From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

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"I'm totally gonna taze you, bro!"
Nodeswitch
Player: @rpgramen
Origin:	Science
Archetype:	Blaster
Security Level:	41
Personal Data
Real Name:	Leslie Cooper
Known Aliases:	Cooper, Coop, Les, Nodeswitch, Node
Species:	Human/Male
Age:	16 (May 4th, 1993)
Height:	5'8"
Weight:	140 Lbs.
Eye Color:	Brown
Hair Color:	Brown
Biographical Data
Nationality:	American
Occupation:	Teenager/Crime Fighter
Place of Birth:	Campbellsville, Kentucky
Base of Operations:	Paragon City, Rhode Island
Marital Status:	Single
Known Relatives:	Dr. Isaac Cooper (Father), Dr. Madeline Cooper (Mother), Douglas Cooper (Elder Brother, Deceased)
Known Powers
Electrical Blast/Electricity Manipulation/Electrical Mastery
Known Abilities
Lightning Bolt, Ball Lightning, Short Circuit, Aim, Zapp, Tesla Cage, Voltaic Sentinel, Thunderous Blast, Electric Fence, Charged Brawl, Lightning Field, Lightning Clap, Thunder Strike, Power Sink, Shocking Bolt, Hover, Fly, Grant Invisibility, Invisibility, Swift, Health
Equipment
Costume, Cellular Phone, Pocket PPD Police Scanner
The writing style used here is vaguely Dickens-esque, wherein Nodeswitch is both narrating as well as being described in the third-person by an omnipresent force. In some cases, it may be hard to distinguish between who's saying what, therefore, it's generally a good point-of-reference that any time a "speaker" isn't actively addressed in any way (i.e. "... said Bob" or "... retorted the woman in red") that it is, in fact, Nodeswitch speaking. In addition, all narrative pieces are italicized and certain actions (like action phrases and time-skips) are bolded and occasionally italicized.

The Amazing Nodeswitch

Issue #1 -- Origin

Paragon City. It’s, like, chuck full of super-people. No, seriously. Like, if you look out of your window on a clear day, one out of, like, four times, you’re bound to see someone super, whether they’re in costume or not, or even if they, like, know they're super yet. You live here long enough though and I guess it, like, doesn’t really seem all that special, ya know? You’ve seen one guy lift up a car, and you’ve totally seen em’ all, if you know what I mean… but you’re, like, always amazed when someone super-speeds by or a petite chick hurls a totally massive bus at some of those Circle of Thorns weirdoes or somethin'.

I actually wanna take that, like, last thing back. Paragon City's an awesome place, and the super-dudes and super-dudettes totally make it, like, a larger-than-life rollercoaster ride of coolness, even if we get the occasional uproar.

Five Hours Earlier...

“Gimme your lunch money!” the muscular jock demanded, his hand firmly grasped around the already torn black Metallica shirt clinging to the thinner kids' physique like a child holding onto his mother.

Hey, check it out! That's me there, Leslie Cooper... not the dude, like, tryin’ to get a free meal, but the one totally getting jacked there in the hallway in front of everyone. Yeah, I wasn’t exactly the first to get picked for kickball, if ya know what I mean. The big guy in all-red holdin’ me up is, like, a self-proclaimed Hellion initiate and generic high school bully at Galaxy City High. You’d totally think that going to a school in Paragon City wouldn’t have much, ya know, gang activity – even if it is just a bunch of, like, posers – in its educational system. Guess the heroes have, like, better things to do than patrol schools and stuff though, so who can blame 'em.

“I said hand it over, nerd! Now!” The thug was getting impatient; his right-hand now balled into a tight fist to accentuate his ultimatum. The crowd around the two murmured in classic form, their hushed whispers louder than they'd actually realized as their voices carried acoustically through the hallowed halls for all to hear.

Nerd. Man, did I hear that one a lot.

“Bite me.”

I always did have a problem poppin' off at the mouth when I totally shouldn't. If nothin’, I had my pride.

POW!

Another day, another day without lunch. It was, like, a regularly scheduled program: I'd go to school, get my lunch money, like, taken, then cut gym, history, and study hall to come home early. Don't get the wrong idea or, like, anything; I wasn't all "Boo hoo! My life, like, totally blows! I'm gonna cut my wrists!" or anything. It wasn't about the money and stuff, or bein', like, a martyr or tough guy. Bare bones, it was, like, the principles of the thing... you just don't let people walk all over you. 'sides, not like I needed gym or two hours of sleep to pass anyway.

Four-and-a-Half Hours Later...

SLAM!

"I'm home." Leslie bellowed through the impressive three-story home, dropping his pack at the front of the door without any regard for order or neatness despite the unused hook on the wall. The welcoming silence was customary in the Cooper home, a clear indication that his parents were busy with their own devices. Like clockwork, the bedraggled youth maneuvered his way towards the wall-phone along the corridor, Les' daily task of ordering out for Paragon Pizza in lieu of missed lunch that same afternoon like watching a repeat of some children's cartoon for the umpteenth time.

Like I said, it definately wasn't about the money. My dad's Doctor Isaac Cooper, a respected, like, scientist and Think-Tank member for the Crey Corporation. Countess Crey totally paid big bucks to get my old man to move out here just before the Rikti Invasion, and practically, like, quadrupled his income to make sure he stayed. She even bought us this totally massive house here in Galaxy City as incentive -- Crey Corp. pays well, dude. Mom's, like, practically the exact opposite. She's a doc too, but not in science or bio-whatever. Music's her thing, and she can totally play more instruments than, like, there're countries in the world. Both of em' like their work and junk, so even when they're home it's like they're totally not.

"--t finished, Isaac? Are you sure it's going to work?" a nasally male voice inquired through the phone. It didn't take a rocket scientist to deduce the telephone was ocupado. Leslie would have all but hung the phone up at that point if he hadn't overheard his father on the other end...

"I've done the math, Marcus. This new motherboard and processor combination I've designed is both compact enough to fit into your typical home computer, but faster than any in the world. If Crey approves the design specifications, we can implant one in every Crey Corporation laboratory in the world, drastically increasing research capabilities, speed, and efficiency a hundred-fold. Just think, Marcus -- the leap from gigahertz to terahertz in less than a decade, and it's all thanks to the Rikti." Isaac's voice was condescending, obvious through the use of how he strained each and every syllable. "I'll have it in the office first thing tomorrow."

What can I say? I'm a techy-nerd. Nope, not super-smart or watch a bunch of Star Trek or anything, but computers are my thing; Built my first PC from scratch with my, like, big bro when I was seven, and mastered Perl at ten. It's what I did to unwind, ya know? ... play games, program stuff, and build computers, that is. I won't totally put you to sleep with the details and junk, so to sum it up: terahertz equals really frickin' fast. Like, REALLY frickin' fast.

Yeah, you might think I'm a loser or an idiot or somethin', but I had to see for myself. My old man was predictable, and I didn't, like, need to hear where he stored it, since he always put it in the same place every time, thinkin' I, like, didn't know or somethin'. Down in the hallway of the first floor foyer where, like, the stairs are, there's a small little compartment thing built into the side of em'... like where you'd store stuff in an attic or something, just, like, under your stairs. Go figure.

With a creak, the small, wooden panel slid open with ease. There it was: an impervium, code-locked briefcase that looked like something you'd store a thermo-nuculear device in if it was in a Steven Segal movie. With a flurry of overly-practiced hand motions and aptly ununique keystrokes, the pressurized metallic case popped open with a hiss. Inside sat an incredibly alien, albeit familiar looking piece of typical computer hardware. It was massive in comparison to other motherboards... how Leslie's father had come to the conclusion that it'd fit into your typical desktop was beyond his comprehension. As hard as it might seem to believe, the device looked more... more... organic than it did technological. Leslie wasn't in the least bit stunned at its appearance; his father was a super-scientist of sorts, afterall.

It was the Heidi Klum of PC Hardware, baby. I couldn't help it... I had to give it a whirl, man. It was a once in a lifetime chance! 'sides, everything needs to be beta tested before it's released, right? I was doin', like, my old man a favor. I'd put it back before he realized it was missin' anyway... he wouldn't even notice!

Stealing away the prototype design and himself back to his room, Leslie fished around beneath his bed for a computer case (circa 1994) large enough to house the significantly larger motherboard. Like a master craftsman, it took the adolescent lad only half an hour to construct a working computer, utilizing the latest parts -- sans the bulky, all-metal case from Compaq.

I was so stoked, man. It was all set-up, and all I had to do was, like, push the button and turn it on...

With bated anticipation, Coop pressed the small metallic, circular "Power On" button on the top of the massive frame, his eyes wide with surprise as the unexpected happened...

KKKKZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTT!

... and then I screamed.

Issue #2 -- Shocking Developments

Due Friday, December 26th