Thunder King

Ninja attacks Crimson Tiger, lands a hit Crimson Tiger TOU save, successful Second ninja attacks Crimson Tiger, rolls 11 Ninja attacks Steel Shrike, 15, fails Second ninja attacks Steel Shrike, also fails

"This'll be fun!" Crimson Tiger shouted, bolting towards the ninjas. She leaped into the air, soaring over the heads of some of them so she could get to the center of them. As she came screaming down, she extended her right knee, colliding into one of the ninjas, straight to the chest. He collapsed backwards from the force of the blow, out cold. She twisted around, slamming her elbow into the face of another ninja. Her eyes gleamed with the primal joy of battle. She turned to her right and delivered a fierce snap kick to a third ninja, sending him backwards. She turned and punched a fourth ninja, but his head moved back slightly, causing him to barely feel the fierce blow.

Crimson Tiger's attack roll, 26 First Ninja Toughness Save, 12, failed Second attack 27 Second Ninja Toughness Save, 10, failed Third attack 18 Third NInja Toughness Save, 8, failed Fourth attack 15 Fourth Ninja Toughness Save, 21, success!

NInjas got a 6 Crimson Tiger got a 26

"Oh, come on!", she shouted, diving into the now-open skylight. She growled in frustration, this guy charged right into a ninja fight without her! Ninjas were probably fun to fight. She rolled as she landed on a catwalk roughly ten feet in. Standing back up, she swung over the catwalk railing and dropped to one below. Finally, she jumped over the railing and landed in the middle of the ground floor, rolling to a stop and jumping to her feet. "Okay, so, what's going on?" She said. "You're not very good at this superhero team-up thing, you know.". She balled up her fists and grinned like a madwoman. This could be fun.

The low hum of the Tigercycle cut out as she pulled the key from the ignition. She swung her legs over and hit the alarm. She was glad she was able to find a place to hide it. Those figures looked suspiciously like ninjas, but did ninjas really exist? Once the Tigercycle was hidden, she gazed up at the building. She spotted a man, standing atop the building. He looked to be in costume. Was he a superhero? Could be, perhaps. She decided she would just ask him. She ran towards the nearby wall and, gathering momentum, hiked herself up to a ledge that was lower to the ground. With a short hop and a flip, she landed on another ledge and made her way forward She ducked a little and readied herself before bolting. Her natural speed lent her momentum as she left the air. She soared forward, towards the ledge. She reached forward and grabbed the ledge, pulling herself onto it. "Hi."She said with a wave. "Um, did you see the ninjas too?"

GM The black-clothed figures were nearly home free. The factory their organization had set up as a base was a short distance away. They passed underneath a large billboard, occasionally sneaking careful glances backwards. Yes, they were very nearly home free. They pulled out their grappling hooks and tossed them to the next building, swinging down in teams until all of them were safely to the ground. They passed the goods around, making sure none of it got damaged. Two similarly clothed individuals stood in front of a door, looking around outside carefully. The moment they spotted the group, they opened the two side-entrance doors to the factory. The group shuffled in quietly, confident that they had safely returned from their mission.

Crimson Tiger watched the night sky and leaned back. She wondered if the evening was going to be a boring one. Her previous patrols had seldom lead to anything. She often came home, frustrated that she hadn't been able to get any good work done. That was, of course, until she spotted a series of black-clothed figures running across the rooftops. That was new. She watched them for a few moments. She imagined that a whole group of people running across rooftops weren't doing so because of a strange new workout group. She was willing to bet that something unusual was going on. She waited until they were far into the distance, and then started her motorcycle.

GM February 2nd, 2012, 8 PM It was early evening, the sky above was a cool dark blue, overcast with clouds. It was surprisingly warm for a February night. Several figures dashed from building to building, hopping across short distances. It was a night for silent work, and the figures were already doing just that. They ran quietly and efficiently, occasionally pausing to hide and survey their surroundings before moving on. They were on a mission, that much was clear. Their master had instructed them to bring the artwork to an abandoned factory in Greenbank, and they had no intention of disappointing him. They were also not to be seen, and were doing their best to ensure that none knew of them. It was going to be a profitable evening.

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Thomas Morgan Voltage

He accessed his laptop remotely, and began to type; 1) Access and locate more information on advanced technology, especially superhuman applications thereof. Self-educate more, rely less on in-field research. 2) Begin a physical training regiment and/or augment suit to grant enhanced strength, seek hand-to-hand training, possibly from King of Suits. 3) Research and learn tactics and how to apply them to a live, superhuman battlefield. With resolve in his heart, he sighed. "Might as well get started tomorrow...push-ups at 6 AM." He rolled over and turned on his alarm clock. Today was not a good day. A friend nearly got killed, and he had been quite hurt himself. He would make tomorrow better, he was sure of it.

And King of Suits, good guy. Skilled, smart, tactically sound. Thomas resolved to get in contact with him again. The two of them did make a good team. It was also time to stop being a scrawny kid. He loathed having an entire tactical option unavailable. He would need to do some training, bulk up a bit, get stronger. Maybe modify his costume to strengthen his body a bit, maybe give it some more strength. Lastly, but certainly not least., he realized that he needed to study tactics, real world tactics. He would have to study how to approach battles better. There was no excuse for blindly charging in with only the slimmest of plans. True, he could not have protected Andrew better with the information he had, but better information could have helped.

But, he thought, he needed to be better. He wanted to be stronger, so that he could be better at all of this. If he had known more about Dr. Green walking in, or if he had known how to shut down the robot. If he had known a thousand things, he might have been able to make a difference. So he set about making a plan for himself. He would ensure, first and foremost, that he would know more about these things in the future. He must not rely on his powers again for knowledge. He must research, look things up. That involved hours of study, even for his advanced mind. No, he could not tolerate such an occurrence again. No one else would ever suffer as Andrew did, so long as he was aware, and could do anything to stop it.

"Andrew brought it on himself." He said, quietly. He was still sobbing. Knowing that it wasn't his fault that his friend had been so horribly injured did not stop the pain. Knowing that his friend had risked his own safety in a stupid move did not stop the tears. "I cannot give this up..." Thomas said, sternly to himself. "If I hadn't have stopped it, the machine would still have been a failure. Andrew wouldn't have been badly injured, he would have been killed. I had no other choice. There's a lot of bad things out there. I can't let them happen simply because I'm mad at myself."

January 29th, 8:30 PM Voltage calmly stepped into his bedroom, and peeled his mask off. He collapsed next to his door. One of his closest friends, Andrew, was now horribly mangled. He blamed himself. He could have stopped the machine faster, could have run in there faster, could have... He closed his eyes and lowered his head, sobbing quietly. He never imagined that becoming a hero would lead to such pain, such tragedy. He never imagined in his life that it would cause such misery. "No..." He said, out loud. "It wasn't my fault..." He sighed. He was right. Andrew had trusted a crazy scientist. Andrew had hopped into the untested machine. Andrew had voluntarily jumped into the situation in his greed for personal power. He, Thomas James Morgan, had done everything he could have done. The situation was rigged from the start. With the same knowledge, the same opportunity, the same chance, he would have done the exact same thing. His mind worked through the data over a million times, and he came to the exact same conclusion.

GM January 31st, 2012, 6:00 PM Dr. Green looked around nervously as he shuffled through the halls of the hospital. He wasn't sure how the boy would react. He watched as a nurse stepped past the door to the boy's private hospital room. Dr. Green swallowed and bolted towards the door, opening it slowly. Andrew Hall lay in bed, in poor condition. He wore a patch over a missing and ruined eye, and his entire left arm was just gone, a bandaged stump in it's place. "Look at you, Andrew..." Dr. Green said, walking towards him. "Look what they did to you. They wouldn't listen." Andrew's rage subsided and he seemed to be thinking things over. "Your arm, gone, your left eye, gone. I hear your lungs are ruined to less than fifty percent capacity." Andrew would have growled, shouted, or screamed, but he could not. The pain medicine numbed virtually everything. Still, he found himself agreeing with Dr. Green. Yes, they ruined his life, they took away his powers. "I know it seems early, but I know someone." Dr. Green said, laying a small business card beside Andrew. "An expert in cybernetics. They can give you what those, those so called 'heroes' denied you. They can give you power. You'll be stronger and faster. That's what you want, isn't it, Andrew? I can cover the cost of the cybernetic implants with my leftover grants. Those fiends destroyed my one remaining chance to prove that my research had merit. I want to see them crushed, do you?" Andrew, very slowly and painfully, managed a slow nod. "Good." Dr. Green said. "Now, hide that card, and as soon as you get a chance, give the number a call. We'll get you your arm, and your eye back, and oh so much more. That machine would have worked, Andrew. After all, why do you think it took that lightning-shooting idiot so many shots to take me down?" He chuckled. "If you want to return to your empty life, with your disfigured face, missing arm and ruined lungs, you're welcome to it. But if you want vengeance against those who wronged you, well...the number is on the card." With that, Dr. Green left, leaving Andrew with his thoughts. The young man reached down, delicately, with burned fingers, and picked up the card. The rage in his eyes now replaced with a sinister gleam.

"I mostly patrol wherever I find trouble...flying and all. We'll probably meet up again sometime...". With that, Voltage turned around and flew away, his head swimming with thoughts. He supposed that he would spend a long time questioning his actions, but he ultimately realized that there was nothing else he could have done. With what they knew or had, this was the best result they could have got. It still wasn't quite good enough.

"Angry, hurt, at himself, at us. I don't know. I hope he'll be okay, though. He's got a long recovery ahead of him." Voltage sighed and pulled himself to his feet. "We stopped a small disaster from turning into a big one." He sighed and shook his head. "I've been running calculations in my head, over and over. I've ran it through my mind a thousand times. Even if the power had gone through it correctly, it would have killed him. We didn't stop him from getting hurt, but we did save his life. I just wish I could have done better."

"The paramedics said that, despite everything, he should live. He'll need surgery, and they may not be able to save his arm, but yeah...". He sighed. "Well, we won, didn't we?" He leaned against the wall. "I didn't expect this. I mean, if we won, why do I feel so bad?"

Voltage sighed and teleported away from the machine and outside. He dropped behind a nearby container and covered his ears. A second passed, two seconds, three... A few moments later, he heard a massive explosion fill the air. He poked his head out and gazed at the building. It was still standing. He immediately accessed the internet and posted a request for help. Police, fire, ambulance, everyone. He raced inside. Voltage cautiously stepped into the room, afraid of what he would see. He insisted on seeing it, on seeing what happened. Regardless of the situation, he was at least partially responsible. All in all, the machine was mostly intact. There were a few spotty, small fires here and there, but that's all. Inside, however, lay Andrew, badly burned. "No..." he mumbled, running towards the machine. He looked down at the grisly scene below. "I tried, man, I tried to save you, to stop it...". He dropped to his knees, consumed by grief and rage. Then, he heard the sound of breathing. It was faint, but still strong. Andrew was still alive, barely, but still alive. He heard the sound of sirens, and immediately began to scream. "IN HERE!!!", he roared, at the top of his lungs. There's a badly wounded and burned young man in here, but he's still alive! We're in here!!". He fell back and sat beside the machine, he closed his eyes to stifle the tears. Despite everything that happened. The attack, the argument, the explosion. Despite everything, Andrew was alive. "Hey!" Someone shouted, running into the room. "We have people here!"

GM The sparks, however, did not stop. They grew in intensity. The power to the entire warehouse began browning out. "The short..." The doctor said, standing up. "There is a flaw in the wiring, right there!" He yelled, pointing to one of the now-exposed wires. "The formula is too volatile. We have to get out of here!" He turned to the two heroes. "You don't understand, if the chemicals in that machine catch fire, the entire warehouse is going to explode! Do either of you think you can survive that? I know I can't!" He said. "Combat Droid, activate, flee!" The mechanized warrior stood up instantly and grabbed the Doctor up in his arms, running as fast as it could.

"Okay, I'll try it." Voltage said, walking to the back of the machine. He looked down at the cable as his brows furrowed. "If I can cause a minor short in the wiring, it should stop it from starting up." "What are you doing?" A voice said, coming from inside the machine. "I want this, stop it!" He cried out. "This machine is built wrong!" Voltage roared to the boy inside. "If I don't stop it, you'll die!" He began firing bolts of electricity at the wiring. "No! Stop!" The boy roared. "All my life, all I've ever wanted was super powers. Now I'm about to get them. You're not going to stop me, you hear? Don't stop it!" Voltage growled. "Don't you get it? I'm trying to save your LIFE". Suddenly, one of the wires sparked and shorted out. Voltage sighed, the machine's power was sufficiently disrupted.

GM "No, it won't..." Doctor Green said. "What flaw? There can't be a flaw. Besides, you can't shut it off, not now. Shut it off now and it will do even worse damage. The circuits take time to work into the process slowly, shut that off and there will be a short, and a short would be bad at this stage."

"Good, now you can shut it off...". Voltage said, his breathing still ragged. "Your machine is flawed. I have the power to access computers with my mind, and I saw your plans. You have a couple of minor flaws, flaws that most people wouldn't even notice. Your calculations were off, it won't give him powers, it will kill him."