|
While Nano-man installed additional security measures on the Lighthouse, to prevent Dr Stratos from repeating his attack, the rest of the team sifted through the fake emergency calls being broadcast from Freedom Hall. The heroes discerned two unusual reports: 1) The Goodman Building, home to the super powered Atom Family, was on fire. 2) The 50' sentry Centurion statue was striding across Riverside Park. Hoping the heroic family were okay and could save themselves, the team devised a plan to face the statue again; but this time for real. Not waiting for Nano-man to finish his work the rest teleported to the park via a nearby CCTV camera, courtesy of Blue Bolt. They arrived to find more than they had expected. Apart from the gargantuan statue, which was now standing knee deep in the river holding a boat in one hand and a woman in the other, a group of horned daemons were also rampaging around the park. In addition to this was a small collection of goats, milling around the park, and a black suited figure could be seen submerged slightly downstream. Putting their plan into action Jenny Rocket began saving the bystanders. Blue Bolt flew to the statue to rescue the grasped woman. The boat in the statue's other hand was a pleasure cruiser who's occupants were all clad in fancy dress. The trapped woman was dressed in a toga and laurel leaf crown. Using the riverside lighting he teleported the woman and himself to the other-side of the park. Surprised but grateful she thanked the hero: "Thank you but you really shouldn't have." With that she wave her hand. A shimmering haze flew towards Blue Bolt which made him feel strange but nothing else happened. Unimpressed he teleported back to the action. While he'd been away the rest of the team had attempted to rescue the boat. Leaping and attaching his boots to the boat's hull Blaise dropped a smoke grenade at the statues feet. Magni and Megastar coordinated there actions taking either end of the ship. In a strength contest versus the statue they won; wrestling the vessel from its grasp. It did retain one side section of the boat and as the two super strong heroes withdrew with their prize one woman, dressed as a bee, lost her footing and fell out. Boosting from the retreating boat, Blaise caught her mid air, rolling to land safely on the ground. Leaping again he dropped her off out of harms way. Magni and Megastar carefully laid the boat on the other-side of the park. The daemons in this time had been busy slashing anyone close to hand/claw. One man was clearly bleeding to death and others were badly hurt. The black figure flew out of the water; the shape of Devil Ray now visible. Firing his electric bolts at Blaise the ex-marine's new gauntlet shield feature saved him. Magni zoomed into to battle the black villain while Blaise drew the daemons away from the civilians. Nano-man finally arrived, his security work done. Materialising he healed one of the injured men then turned to face the other daemons. Megastar joined Blaise in his daemon assault while Jenny Rocket continued her rescues. The toga lady, the sorceress Medea, re-appeared near the ensuing combat. Waving her hands the speedy hero turned into a goat. Blue Bolt tried to teleport her to Scotland but ended up on a solo trip. Next Medea waved hand towards Magni. The god immediately stopped pounding on Devil Ray.
The statue now turned back to the river. Striding knee deep it grabbed a boat who's captain had been stupid enough to hang around to watch. Turning back to the park it launched it at Blaise and Megastar, apparently unconcerned that the daemons would be crushed too. With a burst of flight Megastar caught the vessel and them withdrew to add to the dry dock he was creating.
Using his corrosive powers Nano-man caused the daemons to be banished. As he saw off the last one nearby he turned to see his teammate, Magni, flying towards him who then landed and struck him with the hammer. A shocked Nano-man's dented head was immediately rebuilt by the nano-machines. A stern look appeared on his face but was quickly replaced by a determined one. The statue, Devil Ray and Magni all struck blows on the regenerating marvel. As quick as if healed though another punishing blow would land. Magni was obviously having a hard time of regaining control over his actions but finally broke Medea's hold.
Blue Bolt re-appeared from his Scottish jaunt only to become Medea's latest puppet. He managed to shrug it off quickly but not before blasting Nano-man too.
This second attack from his own team sent Nano-man over the edge and a familiar look came over his face. Blue hair, black wings, a flaming hand and a hammer appeared in the form of Insano-man! Fortunately, for the rest of the team, the statue drew his attentions so they could focus on the villains. Magni attacked the statue too and Blaise moved into engage Medea. Blue Bolt could see that Megastar was now picking up the now empty boat. Fearing that Medea had found another pawn he was relieved to watch him smash it across the statue's chest. While Magni, Megastar and Insano-man chipped away at the stone giant, Blaise attempted to charm the sorceress. Once she had returned the compliment with a goat transformation attempt he fired his knockout has lets at her. Although left woozy, she re-tried the goat spell. Magni's hammer was giving the stone a hell of a beating but the statue was showing no signs of slowing. Medea's spell failed again and she took another dose of the gas. Falling to her knees, almost unconscious, she disappeared. The remaining daemons followed suit and the badly damaged statue suddenly froze and toppled backwards; falling into small boulders.
Devil Ray decided to flee too. Diving into the river Blue Bolt fired after him but the villain was not seen again.
With Insano-man still to deal with Blaise deployed one of his gloves' self destructing EMP devices. Leaping to reach Insano-man, who was hovering with intent, the pulse was emitted as he hit the ground. His nano-machines reset Nano-man regain his composure. In demonstration of this he went to the body of the lethally slashed man and infused him with the tiny robots. As though through the use of great magic the man was brought back to life. With the villains dispatched they now saw the goats returned to their normal form. Jenny Rocket was back to her speedy self but also the other goats, who had been there when the team had arrived, had turned back into the NextGen. Bolt, Sonic, Seven and Nereid had apparently responded first but had succumbed to Medea's magic.
Grouping together they wasted no time in getting to the Goodman building. Blue Bolt teleported both teams. Arriving they saw area had been badly damaged. Aswell as the Atom Family's home, many of the surrounding buildings were on fire. Hovering above the Goodman Building was a humanoid figure with glowing a bright blueish white light. Hiroshima Shadow is the team's next challenge. Will the NextGen tip the balance in their favour ? Where are the famous Atom Family ?
|
Journals 
