The Wiretown Substation lay silent, its once-blinding flashes now reduced to faint, glowing embers. Buzz Watts stood among the smoldering busbars, his glass spiral cracked and his EMT tubing scorched.

He had survived the trap. Barely. But Ampie was still gone.

Buzz scanned the control yard. The ground was littered with melted copper and scorched wire. Then, in the distance, he spotted it—a faint pulse of blue light flickering in rhythm. Ampie’s energy signature.

Buzz raced toward it, his lightning-bolt arms sparking with determination. But as he drew closer, the light began to fade—like a signal being jammed. And then, the air shifted.

From the smoking ruins stepped Arc Flash, stronger than before, his molten frame now wrapped in writhing shadows of electrical current. His laughter echoed like a faulted transformer.

“Welcome back, Buzz,” he growled. “Every surge strengthens me. Every time you fight, you feed me.”

“You’ll never control Wiretown,” Buzz said, steadying his glow.

Arc Flash grinned. “Who said I’m stopping at Wiretown?”

He snapped his fingers, and a figure emerged from the shadows—a hulking silhouette made of loose bonding straps and rusted ground clamps. His eyes glowed a sickly green.

“Meet my new partner,” Arc Flash sneered. “The Bonding Bandit.””

Buzz’s glow dimmed. He knew that name. The Bandit was infamous for breaking ground connections and leaving entire systems floating dangerously. Together, these two could destabilize the grid itself.

Arc Flash stepped closer, lifting a glowing containment cell. Inside, Ampie floated weakly, his energy dim.

“You want him back?” Arc Flash taunted. “Then meet us where the current runs wild… at the heart of Wiretown’s underground grid.”

Before Buzz could respond, the villains vanished in a flash of plasma and ozone.

Buzz fell to one knee, sparks trailing from his hands. The hum of the substation returned, low and foreboding. He knew the next battle wouldn’t just be a rescue—it would be for the soul of the entire electrical system.

“Hold on, Ampie,” he whispered. “This isn’t over.” ⚡

To be continued…

Buzz’s Code Nugget

Grounding & Bonding Matter: Proper bonding of metal piping and structural systems helps stabilize voltage and clear faults quickly. Think NEC 250.104 (bonding of piping systems) and following manufacturer instructions for connections—small lapses create the unsafe conditions villains like the Bonding Bandit exploit.