Editing DRYH: Ashes of Gods - Character 4

'''MY NAME IS . . .''' Kelly "Rainbow" Barnes

'''AND I WAS A[N] . . .''' Air Force Radio Tech
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'''WHAT WERE YOU DOING WHEN THE WORLD ENDED?''' I was in EE lab, putting together an old-timey breadboard. Suddenly, every light in the room flared up and burnt itself out... And the whole class was gone. Called home on my cell... it ran through, but Courtney didn't pick up. I ran out of the lab... that's when I realized there was this ominous purple glow following me. I didn't look back. I was afraid to look back. I had to get out, get home, somewhere. Ran past some other people, maybe a half dozen.. all of them ran from me, too. It wasn't until I saw my reflection in a big window that I realized the glow was me.

I used to be a radio tech in the Air Force. I was going to be an electrical engineer. My wife, Courtney, and I were going to adopt a kid... we'd even gotten connected to a pregnant girl, Leah, who was looking for parents to adopt the kid she knew she wouldn't be able to raise. Everything seemed to be looking up... and then the world was gone. She was gone. Her smile, her light... even if it weren't ending, the world would be all grey now.

But I got power. I don't know how, or why, and I know other people got power too. If this wasn't the apocalypse, I'd be some kinda superhero, or magical girl. Since it is... now I have to decide what that means. And I'm not going to let anyone make things worse.

'''WHAT DO YOU STILL CLING TO?''' People need a reason to go on. I don't know if I can ever fill the hole Courtney left, but maybe I can remind people of better times, and shine a light in the dark.

'''WHAT'S ON THE SURFACE?''' Ok, maybe I've cracked a little. Maybe I just want to let people think that. I'm bright. Trying to keep everyone upbeat. Assume the best in people, try and bring it out that way. Naieve, maybe even an easy target. That's me. It's not even all that far off from who I wished I could be.

'''WHAT LIES BENEATH?''' I don't tell people I was in America's wars, back when there was still an America. I know what it's like to wake up to explosions in the middle of the night, and wonder if the next was gonna knock the roof right in. Back then, I was never one of the ones who shot back, but now I've got to be. I've spent my whole life having to fight just to justify being who I am, and fuck if I'm going to crumple or run. People who try and screw me over are gonna find that out.

'''WHAT IS YOUR PATH?''' I want to push back the dark. Bring the world back. Bring people together. Hopefully that means inspiring them. Helping them. But it's a deadly world out there now, and everyone has to band together to protect themselves. If that means I have to become this wasteland's sparkliest warlord, or support one with the right ideas... It's not like I don't have experience.
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'''TOTAL FLIGHT RESPONSES''' 1

'''TOTAL FIGHT RESPONSES''' 4
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'''PRIMAL KNACKS'''
* Communicating. You learn to speak real clearly working the radio. But beyond that, how to get a message through when you're sure people you didn't want to hear are listening, to deliver bad news without crushing someone. And, of course, if anyone's still out there to chat on the radio, I can get on their wavelength.
* Bludgeoning. Sometimes talking doesn't work, and then you can't let anyone walk over you. Especially when you're here, you're queer, and ain't nobody happy about that. Machines, too, sometimes you gotta hit 'an until they work again... And hope they last just a few more minutes. And then hit 'em again. 

'''BREAK EDGE'''
* That thing you do that shouldn't EVEN be possible . . . Light. Bend it, make it, suck it away. I can desperately splash the world in rainbows, bend light away from someone's eyes so they can't see, or even cook someone with a laser of my hate.
Or see my wife's face again, while I can still remember it.

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