Kinetic Adventures

A Troper Work created by Metal Shadow X.

In 2010, 18 year old Roxanne Kaizen, inspired by her sister’s abduction as a child and the return of her ambitious childhood friend Macario Valdez, uses powers inherited from her extraterrestrial mother to become Star Lass, a Kinetic crime fighter. Rio eventually joins her as Willpower; though nowhere near as powerful, he attempts to help Roxy with her hero duties and personal life. Eventually, suppressed feelings between them emerge when Rio introduces Roxy to his schoolmate Claire who later becomes the Cannon Queen. By the end of part 1, they are accompanied by two young heroes Claire had started tutoring: Merle (Crow) and Tom (Sonic Servo).

The stories revolve around these characters and their lives as both crime fighters and members of society.

Here is a link to the chapters, of which there are currently seven of.

The series is likely to consist of four parts with a total of sixty chapters:
 * Part 1 introduces the major characters, heroes and villains alike. (Chapters 1-13; between Summer 2010 and June 2011, excluding Chapters 2 and 4)
 * Part 2 expands more on the main characters, now called the Star Alliance, and their pursuing battle against the Anti-Squad and everyday life. (Chapters 14-25; between June and August 2012)

A timeline [WIP, spoilers] found here.

Not to be confused with the Xbox 360 game Kinect Adventures.

NOTE: I am currently open to any ideas or suggestions. --

Part 1 chapter list
I'll list a few short summaries for unreleased chapters.


 * 1. A Star Lass Is Born
 * 2. Shadow and Sorcery
 * 3. Heroic Willpower
 * 4. As the Crow Flies
 * 5. Third Wheel Syndrome
 * 6. The Servo Solution
 * 7. Divide By Rio
 * 8. Fast Learning - Roxy helps Rio improve on his speed in order to become stronger. Meanwhile, Claire tutors a pair of middle school students.
 * 9. Enter the Dragon - Claire ends up befriending Tom and Merle, much to her dismay. That night, Crow and Servo work with Necromancer and they end up encountering an intimidating crime boss.
 * 10. The Astute Astra - Rio meets a new student who turns out to know Roxy.
 * 11. Bye Bye My Darling [Act 1] - Claire follows Dusk, Crow, Necromancer and Servo who have a lead on Killspot and her boss. After a nuclear accident, the corporate villain Ashley Ozborn becomes the supervillain Biocide. Claire begins to regret coming along after Biocide deals a blow to Servo that could cost the young hero his life.
 * 12. Bye Bye My Darling [Act 2] - The next day, Roxy and Rio are called by Claire to come to the hospital as she tells them what's happened. Leila gives her young ward some shocking news and Claire and Tom become closer, which upsets Merle.
 * 13. Is It Summer Yet? - About a week later, the OzCo board hires newly graduated Astra to take control. She proceeds to turn the business around by finding a way to help everyone and not just the company. Meanwhile, after graduating as well, Claire asks the now-disabled Tom to help her become a superhero like him. Then Roxy and Rio meet with Claire, Merle, and Tom; the five decide to form a team.

Part 2 chapter list
This list is subject to change.


 * 14. A Fool's Game - The Star Alliance is tricked by the Anti Squad into making a dent in their reputation.
 * 15. Up to Speed - A recap shows all the stuff that's happened in the past year between parts 1 and 2.
 * 16. The Old Master - Orion, a Celestian warrior who's known as "White Dwarf", selects Roxy as his student when he sees her work as Star Lass.
 * 17. Turning Over An Old Leaf - Caitlin and Killspot have decided to go straight and ask Crow how to go about doing it.
 * 18. Burning the Midnight Rubber - Scaremonger calls upon an old friend of his and Astra's to help him defeat Willpower: a young space pirate who has the ability to stretch herself.
 * 19. A Digital Dilemma - Servo's programs are being threatened by a tween hacker known only as "Gadget Girl". Said hacker happens to be the prime candidate for replacing Killspot.
 * 20. Acting Up - Merle is called upon by her school's summer theater group to replace an actor who's become ill. Meanwhile, Biocide wants revenge for Killspot's defection and goes after Crow despite Astra's orders against it.
 * 21. Willpower Unleashed - While training with Crow and Servo, Willpower begins to acquire new powers. Roxy worries that this development might have Rio become arrogant, not to mention make a (bigger) fool of himself at their wedding.
 * 22. Help (Not) Wanted - Roxy, who hasn't been to college in a year, is forced by her mother to get a job.
 * 23. God Save the Queen [Act 1] - Claire is pressured by her parents to either continue going to college or find work. Then things go from bad to worse when she goes out and kills a criminal as Cannon Queen.
 * 24. God Save the Queen [Act 2] - Quickly losing her silent battle against depression, Claire contemplates ending her life. Once the Star Alliance learns of her plans to commit suicide, they scramble across town to find her before it's too late.
 * 25. Wedding Bell Blitz - Roxy and Rio's wedding day is near. However, what would seem like a simple ceremony becomes complicated when the Anti-Squad gets word of it.
 * Special. Therapist Off - Meeting with a superhero psychiatrist (after some convincing from Roxy), Claire eventually opens up and tells him everything about her past and why she really wanted to kill herself. Later, as August comes to a close and the new school year begins, she then decides to continue going to college.

--

The series will (or does) contain the following tropes [contains minor-to-major spoilers for future events] :

 * Aborted Arc: Originally, Leila's past would be revealed but has been dropped due to my own lack of interest.
 * Adorkable: Most of the main cast, but especially Roxy.
 * Affectionate Parody: Of Superhero fiction.
 * All There in the Manual: The pages written for the series on this site provide info that may or may not make it in the actual story.
 * All Women Are Prudes: Largely averted with the main female characters: Roxy enjoys sleeping with her boyfriend  after Their First Time; Merle is anticipating the day she reaches consent; and while Claire feels more self-conscious about the whole thing than the other two, she has thought about it sometimes.
 * Anger Born of Worry: Roxy and Rio occasionally do this to each other after one of them does something incredibly reckless.
 * Battle Couple: Star Lass and Willpower, as their Childhood Friend Romance blooms.
 * The Bechdel Test: Both played straight (mainly in the superhero and/or comedic moments) and averted (in the more contemporary drama moments, namely about relationships).
 * Breather Episode: Part 2's "Wedding Bell Blitz" takes a quick detour from Claire's arc (although she has a rather pivotal role in the chapter) to focus more on Roxy and Rio.
 * Buxom Is Better: I prefer female characters' breasts to be realistic, so while they may seem less endowed than other fictional characters, they're still of an impressive size (Roxy, Claire, and Merle are around D, B, and C-cups, respectively).
 * Central Theme: See Poor Communication Kills. The Power of Friendship (and Love) is an important theme as well.
 * Cast Herd: For most of part 1, the main characters are split into the primary duo, later trio, (of Roxy, Rio, and Claire) and secondary quartet (Leila, Scott, Merle, and Tom). Afterward, when Dusk Woman retires and Sorcerer leaves, the other five work together as a single team (the Star Alliance).
 * Cast of Snowflakes: Since I don't have a standard template for character faces (mostly just using existing pictures for reference), don't expect much of the characters to look alike.
 * Cerebus Rollercoaster: Chapters often switch between silly and serious.
 * Character Focus: A big part of the series. Order of focus from most to least is intended to go: Roxy/Star Lass, Rio/Willpower, Claire/Cannon Queen, Merle/Crow, and Tom/Sonic Servo.
 * Death Is Cheap: Averted. Unless I consider otherwise, characters stay dead.
 * Differently-Powered Individual: Kinetics, as per the title. It also applies to magic users and aliens with superhuman abilities.
 * Everything Is Big in Texas: The series takes place mostly in the town of Humble, about an hour from Houston.
 * Flash Forward: Chapter 4 includes a glimpse into the future circa December 2011.
 * Half Arc Season: Near the end of each part, there's a focus on a certain character and a problem they face. Part 1 focuses on the future team as a whole (but mainly towards Merle and Tom as they try to mend their crumbling relationship), and part 2 will focus on Claire as she deals with her emerging depression.
 * Improbably-Female Cast: Somewhat unintentional; I just find female characters more interesting to make than male characters.
 * It's Always Spring: Averted. Time slowly (except when transitioning between parts, then a year passes) moves as the story progresses.
 * Magic Realism
 * Meaningful Echo: Rio's line in chapter 3, when he's looking for Star Lass who hasn't returned ("My family's had a long past of stubborn yet noble deaths"), is revealed in chapter 7 to be something he said before: it was after telling Roxy the story of his father's death, on the day they first met.
 * Mix and Match: Superheroes + (Teen Drama) Dramedy + Slice of Life
 * Myth Arc: The progressive relationship between Roxy and Rio spans the entire series. They go through the following relationship levels:
 * Pre-canon: Platonic, then infatuation.
 * Part 1: Confession, then courtship.
 * Between part 1 and 2:
 * Part 2:
 * Sometime in the future:
 * Odd Friendship: Merle and Claire; one's a happy go lucky, if somewhat quick to anger, athlete who's made tons of friends while the other is a talented, snarky bookworm who eventually begins to care for others.
 * Passing the Torch: When Leila retires from being Dusk Woman, she tells Merle that she believes the young sidekick has proven she can handle bad guys by herself.
 * Platonic Life Partners: Tom and Merle.
 * Point of View: Only the first two chapters are planned to have first-person narration. The rest will be mostly in third-person.
 * Poor Communication Kills: More or less the Central Theme early in part 1. Rio didn't tell Roxy that he intended to have her befriend Claire as he knew she would turn the opportunity down without even giving it a chance, but in doing so, he made her believe he didn't want to be friends anymore.
 * Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Inverted with Roxy and Rio; played straight with Leila and Scott along with Merle and Tom.
 * Seventh-Episode Twist: The seventh chapter ends with a 6-month Time Skip and more variety in character focusing.
 * Sickening Sweethearts: Roxy and Rio may come across as this after part 1.
 * Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Mostly in-between, though usually leans slightly to the Idealistic side.
 * Shout-Out: Tons are planned.
 * Star Lass and Dusk Woman are based partially on Superman and Batman, respectively.
 * Tom, AKA Sonic Servo, and Merle, AKA Crow, are close friends. This is taken even further when Claire, AKA Cannon Queen, works together with them and uses the gun she calls "Gypsy".
 * There Are No Therapists: Averted when Claire goes to see a psychiatrist after
 * Their First Time: Roxy and Rio, in-between parts 1 and 2. Also,.
 * Time Skip: See Seventh-Episode Twist. Each part also takes place approximately one year after the other.
 * Wacky Marriage Proposal:
 * Web Serial Novel
 * World of Snark
 * X Meets Y: Although it's nowhere near as great as I want it to be, I'd like to consider it as The DCAU meets Daria and Yu Yu Hakusho.