[hider=Duke][b]Name:[/b] Marmaduke Cashmere [b]Nickname(s):[/b] Duke, sometimes referred to as Rat Bastard [b]Age:[/b] 18 [b]Grade:[/b] Mephisto's, 3rd year [b]Appearance:[/b] Long, unkempt black hair, mostly vacant brown eyes. Looks quite unreliable at first glance. Wears a heavily worn second-hand uniform, but sports noticeably expensive accessories. He's quite tall but somewhat thin, it seems like you could push him over without much effort. [hider=Biography] Marmaduke (or Duke, as he likes to be called) was born to a poor home, to a single mother in a bad neighbourhood. His father was a far-gone fling of his mother's, so they were left to fend for themselves. It was rough, and they didn't always have the best relationship. His mother was convinced that he would do great things, but for young Duke, that was difficult to see. He had only average grades, even in the poorer schools he attended, and he wasn't any particular standout in sports either. He didn't have any kind of charisma, merely a penchant for getting caught in mischief. Given the circumstances he naturally gravitated towards the bad folk, and whether he was at fault or not, it seemed like he would always get drawn into trouble. Still, his mother insisted that he believe in his bloodline, though he preferred to rely on himself. He knew they were balancing on the knife's edge, and sooner or later, things would tip. And they did. One day, on coming home, Duke discovered that his mother had been hospitalised. If his circumstances were tight before, they were downright asphyxiating now. It became a challenge of balancing school and work, scraping just enough money to pay bills. He had little time for sleep or food, and it took a toll on his health. He began to entertain darker thoughts as he spiralled downwards, wishing for a way out, wishing for a miracle, wishing for his father, perhaps. But, at the end of the day, he knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch. And at his lowest point, it arrived. One day, as if out of nowhere, a red imp appeared. It told him that it was a servant of his father, that it was there to teach him how to use his power, how to unlock his bloodline. If he chose to, he could have it all. Riches, fame, power, anything was possible. At that moment, the only thing he needed was money, and lots of it. He's not sure what happened next. He blacked out and then woke up in his bed, surrounded by a small pile of money. He was happy for the first time in a while. He rushed over to the hospital to make a payment and to tell his mother about the good turn they had received. Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, she was already dead. Bereft of his purpose, Duke was stunned for a while. He tried spending his "hard earned" money in hedonestic ways, but nothing seemed to fill the hole inside. The imp had told him clearly, that there would be a price to pay. If he knew what it had been before, he wondered if he still would've taken it. Listlessly he drifted through his life, school, work, until it came time to go to high school. He decided to enrol at Mephisto's School for the Wickedly Inclined, because if anyone was Wickedly Inclined, it would probaby Duke. He found that he fit right in to Mephisto's and soon garnered some infamy for himself inside and outside of the ring. Outside he set up and participated in paid bets, winning and losing large amounts of money. Inside the ring he was known as a wildly inconsistent fighter, winning fights against people he shouldn't have, and losing fights that should've been easy to win. His track record was that of a fairly typical Mephisto daredevil, but he was just having a good time. It was the closest he had felt to being alive ever since that day.[/hider] [hider=Powers] [b]Core: [color=palegreen]Hellfire[/color][/b] A "gift" left to him by his father. By using his blood as a medium, Duke is able to summon sickly green flames straight from hell. The flames sap life from those afflicted, plundering it for the controller of the flames and allowing Duke to imbue himself or others with life force, healing wounds and bolstering physical performance. Of course, this power is not without a price. If it can't sap the life force of his enemies then the green flame will sup from Duke's own reserves. Once formed, the hellfire can take many forms. Balls of fire, bolts of fire, flaming weapons, and more. Being afflicted with the fire drains the victim's stamina, but has no effect on non-living entities. Of course, there's a limit to the power one person can summon. Which is where his imp friend comes into play... [b]Ability 1: [color=palegreen]Spin the Wheel[/color][/b] Duke is psychically linked to an imp-like creature (dressed like a gameshow host) which he can summon at will. Formally known as [color=red][b]Morton the Red Devil[/b][/color], or just Mort. On summoning him the imp creates a giant wheel with various outcomes on it, both good and bad. Good outcomes can multiply the power of Duke's hellfire, whereas bad outcomes can divide it. The result is random, and not even Mortimer knows what the wheel will stop at. Mortimer can be summoned again consecutively with an increasing large tax of life force, so repeated spins are inadvisable. The effects of this ability last for roughly half an hour. [b]Ability 2: [color=palegreen]Double or Nothing[/color][/b] This ability can only be activated by telling Mortimer to do so while the wheel is spun. It doubles the eventual reward of the spin, regardless of whether or not the result was good or bad. [b]Ability 2: [color=palegreen]Blood Sacrifice[/color][/b] While the wheel is spun, Duke can spend a significant amount of life to force the wheel to land on a good result. The amount of life spent is usually more than the reward, proving it to be an inefficient use of his powers, unless he has a good supply of lifeforce ready.[/hider] [b]Relationships:[/b] No particularly close relationships, but most Mephisto students know of him, and some outside of Mephisto know of him as well. Tries to avoid Alyona whenever possible. [/hider] [hider=Jeremy][b]Name:[/b] Jeremy Williams [b]Age:[/b] 15 [b]Grade:[/b] St. Laurel's, first year [b]Appearance:[/b] Short and rather scrawny for his age, sitting at 5 feet flat. Wide green eyes and small features, along with chestnut brown hair, which makes him look kind of like a mouse. Wears a big, star patterned wizard hat at all times, though it may be that the wizard hat is wearing him. The hat never comes off and simply allows corporeal objects to pass through it and onto Jeremy's soft, vulnerable head. At least it lets him cut his hair. [b]Biography:[/b] Jeremy was like most boys his age, going to school, playing around with his friends, getting bullied at school for being giftless, the usual. Everyday he thought of turning things around with a gift of his very own, and every night his dreams were much the same. Then one day, his dream came true. With a bolt of magic lightning, a wizard hat appeared on his head and a voice boomed down from the heavens. "I am the God of Reality, Jeremy, and I grant you the gift of all gifts. Henceforth, you shall be known to all as one of my Reality Wizards! I have granted you powers befitting your station. Now go forth and use these powers to spread my magnificence!" That very moment, on a sunny Thursday afternoon, 3 o'clock sharp, Jeremy was imbued with untold mastery over reality. Crackling with newfound power, he strolled confidently up to his school bullies the next day... and was promptly beaten into the ground. Jeremy had begun to feel that he had been the victim of some kind of joke. After that incident, Jeremy decided to try and keep his head down for the rest of his middle school life. This proved a more difficult task than expected, now that he had a very flashy, unremovable wizard hat on it. By knuckling down on his studies he somehow scraped his way into St.Laurel's School of Divine Excellence, where he hopes to lead a quiet high school life. Unfortunately, he had a funny feeling that his troubles have only just begun. [b]Core: Reality bender[/b] Jeremy has been imbued with magic spells that have the power to warp the very fabric of reality! In theory, anyway. In practise, he can use phrases derived from random moments in his life to apply superficial effects to real objects. His spells layer something onto someone's existing reality, but they can't change it, only affect it in rather ineffectual ways. The spells must be spoken out loud to work, and require Jeremy to choose a target. Such reality alterations don't hold for long, either, slipping off like a poorly glued piece of paper. [b]Ability 1:[/b] [i]"Fork the Tender!"[/i] Derived from a particularly tasty dinner involving chicken tenders. Jeremy, holding a proverbial fork, spears a target, the proverbial tender. This doesn't do any damage to the target, but he can then move the 'fork' to and fro, and move the 'tender' as a result. He has to be careful though, since, unlike the lovely dinner he remembers so fondly, the tender may be stronger than the arm holding the fork. [b]Ability 2:[/b] [i]"Put on the Tuxedo!"[/i] Jeremy was once tasked with attending his older sister's wedding with an acceptable outfit. The memories of his failure haunt him to this day. When used, it puts an awkward, ill fitting tuxedo on the target. Can be useful for tripping up and restraining his opponents for a little while, since it lasts longer than his other spells. Just the like the shame he felt on that day... [b]Ability 3:[/b] [i]"Pause the DVD!"[/i] Probably his most practical spell. Freezes the target, rather too briefly for Jeremy's liking. While they are frozen they can't be attacked or affected. Maybe he can put the tuxedo on while they can't move... Seems to lose effectiveness on repeated uses, as if his friends are taking the remote from him after a while. [b]Relationships:[/b] None so far, though he's kind of friends with Ken? He's trying to keep to himself for the most part. Gets nervous around girls. [/hider]