B2 13-14 - Power Plant and Ride the Lightning

13 - Power Plant

“You know more than you’re saying,” Tele-Portal glared at Black Ice. “People’s lives are in danger. Talk.”

“People’s lives are always in danger, but the only time you heroes ever notice is if the threat’s costumed and cowled. An Extra could get hit by a bus in the next five minutes, and you two wouldn’t even blink. It’s not until someone tries to better themselves that you get involved. But that changes soon. Soon, Tokyexico—no, the world! Soon, the world will be under new management, and Black Ice, King Cold, and I will see that everyone who’s kept us down gets left out in the cold.” The supervillain sure could monologue—the Student Supervillain Society president could probably learn a thing or two.

“Fine. Have it your way.” Tele-Portal dragged the villain into a tent, then placed a portal on the ceiling and another on the snow below her. She started falling through them. “That should hold her until the police show up.”

“That’s gotta be torture. Are we allowed to do that?” I asked as a camera drone hovered nearby. The villain fell faster and faster, occasionally screaming. Her black snowsuit was a blur.

“Yes.” Tele-Portal shut the tent flap. She looked at me critically. “You want to keep Extras safe? Don’t give the villains a second chance in the same Episode. You can’t save them all unless you beat the villain and stop the Episode, and it doesn’t matter what you do to make that happen.”

“Oh.” That didn’t sound like the ‘We don’t interrogate our enemies—that’s vil shit’ that TUSSA lived by.

We started up toward the power plant. Tele-Portal strode ahead on her stilts, heading for the snow-spewing building. She carried her portal gun, and she looked exhausted again. I jogged through the snow to keep up.

[Winter is Coming: Act Three in Progress]

“How long have you been a superhero?” I asked Tele-Portal.

“A decade.” She pointed at the power plant’s main door as we got closer. It hung open. “I got inside before shit hit the fan back at the festival. It’s an ice maze in there. Black Ice and Polar Vortex were busy. Good job, by the way. You might actually have beaten her without me.”

"I might have. I had a plan, and when you pulled the Extra out, I could have attacked her. I was waiting because I couldn't let her hurt him."

"Yeah. You get used to it.”

“When? I’ve been doing this for five years.” But then I thought back to the Episode at the end of summer. I’d left Extras in danger before when taking out the villain was more important, and they weren’t in immediate danger.

“Shhh. We’re going in. Keep your eyes open; the ice is tricky, and I can’t use my portals until the police have Black Ice. We don’t want her getting free. Sometimes they reengage. They’re not supposed to, but then again, they are villains.”

We stepped through the door into the old, abandoned power plant. As soon as we did, the roaring sound of machinery filled my ears. Tele-Portal shrugged and pointed to the end of the long hall in front of us, then started walking. I couldn’t hear what she said, but the message was clear: this way, follow me. Shimmering windows made of ice allowed us a view down at the plant’s massive turbines, which spun and squealed ominously.

Tele-Portal pointed to the double doors on the end and made a flicking motion with her finger. She said something, then repeated it. I couldn’t hear over the machinery. Kick in the door? That seemed aggressive, careless, and very much the style of a superheroine who always had a ‘get out of jail free’ card. I took a deep breath. Then I ran up to it, jammed my foot into the handle, and kicked as hard as possible.

[Explosive Entry! +1 Badass Point Pending]

Tele-Portal rushed through the door. A moment later, I joined her just in time to see a flash of red in the ice blocking our way forward. It disappeared around a corner as I shouted, “[Stellar Ray]!” The beam barely scratched the ice, and Tele-Portal shook her head. She pointed down a hall that met ours at a T-junction. Then she started jogging toward a sign labeled ‘Break Room.’

I followed her, moving quickly. But as I did, a massive spike of ice shot out of the jet-black ice sheet covering the hallway. It crashed into Tele-Portal, pinning her to the wall.

I fired another [Stellar Ray] at the blurry red figure as it ducked away again. Then I turned to Tele-Portal.

She was good and stuck. The spike had pinned her to the wall, but her superhero damage had kept it from being catastrophic. I tried to move it, but she shook her head and pointed at the portal gun she’d dropped. I grabbed it and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

I pulled the trigger again—still nothing. Tele-Portal slammed the wall with her free arm, rolling her eyes, and then squeezed them shut in concentration. A weak, wavery portal shimmered slowly into existence behind her. Another appeared on the wall as sweat broke out on Tele-Portal’s face. Her fist clenched, and she fell backward through the portal, out of the ceiling, and onto the floor.

I could hear her grunt of pain over the machinery howling.

I helped her up, slinging her arm over my shoulder, and half-dragged her to the break room. Inside, a few dust-covered chairs sat around a table; the rest had long since fallen apart or were covered in frost.

“Give me the cannon,” Tele-Portal groaned. She collapsed into a chair as I handed it to her. “Shit, that takes a lot out of me.”

“I thought you needed the cannon to make the portals. Aren’t you a Genius?” I asked.

“Ha. No. Elementalist, ” Tele-Portal coughed. Whatever she’d had to do to make the portal had taken a ton out of her. “Underdelver came up with the rig back in high school; it channels my power, strengthens it. I can only make two or three a day without the stilt/cannon combo. He didn’t want me fading off as we moved to the minors, so he built it for me. God, I’m exhausted. I need a few minutes.”

Sure enough, the bags under her eyes looked much darker than they had just a moment ago. She suppressed a yawn. “I’ll be right behind you, Understudy. But you’ve gotta track down Polar Vortex. If you can get him in a straight fight, you have a chance, but don’t let him play his game. He’s an ambusher. Try to shut down the power plant if you can. I’m not sure what they’re up to, but this place is important to them.”

“How do you know so much about all these villains?” I asked.

“Over a decade of experience. Six years full-time as a minor and major. Now go.” Tele-Portal waved at the door, but she swore again as my hand closed on its handle. “Shit. Black Ice may be free, too. I’ll be as close behind you as I can. Go!”

I sprinted out of the room, stomach lurching. This was supposed to be a simple Patrol, not a fight against two minor-league villains at the same time! I’d need to be smart, but I’d left my smartest Costume behind.

The screech and rumble of the turbines filled my ears again. I steeled myself and crept down a set of rusted steel stairs. Pipes, some as wide as I was tall, crisscrossed the lower floor, and the sound of running water echoed through them. Occasionally, a machine belched sooty, acrid smog as it started up or clattered to a stop. Somewhere down there, the villain lurked. I just knew it.

I wished I still had [Inkling]. Its half-second of precognition once or twice in a fight like this would be invaluable.

As I reached the stairs’ bottom, I stopped to take stock. A maze of ice walls and piping filled the room. The control room for the whole plant sat on the far side, covered in snowdrifts and ice. And inside, for just a moment, I thought I saw a red blur.

I had Understudy’s ranged attacks, but [Stellar Ray] couldn’t break the ice walls. Copy Cat might have the firepower, and it’d be warmer than this outfit. And Rainy Day…

Rainy Day might be the way to win here. If the power plant was active, I might get a truly massive combo. Maybe I could pre-load some of it and set a trap for the trap-setter himself. I could—

Crash!

An ice spike, just like the one that’d taken out Tele-Portal, smashed free from an ice wall. The impact spun me off-balance, and I took a moment to rebalance. Then I started running into the generator room’s maze.

[HP 6/8]

[Gritty Recovery! +1 Grit Point Pending]

Ice exploded around me as I ran. The villain seemed only a few steps ahead of me, almost tauntingly close. I fired a [Stellar Ray] into another wall of ice; this one shattered, filling the entire section of the maze with snowy powder and making it impossible to see. The machines’ whine rose in pitch momentarily. Then, a deafening cough filled the air as it backfired before whining more.

[Dramatic Turn of Events! +1 Drama Point Pending]

I couldn’t see; the snow blocked my vision. I couldn’t hear; the generator room was far too loud. A trio of icicles filled the hallway behind me. The only way through was forward, so I plunged into the snow, feeling my way along. Hopefully, Polar Vortex couldn’t see me in here either.

The snow started slowly falling toward the ground. I took one breath. Then another. As the path in front of me grew gradually more clear, I used [Power-Weaving] and threw myself toward another ice wall.

I had a plan.

This one exploded as another massive spike zoomed toward me. I used [Quick-Time Change], pausing the world, and did the Itsy Bitsy Spider. The tip hit me dead in the chest, but instead of pain, I felt a tickle—and an opportunity.

I looked down at the spike. “Oh no. I’ve been impaled,” I said. Then, I casually walked off the icicle and jumped through the hole in the ice wall.

[Flashy Fitting-Room! +1 Flamboyance Point Pending]

[Steel Yourself! +1 Grit Point Pending]

[Floating Points: 1 Flamboyance]

[Stylish Quote! +1 Flamboyance Point Pending]

I skidded to a stop just feet from a figure in a red snowsuit. “Polar Vortex, stop!” I shouted, barely audible over the giant turbine howling behind him. Sparks shot off it—I couldn’t tell if they were from the grinding parts or a building electrical charge. But I had to take a chance, and I had to do it right now.

I used [Thunderhead] just as another ice spike slammed into me. This one caught me, shoving me back and pinning me to a wall.

[HP 4/8]

[Pause for Effect! +1 Drama Point Pending]

[Floating Points: 3 Flamboyance, 1 Grit]

I screamed as it hit me, then again as I tried—and failed—to wriggle free. But my power was working; the storm cloud mixed with the machines’ smog cloud and Polar Vortex’s snow cloud. Like my fight with Gourmet in the training room, I had to hold out for a moment. And I had to hope Polar Vortex couldn’t disrupt my combo like Black Ice.

The villain stalked toward me, getting too close before shouting at me, the only way to be heard over the generator’s turbine. “Tele-Portal sent a little kid to do her dirty work? What the hell is this?”

I stopped wiggling, feet an inch or two off the ground, and glared right back. “I’m the best person for the job. What are you trying to do here anyway?”

“I’m glad you asked!” Polar Vortex said. The camera drone dipped in close, the microphone practically in our faces. “A power surge from a single plant running in overdrive at peak hours could easily overtax Tokyexico’s whole grid. We’ll plunge the city into darkness, then take over easily tonight. The heroes won’t have a choice but to let us rule on a throne of ice.”

“That sounds like Power Wars crap,” I said, mustering all the sarcasm of a sixth-grader. But he was right; this plan wasn’t anywhere near as ridiculous as taking over the sewage treatment plant, and that would have left Riverside helpless. I steeled myself as the thunderhead above the generator grew and grew. I only had one move that would save Tokyexico—and mightget me out of this. “Is this power plant connected?”

“Not yet! We’re maxing it out, then flipping the switch! But you and Tele-Portal won’t be around for that.” The villain formed a gigantic icicle in his hand. He grinned at me. “Goodbye, little heroine.”

I nodded. “Goodbye. [Ride the Lightning]!”

◄▼►

14 - Ride the Lightning

My plan had worked perfectly. It was pretty simple.

One. I’d been building my combo since I entered the maze. I needed a target to [Power-Weave], but I could cause massive damage using the generators if I got the whole combo off. Since I’d built Rainy Day specifically for this, she was my go-to.

Two. As Polar Vortex monologued for the camera drone, I realized he wouldn’t see a combo coming. He was too wrapped up in his project, unlike his lieutenant, Black Ice. But I needed time for [Thunderhead], so I stalled.

Three. Polar Vortex wasn’t the real threat. The real danger was letting the power plant keep running. With Black Ice potentially free, we had an uncontained villain who could shut down the power to the whole city.

I only had one option.

As [Ride the Lightning] siphoned power from the generator and [Thunderhead], I felt it build inside me. The energy was unimaginable. I couldn’t hold it, so I let it go. Tendrils of blue-white lightning picked me up and danced across Polar Vortex’s red snowsuit, but most of the electric fury went in one direction.

Straight back at the generator.

[Electric Lightshow! +1 Flamboyance Point Pending]

[Environmental Combo! +1 Cunning Point Pending]

[Thunderstruck! +1 Drama Point Pending]

[Power-Weaving! +6 Flamboyance, 3 Grit, and 1 Drama Point Pending]

[Feedback 1]

[HP 2/8]

[Combo Collapse]

The whole machine lit up like a Tesla coil; sparks filled the air over our heads, and both my hair and Polar Vortex’s stood upright. Then flames licked across it, rapidly melting the icy maze I’d navigated through. It didn’t explode, but the turbine started ripping itself apart as it spun faster and faster.

It wouldn’t be generating power—not enough for a power surge, even if Black Ice or Polar Vortex connected it to the grid.

“You little monster! I’ll kill you!” Polar Vortex screamed. His face twisted in rage, and he launched another ice spike my way. It rammed into a pipe—one of the big ones as tall as Rainy Day, then shot back toward the villain as the water started spraying out in a frigid blast.

I pulled myself free and ran.

Quickly.

But I couldn’t run quickly enough. Polar Vortex practically surfed across the incoming water, freezing it beneath his feet, and I didn’t have the speed to keep up with that. He summoned another icicle, then another, and dipped down toward me. I didn’t have the superhero damage to tank those hits.

A portal opened below me, dropping me through the floor. I fell out of the ceiling somewhere else inside the maze and hit the ground hard.

[HP 1/8]

“Switch Costumes!” Tele-Portal yelled. She’d broken out a window overlooking the generator room. She waved her portal cannon at me.

I glanced at Polar Vortex—or where I’d last seen him. Mist from the broken pipe mixed with smoke from the ruined generator, and it was hard to be sure, but I thought I had a moment or two to switch.

“Transform!”

<Transform!>

[Rejuvenation Activated! HP 4/8]

I shifted back into Copy Cat, feeling Tails’s mind merge with mine. <Good to be back. Let’s hunt some villains,> the plushie cat said in my head.

“We won’t have to hunt. He’ll come to us.” I waved up at Tele-Portal. “You coming?”

“Nope! I’m built for support. Like it or not, I’m not set up to help directly.” The superhero’s voice sounded strained, and I could tell if it was exhaustion, worry about me, or both.

I didn’t have time to find out. Polar Vortex ducked around the corner and launched another icicle, but Tele-Portal couldn’t move fast enough to drop me to safety this time. It hit me, shattering on my [Fursonal Furcefield]. Tails’s promise that she was my fursuit seemed to be true.

[True Grit! +1 Grit Point Pending]

I used [Leaping Leopards] and pounced toward Polar Vortex, but the villain was ready for it. He raised a sheet of jet-black ice in front of him.

I hurdled toward it, unable to stop my pounce, but a portal opened in its center, and a moment later, I was back on track, pouncing toward Polar Vortex from behind. I slammed into the surprised supervillain, bowling him over and sending his icicles crashing to the ground.

[Badass Takedown! +1 Badass Point Pending]

He rolled, but I’d landed on top of him, and I used [Cat-Scratch Fever]. My…Tails’s…paw lashed out and ripped across the man’s face, leaving a trio of scratch marks that quickly grew red and started leaking puss.

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point Pending]

“God damn pussy! Where the hell did the girl go? I’m gonna kill her!” Polar Vortex shouted, an edge of pain in his voice. He summoned a gigantic snowball and hurled it at me. This close, it smashed me a moment before the portal appeared, shoving me through it and onto the floor right next to the collapsing generator.

[HP 2/8]

“This is working!” Tele-Portal shouted from above. “You’re trading well! Switch again!”

I transformed back to Understudy. Lab Assistant would have been perfect in this environment; I could have harassed the injured, inaccurate Polar Vortex with TA-1LZ. But I didn’t have her equipped. Instead, I went with Understudy—my hardest-hitting ranged damage.

The villain staggered through the maze of pipes. Every ice wall he touched let him pass cleanly through it. Water lapped at his calves and mine as another rusted pipe ruptured. The generator room was filling with water!

I didn’t waste any time trying for a combo—I didn’t have a [Quick-Time Change], and without it, I didn’t have the pieces to make it happen. Instead, I used [Bit-Part Barrage], firing it almost point-blank at the villain.

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point Pending]

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point Pending]

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point Pending]

That should have been the end, but a portal opened on a pipe, and the missed [Stellar Rays] rocketed back at Polar Vortex, one slamming into him from behind.

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point Pending]

I’d gotten some good hits in, but the villain was right there. He formed a massive icicle and swung it like a club, smashing it into the side of my head. “How many heroes are there?” He shouted.

[HP 1/8]

I only half-heard him. My ears rang, and I saw stars even through the superhero damage. I watched him backswing for another blow through the pinprick where I could still see clearly.

It never landed.

Instead, the floor opened under him, and he fell, screaming, through a portal in the ceiling on the other side of the room. He rolled before Tele-Portal could trap him in a loop and started running toward me, firing icicles right at my head.

I ducked. An icicle flew overhead as I waved my wand. “[Stellar Ray!]”

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point Pending]

It wasn’t going to be enough. I fired another [Stellar Ray].

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point Pending]

The villain kept charging, wading through the ever-deepening water. The scratches on his face looked terrible; they practically pulsed red, and his eyes looked bloodshot and puffy. I dodged an awkwardly thrown icicle, then leaped into another portal. “Thanks, Tele-Portal!”

“No problem. Keep it up, he’s almost—“

[Dramatic Damage! +1 Drama Point Pending]

[Anticlimactic! -2 Drama Points]

“Shit. I think it’s over,” I said. “I lost points somehow. Anticlimactic.”

“Well, find him. He’s in here somewhere, and we’re not leaving him to drown. That’s bad business,” Tele-Portal said. “Did you use poison or something? That’s a good way to win, but it’s bad TV. Next time, try to finish the villain off in direct combat. I’m going to start draining the plant. You’ll like this.”

“Got it.” I sloshed through the ever-deepening water.

It didn’t take long to find the villain. He leaned against a pipe that hadn’t burst yet, groaning and clutching his face. He cracked one eye as I approached, my wand out. The other had practically swollen shut. “The hell was that shit?” He grumbled at me.

“Magical Girl Understudy, reporting in!” I said to the camera drone as I struggled to pull the man to his feet. His snowsuit hadn’t fared well in the water; it was soaked and probably weighed thirty pounds. I grunted as I yanked on his arm. “It’s…it’s time for the villains to exit stage left!”

[Episode Finished!]

[Episode: Winter is Coming - PG-13]

[Penalties: N/A]

[Episode Finished! +5 of each Style Point]

[Winner Winner! +2 of each Style Point]

[Role Focus: Drama > Flamboyance - Goal Met! +10 of Each Focused Style]

[Alias - Understudy] [Archetype - Magical Girl] [Community Rank - 315/523]

[HP 1/8]

[Styles and Skills]

►Archetype Skill - Transformation Sequence

►Badass (11)

►Cunning (11)

►Drama (74) (Skill Roll Available)

►  Stellar Ray 1

► Bit-Part Barrage 1

►Flamboyance (50) (Skill Roll Available)

►Signature Skill - Adaptive Armoire

►Stored Costumes: (Rainy Day, Lab Assistant Panic)

►Starwave Sail 1

► Quick-Time Change 1

►Grit (35)

► I-Frame Transform 1

I grinned breathlessly as Tele-Portal fired her cannon at Polar Vortex and me. She missed, sending it down into the water. Not that it would matter much for us if it had hit; the other end wasn’t set up, so we couldn’t have gotten through. I groaned. “Guess I’m taking the stairs.”

“Guess so,” Tele-Portal said. She yawned. “Keep an eye on your prisoner. Don’t let him try anything funny. Black Ice must’ve decided not to make a run for it since the Episode ended. I’ll meet you outside.”

While I trudged up the stairs and out the door, I rolled both of my new skills.

[50 Drama Credits Used. Rolling Skill!]

[50 Flamboyance Credits Used. Rolling Skill!]

[Rank-Up! Stellar Ray 2: At Rank Two, the beam hits much harder, dealing environmental damage and punching through heavier armor]

[New Skill! Hog the Limelight: Draw attention to yourself, redirecting the next hostile attack away from allies and toward you]

The rank-up was huge; I hadn’t gotten many yet, and any power increase to something I used was welcome. But I wasn’t sure about [Hog the Limelight]. It seemed pretty risky. Maybe I could combine it with a grit-focused Copy Cat build or something. But I wasn’t excited about it, not when I routinely paired up with heroes with more superhero damage than me.

Then, suddenly, I realized what it was for. This was the rescue power I’d asked for. With it, I could run escort for Extras and guarantee the villain couldn’t hurt them. My weariness faded as I dumped a shivering Polar Vortex on the ground. Without his superhero damage shield, the [Cat-Scratch Fever] and the soaking-wet snowsuit worked against him, and he looked blue. “We’ll get you someplace warm soon. Like prison.”

“Come look at this,” Tele-Portal called from the river’s edge. I hurried toward the icy-cold mist that filled the air behind her. Arcing out of the building’s side was a jet of water. She’d placed a portal on the building, and the power plant was draining. I didn’t see how it’d fix the flooding, but at least it wasn’t getting worse.

“Good job, kid,” the superheroine said to me. She looked terrible; the bags under her eyes were dark, and she definitely needed some sleep. “I called Edgar. He’s going to pick us up and get you back to TU. He’ll be here in five or so.”

“That’s fast. There’s no time for a PR plug back down at the winter festival?” I asked, disappointed.

Tele-Portal sighed. “Fine. Hurry. But you’re explaining why you care so much on the ride back. Then we’re getting you back on campus. You have studying to do.”

◄▼►