[hider=Mansa; Everett Williams] [centre][img]https://www.colorlines.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_lead_normal/public/images/articles/2017/09/lakeith-stanfield-crown-heights-090117.jpg?itok=7jyf48bU×tamp=1504298290[/img][/centre] [b]Character you have created:[/b] Everett Williams [b]Alias:[/b] Mansa [b]Speech Color:[/b] [color=#9f7d2e]#9f7d2e - Gentle Gold[/color] [b]Character Alignment:[/b] Wishes to be a Hero; Much more prone to Walking the Line. [b]Identity:[/b] He tries to keep his real identity hidden, but was forced to flee the UK when exposed by the Metropolitan Police as part of a larger manhunt involving a string of murders in London that perfectly framed him as the main suspect. The one or two people he had told about his powers have since been taken into custody and their situation is unknown - he has no allies left. [b]Character Personality:[/b] A quiet and uncertain young man, Everett was determined in his school years to keep a low profile, knuckle down and study. He had few friends due to his anxiety and lack of conviction regarding what he wanted out of life in the long-term, in a world ruled by luck - after all, it seemed like those with all of the power had either been born into it, were lucky enough to receive it from circumstance and mystery, or had taken it from others by force and cruelty. He is generally bad at maintaining eye contact and gets nervous in high pressure environments, but when taking on the persona of 'Mansa', he has found it easier to get 'into character' and reveals an inner confidence that tends to throw those who know him well off guard. He has his suspicions that the persona of 'Mansa' somehow links him to the Golden Spider from his dreams, and that leaves him nervous about the possibility that his confidence and cunning are not really 'his' - this, along with the constant fear of being killed, caught or being forced to his powers to harm others leaves him nervous and pessimistic about the future and his role in the world. [b]Uniform/costume:[/b] N/A; Everett did briefly consider the idea of trying to create his own costume based on sketches he'd drawn as a kid, but quickly realized that his powers were better used from a distance or while blending into a crowd. In his daily life Everett has no particular 'style', but especially since being on the run he mainly just wears practical, cheap clothing - jeans, bland T-shirts or button-up shirts and simple padded coats or hoodies. When he can get away with it though, he prefers to wear tight, smart brown trousers and elegant, long-sleeved shirts, usually with flower or abstract patterns. When possible, he also wears thick or woolly gloves to limit his powers from accidentally triggering if he gets nervous. [b]Origin Info/Details:[/b] Born to Ghanian parents shortly after they moved to London, Everett often felt uncertain of his place in the world growing up. His parents loved him and his older brother Thursday a great deal, but there was a constant sense of being torn between two very different worlds. He seems to have faded into the background, especially when his younger brother was born and he was hit extremely hard with middle child syndrome. Never-the-less, there was one small certainty throughout everything - the world was unfair, deeply so, and his family seemed to suffer the brunt of it. In a world of heroes, London - and the wider UK in general - had famously low numbers of heroes relative to its population, and a growing lack of confidence in the work of ordinary police had gradually been eroding their public support; when a series of attacks by the villain Scattershot left dozens dead in the London Underground, the UK government began to implement much more... severe measures, for tackling crime. The new funding and paranoia, however, were a noxious mix that soon helped breed corruption and personal vendettas at the highest level. In a society rife with propaganda and growing tyranny, Everett grew up increasingly pessimistic about the world, feeling he had to do something - perhaps through studying hard and getting a good education? Perhaps through politics? Perhaps through charity? - to make it better, but every system he turned to had inevitably failed the common people. And then, when his family had hit rock bottom, he had a dream. A tiny golden spider, drifting in the darkness from a single golden strand. [color=#9f7d2e]"The world is wounded, yes?" "Yes." "Then take the Light of the Earth, and bind those wounds."[/color] He awoke to something powerful, deep within his bones. On some deep, instinctive level, he knew what the spider had given him - and when his thoughts turned out to be based in truth, that he now held a power able to hold the balance of prosperity and ruin, life and death, with a snap of his fingers... He knew that he had to do something. With such great power, there was now a great responsibility - to change the world forever. [b]Hero Type:[/b] Elemental/Mystic [b]Power Level:[/b] Usually an A, but Everett could potentially achieve B or even C level with sufficient preparation, support and set up. [b]Powers:[/b] Everett possesses something called the 'Light of the Earth', the ability to instantly turn any inorganic matter he wishes into gold with a snap of his fingers. This can theoretically work on objects of almost any size or complexity, though he's never tried anything larger than a full three piece suit or anything more complex than an iPhone. This is tremendously powerful, but abides by very specific limitations that he strictly cannot break, as follows: --- Line of Sight: Everett must be able to see the matter he is 'converting' clearly enough that he can perceive it as 'that thing' - this means his effective range is much greater so long as he wears his glasses, but it does not work through electronic devices. --- No Magic Mass for Me: The targets of Everett's power do not magically 'gain mass' - gold is a heavy metal with a high particle density to its atoms, so most materials and objects will essentially 'compress' as they are converted, the atoms quietly but suddenly 'melting together'. Thus, the vast majority of targets will quite literally shrink or even 'melt' as the individual chemical elements making up the target slowly shrink and push together into a single mass of gold. Perfect golden statues these are not. ----- Despite this change in atomic structure, there is no actual release of energy from such a change - as far as Everett or anyone else is aware, he doesn't have the power to create nuclear fission on a whim or to turn objects into miniature nuclear bombs. --- Snap of the Fingers: Everett must snap his fingers to trigger the ability - he's attempted to use his power without the finger snap, and consistently nothing happens. There's no specific pose or other action required mind you, but he usually likes to be dramatic about it when he can get away with it. And yes, this does mean he's basically powerless if his fingers or hands are broken. --- No Focus Necessary: Despite this, Everett doesn't need to actively 'concentrate' to use his power - so long as he's looking at something, he can snap his fingers to trigger it instantly. The problem is that without focusing on the 'target' in question, the effect will simply latch onto whatever 'target' he's dwelling on at the time - a lapse in judgement of this sort is the straw that broke the camel's back and led to him being tracked down by the UK authorities, forcing him on the run. ----- That said, concentration does also provide him greater control - with proper focus, he can 'delay' the effect, starting the process of turning something to gold on a sort of 'timer' where it slowly turns to gold from the outside in. The longest he was able to delay such a target was forty seconds before his concentration was broken by the arrival of police and the conversion immediately finished. --- Golden Retriever: Technically not a limitation but rather a passive secondary power that he gained simultaneously, he appears to be able to sense the presence of gold around him in a small area, about 20 feet at the furthest. This is described as a 'tingling' that rises up his limbs. The sensation is stronger towards gold that he himself has 'created', and the range extends as far as 50 feet at his last calculation. As a secondary note, something Everett isn't yet certain of is if there is a way for him to reverse the transformation. A comment the golden spider made to him once ([color=#9f7d2e]"One who changes the world can often change it back"[/color]) has led him to believe that he could, but he's not yet been able to successfully do so. [b]Attributes (Select one at each category):[/b] [indent] [b]Height:[/b] 6"2. [b]Weight:[/b] 81 kilos. [b]Strength Level:[/b] Normal Human. [b]Speed/Reaction Timing Level:[/b] Normal Human. [b]Endurance at MAXIMUM Effort:[/b] Normal Human. [b]Agility:[/b] Normal Human. [b]Intelligence:[/b] Slightly above average. [b]Fighting Skill:[/b] Untrained. [b]Resources:[/b] Minimal, but hypothetically could become Extreme given sufficient secrecy/protection and resources to work with.[/indent] [b]Weaknesses:[/b] Primarily, his main weakness is that, without his power he's just a weedy, physically frail nerd caught between anxiety and a theoretical god-complex that worries those who know of him. Nothing about him is particularly noteworthy, and so if anything were to happen to his hands, or he was caught off guard? Well, he wouldn't exactly last long. [b]Supporting Characters:[/b] [b]IN PROGRESS[/b] [indent] --- Thursday Williams: His older brother, a well-adjusted and law-abiding man who he used to confide in about everything. Thursday was ultimately the one who reported him after he accidentally killed a local business man. --- The Golden Spider: A mysterious entity that appeared in his dreams and seems to have given him his powers. It appears occasionally to offer cryptic advice, but he cannot seem to question its quiet confidence. He fears that the slight changes in his personality when he gets 'In-Character' as Mansa may actually be the influence or control of the Spider. --- Velu Anand: A successful business-man and old family friend with something of a rebellious streak from his younger days, he was disgusted at Jeremy's betrayal and has helped provide Everett safe and secret passage out of the UK. "Family first," he always says. [/indent] [b]Face Claim:[/b] Lakeith Stanfield [hider=Sample Post] [b]Sample Post:[/b] Deep beneath that vast steel cage, he could feel the lifeblood of the world, vast and alien and terrifying. His stomach struggled to rest, the world still spinning - it occurred to him that this was not technically the first time he'd been on a boat. Last time he'd journeyed across the world for a new home, he'd been a zygote, the barest trace of a nothing... [color=#9f7d2e][i]Would I be here if they'd stayed? Or would this... purpose, have only been stronger?[/i][/color] The troubles of Britain were his catalyst, after all. Would he still be the same person if they'd stayed? Would he still even be Everett? Or perhaps he would have been Saturday, just like his grandfather? [color=#9f7d2e][i]No fear,[/i][/color] whispered the spider, his focus wandering, adrift in the twilight that surrounded every aspect of the voyage, [color=#9f7d2e][i]No worries.[/i][/color] ... He was awoken from his hazy half dreams by a tap on his shoulder. The sound of the tense fingers surrounding and rippling the polyester of his coat was almost as noticeable to him as the firm but gentle grip. "Everett, we are arriving soon. How are you?" He smiled, a soft and distant smile as he turned to the last of those who could be called his allies, and the brown suitcase that he'd placed onto the ground. An old friend - the oldest. [color=#9f7d2e]"I'm... I'm okay. Just... tired. Thinking a lot. Thanks again for all of this though, Velu."[/color] "Oh, no fear boy. You were always good, a good boy, and if Allu was here, I think he'd have been right alongside you. What's become of this country..." The gentle crevices of Velu's face went taut as he spat on the ground, sneering at the spot just like he'd sneered at the TV the day Everett had come to him for help. Everett couldn't help but smile a little at that - to see the polite, well-mannered business man display his disgust so straight. They stood in the soft darkness of the ship's hold for some time. Honestly, time had felt less and less meaningful a concept those last few days - what did it matter, when the chase was eternal? Velu's brown eyes went wide, and he patted down the pockets of his well-tailored brown suit. Then, with a slight sigh of relief, he reached into the inner pocket and pulled out a small silver stop-watch. He held Everett's hand tightly, resting it in his palm. "Take it, as a memento. The time is always changing, always ticking, but it never stops going. That watch has been with me for four generations, and well... you take it now, okay?" Everett stepped back, his feet suddenly uneasy. [color=#9f7d2e]"But, you... you've already done so much, I don't, I-"[/color] "Just take it, alright? I only ask that you don't turn it into gold. The memories of my family are more precious than that. It's never needed to be retuned, and if you break that record..." He smiled again, though something in his eyes - the shimmer and echo of a tear? - told Everett he was serious. "... then my ghost, my father's ghost, and my grandfather's ghost will haunt you from across the Atlantic. You'll never be able to escape!" Everett nodded, wiping his brow with his right hand in as exaggerated way as he could muster, given the circumstances. [color=#9f7d2e]"The ghosts of Anand. Like... the saddest version of a Christmas Carol ever, with curry?"[/color] "Hah, sad? Angry, more like! And you'd [i]wish[/i] my wife's cooking was there!" They laughed, and cried, and hugged - for the first time in a long, long while, Everett didn't feel so awkward about it. ... An hour later, and Everett walked into the early evening darkness, the 'helper' Velu had hired to get him away from the dockyards. The big apple, the so-called greatest city on Earth, awaited him. He had two thousand dollars, the clothes on his back, a suitcase full of memories. On the horizon behind him, there stood a flame of liberty, a bearer of justice. In this world of chaos and lies, where everything could change like a snap of the fingers... The clock kept ticking. [/hider] [/hider]