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Kel had spent the day taking care of an assortment of things.  He'd skipped lunch to work out, ince his combat skills had gotten a bit of a test recently he thought it might pay off to sharpen them up some.

He was heading home to talk with his grandfather.  The group had asked about where his powers had come from, and he thought granpa might know.  He was always talking about his glory days back in WWII.  If half of what grandpa said was true he was some sort of Marine Corp Commando, but Kel's dad had advised him to take grandpa's stories with a grain of salt.

Kel had seen Sylvia at pep squad practice, but her and Megan Howell had gone off to work on the dance routines in private and Dallas and Kel had very little to practice.  The routines were like kata, and Kel was used to drilling them.  It seemed that Dallas was also.

Kel had missed lunch with the gang, he spent a good bit of his day talking to the school dirtbags and a few of the people in the druggie circles trying to get a line on the drug 'Superman'.  A couple people had heard of it, but only in passing.  It was starting to make some appearances in Chicago, but no one seemed to know anyone that sold it.  A couple of people mentioned the dishwasher at the Tasty Dog as a possible source, but since he was DOA, that turned into a dead end.  Nat Coxson, a dealer in porn, cigarettes and illegal alcohol also turned out to be a dead end.  Rumor was he had something new to sell, but it wasn't drugs.  "Too much risk in that shit man."  had been his answer, and Kel tended to believe him.

It was after dark when Cal walked up the steps and opened the door.  There were no lights on in the living room, but that wasn't entirely strange as grandpa usually watched TV in his room.  As Kel opened the door his eyes, already adjusted to dusk, quickly took in the scene.  The living room had been trashed.  In the middle of the floor was his grandfather.  Two men held his arms and a third stood to one side of him, a sword of some kind raised high.  They were dressed as ninja, and not any school yard variety, they had the full kit.

Kel's senses sharpened, and his heart rate leveled off.  He could hear other heart beats, there were three more ninja hiding in the shadows nearby.  "Kill him."  the man with the sword near his grandfather yelled in Japanese.

OOC: Give me 6 attack and 6 toughness rolls.

Kel was a bite sore as he stepped up to the door, stretching a bit as he opened it.  Then his eyes adjusted and caught the scene, before he knew what was going on he had dropped into a fighting stance, and then rushed in headfirst going for the one with the sword.  His amatuer karate chops and kicks aren't much against the skills of the ninja, but he is rolling with their punches just as well.

((attacks: http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=642301  toughness: http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=642309))

Kel had stopped thinking, it seeme to slow him down.  His body began to flow from one move into the next as he slid towards the man with the sword.  The ninja shifted and easily avoided Kel, spinning around to plant a foot in the young man's chest.  His momentum seemed to vaporize and he went flying out the front window of the living room, past the porch and into the yard onto his back.

OOC: Kel just spent a Hero point to ignore the damage (unless you'd rather be one punched?).

A second later there are three ninja through the window and in the yard eyeing Kel up.

*****

On her way back home Megan is zipping along when the sound of breaking glass draws her attention.  She recognizes Kel Stilley from the pep squad, apparently trying to fly and failing.  He's shaking his head and working to get up when three ninja?  hop out the window he just demolished and land in the yard.  They look serious about continuing to hurt him.

((OOC: Of Course use the hero point to ignore the damage))

Kel gets up with one smooth thrust, the day was just getting better and better.  Shaking his head to clear it and he looks around him.  Three guys versus him, seemed like pretty good odds, all he had to do was.  Then he just mumbles, "Ah screw that."  He then drops down and rushes right at the ninja in front of him trying to toss him up and away with one fell swoop, and then he centers himself ready to take on the other two ninja.

((I suppose I'll charge/rush the center dude, and then just turn to face the other two...if it's just str: http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=642379 if the charge adds then give it +2))

Kel makes his rush, and the ninja shifts to counter the boys attack.  Kel feels the ninja roll away and uses the opportunity to leap and roll into a fast sumersault onto the porch.  Three inside, three now behind him.  Which way?

Kel barely even thinks as he rushes inside, moving into a flying kick aimed at whatever ninja who is even remotely close to his grandfather.  Memories of once stupid family reunions flash through his head as he sails through the broken window.

Kel plants one foot right on the jaw of the ninja and the other on his sword.  The sword flies on way and the ninja the other as Kel's weight and momentum impact him.  The ninja crashes into one of the men holding Kel's grandfather, causing him to release grandpa's arm.  There isn't a delay as Kel's grandfather shifts his weight to pull the man holding his other arm close, and the jams his free hand into the ninja's nose.  A moment later Kel' grandfather is free and on his feet, back to back with Kel.  "Reminds me of my youth.  The senior Stilley says.  "We need to move outside, more room to maneuver out there."

Kel nods, as he begins to move in tandem with the older man, he does a double take, as his grandfather talks about his youth, "Your youth?! How the f*ck does this remind..."  Then moving in to punch a ninja he calls out, "Afterward, let's talk afterward."  He lets his hands move about as he tries to block incoming assaults.

As Kel ran back inside, Megan rushes up and into the path of the three ninja that had been outside with Kel.  “Hey, this where the happenin’ costume party is?”  She asks as she throws a fast punch at the closest of them, hoping that however she had knocked down the buy in the alley before would work on them too. 

(http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=642549  an 11, likely a miss :()

Kel and the ninja exchange several strikes and blows.  Kel lacks training, but he's faster then his opponent and seems to be able to take a hit better.  They slam shins and forearms several times  and it's slowing the ninja down, but Kel seems to be fueled by the violence.  It's somehow feeding some primal part of him that's be undernourished his whole life.

Grandpa has more training, but his age is a factor and he's not nearly as fast as the ninja.  He compensates by preferring to not get hit.  The two maneuver around the remnants of the living room and then Kel does a handspring at the window, planting both feet on one of the incoming ninja.  A second later grandpa hops out the window and rolls across the porch into the yard.

The ninja barely ducked the blow, rolling away from the voice.  A number of fists and feet try to hit Megan, but her speed keeps her clear of the assualt. 

Megan is a bit surprised at how well she dodges the attacks from these guys dressed like ninjas.  She had no idea what was going on with Kel and these crazies, but for the moment she had them out here and distracted.  As she steps aside from the last kick, she quickly moves up next to the ninja and again punches at him with incredible speed.

(http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=642607  a 14, hopefully better)

Megan slid in for a rapid blow, cathing the ninja totally by suprise.  He toppled to the ground and lay still.  A second later Megan was caught by a kick to the back from one of the other ninja.

OOC: Toughness DC 15, Will Save DC 12

(OOC http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=642615 Ouch, a 4 on the Toughness save :(

http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=642615 Made the Will save just on)

Megan takes the blow and rolls hard into the grass.  It takes a moment to get her bearings back, and by that time Kel and an older man are in the yard.

OOC: Ok, we're on the same round.  Initiative order is Megan, Kel, Ninja, Grandpa.

Megan, consider yourself at Stage 2 of your powers.

As Kel gets his bearings outside, his jaw drops as he sees there's a costumed heroine right before him fighting the ninja.  Since things weren't weird enough, Kel thinks as he sticks close to his grandfather and opens up with his assault on the closest ninja, booted feet seeming to come up on high to strike them in the head.

Megan is back on her feet though a bit shaken still from the hit when she sees Kel and an old man come from inside the house.  Kel’s athleticism in exiting isn’t to surprising, but the old man seems rather spry for someone his age as she faces the ninja that kicked her with a scowl.  “That wasn’t polite, hitting a girl in the back.”   She then punches again, her fist moving even faster than before.

(OOC: yes, Megan will spend her hero point to recover from that horrible toughness roll, if she got beaten up that badly in her first outing, she might never put on the costume again until college, if then. 

But the dice aren’t liking me http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=642700  another 4 :()

Kel lights into the nearest ninja and Megan blurs into action against another.  Grandpa Stilley makes a few dodges and deliberate strikes, certainly slower then his younger allies.

Megan's speed helps keep her from getting touched too often, but her lack of combat training seems to be a hindrance against these opponents.

Kel seems to have fallen into some form of violent dance routine.  His movements are swift and powerful, with devastating results.  After a flurry of blows another ninja lay unconscious on the ground.

One of the ninja yells something in Japanses (Kel knows it's Vanish) and the three remaining ninja throw something to the ground, creating a thick cloud of smoke in the area.

A sound like a jet engine can be heard, then a whining sound.  A moment later it's gone, fading into the distance.

Kel drops from his attack stance as he hears the words vanish, when the smoke clears he just looks around at what he can merely assume is the empty yard.  He then looks at his grandfather and the costumed girl.  Kel gestures to the girl and says, "Thanks...and you are?..."

Grandpa Stilley sits on the edge of the porch, his breathing slithyl labored.  He smiles at Megan, "She's a super hero boy, what's she look like.  Thank you very kindly ma'am for the help."

Kel's face tenses, he hates being called boy, but he sighs and just nods.  He is looking between the superhero, and his grandfather, his eyes not seeming to rest on either of them for very long.  On one hand here was someone who was doing everything he wanted to, dressing in a costume and fighting for right, and then there was his grandfather who had just been under attack from ninja and had even taken on a few.  He plops himself on the front lawn right then and there and just murmurs, "Sh*t."

In the anonymity of her costume, Megan waves her hand in front of her face to try and clear the smoke away faster, her hand nothing but a blur as she does so.  When the smoke clears, she looks over at Kel and his grandfather as the teen thanks her, asking who she is.  She hadn’t really come up with anything good so far, hadn’t really planned on having to talk to anyone tonight, luckily Kel’s grandfather spoke up before she really had to come up with some lame name she would later regret. 

“I don’t think you really have to thank me for much, I didn’t really do anything other than confuse a couple of them with rapid moving color.”  She replied with a slight grin, trying to ignore the soreness in her back.  She then turns towards Kel’s grandfather as she speaks in a more respectful voice.  â€œYou’re welcome sir, but your grandson here seemed to do a lot more than I did.  You sure have some strange houseguests sir, and while I bet there is a great story behind this, but I really should be on my way.”

With a quick movement, she is off running, not even realizing at first that she is now going quite a bit faster than she has up till now.  She had covered half a mile before she realized her current speed.

Kel watches the fleeting beauty in skin tight clothes and shrugs.  Then looks at his grandfather, "So...ummm, what was with the ninja?"

"Yep, good to get the old blood moving again.  Makes a man feel alive."  Grandpa Stilley looks over at Kel, "Something about honor and my head as a trophy or some such nonsense."  the older man smiles, "You got some serious moves on you boy.  I bet your pa would be plenty proud."

The sounds of sirens draws the senior Stilley's attention.  "So, what're we gonna tell the cops?"

Kel's eyes bug out a bit, "Your head as a trophy?"  His ears prick up as the sirens flitter across the wind.  He just shrugs and says, "Crazy drugged up weirdos?"

The police arrive and grandpa Stilley explains how crazy drugged up wierdos dressed as ninja broke in and attacked him, and how Kel came home and then a lady superhero showed up.  Kel backs up the story, and they both skip the part about grandpa's head as a trophy.

A few of the neighbors tell a tale that is similar enough that no one doubts it.  Kel's dad arrives about fifteen minutes after the cops.  His first concern is Kel and grandpa, then he wants to know what happened.  He listens, but you get the impression he's not totlly buying the story as it's told.  Since Kel and grandpa tell the same tale, he nods and accepts it.

Uncle Tom is there a little later.  He's worried this is related to the current drug issues, and so you tell the story again.  When it's all said and done the story is told about ten times before the police go home.  The paramedics give Kel and grandpa a clean bill of health, and grandpa starts to cover the shattered living room window with plastic.

"I'll call someone tomorrow and have this replaced."  he says, as he staples a plastic sheet up.  Kel's father goes to help him.

"Dad, drugged out ninja?"  Kel's father is expecting something else.  "That's the best you two could come up with?"  He goes inside, coming out a few moments later with cans of soda.  "What really happened?"

Grandpa looks at Kel and shrugs, related the actual tale to Kel's father, which isn't all that different from the one they gave the police.

"Why on Earth would ninja be after you dad?"

The senior Stilley looks at his sone for a moment like that was the dumbest thing he could have said.  "Boy, I put a lot of those bastards in the ground during the war.  Maybe one of them holds a grudge."

Kel's father looks at him and then down at his soda.  "Nice dad."  Kel's father looks over at him, quiet all this time, "You look okay for someone that's just tangled with ninja."

Kel is caught off guard by the statement, he really isn't sure what to say.  What was there to say anyway Kel wondered as he looked at his father, then his grandfather and back again.  He just kind of shrugs, "I guess...I just got lucky"  He kind of looks around and then says as if obvious, "No other explanation really.  Just some basic karate and a lot of luck pops."

"Right."  Grandpa says, "Luck.  Hey, me and Kel are kinda hungry, we're gonna walk over to the Tasty Dog.  Want us to bring you back some fries?"

Kel's father looks at the two and shakes his head, "No thanks dad.  I have a date."  Then he heads into the house.

"Come on Kel, I'll buy you some food."  Grandpa says, getting up and starting towards the Tasty Dog.

A few blocks later he puts a hand on Kel's shoulder.  "I know I've told you that I was a Marine in the South Pacific during the war.  There is a little more to it then that though.  Seeingyou fight today, I think I owe you an explanation."

"When I joined the Corps, I got selected for a special program.  The War Department had created the three Super Soliders, but they lost the only man who had the formulae for the serum.  There had been people helping him on the project, and so they tried to recreate it.  They were never able to duplicate it, but they did manage to create something they called Hourglass.  It was a sort of super soldier serum that was temporary.  Only certain people could use it, people with a rare blood type.  I had that blood type.  So, I carried these syringes around with me.  when things got too tough for regular troops, I'd shott this stuff into my thigh, and for the next six hours I'd be the baddest som'bitch on whatever island we happened to be on at the time."  Kel can see his grandfather's gaze turn skyward as he recalls that time.  "Anywho, when the war ended I stayed in, and eventually they stopped giving it to me.  There had always been some worry that it might effect my children, so everytime one of my children was born they'd get a full work up by a military doctor.  Nothing out of the ordinary ever came up, and so they stopped worrying.  Well, I got a letter from a friend a few years back.  He said that someone he knew who had looked over the old data told him I should be worried about my grandkids.  I think you inherited whatever it was that the serum did to me.  If you're worried, I can put a call into this friend, he can get you looked at just to make sure you're okay."

Kel seems surprised by his grandfather's willingness to take him out to get some dinner, even more surprised by his own willingness to go.  Of course he has to do a double take as his father says that he has a date, it caught him off guard, but before he could say anything he found himself drawn to the intrigue of his grandfather's desire to converse.  Sure, he was always trying to sit him down and tell him something but this was different this seemed to exude importance.
Then the truth spills out.  Kel's eyes go wide, and his jaw drops as his grandfather talks.  It was all about winning some war, everything going on with him now was over something that had happened decades ago, it was the government that had did this to him.  He just sort of stares, and his grandfather had volunteered.  Then Kel just mutters out, "So you...you...were a super-soldier.  And, and I, I'm one too?"  He just shakes his head, "But...grandpa...I'm not fighting some war.  I'm just...a..." And then for the first time in a while it dawns on him, "I'm just a kid."  He looks up at the older man, and looks into his eyes with conviction, "I want to know everything about this.  And, I don't want this to just be exploited by the government or something.  Grandpa, I want to be a hero, the best there can be."

Kel's grandfather stops, resting a hand on the younger man's shoulder.  "That's what I said."  they begin walking again, "You don't owe them anything, it's a legacy I never thought about and for any inconvenience it might cause you I want to offer a sincere apology now.  On the other hand, I did what I thought was right at the time, and that decision is affecting you now.  You wanna be a hero, that's a damn fine motivation and I'll stand behind you the whole way.  The wuestion I have to ask though is, what do you mean.  You mean put on a costume and fight crime, cause that's the kind the world needs right now.   Or you got something else in mind?"

Kel sort of smiles, "As much as I'd like to say something meaningful and great like I want to be some cop or firefighter, the everyday American hero.  That's just not me.  I don't want that sort of restriction, this world does need someone who's going to go above and beyond, and if I need to put on a costume to do it then, I will."

"Heh, that's the family tradition.  Whole damn family is heroes of one sort or another.  Like it's in our blood and we can't get it out.  As far as I know though you'll be the first one to put on a costume to do it though."

They reach the Tasty Dog and grandpa orders them some food.  Kel is suprised to see how much the older man eats.  He's normally a half a sandwich kind of guy, but Kel watches as he puts away three chili dogs and an order of fries.

"So, You gonna tell your dad about this decision of yours?  He'll be hurt in the end, you can't be in the service if you're R-Factor positive ya'know."

Kel is caught off guard by the statement and realizes just how little his family knows about him, "I think it's something he'd have to deal with one day anyway.  I've never been interested in the service.  So I think it'd be better if I just let it come out naturally as I get ready for life out of high school in a few years rather than bring it up now about...That kind of stuff."

"Probably right.  so, what's this about him having a date anyway.  Don't think the boys been laid since your mom left him.  He emntion anything to you about a woman?"

Kel, having taken the breif moment of silence to take a sip of soda, suddenly lets it fall right out in a spurt as his eyes bug out when his grandfather mentions the thought of his son (Kel's father) having sexual relations with anyone.  Kel just stares and then slowly shakes his head, "No...no, he hasn't.  But if you heard it too, I mean, then at least I'm not going crazy.  Which is what I thought was happening when he said it."

"Hell.  About time he got himself back out there.  He's been pineing over your mom for too long."

After they eat Kel and his grandfather head home.

"I guess one of those Japs I kicked the crud out of during the war is looking for a little payback.  Could'a just shot me, the ninja were a bit dramatic."

Kel nods and then says, "Did you really make that many enemies doing what you...well...did?"

Grandpa shrugs.  "It was a war.  I have to assume someone held a grudge.  Seems aweful strange that it's just coming back to haunt me now though."

Kel shrugs, "Not really, there's a lot of strange things happening these days.  Its almost like everything's just getting really really weird."

"Yeah, like your dad having a date."

Kel shudders immensely and then shakes his head, "No...more like, the kid who died at school, or that robbery at the mall the other day, or this new drug they have, hell even that superhero we just saw...or like...what...happened at the umm...party."  Kel realizes as it comes to him that he really wasn't sure if his grandfather knew he had gone to a party let alone anyone had heard something had happened.

"Other then you smelled like beer when you came home.  sounds like four freshman year is shaping up to be exciting."

Kel laughs a bit then says, "Maybe even too exciting.  But yea, the party, there was like, this snake thing, and all these other kids had powers, and there was this person who could fly.  It was nuts!" Kel exclaims at the end.

As they reach the house, Kel's grandpa heads towards his room.  "Listen.  If you need any help with this crazy hero idea of yours, I suppose I could lend a hand.  Just so long as I don't miss my TV shows."  With thay he heads to bed.

Kel laughs, then makes his way up to his own room, he looks out of his window, his eyes drifting over the small weight set, his mess of a bed, the cluttered desk, his odd assortment of hair care products, and of course his over-stuffed closet.  Finally though, his eyes gaze out through the window, over Oak Park, into the distance towards Chicago, then he murmurs, "Somewhere you're out there Vandross, and I'm going to find you.  And when I do, you will pay for what you have done."