My name is Shawn Wests.  I’m 19 years old, mixed Black American.

I really don’t like recording this audio log… but maybe I need to do it anyways… just to wrap my head around the amazing and crazy crap that changed my life so much these past three days.

When I was in high school.. the councelors suggested I write in a journel… I had.. and still have anger issues.  Part of why I started taking Tae kwon Do.. Guess it was a way to exercise my... frustrations/aggression… but in controlled ways – socially acceptable way, unlike my father who just hits you when he’s had enough booze.  Studies say that …abused children usually have anger issues… well…

Shit… I’m rambling.  I’m not like him.. I’m never going to be like him…

Not anymore .. at least.  Three days ago… I became a metahuman.  Not sure if I’m human anymore… or even what that means now.

I mean you hear on the news about all those …people with powers and you think, ‘Wow.. I wonder what that would be like?’, but you never think you'd ever get to know!  You just do what everyone else does and run shitless when they start to fight and tear the city up!

Damn… at it again, rambling!  Not sure where that comes from… I never was one with a lot to say… but now I can feel it.  My mind is working so fast I can hardly believe it.  I’m not smarter or anything like that but .. I think - I process information and memories a lot faster than I ever was able too before.  It’s like having ADD but able to focus on all of it at once every input, every memory, everything going on around me and yet unlike an ADD I can switch ‘gear’s with ease never losing my place in anyone thought or consideration. 

Frankly it scares the crap out of me!  I feel like I’m losing my mind... but I can watch the process clinically from the sidelines observing all the details and postulating on why?  Look at that… postulating?  When have I ever thought of using a word like that before? Never! 

{sigh…}

Well the councilors in high school said something like this would help you organize your problems.  I never listened then… and I’ve been out of high school for over two years now, but I need to do something to try to make sense out of this - might as well give THIS a try.  Can’t hurt after all.

I’ll start with some details.  My father, Thomas West, age 45 - Black American is an ex-Empire City SCU Detective… now a career drunk and …~ nevermind.   My little sister is Sarah Wests, age 15 – mixed Black American… still in high school and seemingly bent on being a career pain in my ass most of the time!  My mother Carla Wests-Holman, Caucasian – blonde was a pharmacist died 9 years ago of cancer.  I got a picture of her I keep… she was pretty, and sometimes I fear forgetting about her… how gentle and smart she was.  I never want to forget her face… dad has gotten rid of all her pictures in the house… too painful I guess.

I guess some… well most of my problems started with her death.  Dad… never got over it, and spiraled into the hold he’s still digging to join her.  Dad, lost his job, lost his dignity… now only finds it in the bottom of a bottle while he rapidly loses his mind.  Anyways, let’s just say he’s got anger issues and takes it out on me… well until I learned to hit back!  The second part of why I took an interest in the martial arts.  My sister wants as much attention as she can get - flirts shamelessly with anyone and probably sleeps around too…  when I can’t watch her.  ‘Parental guidance is not my dad’s strong suit…

He’s…..not a bad man.. but he’s not the man I knew as dad when mom was alive.  You can guess this families pretty dysfunctional right now - welcome to my world.  Yeah our family gets the Oscar for messed up.

So it’s no surprise my rebel sister is out at all hours barely passing school and I’m busy trying to make enough to keep us all under the same roof in my dead-end mechanic’s job at Tony’s just to keep the bills paid.  I dream of racing in motocross… that might get us out of this if I hit it big wining a few races… but its honestly a pipe dream.

There background done.

Three days ago, I got word from the kids in the hood that my sister was going to a rave.. {sigh}..one where drugs would be and all sorts of trouble she could get in.  I didn’t need to be trying to get her out of jail for disorderly conduct again.  So being the only responcible …and I might add sober adult in the house I went to retrieve her to make sure she didn’t get into more trouble.

Well I found her and was in the process of arguing quite loudly with her in the rain and trying to drag her back to dad’s beater of a car when we were hit from behind.  I never saw who it was or what it was that hit us in the apartment parking lot outside her friends complex.  Should have been smarter and parked under a lamp post… but all the ones near were shot out and dark anyways and it was raining I was tired and didn’t want to get soaked more.  Maybe… things would have been different.  Maybe.

Anyways, we woke up in Clunker’s Junk Yard.  It’s a large junk yard in the sprawl and closed of course at night ..no one around to hear any screams.  They were suits… nicely dressed but thugs.  Well paid thugs, the type you see getting out of limousines down town near the corporate towers.  Sarah and I were zip-tied to chairs and I remember some lab coat with a mask.. not a costume thing more of a contamination filter with glasses.  Talked with a foreign accent .. think it was German.  It was hard to make out his words it was storming something fierce outside.  He injected both me and Sarah with something.. can’t remember much but I do distinctly recall seeing the logo on the little vial he used.  It had clearly a GENOM logo on it side.  I figure they never expected us to regain consciousness.. I vaguely remember seeing other people there also zip tied to chairs and struggling inside the filth garage for stripping parts from wrecks.

But when I came too again… the suits were not nearby.. and I heard screaming… guess that woke me up... I felt sick... twisted inside wanted to retch.  There were... others there who were obviously being injected too.. they.. weren't making it.. some noisily so.  Their screams were nightmarish and more than a few were... inhuman.  I knew we had to get the hell out of there!  I got to my pocket tool under my jacket at my back on my belt {the thugs must have missed it..or expected us to be too out of it for it to matter} and cut myself free then grabbed Sarah and ran. 

Of course they spotted us running out of the garage into the rain outside.  I was trying to hide  and my head was killing me couldn’t see straight.  But I couldn’t give up I had to save Sarah.  Guess I get that from my dad.. well at least how he was years ago.  I never give up.

Anyways they cornered us and I was trying to get us on top of a crane to get over the fence around the junk yard hopefully to make a run for it.  Sarah was conscious be just like me sick and delirious.  I was in the process of dragging her with me up the crane gantry… when it happened.  A Lightning surge struck the crane or some part of the yard in contact with the crane - don’t know which all I do know is that we both got shocked and thrown off the crane.

Don’t know how long I was dazed but.. when it cleared I felt…different.  I was lying in a smoking 5’ft crater with my sister.-.must have been 100 or more feet from where we were on the crane.  The rain had stopped… oh and yeah I was arcing electricity from my entire body.  I was sore but I felt ..well.. like a god.  Its indescribably to tell the truth… but most importantly… I WAS PISSED!

I lashed out at the suit with guns chasing us and the very metal wrecks of the junk yard lifted and smashed them.  They fought back… but everywhere I turned my gaze lightning or flying metal slammed into them.  Charred, smashed and dismembered bodies was all that I left in my rage.  I’m… not a killer.  My dad was a Cop.. and a damn good one… I... admired him …back then. 
So I got nothing but respect for the law and the  guys in blue… but those assholes had it coming in a big way!  Technically it was self-defense… but honestly… I don’t regret it in the least and if I had to testify to it in court… I’d say so!

Then the rain started up and again. .. and I damn near shocked myself into oblivion.

Makes sense huh… I generate electricity water shorts me out… or perhaps grounds me out… through my own nervous system.  Hurts like a bitch I’ll tell you that much!

Anyways, I woke to see Sarah laying over me concern on her and tears in her eyes .. along with the glow of powers of her own… I know what I saw I’m sure of it… and terrified of it.  If there is one person not mature enough to handle super powers its my little sister… but she was real happy I was mostly alright.  Honestly, I never knew she cared so much- other than the fact I likely just saved both our lives.  The junkyard was a mess, obviously, we didn’t have time to do much looking around before we needed to get scarce before the police showed up and asked some very uncomfortable questions.  We found the …corpses had no ID, and the labcoats were long gone.

We stumbled out of there just minutes before Empire City’s finest and the ECFD showed up to put out the fires.

So.  Here I am.  Been thinking long and hard about what to do with these powers for the past three days.

This is where it starts, and I got no clue.

{Grr... much too long but I'll really try to keep all the upcomming entries short and too the point.}

Thanks Majestic!  But It was really kind of a rushed write... needed to proof-read it better.  Done that now but now its two pages and can't be posted in one post.  Not sure what to do now... lol.

{Part 1 - Proof-Read}

My name is Shawn Wests.  I’m 19 years old, mixed Black American.

I really don’t like recording this audio log… but maybe I need to do it anyways… just to wrap my head around the amazing and crazy crap that has changed my life so much these past three days.

When I was in high school the councilors suggested I write in a journal… I had, and still have anger issues.  Part of why I started taking Tae Kwon Do.  I felt it was a way to exercise my... frustrations/aggression… but in controlled ways – socially acceptable ways {unlike my father who just hits you when he’s had enough booze}.  Studies say that… abused children usually have anger issues… well…

Shit… I’m rambling.  I’m not like him.  I’m never going to be like him…

Not anymore... at least.  Three days ago… I became a metahuman.  Not sure if I’m human anymore… or even what ‘being human’ means now.

I mean you hear on the news about all those… people with superpowers and you think, ‘Wow.. I wonder what that would be like?’, but you never think you'd ever get to know!  You just do what everyone else does and run shitless when they start to fight and tear the city up!

Damn… at it again, rambling!  Not sure where that comes from… I never was one with a lot to say… but now I can feel it.  My mind is working so fast I can hardly believe it.  I’m not smarter or anything like that but, I think and I process information and memories a whole lot faster than I ever was able too before!  It’s like having ADD but able to focus on all of it at once - every input, every memory, every emotion; everything going on around me and yet unlike an ADD I can switch ‘gears’ with ease… never losing my place in anyone thought or consideration. 

Frankly, it scares the crap out of me!  I feel like I’m losing my mind... but I got a special front-row seat and can watch the process clinically from the sidelines observing all the details - postulating on why & how?  Look at that… postulating?  When have I ever thought of using a word like that before? Never! 

{sigh…}

Well the councilors in high school said something like this might help you organize your problems.  I never listened then… and I’ve been out of high school for over two years now with only a diploma and a lot of frustration to show for it!  But I need to do something to try to make sense out of this - might as well give THIS a try.  Can’t hurt after all?

I’ll start with some details.  My father, Thomas West, age 45 - Black American is an ex-Empire City SCU Detective – one of the best and honest too {even rarer}… now a career drunk and …~ nevermind.   My little sister is Sarah Wests, age 15 – mixed Black American… still in high school and seemingly bent on being a career pain in my ass most of the time! 

My mother… Carla Wests-Holman, Caucasian – blonde was a pharmacist died 9 years ago of cancer.  I’ve… got a picture of her I keep… she was pretty.  Sometimes I fear forgetting about her… how gentle and smart she was.  I never want to forget her face!  Dad has gotten rid of all her pictures in the house… too painful I guess.

I guess some… well ok most of my problems started with her death.  Dad… never got over it, and spiraled into the hole he’s still digging {with any alcoholic beverage he can choke down} to join her.  Dad… lost his job, lost his dignity… now only finds his solace in the bottom of a bottle while he rapidly loses his mind!   Anyways, let’s just say he’s got anger issues and takes it out on me… well until I learned to hit back!  The second part of why I took an interest in the martial arts.

My sister.  Sarah.  She wants soo much to be the center of attention.  She’s starved for it.. and just can’t understand why dad can’t provide that.  So… she flirts shamelessly with anyone and everyone; probably sleeps around to when I can’t watch her.  ‘Parental Guidance’ has not been my dad’s strong suit… since mom passed…

He’s…..not a bad man, but he’s not the man I knew as dad when mom was alive.  You can guess this families pretty dysfunctional right now - welcome to my world.  Yeah our family gets the Oscar for messed up.

So it’s no surprise my hot-pants rebel sister is out at all hours, dresses like a hooker on 10th & Main St, is barely passing school, dads busy seeking Nirvana in a bottle of jack Daniels all while I’m busy just trying to make enough to keep us all under the same roof in my dead-end mechanic’s job at “Tony’s Cycles & Scooters”, just to keep the bills paid! 

I dream of racing in motocross… that might get us out of this if I hit it big wining a few races… but honestly… it’s a pipe dream – and I know it.

There background done.

{Video Journal – Entry 002}

Ok… lots been happening…not all of it bad…

Right…  Start over.

Status Report – It’s been three weeks since these induced metahuman powers manifested. 

Wow.  Nothing could have prepared me for any of this!  I decided I needed to know what the hell happened to me and my sister… but more importantly I wanted to make sure the suits that were experimenting on us were not hiding in the shadows waiting to pounce.

So I laid low at home for several days… also managed to convince Sarah to stay home from school too.  Called in for her to the school said she was real sick.  They accepted it as usually it is me calling or coming down to get her when she gets in trouble {which is often}… as dad’s usually passed out on the sofa with his Jimmy Bean to drunk too notice.

Anyways, I spent the whole time glued to the TV waiting for something to be reported about the bodies and destruction at the junkyard.. but there was nothing.  I mean absolutely nothing at all!!  Its like nothing happened. 

Which said to me whoever those suits worked for paid top dollar to send in a crew or pro cleaners to cover up the mess.  When dad was still a police detective he always said, 'money.. looks after itself'!  And this smelled like BIG Money and connections. 

I shouldn’t be surprised. I did a Web search on the logo I saw on the drug bottle - GENOM.  Yeah, devious maga-corp I name thee! 

GENOM as a company specializes in pharmaceuticals and genetic research of the most expensive kind.  Their web site also said they did military research as well but of course gave no details.  Hell might as well call them ‘Umbrella’ from the video games!

Yeah, likely they’ve got a lot of dirty little secrets and one of them was illegal human testing.  They maintain a strictly above board face to the public and obviously had the money to cover up any mishap at Clunker’s Junk Yard.

I was real scared someone would come knocking on the door or worse a hit team of goons in the night!  Guess I watch too much TV, that's not how dad always hinted powerful big-wigs like that operate - they come at people sideways, and make sure there are no witnesses when they do.  I still Didn’t get much sleep those first few days… but nothing came of it. 

Eventually, I figured if they knew who Sarah and I were they would have come for us by then.  But then it dawned on me of course they didn’t know who we were! We were just some convenient lower-east side trash they could drug up and see if we lived or died.  They didn’t know {or care} who the fuck we were, we were just convenient - they would have been just as content to nab someone else who would not be missed the next day. 

I just threw a lightning-bolt sized, "screw-you", into their plans when my powers erupted.  They didn’t care if five of their goons were dead.. the labcoats got away clean.  GENOM could always get more muscle if they needed. 

Likely they did not expect what happened to me and Sarah to take place… an unknown x-factor.

I started to relax but figured I needed to figure out what all I could do so I practiced a little in our backyard.  Our neighbors are an old retired garbage collector who never leaves his sofa, and a crazy cat lady who never leaves her house.  The high rickety wooden fences on the back yard mean no one can see.  Should make an 'ok' place for some small practice.

Yep, awesome stuff, TB! 

not long at all great stuff

{Part 2}
Anyways, I’d been trying to find a new place to do some serious practice to figure out my limits, Sarah had started acting weirdly lately, dad slugged me one a few days ago as he says, ‘for getting mouthy’… yeah had a lot on my mind.  I’ve been training in Martial Arts for years… dad caught me off-guard so I’ve been real worried about GENOM, Sarah and even dad’s safety here at home.  I wore a bit of a shiner for a few days from that hit.  It didn’t really occur to me when I was at work at Tony’s Scouter shop what I was missing that was so obvious about a place to practice.  I was having trouble getting a stripped bolt off an engine block that took so much time Tony told me to stay over after work to get caught up on the rest of my workload with his usual – “…If it takes more than an hour overtime... its YOUR time!”

I was pretty pissed working alone in the shop, late.  I make it an effort not to use my powers around others so when the wrench I was using snapped on me, while I was holding a part it had taken a lot of effort to position just right -  I looked over at the shelf on the other side of the workshop where another wrench, the right size, was laying on the bench - way out of reach.  Its was annoying to have to do it all over again just to get that wrench I needed.  I guess it was reflexive – will personified, the wrench lifted off the bench and flew to my hand… Magnetic control obviously.  I looked at the wrench in my hand and looked around the shop… and felt like a complete moron!  There was metal all over the place… I mean I have to consciously, actively avoid wielding my powers at work so as not to give away my metahuman nature, but here at night the only mechanic in the shop… I could cut loose~!  This was the perfect place to practice some precision Magnetic control!!

I focused my will and lifted part & tools and got to work!  You’d be amazed how much metal is around you every day.  I was a little clumsy, at first, but I got more and more precise as I practiced manipulating discrete amount of metal with higher and higher accuracy.  I learn something real quick the weight of the metal mattered …and the amount of force I could apply to it was directly proportional to its weight.  My limit seems to be around 800lbs or so… but I can proportionally apply 800 pounds of force to objects less than 1 pound.  I could potentially put staples through trees… nasty.  Regardless I found I could work exponentially faster than I could manually.  I found out I could apply a circular vector manipulating an object in different directions at once.  So it was not long that I had almost every repair ticket in the shop floating in the air taken apart like technical explosion diagrams fitting parts, using torque wrenches to set tolerances, oil cans to lubricate parts… along with piston rings, crankshafts and carburetor parts all in a dance of aerial repairs!  I found out that objects that have only a few metal parts in them even if not fully made of metal themselves were just as easily controllable. 

Tony has never been all that organized or much of a house-keeper… I’ve seen his house so the shop was always dirty and constantly in a state of controlled anarchy.  So.. just to see how far I could go.. I began controlling the metal staples in the mops-heads that secure them to the wooden mop handle and the metal screws in the wheels of the mostly plastic mop buckets to mops the floors and generally clean up!  HA Worked like a charm… the metal faucets were easy to control and soon the whole shop was in motion repairing, cleaning and fixing up.  There were metal staples in the wooden scrub-brushes and I started wiping down the entire place with cleaning solution.  Even Tony’s office with all the shop’s paper records…

Tony had a habit of stapling invoices together… not out of any neatness but out of laziness so he didn’t lose anything {which was often}.  The stapled invoices were easily lifted and organized by date then place in the metal file cabinets in his office.  I found out also …mechanical locks with metal tumblers… were easy to bypass with a little magnetic control & effort.

I felt like Mickey Mouse in the Sorcerer’s apprentice, except… I WAS in control!  I don’t think anyone would even recognize the shop in the morning.. its clean and neat.. like the first time in years.  I made some mistakes snapped a few damaged tools that were marginal at best, made a few spills on the floor that I had to clean up but I know I’ll only get better and more accurate the more I practice at it.  Plus everything that needed repair was done in the whole shop… well barring things that I had no parts for or were still on order.  Let the guys in the morning figure that one out!

I felt pretty good and had found an excellent place to practice my powers.

I was pretty tired though and I’m sure it had to do with power use.. I hadn’t lifted anything physically myself the whole night… but I was tired.

… Something happened on the way home.  I was walking my way down the street heading down Dulbrek Ave… not a good side of town and I knew within the turf of the local Yakuza family.  I saw two ‘Shatei’ likely part of the Matsuoka-gumi Family, showing the true colors of the “Ninkyo Dantai {Chivalrous Organizations}”, as the Yakuza call themselves, roughing up some homeless guy under a streetlight.  I say only ‘likely’ part of the Matsuoka family as roughing up homeless-folk usually isn’t their style... they’re much more professional than such blatant trouble-making – its not ‘good-for-business’.  Nothing “chivalrous’ about the beat-down they were finishing up on the vagrant.  He had no money so he must have gotten ‘mouthy’ with the young toughs.   I could have done something but they took off running … I hesitated. 

It’s a fact of life… criminals prey on the weak, innocent and unwary.  On the streets, in bad hoods, this sort of thing happens… cops can’t be everywhere, people get use to looking the other way – glad it’s not them.  I’m not sure they would have tried it on me if they saw me – I’m not scared of them… which they would probably realize.  Bullies like to bully people who are afraid of them.  I hate bullies.  But they didn’t see me and it happened so fast.

I continued on my way… but I felt bad.  I could have done something.  My conscience bothered me enough a block away I turned around to go find the homeless guy to see if he was alright… but when I got back the streetlight he had been hanging out under… he was gone.

I felt really crappy about that.  I should have done something…

Next time… I will.

Majestic wrote on Apr 16^th, 2014 at 4:17pm:


Actually its TB's Heightened Expertice +4 hit All Weapons & Powers... he's not more agile.. just more accurate.

And thanks for the complement.

Thunderbolt wrote on Apr 16^th, 2014 at 8:31pm:


I wondered about that.  You definitely spotlighted the accuracy moreso than general dexterity, so I should have known.

{Part 2}
At least with all this... thinking and drama, Sarah has seemed to have mellowed out… and has not been a pain in my butt recently.  I’ve caught glimpses of her watching me like she trying to figure me out or something.  I want her safe.. and I just don’t think she understands that.  How much I worry about her.

But getting back to the spiraling events… all this has been the backdrop to some serious issues…

My complete sorcerer’s apprentice  clean-up of the shop did not go unnoticed – Tony was floored, but very appreciative… in that his eyes saw nothing but cash dollar signs.  He started taking more orders seeing he had his ‘miracle-worker’.  I told him I would need to work some odd hours as my dad was dealing with a bad pace with his alcoholism… I’d need to work late more often.  Tony practically shoved the shop keys in my hands telling I can work any extra time I need to keep up with the work load.  He’s a greedy slob…but at least I got what I wanted, heck he even gave me a raise… go figure. 

Tony even got me a deal from a junkyard for a wreaked Suzuki Hayabusa GSX1300R to kinda sweeten me up, guess what junkyard…  Yep, ‘Clunker’s Junk Yard’ - right where it all started!  The old guy “Jock” the only name he goes by, there said I could look around for parts.  I also get the feeling Tony gets some of his rebuilt parts from a deal under the table with Jock.  The ‘bike’ {and I use that term loosely} was in three large mostly smashed pieces.  To any mechanic it was a lost cause but not to me.  I can bend and magnetically shape metal in ways no tool could ever do.  Plus, I've found I can.. 'magno-molecularly'{?} bond broken metal back to itself.. like magnetic welding if you will.  It only seems to work on previously broken metal pieces of the same object... but it makes fixing broken metal objects a snap!

Anyways, that is why I was walking in the area back and forth to the shop and then catching the bus to the junkyard across town.  ‘Clunkers’ is a big junkyard and I had already decided to use it for some heavy-lifting practice for my powers as old man “Jock” had pretty much given me the run of the place and Tony started having me pick up parts and deliveries there.  There are always loud noises coming from the junkyard with it’s compactor running a few added lightning bolt thunderclaps would not make much difference.

So I was not really around my digs when it really started.  It was some punks …members of the Blood Knives, a small time street gang, were hanging out at the basketball court looking for trouble just down the street from ‘Clunkers’.  Some kids were playing a game of football in the street as I was leaving and their ball got thrown into the basket-ball court and the Blood Knives wouldn’t give it back.  I could have walked on to the bus… but, I don’t like bullies and I’d already turned away once from someone in need.  Not again.

Honestly, I hadn’t really expected it to turn into a fight.  I was just going to tell ‘em to quit picking on the kids and give them their ball back; nothing more.  But what I thought were only 3 or so gangers turned out to be like 9 of them.  The first guy came at me swinging… textbook Tae-Kwon Do took him down – block, block, - spin and side thrust kick to the gut, when he doubled over in surprise, step close elbow to side of head, knee to face… down.  Then his buddies swarmed me… no organized attack  - all at once… the usual ‘tackle him to the ground with numbers’.  I went defensive but was in a bad position… competition Tae-kwon-Do was not ‘street-fighting’.  It’s great against a single foe but I was not a black belt or anything, I was getting slowly beat down.  Then I saw one of the bigger bruisers was wearing this large metal belt buckle.  I pushed but magnetically… hard - much harder than I would have normally.  The brute went flying when I gestured at his stomach like he got hit by a charging bull… he fell to the ground 15 feet away with the wind knocked out of him.  Two just looked at him in shock figuring I had hit him in the stomach {I guess it sort of looked that way}.  Then I started noticing all the metal they were all carrying.  I saw three of the guys raining blows on my back, shoulders and head had either metal spiked wrist bands, metal rings on their fingers or wrist zippers on their thick biker-leather jackets.  I stood, emitted a magnetic field and they all began to …subtly miss as I block and dodged …and deflecting the incoming metal to the side.

I learned my first lesson on facing superior numbers…go defensive as possible… not total evasion as that solves nothing but, always be prepared for defense.  The beating I was taking severely lessening now that some were not hitting at all I noticed even more metal… nose rings, metal earrings, metal tongue studs, lip, cheek and brow metal piercings.  I went on the offensive.  I landed a roundhouse kick on one guy’s knee and he buckled. Then I turned and gestured at the face a guy coming to his aid pulling magnetically and ripping a metal stud from his nose bloodily…followed by my fist in his face at his pained surprised pause… to a very satisfying crunch of a broken nose when my punch landed!   He tumbled back blood in his eyes… squealing very satisfyingly!

Then it was mop-up.  A guy with a metal stud in his brow got slammed in the head by that same metal studd as I applied 30 pounds of instant force to it spinning him like a top with a spurt of blood and likely a concussion. Some guys pulled knives… big mistake. They could not get those blades anywhere close to mark as I deflected them all instantly.  One guy had a pair of …obviously not real brass knuckles… likely only electro-plated with brass.  He never even got close. 

Then I broke out with the electrical beating.  No lightning bolts… I didn’t want to kill anybody, but I found I could imitate a mean taser jolt on contact!

Soon they were all on the ground... hurt.. some really badly.  I felt great - top of the world!  Mentally unpacking that, abused kids often have violent tendencies… and I’ll admit… the beating I had given these guy over a football was a bit extreme – ten times as worse as they were giving me.  None of them were at risk of dying... but a few... {ok more than a few}, would likely need to go to the hospital for injuries. Yeah, I could justify it that they were going to do worse to me once they had me subdued but, that doesn’t change the fact I enjoyed hurting them first.

I was not proud of that realization that became clear to me… I think really fast, analyzing things and coming to logical conclusions.  I realized I must Always be careful not to lose my temper… I could kill someone easily.  In fact I realized my electrical power intensity was directly proportional to my anger the madder I get the more powerful my electrical emission is.

The punks gathered themselves and one of them {likely their leader} said, “Man, the Blood Knives will get you for this!  Well find you and you’re gonna be sorry, we’re gonna fu@& you up!!!”

Only a few of the punks had realized something had been odd about the fight {my metapowers}, guess all that practice at Tony’s bike shop had paid off giving me a subtle control.  Amazingly, In all this I had kept my Warriors basketball cap on {hiding my shock white hair}, and a magnetic field had held my metal-framed mirrored gargoyle shades on – not a disguise really {no one who knew me would not instantly recognize me}; so the ganger’s threat was not without weight!  I did have family that could be hurt and I realized... if I was going to do stuff like this… I would be putting them in danger as well.

But when the kids came over amazed at my fighting prowess {full of praise} and thanked me for getting their ball back – I got to admit… that felt really good too.

Dirt-bags like the Blood Knives are not unique, they could just as easily have been cruising the streets for a piece of quick ass... and my sister might be who they found.  So I need to conceal who I am - to protect myself and those who I’m protecting.

Yeah, Thunderbolt does not have heightened Intelligence.. he's just very creative, there is not really a power for that.  I guess the best way would be to give him bonuses in invention... but that now how it manifests in play.  I will demonstrate it when he begins to prepare his costume and armor and how he develops his 'radar sense power, but its really hard to show a heightened creativity.  TB's himself thinks of it as 'thinking faster'... but I will showcase that more formally latter.  In truth his sister, Sarah, has heightened Intelligence... and in a few posts I plan on showcasing her... abilities in a hack/post in a few more entries from TB.  But not until he's actually taken up the hero ID of Thunderbolt... something his sister does not approve of.

As for the bank.. likely they will try to duplicate the error..ie run a transaction or two find they can find nothing wrong with their machine {there isn't after all} and as there is no record of an error they will not likely call a repair man until it repeats the error and leaves some record of it.

Yeah, the machine control side of Lightning power could be its whole own power and many would say it needs to be three powers... Lightning Emission, Machine Control and Cybertelempthy.  BUT.. I'm proceeding upon what the Rules As Written say about the singular power Lightning Control.  Telepathy does not read electronic brains, and Mind Control does not control machine brains... only Lightning Control does that under the its 'control electricity - take control of or short-out electrical and electronic circuitry' aspect of the power.

YES a Very POWERFUL blanket ability now with how far-reaching the influence of machines and electrical devices, especially computers, are on modern society today. 

He might be unwillng to to hold back hurting foes... but he's not psycho or wanting to kill them... so when they drop from an excess amount of damage {ie. more damage then their hit points} he can stop hitting them.  Though several will still need to go to the hospital for broken bones and electrical burns.  Thunderbolt at this point thinks his contact tazer touch is less damaging than a full lightning bolt.. its not... they inflict the same damage!  In later entries he will do some detailed scientific testing as to how much actual voltage and amperage he can generate and learn that truth. 

I also mentioned how he admitted to beating them up more than what was strictly required.

Thunderbolt wrote on Apr 23^rd, 2014 at 3:23pm:

If you are using him from Dom's game, doesn't he list That level of control as a separate power?
My question about his seemingly precision control of power application as it applies to his interaction to the bad guys he is fighting is that he is seemingly always in control, when he has "rage issues". You have written that Shawn is a child of abuse, and yet Dad hits him and Shawn takes it because long ago Dad was a good guy. I understand that he may think that logically he would be able to kick Dad's A$$, but his "issues" don't seem to make him put Dad on his backside, and tell him to "lay off". Would someone who has these issues not be unwilling to continually be a punching bag for Dad, or would he at least be overly aggressive about unleashing against thugs that he does fight?