[CHAR] Wild Cards AU [High Casual Superpowered fun!]

[MrDidact]

Erebus

Name: Darius Washington AKA Erebus

Age: 27

Birth Place: The Bronx, New York City

Appearance: Erebus stands at 6'1" with a lithe but muscular build. His hair is snow white and long enough that he ties it back in a bun; but he is otherwise clean shaven and even lacks eyebrows. Instead of fingernails, he has sharp bone-white claws. Erebus' eyes are gold with cat-like pupils; his ears are pointed and he has sharp long canines, though his teeth are otherwise normal. His skin is extremely dark grey, nearly black, and much of his torso and limbs are marked by various scars. Most striking of all however are his long black horns which protrude back from his head and are akin to those seen on mythical dragons. A white inverted cross was tattooed onto his collarbone. Attire wise, Erebus often sports leather jackets when he's on the clock but he also likes to dress up when the occasion calls for it.

Drawn Card: Joker-Ace

Card Manifestation: Erebus' form was twisted into something demonic, but powerful. His razor sharp claws can retract or lengthen on command. His teeth are similarly sharp and can rend flesh or snap bone. Erebus' eerie eyes enable him to see in near pitch black. His skin is not bulletproof or even knife-proof but his pain threshold and endurance are far beyond a normal human's; allowing him to survive and fight through wounds that would outright kill most people. He also recovers far faster, is immune to most infectious diseases, and can completely heal from anything short of limb loss. Erebus is also strong enough to lift and toss full-grown men with minimal effort. On all fours, he can run as fast as any Olympic sprinter; and he is as agile as any freerunner, capable of performing feats of acrobatics one sees more in fiction than reality. His reflexes are similarly inhuman, though he cannot dodge bullets, shooters often have trouble getting a bead on him and he is fast enough to deflect knives with his bare claws. Erebus is also capable of emitting an extremely loud wailing that he uses for psychological effect. When residents hear his scream at night, they lock their doors and bolt their windows.

Character History: The man once known as Darius Washington was born to an average working-class family in the Bronx. They lived in a bad neighborhood, and many of Darius's extended family were mixed up in drugs or gangs. Darius himself however had been a good kid, quiet and studious, and his parents did his best to provide for him and his siblings and keep them out of trouble. He hadn't been particularly interested in athletics and was more intellectually inclined. As such, he mostly kept to himself, with only a handful of close friends, and spent most of his time reading, drawing, and dreaming of the beautiful places and amazing sights he'd see someday. But he wanted to change things as well. Darius saw the suffering of those around him, and resolved he would help build a better future. He dreamed of going into politics, bringing real change to the neighborhoods that chewed up and spit out so many hopeful souls. But he had to get out first. He did well in school but wasn't awkward or weak, and most of his more quarrelsome peers left him in peace. As he moved on through the years and kept excelling in academics, it looked like he would be the first in his family to go to college. His parents were proud of him, rightly so, and his future looked hopeful. He graduated high school with a full ride. His family was proud, he was happy. He moved out of the neighborhood, entered a world he always wanted to be part of. But he soon regretted it.

During his first semester, his younger brother was shot and killed in a shootout between two rival gangs. None of the gangbangers themselves had died, and someone had stolen his brother's shoes while he was bleeding out on the street. Darius never found out who, but he knew exactly who was involved in the shooting. He knew the police didn't care, that nothing would come out of it. He'd already seen it happen a dozen times to other families. But something inside that quiet, mellow kid broke when he saw his brother's cold little body. With help from a cousin, Darius bought a gun and set to work. Darius' dad had been in the army and had taught his kids how to defend themselves, for what good it did his brother. But those skills proved useful to Darius. All of the gangbangers dropped one by one over the course of a month. Darius wasn't like the others, he wasn't loud or arrogant or incautious. He was precise, he was careful, he was merciless. Eventually the gangbangers, who had thought the other gang was responsible, wiped each other out and the police were none the wiser about Darius' involvement. For just a moment he thought he had done something important. Almost immediately after that, other gangs sprung up, more people died. More people continued to languish in poverty, addiction, and despair. He realized these problems were too big for him. That it was near futile to fight it.

Darius gave up, dropped out of school and enlisted. Not out of patriotism or a desire to save lives. He realized he was good at killing people. Realized he didn't particularly care if he lived or died. And that at least he'd finally get a chance to travel the world. Darius joined the army and was sent overseas to Iraq. He came close to death many times, even wished for it on certain days, but they never managed to kill him. He spent many years in the military, advancing through the ranks. After some time, he began to find solace in the military. Not in the work, but in the order, and the camaraderie. He fought for the men and women by his side, not for anonymous ideals, and soon rediscovered the fact that saving a life was its own reward. After he was discharged he decided to return home, with fresh eyes. Many of those he had served with had come from similar humble beginnings, and were now mired in them once again upon their return. He was shaken out of nihilistic rut and decided that he did have the tools to if not change things, than at least make them better. Darius became heavily involved in the community, helping to organize soup kitchens, food drives, homeless shelters, anything and everything he could do. When his efforts were threatened by criminals, he took matters into his own hands. He was ruthless in his drive, willing to do almost anything for his dream. Through his own sweat and tears, and the help of like-minded individuals, his home started to make a turn-around.

Then Black Queen Day. His neighborhood was severely affected. Of those that weren't killed by the disease, many perished in the chaos of looting and riots, while others starved. Most of his family died, and Darius thought he would too. Instead he changed, became a demon right out of his nightmares. His community spurned him and he wandered adrift, surviving day to day until he managed to reach Jokertown. While some members of the community weathered the oppression and the squalor, Darius refused to stand idle. He failed in his own community, but this time, failure only reignited his drive. He quickly decided his unique combination of skills left him best suited for the Demon Princes, who he saw as some of the only ones really protecting the Jokers. With his skill, efficiency, and dedication he quickly began to advance through the ranks. Now he stands within reach of the upper echelons, and he hopes, a real chance at saving and protecting his new home. The current political situation in particular has infuriated him, and his growing disdain and outright hatred for government, especially the President-Elect and Dictator of New York, is well known in the gang and Jokertown.

Jokertown Role: Erebus is one of the Demon Princes' top operatives. He leads his own small team of skilled Jokers. They're used both on jobs that require discretion or necessitate extreme violence. His nightmarish appearance and manipulative nature make him a prized negotiator for the gang as well, making him a favorite to intimidate rivals. Erebus is also responsible for his own corner of Jokertown, protecting them from the nats and other gangs that prey on the weak, while also making a profit for his bosses. Erebus is also highly ambitious and seeks to climb the ladder to one day be one of Lucifer's inner circle, in the hope he will have the influence to help protect and uplift the residents of Jokertown. He does this out of a twisted philanthropic motivation and sees himself as a guardian of the neighborhood; and he often does try to reach out to more legitimate members of the community to assist. Erebus occupies a unique niche as both a dangerous member of the underworld and a community leader.

[Ruby]

Name: Miranda Meadows aka Cap'n Trips aka Trips
Age: 23
Birth Place: Bayonne, New Jersey
Drawn Card: Ace (Or Ace-Joker depending on the "Friend" of the moment)
Card Manifestation:

Miranda Meadows has the power to transform into several different "Aces" by ingesting psychoactive drugs--typically of her own creation. The transformations are extensive, as Miranda not only changed physically, but adopts a completey different personality when she becomes one of her alter egos. The One Eyed Jack has dubbed these alternate identities Miranda's "friends."

Character History:

Miranda Meadows is a genius. She is, however, in most measures a FAILED genius. A child prodigy raised in a single parent household, a father that worked in a computer repair shop for thirty years before Apple Stores and smart phones put such a large computer repair shop out of business. By then Miranda was a teenager with a smart mouth and a bad grades, hanging with the wrong crowds. At some point the child prodigy became too smart for her own good; bored by schoolwork and cynical about pleasing school staff, romanced by the street politics of New York City, by the underbelly.

Whereas she should have been in a private school for the gifted, she was in a series of public schools, having been kicked out of the last one for hacking, and the one before that for causing a "minor" explosion in a science lab when she should've been doing assigned lab work instead. But fuck that shit, boring as fuck, and Miranda hadn't the time or patience for it. That meant no MIT, no Harvard, no NYU. Instead she began crashing Columbia courses inbetween her real classes at several of the best Junior/Community Colleges in the city.

The mix of settings, and more importantly the mix of individuals she met at these radically different academic institutions, provided Miranda with an extremely unique lists of contacts. She began making money by making X and LSD for friends as a senior in highschool--by the end of her sophomore year she was the preferred "street chemist" for all of Manhattan, the Bronx, and yes, the Bowery. Her father worried, fretted, that she would become a femme Walter White. Miranda would have none of it; she played the game by her rules, and always several steps ahead of both the buyers and the competition. What it amounted to was a transient lifestyle where staying in one place, for too long, was a very bad idea.

By the time the virus came, she had safehouses all around the Tri-State area. She spent the initial phase of the outbreak locked inside a sub-basement safehouse that had been used during prohibition, locked behind a false brick wall and a door updated with serious security, hardjacked into city power and several different cable feeds for television, phone, and internet. All run through a loop of misdirection and encryption that even the NSA wasn't getting through unless it wanted to throw the power of the entire agency into the effort. But by that point, the NSA had much bigger problems.

At first she began peeking out using drones, simply looking, and little else. What she saw was a shitshow of murder and debauchery; though enraged by some of what she saw, and saddened by most the rest, she was too cautious to step outside her secret safehouse. That was, until Jack found her. Miranda still has no idea how he found her, who he is, or how a hacker could be as good as he is--but he is that good, and he found her just as she began to become gravely ill. Someone found her safehouse, someone opened that door with all that security, and somebody got her out; she remembers none of it. When she woke up, she was in a safehouse that didn't belong to her, with other people. All of them rescued in similar fashion, one a doctor, one a nurse, the rest simply victims. Near death and desperate, Miranda opened up to the fellow victims of the virus, an incredibly rare feat for her.

She got close to the others, all of them using each other for emotional and intellectual support. She was the only victim to make it out of the virus alive. The doctor died, but the nurse simply mutated into what Miranda could only describe as big, humanoid, lizard. Emotionally it was too much, and a still severely weakened Miranda could do nothing but beg for the nurse to put the gun found in a footlocker in the safehouse down. The nurse didn't put the gun down, not until she fell dead from a self inflicted shot to the brain.

Miranda sobbed, for maybe the first time in her entire life. Determined to end herself, barely able to stand, she took every chemical in the safehouse and whipped together a cocktail she was certain would give her an incredible high--and kill her. But while the high came, death never did. Instead she became a hippy. A superpowered hippy, obsessed with helping others in desperate situations. Thus the Ace known as the Radical was active for the first time. By the time Miranda woke up, she was in the middle of an orgy, a week after trying to kill herself with the custom cocktail. When memories not her own began to flood in, Miranda became determined to repeat the process and become the Radical again.

She didn't. This time, she became a young English girl named the Cosmic Traveler; an Ace capable of weaving the latent cosmic energies around her into manifestations of physical power. Or, as it could much more simply be described, "spells." So far known to unleash incredibly destructive blasts of starlight and using forces such as gravity and magnetism, yet best known for teleporting an entire mob of Jokers and Joker-Aces out of the line of fire of the National Guard, it's unknown whether the Traveler's power is limited to fundamental cosmic forces, or just her imagination. If you believe what you read on The Big Blind, than the Traveler is a known contact of the One Eyed Jack, helping him keep Wild Carders of all "suits" safe from harm.

Though Trips, as Jack has codenamed Miranda, is less willing to help Jack, she still begrudgingly agrees to help him when called upon. You know, when she isn't in a safehouse lab, somewhere, mixing up a new drug to see if there are any more "Aces" in her personal deck. Or as Jack calls them, any more "friends" she can call on.

Friends

Identity: The Radical, no other name known.
Age: Unknown, appears early 30s.
Gender: Male
Ace abilities: Superhuman strength, speed, durability, and senses.
Personality: The Radical is just that, radical; radically dedicated to peace and love for all chill enough to deserve it. Who makes that judgment, though, on who is chill enough to deserve it? The Radical, of course. Aggressive with both the ladies and in a fight, but never to the point of becoming uncool. At least for the ladies.


Identity: The Cosmic Traveler, aka Dahlia Strange
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Ace abilities: Wields cosmic energies and weaves them into "spells." It's unknown whether her teleportation of herself and others is simply another "spell", or a greater use of the fundamental forces of the universe.
Personality: Polite, but standoffish. She believes she once had a family, but for right now, her past is fuzzy to the point of calling it amnesia. She gets along famously with the One Eyed Jack, and may be the only living soul to ever see the One Eyed Jack in person since the outbreak--not even he can hide from her teleportation. Jack likes to joke that Dahlia is what he gets for "leaving a crate full of Doctor Strange comics in one of them footlockers."

[theredsephaos]

.

[Architect]

Name
Jonathan Fortunato, AKA Johnny Fortune, AKA F

Age
22

Birth Place
London, England; United Kingdom

Appearance
Tall, lean, and all rebellion. Fortunato is considerably handsome in a "bad boy" way, with firm and sharp features, a slender but taut build, and golden-brown skin. Fitting with his punk rock "chic", he dresses in an almost meticulously messy fashion, with dark clothes contrasted by the occasional splash of bright colour. Always in a pair of scuffed boots, frayed jeans and old shirts, "Johnny Fortune" is an embodiment of punk disinterest.
When he is sufficiently "charged up" with psionic and emotional energy, the veins throughout Fortunato's body become enlarged and increase in vascularity, giving him a "wormy" appearance, and his eyes take on a bright orange glow that slowly increases in intensity.

Drawn Card
Ace

Card Manifestation
The best way to describe Fortunato's Ace is "emotional vampirism". By inducing and maintaining strong emotional states in those around him, such as rage, lust, euphoria, or ecstasy, Fortunato can "feed" on the psychic energies given off by the individuals feeling them. However, this takes some small level of focus, and only "positive" or energetic emotions can feed him. Depressive or low-energy states cannot be fed on, and in fact, can starve the Ace.
Fortunato, once significantly "charged up" with this emotional energy, can accomplish many psionic feats. These include the ability to read the psychic "residue" of an object or environment with concentration, skim the surface thoughts of individuals and broadcast his own (though this skill is incredibly uncomfortable for John), telekinetically manipulate relatively large objects with effort, and emit focused waves of "force", although most of these abilities quickly drain his reserves and are generally only used as a last resort.
This energy also gives Fortunato vitality and stamina, allowing him to avoid rest for extended periods of time, as long as the energy isn't expended in any of the above methods.

Character History
As befitting the chaotic lifestyle of a wannabe rockstar, Fortunato was an unforeseen consequence of wild love between Felix Fortunato, a Black-British London native, and Layla Kinds, a free-spirited American college student studying abroad. The result of alcohol, drug use, and uninhibited youthful vigour, Layla's pregnancy came as a shock to the couple, but after what seemed like days of arguing and discussion, the two of them decided to keep the baby. While the life of a college student was difficult for Layla and equally so for Felix, a musician and occasional street hustler, the two managed to hold their hectic lives together, for the baby. After 3 years (including a deferral for her pregnancy), once Layla had attained her post-grad, Felix had agreed to fly back to America with his partner and their son, Jonathan, in part due to Felix lacking any real anchor at home.
Upon returning to the States, Layla used her degree in Communications and found work as an editor at a local publishing agency in her hometown of Seattle, and Felix found work in construction, and the two eventually got married due to a sense of necessity.

Johnny began developing an interest in music at an early age, and as he grew to adolescence, became more and more involved in the heavy music scene of Seattle. This not only acted as a way for him to better express his artistic thoughts but also to help him cope with the growing tension at home as the cracks that were apparent at the beginning of his parents' marriage began to grow clearer.
By the time he was 16, the two had divorced, forcing a thin veneer of cordiality for their son, going so far as to share custody. However, this superficial peace hid venomous attacks between the two, with John caught in the middle, and he began to act out as a result. He became an underachiever, with his grades and attendance in high school dropping, and threw himself further and further into music, focusing on grunge and punk as an outlet for his rebellious anger. He drank, began taking drugs, and hung out with other "burnouts", all to the chagrin of his parents who were convinced it was either a phase or the fault of the other.
This went on until his first year of community college, as the snarky young man found a group of like-minded musical peers. Combined with his disinterest in general education, Jonathan quickly dropped out of studies and became a founding member of the punk rock group Prana Piranha, even going so far as to take the stage name "Johnny Fortune" as the band's lead guitarist. This led to him quickly moving out from home and in with his bandmates.

For some time, the group took on shows in dive bars and dark basements in Seattle before attempting to branch out, working shows in D.C., Boston, and Philadelphia, all funded by odd jobs and bottom-level retail work. Eventually, the group moved to New York in early 2016, shacking up in a cramped Harlem apartment in a rundown building, happily playing at dingy events for an equally rowdy and raucous audience. It was during one such performance that the Wild Card virus was released over the skies of NYC, and while the effects weren't as immediate in the outlying neighbourhoods of the Bowery, Harlem nevertheless fell victim.
The event was broken up by riot police who were attempting to stem the tide of chaos slowly spreading throughout the borough, using force to keep people in line and in their homes in a futile effort to quarantine the virus. Eventually, after a violent altercation between the showgoers and the officers in attendance, the band and those not arrested in the riot were forced to escape and hideout. It was during the coming days, laying low in their apartment, that Jonathan fell gravely ill, locked away in his room.

While the world fell to pieces outside and martial law descended, Fortunato underwent extraordinary changes. He began noticing he could feel, or "taste", the emotions of those around him, specifically powerful emotions such as anger or joy. As he "fed" more and more on this psychic energy, John learned he could utilise this energy for a variety of effects, discovering he could move objects and hear thoughts.
Eventually, as his strength recovered and he practised his abilities in secret amongst his band, the military lockdown was lifted, and America tried to move on from the disaster. Amidst the political and social upheaval, Prana Piranha thrived as flocks of youths, frustrated at the state of things, were drawn to the loud and anti-establishment sounds of the band, with underground concerts becoming famous due to the telekinetic acts performed by "Johnny Fortune" being misconstrued as complex special effects. John also used these events to secretly feed on the mass euphoria brought about by the music and environment.

In short time, the band moved into the outskirts of the newly-christened Jokertown due to both the lowered rent and the symbolic act of rebellion that came with it, throwing a middle finger towards the government and followers of its rhetoric. Currently, John and Prana Piranha work gigs in and around the former Bowery, for Jokers and Nats alike, occasionally working gigs at The Funhouse. However, John keeps his status as an Ace secret to almost everyone other than the band, and has been staying low otherwise.

Jokertown Role
Musician/Tenant

[Prufrock]

Camelback

Name: Camelback
Age: 19
Birth Place: New York
Appearance: Camelback is a young, dark skinned man with a baby face. He has thick cheeks, a rounded chin and is fully shaven. He doesn't even let a single strand grow on his head. He is short, originally standing at 5'5. His joker mutation did not help him there, reducing him to a hunchback with a large hump on his back, similar to a Camel. Now he walks at around 4'11, with the majority of his bodyfat stored in his back, he has a skinny appearance, despite weighing at over 120 kilogram. To compensate for his very unattractive looks, he is always seen to be dressed well. Always looking sharp with suits or street fashion, matching colors or wearing the newest clothes. It isn't rare to see him berate someone for their subpar fashion sense.
Drawn Card: Joker
Card Manifestation: His mutation has given him a rounded back with a large hump, storing a large amount of fat.
Character History: Surprisingly enough, Camelback history isn't very complex or painful. In fact, it is one of the things he is proud of. When people share their life story, something Camelback often supports people to do, he often responds that he had an easy life in comparison. He was born in a rich african american family in New York. His mother was a businesswoman and his father was a stay at home dad. In his younger years, up to puberty he was the most average kid in class. He didn't have any outstanding grades, wasn't particularly introverted but not masculine enough to be popular, didn't get in trouble outside of the rare scuffle. He wasn't noteworthy in anyway.

In middle school and high school, he noticed the things that social power could do. People in his class became popular because of stand out talents or athletic performance, and the things they were able to do exhilarated him. With the full knowledge that he wasn't a stand out in anyway, he instead trained his eloquence and charm. He would stand in front of a mirror daily, practicing his diction, intonation and rhetoric. In school he would be the nicest and friendliest person. Somehow managing to connect and relate to everyone. Getting protection from the football team and bullies from bullying made sure that the terrible life someone with his baby-face and height could have was prevented, he quite enjoyed his school experience.

He came from a rich family and as soon as he turned eighteen, he gained access to a trust fund of fifty thousand dollars. He didn't want to spend it on college and instead spend the year after doing things like toastmasters and improvisational comedy until Black Queen's day happened. He was one of the victims of the virus and survived, albeit, not with a superpower. His body mutated him into a hunchback with a hump. Ashamed of his situation, he hid in isolation until the appearance of Jokertown. He moved as soon as he heard about it and never looked back. With people that are just as mutated him, he spend his time being social. Talking to everyone in the street or at Jokertown places to create a large social network. Not only for potential protection, but also for information he routinely tips off at Jokertown's Cry. He applied as a salesman in Holbrook's and recently got accepted. He hoped to get closer to Dutton and extend his influence through him.
Jokertown Role: You know the one guy that everyone knows? Like, you walk around the street with him and he gets greeted or stopped every two minutes? That's Camelback. Also, he works at Holbrooks.