Calypso shakes her head.

"The one who is controlling my storm is coming...I can feel it, up in the air...perhaps at the storm's heart. I am not sure exactly where, but definitely coming closer and high up."

"When he is here, he can direct the lightning at will. Rods will only help against natural lightning."

Seven frowned, concentrating hard. She then leaned forward, tapping Doug on the shoulder.

*cage*

She spread the fingers of both hands and held them in front of her face, peering through the gaps.

Raider scratches his head in thought for a moment, *Well, it is a good idea, but i-beams are too large for me to shift out of phase and without being able to do that I can't see how you would get them into place without being fried first. I could to some smaller rebar through, even maybe up to some 1" thick stuff, only problem is it wouldn't stand up to nearly as many blasts as an I-beam, of course I don't suppose it matters if it gets a little melty as long as it works.*

Doug shifts the link to Seven to see what she wants, then he shifts it back to Raider.

*Seven suggests setting up a metal cage. Any idea what she's talking about?*

*As for me being fried, that's probably not a problem. I've been playing "tag" with KB for weeks and I've really gotten a lot tougher. Electricity just kind of rolls off me.*

*More to the point, I think we need to do something. Directed blasts might by pass rods but the general storm won't.*

Doug says outloud,

"I think Raider is going to direct me on how to set up something that might help. Some form of rod or maybe a cage."

Catching KB's eye he says,

"I'll be fine. If it gets too much, I'll come back in, or Raider will make me unsolid."

Raider nods. We've got plenty of re-bar, you can twist the ends and make a cage. According to Tesla, anyone surrounded by a metal cage could survive any amount of electricity without harm so lets make it happen. I'll remain incorporeal and figure out the locations to plant our bars to form the cage while you fetch the steel from the supplies. Everyone else should be safe down here in the meantime.

Courier nods and sends back,

*So it's kind of a super-lightning rod? Works for me. And we should look up Tesla after the storm and see what she has to trade.*

Doug activates flight and then starts to gather materials, and follow Raider's instructions on how to set it up.

Raider sends *Tesla was... never mind. Yeah, super lightning rod that protects anything inside.* After that he will float out through the walls and scout out the area for the best places to plant the rods.

Seven nodded, settling back. A house was a big target after all. If there was a cage around it, the cage was more likely to be hit.

A thought hit her. Closing her eyes and squeezing her fists, she tried sending another thought after Doug.

*cable*

He could hear what the others were saying inside, and he agreed. Not because he thought the idea would work, but because he was ignorant of lightning, other than it was dangerous. I might as well head back inside until needed. he thought to himself over the constant crashing of the storm around him. Gregory reached out and yanked the door to the shop open and headed into the basement.

Calypso just watches the others bemusedly, clearly not sure how all this is going to help.

"Cage? What cage? What are you all talking about?"

Doug sends to Raider,

*I caught a thought from Seven, something about "cable" or "cables". Any clue what she meant?*

Raider brightens and returns the thought, *Yes, of course, I should have thought of that myself. All we need to do is erect a few poles around the perimeter of the house and string cables along them. If the poles are taller than the house they should redirect the lightning into the ground. That should take care of the immediate problem. Then it will be up to Calypso and KB to get rid of this thing.*

Calypso, not privy to the mental communications, nevertheless intuits that there's talking going on from the change in expressions. Her own expression darkens.

"What are you talking about in your head? What are you planning?! What cages?!"

Doug picks up two I beams, tucks them under one arm, adds to that a spool of metal cable and says,

"Someone named Tesla told Raider how to build a super lightning rod that should make the entire building immune to electricity. Basically you take some I beams and criss cross them with cable, making a cage."

Doug attempts to open the door to the storm and steps outside into the storm. If successful he pulls his gear through and then closes the door, and gets busy.

A bit mollified, Calypso calms down, though she still seems quite skeptical.

"Even if that is true, you should think twice before doing it. This is not a natural storm. If there is one building, one building out of a whole city, that is protected from lightning...then it will attract HIS attention. He will think..." she taps her temple, "...why this building? What is it hiding? I must see."

"And no wires and beams will protect this house from the fury of this storm unleashed."

She shrugs then and adds, "Of course, if he already knows where we are, then it doesn't matter anyway unless we can stop him."

On the way out, Doug comments,

"I'd rather have an imperfect shield than be helpless."

Hearing Courier and Calypso argue, Seven shrugged. If whoever was controling the storm was going after the house, they'd have to aim at the cage too. Catching the tip of her tail, she started stroking it as she looked at KB, smiling shyly.

Passing through the walls Raider emerges outside into the dark storm. Being all but a ghost the cold wind and snow has little effect on him as he walks around the building on top of the drifting snow.

Inside KB has followed Doug upstairs, Seven and Calypso behind her as the basement empties out as quickly as it filled. "Doug don't go out there this isn't safe," KB pleads as Doug prepares to head outside. The door opens on its own as Gregory enters, an artic blast preceeding him and chilling everybody to the bone.

"That storm is wrong, I don't want you to get hurt." She continues as Doug prepares to open the overhead garage door so that he can bring the massive pieces of metal outdoors.

Before he can reply a flash like the noon sun floods the room followed by the crash of a thunderbolt. The house all but shudders as eletricity courses into the building. The lights flick on and off and a visible field of electricity can be seen traveling from appliance to appliance as though looking for an outlet or a specific device.

From the look on Doug's face he is about to say something along the lines of, "what could possibly happen?" then...

Doug frowns and watches the electricity for a moment, glad he hadn't had time to say anything.

Doug says,

"I think doing increases our survival odds. Thanks to working out with you I'm really resistant to electricty, I'll have backup, and we even have a Healer here. I should be fine, and if I'm not I'll have Raider pull me out."

Demonstraiting his electrical resistance, Doug puts on of his metal rods into the electrical field to short it out.

The hairs on the back of Seven's neck and along her tail were standing up as the lightning invaded the house. Seeing Doug reaching out to ground the electricity, Seven's eyes stared wide-eyed at him but it was too late....

Courier hefts one of the lengths of rebar like a spear and watches as it moves about. Finally he strikes lancing the rebar into, what he hopes, a useless piece of equipment in Raider's garage. The electric field stops and for a moment simply plays over the device.

With no warning a massive bolt shoots up the rebar and into Courier. As his muscles clench under the torment of the elctrical attack he twisting involentarily and the rebar snaps under his massive strength. Courier half spins and thuds to the floor, the other rebar and beams clattering onto the floor in a noisy heap.

KB dashes toward him and cradles his head on her lap. "Are you ok?"

Ten levels of bashing damage, have a nice nap ...

Shockingly Doug has no comment as the world fades to black.

Calypso scoots over to Courier's side and feels for his pulse. On finding it, she takes a sigh of relief, then slaps his unresponsive face.

"Idiot," she accuses. "Maybe now you'll think before you act, hmm? You're lucky you still can."

After a deep breath, she seems to calm down and look around.

(Who else is in here? Raider went outside?)

Seven eyed the spot where the lightning got 'pinned'. Was it just electricity? Or could it be a nova or aberrant?

Gregory had not really been playing attention to what Doug had been doing. He was mesmerized by the electricity playing in the wiring. For him, it was another light show like the one outside. So when the rebar clattered to the floor, Gregory jumped from where he had been seated.

"Are you ok?!" he shouted, as he moved towards Doug.

He saw the some of the others had already reached him and they looked relieved, which meant that Courier was still alive. He ran to where he hung up the coat, and put it on Courier's supine body.

"So what do we do now?" Gregory asked, his voice filled with concern.

For a moment the room was quiet save the sound of the storm raging outside. KB cradled Courier's head as Calypso and Gregory looked on worried. Seven peered at the section of rebar, now lying discadred on the floor. It was slightly blackened at both ends but otherwise seemed no worse for wear. The device Courier had speared continued to spark and spit electric arcs, almost as though Courier's damage was no more than an affront. Soon the electric field moved on, flitting about the room from device to device before moving out into the house itself.

Seven grabbed Calypso's arm and pointed at the strangely jumping lighting. Pointing downwards, she shook her head. Pointing outside, she nodded.

Calypso frowns, trying to puzzle it out.

"You are saying, the lightning went outside, not into the ground?" she hazards.

Seven shook her head, then pointed into the house.

She patted Doug, then Lily, then pointed outside. Giving Calypso a hug, she got up and crossed over to the interior doorway and cautiously looked inside for the traveling ball of lightning.

"Be careful!" Calypso urged, and quickly moved up to Seven to try to squeeze in front of her.

"We don't know what that thing is...or why it's here. We know it's dangerous though."

She looks around, seeking water in enough quantities to form adequate defenses and attacks, should it become necessary.

KB continues to cradle the uncoscious Courier as Gregory looks on. "Gregory, can you go outside and get Raider, he can heal Courier," she says hoping that Raider will not be too hard to find in the blizzard.

Meanwhile Seven and Calypso re-enter the house proper. WIthin they see the strange electrical field coursing around the house popping up in various appliances before disappearing within the walls once more. Calypso is dismayed that the only standing water available is from the toilet and that to activate the sink would require moving through the kitchen which is full of small powered items. Before either can react a second bolt hits the house, rattling the structure and blacking the lights out.

****

Outside Raider continues making note of where it would be best to plant the lightening rods. A few minutes ago the house had been struck but all appeared well. It still seemed a wise choice if the aberrant could control the storm and the lightening to harden their defenses, he had no idea if the old structure could take another hit without catching fire or simply shaking itself apart. As he pondered this another bolt of lightening seemed to leap up and away from the house forking out into the a storm.

"Sure", Gregory replied, giving KB a slight smile. "I'll need my coat back though." Gregory grabs the coat that he had thrown over Courier. He raced upstairs and back out into the freakish snowstorm.

Once outside, Gregory scanned the skies around the shop for Raider. Once he locates him, he will begin yelling. If the yelling does not get Raider's attention, Gregory will make snowballs and toss them at him until he responds.

Raider was already heading for the house when Gregory emerged from the doorway. Rather than diving straight through the wall and into the house, he moves past his fellow nova so that he is sure to be seen in his ghost-like form. Once inside he quickly scans the room and notes the damage and sighs. After he notices the group gathered around Courier he will move to the fallen nova's side and examine him to see if he needs healing.

Seven instinctively grabbed Calypso as the second bolt shook the house, holding on tightly as the thunder roars around them.

After a few moments, Seven opened her eyes, turning to peer anxiously into the darkness.

Not seeing any other option to quickly awaken Courier, Raider will focus on healing what damage he can quickly. (Healing the bruising lvls) Once he wakes up, "What happened, I saw lightning strike the building once then, it reversed and shot up into the sky?"

Over an ocean Doug is hauling a triple sized mule filed with rare spare parts and even rarer medicines which he'd gotten for a song and had already sold to a new city. KB floats off to his left and right and asks if he'd like another helping of ice cream. Doug lands on top of a tower over an unexplored wilderness and answers a mental phone call....

Doug says, "Huh? Ow!?"

His hands hurt enough that Doug glances at them. As he watches the blisters that were quickly starting to cover them fade and heal.

(Regen lethal damage)

Raider is easily able to reset Courier's jangling nerves and the big man quickly wakes.



He quickly begins to regenerate, qunatum energy flowing into cells forcing rapids mitosis and repair. The burns are quickly repaired and Doug begins to feel much better on the whole.

Outside the storm seems to pick up. Gusts are now battering the house, shaking the structure alarmingly. Lightening blasts begin to strike the house and the immediate area rapidly with the ferocity of a wild animal striking out when enraged.

Calypso holds onto Seven, trying to give her the comfort she seems to need...at the same time though, she's getting uneasy.

"Maybe we should go back below," she says as the lightning and thunder come faster and faster. "This is not a good place to be now."

Doug looks around and takes stock of his current situation.

*Kelly, ice cream, ocean, landing, it's dark?... no there was a big ball of electricity. Right. Raider was outside, now he's in, no one else is lying around dead so they must have been smart enough not to touch to the ball.*

Doug says,

"There was a big ball of electricity wandering around and I put a metal rod through it. After a moment it shocked me... hard. Much worse than I've felt from KB. Next think I know I'm lying on the ground waking up."

Doug attempts to switch the link back to Raider to give him his observations of the ball, and he continues to heal.

Raider accepts the link and ponders what Courier has shown him. "I'll have to think about this for a minute, but that certainly sounds like something probing our home possibly looking for something, or maybe just looking to cause us trouble." He continues to consider as he leads everyone back toward the basement. (analyze weakness on the storm/ball of lightning)