2012-08-22 Bot Mashing

Each morning and evening, Metropolis' railways help dissipate traffic congestion throughout the city making it one of the lighter commutes on the eastern seaboard. The best part of these trains, unlike Italy, is that they run on time and don't need an act of God, Congress, or fascist dictator to do so.

The /bad/ news is that they make really good (read: terrible) targets for mayhem and general disarray. So, as 15 superpowered bots of large size begin to flood the last stop on the train station before the suburbs, it's totes clear that these 2 story tall creatures (one of which is named Doug) need some behind kicking. That's where you come in.

It was a yellow and red streak as fast as lighting that zipped to the train station, just past several people that were on their way home. Now, they're on their way to safety, away from here as fast as they can be. Not as fast as Kid Flash, however; that would be impossible.

"Alright, Kid Flash here, never fear!" The teen hero shouts out in bravado, with no one apparently listening. That doesn't stop him. That huge smash of one's foot might, though, as one of the big robots smashes near some lovely chicks. Hero time!

And so Kid Flash does what he does best: he runs. He rescues the girls as the bot's foot comes down again, only to hit pavement. He drops the girls gently far away from the action, and gives them a wink as he blurts, "Call me!" He then rushes back to the station, wondering just how he's going to fight these robots. Maybe some Flash Cyclones are in order...

15 giant robots. And a blur. J'onn makes note of the blur, which does seem to have a mind attached...not one he's going to try to read at this point. Hopefully it's a good guy blur. He descends towards the scene, angling right towards another robot. This one's about to squash a couple of kids, and in a duplication of Kid Flash's action, J'onn scoops them up to deposit them out of its immediate range, even as he thinks what to do next. A large group of two storey robots? He's encountered worse, of course, meaning more annoying. But...they're the problem at hand. Okay. Him and a blur. Hopefully others will show up, and soon.

Safe, reliable, and well used commuter trains make for a perfect place to watch humans in their native habitat. This is why the Alien Life form known as Warlock has spent the last several hours riding the trains, or standing around in some of the stops just to watch people go about their lives. Shape shifted to look like a perfectly normal, if not utterly forgettable, business man Warlock does not notice the robots at first because of his focus on the humans in he area, that is until they start to notice what is going on and began to panic.

The giant robots flooding into the area get a almost dispassionate look, that is until Warlock spots something. No not lovely chicks, but an old woman about to be smashed by a giant robot foot. Leaping into action he quickly gets the woman out of the way and is urging her towards the doors away from the robots when he gets the foot destined for the old woman. That, has got to hurt.


 * THWAMBAM*

There are two loud crushing sounds and the head of one of robots leaps from its shoulders and takes flight, ending up somewhere out on the land of Farmer McDowell, 2 miles away. Superman lands, looks to Martian Manhunter, and gives the ally a quick nod before gasping in horror as Warlock is caught under a robotic foot. He's over there immediately and lifts the foot upward, the mechanical gears whining as they go the opposite way of which they are supposed to. Looking down at Warlock, the Man of Steel's face is filled with fright.

Meanwhile, women...at least hot women...begin to disappear from the scene and are jettisoned somewhere ...uh...else. The remaining Robots see that the heroes are on the scene and compute a new plan. Now instead of the bystanders, they realize the men with the capes and primary colors represent the main problem. Almost in unison, red beams shoot from their forehead and sear the sidewalk below.

"Whoa! Fire hazard!" The Kid dodged the laser blasts that came toward him, as well as the scortched sidewalk. Wouldn't do good to sting his feet now. If he ran fast enough it wouldn't matter as much, but still. But it seems that the laser-head robots have a new target, Kid Flash being one of them. And the others...

"Hey, it's Superman!" Kid Flash then waves wildly at the big hero. "Superman, how are you?! Coming in to join on the fun?!" Before any answer could come, Kid saw a big shadow upon in, looked up, and sidestepped quickly to avoid a huge fist from one of the robots. It then started firing lasers at him, which Kid dodged almost effortlessly.

'Man, quit hogging the show and get to work,' the speedster told himself, as he ran underneath the robot attacking him. As the robot bent down to get a good look, Kid Flash started running circles around him, really fast. Soon, a tornado went up, lifting the huge robot, who then shot lasers at Kid. He dodged, which stopped the tornado, as well as dropping the robot... onto another robot, who was going in for Flash as well. And BOOM! Two points for the Kid!

Okay...if they're going to play rough? J'onn retaliates on the nearest robot, firing his eye beams then angling in to try and hit its legs and bring it down. There are no more innocent bystanders within range if it does fall and if it lands on HIM, well, he can take it. Superman. Good. And whoever got squashed seems to be, to his senses, still alive and functional.

By the time Superman has even grabbed the giant robot foot gold and black colored tendrils are seeping out from under it. As Superman lifts the tendrils shoot upwards, tips razor sharp and hard as reinforced titanium composites, aiming to penetrate the armor under that metal foot. There is no sign of the man that was stepped on, instead just a living mass of gold and black material that grows a face that looks almost like it is made of mismatched machine parts to smile at Superman. "Thank you, Self has this robot now." Warlock nods at the Man of Steel before more tendrils shoot out of his mass aiming to wrap around the robots other foot. Warlock's plan, if he can get into the armor of the robot is simple, Infiltrate, Assimilate, and then use the new bigger body against the other giant robots.

"Self?" Superman says with wide eyes full of confusion and surprise. Warlock infiltrates the being with ease and now controls the technological monster. He'll realize quickly that the knee on the left leg has been damaged and will probably break down eventually, but the rest of the bot is in pretty good shape.

Meanwhile, Kid Flash sends one robot into another and BOOM! Both go splat. Superman looks over, giving the young speedster a nod.

Jonn's eye beams slice through the robot and the Martian finishes the job by tackling it into the Earth. It does not land on him, but it wouldn't matter much if it did.

'Wow, Superman nodded at me! Cool!' If Flash was Wally's favorite hero, Superman was a close second. Heck, who didn't love Superman? Well, probably his enemies, and maybe the people who own the buildings that break when he saves the day, so probably Lex Luthor. And probably...

Kid Flash gets side-tracked again as 2 other robots have him in their sights, and fired. Fortunately, the sound of the lasers was enough to get the Kid's attention, with plenty of time to avoid. Well, to him anyway. Cursing himself for being off track again, he rushes towards the robots, with a new plan.

That plan involved him rushing up one of the robots, and on his head, while taunting the other, with rasberries. The robot took the hint, and fired his laser at the Kid, which barely hit the other robot. That robot's programming changed, identifying the first one as a threat. And so he smacked the first robot, in which the second robot responded in kind. In a few seconds both smashed up each other, and Kid Flash ran down, satistifed at taking another 2 out.

Martian Manhunter turns in the air to slam into a robot that's coming up at him from behind, changing his angle so as to send it flying into a second one. The blur's become visible a few times...just a hero with really high speed abilities. Who's taunting robots. With raspberries. Must be a teenager...human adolescents do immature things like that at times.

Warlock has an odd way of talking, if Superman gets to have a conversation with him he will find this out. quickly taking over the robot he puts into place quick repairs on it as the TO virus that makes up his biology starts to spread throughout the whole thing turning it the same gold and black pattern as Warlock. As the coloration changes warlock makes other changes too, alterations in body shape, arms and legs changing to look like robotic lion, even the head becomes a giant lion head which opens its mouth to reveal a face.

Just to drive home whats going on, as a giant sword forms out of the gold giant robot's hand the fan fair from the old Voltron cartoon series plays. Transformation complete the Warlock-Voltron moves to combat the other robots. With a swing of his sword he tries to decapitate the nearest threat, and then move to bisect another.

Superman smashes one arm into a robot and then the other. With a giant fling, both robots take flight to the East this time, eventually coming to a splash in the Delaware Bay, sizzling and shorting out as they sink to the bottom.

"Wow." Superman, Martian Manhunter, AND... Voltron?! Well, at least he's on our side. They were all making short work on the robots, leaving 3 left. Flash decided something different was in order. So he ran up the nearest robot, and ran up its head, while the robot was searching for him. With his speed, he punched a hole into the robot's head; not enough to harm it, but enough to open it up and take a look inside. And Kid found a panel, with a bunch of wires. He first scratched his head, shrugged, and within seconds mixed up all the different wires and transistors. He then ran down, as the robot started to freak out, and then overhead. And soon, BOOM! One more point for Kid Flash!

Down to two robots. One of which finds it has a Martian on its back, literally, the green guy hitting it from behind with both feet, then bouncing around to punch it in the back of the head with both fists. That should be enough to take that one down, although what might happen next is an open question. There's still the one left.

With others making short work of the evil giant robots the fight has gone surprisingly fast and easy. Voltron-Warlock has not even taken a... *Zzzzzrpew* Never mind. The last still standing robot manages a grazing shot against the Voltron-Warlock's shoulder damaging his sword arm. It is going to take a second to repair, so the giant gold defender of the Cosmos decides to use a different attack. Voltron-Warlock turns and points his free arm at the last surviving robot, its lion like mouth opening wide as a glow starts inside of it before he fires a large ball of plasma right for the head of the last enemy.

And the last shot melts the metal away from the remaining robot who drops to his knees and then to the ground with a mighty *CRASH*

Superman lands softly to the ground and scouts the area. "Is everyone okay?" he asks, but a soft smile grows upon his face when he's able to observe the answer to his own question.

"A-O-K, Superman!" Kid Flash is, of course, the first to meet the great superhero. He was smiling proudly, part glad as how he helped take down these robots, and part excited of showing off in front of him. "We wiped the floor with these tin cans!"

Martian Manhunter touches down not far from Superman. "I believe everyone is, although it might behoove us to find out where those robots came from." Who, in this day and age, uses words like 'behoove'? Martians, apparently.

Warlock -Voltron starts to shrink down to a near human size before changing into his normal shape, which looks like a child built a robot with left over peices from everal different types of toy robots. Where all the mass goes from having assimilated the robot, its probably better not to ask. "Self is undamaged. Greesings self friend Martian Manhunter."

"We certainly did, Kid Flash," Superman says with a nod and a smile, but it falters a bit. "Next time, it might be a good idea to move the elderly first. The young ladies usually run better than them." The Man of Steel looks to Warlock with a raised eyebow, especially at the language. "Thank you very much for the help. My name is Superman. You were of great help today." Then, nodding to the Manhunter, "Any thoughts? I haven't seen anything quite like them."

"Aw man... Yes Superman..." Kid Flash just shrugged. Superman was right, he should have focused on the elderly; but then again, those women were the first ones he saw, and looked to be in danger. Besides, they were cute. He just nods to the big guy, and looks at the other two; Martian Manhunter and... a robotic kid? Weird, he was just Voltron a while ago... Details, details.

Martian Manhunter shakes his head. "Nothing off the top of my head...they aren't a design I've encountered before," the Martian admits. "I do know somebody I could ask, though, who is rather better traveled."

Warlock grins at Superman, maybe it's the thanks from Superman, or maybe he just has that kind of cheerful happy demeanor. "Self has not interfaced with this specific techology before. It is more advanced that the majority of technology Self has encountered on Earth. Query: What would be the motivation in spending the required money to build such machines and then use them to attack in this haphazard manner?"

Superman looks to Manhunter and nods, "Sounds like a good idea. I can take some of the wreckage to my labs and take a look as well." Superman glances at Warlock and chuckles, "Self? Is that your name?"

"Yea, that's an interesting name..." Wally scratches his chin, as the grown-ups'... conversation has him thinking as well about the attacks. It does seem a bit foolish; then again, criminals are fools. Fools for taking him on. "Is it an acronym for something, like Super Energized Life...Form...?"

You try making something up on the spot.

"I think it is more likely a translation error." Warlock, after all, is clearly not human. "English is *not* his first language." Offering Warlock a smile, he turns back to Superman. "That would be a good idea. I *suspect* the machines are not of Earth origin, but I could be wrong...there are many geniuses working these days and not all of them are sane or constructive in their habits.

Warlock shakes his head. "Self's name is Warlock. Self is a personal pronoun used to describe self." Yes, because an explanation of the grammatical use of the word will make more sense than trying to explain that the hard coded machine language that is his native tongue only has one word for personal pronouns. "Self-friend Martian Manhunter is correct, English is an inexact language, and translation is difficult."

Superman can't help but chuckle heartily. "It was a joke, guys." Superman nods to Manhunter, "I'll take some back to my labs, and you can visit your friend. We'll compare notes and see what we find."

"Uh, yea! Good one, Superman! I totally got that!" Kid Flash didn't. Not that surprising, Superman wasn't known for his humor, even amongst his closest confedants. But Wally didn't know that. And yet, he smiled anyway. What a brown-noser.

Martian Manhunter nods. "Hopefully we can find something out before there is another attack." Now, the green man turns his attention to Kid Flash. "Good work there."

Warlock nods and does not say anything, he is used to humans finding humor in the oddest places. "Self wishes to interface further with one of the machines. Self was too busy taking over the machine he infected too study its programming, perhaps a clue can be found there in one of the others." The yellow techno-organic creature scans the area for the head he robot head he had severed earlier. Spotting it he reaches out, stretching his right arm, to grab it can carry it over to him. Hmm, now does he want to try and get into it here and now or maybe try and see if his self Soul Friend would be willing out help.

Superman's head bobs in agreement with Manhunter, "I hope so, as well." Superman watches as Warlock begins to interface with the machines. Unfortunately, it seems to have been constructed with a memory wipe/self destruct mechanism, leaving it nothing more than a bunch of metal and circuitry.

Praise from the green guy as well! Maybe he didn't look human, but that didn't matter. But Wally had to play it cool, and smiled a little less while putting up a 'I'm a bad-ass' pose. "Thanks, Mr. Manhunter. You weren't too shabby yourself."

As the... hero robot looked over the material, Flash went himself to look at the wreckage. He noticed that the others wanted to see if there was something of use, so the Kid went to see if there were any markings or electronics still working. It's something that the elder Flash told him, to be aware of his surroundings. To the outside observer, all you would see is a blur of yellow and red zipping around the remains.

Martian Manhunter blinks as...Flash blurs off again. How fast IS he moving, anyway? "Any luck?" he inquires of Warlock as he tries to interface with the dead robot.

Warlock frowns in minor frustration. "Slag. Memory is wiped and recorded over." He frowns a little more as he pulls back from the machine. "Self fears best chance would be to back track any parts that might still have serial numbers. Self does not have that kind of access, perhaps SHIELD could be of use."

Superman grimaces towards Warlock and nods, "I'm sure that our resources with the Justice League can handle it." He nods to Manunter and Kid Flash as he picks up one of the Robot carcasses. "I'll let you guys know what I find." Turning to Warlock, he nods, "Thanks again for your help. It's really appreciated." Slowly he begins to lift off before taking to the sky in earnest and moving to disappear from view.

Empty handed, Kid Flash comes to a stop as Superman informed them of his decision. He simply nodded as the man flew up, up, up and away... That suits Wally fine, he prefers the ground anyway. Running is his thing.

"So guys, it's been fun, but I got other duties to take care off." Like homework. "I'll catch you guys on the flip side!" And with that, Flash salutes them, and rushes off, as quickly as he came.

Warlock nods and offers a small wave good bye to Superman as he takes off with the robot body, and another to Kid Flash before he is gone. Warlock shrugs and does a full body shiver as he resumes his former human appearance. If everyone else is going to go he might as well go too before the authorities start showing up and mistake him for being part of the problem.