The Big Boom

1. Kaze Fades and touches Sonny-Boy so he Fades, too.

   "Richter, his Kanji ... convince them ...." she whispers through lips tight with effort.

   She hopes the lovely Gaijin will leave the room because if he -does- explode, and she can't hold him, they'll all be exploring the courts of Diyu together.

   Sonny-boy ties to direct the explosion as high and as far away as he can, to hopefully keep people from getting hurt.

   WHA-THOOM!

   Every speck of Sonny-boy's Power explodes up and out of him at once. The space between him and the explosion isn't damaged, but it does crackle and spit as the dust in the air burns to ash.

   The explosion above the hotel washes all other shadows out of existence. Its noise is a train wreck, and a heartbeat later a thunderclap like a bursting steamship knocks everyone down.

   Every window in the hotel blows in at once, and the brick structure flexes, which is very bad for a brick building. Mortar sprays from between the bricks.

   Sonny-boy has successfully directed a surge ten times greater than he has ever summoned up before. He feels, and is, completely drained of Power ...

   ... except that his connection to the Power is still there, almost silent below the heaving of his chest and the roaring in his ears. He's still Active. And a trickle of Power is beginning to recharge his Boomer talent, although it will probably be a whole day before he's ready to pop any more caps.

   Richter takes his hands away from his ears and closes his wide-open mouth.

   “Kanji?” he says, more loudly than really necessary. “Sonny-boy’s got kanji? Since when? Nobody tells me anything …”

   He runs to the window.

   “Sky, Janet, Michael! We’ve got nobody left alive up here! How about you?”

   He looks at Belle, snapping out a finger.

   “Belle, check on Voinovich. He may be our only surviving lead!”

   “Kaze, how’s Sonny-boy? Do you need me to carry him?”

   He looks around with wild eyes, as if seeking someone else to ask questions of.

   “No! This would be the WORST time to see what’s in his head! Why don’t you go back where you belong until I TELL you to come out, Muttlecraunch!”