The Reliance #12

The Doomsday Program, Part 2

With Iron Hand pinned down and Surge outnumbered, it seemed like "doomsday" would arrive early. Thankfully, Phanuel came swoopinjg down on the scene to provide much needed assistance.

Where had she been? And why did she seem strangely more confident in her abilities? Answers would have to wait for another time. Each reliance member seemed to fight their own private war as Surge blasted the robotic insects in a flurry of electrical activity, Phanuel charged around the room at their attackers and Iron Hand ripped and tore at the hardening puss-like substance that held him to the ground.
The robotic ants proved to be no problem for Iron hand and Phanuel, although Surge had to repeatedly call upon reserves of strength to press through their damaging attacks. Iron Hand managed to rip free and rejoin the battle, only to be distracted by the mess his armor had become in the conflict.

As though driven to the edge of sanity, Surge unleashed a primal scream and vaporized the giant, puss-shooting robotic spider.

After cleaning his armor sufficiently, Iron Hand quickly scanned the warehouse with his newly installed x-ray visual interface. Just upstairs lay Superman, encased in some kind of clear bubble on a metal pad. Nearly unconscious, the Man of Steel seemed plagued by a glowing piece of green rock sitting next to him.

The Reliance raced upstairs to rescue the man who had been a savior to so many. But a moment after their arrival, they witness a robotic ant activate a teleport device that causes Superman, the ant and the kryptonite all to vanish away to some mysterious location.

Phanuel quickly begins collecting materials that may potentially be useful later, should she decipher a detection spell from among her arcane books. Iron Hand and Surge combine their analytical efforts with great effect. The Reliance learns that the robots were constructed using circuit boards from the "InfoTech" warehouse they found Superman in. InfoTech is a subsidiary of the Omega Corporation, a groundbreaking software company preparing to release the powerful and coveted Omega 1701 personal computer.

The design of the robots matches the M.O. of a creepy Superman villain called, The Toyman. Winslow Schott is a genius with robotics, but the design of these particular robots is clearly beyond what any human mind is capable of creating.

After wrapping up their investigation for the night, the Reliance returns to their Headquarters to get what little sleep they can.

Monday morning, Iron Hand gets up at 7am to repair the damage to his armor's defense and flight systems. Surge, as Tommy Franklin, arrives for his first day on the job at S.T.A.R. Labs with Dr. McGee.

As Phanuel staggers groggily into the main room back at HQ, Iron Hand catches a report of a robbery on police band radio. The Toyman is robbing the First Metropolitan Bank of Coast City! Iron Hand and Phanuel are out the door and into the air in moments, letting Tommy know what's going on via communicator.

The Toyman is quickly apprehended by a magic blast from Phanuel, although his robot insects strangely flee upon his capture, rather then coming to his defense. Requesting to be involved in Toyman's questioning, Iron Hand and Phanuel find themselves playing a child's game with the timid yet creepy villain. They seem about to win him over when the Toyman suddenly shoots a spark from his nose twitches sharply before becoming still.

Clearly, this is not the Toyman. But if not, then what is he? Why did a magical attack have any effect on him? Where did he come from? And what could possibly be the cause of these increasingly strange events?

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