This thread is for accepted characters only. Do not post your sheet here unless you are accepted. Just don't. You're only going to waste space. Please place all sheets in a hider
[b]Name:[/b] [INDENT][/INDENT] [b]Nickname/Alias/Etc:[/b] [INDENT][/INDENT] [b]Gender:[/b] [INDENT][/INDENT] [b]Age:[/b] [INDENT]There's no age limit in particular. Hell, you can make a baby if it made sense. I would prefer if most characters are above 8.[/INDENT] [b]Height:[/b] [INDENT]In inches/feet[/INDENT] [b]Weight:[/b] [INDENT]In pounds[/INDENT] [b]Home District:[/b] [INDENT][/INDENT]
[b]Innate & Outward Personality:[/b] [INDENT][/INDENT] [b]Hobbies/Interests:[/b] [INDENT]Optional[/INDENT] [b]Skills/Talents:[/b] [INDENT][/INDENT] [b]Goals/Motivation[/b] [INDENT]What is your character's goal in the story? Is it to stay alive? Take over the crime world?[/INDENT] [b]History/Bio:[/b] [INDENT]You can skim over events you'd rather reveal in the IC.[/INDENT]
[h3][u][b]Relationships[/b][/u][/h3]
[b]Family:[/b] [INDENT][/INDENT]
[b]Dynamics:[/b] (Relations with other characters - You don't have to put relation with family here.) [indent][h3]| [b]Name Here[/b] |[/h3] | [b]{Impression (Good/Bad/Neutral}[/b] | [b]{Relationship (Friend, Rival, Crush, etc)}[/b] | [i]"Quote Here."[/i] | [indent] [Description of Relationship] [/indent]
[/indent]
[h3][b][u]Abilities[/u][/b][/h3]
[b]Power Class:[/b] [INDENT](Cerebral (Extra-Sensory, Domination), Super-System (Bestial, Biological), Elemental (Energy, Mimicry), Power (Replication, Charger/Dampener), or Other[/INDENT] [b]Power:[/b] [INDENT][/INDENT] [b]Limits:[/b] [INDENT]Depending on the power, this may be optional[/INDENT] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [INDENT][/INDENT]
[hider= NPC Name] [b]Name[/b]: [indent][/indent] [b]Age[/b]: [indent][/indent] [b]Description[/b]: [indent]Concise summary of their appearance, and role in story. Personality optional.[/indent] [b]Powers[/b]: [indent][/indent] [/hider]
| RAVEN NPCs |
Name:
Drake Deltori Blackmore (Callsign: Thunder God)
Age:
25
Description:
The first son of the legendary NEST Agent Adam Blackmore. He decided to join RAVEN after hearing about the deaths of his father, and his older cousin Nikki Biyung at the hands of the Changeling Unit. Drake is young, brash, heroic, and has a noble heart - despite angsting over the death of his father. He hopes to continue what his father started. Drake stands at the average male height, and is very muscular due to years of playing sports - only getting even more muscular during his time at RAVEN. He's mixed, his father was English, and his mother is Korean - and he takes more after his father in terms of appearance. Drake is an up and coming RAVEN that has much prominence due the fact he's Adam's son.
Powers: Power-Transformations.
Drake, much like the rest of the Blackmores, has the ability to replicate powers upon touch. However, his replication is unique as he transforms into a different form depending on the power. He may engulf himself in flames upon copying pyromancery, or he may turn into a hulking brute if he copies super strength. The results may vary. At the moment, Drake has electrokinesis copied, so he explodes into a powerful electrical form with flight, and immense electrical abilities.
Name:
Samson Isiah Jeross (Callsign: Punished Phoenix)
Age:
30
Description:
A former member of the Vanguard back in Mendel, Samson was arrested by NEST a few years back. However, due to his criminal record being clean, and his behavior being excellent, he was offered a position within NEST to avoid jail time. Samson was a member of NEST up until it's disbandment, and he joined up with RAVEN at the time. Samson became a rather notable RAVEN with his younger brother, Hector, being his partner. Samson is a tall African-American man that is muscular due to training as a RAVEN. He's a known black belt in karate. Samson, despite his appearance, is a relatively chill man that likes to hang out and have fun.
Powers: Phoenix.
Putting it plain and simple, Samson is a fire-bird. Samson possess a wide array of fire-based abilities. First and foremost, the obvious fire-bending ability. Samson is a high-level pyromancer, capable of several techniques. He can create near infinite amounts of fire, move fire, control the heat and intensity of fire, solidify flames, cause explosions of fire, generate heat, etc. The other half of Samson's ability is regeneration, whenever he takes damage, the wound will burst into flames, and will heal by the time the flames fade. Samson has the ability to take those two abilities one step further and transform into a giant fire-bird that mimics the appearance of a bearded vulture. This form gives Samson a boost in regeneration and in fire powers, strength, and speed. The weakness is that Samson always burns his hair off whenever he uses it (D'oh!).
Name:
Hector Justin Jeross (Callsign: Obelisk)
Age:
24
Description:
Samson's younger brother, Hector is a new inductee into RAVEN, and has been assigned to Baybridge alongside his older brother. Hector too was born in Mendel, and Samson had the join the Vanguard just to support him. He feels guilt that Samson was arrested on his behalf, so he joined RAVEN alongside him just to prove himself. Hector is tall, and African-American, just like Samson, but Hector is thinner. He's much lankier, and is a few inches taller than his brother. He keeps his hair in dreadlocks, and is quite polite. Though not as social as his brother.
Powers: Energy-Crystals.
Hector has the ability to create blue crystals with a unique property: whenever they come in contact with energy, they absorb them. After he absorbs the energy, he can expel this energy however he pleases. These crystals can be any shape that Hector wants them to be, he can telekinetically move them, and they are very hard.
Previously a trainee under Dana Alcott, Daphne has now become a full-fledged mission controller. She became Akemi's goddaughter after the Verthaven Disaster and a sister figure to the twins; sometimes she's also a mentor figure to Shizuka.
She has a fair complexion (with a slight green tinge) and a willowy build - you know, tall, ideal slim waist, nice ass at the back - what most women dream to strive for, but it's a pity about her almost flat chest. She keeps her hair in an asymmetrical light auburn bobcut; her eyes are sea-green, and she has an oval-shaped face with full lips. Obviously Caucasian, with her ancestry tracing back to Irish and French. Always in blouses and long pants, never a fan of skirts and dresses. Footwear is strictly limited to flats, and maybe just a handful non-killer heels (hell no to stilettos!).
Soft-spoken with a drawl - her manner of speech may irk most people, especially those impatient ones. She also likes to come up with names for pretty much anything and everything - from her personal belongings to her powers, sometimes even to strangers when she only just met them for the first time.
Daphne has unmatched telepathic link with any living plantae within a few miles of her (her range is much wider in the day than night); she's also able to manipulate the flora by channeling her emotions into them. As most people do not see plants as a threat to them compared to animals, she's able to make good use of their ignorance to her advantage - all greens act as her eyes and ears, easily allowing her to spy on her targets and no one will be any the wiser. Her powers won't work on dead plants, and her greatest weakness is fire.
| DOVE NPCs |
Name:
Deborah Lillian Javuant
Age:
31
Description:
Chairwoman of DOVE. Originally a woman from Black Fall Pennsylvania that became a NEST Agent, Deborah was a strong advocate for change within the NEST Organization. Stating that the system was flawed and needed to be changed - which fell on deaf ears as High Command chose to ignore her. However, she got the change that she idealized once NEST was disbanded, and DOVE was formed. Due to her exemplary humanity, and skills as an Agent, Deborah was chosen to be the Chairmen of DOVE, and she was the woman who shaped DOVE into what it is today. Deborah is a tall African-American woman that is well built. She is a Metahuman with a powerful array of Extra-sensory abilities that gives her information on what she can perceive (Along with other telepathic abilities). Deborah is regarded as one of the kindest Agents, and gives it her all as she tries to improve the world, not just for Metahumans, but for everyone.
Powers: Psychometric-Perception.
Deborah has an extremely powerful information gathering ability that naturally makes her a great detective. Extra-sensory in nature. It's rather simple to explain, she gains information about what she perceives (What she sees, hears, smells, touches, and even tastes) about her environment automatically. It goes a little bit more in depth than that, since she does this by making connections between cause-and-effect, filling in the blanks of information. The possibilities are nearly endless. She could learn motives with a glance, learn about objects around her, and so on. But Deborah mostly uses this ability on other humans to learn about them. Technically, she has a lesser form of Empathy, as her whole power allows her to learn emotions through scanning body language. This ability to make connections allows her to do a little bit more than what you're thinking. By scanning enough about a particular subject, she can make larger connections. Such as if she's scanning a random object, she can learn that it's sentimental, and why. Or if she finds a gun on the ground smoking, she can tell how long ago it's been shot and where the bullet went. That's just a few examples in particular, since there's a ton of variables here. Unlike other abilities that are Psychometric in nature, this ability focuses on present time information, or more precisely what she is currently perceiving. She also has tactile-telepathy, a psychic shield (Which defends her from other mental powers), and Premonitions.
Name:
Shannon Jacqueline Balore
Age:
33
Description:
Deborah's rather grumpy assistant. A rather close childhood friend of hers that followed Deborah all the way to the top, doing all she can to support her. From being the fried that Deborah needed, to joining NEST with her. Which has earned her a spot as Deborah's assistant within DOVE. She makes appointments, and helps Deborah manage things around DOVE. She supports in executive decisions. Shannon is a red-haired Irish/Israel woman who's blue eyes are hidden behind a pair of glasses. She is known for her excessively stylish clothings... because of her ability to manipulate clothes (More like the ability to manipulate everything clothes are made out of) allows her to make any outfit imaginable. As you may have expected, Shannon is in Baybridge with Deborah. Though, it's suspected they're more than just friends...
Powers: Clothing-Manipulation.
Alright, here's the 4-1-1, Shannon has the power to manipulate clothing, or more accurately, the materials they're comprised of. To start off, this gives her to ability to manipulate all fibers/fabrics (wool, silk, cotton, etc), denim, nylons, polyester, rayon, flannel, leather, feather down, linen, and spandex. These materials are what she can control the best. She can freely move it telekinetically with exceptional precision, and control - along with being able to move large quantities if she pleases. The most obvious use is that she can weave pretty much anything she can imagine out of these flexible materials. Clothes, weapons, barriers - you name it. But a major side-ability she has is that she can alter these materials properties (Absorbency, texture, weight/density, color, and structure). Shannon can also control the tensile strength of these materials. Tensile strength is more or less how much stress these materials can withstand before snapping. Thus, Shannon can alter that. She can give a single thread the strength of diamonds, or make any outfit bullet-resistant (Not proof, since they can't absorb the impact of the bullets).
Name:
Jade West
Age:
23
Description:
It's stated that her blood is cursed. Jade is a Haitian woman who carries the "Witch Mother gene" in her. The Witch Mothers are a long line of Metahumans in which their females develop the ability to manipulate biology. They're the scourge of Haiti, but the newest Witch Mother was a member of the Changeling Unit. Which brings Jade much shame. Which is why Jade joined DOVE in Baybridge, to use her ability to atone for the sins of her bloodline. Jade's skin is a dark color, and her features are consistent with Haitians. She's well-built, but not overly muscular. Jade acts as a standard member of DOVE, as well as a medic. Jade is in a relationship with Drake Blackmore.
Powers: Biology-Manipulation.
Much like her grandmother, Jade possesses a limitless control over biology. If she touches something, she can recode the biology of anything. Including changing it to a whole different creature. However, Jade does not like this ability, and has mentally conditioned herself so that she doesn't use her biology manipulation. Jade instead uses the helpful, healing aspects of this power, and heals anyone who needs it.
Name:
Scarlet Sindel Obott
Age:
29
Description:
One of the survivors of the Verthaven disaster that was a NEST trainee to support her younger brother, Trevor Obott, who was killed by Luis in his last moments. Distraught over the death of her brother, Scarlet joined up with the newly formed DOVE and has been doing everything she could to ensure that other young Metahumans get the help they need. Scarlet almost exclusively works with young Metahumans. Scarlet is a average heighted woman that is in her early twenties. Neurotic and mousy looking, her hair is a burgundy color tied up into a bun - it looks a little messy as there's a noticeable amount of hair strands sticking out. She dresses pretty casual, but also walks around with the DOVE uniform.
Powers: Super-System Power Replication.
Scarlet has the ability to copy Physical powers from other Metahumans, and adapt them for herself. She can hold quite a few powers. Currently, she has (the late) Trevor's Narcotic Emission, Super Speed, and Super Strength, which she can switch between.
Name:
Marianela Porras
Age:
28
Description:
A Spanish (Like, from the country) woman who's the daughter of an unknown wealthy man, Marianela joined DOVE to be more than just a simple party-girl. She wants to make a difference within the Metahuman community, which is why she and her sister work together to accomplish just that. Marianela is a thin and petite Spanish woman with off-white skin, a thin, but well built frame, and that's small compared to her sister. Marianela has a high position within DOVE.
Powers:
No powers to speak of.
Name:
Adora Porras
Age:
25
Description:
The younger sister of Marianela... though, one would get the idea that Adora was the older one. Since Adora is much taller, and muscular than her older sister. She's quite frightening. However, the two come from a shared background. Both are Spanish, and the daughters of someone wealthy. However, Adora has lost both of her arms in an accident, she uses her power to compensate for them, but until she activates it, she appears armless. Adora is a DOVE to her core, and is never seen without her sister.
Powers: Black Fog.
Adora has a strange ability that's hard to explain. She has the ability to produce this thick, black, smoke-like substance from her missing arms, and then manipulate it. She can solidify this smoke to form the shapes of arms. In which she can use to manipulate world using a subtle telekinesis in the background.
| ISD NPCs |
Name:
Tabitha Crest
Age:
32
Description:
The CEO of the ISD who inherited the organization from her father Berith Crest, she is a brilliant scientist taught by the best. She's declared the lead in Metahuman research as she's the one who researched Ashing, and the Black Fall effect, discovering how they work and giving them names. Tabitha participates in science and research as much as she runs the organization - she's known as quite the busy bee. Tabitha tries to understand what makes a Metahuman, and what she can do with their energy energy. Tabitha is a tall woman with German descents, she's known for her distinct head of black curly hair. Tabitha makes a note to make plenty of public appearances, and do her best to stay on the good side of Metahumans by doing acts of charity (Donating money to other charities, taking in homeless Metahumans, etc). However, very few people personally know her, and she's a mystery.
Powers:
No powers, but she is a genius.
| Savior NPCs |
Name:
Liu Jiao-Long
Age:
53
Description:
CEO of the Liu Pharmaceutical Company, and a Brilliant scientist under the Savior foundation with a specialty in Metahumans. He's known Nationwide for his work on a cure for Metahumans, and how much progress he's making on it. Usually he stays in Black Fall to do work, but he often travels to compare notes, and other business endeavors. He's been brought to Verthaven for a very important meeting, he refuses to disclose. Brother of Lihua Zhao (And uncle of Meifeng and Lijuan), and father of many children. Jiao-Long is obviously Chinese, with yellowish skin with light-white overtones, and very asianic features. His eyes are dark brown. He is quite tall at 6'5, but few would notice because he hunches over at times. He's a bit pudgy because of all the work he does leaves very little time to work out. He's a very kind, and calm man, who only wants the best for everyone, and wants to achieve peace where ever he can. Jiao-Long moved from Black Fall to Baybridge because of the growing tensions in the former city, and the fact he's allocating a lot of his business to the latter.
Powers:
Jiao-Long is a baseline human.
Name:
Zoe Lucille Hardley
Age:
38
Description:
A woman that Jiao-Long recruited into the Liu Pharmaceutical Company a few months after the Verthaven disaster to serve as his family's bodyguard. She has served as their body-guard to this very day, and has saved him and his family from assassination. Zoe seems to be very loyal, as where ever Jiao-Long goes, Zoe goes. Zoe is a European woman with pale white skin, and a head of curly brown hair that goes neck length. She usually wears a fancy looking skirt, and shirt. She has a pistol at her hip.
Powers: Teleportation.
Zoe is a teleporter on a wide scale. She's capable of easily teleporting to any location in Baybridge, and back. Carrying any amount of people with her. However, she too suffers from the same limits that plague Metahumans known as fatigue. She can only large-scale teleport twice.
| White Spider Society NPCs |
Name:
Lilian & Viollette Croquetaigne
Age:
55
Description:
The two twin daughters of White Arachne that are the many district managers of the White Spider Society. They operate things in America, and both are quite intelligent. They're the oldest of White Arachne's daughters, both in their mid-fifties, and they're the closest to her. They are two French women that have blonde hair and blue eyes. They are quite curvy, and the form fitting suits they wear tends to accent their curves. Neither of them have superpowers of the sort. Both of them are in Baybridge running operations. .
Powers:
Baseline humans.
Name:
Lupe Ellie Bellasquez
Age:
24
Description:
Vain, Egotistical, a large ham. Lupe lives for fun and games, and doesn't let anything get in her way. Therefore, she is extremely hedonistic, unsympathetic, and doesn't have a care in the world. Lupe is one of the White Spider Society's strippers, and she joined the Society after moving to Baybridge after San Diego got too dangerous for her. Now, she serves as the one who keeps her ear to the ground, and is the informant for whoever is willing to pay... or is cute enough for her to go on a date with. Spanish, very thin, and she has a very sharp and pronounced nose. She has black hair styled in a fabulous pompadour. Lupe has a knack for style among other things.
Powers: Neon-Energy Heart.
Lupe has an unknown anomaly within her chest, taking the appearance of a tiny pink star. Known as the Neon-Energy Heart. Whether it's an organ or something else is unknown. But, the Heart serves a vital function to Lupe's ability. It constantly creates a strange gaseous energy that is very similar to plasma, an almost charged gas. Which is unique to her, and unlike any other energy to exist. At will, Lupe can manifest this as a hot-pink-purple-blue energy that has an appearance that is like a mixture of a glowing gas, with electricity and light flowing through it. And it glows brightly, fluctuation between pink, purple, and blue, colors. Once it's created, Lupe can manipulate and shape it freely, much like other elemental types. As it cuts through the air, it leaves behind a trail. This energy is fairly hot, enough to give someone a burn. Depending on the intensity, it could give someone a mild, or third-degree burn. Once it comes in contact with something (Or someone), the energy will disperse a few seconds later.
Name:
Sabrina Jasmine Lloyd
Age:
28
Description:
The stoic, blind, body-guard for the Croquetaigne sisters. She is an average heighted, well-built, African woman with roots coming from Egypt, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. Which has given her a light-brown color, and she's scarred. Sabrina is a member of the Society who lost her vision in a previous incident with the Pure - something that has made her aloof and sullen. She joined the Society to earn money to support her triplet sons. She keeps a black headband wrapped around her eyes, and walks around with a cane. Sabrina is very withdrawn, aloof, and to the point, and doesn't talk much. But when she does, everyone listens.
Powers: Sand-Guardian.
Sabrina has the ability to spawn a sentient pile of sand sentiments, and dust, from around herself, best called a Golem. She calls this being Temperance. This Golem is comprised of plenty of sand, enough to form a pile fives times Sabrina's size. Temperance is quick, strong, intangible, and powerful, which makes Sabrina a dangerous foe. As a side ability, Sabrina can sense vibrations in the ground over a wide radius.
| Megan's Group |
Name:
Megan Emma Jervious
Age:
Appears in her twenties.
Description:
A very odd and mysterious woman that shows up in places. Strange places. Her first documented appearance was working in Academy 218, but she has popped up all over the place. Her last known sighting was with the Hands of Science. Not a soul knows what she wants, or where she came from, but her objectives seem to be the most mysterious part of her. She appears only to Meta-humans, and often helps them in different ways. Otherwise she only speaks to them briefly. Anyone who encounters her quickly finds out about her rather juvenile personality. Extremely cheery, and almost sociopathic in attitude. Megan has one consistent appearance. A tall redhaired woman with freckles, dressing modestly, and having unmatched beauty. Megan was actually the one who leaked the information about the Hands of Science and Changeling Unit to the world, in an attempt to betray them. Since then, she has gone into hiding. Megan has rounded up three people to come to Baybridge with her for... unknown reasons. But, it's apparent that she knows a lot more than what she lets on.
Powers: Amorphous Shape-Shifting.
Megan's body is comprised of a vaguely organic substance that she can freely shape into anything imaginable. This substance is lightweight, self-repairing, and allows her to mimic the properties of anything she has encountered before. It's highly suspected that there's more to this ability.
Name:
Ray Judah Drager
Age:
24
Description:
The young, stoic, collected man that often serves as the "straight man" for Megan's eccentric group, and bodyguard for Rush. Ray is a comically short (He's one inch below the female standard) young man, that has black hair, and wears these fancy oil rig sunglasses. He's from Stadium City... and has an odd amount of criminal training. He can pick lots, he's a strategist, and an excellent fighter. Which leads to some questions about his past. Ray is usually the serious one that provides the realism that counters out Megan's eccentrics. Though, he tends to get the short end of the stick from the group.
Powers: Telekinetic Shadow.
Ray has the ability to produce telekinetic copies of his limbs that "shadow" his every movements that are a dark shade of blue and transparent. If he throws a punch, so does the limb, and so fourth. These limbs have a bit more strength and durability than his regular limbs, and they can be a variety of sizes. From the exact same size of his normal limbs, to tiny, to gigantic (18-Wheeler size). Depending on the size, that dictates their strength.
Name:
Dexter Harold Chertok (Just call him Rush)
Age:
17
Description:
The young redhaired best friend of Ray Drager, and subordinate of Megan. Rush is strange in every sense of the word. He doesn't act like other people - he often talks like a robot, with sentence fragments. Because, deep down, Rush is a sociopath. He feels nothing. However, he learned how to act to fit in with other people, and at least understands what is and isn't acceptable. Above all else, Rush can be called "heroic" due to his efforts to take threats out of the equation. Rush, too, is comically short (at five-two), and has a spiky head of red hair. He usually walks around wearing a trench coat in which he stores all of his tools, and weaponry. He's a bit chubby, but overall he appears weak and unassuming. For years, Rush has worked within Stadium City's underworld as "Gear" where he supplied his services to the right person.
Powers: Techno-Mind.
Rush has developed an instinctive affinity toward all mechanical and electronic systems. The flow of energy within these devices, as well as the layout of their components, resonate with him on a level beyond cognitive senses. This ability is heavily linked to electromagnetism. He is capable of instantly discerning the intended function of a given device, as well as diagnosing any potential damage or malfunctions within them, and how to repair them. Rush is especially gifted in this, considering his ability to use his psychic link with technology to determine the potential to re-purpose any given device, allowing the use of its components for another goal. Rush is known to develop technological tools to protect himself and allies, as well as to disable enemies. He can pretty much make anything within reason, as long as he has the resources to create it. Rush can also control electronics to a far extent. He can freely alter digital systems of any active electronic in his vicinity. Changing functions/system and retrieving information out of them. Such as hacking an iPhone with his mind, or changing the streetlight from green to red. He can do that and more. Hell, Rush can even code complex programs. Such as making a super good hacking program. On top of all this, Rush's mental processing power is far above average and is capable of multitasking on a macro-level.
Name:
Melissa Audrey Baroness (Just Missy)
Age:
23
Description:
A young woman in her early twenties. She is somewhat frightening in terms of appearance. Beyond that brown hair, and those blue eyes, and Scandinavian facial features is a scary looking woman. Her body is covered in scars, from objects coming out of her. One of the strangest features on her body has got to be her spine... It's exposed to the world, and well prehensile like a monkey's tail. It's located a few inches above her waist, and is easily six feet long. This spine moves quite strangely, like it's a scorpion tail. She keeps these features covered up with clothing, usually a hoodie. Missy keeps a surgical mask on to cover her lower face. Otherwise, Missy looks like a healthy twenty-year old.
Missy has the ability to manipulate her body, basically. She has the ability to make bone of any shape grow out of her body, and act as a weapon. Usually a spear of some sort, but she's sometimes made a spear made out of bone. Missy can also control the bone of other people if she can get her prehensile spine to touch stripped bone. Missy can shape, and grow her skin, in addition to being able to alter texture, color, smoothness, density, sensitivity, etc. One trick she learned how to do is give herself "enhanced touch." Giving her the ability to sense vibrations through solids and liquids, and she can even sense air-pressure changes - at the cost of being extra sensitive to pain. Along with the ability to control her muscles, and whatnot. She can telekinetically control blood. Either her own, or blood that's been exposed to the air. She lacks the fancy tricks of her previous two abilities, but she can do stuff like force wounds to scab, or stop blood flow in parts of her body. Finally, Missy has an immense regenerative factor. She can heal from even the worst wounds within an hour, and any blow that doesn't go to the brain won't even stagger her. She, oddly enough, has a network of "backup organs" that activate whenever a primary organ fails. Which can keep her alive despite the odds.
Name:
The Nemesis
Age:
19
Description:
The Nemesis is the creation of the Hands of Science and their attempts to breed the perfect Metahuman from scratch. They semi-successful. They created a lumbering Frankenstein of a human that is certainly powerful, but lacks smarts (Or even the ability to communicate). The Nemesis is a eight-foot tall titan of a beast. It's features are concealed by a large long coat, gloves, massive boots, and a badass looking helmet (With a bowl hat). That's what makes it even more frightening. Formerly with the Hands of Science, with the death of it's master, it's been recruited by Megan after the Hands were exposed to the world to help her further whatever goals they have in mind.
Powers: Super Strength, Durability, & Regeneration.
The Nemesis demonstrates astonishing strength, capable of shattering buildings in a single blow. It's also durable enough to survive attacks that would kill anyone else, and has a mid-tier regenerative factor for what damages it.
| Eco-Naturá NPCs |
Name:
Brody Marcus (Old Man Winter)
Age:
41
Description:
Leader of Eco-Naturá. A survivor of the Verthaven Disaster. He started out as a business man that worked day and night in cubicles to support his family. They were ripped to shreds by monsters, and the whole ordeal broke Old Man Winter. With the advent of his superpowers rising, he came to the insane conclusion that nature was beautiful - but mad - and wishes to restore the world back to as it should be. Forming Eco-Naturá to accomplish that goal. Many people who have talked to Winter know that there is something fundamentally wrong with him, a mental issue of some sort. Despite this, he runs Eco-Naturá... to the best of his ability. Winter is a Caucasian male that seems like someone from the 1950's. Slicked back brown hair, a thin, straggly body with limited muscle tone, and somewhat tall, Winter is no super model.
Powers: Ice-Manipulation.
True to his name, Old Man Winter has advanced cyrokinetic abilities. Powerful cyrokinesis. He has the ability to create and manipulate large amounts of ice at once. Being capable of creating a ice-burg in mere moments, and throwing that at someone. While he seldom preforms such feats, he relies on his other abilities to get the job done. He can create ice golems of any size. These golems follow Winter's orders, and he can see the world through their eyes at will. He can produce as many golems as he desires - but the more golems he has active at a time, the more strain is put on his body. Old Man Winter can also turn intangible, and phase through objects - the only thing is that he freezes anything he touches while phasing. The last ability that Old Man Winter has delves into the Charger power class. He can gift his followers with weaker versions of his power (long as they aren't already a Metahuman) for a limited amount of time.
Name:
John Claudel (You'll be referring to him as Bison).
Age:
33
Description:
A former top-ranking REAPER, Bison was one of the many who fled the organization the very moment the Executives went into hiding. Forced out of his lucrative job, Bison joined the Eco-Natura organization along with his partner Eliza. Basically being a body-guard, head-knocker, or whatever the hell they wanted Bison to be when skulls needed to be cracked. Unsatisfied with his employment, Bison dreams of the days he can return to the glorious days of being a REAPER - and the Mannequin gave him just that. Bison is a tall, muscular, African-American man that is incredibly intimidating in appearance. His torso is covered in tribal tattoos, and he's known for wearing sunglasses, and never taking them off. What accentuates his intimidation well is his brute strength, and insane fighting ability that puts him on par with RAVEN's finest. Bison is loud, brutal, arrogant, violent, and egotistical, and would do anything to keep his status of being the "best."
Powers: Super-Strength, & Wind Manipulation.
Bison possesses an immense physical strength, and durability. He's strong enough to punch through stone like it's nothing, and punch over vehicles. He mostly uses this strength with his boxing ability, opposed to throwing objects, and grabbing. One well-placed punch from Bison can kill a person, and he can tank blows from anyone below his strength level. In addition, Bison has the ability to manipulate air. However, it isn't traditional air manipulation, and more focused on brutish, raw, power. He can throw a punch that'll accompany a wind that'll send people flying, or surround his fists with tornados.
Name:
Eliza Morganella
Age:
28
Description:
Like Bison, Eliza is a former REAPER that is responsible for much mayhem as her partner. Eliza, in contrast to her partner, is more cold, cunning, and aloof. Preferring to be more subtle, rather than... everything Bison is. Eliza uses brain over brawn, and directs the former REAPER (Otherwise, he'd probably be dead or arrested by now). She was even the one who suggested they join Eco-Natura. Still, like him, she is unsatisfied with the organization, and wishes for something greater out of the organization. Eliza is average heighted, bright-blue eyes, and a head of blonde hair that accompanied European facial features (Germany, Poland, etc). Otherwise, she looks perfectly normal and unassuming.
Powers: Telekinetic Constructs.
Eliza has the Green Lantern-esque ability to create constructs with pure mental power. She can create anything that her mind can come up with, and control them. She can create walls, blades, etc. These constructs are durable, but can be countered by other telekinetics.
| Mannequin's Group |
Name:
Mannequin (True name: Unknown).
Age:
N/A
Description:
Formerly the third in command for the monstrous Changeling Unit. After their fall, the Mannequin managed to retreat, and fake his own death with the (Unintentional) help from Baron Moreau. Since then, he's been in hiding (Doing whatever) waiting for the perfect moment to return. Now, he's back with a new upgraded form, and devious plans for society. The Mannequin himself... has long abandoned his human form. Years ago, his body failed him, and it was replaced with a machine. That is as far away from "human" as it gets. The Mannequin's new form is a ten-foot tall construction that is made out of a white ceramic. It's different from his previous "artist doll" like body, as it appears more human. This ceramic is separated into different "plates" and has been molded to appear like the human muscle. This new frame is much bulkier than his previous one - however, it still posses the same long limbs with several different joints that give him unmatched flexibility. The Mannequin's head is merely an orb that is vaguely skull-shaped, otherwise it's smooth and featureless. Underneath this layer of ceramic, there is a weave of a wire-like armor shaped like a bloodstream underneath. The Mannequin is cunning, devious, intelligent, and manipulative. While he isn't the most power, he is completely ruthless, and will burn innocent people to achieve his goals.
Powers: Machine Frame.
The Mannequin's power is very unique, and powerful in an indirect way. His ability instinctively gives him knowledge of biology, and technology, unlike any other. Most importantly, how to merge the two together, which allowed him to become a cyborg. He is capable of technological and medical feats decades ahead of the time. Along with a higher mental processing power, he is insanely intelligent. The Mannequin's body comes with a variety of abilities. Being made of heavily armored ceramic, the Mannequin is very durable, and can easily shrug off most basic attacks, while bracing himself for more dangerous attacks. Underneath the ceramic is also another layer of impact resistant armor that will defend his valuable mechanics. This ceramic is also very light-weight, which means that he's incredibly agile, and mixed with his flexibility, he is insanely quick, and capable of feats no human being can preform. The Mannequin also possesses immense mechanical strength, which can mean a very devastating blow that can shatter bones. Though, he's not one for lifting. Due to his machinery again, his reflexes have been increased by a great margin. He can easily dodge subsonic blows. And that's not all folks, the Mannequin possesses an arsenal of knives all over his body, and some needles hidden in his fingers full of a toxin, tranquilizer, and more fun. There's also a dart gun hidden within his arms. All this abilities make the Mannequin an incredibly dangerous opponent in close-combat.
Name:
Song Jiang
Age:
56
Description:
A former top Chinese Official, Jiang turned into a terrorist, and mad scientist, after an event several years ago that turned him against the very government that he used to serve. He preformed acts of mad science in secret, until he was discovered, and forced to flee China. Jiang met Mannequin, and from there, they've formed a partnership for undisclosed reasons. Jiang is very intelligent, and while not the best leader, he's crafty and a very quick thinker. He also uses his hatred of the Chinese government to propel him to acts of sadism, and cruelty. There isn't much on his mind other than revenge. Worst of all, Jiang knows many Chinese secrets, and isn't afraid to use them to his advantage. Jiang is an average heighted Chinese man that lived for more than half a century. Of course, this means that he certainly looks far aged past his prime. Greying hair, that is usually slicked back, and a rather devilish goatee. Jiang isn't in the best shape due to his age, with a pudgy gut hanging off his torso. He usually wears form concealing outfits, such as a long/lab coat, and a wide brimmed hat.
Powers: Acid & Poison Manipulation.
Jiang has the ability to produce a purple-acid that he can freely manipulate. Such as throwing at people, or surrounding himself in an orb that'll melt any basic attacks flung his way. Jiang has the ability to control this acid's concentration. He can change it from causing slight chemical burns, to a concrete melting acid, and all the things in between. In addition, he can also temporarily turn into this acid to grant himself immunity to physical attacks, as well as greater mobility. Though, he rarely uses this ability unless he has to make a get away. The other end of Jiang's ability is that he can create a poison out of his pores. This isn't the most dangerous poison in the world, but, hell, it's still a problem. The poison causes fatigue, trouble of breathing (To the point of choking), and dizziness as it ravages a person's biology. It can be treated, but due to the poison being unique to Jiang, it's difficult.
Name:
El Toro de Oro (Translation: The Golden Bull)
Age:
24
Description:
A former member of La Famila, Toro is a Mexican Metahuman who has been persecuted by his fellow people into becoming a criminal. He worked with La Famila as a mere legbreaker for La Famila... until the Mannequin recruited him for his cause, and Toro left La Familia. Toro de Oro is a Metahuman who has been physically altered by his ability... greatly altered. He doesn't even look like a human being anymore, instead, he appears much like a statue. Toro's body is made of gold (It's actually a mixture of gold, steel, tungsten, nickel, and molybdenum), and he appears as a nine-foot tall Minotaur because of the huge bull-head he has with massive golden horns. The rest of his body looks relatively human-shaped, save for the claws on his hands and feet. Albeit, his human body is incredibly muscular.
Powers: Gold-Physiology, & Fire Breathing.
As stated before, El Toro de Oro has a body made out of a variety of metals. Obviously, Toro is incredibly durable, and nothing less than a high-powered rifle, or super strength, will do more than tickle him. Being made of gold, Toro also has super strength to allow him to move... this strength makes him a juggernaut in terms of physical abilities. Though, being made of gold means he's not that fast. El Toro de Oro also has a fire manipulation ability; he can breath jets of flame out of his mouth that can leave nothing in his wake but ash. Due to his metal combination, he's so heat resistant that only the highest heats will bother him.
| Hands of Science Remants |
Name:
Age:
52
Description:
The former supreme leader of the Hands of Science's South-West branch, Dr. Cross was one of the many Executives that went into hiding at the behest of the mysterious leaders of the Hands. She utterly disappeared from the grid, up until she appeared in Baybridge after the hysteria against the Hands of Science, working for some low-level science company. It's unknown what she's even doing showing herself, but she's working towards something. Even while hiding, she is still aloof, and mysterious, a person that doesn't show her human side that much. However, she is extremely intelligent, a tactician, and one hell of a leader if she lead the Hands of Science so effectively that they managed to outmaneuver NEST several times over. Dr. Cross is a aged woman, that stands at average height, with neat-slicked back, black hair. Her eyes are brown, and it's believed that she has mixed ancestry in her genes. She usually wears a lab-coat with a stylish suit underneath it. Her most notable change is her new eyepatch in which she lost in a previous incident.
Powers:
None.
Name:
Ignatius
Age:
Appears 32
Description:
Ignatius was the head of the REAPER organization, and a very terrifying figure for his carefree demeanor that had a hidden brutality behind it. He was the target of many members of NEST, as he was responsible for many, many, deaths. He takes no pleasure in his business, he just finds it necessary to further the goals of Dr. Cross (Whom he's intensely loyal to). Recently, he went off on a journey to see the world. He's a tall, wirey, man with a well built frame, and broad shoulders. He has a hair of black hair that is incredibly spiky. Ignatius, most notably, has scars around his neck that appear as if his head was lopped off. Ignatius omits the REAPER wears a long black, padded, overcoat, and any variety of outfit he can think of. His true power is unknown.
Powers:
Unknown.
| Unaffiliated NPCs |
Name:
Molly Schuler
Age:
28
Description:
Molly Schuler, intrepid reporter. Molly was the top-reporter for Verthaven, and was often the first face people see on the news when something happens. Now, she's a survivor of the Verthaven disaster, and seeks to regain the popularity that she had back in Verthaven. Despite the fact that she's in her thirties now. She's a woman of Eastern European descents, going off her Olive skin. She has sharp-facial features, and is quite striking, her black hair is tied into a neat bun. Her body is curvy, and she usually wears suits that accentuate her figure.
Powers:
None
Name:
Lijuan Zhao (赵丽娟, Zhao Lijuan)
Age:
8
Description:
Daughter of Lihua Zhao, and (secretly) Maximilian Cornell, Lijuan was born before anything in Verthaven had taken place, and was but an infant during the Verthaven disaster. She survived due to the valiant efforts of the resistance, and managed to grow up into an eight year old girl. Lijuan is a mixed child, she is part Chinese, and a variety of different European countries. Though, she looks much like a Caucasian child, that has a bit of Asian in her eyes. She's what you'd expect an eight year old to be in terms of build; short, chubby, and all over the place. Lijuan has a head of black hair styled into a bobcut that's well maintained by her methodical mother. Lijuan is normally a very cheerful and energetic girl that gets plenty of attention from her mother, which has turned her into a healthy young girl. However, recently, she's been feeling guilty over the incident that happened when she manifested her powers, and is afraid of her new gift. Which has been giving her grief lately.
Powers: Fire-Manipulation.
Lijuan has the abilities of the standard firebender, she may produce intense flames from her body, and manipulate them. However, Lijuan doesn't know how to control her ability because it's such a powerful ability in the hands of a young girl. She may unconsciously activate her power upon emotion and cause immense damage. Which is why she's been assigned a power-suppressant collar which puts her ability under control.
Aunt of Haruka and Shizuka (younger sister of their mother, Asami), and the godmother of Daphne. Like any native Japanese she is short and yellow-skinned, which further accented her voluptuous build. She has straight, shoulder-length chocolate-brown hair which she either ties up into a single ponytail or twirls the locks into a bun behind her round head; her eyes were darker, with barely visible wrinkle marks at the corners. She has button nose and thin lips, and thankfully she doesn't have double chins despite her body size. She'll wear light, simple makeups sometimes. She has a preference for one-piece dresses, and they are mostly light- or warm-colored. Her favorite footwear is sandals - she doesn't like covered shoes much as those make her toes feel cramped.
After moving to Baybridge, she chose to discontinue her laundry service and decided to try out gardening, which later expanded into a small farm with the help of the rest of the family - Daphne with her superpower, Shizuka with money (that he got from Quentin), and Haruka with labor.
Powers: Force-Field Generation & Manipulation
Akemi is able to create an invisible, psionic shield around herself, which can vary from a layer of shimmery coating mere inches beyond her body frame to a sizeable sphere that can go up to several feet in radius. When she activates her power she would emit a faint, violet hue around herself. There's very little information about the true extent of her ability as she's determined to live a quiet normal life.
Thanh is the short, and slightly round young daughter of Linh Phan. She is well loved and doted upon, resulting in her developing a very cheerful personality. However she takes after her mother in being more calm than most her age. Her hair is black and straight like her mother's. It is quite long. Her skin is a golden colour - lighter than Lihn's. Her eyes are an odd dark green, probably inherited by her unknown father. Thanh doesn't particularly want for anything and is more than happy in her life.
Powers: Animal Telepathy
Thanh inherited an ability similar to that of her late grandfather. However while his was affecting the emotions of animals, Thanh's is more communication based. She can essentially read the thoughts of animals and communicate with them in this way. She has very little control over it however it is not a dangerous enough power to warrant any control. Her mother tends to keep her away from animals for this reason so that she is not overwhelmed by thoughts.
A man from Canada who is unpredictable as he is clever, such as when he feigned his disabled leg for a number of years and deceived the last Changeling into trusting him. Formerly the CPO, and alleged intelligence agent, of the esteemed Dreadnaughts. He now resides in the States as a psychology professor for the University of Washington, and is an unparalleled genius in his field, even making business trips to the DOVE facility in Baybridge to deliver lectures and presentations on meta-human relations and social psychology as an honored guest. He has a wide variety of contacts and friends in high places. He played his own subtle role in the Verthaven disaster – from neutralizing heavy artillery Changelings, tracking down the remnants that remained to tie up loose ends, and supplied Meifeng with the intel that allowed her to be the Hands-destroying machine she came to be known as. With an unknown number of cards up his sleeved, and still indeterminable intentions, it’s always a mystery what he may be planning – even to Zhao Lihua, who as rumors suggest has gotten closer to him than anyone ever has.
Powers: Power Immunity
Superpowers are charged by meta-human energy that can be harnessed and utilized. Baron is unique in that he is more like a faux meta-human,, as his meta-human energy is negatively charged as opposed to a positive charge, opposing everything that anyone knows about meta energy. This negative charge acts like an aura and cannot be traditionally utilized or harnessed and therefore Baron doesn't have any real superpower. However, this energy does interact with the energy of other meta-humans in an intriguing way. It negates it effects and renders it inert. This means that anything imbued with a positively charged meta-human energy has zero effect on Baron's person.
To clarify further, an individual with pyrokinesis ignites an artificial flame. That flame is made by the power and is imbued with some of the essence of its creator. That essence is broken down when it comes into contact with Baron and he receives no harm from it. It doesn't matter if you bathe him in an endless stream of fire, he'll suffer no foul. This goes for even ingesting poisons generated from powers. The toxins are imbued with meta-human energy and are broken down the moment it touches him. Powers that cloak its user, such as invisibility, are negated on contact with Baron allowing him to see the person invisible. Even powers that don't make any form of contact – as long as they're directed at him – are rendered inert, such as telepathy or telekinesis. The negative energy blocks them out like an impenetrable wall.
Artyom is a brick of a man. His limbs are thick with muscle and sinew. He’s 6’ 2”, with a face mostly obscured by a thick beard. He is the owner of McCready’s Bar and Grill, described by him as “An Irish pub, owned by a Russian, that serves American food, and whose best customer is Scottish.” Artyom’s bar n’ grill has become almost a second home to Errol MacReid, and Artyom is the closest thing he has to a friend. McCready’s has become a gathering place of sorts for Starrybank’s petty criminal element, and as such, Artyom overhears a surprising amount of information, information he might be persuaded to share.
Alison is a timid and small girl that stands at 5’5” and works as an orthopedic assistant under Livrelle. She has light brown hair and brown eyes. She is on the cute side and has rather long lashes. Her figure is slim but not too slim with what seems like 0% muscle. As of now, Alison is still in school and working to get a higher degree which is difficult. Her mother passed away 3 years ago and her father moved out of Baybridge. For now, she is staying in Baybridge but plans on moving once she gets a professional Doctoral degree. Alison’s goal in life is to become a successful orthopedic surgeon and be able to move out of Baybridge and make a name for herself. She believes that Baybridge doesn’t hold enough opportunities for her but it is her home town. Right now Alison is simply doing her job and learning as much as she can. She is very sweet and respects Livrelle very much. Alison wasn't doing too well with Livrelle's patients before but is now doing a much better job.
Rogue Wave (Her callsign) The Spirit of Vengeance (Her nickname while battling the Hands) "The Hero of Prague" (The title she received after battling the Beast) An Unbreakable Diamond (A self-proclaimed title she had back in Verthaven)
Gender:
Female
Age:
25
Height:
5'11ft
Weight:
149
Home District:
Lower South Royer Town with Cindy. Sometimes stays in the RAVEN/DOVE West Coast Joint Headquarters, or stays with her mother in Greencrest Heights.
Appearance
Hair Color:
Dark-Brown
Eye Color:
Brown
Ethnicity:
Chinese
Physical Appearance:
Years of training under RAVEN, and seeing plenty of action, has truthfully changed Meifeng's appearance since she was last seen in Verthaven. Seven years ago, she was still solidly built, and looked like she did some work, but now she was beefed up considerably, and her limbs are much thicker. Meifeng's arms and legs, through a rigorous exercise regiment, have thickened quite a bit. Meifeng even has washboard abs. She's like a very dedicated MMA fighter now. Something that she's quite proud of, and best displays when she's on the field. Though, she's quite intimidating in general. With her abnormal height - inherited from her mother - and her well-built frame, many people are put off from her until she opens her mouth and smiles widely. Giving people a reassuring aura that counteracts that aura of a cold soldier that people first detect off of her. When she's out and around friends, she comes off as quite energetic, and friendly. A very approachable person. When out on the field... that changes, however. Despite her changes in appearance, Meifeng still looks the same as she did seven years ago - A rather tall Asian tomboy that's a tad rough.
As stated before, Meifeng is quite tall. She's five-eleven, and that means she essentially towers over her fellow female peers and stands up there with the big boys (Which has been a constant source of teasing and ire). Which give people the idea that her own mother was an Amazon (Which isn't that far off). However, her strong, well-built, frame doesn't really give way in the way of curves. Her chest is 30A (One thing she wishes was bigger), and she feels like she has to shop in the kids sections. Her hips and behind aren't very appealing, and she lacks the feminine appeal - up into one glances at her face. In general, Meifeng has a square build, a tough and well built body that many girls would die to have (It's a total pain in the ass to maintain, however).
Meifeng is obviously Asian, a pureblood Chinese woman. No, she isn't "yellow." Her skin - which is white with heavy golden overtones - makes this very obvious. Her Asianic facial features makes this even more obvious. Despite the fact that she's directly from China, she's been in America so long that her accent is only faint. However, throughout the years, Meifeng has gotten herself plenty of marks. Before, these were only scars on her knuckles, and scars on her legs and arms from sports related injuries. A few years ago, you could say that these were just marks that implied that she liked a little rough housing. After Verthaven, she managed to get herself some scars. From her first clash with the Hands of Science, Meifeng earned herself many horrible scars that, while fading, are still proof that she fought, won, and survived. The most obvious of these scars is the one on her face. A five point claw scar that is large, fleshy, and nasty, that starts at her cheek, and goes down past her jaw. The scars are also present on her chest/breast, which shows the arc she had received the wound. On the right side of her midsection, there is three large, thick, clawpoint scars.
Now that Meifeng became her own woman, not standing in the shadow of her mother, she got herself some tattoos. Not out of a stylish choice, but as a tribute to the friends that she had lost in the Verthaven disaster. On her shoulders specifically. On her right shoulder is a tattoo of a raven, with a bow and arrow in the background. Underneath it, "Trevor" is written. On her other shoulder is a dove, and has "Jennifer, Kaitlyn, Anabella, Justin, Cody, Caspin" written underneath it. On her back, she has the tattoo, "Friends to the very end" inked. When asked about it, Meifeng just says these people were, "friends."
Meifeng looks very similar to her mother, Lihua. In fact, she was called the younger, more energetic, reflection of her for the longest (She even inherited her mother's mole on her cheek). The main difference is that Meifeng's hair is dark brown, where her mother's hair is pure-black. Meifeng's facial features are heart-shaped, and she has a small head. In general, her facial-features are near-identical to her mothers. Meifeng has a sharp jaw, with a, strong, square chin. Her cheeks are round, and especially pronounced when she smiles. She has thin, lips, which accentuate her small mouth. Her lips are a shade of pink that are natural for people. She has a medium-sized, triangle-shaped nose, with the tip being very pointed. Finally, Meifeng's eyes are slanted, and her irises have a brown color to them.
Attire:
On the job, Meifeng wears the standard RAVEN battle armor. A black chain mail mesh, with Kevlar. However, she omits the helmet because she was never one for being a faceless shoulder. She exchanged that helmet with a much more simple beret with a star on it. Much like regular RAVEN armor, it's resistant to most kinds of damage. Meifeng chooses to wear this armor whenever necessary, and likes to go on patrol wearing it. This armor has been damaged in the past, and parts of it had to be replaced. Off the guard, Meifeng dresses far more casually. She likes to go for a blend of comfort, and style. She always found athletic wear to be comfortable, so she likes to wear basketball shorts, with some T-shirt, and sneakers. However, Meifeng will wear jeans, jackets, and whatever other clothes she'd find appropriate. Though, the only kind of outfit she won't wear is a skirt, or a dress. You won't catch her dead in either of those. Meifeng's outfits can be called tom-boyish because of this. Which brings that tomboy assertion even further is the fact that she even wears boys boxers, and a sports bra.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
Meifeng is a girl that underwent a great deal of personal growth and maturity.
Being a RAVEN took that arrogant, headstrong, bruiser, and turned her into a capable soldier. Gaining wisdom, and replacing her idealism with realism, and cold hard maturity. However, Meifeng is still the same old confident, social butterfly that she always was. Meifeng is a very kind woman, and makes that known as she interacts with people. She seemingly as the ability to connect with anyone, and is somewhat charming. She cracks jokes, smiles, and acts like the fun person in any group. She's the kind of person who likes to befriend people, take them out to have fun, and make more friends in the process. Meifeng is confident in herself, and her actions. Which allows her to easily guide her way through interactions with other people. Other people can pick up on that confidence easily, and see as she talks to people, preform operations, and whatnot. However, she isn't the overconfident type (That's been beaten out of her). As she smiles, she disarms people with her words, and makes that intimidating aura around her melt. She seems to be the kind of person who can get anyone on her side, which is why she's considered to be a leader. She inspires cohesion and teamwork within a group, and she tends to be quite good at leadership. Albeit impulsive at times.
Meifeng is a woman that's very in touch with her romantic, sexual, side. She's always out there trying to find a partner of some sort. The kind of strong, confident, good looking, person that would be perfect at her side. She's the kind of person who just wants to find someone who has similar interests as her, things in common, and bond over them. While receiving plenty of affection in the process. Sexuality-wise, Meifeng is bisexual, and has no real preference towards one or the other. She has discovered her bisexuality years ago during a botched romantic moment with a friend. Meifeng is flirty, and because she's so confident in herself, she's willing to flirt with anyone that pips her interest.
Meifeng is motivated by loneliness. Years ago, when she was younger, she was in an insane depression because of how alone she felt. Which is why she's driven to make sure that the loneliness never happens again. Making sure that her friends are okay, and to protect them from harm. Meifeng is, of course, a girl who values friendship and personal bonds above all else. She can be considered the model friend; friendly, understanding, and will always be there. She'll never betray a friend under any circumstance. Another trait is that she's a listening ear. She'll always be there to listen to another person's problems (Long as they aren't coming off as too whiny) and try to provide advice. The other main motivation for her is to make sure that what happened in the Verthaven disaster never happens to anyone else. Which is why she's in RAVEN, her best interest is acting as the shield against the monsters that this world presents. Damn what anyone thinks of her. While also doing her best to improve the world for everyone.
Meifeng can be a tad rough sometimes. She's fierce, passionate, and will sure as hell fight for what she thinks is right. Screw the world. She's the kind of girl who would get right up in the mouth of someone who criticizes someone she cares about, and will defend her actions whenever necessary. On the flipside, she's not afraid to return the vitriol and fight back. While she isn't the hot head that she used to be, Meifeng will resort to fists if necessary. Despite her kindness, she can be quite brash sometimes. She can be condescending towards people she dislikes, and tends to go out of her way to make sure they know that she doesn't like them. Which can sabotage relationships with people.
Her morality is best described as Chaotic-Good. She's ultimately a very good, and well-intentioned woman, that will help people whenever she can. Helping people is just something that makes her feel great about herself, and makes her believe that she's making a difference in the world. However, she's not afraid to go the distance if it's in the name of helping people. Meifeng is content with bending, or outright ignoring, the rules if it'll save a life. She believes that she's doing her best to keep the world safe, so why should it matter if she gets a little extra brutal. However, towards criminals, Meifeng is incredibly merciless, and will fight with all of her might. Sometimes getting reprimanded for being a little extra brutal. Sometimes she feels like it's just necessary to go the extra mile. Years ago, she used to believe in redemption, atonement... but now she feels like some people just don't deserve that chance.
On the job, Meifeng flips from carefree and kind, to cold and determined. She's insanely focused on the mission, and will do all in her power to carry it out with results. Meifeng keeps her jokes and sarcastic quips to herself as she just goes in, and fights for justice. While she used to show much pride for being a RAVEN, Meifeng is starting to experience fatigue, and irritation. She's beginning to question whether or not she's really doing the right thing. She's beginning to question a lot of things as she moves forward and forward into uncertainy. Right now, she'll simply push on until she gets a definite answer.
However, personally witnessing the Verthaven disaster, and seeing the utter depravity of humanity in the form of the Hands of Science and the Changeling Unit, has planted a hatred inside of her. A silent rage that stems from the senseless death and destruction that was caused. A rage that stems from the death of two of her best friends. This anger has turned her ruthless, and at most, cruel. Because she's seen the Changeling Unit... she knows that you can't afford to fuck around by trying to be a girl-scout and bring them to "justice." Meifeng believes that the only form of justice people like them deserve is a gun to their temple. This mindset has put her at odds with some of her friends, in fact. Surviving the Verthaven disaster has also given her plenty of PTSD, she still experiences nightmares about what happens which wakes her up at night. Depending on her mood, the normally cheerful Meifeng will switch to a more sullen and withdrawn mindset, and will only want to be alone. All in all, she hasn't gotten over the death of her friends. Where ever she goes, they're not far from her thoughts.
Hobbies/Interests:
Sports, athleticism, and whatnot, are one of the many things that interested Meifeng from the get to. She still practices basketball to this very day, even though her volleyball skills aren't too shabby. She just loves to talk about things related to being an athlete, and would love to share tips on how to get a hot body. Meifeng also likes travel, seeing the great big world at large. Which her employment at RAVEN allowed her to accomplish by being stationed at a variety of different cities. She likes to take a little souvenir from each city. Meifeng also likes bike riding.
Skills/Talents:
Now, Meifeng's skillsets have gone through a variety of changes throughout the years. For starters, she's pretty damn good at speaking Chinese. She can easily hold a conversation in that language. Meifeng was always athletic, and knew how to move. She's strong, fast, and has a wide variety of skills underneath her belt. She is a black belt in karate. An incredibly skilled fighter that uses her strength, size, and reflexes to their fullest. Someone can get nailed with a quick punch to the nose. She knows how to use weapons such as nunchunks, tonfas, and bo staffs - but her favorite is the Bo-staff. She likes the look and fell of it. She's used a broom-stick as a Bo-staff a few times to hilarious effect. However, once Meifeng was inducted into RAVEN, she added a variety of military skills to her roster.
She learned military hand-to-hand combat, and is quite adept at it. She mixes karate, and military hand to hand together to create a brutal fighting style. In a fist fight, Meifeng is quite the problem. Meifeng was also taught how to use a variety of firearms - however, she doesn't use guns that well. It just doesn't come to her as well as fist fighting does. She was trained to fight Metahumans, but she was already quite experienced from surviving the Verthaven disaster. Joining RAVEN has made her even better at squaring off against Metahumans. Other than punching stuff, and shooting it At a young age, she's played plenty of volleyball. While she hasn't played on a team recently, she still plays volleyball with other girls on the beach from time to time. Meifeng officially plays basketball for her highschool's team, and she's pretty good at it. Since she pushed herself to be. She hasn't played basketball that much lately, but she makes sure to find her base's gym and start shooting some hoops.
Goals/Motivation
Defend Baybridge, and every person in it, from the evils that are going to threaten it. Meifeng is willing to lay down her life in defense of it.
History/Bio:
Meifeng was born under unknown circumstances while Lihua was working for the Hei Long, and since a secret military group is not the best place to raise a child, Meifeng was given to her grandfather in order to raise her. She grew up in the same house that her mother did, in fact. She was born without a solid mother figure, or even a good father figure. She didn't see her mother for years, and only knew that she existed from her grandfather talking about her. In fact, she was on her own most of the time. In school was the only place for Meifeng to develop any solid social skills. In school, she was a bit of a trouble-maker. She'd get into fights, and cause all manners of mischief. At home, she was rarely given any reprimanding, her grandfather barely cared. She always felt like she was alone in the world, and that nobody cared about her. She was close to not caring about anyone else - but she held onto the faintest idea that it would get better.
Once she was around eight, she received a change of pace like no other. One night, her mother (Lihua Zhao), whom she never seen before, came home. The next thing Meifeng knew, she was taken from her previous life, and came to America with her mother, with a new last name. America was a very strange place for Meifeng, but she was living with her rather wealthy Uncle, Jiao-Long Liu, and his daughters, the Liu sisters. She lived in Black Fall. For two years, Meifeng adjusted to American life with the help of her family (And Mika). She was enrolled the same school as her cousins, and managed to get on the volleyball team again. Along with getting an above-average education, she refined her social skills. She resented her mother somewhat for never being there for her in the early days, but she was eager to make up for lost time. They remained in Black Fall for two years, until her mother got a job as a NEST Agent, and they were sent off to Verthaven.
In Verthaven, Meifeng and her mother lived in the Central Valley neighborhood, and went to a school in University Row (Only thing she was pissed about was that there was no volleyball team, Basketball would suffice). She didn't exactly make the friends she was hoping for... and didn't do that well in school due to her size, and the fact that she had trouble speaking English. However, in her school basketball team, she met Jennifer Caspin, a girl who would eventually become her best friend. Jennifer and Meifeng hit it off because they were outcasts, and throughout the years, they managed to become very close. While Jennifer was withdrawn and shy, Meifeng saw her as a little sister. However, at home, Meifeng was still depressed, and rather sullen about a few things. She didn't get along with her Lihua because the woman was very secretive. Lihua figured that Meifeng had a bit too much energy left over from school... and simply signed her up for karate lessons. Lihua was a very paranoid woman, and figured that Meifeng could use the self defense training. However, she only signed her up for karate lessons taught by Asians.
From there, Meifeng took karate so seriously that she saw it as more of a passion, she saw it as a way of life. Meifeng was taught by her karate instructor morality, and a proper way of life. Which built her up as a person, and helped eliminate her insecurities about loneliness. Meifeng also rose through the karate ranks through sheer hard work and dedication. However, another change surfaced soon after that. While she was playing with Jennifer by a river, her ability manifested. Meifeng was showing off to Jennifer, she did a roundhouse kick and she sent a wave flying. She noticed it, and tried another martial arts technique, which had the same result. Fortunately, Jennifer didn't notice it, and Meifeng went home and told Lihua.
From there, Lihua informed her of the secret of the Zhao family - Lihua was a superhuman, with the ability to manipulate man made stones. She tested Meifeng's ability, and confirmed that she was a Metahuman. Preforming her duty, Lihua got Meifeng registered with NEST. Which presented another problem, the young Meifeng had no idea how to use her powers. Fortunately, there was an Academy in town, Academy 12. Lihua managed to pull a few strings and use her NEST connections to get Meifeng into the Academy. From there, Meifeng received professional power training, and met a wide variety of people - such as the young and charming Trevor Obott, and the social butterfly Cindy Keagan. They made friends with each other and formed a very close bond.
Things changed once the Fiends attacked the fair. Meifeng, for one, was not there, but Jennifer was. Which causes her guilt even to this day. Once the Fiends attacked, Meifeng took Jennifer out to the beach where they met some nice girls who invited her to a party. Meifeng enjoyed a bitchin party which her cousins were kind enough to attend, and woke up the next morning with a wad of panties in one hand, and a six-foot tall cactus in the other. Meifeng, from there, went out with her cousins - before separating due to her own impatience. However, if she hadn't, she wouldn't have came across Jennifer and a few friends of hers being kidnapped by the Hands of Science. Meifeng tried to intervene, but she too was kidnapped by the Hands.
They all woke up strapped to tables, while the Fiends were launching their faithful raid on NEST Headquarters. Due to a faulty power suppressant collar, Meifeng managed to get out of the restraints, and managed to get in contact with Lihua, who came down into the base fast as possible. While she called for help, she was also discovered Meifeng had to fight for her life alongside friends, and she fought tooth and nail, until she had received a brutal injury at the hands of the Hands. Ultimately, they turned the battle back around in their favor, and managed to expose the Hands of Science to the world in the process. Meifeng didn't know how to feel about playing such a vital part in this. She had received some mental scars from the incident.
For the next months, Meifeng was more than content with laying low while NEST and her mother declared war on the Hands of Science. She had received a bit of PTSD from the incident. She chose to stay in the house whenever necessary, and just play videogames. Up until the grand NEST fundraiser in which she started to come out some more. After the ball, she started hanging out with friends some more, and enjoyed life. She started to ease up a bit.
Just as she realized everything was going to be okay, the Devil attacked, and the Verthaven disaster. It was the worst week of her young life. She was forced to fight for her life against monsters, and worst of all, the Changeling Unit. Whatever happened in the Verthaven disaster, she was there, as she was one of the brave volunteers who offered to fight. Up until the faithful attempt on the Devil's life. Meifeng was so oblivious to her own friends - she hadn't realized that Jennifer was being forced by the Changeling Unit to betray NEST (With her family's lives being threatened if she didn't). They planted a bomb within Jen. Once the betrayal was found out, the bomb out of Jennifer, and Meifeng left with her and some friends. However, around this time, the Devil had ascended in power, and was going on a rampage. Meifeng's group had to stop... that's when the Changeling Unit appeared before her, and dumped the bodies of Jen's family in front of them just to taunt Jen.
Meifeng was shocked and appalled at the sheer brutality of the Changeling Unit. However, she encouraged her friend to push on. However, once the Devil caught up to them, Jennifer gave up, and was pulled into the depths. Which Meifeng considered her first major failure.
Afterwards, Meifeng was exposed to the secrets of the Zhao family - and how Lihua was the leader of the Hei Long. She participated in the alliance to battle the Devil, and the final battle against the Changeling Unit. She was the one who put the bullet in Luis' head... but not before he could kill her best friend Trevor. With two friends dead, Meifeng wondered when the brutality would end.
Then the shield dropped...
After the Verthaven disaster, Meifeng was forced to leave the city for good, and she was happy for that. This was the great change in her life. Lihua resigned from NEST, and Meifeng stepped up to join the newly formed RAVEN (And was in fact the first person to be formally invited to the organization). After receiving a great sum of cash from one friend, and intelligence from another, Meifeng went off to Baybridge to build up something new - along with Cindy, who was recently orphaned. Meifeng remained in Baybridge for a few months as RAVEN and DOVE were revealed, afterwards, she and Cindy joined RAVEN and Dove respectively.
It was a rigorous two years of painful training. Meifeng gave it her literal all. Training her very hardest as she gave off blood, sweat, and tears. After the two were up, and Meifeng was declared an officer within RAVEN. Right off the bat, Meifeng chose to participate in the battles against the rest of the Hands of Science - and was sent off out of Baybridge. In which she used the information given to her by Baron to her advantage. This pleased her superiors enough to earn her a few promotions. She didn't want anything less than the utter destruction of everything the Hands knew and love. She went from base to base, and utterly annihilated anyone who bore the Hands insignia. Until the last of the Hands were defeated. She didn't even feel satisfied. She gained a reputation for her ruthlessness, and brutality when facing off against the Hands of Science. She was compared to a spirit of vengeance that showed no discrimination.
She was shot all over America (Eventually moving to ), and became one of the top Agents in the war against the Hands of Science. Until she came across the last of the Hands of Science up in Eastern Canada. Headed by a man who was too stubborn to give up and head off into hiding. He was surrounded by his four main REAPERS he called the Four Kings, and each of them were powerful. Meifeng went into his headquarters in the middle of bumfuck no where, and snuck in with a team of RAVENs. Inside, she was going to sneak in and assassinate the man. However, he expected this and set up a trap. That's when one of the worst battles ever took place, in which many of the RAVENs that Meifeng worked with were brutally slaughtered. She just used their deaths as a motivation to keep moving. She went in with all of her strength, before she killed one of the REAPERs with a clever trick.
The Executive in charge was getting away, and Meifeng realized this. While the rest of her squad was fighting the REAPERs, she chased down this executive. Using her power made it easy, but she pinned him down. He was completely at her mercy, and nobody was around to see it... So, she gave into the temptation and blew his head off with her sidearm. And with one moment, the Hands of Science were destroyed. She felt proud of herself... for a moment. Then she felt empty after the rage was gone.
Afterwards, Meifeng was cycled through several cities, appearing in Mendel first. Right off the bat, Meifeng was thrown into the horrors and hardness of this world as she faced off against the likes of the Allegiance, the Order, and the Pure - Along with the Skulls and Vanguard native of Mendel. Each battle hardened Meifeng, and showed her another side of the world. Meifeng didn't just fight against these threats, she lent a helping hand where ever she could to the young people in need.
However, a few months ago, the Beast showed up in Prague, and Meifeng was one of the many top RAVENs they cycled to the city. Once she was there, she encountered the many Metahuman agencies of the world, and collaborated with them on handling the Beast. Meifeng was on the front lines, distracting the Beast, while the rest of the agencies attacked him. However, the Beast overwhelmed them, and continued his rampage. Continuing on to a group of civilians, and threatened to kill them. And the only thing in the way was Meifeng. She was alone... she could have left them to die. However, she didn't think twice about standing in the way of the Beast. She fought to the last man, receiving many bad burns in the process. No matter how many times she was knocked down, she got back up. Which gave the civilians plenty of time to escape.
Meifeng let out a tear as she embraced death... however, that's when the collective agencies launched a surprise attack with a Czech Metahuman who could nullify powers. They turned off the Beast's ability, and hit him with everything they had, and finally killed him. Meifeng was taken to receive some medical attention, and was awarded a title, "The Hero of Prague" for her heroism, and became a world renown hero.
Meifeng spent a few months in Prague, before she was assigned back to America. She was awarded a few months of R&R... she used this time to explore America, visiting the hotspots in order to reflect on her life. Meifeng went from Philadelphia, to Mendel, to Stadium City, to New Rivere. Up until her time was up, and she was assigned back to Baybridge.
After so long... it felt like a homecoming.
Relationships
Family:
Bohai Zhou - Father
Meifeng never met him, only her mother told her about him. What she does know was that he was apart of the Hei Long as well, and she inherited his power. It's unknown what happened to him.
Lihua Zhao - Mother
See her sheet.
Lijuan Zhao - Sister
At eight years old, Lijuan Zhao is Meifeng's little sister. She is the bastard daughter of Lihua and Maximilian Cornell after a drunken one night stand between the two (Which Meifeng is unaware of). That hasn't changed the fact that both the Zhao women love her. Right now, she's attending school, and living life to it's fullest under Lihua's care (Who has really dedicated herself to making sure that Lijuan is healthy and well adjusted). She hasn't seen Lijuan much, but she's seen some photos, and she's glad to see that her little sister is doing good. Though, she heard that Lijuan had manifested her power (A powerful pyrokinesis), and is having trouble controlling it.
Jianguo Liu - Grand Father
Deceased. Meifeng's grandfather, she hasn't had too many interactions with him (Meifeng herself ), but he's the patriarch of the Liu family. He is a very wealthy man that managed to inherit the family fortune from previous members of his bloodline. He used to be married to Biyu, but tensions grew throughout the years because Biyu wanted to abort Lihua (Qiaolian then) for being a female, and Jianguo didn't want her to. They eventually divorced, and Jianguo died a lonely, bitter, man.
Biyu Liu - Grand Mother
Meifeng's grandmother... Meifeng never met her in person. She only heard stories about her from Lihua, Jiao-Long, and her cousins. Biyu is missing after an disclosed event that Jiao-Long knows about. What Meifeng does know is that Lihua hates her with a passion, and is glad that she's gone. Meifeng just wishes that she had the chance to meet her.
Jiao-Long Liu - Uncle
The man that made so many things possible, Jiao-Long is Meifeng's uncle (Millionaire head of the Liu Pharmaceutical company, and genius), and the two are rather close. It's hard to interact with him since the man is so busy, but Meifeng has a high opinion of him, and the two are rather close. Whenever Meifeng needs money, it's always Jiao-Long who pitches in. Though, Jiao-Long and Lihua do not get along due to their many differences. Which is why Meifeng acts as mediator between the two... but, not even she can stop them from tearing at each others throats.
Chunhua Liu - Aunt
Wife of Jiao-Long... and she isn't seen all that much, nor does she really talk to anyone. Jiao-Long says that she's really, really, shy. Because of which, Meifeng hasn't had much interaction with her.
Lin Liu - Cousin
Jiao-Long's "first" daughter (With Chunhua). She was his pride and joy, and built a mighty high ladder for her. Lin is a woman in her mid-twenties that is an ace through sheer training for self advancement. She knows how to play tennis, a variety of different languages, and is very smart. She was originally going to take over the Liu Pharmaceutical Company until Honghui was born. Lin is the link to the Valos family (A rich family of rich men and women who own expensive clubs). Meifeng is rather friendly with Lin, they were friends when they were younger, but the two haven't kept in touch. Lin has a shape-shifting ability combined with telepathy. By reading minds, she can assume forms based off their thoughts. Along with the usual telepathic tricks.
Jia-Li Liu - Cousin
Jiao-Long's second daughter. Jia-Li is a very soft spoken young woman in her twenties. She is very soft-spoken, and kind, but takes after her mother a bit too much in terms of personality. Which means she usually stays quiet, unless around family. Meifeng managed to get her to open up, and the two are somewhat close. Jia-Li has the ability to manipulate light and darkness - a combination known as Twilight manipulation. This gives her a versatile powerset.
Huifang Liu - Cousin
The youngest (Before Honghui came along) of the Liu siblings, Huifang is a tomboy much like Meifeng. She is currently seventeen years old (She was ten around the time of Verthaven). She's had some trouble connecting with her cousins and siblings due to the age gap - which causes her to act out a bit. Which has her adopting a tough girl persona, and developing a love for sport (Mostly biking). Meifeng hasn't talked to her much lately. Huifang most likely has the most destructive power of all her siblings. She has the ability to produce extreme amounts of electricity, and roast whatever is in her sight.
Mika Liu - Cousin
The bastard daughter of Jiao-Long born after a one night stand with a secretary, Akira Shinjo (Who is Japanese). Mika was an old shame of his that Jiao-Long hid with money so it wouldn't tarnish his reputation at all. However, after the death of Akira, Jiao-Long honed up on responsibility and took Mika in as his daughter. From there, Mika has been enjoying the rich life. She's somewhat chubby, and has a gut, due to a real lack of exercise and over indulging herself in sweets. Mika and Meifeng do not get along. They've always fought like cats and dogs whenever they were close to each other. However, recently, Meifeng managed to abandon that childish rivalry with her because they both came out of the Verthaven disaster. Mika has the ability to copy other cerebral powers, currently she has telepathy and a high level telekinetic ability.
Honghui Liu - Cousin
The first son of Jiao-Long whom was born a year after the Verthaven disaster. His very birth changed the face of the Liu Pharmaceutical company. Jiao-Long intends to build him up as his replacement. Meifeng hasn't seen Honghui, but wishes to change that. He has no powers to speak of.
Dynamics:
| Lihua Zhao |
| Good | Mother | "I'm really glad I didn't burn bridges with her." |
Meifeng and Lihua didn't get off on the right foot. Meifeng held an innate bitterness towards Lihua for not being there for much of her early life. Throughout the years to Verthaven, that resent only grew despite what Lihua did. What made it worse was the fact that Lihua didn't tell her anything about her father, or why they had to leave China and never come back. Meifeng legitimately had the idea in her head that Lihua didn't give a shit about her, which caused some rather hostile relationships between the two. However, over time, the two managed to connect again and ease into each other. Their animosity vanished once Lihua told her the secrets of her family. Their relationship now is extremely good, as the two see each other as mother and daughter now, and the two are close. Though, Meifeng teases Lihua a lot due to the fact that the roles had changed.
| Cindy Keagan |
| Good | Best Friend | "I'm glad to see Cindy's in one piece." |
Cindy Keagan was a longtime best friend of Meifeng Zhao, originally viewed as an opponent by the latter. The two gained a friendship after Cindy was released from NEST prison, and chose to make amends. Cindy and Meifeng became rather close after getting to know each other, and making acquaintances with Meifeng's other friends. After the Verthaven disaster, the two girls got extra close to each other, and they each filled the spot of "best friend" that was left unfortunately vacant after that incident. The two share an apartment up in Lower South Royer Town in which they make good usage of. However, the two butt heads sometimes over Meifeng's increasing brutality.
| Quentin Taylor |
| Respected | Close Friend | "Quentin... Quentin... He didn't deserve half the shit that happened to him." |
Meifeng and Quentin met in the Hands of Science lab way back in Verthaven. The two helped each other as Meifeng broke Quentin out of the lab, and Quentin helped Meifeng fight her way out of it. Which built up a deep respect and admiration between the two. Especially as Quentin joined NEST and helped her through the Verthaven disaster. Afterwards, Quentin became a mentor to her while she was training within RAVEN. The two formed a close bond as they eliminated members of the Hands of Science. He was one of the few people she told about her anger and hatred towards the Hands.
| Reed Taylor |
| Good | Quentin's Brother | "I may not be as close to him as I am to Quentin, but I still owe him a lot." |
Despite meeting him in Verthaven, and helping her through the disaster, she isn't as close to him as she is Quentin, but she still holds him in high regards. Meifeng hasn't talked to him lately because he joined DOVE, and has remained in Baybridge as Meifeng traveled America and made global news. She looks forward to meeting him again.
| Shizuka Takashiro |
| Neutral, leaning on Good | Fellow RAVEN | "Kinda saw that he was an asshole, but it's great to see that he changed." |
Back in Verthaven, Meifeng found Shizuka obnoxious, but he's certainly undergone change as much as she has. He's a member of RAVEN, which has allowed the two to see action together. Her opinion of him has improved most certainly, and sees that he's grown out of being a selfish asshole. Though, the two buttheads sometimes over what Meifeng does to criminals. She doesn't appreciate Shizuka criticizing her of all people.
Meifeng certainly doesn't have too much of an opinion of Haruka. She thinks he's polite and wellspoken... but hasn't really interacted with him. Though, she heard a little bit of him from Lihua.
| Anna Aikau |
| ... | Lost Friend | "I haven't seen Anna in so long... I wonder if she's still out there somewhere." |
Back in Verthaven, Anna and Meifeng were very close friends. They did so much together, but Meifeng was developing an attraction for her. It all ended with them being kidnapped by the Hands of Science. Afterwards, Meifeng fought to protect her, and helped her get out. Meifeng confessed to her... but the two drifted apart before she could get an answer. Then the Verthaven disaster happened and Meifeng hasn't seen or heard from her since. She feels like Anna's been killed during the disaster. Meifeng hasn't learned that not only has Anna survived, but she also joined RAVEN.
| Alice Barrett |
| Good | RAVEN | "She's one of the good Agents, I could get to know her." |
While Meifeng and Alice have not interacted much other than sharing each other's company on a few cases, Meifeng still respects her as a competent Agent. She earned Meifeng's respect during the Allegiance riot, and the investigation. When they're done a few case, Meifeng plans to take Alice (and the other Baybridge RAVENS) out to party one night.
| Maxine Diaz |
| Good | Fellow RAVEN/Target of Cindy's Ire | "C'mon... Mimic here can't be that bad...." |
Maxine is one of the RAVENS that Cindy has stated that she dislikes, which hasn't deterred Meifeng that much for finding out herself. While she finds Maxine a little crass, she isn't the worst RAVEN Meifeng has ever encountered. She, at least, finds Maxine pleasant to be around. Like Alice, she wants to get to know her.
| Victor Calahan |
| Neutral | A Scientist | "Saved his ass back there, and now he wants to find a way to fix the Overloads. Can't say it's a bad thing, but I know exactly how this one's going to end." |
Meifeng first encountered Victor when she was sent to the Ranchester Mall to help with the situation. She saved him from an angry civilian, and got him medical attention. Afterwards, she got in contact with him, and learned that he was a member of the Wright Institute. Interestingly enough, he also offered to examine Anna's blood to figure out what it was made of. However, Meifeng finds this a fruitless effort unless they can track down just who is making them.
Abilities
Power Class:
Elemental
Power:Elemental-Type - Mode: Water.
Water-Manipulation.
Meifeng embodies the classical element of water. She can do everything you'd expect a water-bender to do - telekinetically move and manipulate water (Fresh water, sea water, etc) through fluid body movements. Which means she's very capable of using a variety of offensive, and defensive techniques - as water is a very flexible and versatile element. A quick swipe from her hands can launch a bucket of water, a kick can shoot a wave, and spinning her arms around can allow her to create a vortex of water. Defensively, Meifeng could spin her arms around to create a spinning orb of water. Which isn't nearly strong enough to stop bullets, but it can stop a person with ease (And hurt them badly if they're stupid enough to walk into it). Meifeng can also wrap water around small/light-weight objects to move them, a pseudo-telekinesis.
Water-Storage & Expulsion.
An ability that Meifeng has over other water-benders is that she has the ability to absorb water from her environment, and store it inside a localized pocket dimension she can access (Shut up, it just works). At will, Meifeng can simply pull the water out of the dimension and manipulate it. Meaning she basically carries a supply of water with her - not too much, however, the most she can store is around six bathroom tubs worth of water. Now, Meifeng can expel this water off in high-pressured jets, or create shields - basically having the ability to manipulate it in general. One trick she has learned is "hovering" by shooting high-pressure water off at her own feet in order to slow down her descent. Same trick can be used in order to give her an enhanced jump. What stops it from being true flight is that Meifeng has a supply of the water is finite. Look up "flyboard" if you want an idea of how this works.
Minor Ice-Manipulation.
Now, concerning other states of water, this is where it gets a bit complicated. No Meifeng can't control steam/mist - but she can control ice. At will, she can snap freeze a few gallons of water... butm she can't control large chunks of ice. This might sound weird/contradictory, but she can control plenty of small pieces of ice. Largest piece of ice she can lift up is the size of an average icecube. Now... This is where the trick I've been leading up to comes in. She has come up with an interesting technique using. In short, Meifeng can freeze the water in small shapes, and shoot them off at high speeds. Basically creating a gun out of ice. She's capable of shooting them off at a rate that it could be compared to an assault rifle on full auto. With a flick of her wrist, she can turn ice into water.
Water-Walking.
One ability she has is what she calls "water-walking". When he steps on a body of water, of any size, she will seemingly stand on it as if it's a solid object, and is completely capable of walking on it for an indefinite period of time. At will, she can simply drop and fall into the water. This leads up into another trick she has. She can surf by standing on a body of water and manipulating it to move her around. Almost like it's carrying her. This is a go-to technique by Meifeng in order to get around quickly. I should note that she can allow other people to water walk with her if they're close enough. This is actually her power subconsciously manipulating the density (and the water itself) underneath her feet in order to allow her to stand on water.
Limits:
To start off, Meifeng has the usual range restriction. She can control water up to twelve feet away. Meaning she's limited to up close and personal fights (her favorite!). She also has a limit on how much she can control at a time - though I really suck at judging units of measurements, so we'll be playing the assuming game. While she can control a large amount at a time in comparison to her own body, she won't be able to redirect a river, create a beach-consuming tidal wave, and etc. Most she can do is probably dick with you while she's in the pool. But, the more water she is manipulating at a time, the less fine control she'll have. While manipulating a large amount of water, she'll be restricted to rough, basic, imprecise, water motions. Like I said before, there's also a limit as to how much water she can absorb - six tubs worth of water. The purity of the water also comes into question. She cannot control dirty or diluted water effectively, it takes more energy out of her to do so. Fresh and Salt water is what she's best at controlling. The water's temperature also plays into how she can control it. The water has to be cold in order for her to control it. The hotter it is, the less capable she'll be able to control it. At boiling point, it's basically out of her range. This is largely irrelevant, but Meifeng cannot manipulate water, and absorb/expel it at the same time. Meifeng can only freeze what that is within three feet of herself. Above all else, Meifeng is just as effected by water as anyone else. She can still drown, freeze, etc, in water. But Meifeng managed to avoid drowning.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
Electricity, and heat. Meifeng's power has altered her body in ways that are far from beneficial. Starting off, she's a lightning rod, basically. Her body is far more conductive, and electricity is seemingly attracted to her. In short, electrical damage is extra effective against her. Using her power has two detrimental effects. The first one is that using her power, in any way, quickly dehydrates her - at worst, this can leave her as dehydrated as an island castaway who's been deprived of water for weeks. As you may have realized, expelling absorbed water makes this much, much, worse. However, her power is connected to her hydration, too. The less hydrated she is, the less powerful she'll be. Freezing water also lowers her body temperature. Which, at it's most extreme, can lead to severe hypothermia and nobody wants to deal with that.
Other:
Meifeng sometimes visits the cemetery outside of Verthaven and leaves flowers for her friends.
Meifeng, using her RAVEN paycheck, bought a black 2014 Honda CBR600RR. Which she drives around when she isn't on the job. When she is, she uses a black 2016 Dodge Challenger with the windows painted black, bulletproofed, and more.
In terms of firearms, Meifeng has two Sig Sauer p226s, and usually has a ACR as her main firearm.
"Qiaolian Liu" (刘乔莲, Liu Quaolian - her birth/true name, a secret) Concrete Dragon (Her callsign while she was in NEST) Du Cai Zhe (独裁者, Tyrant, her title when she was with the Hei Long)
Gender:
Female
Age:
50
Height:
6'2ft
Weight:
157
Home District:
Greencrest Heights, White Coast.
Appearance
Hair Color:
Black
Eye Color:
Brown
Ethnicity:
Chinese
Physical Appearance:
Formerly a very frightening woman in terms of appearance and personality... a few years later, and she's only frightening in terms of appearance. Lihua Zhao is a woman who's former prime has gotten even further away from her. With half a century under her belt, it hasn't degraded her appearance all that much (Despite having two kids over her lifetime). Age truly isn't a factor - though it shows in her wrinkles, and face. Lihua is a woman that simply breathes elegance and class. It's the way she dresses, how well-maintained she is, and even the way she walks is a sure sign that she's in a much higher class than everyone else. Neat and orderly is her creed that she lives by to this very day. She appears to emanate vanity. However, the woman that lived and breathed pure arrogance is long gone. She has been replaced with a more humble, and kinder woman.
Lihua still has the looks and demeanor of a matriarch - the top woman in her family. She calls it her "Royal demeanor." Lihua's most striking feature is that she is tall. Like ridiculously. She absolutely towers over most women, and even men that aren't tall enough. It makes her very hard to miss. Her build is quite thin, her arms, legs, and stomach have a bit of fat packed on to them from childbirth not that long ago. Fortunately, she's been able to keep thin by practicing yoga, jogging, and bike riding. For her age, she is actually in great shape. Though, when she was in her twenties, she was at peak physical condition. A bit of that condition shows when she demonstrates that she's much stronger than she looks. Lihua's arms and legs are quite proportionate to her body (With her legs making up most of her height), and her shoulders are quite broad given her frame. Her build, while solid, is still quite curvaceous. Lihua's hips are a tad wide (but not ridiculously). Though, she's very blessed in the chest area with impressive 40HH bra. Something she tends to flaunt.
Lihua passed down much of her traits down to her children. Namely her ridiculous height, and her Asian heritage. Lihua's skin is a whitish color with golden-overtones - true to her Asian Heritage. Her facial features are Asianic, consistent with the Chinese. Her skin... well, it's seen better days. Lihua is quite battle scarred. Her powers has caused her wounds that traveled all over her body, it looks like her skin was cracked stone. These scars are all over her body... but have faded a bit. Lihua hides them with her clothing. However, there is one of these cracked scars on her face, starting at her jaw. However, she has wounds from other incidents. Lihua has bullethole, burn, and acid, scars on her upper body. These scars are, again, hidden by her body, but if someone were to see her naked, they'd be amazed that she's alive here today. Other than that, Lihua has a lot of stretch marks on her belly. A given, since she's had two kids.
Most notably, there is a large mole on her right cheek. Lihua's facial features are heart-shaped, and she has a small head. True to her heritage, her eyes are slanted, and have a deep-brown color to them. Her nose is triangle-shaped, and very pointed, with triangle-shaped nostril. She has a small mouth - Her lips are thin, and usually painted a pink, or red, color with lipstick. Lihua has a strong jawline, and a square-shaped chin, with particularly small cheeks. Lihua has small, diamond-shaped, ears. Lihua's hair is straight, clean, and very well-maintained. Thanks to the superb hair stylists within Baybridge, she managed to get her hair styled in a Chinese-bun, held up by a double-pointed knitting needle.
Attire:
Lihua dresses much like royalty. She likes to appear sophisticated, and very good, whenever she wears her outfits. What helps is the squared, thin-rimmed glasses. Her favorite color is blue, and her second favorite color is black. However, her outfits tend to gravitate towards the latter. Due to her rather high income, she's capable of buying some of the best looking outfits, without being too ridiculous with the price tags. Lihua, even casually, always seems to wear a dress of some sort. These dresses are always black, and are quite modest (Despite showing a bit of cleavage). These dresses are accentuated by black heels that brings Lihua's height up even further, fancy gloves, and jewelry such as earrings and necklaces.
Every time she goes out, it's always a different dress (And she'd be quite disgruntled if something happened to it). While she's a teacher for Academy 61, she tends to alternate between a dress, and a pin-striped suit. Though, she likes the dress more. On special occasions however, Lihua opts out of the American dresses, and wear a cheongsam (Or qípáo). Lihua also tends to carry around a purse, usually a fancy black leather purse. However, this is more than a simple purse. Inside the purse is a hidden compartment with a gun holster. Her Smith & Wesson Model 686. The other thing she has when she's walking around on the street is, oddly enough, a parasol. She's seem a few parasols, and thought they were just great. So, she has five different black parasols that she uses when she goes out for a walk. It keeps the sun out of her old, weary, eyes.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
Seven years ago, Lihua saw herself as the prideful, arrogant, competitive, aloof, callous, and ruthless matriarch of the Zhao family. She was a very disdainful woman that only thought about herself, and her family. That did everything to get ahead of everyone else, and make life perfect for their family. The kind of woman that was a terrible human being in general.
Now... she's different now.
Lihua spent several years reflecting on her previous behavior, and she came to the realization that she needed to change. So, after the Verthaven disaster, she spent the next seven years of her life improving upon her behavior. Now, the cruel, callous woman has been replaced with a much softer, humane, person. Lihua Zhao is a nice, soft-spoken, woman that is incredible polite and cordial. She treats other people with respect - always giving a person a chance to prove themselves to her. Lihua is known for her rather cool, and calm personality. Almost like she is professional at all times. She seems to be devoid of energy - but, she often shows her playful side to people. Cracking jokes... her brand of humor seems to be sarcastic, and zany. Though, even while joking, she is very choice-y of words, and thinks about what she's going to say before she says it. Despite her friendliness, she can come off as aloof sometimes. She isn't super open, and sometimes will just find a spot to be alone and remain alone.
This polite, professional demeanor is the result of years of training to discipline her. Despite her changes in character, this disciplined persona remains to the very end. Lihua is a woman that has restraint. She will not give into temptation easily, and keeps her emotions in check. She's incredibly patient (Not as patient with other people, but yeah), She's willing to wait for ages before taking action, and she only takes action when it's appropriate. Some people may call this hesitation, but Lihua calls it considering all possibilities before she does anything. Her most notable trait is the fact that she holds in her anger very well, and is very slow to anger. She'll shrug off insults, and whatnot, without the slightest change in demeanor - she can be quite easy to annoy, though. This patience, and ability to hold in her anger prevents her from acting rashly. However, if Lihua is angered, she gets furious. The few people who managed to set her off tend to realize that she's incredibly fierce, loud, and frightening.
Lihua is a very confident woman, that does not doubt her abilities. This confident shows whenever she's talking, and whenever she has to do something. Though, unlike most people, she backs up her confidence with sheer skill. Though, she's confident enough to be willing to talk to anyone she finds attractive. Despite her old age, she's still very in touch with her sexuality and romantic side, and that's unlikely to change anytime soon. Though, in terms of sexuality, Lihua is easily the world's straightest woman (Seriously, scientists are studying how she can be so straight). She has never had a single sexual thought about a person of the same gender. Lihua's very ambitious, and wishes to constantly move up in the world. Even though she's in a good position, Lihua will start to feel fatigue whenever she doesn't move forward. Back in the day, she used to do anything to reach the top, but now she changed somewhat and has a different mindset now. She doesn't go to the same lengths anymore. Lihua certainly isn't the type to bend forward, and take punishment from people. If someone hits her, she hits back, but even harder. That was her creed as a woman. They find out that she's quite a handful.
Lihua's personal creed is self-reliance above all else. Throughout her life, she's had the idea that, despite all the awful things that happened to her, the world doesn't owe her anything, along with the inverse. She doesn't prefer to depend on other people, when she can simply do things for herself. Whenever she gets herself into something, she'll get herself out of it. Simple as that. Because of this, she doesn't like "help" from other people. People volunteering themselves to help her are quick to earn her scorn. Lihua's a realist, and very down to earth. She can come off as pessimistic as she deflects idealistic claims. She's seen the worst of humanity (Hell, she used to be one of them), and been through literal hell, and that doesn't inspire idealism. She has a habit of calling people who believe in such foolish things children, and tends to ignore them. Though, she tries not to be so harsh and judgmental.
When giving advice, Lihua tends to be very blunt because she's down to earth. She isn't afraid to mince words, and will tell people what they need to hear, rather than what they want to hear. She'll certainly tell someone that they're being whiny and self-important. Through years of experience, Lihua is very wise and intelligent. She knows how to deal with people, and has seen all sorts of problems (In fact, Lihua feels like she's seen it all). She's seen things people wouldn't believe.
Morality-wise, Lihua's been making improvements. Back in Verthaven, she could be considered Lawful Evil because of all the lengths she was willing to go to under NEST to ensure that she gets the job done. Now, she's more on the Neutral-lawful scale, perhaps leaning on good. On one hand, Lihua wants a simple life in which she, and her daughter, is happy and safe from harm. She'll stay out of conflicts that she has no stake in, and prefer to let the younger, more obligated, people handle the problems that may arise. On the other hand, Lihua's perfectly willing to help people if she comes across them. She has the ability to help people regardless, so why stand by? When dealing with foes, she tries not to go to the same lengths as she did before. She attempts to show mercy to enemies, instead of mentally dehumanizing them.
Lihua is a family woman to her core. Despite being rough around the edges, she loves both of her daughters (And all of her nieces, and sole nephew) with all of her heart, and only wants to see them succeed in life. She used to be aloof towards them, but she's now trying to make an active presence in their lives. There was a time in which her daughters were the only thing stopping her from going insane, and she held them above all else in her life. Which is why she was so willing to burn so many bridges, and be an awful person. Because she was a bad person, but that doesn't mean they had to be. She changed now, and is trying to better herself along with them. However, Lihua is fiercely defensive of them, and will go to any length to protect them from harm.
Deep down... Lihua hasn't truly changed. She is a very broken and deeply flawed woman that has seen shit that will chase her to the grave. She's done things that she can never speak of. Her past as a soldier has made her inhuman, comparable to a sociopath. She's recently regained some of her humanity, but that cruelty and ruthlessness is innate. Something that she can tap into. Whenever she's forced to, say if her daughters are in danger, she'll access this inhumanity, and then become a monster. Lihua is quite the force to be reckoned with if pushed to it. She's experienced, skilled, powerful, intelligent and, above all else, ruthless. All of those put together make Lihua an enormous threat that will get the job done at the expense of her humanity. Lihua has has a deep-rooted paranoia, that came from trying to escape from her past as a soldier. This was an idea that popped in her head that if it finally catches up to her, everything that she's built up will be taken from her. She fears the day that her past catches up to her, and the sheer paranoia will cause her to break down sometimes. This paranoia also stems from the ugly state of the world. She's always ready for something to pop off, and keeps a gun very close to her at all times.
She has PTSD from everything that has happened to her. Killing people, committing acts of war crimes, and almost dying too many times have not done her mental state any favors. Nightmares of what happened keep her up at night, and she sometimes has episodes and seriously starts affecting her performance. It feels like no matter how much therapy or drugs that she shoves into herself, nothing ever works. The only thing that helps is a bottle. Lihua is a very heavy drinker, and some people criticize for her growing drinking problem.
Hobbies/Interests:
Apart of her great deal of personal growth, Lihua decided to pick up a few hobbies and things to bide her time. One thing she likes doing is simply finding a quiet place and relax. Spend some time to herself, and read a book as she enjoys the scenery. The other thing that Lihua loves are the classy things in life. Nice clothes, fine wine, good music, etc. Mixing the first two interests together is how Lihua finds her happy place. Physical activities have been catching Lihua's interests. She's always been a practitioner of yoga to stay in shape, has a bicycle for bike rides, and has been jogging. While she loves doing these, and they keep in her great shape, she requires a nice, serene, environment. However, she also likes decoding Luis' diary in her spare time, and is curious about the secret world of Metahumans that Luis lived in. It's a pain in the ass, but she finds the results very interesting.
Skills/Talents:
Lihua has, due to (You know) living there for a good chunk of her life, a near mastery of the Mandarin Chinese language, with a skill in the Cantonese dialect. She can maintain a conversation in Chinese for extended periods of time. It's English she has trouble with. Lihua is a very intelligent, clever, and experienced, woman that has seen much conflict. Even off the battlefield, Lihua's experience has given a wisdom that few people have, and allows her insight. She might not look like it now, but she'll definitely be a headache. Now, let me get this out of the way now; Lihua has extensive experience in the military fields. Her time in the military began with the Hei Long Special Ops division, where she was their best soldier, and eventual leader. This has given her unmatched skill in firearms, Chinese Military hand-to-hand, and leadership.
Back in her hayday, she was China's greatest asset. However, it's been a long time since that time, and those skills have greatly degraded. However, some things haven't changed, and she's still an experienced soldier. After she came to America, Lihua joined NEST, who gave her a different set of skills. They allowed her to refine her firearm skills, and gave her military hand to hand training. Inside NEST, Lihua was an Intelligence Officer, which gave her a wide variety of skills in the computer fields (She knows how to work one well, some minor hacking, and some maintenance when IT was being useless). This also allowed her to pick up on much knowledge about the NEST organization, and the world of Metahumans at large (Such as the organizations and whatnot). Even though NEST disbanded, she keeps these secrets to herself, and makes sure to read the news to stay aware on what Metahumans are doing.
Other than being a soldier, Lihua nearly achieved black belt status in Tai Chi in her youth. Which is a testament to her skill and dedication as a person, since Tai-Chi is a very difficult form of martial arts to learn. She's very rusty since it's been decades since she practiced, but she uses a bit of her Tai-Chi skills whenever she uses the two other hand to hand styles she knows. While she's old, she can still throw one hell of a punch - though, at this point, she's arthritis ridden and aged, so in a real fight, anyone younger and physically capable than her can whoop her ass. However, Lihua still makes sure to refine her skill with firearms, and can still shoot a pistol straight. While she hasn't handled anything bigger... just make sure you're not one other end of her Wesson. Finally, Lihua still has immense skill with her ability to manipulate stone. She's so experienced with using it, that it's one of the few things that'll never leave her. However, she makes sure to practice so she doesn't get rusty. This helps her be a teacher at Academy 61. She's a very good teacher, albeit stern. While trying to decode Luis' diary, she's been picking up bits and pieces of other languages.
Goals/Motivation
To simply live her life in Baybridge, and protect her daughter from any threats. However, she's seeking to decode Luis' diary.
History/Bio:
Lihua Zhao was born Qiaolian Liu (Which she'll be referred to as for this bit of her backstory). A native of main land China, she was born into the wealthy Liu family who had ties to many businesses in major Chinese cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and such. Qiaolian herself was the second child of the Liu family, the first child was her older brother Jiao-Long Liu. Due to the family's wealth, and connections, they were able to dodge serious punishment for breaking China's one-child-policy. They literally threw money at the problem and it went away! However, tensions were quite high in the family, especially as Qiaolian grew up. Her parents had a hatred towards each other over a certain event that took place before Qiaolian was even born. This kind of manifested in a favoritism that her mother had towards Jiao-Long. She utterly ignored Qiaolian in favor of her genius son Jiao-Long, and her father barely got involved with the two out of pure apathy. Which made the young Qiaolian a very unhappy girl. She was sent to a high-tier school... and acted out within it. She joined a group of female delinquents, and caused trouble throughout Shanghai. Theft, vandalism, assault, and sexual activity. Eventually, it ended with her getting arrested, and shaming her whole family. This behavior was deemed simply unacceptable.
They needed to discipline their unruly daughter before she brings every more shame to the Liu line. Which is when her mother suggested that she signs Qiaolian up for top quality Tai Chi lessons, with the hopes of disciplining their awful child. Qiaolian declined. Then was signed up anyway. At first Qiaolian thought it was lame, before she thought it'd teach her how to fight. Boy was she wrong. After school, she was made to work under one of the most strict, skilled, no-nonsense Tai chi teachers of all time. At first, Qiaolian had to adjust to this new master, but over time, her parents got exactly what they wanted. She stopped acting out, and this was the beginning of her disciplined mindset. She began looking to this Tai Chi teacher for guidance, and he became a paternal figure for Qiaolian. He guided her to the path of being a better youth than she was before.
Around the time Qiaolian was thirteen, however, her parents finally had enough of each other, and they finally divorced. Her mother put China behind her as she took Jiao-Long with her to America. Leaving Qiaolian in the hands of her father, who, quite frankly, couldn't give a shit. However, the one thing that Qiaolian learned from her father in his drunken rants was that her mother wanted to get her aborted on the grounds of being a girl. This immediately put a hatred for both Jiao-Long, and her mother, deep inside her heart. Which put the idea of self-reliance into her head over time. She couldn't rely on no parents, no other person, only herself. She started getting very independent for her age, and kept interaction with her family to a minimum. Because, at that point, she saw her Tai-Chi instructor as her father. However, her power had manifested while she was in a Tai Chi class. She didn't realize it yet, but while sparring (Which was much more light contact than other forms), she caused a shockwave that went through the building on contact with another person. She was certainly in for a shock when that had happened. After everyone went home, Qiaolian had accidentally activated her power again while in her home. This is when she started catching onto what happened, and realized that she could control concrete, and other forms of masonry.
This was a scary experience that made her realize much about herself. She realized that she was a Metahuman, and nothing was going to change that. Opposed to rejecting her gifts, Qiaolian chose to embrace them. She spent her time in secrecy practicing her powers. She was unsure of how her family, or anyone else, would react. Just something that she did on the side in practice. She came to the conclusion that the power was heavily linked to her emotions, and she figured that she'd learn to control her emotions afterwards. For years, she practiced and trained in silent until she gotten herself a firm grasp on her abilities. She wanted to use them in action, but she wasn't sure she wanted to out herself for no reason.
However, Qiaolian's life received great change (When she was eighteen) when they came to her door. People from the government came asking for her. They claimed they had a Metahuman who could sense when a power was being used, and had pinpointed Qiaolian to this one place. They took her without any obstruction from her father. They took her to a military base far out in the middle of no where, and shuffled her into a room full of other Metahumans like her.
They introduced themselves as the Hei Long Te Shu Bu Dui (Black Dragon Special Ops). An elite force within the Chinese military comprised solely of Metahumans. At least, that's what they were aiming to do. They were to be given the best training, weaponry, and tools, the military had to offer. They were trained in combat, espionage, and how to use their power effectively. The training was long, punishing, and brutal - few people were able to make the cut - but Qiaolian managed to reach the top of them. While she was being forced to do so, she gave it her all, just like she always did. She used these skills to better herself, and become an incredibly skilled and disciplined solder - even without the superb use of her powers. She was assigned to her first mission, simply to eliminate a group of terrorists that were targeting major cities.
Qiaolian and her group tracked them down to the outskirts of southern China, and a battle took place. In which she used her abilities to all of their strength, and utterly decimated the terrorist group. The Hei Long helped, but this was when she showed her talents to China's higher government. This was when they began to recognize her strength. They sent on her several more missions where she seemingly only got better and better results. Eventually, she was rewarded with the title of head of the Hei Long. In which Lihua got even worse. Throughout her tenure as leader of the group, she followed through with a variety of missions. The kind of stuff that would start wars if exposed to the world. Secret attacks on other nations, espionage, and more. Each mission - while they all didn't go swimmingly - was carried out, and eventually she succeeded.
In between these missions, she was tasked with "conscripting" more Metahumans for the Hei Long. She tracked them down, forced them to join, or die. Very few people escaped. This earned her the title of Du Cai Zhe... alternative, the Tyrant. There were few people who could compete with her sheer prowess in battle. She oppressed the Metahumans of China for decades, and there were few who could compete with her raw power, leadership, and intelligence. If someone were to counter her abilities, she'd just come up with a plan to take them out. Or get someone else to do it. A Metahuman had no choice but to join the Hei Long if they wanted to leave with their lives.
However, while Qiaolian lead the Hei Long with ruthlessness like no other, she still was in touch with her emotions - specifically, her romantic side. She eventually fell in love with one of her subordinates: Bohai Zhou. A man who could manipulate water. They got closer, and closer, until they gotten physical. Which ended with Qiaolian getting pregnant. Her superiors were outraged... but, they allowed Lihua some time off to have her baby. She spent the next nine months in Shanghai... wandering the great city, and seeing how much it changed. Once those nine-months were up, she had a baby girl she named Meifeng. However, she left that child with her father, and went back to work.
While she loved her child, she just couldn't see them being together. She was a monster, and no child should be exposed to that. Qiaolian was with the Hei Long for years, and she was in her thirties, with no signs of stopping. Though, like all things, it finally came to an end. The Hei Long got in contact with an American organization known as the Hands of Science. This organization provided the Hei Long with serums that enhanced their powers for a short amount of time. Which helped a great deal with their missions, and all the Hands wanted was money. Qiaolian herself didn't trust them, and advised against continuing their partnership (It was more like Qiaolian suggesting that they kill the Hands). Even Bohai agreed with her.
Her suspicions were proven correct when the Hands wanted to preform an experiment... they had a serum that gave powers. It only works if a person meets a specific criteria. They would have to be: young, and one parent must be a Metahuman. However, there was a high chance of death - but the reward was great. Qiaolian's superiors "volunteered" Meifeng, which immediately outraged both Qiaolian, and Bohai. They plead with them to reconsider, but they were adamant.
So, they had one choice.
To defend their daughter, the two struck out and rebelled against their superiors. Qiaolian caved the roof of the building in, and killed a great deal of people, and Bohai wiped out the Hands representatives. They teamed up to eliminate what was left of the Hei Long, but with the battle over, won in their favor, they had a few problems. They killed quite a lot of China's top military people, and they were still in the thick of it. Bohai and Qiaolian agreed to split up - Qiaolian was going to take Meifeng and leave, while Bohai distracted them. They both went their separate ways, and Qiaolian quickly made it to Shanghai, picked up Meifeng, and contacted her brother - who had become a very rich and influential man - to help her get out. He provided them with a way to sneak out of China's borders via plane, and they came to America.
To this day, she doesn't know whether or not Bohai survived.
In America, they were flown to Black Fall, Pennsylvania. Where Jiao-Long had lived with his family, his five daughters. Jiao-Long discussed what happened in China with Qiaolian, and he understood, and provided them with everything he could. He used his money to provide them with a permanent residence within America. Also allowing Qiaolian to change her name. She changed her name to Lihua Zhao, a name that she was always fond of, and wished that she always had. Now Lihua, the first thing that she did was dedicate time to learning the English language. Jiao-Long's many daughters were also very helpful in teaching her (Since Jiao-Long was still in touch with his Chinese side enough to teach them). After learning language, Lihua put some time aside to relax, and adjust to America. It was a rough transition, causing some major culture shock, but she eased into it over time. Enjoying Jiao-Long's high life. However, she still didn't get along with her older brother all that much, and wanted to get out of his hair soon as possible... though, she was willing to take a few gifts from him.
Lihua heard about the American NEST organization when they came to register her. She didn't like how lax America was with their Metahumans, but she knew they were the best bet for a job given her extensive military background. She joined the NEST organization, and then she was sent to Verthaven along with Meifeng. She went through two years of NEST training... which was no problem for the already well trained and experienced Lihua. Once those two years were up, she joined NEST as an intelligence officer responsible for feeding information to the field agents. Using her talents in the military, she rose through the ranks quickly. However, she gained infamy within the organization due to her rather... callous, approach to things. Lihua didn't get along with the other NEST agents that well, calling them foolish at every turn. But, they couldn't deny that she was one of the best.
As Lihua was an Intelligence Officer credited for assisting in the apprehension of several criminals, along with acting as a rather professional investigator - along with participating in a few field operations. She solved crimes, and made things much easier for the other Agents. They tolerated her because of this simple fact. Few people tried to make some attempt to befriend Lihua, and they were either met with apathy, or simply gave up because she was so aloof. However, Lihua was still flirtatious enough to be willing to give some people a chance. That person whom she was the most willing to give a chance was Maximilian Cornell, when he was stationed in Verthaven for a period of time.
Maximilian was apparently a famous Agent, and he was one of the few people that Lihua let in. It wasn't an outright romance, but Maximilian considered her a friend. However, it was during a faithful office party in which the two got painfully drunk, and had a one-night stand within Lihua's office. It was originally just nothing but a meaningless relationship, but it had some long term effects. A few weeks later, and Lihua discovered that she was pregnant. With Maximilian's child. She was shamed.
Instead of having an abortion, Lihua chose to deal with this problem herself. However, she decided not to tell Maximilian about this, for her own reasons. She didn't want to bind such a shining example of an Agent down to her. Maximilian left Verthaven to be stationed back within Stadium City, and Lihua spent the next nine months working as long as she physically could (They actually had to bar her from the building so she can actually take her maternity leave). She gave birth to her beautiful child, whom she named Lijuan Zhao (For being similar to her own name).
When the Fiends had attacked the Fair, Lihua was one of the Agents who was busy off her ass helping Agents on the field launch tactile strikes against them. She provided information on a major member of the Fiends, which eventually lead to his death. She was so busy that she began to ignore her daughters, leaving Lijuan in the hands of babysitters, and letting Meifeng do her own thing. However, that began to bite her when it turned out that Meifeng went missing. Before she could even look for her, the Fiends had launched their faithful attack on NEST headquarters, which ended with the big bad Fiend in charge, Khan, dead, and the Headquarters in ruins.
It was awfully suspicious. But before she could question it, she received a phone call from Meifeng from inside the Hands base, desperately calling for help. Lihua managed to track the base down, and fight her way through the base. Which allowed her to be the one who uncovered the Miranda Caryl conspiracy (With help, of course). She finally found Meifeng fighting for her life with friends, and provided help. Lihua managed to turn the fight around in their favor, but Meifeng was scarred in the process.
After the battle, Lihua had enough dirt on the Director to get her arrested for everything that happened. She contemplated it for awhile, but ultimately decided to send the data to High-Command, which included dirt on everyone - including the mysterious Changeling Unit. This ended with the Director getting arrested... but someone else leaked the information to the world, resulting in the massive NEST bias, and it made her job much harder. However, Lihua was promoted to the very head of Verthaven's Intelligence Office. Which saw her mood (and paycheck) improving by a thousand-fold.
This was the start of the against the war against the Hands of Science.
For two months, Lihua used her heightened clearance to greatly improve the field agents success against the Hands. Overseeing plenty of fights against them. She also got well acquainted with the agents that were shuffled from other cities (Including Maximilian). It wasn't long until Lihua saw crisis yet again. While she was taking the day off, a Changeling arrived and kidnapped Lijuan. Which saw the first major operation against the Changeling Unit as Lihua tracked down that Changeling, and he gave up his fellow Changelings in exchange for immunity. Lihua agreed, and she was there on the front when they launched the raid on the Changeling hideout (She was the one who helped come up with the plan).
Once they arrived, they had the Changeling (And a fellow Agent) plant bombs within the hideout, and Lihua was one the forefront as she demanded that they return all the infants they took. The Changelings surrendered, complied, and once Lijuan was far away from the action, she detonated the bombs and battled the Changelings. She eliminated most of them, but the leaders were escaping. By the time they had caught up, the Hands had sent one of their weapons - PR-1 - after NEST with the intent of buying Heartbreaker time to escape. This resulted in one of the most grueling battles that Lihua has ever participated in. It almost resulted in her death if it wasn't for the timely intervention of fellow NEST Agents foaming PR-1.
After the battle, Lihua was suspended for injuring another agent, and she quickly fell into an alcohol related depression. Almost dying, almost losing Lijuan, and getting suspended did not do a fragile mental state any favors. This went on for a week, as Lihua literally drowned herself in alcohol. It wasn't until she gave a friend of hers a call that she decided to try and get herself out of it. Lihua managed to convince Maximilian to sanction a interrogation on PR-1, hoping to get the answers she was searching for. However, PR-1 escaped from NEST, and another battle took place. Resulting in the death of the former director.
From there... Lihua simply delegated to the sidelines while NEST took on the Hands of Science. However, she was forced back into action once the Devil of Verthaven attacked. She was there for it all, the Changeling's raid on the headquarters, the botched attempt on the Devil's life, the Devil's ascended form, the alliance and final stand against the Devil... and finally, the final battle against the Changeling Unit. She made it out alive, all the Zhaos did.
... It was time for a change.
After the Verthaven disaster, NEST was being disbanded, and Verthaven was being condemned. An era of great change was quickly approaching. She decided that she, too, should change. For the best. With Meifeng joining the up and coming RAVEN, she figured that she'd step down from NEST now. After one last mission (Where she got Luis' diary) she put her papers in, and then left Verthaven shortly afterwards with Meifeng and the newly orphaned Cindy, heading towards Baybridge. She still had a considerable amount of money with her during her time in NEST, so that was enough to put her through until she got another job.
While in Baybridge, she searched for a new job... there wasn't really a whole lot for Lihua (She was never formally educated, so that's a problem). So, either, she re-attends school at forty three years old, or she finds another job that'd work with her. She heard that there was an Academy within Baybridge... while it was in the neck of the woods, she applied for the job of Power Instructor. The Academy program opened it's arms for Lihua because of her extensive background within NEST.
She went out for a few months of training, before she was given the position of power instructor, and immediately, she began liking the job a lot more than her time in NEST. Lihua was a superb teacher, and she loved working with the children. Which made her transition from heartless bitch, to kind, soft-spoken mother, all the more easier as it was testing her patience, and her willingness to change. However, there were some moments when she lost her temper, and went off on the students - but nothing too serious. Throughout the years, she trained many students on how to use their powers, and then sent them off on their way.
Lihua also took the time to connect to Lijuan, and make sure that she grows up healthy. She's been pushing her developing child through life, and trying to make sure that she comes out a well-adjusted little girl by giving her hobbies, and all the love and attention she needs. Which has caused Lijuan to develop into a nice, moral, young girl. However, the new rise of Metahumans, having two Metahuman parents, and Lihua's increasing contact with her caused Lijuan to develop superpowers... in the worst way possible. While Lijuan was in school, her power manifested, a high level pyromancery. Her power immediately went out of control, and caused a lot of damage to the school, and the people around it. Before DOVE came in and got Lijuan under control. Lihua went there fast as possible, but there was a lot of problems.
She caused a large scene that got on the news, and Lihua was being sued by many of the injured. She would literally be poor and homeless if she didn't resort to... drastic measures. She had to call in a lot of favors with her old friends within NEST (Such as Meifeng, up to Maximilian Cornell) just to avoid Lijuan being taken by DOVE. She contacted her older brother Jiao-Long and asked for his help. They didn't see eye to eye, but he agreed to pay off all the money they were asking for from the lawsuits - but only if Lihua repays him in the end. Lihua didn't understand why... but she agreed to it. Which removed one problem from the mix - but Jiao-Long and his family moved into Baybridge because Black Fall was getting too dangerous. In which Lihua made it her mission to reconnect with Jiao-Long and his family. However, Lijuan was proven to be very dangerous... and her power was very unstable and hard to control. She caused further destruction upon returning home. Not even considering the destruction she could cause, Lihua realized that Lijuan could possibly ash - which made her immediately apply Lijuan for a power suppressant collar.
All while Meifeng was returning to Baybridge after several years...
Relationships
Family:
Bohai Zhou - Former Lover
Bohai was the man that Lihua met in the Hei Long, and eventually fell in love with. He was a strong, confident, and a great people at heart. Which is why she was willing to have sex with him, and eventually sire Meifeng. He was a talented soldier, and had the ability to control water - both of which he passed down to Meifeng. But alas, he sacrificed himself to buy time for Meifeng and Lihua to get away... she sometimes wonders if he's still alive out there.
Meifeng Zhao - Daughter
See: Meifeng's sheet.
Lijuan Zhao - Daughter
At eight years old, Lijuan Zhao is Lihua's second daughter. She is the bastard daughter of Lihua and Maximilian Cornell after a drunken one night stand between the two (Which is a personal secret of Lihua). That hasn't changed the fact that both the Zhao women love her. Right now, she's attending school, and living life to it's fullest under Lihua's care (Who has really dedicated herself to making sure that Lijuan is healthy and well adjusted). Though, she's been recently having trouble when she manifested the ability to control fire, and injured a lot of people. Lijuan's been feeling much guilt for that.
Jianguo Liu - Father
Deceased. Lihua's rather apathetic father. While she likes him more than her mother, her opinion of him isn't much higher than being a worthless sack of waste. She can't believe she left Meifeng with him.
Biyu Liu - Mother
Lihua's mother... Lihua has a hatred for Biyu for ignoring her when she was younger, and wanted to abort her before she was even born. Biyu is currently missing, and Jiao-Long doesn't want to talk about where she went. Because of this, Lihua's in no rush to find her.
Jiao-Long Liu - Brother
Lihua's "genius" brother who owns a major pharmaceutical company and has the cash. While Jiao-Long has helped Lihua several times, the two just don't get along that well. It's a deep seated problem with their parents (on both sides), and it turned into a rivalry with each other. Things might start out well between them, but it won't be long until one says something that sets off the other.
Chunhua Liu - Sister-in-Law
Jiao-Long's wife... Lihua and her haven't interacted at all because she's so quiet, and aloof. Shy or not, Lihua couldn't care less.
Lin Liu - Niece
Jiao-Long's "first" daughter (With Chunhua). She was his pride and joy, and built a mighty high ladder for her. Lin is a woman in her mid-twenties that is an ace through sheer training for self advancement. She knows how to play tennis, a variety of different languages, and is very smart. She was originally going to take over the Liu Pharmaceutical Company until Honghui was born. Lin is the link to the Valos family (A rich family of rich men and women who own expensive clubs). Lin has a shape-shifting ability combined with telepathy. By reading minds, she can assume forms based off their thoughts. Along with the usual telepathic tricks. Lihua believes that Jiao-Long built her up to be his successor, only to dash that away when he got a son. All because of a painfully outdated tradition.
Jia-Li Liu - Niece
Jiao-Long's second daughter. Jia-Li is a very soft spoken young woman in her twenties. She is very soft-spoken, and kind, but takes after her mother a bit too much in terms of personality. Which means she usually stays quiet, unless around family. Lihua and Jia-Li chat from time to time, but they have little in common. Jia-Li has the ability to manipulate light and darkness - a combination known as Twilight manipulation. This gives her a versatile powerset.
Huifang Liu - Niece
The youngest (Before Honghui came along) of the Liu siblings, Huifang is a tomboy much like Meifeng. She is currently seventeen years old (She was ten around the time of Verthaven). She's had some trouble connecting with her cousins and siblings due to the age gap - which causes her to act out a bit. Which has her adopting a tough girl persona, and developing a love for sport (Mostly biking). Huifang most likely has the most destructive power of all her siblings. She has the ability to produce extreme amounts of electricity, and roast whatever is in her sight. Lihua sees her and Meifeng as one and the same, and has an easy time connecting to her. Despite finding her foolish.
Mika Liu - Niece
The bastard daughter of Jiao-Long born after a one night stand with a secretary, Akira Shinjo (Who is Japanese). Mika was an old shame of his that Jiao-Long hid with money so it wouldn't tarnish his reputation at all. However, after the death of Akira, Jiao-Long honed up on responsibility and took Mika in as his daughter. From there, Mika has been enjoying the rich life. She's somewhat chubby, and has a gut, due to a real lack of exercise and over indulging herself in sweets. Lihua originally only saw Mika as the result of Jiao-Long being very irresponsible, but she sees a lot of herself in Mika. Mostly because the two connected deeply during their time together in Black Fall, in which Mika started to model herself after Lihua. She finds her rivalry with Meifeng quite childish, and it brings the worst in both of them. Mika has the ability to copy other cerebral powers, currently she has telepathy and a high level telekinetic ability.
Honghui Liu - Nephew
The first son of Jiao-Long whom was born a year after the Verthaven disaster. His very birth changed the face of the Liu Pharmaceutical company. Jiao-Long intends to build him up as his replacement. Lihua has seen him many times, and is quite glad to see her new nephew... even though Jiao-Long is being backwards concerning him.
Dynamics:
| Meifeng Zhao |
| Great | Daughter | "I'm so proud of the woman she became... but I feel like she's slipping into darkness... and she won't come out." |
Meifeng is Lihua's first daughter she had while she had when she was with the Hei Long. From there... their relationship got complicated. Lihua didn't want her daughter to know her, because she was ashamed of the woman she was, and only wanted Meifeng to be far away from her as possible. After she was forced to leave China along with Meifeng, the two gotten together a bit more. However, Lihua was cold and distant towards her, focusing on her NEST job, and that caused a bit of a rift between the two. Which caused problems between the two. However, Lihua and Meifeng's relationship improved quite a lot after the Verthaven disaster, with Lihua focusing on bettering herself, and Meifeng becoming the woman she always wanted to be. The two are on great terms now, with Meifeng telling her all about her RAVEN adventures. While Lihua is proud of her... she warns Meifeng not to lose herself. Though, the two still bicker like they did seven years ago.
| Cindy Keagan |
| Good | Former Babysitter, now Friend | "I am glad to see that Keagan is doing okay." |
Cindy was Lijuan's old babysitter back when they were in Verthaven. At first, Lihua was very distrustful of Cindy on the grounds that she was recently arrested by NEST. However, Meifeng was able to convince her to let Cindy babysit her infant daughter - just to help prove to NEST that Cindy was a responsible and capable young girl. Their relationship gradually improved as Cindy displayed her maturity, and kindness. Lihua helped Cindy through the Verthaven disaster, up until the aftermath. After Jackson, her father, had died, Lihua took Cindy in for awhile up until the girl had joined DOVE. The two's relation had evolved to the point where they're considered friends. Cindy and Lihua talk often... though Cindy has been helping Lihua lately with her situation with Lijuan.
| Quentin Taylor |
| Good | Former Colleague | "He should have left the meta regulation business while he had the chance... oh well." |
Quentin and Lihua's relationship began when Lihua encountered him while in the Hands base during her mission to rescue Meifeng. She fought alongside him against the Hands monsters, until they had won. Afterwards, she was the one who "recruited" him into NEST. Lihua managed to form a good opinion of Quentin because he helped Meifeng, and eventually Lijuan when she needed it. The two got a little closer when Quentin displayed the same aspirations to knock the Hands of Science down a peg, and the two fought alongside each other during the Verthaven Disaster. Now, Lihua and Quentin haven't had the chance to talk since he's traveling, and Lihua's been staying in Baybridge. Though, they're still on great times, and Lihua respects him.
| Reed Taylor |
| Neutral | DOVE | "Hmmm... Quentin's brother, I presume, is a more noble man than him. Hm. I still applaud Cass for stopping them from losing their way." |
Lihua's interactions with Reed have been limited. He started out as a VPD officer, and she believes that they tangled a few times when NEST. Not sure. However, the two fought alongside each other during the Verthaven disaster. Now, Reed is a member of DOVE, and they have discussed a few things concerning Lijuan.
| Shizuka Takashiro |
| Mixed | Delinquent turned into a RAVEN... | "I can see a RAVEN in him." |
Shizuka and Lihua did not get off on the right foot during the Verthaven disaster. Lihua didn't appreciate his mouth, and his lack of maturity (She was on the verge of beating his young ass at some point). However, she mostly tolerated him because his power was useful. However, after the Verthaven disaster, the boy had a change in mood just as she did. RAVEN really shaped him up into a fine man. However, they haven't interacted much, Lihua wishes to change that.
| Haruka Takashiro |
| Good | Student | "He really needed to spend less time around that brother of him, he did him some good." |
At first, Lihua considered him to be a spineless ant compared to her, and treated him like garbage because he was useless. After her great personal change, it was Haruka who was most likely one of the first people to see her new person. Haruka was a student under her while she was first working in the Academy, and the two managed to see things from each other's perspective better. They managed to form a friendship of a sort as Lihua stopped seeing him as a spineless wimp, and more like a young man. The two keep in touch after he graduated.
| Wendy Lucker |
| Mixed | Student | "An eccentric youth... she seems more connected to her books than the world." |
Wendy is a student that arrived in the Academy a year or two ago, and Lihua has been overseeing her time within the Academy. Lihua has been training Wendy, but finds her patience running out with the girl's clumsiness, and general lack of awareness. But sees potential within her, and finds her a very kind hearted girl. Just that her mind's in the wrong place.
| Lihn Phan |
| Good | Therapist | "We are... somewhat similar. I just hope that the similarities end there." |
One of Lihua's neighbors in Greencrest, Lihn and Lihua are on friendly terms with each other. After her own falling out with Baron Moreau, Lihua has chosen Lihn to be her new therapist. The person who helps her with her flawed, flawed, mind. However, she keeps her lips sealed about most of her past.
| Rowan Campbell |
| Mixed | Troublesome Student | "Not the biggest pain in the ass in Academy 61... but a contender...." |
Lihua is quite apprehensive of Rowan due to his lack of respect for authority, and the fact he got into a fight during his first day here. He's one of the students under her, but she's certain to give him trouble whenever he starts to get on her nerves. She doesn't hate Rowan (not even in the slightest), she just finds his attitudes quite grating. She hopes to steer him away from the criminal lifestyle she feels he is set on, by merely stopping him from going out and causing trouble. Either way, she sees potential in him, and his ability.
Abilities
Power Class:
Elemental
Power:Elemental Type - Mode:Stone Concrete Manipulation.
Lihua developed a form of terrakinesis that is limited to controlling concrete (And other forms of masonry such as brick, limestone, etc). Concrete is a very tough, very common, form of artificial stone that is found in urban areas comprised of several other materials. It's hard, heat-resistant up the ying-yang, and dense. With rough body motions, Lihua is capable of manipulating all concrete with her vision. This comes with a wide variety of powerful capabilities. These body motions are usually rough, such as punching the ground, or slamming her foot down. Whenever she uses her ability, it sends an impact through the area (Almost as if Lihua has super strength!). Depending on the strength of the feat, it make cause the ground the ground to vibrate slightly, to an all out crash. Lihua's power is surprisingly versatile, in and out of fights. She can shape and construct concrete like it was nothing, allowing her to create a wide variety of tools. Such as lances, spikes, and whatnot, and launch them at opponents at high speeds. Or create a barrier that people can get behind. She can manipulate a large amount of concrete at a time. Large chunks of it are challenging to move, but small pieces are elementary. She's capable of both small scale manipulation (Small changes, molding sharp shards, etc), and large scale (Dramatic structures, possibly knocking over a building if she gets it right, etc) with effort. Her control over this element is so refined that she can be considered a master at it, she knows a lot of out of the box usages of the power. Creating a spinning shield would reflect all attacks, creating armor, riding on a piece of concrete (She even rode a "wave" of concrete before), she's even learned how to create stone drills and dig underground. The possibilities are endless when you have an ability as versatile and powerful as hers. Finally, Lihua's ability extends to other forms of "artificial" and masonry stone. Not to the extent of concrete, however.
Limits:
Lihua's power has a range limit of around eighteen feet, but she can best control the stone that is closest to her. She has a harder time controlling concrete that is far away from her than what's close to her, and it'll take more energy out of her. The same goes with the larger feats. Lihua's power is limited by the purity of the concrete. If it has asphalt, rebar, or any of the sort, she'll have a very hard time controlling it. It takes more energy, and she won't be able to move it as easily. Lihua, unfortunately, does not have the refined control of other elemental types. She can't expertly shape and mold concrete as if it's silly putty - it'll take a lot more effort and energy. Her ability is much more focused on raw power.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
Now, to address the elephant in the room, Lihua has a powerful ability, yeah. But she's after a fifty year old woman, with age rapidly catching up to her. Despite her best efforts, she still has arthritis, and other issues that wouldn't put her on even playing fields with the youngins.' Her concrete ability also has a few weaknesses, of course. Because concrete is such a heavy material, Lihua has to devote much more effort to moving it than other elemental types. Which leads to her getting exhausted much, much, faster (Especially if she's doing the major). The main weakness that Lihua's ability has is that it causes her some damage. Whenever she taps into the slightest amount of her ability, she causes cracks to form in a random spot on her skin. These cracks are bloody, and painful - but are usually manageable long as she refrains from using her ability on a larger scale. If she does cut loose... then that's going to be bloody. In general, Lihua is a mighty glacier. Her abilities are powerful, and can really ruin someone's day, but she's slow, and her attacks are telegraphed. A faster (or clever) opponent can out maneuver her.
Other:
Due to the destruction of her other vehicle back in Verthaven, Lihua has switched to a much larger black 2016 GMC Terrain. It has tinted windows, but lacks all the other things that made her last car great. However, it's good enough for her.
Lihua owns a few pistols that she keeps in a safe within her basement, and has a license for concealed carry.
Lihua is a long time teacher at Academy 61 in Verthaven.
Lihua was one of the top Agents within NEST, and even ran the intelligence agency for a few months... her head is full of NEST secrets.
After the Verthaven disaster, Lihua has managed to acquire Luis' diary, which contains the secrets of an immortal man. She has dedicated much time to decoding it.
African-American & Northern-Indian/Indo-Aryan (With a little bit of Southern/Dravidian).
Physical Appearance:
A few years working with DOVE really allowed Cindy to really put her body in great shape. She still looks somewhat mousy behind the pair of glasses that she's always seen wearing. However, she carries herself like a diva, and makes it her mission to appear her best. Wearing the best and stylish clothes (She can afford buying with her DOVE budget), making sure that every part of her body is very well maintained, and walking with grace. People get the feeling that she emanates vanity, but quite the opposite, really. She's actually a very open, and friendly, human being. Cindy simply has a cool and collected aura that doesn't let too much emotion slip. However, she can still show friendliness in the way of smiles, and a generally polite demeanor. Though, that can flip in the drop of a hat, if someone were to set her off.
As it's been stated before, Cindy's build has gone up a bit. She isn't super muscular, but she is very tight, and has a light layer of muscle from all the exercise she does. The last thing that Cindy wants to do is gain a million pounds, so that's why she does a lot of working out in her spare time. She jogs, lifts weights, and does all that jazz, which is why her layer of muscle is mostly around her leg area. Speaking of her legs, Cindy's legs are quite thick. You see, Cindy was fortunately blessed by puberty to have a distinct body shape. She has a pear-shaped body. Her upper body is fairly narrow, that aforementioned thin body, small bust (at 30d), and very narrow shoulders. However, her thighs, legs, and behind are very thick. Which are usually accentuated from her outfits. It's something that Cindy feels much pride in. All inherited from her father's side of the family, of course.
Speaking of Cindy's genealogy, one of Cindy's most notable features is how she quite racially ambiguous. She's mixed from two vastly different ethnicities. Cindy's father was a proud African-American man with roots from Kenya, Uganda, and Sierra Leone. Which gave him a variety of looks from several different African countries. Her mother on the other hand was Indo-Aryan (Or, simply Northern Indian), distantly Southern/Dravidian Indian. She had that distinct bony, pronounced, facial structure that Indian. Cindy on the other hand, takes more from her mother in terms of her looks. She looks almost identical to her mother in the facial area, almost having the face of an Indian person. However, her awfully dark-brown skintone, her afro-textured hair, and skull-shape are obviously African-American. Which makes it appear heavily like she's two different races... and nobody can really tell which one. Though, whenever Cindy opens her mouth, she has a very urban accent. Sprinkling her sentences with "yo," and "ya'll" and other dialogue that'd be inappropriate in a professional setting.
As I said before, her skin is brown, but has a layer of black freckles over her cheeks and nose, and upper body. A strange trait that's been inherited from her mother. Cindy isn't without scars of some sort. It's been years since the Verthaven disaster, which has seen her add a few more scars to her collection. Awhile ago, she had some small slashing scars in a wild whirl from inflicting damage to herself with her glass powers, and there's a network of scars on her hands. Scars that imply that her hand was glass and shattered. There's also a scar on her lower back from getting impaled by a monster back during the Verthaven disaster. From a few times she was attacked and made it out alive. Cindy also has a few tattoos to add to her collection of marks. She has a tattoo on her right shoulder of a 3D cross that is wreathed in flowers. Above it says, "Always," inside the cross says "In memory of," and underneath it is the names of her parents, "Asha and Jackson Keagan, mother and father." On the side of her body there are a wreath of red daisies going from her waist to her armpit. On her shoulder is a gorgeous black and white tattoos of flowers that go down her arm somewhat. On her back is the outline of a tree.
Her facial features are heavily Indian in terms of descent. She has the nose, the jaw, and sharp facial shape that is heavily consistent with Indian women specifically of the Indo-Aryan demographic. Cindy's face has a angular bone structure, with her head/face having a diamond shape. Her face gets thinner the more you go down, and she has a pronounced, square-shaped, chin (With a cleft AKA. butt chin). Her lips, as stated before, are quite thick and full, and have a pointy shape. Usually, these lips are painted with a red lipstick of some sort, but naturally they're a brown (with a light red hue) color. Above those lips is her medium sized nose, that is upturned - the tip sticks out forward a bit, and gives her nose that triangle-shape. It's a very pronounced facial feature. Her eyes are somewhat large, have a round-shape, and have a striking brown-color to them. Her eyes are pretty beady, actually. With thin eyelashes, and eyebrows, her eyes are stated to be her most notable feature. Her ears are diamond-shaped, and are media sized.
Cindy's hair has certainly changed from her time in Verthaven. She's let it grow out a lot, so she can style it a bit more than the afro puffs. Oh yeah, her hair is very clean, well-mained, and a dark-brown color. It's naturally curly, but Cindy has straightened it so she can accommodate for her new hairstyle. Which are long, thick, African braids (Like this). Idiots would call her hair dreadlocks, but they're actually braids if one were to take a close look.
Attire:
A very stylish woman. You can tell that the years she spent within Verthaven has really given her a great fashion sense. She tends to wear very stylish clothes that are up to date on the latest urban trends. She'll wear just about anything long as it looks good, and makes her look fun. However, due to her time in Verthaven, her outfits tend to be very loose. Cindy will wear T-shirts, jeans, skirts, dresses, and whatnot. Though she tends to omit the skirts and dresses for jeans, and has a shirt and a jacket of some sort other top of that. Other times, Cindy dresses a little bit like a school-girl wearing dress shirts, and she's notable for wearing ties. Her style does not seem to be consistent as her wardrobe is seemingly endless. As for other kinds of clothing, Cindy is perfectly fine with wearing hats (She loves straw hats), jewelry (Along the line of necklaces, and bracelets), and things such as scarves. Though, Cindy can't wear sunglasses as she has a stigmatism from her mother's genes, she has a variety of glasses to choose from. Squared red framed glasses, and round thin metal framed glasses are her favorite. She really wishes that she could.
On duty, Cindy wears the usual DOVE uniform which consists of a dress shirt and dress slacks (Sometimes she can wear a longcoat!), or a suit. Both of which have the DOVE symbol on the shoulder, a gun holster on the hip. This outfit is form fitting for Cindy - though wishes that she could have a bit more freedom with her outfits. When DOVE has to take action, she often puts on a kevlar vest with the DOVE symbol on the front. Now, when Cindy's gotta be the pilot (For either DOVE or RAVEN), she puts on a black flight suit with the DOVE symbol on her chest. The suit has a variety of different pouches and pockets in which Cindy can place her items into. Of course, Cindy puts on a ALPHA Eagle Pilot Helmet, which has black shades, a radio, and more.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
A mature, calm, and level-headed woman that was still fairly mature even in her youth.
Years of living in a big city, experiencing the worst few days of her life, and working as a DOVE as given Cindy a fairly unique view on life. She's known for how usually laid back she is, and doesn't raise a fuss often - often. She just keeps her cool, and keeps things moving. A very wise, and street smart woman that lived a great deal of her life traversing a big city with friends of all sorts. Which is why you can say that her social skills are superb - because she spent a great deal of her life doing just that. Socializing. She's just very good at socializing with people, and is a real people's person. She just knows how to talk to people, and get to know them. Cindy just comes at social interactions with a cool, respectful, and humble, approach that allows her to come. Though, she spices up conversations with jokes. Which is why she's considered to be a very charming and sociable person. She's very capable of discussing mature manners at length, and tries to keep herself from acting childishly.
For the most part, Cindy is a very empathetic person, and when you combined all the other character traits, makes her a great shoulder to cry on. She listens when other people are pouring their hearts out to her, and then she gives the best advice she can think of for the situation. While her advice isn't perfect, she does her best. It's less of being the best at giving advice, and more about being that person who'll listen to people and their problems. Cindy actually legitimately cares about the people around her, and only wants to see them succeed. Due to a rather liberal upbringing, in which she could see many different places, meet a variety of people, and experience many different things, Cindy is very open minded, free-thinking, and whatnot. She rejects conservative ideals in favor of a more progressive way of thinking. Which is why Cindy won't discriminate based off race, gender, and whatnot.
These traits play a major part in her romance and sexuality. Cindy is heterosexual, but has participated in homosexual activity in her party-girl past. She's just isn't into girls like that. She's confident enough to go walk up to a guy like likes and say hello (While also being able to maintain the inverse if it occurs). Though, Cindy has high standards for the guys she wants to be with. They have to meet a specific standard for her to be attracted to them. Cindy likes a big, strong, confident guy that's nice, polite, and well dressed. Sometimes she can be too demanding of a person, and that's what drives them off. Otherwise, race does not play a factor. Though, she isn't in any rush to have sex. She doesn't want to get pregnant and interfere with her job, so it'll take a very close bond before that happens.
Cindy is a lot of things, independent, responsible, and reliable. She has to be to be a DOVE. She sees things through to the end, and always deliberately thinks about things before taking any form of action. While also being capable of thinking, and doing things for herself. Most importantly, she doesn't need anyone holding her hand. She keeps her promises, and never breaks her word. In her group of friends, she tries to be the one who keeps them from doing anything stupid. Being the calm and level-headed one that counters some of her more hotblooded friends within RAVEN, and takes slow and deliberate course of action.
Though, she isn't perfect. Cindy is a very opinionated girl, who isn't afraid to speak her mind. Whenever she has a problem with something, she'll definitely let you know. Cindy tends to be blunt at times - sometimes coming off as a bit rude - but she feels like she's telling people what they need to hear. It doesn't matter if you're a friend or a complete strangers, no one is above criticism. This is directly linked to her down to earth attitude. She is a realist - she doesn't have time for no fantasies. Which is why she'll be the first one to shoot them down and give people the real deal. Another thing is that Cindy has a temper that, while hard to set off, is quite explosive if set off, and is quite the handful. Swearing, insults, and more, are the least of their concerns. When she isn't at the point of "in your face" anger, Cindy is very passive-aggressive, or sarcastic. It's her way of keeping control of the situation. Which is what makes Cindy come off as a bitch in these situations, and possibly overzealous.
Now that Cindy has become a pilot, she has become the person she always wanted to be. This has given her happiness as she has finally met her dreams of flying high. This is what Cindy prides herself in. She tends to gloat a bit, and the act of being a pilot has unconsciously made her arrogant. She's unaware of this, as she's simply under the impression that she's telling everyone just how much she loves being a pilot. Normally, she's very humble, but her pride is making her haughty. Cindy can come off as quite condescending towards people she dislikes.
Despite being in DOVE Cindy isn't a moral white knight. She grew up with a neutral mindset, and preferred to stay out of things and let the actual heroes do their thing. Which is why she gravitated towards DOVE over RAVEN. However, she's been gradually growing out of this mindset as of late. She's starting to feel that inaction is a very bad thing that'll lead to many problems, and seeing the problems that many young Metahumans go through has changed her mind a bit. Which is why she gives it her all to help Metahumans.
Deep down... Cindy is quite sullen, fatigued, and wracked with sorrow. The Verthaven disaster, losing friends and family, and almost dying several times has really left it's mark on Cindy's mental state. She has generally gotten over the deaths of her family, but sometimes it still comes back to haunt her. Pulling the plug on her father has left Cindy in a great doubt on whether or not she did the right thing. She tries to bury her trauma with a happy face, but nothing truly works. Other than a bottle of alcohol, of course.
Hobbies/Interests:
Anything that flies, really. Cindy, from a young age, has expressed dreams of becoming a pilot. That shows in some of her choice in decorations, and books (She likes to read books about planes and helicopters). That leads me to another thing, Cindy likes to read books. She can lie down on her bed, reading a book for hours should she have nothing to do (Though, she has a Kindle). Not without her iPod, of course. Cindy has a love for music, and despite her race, she tends to enjoy indie, techno, and shoegaze (Which make up 60% of her iPod library).
Skills/Talents:
Just to get this out of the way since it's a big part of her character, but Cindy is a DOVE that has received military training, along with social services training. However, Cindy has enlisted within DOVE as a pilot, a helicopter pilot to be specific. Cindy has been extensively trained as a pilot, and possesses much skill and experience when flying a helicopter. While she isn't the best, she still flies quite a bit due to being a pilot for both RAVEN and DOVE. Which makes her an invaluable asset to both organizations. To elaborate on her military training courtesy of DOVE, Cindy's been trained for light combat situations. She isn't a RAVEN, but she knows how to fire a gun, and etc. Though, shooting guns comes easier to Cindy since she can shoot with a surprising amount of accuracy. Other than being a DOVE, Cindy has quite a few skills. Most of which are hobbies stemming from her youth that she simply continued up into adulthood.
Just to give Cindy something to do, her parents forced her to learn the violin. It wasn't really her style, and she struggled learning it, but she could at least tell her friends she knew how to play the violin. Her old violin was destroyed during the Verthaven disaster, but she has bought another one, and practices it in her spare time. For them. Cindy was aggressively attempting to learn how to fly something. Since flight schools don't come cheap, she started off with the simple car. Starting with her provisional license, Cindy got herself a fully pledged driver's license when she turned eighteen, and drove like a pro. She's a pretty good driver. Cindy also worked her ass off to get a Scooter license. Her father also insisted on taking her out on these fishing trips. Only thing she got out of that was that he taught her how to drive a boat. Which is the only reason why she kept going along. Only sports that Cindy got herself into were Tennis, and Soccer. And she hasn't played Soccer since she was thirteen. Tennis, on the other hand, is something that she does to this very day. Often heading to the Tennis parks to practice, and get some games in with the old people. She's quite light on her feet, and her reflexes and dexterity are nothing to mess around with.
Goals/Motivation
History/Bio:
Now, Cindy was born as the result of a unwed couple getting a little too passionate with their love. Her mother was a northern Indian Immigrant named Asha Majumdar, who came to America with her family decades ago. They brought a gift from India, too. The ability to manipulate glass has been running deeply in Asha's bloodline for generations. She worked as a teacher for Academy 12, and helped the students learn to control their powers. On the other side, there's Cindy's father, Jackson Keagan. A man who climbed out of the poverty that is Eagle-Rock Row, and avoided the gang violence that is prevalent in the area. He followed his passions to the top, and became a jazz musician for anywhere that'd let him and his band preform. He had to take a second job, but he was otherwise happy. They met at a bar, after some particular flirting, they became a thing. Months later, and they became particularly intimate. After a few romances later, Cindy was conceived, and introduced a conundrum for them. Asha's family didn't approve of their relation (And even less about Asha birthing a bastard), and they didn't exactly have enough money to support the child. They figured that they'd get married soon as possible, and try their best (Since neither of them wanted to give her up for adoption - nor did they want to abort her).
So, they got married soon as possible, and they moved into an Apartment in Knightdale Rows (Not too far away from Academy 12). Cindy was born (Her parents got into a long back and worth as to what to name her, agreeing on Cindy), and did nothing but eat and shit as she grew bigger. There wasn't anything special about her upbringing, no dead parents, no dark and tragic past. She was driven out of the way to a school in University Row. Cindy gained a love for planes, and helicopters, at a young age. While it was odd, her parents didn't bat an eye when Cindy asked for a toy helicopter/plane. Her parents worked their ass off to keep them afloat, and generally came home exhausted. So they couldn't exactly give Cindy the love and attention they should have. Which lead to some... interesting patterns as she developed. Once Cindy became ten years old, she inherited the powers of her mother's family: Glass manipulation. It manifested in school, in the lunch room, when Cindy was getting into a fight with another classmate. The windows exploded outwards in the middle of the scuffle - fortunately, no one was injured. After a brief conversation with NEST, and Asha fixing the windows, Cindy was registered under NEST, and everything was cleared up. It wasn't unexpected, but it opened the way for new possibilities. Using Asha's Academy connections, Cindy was, predictably, put into Academy 12.
This is where Cindy was taught how to use her powers, and given a superb education. Her mother in particular, despite the differences in their power, taught her all of her tricks, and made Cindy an effective glass manipulator. Along with honing her social skills. However, her life wasn't exactly as perfect as it should have been. Asha, on her way home, was kidnapped, and brutally beaten by members of the Pure who were targeting people from Academy 12. They beat her so badly that she became braindead, before leaving her on the stairs of the Academy. Jackson, for the good of his wife, choose to pull the plug, and let her go peacefully. From here on in, Jackson became a pit of depression, and fell into alcohol. Cindy, on the other hand, continued to the best of her ability, but a great darkness had welled up inside the girl. She dealt with her grief by lashing out at the world.
Cindy fell into the wrong crowd, and became, in simple terms, a huge bitch on the campus. With her new group of friends, they bullied the weaker students at Academy 12, and done some extremely hateful things (Like leak nudes and embarrassing pictures to the internet, and savagely beat up other girls). Cindy knew it was wrong, but she loved the power, and sure as hell didn't want to let it go. She did receive plenty of punishment for her actions. She, and her friends, were suspended from Academy 12, and received many warnings NEST. Jackson gave Cindy some very stern talking to, and punished her. Utterly forbidding her from seeing those friends. This didn't change much at all.
Things took a turn for the worse once a cousin of hers was sent to Academy 12 from Black Fall - Tally Aulin Muliere. Cindy didn't exactly have too much contact with her family on her mother's side, but she recalled that her mother was talking very unkindly about Tally. When she arrived in Verthaven, she stuck to Cindy, and, at first, was pretty harmless (Albeit annoying to the bitchy Cindy). That was because her cousin was a telepath, a powerful one. She was using her power to gather information on Cindy, and was waiting to use it to her advantage. Once she had what she needed, she immediately blackmailed Cindy, and threatened to share all her deep dark secrets if she didn't do what she said. Cindy, obviously reluctantly, went along with it. These things that she was forced to do was act as Tally's personal attackdog. Using her far more offensive ability to attack Tally's enemies. And most importantly, she made Cindy humiliate herself in front of her friends. Tally was doing everything she could to ruin Cindy's social life.
However, Cindy was utterly pushed to her limits when Tally tried to get her to attack Jackson, her own father. Cindy drew the line in the sand here, and called her cousin an irredeemable sociopath. That's when Tally attacked her mentally, Cindy clenched her head and fell over as Tally started brutally attacking her. Cindy, in a fit of desperation and fear, summoned all the glass in the area, and created a whirling glass storm. Which, gave herself some cuts... but Tally was horribly wounded. Shredded to bits by glass. Cindy was horrified, and NEST and the EMTs quickly came on scene. NEST arrested Cindy, while the EMTs took Tally to the hospital. Those were the worst couple hours of her life. They told her about the serious damage she caused to Tally, and how they could throw her in a box, and lock away the key. Cindy was horrified by what she's done, and tried to plead with them.
Cindy told them everything that Tally did in a desperate bid to appeal to them. While they did sympathize with her, they didn't exactly let this slide. Tally had caused grievous injury to another human being with her power, so she had to serve a bit in prison. Fortunately, since she was fifteen at the time, she didn't get hit with the worst sentence. A year in a special NEST prison for Metahuman youths. And that year was one of the worst years of her life. She was trapped in a box, with a uncomfortable metal collar around her neck, with people who really belonged there. They taught her how to responsibly use her power, and attempted to help with her mental state the best they could, but she was on the verge of snapping. Fortunately, she managed to get out two months early for good behavior. That was when Cindy decided to change her ways. Renounce the person she used to be.
Going home was awkward. Turning her back on her old friends was even more awkward. But, she managed to ease into it as she made new friends out of the people in Academy 12. She was on NEST probation, so even the slightest offense could get her put back in prison, so she tried to act like an angel. Things changed so much in eight months, her father's club was a hit. And he was glad to have his daughter back. Cindy kept her head out of trouble, and made friends.
Next few years went by quite well, and uneventfully as Cindy readjusted to normal life. Probation wore off, so she was free. Cindy made plenty of friends in the likes of other Academy 12 students (Meifeng, Trevor, etc), and kept herself trouble free. Regaining the trust of her father that she was a changed girl, so she could go out on the city on her own. This is when Cindy decided to start getting money for herself. For starters, she considered getting a job, but it was hard to find work for a young Metahuman with a record. Working at her father's club was the best option, she cleaned up the club (Which was hell). She managed to convince Lihua Zhao (With the help of Meifeng, who really wanted to see Cindy get redeemed) to be the babysitter for Lijuan (Last babysitter was eaten by Fiends) for the summer while she was at work.
While everything was going down with the Hands of Science, Cindy was perfectly content with staying out of it. As she's no NEST Agent, or soldier, and the last thing that she wanted to do was piss NEST off and get sent back to a jail cell. Though, she had one of the first encounters with the monsters that would eventually terrorize Verthaven. She was driving back to her Dad's club to get her phone, and she nearly crashed her scooter when a figure was in the road. When she yelled at the figure, it turned out to be a powerful monster. While she was helped by a friend, she was pursued throughout her home district, until she had killed the monster and went about her life.
It was only a week later when she came across the worst week of her life: The Verthaven disaster. A disaster in which she saw the deaths of thousands of people first hand at the hands of the godlike Devil of Verthaven, or the monstrous Changeling Unit. She was one of the few brave volunteers who fought against these dangerous threats and seen things like the Changeling Raid on NEST headquarters, the battle against the Devil, and finally the final confrontation against the Changeling Unit. It felt like a never ending nightmare...
Until the shield went down.
The highs and lows of Ms. Keagan followed the Verthaven disaster. Her home was destroyed, and condemned by the NEST organization. She figured that she could just move on and leave. However, she found her missing father among the survivors, horribly injured by the monsters in the final hour of the Verthaven disaster. He was so badly injured that he'd need to be attached to machines for the rest of his life. Instead of letting Cindy support him, Jackson chose to let go. He asked Cindy to pull the plug, and after a heartfelt discussion, Cindy did it, and fell into sorrow.
Afterwards, Cindy was invited to the new American Metahuman regulation agencies known as RAVEN & DOVE by Maximilian Cornell. Cindy, saddened by the death of her father, and with little options - with a drastically improved opinion of NEST since she fought alongside them - since her extended family doesn't want anything to do with her, joined the organization. However, Cindy examined the benefits of both organizations, and felt like DOVE fits her MO better, so she joined DOVE as a pilot.
After that, Cindy was taken in by Meifeng and Lihua Zhao as the three left Verthaven for good, and started heading towards Baybridge. Once there, she settled in, and tried to make acquaintances with the people there, but found Washington a huge leap from Verthaven (In which Cindy is a native of). However, it wasn't long until Cindy was inducted into DOVE, and whisked away for her pilot training. It was longer and harder than she thought, but finally achieving her dreams was perfect. Well worth the trouble. It was three years of hard training until she was deemed a DOVE pilot, and was assigned to the field.
From there, Cindy was given her first mission: to help extra a Metahuman who was injured by a Pure rally. She quickly flew the helicopter there, and waited as DOVE extracted the injured. Afterwards, Cindy saw much action within DOVE. Cindy, within DOVE, was more of an Airbus emergency service worker that brought people in need from place to place. However, Cindy also worked with RAVEN, and was the pilot that quickly hauled RAVENs around whenever there was danger. Cindy also did plenty of social work within DOVE, and did her best to help Metahumans throughout Baybridge. Which has definitely earned her a reputation within Baybridge as a DOVE.
Though, she was becoming disconnected from her friends. Meifeng had long finished her training and went out on the field by the time Cindy was done, and was brutalizing members of the Hands left and right. Cindy was concerned for her friend, but she was too far away to make a difference. Which is why Cindy chose to stay in Baybridge and hold the fort there.
The battle of Prague took place, and Cindy was proud to see Meifeng on TV. She felt even better knowing that Meifeng was returning to Baybridge.
They have so much catching up to do....
Relationships
Family:
Father - Jackson Keagan
Cindy's father was a man who fought his way out of poverty within his home district of Verthaven. He avoided the gang life to pursue his dream of being a jazz musician. Which is what he got when he moved to the Knightdale district, and started the Verthaven famous "Candy Club" based off a bar he went to while in Vegas. After Cindy was born, the two were very close - plenty of people (Including Cindy's own mother) have called Cindy a "Daddy's girl" because of this. Their bond got even closer after the death of Asha. Jackson did all he could to mold Cindy into the woman she is today. Giving her love and attention, getting her a job at his club, and protecting her from the dangers of Verthaven (Knocking some heads in). However, during the Verthaven disaster, the two were separated, and when the two met after the disaster, Jackson was so horribly injured that he chose to die just so Cindy can move on without him.
Mother - Asha Keagan/Majumdar
Cindy's mother, the woman whom Cindy inherited her powers from. Asha was an Indian woman who migrated to America along with her family for a business deal. She was only a little girl when she moved, and chose to stay in Verthaven when her family decided to move to Black Fall. Only because she had a job at the local Academy within Verthaven. There, she met Jackson, and the two eloped. After their relationship had evolved, she became pregnant with Cindy, and gave birth to her after nine months. Cindy had a bond with her mother, while not as tight, produced fond memories which makes Cindy feel nostalgic to this very day. As Asha was Cindy's teacher as well as her mother. Because, once Cindy manifested her abilities, Asha told her that the females of the Majumdar inherit a glass ability of some sort, and Asha had long manifested in India. Asha's version of the power was different from Cindy's, while she had the ability to mold glass, she could also transform into glass. However, Asha was tragically attacked by a gang of Pure and beaten to the point of brain damage. Jackson, shamefully, chose to pull the plug on her.
Aja Majumdar - Aunt
Cindy's maternal aunt. Aja and Asha are twins that were inseparable when they were younger. However, the two started having conflicts when Asha began seeing Jackson (Being outraged when she had a child out of wedlock with him). She didn't really interact with Cindy all that much, but their opinion of each other was fairly high. Aja is a businesswoman that currently lives in Black Fall. Much like Cindy, and Asha, Aja has the ability to manipulate glass. However, her trick that differentiates herself from her niece and sister is that she can create golems out of glass that follow her commands to the letter. However, Cindy and Aja haven't been talking to each other because of what Cindy did to her daughter. She finds it irredeemable, and wishes to get back against Cindy for it.
Aarush Majumdar - Uncle
The man that Aja met in the business, and eventually married. Aarush is a similar businessman that was unpowered. Cindy and him haven't had much interaction... but he always despised Cindy for what she did to his daughter.
Tala Majumdar - Cousin
Called "Tally." An anomaly within the Majumdar family, as she didn't manifest a glass power as expected. Instead, she gained a telepathic ability that was mixed with sound abilities. She could hear thoughts as "sound." Tally's ability was so great that she could hear the thoughts of people from miles away. Which overloaded her, but she managed to nullify her ability to bearable levels by listening to music. However, this ability manifested at such a young age that it definitely didn't do her mental state any favors. Seeing and hearing things no little girl should... changed her. Turned her into a psychopath. A manipulative girl that delighted herself on causing much harm and chaos where ever she went because it was "fun" to her. She manipulated Cindy by using her thoughts against her to utterly ruin her life. Right when Cindy had a enough, she unleashed the mother of all glass storms which seriously injured Tally. She had to be hooked up to many machines just to stay alive, and she's the reason why the Majumdar family has renounced the Keagan family. However... one night, Tally up and disappeared.
Rajan Majumdar - Cousin
Tally's older, and far more well-adjusted brother. A large, football player who had much going for him. He was popular, big, strong, and had many women underneath his thumb. However, he was more interested in having sex with lots of women than anything else, and was a heartbreaker to his very core. He didn't care, he was all about the women. However, he manifested the ability that Tala should have gotten. He, for some odd reason, has the glass powers that the Majumdar women have been getting for years. This made him a true anomaly within the family. He can manipulate, create, and transform into glass (Not as well as the specialized Majumdars, but yeah). However, he uses his abilities to his own ends (Getting women, of course), and has joined the Allegiance, and promptly disappeared. It's suspected that he has something to do with Tala disappearing.
Dynamics:
| Meifeng Zhao |
| Mixed | Best Friend | "Maaan... she needs to chill. I kind of feel like she'll be no different from the Changelings if she doesn't...." |
Meifeng and Cindy are incredibly close from their time in Verthaven. At first, Cindy treated Meifeng as nothing but garbage, but once she changed her lifestyle, she got close to Meifeng, and the two became best friends. Meifeng helped her out through the years by getting her a job as her little sister's babysitter, and saving her ass a few times during the Verthaven disaster. On the flip side, Cindy was the voice of reason for Meifeng to this day. The one person who talked Meifeng out of doing foolish things. Though, the two have been having plenty of conflicts lately over Meifeng's increasing brutality. Cindy is criticizing her left and right, and they have been bickering. Only because Cindy cares about Meifeng.
| Lihua Zhao |
| Good | Employer turned into friend | "People change after after." |
Originally Cindy's employer when she was Lijuan's babysitter, the two eventually became friends after the Verthaven disaster and taking in her after the death of Jackson. They bond over their mutual maturity, and Lihua has sort of become a mother figure for Cindy - in the way that Cindy goes to Lihua for advice to this very day. However, Cindy has been really lending a hand with the whole incident with Lijuan.
| Quentin Taylor |
| Mixed | RAVEN | "Meifeng's closer to him than me... but I feel like he's filling her head with the same revenge nonsense I'm tryna talk her out of." |
Cindy and Quentin haven't really had a chance to interact. The only real interaction they had was the Verthaven disaster, in which they fought alongside each other. Afterwards, Cindy was very appreciative of the huge amount of cash that Quentin gifted her. Though, they entered different agencies, so they haven't really interacted as much as she did with his younger brother - probably only during joint RAVEN/DOVE operations. Though, Cindy has a rather mixed opinion.
| Reed Taylor |
| Good | Fellow DOVE | "I feel like he's probably the more reasonable out of the Taylor brothers." |
Like Quentin, Cindy and Reed met during the Verthaven disaster in which they fought alongside each other. Afterwards, Reed joined DOVE alongside Cindy. In which they trained together when Cindy was going through her DOVE training, and while Reed was finished beforehand, the two got to know each other. The two are well acquainted with each other, and Cindy respects Reed as a great DOVE Agent. They have had many experiences while on the job.
| Shizuka Takashiro |
| Good | A RAVEN/Friend | "Still loony as ever... but I can't say that he's a piece of work anymore, though." |
Originally, Cindy and Shizuka had a very bad opinion of each other. Mainly stemming from Shizuka's aloof, and rude behavior towards the people he fought alongside. However, they managed to end their animosity over the death of a friend, and after the disaster, they have become friends. Like Meifeng, Shizuka was sent off to different places (She heard he was making a splash in Asia). Though, the two still butt heads from time to time, not to the extent of Meifeng and Cindy, however. They two feels like they can confide in each other.
| Haruka Takashiro |
| Good | Shizuka's younger brother | "Figured spending some time away from Shizuka would do him some good." |
The two haven't talked much during the Verthaven disaster as Haruka wasn't a volunteer within the NEST resistance. However, the two were on better terms than Cindy was with Shizuka at the time. She thought he was kind of cute (In a nonsexual way), and really needed to bring his self confidence up. However, he seems to have become more confident and mature during his time at the Academy. Cindy and him keep in touch.
| Maxine Diaz |
| Mixed | A Irksome RAVEN | "..." |
Maxine and Cindy have a rather bumpy relationship. It's professional, but Cindy is often one to criticize Maxine when she steps out of line - especially in Maxine's angered moments. Cindy, at times, feels like Maxine is too inexperienced, and headstrong, and that makes her a poor RAVEN. However, she at least acts professionally around Maxine.
| Alice Barrett |
| Good | Friend | "." |
Alice and Cindy are quite friendly with each other, Alice only arrived in Baybridge a few weeks ago, but the two managed to hit it off. Cindy tries her best to get friendly with her, but it's hard for Cindy, as good as she is at socializing, can't get a good grasp on Alice. Though, she's trying her best to connect with Alice. Trying to take her out to bars (Which has been so-so).
| Ellen Nile |
| Mixed | Case | "She's... unique, but she really needs to stop being so damn difficult." |
Ellen is one of the children that Cindy has been assigned to, and their relationship is less than ideal. Cindy's attempts to befriend the child have been denied. Her attempts to get to adjusted to her ability have been denied. Any and all attempts to help her have all been denied. As Ellen is going out of her way to avoid the DOVE whenever necessary. Cindy finds herself being frustrated with Ellen's situation - she wants to help her, but it's seemingly impossible.
| Wendy Lucker |
| Neutral | Case | "Call me a bitch, but Wendy's a bit weird. But, least she's polite and cooperative as hell. She's a real good kid." |
Ever since she arrived at the Academy, Wendy and Cindy have had a rather good relationship. Albeit, there has been a bit of an aloofness due to the difference between the two. On one hand, Cindy enjoys talking to Wendy, and thinks of her as a good kid. On the other hand, Cindy finds Wendy's quirks very annoying sometimes, and thinks she talks too much. Cindy also has to bring Wendy back when she gets into trouble, and gives her the lecture. Whenever Cindy goes by the Academy, she talks to Wendy.
| Rowan Campbell |
| Mixed | Case | "I feel a bit sorry for him, but I don't think he's in any rush to be my friend." |
Rowan Campbell is one of the cases that Cindy was assigned to. After he killed his father, Cindy was the one that immediately got him out of there, and a proper therapist. Since then, despite wanting to relocate him to another city, he stays in Academy 61, where she often meets him. The two haven't connected all that much, which is understandable, but Cindy is the main person who has to keep him out of trouble.
| Victor Calahan |
| Neutral | Scientist | "I don't see why we shouldn't trust 'im... yet." |
Like Meifeng, Cindy was introduced to Victor when they found him wounded in the mall incident. Cindy was the one to discuss things with Victor during his recovery, and she found out plenty about him. Such as his intelligence, and employment in the Wright Institute. She was the one to broker the deal between DOVE and the Institute to study the serum. Since then, they've been in close contact, but they haven't formed any personal bonds; their relationship is purely impersonal.
Abilities
Power Class:
Elemental
Power:Elemental Type - Mode:Glass Glass-Generation.
Cindy's foremost ability is the ability to grow glass off her body like a crystal. This is mainly to supplement her ability to manipulate glass. She can grow an infinite amount of glass, it is only limited by her stamina. She's fully capable of growing it along surfaces long as she's touching it. Like a quickly spreading ice. She can do this on any surface. The glass she creates has a dark, emerald green, color (Like this color). She is capable of controlling how the glass grows, so she's capable of forming it into structures. Such as wrapping it around herself to create an armor. She can also create weapons, shields, and the sorts. Using her ability to move glass, she can shoot the shards she creates at high speeds. Usually a single shot, though, she can create a shotgun-style blast, or shoot out a machine gun barrage of glass. The ultimate feat she has done by creating glass is creating a thick "cocoon" out of glass that has protected her from most forms of attack. A trick she has figured out is that she's capable of producing a glass "seed". Which is an orb of glass that she can throw, and upon contact with the ground, it will turn into a structure of her choice. Like a grenade. Cindy can also turn sand into glass, if there's any around.
Glass-Manipulation.
Cindy has the elemental ability to control glass. I'm going to start off with the manipulation aspect of her power. For starters, Cindy can telekinetically control all glass (Regular, volcanic, plexi, etc) far as the eye can see and fiddle with it a bit. She can shape glass by using a method that is subconsciously changing it's temperature to convert it into a liquid-state, and quickly cool it down to harden it. Alternatively, she can simply put glass together the usual way. Hell, she can make any glass construct long as she has enough material for it. Cindy can also alter properties of glass to some extent. She can change the color, flexibility, hardness, and compact glass together to increase the density. Glass is a fairly hard material (But brittle), and it's fairly commonplace, so it's a pretty strong element to manipulate. It's also possible for her to achieve a level of pseudo-flight by standing on top of a pane of glass, and flying around by moving it.
Limits:
Whenever Cindy creates glass, she expends a bit of stamina. Which will begin to wear down on her. Which is why she's unable to create structures. Cindy's range of glass manipulation has a range of ten-meters (For quick reference, that's like 32 feet). There's a limit to how much glass she can manipulate at a time, too. She can manipulate a lot of glass, but not enough to create a building-sized structure made out of glass. Cindy is in no way immune to glass. She could easily accidentally cut herself.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
Glass is a brittle element. While it's technically harder than steel, there's only so much it can take before cracking, and shattering. Someone could pull out a bat, or a machine gun and destroy her constructs. Someone with super strength can easily punch through her constructs. While she can make her glass constructs very durable, punching a hole in one part of it will weaken the rest of it so much that it'll be easy to destroy. Glass gets softer under heats, easier to break. Cindy can't really control malleable glass that well. It's melting point is high, but it can melt under a high enough heat. If it by chance melts, then Cindy will lose the ability to accurately control and shape it (She could sling around hot glass). Cindy requires concentration when she uses her power. If she loses it, then all current usages of her power will be cancelled.
Cindy can turn into glass. Why that's down in the weakness section, I'll explain. Whenever Cindy uses her power, she may accidentally turn a part of herself into glass, and lose function in that part. The bigger the use, the more of her body may turn into glass. She has to focus a little bit to make her body revert back into flesh, but it could leave her quite vulnerable. If someone were to break the glass, it would appear in her human form as a wound. Either a bleeding cut, or a missing piece of her flesh, which can and will get infected quite easily. It's possible for her to lose a limb, if it were to convert entirely into glass. If she were to go overboard, she could potentially turn her entire body into glass and die a quick death. On the brightside, she'll be a bitchin' statue.
Other:
Cindy is a pilot within DOVE that has seen plenty of missions throughout her four years within DOVE. She's also done missions for RAVEN. While also doing social work that's earned her a positive reception throughout Baybridge.
Cindy uses a Glock 23 as her weapon.
Cindy drives a 2015 Mercury Sable as her vehicle. It has tinted windows, and she loves to drive it off the job. When she's on the job, she simply uses a DOVE vehicle.
Wendy feels like she was shafted by the puberty stick. While the rest of her friends turned into bombshells once they hit puberty, Wendy feels like she was given pre-teen girl looks. She has a banana body-shape, where her shoulders are the same width as her hips, she has little to no curves, and her build is more flat and athletic than she liked. Where she wishes that she had a more "womanly" hour-glass body type. Her chest is so flat that she feels like she doesn't need a bra (In which she omits at times), and she doesn't even have a behind to make up for it. Hell, she feels like the first person with a "negative bra size." What doesn't help is the fact that Wendy is tall. Like, she stands up there with the boys. All because of genes inherited from her mother that made her so tall. She doubts that boys are really interested in tall girls. It's one of the many things that Wendy feels self-conscious about. She just feels like she isn't "womanly" enough.
To help combat this, Wendy wears her hair out a bit longer than average, and it does what is intended; it gives Wendy a more pronounced feature. Her hair is long, she has a lot of it, and it goes down to her waist, and flows very well. Her flowing mane of wavy black hair is cleaned and maintained to the best of her ability. However, it's not the best groomed due to Wendy's horrid grooming abilities. While she stands out due to her hair, people from all over insult her grooming ability. Now, onto her build, like I said before, Wendy has a banana body-shape. Her build is very skinny, and well-toned, from all the exercise she gets. She has a lithe swimmer's build - which is more accurate than one would believe because she actually is a swimmer. Her legs seem to be the most well toned (And lengthy) part of her body - though, she isn't one to flaunt her legs (Because she feels like she doesn't have any).
Wendy always had that nerdy, "librarian" look to her. It's mostly due to her rather mousy demeanor, her clothing choice, and the fact that she wears glasses. Her lack of fashion sense also contributes to this vibe people gather. Her facial features accentuate to this. Her square facial features are more consistent with French people. Her facial shape almost identically matches a French woman - with a bit of European in there. What betrays this is her obviously slanted eyes, that only very observant people would be able to tell. Now, Wendy has a rectangle-shaped face. Her nose is medium sized, round, and has a droopy shape, but is otherwise has well proportioned nostrils, nose-bridge, etc. It matches her thin lips that haven't been touched by lipstick once. Wendy's ears are crescent shaped, and medium-sized. Eyes are a unremarkable brown color, and are roundish-almond shaped. Though, Wendy's jaw-line is squared, and it's a little thick. It gives way to her rather round chin, and her round, "baby cheeks." Her lips are a tad thicker than she expected, with a pointed lip-shape, both her lips are much thicker than expected.
I almost forgot her genealogy! Wendy is, if you haven't gathered as much, mixed. Her father was super French, and it shows in her French facial features. However, the other countries shine in her hair, and other small features. Such as the layer of freckles that speckle her face, and the rest of her body. However, her mother provides her Japanese side. These only subtly change her European facial features into something more Asianic. The only major change in appearance her Asian genes present is her aforementioned slanted eyes. Her skin is a modest beige color, that isn't pale nor tan due to the fact that Wendy seemingly gets the bare minimum to avoid either. Though, she has a couple scars on her.
Attire:
Her round, thin-framed, glasses is what gives Wendy a sophisticated look. Some people wonder just where Wendy got her sense of fashion from. Because it was definitely not from her peers, or anyone. She doesn't really have a particular style other than incredibly modest. She doesn't wear any outfits that show skin. At all. She'll be caught dead in such an outfit. Instead, she dresses like a librarian, schoolgirl, or a detective. So she'll wear any kind of shirt (usually modest white button ups, and white blouses), and some legwear. She also likes to wear flowing trench coats. Wendy was never one that enjoyed wearing pants, so she simply omits them for skirts, and dresses, and whatnot. Though, Wendy enjoys wearing summer dresses. However, despite her dislike for pants, she'll wear them if the situation calls for it. Though, she really dislikes wearing athletic outfits. However, regardless of what Wendy is currently wearing, she tends to keep a brown leather satchel around her shoulder. This acts as Wendy's "purse" as this is where she keeps her items such as a book or two to read, her cellphone, and her camera.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
A tad eccentric, it's been that way since Wendy was a young one.
Initially, Wendy was an introverted girl that is geeky, self-conscious, and didn't really mesh well with other people. She usually stuck to herself, and didn't really interact with people. This stemmed from a lack of confidence in herself, and being very shy. However, since she manifested her power, she's much more confident, and willing to talk to people than ever before. This comes from spending her time around a group of rather extroverted people, and her sister. She's much more comfortable and open around other people. She's kind, cheery, and almost chipper. She'll be seen laughing, and talking quite a lot, as she's much more playful and sarcastic than once thought. People around her quickly find out that she is a very intelligent, a quick thinker, deductive, creative, and loving human being that loves talking about her own interests. Very passionate, adventurous, and determined, she always sees things to the end, and wants to experience new and fresh things. The one thing about Wendy is that polite above all else. She treats people equally, with kindness. Though, she keeps her pool of friends very low. However, some people get the feeling that Wendy has autism, or some other kind of developmental disorder. Given the way she doesn't socialize like other people, and other quirks.
A big part of Wendy's character is her utter love of books. To the point where many people who have gotten to know her have called her a bibliophile, which she admits to without shame, and indulges in a bit of self deprecation because of it. She has a large collection of different books, and constantly goes out to get more books. She's very defensive of her collection (Even though she can easily fix them with her power), and will fight tooth and nail to defend her progress over the years. Though, she feels like she's the biggest threat to her collection because of how clumsy she is. One thing that Wendy loves to do is go out and find rare books of some sort, and read them. Which she feels adds a special "flair" to her collection. This all stems from Wendy's love of knowledge, and reading. She's naturally curious as a human being, and loves to go out and explore and learn new things.
However, another thing is that this curiosity extends to people and their lives as well. She enjoys sticking her nose in other people's business, and learning about their personal lives. She'll even go far as stepping into people's rooms, and begin to go through their items. Just to give herself an insight on them that they wouldn't normally give her. To her, it brings her great enjoyment, since she always loves to observe. She was never one to participate directly, though that has been changing as of late. Wendy figures herself as an amateur investigator, as one thing she loves to do is head out on the city and solve mysteries, and discover new things.
Wendy was always a person who appreciated the arts. Drawing, photography, literature, all of which are things that always have interested Wendy. Which is why she made it her passion to use her very creative mind to create some more. To mixed results. She tends to judge herself. However, she is very comfortable with photography. She loves to go around and take pictures of her surroundings, and be apart of the world. Drawing is another thing. She also possesses a great knowledge of both fields, and if you were to probe her about them, she would never shut up. Wendy also loves being complimented on her skills. If you were to compliment her even in the slightest, she would begin to blush, and start acting overly happy. Wendy was also adventurous, and simply loves traveling and exploring new places. Which gives her inspiration for her arts. Though, she loves heading out to a new place with some friends. It's childish, but Wendy was never one to care.
Though, Wendy can come off as a bit overzealous, presumptuous even. Wendy at times steps out of her bounds and does things even though she doesn't have the right to. This manifests in her interactions when she brings up something she shouldn't, that aforementioned habit of going through people's things, and acting when she shouldn't. This has earned her to the scorn of her friends, and caused her to act very rashlyy. Another big part about Wendy's personality is that she's very responsible. She fully understands that she has a powerful ability, and does not take it lightly. Wendy knows that she can easily slip, and become one of the people that RAVEN and DOVE hunts down. Though, she at times doesn't consider the full consequences of her actions.
Speaking of Wendy's morality, she considers herself to be a neutral, with a heroic streak. Wendy knows that she's no hero, and has no interest in being one. She's only here to live her life, and discover more about herself. Which is why she rejected the notion of joining up with DOVE. Because she wants to value her independence, and wants some control. However, on the flipside, Wendy isn't the one to stand by when people are in danger. Wendy will definitely lend a hand using her power.
Hobbies/Interests:
It's been stated in her personality that she loves books. As I stated in her personality, Wendy loves arts. Which is drawing, photography, and more. Her best contribution into this hobby is her photography. She doesn't go anywhere without her camera, and is always taking pictures of scenic areas. She even goes out of her way to find new places to take pictures of. Wendy is forging a collection of such pictures. I got across a lot of her hobbies and interests in her personality, actually. Wendy is also a fan of obscure movies, and anime. Wendy has always been interested in Metahumans, and their politics. Which is why she generally keeps up to date with them, and visits several forums discussing them.
Skills/Talents:
Wendy is very smart, creative, and perspective. A mixture of years of reading books, and investing herself in photography has gifted her these skills. Sneaky, a deductive thinker, Wendy has a lot of skills that makes her rather helpful to her. Even on her own, she's a problem solver. Through years of reading different language books, and dedicating herself towards learning them, Wendy knows bits and pieces of other languages. She's best at speaking Spanish and French - but she knows a little German, Chinese, and Russian... the last two have been awful to learn. Though, don't expect her maintain a conversation in any of these languages. She mostly knows phrases, and whatnot. It also goes without saying that Wendy has a great memory. Wendy also has a good eye for photography, which has enhanced her own attention to detail, and allows her to pick up a lot more. Despite what people think, she can read body-language a lot better than people imagine. Wendy has also invested herself in learning how to draw. She's been at it for years, and she's pretty good. Because of that aforementioned attention to detail, what she draws replicates life a lot. Wendy has one or two sports under her belt, and she isn't even all that good at either. She played Tennis, and joined her school's swim team, growing up as some attempt to her herself stay in shape. Tennis, she still plays sometimes. Swimming is something she hasn't forgotten yet.
Goals/Motivation
Wendy's goal is to merely gather knowledge in life, and dedicate her life to being a scholar. Possibly discover limits about her ability that she hasn't explored before out of fear of being outed as a replicator.
History/Bio:
Now, to properly explain Wendy's backstory, I have to go into someone else's backstory. Eight years before she was even born, her father, Euan Lucker, a lowly office worker that worked for a paper company, met his dream girl Lucy Wallis. They eventually married and had their first child, Diana Lucker. Now, all of this was during NEST's grand offensive to rid Stadium City of the Tyrants. They were a nice happy, middle-class, family. However, Lucy went out shopping, and was caught in the crossfire between Tyrants, and NEST... which wasn't pretty. Lucy was blown in half by the event, and deprived both Luckers of the main woman in their life. In his grief, Euan sent Diana off to Verthaven to live with his grandparents.
After the death of his first wife, Euan fell in love with another woman named Kumiko Fujimoto several years later. A woman that he'd go on to impregnate, and wanted to marry, but she disappeared for the strangest reason right after giving birth to their child. Euan was so confused about it... that he simply raised Wendy on his own. Euan was trying harder with his next child. He tried to develop Wendy in a healthy way. Since she had displayed an immense creative side, he decided to develop that. Giving Wendy a variety of different books to read until she had developed that skill far faster than expected. This is where her love of reading really blossomed... into an obsession. An expensive obsession that Euan had to support (By going to the library over and over again). But better than drugs! Throughout school, she kept her pool of friends limited (Mostly the other shy introverts).
However, a few years in, and an old ghost had returned. Someone that Euan had forgotten about, and Wendy had no knowledge of whatsoever. Oh no, her sister was the troublesome Diana Lucker. After the death of his first wife, he sent Diana to Verthaven to live with her grandparents. Now, the Verthaven disaster took place, and Diana was one of the many survivors - Diana came back into her life, who became a miscreant, a thug, a punk - who hung out with all the wrong people, beat up people, and gambled, while in Verthaven. A changed woman from the little girl that Euan sent off. Despite their differences, the two sisters are quite close - even though one wants the other to change their ways. However, Diana manifested superpowers while in Verthaven due to the Black Fall Effect, the ability to control paper. The great change in Stadium City's political climate took place, and Stadium City started getting... a lot less safe. The Tyrants had disbanded, and every person who wanted a piece of that pie came to Stadium City. It became an utter warzone. The city that was once peaceful, was not undersiege as every gang and their grandmother were fighting over the city. While the Luckers tried to avoid it, it wasn't long until it began seeping into their neighborhood, and they got caught in the crossfire. Wendy herself honestly wanted to leave Stadium City, but where was there to go?
The two girls didn't get along that well due to the huge difference in age between them. However, they managed to forge some connection with her. It wasn't long before Wendy manifested powers of her own - at fourteen - and touched Diana while they were chatting. Their nervous-systems lit up with the green Metahuman energy, before the flash of light disappeared and Wendy had the same power as Diana, with little clue that she had replicated it.
Euan (and by that extent, DOVE) assumed that she simply had the same exact power as her sister. Diana and Wendy got much closer, as the two trained to use their powers together. Finding out some creative ways to use it. However, Diana then took Wendy along to meet her friends just to get her out of the house, and when they shook hands, their hands started glowing with the Metahuman energy. That's when Wendy gained Pyromancery (Albeit a slight version), and it turned out that she was a Replicator. She talked about it with Euan, and he decided, for her sake, that they keep this a secret, and tell everyone that Paper Manipulation is her only power. However, Diana got in a load of trouble with NEST during a crime-spree while attempting to join a gang, and she was apprehended by RAVEN. DOVE said that if Diana joins the Academy program (Going to Academy 218), and adjusts her attitude, then she won't go to jail.
Wendy herself was sent to an academy after a disagreement over a late library book escalated into a fight (That ruined almost every book in that library), and she was arrested by RAVEN as well. While Diana was sent to Academy 218, Wendy was sent to Academy 61 on the West Coast, located within Baybridge. After a few months of preparation, Wendy was sent to the Academy. In Baybridge, she made herself well acquainted within the Academy there, and the city itself. She really enjoyed it. She spent the next few years training her ability, and getting and education there. Wendy turned eighteen a few months before the story started (In January). Just to celebrate becoming an adult, her dad sent her enough money to go buy a moped off Craig's list.
Life was great.
Relationships
Family:
Euan Lucker - Father
A simple office worker that wants the best for his daughters, Euan Lucker is easily the least lucky man in the world. He had to go through the death of his first wife, his second fling abandoning him, and his daughter falling into delinquency. Wendy and him have a close bond - they text each other very often.
Fujimoto Kumiko - Mother
Wendy never got a chance to even meet Kumiko. Right after Wendy was born, Kumiko disappeared. Her father talks about her sometimes, he says that she's a powerful Metahuman.
Diana Lucker - Sister
Wendy's troublesome half sister. A woman who had proceeded her by eight years (She's currently in her thirties). At first, the two had a rocky start, due to a lingering disdain for their father, but they eventually became close. Diana was Wendy's only social link to the outside world at times. She was the person who helped her grow out of her introverted shell, and connect with people. Diana herself is a thug, she's been involved in numerous gangs, and has been arrested countless times for theft, assault, and vandalism. She's on DOVE's watchlist at the moment, but she's been making an effort to change. Diana is the person whom Wendy got her paper powers from, and uses to this very day.
Dynamics:
| Zhao Lihua |
| Neutral | Teacher | "Her power and skill is incredible... I wonder if I can...." |
Lihua Zhao is the teacher of Wendy Lucker who currently trains her with her abilities. Wendy loves Lihua's professionalism, and has been learning a lot about her own ability from Lihua. However, she feels like she's wearing on her teacher's patience at times. The two keep their relationship strictly professional.
| Rori Aherne |
| Good | Friend | "She's... they - they are interesting. Damn, I still need to get her pronouns right." |
During her times exploring Baybridge, Rori was one of the people that Wendy encountered in the Faircrest Woods. A very curious soul indeed. During their first encounter they managed to chat a bit, before parted ways. Since then, Wendy has been keeping in touch with Rori, and they at times meet to discuss their mutual interest in art - a major unifying factor between the two. Wendy wants to get Rori to model for some pictures, but she's entirely unsure of if Rori would be okay with it.
| Ellen Nile |
| Good? | Classmate | "I... would probably get an earful if I said I found her ability interesting." |
Ellen herself is the talk around the Academy for her rather unique ability. Wendy often goes out of her way to make conversation with Ellen, in some attempt to befriend her out of interest for her ability. It eventually became less of an interest in her power, and more of an genuine attempt to befriend. Wendy and her share books, talk in the library, but they haven't gotten much closer. However, Wendy can find Ellen quite unbearable sometimes because of her attitude (Wendy thinks it's quite melodramatic), and finds herself hurt that Ellen didn't want to be in the picture she took with Rori. Still, she acknowledges that everyone has flaws.
| Cindy Keagan |
| Good? | DOVE | "I think Cindy is... nice. A bit bitchy, though." |
One of the first people Wendy met upon coming to the Academy was Cindy Keagan. A DOVE that actually introduced her to the Academy, and talked her through her time in Baybridge. Since then, the two talk from time to time, but Wendy doesn't jump through hoops to try to be her friend. Wendy knows that Cindy and them are, while nice, two different people, and that they likely won't mesh. Other than that, Wendy makes sure to be a model student just for Cindy... and so she doesn't get yelled at for trespassing.
| Alice Barret |
| Good | RAVEN | "I can't believe that she not only didn't yell at me, but she wants to see my photography!" |
Alice and Wendy met at the Strong Gold Community opening, in which Wendy was having fun with her friends... On a rooftop. Alice approached them, and Wendy was briefly worried, but then it turned out that Alice wasn't one of the bad RAVENS, in fact, she came off as pretty good to Wendy. Merely by asking to see her photography, Alice had inflated Wendy's ego.
| Haruka Takashiro |
| Good | Friend | "I owe him for helping me... He seems like a good person to me, too. Loves books, too!" |
Haruka was merely a passerby when the Havenfield Overload occurred, and Wendy nearly froze to death. After receiving help from a DOVE, she was passed off to Haruka. Afterwards, the two had a brief chit-chat at the Academy, in which they bonded over books. Wendy wishes to seek him out... but she neglected to get his contact information. When they cross paths again - Wendy will give him all her social media handles!
Abilities
Power Class:
Power: Replication/Elemental
Power: Elemental-Power Replication.
Powers work very similarly to each other, in theory. She has the power to copy another Metahuman's power long as they have another Elemental-type ability. She'd be able to, for example, copy the power of a water bender, but not a regenerator. However, if the ability allows someone to alter their own body using their elements, then she is capable of the same thing. It's very contact based - How long Wendy holds contact with a Metahuman dictates how much of the power she replicates. Brushing up against someone will give her an ability so weak that it's useless. While extended contact will grant her the full ability. Even if she gets the weakened version of a power, simply by touching the owner again she'll get more of the ability. Of course, there are a few differences between the owner's and her replicated ability as it will "mutate" as it goes from one person to another. Wendy can store powers she used before inside of herself (Up to three). She is limited to one power at a time, and in order for her to switch power, she would need to touch said element. Of course, if she finds a Metahuman that uses the same element as one of her copied powers - both powers will merge, and Wendy will get a boost. Wendy is also capable of copying powers from other Replicator type Metahumans long as they are currently using an elemental ability of some sort (And vice-versa). Currently Replicated Abilities:
Paper-Manipulation.
Also known as Papyrokinesis, Wendy has an elemental ability relating to paper, card, and cardboard. She can telekinetically control paper on a large scale - capable of controlling one ton worth of paper at a time - and shape them without bending or tearing it. Creating complicated structures is simple for Wendy, since her ability naturally gives her a high degree of control over her paper. This is assisted by paper's flexibility. She can create a building out of paper if she's given enough time. While this may sound lame, but Paper is a pretty good weapon against unarmored targets. She can form it into sharp blades that'll give a sucka a nasty papercut, or pack it together to create a dense, high impact, blunt weapon. On the other end, it works very well defensively. If she has enough paper, she can create a shield that'll stop a projectile (Possibly a bullet if she has enough paper, time, and preparation). Outside of fights, she can create clothes, forge documents, repair damaged paper, and more. This ability goes in tandem with her ability to turn into (or make herself weightless like) paper. Wendy can fly by creating a giant paper construct, or riding it like carpet. Just pray you don't fight her in a office supply store.
Paper-Mimicry.
Wendy has the ability to completely, or partially, turn into paper. Whether it's a storm of individual (Or one whole piece) paper pages, or into cardboard. This ability, amazingly enough, extends to the clothes she's wearing, and the objects she's holding. So no, she won't be naked when she reforms, boys. The main usage is probably turning into storm of paper sheets, so I'll go into that one the most. Wendy can individually control each piece of paper, and naturally, this gives her a form of flight, or teleportation if I'd go far enough to call it that. She can turn into a cloud of paper, move, then reform. This gives her a heightened dodging ability, and basically makes her intangible. Even if she's a paper storm, if her paper gets torn, then she can just turn put herself back when she reforms, no marks. Now, Wendy can basically regenerate from all damage (That isn't heat/water based, that is) long as she's in her paper form. Turning into dense cardboard and throwing a punch can make someone feel like they were bitchslapped by a Bible. Wendy can also partially turn into paper or cardboard. Some of her paper powers extends to her true form. Wendy can become weightless, and flow like a fluttering piece of paper. She can possibly fly by riding wind currents (albeit, very erratically), or by the aforementioned means. This ability to adopt the weight of paper extends to her clothes, and the objects she's holding (REQUIRED SECONDARY POWERS).
Paper-Absorption & Storage.
As a combination of both aforementioned ability, Wendy can store paper inside of herself. It's simple, she turns into paper and places the foreign paper inside of herself. Ready to be used at a later date. When she wants to use it, all she has to do is pull the paper out of her body. To an outsider, it'll appear almost like she created the paper out of thin air. She can use it like shooting a blade of paper out of her hand. Wendy also has a regenerative ability. It's pretty simple, if she has an injury, all she has to do is turn it into paper, and absorb some paper to fill the wound. This can extend as far as fixing a broken hand, or even regenerating a limb.
Minor-Ink-Manipulation & Generation.
As a side ability, Wendy as a minor Melanokinetic ability. She can't, say, throw gigantic globs of ink at people, but she can manipulate the ink on paper into whatever she pleases. She can pull the ink off the pages, and throw it around at people, but like I said before, she can't do anything more than that. Pulling ink off the pages is only useful if she wants to put it on something else. She also has the ability to produce ink from her fingertips, which she can manipulate in any way she chooses.
Minor-Fire Manipulation.
Wendy has a minor form of pryomancery which she accidentally gained during her miss adventures after shaking hands with it's owner. She can't produce a firestorm, but she can throw a fireball at someone the size of a baseball, and shoot streams of fire. She has to absorb fire to keep using it, and it comes with an immunity to heat.
Electricity Manipulation.
Copied by a Metahuman (Garrett) that Wendy had encountered in the mall, she has gained the ability to channel electricity through her body. This ability has greatly mutated during the transfer to Wendy due to her uneven Metahuman Energy, and stress, levels. Which comes in the form of producing, manipulating, and absorbing, electricity. However, Wendy's ability is far more reliant on absorbing electricity. For her to utilize her full strength, she needs to constantly absorb electricity. She's much like a battery that runs out of power once it's used up, and she'll need to recharge. Fortunately Wendy is able to leech energy from any source. From a power outlet, to batteries, long as it has electricity, then she can steal it to utilize for herself. Depending on how much energy she currently has absorbed, it dictates her current strength.
Now, Wendy doesn't need to constantly absorb electricity, because she automatically produces some electricity on her own. At it's base, she can shoot a stream of electricity that'll give someone one hell of a shock. Enough to cause some burns, muscle spams, etc. When Wendy absorbs electricity however, she can potentially fire off enough electricity on par with a bolt of lightning. Which is something that no one wants to get hit with. However, she'll need a lot of electricity to utilize this level of strength. Oh yeah, that's not going into how she fires off this electricity. She can shoot it as a constant stream of electricity, or alternatively, a big concentrated blast of electricity. At it's most extreme, she can shoot a massive bolt of lightning.
This ability extends to a slight electromagnetic ability. Due to the close relation between electricity and magnetism, Wendy can potentially learn how to influence magnetism. It wouldn't be major, like Magneto lifting the Golden Gate bridge, but she can learn how to manipulate small metals, draw ferromagnetic objects to herself, and potentially shoot a blast that'll deflect magnetic objects (That's an advanced technique, however).
Wendy herself has a high resistance to electricity so she may endure electricity at most levels, such as while absorbing it.
Limits:
As it was mentioned above, Wendy can store up to three elemental abilities inside of herself. However, once she reaches that limit, she'll have to discard one ability for another. She doesn't have the level of skill to choose yet, so it'll be random. Wendy can only use one power at a time. In order to switch to a different power, she has to touch the element... Which can be hard depending on the environment. The biggest limit is that she has no clue how to use a power from the start. She has to figure out how to use it herself, or get taught how to use it. Again, she inherits the limits of the owner. she has the usual range limit of around thirty-feet, and the max weight limit of two tons of paper. Wendy cannot remain in paper form for too long - the maximum limit is inhibited by how long she can hold her breath. If she runs out of breath, she has to turn back into human form, or, you know. So, she can only remain as a storm of paper for only so long. Though, if she's partially transformed, holding her breath isn't an issue (at the expense of strength).
Even if she's one solid piece of paper, she's still limited. She can only scatter herself around twelve feet around. Wendy can't use paper manipulation while turned into paper - she'll only be able to control her own paper. Also, absorbing paper into herself weighs her down, thus, preventing her from going weightless until she expels it. It'll also come with the feeling of being weighed down. Wendy's regeneration won't really work if she's wet, or too bloody. So, if she's gushing blood, she's going to have a problem. Wendy's ink manipulation basically has a tactile range. She can only control ink that's within two feet of herself - and in that case, she's better off just touching it. She can produce two quarts of Ink at most. Though, I should note that she's only really skilled with the paper power from years of using it. If she loses it, then she'll basically be using a weapon she doesn't know. Her Fire Manipulation is very weak, and she can only control a small amount of flame, and send it like fifteen feet of herself.
In terms of her new electrical power; Wendy's abilities are, of course, limited by how much electricity she has stored inside of herself. Wendy's only capable of the basic feats of her electrical abilities at it's base, while she's a threat, it won't be nothing to write home about. However, absorbing electricity can be very taxing on Wendy, because it's very taxing, and runs the risk of losing control of that electricity. Which is bad. Wendy can only use her ability within twenty feet of herself. All of her abilities - save for her absorption, which has to touch her in order for her to absorb it - suffer from this limit, as her electricity begins to fade as it goes out. Absorbing electricity can be risky, as it drains her physically to absorb electricity, and has the potential to damage her if she isn't careful. Wendy also has to release an excess charge after awhile. She can't hold onto electricity for too long, or else she'll lose control of it, and end up shocking herself with it. The more electricity she currently has absorbed means she'll have to ditch the electricity faster.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
Whenever Wendy copies an ability, she is "locked" into the power until she figures out how to use it. Even if she accidentally copies a power by brushing up against someone, she'll be locked. Which can be a problem if she's locked into a power that's useless (or has no clue how to use). Wendy's paper power makes her a bit more... flammable. Which could spread, and she'll have no choice but to drop that part of her body unless she wants to burn up. Fortunately, water doesn't do anything to her human form, so she can take a swim. However, if she's soaken wet, then she can't turn into paper. Just to cover all grounds here, if she's soaken wet while paper, then she'll immediately be forced back together and become human. It's some sort of subconscious thing that'll keep her alive. Now, I have to go over the weaknesses of paper. They should be obvious, Wendy cannot control paper that is soaken wet, or burned. So fire/water benders are her bane. She can work with torn paper, of course. Gusts of wind can also be a pain in the ass. It'll send the paper she's controlling flying, and make her lose control of it. This can also be a problem if she's a storm of paper. It'll send her veering off course. This means outdoor areas aren't her favorite place. Her pyromancery dehydrates her, and she's still weak against the byproducts of fire (I.E smoke and shit).
Channeling electricity through herself is very risky. Wendy has to be careful while absorbing electricity, or else she'll end up shocking herself with the payload, and making it all go to waste. Using her electrical abilities also interferes with her own biological processes that uses bioelectricity. For example, it can screw with her nervous system, and causes muscle spasms, twitching, etc, when she starts using her power, and it gets worse as she keeps using it. At it's worst extreme, Wendy could knock herself unconscious, or possibly stop her own heart. Wendy also runs the risk of burning herself with her electricity. The basic moves won't bother her, but shooting bolts of lightning, and absorbing electricity in copious amounts can be very dangerous for her. Water is also a bitch, because if she touches a large enough body of water (Drinking water is fine... taking a bath is not), she'll lose control of her power and excrete a bit of electricity into it. Any currents she channels into herself will go straight into the water until it evaporates... of course, if this happens, it negates her resistance to electricity, and will shock her like any other person.
Other:
Wendy is inspired by a variety of different characters. First and foremost, Max Caufield from Life is Strange, then her appearance is based off of Taylor Herbert's from Worm, Yomiko Readman from Read or Die, and she essentially has Delsin Rowe's power.
Wendy drives a cheap moped (A Vespa Primavera 150ie 3v) she bought around Baybridge.
Wendy brought her some book collection with her to keep her occupied. If anyone touches it, then they will be castrated with a paper airplane.
Wendy is also an avid Photographer. She carries around her black Canon PowerShot SX410 IS 20-0 Megapixel Digital Camera. She'll be seen taking all sorts of pictures (Mostly of scenery, but of people, too). Touch that if you also wish to get castrated.
Wendy is a very clumsy soul. She has a tendency to just drop things, and break whatever it is that she's holding.
Homeless. Fiona sticks around in the Faircrest Woods.
Appearance
Hair Color:
Orange
Eye Color:
Jet-Black
Ethnicity:
Technically... Fiona has the United Kingdom in her roots - Irish, Scottish, and some Spanish. Except, Fiona doesn't identify with any nationality or ethnicity.
Physical Appearance:
Now, Fiona has a very distinct appearance to her, indeed. She looks like a hybrid of a human being and an insect - with her appearing leaning on human so that she doesn't appear as monstrous as a hybrid would imply. She is covered, from head to toe, in a thin, olive-green, exoskeleton that makes up a light armoring around her being. With segments here and there, and less armor in the joints, she can move around like a human would. To put it simply, Fiona is anatomically the same as a human being, except with an exoskeleton - No extra limbs. Fiona has the traits of a grasshopper, if one was versed in the insectoid realm. On the top of her head are two antennas that are thin and look much like long strands of hair - they are nearly her body height in length.
She has two, very large, black, almond-shaped, grasshopper eyes - that appear close to humans. On the sides of her mouth are two mandibles that encompass her mouth when they're closed. Finally, her legs are much thicker, and capable of preforming powerful jumps (Or a kick in a fight). Moving on, Fiona's build is pretty slim, she's slender. Almost petite. I doubt she could even biologically gain visible body fat, or muscles. Her body-shape is roughly rectangle-shaped. Naturally, her legs are much longer than the rest of her body - disproportionately adding on a few inches to a girl that would be naturally be the average female height. Her arms are pretty standard length and proportionate to the rest of her body. Body is relatively scar free (Try scaring chitin!). A few marks here and there from some recent injuries, that would fade once she molts.
Face still humanoid, Fiona has an oval-shaped head, and vaguely European facial-features. Facial features blend neatly together, only having one exposed creek in order for her to move her jaw. She has a very small button nose with small nostrils right above her mouse. With her mouth being small and having very thin lips - along with human teeth. Her cheeks are smooth... I mean not in the texture way, in how they are. I should note that Fiona doesn't have ears - merely two dark holes where her ears should be. These holes are obscured by her hair. Fiona has a head of very curly orange hair (If you're asking how and why; yes). It's very well cleaned, and has a neat texture to it. Lets it flow, it hangs off her head onto her shoulders in a very messy hairstyle. Usually flying around as she moves (Especially when she jumps).
Fiona's voice sounds vaguely humanoid. It has a strange buzzing/chirping overtone that definitely sounds insectoid.
Attire:
Fiona dresses very lightly... not in the slutty way, but dresses in such a manner that she doesn't get too restricted. With a body like hers, she has to wear clothes a few sizes extra, or else it'd get torn. The legs area is the biggest problem, since she can't properly move without using her legs. Sweat shorts and skirts tend to do the trick. Stuff that leave her legs free. As for style, Fiona has no style. She wears whatever she has access to, really. Colors, and decals, are completely irrelevant - only size are relevant. She'd wear nothing if it wasn't immodest. Fiona always has a large red bow on the top of her head. Right now... Fiona is in the middle of a crowded city, full of people who probably take note to a giant Cricket-woman walking about. So, she wears something to cover herself up. A large, light-grey, robe. It isn't inconspicuous, but it hides the person within. Which is why she tends to stick to the alleyways and night time.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
People may first notice that Fiona is rather distant, and timid. Jumpy even. All of which is true, since Fiona isn't exactly a normal person - thus, she keeps her guard up when around people. Especially the normal looking kind who she doesn't know. She'll generally keep quiet, avoid eye-contact, and usually place herself far away from them. Hell, people pretty much peg her for an introvert the second they see her. Which, in a sense, isn't true, but I'll elaborate on that in a bit. Fiona is jumpy, and spastic - and not in the good way. If something frightens her she has two responses, the natural ones: Flight, or fight. Which means she's just as likely to lash out against someone than she is to run. Yet, Fiona is still very kind and empathetic. She won't hurt people in any way - and if she does, she'll definitely apologize for any wrongdoings. People may notice that Fiona is a very gentle-soul. She's calm, polite, and very softspoken - albeit, very nervous. When in a conversation, she rarely uses slangs, or swears, but talks like someone who's much more mature than she really is. Though, she can come off as aloof, or emotionally distant. Right off the bat, Fiona is rather closed off, and very choice-y of worlds. Fiona chooses to hide herself rather than show people what she really is - in both the literal and metaphorical way. This mostly stems from a insecurity, and fear.
Once someone manages to get her out of her shell (Pun totally intended), Fiona seemingly becomes a whole another person. Much less mature, and much more child-like (Whether that's a good or bad thing is subjective). Fiona is actually much more... chipper, around the people she's comfortable with. She's talkative, loud, her movements are spastic, and she simply loves to play. Fiona is extremely curious, and adventurous. True to insects, she likes to explore, find new places, and claim them for herself. She also wishes to become one with the experiences she missed out on. Such as romance, and having actual friends. Which means that she's in a rush to experience them. Though, she's not completely intune with how society and people really work - leaving her in the dark when it comes to some social norms. Which makes her certainly eccentric. She's not a great shoulder to cry on, nor will she ever seek out one. She'll mostly lock herself away until she feels better.
Deep down, she isn't the most emotionally secure. She fears that she has no place among humans - or normal people. What doesn't help is her phobia when it comes to humans - sometimes even Metahumans. She believes that people would disregard her for being, for a lack of a better term, an abomination of chitin and man. She hides this fear underneath the mask she puts on. She hopes to overcome this fear by finding her place in the Academies, and finding people that'd accept her. Though, she knows that she's unlikely to find anyone. Fiona's simply paranoid when around regular people - just waiting for the moment when they toss her away like the freak she is. Another internal gripe of her is that she just isn't strong enough. She's seen some of the powerhouses that the Baybridge has, and she's in awe of their power. Fiona simply has no choice but to rely on others for help. She is intimidated by Metahumans that are stronger than her, and will do her damn near best to stay on their good-side. Lest she wants to literally get crushed like a cockroach.
Skills/Talents:
Fiona doesn't have too much in terms of skills. She knows how to maneuver in most environments very well (Especially the woods). If she needs to, she can be quick - whether it be running or chasing. Hiding is also a great skill of hers.
Goals/Motivation
Fiona's sole motivation is to stay alive in this cruel world, and find a place that'll accept her.
History/Bio:
Her origins are very curious. Curious indeed. She was born with her powers, she came straight out the womb with an exoskeleton. Unfortunately, she didn't have subtlety on her side as she was one of the many victims of the Changeling Unit. When she was a mere baby, she was snatched up by the villainous organization and put on auction - with the Hands of Science winning. At a young age, the organization experimented on her remorselessly. They pumped her with experimental drugs that they believed would alter the outcome of the development of powers. When those failed, they tried different drugs. It was a vicious cycle, one that seemingly would never end for the infant. It continued for years, into her toddler days. However, change came when NEST raided the lab and liberated the test subjects. Along with having a kickass battle.
The insectoid child fell into NEST's hands. They had a program for orphaned Metahumans, and she was placed in a NEST-approved foster home. Though, the Hands of Science never gave her a name, merely a number. Two Agents figured that they would call her Fiona. From there, young Fiona was shifted from home to home - never staying in one place for too long, and never getting too close to one family. From New York, to Verthaven. to Stadium City... she never got too attached to one particular location. In school, Fiona was, naturally, an outcast. Being a bug-hybrid does that. When they did pay attention to her, they merely picked on her. This caused Fiona to become a very lonely youth. She didn't have anyone to truly latch onto, and call a friend. While Fiona simply felt like a freak.
However, her life changed once she reached Black Fall (When she was ten). While she was exploring the woods... she encountered an abomination of a Metahuman. While it was scary (It had tons of screaming [from both ends!]), both of them calmed down, and had a discussion. The man said that he was from the Ivory Deer Community, a mansion full of Metahumans freaks. The prospect of this place intrigued Fiona... she agreed to go to the place with the man, just to see for herself. Once she stepped through the gates, she felt more at home here than anywhere else. She spent the rest of the day exploring the estate, or playing with the other children. Never wanting to go home again. However, her absence caused a bit of a scare (NEST feared she was captured by the Pure or the Hands of Science). NEST tracked her down to the estate, and Fiona refused to leave. They simply left her in the hands of the Ivory Deer Community - she was clearly more at home there than any other foster family. From there, Fiona realized what a paradise the community was for someone like her. No longer should she live in shame here. The child spent her time here learning, playing, and exploring the world. More importantly, she explored her powers.
An important piece of her past was placed once she discovered her biological parents, Hopper and Tracer. Both Insect Metahumans - one had the powers of a Bee, and another had the powers of an Ant. You see, Fiona was one of their many children they had. When The Changeling Unit struck the Ivory Deer Community, Fiona was one of the children they napped - while killing a few other people in the process. Fiona happily welcomed her parents, and they became a family. They affectionately gave her their intended name: Cricket Barrett. Though, Fiona still liked the name NEST gave her - she still took on their last name, however. Then they introduced her to her many brothers and sisters - each embodying a singular insect. Fiona practiced her powers with them, with it quickly becoming clear that she was more advanced than them. She could take the form of different insects, while they were stuck with one. It was something curious indeed.
Then the Verthaven disaster took place, and then things changed for the worst. The Community was attacked by various members of the Pure as the hatred against the Metahuman Community began to ramp up. It quickly became clear that the Community wouldn't be safe for much longer. The Community began to split into multiple groups as the community went it's separate ways. A large chunk of the community went with Archie Davis, while many others struck out on their own. Fiona, however, went with the former, and lived inside the Microcosm for awhile.
Until they had arrived in Baybridge, and Fiona chose to leave to get some fresh air.
Relationships
Family:
Mother - Hopper Barrett
Fiona's mother, and longtime resident of the Ivory Deer Community before they fled. She's a woman with Bee Physiology, and is the one who gave birth to Fiona along with her many siblings. The woman is very soft-spoken, and kind, but takes her Bee power a bit to heart and demands to be treated like a queen. Though, Fiona and Hopper have a very close relationship.
Father - Tracer Barrett
Fiona's father, and true to his name, he channels his nature as an ant to be the worker of the IDC (Even though it's the females who do the work). Much like ants, he's very strong, and Fiona is very close to him.
A variety of Brothers and Sisters
Due to the nature of their respective abilities, Hopper and Tracer have had plenty of children. There's at least nine of them (not counting Fiona) and each of them have a different insect-based ability.
Dynamics:
~TBA~
Abilities
Power Class:
Super-System: Bestial
Power: Adjustable Insect-Physiology
Fiona has power of the chitinous arthropods known as the insects! Fiona has the power to shift her body in order to adapt traits from these creatures. Which is a very versatile ability in and of itself. Since there a ton of insects, each with their own purposes. For example, Fiona can transform into an ant and gain strength proportionate to her size. Adapting features of a Bee in order to gain wings and a stinger. And so on - the possibilities are endless. However, I should note that she can't completely transform into an insect. She'd be half-human, or have some humanoid features. Generally, insects have chitin armor, enhanced senses of some form, and extra limbs. Now, if Fiona adapts an insect, her body will transform in a blend of man and insect, usually with the anatomy of a human being. Depending on the form, she may get extra limbs, wings, etc. I could sit here and go on and on listing variables, but there's just too many. One thing I should note about Fiona is her way of transforming. Once she triggers a transformation, she will molt her original shell, and in the process, gain a new one with the new insects traits. Also, Fiona can force a molt in order to repair damage to her shell - in order to accommodate to her poor healing. However, it is possible for Fiona to regrow a lost-limb using molting, or transforming.
Cricket-Physiology
Fiona's base/default form. It gives her abilities consistent with the mighty grasshopper! The most obvious advantage is the boost to her jumping ability. She'll be able to jump high and far! It also comes with plenty of leg-strength so she can deliver one hell of a kick. She has fairly strong jaws that are natural to crickets. She can deliver a devastating bite. Crickets have pretty good senses, in fact. More than they're given credit for. Thus, Fiona's several senses are keen. Her vision is pretty good, and she's able to pick up movement much easier than humans are. It gives her a sort of enhanced reflexes, as she can see things faster and, thus, react to them quicker. Plus, she has night vision and can overall see better in low-light environments. Fiona has a great sense of hearing - she can hear from quite a distance away... using her legs (Really, look it up). She can pick up ultra-sonic sounds too. Her sense of smell is also enhanced through her antennas. They are very sensitive, enough so that she may feel around in her environment. It also allows her to pick up scents, so it counts as enhanced smell. Finally, Fiona has special hairs on her body that allows her to sense air movements and pressure changes. Which can allow her to detect if something is coming.
Limits:
Fiona can only adapt one insect at a time, in order to transform into another insect, she must lose the traits of the current form. It takes her a little while in order to transform - depending on the form. A minor transformation should take no more than a minute, while an extreme transformation, at most, would take several minutes. Her Grasshopper form is her technical default form, she can't spend too much time outside of it, or she'll get tired and revert back. While this isn't much of a limit, the most she can spend outside her Cricket form is a day. If she drastically transformed, she'll get tired even faster. Fiona cannot transform too often, she can do five minor transformations in a day. After one drastic transformation, she'll be stuck in her base form for a bit - even after her body recovers.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
There is no way for Fiona to turn her power off - it's always on. Which makes it obvious, in a public setting, that she's a Metahuman. Which means that she doesn't have the luxuries that the other characters have. She has to hide herself in order to buy anything, she'll stand out more. The weaknesses to Fiona's power itself have should be fairly obvious. Extreme heats and colds are deadly to her - she simply can't handle them like other people can. Her shell heats up quickly so that could cause some permanent damage. Her internal organs freeze easier than regular people too. So, fire and ice benders are her bane. Fiona can't swim, her shell is too heavy and inefficient for swimming, she'll simply sink to the bottom of the body of water. Fiona's senses (In her Cricket form) can also be taken advantage of. Her sense of smell is fine, but her vision and hearing is vulnerable. Mostly her vision. A bright flash of light can really mess up her vision for awhile. She also operates much better in the darkness.
I should note that insects regenerate very slowly (if not at all). Internal damage can be a problem (However, damage to her exoskeleton can be fixed). She's going to be in trouble unless there's a healer on hand. Transforming will drain Fiona of her nutrients, and she'll be required to consume in order to recover. Her exoskeleton will always have a few exposed areas, mostly in the joints area - a swift blow there can cause Fiona some trouble. After a transformation (Any transformation, even molting), she will be vulnerable as her new shell hardens. Fiona's Grasshopper form isn't too good for running... only leaping.
The worst mistake you could ever make about Miss Baker is that she would fit the modern expectation of the “ladylike” stereotype. While she still appears to fit the part of a young lady, there's an underlying layer of tomboyishness. Reyna is athletic, and it shows in her body. Her arms and legs are toned well, and she's even got a trace of abs outlined on her torso. She isn't super tall, standing at the modest height of 5'6”, 28F, and she weighs in at just over 130 lbs. While she might be heavier than some girls her age, which clearly attributed to her fit condition, she still is no heavyweight. Her body has as just pinches of fat which adds minimal padding over her body. She has a sturdy frame, just a few curves around her waist and back, but by no means should anybody see her feminine features and exclude the possibility of her punching you out. She packs a lot of strength in her figure, and you can see her confidence and pride in her poised posture.
If a person made the mistake in misjudging her, it was likely due in large part to her face. Button nose, thin eyebrows, and very faint hard-to-tell-they're-there freckles on top of her pale skin (a result of genetics as opposed to being sickly or house-locked). Her soft facial features are sometimes tarnished by a scowl – which is not her standard go-to disposition like her enthusiastic and full of life demeanor, but is often the product of circumstances which urban environments typically put her in. When you do get to see her when she is excited, you witness the emboldening her green eyes and the stretching of her lips to form a toothy grin that shows well taken care of teeth. Her natural bright red hair (or ginger, if you insist) is fashioned into a curly faux hawk, and is well groomed. There is little oil that naturally accumulates in her hair, so it often remains lightweight.
She has scars over her knuckles from the various fights she has gotten herself in, on her fingertips from climbing on rock, bricks, and concrete, but overall, doesn't have too many. She tends to recover well.
Attire:
Most of her clothes look like they come from the boys' section. Her favorite set of apparel goes as such: she wears a slim-fit, red unisex tank top made from the same material used by thermal shirts, which goes down to her hips, where it meets her baggy camouflage pants (providing immense comfort and rustic charm), which is fastened by a black fabric belt to her hips. These pants seem rather faded from use, but is still strong and can withstand many more months of use. The ends of the pant legs are either lazily tucked in or lazily sleeved over, or caught into her black combat boots that crawl up over her ankles. They are, of course, steel toed Naturally, not feeling the impact of such a kick is pretty neat. The shoe laces on her boots are always tied tight so that the boots are firm and comfy on her feet. Over her tank top is a black leather jacket. The bottom half of the torso appears to have been torn and goes down to just her waist, although the sleeves and rest of the jacket are fine. The apparent damage seems to be more for the style of it than some horrific scissor accident.
She has a couple of accessories, which compose mostly of piercings.. She has two piercings on her left outer brow, one tongue piercing, and half-ring nipple piercings (but nobody knows about them and nobody is ever going to have the opportunity to see them while she still draws breath). On her right shoulder blade is a simple tattoo of a compass, which she got without her mother's knowledge when she was 14 (she still does not know to this day). It's somewhat special for her. It has part to do with her love of adventure and part to do with, despite its simplicity, loving the design. She has a military-style backpack; good for hiking and carrying necessities and whatnot. She has stored quite a bit of dried fruit in it, and a number of other camping equipment in it, lugging stuff around with her that you would normally think is a bad idea (a gas lantern, utility hand ax, skinning knives, live .22 rounds and shotgun shells [curiously without owning any guns, likely for collection purposes] – the works). She has three hemp necklaces which are hopelessly tangled together, and on each one, is a thin silver-colored steel heart. On one, it says Merry, on another, it says Mia, and the third depicts a raised fist symbolizing empowerment.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
She is as sharp and unwieldy as as you'd expect from a double-sided meat cleaver, and much like using one, will have as much of a detriment to herself as it can be to others. She's the real firebrand among firebrands, and doesn't really have a winning personality when it comes to handling other people; she doesn't really make friends easy with ordinary people. She's loud and boisterous to the extent it can simply repel others from wanting to be near her. She's snarky, sarcastic, abrasive, and at times, insensitive. On the contrary, she is nothing if not known for her virtues: naturally a determined, valiant woman, she has set her nose to the grindstone through all of her labors and has built herself a sturdy foundation on which she has built her character, and so her heart has been thusly hardened by various trials. Her standoffish disposition earns her enemies, and while carrying the appearance of being unapproachable, she also carries a curious energy: she naturally gives the impression of synchronous intimidation and reverence. She earns her trait of intimidation through tongue and scowl, and her trait of reverence through action and expression.
This is not to imply Reyna isn't a happy individual, but rather she finds her peace outside the contact of the common folk. This is also not to say she dislikes people as a whole. She is very confident in social situations, and her attitude stems mostly from her expectations of people and how their words or actions can easily rub her the wrong way or be taken as a slight, and at the same time, her boisterous disposition, bluntness, and view on others being too sensitive can similarly end conversations before they begin. Much of this stems from growing up in inner cities where being tough meant survival. When appealed to her interests however, she reacts in what many would consider almost an exaggeration of her excitement. For example, she is an explorer at heart. She loves discovery and – surprisingly enough for a city girl – enjoys nature, especially at sites of caves or cliff faces or rivers and streams, or a remote location untouched by mankind.
There also exists a fascination for bugs, fossils, artifacts, and bones. When these interests are appealed to, she shows a complete change in character: her eyes light up, a toothy grin from ear to ear, and her stern voice is replaced with what turns out to really be a talkative, excitable girl who still looks to be a child. This child-like giddiness often offsets anyone who is not wholly familiar with her and has only met with her abrasive side. This side of her is not often displayed in front of strangers.
Further, as one would expect from not just a young woman, but from also her personality, Reyna is very proud and competitive. She is proud of herself and of her accomplishments, and minimizing that, disregarding that, or invalidating that can wound that pride, and it also happens to be a one-way ticket to making her your enemy. Her pursuit in remedying that damage is unrelenting and unquenchable until she has reached an achievement or milestone that can satisfy that gap which often involves the conquering of her roadblock. This is not to say this is the end of her aggression, as a lasting disdain would lead her to brag over that victory in order to validate herself and her accomplishment. This often puts her at odds with her extended cousin, Mia.
Her decision-making leaves much to be desired, and habitually fails to think ahead of time. Her apparently inability to plan ahead is exemplified by her decision to purchase a motorcycle as her first vehicle in contrast to a car, which makes groceries, passengers, and so on more difficult to travel with. She might pack some interesting wilderness books in her backpack in lieu of a toothbrush out of forgetfulness. The only thing that might keep her from getting trapped in the woods with nothing to survive with might be the years of reading the damn booklets over and over again.
As it may have already been suggested, it takes a stubborn, tenacious, and headstrong personality in order to meet her goals. Repeated failure to meet them warrants breakdown and the destruction of her spirit... but instead of relenting or hesitating, she meets her fear of failure with determination as her method of avoidance, as opposed to passive idling. Unsurprisingly, the only celebrity of any kind whom she idealizes is the MMA fighter, Ronda Rousey, because of her fierce determination, take-no-prisoners attitude, and her ability to arm bar into submission every bitch who ever walked into the same octagon as her. So for another person to earn her respect, they would have to display similar traits such as a strong sense of individuality, determination, strength of character, pride, optimism, and so forth. Behaving like a victim to garner her sympathy is not how you'd attract such a person.
Taking all this into consideration, know still that Reyna does possess a soft spot for her family and for the vulnerable. While by no means a vigilante, seeing crime and strife as of no concern to her for the most part, she is very close to her relatives and and threatening them can bring out the nastiest possible side of her. In conjunction with this, while it may be hard to garner her sympathy, it is easier for her to freely lend it out to the weak and vulnerable on their last legs and without the means to defend themselves. This includes children, the sick elderly, the malnourished homeless – she might not actively search them out to help them, but if she does come across any of these folks during her travels, she finds it difficult to say no.
Hobbies/Interests:
Adventures, exploring, nature, and competition are all things that Reyna finds interest in. Like mentioned previously, letting her loose in the wilds is the best way to see her in her best condition. A wide-eyed, child-like curiosity overtakes the reigns and shows you an entirely different girl than when you met her. It is also a reckless curiosity. Take that curiosity and combine it with her natural determination and athleticism, and you get a girl who would try to scale up a sheer twenty-five foot cliff face without rock-climbing gear or cables, or even a helmet (although that alone probably won't save her life if she were to fall). Most of the time though, she miraculously conquers such daunting tasks and relishes in the thrill of it.
Competition is another of Reyna's weaknesses. Everything is a race or contest, and it all gets her blood flowing when winning is on the line. In many circumstances, she can take a defeat in stride as long as she recognizes it was something she wasn't particular strong or talented in. However, in the subjects and areas she does excel in, she competes rigorously, and it is in those events that if she were to lose, she does not take the defeat well. A lot of it comes from pride in her talents.
Skills/Talents:
Okay, so there are a couple of things that she is obviously good at, so let's get out of the way so I don't act like it is a big surprise later: Reyna brings on the pugilism. She has a thing for boxing and kickboxing. As long as it has an octagon and she can wear big gloves and is allowed to punch people, she gets excited. This should not come as such a huge surprise; for an active and competitive girl like her, this comes naturally. Fighting is essentially the epitome of competition, and whoever comes out on top is the true victor, standing over the defeated – the experience of such a defeat being inescapable – and proclaiming dominance. Western martial arts is obviously a much more aggressive style than defensive eastern martial arts, which suits Reyna perfectly. Over time, her style has come to more closely resemble MMA.
Now, more alarmingly, her other skills are a lot gentler. Her knowledge of reading survival books as a kid, and fascination with nature and exploration, she could get lost in the woods for a month and come back alright - she knows her shit. She is also an artist. At least, to some degree. She has talent in it, and she is confident, but not so confident that she'd consider herself as a professional or would be ready to make a career out of it. But her work is good, there's no doubt about it. She wants to be good enough so that she can give tattoos to people, and to be a reliable artist to do so. Though there is some hesitation in using her own body as a practice canvas, obviously. Otherwise, she can draw, paint, sketch, both traditionally and on a digital format.
While not terribly gifted in the music and whimsy department, she does have a terrific singing voice from the years of practice of singing her sister to sleep – if only she could seriously partake in that activity in public and not shut down if put on the spotlight. This is the only area where she isn't confident and suffers from stage-fright, and she'll fake or pretend terrible singing otherwise as though it were a joke. If it is only her, her sister, and her cousin, then she feels comfortable to sing her heart out.
In order to purchase her motorcycle, she got a job back in Maine at a fireworks store. Long story short, she knows how to make a couple of different kinds of fireworks, knows some trivia about fireworks, she loves it, and she can easily tell what kind of explosion one is when she hears it. Reyna also had the bad habit of forgetting her keys, so she was forced into the position of learning how to pick her own front door's lock way late at night.
Goals/Motivation:
Reyna would never admit this to anyone, but she is something of a lost soul who doesn't know what she wants out of life. She travels around looking for thrills, but doesn't think ahead to her later years in life and think "what do I want when I'm older". Part of her just wants to get what she can out of life and spend it having fun and not being bored, but acknowledges she can't get far in current society with a life of only that. The other part of her languishes for some drive to be something more accomplished, despite not understanding what it might be. Despite her acknowledgement of this issue, she rarely does anything to address it, and would be happier sooner ignoring it in lieu of going bungee jumping. In addition to her thrill and experience seeking, she is fiercely protective of her little sister, but since she won't be in Baybridge, that aspect of her will not likely come into play.
History/Bio:
Reyna was born to an unmarried family in Maine, a product of an accident to be honest, but they agree to birth her in the end. It was a typical babyhood at first, but with the dynamics in the family being rather conflicted, the relationship wasn't able to work and her mother left the house when she was young. Despite the disagreement between her parents, they never tried to separate her from either of them or alienate her. They mutually encouraged respect for both parents. Though being a single parent was a little rough on her father, they managed to truck right through the hardships, even though the father was never really certain on how to raise a girl the traditional way. So he rose her as he would any child, or what would be typically considered befitting of a boy. Being raised this way, she was never told to shy away from what was considered to be boys' toys or clothes or whatnot, and through all that, still maintained her “femininity” as typical people would call it.
During that time, her mother found another man, married, and had another child two years after her own birth. Her new half-sister was named Merry, and her surname, Bennet, took after her father's. Naturally, having already visited her mother every weekend, Reyna got to meet Merry at a very young age and got to spend much of her time growing up with her. Her young life went this pattern for a very long time. Every night she got to spend with her sister, she'd spend it singing lullabies until Merry fell asleep. It was a typical pattern. The next biggest change in her life was the year Reyna turned 13 years old and her powers developed. It was noticed when she was able to perform physical activities for a long period of time without wearing out, and that she'd easily dehydrate but perform greater feats of strength. She decided to take up boxing as a way to help cope with the energy she had and to better control herself and her power – though another large part of it was that Reyna thought it would be fun, which explains why she didn't choose any eastern martial arts which were less aggressive and would have made more sense.
That same year, Reyna's father introduced her to her extended cousin – their closest related family member being their great grand-mother – Mia, after convincing them to come into town. Her father knowing that Mia came from a town that was highly populated with meta-humans thought it would be good for his daughter to make friends with her. A crucial difference was that Mia came from Mendel, Louisiana, which meant a much dirtier and more crime-ridden city, which had an influence on Mia and her disposition, despite her kind demeanor. The relationship was a little tense at first due to their conflicting personalities, but they managed to befriend each other in due time. Mia made it a point to visit Maine often, for about a week or two every two or so months, even as cold as it was compared to the southern heat. She fortunately had the money to do so since both of her parents owned their respective tourist traps. They eventually grew to be inseparable. When all three could get together, they sung and played music together, fought together (or with each other), ate, slept, the works. When Mia missed one of her visits, and came by the next round blind in one eye, Reyna shared her rage – though it didn't seem to do much to hold Mia back when Reyna tries to instigate sparring matches with her.
With the coming season, all three decided to go on vacation via a cross-country road trip in Mia's pickup truck. The plan was to start taking I-95 down to New Jersey then riding on I-80 all the way to California. You know, a crazy long trip with several mishaps, a couple break downs, dozens of near accidents, and many stories to tell. Unfortunately, the plan has since shattered due to Merry's family not agreeing to the trip and Mia thinking that it wouldn't be the same without her. Reyna, in a fit of disappointment, wanted to get away from her hometown and spend a little while on an escape. One of her first stops in California was the condemned city of Verthaven. She did a little bit of exploring, but it eventually started feeling a little too creepy and she high tailed it out of there. Word is, there was another meta-city up north, where many of the Verthaven refugees had gone after the Devil incident. Wanting to check it out, she made adjustments to the original plan, and rode her bike north to the city of Baybridge in Washington.
Relationships
Dynamics:
| Arianna |
| Conflicted | Technically, Ari is her kidnapper | "I'm not sure if I want to kill her or pin her down and rip off her clothes." |
Reyna's first day in Baybridge has not been welcoming to Reyna, and all the stress has really been getting to her. A lot of this rage is directed at Arianna as a result for her being the easiest person to blame - and being the person ultimately responsible for her troubles - but between the stress and a night of drinking, her emotions are a whirl of confusion, and Arianna being the most prominent figure in this time in Reyna's life, ends up being the recipient of all of them. Reyna's physical attraction to Ari puts her at odds with her anger, and isn't sure how to address the situation objectively and decide what it is that she wants to do.
| Archie Davis |
| What the fuck | Friend of her hate-crush | "I'm going to punch this asshole in the face after I figure out what the fuck is wrong with it." |
Not much to say. As an associate of the person who ruined Reyna's life on her first day in town, she doesn't have any good comments in reserve for him. However, having not interacted with him much aside from his fruitless endeavors to aid her, Archie is not at the top of her hit list. It suffices to say she doesn't understand him more than anything else.
Reyna possesses minor enhancements to her physical performance, such as strength, endurance, speed and so forth – as expected from someone with a power under the super system power class. They are only minor, however, and these factors do not appear to affect her appearance as they exist in a supernatural medium as her metahuman energy. These are just simple modifications as a result of her energy and does not constitute as her power. They serve to supplement Reyna's actual strength.
Reversed Effects of Lactic Acid(Passive): Build up of lactic acid in normal people produces fatigue, but in Reyna, it is like a caffeinated steroid. Essentially, the mutated lactic acid in her body is a corticosteroid that energizes her muscles, dampen immune responses, and reduces swelling. The longer you're active, the more lactic acid build up there is, and Reyna has the potential to have her strength and stamina snowball.
Augmented Adrenal System(Passive): Reyna's adrenal glands are swollen to greater sizes than regular people. This means the glands are able to produce more adrenaline in a shorter amount of time. But the power is not so simplistic as this – the adrenaline itself is more potent than usual – by about five times. Regularly, adrenaline can increase an adult's strength by about 30%. This means that at Reyna's peak, she is 150% stronger than usual. Which means if she can bench 220 pounds under regular circumstances, she can bench 550 pounds at her peak. This doesn't necessarily put her on the same playing field as dedicated strength-based powers, but adrenaline serves to do more than simply make her stronger.
Adrenaline also allows Reyna to run faster, have sharper reaction times, ignore pain, and the ability to make split-second decisions in intense, high-pressure situations. This means she can race with a greyhound, shrug off an assailant stabbing her arm with a pocket knife, and keep her ground, dancing toe-to-toe with three different guys at a time provided that her glands keep pumping her with those delicious hormones. Adrenaline also helps to stave off other ailments that may effect your body, such as hunger or exhaustion. Summed up: her adrenal glands are turbo-charged and all bodily inhibitors are turned off. When in conjunction with her lactic acid, it would serve her enemies well to avoid any long-duration encounters with her.
Body Furnace(Passive): Adrenaline affects her body in many different ways, but there is one part of her system that seems particularly affected by it. When in an adrenaline rush, her body temperature spikes. The temperature doesn't seem to stop, though, and will keep on rising and rising until it begins to plateau at a certain point – 525 F, where her skin is as hot as a cast iron skillet kept on a gas stove set on high. At this point, she can deliver burns on touch, whether or not it was intentional. As one can discern, reaching this temperature requires Reyna to possess a good deal of heat resistance for her to even function properly. To her, it feels as though she's just working out on a hot summer's day. In addition to her immense heat resistance, she can go out for a jog comfortably on a snowy day, since all of that internal heat keeps her toasty.
This high body heat does mean that her body is going to try to cool itself down however it can. When her adrenaline rushes persist, she begins sweating like crazy. Drips of sweats beads all over her skin, and as hot as her skin gets, it is going to evaporate pretty quickly. So when she begins to peak, she is also surrounded by steam as a result of her own sweat being instantly vaporized. This sweat also soaks her clothes, which honestly is the only thing keeping them from going up in flames. Speaking of flames... it is best that you don't try to fight her in the forest or any dry area with foliage or combustible material. Her heat radiates off her body, and if around dry grass or dead leaves, she can actually begin to burn the ground around her, as well as anything flammable that might be nearby.
Her high body heat also does wonders for killing off bacterial infections and viruses and whatnot. Her whole body is resistant to heat, but any bacterium or virus that decides to trespass is in for a big surprise. What this does mean, however, is that her immune system is a little weaker than average given its lack of exercise, and any virus that can infiltrate her cells can cause damage.
Limits:
Adrenaline can only do so much for the body. She won't be dead lifting any cars, she won't bend a steel construction beam – her power is not devoted to super strength. She cannot summon her extra strength on-demand and is limited to situations that excites her, warrants a flight or fight response, or anything else that allows for adrenaline responses or increased heart-rate. Likewise, lactic acid is not immediately available. Her true power comes out the longer she's in action. Her body heat also caps off at a certain point, like stated, and it takes a last stand-esque amount of pressure and exertion for her to push past that limit. As well, her heat resistance is not an immunity. She can stand the heat of hot metal, but she is not going to survive being through into a volcano or an incinerator. She might last a couple seconds in front of a flamethrower without harm, but nothing short of an immunity can keep a human from being burned at the stake forever.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
Take a gander back up the sheet for a moment, right around the power section. Look for the part where it says she has super durability. Did you see it? Right, you didn't. And that's the big thing about adrenaline. You can go absolutely ape-shit crazy, tip over a car and not feel a thing, but you are going to feel it later. Adrenaline can numb you to pain, but does absolutely nothing to keep your body from getting damaged. The ever-present endurance from her meta-human energy does little more than mitigate what damage she can cause herself, but if she does something as foolish as punch a brick wall, the bones in her hand will shatter. The stab wound is still bleeding all over her good clothes. She still ripped a ligament pushing herself too hard.
And as for her body heat, there is only so much water she can sweat. Pushing herself too hard for too long will lead to dehydration which causes dizziness and shortness of breath. She will be drinking a lot of water fairly regularly.
Birth name was Arianna. Her surname is impossible to track at this point.
Nickname/Alias/Etc:
Various. State dependent. She usually just goes by the androgynous 'Ari' for anonymity's sake.
Gender:
Originally and functionally female, but she can appear as either.
Age:
27
Height:
Various. Tends to be around 5'7 as a woman and around 5'10-5'11 as a man.
Weight:
Changes. Normally around 300lbs give or take. She certainly doesn't look it though.
Home District:
Changes.
Appearance
Hair Color:
Brown, N/A, Various
Eye Color:
Brown, N/A, Various
Ethnicity:
European, Various
Physical Appearance:
Oh boy.
Due to her ability to appear as nearly everyone, I'll be describing her 'Arianna' appearance.
Arianna is a woman of class and relative beauty. She tries to remain unassuming at all times and keeps the appearance of the 'girl nextdoor' rather than a hyper attractive young woman. She never looks done-up in terms of makeup, and keeps a fairly natural look to her features. She has large almond shaped brown eyes with long eyelashes and the typical feminine nose. Freckles can be seen along the bridge of her nose. The only semi-defining feature of her appearance is that her hair is fairly short compared to most women.
Shameless faceclaims. All credit to Ctchrysler and the photographer.
Attire:
Don't even get me started.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
I cant stress this enough. Arianna is smart. Like- really, really wicked smart.
Being born with the gift of intelligence has granted Arianna the ability to learn, and to learn quickly. Her mind operates like a well oiled machine and there is usually very little that she cant understand given a few hours or so. And to top it all off, her mind seems to be hard wired for photographic memory. However, Ari is a horrid teacher. She has very little patience for slow learners, and tends to become frustrated easily. She is also opinionated- and often will refuse to see another person's side if she thinks that it's 'dumb' or 'stupid'. She is excellent at insulting people in creative and different ways.
Arianna however often doesn't have a good deal of original thoughts that aren't insults. She is a born copycat. She's the thief that never gets caught. She's that person you see a bus pass and is gone in the blink of an eye. She doesn't have a whole lot of people she calls friends- not because she dislikes people, but because most of the time she doesn't want others to get in her way or slow her down. The fewer people who know about her, the better.
Overall Ari is one of the least trusting people around. She is acutely aware of people and what they are capable of regarding lies and deceit (considering that's how she rolls in general). Because of this she just... has trouble forming long term relationships. Most people, for understandable reasons, don't like people like her. Even if she does meet a person who puts up with her antagonistic behavior- she often doesn't stay in the same place for long. Overall, Arianna just isn't a super good friend. Even if her path in life is taken out of the equation it is quite obvious that Arianna did not attend any etiquette classes in her youth (if she attended any schooling at all). She is often rude, brash, and sometimes generally volatile. She tries not to be mean, but often times she doesn't want to waste time on people for a variety of different reasons. It could be that she just doesn't see them as worth her time, they frustrate her (through a lack of understanding or otherwise), or because she's pushing them away so they don't get caught up in her web of lies. Her heart is oftentimes in the right place, even if her mouth is not hinting at it.
Hobbies/Interests:
Pretending to be your mom, dad, brother, sister, dog, cat, fish, chair, you, your house, etc. You get the idea.
Skills/Talents:
Acting! Arianna is a master at bullshitting her way through situations. If she isn't naturally good at it or if it's not something she's learned well enough through age, then she can sure make it seem like she is! Lets say baseball for example. If she was imitating a professional baseball player she's capable of watching another person throw a ball or swing a bat and copy the technique almost perfectly. But how far it goes is a whole other factor entirely.
Goals/Motivation
"If I cant get what I want by asking nicely- then I'll get what I want by asking nicely as the right person."
Arianna is a woman who represents true, unadulterated freedom. She does what she wants, when she wants. Just try and stop her. Years of trickery, deceit, and generally taking advantage of the rich and stupid has allowed her to set up hundreds of bank accounts- all under different names, of course. So if she cant fake her way in, money talks for her.
History/Bio:
She's British by heritage if the accent isn't a give away, and honestly that's the only telling feature about her. She's excellent at masking it though. To the perceptive- you know you're talking to a person's body double if their words seem slightly crisp or if she's imitating someone of hispanic heritage, has trouble rolling her r's.
Arianna was born in Britain and was born with her powers. She came over to America with her parents at a very young age and has been there ever since. How she's been able to stay without any difficulty since then leads to further questions. But that's nothing she'd tell you about.
Relationships
Family:
Unknown. If she keeps contact, she sure as hell makes sure no one knows about it. Her mom hangs out with this weird guy full of bees though.
Dynamics: Current Placeholder
| Auri Auclair |
| Good | Friend | "She's a nice girl. A little rough around the edges and not someone that I would trust with a credit card- but a nice girl all the same." |
Auri and Arianna are good friends and in some senses, business partners. Arianna is no stranger to the Spider Society and due to her friendship with Auri, no stranger to their job requests. You'd probably see Arianna at Auri's parties and in her recent contacts list.
| Archie Davis |
| Good | Friend | "Strange guy, but reliable. I'm closer to him than I am most people on the planet. That counts for something." |
In the few years they've known each other since, Archie and Arianna have forged a bit of an odd friendship. They've only spoken or met up on a few occasions when Arianna needed a place to stow away and wait for the heat to die down, or when Archie needed a hand getting DOVE and RAVEN off his back for suspicions of kidnapping. Nowadays, there's a bit of a score kept between them - who owes more favors to the other.
| Reyna Baker |
| ??? | Friend? | "Quite a spitfire, this one." |
As a result of Ari's scheming, Reyna got into a brutal fight- getting herself into some serious trouble. Due to Ari's rule of "Hurt no one", she felt indebted to help Reyna out of the situation she played a hand in causing. It's been an adventure ever since.
Abilities
Power Class:
Super System - Biological
Power:
Arianna loves her powers. She's basically made of Flubber - with properties of an insulator to boot. Like a combination of Monkey D. Luffy, Mr. Fantastic, and Jake the Dog. Her body can warp and shape into several different shapes and forms, stretch incredible distances, and take the form of it's container. If you hit her face with a frying pan, her face would be shaped like a frying pan for a few seconds before reforming. Because of this she has a form of pseudo-regeneration in that if she is injured or loses a body part she can make every middle aged woman jealous with a weight loss program that cuts weight and replaces her missing body part almost instantaneously. Because she is rubber-like as well, if you hit her in the right position the amount of force you hit her with can be redirected back into you. Kinda like a massive rubber band.
Arianna's body, if you cut pieces off, is actually a blue jellow-y solution that alters how much light is absorbed or reflected to match the color of human skin tones. She doesn't actually NEED to wear clothes and she doesn't because of this ability to change shape and form on a pretty damn complex scale. When this liquid solution is separated from itself, it seeks itself out to rejoin. Ari's combined intelligence manifests in a way completely different to our own in that every cell of her body is part of his super organism that works in perfect synchronism with the other cells. This is why it's able to move on it's own and communicate with other cells despite not being directly connected. Much like an Octopus' arm, each of her limbs have minds of their own and while she might not be in direct control of her arm when it's fifty feet away, it's still going to do exactly what Ari would do. Ari can also stretch herself, and her limbs, to an absurd degree. This motherfucker can out dunk Space Jam Lebron James without breaking a sweat. I'm talking bitch slapping people from sixty or seventy feet away. Arianna's body is also a living stomach. Think about it this way- if you were to punch through her, their hand will probably be raw by the time they pull it back. The 'skin' and other clothing are composed of cells that are not in 'digest mode', making them okay to touch. But because Ari is a superorganism- they can change at a moments notice. Now, these cells are great at digesting organic material- but most things such as concrete, while digestable, take much longer to break down.
Being fat in Ari's world is awesome. On one hand she can literally eat and digest anything to temporarily add to her mass. On the other hand all the weight she gains can be used to create larger constructs of her own body. She can turn her hand into a fucking hammer if she wants to. The only issue is, these constructs often need to be dense af in order to really hurt and she needs to be strong as hell in order to use them effectively- so most of the added mass she gains goes to density and strength. Because she can eat and digest nearly everything adding this mass isn't super hard. If she eats enough she can achieve a size much larger than regular. Which, in other words, is enough Ari to fill up a swimming pool. This form also be used to create a gigantic fucking version of herself. I'm talking over twenty thousand gallons of HER. I'm talking anywhere from twenty to thirty feet tall. And if she's not feeling like being a giant dude, she can be MANY normal sized dudes! Or she could be the obligatory tentacle monster. It's really up to how she's feeling that day, because her ability to control her external appearance isn't hindered at all despite the size.
Because Ari has no true 'form' per say, she can completely change her appearance to mimic that of... anyone else's. It's pretty nifty. Her mass isn't even an issue if they're not too far above or below her relative weight. She can condense her mass into a smaller volume, or expand it to create the impression of increased size. She can even sound like them by changing the vibration length and size of the echo chambers in her body. This ability also grants her the ability to change color and texture at will and camouflage into her surroundings by pretending to be various everyday objects such as but not limited to- trees, rocks, chain link fences, etc.
Limits:
Ari’s body's biggest limit is that any part of her that's stretched out is especially vulnerable to being torn off or cut- because the mass is thinner. Regarding her strength, the farther he stretches, the harder it is for her to apply force. If she hit you from twenty feet it'd hurt a lot more than it would a fifty. General stuff like that. She's not superhumanly strong unless she wants to be. Arianna also cannot straight up eat anything that is thrown her way. She has to be bigger than that object. So she can't just run up to the ground and eat enough to become a giant at will. That can take a lot of buildup. Ari also sometimes has to get used to doing certain things to pull them off correctly- namely pitch matching and copying a voice. This is often the most difficult part about mimicking a person because she sometimes has to go out on a limb to match what a person sounds like when they're saying different things. She is an actor, and therefor does a lot of improvisation in situations like these. And sometimes saying things differently than how the person does can get her in serious shit. Ari's ability to mimic objects and people is also limited to who she touches. Her body is hard wired to adapt- and most processes are handled automatically once she has the right idea of what the object should look like in her mind. But this 'right idea' can only be acquired by physically touching an object for a few seconds so her body can create a three dimensional image of the object in her mind. Ari is capable of mixing (and miss-matching) textures, colors, and shapes once she has them, but she can only copy them. She's unoriginal in that respect. To a person who has extra-sensory powers and doesn't rely on visible light to see- it is easy to tell her apart from normal people. Thermal vision in particular makes her stick out like a sore thumb- because unlike normal people Arianna's body retains a temperature of around 115F.
I'd also like to state that Arianna is not capable of copying someone's power. She can mimic super system and maybe some of the more animalistic or appearance altering powers. Theoretically if she were to shed enough mass or slit into enough forms she could achieve (or in some cases simulate) flight. But beyond that she can only mimic the appearance. It's a good way to call her out if the person has any inclination that who they're talking to is not who they originally thought.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
Ari is unable to adapt to any new forms of ranged attack that are not electrically based. And some energy based attacks are especially effective against her. Now, let me explain.
Arianna is a living energy well. Ari is like, toasty warm at all times because of this. Being cold is actually harder on her because it forces her to use up more energy to remain mobile. She CAN be frozen solid and thawed out and be perfectly fine, but in New York, cold + cold = immobile Ari if she's dealing with someone who is a cryomancer. Fire and energy based attacks are almost meaningless to a certain point. As Ari consumes more and more mass, she produces more and more heat as she gets larger and larger. Because her body is, technically, a liquid- evaporation is how Ari sheds off unnecessary mass that is consumed and forces her back to her homeostatic form from being a fucking giant. Fire and energy based attacks (That aren't electricity, she IS an insulator) can actually harm her by raising her body temperature and not only force shrinking her to a regular size or below, but can also turn her into a god damn gas if they can get the place hot enough. Once she cools down she will precipitate. So honestly the best way to deal with her is to freeze her and put her in storage somewhere if she hasn't run the fuck away already.
On a personality level, Arianna is not going to be getting into any fights unless she absolutely has to. Her power allows her to be creative, and adapt to her surroundings in ways that are only limited by her imagination. She can change shape and texture on a complicated level almost as fast as you can think- but fighting? No way man. She's squeamish. She cant stand the sight of blood. She wants to make money and make it through life without having to work for anything (and who can blame her for that?). She's the ultimate thief, liar, and she is the definition of untrustworthy. But she's not going to hurt someone.
Other:
DOVE, RAVEN, and NEST before them have thousands of records documenting petty theft, grand theft, false statements, goose chases, etc all linked to various meta humans. Many of these are due to her, but neither of the three organizations has been able to pin her yet due to her constantly changing appearance and location.
Archie cannot be completely described as anything truly resembling a normal human being - such is the case for a lot of meta-humans, but Archie falls into the odd subset. From the neck down, he's the average male adult, albeit his skin is a pale yellow that most would see as a symptom of an illness of some sort. It is, in fact, his natural complexion. He's rather lean and possesses nothing in the way of fat, and no blemishes are apparent anywhere. Now, his head is another story. The neck fades upwards into a mass of what most would identify as the contents of a lava lamp - bright yellow bubbles with a slight glow to them floating about, disconnecting and rejoining haphazardly. It's a pretty sight, but he keeps it tucked under his bag most of the time.
Attire:
First and foremost is Archie's bag, which he wears over his head, fastened with elastic. It's a simple yellow felt with an orange X painted on it, emblazoned where the face would normally be. As far as normal clothes go, he's prone to thin wear to go with his narrow stature. Skinny jeans, light boots, a long-sleeved shirt, and a common motorcyclist's leather jacket because he has an unhealthy fascination with the getup. Lastly, he wears gloves at all times, though he has no good reason to. Seems he just doesn't like to show any skin.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
Archie's a kind soul, in the broadest sense. Everything he's done has been for the benefit of others more than it's been for himself. He enjoys seeing other people having fun and, he'll do what he can to keep them happy. On the inside, he's always thinking about what he can do for fun - rarely worries about problems until they come around, which is a bit of a problem. Likes to think up funny things to say, jokes, all that sort of stuff. Talking to others, he's long since put the matter of his appearance behind him. He has no problem approaching people, but he won't do it without a good reason to. Some of his speech mannerisms can come off as a bit nonsensical, and on more than one occasion has he accidentally offended someone, but he's good at making peace in the end. All in all, he's just a man who's out for a good time.
Hobbies/Interests:
Archie doesn't do much in the way of actual hobbies. Sports aren't for him, and he isn't versed enough in most "normal" activities to be a regular with them, but he's certainly open to trying new stuff at others' recommendations. Mainly, he's just focused on managing the Microcosm. Actually, that in itself has given him an appreciation for architecture, so... he likes to look at buildings, sometimes.
Skills/Talents:
Years of building up his own little world has left Archie with what some would describe as "a superb sense of Feng Shui". Though, this isn't just with how to build up blocks and lay down furniture - he has a good sense of tactical placement and maneuvering after spending some time running from folks with a distaste for meta-humans. But more importantly, he absolutely kills it on the dance floor.
Goals/Motivation
Mainly, to help folks. Both those he has already helped to regain their livelihood outside, or vice versa.
History/Bio:
Archie was born on the eight of February, 1993, under relatively normal conditions, to a one-human-one-meta couple living in Cincinnati, Ohio at the time. It seemed from birth that he was a normal human child, if a little odd in the skin department. What started as a lightly pale complexion turned to a sickly yellow over the course of about a month. He was kept under medical observation for quite some time, and his parents feared the worst. All hell broke loose when one day, about a month and a half after he was born, his head began to seemingly melt. This put everyone in charge of his care on high alert, and he was placed into an enclosed capsule for stabilization and scanning. While it seemed his body was still functioning normally, his head had shifted into a mass of floating, viscous yellow particles - something like a lava lamp in terms of appearance. His mental activity became unreadable, but nothing seemed particularly wrong internally. Although it was anyone's guess how he was functioning supposedly without a brain.
Over the next few days, the full extent of his powers began to manifest. The capsule he was being kept in underwent a radical change in makeup on the interior level. From the outside, nothing seemed different. But inside, what was once just big enough to fit two infants became the size of a minivan, along with irregular grooves and block-like indentations and protrusions surrounding Archie. All of the medical fixtures inside were still functioning, but very much rearranged haphazardly - and even duplicated. Archie's powers were then classified as something along the lines of "localized geometry manipulation". He was still an infant, so more time was needed to see how this ability would develop.
After four months in the hospital, Archie was finally returned to his family. Caring for him was, on some levels easier, and others more difficult. Somehow he didn't require any nourishment, and he was free of a multitude of biological functions such as breathing, urinating, defecating, and so on. He was incapable of speech and smell, owing to his cranial makeup, though he did possess some level of extrasensory awareness without the need for eyes or ears. Due to his abilities, a specialized bag was tied over his head at all times - not something you'd normally do for a child. Regardless, he managed to adopt a suitable lifestyle. School was some issue - he was among few meta-humans, and even then, his appearance kept him from making too many friends among the "normal" crowd. This, however, he did not mind. Back then, Archie was far too engrossed in his powers to care for the external world. He developed a love of watching what developed in the multitude of bags and containers he wore over his head. Simple spaces would become vast fields over time, and as he learned to apply his own level of control in these formations, he became all the more enamored by the activity.
Around the high school years, there came concern from Archie's parents that he was becoming much too reclusive. It was an understandable situation, but they still wanted him to at least try making new friends. And Archie did try, and actually ended up succeeding. Not in the best way at first, but still. He outfitted a common trash bag into a sort of hangout for his fellow students. Though apprehensive, the first guests used the interior as a place to smoke in peace. As it grew, it became a clubhouse for most of the upperclassmen - somewhere to freely decorate, party, store drugs, the works. Archie became a much more positive figure after a while of keeping folks entertained.
Then the sentient creatures made out of assorted furniture and recreational drugs began showing up within the "clubhouse bag", as it came to be known. This was the first ever case of Archie's powers creating life, and it rubbed folks the wrong way so, the whole thing was shut down. Archie burned the bag in a barrel fire one night out, effectively destroying everything inside - living or otherwise. He regrets this still today, but for what it's worth, he's put it behind him, convincing himself he wasn't fully aware of what he'd created at the time. He was a senior by that time so, he didn't bother trying again. There just wasn't enough time to make anything worthwhile. Still, though, people enjoyed it. They told him they enjoyed it, and many wished Archie would start again. Indeed, after all that time spent building up that place, culminating in the lifeforms that came to inhabit it (and were subsequently eradicated), Archie eventually decided he was going to make something even better. His own little universe to shape and mold. And maybe even another clubhouse for people to enjoy - if they didn't mind the nonhuman beings residing within it.
Archie went to work shortly after graduating, foregoing a college experience and jumping straight to what he deemed a perfect hobby - building a whole new world for people to explore and enjoy. It began with finding a sturdy, industrial-sized bag to use as a foundation. He spent years building up the interior, bringing in random materials he found wherever he went. The expansion and duplication processes took hold, and he held his head over every last detail. He formed a field of fertile soil, and let a crimson forest grow there. He built steel walkways suspended above a massive pool of ferrofluid with magnetic towers scattered about. He carved an entire city out of obsidian - and he had jade golems help him paint and shape it. Little suns were made from the heads of giant, glowing statues. His new little world became populated with the strangest beings, born out of pure, spontaneous chance from the available materials. Metal, wood, marble, gelatin, all these resources and more came to form animate creatures. And when they weren't helping Archie decorate his little tourist attractions, they were forming their own pockets of civilization.
He named it the Microcosm.
This undertaking ended when Archie felt the interior had reached a suitable size and depth. He started wearing other bags afterwards, swapping them out every now and then. But the Microcosm, he felt was complete. He opened up his creation to the public of Black Fall, which he'd made his way to during the later years - and boy, did it become popular, especially among the meta-crowd. A bustling nightclub was quickly formed within one of the obsidian enclaves, easily accessible from the entrance to the strange world. People carried out expeditions into the bizarre wilderness that had spawned around the city, finding new and exotic locales to populate. Some destitute folks actually ended up moving there altogether for odd and varying reasons, all at Archie's mercy - which he was resplendent in, apparently. Now, Archie's world is home to an abundance of humans, metas, and things otherwise.
Some time passed, and Archie's life went on. He began opening up his magnum opus to the mass public, turning quite the profit after a veritable economy started forming within. People came, people went. The Microcosm settled into a state of peace, and the residents are happy for it. Then the time came when the Verthaven disaster hit, and it had a resounding effect on Archie and the Microcosm. Animosity towards meta-humans began to escalate after a near global disaster, and as a result, many of them were looking for sanctuary. And by God, did Archie have the perfect place for them to stay. He began traveling westward, offering safety and support to anyone looking for it - a popular move among runaway metas and ex-NESTies attempting to escape the turmoil. Archie had to hide himself every now and then, as well. The Microcosm's population boomed over the years the conflict was active, and Archie became a very well-liked figure among those he rescued. As time went on, however, the hatred began to wane, and so did the need for metas to hide. Thus, an exodus took place from within the Microcosm - though many stayed, having taken a liking to the place. And many more returned during the incident in Prague. All this, however, has brought about the creeping signs of overpopulation within the Microcosm - so much so that Archie has elected to find somewhere in the real world that he may let a majority of the poor souls return to their rightful place, and by chance, not live in fear of the outside.
And thus, he's come to Baybridge.
Relationships
Family:
Caleb Davis - Father, 52 Lori Davis - Mother, 48
Dynamics:
| Harmon Rottlage |
| Good | Friend | "My fellow freaky-deek companion." |
Archie met Harmon when the former came to the aid of the Ivory Deer Community in Black Fall. His act of hospitality and goodwill towards meta-humans rang well within Harmon, and during the seven years that followed, the two have become very good friends.
| Arianna |
| Good | Acquaintance | "Gets me out of more trouble than she gets me in. She's okay."
In the few years they've known each other, Archie and Arianna have forged a bit of an odd friendship. They've only spoken or met up on a few occasions when Arianna needed a place to stow away and wait for the heat to die down, or when Archie needed a hand getting DOVE and RAVEN off his back for suspicions of kidnapping. Nowadays, there's a bit of a score kept between them - who owes more favors to the other.
Abilities
Power Class:
Other
Power:
Archie's is one of the stranger powers to come about, and his in particular is definitely a rare case. Archie's odd formation of a head has been described scientifically as "a focal point in which enclosed spaces become erratically malleable". In other words, secured interiors around Archie's cranium undergo gradual changes into non-Euclidean environments. Example - you put a gym bag on him and leave it there for three days, then take it off and the interior has increased to the size of a large truck. At first, size is the only thing that changes. However, the more time spent exposed to Archie's head, the more an interior will adopt widespread examples of impossible space. Pockets will form that spiral into each other, layers will repeat over and over again, etc. It becomes easy to get lost in, and even more so once the process reaches its later stages.
A multitude of raw and manufactured materials can have an adverse effect on the interior if left inside. If a lump of clay were present, given time it would expand and form towers, fields, and so on. The more materials, the more structures. In some ways chaotic, and others, very organized. Patterns will tend to repeat unless shaped otherwise by Archie's direct mental influence. Even then, his consciousness is scattered during the whole of the process, and it becomes difficult for him to focus after too long. So he lets most things run their course naturally, without interference.
After extended periods of time have passed along the process, factors depending, the interiors Archie affects will begin to spawn life. These organisms are comprised entirely of whatever materials Archie has introduced to the environment, and are all haphazardly formed - a sentient wheel made of human legs carved out of opal, for example. These developments are random, chaotic, and unseen. But so far, nothing that has been born of Archie's influence has exhibited a hostile nature. Defensive, yes, but not outright hostile. In fact, most have adopted their own level of civilization, though relatively minuscule compared to that of humans. Beings of the same material and makeup will tend to gravitate toward each other, though exceptions exist.
Limits:
It has not been observed how far Archie's abilities can reach within one given interior. The Microcosm represents his longest venture, and even then it appears it could be added on to. Though Archie has elected to abstain from this, as the place seems big enough already. Also, Archie cannot spawn any lifeforms or noteworthy architectural designs if he does not introduce foreign materials to work with. He's tried, yes, but in all instances, he's only ended up with a blank slate. Lastly, his influence is not capable of creating complex machinery or weapons, along the lines of things that require more than one raw material to function. So he can't make cannons out of glass.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
As far as weaknesses go, Archie's are just the same as any normal human's. He'd die from a gunshot or fire or getting steamrolled just like anyone else. Sure, that doesn't fit the criteria of most meta-humans' exploitable weakeness, apparent or otherwise, but Archie simply doesn't possess that form of polarity. Just as well, the bag that holds the Microcosm can be ripped or burnt - so he always keeps watch for any chance of those, or similar, happening.
Other:
Archie doesn't have a mouth to speak with, so he uses a text-to-speech program on his phone in most cases. He likes to switch up what voices he uses to have a laugh every now and then.
If there's a song for Archie, it's probably this one.
Shizuka has a small stature and slim build common among native Japanese; even the harsh military training he received after joining RAVEN didn't really help to put on much muscle and weight - he certainly is a lot sturdier now compared to his teenage self, but hey, don't expect a pure-blood Asian to ever beef up like all those Hollywood male stars. Originally fair-skinned (for Asian standard; still seen as "yellow" to all you Caucasian people) that later took on a slight tan from outdoor sports during his childhood days, and the tan becomes even more pronounced after he becomes a RAVEN agent. He has let the pompadour crewcut to grow out a bit more, now resembling a windswept pixie haircut, though he still keeps the fringes out of his dark eyes; the color has faded so much that his hair has pretty much turned all-white, and even the roots are more of gray than black (he still refuses to dye his hair to black). His heart-shaped face doesn't seem to appear to have aged much at all, still retaining the androgynous look. The "birthmark" that differentiates him from his twin is the small mole on the right side of his face, just below the lower half of his thin lips.
Attire:
For Shizuka, he has only one golden rule when it comes to clothing: comfort over fashion. Partly due to his sporty nature, while the other was due to his ignorance for fashion bull - as far as he's concerned, as long as he isn't naked, who cares? Anything goes... but that does not include trying to force him into cosplaying.
On the job, instead of being heavily armored and equipped with bulky guns and retarded helmets like most agents, he wears a simple black stealth suit with minimal armory, such as army knives and small pistols/revolvers. When needed to, he may pack a sniper rifle on his back. After all, he is supposed to stay in the shadows (and out of everyone's way) and he's rarely on the front line; also, all the extra armors are just dead weight to him.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
Shizuka is the complete opposite of his namesake: he's sarcastic, he's rude, and he's brutally blunt to a fault. Those parts of him have mellowed out over the years ever since he reconciled with Cindy - well, he has matured, and being nice (even if it's just an act) can help to further his private agenda... which will be elaborated later. Otherwise, he's actually a pretty chill and laid-back guy; he's also wise beyond his age (not a surprise, honestly) - general, non-relationship issues, that is.
However, no matter how hard he tries, he still has a long way to go to overcome his innate awkwardness, to express himself in a better way; his eccentricity makes it even worse, for his thoughts are rarely on the same wavelength as others. It's difficult for most people to be able to keep up with his unpredictable pace, sometimes giving rise to misunderstandings that can range from amusing to hostile. While problematic when he has to listen to orders, his unorthodox ways have helped to save the lives of people (and later earning mouthfuls from his superiors).
While his social skills are still in a mess, during missions all those clumsy bullshits are immediately thrown out of the window - this is where the physical and mental discipline hardwired into him would surface. Whether it's his sharp senses or flexible adaptability... even his "gut feeling" - he has an extremely high survival instinct, and he'd use anything and everything in his possession to turn the situation in his favor. He may even go as far as condemning his emotions with cold logic, but thankfully he never wants to be the upfront leader in a group, preferring to leave this "troublesome job" for those loud, extroverted show-offs charismatic type. However, while he doesn't despise those in power, he doesn't like the idea of being an obedient dog to authority either - he puts his own personal interests above all else. As long as his personal interests aren't compromised, he may be willing to go along with any shitty plans the leader comes up with... if you can convince his lazy ass to budge, that is. I'd say Shizuka's alignment is Chaotic Neutral: he has a very realistic (at times negative) view of the people and world around him; for example, he doesn't believe in heroism and chivalry, even questioning that those ideals are simply excuses to kill people the majority perceive as evil without any proper trial, an irony to the idea of justice and law, but he also feels that some people just deserve to die - and they should continue to stay dead.
Relationship wise, Shizuka is (un)surprisingly a very family person - well, the biggest reason why he agreed to join RAVEN was to make use of his post to tap into some of the organization's resources to protect his family, especially his twin brother, Haruka, his closest next of kin (the opportunity to get his hands on those delicious guns is secondary). As for romance... On one hand, he has no whatsoever interest to pursue a romantic relationship at this moment; on the other hand, he's getting somewhat annoyed at how Akemi and Daphne (even Haruka) are teasing him that it's about time he starts finding a girlfriend. He isn't a sexual guy, and it takes a hell lot more than outrageous outward appearance, cringe-worthy flirting acts and lame pickup lines to tickle his sensual side - it's either you click with his erratic mind, or you just don't no matter how hard you try. His circle of "friends" is very small - although he has opened up himself a little more than before, he still doesn't trust people easily. However, he has no qualms about making loads of acquaintances - some through normal, proper connections, while others with (a bit of) blackmailing.
Hobbies/Interests:
Sports --- He was a very sporty person back in his childhood days, so much so that he could never sit still for more than a few minutes without going into a fidgety state. From generic ball games to the more extreme kind like snowboarding, he had tried them all before. He's a lot less hyperactive now (patience is a virtue to be a good sniper!), and his job has kept him very busy, but he does hit the gyms sometimes, or some solo sports such as squash, or simply shooting some hoops.
Travel --- Due to the nature of his parents' work, his family often has to travel around, moving from one place to another depending on where they are relocated to. Shizuka's limitless sense of curiosity and his physical restlessness give rise to his desire to go on a backpacking trip around the world on his own. He also begins to take great interest to broaden his knowledge on languages and cultures of other countries, which he finds useful to prepare for his backpacking dream. After joining RAVEN, he's given many opportunities to travel around US and the world (though mostly Asian countries) - and on official business, not vacation, unfortunately.
Firearms --- Shizuka picked up this when he played some FPS games with Haruka for the first time when they were... still kids (let's not go into the details about game rating for children, yeah). He would find books or online articles on this topic and read about them, but whatever he had learned were only textbook knowledge. He had yearned for a chance to get hands-on experience with guns and rifles (and to a smaller extent, explosives) - which were later presented to him in two stages: first, by moving and settling down in America (where you can't live without a pistol in your pocket), and later by joining RAVEN.
Biology --- After the "evolution" of his power during the Devil Disaster in Verthaven, he starts to take greater interest in understanding the human body, which is extremely useful to help him better utilize his new-found ability (and of course, an added bonus to some of his other skill sets).
Skills/Talents:
Language: Trilingual --- Shizuka's family had spent a lot of time traveling - plus his quickness to pick up new languages - so besides his native tongue he is also fluent in English (well, it is the language most commonly used across the world, duh) and Chinese (easier for him to master due to many similarities with Japanese). Because of this, he has also become the main liaison officer between RAVEN and the Metahuman agencies in Asia (China, Japan, the Philippines, etc.) for any joint assignments with the East.
Combat: Close Quarters --- Besides judo (which he has now earned his third black belt), the military training he received in RAVEN has added a wide variety of CQC moves to his arsenal, including the use of daggers and batons. Unlike most agents who rely on brute strength and direct frontal assaults, he overcomes his lack of strength with agility, such as using feints and tricks before delivering lightning-fast surprise attacks.
Stealth & Reconnaissance --- Given his small build, his quick reflexes, and also the nature of his power (we'll get to that later), he's pretty much the top in this area in RAVEN... probably second only to Daphne.
Sharpshooting: Sniper --- While his has interest in general firearms, he has taken a greater liking for rifles, in particular long-range sniper models (with assault types being a close second). He seems to be trying to maximize his usefulness - especially in relation to his power, range is an issue - but is that really the only reason behind this? ...By the way, he's actually a pretty good sniper. Maybe not the best (yet) but his shots have been improving at an alarming rate.
Goals/Motivations:
Family --- As mentioned previously, Shizuka's main goal of joining RAVEN is to acquire the necessary skills and resources to protect his new family, especially his twin brother, whom he fears his enemies would be likely to go after to get their revenge. (The Mannequin is at the top of his hit list.)
Self-Discovery --- Other than his awkward personality, the unhealthy mental and emotional growth caused by the lack of love and care from Asami also contributed to Shizuka's rather pessimistic view of the people and world around him, causing him to have little to no empathy for others. In this sequel, I plan to delve deeper beneath the seemingly normal cover of his family and show that you don't need sex, blood and drugs to showcase a twisted form of family, especially if it's psychological rather than the physical dark side. At the same time, how his new life at Baybridge is giving him that love and care he has always yearned for and helping him to learn how to feel for others better.
History:
Kamakura is one of the well-known spiritual spots in Japan: a small, humble city in the south of the Kanagawa Prefecture. Like most Japanese couples, Yuuichi Takashiro and his then pregnant wife Asami went to the shrines there to pray for their unborn child. Their prayer was answered - and it was more than what they had asked for.
Asami gave birth to two peas in a pod - twin boys.
This was where Haruka and Shizuka's story begin.
Their parents, being diplomatic agents, had to constantly move from one place to another: when the twins turned three their parents' job relocated them to Shanghai; when they were six the family was posted to Singapore; when they were eight to France... Even their tenth birthday was forgone as they had to fly to Australia. They were not nomads per se, but to the twins, they never had a place they could actually call home. The boys were mostly left on their own, for their parents were so busy with their work that they could barely spent much time with their children - this was especially more so for the career-driven Asami. Initially they hired nannies and maids to look after the kids, but Shizuka would often drive them away with his pranks - he didn't like how they always fussed over him for every trivial matter, forcing him to wear the exact same clothes as Haruka, and how they kept comparing him pointlessly with his obedient brother. They might look the same, but they were still different! They might be still young, but stop suffocating them with their old-fashioned ideologies! Why couldn't these stupid adults understand?
The parents then decided to send them to international schools, where they picked up an interest in multilingualism; with how the family was always moving about, they couldn't stay long enough to make any lasting memories and friends (a lot of their schoolmates also come and go just like them). For Shizuka, he was content with joining them as temporary playmates in ball games as long as he got to keep his body active, but Haruka hid himself away with books and computers, afraid to talk to anyone except his brother or when necessary.
After a while, Shizuka begged his father to let him take up martial arts - and Yuu let him try judo. The physical and mental demand for competitive judo was more than most of the sports he had played so far, which motivated him to spend more time and effort into climbing up the belt levels, eventually earning his first black belt.
Later on, Yuu suggested to enroll them into local institutions. The paperwork was a little more tedious compared to international schools, but the fees were much lower. More importantly, the change of academic environment gave the twins - though just a bit - a sense of settling down, which helped to make the recluse Haruka to take the first step out of his comfort zone, to face and talk to people directly.
Of course, in whichever type of school they went to, Haruka could never escape the fate of being a magnet for bullies - he looked weak, nerdy... the very things that made him a perfect human punch bag for these delinquents. It was down to his younger brother to save his ass with his judo tricks - this did help to strengthen their brotherly bond, but Shizuka wasn't aware that his twin was taking his protectiveness beyond the realm of mere sibling love.
Well, because Shizuka had a more pressing matter to deal with.
His powers began to manifest after he turned thirteen: sometimes his fingers would pass through whatever he was holding; he also found out that when he put his hands through electronic devices he would cause them to short-circuit. At first, the ability was more of a nuisance to him: he had little to no control over how he could turn the power on or off, resulting in awkward situations such as things falling out of his grip unexpectedly, or part of his arm disappearing through the wall. An incident where his hand didn't go through his phone completely and was temporarily merged with the device sent him into a very painful frenzy - this caused an accelerated development of his ability, in which he could now extend intangibility to his whole body. Only Haruka knew of his power, and they swore to each other to keep this a secret between themselves. As he had never undergone any formal training on how he could control his ability properly, he was prone to unforeseen hiccups or accidental use of his power at times.
As the boys became older, Yuu felt that he couldn't keep bringing them along on their business trips, depriving them the need of a proper school education and social interaction with kids of their age. He finally convinced Asami to place them under the care of their aunt - Asami's younger sister - Akemi Shinoda, who lived in the Chinatown area of Verthaven, a sunny city in the west coast of America.
Verthaven: And the Rain Falls...
Little did the boys know that they only had a month of peaceful - almost boring - enjoyment before they were thrown straight into an apocalyptic disaster that completely changed their life. Shizuka had been getting the bad signs through his "gut feeling", but no one believed him, thinking that he was being a callous smartass... Of course, it didn't help that his less-than-friendly personality made people all the more unwilling to listen to him.
Then suddenly, people were getting killed left and right, including those whom they could become friends with if they had met under better circumstances; worse, the then-powerless Haruka was so close to dying not once but numerous times, even coming face to face with the Changeling Unit. After so much bloodshed and death encounters, It was truly a miracle that all of them managed to stay alive till the end - but this pure luck wouldn't be on their side forever, especially not after what Shizuka had done to help the NEST agents and the Verthaven teens to take down their foes, on top of saving their asses at times.
This wasn't the end of everything yet...
Post-Verthaven: After the Days of Rain
The Devil Disaster had prompted the reshuffling of NEST - which was now known as DOVE and RAVEN. Together with the other two surviving teens Zhao Meifeng and Cindy Keagan, Shizuka was also scouted to join the new RAVEN by the then newly elected Chairman, Maximilian Cornell. He accepted the offer, making him the youngest recruit ever enrolled (and people started to call him an elite, though mostly out of spite); he began the Spartan-like military training once he and his new family settled down after being relocated to Baybridge. His training still continued on even after the two years of basics (that all RAVEN newcomers must go through), in particular to further develop his skills in recon on top of sharpshooting. Sometimes he would be sent along with Meifeng to the other states and assist her with fighting with both old and new foes: the Hands of Science, the Pure, the Allegiance... to name a few.
The events in Verthaven didn't affect him as much as it did to the other survivors since he's there only for a month and all (thankfully he didn't have any PTSD after going through a series of tests), but he knew he couldn't relax one bit and get his family into a similar kind of danger again. Call him paranoid, but who wouldn't after been through all that shit? While his job was keeping him real busy - including many business trips especially to Asian countries - he still made sure he set aside some time to be with his family, even helping out with the farm. (He and Daphne share an apartment which is much closer to their workplace, but he still liked to stay together with the whole family as much as he could.) Whenever he's back in Japan, he would try to at least meet up with his father, if Yuu happened to be back in their home country (once they even met in Malaysia by pure chance). He could care less about Asami, though.
Most of the ice around his aloof personality has melted off as he began to work hard to improve his social life, especially his relationships with the people whom he fought alongside with in Verthaven; though he's still as brutally honest as ever, he has learned to hold his sharp tongue back much better than before (no, he still had a dry sense of humor, just keeping them to himself). He had received praises for doing a great job connecting RAVEN with the Metahuman law enforcement groups in Asia - so much so that the Chinese and Japanese counterparts would only speak to him and no one else from RAVEN - but his laid-back attitude made his superiors reluctant to give him much promotions (besides, he didn't want more work than he already had which would eat into his precious family time).
The real beginning would start from here... the day he was back from another uneventful official trip from China.
Relationships
Family:
Haruka Takashiro
| Inseparable | Brother | "It's both my pride - and regret - to see how much he has grown over the years." |
Haruka is Shizuka's older twin, but very few people are able guess that correctly - not just because of Shizuka's white hair, but also how they always treat each other as equals, blurring the lines of seniority even between themselves. Even though Shizuka is no longer that overprotective of him compared to their childhood days, he still won't hesitate to put the well-being of his twin before anyone else'.
Akemi Shinoda
| Close | Aunt | "I swear that she's our real mother... and not the other woman." |
Akemi is the aunt of the twins (through their mother, where she's younger than Asami). To the boys, Akemi feels more like a mum than their own biological mother. Akemi is somewhat stricter with Shizuka - partly because of his difficult personality, and partly because she feels concerned about the various kinds of things he has to go through in his job as an agent fighting - at times even killing - rogue Metahumans.
Daphne "Holly" Hope
| Close/Respected | Sister & Mentor Figure, Mission Controller | "Holly and I have so much in common - almost like she's actually my long-lost sister." |
Daphne becomes a sister figure to the twins when Akemi took her in as her goddaughter. She often shares some of her wisdom to the boys - especially Shizuka - which earns their utmost respect for her. In RAVEN, she also acts as a mentor to him even when they aren't in the same department (more importantly, that their powers give them similar edge in stealth and intelligence gathering). Some agents (even Haruka) have teased about him staying together with her with no signs of ever getting hooked up with each other, and he just brushes them off nonchalantly.
Yuuichi Takashiro
| Good | Father | "Pop's been working way too hard - for our sake. Not just the money to feed us, but also trying his best to hold all of us together... even though he knows that this 'family' is definitely gonna fall apart sooner or later." |
The twins' father; Yuu is a diplomatic agent representing Japan, and this job often causes his family to get relocated on a frequent basis, moving from one country to another all the time. He tries to squeeze out more time to spend with his children, but his wife Asami would always frown upon his desire to take days off work. Now, he tries to keep up to date about his sons through Shizuka, if they manage to cross each other's path during their frequent trips around the world.
Asami Takashiro
| Mixed/Bad | Mother | "I know she hates us as much as I despise her, but I don't get it... Why do we have to become like this? Why did she bring us to this world... only to make us suffer? What the hell is wrong with this bitch?" |
Although Asami is the (biological) mother of Haruka and Shizuka, she has never done anything for the twins - she was never there for them, never did what a mother should do to play her part in bringing up her children: to give them the care and love they needed, forsaking their psychological and emotional well-being for her own selfish goals, abandoning them so that she can climb further up the career ladder. Haruka has once commented about the eerie similar traits that Shizuka shared with their mother... only to receive blunt denial from the younger brother.
Dynamics:
Zhao Meifeng
| Mixed | Fellow RAVEN | "While she's the charismatic leader who leads before the pack, my job is to watch everyone's back... and drags her down to reality if she's rushing too far ahead. Hey, that kinda rhymes." |
Previously in Verthaven, the two of them didn't have much chance to really interact - even having rather low personal opinions for each other. They are now on friendlier terms; sometimes he's sent with her to other Metahuman hotspots in America to assist her in raiding the bad guys' nests. Shizuka is a bit concerned about how she's pushing herself too far in these operations; he suspects that she still can't get over whatever had happened in Verthaven but he just continues to watch her back silently... for now.
Cindy Gabrielle Keagan
| Good | DOVE, Friend | "When she's okay she's pretty awesome and level-headed - y'know, the peacekeeper, the go-to for social-emotional enlightenment. Once she loses her balls, she has a surprising - and annoying - hysterical side, sometimes even worse than a baby." |
Compared to Meifeng's case, their initial relationship was much rockier, even close to outright hating each other. They have since reconciled and restarted their friendship bond anew; now on much better terms (there are occasional hiccups here and there, but they are usually settled as quickly as possible). Between the two girls, he feels much closer to Cindy than Meifeng.
Zhao Lihua
| Mixed | Haruka's Mentor | "She may be a respected senior to most other rookie agents, but I'll never acknowledge her (probably). Pretty sure she has the same opinion for me anyway." |
Their opinions for each other have been at all-time low ever since their first meeting on the bridge between Chinatown and Knightdale Rows, even until now; after coming to Baybridge, they rarely have the chance to bump into each other (it's a good thing to him that she has resigned from NEST - he seriously didn't want to be her subordinate-turned-sacrificial lamb). For Shizuka, beneath all the hate he does have a shadow of respect for her professionalism as a former agent, but beyond that he simply sees her as an "obnoxiously vain woman with a swollen ego" (she's so narrow-minded even for a supposedly veteran agent). Haruka has also been saying nothing but good things about her ever since he went to the Academy - did she brainwash his brother?
Quentin Taylor
| Mixed | RAVEN | "His sense of justice is on par with Mei's... including their reckless stupidity too. Jokes aside, gotta admit that he's damn good with guns, yeah." |
Shizuka doesn't know much about him other than his relation with Reed, and his power to imprint Metahumans' powers and distribute them to other people. Based on the few interactions he had with him, he feels that Quentin is quite similar to Meifeng in many ways (including their rather unhealthy hatred for villains, which he finds is another possible reason to Meifeng's increasing brutality). Of course, he is still grateful for the lil' fortune he received from him (most of which is used to renovate their new home).
Reed Taylor
| Respected | DOVE | "It's gonna take me some time to get used to that... power of his, but I'll trust Quentin's decision - that Reed will never become the second Luis, ever." |
They barely had any chance to interact ever since the Verthaven incident; Shizuka feels that Reed is the more sensible and collected one between the two Taylor brothers, and he definitely would pick Reed over Quentin if he needs any gun advice from either of them.
Max Diaz
| Good, so far | Junior RAVEN, Partner-in-Crime (when it comes to ditching paperwork) | "She really reminds me of my old self... with that grumpy frown she always wears on her face." |
They only met - officially - just a few days ago, but they are already getting along quite well (which means his hard work to improve his social relationship is really paying off). He finds it amusing that their bond all begins with their shared hatred for... endless paperwork.
Alice Barret
| Neutral | Junior RAVEN | "Fun-sized with a smart mouth to match. Can be somewhat annoying, though." |
Another RAVEN he had met not too long ago, just like Max. He's reluctant to admit that her teleportation is a hell lot handier than his own power, which he feels that it makes her a bit intrusive. He also doesn't like how she would try to read him like a book when they barely know each other at all.
Anna Aikau
| Neutral | RAVEN | "She has an interesting - and dangerous - power. It's really unfortunate that she got targeted this time." |
Shizuka only read up general information about her on the database before being sent out to assist her in the riot incident. He saved her again during the mall incident from nearly freezing to death by Kei's power.
Kei Phan
| Neutral | ... | "If this keeps up it's gonna be a running joke of him turning random people into displayable ice sculptures... and me having to thaw them out, every single time." |
Shizuka only knows Kei as the first victim to the Overload case that began with the market incident. He was a little surprised to find him frozen together with Anna (what's more, in a questionable stance), which makes him wonder if he's merely a magnet for bad luck... or something else much worse.
Abilities
Power Class:
Super-System - Biological
Power:
Intangibility - "Phasing" Shizuka can phase through solid matter and objects by passing his atoms through the spaces between the particles of the object which he is moving through. As such, he and the object that he's going through may temporarily merge without interacting; each is unharmed when he has finished passing through the object. (This is somewhat similar to the process of quantum tunneling.)
Non-Corporeal Physiology --- While in phased state, he is practically untouchable. With a bit more concentration he can make his body light enough to be able to walk on air.
Cerebral Power Resistance --- His thoughts becomes highly erratic when he's in ghost mode, which makes it difficult to establish telepathic connection with his mind. He is also able to disrupt telekinetic links to the objects or the people he expands his power to (see next point).
Limited Power Extension --- He can extend his ability to the clothes he's wearing and any object in his possession at the moment. He's now also able to expand his power to a maximum of four people at each time. In order for this to work, he has to maintain direct physical contact with the person or thing he's phasing along with.
Internal Analysis --- Any person or object he extend his ability to allows him to be "linked" to them, giving him insight to their internal structure.
Limits:
Shizuka is unable to breathe while he's passing through the object (e.g. walking through walls), so he can phase continuously only for as long as he can hold his breath. As such, his power is highly dependent on his stamina - in order to keep his fitness level at its peak, besides exercising regularly he has sworn to stay away from cigarettes and alcohol.
The denser the material is, the harder and slower for him to pass through. Forcing himself to phase through objects of very high density can cause him undesirable pain, at times also injuring himself. Also, he's unable to phase continuously through denser objects for a prolonged period of time without putting a lot of physical and mental stress onto himself.
Although he gains cerebral power resistance when in phased state, it doesn't completely erase his presence and he can still be detected by very powerful clairvoyants.
The accuracy of Internal Analysis is heavily dependent on his prior knowledge of the object or person he's feeling - the less he know about them or the more complicated they are, the lower the accuracy.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
Shizuka's "natural" state is solid - that is, he has to concentrate in order to switch to ghost mode. Shock-inducing weapons such as taser or stun guns are effective to disrupt his concentration and snap him out of phased state.
His power only allows him to pass through atom-matters (solid, liquid and gas); he isn't immune to energy-based attacks such as lightning. He also can't phase through electromagnetic waves and electrical currents, and trying to pass through systems still running on electricity will cause them to malfunction.
Solidifying while in an object (applies to both partially - such his limbs - and his whole body) or switching off his ability before he has passed through the object completely may inflict serious injury (and a hell lot of pain, mind you) - in worst case scenario, even death. This is because the atoms of his body are immediately merged into the object he's trying to phase through... which is similar to how someone stabs you right into your vital organs, but on an atomic level.
Lead and Bismuth. Although he can phase through almost any solid matter, this two of the densest stable elements on Earth are pretty much a bane on his body. It's uncertain whether he would be able to phase through them at all, but he has zero intention to test that out, ever. As far as he's concerned, trying to pass through those two (nasty) elements is equivalent to a normal human trying to walk through a solid wall.
Others:
Unlike most of the other player characters in this roleplay, Shizuka is not a citizen of US - he only holds American permanent residency (required in order for him to work for RAVEN), and he still has Japanese citizenship. Also, as his parents are diplomats, he and Haruka are both able to enjoy diplomatic immunity, but they have no wish to use that privilege unless absolutely necessary.
Although he sometimes appears to be predominantly left-handed, he's actually ambidextrous.
He owns a blue Yamaha FZ-09, which he uses to get to and fro his shared apartment and Akemi's farm or personal trips unrelated to his job; he shares the bike with Haruka, who helps to keep it in top shape when not in use. For his work, he simply uses a RAVEN vehicle.
His most prized possession is the survival knife he took from NEST (now RAVEN) for the last stand against the Devil of Verthaven - and later the Changelings. Originally he had a pair, but he used up one by merging the blade into Luis' brain in order to save Quentin from a suicidal death. He has never used it since then, but he still brings it along on trips as a protection charm.
"I know this better than anyone - that it's impossible to save every single person in this world. Saving one life means another has to be sacrificed to fill in the dead role." ---to himself and Daphne.
"Doesn't matter what powers we can have; if you can't control that power and let it controls you, you'll end up just like the Devil - drowned in her own uncontrollable power, and dragging all of us down with her." ---to Meifeng.
"We can always buy a new house no matter how many times it gets destroyed, but family is irreplaceable. As long as the two of you are safe and sound, that's all that mattered to me." ---to Haruka and Akemi.
Just like his younger twin, Haruka also has a small and slim stature common among native Japanese; while he doesn't have the athletic build his sporty agent brother possesses, the Academy's physical training has given him a much healthier hue and beefed him up a little, though he still can't get any tan even if he's under the sun a lot. His jet-black hair is naturally ruffled and unkempt, no matter how much he tries to straighten that mop of mess on his head. He wears a pair of half-rimmed spectacles over his dark brown eyes that often seem glassy and lost, giving him a permanent bored look. He has the same heart-shaped, androgynous face and thin lips like Shizuka, but he does not have any birthmarks.
Attire:
Smart-casual - unlike his laid-back twin, Haruka does put in effort to make himself look presentable (depending on the occasion, of course), but he is ignorant to latest trending fashion as much as Shizuka. He's mostly seen wearing combinations of dress shirts, jeans, and covered shoes.
At the farm, he simply goes with plain long-sleeved shirts, long pants, waterproof boots, and a hat or cap to shield his eyes from the sunlight.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
Haruka is pretty much the stereotypical personification of terms like 'geek', 'nerd', 'bookworm', et cetera - and yes he is indeed one. Not just the glasses and his passion for reading (though they are part of the whole package) - he is almost like a walking encyclopedia, his vast knowledge is an accumulation of the books from all the time he spent in bookshops and libraries; also from articles and entries he gathered through the cyberspace. While he isn't as apt as Shizuka in using them practically, that isn't to say he only knows to recite them word for word like scholars in ancient times; he does know how to apply them in daily life, though in small ways.
Correction: he was once a geek, a nerd - or any other terms you can think of for this kind of character trait.
Increasing interactions after joining Academy 61 has given him the opportunity to break the ice; he also has to reach out to even more people while helping out with his aunt's farm (to everyone's surprise, since he seems more like the type who prefers to stay indoors). Eventually he has become much more comfortable facing and talking with strangers (better than Shizuka), though he still retains his rather polite/formal speech style. He does continue to value quiet times and his peaceful private space to take breaks from the social hubbub.
He has also learned to be more reserved about putting his trust in people he barely knew, but he still tries to see the good in them as much as he can. He also has similar hopeful view of the world as Meifeng - but for him it's less about heroism and more about Confucianism - as opposed to his brother's realistic (at times even pessimistic) outlook.
Hobbies/Interests:
Reading --- Haruka prides himself as an armchair traveler as opposed to Shizuka's passion for backpacking. Unable to make long-lasting friendship with peers of his age due to the family being on constant move, he seeks refuge by losing himself in the worlds of books and cyberspace. While his brother is out sweating himself in sports, the older twin would lurk in local libraries and bookstores, burying himself among the piles of musty old volumes; or he would hang out in internet cafes, lost himself in the sea of information in the virtual world.
Music --- Besides reading, he likes listening to music, specifically acoustic covers and instrumental pieces. He has also picked up various instruments to learn how to play the songs on his own.
High Places --- Mostly due to an effect from his ability, he enjoys simply standing or sitting on the rooftops or trees, letting the open breeze to blow into him.
Video Gaming --- Usually just between him and Shizuka. The twins would try to find time and have a few hours of game time together - so far, Haruka is better with rhythm games and turn-based types, while his younger twin is unstoppable in arcade games and action RPGs.
Skills/Talents:
Language: Trilingual --- Like his twin, Haruka is also fluent in Japanese, English and Chinese. In fact, he learns new languages faster than Shizuka.
Gardening --- Largely due to him helping Akemi and Daphne out at the backyard-turned-farm.
Innate Perfect Pitch --- He's born with this talent; coupled with his sharp hearing, he's able to play songs based on what he hears alone without the need of a music score.
Goals/Motivations:
Family --- Haruka's reason is very different from his twin's; rather than about their current family in America, he's more concerned about their blood family - with Yuu and Asami. He doesn't want to give up on their original family like Shizuka, choosing to rebuild it from scratch.
Social Life --- In the previous Verthaven chapter, it's unfortunate that I ended up degrading him to just being a support character to develop Shizuka. But I want to change that - now that he has a power, and with the nightmare of the Devil Disaster still deeply etched into his mind, he's finally able to do something to make a difference and help others in need, to prevent the tragedy from repeating itself again... but of course, he'll soon learn that Metahumans are no gods, just like what Daphne (and Shizuka) have said.
History:
Pre-Verthaven: Two Peas in a Pod
I suggest that you should read Shizuka's sheet first as it contains more details (which I'm not gonna repeat myself here again).
Verthaven: And the Rain Falls...
Verthaven seemed to be a promising place for the twins to finally settle down - Akemi was much nicer than their own mother, and they managed to make some "friends" around their age. Everything was smooth - he was starting to enjoy his new life in America - but that happiness didn't last long. Barely a month passed before the Devil's sludge army rose above the ground and razed the city, then his family was forced to run for their lives. He felt even more useless when he didn't have any powers like his twin, a hindrance to everyone else - until he met Jennifer Caspin, the first person he thought he could truly be friends with.
He could see all the warning signs, he could tell that something wrong - something terrible - had happened to the girl, but he was afraid to probe her further, afraid of the answer. He was upset when Shizuka suspected her for being the mole selling them out to the Changelings - he knew that all his brother had done was merely to protect him, but he couldn't help feeling guilty that his own life was saved on her forsaken life. It was even more ironic that his superpower only manifested after her death.
However, his brother was right: the only thing he could do to "repay" for being alive was to live on and keep moving forward, together with the memories he had made with those who had passed away in the terrible incident.
Post-Verthaven: After the Days of Rain
After the twins and their new family settled down in Baybridge, Haruka was enrolled into Academy 61 to learn how to better control his power while his brother began his two-year basic military training with the newly formed RAVEN. The older twin worked really hard - he had been doing very well in the Academy and eventually graduated with flying colors, while Shizuka went on to do further training in his area of expertise. After which, Haruka decided to take up part-time degree course so that he could still help Akemi with the farm. Everything seemed so peaceful right now, but with his new power, he could feel it as much as Shizuka's "gut feeling" - that something else is stirring in the background... Something bad.
Relationships
Family:
Shizuka Takashiro
| Inseparable | Brother | "I love him as much as I hate his crude sense of humor." |
The younger twin brother; again, not many people can guess the seniority between them unless they explicitly say so. Haruka has stopped having weird unrequited feelings for Shizuka (which is basically worshipping him), and it's now no different from a normal sibling love. They are still very close though, and he simply ignores the strange looks people give them at their affectionate exchanges.
Akemi Shinoda
| Close | Aunt | "She is a lot kinder than Mum - sometimes the way she cared for us makes me wonder if she is our real mother instead." |
The twins' aunt through their mother's side, who makes them feel more like a mum than their actual mother. Haruka gets along very well with Akemi - not just helping out with her farm, he also help with any repair work needed around the house.
Daphne "Holly" Hope
| Respected | Sister Figure | "It's good to have her around - to look after Shizu when I'm not available to put him on a leash." |
Daphne is like an older sister that Haruka never had until now - occasionally he would tease Shizuka that she is a potential girlfriend material to the younger twin, but Shizuka merely waved that off and bluntly stated that he has never looked at Daphne in that way.
Yuuichi Takashiro
| Good | Father | "Dad isn't just a hard worker, but he also tries to be there for us even when it's quite impossible due to the nature of his job. I think he really needs a long break from his work - from what Shizu tells me about him, he no longer has the energy to keep running around like this." |
Haruka does love his father, but he has also wished he can spend more time with him, and rebuild their relationship from scratch. Right now he can only be kept updated about Dad through Shizuka, something he hopes to change soon.
Asami Takashiro
| Mixed | Mother | "While I don't have such deep resentment towards her like Shizu does, she didn't make me feel welcomed at home. I couldn't feel any love from her... almost like she was merely a stranger staying under the same roof as us." |
Haruka's relationship with their mother isn't as strained as his brother's; however, he is also uncertain about how he should feel towards Asami's outright objection at them. He feels that their mother must have a reason for acting this way towards the twins, and he really wants to get to the bottom of it - for any chance to save their broken family.
Dynamics:
Zhao Lihua
| Good | Instructor & Mentor | "She has changed a lot since I last saw her - she isn't like the bitter woman back in Verthaven. She seems so much happier now, and we are even on good terms with one another." |
Haruka was surprised to see Lihua in the Academy, and even more so when he was assigned to train under her. She still had the same strict and no-nonsense attitude, but he knew that she was giving her all to help them to have better control over their powers. They still continue to keep in touch after he has graduated from the Academy.
Zhao Meifeng
| Neutral | Lihua's Daughter | "We don't really see each other much anymore - she is busy with her RAVEN work, and for me with school and Akemi's farm - but I guess we are still friends? I don't know." |
Haruka still think of Meifeng as a friend of sorts, but they barely have much chance to meet each other since Meifeng is usually out of town. He feels that they are something like distant friends, slightly above the level of mere acquaintances.
Cindy Gabrielle Keagan
| Neutral, leaning on Good | Friend? | "Same as Meifeng - I do see her as a friend, but I don't know about her." |
Haruka would see Cindy around a bit more, but again they were busy with their own respective life that they don't really sit down and have long conversations with each other; when they do, well, he's usually the listener while Cindy talks.
Reed Taylor
| Respected | Quentin's Brother | "I haven't seen him at all since the Devil incident... I heard from Shizu that his brother gave him Luis' power. That is all I know about him." |
Haruka barely interacted with him at all - whether during the Verthaven disaster or after they're all relocated to Baybridge - but he can feel that Reed is a pretty nice cop.
Quentin Taylor
| Neutral | Reed's Brother | "Same as Mr. Reed - didn't see him ever since Verthaven, so I don't really have much impressions about him." |
Similar to Reed's case, but Haruka's opinion about Quentin is a little mixed - from what he's heard from Shizuka, he feels that Quentin is a bit too fixated on violent vengeance for comfort.
Rori Aherne
| Good | Kestrel Girl | "I have never expected to meet the kestrel in such a way - who would have imagined that it's actually a teenage girl?" |
Haruka met Rori - in their bird form as a kestrel - by accident, largely due to his power attracting them to him and causing them to lost their way. He met them again in the Academy library, and this time they were in their human form. Haruka enjoyed how cheery Rori and Wendy were during their little conversation.
Wendy Lucker
| Curious | Junior | "She is probably the first multi-elemental manipulator I have ever encountered. It's also great that she loves books as much as I do." |
Haruka first met Wendy at the market when the berserk snowstorm incident happened; they met again in the Academy library by chance. He admires how easily open Wendy was towards him when they barely knew each other.
Abilities
Power Class:
Elemental - Mode: Air
Powers:
Air Manipulation Just like any elemental benders, Haruka is able to telekinetically control any gaseous matter (including water vapor), moving the air around him to his will - from as gentle as a light breeze, to as destructive as a tornado. Though using hand gestures allow him to move the air with better precision and control, he is also capable of manipulating through sheer concentration alone (of course, it'd just be crude, basic moves). The versatility of his power is only restricted by his own imagination and creativity, hence the list below is not exhaustible, just the more common tricks he employs:
Flying --- Probably one of the basics he has to master in his power package - I mean, how can an air bender not know how to fly? He can do this in two ways: either by "riding" on the wind (basically moving in the direction of the air current, similar to how birds fly minus the wing-flapping), or creating a small tornado beneath his feet to carry himself into the air. Currently he can only carry a maximum of two people to fly along with him.
Wind Blades --- By packing the gas molecules closer together into very condensed air before swiping his hand outwards quickly, he can throw out an invisible arc with enough force to slice most generic furniture cleanly into half.
Air Fist --- He can also encase the closely-packed air around his knuckles to form an invisible orb, where it acts as a protection around his fist while dealing more damage compared to an ordinary punch.
Cyclone Shield --- He can generate a high-speed whirlwind around himself that can act as a spinning shield to knock out most things coming towards him (or at least get swept into the air funnel).
Static Charge --- If the air around him is moving at a high enough velocity, he's able to cause them to induce static charge on top of its spinning destructive force.
Weather-Seer --- No, he is nowhere powerful enough to actually manipulate the weather, but he's able forecast of the weather by feeling the change in air current around him. He can also make use of the same concept to find possible exits when he's trapped underground.
Limits:
Range isn't a major issue to Haruka - after the mall incident, it has gone up to about fifty-over feet from his position if you really want a number of sorts - but his power is definitely much more limited when he's indoors or underground: there's only so much air he can control in these places (which means flying in these areas is impossible).
Adding to the point about flying, obviously he can't fly up so high like airplanes - the most at the height of a nine-story building, and that's already pushing his limit. Even lower if he's carrying someone along with him.
The larger and heavier the object, the harder for him to keep afloat in the air. Well, duh.
Of course, as mentioned previously he's nowhere strong enough to move the clouds with his power, and therefore cannot control the weather. (No hurricanes, period!)
While he's able to multitask a couple of tricks (e.g. flying and using wind blades at the same time), but that tires him out very fast than using just one at each time.
The cyclone shield doesn't completely protect him from all attacks - it is possible for stray bullets to pierce through the whirlwind and still hit him.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
Haruka's power doesn't make him immune to air-related disadvantages such as breathing problems, suffocation, gas poisoning, etc. Also, his ability doesn't contribute any changes to his human physiology (e.g. no hollow bones like birds to reduce his body mass to fly).
His ability is not entirely dependent on telekinesis alone - it's also linked to/balanced by his emotions; hence, if he loses control over his feelings, his power may go berserk.
Although he has an edge when it comes to execution speed, air is still the weakest among all other elemental-type abilities based on raw power. Using Air Fist as an example, same or similar trick in other elements obviously have a lot more destructive force than air.
He can induce static charge but it's ultimately not part of his control, hence he can still be subjected to getting a bad shock as much as anyone else is who is near his charged tornado. If he forgets to disperse the charged air around him, he can be extremely prone to attract lightning strikes towards himself.
Others:
Just like his brother, Haruka is also permanent resident of US but still holds Japanese citizenship. He enjoys diplomatic immunity due to their parents' job, but so far the twins have not used this privilege for any purpose.
He shares the FZ-09 with Shizuka - and he's also in charge of maintaining it - but he only drives it when he needs to go out of Roseview area. Otherwise he sticks to his hardy bicycle, the Jamis Commuter 3.
Although he's normally nice and soft-spoken... he'd blast you out of the window with a gust if you ever touch his portable consoles (the PS Vita and 3DS are his life).
RAVEN/DOVE West Coast Joint Headquarters for the time being, though he'll probably wind up sharing an apartment with his brother.
Appearance
Hair Color:
Black
Eye Color:
Brown
Ethnicity:
African-American
Physical Appearance:
Now his late thirties, Quentin's face has aged a little since his time in Verthaven, yet he's still retained those sharp eyes of his and has kept the short, neatly trimmed beard to match his equally short-cropped hair. From a glance, it's clear he's still in good health and fitness, standing at 5'11 and carrying an imposing figure, which has only been helped since his service RAVEN has improved his health (though it could be argued that the regenerative factor he's picked up has also done him some good).
Attire:
Whilst on-duty, Quentin generally tends towards wearing RAVEN's standard issue battle armor, a black mesh with kevlar along with the tactical load carrying gear. As expected, it's designed to hold up against attack from rogue metahumans alongside being able to withstand a couple of rounds. Alongside this is a helmet, with the opportunity to mount a set of goggles or a gas mask against it - though he's sometimes inclined towards leaving it off if things aren't entirely dire. Off-duty, he'll generally stick to casual clothing - a jacket, shirt and cargo pants or something similar.
He also wears gloves to prevent his power from inadvertently kicking in.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
The events in Verthaven and the years that have passed since then have left Quentin, in many ways, a different man. Nobler in some ways, others less so.
To strangers, he might come across as outwardly calm or collected - keeping a level head in tight situations where others might snap or otherwise lose their cool. It's not entirely an image - Quentin has learned from the years with RAVEN to keep it steady under pressure, yet those who know him well enough or even spend some time around him get to realise there's more than that to him.
Service with RAVEN has given him a certain commanding tone in his voice, or at least a sense of authority when the situation calls for it. Sarcasm and snappy remarks are still a coping mechanism for him, a means of defusing or otherwise mitigating shitty situations and likewise he'll crack a joke with people if it's appropriate, but he also knows when to buckle down, shut up and go about getting things done - which others might mistake for him being cool when in fact he just knows from experience that people who crack jokes at the wrong time don't tend to last.
Knowing that he was partially responsible for the horrific experiments perpetrated by the Hands of Science in Verthaven have left him with a degree of guilt that he's been unable to shake off and left him with an overall disgust towards those who experiment on or otherwise abuse Metahumans or their powers and in turn, given him a lot of motivation when conducting ops against them for RAVEN.
And likewise he's loyal to those he considers friends or family, especially those who've done the same for him and is more than willing to throw himself into the breach if it means backing them up. Earning this trust can be a little difficult at first, but once it's earned it's generally there to stay. In fact, it's a point of regret and frustration that he wasn't able to prevent the deaths of Sonya Mayfield and his uncle and it shows in his overall disdain for the matter when the topic is brought up.
This in turn means that his overall hatred for the Hands of Science and anything associated with them has remained a solid facet of his personality over the years. It's given him something to vent his frustrations on - and not in the healthiest way, either - where others have toned things down. Whilst it's helped keep him going, it's also something which has threatened to consume him at times - and it's not as if this point hasn't been brought up with him before. Being stubborn doesn't help.
His temper is usually cool and likewise, it can take a lot to cause him to blow up in anger - Quentin's fury is typically a patient, collected form and when it's anything but that, it's a point that something has really pissed him off.
He also still holds a disdain for narcotics and alcohol abuse, courtesy of his childhood years, but has a degree of sympathy for those affected by it.
Hobbies/Interests:
In the years since Verthaven, Quentin's picked up more of a fondness for firearms and has since taken up sports shooting as a hobby. When he's not busy he'll sometimes sit down and watch TV, maybe kill some time with video games, but otherwise he's more interested in heading out for a ride.
Skills/Talents:
Quentin’s experiences on the streets have left him with a degree of wisdom, wit and pragmatism that once well to assist him in his self-made ‘business’. On the same streets and during his time working with the unsavoury elements of Verthaven, he picked up a degree experience in the use of small arms that he'd continue develop after joining NEST and RAVEN.
Goals/Motivation
Ensuring that anyone with the same kind of mindset as the Hands of Science of the Changelings is put down, Quentin's personal vendetta has never entirely settled down. Unlike others, he's found himself unable to let go and finds motivation in preventing what happened in Verthaven from reoccurring.
History/Bio:
Born in the early ‘80s on Eagle-Rock Row, Quentin and his little brother Reed were yet another story of kids born into crime and poverty to a single parent, surrounded by drugs, violence and the social tensions of the time. From early childhood, their mother quickly relied on a string of deadbeat boyfriends, minimum wage jobs and alcohol to pull the three of them through life and it took its toll on her from an early stage, often forcing her elder brother to step in to assist. By the time he was ten years old, Quentin found himself involved with the local gangs and wound up working on street corners as another peddler for some smalltime dealer in hopes of earning a little cash for his family. It was through this, incidentally, that he wound up discovering his powers - what would’ve normally be an exchange of packages with a metahuman enforcer for the gang led to him unintentionally removing the man’s ability to generate and manipulate fire and setting alight the money moments later. As it happens, it was through this that he found himself another source of income for the family; exchanging and selling powers and getting a cut from the gang for his involvement.
For a while, things seemed to go well, all things considered. The cut he earned from the gang, whilst nowhere near the amount kicked up to his bosses, allowed him to pay off the family bills yet there was no mistake that he may as well have been their property and not the other way around. A few times he found himself at risk as a result of the people he worked for and by his teenage years he’d learned how to use a gun. In fact, if tragedy hadn’t struck Quentin’s life sooner then circumstances might not have turned out as well.
One day returning home, Quentin found his mother passed out on the couch with yet another empty bottle of liquor nearby. Attempts to rouse her with words failed, so instead he left her alone, only to find her in the same state when he woke up in the same morning, albeit this time she’d turned pale and felt cold to the touch. The coroner’s report indicated that she’d died of alcohol poisoning, something of little surprise given the fact she’d been unable to kick the habit for a long time.
Lacking any other family, Quentin and his little brother wound up living in the care of their Uncle Cassius, a detective in the Verthaven Police Department and a good man who’d often done as best as he could to keep his sister on track. Under his uncle’s care, Quentin was able to cut off ties to his old gang (who, by this point had become increasingly demanding) with the aid of this uncle’s connections to the VPD and opted to push on through school so he didn’t end up like his mother. That said, the experience had taught him a couple things.
While his brother opted to one day become a cop like their uncle, Quentin had something else in mind. Perhaps it was the idea of avoiding the same poverty that had cost him his childhood, or perhaps it was the concept of having control over his life for once. Whatever the case, he wound up going on his own path in life - becoming involved with quite a few rather unsavoury characters. Whilst by no means a hustler or a gangbanger, he spent a couple of years working 'security' for a few characters in Verthaven's criminal underworld, running the front door at nightclubs and other businesses. Eventually, it grew into something else - actually working in the security sector, and then Quentin soon realised that there was a demand for someone willing to trade and sell powers, creating metahumans for big money.
With time, Quentin built up his little side-business via the aid of a contact from his early security days and before long, had a nice sum of cash saved away. Soon, he was able to afford life in relative comfort, moving into a decent condo over in the upper-class Knightdale Rows district, with enough income to keep himself afloat. Relations with his family, however, were another story - particularly between him and his younger brother, Reed.
Topping it off, he eventually wound up falling afoul of the Hands of Science, who kidnapped him and forced him to participate in their experiments using his family as leverage. The experience deeply affected him, leaving him traumatised and scarred by his inability to forget what he'd been forced to do for the Hands - and it was only with the assistance of one Meifeng Zhao and NEST that he finally escaped during a raid on the lab.
Of course, this exposed him as a metahuman - though Quentin was able to keep his criminal past concealed. Given the choice by Lihua Zhao of either joining up with NEST or facing a far less desirable alternative, Quentin took the former option - joining their ranks as an agent. Initially the prospect of becoming one of 'those' types was daunting, yet as time passed Quentin slowly warmed to the role and grew to regret his past, gaining a genuine interest in doing some good with NEST beyond enacting vengeance against the Hands of Science. Before long, he wound up reconciling with his brother and warming back up to his uncle, yet events transpired against them.
For one, the Changeling Unit came to town, led by the likes of Luis and Heartbreaker, the latter of which Quentin already despised as a result of her involvement in kidnapping him. Like the Hands of Science, Quentin fought them with a certain fury that was only rivalled by Lihua - who had her own personal reasons for hating them. And then, came an even greater foe.
The Devil of Verthaven was a metahuman greater than anything that NEST had ever faced, matched only by the resources of the Hands of Science and the ferocity of the Changeling Unit. She was a godlike metahuman, one that devastated the city in her wake and it was only through the combined might of NEST (along with several other unsavoury alliances) that she was finally brought down, at great cost. Quentin's family was not left unscathed, as his brother was injured (though later volunteering in the fight against her) and, in the confusion following her defeat, his Uncle Cass (along with a good friend) were killed by one of the Changelings in the confusion.
In the battle that followed, Quentin finally avenged their deaths, attacking Luis head-on (stealing his ability in the process) and killing the one responsible, Heartbreaker - yet it marked the start of a new chapter in his life as the experience permanently hardened him. With Verthaven considered a ruin and NEST facing its end, Quentin set aside the thousands he'd accumulated through his past selfishness and passed the money onto the comrades who'd fought alongside him, ensured that his brother would find a place in the successor to NEST by offering him Luis' abilities (safeguarding them at the same time) and buried their uncle. The future was uncertain, but he stepped into it nontheless.
It was in the aftermath of the Verthaven Disaster that Quentin assisted in founding one of the successor organisations to NEST, known as RAVEN - named aptly after the Task Force that he'd once fought alongside. With the Hands of Science still out there, scattered in pockets, Quentin volunteered himself for participating against them, holding them responsible for the actions of the Changelings and the Devil of Verthaven. Unlike his brother, who had since joined DOVE (having been recommended), Quentin sought some form of retribution against them as he found himself unable to forget the experiments he'd been forced to assist in as well as the deaths of those he cared about.
Within the space of two years, a friend and the daughter of a former colleague, Meifeng Zhao had finished her training and was now a member of RAVEN, capable of standing by herself as a force to be reckoned with. Their shared experience in Verthaven allowed the two to maintain a close bond and unlike the others in RAVEN, Quentin said nothing to discourage Meifeng's relentless attitude towards the Hands, if anything sharing the same sentiments towards them as she did. It took time, but eventually this relentless attitude seemed to pay off - the Hands were all but broken and dissappeared from the face of the Earth. Yet this was not the end of things for them - other threats were out there, like the Pure, the Allegiance or other rogue metahumans.
In short, wherever RAVEN needed him, Quentin went. And eventually he was sent to Prague.
Another rogue metahuman had emerged from the woodwork in the capital of the Czech Republic, one known as the Beast who, like the Devil, was set on mass destruction and had burned down whole districts whenever they'd shown up. Lacking in the resources and manpower to handle such a foe, the Czechs called in support from RAVEN, MISW and KMD to assist - Quentin was among the agents deployed against them.
It was a bloodbath, to say the least - despite careful planning and the best resources that the combined might of the three agencies had brought in, the Beast was a foe that refused to go down easily. Quentin himself went toe to toe and was nearly engulfed by flame half a dozen times, suffering severe burns in the process, but in the end the Beast was put down at the cost of injuring both himself and several of his colleagues.
Fortunately, Quentin survived, bloodied and bruised. He spent a little time on leave whilst he made a recovery, but soon returned to RAVEN - where he found himself being transferred to Baybridge on official business.
Relationships
Family:
Helena Taylor (Deceased) - Mother
Still teenager when she gave birth to her firstborn, Helena Taylor was a sad tale to speak of. Years of poverty and deadbeat boyfriends (one of which fathered another child with her) led to the alcoholism which would go on to kill her, leaving behind two sons. Despite this, Quentin at least regards her fondly and seldom talks about her because of this.
Reed Taylor - Half-brother
An ex-cop, now working for DOVE, Quentin had a hand in helping to raise Reed during their mother's later years. As the two grew up, however, they grew somewhat distant and it wasn't until the events leading up to the disaster in Verthaven that they finally reconciled.
Cassius Taylor (Deceased) - Maternal Uncle
A father figure to his nephews, Cass was a detective with the VPD who wound up taking in both of his sister's sons when she died and raising them like his own. Of the two, Reed followed in his uncle's footsteps whilst Quentin went on his own troubled path in life. Nonetheless, he still cared deeply for his uncle and during the events of the disaster in Verthaven the two grew close once more. Sadly, Cass was murdered in the final hours of the disaster by Heartbreaker. Whilst Quentin avenged his death, it left him permanently hardened in his personal vendetta against the likes of the Hands of Science.
Dynamics:
| Reed Taylor |
| Good | Half-brother | "Haven't seen each other in a while, it'll be good to see him." |
Quentin's younger brother and an ex-cop turned DOVE Agent, the two were once distant whilst living in Verthaven but the events and the tragedy that unfolded led to them growing closer once more, culminating in him entrusting his brother with the ability of a powerful metahuman to ensure it was in safe hands, as well as safeguarding him. The two haven't seen each other in a while, but they're on good terms.
| Lihua Zhao |
| Respected | Former Colleague | "I'm glad things worked out for her, she earned a shot at retirement." |
Under different circumstances, Lihua's first meeting with Quentin might've seen her arresting him. Instead she offered him a job, the alternative better left unsaid, but soon enough Quentin gained a respect for the woman who was NEST's top agent at the time, developing a good working relationship which blossomed throughout the Verthaven Disaster and continued on after her retirement.
| Meifeng Zhao |
| Respected | Close Friend/Protégé | "Shit, we've been through so much of the same shit that she's probably one of the few that understands me." |
Meifeng and Quentin met in the Hands of Science lab way back in Verthaven, where he'd been held captive and forced to assist in their experiments. The two helped each other as Meifeng broke Quentin out of the lab and Quentin helped Meifeng fight her way out of it, which built up a mutually deep level of respect and admiration for one another. After she joined RAVEN, Quentin did what he could to act as a mentor for her and came to see her as a protégé. As of now, Meifeng is one of the few people that Quentin trusts enough to know of his past.
| Cindy Keegan|
| Respected | DOVE Agent/Associate | "Haven't seen her in a long time, but Reed's said enough good things about her that I know she's done well since Verthaven." |
Yet another old face from Verthaven, Quentin hasn't seen Cindy in a long time but the fact they went through the disaster in one piece together has left him with a large degree of respect.
| Shizuka Takashiro |
| Respected | Colleague | "Kid's come a long way, I never forgot what he did for me." |
Despite never having spoken much with him back in Verthaven, Quentin developed a certain respect for Shizuka during the Verthaven disaster when he drove a knife into the back of Luis' head and pulled him to safety. They haven't seen each other in years, but Quentin hasn't forgotten.
| Haruka Takashiro |
| Good | Associate | "It's been a hell of a long time, but I wonder how he's doing." |
There was hardly any interaction between Haruka and Quentin back in Verthaven but, again, the shared experience left him on good terms with the quiter half of the Takashiro Twins. But, again, they haven't spoken in years.
Abilities
Power Class:
Power: Charger & Replicator
Power:Essence
Power Transfer
Quentin is capable of transferring powers between other metahumans and himself, and vice versa, allowing use of said powers for his own intentions or keeping them in ‘storage’, so to speak. In effect, he’s a literal walking bank of powers. Quentin's power transfer ability stems from a subconscious ability to manipulate the Metahuman energy. He can absorb a bit of the Metahuman energy within himself (In other words, their power), then transfer the energy to a different person. Potentially empowering humans who would otherwise never would have manisfested a power.
Limits:
First and foremost, Quentin can only transfer powers through direct physical contact with others. It's possible for him to permanently strip someone of their powers, though the process is somewhat more taxing and requires either a severely weakened or otherwise willing subject.
Secondly, Quentin’s skill in utilising powers obtained from other metahumans can vary. Relatively simple actions such as channeling an electrical current come rather easily, whereas more complex actions such as healing a fatally wounded patient are rather difficult to perform and can often require a great deal of practice. In addition to this, extensive use of such powers can be quite taxing on a physical and mental level - particularly if he lacks skill in the use of a particular power. And, unlike one who directly holds the ability, he'll never be fully skilled in its use without years of experience.
Thirdly, he can only store and utilise a limited amount of abilities at any time - no more than say, five or six at once and that'd be pushing it.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
Incidentally, Quentin's ability to utilise stored abilities can be affected by just how fatigued he is. Like anyone, if he overburdens himself he'll be at risk of passing out or, at worst, losing consciousness.
Other:
Abilities currently held by Quentin
Regenerative System - One of the oldest powers that Quentin's held, it was drawn from the Nemesis during his escape from the Hands of Science's lab in Verthaven. Whilst it doesn't render him immortal, it does allow him to recover from injuries that would kill or otherwise permanently incapacitate other men. As a plus, it's also slowed down his aging a little - though not to the extent of others.
Superhuman Strength - Again, a power that Quentin's held for quite a while, it was also stolen from the Nemesis. Whilst it's given Quentin a heightened level of durability and strength, that doesn't mean he can lift cars or punch through plate steel like butter.
Robin (Nickname / Used while living in Faircrest Woods) RedRobin (Internet handle)
Gender:
Agender
Age:
17
Height:
5'1"
Weight:
95 lb
Home District:
West Woodlake (Originally from out of town, stayed in Faircrest Woods for a period of time)
Appearance
Hair Color:
Naturally auburn-red, currently dyed blue
Eye Color:
Light brown-yellow
Ethnicity:
Irish, British
Physical Appearance:
The first thing that most notice about Rori is their somewhat small height. This is something that came from their mother's side of their family (though their father isn't exactly tall either) and one feature that they share with their cousin, Max. While it has never been something that particularly bothers Rori it does help to be something of an identifying factor. Along with this small height they are quite light which is a combination of a lack of muscles, a high metabolism and slightly lighter bones than you would expect (almost as if a preparation for her being able to fly, though they don't have wings when in a more humanoid form).
Figure wise Rori is hardly athletic. It's quite obvious that they don't particularly make an effort to keep in good shape and is mostly skinny due to the virtue of a high metabolism and not eating too much. They do look quite scrawny. Born female Rori, when not binding, has a quite visibly female body. They have a quite well sized chest (much to their annoyance) which has never been particularly helpful in regards to their dysphoria. Thankfully, however, the rest of their body is more flat and boyish with a lack of curves at the hips. This means there's just one main area to deal with. Most of the time when they are out Rori will be found wearing a binder, which flattens their chest and gives them a much more gender neutral appearance.
This neutral appearance is added to by the fact that they keep their hair, currently dyed a dark blue, short and scruffy. The style is one you would probably expect more on a boy than a girl - not particularly cut in any styled way but rather messy and falling all about their face. Their skin is paler than the typical Caucasian light skin colour, typical of those with Irish blood. The freckles that cover their face and body come with the hair colour and complexion. As does the unfortunate burning when exposed to the sun for any length of time. High factor sun cream is needed to prevent this when they are out in the sun for even a few minutes. Their eyes are large, and not entirely human, set an average space apart in a quite round face. Their face shape is soft and childish. This, and their height, gives them the appearance of being younger than they actually are.
Rori does have scars. Most of these are in less visible places, covered by clothing or feathers. There are a few one their face with the most noticeable being a thing scar along their cheek, starting below their eye. She doesn't talk about how they got it. There are also quite a few along their arms - again thin, white scars that are barely noticeable on her already pale skin.
Along with the features shared by most humans Rori has some more... animalistic features. These come from their abilities, the bird thing not only being when they turn into them. The first, and most obvious, unnatural thing (for a human at least) about them is their eyes. The yellow tinge to the brown they are, and the fact that neither of her parents have brown eyes, is just part of it. Their eyes are more like that of a bird's than a human's. This means that they don't have the same kind of vision as human's and are often found looking around to try and see to the side due to not having the same capability to move around their eyes in their sockets. What is sometimes noticeable is the fact they do not blink... at least normally. Instead they have a third hidden eyelid, the nictitating membrane, that does the whole blinking action for them. The other not so visible feature is feathers than cover quite a bit of their body. These are found on their top half, beginning as soft down feathers around their neck and upper arms. These are more spaced out and still quite soft on the front of their body. However they turn into more proper feathers on their back. These full, dense feathers cover all of their back before becoming slightly softer around the waistline and then disappearing. Most of the feathers are brown, with a slight reddish hint. The ones on their chest are more red than the ones in other areas. They do also have other bird features but these are not visible.
Attire:
Rori goes for comfort over style in clothing. The clothes they wear are more gender neutral, and as a result go more towards being boyish. They would not be found dead in a skirt or dress and if forced into one would feel incredibly uncomfortable. They tend to wear more baggy shirts - preferably with sleeves long enough to cover the feathers on the top of their arms. These are sometimes plain, or sometimes have some kind of nerdy reference on them. They often wear jeans or more comfortable trousers and a hoody on top. Along with this they almost always wear some kind of scarf, even if it is warm - after all it's the easiest way to cover the feathers on their neck. The colouration of their clothing tends to be green and blue, along with black and white.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
The first, most obvious thing about Rori's personality is that they always appear to be incredibly cheerful. They almost always seem to be smiling even if there isn't much to be happy about. This isn't to say they would be happy in what is a sad situation. But they do have quite an astounding ability to make the best out of everything. This optimism can be good sometimes but also annoying to others, along with their intense cheerfulness.
Another main aspect of Rori's outward personality is how friendly they are. They enjoy spending time with others and often choose to do so. They just like talking. They talk a lot. More than they really should and to the point of annoying people (something they do quite often). However even if they are a very social person Rori isn't necessarily the most socially aware. This isn't through any fault of their own but more due to being isolate for about three years of their life, and not going to school since they were twelve. This has limited the amount of actual social interaction they can do. So for all their eagerness to get to know people sometimes they just don't understand boundaries or when to stop being friendly and talking. They also probably wouldn't realise if someone was taking advantage of them. They are getting better at this.
Along with this Rori is quite energetic and hyperactive. They have a difficult time concentrating on things they don't enjoy, mostly anything that isn't art, writing or music, and always seem full of energy. This makes them bright and adds to their cheerfulness but also makes them very exhausting to be around. They don't mean to be but it's just a thing that happens. Rori never seems tired even if they got next to no sleep and can be very difficult to keep up with.
Rori isn't actually always happy. They are an optimist, yes. But they aren't as cheerful as they make out to be. In some ways they use it to hide other things. Rori isn't the best emotionally. They are not incredibly emotional but often the opposite - they do not feel strong emotions either way. It's been easier to pretend to be happy, though. People don't ask too many questions that way.
It would have been impossible for Rori to go through some of the things they did and come out the other end unscarred emotionally. Rori is in a surprisingly good emotional state for what happened. They don't like to talk about it. Even before their powers manifested their parents weren't exactly good to them, a combination of Rori's lack of gender conformity and not exactly being the child they wanted them to be. This was added to by the dysphoria they themselves felt due to their physical body and being referred to as a girl. While it has been a long time since they were viewed as a girl there are still some lasting effects of this lack of acceptance. However, Rori keeps this all to herself. They feel that it's better this way.
Even so, Rori really is quite friendly. But part of this comes from looking for acceptance - as the person she is, both with the whole human-bird hybrid thing and being a gender out with of the 'normal' binary.
Hobbies/Interests:
Writing: Rori loves writing. Their writing tends to tend towards fictional story and they often get inspired with various story ideas, which they keep written down in a book. They are often found writing in a notebook or typing something up on a computer.
Art: Rori also loves drawing and painting, most often drawing in a sketchpad. Quite often their drawings are related to stories they are writing or are of birds.
Music: Rori is musically talented and learned a lot of instruments at a young age. They picked back up a lot of them two years ago with very little loss in skill. They play piano, clarinet, violin and Irish tin whistle with plans to learn more. They especially like traditional Irish and Scottish music.
Skills/Talents:
Socialising: Rori is incredibly friendly and cheerful, if a bit shy, meaning they excel in social situations and find it easy to make friends. In general they are very easy to get along with. Their ability to make friends is a bit of a talent.
Creative: Adding on to her hobbies is a natural talent. Rori is very skilled at both writing and drawing/painting and this talent is added to by hard work. They have quite an imagination, which helps.
Musical: Rori also has a natural talent in music, adding to their creativity. They play quite a lot of instruments and find new ones easy to pick up. They also have a good sense of rhythm and a good ear, finding sight reading music easy.
Survival: Rori survived for quite a time on their own, and had to learn survival the hard way. They figured out how to survive in more natural environments including scavenging for food, cooking on an open fire and similar. They also learned how to make shelter and hunt (as a bird, admittedly). They also lived on the streets for a bit, however got by in a less good fashion there and could hardly be called street wise.
Goals/Motivation
School and College: One of Rori's main goals in to make their own life. They've spent a lot of their time just trying to survive before living with their cousin, with a life dependant on Max. They haven't been to school since they were thirteen and the only thing that isn't behind others their age is their writing and reading. A large goal of theirs is to get into college, preferably for art or music.
Friends / Family: A large motivation for Rori is to make friends. While they find this easy, in general, situation has meant they don't get to spend much time with others. However over the last two years they've spent more time talking to people through the internet and hope that that will help them, along with the possibility of trying to start college. They would also ultimately like to reconcile with their family but doubt that that'll ever happen.
History/Bio:
Rori was born to a relatively large family. They were the fourth child born into the family, with an older brother and two older sisters. Their younger brother was born just a year after they were. Their parents were strict Christians and brought up all of their children to be religious as well. This wasn't something that Rori ever liked but they had to go along with it. Along with this their parents were incredibly anti-metahuman.
Even though Rori had little in common with their siblings they always tried to get along with them and most often succeeded. They got on best with their younger brother, Conor, though he was rather annoying. There was the smallest age gap between the two of them which helped. However the person Rori did got on very well with was their cousin, Max. The two families grew up near each other and Rori would spend a lot of time with their cousin. The two got on, though Max was a much less friendly and more troublesome individual than Rori.
However when Rori was eight there was a fall out between the two families. They were forbidden from seeing Max again and eventually Max and her family moved away to another city.
Rori lived a relatively normal life until they were twelve. It was at this point that they began to become aware enough to question they had been assigned at birth. Rori certainly didn't feel like a girl, felt uncomfortable within their own body and disliked being lumped in with either of the binary genders. They eventually came to the conclusion that they were neither. It took a lot of courage but they told their family. The result wasn't good. The only reaction they got was negative and then given the strict warning to never talk about it 'or else.' This was one of the more unhappy periods of Rori's life as they were forced to keep going under the name Roisin and as a girl.
It was years after this that their powers began to manifest. The change was subtle at first. Their eyesight changed - getting better. Then they stopped blinking and began to form light feathers across her body. They did their best to hide this even though they didn't know what was going on. Rori panicked a lot more when they first changed shape into a bird. Having no idea what was going on and panicking slightly they continued to try and hide it.
They were around twelve when their parents walked in on them mid-change. It was safe to say Rori became more of a disappointment than they had been before. The fear on their parents faces was clear. For the next few days their parents said nothing. But Rori noticed the difference, and heard the private phone calls they made. Their parent's hatred for metahumans seemed to extend even to their child. Things took a turn for the worse when Rori overheard a conversation her father had on the phone that suggested they would send Rori away to have their powers removed and, if that wasn't possible (which is clearly wasn't), to have them killed.
Feeling even more scared than before Rori didn't have much choice but to pack a bag and run away from home. They lived on the streets for a while, getting by however they could. After a short while they managed to get enough money to pay for a bus. They didn't care where it went as long as it was away. They ended up in Baybridge. It took them a bit to figure out how the weird combination of towns worked but soon found out how Baybridge was set up.
They somehow made their way to Faircrest Woods and, well, the forests there seemed like a good place to set up. It was better than the streets at least. It was here that Rori learned to control their power better. They had to learn how to survive in forest areas. The ability to turn into a bird help - after all they could hunt as certain birds. They found they could stay in the form of a bird for days on end without losing their humanity. This also helped with hiding from other humans that may wander into the forest. It wasn't a great life, but it could have been worse.
However they did have cravings for human contact. Often they would take trips to the more central areas of Baybridge and occasionally, upon talking to locals, would get some kind of small change. They always saved this up to buy notebooks and kept up writing and drawing even when living an odd life in the forest. It was one of these trips that led to them bumping into their cousin, Max.
Rori and Max hadn't seen each other for years, however they recognised each other. It was something of a coincidence that they met again but a good one, at least for Rori. Max had just come out of the Academy Program, and was about to begin training to join RAVEN. After talking to Rori and finding out their condition Max used some money left over from her parents to buy a house in a middle-class area in Baybridge, deciding to support Rori while they worked out what they wanted to do.
That was two years ago. In the time between Rori has began to be more who they are, finally having the money to buy clothing such as binders to alleviate physical dysphoria they have. They picked up a lot of musical instruments again - an expense that annoyed Max, but she was more okay with it after Rori starting playing in public places and picking up some money here and there. Along with this they have access to technology - a phone and a laptop. The laptop is more used for writing and they have started to talk to people through the internet.
Life is better for Rori now. But still, they don't want to depend on Max forever and are looking for ways to make their own life.
Relationships
Family:
Breandan Aherne - Father
Elizabeth Aherne - Mother
Aiden Aherne - Older Brother
Sairose Aherne, Eva Aherne - Older Sisters
Conor Aherne - Younger Brother (
Felipe Diaz - Uncle (Deceased, Regeneration)
Naomi Diaz - Aunt (Deceased)
Salvador Diaz - Cousin (Regeneration)
Maxine Diaz - Cousin (Power Stealing)
Dynamics:
| Max Diaz |
| Good | Cousin / Friend | "Max is super cool. She's changed a lot, but in a good way. We get on." |
Max and Rori were close when they were younger, and this friendship has increased the past few years. Max is essentially supporting Rori and giving them a place to live. They're only getting closer now that Max is assigned to Baybridge and is permanently living in the house in West Woodlake.
| Salvador Diaz |
| Neutral | Cousin | "I don't know what to think about Salvador. He seems... cold to say the least." |
Rori was never close to Salvador, and the two don't see each other often. The most contact Rori has with him is when he visits Max (due to living in Baybridge also). However, Rori doesn't exactly dislike him.
| Wendy Lucker |
| Good | Friend | "I really like Wendy! She's the first friend I've had in a long while... and she's my age! It's great." |
Even though the main thing that unites Wendy and Rori is art Rori views Wendy as a close friend. This is maybe, just slightly, because Rori doesn't really have any other friends. To Rori it's a bit of a shock to be (seemingly) accepted both in terms of their gender and less human like features. Rori likes having someone to talk to about one her main passions, art, which is something her cousin has no interest in. Rori has also been eager to grill Wendy on what it's like going to school but hasn't quite gotten round to it yet.
| Ellen Nile |
| Mostly Good | Acquaintance | "I think Ellen seems nice, I just haven't spoken to her enough yet." |
Rori only recently met Ellen, and thought she seemed nice. Her and Wendy got on as well. Rori is always looking to get on with everyone around them. However, there was also some awkwardness in their first encounter over a photo being taken.
| Haruka Takashiro |
| Basically Good | Interesting Person | "He was really nice to me when I was a bird, and even talked to me - it was cool." |
Rori has only met Haruka when they were a bird (and didn't have the energy to change back). Even so Haruka was nice to them and it left an impression. Rori hopes to meet him again
Abilities
Power Class:
Super-system (Bestial)
Power: Bird Physiology
Rori has a few birdlike features that remain even when they are in a humanoid form. Their eyes are more birdlike than other humans. This gives them a much better vision than normal humans meaning she can see longer distances and colours in the ultraviolet spectrum just as birds do. However with this they struggle to move their eyes and often has to move their head around to look in other directions. Along with this they have light down-like feather covering a lot of their body - including along visible parts of their body like their arms and neck. This acts as an extra layer of clothes in terms of keeping them warm. They're bones are also lighter and stronger than most, like a birds, as if to allow for them to fly. However they have no way to fly as a human, so these just make her lighter than she looks. It allows her to jump higher than the normal person but she wasn't quite blessed with wings as a human.
However after the incident in Ranchester Mall there have been some changes to their bird physiology, making them even more of a bird-human hybrid. The feathers that covered most of their body have thickened greatly. Along with this they have spread, right down to their hands and up to underneath and around their chin. They have now also grown a pair of wings. Unfortunately for Rori these are rather impractical; their current total width is the length of Rori's two arms spread out. They don't show any sign of growing further (thankfully, as the first time was painful). As a result they are nowhere near large enough to allow Rori to fly. The wings allow Rori to, at most, hover a few centimetres above the ground. Along with this Rori has also grown some longer feathers at the base of their back; making a sort of tail. Rori doesn't like these changes.
Transformation
Rori can transform fully into a few forms of birds. As a bird they have all of the features of a bird and it is difficult to tell the difference from her and a bird. However she retains her intelligence and mind, so often if a bird is acting as a bird should not it is probably Rori. This comes with all the features of whatever bird she turns into. She tends to turn into the average bird for that type in terms of size, strength and speed.
Limits:
Difficulty rolling their eyes due to them being birdlike and as a result has to move their head more. their eyesight is better than normal humans but not quite as good as the best birds eyesight.
Rori is limited in the types of birds she can turn into. At the moment she can turn into a thrush (she tends to go for a robin), a kestrel, a hawk, a hummingbird, a duck and an owl. She can turn into any species from these sections. Along with this she can only make the change a few times per day unless she pushes herself.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
If they look into the far distance for too long they can strain their eyes meaning that their vision will go blurry and it is difficult for them to see anything.
Rori gets incredibly exhausted and ravenous after changing from their bird form back to their human form. This can easily be solved by eating a lot of food and a long nap. However if they don't get this they are prone to collapse without warning or faint from the fatigue.
Along with this the longer they stay in their bird form the more they takes on the characteristics of the bird. It is likely that if they remained as a bird for a prolonged period of time they will probably forget who they are and how to turn back into a human. This would mean Rori would be permanently stuck in the form of a bird.
Rori also sometimes get stuck mid-change which is incredibly painful and traumatic. It can take them hours to get out of this state. Along with this they are often left in pain after the change and feel like they have limbs that they no longer have (such as wings).
Rori's new wings (if you could call them that) cause a lot of pain to them at the moment; they are stiff and often ache, and the skin around them gets cut if Rori moves the wings too much. This may only be a temporary weakness.
Other:
Rori absolutely hates the name Roisin, and the only time they really get annoyed is when someone calls them by that name
The nickname Robin was one given to them by their cousin, Max, when they were younger due to Rori having red hair like a Robin's chest and being quite flighty/timid as a child
Rori's father is Irish, and moved over to the US as a young adult
Rori hates the wings they have got. They were okay as they were, but now they feel their even more of a bird freak.
Alice is slim and petite, standing a bare five foot two in height, and with little to her form in terms of weight. Her chest, always a source of embarrassment, is as flat as they come, and she frequently wears expensive push up bras in an attempt to make them look far more substantial than they actually are. The theme is continued elsewhere, and with her diminutive figure she could easily be mistaken for a boy at a distance.
She wore her blonde hair long in some attempt to preserve what little feminine appearance she had, but thanks to a rather heated encounter with a pyrokinetic metahuman she was forced to have what the stylist referred to as emergency hair surgery. As a result it is now cropped extremely short, and only highlights her boyish figure, much to her mortification.
Attire:
Though she tries to wear more feminine attire, her career as a RAVEN agent means that practical, hard wearing clothes are far more appropriate than dresses and skirts. In her off time however, she favours summer dresses and relaxed skirts, being extremely self-conscious about her boyish figure. Her skin is, or was, unblemished, apart from a large, vicious looking scar, still raw looking, as though fresh. The scar twists down and across her neck, interfering with her extensive tattoos, with two full sleeves that spiral and entwine across her chest and back.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
Alice is a difficult person to get a handle on, a person full of contradictions. Perhaps one of her defining traits is her faith, it doesn’t quite fit, but it is irrevocably part of her, even if she occasionally struggles with the responsibilities and beliefs that come with it. She doesn’t force her faith on others however, or at least she tries not to, as long as they don’t bother her, she won’t bother them. That said, she is particularly uncomfortable around homosexuals, though she rarely expresses actual disapproval, anyone who knows her can identify her discomfort.
Mostly she is fairly easy going, and even tends to a slightly mischievous, if repetitive sense of humour. She has a habit of teleporting into close proximity of colleagues without warning, it hardly reduces her to uproarious laughter, but it usually brings a smirk to her face. She’s usually smiling, and finds herself comfortable amidst her peers, with thick skin and the ability to easily turn the other cheek. At least about most things.
She can be self-conscious regarding her appearance, she has an undeniably boyish figure, and drawing attention to that will only embarrass and anger her. She won’t hold onto her anger for long though, and is nothing if not forgiving. She has a lot of time for people, and despite her somewhat warped sense of humour makes friends easily. Perhaps in this quality she is developing the skills of a born leader, hardly honed, but someone who could easily take command of a difficult situation.
Hobbies/Interests:
Optional
Skills/Talents:
Make-up, seriously, Alice could be a make-up artist professionally, and has a knack for applying cosmetics with a touch that makes it near invisible, while also being capable of giving someone a complete makeover at the same time. Capoeirsta, Alice is a practiced and experienced user of Capoeira, primarily for its uses in combat, though she also enjoys it’s more recreational aspects. Drinking, so she’s five foot two and weighs 90 pounds, she’ll still drink you under the table without breaking a sweat. Cop Instincts, Alice comes from a family of police officers, has been brought up with, raised with stories about the people they dealt with on their beats, about raids, about crime and punishment. She has the kind of instincts you would find on a veteran beat cop, able to tell when someone is lying, or needs her to step in and help.
Goals/Motivation
Alice is, in her heart of hearts, a cop, and sometimes that's all she wants to be, to forget all the confusion that came with her abilities, albeit not directly linked to them. Part of her just wants to keep her head down, to forget about her partner and the things that happened in New York. There is an iron core of duty in her, and she wants to make her parents proud, and maybe, one day, look back at something she's done and be able to feel proud of that too.
History/Bio:
Mom was a cop, dad was a cop, it seemed that it was just a matter of time before Alice followed in the family footsteps. At least after her brief period of rebellion when she turned eighteen, time in her life that cost her several thousand dollars and left her with an exquisite set of tattoo, back, and chest tattoos. She regrets the decision, but is still oddly proud of the art upon her skin.
Only a year later Alice was enrolled in the NYPD Academy, and true to her roots, to her heritage, she proved to be a natural, being raised a cop probably had something to do with it. She graduated with honours, and was assigned a position as a beat cop at the tender age of twenty-one, and appeared in the accident and emergency room rather soon afterwards. Quite literally. A year after beginning her new job, she popped out of thin air into the middle of the accident and emergency room of Mount Sinai. One moment there was no one there, the next a uniformed patrol officer had collapsed, blood pumping from a vicious cut in her neck.
She was fortunate, had she been anywhere else, out on the street, any further than a minute from a hospital, then she would have died. As it was she was left with an eye catching, raw looking scar, and permanent damage to her vocal cords. DOVE visited her in hospital to register her as a metahuman, and to discuss her options now that she had developed abilities. It wasn’t long before she officially left the NYPD, transferred indefinitely to RAVEN, both for training in the use of her newfound gifts, and to put them to good use in policing those that normal police forces had to leave alone.
Though certain of her police instincts had to find a new home once she had formally joined RAVEN, she showed a talent for her duties, and was often able to talk down newly developed, or unstable metas from dangerous situations, as well as judging when those situations were about to go south rapidly. She was doing well, until her relationship with her last partner took a direction she wasn’t expecting, wasn’t prepared for, and was somewhat in denial of. She immediately requested a transfer to a different city, it was expedited, and she arrived in Baybridge only three weeks ago.
Relationships
Family:
Father - Sean Barrett Mother - Michelle Barrett
Dynamics:
| Cindy Keagan |
| Good | Friend | "Quote Here." |
Alice has not been herself since transferring to Baybridge, thanks, in part, to the events that led to her transfer. She's kept up her normal appearances but occasionally a darker mood shines through, even when she's with co-workers and friends. She's beginning to feel better, in part thanks to the efforts of Cindy to socialise with her.
| Maxine Diaz |
| Neutral | Co-worker | "Quote Here." |
Alice hasn't had time to get to know Maxine yet, she's only recently been transferred to Baybridge, so has mostly been preoccupied with induction, briefing, debriefing, and the myriad amounts of paperwork that come with dropping your life and moving to a new city at a moment's notice. She has picked up that Cindy has some misgivings about the RAVEN, though not due to Cindy's behaviour around Max in professional environments.
Abilities
Power Class:
Other
Power:
Alice has the ability to quite literally break the laws of physics, to bend the very fabric of space itself. Put simply, Alice can traverse great distances in the blink of an eye, or, in laymans terms, teleport. Effectively, Alice moves from one place to another without bothering to cross the space in between. This ability can displace liquids and gasses upon travel, though not solids. This ability has a potentially long range, and Alice can jump up to two miles at a time. Multiple short range jumps can be accomplished extremely rapidly and with pin point precision in line of sight.
Limits:
Alice can carry people with her, but only a maximum of two, any more than that and any attempt to jump would likely fail and end in a crippling migraine for Alice. Jumping with new passengers can also lead to a strong sense of nausea for the passengers, even vomit if they are particularly unaccustomed to it. They can grow used to this sensation after enough time and experience of it. Also, although Alice can jump by herself with ease, adding even one passenger can rapidly tire her out. Also, although she can displace gas and liquid when teleporting, solids are not nearly as accommodating, and if Alice does not already know an area well she could end up reappearing halfway into a wall, and the wall would win. Her current maximum range is two miles, but that would push her to her limits, exhausting her and potentially even making her throw up.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
Jumping takes a lot out of Alice, she is quite literally generating the energy required to leap across space in an instant, and she therefore burns energy and calories at an accelerated rate, and consumes copious amounts of greasy and fattening foods, without it having the slightest effect on her figure. She needs to consume somewhere in the region of twelve to fifteen thousand calories a day, more if it’s particularly strenuous. Her ability isn’t silent; displacing such a large amount of air makes a distinctive, solid, thump of suddenly compressed air. Long distance jumps take more out of her, with reaching her maximum range causing migraines, blackouts, and often vomiting. She also needs to be familiar with the area she is jumping to if it is long distance or a blind jump. She may be able to teleport with pinpoint accuracy if she can see her target, but teleporting to something she can’t see can easily end with her buried up to her waist in the earth or halfway through a wall.
She also maintains whatever momentum she has when she teleports, so if she falls off a building, she’d have to react pretty quickly in order to catch herself. Teleporting once she has acquired enough speed will still leave her travelling fast enough to leave her a smear on the pavement.
Other:
Alice was raised a strict Catholic, carries a Rosary and visits Church every Sunday.
She has some internalised homophobic views, partly thanks to her extremely strict Roman Catholic upbringing, and partly thanks to her own insecurities and fears about her own sexuality.
Alice suffered permanent damage to her vocal cords when she was attacked, and sounds perpetually hoarse, she also struggles to raise her voice above the volume of normal speech.
Max is quite short, coming from her mother's side of the family and a trait shared by her cousin Rori. However she is slightly taller, around 5'3", probably due to the fact that her father was rather tall. Her height is something that quite often annoys her due to her wanting to come across as more intimidating. However she does use it to her advantage in terms of looking more harmless than she actually is.
Max is well built with an obviously trained body. She gained fitness when she went through the Academy Program, and this was just added to by the two years of training with RAVEN. She is visible strong with lean muscle that she uses to her advantage in combat. She keeps up this fitness. While her muscles are well defined she hasn't quite gotten to the point of having, say, a six pack. Aside from her physical fitness her figure is somewhat... straight. She has a general, and annoying, lack of curves. She definitely doesn't look like a boy but she's hardly feminine. Even though her generally not curvy body annoys her she manages to pull it off. She's certainly attractive, in a way.
Max's hair, slightly red at the tips from the last time it was dyed, is kept short and in an undercut style. The left hand side is practically shaved with the rest swept over to the right side. This often covers her eyes and falls to her chin. At the back her hair goes just to the bottom of the nape of her neck. Her eyes are slightly turned up and narrow and set in an oval shape face. This has soft lines, contrasted by the often harsh expression she wears. Her skin tone is an olive tanned due to her Latin American heritage. She has thick, dark eyebrows and medium sized lips. Her facial features, overall, are a lot more feminine than her body is. However she is rarely found wearing makeup and when she does it tend to be dark.
She has quite a few visible scars all over her body. These are from fights when she was in a gang, and from training to join RAVEN.
Attire:
Max wears RAVEN issue armour when required to. When she is not in armour she wears more casual clothes, a mix of red and black with white and other dark colours sometimes thrown in. She often goes for a combination of ripped jeans, tank tops, leather jackets and boots.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
Max has a slightly rough personality. While she isn't as bad as she used to be, she isn't really a model citizen. She once indulged in a life of crime, drugs and gangs. While she's moved on from there she's never been the most morally perfect person. But still, she's good enough to have joined RAVEN.
One thing Max has never managed to get over is her anger issues. As a young child she would often just explode, as she put it, into a rage and attack anyone she was angry at. While it's not as bad at this she still often cannot think clearly when angry and is likely to say things she will regret. And it does, unfortunately, still sometimes come down to physical violence. This isn't helped by the fact that Max can be a violent person, a thing she has managed to curb back on more when she shouldn't actually be fighting someone. She's trying to work on her anger issues, she really is, but is struggling to get anywhere.
Max is also a somewhat sarcastic and sharp individual. She can be cold and callous without meaning to. She isn't always aware of how what she says can hurt others feelings. However she doesn't particularly mean to be nasty. While she doesn't put up with people shit and isn't always sympathetic she isn't really not friendly. She gets on well enough with other people.
She actually gets on quite well with people. Aside from being a generally snarky bitch Max enjoys spending time with the right kind of people. She's quite good at teamwork, shown when she was in a gang and now in RAVEN. On top of this she is quite fun loving and often enjoys teasing people she is close with. She knows when something is a joke, and can take one, but can also be serious when known. She is quite flirtatious, sometimes jokingly, and isn't fussy about the gender of the person she is flirting with.
While Max isn't the easiest for others to deal with and get on with at first, she's a pretty stable friend when she gets close to others. She'll stick by those she views as friends (and family) and has absolute faith in them. She isn't judgmental. The main thing she can't really offer is emotional advice, or a listening ear, as she has a lack of patience for other people's troubles. However she can try and sometimes succeeds in helping at least slightly. A success story there is Rori, who she is actually helping out. Max does try to be helpful to others - she just isn't always very good at it.
Hobbies/Interests:
Gardening: Max doesn't like admitting it, but she really enjoys gardening. She will often keep a few plants wherever she is living. She tends to hide it because she thinks it makes her look less tough.
Technology: A hobby Max picked up while in the Academy program. She's not great at it, but she enjoys tinkering with things and trying out things like programming on computers. She's pretty bad but it's just a hobby at the moment.
Skills/Talents:
Close Combat: Max is good at hand to hand combat. This began as street fighting but she has now also been trained by RAVEN in military grade hand to hand combat. However she hasn't forgotten what she learned while a gang member, and isn't afraid to bring in dirty tactics. She has also learned various martial arts.
Weapons: Max learnt how to use various firearms during her two years training to join RAVEN. She's good like any trained person would be, but it's hardly a natural talent. She's better with physical combat and up close fighting.
Gymnastics: When she was younger Max did a lot of gymnastics, entering and winning a lot of competitions through it. She's kept this flexibility up along with her fitness and as a result can do some kinds of fancy things. She doesn't do it that often anymore, though.
Deception: Max is good at lying. It was a skill she used to hone but has stop relying on as much - her time in the Academy Program caused that. Still she falls back on lying and deception if needed.
Intelligence: Max is surprisingly intelligent. She doesn't particularly seem it, because she's done a lot of stupid things in the past and often can't see past emotions, but she's smart.
Goals/Motivation
Family: Max is trying to help Rori achieve their own goals, and is incredibly protective of them. A goal is to help Rori stand on their own two feet and get back into school. RAVEN: A main goal for Max is to do well in her work in RAVEN, hopefully moving up through ranks and gaining respect. However she's not sure how to go about this considering she's not always the best at following rules and doing the right thing.
History/Bio:
Max's parent's relationship was built off of something akin to a love story. Her father was a metahuman part of a small gang and her mother a devout Christian. She put her love for him over her religious views, and he gave up the gang life to raise a family. As a result both were somewhat ostracised from their sides of the family.
Even so Max grew up in a loving household. She was surprisingly close to her four year older brother, Sal, and the two of them spent most of their time play fighting (in a friendly way). Along with this Max spent a lot of time with her cousin, Rori (Roisin at the time), though she could tell that things were tense between her mother and her aunt.
Max always knew of the existence of metahumans due to her father and brother being registered as them. Her brother was one of the few born a metahuman with inherited powers, with the super-system power of regeneration. Max was always slightly jealous because she felt that she was normal without a power.
At the age of ten Max was forced to up and move, leaving behind her cousin that she had grown close to. She has never been sure of the exact reason but thinks it was something to do with the fact her brother and father were metahumans. They moved to Black Fall and lived here relatively happily until Max was twelve, and her brother sixteen.
The family got in a tragic car accident that resulted in the death of both Max's father and mother. Salvador survived due to his regeneration and Max seemed to survive for the same reason. It was assumed that their father suffered injuries he couldn't recover from. The two of them were sent to live with their uncle on their father's side, who left them mostly to their own devices having never wanted kids.
Max and Sal both fell into a bad crowd at this stage, though Max was mostly tagging along with her older 'cool' brother at this point. After beginning a life of crime they joined a minor metahuman gang. It was here that Max discovered the truth about her powers. She didn't have regeneration, rather she weakened another's power and temporarily gained it. This was why her father had died. The power she had made her a valuable member of the gang. It was here that she learned to fight and steal. By the age of fourteen she was regularly involved in street fights, doing drugs and participating in all sorts of gang activities. She miraculously managed to stay out of RAVEN/DOVE's radar, being completely unregistered. However her, and a few others around her age, were caught doing minor crimes and noted down by the police force due to this.
The gang Max was in only continued to make more trouble, going to the stage of killing normal people. This reached the worse point where a gang war broke out between them and another meta-human gang. While neither gang was massive it caused disruption in quite a few neighbourhoods. RAVEN agents came in to crack this down, arresting most members of both gangs.
With this Max was given two choices - go back to living with her uncle, monitored, and risk going to jail with another wrong move or take part in the Academy Program. Somewhat reluctant she chose the second. Her brother, Sal, was taken into custody for a while before being allowed to live freely but monitored when deemed 'not too dangerous.' Max managed to keep in contact with him even when shipped off to Academy 61.
Surprisingly for Max she enjoyed her time in the Academy. She made a few friends, learned how to better control the powers she had replicated and did some physical training. She changed in ways. While there were still appeals to crime she decided to turn her back on that world and try to do better. This was why when she graduated at the age of 18 she joined RAVEN.
Just before her two years of training began, while on a visit to see Sal Max bumped into her younger cousin Rori. Her cousin didn't have a place to stay so Max offered them one and bought a home in Baybridge.
Max has now completed her two years of training and is a new agent in RAVEN, posted to Baybridge.
Relationships
Family:
Felipe Diaz - Father (Deceased, Regeneration)
Naomi Diaz - Mother (Deceased)
Salvador Diaz - Older Brother (Regeneration)
Breandan Aherne - Uncle
Elizabeth Aherne - Aunt
Roisin Aherne - Cousin (Bird Transformation)
Conor Aherne - Cousin ()
Aiden, Saiorse and Eva Aherne - Cousins
Dynamics: (Relations with other characters - You don't have to put relation with family here.)
| Rori Aherne |
| Mostly good | Cousin / Friend | "I like Rori, but their always so fucking happy. And energetic... it's pretty annoying sometimes." |
Max was close to Rori when they were both young. She is now basically supporting Rori and is quite happy to do so until Rori finds a way to support themselves. However Max can find Rori annoying to be around when she just wants some peace and quiet. Max is also slightly suspicious about just how happy Rori always is, but doesn't question it too much.
| Cindy Keagan |
| Mixed | Annoying DOVE | "I tried to get on with her, but it didn't work out to well." |
When starting out in DOVE/RAVEN Max tried to get on with her co-workers, she really did. Unfortunately this didn't work out too well. Cindy is one of the people that she has come to odds with far too often, making their professional relationship rocky. It doesn't help that Cindy is often the one to criticise her when Max does something stupid (Max knows she lost control of her anger, she doesn't need someone to tell her that!). She does try act how she should around Cindy, at least.
Max hasn't talked to Alice that much since the other RAVEN only just joined at Baybridge. Max knows that Alex gets along with Cindy but tries not to let that cloud her view of her fellow Agent - after all if that was the case then she wouldn't get on with anyone within the department. From the small amount they've talked Max has gotten on with Alice - for now. She's just waiting to fuck something up between them.
| Shizuka Takashiro |
| Currently Good | Fellow RAVEN | "He hates paperwork as much as I do. It's a thing we can talk about." |
Max has only known Shizuka for a few days, and has yet to have any problems with him. They both dislike paperwork and have bonded slightly over the woe that it is. She finds him interesting enough to talk to. She's trying her hardest to get on with him, as she is most other RAVEN agents - even if it's taking effort on her part.
Abilities
Power Class:
Power (Replication)
Power:
Max has the ability to replicate the powers of others. This replication is not specific to one class, however there are some she struggles to replicate more than others. She seems to find the super-system class the easiest to replicate. She can replicate up to four powers it seems, however they each must be of a different class. So for example she could not replicate two different super-system powers. In terms of choosing whether she can replicate a power, this varies. She has gotten to the stage of control where she can pick and choose whether she replicates a power if it is of the super-system class. However not for the other classes. Any new powers she gets will replace the one in the 'slot' of its class of power, essentially replacing that one. If she does not use a power for a long time she will lose it, in a way. This means she has to use each in a reasonably regular basis.
On top of this she can only use one power at a time. Which power she can use seems to be reset dependant on her sleep - she needs to sleep a certain amount of time to change what power she is using. However there are some limits to this - she must have used the power that she is currently locked into to then change it. This means if she does not know how to use a power she will be stuck with it until she can work out how to do so.
Current Powers Replicated:
Regeneration: (Super-system Class) From her father Max has the ability to regenerate. This allows her to heal wounds that she sustains at a reasonable rate, and she can repair bones and muscle damage at a faster rate than most others. This allows her to survive things that other's wouldn't necessarily be able to.
Telekinesis: (Cerebral Class) Replicated from a member of the gang she was part of before being nabbed by NEST, this is the one that Max tends to stick in since she's reasonably comfortable with it. However it isn't that powerful. She can move one object of a medium wait (say, a chair) and two that are light (for example knives). This takes a decent amount of concentration it is obvious she is the one moving them. She can only pull and push the objects rather than changing their form, such as bending them. However she is working on getting better at this and will probably learn more the more she uses it.
Limits:
She has to have skin to skin contact to replicate someone's power. The longer she holds this contact the more powerful a version of the power she replicates.
She doesn't necessarily know what power someone has or how to use it meaning she can end up with a power completely useless to her. She doesn't have a very long time to learn how to use it either.
She can only have up to four powers, each of a different class. These are replaced by class so she only ever has a power of one class. She cannot always choose whether she replicates someone's powers or not. Along with this she can only use one at the time, and this changes after she has slept for eight hours AND used the current power she is locked into. However if she replicates a new power she switches to using the one rather the previous one.
She is also limited by the power. Regeneration wise there are only so many wounds that she can heal, and often she can only fully regenerate the smaller ones. For telekinesis she is limited to ten feet away from her, and objects of a medium weight. She needs to concentrate to do more than one small object and breaks in her concentration cause her to lose control.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
The fact that she has to have skin to skin contact can be a weakness. This leaves her vulnerable as she weakens her targets power and means she has to get close to them in the first place which is not always a viable option. This can leave her in all sorts bad situations.
She can only change power after using the one she currently has. This means if she does not know how to use a power she is stuck with it until she can figure it out.
Using powers of others is quite taxing on her body. While the powers themselves need no fuel they use up a lot of the essential nutrients she has within her body. Using the powers will cause Max to begin to both dehydrate and starve, meaning she must eat and drink a lot more than normal while using them. If she does not eat or drink she will grow weaker, her reactions slower. This will eventually push her to death by starvation/dehydration if she keeps using her power.
Along with this Max gains the weakness of whatever power she steals.
Regeneration Weaknesses: Incredibly painful to do, does not regain any lost blood ect. She cannot regenerate massive wounds meaning that any life threatening wounds would kill her. While the wound is healed her body still suffered the damage, leaving her weaker after regenerating.
Telekinesis weaknesses: Must concentrate to be able to keep using the power. If she cannot see the object she is moving she cannot move it thus it is easy to break the line of site. Tiring mentally on her and doing it for too long will cause blinding headaches and migraines, and often put her in a bad mood and make her tired.
Other:
Max is essentially keeping tabs on her brother, Sal, of her own accord since she's worried he'll return to some sort of criminal life
If there is anything Garrett is good at, it’s appearing average. He isn’t the type of guy you would spare a second look at. Standing at 6’1’’ and weighing roughly 180lbs, he is exactly what people have in mind when they think ‘starving bachelor living away from home with a crappy job’. Tall but lanky, completed with the pale complexion of a night owl and the plastic smile of someone who couldn’t care less, Garrett looks at home behind the flimsy receptionist desk of his granddad’s motel. He isn’t all skin and bones though; a childhood in the harsh neighbour of Highroller Heights did put emphasis on skills such as running and knowing when to fight back, so there is some definition to him, just not something you’d write home about. His hair is of a light golden hue, which can look almost white under certain light, and his eyes are pale blue. It is quite obvious that he is Caucasian.
Attire:
As for apparel, while his budget doesn’t allow him to be trendy, Garrett does make the effort to not look like a slob. Slobs stand out, and that is not a good thing in his book. Often, he wears simple shirts and loose jeans, along with your standard hoodie of innocuous color. However, he always pays special care to his footwear. It is rare to see him walk around in anything less than a pair high-end sneakers that is obviously worth more than anything he can scourge up in a month.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
On the outside, Garrett is the very definition of normal. He is moderately friendly, does not go out of his way to initiate conversations, but nor does he shy away from them. He keeps his opinions to himself, unless asked. He looks both ways when crossing the street. He offers smiles and nods to fellow pedestrians. He eats fries by dipping them in ketchup and not dripping said condiment all over them like some barbarian. On the whole, he goes out of his way to appear normal. Diminutive. Forgettable. Harmless.
However, in the privacy of his thoughts, he is a study in contrast. He is calculating and practical. His circumstances have made him bitter and quite cynical; he does not trust easily and almost always expects the worst out of everything and everyone. This trait makes him quite the individualist, an unpredictable and selfish bastard who only looks out for himself. In his moments of cornered desperation, he grows dangerous. Yet, it doesn’t mean Garrett is without conscience. If he can help it, he prefers not to hurt anyone. He has his own sense of honor, warped and situational as it is, but he holds on to it regardless. And despite it all, he is somewhat sentimental. While he is admittedly a bit selfish, his loyalty is fierce once gained, but so is his hatred once that trust is broken.
He has a sharp eye for details and a sharper mind to process them; he notices things about people, things they don’t even notice themselves. However, while he is ever tactful when interacting, he is quick to judge and also has the annoying tendency to put far too much faith in his observational power.
Hobbies/Interests:
He used to be an avid runner back in high school. He still does now, though it is less for sport and more for survival.
Skills/Talents:
Firearms: Garrett knows how to shoot a gun, particularly pistols. He is not a stranger to live combat either. However, it doesn’t mean he actively seek it. Quite the opposite.
Street-smart: Garrett likes to know things. Not a healthy habit, but he does, anyway. Just small things though, like if where to get those little pick-me-up pills really quick and easy, or which number to call for cheap second-hand cars with no questions asked.
Observant: People-watching is one of his favorite past times, but just because he usually has a copious amount of time to do it. It has become almost second-nature to him now, noting details and forming judgement from just a few glances.
Slippery: Life on the run has its perks. After years tucking tail between his legs, Garrett has acquired above-average stamina as well as speed. He also has an eyes for hiding spots and a talent for ducking out of sight.
Goals/Motivation
He leaves people alone, mostly. He just wants them to return the favor.
History/Bio:
Garrett didn’t have what you’d call a normal, happy childhood. He was orphaned from a very young age, though for what reason, his few remaining family members didn’t elaborate, sparing him the grisly details. All he knew was that there was a fire, and the house collapsed, meanwhile he survived thanks to a broken arm that landed him in the hospital. After the incident, he came to live his grandfather, a pensioner and proprietor of a small motel in Highroller Heights. His uncle also lived there, occupying a small room on the ground floor. At that point, life was fairly easy on him. His grandfather was rather eccentric, the years weighed heavily on both his body and his mind, so he wasn’t always coherent. His uncle, on the other hand, was rather…dodgy. He would shut himself in his room for days on end, only to come out smell faintly of gasoline. Not that the man was unkind to him, just slightly aloof.
When he was old enough, Garrett balanced between school, fun time with friends and helping out at the motel, not that he was very passionate about the first one. Schools around those parts weren’t particularly good, chocked full of delinquents and whatnots. While he wasn’t the shining beacon of justice, his granddad’s bizarre sense of honor (which basically boiled down to ‘don’t be a dick’) rubbed off on him and he did try to not get into too much trouble. He picked up a few things from them though, like the interest in firearms for once. His uncle was surprisingly accommodating and supportive of this hobby, even going as far as giving Garrett a handgun on his 18th birthday.
The peaceful days came to an end, eventually, when one day, a team of RAVEN agents busted down the door of a room at his motel and dragged a man out. It wasn’t someone he knew personally, just another drifter who paid for the roof over his head and not questions. The scene was disconcerting nonetheless, Garrett felt uneasy as they slapped a collar on the drifter and led him away like a stray dog. It affected his granddad even more. The old man was quiet as dead when the agents did their job, watching them with darkened eyes, but as soon as they were out of the door, he was almost hysteric, mumbling gibberish while dragging around a suitcase and shoving Garrett’s things inside. Even his uncle dropped the ‘cool guy’ façade and tried to restrain granddad, fearing that the dementia finally kicked in. Maybe it had, because instead of answering his uncle’s questions, the old man dropped what he was doing, shoved his uncle aside and came at Garrett with the stun gun they kept under the counter for emergency.
Garrett swatted the weapon away, naturally, but not before feeling the cold touch of metal on his neck. It didn’t hurt though, quite the opposite of it actually. The electric current was…soothing as it came into contact with his skin. And that how he and his uncle found out about his power. It only got worse from there though. His uncle didn’t take the news very well. The last words he ever said to Garrett was a snarling “Just like his father!”, before the man proceeded to disappear into his room and avoid interactions since. Between his grandfather’s paranoia and his uncle’s growing resentment, Garrett developed mixed feelings about his power. It did not help that the RAVEN scene kept playing over and over in his head. So he decided he had enough. The next day, he packed up and left. That was three months after his graduation from high school.
Life on the road hadn’t treated Garrett well. Someone was on his trail, could be the RAVEN with a gun to put him down, could be the DOVE with their collars. He wasn’t sure how or why, but he didn’t care to find out. They were slow, but steady. And more importantly, they were gaining on him. He skipped between cities, slept rough in cold alleys and did what he could to stay low. He made an art out of it. Yet, fate had seen it fit to push him into the wrong crowd sometimes, and true to his survivalist mentality, Garrett did what he needed to stay on top. Even if that meant he would get blood on his hands. Sometimes during his run, he got tangled with the Allegiance. They offered some help; nothing much, just resources and connections he could use in his run. He only accepted a small fraction of what they offered and paid for it through information and leg works. Since, the organization had offered him membership and protection, but he outright refused. He knew the price they would ask in return.
Baybridge was a last resort. It was far too crowded, far too conspicuous. And yet, it might be the place he was least expected to be. Something about trees in forests and such. Regardless, he arrived and carved out a small niche for himself in Springtown.
Relationships
Family: Garrett’s grandfather and uncle are still alive, as far as he knows. However, he does not stay in contact with them, for very good reasons.
Dynamics:
| Auri Auclair |
| Moderately Good | Employer | "Ms Auclair helped me to get this cushy job. Her intentions might not have been entirely altruistic. Regardless, I appreciate the help, and I know how to show it." |
Garrett works at one of the luxury hotels that Auri manages. He likes her enough. After all, she helped him plenty; the woman literally gave him the clothes he is wearing. She even gave him quite a position within the Society. While he does appreciate the kindness, Garrett does sometimes question its origins. Not vocally, of course, what kind of uncultured swine would do that.
Abilities
Power Class:
Elemental
Power:
Electricity Maniplulation, or more specificly, Garrett has the ability to generate, shape and manipulate electric currents. He can make it coursing through him, electrocuting anyone unfortunate enough to come into range with varying results. When needed, he can also shoot arcs of lightning from his hands, should the need arise. While he is capable of generating his own currents, he can also take in electricity through other sources, significantly increasing his strength and reflexes temporary. He often refers to this state as ‘charged’, and during these times, his eyes glow an eerie blue and his control over electricity is amplified. With this power, he can also create a magnetic field around him, allowing to either draw in or expel metal objects at will.
Limits:
His biggest limit would probably be his range. His power only extents about 2 or 3 feet from his person, and generating electricity is rather taxing. With debilitating currents strong enough to knock his foes out, he can probably stand to generate them dozens of times. But as for those strong enough to kill an adult, he will have to expend quite a sizeable amount of energy and will need direct physical contact. Therefore, he can probably do that for four or five times before stumbling into a burnt-out state. In this stage, all his energy is completely spent and he will lose access to his power in a couple of hours or even a day, depending on the severity of his exhaustion. He can recover quicker by recharging at a power source. However, this process is lengthy and during such time, he is often rendered lethargic.
One more thing to note about his power is that it comes in quick, devastating burst. Garrett finds continuous usage, like maintaining a magnetic field constantly, extremely tiring. It causes his body to overheat and he will be forced to take a break around every fifteen minutes, or risk reaching his burnt-out stage prematurely.
His magnetic field is fairly weak as well. While it allows him limited control over metal objects, its potency varies depending on the type of metal and he can only affect small or relatively light objects (forks and keychains and toasters). Heavier and bigger objects will instead either drawing him to or propelling him away from them, and not always in the direction or with the speed he wants them to. Furthermore, this ability is not selective. He has no control over what he will attract or repel. Sometimes, when he tried to grab the keys from the counter, the toaster also came loose and hit him on the head. Theoretically, he can also use this ability to affect the paths of projectiles such as bullets, but that will require complete concentration and an immense amount of energy.
In his ‘charged’ state, he is indeed stronger, faster and has access to a greater reservoir of energy, depending on how much he charged. However, there are also drawbacks. Greater charges will make him overheat faster and will force him to take frequent breaks, while weaker charges aren’t as potent. Naturally, it also takes time for him to charge up, usually from 5 minutes to a couple of hours using a common electricity outlet. During his charging time, he is also quite vulnerable, as the charging process will induce the same lethargic effects mentioned above. Stronger voltage will result in faster and stronger charge. Add lightning for drastic effects.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
Water is the bane of his existence. Sure, normally, he can be just fine around water. But when using his power, contact with water will cause his power to haywire, dampening his ability and causing him to lose control. In his ‘charged’ state, contact with water will cause him to lose all his accumulated energy in a devastating and painful blast that will often leave him unconscious.
One more thing to note that his power is a danger to himself. While he is immune the adverse effects of electricity, he still gets burn whenever he attempts to manipulate it. The burn will start from the tips of his fingers, then slowly crawls upward as he channels more and more energy. The speed and severity of the burns all depends on the strength of the current he channels, so there are certain limits Garrett has never crossed. Note that Garrett will only experience this effect when he directly channel electricity. It does not apply to when he charges up or when he idles in his charged state.
Other:
If he goes for too long without using his power, he will get restless. He is unsure if it is a part of his power or a psychological condition. Regardless, it vexes him. Similarly, his charged state is something he would describe as a violent, dangerous and absolutely exhilarating high. He actually enjoys it so much that he is unwilling to give up his power, despite all the hassles it brings him.
The veins in his arms also glow blue when he uses his power, its intensity increases with the output of his power. However, as he grows closer to his burnt out stage, it starts to turn yellow, then red, before finally returning to normal.
None. Harmon considers the Microcosm to be his home now.
Appearance
Hair Color:
N/A
Eye Color:
N/A
Ethnicity:
N/A
Physical Appearance:
As he is now, Harmon is a not the picture of perfect health. He's lacking in the muscle department and a multitude of his bones can be seen to bulge from under his pale skin - ribs, limbs, spine, so on. This isn't to say he actually is unhealthy, as this is his natural bodily appearance. It's pretty much impossible for him to put on weight as his internal systems are too constrained for it - a stapled stomach without the surgery. Though he looks fragile, he can still stand and take a decent hit, but anything more will either break him or kill him outright. Aside from all that is the much less human-looking part of him - his head. Harmon lacks eyeballs and eye sockets. He also lacks ears and a nose, but he does possess the appropriate cavities to serve their respective functions, if only at a lesser effectiveness than most humans'. His lips are somewhat cracked, though this doesn't provide any discomfort. And the most striking feature of all - the mess of pseudo-metallic shards jutting from Harmon's head. These are a key part of his physiology, and they play into the full extent of his powers. More on that further down.
Attire:
Harmon's most common outfit consists of a sleeveless white hoodie, a gray tank top underneath it, olive cargo shorts, and pair of brown sandals. He doesn't change out of the set very often, except when he gets it washed. Then he'll just use whatever's available from his very meager collection of clothing, of which he does not own many articles of.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
Harmon used to be something of a wallflower. Did little speaking with others, always hanging in the very back, never presenting or asserting himself. This has changed over the years, all for the better. Through a myriad of events and relationships formed throughout his life, he's come to be much more open and friendly with people. Not to the point that he'll walk up to anyone and start chatting away, but still. He possesses something of a stutter, and his voice remains relatively weak, but not as much as it was. He is kind to people, he's honest, and he takes any form of relationship to heart. He always feels uneasy when someone is upset with, or angry at him, and he'll do his best to remedy the situation, always. But friends of his will find him to be a happy soul to have around, under a plethora of circumstances.
Hobbies/Interests:
Neither a hobby or interest really, Harmon is prone to collecting batteries. This is more of a habit he has failed to break since years ago, as he had to do it to keep his only camera at the time functional. Nowadays, he has more than enough, but he'll still pocket any strays he finds.
Skills/Talents:
Harmon is very, very skilled with the assembly, disassembly, repair, and maintenance of a multitude of electronic devices. If you have a broken phone, or a TV remote, or even a whole TV, or anything at all really, then you can be certain he can get it running again.
Goals/Motivation
Truth be told, Harmon has never really desired to amount to anything major in life. No lucrative careers, no intimate relationships, nothing. All he really wants is to survive and be with friends.
History/Bio:
Harmon Rottlage was born on June 16, 1997, in the secluded Ivory Deer Community located near Black Fall, Pennsylvania. The IDC was a place meant for meta-humans of a physically unseemly nature - not just the ones with naturally elaborate markings on their bodies or pseudo-bestial features, but the kind who were absolutely abhorred in public and often branded monstrosities, even by other meta-humans. It was formed during an older time when prejudices were more abound, and during Harmon's years it had become more of a private retirement home than anything. The circumstances of Harmon's birth remain muddled in obscurity to this day, as his mother Marnene died during childbirth, and his father Harris was exiled from the Ivory Deer Community for reasons unknown, when Harmon was just days old.
Though rough at times, Harmon managed to live a mostly quiet, easygoing childhood. The other residents of Ivory Deer treated him better than Harris would have, or so they claimed. Harmon simply went along with whatever they said, being very meager and impressionable at the time. They instilled within him some very conflicting prospects, mainly between being kind and open to humans and "more fortunate metas", and on the other end of the spectrum, outright hating them and living in solitude. As Harmon grew older, the lot of these attempted teachings just gave him headaches. When he reached his teenage years, he decided he was going to figure things out for himself. He quietly sneaked away one night and went out into the city of Black Fall. There, he experienced quite a few events that... well, they're a more muddled part of his history. Skipping ahead, he ended up deciding to attend the prestigious Academy 218, at the recommendation of a certain NEST agent. He was apprehensive, but in the end, he overcame his inhibitions and took the plunge.
Harmon's school years were a story all on their own. He experienced friendship, danger, betrayal, a bunch of sordid things really. Before too long, he'd worked up a suitable education, and he'd come to assume full control of his powers - at least, within his differing biological limitations allowing. After all was said and done, he graduated, and returned to the Ivory Deer Community with the goal of convincing the other residents that, honestly, life on the outside was just fine for folks like them. That they didn't need to stay cooped up in a forested mansion all their lives. But oh, how reality bit back at him.
The Verthaven disaster came when Harmon was eighteen. The hostility that followed suit quickly extended to his caste of meta-humans in particular, and the Ivory Deer Community quickly became targeted by quite a few unruly groups and individuals. The following months were nothing but prosecution, vandalism, stalking, and the occasional stint of arson. For most of the residents, it was just too much. Many died, and it just beat Harmon's poor soul into the dirt. Time went on, and things only seemed to get worse. But when it all seemed to hit rock bottom, one fine young man came along and freed the IDC from its troubles. Archie Davis was just beginning to formulate his plan to save as many meta-humans as he could during the time he was in Black Fall, and he held much respect for the residents of Ivory Deer. At his behest, those who were still alive took shelter within the Microcosm - and just in time as well, for not even a day later, their home was burned to the ground. As for Harmon himself, he and Archie quickly bonded over the incident, and ever since then, the two have been great friends.
Seven years went by, and Harmon was present within the Microcosm for all of them. He watched Archie rescue meta-humans all along his traveling westward, and even aided him in the endeavor every now and then. Time has taken its toll, however, and Harmon is one of the very few remnants of the Ivory Deer Community still around today. Most of the rest have either died of old age or biological difficulties, or they left the Microcosm for their own reasons. But Harmon stuck around, and he thinks he's come out a better person for it.
| Good | Friend | "A good friend, a-and a good person." |
During the aftermath of the Verthaven disaster, Harmon wasn't present, but still very much subject to the repercussions that followed in its wake. At a very dire interval of his life, he and many others were saved by Archie, and was one of the few who went a little further and became part of his inner circle. The two get along well, finding common ground in the matters of their physical appearances. They hang out on most occasions, and they always manage to have a good time, mostly of Archie's doing - Harmon isn't the best with ideas for activities.
Abilities
Power Class:
Cerebral (Extra-Sensory)
Power:
Harmon possesses the abilities of a technopath, though his in particular differ much from the norm. He can directly control any sort of electronic device and apply a variety of uses in all of them. For example, as he lacks eyes, he can use any functional camera to simulate vision from its point of view. He can utilize any device from a range without manually operating, access internal system databases, and even perform more covert and defensive actions, such as disrupting camera feeds and disabling tools of pacification, like tasers and stun batons. It all plays into his biology - specifically, the shards protruding from the crown of his head. These shards are bio-metallic, and operate on a procedural growth. Harmon's powers increase in range, effectiveness, and efficiency the longer the shards get. Freshly plucked or shaved, Harmon won't be able to do so much as see out of a camera in his hands. But as time goes on, he can see more clearly, interact with multiple devices at once, and other benefits.
Limits:
As stated, the range of Harmon's ability to interact with any devices is stapled to the rate of growth of his shards. Mathematically speaking, it increases by around a couple yards per day, two yards per collective inch of all shards, though this rate is prone to change depending on any individual shard's condition - in-growth, for example. And that's just as painful for Harmon as it is detrimental to his abilities. Additionally, Harmon cannot naturally supply energy to anything he wants to interact with - if a camera's out of power, it's essentially a brick to him.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
The shards' growth rate is, for the most part, easy for Harmon to tolerate and manage. However, if enough time is allowed to pass and the shards become too unruly - about a foot and a half each, roughly - then Harmon will begin to suffer from migraines, and they will only intensify if the shards are left untended too. In this state he loses control of his powers, and any electronic system or device in his effective vicinity will become inoperable.
Other than Harmon's own biological weaknesses, he is very vulnerable to (and fearful of) two particular elements - electricity, and magnetism. Bio-metallic shards running directly from his brain means any level of a shock to them will almost certainly kill him. Magnetism is not as lethal, but still very effective at dampening Harmon's abilities. In a close enough proximity, and depending on their level of power, magnets will render Harmon unable to interact with any devices, and also plague him with headaches of varying intensity.
Lihn is a hardly a tall woman, however she is above the average for her home country. She is somewhat unassuming looking and the kind of person that doesn't stand out. She blends in easily to the crowd. Pure Vietnamese, it is obvious from first appearances that she is from an eastern country.
Lihn's dark hair is straight and long, falling past her mid back. While she tends to prefer to keep it loose she will tie it back if it is more practical. It frames a reasonably wide, slightly round face. Her eyes are large, a warm brown, and almond shaped. She has a flat, and broad nose, above thin lips. Her skin tone is a relatively dark yellowish brown colour, indicating that she is from the more Southern areas of Vietnam rather than the north.
Lihn has a relatively thin, but fit, body frame. She enjoys participating in sports but has never gotten to the point of properly building up muscles. She is fitter than people who do not exercise but it hasn't filled out her rather petite frame. She has subtle curves, noticeable if enhanced by clothing but hardly anything to brag about. It adds to her more average looks. She generally looks feminine but is hardly the most attractive person around. She's not bad looking but nor is she noticeably good looking.
Attire:
Lihn's attire greatly varies. When planning on doing some running or something more physical she will wear clothing made for when doing sports. She does tend to dress quite nicely, in most cases wearing jeans and a nice shirt. She does also enjoy wearing skirts and dresses and will do so regularly. More rarely, an only in formal settings, Lihn will wear the more traditional Vietnamese dress - a light blue Ao Dai.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
Lihn is a calm, people oriented person. Her personality is far from a force of nature. She prefers to be subtle and how she acts is very similar to how she appears - not immediately noticeable. She is kind hearted and will take her time to listen to others. She is very good with children, having a very close relationship with her own daughter. She enjoys time in the company of others but rarely is one to dictate the conversation. She prefers to listen and go along with the flow.
However, just because Lihn tends to be relaxed and follow along with others doesn't mean that she is a pushover. She has something of a no nonsense attitude. If she knows that someone is making up excuses she will, in general, not tolerate it. She is not cruel in the way that she gets this across, however. Even though she doesn't accept excuses and believes everyone should take responsibility for their actions she is gentle in her application of these beliefs. Again, she is not pushy but nor is she easily forced into things herself.
Lihn has a deep understanding of human emotion, coming from both her powers and her training in psychology. She can easily read other's emotions without having to activate her empathy, from the way they speak and subtle differences in expressions. She knows how to speak in different situations, how to calm someone down who is distraught and how to help someone feel better.
Lihn is also quite a sturdy person emotionally. She has had to build up a certain resistance to being moved by others emotions and as a result is unlikely to panic when someone gets overly angry or to be intimidated when threatened. However with this emotional detachment comes an air of aloofness, no matter how kind and socially aware she is.
Hobbies/Interests:
Running: Lihn was quite sporty in her youth, and still goes out on runs when she has time.
Sewing: Though at a young age Lihn disliked more 'girly' activities she has in recent years picked up an interest in sewing. She does this relatively regularly, often when relaxing at home, and has made some nice clothing.
Reading: Lihn enjoys reading, both fictional and non-fictional. Her main reading interest is in fantasy, sci-fi and dystopian in terms of fiction. For non-fiction she reads a lot of psychology based books.
Human Brain: Lihn has an interest on how the brain works, especially the mental aspects of this. Her interest is even more pronounced in terms of metahumans - as to whether there are brain differences. She also has a good interest in how emotions work and affect the brain.
Skills/Talents:
Psychology: Lihn has a degree in psychology, and as a result knows a good amount about the human brain. She took interest in metahuman aspects as well but was not interested in joining organisations such as DOVE.
Children: Lihn is also quite good with children, something that made her consider going into teaching. She is patient enough with them and seems to know the right thing to do to quieten a baby or keep a child happy.
Sports: At a younger age Lihn was good at, and enjoyed, sports. She still does but she doesn't participate in them much anymore. Are main sports were badminton, and running.
People: Lihn just generally has good people schools, finding it easy to talk with people and help them with their problems. People find her easy to trust and she is more than willing to lend a listening ear.
Goals/Motivation
Family: Lihn is motivated to protect the small family she has. She loves her young daughter dearly, and is quite close to her half-brother. She would do a lot to make sure they are safe.
Knowledge: Lihn has a long term goal to gain more knowledge on metahumans, especially in relation to mental states and whether their brains work. She doesn't have much access to information out with of herself and her metahuman family.
History/Bio:
Lihn was born in South Vietnam to a farmer and his wife. They were not particularly well off, but they were not poor - her father was a farmer by choice, having left his family in the city. They had a small farm and mostly prospered off the fact that their animals were better than all others. Unknown to Lihn at the time this was due to her father's metahuman abilities in relation to animals.
Lihn was five when her own powers developed. She began to sense the emotions of all the humans around her, unable to keep it out and constantly bedridden due to migraines caused by this. Unfortunately for the family the small community they lived in was not particularly friendly to metahumans and found out about what was afflicting Lihn. It turned out her mother also did know of her father's powers and shared very similar views to the other people in the community. Lihn and her father were forced to run. With money saved up the two of them managed to immigrate to America. It was difficult, but eventually they were allowed to settle down and make a new life with the decision to get full citizenship as soon as possible.
The city they chose to live in was Verthaven. Here her father met another woman, and within a year and a half of living in America the two were married. Another year a half and along came Lihn's younger half brother, Kei. The eight year age gap made it difficult for Lihn to see eye to eye with her younger brother. However there was no jealousy from Lihn's side - she was more than happy to have a new family.
Lihn left her family to study psychology at college in a difference city when she graduated highschool at 18. By now she was a full American citizen, speaking English as well as her birth language of Vietnamese. She kept in contact with her family while there, and occasionally they would visit. During this time period she got slightly closer to her brother - he was becoming slightly more mature.
After graduating, just turned twenty two, Lihn moved to Baybridge to try and find a job. Upon moving into a small flat her brother decided to visit to, essentially, test out her new home and spend some time away from parents who were getting on his nerves.
Kei never went back to live with his parents. It was lucky he was staying with Lihn, as his parent's tragically died in the Verthaven Disaster - two among many. It was a difficult time for both. Lihn was suddenly given the responsibility of looking after her then fourteen year old brother. A series of slightly bad decisions on her part, nights out more drunk than she should be, ended up with her pregnant with the child of an unknown father.
It was enough of a shock for Lihn to return to her responsible self. With a child on the way she only worked harder at her job, becoming a well respected therapist for her age. She earned enough money to move out of the more shoddy Springtown and into a better area. Her daughter, Thanh, was born on time and healthy.
In the last six years life has been more normal for Lihn. She has managed to juggle raising a child, working as a therapist and making sure her lazy half-brother does more than just lying about and is planning to continue doing so.
Relationships
Family:
Mai Cao (Phan) - Mother Dinh Phan - Father (Deceased, Animal Empathy) Xuân Phan - Half-brother Thanh Phan - Daughter
Viên Phan - Grandfather Qui Phan - Grandmother (deceased)
Phoung Lý (Phan) - Aunt Giang Lý, Qui Lý, Tuyên Lý, Mihn Lý- Cousins
Tien Cao - Half-sister
Dynamics:
| Kei Phan |
| Good | Younger Half-Brother | "Kei and I get on, I just wish he spent more time outside and with people." |
Lihn and Kei got off to a rocky start when younger, but after their father (and Kei's mother) the two have gotten closer as Kei started permanently living with his older sister. They don't always see eye to eye and have their fights, but it's a good enough relationship between the two.
| Lihua Zhao |
| Good | Client | "Lihua and I have some similarities. I'm hoping that will help me help her." |
Lihn is Lihua's neighbour and current therapist. They are friendly with each other and Lihn finds that she gets on quite well with Lihua. Still, sometimes she finds it difficult as Lihua's therapist - there is only so much she can do to help, and she can tell that it isn't always working.
Abilities
Power Class:
Cerebral (Domination)
Power: Empathy
Reading Emotions:
Lihn can read the emotions of others. How much information she gets depends on how hard she concentrates. If an emotion is very strong it is easier to figure out, if it is weak it is more difficult. She can often get a basic idea of the emotions of all those around her however has to concentrate more to get the full picture. Certain emotions are more difficult to sense, such as obscure and very specific emotions. Easy emotions to read are happiness and anger.
Changing Emotions:
Lihn can subtly change the emotions of people near her. She can effect up to five people, however the change will be less than if just concentrating on one person. The change is subtle and unnoticeable. She essentially takes an emotion than the target is already feeling and increases or decreases the intensity with which they feel it. For example if someone is angry she could reduce this anger slightly, or increase it. This can achieve a variety of effects. She can use it to help people feel, in a way, more confident. However it is quite limited in what it can do.
Limits:
Lihn can only change and read the emotions of those in her immediate area. She can, roughly, read the emotions of those in a twenty foot radius around her and change them of those in a ten foot radius around her. Lihn must concentrate to change emotions, so any distractions will stop it. The same can be said for reading specific emotions. Lihn's ability to read emotions is technically never turned off. However she has gotten to the level of control where the bombardment of stronger emotions is just like a background noise in her head. However in stressful situations she is likely to be overwhelmed by something like this.
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:
Lihn suffers from severe, often blinding, migraines if she reads emotions for too long. This occurs from her brain essentially being overwhelmed by the different emotions of people. These often cause her to be bedridden for long periods of time. Due to her ability to read emotions always being 'on' incredibly strong emotions around her can be crippling to her mind. They often overwhelm her thoughts meaning she cannot coherently speak or even hear what other people say. This can lead to migraines caused when also actively increasing her ability.
Along migraines overwhelming emotions can also have an effect on her emotional state. This often leads to mental breakdowns on Lihn's part, or feeling a variety of emotions. There have been a few times when she has been overwhelmed by other's anger resulting in her resorting to an angry violence.
It is difficult to control her ability in incredibly busy places often resulting in too many emotions being registered in her brain at once. This can very negatively affect how she reacts socially and can even physically weaken her.
Other:
Lihn is fluent in English and Vietnamese, but hardly has a talent for other languages
Lihn's choice to become a therapist when she is an empath is interesting, due to her essentially putting herself in situations where she will be around people feeling strong emotions.
