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Shock Mark (15) : Thunderstorms are common this time of year, but what’s not common is the number of people reported being struck by lightning. Strangely, people are surviving with only minor, if any, injuries at all. Being struck can feel like a static shock, or can feel like a sudden flash of heat, and targets are left with a strange lightning mark across their body. Though the marks will fade, for their duration–up to a full week after being struck, you might notice that you are more prone to static shocking yourself or others, and you may notice electronics charging or overcharging and malfunctioning. The marks can take longer to fade at player discretion, or players may choose for them to leave pale scars, but otherwise there are no lasting effects.
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Thunderstorms came with a host of problems; everything from traffic accidents to accidental drownings. There was even a chance of lightning strikes, although those were exceptionally rare. At least they were meant to be. Something bizarre was happening in the city… when was it ever not happening really… and more and more often they were getting calls from lightning strikes hitting people. The strangest thing was that the people survived with only minor injuries! All the data and the general medical knowledge of the world states that such a thing was downright impossible. A freaking miracle. Pat knew better. He knew it was the typical magical insanity of Destiny City. Maybe it was the convergence of so many magical beings. Or because the universe just liked messing with this particular city. Then again it was possible that the other places in the world just didn’t report such anomalies; it was easier to control the people if they don’t know they are being controlled afterall.
Pat had done a few runs for the various incidents that inevitably happen during the rains but he had yet to be called out for a ‘zapping’ as some of the other guys jokingly called it. Honestly, he hoped he never did. He didn’t want to even contemplate what it would be like if that was the one call that didn’t cause just minor injuries. He had witnessed many gruesome sights from just mundane accidents, they still gave him nightmares. Lightning strikes were way more than he wanted to deal with.
It was all on his mind as he sat at the windows of a cafe, absently watching a storm rage outside. The flashing of lightning and rumble of thunder adding to the general chatter of the space. He was nursing his coffee, waiting for the rain to stop before heading out, and just fiddling with the little gold star charm he had been given by a young girl a few hours ago. She was glad he was able to fish her balloon off of the ceiling and insisted he accept his ‘payment’. Pat didn’t have the heart to turn her away so he thanked her and will add it to the other charm he already had. He had hooked it onto his keys and was now just playing with it as he watched the storm rage.
A bright flash of color had him pause and really look outside, it didn’t take long to make out the shape of a kid in a fluorescent raincoat… or spot the car speeding down the street right for the child who was in a crosswalk. Not caring about anything the redhead jumped to his feet and raced outside, instantly getting drenched. He moved fast enough, pulling the child onto the sidewalk just as the car slid and skidded past, the look on the driver’s face was one of horror. Pat put the kid down and stood up, ready to head over to check on the driver who had finally come to a stop some yards away when a flash of light lit up his world while the crack of thunder drowned it all out.
A flash of heat burned across his shoulder and down his back, causing him to gasp at the sudden shock of it. It was over in a split second but it left him blind and deaf, unaware that he was quickly surrounded by people who tugged him out of the rain. It wasn’t until some time later that he put together everything that had happened.
His rapid exit from the store prompted emergency calls to be made as others saw what he had seen, so they were already on their way when he got struck by lightning. The light and sound caused the most damage, both issues faded after a while. He now sported a scar on his shoulder and down some of his back but other than that he was fine, much to the general confusion, but ultimate acceptance, of the docs at the hospital. It helped that he wasn’t the only case of ‘zapping’ that had happened. He had been given a week to rest and recuperate. Pat realized that his little electrical shock had left a few more mystical markers on him when he gave himself yet another in a long line of static shocks. It was massively annoying that's for sure. He also seemed to short out his sewing machine, tv remote, and radio. Pat gave up messing with anything electronic after turning on a light and the bulb blowing. <********… a week of just doing nothing but he couldn’t even watch tv or play on the computer. The next few days were really going to drag on.
