The prince turned his attention to Diana, spotting her only when she spoke. He smiled, because after all Diana was a sign of how great the empire of Johto was. Coming from a heritage almost as great as his own, Diana had led many a battle, and had proven herself as a strategist. In truth, ht was always amused by her nature. So calm, and collected. In a way he was jealous of that. But... How much had she heard? It didn't matter, but part of him was making an internal note to be careful about speaking in public. Again. Celebi took a seat on the railing of the ship, watching the prince carefully. The time traveler didn't speak much to anybody that wasn't Hemlock. Not that it didn't trust others, but because Hemlock was the only person it needed for the time being. Fixing the timeline came first.
"Ah, Diana." He held out his hands, as if aiming to embrace her, but he didn't step any closer, and took a step back if she tried to. "Well, I have a few plans to be honest." He looked to the troops, who were already bringing in a group of four pidgeottos. "I'll leave the choice up to you, alright?" He smiled, and held up three fingers. "One, we attack. The element of surprise will allow us to take the prince easily. The second option may be more your style. We infiltrate the tavern as travelers, watching for the prince, and capturing him when he leaves. The third... We pretend to be Kanto mercenaries, who want to help the prince. He'll naturally be in disguise, this close to our territory. He'll be needing allies of course, and may be more than willing to hire a mercenary." Hemlock ticked down each, by dropping a finger. "Now, all three have benefits. The Prince of Kanto will be desperate you see. He'll be needing allies, since his army will be focused entirely on my brother's forces to the south." Hemlock said the words 'my brother' with pure spite. His gaze drifting back to the see.
Prince Yew and Hemlock were not friends. Most of the royalty weren't. Their father's idea of finding the right heir was always to place his children one against the other. It was always a challenge, always a fight, and Hemlock's status had always been challenged. The other brothers had formed alliances to defeat him, and while they all failed, it made Hemlock's childhood very lonely. His allies though came in generals, and members of the court. Individuals like Diana were his power, not his siblings or some tender hope of being king. "Once you are ready, we shall leave." He reached onto his belt, an apriball marked with the skull of an ancient pokemon. His own personal touch to each. From it formed Famine, his aerodactyl. "We shall land a distance from the tavern, and then go the rest by foot." Hemlock smiled, and looked Diana in the eyes for one last thing to say. "And do make a good choice. This is very important to me."
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, "And it's as good as he'll ever get. Kid's lucky I owe his mom. Now that was a fine lady. How do you think her kid winds up like this?"
physical appearance
Big kid is the first way to describe Roman. He's 6'8 and nobody knows why or how. His mom was a small lady, real pretty. Roman looks like he's been hit with a few sledgehammers in his time. His face seems flat, like a brick wall kinda. His chin is the very first thing most people refer to. It's kind of like the head of a hammer in a way, where it complements the flatness of his face. His nose is about the only part of his face that sticks out. It's usually the first target in a fist fight, but despite how many try to cave it in, it keeps coming back to that shape. Though the rest of his face tends to be hidden by his hair, which despite all the washing, looks greasy. He won't get it cut. Getting it cut is too expensive, so he just snips it off when it gets too far. The rest of hims is big. Big shoulders, big hands. Like a Frankenstein's monster. Doesn't help that he never wears anything less than big jackets since shirts are too small. His pants though, no hope there. They'll always be too small. Tight, uncomfortable, too much movement could cause it to rip. In short, he's a gorilla in a monkey suit. His clothing never big enough, probably since it's all at least three years old.
-✶ IN DEPTH ✶
personality
People don't think much of Roman. He's slow. He's impatient. He's got a temper like you wouldn't believe. But that's the outside. The frustrated teen who was held back. Who went to reform school for breaking a teacher's nose. In truth, he's that kid you leave behind. The kid who doesn't have a future. Roman Augustus Fellus, the butt end of a million jokes. If you where to talk to Roman, he'd be slow to answer. Almost as if he's trying to figure out why you're talking to him. He's quiet most of the time, often away from the crowd. Dim as a light when you hit the off switch he is. Ask him what he's doing, and he'll say "I don't know." Even if he's actually doing something. Ask him to do something, and chances are he'll do it, but he won't say anything while he does it. A bit of a gorilla. But that's just the guy people know. Beneath that short tempered kid who just can't get others... Is a smart kid. He reads well outside his age group, with a surprisingly well attained mind for numbers. He can look at the equations on a board, and he just knows it. He doesn't really know how he knows it. He doesn't even talk about it. He knows exactly what 15% of 35.42$ is, and at worst he'd be a penny or two off. But he doesn't go around announcing it. People get mad when others talk numbers really fast, and considering he's a 'gorilla' he learned to keep his head low. His best friends though, aren't too smart either, and they seem proud of it.
superpower
Energy Absorbing/Energy Expulsion Energy cannot be created or destroyed. Instead, it's just transferred or changed to another state. The power of Energy Absorbtion is simply the ability to draw in, and store that energy. It can be released, creating shockwaves that tear apart stone.
- Pros: A incredible power that draws in kinetic energy. Punches, kicks, even something like heat are all forms of energy in a way. This means Roman can take in and store absurd amounts of energy, and may in a way be invulnerable to typical forms of physical energy. The energy is stored in his body, allowing for later release. - Cons: A very new power, with no form of typical control. It's an all or nothing kind of deal. All absorbed energy is released, or nothing, so far. Later down the line he will be able to control the absorbing and releasing to his own accords. At the moment the energy he can store inside his body is at most 100 tons. The more energy he is storing, the hotter his body becomes. At around 99 tons his body is like a furnace, burning anybody who gets too close. As he develops more control of his body, he'll be able to absorb and withstand far more energy with fewer side effects. Power Examples: - Shockwaves are a common occurrence, and can directed. Not really his power, but an application of his power. Shockwaves can vary in size, and can even be used to increase the throwing speed of projectiles. - Energy absorbing isn't just kinetic energy. It's also electricity, heat, or other forms of energy. Holding onto a power grid will no hurt Roman, so much as fill him with a great deal of energy, very fast. - He doesn't feel the heat his body releases. It's how his body avoids absorbing more energy than it needs. If it reaches that nearly impossible to reach peak of 100 tons, then his body releases all the energy at once in a shockwave around his body. Learning how to release energy in a contained way is a major part of Roman's power curve.
backstory
Born in New York City. Son of an immigrant, and the then successful actress Matilda Queens. The stuff that really hurts is the stuff he had no hand in. In fact, he couldn't read or write by the time things were going bad. When he was three, his father was arrested. He never figured out why. He never asked, and mom wouldn't tell. It hurt them both. But what is known is that it was a big deal. Reached the media and everything. For five years, Matilda couldn't get a single job in acting. And Roman? He didn't know why. He only knew that daddy vanished one day. Sucks, but that's reality. People leave your life forever, and you can't figure it out. But, sometimes it changes who you are.
The Fellus family wasn't rich. Even if Mom was a somewhat successful actress she couldn't afford a mansion if she wasn't working. They bought a small apartment, living in comfort they best they could, as Matilda worked on the side as a writer. She was never home though, and Roman didn't get it. But, he was in kindergarten by the age of five, like every other kid. The problem? His temper. He was big, even then. Even older kids were smaller than him. And he learned quickly that he didn't need to be popular. He had to be tough. Some kid gave him sass, and POW! Nobody thought he was smart anyway. That's the thing with big kids. All the adults think they're no brains all brawn. Roman had brains, but when the world says you don't, and you just can't get social cues... You get the idea.
By Middle School, he was a bully. Insert stereotype here. When it came to sports, it never worked out. He'd get angry, and bam somebody is on the floor. Ended up in reform school at 13 when he got into a fight with the football coach. Never took sports again. Reform school though, helped, kinda. Not too much. He was still hard to like, and worse of all, he didn't deal with stuff all that well. Mom still wasn't home all that much, since by now she was back in acting. Small roles, spread out further, but still making money. Mom tried her hardest, and that was still a lot. But nobody was going to give Roman a chance to change. He wasn't pretty. He wasn't articulate. He wasn't all that clever. He was big, and strong.
At sixteen, he got a job working as a delivery boy for Grimaldi’s Pizzeria. His bullying days were over, but nobody really cared. He was still a short tempered guy with big hands. In his off time he started hanging out by the train yards. Punching stuff does a lot to cheer a kid up, and metal containers don't threaten to sue or send you to reform school. Metal containers don't care. They just hurt you back when you punch too hard. And that's where he was when the first death was reported. He was back at the train yard when the second rolled in two. Then the third. Then the fourth, fifth, sixth. His mom stayed out of town for filming, and sent just enough that he could pay rent and maybe see a movie. Since his job at Grimaldi's was less about the money and more about keeping him out of trouble.
Roman didn't have anybody close that the plague was hurting. Instead, he was just there, pounding his frustrations away at the train yard. Until one of his pals got sick. Tim Rivers. Smaller guy than Roman, dumb as bricks but he was big enough to get by. It was with Roman that Tim showed the first symptoms. Vomiting. Falling to the floor and getting sick. Roman brought him to the hospital, both of them got locked up. After all, safety precautions. Well, Roman didn't get sick, not even after a week. Tim though? It was getting worse. By day five, he couldn't move. By day eight, he could barely speak. Roman was sitting on the other side of the glass, watching Tim's life fade away. And Tim was crying.
"I'm sorry man. I made mistakes. I thought I'd live forever you know. Make mistakes young, and you've got the rest of your life to fix it. But I didn't do that." Tim got really introspective in the last few hours of his life. Roman didn't know what to say. Roman wasn't good with words. But when Tim passed on, he couldn't help but think about it. Again and again. 'I made mistakes.' He whispered that to himself as he sat in his house. He said that to himself when he ate oven ready pizza. And he said it to himself when the world returned to normal.
He has the rest of his life to fix it. Starting now.
✶ THE SURFACE ✶-
extracurricular activities
Back in middle school, Roman's hobby was fighting. He got in fights. Threw fists. Broke jaws. Mostly out of school, but a few in school because some teachers just don't care. He still fights. He's like a boxer if we're going to be honest. But after the virus passed through, nobody stops by. His career went nowhere before it began. But, if you look for him, he's usually at the train yard, punching big metal boxes.
supporting cast
Arnold Fellus | Father: Missing. Arnold was an illegal, and deported back to his home country back when Roman was three. He hasn't seen his old man since, not that he cares. Matilda Fellus | Mother: Matilda was beautiful. Emphasis on was. She's 57 now, having Roman later in life than she wanted. But she fell in love late in life too. Former actress, makes do now a days by doing small TV roles. Usually means Roman is home alone for weeks or months depending on how filming is going. She does her best for Roman, though sometimes it feels like its never enough. Tommy Peeps | Roman's 2nd in Command: In Elementary school bullies have it easy. It gets harder in middle school, and almost impossible in high school. Tommy Peeps is the only one who stuck it out with Roman all the time, and despite Roman leaving that life little by little, Tommy still gives it a go. He's a dense idiot, who could probably be a black hole of stupid if he wanted. Probably already is.
@TheUnknowable How much time do we have until the Johtoans show up? Can Daiki hear them?
Assume 30 minutes. Since we're adjusting the time schedules a bit. So Hemlock would know what was being planned before they did. And that depends on Daiki's hearing, and on how they initiate.
You guys wanna set up a Discord chat? So we can have some go to info?
@ExoKMC While you should probably wait for Unknowable, I'm the Co-GM. As long as you follow the rules, I'm sure you'll be fine posting. (If Unknowable has any complaints, we can work them out later. Since they'll be minor at best.
@Regitnui Hi! I’m on the bad guy’s side I guess but it seems a bit ambiguous considering Celebi thinks the world will go to ruin if Hemlock doesn’t win, haha
Shades of grey my peeps. Everybody thinks they're the good guy.
