Kid Kinetic and the Space Knights! Issue #2 "Ummm where are we?"

As soon as Kid Kinetic touched the creature he knew something had happened!

The creature turned almost liquid, flowing over the startled youth and forming an outer skin of sorts!

'Friend. Join.' said the voice inside of his head! Kid Kinetic tried to reply but the creature was flowing over his mouth and... he blinked. It was covering him from head to foot in all white/grey/sickly slime colour!

What the...?

And he felt something else...

OOC The creature is, as you probably guessed, a Secret Wars style symbiote alien that enhances your abilities but there may be a cost!

Kid Kinetic felt stronger... faster... tougher... He looked at the gas and knew that without his powers he would be a sitting duck for the gas!

Time to move!

He headed in the opposite direction of the gas leak but knew without his super speed he wouldn't outrun it! Time to try something else?

OOC KK is stood in a corridor of metal with a grate floor and ceiling which he can see through to other floors. The corridor is about thirty metres long before it curves and the gas is flooding it faster than he can currently run! However he does feel strangely stronger and full of energy with this alien clung to him as a second skin...

Kid Kinetic looked up at the ceiling then down at the floor. He was going to have to try and punch through.But he had no way of knowing whether the gas was lighter or heavier than air. "Ian would probably know," he thought to himself. Or was it to just himself? Going down seemed like the easiest course of action. Kid Kinetic took hold of the grate and attempted to wrench it free.

Something changed, with Kid Kinetic feeling stronger and more capable than he did even normally!

His strength was pretty much superhuman, able to lift over half a ton in weight despite his normal athletic/sprinter physique, and yet he felt a shiver through him as something was 'taken' in return...

OOC Ok, a little explanation...

This alien/symbiote allows you to rejig your Action/Effect values as you see fit up to DOUBLE (in points terms) their normal values by taking a point off one ability and adding it somewhere else.

Every time you 'rejig' these abilities costs a point of Body/Mind or Spirit (your choice) which does not recover quickly with Regeneration, so you need to wait an hour to recover it.



So you can make yourself smarter, more charismatic, more agile, stronger, more willful, stronger personality etc at the cost of a point from another statistic. Minimum you can reduce a score to is 1 point and the most you can boost to is double the values listed. Linked powers remain at their current levels (Linking is a weakness therefore linked abilities only go down, not up, when stats change).

Every time you change (even to revert back to normal) will cost you 1 point from your current totals of Body/Mind or Spirit, your choice.

In the current situation Kid Kinetic could rejig his stats to reduce Will and Aura to 1 giving him 4 points to Strength (up to 9) and then reduce his Body/Mind/Spirit by 1 point to pay for it, for example. He could also drop Intelligence by a point and boost Strength up to 10, the maximum allowed (double existing ability) to be less smart but stronger, for example.

Changes remain until another change takes place (to revert to standard or rejig again for example) and that costs a Body/Mind or Spirit point too.

Any questions or have I made it clear enough with the explanation? Only asking as sometimes I'm aware I'm not 100% clear with fudged mechanics!

OOC: KK will use the symbiote to rejig his stats to emphasize speed and power.
Dexterity: 13 Strength: 10 Body: 7
Intelligence: 2 Will: 2 Mind: 5
Influence: 2 Aura: 1 Spirit: 6

Something changed within Kid Kinetic and he glanced at his hand, moving it in front of his eyes...

Despite having no superhuman speed at the moment (he was too hungry!) his hand moved with a blur! This was amazing!

An explosion rang out!

OOC Bomb 9 + Roll(2d12)+0: 5,6,+0 Total:11 (20) vs
OV13 - Area Attack 4 + 2D Acrobatics + Roll(4d12)+0: 4,5,7,10,+0 Total:17 (26)

Kid Kinetic ducked, leaned back... and back and back... and somehow stayed on his feet before straightening and spinning about then running!

Without his superhuman speed he seemed to be moving in slow motion but he sprinted down the skewed corridor and ducked a hissing pipe, forward rolled under a falling beam and vaulted over a new gap in the floor! With his superhuman strength he barged into a door that PANGED! open as the magnetic seal popped!

OOC Strength 10 + Roll(2d12)+0: 11,7,+0 Total:18 (28) vs
OV8 + Roll(2d12)+0: 3,1,+0 Total:4 (12)
+6 (to 16EV) vs RV8=8 RAPs

The door twisted beyond recognition and Kid Kinetic risked a glance behind as the fiery explosion started to build behind him! he glanced first one way then the other and started down a corridor before a voice in his head - Tim - projected a 'mental picture' of where they were in comparison to him!

Oh oh! Kid Kinetic spun on his heels and sprinted back the way he'd come just as the fiery explosion/fireball reached the doorway he'd just barged through! He leapt through the flames and kept running, pounding down shaking corridors as the walls and ceiling shook, split and more wires/pipes/cables burst! Smoke filled the corridor and he bounced off a wall, reaching another doorway that was sealed...

OOC Strength 10 + Roll(2d12)+0: 8,2,+0 Total:10 (20) vs
OV8 + Roll(2d12)+0: 2,10,+0 Total:12 (20)
EV10 vs RV8=2 RAPs

The seal broke and KK shoved through, spinning and leaning against the door as fire blasted against it! His feet dug into the metal grating/walkway and twisted the alloy into a melted mess... but the doorway held... only for the walls about to split at the seams and KK knew it was time to go!

He sprinted as fire licked around him and saw in the distance a closing very heavy duty hatch/doorway with a voice screaming in his head "Ryan! We're going! Now! You need to..."

Kid Kinetic leapt at the lowering door knowing even with super speed he couldn't possibly...

OOC Dex 13 + Acrobatics 2D + Roll(4d12)+0: 4,5,3,8,+0 Total:12 (25) vs
OV6 + Modifier 6 + Roll(2d12)+0: 3,5,+0 Total:8 (20)
+3 (to 16) vs RV12=3 RAPs

Kid Kinetic slides, Indiana Jones style, under the door and into the hanger bay where the outer doors were opening, a klaxon ringing out! He sprinted at the shutting hatch of the Valkyrie and crashed in, piling into a thick bundle of bodies! Johnson screamed "Hang on!" and the Valkyrie punched forwards... through the force field into space and swooped up and away as fire burst from the dock and the space station exploded, small at first then in separate locations... before it THOOOOMED! in the darkness of space, lighting up the sky!

Ian, an elbow in his mouth, shook his head and glanced at Ryan then shouted "Get us out of here!"

A lurching in his stomach indicated the Valkyrie was punching forwards into hyperspace as Space Pirates closed in and swooped about like angry wasps!

=========

"I don't believe it!" said Cutthroat as he moved through the thronged bodies.

It seemed the Valkyrie was packed with space station workers, aliens of every kind ranging from coloured skin to different body shapes and some resembling nothing like a human at all!

They picked their way through and helped Ryan to his feet but the ship was dangerously overcrowded and there was a violent shuddering all of a sudden!

"HANG ON!" said Johnson over the comms. "We dropped out of... whatever that is... warp speed or whatever... and we're plunging towards a planet! Readouts say we're out of fuel!!! We're going to crash!!!"

Kid Kinetic uses his newfound strength to brace for impact. "This is just great," he thought. "Now I'm never going to get anything to eat!"

Darkness.

Then light, through strained eyes. A roaring, dizziness. Then the world came back into sharp focus and Kid Kinetic rolled to the side, throwing up!

"Ugh..." groaned someone nearby. "Dude..."

Matt/Bioforce pulled a face then groaned. Ryan wiped his mouth and looked about. Everyone was piled up together in the hold of the Valkyrie, which seemed pretty beaten up... wires trailed from smashed panels, pipes hissed, some of the bulkhead walls seemed... not very straight.

He recalled hanging onto something then making his way through a press of bodies to find Tim and make sure his wheelchair stayed down...

Tim... He glanced about, avoiding someone's foot who was stirring and picked through the mess of New Knights, Alien Allies and Space Station workers. Up through a gap he saw into the cockpit and the glass was shattered in there but still sealed, thankfully. Johnson was slumped at the controls.

"We crashed." muttered someone.

"Gee? You think?" said someone else. Female. Rachel/Shadowhawk.

He found Tim out of his chair but in one piece though still unconscious. Another pained sounding groan and he moved a spacers legs to see Ian/Transmutor. He was gritting his teeth in pain and Kid Kinetic could see why - his leg was broken!

"It... it worked?" he said, spluttering against the pain, teeth gritted.

"What worked?" asked Shadowhawk as she changed into her two dimensional form to move along the walls of the Valkyrie.

"When we were coming down I was transmuting the air into liquid helium around the front of the ship. Best thing I could think of. We're still alive so I guess it worked." said the new Knights leader.

Kid Kinetic climbed to the front/top of the Valkyrie. It was parked at an angle, nose pointing up. Checking Johnson's pulse he breathed a sigh of relief. Unconscious but alive. Looking out the window though....



"We're not in Kansas anymore." muttered Shadowhawk next to him...

Kid Kinetic climbed back into the wreckage. "We are our out of our depth. See if you can help me find Cutthroat or one of the other prisone...uh, refugees. They might know where we are."

The New Knights assembled at Ian's call outside the smashed Valkyrie.

Marionette, the robotic woman who could morph and change herself to augment any machine sat aside from the vessel, looking extremely banged up. Her 'skin' was cracked and exposed circuitry of a type beyond any Earth technology and one of her legs had been severed! She held the leg to the rest of it and Kid Kinetic saw slow wormlike tendrils reaching from one to another. They were very slow but it looked like she could recover from the damage eventually.

Kid Kinetic looked about. There were a couple of dozen spacers from the station and he finally found DepthCharge sat near Cutthroat and Moth Woman. Cutthroat was injured and was apparently nursing a broken arm...

"Ah hey kid!" he called out, slightly weak in the voice. "You made it! Nice one! The pilot did good, with Marionettes help. M Class planet, breathable, hopefully we should find food here. Fuel? Hmmm, not sure on that. I was going to ask Moth Woman to scout but there are so many of those flying things about... I think it could be dangerous."

"I need water." said DepthCharge. "I'm sure there will be some here, but chances are there are things in it which could hurt even me."

Moth Woman spoke up "This is a dangerous place. Everyone should be aware that even the plantlife could be fatal."

Cutthroat grimaced. "That will teach me to hold the bulkhead together. Tore a muscle. Hurts like hell. What's the next move kid?"

Kid Kinetic glanced around. The New Knights were stood apart and seemed banged up by alive. The Spacers were dazed and grouped together, arguing from the looks. The Valkyrie needed repairs, as did Marionette. The aliens he was stood next to seemed - with the exception of Cutthroat with a torn muscle - battered but operable. He looked about. They were in a dense jungle with trees that ranged from a few metres to hundreds of metres tall! Everywhere he looked there was something moving, from football sized insects to powerful looking seven foot tall monkeys loping in the trees to something distant that looked like a twenty foot high wolf which was feasting on the truck size corpse of some unfortunate grazing animal.

This place would be dangerous indeed!

"We should get Depthcharge into some water. He is looking a little peaked. I spotted a body a few miles away. Moth-Lady and I will go with him in case something attacks. You stay here and rest while Marionette..uh fixes herself."

Cutthroat glanced at the group of spacers and the New Knights. "Hmmm ok. Watch yourselves. This place wants to eat you. Literally."

Depth Charge grunted as Kid Kinetic helped him to his feet. He was so dehydrated he could barely speak more than a croak.

Moth Woman glanced about then spoke, almost musical with her voice. "I shall scout ahead." She took to the air.

Ian marched over. "Where do you think YOU are going?" he asked Ryan. "I'm the leader and I forbid you from leaving the group! You are NOT going anywhere! You may be fast Kid Kinetic but I can beat you every time, remember that!"

Kid Kinetic held up his index finger. "Correction. You are the leader of the New Knights, not our team.

Although given the severity of your injury it is likely Shadowhawk who should be in charge," he said with a shrug.

Kid Kinetic picked up a piece of metal debris from the wreckage. "But we do owe you one for breaking this vessel's fall. It likely saved all of the weaker lifeforms aboard." Using the enhanced strength granted by the symbiote, Kid Kinetic twisted the metal into a makeshift crutch. He tossed it at Ian's feet. "We are leaving. Stand in our way and we will twist something else."

Ian gaped. "You... you're leaving the team? You can't do this! I'm the leader! How... why are... wait. How did you get so strong?"

He looked down at the length of casually twisted metal, picked it up then grunted as it bent slightly then sprung back into shape. "I mean, I know you are practically super strong but this... I know metal. I know..."

He muttered "I know I'd struggle transmuting this."

"This isn't the last you hear of this Ryan! I'm talking to the others and when you get back there'll be trouble! I should restrain you now and..." he started.

Then Moth Woman stood behind him, looking down.

"What are you...?" he asked.

"Hey! What's going on!" shouted Matt/Bioforce. He flew over. "You guys aren't fighting again are you? Let it go Ian. We need to work together, not against each other."

Ian's nose flared and his eyes widened "I don't... uhhh whatever! I hope the creatures here eat you and save me a problem!" he said with a finger in Ryan's face.

"Snap that off if you leave it there." grunted Depthcharge, looking paler by the minute. "Let's go kid, we're wastin time." he grunted.

=========

"Which way did you say it was?" coughed Depthcharge as Moth Woman dropped from the sky.

She looked flustered - as much as her alien expression could project.

"There IS water through the trees up ahead." she said. "But there are grazing animals there that are... " she widened her hands "larger than houses. There's something else. They won't go much more than the edge of the water. There's something in there."

In the half hour it had taken to make progress through the thick cloying jungle they batted away football sized bugs, flying insects that had wingspans like an albatross and a plant like a venus fly trap save with long spiked tentacles trying to pull 'food' into its six foot maw. Even the trees crawled with foot long antlike insects that busily stripped the remains of some massive creature that must have been enormous but was now a half stripped rotting carcass that stank.

The trio walked warily through the jungle, moving branches aside and taking care not to touch anything or go near anything that could take a bite! It was slow going and when they got to the edge of the jungle they looked upon a glittering blue/green lake surrounded by jungle and short beach around it. The sky buzzed with insects and larger birds with four wings that swooped in to feed. The creatures nearest were a herd of about half a dozen and were indeed bigger than houses - maybe of the same kind that the carcass had been of.



The creatures were enormous.

Depthcharge cared nothing for that though. "Water... " he croaked, stumbling forward but Kid Kinetic held him back easily in his weakened state.

He couldn't see from here but Moth Woman had seen big dark shapes in the water and not far from the shore. Her ability to scout was hampered by everything in the sky - insects, birds, great flying lizards even jellyfish type creatures that looked to be one hundred feet across!

"Every time I take to the air I'm chased!" she said. "It's like everything on this planet views you as part of the menu!"

Kid Kinetic reached deep inside and tried to make contact with the symbiote.

"I/We must feed. Our ally needs water. This place wants to eat us. What do we do?"

A voice inside Kid Kinetics head responds almost immediately. 'Threat! Fight or flee!' which probably isn't much different from KK's own response. The size and ferocity of the creatures on this planet suggested that fighting them would cause as many problems as it solved if more creatures investigated.

Even the herbivores, like this creature, had evolved to be able to defend themselves with power and aggression.

"Must... have... water... " groaned Depth Charge. He wasn't blue any more, more a sickly pale white and Moth Woman frowned. "Are you not fast enough to run him out into the water, then run back before the creatures can intercept?"

Normally, maybe. Without food? he glanced at his trembling hands. Blood sugar levels were very low. His powers didn't work save for his enhanced superhuman abilities. Depth Charge wouldn't last much longer!

The water was only 100 feet away but it may as well be miles. And those fast dark shapes in the water. Even these creatures didn't dare venture far into those azure depths.

"I'll run for it." said Depthcharge who stood, wobbled then crashed to the floor. "I just need to... catch my breath." he rasped.

Moth Woman moved aside with Kid Kinetic. "His density has lowered to the point where I might be able to lift him and drop him in the water. Whether he will recover in time to get out of the water before he's eaten is another thing."

"No. There may be another way. Use your lightning on the shapes submerged in the water.  It will probably not be enough electricity to kill them but it should stun them long enough for Depthcharge to take a dip. We might even get lucky and frighten them all away."

Moth Woman looked doubtful but nodded.

Taking to the air she swooped towards the vast inland sea and Kid Kinetic winced as he saw huge insects swarm after her!

Several bulky looking wasps were several feet long and with a six inch stinger KK knew that just one prod would be bad news! Without his ability to purge his system of poison he'd be in trouble so would have to...

He turned.

Depth Charge lay slumped at the base of a smaller tree and moving towards him was the biggest spider he'd ever seen! It stood (from the floor) about six feet high and its body was at least that long! the legs were longer and it moved carefully towards what it saw as prey - Depth Charge! With pincers/fangs a foot long and dripping with venom, Kid Kinetic knew Depth Charge wouldn't be able to fight this thing off!

Kid Kinetic had no intention of allowing his to become a meal for some alien bugs. First, to take care of Depth Charge.

He snatched his teammate up by one arm and leg and sent him hurtling towards the water with a hammer throw. "Happy landing, chum!"

The giant spider would have to settle for something leaner, him!

OOC Kid Kinetic moves to Depth Charge, scoops him up and spins, throwing him towards the water!

(that's move, auto action and auto action for the round)

Seeing his alien team mate SPLASH into the water, Kid Kinetic turns... and finds that he's on the menu for the giant spider!

However, his reflexes seemed boosted even beyond what he would normally manage with his superhuman speed despite that his body was starving and without his powers at that moment!

OOC Giant spider attacks!

AV7 + 1D M Arts (equivalent, spiders don't know Kung Fu but they eat, sleep and make little spiders, so they are good at it) + Roll(3d12)+0:
4,5,9,+0 Total:14 (21) vs
OV13 + 2D Acrobatics + Roll(4d12)+0: 11,4,5,5,+0 Total:10 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 5,6,+0 Total:21 (24) Attack Missed

Initiative...

Roll(2d12)+0:
7 KK (24)
4 Spider (17)

Kid Kinetic is up!

Kid Kinetic tenses his muscles then springs forward to try and deliver a kick.

OOC Kid Kinetic Current Abilities (Alien Symbiote infused)

Dex:13	Str:10	Body:7
Int:  2	Will:2	Mind:5
Inf:  2	Aura:1	Spirit:6

Kid Kinetic steps up to attack the spider...

His mind seemed... clouded. Indeed, he seemed more... binary in his responses. Fight... flight... sure, but negotiate? placate? Bargain? That wasn't needed right now but it felt that whatever this thing attached to him added, it took something away too. He didn't feel like taking any exams at the school right now anyway...

The school! So far away, would he ever...

"Hisssss!!" he jerked back to the present with the spider arched over him and preparing to strike! Delivering one of his own, Kid Kinetic knew the odds of getting home, or even off this planet, were very long indeed!

OOC KK attacks!

Assume 1D Attack/1D defence split.

AV13 + 1D m Arts (1D Acro) + Roll(3d12)+0: 3,8,9,+0 Total:17 (30) vs
OV7 + Roll(2d12)+0: 2,7,+0 Total:9 (16) Hit +5 (to EV15)
Ev15 vs RV5=10 RAPs. Spider is DOWN and OUT

POW!

The spider flies backwards through the trees, tumbling and bouncing! It's immediately set upon by other insects large and small and in moments the main body is devoured! kid Kinetic gapes at that then turns to look at where Depth Charge was...

The ripples from the large muscled form are still pulsing outwards but there seemed no sign of him. The air swarmed with foot long insects and birds with twenty foot wing spans that hunted them, and the large creatures at the waters edge were steadily moving back now...

Kid Kinetic cupped his hands and called out to his remaining teammate. "Depth Charge is clear, Moth-Lady! Use your lightning on the wasps!"

He'd better get something to eat soon. Even fried bugs was starting to sound good.

Moth Woman looks in his direction in acknowledgement and starts blasting at the bugs that zoom in towards her.

Before long there were fried forms falling out of the air and Kid Kinetic started cautiously moving about to collect them! The smell was awful but it might be protein and presumably better than nothing.

Just then there was a HUGE eruption as Depth Charge sprang from the water with what looked to be a twenty foot long salmon attached to his leg! Well, 'Salmon' described the shape but the thing had multiple eyes and spiny fins along with a green skin and its powerful tail thrashed about!

Depth Charge looked more his usual colour and thumped with a wet smack onto the beach! Grazing creatures scattered whilst Depth Charge - and Kid Kinetic - pounding the thrashing fishes' head! In moments it was still and he extricated his leg. The sharp rows of teeth had shredded his pants but with his powers restored he was pretty much invulnerable to a certain degree again.

"Thanks kid." he growled. "This place is going to get us killed! You wouldn't believe the size of some of the creatures in this 'lake' - more like a sea!"

Suddenly there was a distant "SKREEEEEE!" and DepthCharge/KK turned. A dot in the sky was getting bigger. And bigger.

Best described as a Dragon it was homing in for lunch - the shark size fish that Depth Charge had nearly been swallowed by! And the unlikely allies were in the way!

OOC you have a few rounds to act before this giant swoops in. make no mistake. This thing is BIG!!!

Kid Kinetic started tearing off the insect legs and plucked the stinger out of the wasp's abdomen.

"Hey! I was going to eat that fish later! Can you use your powers to bring more of them to the surface? That beast looks hungry and one fish won't cut it."

Depth Charge frowned. "I suspect that if we stay here for too long we will be on the menu."

"I've been that way for a while." added Moth Woman. "I suggest we cut our losses. When that thing gets here it will clear the place of living creatures."

Depth Charge scowled. "She's right kid. Gotta be an easier way to grab a meal on this ... 'Death World'." He added "As for fish? The only way I can get them out of the water is if I offer myself up as bait. I can't talk to fish, and I can't imagine they have much in the way of interesting things to say..."

OOC Hang about, try to get more fish out the water or make a move and under the jungle canopy?