At the Mountains (IC)

[Darksider42]

Rift crossed his arms and gave it a seconds though. Finally he said to the lankey teen."Well, either these robots are not as well programed as I first though. Or..." He paused, not liking what he was about to say next. "...Someone has beaten us here, changed the password from the one Mark was given and is going through The Centurions collection of potentially dangerous curiosities like a kid in a candy store... And I get the feeling we might be getting into one hell of a smackdown." The guitarist shrugged. "Of course, I could be wrong." He deadpanned.

[Cyroa]

James flashed a grin at Trevor and Erin, at the others whispered comment. "At least we're not in super corny land," he whispered. It was a short lived grin of course. It did not seem to be going well and James doubted the robot guardians of all Centurion's domains would be pushovers. "Psyche? Can you tell if anyone else is here?" He eyed the 4 'bots curiously, slowly shifting a bit to be in a good position in case something went wrong. "And how long shall we wait before doing something rash? You know, typical for us," he said with a wry smile.

[Electra]

Erin took her bat from her belt and held it palmed, looking around for cameras or more robots. "We might need to beat a quick retreat," she murmured to James, "depending on how powerful these robots turn out to be. I'd say we should go now, except that if Rift is right, having someone taking over the Sanctum would be seriously bad news. Just be ready in case we have to bail." Moving casually, she worked her way to the front of the group, putting herself between them and the door the robot had come from.

[alderwitch]

"Looking," Alex said simply and she went rigid next to Mike, trusting implicitly that the powerhouses of her team would keep her from getting squished as her eyes made those rapid flicks of movement, dilating in response to stimuli that was entirely in Alex's head. "This place is really big so searching what I can."

[angrydurf]

Mike frowned at the robots response and the additional reinforcements arriving, "Looks like someone beat us to it." he said sticking close to Alex as he eyed the robots warily, "Any chance one of the league stepped up to take car of maintenance since your dad had to leave Mark?"

He stood ready to intercept any direct offensive action taken against the group if he could and asked the Centuritron, "Who initiated the maintenance check?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I don't think so," Mark muttered to Mike. "I mean, I did tell them I was coming up here! Maybe I should have waited for Captain Thunder to call me back...Hey!" he called out loud. "Alpha, who's performing the check?"

"Security. Protocols. Have. Been. Activated," the Centuritrons said sternly, the sight of four Centurions speaking in robotic unison more than a little creepy. "Please. Wait. Here. For. Instructions."

"Warren, there's a control panel behind Hellion," Mark murmured. "See if you can get to it and hack into the Centuritrons while we..."

---

Psyche's mental scan took her past the half-dozen Centuritrons waiting nearby, including the two concealing themselves in the corridor which had disgorged the others, all the way down and around through the inside of the vast halls of the Centurion's Sanctum. It was hard to focus given the many spectacular wonders all around her mental eye, but given the necessity of purpose in that moment she knew she had to press on. Turning a corridor in her mind, she suddenly seemed to stumble across three very familiar figures: a short, bearded man slowly and methodically carving open a stretch of what looked like blank corridor wall with electrical arcs shooting from his fingers, an olive-skinned, bored-looking beauty in a toga, and a green, eerie shape barely recognizable as humanoid.

You didn't have to be a supergenius to recognize Dr. Stratos, Medea, and Hiroshima Shadow! Medea seemed to recognize Psyche, too, or at least her spoor. "Someone's here! One of you, take care of it!" With a sigh, Hiroshima Shadow took off and disappeared through the corridor walls, even as an irritated Stratos began speaking into a microphone at his waist. A moment later, the robots outside with Young Freedom sprang into action!

"Stop. The. Humanoid! Stop. The. Intruder!"

[Avenger Assembled]

"C'mon, people!" Mark called, his determination ringing out to everyone despite the bizarre situation. "I know this seems weird, but this isn't the real Centurion! We'll stop these robots, stop whoever's doing this, and we'll keep the Sanctum safe! We can do it! We're Young Freedom!" Nervous about doing any real damage to the Sanctum, he opted not to blast the robots, instead choosing to wait till they showed their real intentions. "Let's do this for the Centurion!"

[Electra]

At Mark's signal, Erin didn't hesitate. Using her bat as a pole vault, she leapt over the lead Centuritron, landing behind it and then tossing the bat away to smash it barehanded right in the small of its back. Like many robots, this one appeared to have a pivot juncture there, and the blow sent it reeling. Unrelenting, Erin kept after it, shoving it to the ground and ripping its metal head off. She didn't do that to most humanoids anymore, of course, but it was one sure way to stop most robots. And she was very good at it.

[Ecalsneerg]

Geckoman looked at Phalanx and winked, then turned to one of the Centuritrons. "Look, Mr Knockoff Superhero Replica. Here's three rules for greeting new guests while maintaining a secure presence." He pulled out a Geckorang and twirled it to ensure the robot kept looking at him. "Take a pleasant demeanour," he began, "Offer your guests a drink, cos we don't drink oil. We're not robots. And most importantly."

He broke into a wide grin. "Don't pay attention to the green dude."

[alderwitch]

"Its Dr. Stratos, Medea and Hiroshima Shadow. They're carving open a corridor deep inside the sanctum!" Psyche said in a voice that carried as she pivoted towards where Hiroshima Shadow was surging through the ground towards them. "And Hiroshima Shadow is on his way up. Medea can sense my ESP somehow, I guess. Sorry, guys."

She focused her thoughts on finding the ghost of a man and when he popped through the floors, Psyche focused all the power of her mutant mind on a stunning blast that she sent winging his way.

[Avenger Assembled]

The Sanctum's computers opened for Rift like a flower for a bee. For all they'd been built decades earlier, the advanced super-science in their construction meant the green-matrix display he looked at was still decades in advance of any commercial computer outside this place. It seemed someone very recently had opened up what were otherwise advanced security systems, leaving everything available for Warren's inspection. He found the Centuritron control program easily enough, overcoming someone else's counter-programming like a knife cutting through butter.

But he found more than that, much more. Security videos showed him what Psyche had seen earlier; Dr. Stratos and Medea breaking into a sealed bulkhead, but the computers told him what lay behind the locked, concealed door they were prying open. It was called the Zero Room, and inside was a gateway to the Zero Zone, a dimension beyond any he'd ever heard of before.

[Darksider42]

As the chaos began, Rift managed to get his shield up and ready as he weaved between his fellow students at the console. Retro-Superscience. Why am I not surpised? He shoot his head and started going though several command options before cracking the system. As much as he was for historical accuracy, he honestly wondered why no one had bothered to update security. "OK, I should be able to get them under control from here and....Oh." He stopped as he saw the villains at their destination. ""Guys. Stratos and Media are trying to get break through to the Zero Room!"

[Gizmo]

Midnight's mouth curved slightly into a thin smile as Wander made short work of the first robot. Really do love to watch that girl work. When Psyche put a name to their adversaries, the black clad youth produced a handful of small, matte black spheres from his belt, barely larger than marbles. "Simulation with Gamma made me think," he noted flatly as he cast the miniaturized devices outward in a broad arc, spreading them about the team's feet. "Lead leaf lining is good..." With a high pitched hiss, jets of pale grey powder burst from the orbs, coating the area is a transparent cloud. "Radiation dampening carbon particulate aerosol is better." Noting the direction the telepath was studying intently, Midnight faced the Shadow's entry point and let an aura of midnight mist seep from his pores, mixing with the carbon dust to give him an indistinct outline punctuated by glowing red eyes. When the villain slipped through the floor, he released an accelerated gout of mist, creating the illusion of a great black form lunging forward.

[angrydurf]

At Geckomans cue Phalanx charged forward his fists a rapidfire blur as he pounded upon the heavily armored robot. His attack however seemed to lack Wanders precision and perhaps he held back too much with the centurions likeness starring him down as he attacked. In the end he battered and staggered the robotic Centurion but it remained intact if unlikely to be attacking anyone itself immediately.

[Avenger Assembled]

Hiroshima Shadow flew out of the floor nearby the teens and was promptly under attack! Flinching backwards from Trevor's illusory phantasm, he was caught unprepared for Psyche's mental assault, and a terrible shriek came from his green glowing body as he was buffeted by the blast of psychic energy into his radioactive brain.

[Cyroa]

James wasted no time. He summoned the Blade to his hand even as the Hiroshima Shadow staggered and reeled from Psyche's assault. Having little concerned with fighting fair or nice, James simply stabbed the villain in the back. He didn't waste time, seeing if the villain dropped. He spun, bringing his blade slashing into one of the Centurions. He doubted he'd seriously injure it, but it might help distract or slow the thing down for a bit.

[Avenger Assembled]

James' blade actually bounced off the tough hide of the Centuritron, earning him a stern look from the robotic version of the Man of Adamant. "Later. For. You." The battered model informed Hellion, even as suddenly three of his duplicates rushed into the room! There were now four Centuritrons to deal with, one having been taken out already. One struck Wander a devastating blow across the midsection, nearly knocking her off her feet as she felt ribs bruise underneath the steel-shattering power of the metallic version of Earth's greatest hero. Another threw a mighty blow at Phalanx, just missing the Boy of Bronze, while a third closed in on Rift. Luckily, Phalanx, a mighty hero, threw himself in front of the punch, taking a powerful punch to the face as he protected his friend.

It looked like everything had succeeded for the young heroes: they'd staved off the Centuritrons, and now could go down and face the Crime League with no further worries. Except...where was Hiroshima Shadow! A sharp curse caught all their attention, and they whirled to see the radioactive menace clutching his side, where green, glowing fluid leaked from his wound to spatter on the floor. "FOoLS! SOoN I'LL REtURN ANd BUrN YOu ALl!" And with that, a searing eruption of light burst from the shadow of destruction, a blast of ionizing radiation that washed out across the room, even as the menace himself disappeared from view!

[Avenger Assembled]

Edge looked up from the statue he'd ducked behind, the super-tough marble having blocked the radioactive eruption from Hiroshima Shadow. He had to smile, briefly, at the familiar face who'd guarded him from the radiation. Thanks, Dad. "Everybody OK?" he said as Rift took control of the now-slightly irradiated Centuritrons. Looking down at the one Wander had dismantled, he winced at the smashed face of Mark Leeds. "I guess they know we're coming now..."

[Gizmo]

Distracted by the Centurions' renewed attacks, Midnight had only a split second to spin himself away from Hiroshima Shadow's explosive exit before the radiation washed across the room. The thin lead lining in his costume offered only minimal protection against a blast of that magnitude, and as the black clad vigilante staggered back to his feet with a nauseous feeling deep in his gut, he mentally committed himself to a throughout medical examination as soon as he was able to get back to the Manor. Carbon particulates need work, he grimaced inwardly as he moved without thinking to check on Erin. "Fine," he responded flatly to Mark's inquiry.

[Darksider42]

"I'll be fine." Rift said, shaking a little from the sudden explosion of radiation. He stood up and gripped the console tight, knuckles going white. "I swear though that I will lock him in a containment cell and launch him into the sun if I've gone sterile." He tried to calm down as he pried his hands from the sides of the console and clattered at the keys. "OK, from here I should have control of the Robots in this room, rest are probably controlled by others or a master computer. Media and Dr Stratos as in front of a bulkhead trying to get into the Zero Room. Have no idea what that is or whats inside, but seeing as its in a fortress in the middle of a frozen wasteland filled with robot centurions, I'm guessing its bad." He paused for a second and looked at everyone. "I can probably program the ones here to recognize us as non-threats and act as backup against them."

"By the way man. Thanks for taking that punch." Rift said with a nod to Mike.

[Ecalsneerg]

Geckoman dodged a second too late, the radiation blast knocking him to his ass and leaving him prone on the floor. "Ouch," he complained, rubbing his stomach and feeling the nausea burning. His entire front was slightly singed, although the yellow G was still legible among the tattered grey and green.

"So... do we have an actual plan here, other than march up under armed guard and hope they don't kick our asses too badly?" His cheeks looked visibly ashen, and his voice was slightly strained.

[Electra]

Erin managed to roll out of the way of the radiation blast, but it did her cracked ribs no favors. She laid on the ground for a few moments with her eyes closed, waiting till her bones knit themselves together and her ears stopped ringing. When she opened them, Trevor was right there looking at her. "I'm okay," she assured him, pushing herself to sit up. "Looks like the robots are out, what do we have to do next?"

[alderwitch]

"...stop Medea and Doctor Stratos," Alex said as soon as she was sure she wasn't going to throw up all over the toes of her boots. Her skin was ashen white but she straightened up with determination. "The Zero Room is a gateway to the places between all the worlds. It just this big endless void but I think... I think they used to put folks in there who were too dangerous to be in any prison. At least back before there were any super villan prisons. I can't imagine what they want with it now but it can't be good!"

[angrydurf]

Phalanx threw an arm reflexively in front of Psyche as the atomic horror exploded in sickly green light though with the radiation spread everywhere there was little he could do to guard her. The invulnerable youth was unaffected by the assault but winced as he saw his teammates who did not fair so well. "Everyone alright?" he asked as he stood warily. At Psyches suggestion he looked around for some hint of the fastest way to the villains, "Which way?"

[Gizmo]

It might have only been a trick of the Sanctum's light, but Midnight's ruby lenses seemed to soften subtly in relief for a moment ans he reached down to give Erin a hand to her feet. "Nothing like a woman who can take as good as she gives," he murmured softly, his peculiar deadpan managing to convey itself through the filter of his mask. "Can't let them access the Zone," he said more loudly. Unlike Alex, he could imagine plenty of uses the Crime League might have for a conduit to the extradimensional void, and none of them were remotely acceptable.