STATUS:
Loved Xenoblade 3, and I just got done with Astral Chain my friend lent me. Monster Hunter Stories 2 is next, and so far I'm liking it!
2 yrs ago
Feeling the weight of Maple King's hand upon her shoulder made her heart jump, her grin growing wider. It was the same weight her grandpas' hands would have when they did the gesture. As if she couldn't be endeared toward him any more than she already had been! She had half a mind to request to be transferred to his class after school that day! No, she couldn't do that to Mr. Hayes. In fact, it was probably better for her to have an educator that didn't act like her grandpas. It would make her more well-rounded as a person.
"Alright, here's the training. Every pair will...face one another in duel!
Oh....
When Gabby had volunteered to team up with Momo, it had been on the assumption that there would be two teams, and she would be fighting beside Momo and others against whoever was on the opposite team. Instead it seemed she had volunteered to be Momo's opponent in a series of simultaneous one-on-one duels. That was...not the bonding experience she had been hoping to have with her new friend.
Frowning, Gabby looked to Momo, who...seemed more than excited at the prospect, which seemed to be her default state. ...I should have her attitude. This is just like learning lucha libre with my grandfathers, after all! Finding herself imbued by Momo's infectious energy, Gabby joined Momo away from the other students, smiling back at her.
"If dancing is what you wish to see, then dancing is what you shall receive!"
And dance she did. She raised her arms in the air and kicked off her sandals, leaving her barefoot in grey track pants and a black tank top with a vertical green stripe on the left side of the chest. She put her right foot forward and rocked her hips, eyes locked on Momo, then repeated the motion with her left foot forward. A few repetitions of that would see Gabriella move within 8 feet of Momo, at which point Gabby would twirl around while leaping up in the air, throwing her huge body toward Momo while tilting her body sideways. Her right leg came up and over as she came down, attempting to hit Momo with a powerful leg drop that would leave Gabby prone on the gym floor.
The first person to take a guess at her quirk was another newcomer like herself, having arrived just after her entrance. She couldn't deny she was amused by his demeanour, even if his visual aesthetic was a little too close to her own for her liking - what with the elegant-looking costume and emphasis on blacks and whites. Kind of made her feel like she stood out less. Though she found herself able to forgive him as he voiced his guess, elliciting a laugh from her in response. Oh, if only being goth had been her quirk, her life would have been much different. Probably better in a lot of ways. Although she imagined her classmates through school would have still given her the same amount of "creepy girl" comments.
She paid attention as the group's leader, Noxious, outlined the job they'd be doing - breaking another member of the League out of a prison transfer bus. Okay, should be a quick job. Noxious appointed Anarchy Red as their leader for the mission. No reason to complain about that, either.
Following were more comments directed at her from Sharkman and Corvus. The former complimented her "threads", making Molly quirk her brow as she smiled toward him. Something about the way he said it made her feel like he wasn't just talking about her outfit. The latter provided a genuine guess at her quirk, and he was as accurate as he could be given how much information she'd given about herself.
"You're right on the money, sir Corvus. Though it doesn't look like I have time to expound the details to you," Molly replied, looking around at the others. Given how few details Anarchy Red had given about how she wanted to handle the mission, it looked like they'd be making their way shortly. But for the moment, she had opened the floor to questions. Although it looked like Sharkman had taken that to include suggestions as well, suggesting he be dropped off seperately. "If I may make a suggestion as well, how about using me as a crane? If I hang from the helicopter, the pilot would only have to swing low once the prison convoy has been stopped and Animus is in the open, and I could snatch them right up for us, allowing a quick in-and-out."
Name: Brunhilde Braun Age: 16 Sex: Female Phenotype: Faunus (Feline) Appearance: Stands at 5'4". Has long hair reaching her mid-back with bangs cut low to her brow, colored a healthy shade of brown. Eyes are round and lively, a shade or two darker brown than her hair. Her skin is a fair caucasian tone, with some tan depending on her sun exposure. Her body has a cat's tail, fur coloured the same shade of brown as her hair. Her hunting outfit consists of a forest green cloth draped over her shoulders, covering a plain brown T-shirt that leaves her arrms and hands bare, paired with forest green shorts that reach the top of her knees. Around her neck is a string of claws and teeth from various (forest animals/Grimm), and her feet are protected by a pair of brown combat boots. Her shorts have pouches for food, a canteen for water, and a holstered survival knife attatched to the belt.
Casual wear also typically involves similar shades of brown and green, usually long-sleeve shirts and jeans or shorts.
Nationality: Valean Weapon: Jormungandr
A variable weapon with three distinct modes: Guitar, Axe, and Sword-and-Shield. Guitar mode is its default state, the form it takes when not on a hunt. Fully functional as an electric guitar with a built in speaker/amp. Coloured in camo pattern matching the forest green and brown of her outfit, along with some black spots. The shape is the standard curved shape most electric guitars have.
In Sword-and-Shield mode, the body and the neck of the guitar separate, the strings retracting into a spool located on the body. A single-edged blade is revealed on the neck during the split, as well as a white vial located on the blunt side, just above the guard. The body splits into sections and produces blades on the top and bottom, and the body strap is pulled tight to become an arm strap. The sword is gripped in the left hand, and the shield in the right, turned so that the slot for the neck is pointed upward and the blades are on the sides. In this mode, Brunhilde can perform a versatile combination of offense and defense, using her natural affinity for dance and rhythm to flow seamlessly between the two. In addition, the vial located on the blade has the ability to store kinetic enery created by landing blows against objects with the blade. This kinetic energy can then be transferred to the shield, which has five vials located inside of it in total. This energy can be used in different ways depending on the mode Jormungandr is in; in Sword-and-Shield mode, the energy can be discharged and manipulated by Brunhilde's Semblance into concussive blasts in reaction to incoming attacks hitting her the shield, blowing away and potentially damaging her attacker.
In Axe mode, the sword reconnects with the shield, which turns 180 degrees on an axis located on a shaft within the guitar body, giving it extra reach and turning the weapon into a large double-bladed axe. In this mode, Brunhilde can leverage the weight on the far end of the shaft for wide, destructive attacks, though she becomes much more open to taking hits as well. In addition, any kinetic energy stored in the axe head's vials can be discharged and controlled by Brunhilde's Semblance, allowing her to create short-range concussive blasts concentrated at the point of impact of her axe's swing, whose strength depends on the number of vials worth of energy discharged at one time. Finally, the axe head can also be spun on the axis within the shaft, creating a buzz-saw effect, though overuse of this feature will cause the weapon to overheat, resulting in Brunhilde losing access to the kinetic energy manipulating properties of Jormungandr. At most, the axe head can spin for about six consecutive seconds before overheating.
Once the body of the guitar has kinetic energy built up, the Guitar mode gains a new feature as well; playing music will discharge the stored up energy, which can be used to form small barriers or fire weak, medium-range sonic projectiles.
Semblance: Brunhilde's Semblance allows her to manipulate kinetic energy in the air. However, she cannot create it using her Semblance, so she must rely on outside sources to make her Semblance act upon. This usually ends up being sound waves, which she can make louder, quieter, a different pitch, or even intense in vibration. However, thanks to her weapon, she can use it to create short-range concussive blasts using the kinetic energy her weapon is able to discharge. Aura Color: Brown Emblem: An electric guitar with a curved cat's tail where the neck would normally be. Personality: To people she's not familiar with, Brunhilde is the epitome of a wallflower. Shy, meek, and usually fading into the background. She'll avoid confrontation, keep her opinions to herself, and generally avoid engaging with people unless they interest her in some way, typically by displaying musical talent or an appreciation for music if they can't make it themselves. Even for someone unable to speak, she's quiet.
To those who she chooses to become familiar with, or go out of their way to interact with her, she's the loudest mute they will ever have the pleasure of knowing. Bombastic and spontaneous, with a flair for drama and performance, Brunhilde loves to have the attention of people she knows she can trust. She's capable of having long discussions about shared interests and her strong opinions via a text application on her scroll, And even without her scroll she's expressive enough in face and body that she usually has little problem communicating her thoughts and feelings to those who pay enough attention to listen.
Background: Brunhilde's life has been, for the most part, relatively uneventful. The biggest thing that shook the status quo of her life was when her parents made the decision to move from Vale to Vacuo to avoid the inevitable crisis that would result from the building tensions due to the actions of the White Fang in that kingdom. Given that both her parents are accomplished hunters, with her father enjoying wilderness survival as a hobby on top of that, there was little question that they'd be able to face the harshness of Vacuo's desert and find refuge from the unpredictable political dangers in the much more manageble dangers found therein.
Brunhilde has naturally developed a variety of talents thanks to the time spent with her parents, having inherited their skill in hunting Grimm, her father's wilderness survival knowledge, and her mothers' musical aptitude. Her overall lack of a social life with other children - caused by the combination of her lack of functioning vocal chords with her parents' enjoyment on the outskirts of civilization rather than within cities - has led to her overall shyness in social climates. Likes: Rock and roll, metal, jazz, techno, polka Dislikes: People who are loud to the point of being inconsiderate, People who are as quiet as she is Favors:
Survival Skills: Brunhilde's training at previous smaller academies involved suriving in the wilderness, which has given her a level of hardiness potentially above that of her peers when it comes to drawn-out hunting missions. Her mind is a valuable resource of knowledge on how to survive without the amenities afforded by modern civilization.
Morale Management: Brunhilde's musical skills can be valuable in and of themselves for allowing her to bring up her allies' moods, improving their mental state for combat. She's skilled in a variety of genres of music so she can usually come up with a tune for each member of her team if there's no consensus on what kind they enjoy.
Tank: Given her weapon's defensive capabilities and the fact that she doesn't rely on her semblance much in battle, Brunhilde has an easier time holding out and drawing out fights than her peers, leading her to be the natural choice for engaing Grimm head-on.
Disfavors:
Long-Range Combat: Brunhilde's skill set in combat consists of staying close to targets and keeping their attention, using her Sword-and-Shield mode's defensive capability to avoid taking too much damage and her Axe mode's power to keep enemies' attention on her. Because of this, her long-range capabilities are lacking in general, and she can't do much to an enemy she can't get close to.
Communication: Being that she is mute, communication can be a chore for her more than it is for other hunters, even if she likes to act like this is not the case. In the heat of combat, she can't simply pull out her scroll and type out a sentence, and there's no guarantee her teammates will have the opportunity to look away from an enemy to see her non-verbal communications. Naturally, this can be an issue outside of combat as well; for example, misunderstandings are even harder to clear up than normal when one does not have words readily at their disposal.
Friendly Fire: Especially when Jormungandr is in Axe form, she can be just as dangerous to her own teammates as she can be to Grimm they're facing, given how widely it swings and how powerful the indiscriminate concussive blasts can be. This makes it difficult for her to use everything at her disposal in situations where she needs to work in close proximity to her team, or alternatively makes it diffcult for her team to back her up when she's going all-out.
Relationships-
Umber Braun: Brunhilde's mother. Cat faunus with black eyes, black hair cut in a bob, black-furred tail, sharp features, standing at 5'5". Often wears a tense, humorless expression behind her glasses. She and Hilda are very close and enjoy playing music together.
Beauregard Braun: Brunhilde's father. Hulk of a man standing at 6'7", shaggy brown hair and bushy brown full beard. Smiles a lot around people. Rabbit faunus with adorable brown bunny ears. Also very close with Hilda, and very proud that his daughter grew to be someone who doesn't let her disability impede her ambition.
Gabby felt a bead of sweat grace her brow as she looked upon the surprised expression her performance had placed upon Momo's face. And it wasn't the good kind of sweat borne of exertion. But in a flash, Momo's smile returned, seemingly brighter even than before, and Gabby was immediately infected by it. The tension eased out of her face, allowing her nervous smile to become a genuine grin as Momo bragged to her friends about how good of an impression she'd made, referring to her as "cool". An honor Gabby recalled having dreamed of for many nights in her younger days, before she found comfort with her own image in her later years of high school. Still, even if she didn't yearn for it now as much as then, that didn't stop it from being a nice moment all the same.
Gabby allowed the rest of her body to relax afterward as the darker haired one began speaking again. Gabby half-paid attention, having already decided she had little to gain by giving that girl her attention. Something about a team-on-team training exercise. Gabby pursed her lips, kind of liking the idea, but wishing it came from someone she actually cared to give credit to for the idea. Luckily for her, someone much more appealing entered the room, signalled by his loud voice booming throughout the gymnasium. Ah, Maple King! She'd never admit it to Mr. Hayes, but Gabriella had actually been hoping to end up in Maple King's homeroom back during the application process, when she learned he was a teacher at UJ Academy. He was like the Canadian version of her grandpas, how could she not?!
That being the case, her grin remained stuck to her face even as he chided them for picking fights on school grounds. She knew that wasn't what had been happening anyway so it didn't worry her any. Her face beamed still as Momo referred to her as a friend and tried to wrap her arm around Gabriella's wide midsection, putting her arm on the smaller girl's opposite shoulder and pulling Momo against her abs. Maple King didn't look convinced, which hurt a little, but she put her trust in Momo's word.
As Kerianne answered Maple King's question on the team practice session, Gabby nodded along in agreement. Kerianne then suggested forming their teams. Gabriella's face was split by a grin once more. "Gabby calls Momo for her team!" she announced, raising her hand for the added attention. She then looked around at the other students, her smile turning sheepish as she realized that maybe they might have wanted to split the teams up based on class, or that Momo might rather be on a team with her own friends. "...Assuming that it is not too bold of me to do so..."
The answer to Dean's question was carried into the room by a velvety-smooth woman's voice, deepened by her maturity. Looking in the direction it came from, any of the villains in the room would be able to see one of the aforementioned new villains; a woman dressed in a flowing, puffed-up ballgown of black and white, adorned with a large white bow cut in the shape of a bat's wings, wearing a mask over her eyes and nose. Her body, leaning forward at an angle a normal person would struggle to maintain, appeared to glide over the ground, the gentle sound of her footwear scraping along the stone floor audible to the ear. In actuality, her body was being pulled forward by the many thread-thin tentacle muscles that gripped the room's ceiling, sticking and un-sticking as needed to carry her forward toward the table both Corvus and Sharkman had taken a seat at. Her hand reached forward toward a chair to pull it out from the table, then her body rose up into the air for a brief moment as the invisible threads controlling her deposited her body into the seat.
If she were to tell the truth, her arrival at that moment wasn't quite as serendipitous as it seemed; she'd arrived not long after Corvus, and had been waiting outside of the room listening to the conversation, partly to gauge the personalities of her cohorts-to-be, and to try to find a nice dramatic moment to enter. Both of these things she'd succeeded at, to differing degrees.
"You may refer to me as Marionetta. Would anyone like to hazard a guess at my quirk?" she asked, quite certain that any smart person in the room would be able to put together by her demonstration just now, and her name, that she manipulates her body from the outside, at the very least. "I know it's a touch rude to request you all to humor me right out of the gate. I figured it would make a good icebreaker."
Though Gabriella had already been smiling, hoping it added some weight to the words of encouragement she was trying to hammer into Renard's head, she couldn't resist the pull of her cheeks as others joined in, adding their own words to hers. Kerianne, Freya, and even Breeze - shy as she was and having not been present at the factory - all joined in to help her lift him back up. She felt proud, both of herself for having apparently chosen her words well enough to spark that reaction from them, and of her classmates for their compassion. There wasn't a single person in that room with her that she wouldn't consider hero material.
All of their words (and Freya beginning to act like a house cat for some reason) seemed to succeed in lifting Renard's spirits. Or at the very least, getting him to recognize what a downer he was being. Gabby felt immense relief as she saw a smile finally bless his face with its presence. He even hopped off the bleacher to talk to Eira, which was a good sign, too. Good. Keep being the Renard we all know. That's what Sofia told you to do. She might not have died, but that doesn't mean I'll let you ignore her final wishes as a student at UJ.
Yi must have felt the weight of the air in the room lift as well, as he promptly suggested a sparring session. "You are-- no, wait...You're on!" Gabriella immediately answered, hoping she'd used that contraction properly. "The weekend left me feeling stiff. I'll set out the--"
She was cut off from saying "mats" when a voice she didn't recognize rang through the gym like the jingle of sleigh bells rings through a mall in December. Turning to the door, Gabby found the source - a blue-haired girl, probably around the same age as her classmates and herself, who performed a pose while she spoke of them a "heroes in the flesh". Gabby couldn't be entirely sure whether she was being sincere or sarcastic, but she wanted to believe the former. Such high energy and cute poses couldn't possibly come from a mean person, could they?
Her friends didn't seem to share her demeanour, which was probably for the best - more than one person with that energy would be overwhelming. Gabriella froze for a moment when the peppy girl introduced herself. Momo? Cute name, too. And so friendly1 No, she definitely must have been speaking sincerely when she entered. Gabby felt her fondness for Momo increase immediately. Conversely, her dark-haired compatriot proved quite quickly to not be worth Gabriella's time or breath. Okay, focus! You're meeting a new person who seems interesting. Don't screw up.
Gabby's hand took Momo's. Engulfed it, really. "My name is-- wait, please."
After cutting herself off, Gabriella released Momo's hand and took a step back. Feeling inspired by Momo's energy, she decided to try to impress her by acting in kind. She was pretty sure this was known as "mirroring". So, instead of introducing herself with a simple hand shake, Gabriella performed a twirl on the ball of her left foot. Her right foot touched the ground for just a moment to stop her spin with her right side angled toward Momo, who she then pointed at with both hands while raising her right leg up and holding her left arm over her own head.
"I am Gabriella! It is nice to meet you, Momo!" Gabriella responded, holding the pose. She then realized she wasn't smiling, and a nervous grin spread across her face in a sloppy attempt to rectify that.
Standing at a fair 5'8", pale caucasian skin, jet black hair reaching down to the middle of her back with straight-cut bangs framing her face, and black eyes that often look lifeless despite their round shape, Molly could easily be mistaken for a life-size porcelain doll. Her fashion sense is squarely gothic, finding her typically wearing dark colours or black and white, often with dark makeup and sometimes piercings. Though she favours the gaudy, she saves that for her work costume, with her casual clothes typically consisting of more modest dresses, or skirt-sweater combos, with heels being her footwear of choice.
A billowing ballgown of silken black fabric with white trim and highlights, designed and woven by herself for herself using her tailoring skills. Around the waist is a large white sash, tied into a striking bat wing-shaped bow behind her (a shape obtained by cutting arcs out of that section of the sash, creating the downward points on the bottom of the bow). Her face is concealed by the kind of mask one would see on an attender of a masquerade ball, the eyes covered by a thin white fabric that can be seen through when place directly in front of the eyes, the metal frame painted gold and held on her face by a band that stretches behind her head. The gown is long enough to coneal her feet, and does not have sleeves beyond its frilled, padded shoulders. Instead, Molly's arms are covered in black fishnet gloves.
The sash conceals storage space for weapons as detailed in the inventory section.
Name: Molly Felara Age: 33 Gender: Female
Villain Name: Marionetta Quirk Name: Marionette Quirk Type: Mutant Quirk Description: Molly is unable to move her body the same way most living beings do. Her quirk has left her body without the necessary muscle structure to move her limbs, though the structure for facial expression and the autonomous operation of inner organs is thankfully intact. The muscles that should be located inside her body instead manifest outside her body thanks to her quirk, taking the form of tentacle-like appendages, so thin as to be almost invisible to the naked eye. These "threads" originate in the pores of her skin, sharing space with hair follicles, and are variable in length, able to extend out from her body up to a distance of 30 feet. They are tipped with a sticky substance similar to what the human body uses to prevent hair follicles from falling out, but in greater amounts for more adhering power. The structure of Molly's body forces her to control her own body like one would control a puppet, using the tentacle-like muscle threads to manipulate herself from without by latching them to nearby surfaces and contracting the threads to pull her limbs where she wants them to go. This comes with some unique difficulties - standing upright is easiest when there are tall walls or ceilings around her, or other things like lamp posts and street lights above. In the absence of these things, she can stay upright by pushing off the ground with her tentacle muscles instead of pulling herself up, but it takes much more effort.
Though it would be easy to consider a quirk like this more of a hindrance than a boon - and indeed it was for much of Molly's young life - she has grown over the years to become just as dexterous with these threads as any other human is with their own muscles, if not more so. She is able to aptly imitate the motions of a person with normal muscles, and thanks to her threads, is able to go beyond that, moving her body in ways no other human can. Her quirk also makes her body extremely flexible; she can bend her limbs in ways that would cause pain to most people, though not in ways that would defy human anatomy, similar to a contortionist. This flexibility allows her to accomplish tricks like turning her head 180 degrees, or twisting her torso almost entirely around. Using enough threads, Molly can even achieve a limited form of flight - assuming she is indoors or there is a tall enough structure nearby - by attaching her threads to objects or surfaces above her and lifting herself entirely off the ground. Because of these, Molly can be very hard to pin down in close combat, her movements being eclectic and acrobatic in ways almost impossible to train for. Finally, she can manipulate light objects with her threads as well, things like her knives being easy to control with only a few threads. Obviously, the heavier an object is, the more of her tentacle-like muscles are needed to move it, and the more threads she devotes to moving something other than herself, the fewer threads she has to move her own body with, meaning even the act of pulling another person her own weight toward herself would take nearly all of her threads and leave her motionless.
However, since the threads are muscle, they have similar limitations to the muscles of others. Strenuous activity consumes stamina, and too much strain will cause them to get sore - the biggest factor limiting her ability to "fly". Furthermore, since they are located outside of her body, the are more prone to damage - they can be cut, and it hurts. The muscle has regenerative properties which will allow the threads to regrow after a day or so, but until then the range of any cut thread will be severely reduced, if it's even usable at all due to the pain. Cutting her threads can be difficult due to their low visibility and her own skill with them, but it gets easier the more tired she is; as individual threads get harder to move herself with, she'll begin bunching them together, making them visible and less precise in their movement.
Inventory & Possessions:
Knives. She does her best to keep 8 honed kitchen knives on her person while in costume, hidden under the white sash around her midsection.
(A pistol. Still need to reasearch what kind. Am comfortable with removing this)
Geno. An antique wooden puppet in a jester outfit, coloured purple with a yellow star pattern on the cloak and bell-adorned hat. Does not come with her while doing villainous work. Very precious to Molly.
Ooooh, this one looks cute!
It was a black t-shirt, cut short to bare the midriff, which a graphic of a heart with a smiley face, except the heart was anatomically correct instead of Valentine's-style. Molly's long hair, black as the shirt she had happened across, flowed behind her as she swiped the article off the rack and made a beeline for the cashier, face beaming. She did need to be a bit careful not to let her strings touch any of the store's other patrons - she'd found herself dragged by people far too many times as a child because of that to let it happen in her adult life. Not to mention that the reveal of her quirk could raise suspicions if anyone else in the store happened to work in law enforcement. No, it was much better that she blend in with people as best as she could. Which was to say, very well.
Her legs "carried" her to the front counter of the small women's clothing store. Raise the arm, move arm forward, extend fingers. Every movement was deliberate, but flowed into one another seamlessly, thanks to the many years spent just studying how the normal human body moved, how people moved, and practicing the replication of these normal everyday movements. She paid with cash, and the friendly cashier bagged her item and greeted her goodbye.
"You have a nice day as well!" Molly answered as she walked out of the store. Going outside meant normal-looking movement would be more difficult, given the lack of a ceiling, but she had grown used to staying close to walls which served just as well as anchors for her threads, and in the event she needed to cross a street, there were traffic lights and street lamps she could use, as well as using some threads attached to the ground to push her body instead of pull it, so she would manage just like she always did.
As she walked past a small alleyway, she looked down its length out of habit and was pleasantly surprised to spot a scene playing out in secret to everyone but her; a common mugging. Two men using their quirks, both fire-based, to rob another man in a business suit. Still smiling widely, Molly turned and headed into the alleyway, her body rising up off the ground once she was several steps out of the line of sight of anyone on the main street. She let go of her shopping bag, leaving it next to a dumpster. The rustling of the bag caught the attention of all three men, who looked towards it, not seeing her body up above their heads.
The next few moments ended up as a blur; she dropped from above onto one of the muggers' heads and used the combination of her weight and the pull of her threads to drive the back of his head into the pavement with a sickening crunch, knocking him out instantly, then swung her lower body in a semi-circle to sweep the other man's legs out from under him. By the time his face collided with the pavement, Molly was already on his back, grabbing his hair, and slamming his forehead into the pavement a few more brutal times.
After taking out the two muggers, she searched their pockets for their finds while the man in the business suit fled. It seemed they'd already had some moderate successes. It would be more than enough to cover the expense of the shirt she'd just bought. She pocketed their ill-gotten-gains and, after retreiving her shopping bag, continued down the alley, not daring to go the same direction the business man had.
Standing at a fair 5'8", pale caucasian skin, jet black hair reaching down to the middle of her back with straight-cut bangs framing her face, and black eyes that often look lifeless despite their round shape, Molly could easily be mistaken for a life-size porcelain doll. Her fashion sense is squarely gothic, finding her typically wearing dark colours or black and white, often with dark makeup and sometimes piercings. Though she favours the gaudy, she saves that for her work costume, with her casual clothes typically consisting of more modest dresses, or skirt-sweater combos, with heels being her footwear of choice.
A billowing ballgown of silken black fabric with white trim and highlights, designed and woven by herself for herself using her tailoring skills. Around the waist is a large white sash, tied into a striking bat wing-shaped bow behind her (a shape obtained by cutting arcs out of that section of the sash, creating the downward points on the bottom of the bow). Her face is concealed by the kind of mask one would see on an attender of a masquerade ball, the eyes covered by a thin white fabric that can be seen through when place directly in front of the eyes, the metal frame painted gold and held on her face by a band that stretches behind her head. The gown is long enough to coneal her feet, and does not have sleeves beyond its frilled, padded shoulders. Instead, Molly's arms are covered in black fishnet gloves.
The sash conceals storage space for weapons as detailed in the inventory section.
Name: Molly Felara Age: 33 Gender: Female
Villain Name: Marionetta Quirk Name: Marionette Quirk Type: Mutant Quirk Description: Molly is unable to move her body the same way most living beings do. Her quirk has left her body without the necessary muscle structure to move her limbs, though the structure for facial expression and the autonomous operation of inner organs is thankfully intact. The muscles that should be located inside her body instead manifest outside her body thanks to her quirk, taking the form of tentacle-like appendages, so thin as to be almost invisible to the naked eye. These "threads" originate in the pores of her skin, sharing space with hair follicles, and are variable in length, able to extend out from her body up to a distance of 30 feet. They are tipped with a sticky substance similar to what the human body uses to prevent hair follicles from falling out, but in greater amounts for more adhering power. The structure of Molly's body forces her to control her own body like one would control a puppet, using the tentacle-like muscle threads to manipulate herself from without by latching them to nearby surfaces and contracting the threads to pull her limbs where she wants them to go. This comes with some unique difficulties - standing upright is easiest when there are tall walls or ceilings around her, or other things like lamp posts and street lights above. In the absence of these things, she can stay upright by pushing off the ground with her tentacle muscles instead of pulling herself up, but it takes much more effort.
Though it would be easy to consider a quirk like this more of a hindrance than a boon - and indeed it was for much of Molly's young life - she has grown over the years to become just as dexterous with these threads as any other human is with their own muscles, if not more so. She is able to aptly imitate the motions of a person with normal muscles, and thanks to her threads, is able to go beyond that, moving her body in ways no other human can. Her quirk also makes her body extremely flexible; she can bend her limbs in ways that would cause pain to most people, though not in ways that would defy human anatomy, similar to a contortionist. This flexibility allows her to accomplish tricks like turning her head 180 degrees, or twisting her torso almost entirely around. Using enough threads, Molly can even achieve a limited form of flight - assuming she is indoors or there is a tall enough structure nearby - by attaching her threads to objects or surfaces above her and lifting herself entirely off the ground. Because of these, Molly can be very hard to pin down in close combat, her movements being eclectic and acrobatic in ways almost impossible to train for. Finally, she can manipulate light objects with her threads as well, things like her knives being easy to control with only a few threads. Obviously, the heavier an object is, the more of her tentacle-like muscles are needed to move it, and the more threads she devotes to moving something other than herself, the fewer threads she has to move her own body with, meaning even the act of pulling another person her own weight toward herself would take nearly all of her threads and leave her motionless.
However, since the threads are muscle, they have similar limitations to the muscles of others. Strenuous activity consumes stamina, and too much strain will cause them to get sore - the biggest factor limiting her ability to "fly". Furthermore, since they are located outside of her body, the are more prone to damage - they can be cut, and it hurts. The muscle has regenerative properties which will allow the threads to regrow after a day or so, but until then the range of any cut thread will be severely reduced, if it's even usable at all due to the pain. Cutting her threads can be difficult due to their low visibility and her own skill with them, but it gets easier the more tired she is; as individual threads get harder to move herself with, she'll begin bunching them together, making them visible and less precise in their movement.
Inventory & Possessions:
Knives. She does her best to keep 8 honed kitchen knives on her person while in costume, hidden under the white sash around her midsection.
(A pistol. Still need to reasearch what kind. Am comfortable with removing this)
Geno. An antique wooden puppet in a jester outfit, coloured purple with a yellow star pattern on the cloak and bell-adorned hat. Does not come with her while doing villainous work. Very precious to Molly.
Ooooh, this one looks cute!
It was a black t-shirt, cut short to bare the midriff, which a graphic of a heart with a smiley face, except the heart was anatomically correct instead of Valentine's-style. Molly's long hair, black as the shirt she had happened across, flowed behind her as she swiped the article off the rack and made a beeline for the cashier, face beaming. She did need to be a bit careful not to let her strings touch any of the store's other patrons - she'd found herself dragged by people far too many times as a child because of that to let it happen in her adult life. Not to mention that the reveal of her quirk could raise suspicions if anyone else in the store happened to work in law enforcement. No, it was much better that she blend in with people as best as she could. Which was to say, very well.
Her legs "carried" her to the front counter of the small women's clothing store. Raise the arm, move arm forward, extend fingers. Every movement was deliberate, but flowed into one another seamlessly, thanks to the many years spent just studying how the normal human body moved, how people moved, and practicing the replication of these normal everyday movements. She paid with cash, and the friendly cashier bagged her item and greeted her goodbye.
"You have a nice day as well!" Molly answered as she walked out of the store. Going outside meant normal-looking movement would be more difficult, given the lack of a ceiling, but she had grown used to staying close to walls which served just as well as anchors for her threads, and in the event she needed to cross a street, there were traffic lights and street lamps she could use, as well as using some threads attached to the ground to push her body instead of pull it, so she would manage just like she always did.
As she walked past a small alleyway, she looked down its length out of habit and was pleasantly surprised to spot a scene playing out in secret to everyone but her; a common mugging. Two men using their quirks, both fire-based, to rob another man in a business suit. Still smiling widely, Molly turned and headed into the alleyway, her body rising up off the ground once she was several steps out of the line of sight of anyone on the main street. She let go of her shopping bag, leaving it next to a dumpster. The rustling of the bag caught the attention of all three men, who looked towards it, not seeing her body up above their heads.
The next few moments ended up as a blur; she dropped from above onto one of the muggers' heads and used the combination of her weight and the pull of her threads to drive the back of his head into the pavement with a sickening crunch, knocking him out instantly, then swung her lower body in a semi-circle to sweep the other man's legs out from under him. By the time his face collided with the pavement, Molly was already on his back, grabbing his hair, and slamming his forehead into the pavement a few more brutal times.
After taking out the two muggers, she searched their pockets for their finds while the man in the business suit fled. It seemed they'd already had some moderate successes. It would be more than enough to cover the expense of the shirt she'd just bought. She pocketed their ill-gotten-gains and, after retreiving her shopping bag, continued down the alley, not daring to go the same direction the business man had.
Hearing the concerns voiced by both Freya and Kerianne, Gabriella's chuckling subsided. She...didn't hear anyone else laughing. A burning embarrassment overcame her and she found herself wanting to do nothing but continue laying face-down where she was. Even if it hadn't been an intentional slip-up, she'd still been hoping the resulting attempt at physical comedy would have helped lighten the mood at least a little. A silver lining to the dull, throbbing pain she felt in the back of her neck and shoulders, if nothing else.
Next, Yi dropped down behind Kerianne, a fact Gabby only found out by turning her head to look toward him via the corner of her eye as he espoused his question. Gabriella gave a soft exhale, then began the process of righting herself, her arms lifting her torso off the mat and her legs curling under her as she sat up. She glanced around at everyone's face, starting with Yi. While everyone else appeared to have varying degrees of concern on their faces. Yi simply looked pensive as if he was focusing his uncanny ability to read her thoughts, something he'd displayed since the very first week of the semester. She wondered, would he have been the one to talk her out of dwelling on her thoughts if he'd been present last Friday, instead of Renard?
Wait. Had she ever actually thanked Renard for that? It might just have been the blow to the head, but she couldn't remember having done so. And now, with so many of their friends in one room, she felt now would be a great time to do so. Or, it would be if Eira wasn't turning to leave!
"Eira! Please wait!" Eira seemed to hear her, stopping in the doorway to the gymnasium and turning in her direction. Her face still looked pretty dismayed, but Gabby couldn't worry about that now. "There is something I need to say, and I want as many people as possible to hear it."
Gabriella stood up on her feet, glancing between Yi, Kerianne, and Freya as she rose. She felt bad for ignoring their questions, but this was important. She then locked her eyes onto Renard. "Renard. I never properly thanked you for what you did for me on Friday. After that rescue exercise, I wanted nothing more than to go home and think about my failures. I thought that would make sure I learned the lessons I needed to learn to be a proper hero, but in truth, I was just dwelling. You were the one who helped me come to the realization that I do not need to dwell on failure to learn from it. Because of you, I was present at the factory."
Her gaze shifted to Freya, who had been able to escape the villains, however briefly, thanks to the hole she'd made with Peter's help; then to Eira, who she felt she had aided by intercepting the scorpion villain while Eira went to help Renard. "To any of you who feel that my presence aided in their survival against those villains, I wish for you to direct your gratitude to Renard as well. If he wasn't the person he is, I would not have been present to aid you. And for those who weren't present that day..."
She glanced between Yi, Kerianne, and Breeze. "...I hope you'll also extend your gratitude to Renard, for helping ensure we didn't lose any friends that day. He fought the hardest of any of us, and every wound he bears is one that was not inflicted on someone else."
She turned her gaze back to Renard, both to deliver the closer to the speech she had improvised (she took a moment to mentally thank her talent for putting on performances, which was what allowed her to speak so earnestly in front of so many people to begin with), and to gauge his reaction. "Thank you for everything you did for me, and for my friends, Renard."
Name: Nickel Age: 2 Months Sex: Female Phenotype: Android Appearance: Nickel was designed with a kind of fair-toned synthetic 'skin', featuring a limited amount of self-repairing ability to minimize lasting effects of repeated extension of her limbs on her appearance. Her hair is short-mid length in a pale, sandy blonde hue styled in a lackadaisical, windswept look, with bangs swept to her left side and a part to the right of the center of her scalp. Her face also features sharply-shaped but vibrantly-coloured blue eyes to offer an appealing, humanizing complement. Nickel's physique is somewhat unassuming and lanky, standing 5'9" and fit without being muscular, being that the strength in her body comes from the mechanized components and synthetic muscle inside. Her facial features give her appearance a level of maturity beyond the amount of time she's actually been alive, making her appearance akin to that of a young adult woman.
Nickel's synthetic body can typically be seen occupying as few clothes as possible so as to not restrict her body's shape-changing features, which leaves her with few options outside of a form-fitting, abdomen-exposing sleeveless top coloured grey or white, and a pair of denim or spandex short-shorts that also hug her form well. Unless she's certain she won't see combat on short notice, at which times she typically goes with something casual, like a sleeveless tank top and slacks or jeans.
This system is the combination of air flow and pressurization technology combined with the structure of several layers of interlocked metal plates held tightly together by a thin but durable elastic muscle-esque material in between the layers. By taking large amounts of air into her body, Nickel is able to cause various parts of her form to expand in either length, width, or both by controlling the air flow within her. The primary focus areas that can be expanded include: biceps, forearms, fingers, thighs, forelegs, chest, abdomen, and neck. To contrast, neither her head nor any of the joints in her body are able to be expanded, due to the structural complications that would have caused to implement. To allow the expansion, the outermost armor covering, as well as the synthetic skin layered atop it, split apart at key sections on the aforementioned areas, and are able to come back together and seal back up with help from the self-repairing properties of the skin layer once the expansion has subsided. In order to take in enough air to activate any part of the VAPOR System, Nickel must open her mouth wide and take what appears to regular folk as a large inhale, the length of which varies depending on how she intends to expand. The air is then pressurized within her body before being sent to the desired section to await depressurization, causing the part to rapidly expand in whatever direction is dictated by the tension of the elastic material between the layers of metal plates - high tension will result in lengthwise expansion, low tension will result in widthwise, and anywhere in between will result in a combination of widthwise and lengthwise. To return the body part to neutral, the air must be expelled from Nickel's body, which can be done either by simply "exhaling", or through vents in the shoulders, lower buttocks, and back.
In addition to expanding parts of her body, the VAPOR System can also be used to perform a destructive blast of highly-pressurized air from a hidden mechanism within her chest, though this maneuver requires more time to execute than the simpler limb extensions. Other features of her body include the ability to rotate parts of her body using the VAPOR System's separable sections as axes - ie. the wrists, abdomen, neck, either side of each non-extendable joint, etc. - lights located inside of her eyes, the ability to adjust her senses (telescopic vision, more sensitive hearing), and the ability to feel physical pain (which can be temporarily turned off but must be done manually by someone else and requires a passcode). The VAPOR System is also built with an air purification system that can detoxify polluted or harmful gas-filled air into breathable oxygen, and also keeps her innards clean of the sands Vacuo's desert is known for.
Aura Color: N/A Emblem: A raised fist angled to the left with two stylized cloud shapes on either side of the fist indicating puffs of air being expelled from the wrist. Personality: Relaxed and laid-back, but with a level of enthusiasm that prevents aloofness, Nickel is the epitome of easy to talk to, being both the sort of person to listen to what others say and the sort to not judge people harshly for what is said. Her desire to learn is what inspires this behavior, and she strives to be as personable and comfortable to be around as possible so she can learn as much as she can about the people around her. This also makes her very studious, though facts and equations are much easier to process than abstract concepts and emotions, so she only comes across as an overacheiver at such times as her acheivements are pointed out.
When it comes time to hunt Grimm, however, she is all business, and her warm, almost lazy deameanour is replaced by a sharp focus and unwillingness to engage any train of thought not immediately relevant to the mission. Some may find themselves offput by the humorless wall she becomes, which contrasts harshly with how she typically acts. It isn't to say that either extreme of her personality is an act, however, and some may find it difficult to understand that the genuine good intentions she displays in her relaxed state also exist behind her cold, calculating visage.
Although she tries her best to get along well with as many people as humanly possible, her general inexperience at life has its drawbacks - she has no semblance of a verbal filter, does not have a well developed sense of sarcasm, and often does not know when to simply not say anything.
Background: Nickel is the creation of one man, a lonely mechanist living in the desert. Created primarily as an answer to the man's aforementioned loneliness, Nickel was given combat capabilities to counter the harshness of the world he was bringing her into, helping ensure he wouldn't need to lie awake endless nights afraid of the world taking her from him. With his intellect and experience, he was able to single-handedly create a mechanical being capable of both reason and emotion, a daughter to love and call his own.
Having come into the world a few months before the beginning of the new semester at Vale, however, Nickel herself doesn't have much history to speak of. She can definitely recall the sensory overload upon her birth, if anyone were curious enough to ask, along with the dizzying feeling of knowing things that had been programmed into her rather than having been learned. The first thing she did upon her activation - once she had fully adjusted to being alive - was chastize her dad for skipping the crucial stages of infancy most living creatures go through.
To assist her in acclimating to the world, as well as providing her experience with the world around her and the people she'd be sharing it with, Nickel's father submitting an applications to Shade Academy to have her accepted as a student.
Likes: People-watching, Conversations, Playing Co-operative Games Dislikes: Playing Competitive Games, Animals Favors:
Reach: Her ability to extend and expand parts of her body gives her remarkable reach for a close-range fist fighter. Her flexibility also allows her to execute attacks from unexpected angles that can easily make things awkward for her targets. Furthermore, she can expand her limbs outward to create more surface area with which to bash something if need be.
Striking Power: Despite lacking traditional weaponry, her pneumatics are able to create enough pressure within her body to make her strikes as fast as bullets, and that velocity causes them to pack quite a lot of punch.
Brainpower: Her computerized mind can work even faster than a typical hunter/huntress', allowing her to quickly analyze, plan around, and react to almost any combat situation she finds herself in, though she can still be surprised by sufficiently unexpected tactics or her opponent not following any of the lines of logic she expects them to. It also prevents her from being dumb muscle with no goal beyond "attack attack attack" - she can apply her strengths effectively with both subtlety and overtness no matter the situation.
Versatility: Her mechanized body comes with several utilities that make her useful to have around in a variety of situations. She's also good at out-of-box thinking and avoids falling into rigid thought patterns as much as she can help it.
Disfavors:
Self-Exposure: Because of the nature of her abilities, she can't wear much - if any - protective armor or clothing in battle, meaning her sub-skin armor is the only thing she can rely on to keep her safe if she ends up taking any hits.
Predictability: To an extent, at least; any time Nickel plans to extend a part of her body, she has to take a large inhale - an action that quickly becomes a tell to anyone fighting her for more than 30 seconds. If an opponent is naturally good at reading people, a prolonged fight can render her completely ineffective. Furthermore, as the VAPOR System is her primary method of both offense and defense, and she doesn't have a Semblance like other hunters/huntresses, she doesn't have a lot of ways to surprise her opponents in combat. Once an enemy has seen everything she can do, the most she can do to keep them on their toes is try to mix up her offensive and defensive tactics or combine them into new ones, and this doesn't solve her predictability issue in the long term.
Surges: Being mechanical, Lightning Dust can be especially harmful to her inner workings. The surges of electricity can cause malfunctions in her systems and, if powerful enough, can create an EMP effect that can force her into a non-operational state. Attacks created with Lightning dust can also be hard for her to avoid, as being made of metal, she conducts electricity extremely well.
Inexperience: Having not lived as long a life as other students, she does not have much first-hand experience of the world, and while her second-hand experience does carry her well, it doesn't cover nearly all the situations she might find herself in, both in combat and in social situations. This means that while her lateral-thinking skills are top-notch, her general social skills and decision-making ability need work.
Relationships:
The Toolmaster: A strange man who refuses to give anyone his name, thus nicknamed by Vacuans who've done business with him. A genius in both hardware and software, he is not only Nickel's creator, but also a semi-well-known mechanical repairman and inventor. Balding and permanently tan, he's spry for his apparent age and has a solid foundation of muscle on his body. Greying hair that sticks out from the sides and back of his head haphazardly, blue eyes that peer wearily from behind a pair of glasses. Nonetheless dresses quite nice in blouse-vest-necktie-slacks attire, though would look nicer if not constantly wrinkled and covered in various stains. Hex Code:#C0C0C0
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