Those on High are the guardian patrons of those shaped by these unique abilities. They're also known to use Heralds to interact with the world at Large on a normal basis like basis. Beyond that, several of the High have taken Heirs to rule in time after then.
Beyond being some of the most powerful Epics, they're also said to be where various powers come from.
The High Clairvoyant is the patron of all Psychics.
Physical Powers, such as speed and strength, come from the High Island.
The High Prescient is Lord of the Seers.
Those controlling the elements and energy look to the High Electric.
And finally, the Freaks and Healers look to the High Venom for guidance.
Those on High So you want to know about Those on High, do ya? Alright then, let me tell ya what I know... See, things happened slowly at first. You had some underground, low powers types who snuck into Manhattan after everything started going crazy. Mostly Seers and Mind Readers, Invisible types. Things that could slip under the radar. Well, all of a sudden the Mind Readers had these spots they couldn't hear anything from. Few weeks after that the Seers started having problems predicting things. The others appeared weeks apart, but without much fanfare to foreshadow their arrival. Y'know, they're all powerful. But we don't know shit.
After they came, people started hearing her. The Clairvoyant. She'd lay bare everything that made you you, your thoughts included. She hears everyone in the city, their minds. And those who get in her way? She strikes them down. The early telepaths tried to get her. Their minds don't work no more. But you stay on her good side, or out of her direct notice? She's like our protector. You're in trouble, you call out to her Highness. Maybe she'll help. Maybe she'll get someone to ya.
Then came the Prescient. See, we assume that one is a he, but no one knows. The Seers couldn't predict stuff like before. All of a sudden it's like destiny is a singled out into a few stands. Like this Epic is Fate itself, pulling us all towards one general end. Cutting the strings he don't like. And if that doesn't terrify you, you're a stupid fool.
The Island is our guardian. He tends to our City, keeping it in pristine condition. Those with physical abilities look to him for guidance and help. But people don't realize the darker side to the High Island. How he could destroy the very fabric of reality, and smother all of us in a moment with our own City.
Next is the High Electric. He too came without notice, but he was the one us Normals noticed the fastest. He tends to our power grids, our lights and energies. Elemental Epics bask in his glory, for he is energy. Provider of our City, but a living bomb. Lord of Energy in every way, the High Electric is the controller of all of us directly.
And finally came the High Venom, a woman as poisonous as her name. She is the patron guardian of the Freaks and Abominations, giving them sanctuary in Under Town, beneath our very feet this instant. She is god of all things evil, from poisons to toxins to plagues. Legends have it that she changes appearances at will, and grants boons to those she deems worthy. Even more of a myth is her supposed ability to heal. But believe you me, it isn't worth trying to find out. Shared Characters: Any player can make use of these characters, within reason. Please keep consistent with their characters and keep them in one scene at a time; No having Dragon be on one side of town helping you push back the Swarm while another character's chatting to him in Central Park, OK?
Epics:
Name: Hunter Clay
Epic Identity: Dragon Heart
Age: 24
Faction: Epic
Ability: Energy control; able to redirect energy and store it. Usually concentrates on kinetic energy, giving him super speed, though he can also express it as lightning
Weakness: Intimate contact. The lower limit is kissing, but anything more involved than that also works.
Personality: Though with his dangerous side, Dragon heart is a very easygoing fellow, considered more of a Hero in the city than a villain, despite his fickle emotions. He's most destructive when bored or frustrated, but doesn't kill unnecessarily. He's also fairly insightful, and will often try and talk through problems rather than smash through them. Of course, if he gets to the end of his short fuse, he'll put a rather quick end to things.
Appearance: He claims he doesn't wear a costume, but really his black t-shirt, black cargo jeans and boots are pretty much a uniform. He stands at 6'2" of impressively designed muscle and rugged, action-hero looks, which has earned him quite a fan club both among normal and rookie Epic women. A few more seasoned female heroes have admitted an attraction to him as well, which the Epic tabloids usually jump on with headlines.
Background: Dragon heart has a soft spot for orphans, having been orphaned himself. At 8 years old, he began his career as an Epic, having made money through bounties, being a bodyguard for hire, and anything else he thought he could turn a penny. Having very few expenses, he's actually wealthy enough for a decent apartment.
He also has a hatred for a villain Epic known as Blacklight. The clashes between the two have demolished buildings, despite the Island's intervention and swift reconstructions.
Name: Jace Clay
Epic Identity: Blacklight
Age: 23
Faction: Epic
Ability: Energy draining, to the point where he's capable of creating whips of dark energy that can both drain and pull things closer to him.
Weakness: Contact with someone who loves him
Personality: Asshole.
Obsessed with power, and people who have it, his dearest dream by his own admission is to steal the power of a High. This, however, is in his few lucid moments. Most often, he's a boiling mess of emotion, throttling people for irritating him one moment and laughing maniacally at distraught witnesses the next. Despite this, he has a dark cunning when he chooses to apply it.
Appearance: He has a white face, with sharp features that look like they were cut from marble. His eyes have long since gone black, like that of a shark's, and his hair has gone bright blue. As if to contrast this, he wears black boots, black clothes tight on his gaunt figure, and big black boots. When he has to move around unnoticed, which is often, he wears a thick leather jacked and leather fingerless gloves.
Background: Nobody knows much about Blacklight before he announced his arrival in Epic City by murdering three Epics in broad daylight. He has claimed to have been orphaned, but also claimed to have killed his parents when his powers manifested. He simultaneously claims to have family and be an only child. In short, people have no idea.
One of the few things that get a consistent reaction out of him is the mention or appearance of Dragon heart; he flies into a vicious, homicidal rage.
Freaks:
Name: Donovan Shields
Freak Label: Nightmare
Age: 29
Faction: Freak
Ability: Fast healing. He can heal from any wound that breaks his skin in a matter of seconds.
Mutation: His bones and most of his organs have been replaced by independently mobile veins and arteries. These are capable of piercing skin and draining blood, directly fuelling his healing.
Weakness: The smell of anasthetic leaves him unable to heal the wounds his blood vessels inflict when they burst out of his skin.
Personality: He is fiercely loyal to the High Venom, though he hasn't met her personally. Otherwise, he's calm and contemplative when not feeling the urge to drain others for blood. Nightmare is a terrifying fighter, as the few who've seen him in action can attest; he most often releases his veins through the wrists, grappling and strangling his foes before draining them. However, any wound can release hungry, questing veins, even those on his head.
Appearance: Bright red skin, almost as if he is permanently blushing over every part of his body. The whites of his eyes are usually blood red, and the irises have gone pink. He has no hair, and his body seems to be inconsistently shaped. Despite this, he wears normal clothing, if shorter than what he should be due to a permanently feverish body temperature.
Background: He suffers from amnesia, but remembers he has been a servant of the High Venom since he gained his 'powers'. Her guidance channels him away from draining people of blood, though he still occasionally slips up and leaves a bloodless corpse in an alleyway. He's one of her more valuable servants, as despite his hunger he can carry messages to people without causing too much trouble.
Name: Natania Shay
Freak Label: Marching House
Age: 18
Faction: Freak
Ability: Telepathy. Able to link two minds, hers or others, in vivid mutual hallicinations allowing for all the senses to be fooled.
Mutation: Her body is no longer human, encased in a shell most similar to an oyster or clam five foot across.
Weakness: Strapping something over the lips of her shell silences her telepathy and renders her unable to communicate.
Personality: Hating her new form, she suffers from worse and worse bouts of depression. Despite the support of a few Freaks who empathise with her, she grows ever more silent and withdrawn. She gladly helps others speak to each other, but ever more rarely appears when spoken to. But she is grateful to those who take care of her, and finds herself unable to go through with suicide.
When she does appear, she shows an obsession with being touched, often considering even the illusion of a hand on her shoulder or hug sufficient payment for contacting people. A couple of her caretakers act as intermediaries, keeping her from people who'd exploit her personality.
She claims that the High Clairvoyant talks to her often, but most dismiss this as wishful thinking. After all, why would the High Clairvoyant care about a Freak?
Appearance: Marching House most resembles a clam or other bivalve atop six insectoid legs. While the shell isn't ugly of itself, she hates her new form and hides as often as she can under blankets and in darkness. She has a series of eyes resembling her human ones along the upper half of her shell, each fringed with lashes. She most often rests with her shell partially open, claiming "it's cooler", but will slam shut whenever anyone attempts to examine the interior.
When appearing in a projection, she looks like a normal 18-year-old girl, with red hair, athletic figure, and wearing a gymnast's leotard. She's cobbled together her face from what she remembers of her old appearance, however, and she hasn't reproduced her old beauty.
Background: She was a normal teenage girl, attractive and from a well-off family. One day she was struck with terrible, debilitating pains in the middle of class, forcing her to curl up into a ball. The pain refused to subside for weeks, after which she woke up in her new form. The doctors assigned to her case had removed all mirrors from her room, but her telepathy allowed her to understand what had happened.
She fled her home and ran away, ashamed to be seen by anyone. Ending up in the sewers with a group of deformed Freaks, she found sympathy and caretakers who helped her figure out her new life.
Credit: BlueTommy2
Name: Nudd Richards
Freak Label: The Nest
Age: 27
Faction: Freak
Ability: Nudd can control all manner of insects and arachnids using nothing but his mind, and he can produce new insects from his body whenever he is wounded. He can use these insects to fly, attack, heal, lift, and poison, as he is able to control most any form of insectoid creature, his favorite for transportation are assassin flies, and his favorite for murder is the fat-tailed scorpion.
Mutation: Nudd's skin is pale, wrinkled, and frail, his nose, ears, and lips have all sloughed off, along with another important body part that he'd rather not discuss. His body appears bloated and moves on its own, due to his body basically being a living insect hive. He smells awful and doesn't bleed when wounded. His nails are yellow and cracking, and his lower back has obvious livor mortis marks, his body seemingly already dead.
Weakness: If Nudd comes into contact with wood, it immediately kills all insects within or around him.
Personality: Nudd is a heavy nihilist, believing that every human is a plaything of fate and that fate is nigh-omniscient and inescapable. This belief is what leads to his murders, as he believes he is freeing those trapped by fate from their entrapment. His ultimate goal is to wipe out the human race and then kill himself. He is calm-voiced most times and often gives off a sense of affability even as he is slitting a person's throat. He speaks fluent Welsh, but considers it an ugly language, and prefers English. He hates anyone who dares question his beliefs, considering them brainwashed by agents of fate.
Appearance: Nudd is almost seven feet tall and has gaunt limbs and a sharp-angled face. His body is extremely bloated and wide. He wears nothing from the waist up, only wearing jeans and boots on his lower body, though when he wishes to avoid detection he wears a longcoat, incredibly conspicuous, but the only thing large enough to hide his bloating, and a wide-brim hat to hide his face, though at his height it's hard to remain undetected.
Background: Nudd was one of Edward's few childhood friends from back in Wales. They were both basically left to their own devices by their parents and bonded over that, spending their time being delinquents and the like.
Nudd was a dormant freak, however, and his mutation asserted itself on his fifteenth birthday. His ears, nose, eyelids, and lips all sloughed off, and his skin became incredibly weak and wrinkled. Every time he was injured, swarms of insects poured out, fully controllable by his mind. He didn't take this well. Nudd went into a spiraling mess of self loathing and existential crisis, eventually developing a belief that fate was a true factor, and it was bad. He began murdering in an attempt to "free" people from their fate. Eventually this list of people "freed" included Edward's first boyfriend.
Edward approached Nudd in rage and they fought. Edward had yet to gain full control of his powers yet and was defeated after being electrocuted by an exposed Breaker box. Nudd escaped and Edward decided to leave Wales forever to escape the bad memories. Nudd has been travelling the world, killing anyone in his path before moving to avoid detection.
Normals:
Name: Jeremiah Thomas
Alias (if any): Jerry
Age: 53
Faction: Normal
Personality: Jerry is a tough, no-nonsense sort of guy. He's straightforward, blunt, and only barely wise enough to know when to keep his opinion to himself. This wins him much respect among his men and some among Epics, but little from the politicians and rich people. And that is entirely fine by Jerry.
Appearance: With his hair and mustache turning to grey, and his once-athletic figure turning to fat, Jerry is the stereotypical police chief in appearance, especially in uniform. It is stupid to underestimate him, as he's just as capable of kicking criminal rear as he was in his twenties.
He's hardly ever out of the usual ECPD uniform, with his gun holstered on one hip and a stun baton on the other. On occasion, he's known to borrow a few items from the PARTs (Parahuman Assault and Response Team), and wear a bulletproof vest in case of real emergency.
Background: Born and raised on the island, Jerry is not only a career cop, but a legacy as well. He saw the ECPD all but fall apart after the arrival of the High, and he's reorganized what remains into a proud, lean organization, clearly capable of taking on and arresting young or weak Epics, Freaks and any normal criminal the Heroes don't get to first.
It was under his leadership that the PART bureau was established, specifically to deal with Epics and Freaks who break the laws of the city. With his drive inspiring not only normal citizens, but his own children, to join up, the ECPD is a legal gang, willing to sidestep the law (a little) to enforce the Law.
Credit: ihinka
Name: Regan Murphy
Alias (if any): None
Age: 32
Faction: Normal/PART
Personality: Regan is a very friendly and carrying person. She loves to laugh, hear people laugh and make people laugh. To that end she has a natural and quick sense of humor. She's very gentle with kids. In work mode she is cool and calm, and carries an unyielding sense of justice. She is courteous to strangers, but is really warm and completely open with people she truly likes.
Appearance:
Since a picture's worth a thousand words and because I'm not all that good at describing physical characteristics I'll let these two speak for me. Ragan's 5'8 slight to medium build. Fit and athletic as per her profession. When in civvies she's a casual dresser. Jeans, cargo pants or shorts. Boots, sneakers, tank tops, shirts, t-shirts. She doesn't like skirts, but she does love little black dresses for formal events.
Background: Regan's mother, a member of the surviving Amish community, was raped during her rumspringa by a violent, crazed-with-his-newfound-power young Epic. Since she was badly beaten and bleeding profusely after the rape, she was admitted to a hospital. Her parents were notified and she was quickly discharged and brought back to the community. Because her rape was medically proven, there was no grounds for shunning or excommunication. However the community did not believe in abortion and Regan's mother was made to carry the baby to term.
Soon after, baby Regan was delivered to an orphanage in Epic City, sponsored by the ECPD. Regan grew up under the stern, yet loving, eye of the caregivers in the orphanage. The children were well cared for and well provided for thanks to the patronage of the ECPD and its employees. Regan never wanted for much. She was well clothed, well fed and well instructed and educated. She had daily chores, as did all the children in the orphanage to teach them a sense of responsibility and accountability.
When Regan was about eight years old, well beyond the adopting age... A family arrived. Emily and Collin Murphy. Regan knew the woman as one of the cops who often visited the orphanage to play with the children or talk with them about being good, staying away from strangers and out of trouble, studying and stuff like that. Emily'd always been good to Regan. The girl'd even imagined once or twice that she would one day adopt her. But that never happened and soon she outgrew the silly notion. She didn't mind living in the orphanage. She was told her parents'd died so she didn't wonder why she was abandoned, like some of the other children she lived with. She didn't know how to be sad for them, because she never knew them. She didn't even know their names. But she was a little sad when Emily stopped coming to the orphanage at some point and she had to abandon her dream of the lady cop adopting her.
She couldn't know Emily had stop coming, because she and her husband were trying to have a baby. And that she'd almost carried the baby to term, but after unforeseen complications, they'd not only lost the baby, but she'd lost the ability to give birth. When finally Emily and Collin had started healing from the loss of their unborn child, they'd started thinking of adopting. And Regan was Emily's one and only obvious choice since she'd always loved the little girl.
And so, at eight years of age Regan was adopted within the Collin family. She was ecstatic her favorite lady cop had returned for her. And she quickly grew to love Collin too. He was a warm man. Author of children's books and children fantasy books. So Regan was spoiled rotten come bad time. He would weave the most phantasmagorical stories for his favorite little girl, as he liked to called her. Little Regan would also spend hours upon hours getting into all sorts of trouble around her mother's precinct. She was an inquisitive kid with a bright mind and a penchant for puzzle solving. It was all Emily could do to spare the young girl the more gruesome side to her work.
When Regan was about fifteen Collin and Emily sat her down and told her the truth about her mother and how she'd been conceived. Regan did feel sad then for her birth mother then, because she sorta knew what it meant for a girl to get raped. And she couldn't begin hating all Epics, because of what her birth father did to her birth mother, since she already knew there were good Epics thanks to Emily. She did ask Collin and Emily if her mother had given her away or is she was forced to abandon her, but they honestly didn't know. And that was that.
Regan grew to be a kind young woman. With a quick mind and an aptitude for solving puzzles. From Emily she inherited a love for sports and martial arts and a sense of justice. From Collin she inherited her sense of humor and whimsy, her love for books and arts. Thanks to him she discovered her love for singing. She had a beautiful naturally husky voice which she often used to put the children to sleep whenever she, Emily and Collin would visit the orphanage, where she had spent the first eight years of her life.
Immediately after college Regan joined the ECPD and began working hard toward her goal - PART.
More hard work followed and a couple of years after she was accepted in the Parahuman Action Response Team, she was awarded the honor to be offered a position in the Special Response unit where, to the pride of her mother and father, she climbed to the rank of Corporal in charge of her own small team.
Credit: ihinka
Name: Megan Robinson
Alias (if any): Megs
Age: 18
Faction: Normal
Personality: Megan is a vibrant girl despite her disability. She has a very sunny disposition, but can be very serious when the need calls. She is wise beyond her years and is more calm and settled compared to other kids her age. She loves drawing and telling stories with pictures since it's how she can best express herself. She wants to be a graphic novelist. Megan possesses a boundless empathy and understanding towards other people's suffering, being born deaf-mute.
Appearance: At 5'8 Megan is tall and lanky, but certainly not frail. She is pail with gold blond hair and vivid blue eyes. Her nose and shoulders are littered with freckles, which she quite adores. Her facial features are delicate, with straight nose, pink slightly pouty lips and almost translucent eyebrows and eyelashes. She enjoys wearing all sorts of clothing. Pants, skirts, blouses, shirts, Ts. The more vibrant in color the better.
Background: Megan was born deaf-mute to Sara and Jorge Robinson. Her parents went to great lengths to provide everything their girl would need in life as a deaf-mute. Since her father worked as air traffic controller, their family never wanted for money. They were pretty well off. Megan received the best of care and started learning sign language and reading lips early on. She grew up a happy kid despite her disability, and a little bit spoiled being an only kid, but not too much. She was a good kid and respected the boundaries her parents set for her. Plus she couldn't well afford to brake them carelessly. Not in her condition. She needed to be a wise kid, if she wanted to grow up safe and sound.
When her father experienced a burnout at work the doctors recommended rest and relaxation so the family decided to go camping in Missoula Park. They'd been camping for a couple of days and everything was going fine. The three of them were having a blast and Megan's father was getting better with each passing day.
One evening Megan woke up feeling the urge to pee. She knew she was supposed to wake one of her parents and not go alone, but she didn't want to disturb them and she wouldn't go too far anyway. She bravely exited the tent and went in search of the right bush. She knew people feared the forest at night because of all the noises. Animals, birds, insects, but she couldn't hear any of those sounds, so in a way she was fearless. She shouldn't have been. At night, in the dark and without her hearing her balance was off. She tripped and fell in a small ravine, hitting her head and passing out.
When next she woke up, the forest was burning and someone was pushing her into the ground.
When she woke up for the third time she was in the hospital and her parents were sleeping on chairs near her bed. They looked so very tired but relieved and happy she was alive and well. The next couple of weeks Megan visited the hospital often to stay with the firefighter who'd saved her life - Teagan Heyes.
Name: -not on record-
Alias (if any): Khan
Age: Estimated at between 45-55
Faction: Normal
Personality: Ruthless, driven, and polite even when slicing an Epic's throat. Khan holds himself as a businessman, and is genial and charming to anyone he meets. Despite the fact that he irrationally loathes all Epics and Freaks, including the High. He demands respect from his followers, and acts quickly and decisively when he doesn't get it.
Appearance: A large caucasian male. That's how his ECPD document begins and ends. Reports of his blond hair and blue eyes are known from only a few witnesses, and they 'disappeared' shortly after. He's usually clad in a white business suit, with a crimson red shirt and a white tie. Atop his head is a white, wide-brimmed fedora with a red band. His shoes are also white. In fact, the only part of his known outfit that isn't white or crimson is a single gold tie clasp.
Background: Nobody is entirely sure where Khan came from. What they do know is that he's the most terrifying force in Epic City outside of the High. Leader of the gang known as the Kryptonites, Khan is directly responsible for more Epic deaths than any known person, and indirectly responsible for a great number more. His followers use any tactic possible to destroy Epics, and care little for collateral damage. Their stated mission is to "restore the supremacy of humanity".
Credit: BlueTommy2
Name: Maria Daniels
Age: 20
Faction: Normal
Personality: Maria is agoraphobic and rarely leaves her home, though a few years without a home has definitely made her a lot less fearful than she was in the past. She is almost as sarcastic as Edward, a factor towards their becoming friends, though she doesn't show this to anyone she doesn't know, preferring to stay quiet and hide in corners. She hates danger, and does all she can to avoid it.
Appearance: Maria is around 5'4", almost too thin, and with very thin limbs. She's very insecure about most aspects of her personality, including her weight, which she believes is too low, and her face, which is pointed and decidedly man-like. She has bright red hair that she wears at shoulder-length. She has bright green eyes. When she does leave the house, she covers up as much as possible, wearing huge jackets and scarves even in the summer.
Biography: Maria is Edward's room-mate.
They met at a bar when Edward first arrived at the city and was looking for love in all the wrong places. She was dragged there by her friends and he was only there because there was nowhere else, so they were both intensely uncomfortable. They got to talking, she found out he was gay but they enjoyed each-other's company and she needed somewhere to live so it turned out well enough.
She's unemployed but works with him on repairing his outfit when it gets damaged. She's very introverted and rarely leaves the house, but Edward doesn't mind because he cares about her like a sister.
She was born in Epic city and has lived there all her life, she isn't uncomfortable with the High's dominance of all parts of the island in any manner, even if she did, she's too agoraphobic to do anything about it, though she's trying to come out of her shell. She was kicked out of her home at 18 by her old fashioned parents, and was homeless for two years, living off of what friends she had before meeting Edward.
Player Character Sheets:
Name: (Birth name. Usually secret for most Epics and Freaks.)
Epic Identity:
Age: (Epics and Freaks may not be older than 30)
Faction: Epic
Ability: (Your supernatural ability. If you have a minor, unnoticeable ability but act normal, you're still an Epic)
Weakness: (What removes your powers?)
Personality: (quirks, anything different)
Appearance: (usual clothes, mutation, special costume)
Background: (Essentially Vital Stats and Notable History)
Name: (Birth name. Usually secret for most Epics and Freaks.)
Freak Label:
Age: (Freaks may not be older than 30)
Faction: Freak
Ability: (Your supernatural ability. If you have a minor, unnoticeable ability, you're still a Freak)
Mutation: (Short description)
Weakness: (What removes your powers? Doesn't remove Freak Mutations)
Personality: (quirks, anything different)
Appearance: (usual clothes, mutation, special costume)
Background: (Essentially Vital Stats and Notable History)
Super Name: Aymes (just something she goes by since the High Clairvoyant told her not to go by a super name since she may take her place one day)
Gender: Female
Age: 27
Powers:
#1. Telepathy
She is able to hear anyone's thoughts within a 10 mile radius of herself and project her own thoughts into someone's mind. She is also able to track minds and know how far they are from her. She has gotten very good at getting around most mind blocks people put up. She has become strong enough to blast through those blocks if she chooses to. It is very rare that she does. Anna can also see and interact with someone in their dreams. This however requires her to lose all of her senses and go almost into a coma like state until she comes out of the dream.
#2. Telekinesis
Anna has the ability to levitate, move, immobilize, and manipulate objects with just a simple flick of her finger. She can project waves of telekinetic energy to impulse, hit and destroy many objects or people. Using this ability, she is able to create a telekinetic shield wall around herself deflect any person or object trying to harm her.
Weakness:
Loud or hi pitched noises cloud her mind and render her powerless
Appearence:
Anna stands at a surprising 5'8, making her a little taller than most girls. She has long, dark red hair that goes down past her shoulder blades. It has a slight wave to it and curls slightly at the bottoms when it is humid out. Her eyes are a deep crystal like blue that get lighter when she is happy and darker when she is angry. Her skin is fairly pale as if she doesn't go outside very often, but her cheeks and ears will glow red if she is angry or embarrassed. She has a very athletic build due to the hard training she has put herself through in her life.
Personality:
Anna walks through life looking as if she has everything together and knows how to handle anything that comes at her. At one point in time, that would have been all an act to keep people from believing she wasn’t about to fall apart, but now she truly is as calm and collected as she looks. Anna thinks everything she does very thoroughly and tries not to dive right into things. She doesn’t like conflict very much, but participates in it when she must. She is a very friendly type and will be social and helpful when she needs to be. She speaks in a very calm manner, which makes people a little annoyed when they try to fight with her on things. When she is angry you will certainly know it. Most people don’t realize the true power behind her and when she is mad that power will shine through. Once she is really angered it takes a bit for her to calm herself back down. She becomes very snappy and is more prone to being violent in those moments.
Background:
Anna doesn't really tell anyone about her back ground. She doesn't like everyone knowing her life, even though she usually knows everyone else's. All that is known about her is that she admitted herself to the Epic University when she was 16 to get a better handle on her powers. She left sometime in her mid 20s and started being groomed and monitored by the High Clairvoyant. The High Clairvoyant shows a lot of interest in her powers and thinks that Anna may one day be able to take her place. Anna has an older brother named, Silas, who is a construction manager for Epic City. It is unknown if he has powers, but if he does he never uses them. They speak often enough, but since she works so closely with the High Clairvoyant, Anna is often too busy to have too many social gatherings with him. Nothing is really known about her parents and she never even speaks their names to anyone. If asked about her past she will only give basic, need to know facts.
Other: Anna knows many forms of hand to hand combat and is rarely beaten in a hand to hand fight.
Powers: Can create doorways that people and objects can pass through. She has a Clairvoyant ability so that she can see where the doorway will lead to. Doorways stay active until she consciously closes them, or her powers fail, whichever comes first.
She can switch any two objects, similar to teleportation. The larger the difference in Mass, and the further apart they are, the longer it takes to switch the objects. Include living beings.
As with most all Epics, has slightly increased endurance and reflexes compared to Normies.
Weakness: Excessive heights (anything above 3 stories, above or below from ground level). Top of buildings, etc etc. Not only does this negate her abilities, it's a natural fear for her. So it strikes her dumb with fear on top of that.
Limitation: Deaf. Can read lips, however.
Appearance: Alex has shoulder length straight honey blond hair that she's proud of. Ice blue eyes stand out from her face. She stands at 5'6”, but (like most Epics) is of a solid build.
Alex walks around in thigh high boots, sundresses, and minimal makeup (red lipstick, usually). She generally has dark sunglasses on.
In outfit, Traveler maintains her hair in a ponytail and keeps the thigh highs. She rounds out the outfit with a plaited skirt and a sleeveless tee.
Personality: Alex is like a ray of sunshine. She's usually smiling, and looks for a high point in every situation. She's not above getting dirty, and doesn't mind killing if she feels she has to. She values honesty above most else, and is quick to help others.
Background: Alex had a simple childhood. She didn't want for anything, and was pretty well removed from the horrors the City can give. Coming from a rich family, she developed quickly but managed to maintain to be humble.
On her fourteenth birthday, everything changed. Her family was attacked, and she was kidnapped by minor Epics. Things went awry and she was left permanently deaf. Her powers manifested, giving her the ability to escape.
She managed to convince her parents to let her hone her abilities, learn how to read lips, and learn how to use a sword to help defend herself.
At eighteen she embarked on her own, striking out to make a difference.
Speed - Edward can move at speeds usually reserved for concepts like sound or objects like fighter jets, his top speed before his body starts to suffer damage is around mach 200, fast enough to cross the Atlantic in 80 seconds. His speed is so great that if he goes top speed whilst something else is attached to him it is vaporized due to the intense heat of friction.
Durability - In order to survive the incredible speeds he reaches, Edward's body is incredibly durable, able to take incredible blunt force trauma.
Weakness:Electrocution robs Edward of his speed and superhuman durability, and he does not regain their use for at least five minutes afterwards. A simple shock from static electricity cannot do this, it has to be due to a moving current.
Personality:
Good doesn't always mean nice, and Edward is the embodiment of that.
Edward is rude, cynical, deceitful, and with a mean wit. He lacks tact and is blunt even in the tenderest of situations. Despite this however, he loses all traces of this when around children, who he treats with a kindness that never otherwise appears in his repertoire. This is obvious evidence that despite his bluntness and otherwise assholish behavior, Edward has a softer heart than he likes to admit. He taunts opponents and friends alike, and enjoys very much getting on everyone's nerves. He is a thrill-seeker, and is nigh-fearless.
Edward has a phobia of large animals and is a vegetarian.
Appearance: Edward is relatively short at a height of 5'9", a slim muscular body and wild black hair, shaved at the sides and back, he also wears a short beard.
His civilian outfit is usually a black jacket over a sleeveless shirt, tight black pants and a pair of good shoes. His outfit when it comes to heroics is reminiscent of that of a motorcycle stuntman, such as Eval Knievel. This outfit involves a purple jacket with "Comet" written on the back in bold, black gloves, similarly purple pants with a white stripe up the sides, and purple boots. On his head he wears a pair of goggles with black tint to prevent his eyes from being seen. His hair is tied into a bun, but he unties it when he is ready to go full speed. This outfit, very hard to miss, is used to get attention while also serving a practical purpose, the jacket is leather, meaning he won't harm himself as badly should he fall at high speeds, and the goggles prevent his eyes from taking damage when he is running. He thinks it looks ridiculous, but it adds to the spectacle of his powers, making him more popular amongst the people of Epic City.
Background: Originally from Wales, Edward Iwan's memory has been compromised due to his brain processing information far faster than anyone else's. He gains so much information due to this that his older memories are consistently being forgotten to make room for more information. He cannot remember anything between his birth to the age of about nine. Unfortunately, this was also the time when his powers first manifested. What he can remember was his family being afraid of him and avoiding him due to something that had happened in the past.
Edward's family, due to their neglect, left him to his own devices, meaning he never went to school. He also never developed any friends. Eventually, around the age of eighteen, Edward became disillusioned with the world, going for a run to clear his head, he gained full control of his powers for the first time. In nine hours, he had circumnavigated the globe thrice.
He had never felt so alive.
He spent the next few years drifting, getting whatever thrills he could, and earning money by entering footraces and marathons. He attempted to avoid overusing his abilities as to be noticed, as similarly-powered individuals carried a stigma everywhere except for Epic City. Speaking of, it was around this time that he first saw the city, and he was immediately willing to do anything to get in.
Eventually he did, and after a meeting with the High, he decided to join the city as one of its celebrity heroes simply out of the compassion in his heart.
...Well, there was also the fact that there was no greater thrill than utterly trouncing criminals.
Abilities: Elemental manipulation (fire, water, wind, earth) limited to the element actually being present or able to form in order to manipulate it, Earth power localized
Weakness: Non-natural objects (anything man-made that cannot occur in nature)
Personality: Edward is still an introvert, though being a hero has forced him to come out of his shell some. He will interact with the people he saves, and with the people he confronts, but he still prefers to otherwise keep to himself. He does feel that organizing all the heroes of Epic City to protect the city against all threats at all times would be a good strategy, but his introverted personality and limited social skills leaves him unqualified to coordinate such a strategy.
Appearance: Edward is a tall man, measuring about 6 feet tall, give or take about half an inch, with a fairly lean build, though he is by no means skinny. He has fair skin that has begun to gain a light tan recently, lessening the contrast with his pitch black hair. His eyes are nearly steel gray in color. His nose is longer than normal and slightly hooked, as well as being a bit crooked after a few fights that ended badly for him when he had first gained his powers. He keeps the hair on top of his head, as well as his beard and mustache, short and neatly trimmed, though it still remains very thick and often unruly, resulting in a few cowlicks and tangles somewhere that he just can't get out.
Edward prefers to dress simply most of the time, wearing wool or cotton pants and shirts, or slacks and a button-down shirt for occasions when he needs to dress up a bit more. As far as his costume goes, he usually just wears a long frock with slightly wider than normal sleeves, reminiscent of the robes of the stereotypical magi of fantasy, over his normal clothing. He also has a staff which he crafted to help focus his power. It is mostly a rod of quartz about 4 feet long, but has a core of copper through the center which extends to a band around the quartz where he grips the staff. It is topped with a spherical head made of an amalgam of silver and gold. He has found that quartz, being the most abundant mineral in the earth, is useful for channeling his earth power while the high conductivity of copper, silver, and gold makes conjuring fire or water easier, and the staff can also stir up enough air for him to be able to use his wind powers even when the air is completely still.
Background: Edward was, and still is, a comic book nerd, though having a regular job as well as his hero-ing job has caused him to fall behind on some of his comics. From an early age, Edward was fascinated by superheroes and dreamed of becoming one himself one day. Living in Epic City, where Supers were commonplace, this wasn't too far-fetched an idea; he just had to wait to get some superpowers. As a child, Edward wasn't the most social of people, preferring to live vicariously through the droves of superheroes he read about in his comic books to actual human contact. At home, he spent much of his time in his room with a stack of comic books by his side. At school, he hung out with the other comic book nerds and talked about comic books with them during recess and lunch, but he never really got close enough to any of them to call them friends. His introverted behavior left him severely lacking in social skills, though he performed well in any tasks that allowed him to work alone.
Edward discovered that he had become an Epic on his 14th birthday when, instead of blowing out the candles on his cake, he inadvertently made them blaze higher and hotter. He blew at them in a panic, and was able to put them out, but the cake was ruined, being covered in melted wax and becoming over-cooked from the unusually hot candles. The incident terrified Edward's parents, but rather than let Edward know this, which they feared may cause him to become a villain, they hid their fear and chose to laugh the incident off and congratulate Edward on becoming an Epic like he had always wanted. For a short time, Edward was afraid to read comics for fear that he may inadvertently set them ablaze, but like a drug addict that keeps coming back to the drugs, Edward couldn't stay away from his comics for very long, and he soon realized that, for some reason, his powers didn't work when he was reading his comic books, or at the very least, they weren't strong enough to cause any damage, though it would take him a long time to find out why this was so.
In order to keep Edward out of trouble while he learned to control his powers, his parents chose to homeschool him during high school, which he didn't mind as he didn't have many real friends at school and he still preferred to keep to himself whenever possible. His high school career was rather uneventful, but during his junior year, while walking home from a quick shopping trip, using his wind power to speed him on a bit, he had a bit of a nasty run-in with a couple Kryptonites. The thugs noticed the wind was moving differently around Edward and realized he must be an Epic. Having nothing better to do, they assaulted Edward, bringing him to the ground and landing a hard punch to Edward's face, breaking his nose, before Edward was able to set one thug's coat ablaze while the other was distracted with the cops that happened to show up at just the right time. Both thugs were arrested and Edward was taken to the hospital. His nose healed well enough, but was permanently deformed. From then on, Edward did his best to lay low, not letting anyone know about his powers. The thugs who attacked him were put away for a long time, but not before the Kryptonites were informed of Edward. Luckily, the gang doesn't know very much about Edward since the two hapless thugs hadn't had time to discover much about their target before they were captured and taken away.
When Edward turned sixteen, he applied for a job at a local comic book/baseball card/novelty shop as a way to earn some money for himself as well as to indulge in his nerdy interests at a special employee discount that was even better than his existing extreme loyalty discount. He kept this job through the remainder of high school, and after graduating he kept the job, working longer hours while taking business classes at a local community college. After a few years he transferred to a four year university to get his degree in business management, but he was able to do an online program so he could continue to work at the comic book store. After he got his degree, he worked at the store for another three years before the owner retired and passed the business on to Edward. He enters this story just days after he has acquired the business.
(shared characters if needed) Edward's Employees:
Name: Alexander Masters
Alias: Zander
Age: 18
Faction: Normal
Personality: Zander is a pretty normal teenager. He likes reading comic books and collecting Epic trading cards, but his truly "nerdy" habits end there. He enjoys spending time with his girlfriend of 10 months and experiencing the freedom that graduating high school has afforded him. When working, he gets along with his brother well since any interaction the two have is generally business-oriented and/or related to topics for which they have a mutual interest. Outside of work, Zander and Nathan still get along as well as one could expect from brothers, though Zander will still pick on his little brother occasionally.
Appearance: Zander is tall and lanky, measuring just under 6 feet in height with a skinny build that has gained some muscle from his sporadic involvement in various sports throughout his life. His thick mop of black hair gets in his eyes frequently and he carries a comb in his hip pocket for when it happens. His eyes are blue-ish gray and closer together than most people's eyes, making him appear slightly cross-eyed when he looks straight ahead, which has led him to adopt the habit of turning his head slightly to one side most of the time to lessen the effect. His face is otherwise unremarkable with a black beard and mustache beginning to grow. For clothes, Zander chooses to dress simply, wearing tennis shoes, jeans, and graphic tees with funny or sarcastic phrases. On hotter days, he will wear sandals, cargo shorts, and muscle tees.
Background: By the time Zander was born, Epic City had already been annexed from the United States and superheroes were commonplace on the island. Some of the kids Zander went to school with were already beginning to gain powers, and in the early years, when kids don't quite understand these sorts of things, Zander was usually one of the ones to show the young Epics kindness amongst the teasing and bullying that they often endured. His actions cost him some friends, but earned respect and gratitude from many more. Zander became a friend to Epics and even some Freaks. At the age of 16, Zander applied for a job at Epic Comics and Collectibles. Since the owner was planning on retiring soon and Edward was interested in taking over the business when that happened, the owner felt an arrangement where Zander worked under Edward's supervision while he took the day off would be a good arrangement for all involved, and so he hired Zander. For the first week, he stayed to make sure everything ran smoothly, but once he was convinced that the situation was perfectly under control, he would hand the reins over to Edward as soon as Zander came into work, and then he would go home for the rest of the day.
Name: Nathaniel Masters
Alias: Nathan or Nate
Age: 14
Faction: Normal
Personality: Most people consider Nathan to be almost a nerdier copy of his big brother. He is a more avid comic book reader and more devoted collector of trading cards than Zander (he has complete card sets of most Epics and Freaks). He also enjoys watching anime and has recently gotten into Steampunk and LARP. He idolizes Magus and has declared himself to be Magus's biggest fan, often wearing a frock like the one his hero wears, even when it's really too hot to practically do so. Nathan gets along well with his brother, but he does annoy Zander from time to time (sometimes on purpose, other times by accident). His general disposition is cheerful, and he often has a smile on his face.
Appearance: Nathan is shorter and huskier than his brother, measuring about 5'4". He has a thin build like his brother, but is naturally just a bit larger and has no muscle to speak of. His hair is somewhere between strawberry blond and red in color, and he keeps it fairly short so that he doesn't have to take too much time with it as it becomes very unruly when it gets too long. His face is generally unremarkable, with hazel eyes, the slightest bit of fuzz growing above his upper lip, and two dimples at the sides of his face, but a few girls have mentioned that he's cute, which always brings a blush to Nathan's face when he hears it. Nathan's fashion sense is something of a hodgepodge of his various interests. He often wears a t-shirt with a print of one of his comic book heroes or one of his anime shows under a long wide-sleeved frock, jeans or shorts depending on the weather, and black tennis shoes or sandals. He also likes to carry a replica of Magus's staff whenever possible.
Background: Nathan was born on the same day Edward Storm gained his powers, though Nathan doesn't know this. He was about 5 1/2 when Magus made his debut as a hero for Epic City. At first, reports of Magus were few and far between, but the reports often referred to him as a champion for all the people of Epic City, unlike many of the Epics who would often fight amongst themselves, causing large amounts of unnecessary collateral damage in the process. And while Magus never involved himself in major problems the way Epics like Dragon Heart and Traveler would, he still became a famous hero in his own right, and Nathan though he was cool. Nathan first learned to read from Zander when the older brother would read his comic books to Nathan late at night when Nathan, for whatever reason, couldn't sleep. The brightly colored pages and amazing adventures captivated young Nathan Masters and he was quickly enslaved by the comic book obsession. His next obsession was Epic trading cards, which began on his 8th birthday when Zander gave him Magus's first two trading cards along with a pack of cards that contained other well-known Epics. The fact that Magus was already on the cards was enough to get Nathan into the hobby. His interest in anime was sparked at age 10 when a friend of his showed him a few shows during a sleepover. When Zander went in for his first day at work at Epic Comics and Collectibles, Nathan asked the owner if he could work too. Since Nathan was only 12, he couldn't legally work there, but the owner gave him a few small tasks to do so he could feel useful and paid him for the work. Two years later when Edward became the owner of the store, he gave Nathan more responsibilities and paid him minimum wage, but since Nathan still wasn't old enough to legally work, Edward keeps him off the official payroll, but Nathan does have an Epic Comics and Collectibles polo that he wears when he's working.
Perhaps a long shot but here's to hoping. Name: Robert Dalhinsky
Epic Identity: He doesn't have one despite how long he's been working. His fellow rescuers refer to him as 'The Fixer' as they are unaware of true nature of his power.
Age: 21
Faction: Epic
Ability:
Time Manipulation: He is able to accelerate or slow down time for particular object(s). He is also able to completely turn back time for an inanimate object or make it travel forward in time. He can only do this with any non-sentient being. He can, however, accelerate and slow down time on an entire area; however, he is the only one capable of moving within this time-locked area as he has not been able to master his ability yet. He has also learned that he can change time for a particular object which he can use to attack but this takes a ton more energy.
For example: He throws a ball forward. In the many possible futures, it is on another position. By manipulating the time of the object, he is able to take all those futures, coincide them on the current reality and create images of where the ball would be so it basically propels itself forward to the afterimage (whatever he chooses) and attack the opposing force. Though he rarely uses this.
Note: He almost never uses it for combat purposes. Too much strain on his body.
Weakness: Shellfishes. As long as one is within three feet away from him, his power is rendered useless. It may be dead or alive, but not yet digested (so anyone who ate shrimps in his proximity won't exactly harm him). Though when he eats any shellfishes, he won't be able to use his powers for a whole day. And no, he is not able to peek into any other future besides the object he is using. He cannot predict things.
Also any big distraction since he needs to concentrate. Can't exactly put something back together when someone's yelling at your ear.
Personality: Robert is an average guy. He enjoys life as it is and takes it one step at a time. He doesn't really care much for the future or the past - he simply lives in the present. It makes him seem more easy-going. It's funny, really, how his personality is pretty much the opposite of his ability. He isn't exactly the type to do heroic things on a whim. He will do it if he feels like it - so not everytime. However, after the heroes and villains fight and people are trapped, well, he tends to help in those things.
He doesn't let anything bother him for now. He usually shrugs off teases and disappointment aimed at him. He doesn't care about anyone else's opinions on him. Think what you want, he's not changing. Well, he might. But he won't change immediately for your leisure even if it is for the greater good. He does, however, respect everyone - Freaks, The High, Mutants, Epics, Normals. And he isn't exactly the type to just spit at you because you did a good deed. Everyone has their good and bad sides, even those superheroes.
Appearance: Robert stands at a height of 5'8", pretty small but he's alright with that. He has auburn red hair which is usually unruly no matter where he is. He has heterochromic eyes - his left eye is storm gray and his right eye is a dull blue. This doesn't seem to bother him all that much. He has rather fair skin and he has an athletic body type.
Normally, he is seen in some casual clothing consisting of a button up shirt and pants. So technically, he tends to dress up in a smart casual sort of way. Sometimes, he is even seen in a sweater vest. For his costume, he tends to wear the standard rescuer outfit that Normals use. However, he has some minor modifications such as a logo imprinted on the front right breast pocket and one in a larger scale on the bag. His logo is two rivers intertwining with each other. He also wears a black mask to cover his whole face.
Background: Robert was born and raised in Epic City. He led a normal life. They were no life-changing events besides the appearance of his powers. His parents didn't die due to a tragic accident or because a villain attacked. Nothing. Actually, his parents taught him to always be kind to others. Which to him translated as respecting everyone. He always had to give the benefit of the doubt. He went to school, had some friends and just generally enjoyed his life. He thought he was going to be a Normal, which was entirely fine by him. He didn't want to be one of those superheroes or supervillains. It was fun watching them but not actually fun being them right?
Tell fate not to do something, and she will do it. When he was nine, he developed a very high fever and was admitted to the hospital. While there, his powers just overloaded. Time didn't stop, but it slowed down. The entire hospital was moving at a snail's pace and he didn't know he was the cause of it. He squirmed in pain while being hooked to the equipment. His power showed no signs of depleting. Not yet anyway. But then someone visited him in his mind. The High Clairvoyant. She soothed him enough for him to calm down and he was able to control it somewhat. She then alarmed him that the Prescient is keeping a close eye on him and his powers - just in case, she claimed. Then she disappeared. He never heard from her again. He jolted awake and his parents were worrying about him and his newfound powers but he reassured them that he was fine. His fever was no more and he was sent back home.
From then on, he began training. He had to get it under control. Maybe he'd be able to use it someday. So he trained in between his school, social life and chores. He had managed to understand his power and grasp some of it by the time he was fourteen. He got into the rescuing business when he was sixteen. Since he had managed to get a handle on his powers and he was able to reconstruct a broken glass statue (which was pretty big), he felt a little more confident. Reverting and slowing down time, they were pretty nice powers. So when a hero and a villain were out fighting each other and causing buildings to topple, he knew what to do. He put on a mask, headed over to the Rescue teams and then asked what he can do. After they laughed at him, he demonstrated what he could do by putting a portion of a building back together. They were impressed and let him help. With him temporarily stopping time or reverting it, the buildings didn't collapse on top of anyone and the others were able to get the civvies out. And that's how he earned his place among them.
When he was sixteen, he watched High Island restore the city near instantaneously and he watched in awe. He was so impressed that he resolved to help him. Two years later, he approached High Island to see if what he had was enough to help. Not yet, he says. More powerful, he continued. While working as part of the Rescue Operations Team, he continues to hone his power. He knows he hasn't even unlocked half the potential his power was, and he is admittedly afraid of it. But like he always says, for now, he'll worry about the here and now. The only goal he wants to get is to perhaps work under High Island. If not, well, he's earning his keep from the Rescue Operation Team.
Faction: Freaks, but since his visual mutations are minor he mostly associates with Epics.
Mutation:
Vice Claw could be described as a sort of fire-manipulation ability, but it's a little more complicated than that, due to its status as a mutation. Vice Claw manifests in Alto's left arm, charred completely black due to the nature of his awakening. Upon releasing his mutation, it becomes enveloped in flames which also make claws.
Alto cannot change the base shape of the flame arm, but he can make it grow and shrink. The Vice Claw is virtually indestructible, and the flames can't be put out. It'll continue to burn underwater, and it can even burn in an area without oxygen. However, it will still consume oxygen in a normal environment and it's not like Alto can survive without oxygen either. The Vice Claw also emits heat like a normal flame, and can also emit fire and set other things on fire in a similar fashion to Pyro-kinesis.
An interesting thing to note is that the Vice Claw's flames seem to do physical damage. They can grab objects and lift them up, and the finger claws can wreak havoc if they're large enough. The Vice Claw also has its own 'strength' which is easily enough to be able to lift himself up, even in its smallest form. This strength is entirely separate from the rest of Alto's body, however.
What truly sets the Vice Claw apart from other abilities is mostly Alto's degree of control. Alto (and his clothes) are immune to the Vice Claw's flames, but he can't say the same for anyone else. He can only control the heat to a certain extent, and the larger he makes the Vice Claw, the harder it is. While its still the size of his normal arm, he can control it quite easily but it gets exponentially harder. Double the size is still manageable, and up to the extent of being able to wrap his hand completely around one person he can make sure they won't get burnt if he focuses.
Additionally, while making the Vice Claw grow is certainly an act of manipulation, making it shrink is more like an act of suppression. At a certain size it'd be almost impossible for him to suppress the Vice Claw without utilizing his own weakness.
Weakness:
Silver. Any amount of silver wrapped around his left arm, or a sufficiently large mass of silver stabbed into his left arm like a few bullets or a dagger, will completely suppress the Vice Claw. The Vice Claw will also shrink back from anyone wearing silver in sufficient quantity, and usually something like a silver necklace would be enough. It also greatly weakens the heat, and even though the Vice Claw's flames are relatively 'solid', silver projectiles can go right through them.
It should be noted that the Vice Claw would always be active if Alto doesn't forcibly suppress it with silver. It retains its increased or decreased size while suppressed, but Alto can 'shrink' the Vice Claw a lot easier while it isn't out. When he re-releases it, the Vice Claw reforms violently in an explosion of heat and fire depending on what size it was on when it was suppressed. Alto doesn't usually shrink the Vice Claw to the smallest size, as the explosion it creates when it reforms can be used quite effectively.
Appearance:
He usually wears a red track-suit jacket and cargo pants. His face looks very young but his eyes show some maturity. He doesn't separate his Epic identity from his normal identity, but people don't usually see him around too often. His left arm is usually wrapped up in bandages if he isn't planning on using it anytime soon. Under the bandages there is a silver necklace wrapped around his arm. Nothing fancy, although one could tell the emblem on its centerpiece was something unique. His left arm looks like it's charred completely black, with cracks that glow like there's fire inside. It's not just cosmetic, either. Alto can't feel anything from his left arm, and you could probably feel some heat if you got close enough.
Personality:
Cold would sum it up pretty well. Alto didn't want to become an Epic, and the price he paid for it was a large one. His power is extremely dangerous, standing next to him even when his Vice Claw is normal size is like standing next to a blazing campfire. He goes out of his way not to make civilian friends, and he doesn't know too many Epics himself, being relatively new to the scene. He's not exactly a loner though, he'll help anyone he comes across, and he'll reach out to the people that feel truly alone in the world, because he knows that feeling better than anyone.
Background:
If you ask for Alto's background as an Epic, then you would get an answer that would probably be a little strange, but rather straightforward. He doesn't like the High Ones much, but he understands what it means to be against them. As an Epic, he wants to help the normal citizens first and foremost. If there was some kind of large scale crisis, hard as that was with the High Ones ruling the City, he would help out, but there are plenty of other Epics who could do his job. Even if the Prescient himself called for him, as long as he knew there was someone out there that needed help, he wouldn't go.
You could say the High Ones gave him a gift. The Vice Claw, as it's come to be known by the media is a unique power amongst most Epics, and one could say it's an especially strong one at that. In the single year that he'd really been active as an Epic, he gained a lot of media attention as a new, up-and-coming Epic. In one of the earliest pieces of footage they had of him, they saw him demolishing an entire building in one over-head slam with his Vice Claw. It was a sort of small, run-down hideout for a group of small time crooks, but it showed how strong his power could be. It was said that an Epic's abilities came from the High Ones, and there were always those people who said that some powers weren't created equally. Those same people would say that Alto was blessed.
So yeah, you could say it was a gift from the High Ones, and maybe you'd be right. But it wasn't a gift he got for free.
When Alto was 10 years old, one day he suddenly collapsed with a fever. The doctors didn't know what had caused it, but they had suspicions. It seemed like Alto's parents also had their own suspicions, because they agreed to the offer to admit him to a hospital room. Even though there was only a low chance Alto could be having an awakening, Epic Awakenings when they did occur could be traumatic in nature, especially if it turned into a Freak awakening. It was probably better to be in an environment equipped for such matters.
Since it wasn't certain when it would occur, if it would occur at all, his parents and the doctors would keep a safe distance. Throughout the whole ordeal, Alto's mother had been right by his side, and even as they wheeled him over to the prepared room, she stayed by his side. As they entered and were called to leave, Alto's mother knelt down with his father behind her, and took off her necklace. The necklace was an heirloom passed down in their family. Not many families had heirlooms these days, and Alto's family's heirloom was meant to be passed down when the next generation had become someone their parents could truly respect.
Even through the haze of Alto's fever, he realized what this meant, and what his situation was. He was about to face a great change, and whatever it was he became, she would be proud of him. Unfortunately for him, these would be her final words.
As she finished putting the necklace on Alto, a searing pain shot through his left arm, and his world exploded into heat and flame. The next time he woke up, he was restrained on a metal table, with observing eyes watching him through a window. Or at least, he thought he was restrained. He realized quickly that he could move his feet, and his right arm wasn't restrained either. Fractured memories flitted through his mind as he turned over to look at his left arm with a growing sense of dread.
He remembered it now. It felt like the pain in his left arm had pulled his arm into the air. There was even more pain, and glowing cracks worked their way up to his palm. There was a searing light, and the last thing he remembered was his mother and father, slowly disintegrating into ashes before the darkness enveloped him. When his mind returned to reality, the ones behind the glass were had jumped back. He wanted to get up now.
He was aware of the heat of his left arm growing stronger. It grew larger, until the steel brace which had been holding it until now turned red hot and shattered under the pressure. He could hear an alarm going off in the background, but nobody entered the room. He held up his arm, slowly shrinking now, back to its normal size. He could faintly feel the heat coming off it. It should've been hotter, but he was much more aware of the cold sensation on his neck. His mother's silver necklace, and her final words rang out in his head again. He began to laugh, but laughter quickly turned into pained sobbing. How ironic was it, that his mother's final action would bring about her doom?
A while later, he would find his weakness and suppress his power successfully. But now he was an orphan by his own hands. He was put under watch, and his temporary legal guardian was Jeremiah Thomas, the leader of the ECPD. Alto always remembers his first ride to his old with Jeremiah in his patrol car. He had his charred, blackened arm, wrapped in his mother's silver necklace, crossed with his other arm, tightly against his chest. He didn't want to wear a seatbelt, but Jeremiah had put it on for him anyway. They didn't talk at all, during any part of the journey. When they got to his home, Jeremiah cooked him a warm meal and left with a quiet farewell.
Almost everyday, Jeremiah would come in to cook him a meal. Then he would sit down and make sure Alto ate all of it. Jeremiah would sometimes come late at night, and Alto would be waiting there for him. Alto still never exchanged a word with him.
Finally, one day Jeremiah cooked him the same meal he'd made the first ride home, and Alto finally spoke.
"...Why are you doing this?" He said. Jeremiah thought for a while before giving his answer.
"I do this for a few kids." He said simply. "Kids like you, who haven't got family left."
Alto thought for longer.
"Why?" He asked again.
"I just think about what would happen if I wasn't there." Jeremiah replied.
And that was the moment that changed Alto forever. It was a simple exchange, but it was a strong message. The Gods of Epic City were the High Ones, but they were the gods of the Epics. Who was the god of the normals? Who would catch them if they fell? Who would be there when they were well and truly alone? Jeremiah had been there for him now, but he was a normal himself. He couldn't be everywhere at once. This idea shook him to the core, when he realized what being alone truly meant, as he remembered the love his parents had given him, and tears fell onto his silver necklace once more.
The story of Vice, the Epic, was that he was given a great power by the High Ones, and he would use it to defend the innocent and the downtrodden. The story of the Human, Alto Ganze, was that there were two people that had given their lives for his power, so that he could use them to make sure no one experienced the same pain he did. It would be the least he could do, to make sure their faces didn't turn to ashes in his memory.
Ability: Super strength and durability: this varies based on his weakness, able to lift up to 80,000 pounds over his head and having skin incapable of being pierced by standard ammunition of a low caliber at his finest.
Weakness: Clothes, the more he wears and less exposed his skin is, the weaker he gets to the point of not being able to support his own weight.
Personality: James is a fairly laid back person, he enjoys crude, dark humor and puns, especially the last one much to the chagrin of the opponents he faces. Due to the unique conditions under which he usually fights, James has become rather flippant with his position as a peacekeeper, often times slacking off in his duties to better avoid tense scenarios as his ability doesn't really allow him much anonymity. However James isn't one to back down from a challenge or stand idly by whilst innocents suffer, he may play bystander to a purse snatcher, but a rampaging murderer will bring him straight to the fore front.
Appearance: James will often wear a black tank-top with dark jeans and a pair of thongs on his feet, a combination of clothes that still allows him to perform at a level just above that of an average person his size. He has mid length dirty blonde hair that is kept swept to the left of his face to reveal his dark blue eyes, he possesses a rather sharp, aquiline nose, and a square jaw that seems to contrast harshly with the rest of his look. Standing around 6'1, James is quite well muscled, having hit the gym extensively to obtain an image he could live with showing off to the public. When performing duties as an Epic, he'll often strip down to his boxers or go completely nude if the stakes are high.
Background: James grew up in rural Australia, with a single mother, living life on a farm that was one of many supplying the local town that was lorded over by a strong group of epics. The setup was similar to many on the continent, small warlord factions protecting a handful of normal citizens, land and the various resources and utilities they provided from the horrors that lay just outside the border. Sometimes they would feud with one another to make a grab of each others resources, in an attempt to gain more wealth and influence over a given area. As a citizen of an outlying farm station, James saw much of these conflicts in his young life, often clinging to his mothers skirt as these fierce warriors fought.
The greatest resource to these warlords was young epics, future tools and soldiers that could be used to further their ambitions. If a newly awakened epic possessed a power of a truly frightening magnitude, something that could possibly overthrow a ruling faction, they were often dispatched of with haste. So when winter came around and James fell sick with a flu, his mother did what she usually would, making sure the lad was rugged up and warm, ensuring he kept up his fluids and his strength with warm, hearty meals. It was at this time however, that James begun the process of his awakening, unknown to both himself and his doting mother. So as the day wore on, James condition seemingly worsened, the young boy became frail looking, his breath rattled and he groaned weakly beneath the covers of the blanket. He complained often of their weight as he struggled and tossed about meekly, until finally his mother pulled them aside, witnessing a remarkable recovery of the boys strength and spirit.
It didn't take long after for young James and his mother to figure out his strengths and the limitations clothes brought about. James learned to brace the cold in return for his new found gifts, often spending his time collecting firewood with ease, gathering warmth through physical exertion as opposed to a jumper and while the boy played out his winter days, testing the limits of his strength, his mother spent her time figuring out a way to keep her lad from the grasp of the warlords. As spring came around and the people grew more active once more, the epics returned to regular ventures out toward their borders, Jame's mother grew more worried, unsure of how long they could keep up a charade of any sorts. Through an unknown contact to James, his mother had found and epic that dealt in people smuggling, trading in what supplies she had to get her and the young boy to safety. Although reluctant to leave, James understood the risk his mum had taken and went without a word to his new home in Manhattan.
Ability: The Healing Touch. Monica is able to speed up cell regeneration and other bodily functions, such as digestion, whether by using energy around her, or by even using her own. While it doesn't have to be direct contact, it does need to be a fairly close range. We'll say around 10 or so feet.
Weakness: Most precious metals are what seem to be her weakness. Gold, platinum, and silver seem to be what turns her powers off. Either by being in direct contact with it, or being around an excessive amount of it.
Personality: Enjoys helping others. Usually more so than herself. And while she does enjoy helping others, she is a bit unsettled by her powers. She doesn't like to talk about it, but won't hesitate to use it to fix others.
Appearance: Usually seen wearing everyday clothes. A T-shirt. Jeans. Sweatpants were quite common, too. Her "Coustume" consists of a light brown leather jacket and collared button-up shirt, as well as deep blue jeans.(As seen in the above photo)
Background: Monica grew up in the city of Pekin, IL. Her childhood was nothing special. She found a love for medicine and biology during her high school years, and after 8 years in medical school, Monica became a Hematologist, and a little later, a general Surgeon. During her time at medical school however, she was hired as a paramedic for her astounding talents. Life was pretty good for Monica. Then the whole Starburst thing happened. At first, it was of no difference to her. The events of the whole animal and mutants were a bit unsettling to say the least. However, things seemed to be fairly normal in her hometown. But eventually, things began to take a turn for the worst, and the so-called "Epics" were invited into America. Their powers were...unsettling. She never really came into contact with them. Until one day one of her patients began do die. One of the team of surgeons had accidentally sliced open a man's heart when he dropped a scalpel. The cut quickly expanded, and the patient started to bleed out rapidly. With a defiant shout, Monica tried to hold the wound closed while one of the other doctors got ready to cauterize the wound. But when he went to seal it, the wound was gone. As were many other small nicks on the man's body. This is when she realized, she was indeed an Epic. From that forward, she was known by her friends as Yeagnasae Stargazer, after her cleric character from D&D. And soon, the whole city knew about this "Yeagnasae" person, and Monica began to feel overwhelmed. Eventually, she moved to a place known by many as Epic City. Here, life felt... Almost normal. Minus the whole superpowers thing. But here Monica, or Yeagnasae, hopes to start her new life here. The life of an epic.
Ability: Empathic Power Suit - A body-covering armour that seems like either metal or ceramic depending on the angle or person you're listening to. The colour is usually a dull white, but the seams, eyes and central heartlight all glow a different colour depening on which of six modes Spectrum is currently in:
Diamond Null: The 'default' or 'exhausted' state. The subtle, dark glow raises Spectrum's abilities only marginally, remaining within human norms. Slight levitation.
Protector White: A blinding angelic shine from fear or embarrassment. Spectrum gains the ability to project solid light forcefields. They are visible as murky white barriers.
Mobile Blue: Happiness or exhilaration fuels this blue sheen. Offers full flight and increased speed and agility. Outpacing normal humans, it's slower than dedicated speedsters.
Assassin Black: A sullen purple radiation caused by anger or rage. Increases agility and forms hard-light knives from her wrists. Designed to kill.
Pulsar Red: Sadness and courage make the armour burn red. Gives the ability to blast red concussive "pulses" from hands, eyes or chest. "Nova" pushes one big pulse out from the suit.
Impact Green: A vibrant green inspired from stubbornness or curiosity. Reduces mobility to maximise strength and durability.
Weakness: Water. Full immersion in a large enough body of water makes the suit fall apart.
Personality: Spectrum is confident and charming, giving the impression of an idealistic young Epic who wants to change the world. Intervenes in any situation that looks like it can use some help, which makes the shining armour a familiar sight around Epic City's other heroes and emergency services more than once. Defers to authority on the scene, but Spectrum is also quick to remind that orders don't apply.
Outside of the costume, in civvies, Spectrum is severly agoraphobic, wearing several layers of clothes on the rare occasion of lair abandonment. Few link the shuffling pile of hand-me-downs with the armoured Epic flying through the sky, and so Spectrum is largely unmolested by Epic paparazzi and remains a mystery to the community at large. Most guess at Spectrum being a woman or effeminate man, judging by voice and body language, but puppeteer Epics have been known to project personae to fool others.
Appearance: As noted above, Spectrum's suit is full-body, and so offers little hint of gender or the person underneath, if there even is a person. The 'face' of the armour is subtly expressive, the eyes changing to reflect expressions; the eyes narrow when appropriate, open wider in surprise or fear, the upper halves tilt inward for anger, and even assume different shapes when one would expect a raised eyebrow.
In civvies, Spectrum's clothes are usually two sizes too big, at least. They're also a mishmash of styles and colours, of both men's and women's clothing. The hood is consistent, and usually covers the face completely. Gloves and closed shoes are also consistent, but again there's a large range of styles chosen for comfort rather than fashion. Some people claim to recognise Spectrum by the fact their skin still glows and can be seen from inside the hood, but that's probably a completely different Freak.
Background: As a matter of personal admission, Spectrum comes from Chicago and has two parents and a grandmother. They're an immigrant family, Mediterranean in origin and almost certainly Greek, given how Spectrum is prone to cursing or slipping into that language when under stress.
Underneath all her clothes, Spectrum is an attractive young twenty-something Mediterranean. She has grey eyes, short, messy dark hair, and she takes almost religious pride in her hygiene, including shaving where nobody looks. She has an average figure, if slightly more endowed with curves than her height would suggest. Her olive skin is mostly overpowered by the emotional lights that she produces as a byproduct of her ability, looking British if she's shining white and almost Central African when angry enough to produce black.
Now give her back her clothes, you pervert. Stripping a young woman naked for your amusement. That's assault, and possibly worse.
Personality: Teagan is a very calm. She gives off this Zen master aura and people usually expect her to talk in wisdom quotes. She is live-hardened, but managed to remain warm and gentle. She is a bit solitary by nature and might seem aloof at first, but once she warms up to you her demeanor changes. She used to be a bit of a daredevil in her younger years, but she has toned it down. However she would jump in danger without hesitation to help or to protect as is her nature. Those who get to know her very well discover some very unexpected characteristics to her.
Appearance: She's 5'8ish, medium build, fit and athletic. With jade green eyes and a rich mahogany hair, peppered with not few white and grayish hairs. At 37 and with her natural olive complexion she has visible crow's feet. She's got high cheekbones, a slightly crooked nose due to a nasty brake and her most favorite facial feature - two dimples. On her left wrist there is a see-through-the-skin type of tattoo representing the inner workings of her wrist and pinky finger in steampunk style. Her left eyebrow is bisected by a prominent scar as is her lower lip. The rest of her body is also peppered with scars, some small, some larger. Teagan prefers comfortable clothing and favors jeans, shirts, t-shirts, tank tops, sneakers, boots.
Background: Teagan was about seven years old when the world changed. At the time she was living with her parents, Martha and Rory Hayes, in her mother's country of origin. Which was located in Eastern Europe and Teagan doubted many people even knew it existed.
Her mother was a wildlife biologist and was doing a study on the indigenous fauna in the region and her father was a mountain rescue worker.
From a very young age Teagan learned to love nature and at the same time respect it. But after the Starburst reports started coming in about people with strange powers, freakish mutated animals and the likes and suddenly the world became quite dangerous for normal people. They stayed in her mother's country as long as they thought it safe and then started to move from place to place, trying their best to pick the safest region where to raise their child.
The constant moving from place to place, the turmoil in the world, the fights between Epics and Freaks, between good Epics and villainous Epics, her parents' love for nature and her father's constant desire to help people in peril molded young Teagan in the somewhat dare-devilish, brave and strangely shy young girl with a constant desire to help, a love and a healthy respect for nature.
When finally her family landed in the US, where it was relatively devoid of Epics and Freaks, young Teagan had the opportunity to pursue a career and a profession in a field that combined both her mother's love of nature and her father's desire to help people in danger. And so Teagan enlisted straight after colleague for training to become a Smokejumper. She poured all her youthful exuberance in her newly selected profession. She trained hard, studied as hard and worked even harder. The work was as rewarding as it was hard and harsh. She often wondered how people could be so careless as to unknowingly cause wildfires. She'd witnessed firsthand on numerous occasions how the nature she loved so dearly was destroyed in a flash.
This caused her to constantly volunteer to participate in awareness promotion programs, which was how she got her first nickname by her crew - Smokey Bear. She didn't mind it, because she knew it was used mostly with a tongue-in-cheek.
Being her father's daughter she was also SAR certified. On numerous occasions she would help her team, her partner or perfect strangers without even a thought of reward beyond a simple thank you, if even that. Her daredevil altruism in the line of duty and often even outside of it earned her her second nickname - Samaritan.
After the rise of the High and the establishment of Epic City Teagan urged her parents to relocate there, as she feared for their safety. Martha and Rory however refused to go without their daughter, and so the entire family picked up and moved, hopefully for the last time.
With her parents in relative safety within Epic City Teagan is in search of new opportunities, while also, in her free time, trying her hand out in something she'd always dreamed of doing. Writing.
Epic Identity / Musician Name Phantom - Mèiyǐng - 魅影
Age 24
Faction Epic
Ability
While physically unconscious, David's Epic powers allow him to create an incorporeal body, which his mind can then inhabit while his body rests. This phantom cannot be harmed by physical means, including firearms, blades, poisons, etc. David can make the phantom totally invisible, or entirely visible, or anything in between. He can cause the phantom to grow to enormous sizes, or shrink down to the size of a quarter. It is not affected by gravity, solid materials, or weather events. He can fly at tremendous speeds, but as his speed increases, his ability to process the world around him decreases. It doesn't appear in cameras, or mirrors, but can be recorded by video cameras as a sort of ethereal shimmering.
The phantoms are also not required to look like David. They can be any shape or size, including the stereotypical ghost, a tall, pale man with no face, and whatever else David has in his head. This shapeshifting is limited to what David can imagine, however, and oftentimes anything he is not very familiar with will look artificial, when scrutinized. Thus he can only reliably imitate himself, his family, a cockatiel, a black shorthair cat, and his most recent ex-girlfriend. He can also take the form of that tall faceless man with reasonable accuracy, given that it's faceless.
Currently, Phantom's size is no representation of his strength: and as he grows larger, it becomes harder for him to use his telekinesis. His voice, however, scales proportionally with his size, allowing his voice to boom across the city, or be nothing but a tiny squeak.
After the battle with the Kryptonites at the dock, David's telekinesis has begun to magnify slowly. At the battle, he was able to hurl entire shipping containers while hopped up on adrenaline. His power level is slowly climbing due to guidance from other Epics.
He's working on Johnny Depp, but David's voice always gives him away. People around him can hear him when he talks, and his voice never sounds like anyone but his own. That may change as he gets more practice, however.
Lastly, David has minor telekinetic abilities: his phantom can exert as much strength mentally as he can while physically awake, and not any more. He can lift moderately heavy boxes, throw a baseball, or punch someone, but he can't stop bullets or lift up entire buildings.
Weakness David's powers only function while he is unconscious (sleeping, sedated, or otherwise). During his waking hours, he is as powerless as any other person. Furthermore, his physical body has no invincibility. Coffee and other stimulants, while technically not an Epic weakness, prevent him from sleeping easily, and thus prevent him from using his abilities. Furthermore, clairvoyants can sense David's phantoms, and harm him through telepathy if they so desire. David's powers, while useful, are no more effective at fighting than the average man's fists, or weapons.
None of these are really considered "proper" Epic weaknesses. His power-nullifying weakness is Chinese Oolong tea, which is why his powers didn't manifest until he moved out of his parents house. It's a staple at his home, and smelling, touching, or drinking that specific type of tea renders David's abilities useless for twelve hours after contact.
Personality David was generally a calm and measured person before his powers manifested, and he tries to maintain that now. The only problem is that due to his abilities, he always feels just a bit sleep deprived, leading to a short temper in most situations. His biting sarcasm can feel as if it comes out of nowhere, since he generally looks like a friendly guy, all things considered. He constantly second-guesses himself to see whether or not he's being brusque, since he knows that it happens.
He didn't really have too much of an interest in Epics, until he became one. He still tries to avoid conflicts with Epics in the real world. In the dream world, he prefers to remain hidden from view as well. He's not shy, really, just indifferent to the random power squabbles that so many Epics get caught up in. He'd much rather just lie low, pickpocket people in his sleep, and work on his art.
He really gets a kick out of being functionally invincible while asleep. David will sometimes intervene in petty crimes while he roams, to watch the looks on their faces when their fists pass right through him. Also, it's wrong to rob people less fortunate than you, or in a harsh position.
Everyone wants to help others, that's who humans are. The tricky part is that humans can also make an ungodly amount of excuses and rationalizations for bad behavior, and David is as flawed as anyone else. If someone was being mugged while he was awake, he would keep walking. At night, though, petty thieves will fear the phantom.
Side note: David can speak both English and Chinese, but his Chinese writing and reading suffer from a lack of use.
Appearance Image Reference --- David has no special costume, nor any usual clothing. He buys a lot of graphic tees on Amazon, and gets his pants from the Walmart clothing section. Sometimes his parents/aunt buy him clothes (usually socks). Every once in a while he likes to dress up in slim fitting dress shirts and nice khakis, but normally it's when he's trying to make a good first impression.
His eyes seem to always have bags under them, probably a side effect of never sleeping properly. He's either awake for real, or awake in the dream world.
His phantom forms generally wears a long cloak of shifting greys, whits, and black, which blur together and makes those who see him feel...unnerved. The cloak has a hood which he can wear if he's feeling it.
Background David was born into a fairly conservative family in Guangzhou, China, and was raised there for several years. When the Epics began rearranging the Great Wall in northern China, however, his family decided to migrate to the United States, in an attempt to stay safe and avoid Epics. It worked for a time, until the Epics moved into New York and set up shop.
David and his family had integrated themselves well into NYC's Chinatown, so when the High took Manhattan, there was nowhere for them to run. Luckily, the Triads based in NYC were adept at dealing with megalomaniacs, and Chinatown was able to adapt to the new reality with relatively little chaos. Not to say that the world wasn't incredibly more dangerous: no, now there was twice as many hazards. David's father put it best: 危机四伏. "Danger lurks on every side".
Still, his parents were no fools. They kept to themselves, raising their son as best they could. This meant sending him to a school where he could mix with the other cultures of the United States, and learn English like a native. They pushed him to succeed like many Chinese parents, but they had misjudged the changing world around them in this respect.
After David saw one of his high school friends kidnapped and murdered by a crazed lunatic Epic for no reason at all, he realized there was absolutely no real point in good grades or studying hard, not when an epic could rip you out of your world in a blink if they felt like it. His grades slipped as his motivation failed, and he found himself falling more and more into sketching, playing the violin, and making digital music.
His parents were livid, but despite their disappointment, he continued to live with his parents until he was 22, working at a fast food place and saving the money whenever he could. By night, he went to community college courses, and took private lessons to improve his musical skill. His parents were somewhat mollified by this, since he would give them money for rent, bu eventually he and his mother had an argument to large to smooth out, and he was evicted by his parents.
Luckily, he'd had some money saved up, and was able to find a...somewhat affordable, run-down apartment complex in Manhattan where he could stay for a time. It was around the same time he met Annie, who was his first serious girlfriend after he left home. They didn't live together, but they were close. Eventually, though, she grew fed up with his lack of motivation in the world, and it was over.
Of course, while they were together, he discovered his Epic powers for the first time, and spent a lot of time experimenting and dicking around in his dreams. It was hard to give the real world much credence when he spent so much time in an amazing world of flight and invisibility. After she left him, he decided to go around pretending to be her for a few nights, and found that he could imitate her to perfection. He doesn't like to, but a pretty girl can go some places that a guy can't.
Now he's just been keeping on with his life in the same way. Working fast food to get paid (he's a manager now), avoiding other Epics and troubles, and trying to make it big in the huge Manhattan EDM scene. However, the more he gets a handle on his abilities, the more he's been wondering if life as a superhero might be something for him. Maybe as a spy, a rescue worker, or something similarly suited to his particular set of skills.
Ability Bombard's abilities are twofold. Firstly, he is shockproof. Any blast wave, tremor, or shock wave will not hurt him. An explosion's heat and shrapnel could cause him harm, but the blast wave would do him no harm. If he is thrown into a wall, he will still take damage, but he can use his abilities to cushion the hit to some degree.
The second ability is his offensive ability. Bombard can control the velocity of any air within his line of sight (he cannot control air inside buildings unless the building has windows, nor can he control air inside a person's body unless there is a hole in their body, etc). For example, he is able to rapidly raise the velocity of a sphere of air, which results in a radial explosion of powerful shockwaves. Effectively, he can create explosions without fire or ignition. Velocity increases are instantaneous.
Furthermore, because of his shockproof nature, he is capable of using these explosions to "fly" through the air, though it's more akin to repeated detonations beneath his feet, making it dangerous to use for too long.
The limits of this ability are at approximately Mach 5, where air flow begins to transfer to hypersonic, and the air molecules themselves begin to break down and lose electrons. At that point, his abilities no longer considers the air to be "air", despite what anyone else might think. Also, the more air Bombard attempts to affect at once, the less velocity he can impart on it, being inversely related by the volume he attempts to influence.
As an example, Bombard can cause 1 cubic meter of air to move at Mach 5 (about 1715 m/s), and 10 cubic meters of air to move at 1.715 m/s. Decreasing the volume of affected air can allow it to move slightly faster than Mach 5, but the increase is logarithmic, not linear.
Weakness Rap, country, and bluegrass music.
Personality Taron is a strange mix. He listens to Gregorian chanting, but has little impulse control. He is loud when speaking, but his diction is impeccable, always complete sentences and perfect grammar. More than anything else, he wants to be a hero, but is incredibly, unbelievably bad at it. In a nutshell, he is a hotheaded man who desperately wishes to stay calm, but has yet been unsuccessful.
When angered, he speaks very little, instead hissing, grunting, or shouting.
He views those who don't help him as against him, even if they don't even know of his existence. As an example, he once said hello to a beautiful woman as she was walking down the street, and she, like any normal person, said hello back and continued walking past him. He sent pieces of her splattering across a nearby alleyway, thinking she had spurned him.
Easily manipulated by those who help him or praise him in a genuine fashion. To clarify, he needs to feel as if he is friends with someone, and then he would support them doggedly.
His sense of justice is somewhat skewed, and those who show him kindness/attention are more likely to be spared from his sudden outbursts. He remembers all the crimes he commits, and he knows they're wrong, but at the end of the day, he simply can't control himself, and tries to rationalize his actions. As a result, Bombard is constantly unhappy with his life, and spends much of his time drowning his sorrows in various distractions. These distractions do not help with his temper, or his self-loathing.
A would-be hero, but no one has been able to survive his anger long enough to guide him along that path. He feels intense regret for his parents' deaths, but has no proper way to mitigate it.
Appearance Image Reference Heavily shadowed eyes belie his general lack of sleep. Taron's hands tremble easily when he undergoes any particular emotion, and he generally wears heavy coats, even during warmer weather. He doesn't seem to overheat, and he rarely sweats.
Background Like many kids, Taron grew up with anger issues. He could never control himself when he became incensed, no matter how badly his parents tried to control him. For most of his youth, this was more of a nuisance than a problem, until he began going through puberty.
His parents decided therapy might be a good step. He hated going, fighting tooth and nail to stay home whenever possible. This all came to a head at age 16, when, during a particularly spirited bout of therapy, something switched inside him, and he annihilated the office, bringing down the entire building in his rage. His therapist, the security guard in the room, and his parents all died in the collapse.
Taron survived, to his utter horror. He knew it was his fault, and he knew that there was no going back. He fled the scene, the city, the state...he ran as far and as fast as he could, and suddenly discovered he could fly on his way across Iowa.
Eventually, he ended up in Epic City, where he saw an opportunity to make amends for his crimes by protecting the innocent, destroying the people who used their powers for evil, and saving the world from the evil Epics.
That turned out to be easier said than done, and he quickly became obsessed with the idea of good and evil, with himself and his "friends" being good, and others being evil. People who might have been a good influence on him found themselves annihilated if they said something even remotely out of line.
He still fights for his morals, but the poor man no longer has any idea of who matches his idea of evil.
Ability: Drake has the ability to manipulate glass at a touch. He can't make it spring into existence from nothing but he can make it change shape and composition to some extent, giving him considerable versatility
Weakness: Sufficient loud noise/vibrations can knock out his ability to manipulate glass. That and the stuff that usually knocks your standard Epic unconscious. Approaching that vibration threshold can cause him to lose control to some extent, though not completely.
Personality: Drake is as you might expect. When the mask is on he is confident to the point of being cocky, with a slight penchant for the dramatic and putting on a show. Needless to say he loves making an entrance, or an exit, He also likes taking valuable things, or at least making the Epics work to stop him from taking those things so they have to earn a days pay.
Outside of public appearances he is more...hostile, jealous to some extent of him being the villain rather than the Robin Hood-esque hero. And yet he can't stop himself either, not with the allure that comes with it and the possibility of the big score. He just can't sit back and let himself relax for long, not with the hope that one day he will succeed in a big way, and leave the entire city shocked at his success. Appearance: Drake usually wears casual clothes such as polo shirts and jeans, nothing too flashy that would make him stand out, while not looking like a total slob. He has close cropped brown hair and a light tan to go with it, and an above average muscle build from the work that he does. His costume is a bit more on the practical side, with a leather trenchcoat, a fedora, fingerless gloves, the obligatory mask, and specialized pants and shoes. Stylish yet practical, just what a villain should have.
Background: His beginning was unremarkable, with his childhood fairly obscure by city standards. Was one of several siblings, had a mediocre education, with nothing outstanding about him.It was only when his powers developed that things changed. But by that time he had separated from his family, striking out on his own to earn his own path. In doing so he had fallen in with the wrong crowd, and that maintained itself even after he had gained his powers.
Inevitably he came into conflict with the Epics that ran and oversaw the city, with a rough contact. Drake's powers seemed to have aspired him to rise higher, and he grudgingly accepted a role as the 'fall guy' to enforce the rule of the city. Which is the general status quo that he has settled into now. His efforts allowed him to obtain his own crew and network of individuals, while he gets to steal things and is occasionally stopped so the government can look good, or something like that. He lives with it for now, but someday that will change. He's sure of it.
Charlotte's main ability is the permanent animation of otherwise mundane objects. These objects cannot be organic or living in nature, such as a tree or plant and neither can it be from any form of electronics with calculative abilities surpassing a calculator. Upon animation the object brought to life gains immediate sentience and sturdiness far surpassing its original state; how far exactly it surpasses the original is dependent on how much Charlotte is willing to sacrifice. They also gain abilities comparable to other Epics. Again, the potency of their abilities is dependent on how much Charlotte is willing to surrender.
Her creations are permanently sentient and can act of their own accord without instructions from her. A creation "dies" if its body is wrecked beyond repair. Charlotte can feel the death of her creations no matter the distance, as well as experience what they're experiencing at any given moment. All her creations possess a mental link with her and each other, allowing for instantaneous communication no matter how far apart they are.
Aida- A reanimated clothes mannequin that serves as Charlotte's primary bodyguard and escort, especially when she ventures outside of her demesne. As a combatant, Aida's ability is comparable to that of an extremely well-trained human, added to the fact that she does not feel pain or fatigue and therefore can maintain peak performance continuously. In combat, her main armament is a Heckler and Koch G36 Assault Rifle, and her sidearm is a customized Desert Eagle. She does not have a face, but she has a collection of rubber masks that when she puts on becomes as though it's a part of her, and is indistinguishable from actual human faces. Charlotte calls her "Sister" when in public, and also serves as her code-name. The first of the Animated, and easily the most stoic. She usually serves as Charlotte's liaison for public business.
The White Knight - A living suit of armor that Charlotte can don in the case of battle; it's extremely durable, more so than an antiquated piece of armor has any right to be. The armor can actively change its size to fit anyone, and grants its wearer the same strength, power, and reflexes that it possess. The downside to putting on the armor is that its wearers - and especially Charlotte - are put through immense strain due to the suit pushing the body past its limits. Irritatingly cheery when it decides to speak. Most of the time, it's asked to remain silent.
Cheshire - A cat that was once a stuffed-toy. Cheshire can sense the presence of living things in a 3 kilometer radius, as well as turn invisible. It's hearing is 3 times better than an actual cat, and it can move as fast as a car. Has an acerbic wit, and a tendency to speak in gibberish to anyone that's not Charlotte.
Weakness:
Charlotte's ability comes at a great cost - per every creation she gives life to, a corresponding toll is taken out on her lifespan; even further, during the creation process a backlash occurs that affects her physical health in proportion to the strength of the creation; small, weak creations can cause her to have heart palpitations, and even further than that can lead up to an outright heart attack.
Her creations, while fully autonomous even while she's asleep, will "shut down" temporarily should Charlotte's hands be bound in any way, and will remain in this state until her hands are untied.
Personality:
Taciturn, quiet, and meticulous; she's often acts a no-nonsense person and prefers working than playing, often overdoing it to the point of abusing her already fragile health.
Charlotte is someone who, when set out to a task, will aim to execute it as perfectly as possible. Despite her age she's very goal oriented and does not easily get sidetracked - in fact, her focus is such that it's borders on obsession. She does not get angry or hate people easily - in fact, she has a hard time developing grudges at all - however, once someone or something has become a target of her vindication, she won't stop for the rest of her life until that grudge is settled.
She tries to be act like a grown-up, and definitely pulls it off most of the time, but she has yet to understand that tragedy doesn't make you mature, and in truth, she's a lot more childish than she makes herself out to be.
Appearance:
A girl short for her age, with short, black, bob cut hair and wide green eyes; pale skinned and with unhealthy looking bags under her eyes, she often looks older than she actually is. Her face is fixed with a permanent frown and her eyes are always intense.
Born in Epic City to two insanely wealthy parents, both the heirs of what could be deemed as "old money", she was a girl born with everything. Wealth and power were not a problem, and despite both her parents being Normal's, Epics had a hard time touching them due to their long reach and influence, especially in Epic City, where the peace was kept by other Epics - even more so for her family, because with their wealth they had helped fund a number of heroic escapades and backed a multitude of heroes in starting their careers.
Charlotte herself wanted to be a hero. It was no surprise, considering that she interacted with a large variety of them while with her parents. Of course, that was the furthest thing her parents wanted. In their eyes, there was no career more dangerous than that of being a hero; not to mention though they supported heroic Epics, there was always a lingering fear in the back of their minds that drove them to do it, a fear that if they did not, then perhaps they would turn on them instead. They did not truly understand the people born with these special abilities, and predictably feared them for it. Still, they loved their little girl and if it turned out that Charlotte was, in fact, gifted with these powers, they would be at a loss as to what to do.
The day she discovered her ability was during a visit to a local mall. There was a robbery, and the robbers took her hostage - in her panic and desperation, Charlotte gave life to a nearby mannequin, her first ever creation that she dubbed as "Aida"; the mannequin subsequently disabled her attackers, who were powerless to stop a bodyguard that felt neither pain nor fatigue, and one that not even a bullet to the chest could stop. The police arrived with her worried parents in tow, just in time for Charlotte to faint as the backlash from her ability hit her.
Not initially connecting her fainting with the creation of Aida, she ecstatically set out to experiment with her abilities. Her parents, in the meantime, worried about her future. As things stood, Charlotte would definitely pursue her dream of becoming a hero.
It was just as she created Cheshire, however, that the true price of her ability was discovered. She collapsed in a heap after their creation, and was rushed to the hospital. Her body had suffered greatly, and after the incident, she became more easily fatigued, and her physical capability had dropped drastically. This would be the last time she used her abilities up until the next year.
For a time, she was content - despite the shock of what happened to her, she still had new, wonderful friends that she was sure would help her in becoming an amazing hero.
Her parents, for their part, were simply relieved that nothing worse had come of it. They would tackle the problem of her becoming a hero later on; they were sure it wouldn't become an issue until a few years later. In the meantime, they did a good job of covering up her abilities and making it seem as though she were nothing more than a normal, albeit sickly, girl.
Unfortunately, their calculations were off by miles.
There were many people that had a bone to pick with them. Villains who's plans were foiled by heroes they financed, rival businesses that they had bankrupted or snubbed - even other "heroes" who were enraged that they did not see fit to fund them. These enmities eventually came together and boiled over in an incident that forever changed Charlotte's life.
It was during a charity event that they struck. Their aim was simple - wipe out the entire family in a grudge fueled slaughter. The leader behind them was an infamous villain named Blacklight - a name that sticks to Charlotte's mind and haunts her dreams to this very day - who targeted her parents due to their funding of Dragon Heart at one point, as well as their overall wealth. Their plan was almost a success; the villains got both her parents and succeeded in orphaning her, but only came that far until other Epics arrived with the police in tow to deal with them.
For awhile, she was in a catatonic state. She had lost near everything she held dear. Nothing made sense to her anymore, and for a long time, she did nothing but sit by and watch as more things were taken from her.
People interested in her parents wealth and lands argued over her rights as the inheritor. They were people she knew, even liked; business partners that came over every so often, aunts and uncles that would play with her, older cousins that treated her to candy -- all now squabbling over her parents wealth, using her as a tool to claim it or even forgetting her outright. It was her first betrayal, and it was a painful one. Suddenly, she found herself surrounded on all sides by enemies she'd read about in story books, but unlike the princesses in her fairy tales she had no-one. No prince nor fairy godmother to assist her out of her dilemma.
Some claimed that the wealth should go to this-or-that person/organisation, while others tried to adopt her outright so as to have the money flow to them by proxy of being her guardian. The money-grubbing and greed came to its peak when they turned their eyes to her fathers statue collection.
It was her fathers most prized collection, and he often took her with him to admire them. At the time, she never really understood and appreciated them as he did, and even now she probably does not, but they held memories of her playing with him among the tall and handsome looking statues, memories of a life that could not return, and were one of the last and greatest reminders of his love.
She was not going to allow them to take that away from her.
She quickly put Aida to work, and used Cheshire to assist her for the sole purpose of halting every move to steal her inheritance, her memories, and ignored the incoming pain and fatigue that came with the stress of long nights of reading and writing and court hearings. For a half a year, she struggled with legal cases, manipulating people using stolen knowledge and using Aida as a false proxy to give adult weight to her request, and finally, ultimately, succeeded.
The battle for the memories of her past life invigorated her, and soon, she fell out of her state of ennui, now alive and in the present once more. At the time, however, she had no clear direction of where her future lay, until she came across a news report of Epic Heroes that were recently murdered, their deaths in full, grueling display. Another childhood memory corroded by society and tragedy -- but this time, she did not feel so helpless.
Recalling her childhood dreams, the image of herself as a hero resurfaced in her mind. The ways she was now, couldn't be the hero she pictured herself becoming; she had her abilities, and she had new skills, but her idealism wasn't the same as it once was. There was no way she could focus on just helping people singlemindedly, not until the darkness that resided in her heart, the same darkness that stalked her dreams and plunged her life into the pits of hell, walked free. Being a hero was no longer her objective, but she had a goal, one that more or less coincided with other heroes:
Until Blacklight was behind bars, or better yet, dead, she would not rest.
Over the past few months, she had settled on transforming her home - a mansion and the surrounding lands spanning kilometers wide - into a headquarters, from where she could provide support for herself, and any possible future she wanted to explore. It was easily converted it into a base, a base that was almost impenetrable through normal methods. She set up Aida with a new identity, and created the White Knight to aid her in her goals.
Every night, she follows up on leads as to wear her target may be, and viciously targets those affiliated with him. School is a second thought for her; she is enrolled in a nearby private school, but rarely attends actual classes, having received a special permit to simply have exams administered to her by a teacher from the school should it be necessary, while the rest of her education she handles herself.
Her face is not known to the public, however when she goes out, joining the melee between heroes and villains, the name she has chosen to take for herself is adopted from one of her favorite childhood books, and is the theme behind all her creations:
Ability: [Voidwalker] Guilt's power links her intrinsically to a pocket dimension referred to as the Void. This pocket dimension exists outside of normal space, and it's dimension of time is either non-existent or so slow that it becomes irrelevant. The connection allows Guilt to move objects in and out of this pocket dimension. Any non-living object within sight can be moved into the pocket dimension either as a whole or in part. In similar fashion, any object within Void can be expelled at any point within eyesight. Because of Void's particular properties, objects that are stored within Void do not seem to age at all, even maintaining their momentum and heat. Guilt herself can move through Void, moving instantly to any location within eyesight. For herself, she may also transport herself to any location within a 5-mile radius that she is incredibly familiar with, such as her home. Living beings transported to Void emerge exactly as they entered, from their perspective no time will have passed.
[Living Weapon] In an attempt to enhance her combat effectiveness, Guilt has been treated with a variety of drugs and undergone invasive surgery. The positive effects of this treatment is that she's capable of entering a state of hyper-awareness. During combat her reflexes are enhanced beyond what's normally humanly possible. While her actual senses don't improve, her mind is able to consciously process large amounts of sensory data and formulate responses at a much faster rate than normal. Of course these highly experimental procedures also inflicted a number of debilitating conditions, detailed below.
Weakness: Living beings. As previously mentioned, Guilt cannot move living beings into the Void except by touching them due to some 'distortion' effect caused by any living being. Teleporting something within half a meter of a living being is impossible, with the exception of things that Guilt is within about 5cm of (she can still move things in and out of her hands). Non-powered beings create a stronger distortion effect for unknown reasons. It's impossible to transport a normal at all, and their 'distortion field' extends out for 3m instead of 1/2. Physical contact with a normal (including them touching her clothing) will negate her powers completely.
A second weakness has nothing to do with her Epic ability. The same drugs and treatments that granted her the state of hyper-awareness badly damaged her body's internal systems. Without the aid of her special gas mask normal oxygen is poisonous to her, incapacitating and eventually killing her if she's exposed. In addition she requires access to a variety of medical drugs, and while most of these are relatively easy to acquire her need for a constant supply allows others to predict her movements. If one could track down where she gets these supplies, they could ambush her.
Personality: Trained as a soldier and a killer, Guilt considers herself more of a 'weapon' than a 'person.' She measures her value purely in her effect on the world, no more and no less. This focus on her effect on the world causes her to ignore her value as a 'person', her own emotions and thoughts are flaws, obstacles to be overcome. As a weapon without a master she shows little to no compassion, incapable of connecting to other people on an emotional level, and she hunts down any perceived criminal without mercy. Even the slightest crimes often warrant death in her eyes. Secretly she dislikes making decisions, yearning for the days when the world was more simply, and all she had to do was obey the orders of her superiors. However, she distrusts anyone from this new city. Her experience has left her with a strong dislike of Freaks, and a severe respect for military and scientific instalments. She also seems mildly obsessed with family values, becoming inordinately distressed when exposed to children without parents because it reminds her of her own situation. She has trouble classifying other Epics and Freaks, partially people and partially weapons. She often shows Freaks less compassion than they deserve, although on a conscious level she realizes that this bias is not founded in logic.
Appearance:
Background: Back when Epics and Freaks first began showing up all around the world, the Earth's governments were scrambling for a solution. Nuclear weaponry was useless against an enemy that had no homeland, that could appear within one's own population. The Epics were impossible to control through normal means, and even harder to predict. And traditional weaponry was failing to do anything more than slow down the hordes of Monsters now threatening the entire human race. What government it was, where it was done, who was in charge... details such as this have been lost to time. But one of the proposed countermeasures was a group of powerful Epics raised in an environment of deprivation and isolation, trained to obey orders without question. Only Epics could be used to defeat the Monsters, and only Epics could be used to control the Epic population. With little other options to turn to, the unnamed secret project sped to work.
Chosen for the potential value of her Epic ability, Maya was taken from her home and placed within this facility at the age of 6. Constant testing and experimentation revealed the limits of her ability, and then fought to break those limits. She was trained to fight Epic and Freak targets, to obey the orders of her superiors and to protect the law and order of the land. Throughout her life she was taught that this was what it meant to be a 'hero', that her destiny was to protect and serve. While some of the other subjects encountered a variety of issues, ranging from a lack of cooperation to psychotic breakdowns, Maya was a great success. Almost discarded as a failure, exposure to the chaos caused by the Freaks during a 'combat exercise' caused her to devote herself entirely to the cause. She went through a variety of procedures to become more powerful, and grew to consider the scientists of this facility her family. She would become a 'hero', the weapon these men and women would use to wipe out the Freaks, and reclaim the Earth for humanity. To this end she worked tirelessly, in the process becoming a rather formidable killing machine.
Partially through her efforts, the facility managed to maintain intact for a surprisingly long period of time. They fought back against the Freaks and rogue Epics that plagued the land, attempting to maintain the order that had previously ruled. But the wheel of fate could not be halted, merely stalled, and they began losing assets. Other successful subjects died in the field, and the more intelligent creatures began to attack the facility directly. It was only a matter of time. One day Guilt returned from a field mission to find the Facility overrun, and her 'family' slaughtered. After slaying many of these creatures she was forced to flee the scene, injured.
Cut off from her former life she spent several years travelling. Eventually she came to Epic City, and decided to make her home here. It was one of the few placed where someone like her sort of 'fit'. Still determined to fulfil her mission she took on the name of Guilt and began ridding the streets of criminals in the only way she knew how. With extreme prejudice.
Name: Nikitovich Alexiva Northwald
Epic Identity: the Jack of Spades
Age: 28
Faction: Epic (Villain)
Ability:
[The Game of Life] A most unusual power, the Jack's power manifests as strange runic script. When applied to the surface it's appearance is like a language that's impossible to read. These runes in fact function as a sort of 'code'. They are capable of storing and performing complex actions. In fact a network of runes forms a sort of 'computer', activating in certain ways when certain triggers are present. The more complex the triggers and actions, the larger the 'network' must be. The runes are capable of detecting triggers through method of 'spatial detection', allowing them to detect anything physical within 10m of the runes themselves. They are incapable of detecting non-physical powers, intangible beings, or thoughts. Large networks can increase their 'detection radius' to up to 50m. They can act within their detection radius, as long as at least one of the runes within the network is within line of sight of the target. Even slight damage to a rune network will destroy it, causing it to discharge any remaining energy. While it is possible for a network of runes to create another network, the created network would be far smaller. And the bigger network would have had to specifically been created for the purpose of creating that specific smaller network.
[Borrowed Power] In and of themselves, the runes are useless. However, they are capable of absorbing and storing energy from their surroundings in order to power their abilities. The stored energy can be directed through the runes, often to attack others. Most networks are only capable of absorbing and redirecting a single type of energy. Usually only kinetic energy is absorbed and redirected, powered by the gravitational pull and rotation of the planet. However, with a different energy source, different effects can be achieved. Such as a solar-powered network which shoots lasers. Other Epics and Freaks can be used as power sources, with their life force drained for them. Such a network would in fact be able to use that Epic's power. However, parts of the Network would have to be engraved directly onto the source's body, and as such the source would have to be unconscious or heavily restrained for an extended period of time for this to work. If absolutely necessary, it is possible for the Jack to convert his own lifeforce into energy, refilling the energy a network is supposed to manipulate at the cost of his own physical well-being. This is a last-ditch power.
Weakness: True love negates any energy directed by networks, and instantly drains networks that physically contact the source.
Personality: An arrogant and twisted figure, who's true goal is to spread misery and suffering. He despises those without power for being born 'lesser', and delights in the agony of others. Especially those he considers his inferior. He believes that this world belongs to the strong, but brute strength is not strength at all. Instead, he believes cunning is the greatest 'strength' of all. Those who only face him with brute force will be met with scorn, but those who manage to outwit him may earn his respect. Strangely, despite being a villain, he respects the High greatly for their power. However, he is all too willing to 'test' their 'chosen heroes' within this city, and wishes to one day be feared and worshipped much like the High are.
Appearance:
Background: Born with his power, Alexiva always knew that he was better. Even without his power he was smarter than anyone around him, and loved to prove it. His family couldn't keep up with him as he shattered all expectations. The boy wonder at the end of the world. When his power was revealed, he was only placed on a higher pedestal. When monsters tried to slay those around him he slaughtered them. Not because he cared. But because he revelled in the worship of those lesser humans. Because he relished the sensation of being... better. Of knowing that their lives were entirely his. It didn't take long before he became the leader of the community, although 'tyrant' would be a more accurate statement. Playing with the lives of those within his domain for nothing more than his own amusement.
As time went on his games became worse and worse. No longer was he content to simply sit at the top. He had to prove his superiority, viscerally. With ease he separated families, slaughtering anyone who rebelled against him. The few other Epics in the area stood no chance against him. They merely rushed to attack him, when he had planned out their demise from the start. Indeed, even those blessed with power were unworthy of him. He saw himself as a God among humans, a blessing bestowed upon the Earth. All those upon this world were nothing more than pawns, to be used and discarded. Nothing more than toys. And when he got bored with he toys, he played a final game. He broke them all.
Of course, it was inevitable that he would come to Epic City. The establishment created by the High. Nowhere else in the world could one find such a dense population of humans with so little problems. A perfect throne for him to sit on. When he strode in, it was with the confidence that he would slaughter the High, and take his rightful place at the absolute top.
That smug attitude lasted for all of fifteen seconds.
In such a short amount of time he had managed to piss off one of the higher-ranked Epics in the city. He never even met the High, and yet it was him that was defeated. It was only then that Nikitovich realized he had never been all that powerful. While certainly a big fish, he had been a big fish in a small pond. Now he was in the ocean, and he was challenging sharks. Not to speak of the slumbering dragon that he had dared considering his enemy. No, he was no match for the High.
Realizing the truth threw him into despair. He could not accept that he had been defeated so easily. But in time he was forced to. And, even as he realized the immense gap between himself and his betters, he also realized his role in the world. This was merely his true testing grounds. Here he would test those who claimed to be 'heroes', and he would be tested in turn. This was his 'starting line'. Here he would prove the truth behind his words, he would show the world that he was truly worthy to inherit the throne. One day, he would be a member of the High. No, he would rule over them all. But that was not this day. First, he would need to defeat those who had stopped him before, the 'heroes' of Epic City. And he would show them all that it was him, and not they, who would ascend to Godhood.
The 'Team Epsilon' created by the Jack of Spades. More will be added later on the other two members.
Emblem
First of the Epsilon supers, Emblem is the most powerful. His 'Network' is composed of tattoos covering his entire body, and as such the power of the Networks is far greater. He was intended to be the most powerful of the team, the iconic figurehead. Because of this his powers are designed so as not to let him lose.
'Flight' Network This network absorbs power from surrounding kinetic energy. It's constantly drawing on Emblem's own gravity, which makes him lighter on his feet without even using up energy. Obviously, actual energy is required to fly. Flight allows Emblem to move quickly through the air, he's able to accelerate to about 80km/h if given some time. Over the short term this ability can be used to boost his agility and movement, even on the ground, as he's able to ignore things like gravity when they're inconvenient. This power, as a form of gravity manipulation, also allows him to boost his own gravity when necessary to deliver devastating blows. A full-speed dive-bomb attack can dent a half-foot plate of steel with no significant harm to the user. The network is based mainly on the torso and legs, and wounds to those areas can disrupt this ability.
'Strength' Network An addition boost to his other abilities, this network draws on the kinetic energy of attacks directed against Emblem which mildly boosts his Toughness while charging up. This network grants Emblem superhuman strength. His upper limit is the ability to exert 1 ton of pressure, but he can't maintain that for more than 30 seconds before this Network runs out of power. The force exerted by this network is focused on his arms, but can hypothetically be added to his legs too at about 80% efficiency. Because the force isn't generated by actual muscles it can be used in ways that actual muscles cannot, such as ignoring leverage. If necessary this network can also be used in order to absorb impacts by countering a kinetic force with an equal and opposite force. However, this can only be done against impacts to the arms or legs.
'Defense' Network This network isn't actually on Emblem at all, but rather on his armour. It is designed to function similar to the ability possessed by Achilles, but is less powerful. Because of this actually piercing the armour is incredibly difficult, as it's able to oppose and negate up to a maximum of 1 ton. Of course, it can't do this often, and repeated attacks will wear down the Network's 'battery'. The Network protects his entire body, not just the areas with armour, and the armour doesn't work for anyone who hasn't been 'enhanced' with Networks.
'Martyr' Network As leader, Emblem cannot be allowed to use. That's why this network offers a 'final solution'. Emblem is capable of recharging his Networks using his own lifeforce. This will cause significant damage to himself, and may even kill him, but it's intended to insure that if he is defeated it will at least cost the enemy dearly. Effectively, this Network was designed to turn him into a martyr. Hence the name. Using this Network keeps all other Networks at max power, but he'll kill himself within a minute and be seriously injured if he uses it for more than 10 seconds.
Dusk
Second-most-powerful, Dusk is a keeper. He's the assassin of the team, and despite not having more Network power than other members his skill makes him second only to Emblem in lethality.
'Darkness' Network This Network is Dusk's signature power. He can create darkness in order to confuse enemies. He's able to exclude any and all frequencies of light, but he usually uses it in conjunction with his infrared goggles. This allows him to see the enemy, but prevents the enemy from seeing him. The Network is placed on his arms, and reaches up to his shoulders. He can cover an area at max of 10m in diameter, but he can only maintain this for about 30 seconds.
'Focus' Network A Network based around this eyes, this is literally laser-eyes. Yes. In reality it doesn't look nearly as cool as it does in the movies, but that doesn't make it any less dangerous. The attack is nearly invisible, and possesses enough power to seriously burn flesh after less than a second of exposure. Locking eyes with Dusk is a sure way to go blind. He uses this in order to blind enemies from long-range, mostly.
Skills Unlike the other two, Dusk is a former soldier who survived on the outside. He's an incredibly skilled marksman and hand-to-hand fighter. His experience and dedication make him unflinching in the face of danger, and a harsh life has made him cold enough to kill without hesitation. This makes all of the difference in a fight. Don't underestimate Dusk just because he lacks direct-combat powers, his skill and reflexes make him the second in the team in terms of power.
Inferno
Far weaker than the other two, Inferno is likely the least powerful member of the group. A position contested only by Achilles, who's lack of offensive power makes him potentially less threatening.
['Heat' Network] This network drains heat from the surrounding area, especially around Inferno. It doesn't actually decrease the heat produced by flames, but rather absorbs the infrared radiation. It means that flames feel less hot unless you're actually touching them. This helps protect Inferno and minimise collateral damage. This network is capable of igniting the gasses around Inferno, as well as allowing her to burn things just by touching them. The Network covers her lower arms.
['Control' Network] This is the network that actually moves around the gasses. It's placed on the shoulders and upper arms, and it's main feature is moving around the burning gas. It doesn't have much force, but not much force is needed to move around a gas. It's range is 10m, but focused bursts of gas can allow her to attack beyond that range with blasts of fire. A secondary feature of this network is that it wards off smoke from Inferno's lungs, as well as preventing superheated air from touching her body. This is the main feature that protects her from heat.
Personality: Al is a somber man, cynical to the extreme. He clearly cares little about mincemeating when speaking his opinion out loud and spares no one of his verbal lashing. His usual gruff demeanour is only a consequence of how war-scarred and emotionally numb he is, having grown a thick shell to protect his sanity over the years. Beneath all that, however, lies the once gentle nature of a man who wanted to do what was right for others, and that he would protect the weak with his own strength. Having said that, kids and generally youngsters are exempt from his cynical demeanour, and he has always time to lecture the young about the ways of the world.
Appearance: Albert is a grizzled middle aged man, with graying sideburns on his otherwise brown hair. Despite the surgence of wrinkles and the scars that pepper his entire face and body, he is still a bit of a rough handsome devil with blue eyes. Of average height and constitution, he usually wears a checkered sweater with a shirt, jeans and boots whenever he's off duty. On duty... well whatever his current chief says he has to wear. He carries a butterfly knife at all times, a gift from a fellow comrade-in-arms.
Background: Albert was born in some small town in North England. For the most part, his childhood was humble, but pretty uneventful. Just daily routines and chores, and perhaps the odd troublemaking or two. Born the eldest of three, Albert also learned from an early age the responsibility of protecting and teaching the younger. He mused in his infantile behaviour, that perhaps his calling in life was a teacher. However, when the Starbursts happened, his entire world vanished in a single night. His town was ravaged by monsters when he was on a field trip with many others as a teenager. His entire family perished.
The shock made him reconsider his calling in life, and after he hit the legal adult age after being put under estate care, the young man jumped in the armed forces as a sniper, who were bearing the strain of trying to hold the monsters off all while waiting for the Epics to take them out. Over and over again, he tossed himself in the battlefield with his many comrades, knowing that he could not win, only buy time and act as a human shield for the civilians to be spared of the brunt of the clash of monstrous beings versus the Epics. He never faltered. He never truly surrendered nor despaired. The hellish battlefield, and seeing comrades being replaced by new faces over and over again only made him more resolute. His rank ballooned up, mainly because field promotions were abundant in such a chaotic scenario.
And then, just as he was about to break, he managed to do the impossible. He managed to take out monsters with only his grit, his men, and decidedly inferior firepower. The events were rare and isolate enough to be noticed, much less alter the course of the war, but the deed had been done. Sooner than later, Albert was approached by his superiors, and decided to lend him to other places and battlefields in the world, usually where the worst situation was.
It was then when Albert broke. He broke two things. First of all, the preconception of Epics as untouchable, and second of them, the world record on sniping distance, as he put away a maddened Epic with a single headshot far from his reach. For his gruesome deed, the propaganda machine churned out a name for him. Gungnir, spear of Odin. He always found that nickname too pretentious, but he conceded, if only because it would lift up the spirit of his comrades in arms.
However, the victories he had won were phyrric, and in the end, the reality forced the governments to shut down the insane operations that had ordered Albert to do, specially after the show of power by the High Epics in Manhattan, which drove deep the point on how badly outclassed normal people were. Albert was relieved from duty, and with great honors. But the man couldn't stay idle. All those years in the battlefield, and knowing that somehow, the battle still raged on.
It was then when he heard about a certain ECPD department in Manhattan that could use people like him...
Powers: Tinker Can create highly advanced tech, upgrade existing text, and fully understand all of that.
Note: his genius is his own, not his power. That merely adds to his Tinker classification. The above is from his own mind.
Specializations Compact Design: can compact tech, allowing much more to be put into small spaces than us normally possible.
Appearance: Short muddy brown hair and hazel eyes. Stands at 5'7". Almost never seen out of costume.
Costume is of his in design, looks much like a power suit of blue and white. Many devices hide inside the design, many of which haven't been actively seen.
Personality: Proud, excitable, and energetic, he can easily go off topic of not kept in check. Howie is prone to spacing out if not actively engaged, and is quick to tinker with tech to busy himself. He's a bit of a loner, only actively associating with Lady Lust and Mr. Mass.
Background: Howie is the unacknowledged son of Mr. Mass and Lady.
After their split, after their old team died off from various reasons, Lady Lust discovered she was pregnant. After birth she gave the boy up for adoption.
Early on he displayed powers, being possibly the first second generation Epic to exist. He also displayed an incredibly high intelligence, which worked well with his abilities and interests.
Around age ten Lady discovered him again, noting his powers and genius.
He's spent the last several years trying to get to know his biological parents, and as such has only been seen with them.
Ability: Mutated Monster Transformation: When afraid, Terell transforms into a mutated monster similar to that of the Hulk. When he transforms, he gains immense strength, durability, and a good healing factor. The more afraid he is, the stronger he becomes.
Weakness: Fried chicken.
Personality: Average. There is nothing spectacular about Mr. Price; he persists in the world and does what he can to get by on the money he makes at his job as a Chinese food delivery driver. He was raised by both parents who also lived fantastically normal lives and he followed in their footsteps. He can be easily excited. His desire in life is to make friends and cease the perpetuate boredom from which he suffers.
Appearance: Usually he wears a white t-shirt and some cargo shorts with knee-high socks and sandals.
Background: He hails from a family whose averageness is incredible. Astonishing, even. He hardly got into fights as a kid, though in school he did excel where he managed mostly A's and and B's. He went to college, but grew tired of it quite quickly and soon dropped out. Subsequently, his parents kicked him out--as they would not accept such a failure--andhe got a job working for Mr. Lin's Wok, his favorite Chinese restaurant. He has been working there for three years. He sleeps in the company car that he uses to make deliveries, and is saving money to buy a laptop.
Ability: Light Manipulation -- Jeanne can take existing ambient light and alter it at will. She can even so intensely compact the particles together that they can take a hardened form. Allowing herself to give herself wings, or dozens of floating swords that are made of pure light.
Weakness: Cast Iron -- If she has a piece of Cast Iron anywhere on her form, whether it be manacles, chains, or even a small ball bearing, she will have her powers fully cancelled.
Personality: When it comes to Jeanne's personality, she possesses an outright conviction for what she believes is right, and what is wrong. To which she relentlessly pursues action against the latter. For the Epics, for those she deems as a force of good, she often volunteers to be the spearhead in any large conflict that might arise.
Appearance: Jeanne's appearance when she is in her normal state, is rather simple but pleasant all the same. Sticking to simple, but decent fashion standards, her usual normal clothing consists of a white blouse, a black skirt, and the entirety of her ankle-length blonde hair tied up into a loose braid. Her legs are often enshrouded in stockings, and she wears heels as well. She holds a professional air about her, and that is simply the best way to describe it.
Her appearance as a heroine however, is that which can be best described as an angelic aesthetic, complete with radiant wings:
Background: The early life of the Archangel contains the sort of misery that is so commonplace in the lives of thousands. When she was but a toddler her father disappeared; and her mother, unable to support their fledgling family, found their salvation in remarriage. Marriage to a man who gave her family food and shelter, a place to live, but at a cost.
He struck his wife, savagely beat her and treated her like filth for the entirety of Jeanne's childhood. Terrified for her only child and not wanting her to see any of such abominable behavior, she locked Jeanne inside the closet to try and protect her. There, in the pitch black darkness, she was forced to sit there and listen to the sounds of horror beyond the barrier. How the very floor shook with her stepfather's fury, the rattle of the walls as he threw her mother against them, the muffle of her screams as he tried to suffocate her, the sound of her mother being forced to scrub her own blood off the walls after suturing her wounds.
Almost every day this nightmare continued for many years, until one fated day she awoke. When she was barely just nine years of age, in the darkness there was a light. A faint glimmer of starlight that flickered in her hands, filling the closet with radiance. Her stepfather, holding her unconscious mother by the collar, saw the light dancing beneath the edge of the door that evening, and swung it wide open with the intention of beating her for lighting a fire.
When she was the tender age of nine, she took her first life.
While his fists clenched with cruel intention, she recoiled back and away from him in fear. When she curled up in terror, the light before her expanded and shattered. Breaking apart into hundreds of daggers which tore through the air faster than he could blink, and tore through him. Impaling him into the wall behind him and leaving his body in a maimed and ravaged ruin. Once his life faded from his eyes, the light dissipated into dust into the air, and her mother awoke to a grisly scene: her husband torn asunder by an invisible weapon, and her daughter curled up and consumed with inconsolable tears in the closet.
Detectives were at a loss. There was no weapon, there was nothing that could possibly link the wife or the girl to the murder. His death was ruled as an accident; but the Epics of New York knew better.
Within just a few weeks of the incident being resolved, there was a visitor. A mysterious individual who Jeanne eventually came to know as The Clairvoyant. The founder of Epic City had seen what had occurred, and with her counsel, she managed to convince her mother to bring her to Epic City. Under close and careful monitoring accompanied by the instruction of Epics more experienced than her, Jeanne became an adept in her craft. As she grew both physically and mentally, her potency in her abilities also grew exponentially.
Where the horrors of her childhood would have made others shrivel up, she found strength in it. As a result, she began striking out on her own, taking her abilities to the streets and protecting those who could not protect themselves by the tender age of thirteen. She had learned concise control by then, and no other lives were taken, but the young girl became to be known as an Archangel. A being of light, a persona that she quickly embraced as a symbol of righteousness.
A symbol hope for those who had none.
Yet her troubles were not at an end, as her mother fell ill and passed away by the time she was fourteen, and instead of being put into an orphanage, she was adopted by the Church of St. Peter as they found her to be an inspiration. There, an elderly nun who eventually became the Mother Superior helped raise her from then on forward, and by her strict guidance, Jeanne grew from her rebellious teenage years into a dedicant of the Church.
Loving her new family, she visits them every day before departing out on the work that The Clairvoyant deems necessary for her.
Mutations: Pale skin, short black horns and a traditional devil like tail.
Faction: Freak
Abilities-
Aura/Spirit Manipulation: Damon has never known what to really call what it is he can do, but as near as he can figure it, he can manipulate his inner spirit, or Aura to do some incredible things. Below are some examples.
Aura Beams: Damon can channel his Aura into destructive beams capable of incinerating small buildings. Unfortuantly for this ability to be full power, it has to be the night of a full moon and he has to be fully sated. Otherwise the beams are about as powerful as most handguns at night and only about as powerful as a solid punch from a heavy weight fighter.
Aura Shields: Damon can solidify his Aura into various kind of shields of varying strength, though he's only been able to stop most ammunition, explosions can break them rather easily.
Aura Infusion: This power allows Damon to infuse his aura with himself, changing his hair and eye color and making his red aura visible around him. While doing this, he is much faster, moving at speeds equivalent to your average sports car, though not has fast as most speedster epics. He is also stronger, able to lift large trucks if need be.
Aura Drain: He can drain the energy from others by touch. In fact, he has to do this in order to live. If he doesn't do this at least once a day, he will die. First he'll grow weak and tired, his powers limited, and then he'll start to decay, and eventually die. The more energy he drains, the more violent and insane his mind becomes. Eventually he becomes so consumed by the need to kill and destroy that it is all he is. This accelerates his healing process and only works on living beings. People have different amounts of Aura, epics generally have a lot more and epics with physical enhancements have even more, so they take longer to drain but are better meals for him. Normies take considerably slower to drain, 30 seconds tops, while Epics take a bit longer. He doesn't have to drain people completely if he keeps himself sated, but the hungrier he gets, the more he needs and the more it consumes his mind with the need to feed. He is always feeling the urge to drain other living beings, and has to fight to control this every day.
Nightfriend: Most of Devilstriders abilities are stronger at night, and stronger still in complete darkness. He is capable of seeing in the dark, and when he is feeding off others, it is a much faster process in the dark.
Weakness/Limitations: Damon is powerless when the song Scars by Papa Roach is playing.
Daylight: Part of his mutation is a weakness to sunlight. His powers become weaker, he's slower, even when infused, and his urge to drain living beings of their aura or spirit increases greatly. He can barely control it in the daylight, his actions becoming rash and almost beast like.
Aura Exhaustion: Using his powers uses his Aura and it tires him out, though he can remedy this easily by feeding.
Personality: Damon is generally respectful and gentlemanly. He is driven by a desire to help and to do good, despite all the hate and revulsion he often receives for being a freak. He's the type to open doors for you, ask how your day was, go out of his way to help you. His voice is light, with a sort of haunted tone to it. A quiet despair that only the most perceptive can detect.
There is a viscious hunger to Damon, however. A savageness that lurks under the surface and releases when he is angry or upset. He's very reclusive during the day, often not coming outside and seen by no one. People often report a sort of creepy vibe about him, despite his excellent manners.
Appearance: Damon is tall and lean, his hair is black and wavy and his eyes are ice blue. His features are sharp, his jawline strong, his ears pointed ever so slightly. His horns are black and not very large, slightly curled. His skin is paler than snow. He wears a dark leather trench coat over a black muscle shirt and modified blue jeans to allow his tail freedom from the restricting clothing. Around his neck is a silver pentacle neckless, on his right hand a ruby skull ring. He wears blue jeans and black sneakers.
Aura Infusion Appearance: His hair turns dark red and spiky, a red aura surrounds him and his eyes turn light red and slightly glowing. His horns grow slightly bigger, his tail longer.
Background: Damon was born an orphan in Epic City, abandoned by his family due to their inability to take care of him, along with their drug problems. He learned to fend for himself rather quickly and joined in with a gang at a young age. The gang made him feel at home. Small crimes became bigger crimes and his sense of family and loyalty grew. He lived for this gang, would do anything for them. One night, as they slept in an abandoned, filthy building, Damon woke up to hear his "family" talking about how stupid he was. How gullible he was and their desire to use him. Enraged by what he heard, Damon's powers awoke and so did his hunger and mutation. Without quite realizing what he was doing, Damon began draining his former family, most within a few seconds as it was night. He didn't stop and the rage and brutality he felt increased as he drained them. He killed them, with his new founds ststrength he tore them limb from limb, laughing insanely.
After he came back to his sanity and discovering what had happrned to him he began crying at what he had done, at the monster he was, Damon stumbled away from his now dead family, finding that despite everything he still loved them. After some time and struggle Damon got a handle on his powers. He used them to try and make his community better, fighting crime. He found that if he drained a little at a time, he didn't have to kill and had a better handle on his hunger. He got himself a house and during the day, became a recluse. He bought a nightclub, letting his managers run everything while he kept his social activies minimal due to his mutation.
Criminals in the area have often called him Devilstrider and tales of lifeless gang members, rapists, and other criminals have given him a fearful reputation.
