[open] an augment experiment

[rebuildyourruins]

Who: Thor + onlookers
Broadcast: nope
Action: the desert outside of Nariba Relia
When: March 18th

a. the desert (semi-open)

[If anyone thought Thor's call for information about augments a couple of weeks prior was all he intended to do about it, they would be wrong. To his credit, Thor has kept his intention mostly underwraps - he certainly didn't mention it on the network, and he only told a few people in advance what he was going to do. He is not in the mood to be dissuaded from trying, so the less people who have that chance the better.

Today is the day. A handful of people were told outright in person that he was going to go hit himself with lightning to try and burn out the augment. And for those on the Blue Fish, they might overhear him make this ludicrous statement and follow him to see what he's doing. It's a bit of a hike if they do - Thor walks from where the Blue Fish is parked outside of town into the desert, until they're at least a couple of kilometres out. If something does go wrong, he intends for there to be some distance between him and the city.

In a few minutes he'll get to work, but first he's going to watch one of those leg-snake abominations wobble past him with a look of sheer unhappiness.]

There is so much wrong with this.

[[NOTE: this prompt is open to anyone on the Blue Fish or who Thor contacted ahead of time regarding his lightning test.]]

b. lightning strikes twice - and thrice (open)

[Anyone in town will find it odd, perhaps, that storm clouds begin to roll into the sky in the middle of the day. The clouds rapidly form some ways out of the city, and the telltale rumble of thunder follows close behind. You'd barely have time to wonder if it might rain when lightning strikes.]



[Then it strikes again, and again, and again, like the sky has some personal grievance against one exact spot in the desert. Maybe there's a particularly frustrating tree out there?

After half a dozen bolts... it stops, as quickly as it had begun. Curiously enough the clouds themselves also break apart quickly, drifting away until the sky is just as blue and empty as it had been only minutes ago. If you head out there to see what the hell just happened, you'll eventually find Thor stomping back up out of the shallow valley he'd been in, muttering and rubbing at the back of his neck.]



Well, that didn't work...

Comments

[ a ]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki neatly settles himself on a pile of boulders as he props up his device to do some video recording. For research purposes. And blackmail. It's hard to say which one. ]

You grew up in space, get over it.

[rebuildyourruins]

Space never ruined snakes like this.

[He frowns over at Loki's placement of the communicator.]

What are you doing?

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki affects an innocent look. ]

Me? Nothing important, dear brother. Please, start any time.

[rebuildyourruins]

[SUSPICIOUS.]

Yes, in a minute. I'll need to move a bit further away first.

[Just in case something does go wrong.]

[wingedman]

[It had been a perfectly nice day to go flying. This is the first place with normal weather they've visited since Sam got his jetpack for Christmas, and he's been itching to go out and stretch his wings, so to speak. Which is exactly what he's doing when the storm blows in.

Needless to say, he's not in a very good mood when he follows the storm back to its source, because spending a few minutes being tossed around by wind kinda does that to a guy.]

Okay, I get that you can't really warn people in the area about this shit, but seriously, Thor, I just projectile vomited across half this fucking desert.

[...maybe not the best tone to take with someone he's met all of once at a party, oops. He's not really angry, per se, just annoyed.

Also there might be a familiar-looking shield strapped over the jetpack on his back. You know, just along for the ride.]

[rebuildyourruins]

[Thor wasn't really on board with warnings for this one, sorry Sam. It was even deliberate. So it hadn't occurred to him that someone might be flying around in the storm he'd whipped up. He does straighten up when Sam lands nearby, and if he thought he looked familiar before, what he says cinches it.]

Oh, hey. It's Wilson, right? I heard you were around.

[Apparently this takes precedent over the attitude.]

[wingedman]

[Sam at least understands that it's nothing personal, so his attitude is largely post-vomiting annoyance. Which, hey, if you tossed your cookies while in midair, you might be a little unhappy, too.]

Just Sam's fine.

[At least he's not getting Son of Wil.]

I heard you were here, too. Superhero rumor mill, and all that.

[rebuildyourruins]

[He can roll with that. Last names is just force of habit, and Steve still hasn't talked him out of it. Probably the teamwork angle.]

Yes, well, my timing was not ideal when I first arrived. It was nearly a month before I saw any of you at all.

[Belatedly, he waves a hand.]

And sorry about the storm.

[Losing your lunch that way would be a day-ruiner.]

b

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha isn't exactly nearby when Thor's struck. She wouldn't be. Seems like a risk.

But she's close enough that she can see exactly when it happens, and it's not too hard to figure out where.

And it's not too long before she shows up on the scene.]

Well, you're alive. That's a good start.

[rebuildyourruins]

[He understands the caution, and expects nothing less of Natasha. Despite how it all looks on the surface, Thor has given his own consideration to how to do all of this, and tried to whittle down ways it could go wrong. The location being one of them. He's never going to ask someone to stand next to him while he hurls lightning around; most people just aren't built to handle that, human or otherwise.

It's clear he's not pleased as he comes back out of the desert, but his displeasure lessens a bit when he sees Natasha approaching. He drops his hand from his neck and shakes his head.]

I wouldn't call it much of a start, since it went nowhere.

[outstandingbalance]

No luck at all then? You weren't hurt—no blackouts or migraines?

[Because if the answer is no, it seems to her it could have been a lot worse.]

[rebuildyourruins]

[He shakes his head, though not as emphatically as he could.]

It didn't feel as though anything was really there. I felt no resistance to it. But I did get a flash of that false emotion it can give you when you try removing it, on the last strike.

[Why that one? He's not sure. Maybe because in his frustration, his thoughts had shifted more from 'burn it' towards 'get it out'. Crossing his arms, he looks back over to the valley he was in not minutes ago.]

Whatever the reason, it failed.

B

[mikangirl]

[A storm suddenly appearing out of nowhere? That definitely snags a navigator's attention. It's the first weird thing that's happened here that's not static, and even if the storm is over and done before she can possibly arrive (also weird), she still wants to know what the hell.

So when Thor comes stomping out of his valley she's heading his way, backpack full of groceries slung over her shoulder.

Uh. Hmm. Location seems right.]

Hey. Did something happen out here?

[rebuildyourruins]

[Nami's sudden appearance does stir Thor out of his grumbling, looking up at her with some faint surprise.]

What? Oh, you mean the storm?

[mikangirl]

Yeah, I mean the storm.

[It appeared and disappeared and it's not like she hasn't seen it before, she does it herself on a regular basis, but--

Wait a sec.]

You did that?

[Because you're awfully nonchalant about this.]

[rebuildyourruins]

[He remembers her now, the woman who replied to his broadcast a couple of weeks ago. The one who had mentioned lightning, in fact. Thor puts his hands on his hips and nods.]

Yes, that was me. I was testing something.

B

[alwayscomeback]

[He still doesn't strictly approve of this, but when the Literal God of Thunder wants to do something, there's not exactly much a mere mortal can do to stop them. So, he'll be standing at the top of the valley entrance, watching with folded arms, concerned. It's different from how firebenders do it- the lightning, which does nothing to ease his worries. ]

Can we pretty please add this to the pile of things that won't turn the augments off and maybe not do that any more now?

[rebuildyourruins]

[True enough. Any protest Sokka might have made earlier would have been met with a nod, and a statement that he was going to do it anyway. When Thor gets hold of an idea, it's fiercely difficult to shake it any other way.

Thor can't quite keep the annoyance off his face when he comes back, though at very least it's directed somewhere other than Sokka. Though he might get some collateral from it.]

It was worth the effort, as something that had not been tried. I needed to know for myself.

[alwayscomeback]

[Sokka can live with collateral, he's used to it. He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck, where his own augment sits. ]

Well, yeah, I guess. It's electronic, so it makes sense that maybe lighting would have done something to it.

How do you feel? Any side effects?

B

[ginger_firebird]

[A sane and rational man stays away from things like sudden storms that dissipate quickly after discharging several lightning bolts in a row. Mantis isn't a sane man by any means, therefore he cautiously approaches the epicenter of the unnatural event. Seeing someone coming back from all the commotion is not surprising at all, but what he hears is.]

What did you just do? [He gestures to where the stranger had just come from.] That could be seen and heard for miles.

[rebuildyourruins]

[Forgive Thor, he's a bit distracted from both the light show and his own disappointment. So when Mantis speaks up he glances at the oddly-dressed man, a little surprised.]

Lightning usually is. This place seems particularly lacking in any weather changes too.

[ginger_firebird]

[Mantis narrows his eyes slightly and gestures to the landscape surrounding them.]

Deserts are like that. This place likely doesn't receive rain very often. You, however, made that lightning storm. How did you do that?

b

[noprophecies]

[well, that's odd. Lightning doesn't normally work like that. Perhaps a development in the mystery of this planet? That's the only reason she decides to head on out there, despite her aversion to the desert.

. . . oh. It's only a lightning idiot do stupid things, or so she can only assume]

What in the world were you trying to do?

[rebuildyourruins]

[He's going to be disappointing a lot of mystery solvers today. Thor was preoccupied with his annoyed musings, so when he glances up at Tempest's approach it's with some mild surprise.]

I was hitting myself with lightning.

[Ah yes, that explains everything.]

[noprophecies]

[oh, yes, that absolutely explains everything. It says as much on her face]

Oh, is that all. [deadpan] If you wanted to get hit with lightning, I can do that for you as well. It has been a while since I zapped an idiot.