It snapped off, sending it clattering to the ground.
The missile rack was turning, about to fire, when it was suddenly sent flying by a simultaneous punch from its assailants.
Hyper-Man blasted at the chassis, causing small dents with each blow.
It raised its arm, forming another cannon, and fired a sapper beam that drained him of his energy.
Java Juggernaut caught the falling hero, and set him away to regain his strength while he turned back and began pelting it with energy blasts from behind.
Violet Tigeress's Phantasm soon joined him, and with the radiation weakening the metal, they began to make progress, almost bursting through.
Johnny and Super Shard leapt back at the remaining shoulder-cannon. Shard wrapped the base in ice while Johnny took fast swipes at it, taking off small pieces.
The cannon spun towards them, and Shard quickly slammed it with an energy-wrapped fist, spinning it around wildly.
Chris and Noc worked on one leg while Jack worked on the other. It began buckling more and more with each swing, and creaks could be heard as it became less able to support its weight.
Hyper-Man had begun to recover and was nearing the mech when Violet's Phantasm broke through.
Java quickly fired a rapid burst of energy into it, Hyper taking a shot from behind. Burning hovered down to the opening, breathing a wide arc of flame.
Shard and Johnny managed to remove the last cannon as the leg Chris and Noc had been working on crumpled. The mech slammed into the ground, thoroughly beaten.
Mystillumin stumbled into the room, and stared at the mech, open-mouthed. "I was in a trance and... what happened here?"
"If this doesn't count as proof we were framed..." Hyper left it at that. He turned to Noc. "Where did you say their base was?"
"Some of the Hellions said their base was-"
She was silenced, as were the rest of them when a deep blue flash erupted through the room, completely draining the 'Kickers of their energy.
They reappeared in a large dungeon, a force field barrier sealing them inside.
"Right here..."
