[hider= Biānpào] Birth Name: Gang Lu Alter Ego: Biānpào/Firecracker Gender: Male Age: 25 Country of Origin: Dongguan, China. Archetype: Metahuman Allegiance: Champions Appearance: Gang is 5'6 in height with a fairly lean build, slightly toned arms and stomach. He has short jet black hair he gels to make it spiked around the back of his head. He has a tattoo of a pair of dragons around his neck, the heads at his chest and the tails going down his back. When out on duty, he wears a special suit of armour, made mostly out of red Proplex plastic over a black kevlar bodysuit, forming pauldrons and armour across his body. He is also well known for wearing a chinese style cone helmet, akin to a rocket nosecone. Powers/Skills: Firecracker's primary ability is the power to produce strong jets of flame, powerful enough to give him thrust and allow him to fly and leap long distances quickly. These jets are very strong and allow him to get across long distances in a short time. He can also release fire jets to be used offensive, burning bright when used, able to set enemies and materials on fire. He can also use these jets to fly into his opponents at great speed to cause harm. Firecracker's flames are extremely hot and have been known to cause collateral damage to buildings and pavements when he jumps off. His fire jets are produced from his skin so he must keep some skin bare to use his jets at all. His fire jets can also burn his skin if overused or used carelessly if he is not paying attention to the battle or what he is doing. Firecracker is also proficcient in the use of firework based weaponry he keeps on his person, including standard firecrackers, Catherine wheel shurikens, pyre candles and his famous big bang missiles, using his jets to light the fuses. Whilst he can use these weapons with ease to cause damage, they can always backfire on him if he's interrupted when using them, exploding in his face or causing burns. Equipment/Resources: Firecracker regularly carries out his firework based weaponry, usually kept at his belt or in the armoured compartments of his suit. He also keeps a small supply of gunpowder on him for refueling purposes. Biography: Gang was born to a fairly poor family of firework makers in the slums, having to work hard to help support the family from a very young age. His father passed away due to an accident involving a loose barrel of gunpowder and Gang's mother brought him up on the art of firework making. Gang took quickly to this art and found he had a natural skill for it and helped the family business by creating new kinds of fireworks. As he grew into a teenager, he was stabbed in the right arm when he was mugged by some local thugs. Furious at his own weakness, Gang decided he would find a way to fight for himself. It was at this time he began to make use of his fireworks for offensive purposes, around the time his flame powers were manifesting, carrying firecrackers wherever he went should they return. Sure enough, they did and Gang paid them back for what they did to him. Realising he had a gift, he continued his work with the family business and also began training his fire based abilities, soon discovering the applications for it. When he turned 21, he decided it was time to put his skills to use, announcing himself publicly as Firecracker to his local town. Whilst his first few attempts turned into spectacular disasters, often setting his clothes on fire, eventually he found a material to craft himself a flame proof suit to wear, made out of flame retardant plastics. He quickly became popular to the locals as he was always first on the scene in times of crisis, becoming somewhat egocentric in his actions and loving the spotlight of heroism. Finally, the day came on his 23rd birthday when he joined the Champions and caught the heart of the world with his charm. Even after the incident, he has been somewhat humbled but continues to believe the Champions were in the right and believes in them so much, he will not abandon them. Notes: Firecracker was a fairly popular and cocky hero, known for making public appearances, being flashy and putting on displays amidst battle. This ego was what partially led to the failure in Nagoya, not taking the battle seriously, he sustained a number of injuries and was careless. Since working with other heroes, Gang has been teaching himself English but is still struggling and mixes up words occasionally. [/hider] [hider= The Tortoise] Birth Name: Wilbur Allthorpe Alter Ego: The Tortoise Gender: Male Age: 56 Country of Origin: Birmingham, England. Archetype: Augmented Allegiance: Splinter Appearance: Wilbur is a fairly short man at 4'5 and skinny as a rake. He lost his hair in his early 50s and as such, is completley bald. He wears a pair of black thick rimmed square spectacles. Usually he wears a green button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of light brown overalls with simple brown leather shoes and white socks. He also has a black tool belt around his waist. Powers/Skills: The Tortoise is an extremely tech savvy person, able to fix and repair machines and sometimes even invent new ones from base parts, a dab hand with a wrench and a set of bluprints. However he is unskilled in other sciences. His greatest ability is the large mechanical exoskeleton shell he pilots, constructed out of titanium, containing multiple energy based booster units for movement and armed to the teeth with weapons including missiles, standard firearms, a flamethrower, an electrical arc cannon and a reflector shield. The entire shell can also be used for physical attacks. pilots the shell from within, usually using a small visor at the top to watch or ducking inside the shell for stronger attacks. The exoskeleton shell is extremely dense and hard to crack by most forms of attack. The shell however, has its limits. Without a pilot, it cannot act on its own and is vulnerable. EMP attacks can also disable the shell until x can get it working again. Additionally, outside of the shell, Wilbur is fairly weak and small and is thus, far more vulnerable and no easier to hurt than an average pedestrian. The shell also runs on a large lithium ion battery pack and should it run out of power or be removed, the shell will cease to function. The shell is also not protected from chemical or gas based attacks. Equipment/Resources: Outside of his shell, Wilbur usually carries around a small tool belt with some replacement batteries, spare parts and a spanner in case he needs to make quick repairs to his shell. He also carries around a small tazer should he ever need to defend himself. He also carries a phone in case of emergencies. Biography: Wilbur was born to Martha and Gareth Allthorpe in Birmingham, a pair of experimental weapons mechanics working for the biotech company Zillion Corp. Wilbur enjoyed a fairly upper class childhood with a large sum of money to keep him happy, put into the best high schools and given the best possible schooling that could be afforded. He grew up intelligent if not bullied by the older children, jealous of his wealth and his smarts in class, also by his somewhat meek demeanor and small stature, suffering from his father's short stature. When he left school, he went on to Cambridge university and graduated with a degree in engineering, going on to work with his parents at Zillion Corp, dedicating his research to a new form of exoskeleton to support someone like him as he continued to be a weak individual. This eventually led him to creating his shell exoskeleton and in practice, it was a huge success. Feeling a surge of pride, he immediately made use of it, patenting the designs for himself and leaving the company before Zillion Corp could mass produce it, a move that was looked down on by his parents. He outed himself properly as a superhero, calling himself The Tortoise due to the design of his shell and how he had always been mocked as 'hiding in his shell.' He was practical minded, earning donations for his work but keeping a diligent mindset, that he must be careful with his great gift and not abuse it for his own purposes. Eventually he ran across a fellow hero Roger Redbrook, nicknamed the Hare for his incredible speed, dexterity and high jump powers. The two didn't see eye to eye and became rivals, the Hare being optimistic whilst Wilbur was more a pessimist. Their rivalry became incredibly well known across the country and after the pair briefly joined forces in defeating a large crime gang, the pair decided to become a true team. After working with The Hare for a few years, the pair decided to join forces with the Champions, despite their differing ideologies, Wilbur decided it was best to use his talents for a greater good than to continue solo. However, during the Nagoya mission, The Hare was among the superheroes who were found dead at the scene. With his long time partner dead, Wilbur's opinion soured heavily and he became negative toward the idea of the champions continuing with him, choosing to leave for the splinter group as without his partner to balance him out and the outcry against him, he could not act with them anymore. Special Notes: Some speculate that Hare and Tortoise were once romantically involved, but both have continuously denied this, though rumors circulate regardless, it is a common press hitting point for the pair. He is also among the wanted due to the destruction his shell's tech caused. [/hider] Incidentally, I only plan on using one of the two (unless two is allowed later) but for now I can't pick, just wanna make sure they're both ok.