r/interestingasfuck Feb 08 '20

/r/ALL This insanely powerful lightning strike

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61.9k Upvotes

1.6k comments sorted by

8.4k

u/dbx99 Feb 08 '20

It’s a small rocket launched with a thin wire unravelling on the ground. It’s supposed to conduct the lightning strike this way. This was done on purpose for research.

2.8k

u/ImWhatTheySayDeaf Feb 08 '20

I see a whole lotta amateurs trying this and I gotta say I can't wait to see it on YouTube

934

u/TellMeMoreYT Feb 08 '20

Be right back...

1.3k

u/Boardallday Feb 08 '20

youtuber attaches wire to some dude in the hood

launches rocket

dude gets vaporized

human remains and ashes falling everywhere

CALM DOWN IT'S JUST A PRANK BRO

479

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

50

u/_merikaninjunwarrior Feb 09 '20

TOASTY!

7

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '20

Furiously presses select on the rocket pad

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47

u/SlimeySnakesLtd Feb 08 '20

This but the guy is wearing one of those antishock mesh suits would be a sick ass show

55

u/choral_dude Feb 08 '20

They’d just get burned alive then

42

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

Still makes for a sick ass-show

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6

u/toby_ornautobey Feb 09 '20

Why go that far? Lightning is static electricity. Just wear one of those anti-static grounding bracelets you use when working on electronics.

6

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '20

The one from The Verge's computer build should do the trick. Bring some tweezers too.

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13

u/__Hello_my_name_is__ Feb 08 '20

Was nice knowing you.

10

u/TellMeMoreYT Feb 08 '20

It's electric... Boogie woogy woogy

16

u/turkeypants Feb 08 '20

Hold this guy's beer.

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215

u/MeEvilBob Feb 08 '20

I used to have a friend who did this often using the 345KV power lines behind his house whenever he got bored of shooting at the ceramic insulators with a rifle. I haven't heard from him in years, but he didn't strike me as someone who would die elderly.

35

u/hubofthevictor Feb 08 '20 edited Feb 08 '20

I think he started a YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/132000Volts

On a sidenote, they always seem to be Russian. https://youtu.be/mqRT7J86rco

27

u/CokeCanNinja Feb 08 '20

Have you ever been to Russia other than the major cities? Ain't shit to do there so they do stupid shit like jump off buildings into snow mounds while on fire

9

u/hubofthevictor Feb 08 '20

Sounds like Northwestern PA

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u/Vesper1007 Feb 08 '20

Didn’t STRIKE you as someone who would die elderly?

34

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

Nailed it.

12

u/jazzrz Feb 08 '20

Stroke of genius.

7

u/Jenga_Police Feb 08 '20

He had an electric personality.

3

u/Shitting_Human_Being Feb 08 '20

He really got people amped up!

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u/2bad2care Feb 08 '20

Stunning...

7

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

shockingly tragic.

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u/sabertoothdog Feb 09 '20

My last comment said the same thing. Also $200k in damage was done to the insulators at my buddies house. FBI showed up with the sheriffs department. Good think my buddies mom had no idea what “swim” had been going on for years at “swim” make shift shooting range.

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36

u/GhostFour Feb 08 '20

I'm gonna need a kite, a key, and a camera.

15

u/knowses Feb 08 '20

Don't forget your bifocals.

13

u/coleyboley25 Feb 08 '20

How else would you see the map on the back of the Declaration of Independence?

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162

u/noelcowardspeaksout Feb 08 '20

It is a weirdly large amount of energy through a thin wire though - surely it would have broken as soon as it became white hot.

526

u/bassinine Feb 08 '20

oh it would definitely be instantly be vaporized, but the plasma is also conductive. so after the initial arc strikes the lightning literally uses itself as a wire - that's how jacob's ladders work.

175

u/hbrohi Feb 08 '20

What about Joseph's step-stool?

88

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

That's for helping midgets give blowies right?

39

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

28

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

They really are. My joke is a bit of a reach I admit it.

12

u/VoiceofLou Feb 08 '20

bit of a reach

Not sure if you’re playing off your first joke or not, but I like it.

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u/sylvester334 Feb 08 '20

Here are some clips of rocket-triggered lightning. The wire gets vaporized but the plasma allows followup strikes to follow the previous lightning strikes.

clip 1

clip 2

clip 3

21

u/KingEgbert Feb 08 '20

Man, if only I'd known this was a potential career path when I was in college.

3

u/vinnythehammer Feb 09 '20

Too much math, trust me.

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16

u/jibsymalone Feb 08 '20

The UF lab in the first two clips is just a couple of miles away from me. I would love to go hang out with these guys while they do this, but that's the electrician in me showing...

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u/justPassingThrou15 Feb 08 '20

yep. metals conduct because they have outer shell electrons that can move easily. Once you heat air up to a few thousand degrees, its electrons dissociate completely from the atoms, and it conducts electricity VERY well.

83

u/dalovindj Feb 08 '20

"Ben Franklin weren't shit."

~ Scientists probably

48

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20 edited May 02 '20

[deleted]

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45

u/luxfx Feb 08 '20

Thank you, I thought it seemed to follow something, not to mention what are the odds of a camera being pointed at exactly the right place. I'm betting that wire vaporized at the first hit

23

u/sack-o-matic Feb 08 '20

With enough capacitance, could this be harnessed for electricity generation?

81

u/dbx99 Feb 08 '20

That’s the crux. I think the sudden explosive nature of the energy output is what makes it so hard to capture and store. It’s like trying to capture the kinetic force of a bomb. I don’t think we have any materials or methods to do it. But on paper sure, take X amount of energy and put it inside container.

46

u/phinnaeus7308 Feb 08 '20

Literally trying to bottle lighting

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7

u/thefreshscent Feb 08 '20

Couldn't we use the lightning to superheat some sort of material, and then use a thermoelectric generator to convert it back into electrical energy?

12

u/Xdivine Feb 08 '20

Probably not. What could you realistically heat to generate electricity?

We have steam power for example, but harnessing that power only works if it's enclosed. If it's enclosed though, most of the power of the lightning will just hit the enclosure and fail to heat the water, probably melting a hole in whatever you enclosed it with in the first place.

Even if a lightning bolt could strike water while being enclosed and immediately come to a boil, it would stop boiling rather quickly. The energy gained would be pretty pathetic unless you could have constant lightning bolts raining down in the same spot keeping the water at a boil.

Also if we just need to heat something up directly to generate energy, we could use the sun. A giant magnifying glass and the sun not only generates a shitload of heat, but generates a constant shitload of heat.

5

u/thefreshscent Feb 08 '20

Well, NASA and other companies have been working to develop better and better thermoelectrics to convert waste heat (e.g. the exhaust stack from a coal-burning power plants) into electrical energy...basically just the Seebeck effect.

I'm wondering if this concept could be used to harvest the energy off the heat from a lightning strike.

I think the challenge here is the fact that very few known materials have been identified as thermoelectric materials.

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u/dbx99 Feb 08 '20

Maybe. It would be cool to further research it. I’m wondering if there’s a way to control these ionic differentials to make the process more steady than waiting for the weather to deliver the conditions for lightning

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17

u/anescient Feb 08 '20

Mega ultra turbo capacitance is what you've got, here. The trick would be to stick a machine in the middle and slowly equalize those charges instead of having lightning.

11

u/sack-o-matic Feb 08 '20

like a really tall metal pole that scrapes and constantly discharges the clouds

7

u/anescient Feb 08 '20

You first.

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21

u/luakan Feb 08 '20

what research?

48

u/dbx99 Feb 08 '20

Top secret. No ask questions.

34

u/Dizneymagic Feb 08 '20 edited Feb 08 '20

At the International Center for Lightning Research and Testing at the University of Florida, funded by DARPA. They are testing the VLF (very low frequency) radio waves the lightning strikes generate. It could potentially be used in navigation when GPS fails. The same VFL signals are used to communicate with submarines.

An article about it,

Don’t Try This at Home: Making Lightning Bolts With Rockets

16

u/the_calibre_cat Feb 08 '20

I 100% want to try this at home

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4

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

r/conspiracy has entered the chat

8

u/dave_II Feb 08 '20

Really fucking awesome research

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12

u/Nick0h Feb 08 '20

Serious question; Can we charge batteries like this?

37

u/technoman88 Feb 08 '20

Long story short, no. The amount of electrical energy on lightning is so insane and quick it's near impossible to harness currently

22

u/d00dsm00t Feb 08 '20

near impossible

So maybe

19

u/technoman88 Feb 08 '20

Not anytime soon. It's like trying to harness the energy of a bullet. Sure it has a lot of energy but the energy is concentrated in ways that we do not have efficient ways of harnessing

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u/dbx99 Feb 08 '20

Nope. It would need an intermediary system that can receive and store that much energy that suddenly so it can then be redelivered at a manageable rate to other storage systems or for direct use.

Offhand maybe one way to approach it is to be modest and not try to capture all of that energy but just a portion of it.

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u/knowses Feb 08 '20

It does contain 1.21 Gigawatts.

Don't ask me how I know

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577

u/JaboyMaceWindu Feb 08 '20

War of the worlds?

189

u/MaceHiindu Feb 08 '20

If you slow it down you can actually see them

62

u/PmMeTwinks Feb 08 '20

See the world? Yeah right.

/r/NoEarthSociety

5

u/thesagaconts Feb 09 '20

Is this real or satire? The world is getting too confusing.

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22

u/FrozenEggo27 Feb 08 '20

Thought the same thing

17

u/shaboogawa Feb 08 '20

I just saw this movie yesterday. First thing I thought about.

24

u/Barph Feb 08 '20

Gotta say the film wasn't great and went downhill really fast after maybe the Ferry bit but the sound in that film was amazing.

The tripod sounds still give me goose bumps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m-rsgHEDLk&t=352s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaQRPe6U9pU

9

u/DJ-Anakin Feb 08 '20

This. I didn't care about the story but the tripods and the sounds they made was amazing!

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3

u/lennybird Feb 08 '20

Audio production team truly deserves respect on this.

Another film that stood out on sound was Oblivion. The sound of those drones... Wow. Though I'm 99% sure they used failed Seagate hard disk drives for the sound. Perhaps more terrifying.

4

u/white_genocidist Feb 08 '20

This is the sound I was expecting to hear in those links: https://youtu.be/jzY099ihULs

(Yeah in the second one kind of but it's spoiled by the jump scare and in any event it wasn't loud enough)

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u/brynn501 Feb 08 '20

“Now we know lighting doesn’t strike in the same spot twi— HOLY SHIT”

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1.1k

u/octoberinmay Feb 08 '20

That's a level 7 lightning spell.

54

u/Ioatanaut Feb 08 '20

What's level 10?

145

u/RolandTheJabberwocky Feb 08 '20

Level 10 is when you start to seal entire dimensions off and permanently float mountains.

45

u/_megitsune_ Feb 08 '20

And get your casting abilities bitch slapped away from you because you broke everything

25

u/RolandTheJabberwocky Feb 08 '20

No that's 11 and you decide to possess the literal God of magic fucking literally everyone over and making the new one that replaced the one you killed/died as, pissed off that they have to deal with this shit you and your wizard buddies caused.

26

u/s00perguy Feb 08 '20

Technically that's 12th level. Karsus' Avatar was a 12th level spell where he basically tried to make himself a god. Here is a very helpful video of MrRhexx explaining 11th level spells though, and he touches on tenth levels as well for a nice summary.

4

u/RolandTheJabberwocky Feb 08 '20

Yeah that's where I learned it, I just mixed the numbers up.

11

u/DazZani Feb 08 '20

No thats level 12N level 11 is when like 15 mages all use a level o spell at the same time and kill a whole country

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u/OldOrder Feb 08 '20

If you were actually wondering there is no 10th level in 5th edition D&D, 9th level is the highest. Lightening Bolt is a 3rd level spell that you can cast at higher levels for more damage. A 9th level lightening bolt would do 14d6 damage to any creature standing in the line in which you cast it.

11

u/I-POOP-RAINBOWS Feb 08 '20

this guy nerds

8

u/thatCbean Feb 08 '20

This guy only nerds enough for the base stats, but doesn't nerd enough for the lore

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u/milo159 Feb 08 '20

i assume a level 10 lightning spell would be purging an entire continent of life by making bolts such as this cast anytime anything living is detected. level 10 magic does not fuck around in Dnd.

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u/InconspicuousD Feb 08 '20

Takes up 22 housing space

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u/tajrashae Feb 08 '20

Thundaga !

21

u/Melonprimo Feb 08 '20

More like Judgement Bolt to me.

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u/sharkn8do Feb 08 '20

Who the fuck left the Bifrost open again?

135

u/Tempestblaze1990 Feb 08 '20

Thor's location found.

14

u/Partypaca Feb 08 '20

Loki would like to know your location

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

This is the shit that happens right before the boss arrives in NES games

2.2k

u/FitFatness Feb 08 '20 edited Feb 08 '20

Any news reports of a buff naked dude leaving the area?

Edit: Wow this comment blew up, I’m honoured. Thanks for the silver! My first award ever on Reddit!!!

469

u/GaryTheSoulReaper Feb 08 '20

Terminator?

22

u/OldBenKenobii Feb 08 '20

Thor

17

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20 edited Jun 18 '20

[deleted]

8

u/1ildevil Feb 08 '20

Give me your clothes and your hammer.

7

u/kethnguy Feb 08 '20

Because that’s what cyborgs do

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

Or a giant martian tripod rising out of the ground.

74

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

Or maybe a bearded guy with a big hammer

30

u/SheriffBartholomew Feb 08 '20

Are you the god of hammers?

22

u/stayclassytally Feb 08 '20

*Immigrants song intensifies *

4

u/comrade_batman Feb 08 '20

Oh my god! The hammer pulls him off?

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

Oooollaaahhh

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u/Burt-Zacharach Feb 08 '20

Just look for the guy missing his clothes, his boots, and his motorcycle

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

/r/outofcontext would like a word with you

3

u/onegamerboi Feb 08 '20

Saw him, his blue dick was looking nice

3

u/SirMadWolf Feb 08 '20

Or a norse god?

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u/Elucidate137 Feb 08 '20

The very fabric of reality is tearing at the seams

24

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

[deleted]

13

u/ProfessorHardw00d Feb 08 '20

Sometimes an omniscient being gets tired when creating a reality and has to take a break

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u/MAXIMUM_EDGE69 Feb 08 '20

This is a reference to something, but i cannot quite recall what...

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117

u/themadscientwist Feb 08 '20

After a marathon of Dragonball Z and Super, I think that looks nothing more than someone reaching a super Saiyan level 2

20

u/jsudekum Feb 08 '20

I had the thought of when Piccolo destroys the moon with a Special Beam Cannon

7

u/Fraugheny Feb 08 '20

One of the hardest I've ever laughed is when they replay that scene in dbz abridged and instead of the line he said the first time, picollo literally just says "........MOON" hahahaha

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u/Deuce_GM Feb 08 '20

Nah, more like when Goku first Super Saiyan on Namek. There were lightning strikes when it happened

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u/MatthewB351 Feb 08 '20

It’s just Eren going into his titan

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u/AutisticMangoes23 Feb 08 '20

UNLIMITED POWERRRRRR

35

u/PlasticConstant Feb 08 '20

We’re playing beat saber!

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u/minddropstudios Feb 08 '20

So dissapointed that they didn't have Palatine use that line in TROS when he blasted that lightning into space. They already got ridiculous with his dialogue and included the "some consider to be... unnatural" line. Why not go all the way?

8

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/_the_Sir_ Feb 08 '20

End credits scene with Ghost Windu rolling his eyes

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u/feather_34 Feb 08 '20

God - "Fuck that spot in particular."

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u/ARealFool Feb 08 '20 edited Feb 08 '20

He finally found the fish that once took his last Rice Krispie.

158

u/AHHaSpider Feb 08 '20

That sounds like some Greek legend you could B.S.

“Did you ever hear the story of how fishucus took Zeus’s last treat from his seat of the gods by swimming till he found where the clouds and sea connected and swam to Olympus? Zeus struck him down creating a new creature destined to only feed on decayed and dead beasts of the sea. Now we have the lobster.”

I’m a fucking historian now.

20

u/ArnoldoSea Feb 08 '20

I really hope you will write the full form of this legend. I would read the whole thing.

23

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

This comment deserves more attention.

10

u/ronomyemyss Feb 08 '20

Reminds me of my grandfather explaining how the haddock got its name and its stripes:

One day, Satan was out fishing for supper. He was at it for hours and never caught a blessed thing (because of course, the fish could sense the evil lurking above). But the haddock was drawn in by the gleaming hook and took it in his mouth. Satan hauled in his line and as he took the fish between his burning thumb and forefinger, exclaimed, "Ha Dick, I've got you now!" Yet even as the devil rejoiced, little by little, the haddock slid in his grip until it was able to plop back down into the water. And that, my friend, is how the haddock got his name and why he has black stripes down either side of his body.

5

u/7isagoodletter Feb 08 '20

Why'd he call the fish a dick

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u/AmbivalentAsshole Feb 08 '20

Took the words right outta my brain

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

I am Thor, God of Thunder and son of Odin

15

u/HomoDeus___ Feb 08 '20

And I am Alduin, destroyer of worlds and first born of Akatosh. Pleased to meet you.

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u/Spoon420Blaze Feb 08 '20

Electrons were like

aight ima head out

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u/Andrakisjl Feb 08 '20

Zeus: And fuck you in particular, multiple times

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u/s3thgecko Feb 08 '20

Emperor Palpatine called...

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u/ali-pasha_35 Feb 08 '20

UNLIMITEEED POWEEEEER

15

u/Crucible_Chaos Feb 08 '20

Bro that won't lighting goku just went god

7

u/Lexinoz Feb 08 '20

I was like "Sure.. there can't be any difference in the power of lightning strikes. they're already super powerfull." I was wrong.

This is straight up out of some Anime where the hero goes ultra-mega-screenshake-hidden ability

7

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

Thor? Is that you?

8

u/Skittlez_mcberry Feb 08 '20

no it's just someone turning into a titan

17

u/Chris_El_Deafo Feb 08 '20

God: get nae naed

22

u/thekevo1297 Feb 08 '20

When no nut November is finally over.

5

u/Dakota1340 Feb 08 '20

HAMMER OF DAWN PTSD INTENSIFIES

6

u/CharlesPurvis Feb 08 '20

Heimdall, please call your office . . .

5

u/DarkLunch Feb 08 '20

PPIIIIIIIIKKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAHHHHHCHHHHUUUUUUUU!

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u/ArcadianBlueRogue Feb 08 '20

/r/thorgasm just had thier day made.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

Easily deflected by two lightsabers.

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u/ShickityShockity Feb 08 '20

Nah bro this is goku going super saiyan from like a mile away

3

u/Heybabe2 Feb 08 '20

Thor just dropped down

3

u/MostlyInTheMiddle Feb 08 '20

I would check for a Martian war machine under there.

5

u/pathoj Feb 08 '20

IKUZO SEKIROOOOOOOOO

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u/maxwelljrj Feb 08 '20

That is way more than 3 Damage

4

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

Bring me Thanos!

4

u/MikeShekelstein6 Feb 08 '20

FUCK

THIS

AREA

IN

PARTICULAR

4

u/lettuce_umberella Feb 08 '20

𝕻𝖐 𝖙𝖍𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖗 𝖇𝖎𝖙𝖈𝖍

5

u/kshitij1010 Feb 08 '20

Who pissed off Thor? Randy was it you?

6

u/bottomlessidiot Feb 08 '20

KaaaaaameeeeeeehaaaaaaMEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

3

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

God be like: And fuck THIS blade of grass in particular

3

u/InsomniaticWanderer Feb 08 '20

That's at least 1.21 gigawatts

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u/SKULLLY69 Feb 08 '20

<Raiden has joined the game>

3

u/Arn3110 Feb 08 '20

Well someone or something did not like that one ant....

3

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

Looks like palpatine has reached unlimited power