You know, for kids!

[shazam]

When the World's Mightiest Man steps into the Wreck Room, for a moment or two the World War II veteran looks decidedly out of place in the super-tech environment. A moment later, though, as the combat drones rise around him, their laser cannons priming, Captain Wonder's manner changes. Gone is the hesitation; the unsurety; ladies and gentlemen, the Captain of the Sun and Stars is on the field. Flying faster than the eye can see, he falls among the combat drones like a wolf among sheep, his hammer-like fists shattering steel and plastic apart with blows that could seemingly crack a skyscraper in twain! The small confines of the room hardly seem to hold him, and sure enough by the time he's done pieces of the combat drones are literally bouncing off the walls.

A few moments later, his training exercise begins. Fred knows full well that the walls rippling away around him are an illusion, the rise of tenements on either side just a holographic projection. But as his opponent, a hard-light construct with a familiar visage lumbers towards him, Fred has a moment to wonder if it isn't _too_ real. As the giant glass-headed robot with the swastika on its breast raises its arms to squish the flying golden bug before it, Wonder flies into it with an impossible blur of speed and a crack as his fists make contact. The subsequent fight between the Golden Guardian of Good and the Eisenmech of the Aryan Ape is a straight-up brawl between two power-packed pugilists of preternatural potency, all of it played out in the small confines of the Wreck Room, one that comes to an end only when the simulated Nazi robot disappears in a flash of light.

As the gauges in the control room beep, recording the energy absorbed by a god's punches, the recorded image of one of the biggest superbrawls of the 1940s fades away around Wonder. Shaking his head, an odd look on his face, he leaves the room with a wry "Well, that was fun."

[MarkK]

The Emissary takes his time away from the controls, entering the Wreck Room proper and stretching for a few moments.

A far larger working of the twisted maze of steel bars from his more usual workouts shimmers into view, taking up nearly the entire room, bars constantly shifting, weaving in quickened patterns from every direction, many of them free floating in the air. For a moment it has an almost hypnotic quality to it, some elaborate, ever in motion steel mandala.

The Emissary kneels down, tenses and then vaults into the center of the mass, reaching out to take hold of one of the bars as it passes, spinning his body around it end over end to fuel a push off from it towards the next. He looks to opt to go without his flight during this exercise.

As he twirls and leaps about, silvered muscles straining in the display of fluid, acrobatic grace, the challenge of the exercise begins to show itself. Seeming almost at random, some of the bars will cluster together, forming spheres or squares that then crash into each other through the paths he takes. Loud, thundering clangs echo from collisions oftentimes inches away from the Emissary's faces, as he'll vault himself backwards off of a bar he stands on, tucking his body into a spinning ball of silver, white, blue and gold. The effort gives him just enough speed to sail through the immediate space ahead of a crash of steel spheres forceful enough to send out a shower of sparks, the light of them reflecting in a bright flash on the silver skin of the Emissary's bare arms.

When it begins to look as though he has fully adjusted the rhythm of his pace to the collisons, panels slide back on the Wreck Room walls with a hiss, sending out combat drones flying out in a flurry into the gym he continues to cycle through. Robotic fists flail, and beams of energy lance out as the machines follow paths that seem to be programmed to accomodate the shifting of the maze. The nimble hero seems intent on leading them in a merry chase through it, at times slowing just enough to lure them closer, then speeding his progress to a near blur that sends them overcompensating to follow, right into the path of the maze's clashing metal. He whittles down their numbers this way for a time, smashed robotic parts raining down to the ground.

When only one remains, he reverses his course abruptly, leaping backwards and spinning through a barrage of energy blasts to tackle the drone, tumbling end over end with it to overpower, then release it in a fast, powerful throw to a cluster of bars forming into a steel square. The impact is hard enough for it to explode outright, sending the bars flying in every direction, some of them right toward the Emissary, the bright smile he flashes seeming to confirm his intent in this. Instead of then plummeting fully to the ground after releasing the drone, he grabs for one of the hurtling bars in a firm grip, sailing along with it, letting it carry him back out of the gym. He releases just before it would hit the wall above the entrance, descending in a spiral he flips out from to land on his feet. He even sticks the landing.

Which looks like a sign he had been enjoying himself to the point where he had forgotten he was being watched, as he then looks just a bit mortified to realize he did that, and he coughs.

"So... Velocity's next?"

[MarkK]

The group of heroes spend the next several hours watching each other in motion, and taking time besides to work together to get a feel for each other's capacities.

After hitting the showers by those who might like to do so, some prior commitments pull some of the others away for the rest of the day, leaving Emissary, Velocity and the good Doctor in Freedom Hall's lounge to discuss the coming event further.

"Have the pair of you made any further decisions on what you each might like to do during the celebration?"

[Dr Archeville]

Come little children, I'll take thee away...

Stop it.

"Vell," the doktor began, pausing to take a sip of the tea provided by their hosts, "I vould still like to put on a 'super science show' for de kiddies, partly to educate, but primarily, as you said, to entertain. Perhaps a showing of some of my minor house-bots, or a laser-light show, if ve do dis in de evenink. Or perhaps just offer de kiddies a ride mit de Flying Doktor. Maybe some of my magnetically-cooled ice cream, too"

[Thevshi]

"Well, I am still totally up for the kissing booth." Velocity replied with a smile. "Beyond that, maybe just getting out and meeting kids and the like."

[Dr Archeville]

"Oh, I'm sure there's much more you can do! I'm sure de kiddies vould love to be carried around by you for a ride..."

I'd take her for a ride...

Whoah! I'm pretty sure she's underage!

Maybe, maybe not. When we looked her age, we were, what, 25?

Yeah, or she could be 13 and just got all her height early on. Besides, that is not the sort of 'friendly interaction' I wanted us to come here for!

"... or perhaps serve as a, shall we say, Culinary Liaison? Ask folks vhat sey vould like to eat, tell sem sey can pick from anyvhere in de vorld, und you can run off und get it for sem. Though, you'd probably need to visit a money exchanger ahead of time and get an assortment of currencies beforehand."

"In addition," he paused to take another sip of tea, "perhaps ve could vork together on something. Say, a demonstration of electrical generation via Speedster-propelled turbine. Perhaps to power de magnetically refrigerated ice cream maker? I'm just tossing ideas, of course, I vould not presume to tell you how best to use or show off your special abilities."

[Thevshi]

"Yeah, the only problem with that is while I'm superfast, I am not superstrong. Carrying too many kids around would start to get to be a bit too much." Velocity replied with a smile.

She grinned wider at the suggestion of delivering food from other places around the world. "Well, that could work, but I'd need something to carry the food in that could stand up to the friction of going so fast."

"But the superspeed turbine sounds like a pretty good idea."

[MarkK]

A thoughtful look.

"Well, the league I think can provide as far as gear that holds up under friction. Certainly having already had one speedster on the roster they would have had to so adapt things."

[Thevshi]

Velocity smiled before she replied. "Well, that might be true, but I would still end up spending the majority of my time running around to places to get food. So we should probably pass on that idea."

[Dr Archeville]

Damnit, I was hoping for some authentic Thai food. Or Indian. Or Szechuan.

I was sorta looking forward to a chance for some real Italian, a nice gelato... but, if she doesn't want to go, she doesn't have to.

"Vell, den, let us focus on de turbine idea, ja? I should haff everything I need to construct it in mein vorkshop, though," he turned to Emissary, "I may need a few items from you, or, more precisely, from de League's own stores. I vould of course also need to calibrate de 'treadmill' to you," he turns back to Velocity, "make sure de resistance und torque are at appropriate levels, make sure it can handle whatever amount of speeds you attain. I believe de equipment here, in de 'Wreck Room', vould be sufficient for de required measurements, though."

He turns back to Emissary, "mit your permission, of course. It vould require a slight reconfiguration of de room, in addition to permitting me access to de sensor logs."

[Thevshi]

"The turbine idea sounds fine." Velocity replied, before she slightly cocked one eyebrow and gave Dr. Archeville a sly smile as he went on. "Is that a highly technical way of saying you need my measurements?" She teasingly asked.

[Dr Archeville]

Oooh, she's feisty!

She'd break you. And if she didn't, I would.

Archeville sputtered as he was just taking another sip of tea. "Yes, vell, I am a very... um... technical man. Dat is to say, " he put his cup down and wiped his mouth wit one of the small napkins, "dat, vell... as I said, I vould need to know your limits, your tolerances. For speed! How long you can go... vhen runnink! -- how long you can sustain certain... vell, velocities. I need to make sure dat you can handle, er, I mean, dat mein machines can handle, er, dat is, vithstand de extreme forces -- speeds! -- vhich you can generate."

Damnit, what'd you do that for? You made us sound like a complete dork!

Exactly. I don't want to see you getting too close to her.

[Thevshi]

Velocity kept her smile on her face. "Well, then set the Wreck Room controls to take the information you need, and I'll do my part." She gestured towards the control panel and then was gone from sight, almost seeming to reappear in the Wreck Room.

[MarkK]

If it's needed, Emissary nods his assent to the Doctor proceeding to adjust the room's controls.

"By all means."

[Dr Archeville]

Muah hah hah hah hah! Complete access to the Freedom League's computer system!

No, complete access to their Wreck Room. There's a good bit of difference.

"Danke, Herr Emissary," he says as he mans the controls. He studies them for a few moments, then tries a few buttons.

A large ominously-humming cannon pops out from one wall, aimed at Velocity!

"Er, sorry, sorry!" Archeville's voice comes over the loudspeakers in the room, as the cannon powers down and retracts. "Alright, I think I've got de hang of dis system now."

A small pedestal rose next to Velocity, on which rested what appeared to be two funky bracelets. "Please place one on your right wrist und de other on your left ankle. Dey are bio-monitors vhich can perform certain readings more precisely dan de ceiling und vall-mounted sensors." After she clasped them on, the pedestal retracted, then the floor began to move, as if it were one giant treadmill, slowly but steadily picking up speed.

---

30 minutes later...

"Excellent vork, fraulein, most excellent indeed. I haff vhat I need; do come in und get some refreshment."

The doktor then turned to Emissary, "und danke, again, for de use of de facilities. Now to save a copy of de data, und I can begin construction of de turbine." He brought out his Electromagnetic Screwdriver, pushed a few buttons, and one end reconfigured itself to a USB port, which he then pluged into the Wreck Room computer.

Grah! Their systems should be connected, why can I not access the rest of their headquarters-wide mainframe?

Because I'm firewalling you. Duh.

[Thevshi]

"About time." Velocity replied in a teasingly impatient tone. It was only a second after Doctor Archeville had said get some refreshment than she was back in the control room with a bottled water, standing behind the doctor and looking over his shoulder as he worked. "How long will it take to finish the turbine?" She asked curiously.

[Dr Archeville]

You never let me have any fun!

Your idea of 'fun' would give Charles Manson nightmares!

The doktor's brows knit in concentration as he looks over the data, and at first it seems he does not hear Velocity's query. "Hrm? Ah, yes, de turbine... I should have it ready by next Saturday, if dat is vhen ve wanted to do our little show. I vould of course need you to come by at least vonce in order to test it out -- computer models can only do so much, und I alvays prefer to test mein inventions before showing dem off. So..." he looks up from the console at and the young speedster, "next Vednesday?"

[Thevshi]

"Sure that sounds fine." Velocity said with nod. She then looked over at Emissary. "So, we about finished up here for now?"

[MarkK]

He inclines his head.

"I would say so for the moment. Let me know when you have sorted out the logistics of what you and the Doctor are working on.

[Dr Archeville]

Time passes. Over the next few days, Archeville works on his invention; Velocity comes over at one point to help with some calibrations, and all seems to be going according to plan.

---

Hate... this... so ... much...

What? It's a beautiful day, barely a cloud in the sky, light breeze -

Children! So... so many of them! All running around like little spastic animals!

Yes, well... er... hey, look, food! A hot dog stand and-

Oh, you did not just suggest we eat some American "hot dog" that's been floating in tepid water for who knows how long! If you reduced that water down to a sauce, you'd probably get pure e. coli.

Despite his internal conflicts, Archeville was smiling and whistling a tune as he set up his device at the park. It was surprisingly simple-looking, a slightly oversized treadmill connected to a slightly oversized commercial soft-serve ice cream dispenser. When someone ran on the treadmill, it would generate electrical energy, but only someone who could run at speeds in excess of 850 mph could generate enough electricity to power Archeville's insta-freeze ice cream maker (which could turn a few egg yolks, some sugar, and a gallon of 40 degree milk into five quarts of creamy, 0 degree ice cream in about 20 seconds).

"Now, all I need is e 'power source'."