[center][h1][color=firebrick]Alto Ganze[/color][/h1][/center]

[b]Alias:[/b] [color=firebrick]Vice[/color]

[b]Age:[/b] 17

[b]Faction:[/b] Freaks, but since his visual mutations are minor he mostly associates with Epics.

[b]Mutation:[/b]
[hider=Vice Claw]Vice Claw could be described as a sort of fire-manipulation ability, but it's a little more complicated than that, due to its status as a mutation. Vice Claw manifests in Alto's left arm, charred completely black due to the nature of his awakening. Upon releasing his mutation, it becomes enveloped in flames which also make claws.

Alto cannot change the base shape of the flame arm, but he can make it grow and shrink. The Vice Claw is virtually indestructible, and the flames can't be put out. It'll continue to burn underwater, and it can even burn in an area without oxygen. However, it will still consume oxygen in a normal environment and it's not like Alto can survive without oxygen either. The Vice Claw also emits heat like a normal flame, and can also emit fire and set other things on fire in a similar fashion to Pyro-kinesis.

An interesting thing to note is that the Vice Claw's flames seem to do physical damage. They can grab objects and lift them up, and the finger claws can wreak havoc if they're large enough. The Vice Claw also has its own 'strength' which is easily enough to be able to lift himself up, even in its smallest form. This strength is entirely separate from the rest of Alto's body, however.

What truly sets the Vice Claw apart from other abilities is mostly Alto's degree of control. Alto (and his clothes) are immune to the Vice Claw's flames, but he can't say the same for anyone else. He can only control the heat to a certain extent, and the larger he makes the Vice Claw, the harder it is. While its still the size of his normal arm, he can control it quite easily but it gets exponentially harder. Double the size is still manageable, and up to the extent of being able to wrap his hand completely around one person he can make sure they won't get burnt if he focuses.

Additionally, while making the Vice Claw grow is certainly an act of manipulation, making it shrink is more like an act of suppression. At a certain size it'd be almost impossible for him to suppress the Vice Claw without utilizing his own weakness.[/hider]

[b]Weakness:[/b] 
[hider=Weakness]Silver. Any amount of silver wrapped around his left arm, or a sufficiently large mass of silver stabbed into his left arm like a few bullets or a dagger, will completely suppress the Vice Claw. The Vice Claw will also shrink back from anyone wearing silver in sufficient quantity, and usually something like a silver necklace would be enough. It also greatly weakens the heat, and even though the Vice Claw's flames are relatively 'solid', silver projectiles can go right through them.

It should be noted that the Vice Claw would always be active if Alto doesn't forcibly suppress it with silver. It retains its increased or decreased size while suppressed, but Alto can 'shrink' the Vice Claw a lot easier while it isn't out. When he re-releases it, the Vice Claw reforms violently in an explosion of heat and fire depending on what size it was on when it was suppressed. Alto doesn't usually shrink the Vice Claw to the smallest size, as the explosion it creates when it reforms can be used quite effectively.[/hider]

[b]Appearance:[/b]
[hider=Appearance]
He usually wears a red track-suit jacket and cargo pants. His face looks very young but his eyes show some maturity. He doesn't separate his Epic identity from his normal identity, but people don't usually see him around too often. His left arm is usually wrapped up in bandages if he isn't planning on using it anytime soon. Under the bandages there is a silver necklace wrapped around his arm. Nothing fancy, although one could tell the emblem on its centerpiece was something unique. His left arm looks like it's charred completely black, with cracks that glow like there's fire inside. It's not just cosmetic, either. Alto can't feel anything from his left arm, and you could probably feel some heat if you got close enough.[/hider]

[b]Personality:[/b]
[hider=Personality]
Cold would sum it up pretty well. Alto didn't want to become an Epic, and the price he paid for it was a large one. His power is extremely dangerous, standing next to him even when his Vice Claw is normal size is like standing next to a blazing campfire. He goes out of his way not to make civilian friends, and he doesn't know too many Epics himself, being relatively new to the scene. He's not exactly a loner though, he'll help anyone he comes across, and he'll reach out to the people that feel truly alone in the world, because he knows that feeling better than anyone.[/hider]

[b]Background:[/b]
[hider=Warning: Lengthy Read]If you ask for Alto's background as an Epic, then you would get an answer that would probably be a little strange, but rather straightforward. He doesn't like the High Ones much, but he understands what it means to be against them. As an Epic, he wants to help the normal citizens first and foremost. If there was some kind of large scale crisis, hard as that was with the High Ones ruling the City, he would help out, but there are plenty of other Epics who could do his job. Even if the Prescient himself called for him, as long as he knew there was someone out there that needed help, he wouldn't go.

You could say the High Ones gave him a gift. The Vice Claw, as it's come to be known by the media is a unique power amongst most Epics, and one could say it's an especially strong one at that. In the single year that he'd really been active as an Epic, he gained a lot of media attention as a new, up-and-coming Epic. In one of the earliest pieces of footage they had of him, they saw him demolishing an entire building in one over-head slam with his Vice Claw. It was a sort of small, run-down hideout for a group of small time crooks, but it showed how strong his power could be. It was said that an Epic's abilities came from the High Ones, and there were always those people who said that some powers weren't created equally. Those same people would say that Alto was blessed.

So yeah, you could say it was a gift from the High Ones, and maybe you'd be right. But it wasn't a gift he got for free.

When Alto was 10 years old, one day he suddenly collapsed with a fever. The doctors didn't know what had caused it, but they had suspicions. It seemed like Alto's parents also had their own suspicions, because they agreed to the offer to admit him to a hospital room. Even though there was only a low chance Alto could be having an awakening, Epic Awakenings when they did occur could be traumatic in nature, especially if it turned into a Freak awakening. It was probably better to be in an environment equipped for such matters.

Since it wasn't certain when it would occur, if it would occur at all, his parents and the doctors would keep a safe distance. Throughout the whole ordeal, Alto's mother had been right by his side, and even as they wheeled him over to the prepared room, she stayed by his side.  As they entered and were called to leave, Alto's mother knelt down with his father behind her, and took off her necklace. The necklace was an heirloom passed down in their family. Not many families had heirlooms these days, and Alto's family's heirloom was meant to be passed down when the next generation had become someone their parents could truly respect.

Even through the haze of Alto's fever, he realized what this meant, and what his situation was. He was about to face a great change, and whatever it was he became, she would be proud of him. Unfortunately for him, these would be her final words.

As she finished putting the necklace on Alto, a searing pain shot through his left arm, and his world exploded into heat and flame. The next time he woke up, he was restrained on a metal table, with observing eyes watching him through a window. Or at least, he thought he was restrained. He realized quickly that he could move his feet, and his right arm wasn't restrained either. Fractured memories flitted through his mind as he turned over to look at his left arm with a growing sense of dread.

He remembered it now. It felt like the pain in his left arm had pulled his arm into the air. There was even more pain, and glowing cracks worked their way up to his palm. There was a searing light, and the last thing he remembered was his mother and father, slowly disintegrating into ashes before the darkness enveloped him. When his mind returned to reality, the ones behind the glass were had jumped back. He wanted to get up now.

He was aware of the heat of his left arm growing stronger. It grew larger, until the steel brace which had been holding it until now turned red hot and shattered under the pressure. He could hear an alarm going off in the background, but nobody entered the room. He held up his arm, slowly shrinking now, back to its normal size. He could faintly feel the heat coming off it. It should've been hotter, but he was much more aware of the cold sensation on his neck. His mother's silver necklace, and her final words rang out in his head again. He began to laugh, but laughter quickly turned into pained sobbing. How ironic was it, that his mother's final action would bring about her doom?

A while later, he would find his weakness and suppress his power successfully. But now he was an orphan by his own hands. He was put under watch, and his temporary legal guardian was Jeremiah Thomas, the leader of the ECPD. Alto always remembers his first ride to his old with Jeremiah in his patrol car. He had his charred, blackened arm, wrapped in his mother's silver necklace, crossed with his other arm, tightly against his chest. He didn't want to wear a seatbelt, but Jeremiah had put it on for him anyway. They didn't talk at all, during any part of the journey. When they got to his home, Jeremiah cooked him a warm meal and left with a quiet farewell.

Almost everyday, Jeremiah would come in to cook him a meal. Then he would sit down and make sure Alto ate all of it. Jeremiah would sometimes come late at night, and Alto would be waiting there for him. Alto still never exchanged a word with him.

Finally, one day Jeremiah cooked him the same meal he'd made the first ride home, and Alto finally spoke.

"...Why are you doing this?" He said. Jeremiah thought for a while before giving his answer.

"I do this for a few kids." He said simply. "Kids like you, who haven't got family left."

Alto thought for longer.

"Why?" He asked again.

"I just think about what would happen if I wasn't there." Jeremiah replied.

And that was the moment that changed Alto forever. It was a simple exchange, but it was a strong message. The Gods of Epic City were the High Ones, but they were the gods of the Epics. Who was the god of the normals? Who would catch them if they fell? Who would be there when they were well and truly alone? Jeremiah had been there for him now, but he was a normal himself. He couldn't be everywhere at once. This idea shook him to the core, when he realized what being alone truly meant, as he remembered the love his parents had given him, and tears fell onto his silver necklace once more.

The story of Vice, the Epic, was that he was given a great power by the High Ones, and he would use it to defend the innocent and the downtrodden. The story of the Human, Alto Ganze, was that there were two people that had given their lives for his power, so that he could use them to make sure no one experienced the same pain he did. It would be the least he could do, to make sure their faces didn't turn to ashes in his memory.[/hider]