Dreamless Dream League

[The Balloonist]

The Balloonist flipped in the air when the engine next to him erupted. He managed to avoid any harm, but he was still startled considerably. "Oh, for the love of Pete! This day just gets better and better!" He glared at the cops below and grumbled. He looked ahead in time to see Sunshine take care of an intruder. While the Green Bone extinguished the flames, the old man used the power of his ring to form a giant five-fingered hand underneath the Star Wisher, and he pressed the palm against the aircraft. He intended to 'carry it' should it lose altitude rapidly.

[Duck Avenger]

Duck Avenger stared angrily at the detective after Sunshine grabbed him. She held him and clearly wouldn't let go, so Duck Avenger felt safe to spite him with an insult. "Wise up, you idiot! We're trying to help this city, not--WAAK!!"

He remembered that the Star Wisher was in serious trouble. He snapped his attention back to the steering wheel and gripped it tightly with both hands. He heard the exhaust of a fire extinguisher (which turned out to be made of the Green Bone's power ring), and he felt the 'safety net' of the Balloonist's own power ring. He sighed in relief, but things were still looking grim. "We gotta take her down," he said. "This isn't good."

He managed to land the Star Wisher on another clearing, this time near a brick building, with the street on the left and the sidewalk on the right. The landing was rough, but not enough to cause anyone pain. Immediately after landing, he unhooked his safety belt, opened the hatch, and ran out. He was followed by Pendragon.

He looked up to the flying Dreamers, mostly Sunshine and her captive. "Thanks for the help!" he exclaimed. He pointed accusingly to the detective. "But what're we gonna do with him? We need'ta act now, because the cops are still hunting us." He frantically looked around, trying to plan the next move.

[Cold Shadow]

The spell-bound Maui Mallard struggled and writhed against Sunshine's grasp, but she clearly out-powered him by leaps and bounds, and he was unable to wriggle free of her grasp. He completely ignored what she had said to him; his mind seemed to shut-out anything that didn't directly matter to the Smithy Gang.

He still maintained a tight grip on his gun, ready to use it at a moment's notice. His objective was all but burned into his mind in his current state: dispose of any and all Dream League members he came into contact with. What happened to him in the process was irrelevant; he was merely a pawn being played in the Smithy Gang's game, as were all of the ECPD.

[Collin Tourist Account]

“So, those law enforcement officers at least managed to shoot them down. I didn't even figure that pitiful lot would accomplish that much.” Suddenly came a voice unknown to the Dream League from nearby. Behind them stood a strange sight, even by Epcot City standards.

The individual whom had spoken was tall and imposing, his body seemingly covered in a metallic plating of a dark, almost navy, blue coloration. He had no sign of hide nor hair, and at first glance could have easily been mistaken for a robot. Though, on closer inspection, he was animated through unknown means, and not via gears, pistons, or any other mechanical devices. He had a series of Japanese-style skirts and tassels hanging from his armored hide, like the sorts of ornaments samurai wore hundreds of years in the past. He appeared to be gripping a large, imposing katana in his right hand... but no; it was his right hand. He had the razor-sharp tip planted into the ground in front of him, in a position that made it look as though it were a cane, as further suggested through his posture. His eyes burned as yellow pinpoints from his imposing, horned helmet.

Immediately to his left was another notable creature. This one had a very basic, thin body which was silver. It was so thin, made out of what appeared to be pipes, that the creature almost appeared like a living stick-figure drawing a young child may doodle of a robot. Its head was actually not a head, but a missile which was placed upon the launcher which acted as its neck. The missile itself had a red tip, looking like a nose, when viewed as the head it was standing in for. It had black, hollow eyes with yellow pupils. It also featured a mouth which was cut into the missile, looking not unlike a jack-o-lantern's mouth, with no distinction between the sharp, jagged teeth, lips, gums, etc. It had a rather large, metal backpack strapped to its back which appeared cruelly heavy. And, in fact, the creature was stooping, as if from the weight. In contrast to the rest of its design, it sported a pair of white gloves, with three fingers and a thumb per each.

Surrounding these two were a legion of smaller creatures which all looked identical to one another. They appeared like swords which had been given metal limbs, and each had a set of cross-looking black eyes with red pupils. They were countless in number, and had quickly surrounded the basketball court in which the Star Wisher had made its crash landing.

“Ha! Look at 'em! They look confused out of their minds! Kekeke!” The missile-headed one said in a shrill, shaky voice, the jack-o-lantern-esque, carved mouth moving as it spoke. “You know what to do, Silo. Dispose of them.” The taller, darker, and infinitely more imposing one of the two of them stated in a cold, disconnected tone. His distinctly male voice sounded hollow, as if the speaker lay deep within the actual mouth uttering the words.

“Oh, hm, hm... gah!” Silo hesitated. “Well, Muramasa... can't we take 'em to Flayer and just hypnotize the lot of them?”

“Lord Smithy was quite specific. They are to be made examples of. Having their heroes fall will drop the morale of those who would fight against us by tenfold.” Muramasa responded.

“Yeah... uh-huh... yeah... but... ugh, look at 'em! They're all fleshy... and hairy... and in some cases... feathery, with their blood and... fluids and... and organs, and whatnot. If I blow 'em up that goo is gonna fly everywhere. It's unsanitary, it's disgusting, and I don't like it.” Silo protested, raising its hands against the Dream League members in obvious disgust, as if they were the grotesque abominations.

“Then you simply dispatch them in such a way that there are naught but cinders remaining to be splattered.” Muramasa suggested, rather cruelly. Silo seemed to like the idea a great deal. “Oh yeah! Good thinkin' there, buckethead!” It responded enthusiastically. With its right hand it reached behind its shoulder, to the massive backpack, and flung it open with a metallic creak. With its left hand it clasped its missile head, removing it from its shoulders entirely. It placed the original missile head into the backpack, and with the other hand drew a new missile head, which it placed onto the launcher.

The new missile, rather than the jack-o-lantern face, had a snarling mouth lined with teeth painted on it. It had no red tip, but rather, a yellow stripe with black 'biohazard' warning symbols adorning it. The eyes were far more severe and intimidating than the previous missile, and the pupils actually burned blue with literal fire. “Bustin' out the Nitro Warhead! Nuclear fusion a-go-go!” It (now confirmed to be a he) said in an entirely new, deep, masculine, and rather frightening tone of voice. “Burn 'em to a crisp so that there is no nasty glop to fly! Hahahaha!” He cackled, and from either shoulder two appendages raised, each housing a series of smaller missiles (these without facial features to speak of).

“I shall entrust dispatching this group to you. I must now be off to 'take care' of the other group that were left behind.” Muramasa said menacingly before looking squarely into the eyes of Duck Avenger. “Do not worry, fleshlings; you will be reunited with your other group very soon. In whatever afterlife you organics covet!” With his ominous omen uttered, strange runes surrounded the dark swordsman and he teleported out of sight, leaving Silo, the small army of blade-creatures, and the Dream League to themselves.

“Let's play, goo-bags! Winner takes all!” The new, far more masculine voice of Silo spoke in an elated, giddy sense of excitement before the weapon creature fired a series of six missiles from its shoulder launcher into the midst of the Dream League. With that action, the sword henchmen also rushed in.

[She-Wolf]

She-Wolf followed the others out of the Star Wisher after the rough landing, making haste to get out and be ready to fight the apprehended Maui Mallard if need be. Her muscles tense and her skin in a sweat from their near brush with death in the Star Wisher, she gazed up at the duck as he struggled to escape Sunshine's grasp, and was quick to notice that unnatural glaze in his eyes. Her brows lowered - she knew it... he was being controlled, and so were the rest of the police force, by the so-called Smithy Gang, she gathered. As long as the duck was within Sunshine's unbreakable hold, however, she knew they had nothing to worry about, as far as Maui causing any harm concerned. What to do with him, though...?

A sudden voice caused the wolf girl to, in the blink of an eye, whirl around to face behind her. Her eyes blazed with hostility and her gritted teeth became fangs at the sight she saw - a gang of sinister, robotic-looking creatures. The large one's remark about the police force shooting them down quickly gave away the fact that they were a part of the Smithy Gang. About time they decided to face us themselves, she thought - as the hulking samurai-like figure conversed with the gangly missile-headed one, She-Wolf unsheathed her claws, eager to teach these guys a lesson for thinking it was a good idea to take over Epcot City.

She-Wolf showed no fear when the robot called 'Silo' switched out his head for a much more fearsome-looking one, but her hair bristled as they mentioned taking care of the 'other group' - no doubt referring to the rest of the Dream League, not with them at the moment. She-Wolf couldn't say for certain that she was confident the group below could tackle these enemies, but she had no time to consider going to help them out - in an instant, Silo fired a barrage of missiles at them, and they had but a second or two to either dodge or become nothing but charred flesh.

She-Wolf knew that the others could easily dodge, but her mind quickly leapt to one member who was arguably the least agile in this small group - Duck Avenger. Wasting no time at all, She-Wolf grabbed a hold of Duck Avenger's wrist and almost effortlessly bounded out of the way of Silo's line of fire, the duck's extra weight not slowing down the agile wild girl in the least. Without missing a step, she released him once they were out of harm's way and seamlessly shifted her path towards one of the sword-shaped henchmen that were know charging towards them. As light on her feet as ever, She-Wolf leaped around the living, walking sword and tried a good scratch across its blade, grunting angrily as if to add force to her strike. She-Wolf's claws were able to cut through solid steel, with enough effort, but she was unsure whether or not they would affect these enemies.

[The Green Bone]

Green Bone once finished with exterminating the flames on the Star Wisher turned his attention toward the group of machine warriors that suddenly appeared "What in the name of?" The emerald pup growled as he landed beside his fellow leaguers. He noticed Silo's new head and blinked "Darn this isn't good, part of his head is yellow, my ring won't work on anything yellow." he said

He noticed the explosions around himself and his teammates readying a shield incase, that was before he saw the sword minions coming at them. "Sword play you want huh? Then let's do it!" Green Bone growled as a large green sword floated over his head as he got ready to face the sword minions.

[Duck Avenger]

Duck Avenger spun to look at the source of the strange, hollow voice. He turned so swiftly that his cape whipped in the air. The duck's eyes narrowed into sits and his fists tightened as he got a good look at these freaks. They were not human, or animal, or anything from this world. They were some kind of weird robots. Or were they robots? They looked like half robots, half weapons. Although both of them looked like forces to be reckoned with (even if Silo initially appeared and sounded a little silly), it was Muramasa whom Duck Avenger was concerned about the most. Muramasa looked like a modern art masterpiece, but with samurai clothes.

Muramasa and Silo confirmed the team's suspicions: they were part of the Smithy Gang. And, apparently, Smithy himself (Duck Avenger assumed Smithy was male, because Muramasa referred to Smithy as a Lord) ordered for the Dream League to be killed, as a means of lowering the morale of any potential retaliation. Them's fighting words, and Duck Avenger wanted to introduce his boot to these clowns' butts. Unfortunately, Silo changed his head to something much more intimidating. If that wasn't enough, there was also the matter of a small army of anthropomorphic swords to deal with.

Muramasa took his (theatrical) leave after he looked to Duck Avenger square in the eye. Muramasa implied obviously that he intended to kill the rest of the Dream League that stayed behind. The Avenger's face twisted in anger, and he shook his fists wildly. "You leave them alone, you coward!" But it was no use; the sword-handed samurai was gone. And they were left with Silo and the swordmen.

Before Duck Avenger could properly react to the launched missiles (he would have shrieked, definitely), he was grabbed and taken by She-Wolf. Thanks to her, he completely avoided any damage from the missiles. He smiled even though she couldn't see him; the two may have had some big differences--and he was very certain she didn't like him as much as some of the other teammates--he made a mental note to thank her sincerely later.

Duck Avenger landed on his feet after She-Wolf's intervention, and braced himself to fight. He whipped out his blaster gun from his belt, held it with both hands, and squeezed the trigger on some swordmen. He knocked two down, but that wasn't enough; the other members had to chip in and help.

[Sunshine]

Sunshine continued to hold Maui Mallard as she listened to their new enemies. She was displeased by how rude and morbid these two cretins were. Inside, she was worried about her friends who stayed behind. Muramasa was off to fight them. Though she knew that her friends could take care of themselves, she was nevertheless concerned. But she couldn't think about that now, because she and her present friends had to focus on Silo and the sword goons.

Sunshine couldn't help her friends while she held Maui Mallard, though. She looked about quickly to see where she could keep him, but she didn't realize that her grip on him loosened while she was lost in her thoughts.

[Cold Shadow]

The hypnotized Maui, tenacious as ever, didn't hesitate at all when Sunshine's formerly tight hold over him was compromised. He wriggled his way from her embrace, darting backward to place a considerable distance between himself and her. His glazed eyes then narrowed as he focused on She-Wolf, who currently had her back turned to him, her attention on the sword minions. In the distraction of the chaos he raised his gun, aiming at her as his finger began to squeeze the trigger...

It was then that one of Silo's missiles struck the ground very close to where he was standing. While it was far enough so that he was not fragged to a crisp, it was at least close enough so that the shock wave force from the explosion sent the mind-controlled duck-detective whirling through the air, doing several somersaults in mid-air as he was sent flying like a rag doll. He stubbornly kept a death grip on his gun throughout the ordeal. His aerial journey came to a close when he struck the downed Star Wisher, hitting his head against the sleek, metal surface something fierce.

He slumped down on his back, severely dazed, though not rendered unconscious. The trauma to his head ushered in a change for the former-hero, however; the mysterious sheen dissipated from his eyes. Everything was spinning, and his head hurt like a devil, but once the initial shock of it had worn off he quickly realized that he was back at the helm of his actions. The hypnotic spell had been rendered null and void thanks to the blow to his head.

He leaned up onto an elbow, wincing as he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. His right hand still clasped his trusty firearm. Once the world came back into focus he jumped to his feet, furrowing his brow in disdain over the Smithy Gang goons whom had so ruthlessly used him, as well as his comrades. Aiming his gun at one of the sword minions, he prepared to fire, but was understandably distracted from said action by what came next.

One of Silo's stray missiles had struck the side of a nearby building, sending down an unpleasant shower of flaming debris. From their trajectory, he concluded that they were falling directly over the Balloonist, who seemed to be distracted (perhaps too distracted to notice in all of the goings-on?). Dashing with the speed he was known for, he dove into a flying tackle, pushing the elderly hero out of the way mere moments before a crushing sheet of concrete and metal girders smashed into the pavement in the space where they had been just a millisecond before.

Without a word to the Balloonist, Maui again rose to his feet and poised his gun. He fired off a shot, striking one of the sword ruffians in the blade. It did a somersault from the impact and landed on its [face?] before hopping back up again, completely unphased. The shot did not pack any sort of stopping power, though he considered how little he knew of weapon-monster-alien-thing anatomy, and suspected he may not have been aiming for the right part of the body. Aiming again, he fired another shot, this time hitting one between the eyes, below the blade. The creature burst apart without a trace. That seemed to have done the trick, and Maui was still too caught up in the situation to consider as to whether or not such an action was murder. Were they alive at all, by usual standards? Well, he sure couldn't arrest them, that was for sure.

Lining up another shot he squeezed the trigger, which merely resulted in a 'click' sound from the firing mechanism: a dry shot. Sliding the clip out of the gun, he confirmed what he feared: it was empty. Furthermore, he had no back-up clips on his person. He had exhausted all of his bullets shooting at the Dream League. "Hrgh!" He exclaimed, grimacing, as he slid the empty pistol back into its holster beneath his shirt.

He was now confronted with a dilemma: as Maui Mallard, without ammunition for his firearm, he was essentially worthless in this battle. As for his Cold Shadow costume, it was hidden away back at his home... numerous miles from where they now stood. Even if that weren't the case, he couldn't very well flee the combat zone and abandon the Dream League members, nor could he let that lunatic Silo continue firing missiles every which way, endangering not only the Dream League, but anyone else who may have been in the vicinity. So it really came down to which was stronger: keeping his identity concealed, or doing whatever was necessary to protect others? Really, it was a no-brainer, and he didn't even have to think it over. If his personality had room for the former option, he'd have never become Cold Shadow in the first place.

"Well, I guess that's it, then!" He said to no one but himself, smirking. Without bending over to pick it up, Maui used his right foot to flip up a stray metal beam which had rolled away from the pile of debris, skillfully delivering it to his waiting right hand. Taking on an offensive pose, he gave the metal beam (which was now a substitute for his usual wooden staff) a few test whirls in his hand, testing the weight and feel of it.

Dashing forward with his impressive ninja speed (despite looking as un-ninja-like as possible in his blue cap and Hawaiian shirt), he delivered a sidewards swipe with the metal pole, striking one of the sword minions in the soft-spot he had discovered earlier. From the impact, this creature, too, burst away into nothingness, not leaving any trace that it had ever been there at all.

[The Balloonist]

The Balloonist stared at the detective with stern eyes after the Star Wisher's fire had been extinguished. But voices behind him got his attention: it was two large villains who openly admitted their affiliation with Lord Smithy. Finally, the Dream League had a lead! The Balloonist may have been old, but he still had plenty of life left in him, and he would do whatever in his power to protect Epcot City from these damned robot/machine/aliens/whatever-the-heck-they-are!

The old man's illuminated eyes narrowed as he stared at Silo. Of course, he also had the (literal) swordsmen to worry about. He protected himself with a large, blue, transparent shield generated by the ring and his imagination to evade the missiles, and he was about to attack the anthropomorphic swords (did they even have souls?) head-on. But then he was shoved out of the way. He heard the large debris crash at where he stood just a second before. His life had been saved, and by none other than the duck detective that was under the Smithy Gang's control. But not anymore; his eyes were normal, and he seemed to be in control of himself.

The Balloonist smiled at the detective. "Thanks! Good to have you back!"

With that aside, the Balloonist was more careful than ever. He faced the swordsmen once more and brought up his ring hand. He created a large, spiky mace and slammed it against some of the goons. That didn't seem to work, though, because the swords men got back on their feet and continued. He noticed that Maui Mallard discovered the goons' weak spot, and exploited it.

The Balloonist grinned and changed his mace into a blue transparent gun. "All right, boys! I hope you're hungry!" His gravelly voice roared in excitement, and he began to shoot at more swordsmen, at their weak spots. Sure enough, one by one, his targets dropped like flies with each shot. There was still a chance to save the day!

[Sunshine]

Sunshine gasped when Maui slipped out of her arms. She was about to jump to him and grab him, but a missile explosion prevented her, and sent the detective flying against the Star Wisher, against which he slammed hard. The duck's eyes were back to normal, and he acted more normal again. Sunshine smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, and returned her focus to the battle. She allowed a few of the sword henchmen to get close to her, and then she punched them on the center of their hilts. That didn't do any good, though, because they simply got back on their feet and hurried to her again. This wouldn't do, and a change of attack was called for.

After punching some more of the henchmen away, the beautiful heroine risked a look at her comrades. Her attention locked on Maui Mallard when she noticed how the detective managed to defeat the henchmen: by exploiting what was obviously the henchmen's vulnerable spot. Wait a minute--why did Maui Mallard use a pole to fight, and why did his moves remind her of Cold Shadow's? No time for tangents, Sunshine! You must pay attention!

Sunshine, using what she learned from watching the detective, smiled ahead at the sword henchman closest to her. "May I please borrow you?" she asked politely, but her politeness was feigned. Without any further warning, she grabbed the bottom of the living sword, specifically, his hilt. With her advanced strength she lifted him up in the air, and held him like she held swords back in her castle home in Eyvindria. "Hey! Put me down!" the sword cried in shock. The red pupils in his black cross-like eyes frantically looked about and he wildly shook his limbs, but he couldn't shake off of her grasp. He didn't have time to try and reach for the superhero, because Sunshine tested the sword for a moment in the scant seconds she had left. She swiped the air and nodded in approval, before her smile increased in confidence.

As the cluster of sword henchmen surrounded her, she recalled what she learned from watching Maui. The spot between the eyes, below the blade. She jabbed at the goons' weak spots using the unwilling 'partner' she wielded. Her antagonists broke and fell to the ground, one by one. Sunshine could have simply punched the vulnerable places with her fist, but she could shatter them by using the sword, up to two, even three with a single jab.

Sunshine knew that Silo wouldn't have been as easy as these henchmen, but she knew that she and her friends had to clear them out before they could stand a chance against him.

[The Green Bone]

The Green Bone had been swinging his sword construct against the sword goons, he took his eye off them as he saw Maui Mallard attacking the vunerable spot on the sword goons. "So that's it huh?" Green Bone had an idea and switched his construct of a sword into a crossbow, he took aim and fired on the sword goons' soft areas taking them out one at a time. "Alright!" he barked as he fired.

One concern was over his partner Star Pup, if they could brainwash the TTPD and Maui there was a chance she could be in trouble.

[She-Wolf]

It was no good - She-Wolf continued to attack the living swords relentlessly, swiping at every part of them she could reach, but they just couldn't be felled. She growled under her breath as she dodged yet another slash from a swordman, quickly becoming quite frustrated with these pests - they couldn't waste time fighting these guys when the rest of the Dream League was in danger.

It was then that she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Maui Mallard, all of the sudden, was leaping about wielding a metal pole and battling several of the swordmen - and the creatures just vanished upon impact.... Nevermind that!, San thought to herself. Arguably of more importance, Maui Mallard seemed to be back to himself - that strange, emotionless look in his eyes was gone. Nevermind that She-Wolf had never once witnessed him perform such acrobatics, but it was clear that he was now on their side. Just how did the spell on him wear off, though?

At any rate, within the few seconds that she was staring at the fleet-of-foot duck detective, she caught a glimpse of just exactly where he was striking the swordmen - between the eyes, just below the blade. That was all that She-Wolf needed to see.

She turned just in time to witness a sword minion leaping towards her, ready to slice her in two. In response, She-Wolf only gritted her fangs, stood her ground and gave a powerful swipe across the front of the sword, her claws raking the exact spot that she had seen Maui Mallard strike. In an instant, just as expected, the sword-shaped creature dematerialized into nothingness, without a trace of itself left behind.

Confidence swelled up within She-Wolf - these creatures were no trouble at all, now. Just as she was about to charge towards another swordman, however, she witnessed an unusual sight - Sunshine was gripping one of the creatures by the hilt and wielding it as an actual sword, using it against its own kind. She-Wolf couldn't help but watch for just a few seconds... Sunshine really did amaze her, sometimes. This was no time to get distracted, She-Wolf was quickly reminded, as another sword minion tried to ambush her. With built-in-swords of her own, She-Wolf countered the attack with her claws.

[The Green Bone]

Green bone hovered into the air firing arrow constructs at the soft area between the eyes just below the blade. He noticed his crossbow begining to flicker "Oh no not now..." he muttered as his ring was getting low on power. The emerald dalmatian pulled back as he watched She-Wolf and Sunshine fight off the other minions, he chuckled amused watching Sunshine using one of the minions against it's own allies.

[Sir Pendragon]

*Sir Pendragon was battling the sword beings with Excalibur, dodging and parrying their slashes with his own, using the utmost agility and reflexes...once he caught a glimpse of She-Wolf defeating one of the attacking swords by hitting it's weak spot, he changed his pattern of attack to include that spot, as well. One by one, the living swords dissapated into thin air, without a trace. At least they didn't leave a mess, he thought to himself with a shrug.

The gilded knight rushes forward, and fends off more encroaching swordmen after finishing off the ones that were attacking him immediately, all the while keeping an eye out on the rest of the Dream League Members, watching them, should they need any help with defending, his blade poised and at the ready for any more oncoming assailants.*

[Collin Tourist Account]

The sword henchmen tried their best to dispatch the new-found enemies of the impending Smithy Empire, though they were clearly trying to hit above their belt as they were systematically brushed aside by the Dream League members (plus a duck in a gaudy shirt who had apparently snapped out of the hypnotic trance placed upon him by Flayer) without much effort.

Silo, meanwhile, seemed to be somewhat distracted following his initial flurry of missiles. Reloading a second round of six missiles into his shoulder-positioned launchers, he took aim; not at his enemies, but at a large office building nearby. He fired all six rounds, the missiles colliding into the towering construct. Explosions, shattering glass, and tufts of smoke and concrete reduced to crushed powder from the resulting blast erupted, the building instantly transforming into a towering inferno before it crumbled, each individual floor sinking until the large building was reduced to a burning pile of rubble.

“Oh, wow! Did you see that?! That was beautiful!” Silo remarked, pleased with his act of destruction. “No! No, no, no! Fun time will come later. Plenty of time for destruction once these Dream Log things are out of the picture. I can't let Muramasa down by getting sidetracked now.” He corrected himself, returning his attention back toward the battlefield.

He noticed the blonde girl swinging one of his henchmen as her own weapon. “Hey! HEY! That's remarkably rude! You can't use us as weapons; only we can use us as weapons! How would you feel if I picked up your black-spotted rat in the green mask and slapped you over the noggin' with it?! Huh?!” He shouted at Sunshine. “No, you know what? If we can't play nice then we don't play at all!” He added in a huff. Reloading his shoulder missiles once again, he launched another volley into the midst of the heroes. The missiles exploded all around them, with absolutely no comprehensive distinction as to where they were making impact. Several of the missiles even obliterated some of Silo's own henchmen, whom he clearly made no efforts to avoid with that last attack.

“Epcot City? How about Radioactive City? Doesn't it have a nice ring to it?” The large back-pack like canister on Silo's back popped open. From the opened hatch, several of the head-like missiles sprang out, including the one he had used as his own head just moments earlier. The missiles all clattered to the ground (which could stop one's heart to witness, seeing as these highly volatile explosives had just been carelessly dropped so recklessly against concrete; though, thankfully, none exploded from the impact), rolling here and there along the ground. They seemed entirely inanimate; at first, anyway. Within moments of being released each missile opened compartments on their anatomy and small, thin legs sprouted out as they each hopped to their newly-revealed chrome feet. They all turned to face the heroes.

“Ah, Nitro Warhead. I will miss having you for a head... of war. But the payoff will be stupendous! This part of the city we're standin' in, folks? A nuclear wasteland! Uninhabitable by you oxygen-breathing, cancer-prone fleshmongers for years to come. Oh, never you concern yourselves about me; us Machine Made will be fine! You and your skin-laden kind won't! Ha ha HAH!” And with that ominous declaration Silo's body structure changed; it's skinny, metal frame contorted to resemble a more traditional launching base, each limb anchoring the self-proclaimed 'Machine Made' to the ground firmly to better prepare Silo for the backlash the missile launch would cause. Beneath the fearsome warhead a shutter opened to reveal an LED counter. The timer displayed '3:00:00,' which quickly changed to '2:59:59,' and continued to tick down, first milliseconds, then seconds.

It quickly became clear that the present members of the Dream League and Maui Mallard had three minutes, and counting, to defuse the situation. If Silo's implications were accurate, the missile he planned to launch would reduce the portion of Epcot City they all currently fought in to a crater of radiation, where natural life wouldn't be able to survive in for years to follow.

[The Green Bone]

"Hey!" Green Bone growled at the spotted rat remark, but before he could do anything he noticed Silo transforming as well as the missiles around him becoming a missile launcher with plenty of ammo, the emerald dalmatian's eyes locked onto the visible LED countdown. "Crud! I hope one of us can defuse a bomb or else we're all goners!" he shouted, he hoped his ring would have enough juice for a shield just incase...

[Duck Avenger]

Duck Avenger noticed that Maui Mallard had come back to his senses after a blast, and even rescued the Balloonist from certain death. "It's about time ya came back to your senses," he said, but more out of relief than annoyance. These blasted goons weren't going down, but another glance at the detective was very informative. Fortunately for the detective, Duck Avenger was too focused on learning the swordsmen's weak spot than to notice that Maui moved and combated similarly to a certain ninja.

He fired his energy pistol at the weak spots of the countless thugs. One by one, he destroyed his targets. He really got into the mood, and soon shot many of the swordsmen that surrounded him.

But just when he thought the tide had been turned, a distracted Silo demolished a building, and then asked if anyone saw that. "Of course we saw that, you dolt!" he shouted to Silo, even though Silo didn't seem to have directed the question to them. "Anyone could see that!"

Silo then faced the Dream League again, and was apparently offended that Sunshine was (rather awesomely, Duck Avenger thought) using one of the anthropomorphic swords as a weapon. Then Silo launched a barrage of missiles that exploded in seemingly random locations surrounding the League. Duck Avenger quacked and hopped around and dashed back and forth, avoiding each missile and explosion as they came.

When the explosions stopped, so did the Avenger. He grabbed his chest and panted for breath, but Silo wasn't done! Silo's canister (which resembled a backpack on Silo) opened, and out popped a several missiles. They just dropped to the ground, and Duck Avenger screeched and winced when they did. They didn't explode, thank heavens, but they did grow appendages and stood upright. They intimidated the Avenger, because they looked like they were guarding Silo. And Silo transformed into a launch bay, and said horribly cryptic, ominous words. The Avenger may have been a duck, but he felt goosebumps.

His wide eyes and constricted pupils stared at the counter on the transformed Silo. The muscle under his right eye twitched involuntarily. This was not gonna be fun.

"Guys, we got three minutes to find a way to defuse the bomb, get rid of Silo, and deal with those missiles. Or else Epcot City is gonna be a giant crater, perfumed with radiation." He looked helplessly at his comrades plus Maui. "No pressure, huh?"

[The Balloonist]

This situation was going to hell in a hand-basket, and fast! The Balloonist, unable to fully believe everything that was going on, instinctively slid his fingers under his glasses and rubbed his weary, wrinkled face. All he could do was moan in a mixture of annoyance and dread. But considering the impending nuclear holocaust, he reacted to the threat pretty well.

But then an idea struck him. His bushy eyebrows lifted, and he gasped. "Then there's no time to waste!" He quickly looked at his comrades, plus Detective Maui. Green Bone was out of power for his ring (the poor mutt!), and Duck Avenger didn't have superpowers. She-Wolf did have powers, but couldn't fly. He didn't know what Maui could bring to the table, but he made his ideas known. He tried to keep his voice low enough to avoid his enemies catching wind, but loud enough for his allies to hear. he brought up his hands and pointed and gestured when emphasizing words and ideas.

"How about Duck Avenger, She-Wolf, Pendragon, and Green Bone try to diffuse that counter? There's gotta be some wires in it. Sunshine and I could fly and try to distract those missiles guarding that bomb." After a pause, he rubbed his temple. "It's the first idea that came to mind, so if you got a better suggestion, shoot."

Funny to imagine: hours ago, he was feeding birds leisurely. He knew that a lot can happen within a few hours, but this was ridiculous!

[Cold Shadow]

Maui continued to swing his makeshift weapon about, taking out any and all foes which he happened upon. The length of metal was crude, and felt cold and metallic in his clutches, but it would have to do for the moment. In any event, he wielded it with the same efficiency that Cold Shadow displayed when using his own wooden staff. Once he had cleared out all but a few stragglers, which were being picked-off here and there by the Dream League, he gave his pseudo-staff a few spins, assuming a ready-for-anything stance as he directed his attention toward Silo.

Much to his dismay, the whatever-it-was had contorted itself into a launch station, complete with an ominous counter ticking down beneath the unpleasant-looking warhead. He grimaced as Silo revealed his plot. A detective, Maui Mallard was. A member of the bomb squad, Maui Mallard was not. He had contended with his fair share of baddies and terrorists, but never the threat of nuclear assault. And particularly not from any villain whose own head was the nuclear assault. And those missiles it had released, each with its own tiny legs, didn't look too reassuring, either.

The dalmatian's remark was a bit grating, though he couldn't really blame the pup for not saying anything more useful. Maui didn't have any bright ideas, either. Removing the missile from the city was impossible, what with the dome which encased them all inside like fish in a fishbowl. "The bomb squad are all hypnotized out of their skulls. As if they could get here in under three minutes, anyway." He responded to Duck Avenger. He heard something scuttling toward him, and struck-out with his weapon, causing another sword minion to vanish from his attack.

Maui looked over at the Balloonist when he gathered their attention for a possible solution. The detective rubbed the back of his head nervously once the elderly hero had finished, letting out a sigh. "Messing with wires without knowing what you're doing is rarely a good idea... and we don't even know what that thing is, or how it works." He paused, placing a hand beneath his beak thoughtfully. "But our alternatives are non-existent. Unless someone here wants to mad-dash to the nearest store and see if they have any ten-billion SPF sunblock in stock." He then took a dramatic pose, his eyebrows furrowing. "Let's give it a shot! What's the worst that could happen... right? Eh-heh..."

[She-Wolf]

She-Wolf halted in her tracks at a sudden alarmingly loud sound, coming from the distance, and immediately whirled her head towards the source of it. A massive skyscraper, not far away from where they all currently were, slowly came crumbling down in an enormous explosion of flame and smoke. Instantly after this happened, Silo revealed himself to be the cause of it through his gloating. Where the hell did he get off, invading Epcot City and reducing it to rubble just for fun?! Gritting her fangs, She-Wolf glared fiercely at the missile-shaped robot, becoming more and more irritated with him by the second.

She had little time to be irritated, however, as Silo suddenly launched another assault of missiles towards the group. It was dodge or die, now, and as explosions burst all around the area, She-Wolf darted about with all the energy she could muster, agilely leaping aside from wherever the missiles made impact. Despite her speed and agility, she only just barely managed to avoid being blasted into chunks. As the assault ended and the smoke cleared, She-Wolf stood her ground, breathing heavily to regain her breath.

They weren't done yet, though. Even more mechanical minions emerged from Silo's back, and She-Wolf spread her claws, ready to continue the battle, before Silo began to rant on and on again. She-Wolf's heart lurched at the threats he made - he wasn't just aiming to kill them; he was aiming to destroy the entire surrounding area and transform it into a toxic wasteland for ages to come. She-Wolf felt her hair stand on end at this sickening thought, but her fear quickly transformed into defiant rage. "No!!" she screamed at Silo, baring her white fangs as she shouted. She would rather die than let such desires become fulfilled.

Her shouting fell on deaf ears (or lack thereof), however, for Silo suddenly underwent a transformation, and the machine's missile head was lowered into what looked like a launching base. She-Wolf spied a timer rapidly ticking away just below Silo's head, and her eyes widened with fear. Silo's threats weren't just threats - if they didn't stop that timer soon, all hope would be lost. They had to act, fast.

She-Wolf turned to face the Balloonist as he proposed their plan of attack, to which she responded with an affirmative nod. She cared not what role she played in the plan, she would carry it out to the best of her abilities - whatever it would take to prevent that missile from launching.

"We have to try!" she brashly responded to both the Balloonist and Maui Mallard's doubts, glancing around at all of her teammates. "We can't let that thing go off!" Her intense severity greatly contrasted with the wry humor Maui Mallard attempted to lighten the situation with.

[The Green Bone]

"Yeah, we can't let Epcot City be reduced to a nuclear wasteland!" Green Bone barked as he got ready for action "First off we need to figure out which wire is the right one." Green Bone told his team mates. "I've seen Thunderbolt do this tons of times on TV, shouldn't be too hard."

[Sunshine]

Sunshine had just destroyed the last henchman in her close proximity, when the violent destruction of a building caught her attention. She prayed that there was no one inside that building, because it was completely demolished. The fact that Silo could turn a tall, proud complex into a pile of rubble in less than a minute was deeply unnerving, even for the Ray of Hope.

Then Silo pointed out Sunshine for using one of his henchmen as a weapon. Sunshine punched the goon's weak spot, and it shattered instantly. She wished she would have done this earlier, to avoid Silo's meltdown, but it was too late, and she felt guilty for what ensued. The human easily avoided all of Silo's cluster of explosives, but she couldn't have prepared for what was to come. Silo transformed into a kind of launching mechanism, and his intimidating head would be used as a radioactive bomb. Animated missiles guarded the launch base, and a counter displayed the time limit: three minutes.

There was no time to waste. Sunshine nodded in affirmation to the only person who had something meaningful to say (no offense to them): the Balloonist. It was a spontaneous idea, but it was the only idea they had right now, and any idea was worth a shot.

"Yes," she said. "Let's try it!"

She made the first move; she flew over to where the sentient missiles with limbs were. She needed to find out if they could only move on land, or if they could also fly. "Excuse me," she politely said to them, "but could you please move out of the way? I need to talk to your leader."

[The Balloonist]

The Balloonist straightened his hat and brought up his ring hand. It seemed that his idea met with universal agreement. Getting old wasn't fun, but at least he wasn't senile yet!

"Good luck, boys!" he exclaimed to those who would stay to try and diffuse the counter. Narrowed his eyes in determination and took to the air, following Sunshine.

He kept close to the younger yet taller human, and whispered to her so that the missiles couldn't hear. "How're we gonna get 'em to follow us?" He thought about trapping the missiles into a force field created by his ring, but that wouldn't work; his ring was powerful, but it wasn't that powerful.

[Duck Avenger]

Duck Avenger had serious doubts that they could overcome this situation. It wasn't like they were fighting jewel thieves and bank robbers like in the good old days. They were dealing with aliens who possessed weapons of mass destruction. Not the best of situations! But then the Avenger remembered why he became a superhero. He remembered why he donned the mask and cape, and vowed to combat evil and defend the innocents. He remembered why he joined the Dream League.

Fame! If he and his teammates could defeat these mechanical aliens, the League would have Epcot City eat out of their hands! Oh, yeah, and friendship. Friendship was an important reason, too, probably.

"Let's go!" he exclaimed after the Balloonist and Sunshine departed. He led the group and took a few big steps ahead. He would wait until the missiles were away from the launch base before making his way for where the counter rested, to help his team with the wires.

Don't believe everything you see on TV, pup, he thought, relating to Green Bone's comment.