The Contest - Part 3 (Backdated to June 6th)

[whoneedsdepthperception]

([LAST TIME on OMEGAFRIENDS: The sinister villain SLADE marked his return to Venture city by hosting a dangerous competition of might for villains and heroes alike, with rewards of cash and other valuable prizes! But when all the OMEGAFRIENDS proved to be
above such greed, Slade hatched an even viler plot! Seeing that Mrs. Helen Parr, innocent mother of two, had befriended many of the younger heroes in town, he kidnapped her and held her hostage! As the heroes were forced to do as Slade said for Helen's sake, Samus Aran and Superman tried to stop the villain, only to be caught in a trap! Will they escape? Will Slade succeed? What is his ultimate goal, anyway? Find out in this week's exciting conclusion on OMEGAFRIENDS!!!])

[A- Omeganet. Audio and Visual]
A little after 6 pm, Slade once again hacks into the Omeganet.

"Good evening, Omega Friends. For such supposedly noble heroes, you certainly don't play very fair, do you? Attacking the referee in the middle of a contest? You should be ashamed of yourselves.
It seems I have no option but to make an example."

The video feed flips to show Slade's latest prisoner:
Superman, barely conscious, hangs in restraints similiar to the ones that hold Helen Parr. Those who look closely can make out flecks of glowing green material imbedded into the man over a wide area.

"I have shot the so-called Man of Steel with exactly enough Kryptonite to slowly and painfully drain him of his life energy over the next 48 hours. After that...
Well, let's just say it's in the best interest of his health that you give me your full cooperation. If, in the next 48 hours, I receive detailed information on every member of the Omega Friends, including civilian identities and data on their known powers, I will release my prisoners to a neutral hospital capable of treating them.

I trust I will be hearing from you soon."

[B- Action. Parr Household. Locked to Robert Parr, Ruby Rose, and Blake Belladonna.]
((Slade will not be commenting in this thread. It takes place shortly after Slade ends his conversation with Bob via the Omeganet. The Parr kids are with friends of the family for the evening.))


[C- Action. Slade's Lair - Detention Level. Locked to Helen Parr, Samus Aran, Superman, and Slade]
Slade enters the room with a calm and confident posture. He looks each prisoner up and down in their restraints, then comments to them in a condescending tone.

"How good to see you all again. I trust you are comfortable?


[D- Action. Entrance to Slade's Lair. OTA]
Venture Munitions Lab A1-13 has been abandoned for well over a decade, yet it seems very busy tonight. Slade's robot commandos can be seen exiting and entering the building in coordinated teams, and occasionaly a black and orange drone flies overhead.

[E- Final Showdown in Slade's Lair. Only open to those who bypass D]
After facing all the obstacles Slade has thrown at you, it is time for the final showdown! Take him down hard!

Comments

[bemoreflexible]

Helen had hoped with all these other heroes present that she'd be able to avoid using her powers, avoid revealing herself to Slade. But Slade's got more Kryptonite and a hostage now, and Helen knows she can't hold back anymore.

While Slade taunts Superman, she slowly sneaks behind the madman. When she's close enough, she snaps her fingers around Ruby's throat quick as a blink. She doesn't choke the girl at all; instead she stretches her nigh-uncuttable fingers to make a sort of protective gorget around her neck.

At the same time, her other hand grabs Slade's kryptonite dagger and she wraps her arm so many times around the blade and Slade's hand that it looks like he got it caught in a taffy puller!

"Give it up, Slade!"

[whoneedsdepthperception]

For the first time in quite a while, Slade shows genuine surprise.

"You're Elastigirl!"

Slade struggles to free the kryptonite dagger, but his superior strength only succeeds in stretching Helen's arm slightly longer. He desperately slashes her with his sword, but the blows just bounce off like he was hitting a trampoline with a bat!

"Dang you, woman! You're ruining everything!"

Augh. Sorry I'm late with this, guys.

[omnitrixter]

"Thanks," Ben told Blake before everything with Superman and Slade went down.

He froze, momentarily stunned, at seeing Mrs. Parr stretch and wrap herself around Slade.

"Ma'am, you just got a hundred percent cooler!" he exulted rushing forward.

The hostage needs to get free and Superman would do a much better job at that than Ben. However, that kryptonite dagger has to go, and he's not one hundred percent sure he can shoot off a fireball with enough accuracy to avoid the hostage or Mrs. Parr.

While Slade's distracted by Mrs. Parr, he reaches out to try and grab onto the kryptonite dagger, hand glowing white hot.

"But I wonder how much heat you can take, freakshow!"

He grabbed onto the dagger near the hilt, focusing on heating up the metal as much as he can.

[whoneedsdepthperception]

Slade grimaces as he tries to defiantly keep his grip on the dagger, but eventually the burning becomes too much even through his gauntlets an he screams in pain.

"ARRRGHHHH!"

He lets go of both the sword and the dagger, and drops into a crouch, simultaneously retrieving a handful of small cylinders from his utility belt with his right hand. He scatters the tiny spheres, which start to blink red.

He touches a small button on his mask where it covers his ear, then tightly covers his eye with his arm.

[omnitrixter]

"Someone, grab her!" Ben yelled towards the others.

He was pretty sure a being made of molten rock wouldn't be the best person to grab a flesh and blood hostage.

[descendsfromshadow]

Blake's eyes narrowed as Slade once again addressed her as his "pupil" when realization and a memory struck, leading her to put together a few pieces.

Then before she could shout out a warning, everything happened all at once. She winces back from the flash of light as Superman's heat vision obliterates the robot duplicate, confirming what she'd suspected. Then, in a flash, everything else happened in a moment and Slade was being held in place by that fire creature and... Helen?

She blinked at the display of superpowers before shaking it off. For this brief moment, Slade was immobilized, and she had her shot. The helmet on his robot duplicate hadn't stood up very well to Gambol Shroud and she suspected the actual one wouldn't fair as well either.

She switched the weapon into its sickle mode, she let the ribbon trail out before pulling her arm back, ready to end all of this for good. When the sight of Superman, just at the edge of her vision, caught her attention and just for a moment, she hesitated.

And then it was too late, and those grenades were already rolling across the ground. A blur of motion, she shot across the chamber, and grabbed onto Ruby while Slade was distracted, pulling her away.

"Get your head down! Close your eyes and cover your ears!"

This was not going to be fun....

[bemoreflexible]

When Slade let go, Helen maintained her own grip on the blade of his dagger, but then her eyes go wide as Slade hurls his projectiles.

Nanoseconds before the blast, Helen uses her flexibility to quickly form a dome around Ruby and Blake,tucks her own head in, and braces for the blast.

In the process, the kryptonite dagger is flung from her hand to the far corner of this large chamber!

[whoneedsdepthperception]

The spheres that Slade scattered explode with bright lights and deafening sound, and Slade uses the distraction to sprint across the room and toward the kryptonite dagger!

[stalksindarkness]

"GROOOWAR!"

A savage crackling snarl echoes in the chamber as this little lion emerges from a dark corner, leaping into Slade's path not a yard from the dagger. The small beast has his teeth bared, and while he wasn't quite as physically imposing as say, an adult lion would be, he was certainly swift and agile enough to intercept Slade if he were to try to go for the dagger again.

Might want to try something else, Slade.

[birdarang]

Robin followed up, jumping up as high as he could. His blood was pumping, his ears rang. There was something a little nice about being right that absolutely fueled him. He wanted to show Slade that he wouldn't win, no matter where he traveled to.

This was the best way to do it, wasn't it?

He aimed a kick towards his head, a roar tearing through his throat.

[whoneedsdepthperception]

Slade is caught off-guard, and Robin's foot connects solidly with his face!

Slade falls back into a defensive stance. "You're going to regret that, Robin."

[big_blue_boyscout]

[Beams of heat vision slice over the ground in front of him, with enough intensity to leave a red-hot trail in their wake.]

I don't think you're in any position to be making threats. Make this easy on yourself, and give up.

[Not that he's in much better shape. Every second the Kryptonite is taking more out of him. Luckily he's not in this alone.]

[omnitrixter]

Ben had, unfortunately, been looking right at the flashbangs when they went off. He'd managed to back up out of the way of other heroes, but it took him some time to get his vision and hearing properly back.

And when he did, the symbol on his chest was starting to flash red.

"Bad timing!" he growled, glancing around.

Seeing Superman in rough shape, Ben decided that the best thing to do if he was going to split was to take the knife with him. With a burst of flame, he rocketed towards the kryptonite knife, snagging it as he passed over it. He then kept going towards the exit, getting through it just in time for the four descending beeps and the flash of light as he reverted to normal, rolling along the ground.

Rubbing at his arm for a moment, he got to his feet and started running off, hoping to avoid being spotted. He took the knife with him.

Crap, crap, crap. He probably was caught on camera by Slade...!

[whoneedsdepthperception]

Slade can not lose that dagger. As soon as Ben grabs it, Slade starts to sprint after him at full speed, covering over 250 feet in just six second and completely ignoring the threats of the other heroes.

[bemoreflexible]

Slade may be fast, but Helen has dealt with faster. As he sprints off, she extends her arms as quick as she can to block him and form a sort of elastic tripwire.

[whoneedsdepthperception]

Slade is tripped up by Helen's stretched arms, and faceplants into the ground at full speed. He recovers as fast as he can, but he is NOT happy as she continues to grab for him. The old mercenary reaches to his belt and draws a baton. With a push of a button, the baton extends into a staff and crackles with electricity.

"I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR YOU RIGHT NOW."

Slade thrusts his electro staff at Helen repeatedly, hoping to subdue her via electric shock.

[bemoreflexible]

Helen screams out as she is struck by the staff and a couple hundred volts flow through her.

"ARGHHHHH!"

[feelingincredible]

About ten seconds ago, those with very sensitive might have detected the sound of someone yelling. It had been increasing in volume steadily, and as we approach the present moment, everyone in the room can hear it.

Even if they were deaf, though, they would still notice it when the wall next to Slade exploded, hurling debris across the room. Bob, wearing a black sweater and a ski mask, had just run through the wall without noticeably slowing down, and was now closing on the masked man with one fist held up to smash him to jelly.

"HANDS OFF MY WIFE!"

[whoneedsdepthperception]

Slade's eye widens as the man unexpectedly bursts through the wall.

"Who are-" Slade begins to ask, before Bob's fist collides with his torso. Slade manages to roll away enough to minimize the blow, but the impact still sends Slade flying through the air and into the wall on the far side of the room with a resounding thud.

Slade exhales and groans a bit as he steadily gets back to his feet.

[feelingincredible]

Bob stopped next to Helen, glaring at Slade. Instead of finishing the fight, though, he turned to make sure she was okay.

"I still got it, eh? Are you alright?"

[bemoreflexible]

Helen gets back to her feet, shaking off the pain of the electric shocks.

"Thanks for the save, but I had it under control", she says with a half grin toward Bob. Then suddenly her eyes get a bit wider. "Look out!"

[whoneedsdepthperception]

As Helen and Bob exchange wit, Slade pulls out a remote and presses two buttons.

"SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE... ACTIVATED. SEISMIC GENERATOR... ACTIVATED" says a robotic voice over the intercom as the building shakes and large pieces of machinery and ear start to fall from the ceiling.

"Well, this has been so much fun, heroes, but I really must go, please accept these parting gifts."

With another push of the remote, robot commandos start to stream into the room, while Slade turns to try and make his escape.

[big_blue_boyscout]

[As the whole compound shakes, the violent pitching of the floor throws Clark to the ground. He feels the kryptonite shards shift on impact, the burning getting more intense, but after a moment he manages to fight through it. Getting up is proving a little harder. His head is spinning and his arms and legs feel like lead ... he can feel the last of his strength getting sapped by the shards. No more heat vision, strength, flight ... he's powerless, battered, and just about helpless.]

[stalksindarkness]

There's something about trying to avoid a human shaped molotov cocktail that required a moment for recovery. As Ben rushed towards him, he flipped out of the way as only a cat could, clinging to a pipe about twelve feet off the ground with his hair standing on end. He really needed to pay more attention.

Now, having found his land legs again and witnessed this exchange between Slade, Bob and Helen, Slade was bailing, and he wanted nothing more than to chase him down.

And he would have pursued, were it not for a piece of the roof falling right in his path. And another at his side.

Okay. Nope. Gotta get out of here.

He leaps over the piece of debris and leapfrogs over a slade-bot incoming, landing a few yards away from Superman. A very non-super Superman.

Superman would feel himself being lifted as the kid ports under him, positioning him onto his back. He was smaller than probably necessary for this job, but strong enough to hold him.

Only problem was the fact that there were dozens of bots in the room now. Someone was gonna need to clear the path.

[bemoreflexible]

Helen starts to pursue Slade but then stops and shouts at Bob, "LOOK OUT!" as a giant piece of machinery falls directly above him.

She quickly wraps her arms around him and tries to snap him back to her before impact!