Chapter 51: Voltage Unleashed When the Storm Fights Back
The Voltage Vault pulsed with electricity — a high-tech fortress buzzing with neon light and raw power.
The storm inside Elliot was no longer a chaotic beast — it was a caged predator. Controlled. Focused. Waiting.
Blue lightning spiraled faintly around his fingers, crackling along his arms, but this time it didn't explode. It coiled. His Raijin Protocol was holding steady at 300% — no more wild surges, no more losing control.
And in his palm?
The Lightning Charge — a swirling ball of concentrated electricity — hummed.
Kain, still half-sprawled over a pile of plasma rifles from Elliot's earlier test punch, gave his fried cybernetic arm a flex and winced as another spark popped from the shoulder joint.
"Alright, kid," Kain said, grinning despite the smoke pouring from his arm, "you've officially gone from 'dangerous malfunction' to living lightning bomb."
The System buzzed in Elliot's head — now fully embracing its unhinged personality.
---
[New Status: Thunder God 2.0]
Boost: Stable at 300%.
Abilities Unlocked: Raijin's Charge — store and release electric shock through touch.
Pro Tip: With great power comes… even more ways to zap people.
---
Elliot flexed his hand — the Lightning Charge shifting and crackling in his palm — and for the first time, he didn't feel like a ticking time bomb.
He felt like a weapon.
Nova, standing by the glowing central console, her plasma rifle still strapped to her back, didn't take her eyes off Elliot.
The neon lines along her bioluminescent suit still pulsed faintly — a lingering side effect of the feedback loop they couldn't sever — glowing in sync with every flicker of static coming off Elliot's skin.
She noticed the way his storm didn't lash out anymore — it responded to him.
Her voice was calm but firm. "You've got control now… but for how long?"
Elliot met her glowing gaze. "Long enough."
The System buzzed again.
---
[Pro Tip: Confidence is key — unless you're on fire.]
— Sun Tzu… probably.
---
Kain smirked. "Alright, lovebirds," he said, shaking the static out of his arm. "Let's talk upgrades."
Nova shot him a glare. "Kain."
The System immediately jumped in.
---
[Achievement Unlocked: Sparks Are Flying]
Reward: +3 Reflex Boost.
Penalty: Unbearable romantic tension detected.
---
Elliot's eye twitched. "I'm going to reprogram this damn thing."
But before Nova could respond—
A deafening boom echoed through the hideout.
The far wall — reinforced steel layered with holographic camouflage — detonated, sending a wave of blue flame and shattered metal across the room.
Kain's grin vanished. "Oh… hell."
From the smoke emerged a strike team of corporate enforcers — sleek black combat suits lined with glowing red circuits, their plasma rifles already raised.
The leader stepped forward — tall, gunmetal jaw, with glowing red eyes beneath a polished black helmet. His voice echoed like cold steel.
"Surrender the Raijin Protocol."
Nova immediately unholstered her rifle, aiming straight at the leader's head. "You first."
The System buzzed in Elliot's head — giddy with chaos.
---
[New Mission: Shock Therapy]
Objective: Eliminate the corporate strike team.
Bonus: Unleash Lightning Charge for the first time.
Hidden Reward: Show them what happens when you touch a thunder god.
---
Elliot's storm growled.
Blue lightning spiraled down his arms, brighter and faster — but this time, he didn't fight it.
He embraced it.
Kain backed toward a console, typing furiously. "I can lock the blast doors — but you two need to hold them off."
Nova's glowing gaze didn't leave the strike team. "We can handle it."
The leader of the enforcers leveled his plasma rifle at Elliot. "You're coming with us."
Elliot stepped forward — the storm purring beneath his skin — and the Raijin's Charge in his hand flared brighter.
He smiled. "Come touch me and say that again."
The System lost its mind.
---
[Pro Tip: Consent is important — unless you're shocking the bad guys.]
— Zeus… probably.
---
The strike team fired.
A hailstorm of plasma bolts screamed across the room — glowing streaks of red and white — tearing through Kain's equipment and shattering neon glass.
But Elliot didn't dodge.
He absorbed it.
The Raijin Protocol roared — Elliot's storm devouring the plasma blasts mid-air — spiraling them into his Boost like a thundercloud feeding off a hurricane.
His output jumped from 300% to 400% in a single violent pulse.
The air hummed.
Electricity snarled around him — his veins glowing with raw power — and the Lightning Charge in his hand grew brighter.
The leader's visor flickered. "Impossible."
Elliot moved like a bolt of lightning.
He crossed the room in a blur — the storm howling around him — and grabbed the leader's wrist.
The Lightning Charge detonated on contact.
A massive bolt of blue energy surged through the enforcer's body — electricity snapping violently from Elliot's hand — and the strike team leader seized up, circuits in his suit overloading.
His plasma rifle short-circuited.
The air smelled like burnt metal and static.
The System buzzed.
---
[Ability Activated: Raijin's Lightning Charge]
Damage Dealt: Severe neural shock.
Status: One extra-crispy corporate goon.
---
The leader collapsed — his body smoking from the blast — twitching as sparks burst from his malfunctioning suit.
Nova didn't hesitate — she fired on the rest of the strike team, her plasma rifle screaming with green bolts, forcing the enforcers to scatter.
Kain howled with laughter. "*Oh, kid — you're a damn force of nature now!"
Elliot's storm didn't calm.
It wanted more.
His Boost surged again — 400% to 450% — the lightning in his veins begging to be unleashed.
Nova kept firing, her voice rough. "Elliot — stay with me."
The storm growled.
The enforcers regrouped, plasma cannons charging.
The System buzzed — now a chaos-fueled meme god.
---
[New Mission Unlocked: Stormbringer]
Objective: Eliminate the strike team before your Boost hits meltdown again.
Bonus: Use Raijin's Charge on at least 3 enemies.
Hidden Reward: Unlock the next level of thunder.
---
The storm wasn't just power now.
It was controlled destruction.
And Elliot?
He wasn't running from it anymore.
He was becoming the storm.