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The two minute countdown had started and somewhere in the tunnels beyond lay a thermo-nuclear bomb ready to explode when it reached zero. Magni's approach to the problem, hit the nearest threat with his hammer, had left him stunned; a wooden mallet had appearedand struck him when he attacked the mysterious boy. The rest of the heroes had decided on a more systematic solution and had begun the search. Blue Bolt, unable to find his way out of the moving labyrinth while flying at speed, found the exit revealed itself when if slowed to walking pace. Elsewhere, Hephaestus lifted a portcullis that had trapped Blaise. Nano-man faced five heavy handed robots before the rest of the team arrived. Leaving his team mates to it, he turn his attention to a dead-end corridor. The end wall appeared to be made of a different stone. Sending his nano-machines to take it apart they seemed to find it difficult. Persevering, a 15 foot long section collapsed in front of him. Unfortunately the stone continued on. At this point the heroes decided to split up. Blaise, Hephaestus and Nano-man took one exit which led to a corridor lined with laser canons. After disabling a few, by a variety of means, all except Blaise decided it was to dangerous. The marine soldiered on, making it to the door at the far end, only to find it locked. Magni followed a tunnel which became very thin. Ensuring no-one would see, he shrunk down to normal human size and squeezed through. On the other end his progress was blocked by powerful lets of water. His hydro-phobia kicked in and he fled back the way he had come. Blue Bolt found a route into a room which filled with fire. Passing through the other door in the room he felt an unusual resistance. Upon a pedestal in the middle of the room beyond sat a device suspiciously like a nuclear bomb. The electrified scientist knew exactly how it worked but not how to disarm it. Also present was a computer monitoring a multi-phase force-field generator; presumably the source of the resistance he had felt. Hephaestus and Nano-man weren't far behind and, once a hole had been corroded in the door, examined the bomb too. They came up with three possible ways to deal with the device: 1) Disarm it; only Hephaestus had the skill to do this but the bomb did not completely make sense. 2) Corrode the explosives; Nano-man was unsure if he could be accurate enough.
3) Blue Bolt to teleport or fly it into space; would the bomb explode if moved?
Meanwhile Blaise had managed to get the mysterious boys attention. He attempted to get him to end this lethal game and to try another.
Magni, now back among the robot wreckage, attempted to push the rock Nano-man had corroded. Shifting backwards the block tipped into a deep hole beyond, wedging itself there. Seeing a door after the pit he charged it.
Ignoring the dull thud and muddled norse swearing, the bomb disposal squad of the team decided to try to disarm it. Minerva had provided a few bomb schematics which seemed to help. With 30 seconds to go the countdown stopped. The mysterious boy, Blaise and Magni appeared in the same room as the others. "That was cool. You're much more fun than grump Captain Thunder. We're going to have some good games together. See you later" and with that the boy was gone. The heroes found themselves back on the fourth floor of Fun-Time Toys. The debris of a trashed office and broken robots surrounded them. Returning to Freedom Hall they found that the fog and ghostly figures had disappeared; maybe about the same time the boy vanished ? The boy was apparently called Quirk and came from another dimension. The Freedom League had obviously met him before and sympathised with the team for their ordeal. Thanked for their help, the heroes went home for an later/earlynight.
A few days later Blaise received a call. Raven invited him to join her on a stake-out. Dressed up to nines once again, he found her atop an apartment building watching a couple of guys drinking in a coffee shop. Blaise examined the two men through his binoculars. The shadowy hero went on to explain that she had busted a dealer a couple of nights before. His goons were obviously on a drug that enhanced their strength. This was something new and she wanted Blaise to find out what is was and where it had come from. He needed to stop this at source and as soon as possible. Turning to ask a question he found that she had gone. Calling the rest of the team, they met on the building's roof. Hoping for a quiet night with Raven, Blaise had not brought his equipment, but a quick call to his side-kick and Blue Bolt retrieved his gauntlets and boots. What will the team find in their first delve into Freedom City's drug scene?
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