Thunder King

See, this is what I wanted. There have been plenty of heroes based in and around outer space, but very few of them who ever have an excuse to go into space. We should start a dialogue, talk about space adventures, get some thread ideas going.

Mali cursed in Thai. It was a rather colorful way of putting things, but considering the circumstances, she felt it appropriate. "Well, that sucks." she said, putting things lightly. "I'm concerned, but, to be fair, we're a lot tougher and more powerful than your average soldier. That doesn't necessarily mean they'll do to us what they did to them. Still, that sucks." She lowered her head and sighed. There were already several dead people, and she had the feeling more people would die before she was through. She had a job to do, and wanted to help people. But she wanted to go home.

"Oh it definitely does, especially in a fight." She said. "I may use Muay Thai, but I've picked up on other ideas. I am an acrobat, and I can sneak really well too. If I just ran around and tried to punch everything, I'd have a very short hero career." She chuckled and shrugged. "When you can only do one thing, you're going to eventually run into someone who doesn't care at all about that one thing."

He shrugged. "There are disadvantages." He said as he continued his repair. "The electricity is cool, and the super smarts are too, but I don't feel human sometimes. Kind of, disconnected, you know? I haven't even been interested in girls since I got my powers. I met this, what I figure was incredibly beautiful super-heroine a few months back. Supposed to be gorgeous. I just didn't care." He tinkered some more. "Don't sell yourself short." He said. "Regardless of how you got this suit, you chose to use it to help people, do good with it. You could have ignored it, or robbed a bank, or whatever else. But there you are, risking your neck in a piece of technology you don't really understand to help people who may not even appreciate it." "Choosing to be a superhero is easy when you can fly, teleport, shoot lightning and have super-intelligence. Choosing to be a super hero when you have armor that you don't know how to fix and don't understand? Harder choice."

Voltage channeled energy into his body and fired off a blast, but it went wide. Ah, that was to be expected. His body was recovering from the strange surge, and in general, he was feeling better. Still, he had to work out why that was happening, and soon. Luckily, their foe was not much stronger than them.

Gonna burn an HP for the fatigue, sorry, forgot to state that

20 hit? IF so, that's damage shifted by two, for a DC27 TOU save

"Well, you don't owe me anything." Voltage said as he got to work. "You probably didn't do yourself any favors rushing in, but I didn't do you any favors blasting like that. So this is just fair. Besides, what kind hero would I be not to take a few minutes out of my day to help a fellow hero?" "Well...I was always into computers." He said as he took a few small parts and began to put them in place. "But what gave me my powers also made me super smart. Really smart. So I studied...a lot, and became practically an expert in this stuff." Of course, truth be told, he was an expert now. There were a few people, here and there, who knew more and could do more with technology than he could, but, he could measure himself one of the world's foremost experts on the subject. He didn't want to brag, of course. Wasn't in his nature. "I'm not exactly sure how, or why, you have a suit of powered armor that you don't know how to fix, but I bet it's an interesting story." He grinned, almost teasing the other man. "Of course, I'm not going to ask about that." He said, as if to reassure his fellow hero that the details weren't necessary.

Voltage returned with more tools, and sat down on a chair he had also teleported in. He looked at the suit for a moment, and then bent down, inspecting various parts and components. "This is very sophisticated technology." He said, popping open one of the components. "But, I can fix it." He glanced inside and, seemingly looked at it for a bout five seconds. "My electric blast caused a surge in part of the power grid." He said. "Normally, the suit would have surge protection that would stop it, but my blast somehow bypassed the protections, thanks to a very unusual and rare flaw. With those components fried, the power core can't send power to the rest of the suit. The repairs will take a bit, mostly because I have to outright replace some of the fuses. However, your suit will be back up and running in about ten minutes, tops."

"There are actually defensive styles, designed to deflect and redirect, not strike. Lots of techniques that avodi hurting your opponent, but not letting them hit you either." She said. "There's Aikido, Judo, Tai Chi...lots of potential styles that allow you to fight back without getting hurt because you hurt them."

"That's not a problem at all, I can teleport both of us somewhere safe, an abandoned warehouse. Then I can go get some tools and come right back, mobile workshop, as it were." With that, both of them were suddenly in a different place. Voltage apparently turned into electricity repeatedly and came back again and again, disappearing and reappearing with all sorts of odd tools. He walked over to Baxter and, with a few moments of tinkering, managed to find the button the other man was referring to. With a few seconds, the suit was released. "There's a mask, a ski mask, on the table." He said. "I've got another thing to go get, so if you want to put the mask on and conceal your identity, go ahead." He said, before vanishing.

"Pretty much, I mean, footwork is critical in a fight. You have to be able to move quickly when someone takes a swing at you. Use your whole body when you fight, not just the parts you hit with." "I use Muay Thai, which is a style that emphasizes brute force, and focuses on knee and elbow strikes. It's aggressive and a little brutal." She illustrated here point by delivering a fierce knee to the bag. "I'd recommend finding a style that suits you, and a trainer that can teach it."

Mali nodded, watching the boy work. He wasn't bad. No real power, no oomph, but he knew how to throw his fists. The rest of his body, however, was a different story. While he followed through, his feet were like stone. "Okay, your technique isn't horrible, but, watch me..." She said, taking a typical boxer's stance. "Watch how my knees and feet move, that's important. Keeping your feet mobile is critical, because you never know when someone's going to take a swing at you, especially when you're already taking a swing at them. That's bad."

Mali stepped up behind Sharl and closed her eyes. This, she'd never seen anything like this. The man was dead, and there was nothing they could have done to help him. She was stunned into silence, and shocked into motionless. There would be time for that later, she decided. If they didn't act soon, more lives would be lost. She mumbled a quick prayer for the dead man, so that he would pass to the next life peacefully. "I..." She started, approaching her teammate. "There was nothing you could have done..." She closed her eyes again, as if trying to keep herself steady. "We have to keep moving, we have an important job to do." Not that she needed to remind him, of course, but she didn't know what Sharl's history was as a hero. This was the first time she'd ever seen someone die like that. It had certainly shaken her, she could only assume it might have a similar effect on another.

Mali dashed back to her car and, within a few moments, emerged as Crimson Tiger. "Okay, Blue Jay." She said. "Go ahead and track 'em, I'll be right behind you." She looked around at the other girls. There was a time to hang out, have fun, relax. There was also a time to kick ass, take names, and make the world a better place. She liked those times.

Mali softened visibly. "Oh, that's fine." She sad with warmth, smiling. "Okay, first, I want you to work the heavy bag while I watch, okay?" "I don't really analyze fighting, I just sort of 'get' it, you know? I mean...a musician can't just tell you a bunch of notes and hand you an instrument. She has to actually have a hands on, direct approach with it. That's how it is with me and fighting. So approach the bag, take a few swings."

"Oh!" Mali said, jumping a bit. "Hi, um, you're that new guy, right?" She said, rubbing her shoulder self-consciously. "Welcome to the school." She smiled, trying her best. It was clear she wasn't comfortable with the attention, but she continued. "Getting some early morning training in?" She asked, turning to hit the bag again, and again. She tried to ignore Elias. Not to be rude, but because she wanted to get back to her training. "I'm not trying to be rude or anything." She said, smiling. "I just prefer to multitask, you know?"

BAM! the sound echoed through the gym. BAM! It went again. BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM! it was a heavy bag, being beaten, badly. Jab, jab, snap kick, knee, elbow, knee, roundhouse kick. Mali grinned, and shuffled her feet. This was one of the times she felt truly alive, she loved to train. Early morning training had a number of advantages. Chief among them was that very few people were actually training at that time, so she could be comfortable. Instead of her usual training attire, she wore a tank-top and shorts. Her feet were wrapped, as were her hands. At this time of morning nobody would be leering at her sculpted arms, shoulders or back. She reared back and slammed her fist into the heavy bag, hard enough to make a thunderous sound that no doubt echoed throughout the gym. If she wasn't alone, someone knew she was in there, that was certain.

Voltage felt terrible, simply terrible. But luckily, there was something he could do. He looked at the other man and said. "I can probably fix it." There was no doubt in his voice. "I know where there's an abandoned warehouse. I can set up a temporary workshop there and get your armor fixed, good as new. We can get a ski mask or something for your face. Keep both our identities secret."

Ohh geez, Voltage thought to himself. Ohh, geez, that's not a good thing. He watched as the stray blast hit the unfortunate individual. He watched as what looked like a total system shut down affected the armor. He dashed forward, glad the opposition was down. "Hey, um, you okay?" He asked, looking around the strange, bee-like armor. "I'm sorry about the blast, I should have watched what I was doing better." He admitted. The suit was pretty fried. Didn't take a genius to figure that out. Still, he hoped the guy could fix his own armor. "I can teleport, if you need to get back to your base for repairs. It's the least I can do for frying your suit."

Just as Voltage caught his breath, he felt something...twitch. Something unstable in his powers. He felt current unlike anything he had felt before flow through him. It danced, harmlessly, off of everything around him, sending silver arcs around him. The room lit up around him. He could see the current dancing over his body, jumping between his fingertips. He felt like a hyperactive child. Loaded with more energy than he'd ever had, and needed an outlet for it. Luckily, he had just the thing. He concentrated on his target, feeling out the air, finding the path of least resistance. For a moment his ears rung as the sheer sound of the expanding air filled them. The whole world went white for a second. Then, all that energy, all that power, was gone. He felt tired again. His breath was ragged and he bent over, hands on his knees. That took a lot out of him, but at least his foe was... "Son of a..." He muttered under his breath.

this, this will leave a mark; First, burning an HP to get rid of the fatigue from extra effort last round Doing another bit of extra effort, damage shifting for two; 28, natural 20! So, wrap all that up; 25 (normal) +2 (extra effort) +2 (Damage shifting for 2) +5 on a crit... DC34 TOU save, I believe.

Now I'm not sure exactly what all characters are from space or based in space, but I am curious. I was mostly thinking of connecting them so that we have an excuse to go on future space-related adventures. So who has a cosmic hero that's interested in teaming up with other cosmic heroes?

Crimson Tiger Paint the Town 3 posts October Nights 2 posts Last World War 3 posts War Torn World 1 post Solar Sentinel Movie Night in the West End 5 posts Voltage Party Time 2 posts Vanguard, the Inevitable, the Inexorable 3 A Funny Thing happened on the way to the office 1 post

Mali hurried off to find some privacy and began to change. She thought about the crazy, dangerous and exciting situation. She thought about how, at any moment, their lives could be in danger. She thought about how she would react if confronted. It was all so strange, happening so fast, that she only now realized she was on an alternate Earth, preparing to rescue living computer programs from the Nazi regime. Superheroes lead strange, and interesting lives. She chuckled to herself, realizing that she was one of three regular humans on the team. She wondered what motivated Sharl and the others to pick her to put on the team, and worried for a moment if she'd be able to carry her weight. Those thoughts lingered only for a moment. There was no point in living in doubts. Doubts were dangerous, doubts could get someone hurt, or killed. Better to live looking forward. Whether she doubted her place on the team was irrelevant. She was going to make damn sure she'd earn it.