Henry hummed along with the music as he worked. Well, working was putting it pretty generously, he was mostly sorting comics and attending the store so Wrinkly, his boss, wouldn't have an aneurysm at the idea of an unattended store. Really though, it was easy money. These days it was more an excuse to listen to music and avoid doing his homework without being badgered by his parents or sisters and be paid to do it. It was labor day, so it was time and a half pay, probably so Wrinkly could be home and drinking beer, which was why he was here and not doing the same thing to be honest. He busied himself as best he could, bouncing between dusting the currently spotless figurine shelves and organizing the Venom comics for the umpteenth time, but there was something bothering him that he just couldn't quite shake. It was an odd feeling, which was worrying because this was new and the last time something particularly new and unshakable happened to him he turned into a lizard.
This all said, Henry was used to contending with low simmering self loathing and maybe a dash of depression thrown in, but this felt a little different. Anxiety maybe? It was hard to properly place. He signed, and decided that perhaps that the AC system's dust filter might be clogged and if it was it was definitely making him get into his own head. He needed some fresh air. Henry stepped out from behind the clerk counter and briefly considered clocking out for a break- but thought better of it. There was nobody here, and Wrinkly wasn't going to be reviewing security tapes looking to nickle and dime him for the five minutes he took to step outside when nobody was in the store. He flipped the 'Open' sign on the door over and gently pushed it open, ducking under the door frame as he did so as to not bang his head (again).
But then he saw it, a clean break in the pavement just outside the door. Henry looked to the left and right, and his tongue flicked through the air briefly- there were some other fairly big CoL's in town, but none large enough to split concrete without some reasonable effort. That had not been there before. He began taking off his headphones with an eloquent "What the f-"
And then he felt it. A dull rumble, like rock grinding against other rock. Low and deep within the sub-bass section of perceivable sound. Too low to hear for normal people, but judging by the scales and the 85 inch waistline of his pants he was not normal. He could feel it almost. His mind raced trying to make sense of it, but his instincts were going crazy. Something felt wrong. Earthquakes weren't common in Pennsylvania. The largest earthquake in PA was twenty seven years ago and was only a 4.6 on the Richter scale. Then again, eighteen years ago superhumans started being born.
"Earthquake." Henry said, his brain clicking into action after landing on the only explanation he could think of. "I think there's an earthquake coming, stay out of the buildings!" he roared into the street as he himself backed away from the shop's door.
Chad Charles' birthday on Sunday, and a three day weekend that was likely going to be filled with pregaming, partying, and other suburban foolery. To most everyone he knew, this was a good thing. The best thing even, short of a break a three day weekend was basically a holiday in and of itself to the school body. An excuse to think and do anything but school, which was always welcome.
Unfortunately that thought felt nothing short of suffocating to Dexter these days. He wasn't sure why. He used to love look weekends and parties, but nowadays they were draining. Too many people, too loud of places, it became exhausting. Within his own mind he made a mental note to talk to his mother about it when he was having a day where he felt a little more motivated to enjoy the things that he used to enjoy again. Today he just wanted to get through school, do his best to ignore the dozen or so texts and Facebook notifications telling him about the same damn birthday party as if he hadn't been personally half-friends with Charles since they were in sixth grade. Dexter got it, he really did. These people cared about him and wanted him to be there, and he appreciated it, but after the whole event that was his freshman and sophomore years he was feeling less and less like they were genuine invites and more like he was being invited because it was the thing to do. Just like how expressing sympathy for his lost family members was seen as the right thing to do when it was fresh and raw. They didn't even know her. He had thought, And most who did never even gave her the chance.
He hated that he empathized with Evelyn's myopic way of life, even if he felt things were less... transactional now. But it was hard to shake the thought. He had a lot of intrusive thoughts these days. One more thing to talk to his mom about about later. Right now he just wanted to run. The bell rang in slow motion. Everything was in slow motion and it was a perpetual fucking nightmare on days like this one. By the time some of the students were reacting to it and Titus was waking up, he had already gathered his stuff and was halfway out of the door. He had been the first one out the door of the school and into the car line pretty much every day since sophomore year. He didn't really talk to anyone, and frankly he was okay with that. On his way, he had half a mind to double back and catch Willow on her way out to give her the Kitty Pryde sticker he got for her when he went to buy the latest edition of the Flash Rebirth series, but thought better of it. He needed to blow off some steam. Dexter threw his book bag into his car and practically jumped into it. As excited to start the weekend as the rest of the school but for entirely different reasons.
Afternoon on the river was beautiful, as always. The spectrum of colors reflecting on the water brought a desperately needed sense of peace, or at least, as much as one could appreciate while moving forty miles an hour. The tranquility and the song of nature as it could only be experienced here was exactly what he was after. Initially running on the trail instead of Ted and Ted's had been to do something new and exciting, but lately Dexter had found it akin to an escape. A way to forget life and find a place that didn't remind him of anything anymore.
That was, until he found himself too caught up in his zen and stopped paying attention, and his foot caught a particularly large rock. When Dexter suffered those horrible two years with his mom, he learned that a select few would be there for them when he fell- the ground being a very familiar acquaintance and as disliked as it had ever been. He tumbled, and scuffing his clothing and cutting the exposed skin on his arms and hands. As he rolled, subjected to the very forced of nature that he himself had generated in an effort to escape his own thoughts, it struck him that this had happened enough times that he should probably invest in some sort of protective equipment before he managed to lobotomize himself. Dexter finally skidded to a stop, and it was nothing short of a miracle that he hadn't taken out a tree or another runner. He was lucky that it had been on a straight away, if he had been on a bend perhaps he'd have ended up in the river. Dexter laughed and then coughed, exhaling a solid amount of dust and sat up on one arm to inspect the damage. He was thankful he was as tough as he was, otherwise the moderate amount of scuffs, scratches, and bruises would probably be a whole lot worse. He'd be feeling it by Sunday, well, the first half of Sunday. He probably would feel numb enough to fight god by Sunday night. Speaking of which...
He procured his phone, which was a Nokia N97. Most of his peers had iphones or Blackberries or whatever, and he probably would too if they were anywhere near as invincible as the old brick in his hands. He tabbed through his contacts, ignoring various messages and texts until he found the only conversation he had in which he had never received much of a reply.
> To: Willow Dendry - Charles' party on Sunday?
Fuck it. Good enough. Dexter dropped his hand in the dirt and was content to sit for another couple minutes. Hopefully by then the adrenaline would wear off and he'd feel if he fucked up his ankle before he attempted to walk on it like last time. Hopefully nobody else would decide to come through the trail and find him doing his best hobo cosplay.
Being big had it's perks.
One one hand, you generally got what you wanted. In Henry's case, Scratch and the Pig stopped harassing him as soon as he returned to school in 9th grade, because now he could quite literally pick them up and make them kiss if he wanted to (not that he's sure one of them wouldn't be opposed to it), but it also meant that people generally got out of your way when you're passing through. Or at least, they tried to. If he were a meaner person, he'd be thoroughly annoyed with the fact that someone would trip on his tail at least once a week without fail... but he wasn't. He liked that people liked him now. These days in high school had been some of the most fun in his life. Sure, it got tiring replying to messages here and there and he definitely felt a little bad when he had to cut some people for the sake of his own mental health but after he got too drunk and started bragging about the catfish that one time, he had been really trying to be better about sorting through the people that were after something and the people that just wanted him around. He was still pretty bad about it, truth be told, but he was a work in progress.
"My man," Henry said, a smile gracing his features as he gently socked his meteor fist into the only person in school who would feel it as the friendly gesture that it was- Titus McArthur. Titus was a mountain of a young man, and probably the only person in school who got Henry in ways that other people in school didn't. He wasn't sure if Titus considered Henry a friend because the boy seemed to be as volatile as he was strong at times, but they had picked lockers next to one another for the past two years now. They were both big and hamfisted. It was hard to maneuver the tiny lockers with their size, and there was a sort of unspoken code between the both of them that whoever was there last would wait their turn. Apparently the more normal sized kids would try to squeeze their hands into their locker and either violate personal space or accidentally get their hands crushed when Titus was pulling books out. The poor kid had received quite a few visits to the admin office for injuring someone in this way.
Henry got that. When he first arrived back at school he was still unused to maneuvering small spaces at his size. He hurt a couple people too, but he was a bit more gracious about it than Titus had been. People regarded him a bit nicer as a result, but Henry got it, and never held it against his massive acquaintance. Henry saw Titus speed up his attempts to extract his books out of politeness to get out of the way, and knowing that bent metal was in the future, he spoke up before Titus caused any property damage. "I've got my stuff, heading to work after school. Just wanted to say hi. Hopefully see you Sunday at Chad's party, dude."
Unfortunately, Henry hadn't been paying attention when he stepped away, and felt the familiar bump of another student's body weight against him. Fortunately though, it was close enough to his arm that he was able to shoot out his forearm and steady that new sophomore girl he had seen around that had just moved to the school. "Sorry, about that." Henry said, trying to his embarrassment. He heard her mutter some thing about it being okay and rushing off into the crowd of people flustered. It happened, he knew it happened, but a part of his mind flashed to all the YA novels and movies he had read where someone bumps someone and then they bond over the spilled books. He knew that would probably never happen, but he had a sort of game plan ready anyways: 1. Ask her about sports. Make fun of yourself for being athletically challenged and never being in the competitions?
2. Accidentally drop walkman while walking with her and see if she picks it up: she looks at it, is seduced by your music taste, and falls in love with you. FOOLPROOF.
3. Tell jokes. Find out if she likes math: if yes, "when you put root beer in a square glass you get beer."
4. She has a dog: reaffirm that you are NOT a cat person (easy)
5. Also keep sisters faaaar away from her
6. Trash-talk Evelyn YEAH
7. Don't embarrass yourself… let her do most of the talking
He's on his way out of the school and ducking his head under the door, considered adding number 8, actually let her do ALL the talking, and overhears Scratch shout something about stars. Willow and his cousin are sorting to head off in Willow's car (He wished he could ride), and knows he best be off to Saturday and be ready to hear an earful about Iron Man 2 and the speculation about the upcoming Thor movie. Who'd have thunk that Chris Hemsworth was in the running? He considers shooting a text to someone to keep him company until he's off, but finds himself falling short of who he'd even message. Lots of party invites, very few 'how are you's'. He tries not to think about it. He makes it to Saturday half an hour early as he always does, clocks in, pops on his headphones, and makes himself busy organizing comics that various people have failed to return to their rightful places.
Physical Description: At full height, Henry stands at a gargantuan 9'8, making him easily one of the tallest people alive. Henry is still distinctly humanoid in appearance though, and has scales are a dirty white coloration, with black, puma like splotches and stripes that liter his his body giving him a very interesting, Tegu-like coloration. His scales are thick and leathery in one direction but rough like sandpaper and sharp in the other, his skin being like that of a shark's- made of tiny teeth.
Henry's body proportions are off compared to a normal person, and are closer to that of a lemur or other old world simian with longer limbs relative to body size. Unlike these primates however, he is extremely muscular: every inch of Henry's frame is taut and reinforced with muscle; he is visibly one of the strongest people around- if you were to call him a person at this point. He has a long, thick tail, which is somewhat prehensile, and extremely strong as it is made up almost entirely of muscle. It can curl up like chameleons or drag along the ground like an iguana’s, most often it comes up and off the ground helping his massive frame balance more easily. Henry's hands have mutated heavily, his fingers elongating and growing huge six-inch sickle claws. With one, his pinky, becoming a rough nub, is degraded away leaving him with only four usable fingers. His feet have already warped, having lost his pinkie toe and all of his nails, instead having thick, heavily padded feet and massive claws. All of his toe claws are capable of extending like that of a cat's claw and releasing a huge sickle claws nine inches in total length.
Henry's mouth and jaw have extended outwards as his head warped with his transformation, his nose and face broadening outwards into a very saurian snout, with his ears and nose and other cartilage structures degrading away. He is entirely unrecognizable as the man once known as Henry Olin.
Clothing: As one can imagine, even the local Big and Tall struggles to meet Henry's size demands. He is well and truly enormous, and while his family requests formal attire from the store, his normal clothing is oftentimes hand made by his sisters or mother. However, due to his interests, he has received a few special pieces of clothing in his various adventures that he treasures dearly.
Voice: Michael Clarke Duncan, basically.
P e r s o n a l i t y
Character Traits: Because of his condition, Henry has developed some of the thickest skin around in a metaphorical sense. He has heard every insult under the sun thrown his way, and is almost impossible to visibly phase even if certain comments do get to him deep down. Growing up what most would think at first glance is a movie monster has led him to develop a strong sense of justice and empathy- especially for the downtrodden. Henry can be extremely charming, and outwardly friendly when a person is receptive towards him. Due to his size and appearance, he has developed a special type of intuition where- often picking up quickly when someone is uncomfortable around him, scared of something, or is feeling something that they are unable or unwilling to communicate for whatever reason.
Henry has a powerful voice and coupled with his large presence, he tends to command attention wherever he goes and to whomever he talks to. Henry revels in this, and has always been the kind of person to enjoy the spotlight. He inevitably receives the opposite simply by existing within the general vicinity of someone who doesn't like his organization, or what he is. Deep down, Henry wants to be accepted for who he is. The world can, after all, be a very judgmental place.
On the inside, despite all his social success and friendly relations, Henry is an exceedingly lonely individual. He has been all his life. When he was human he was and outsider looking in on the power craze. He wanted nothing more than to have a superpower like everyone else. Then, as luck would have it, when he got his ability it turned him into this. While so many of his peers were granted superpowers that did nothing but raise them up, the possibility of a 'normal' life was snatched away. Henry knows that he is ugly or at the very least undesirable, and has developed quite a case of body dysphoria. People with body condition like his is rare even among CLs. He firmly believes that he will never find love or be loved in that way. Desperation has led him down many paths of embarrassment, and some that he is particularly ashamed of. On days where he is reminded of his position, he teeters on the edge far more than he will ever admit to those that are close to him. He has watched his peers go to dances with dates and find young love where he found none- and coming home alone every day has taken a toll on his heart. Henry's parents and sisters love him because they're his family and it's... it's their duty. He's already got enough going against him and now when he finds his person, if he ever does, and the sees him, he knows. They're going to stare at him, at his massive frame and his tail and his toothy, reptilian face and think crap. They're going to be so disappointed. They're going to wish he was someone else.
He can deal with that. If they ever find him, he can deal with disappointment. But he can't go looking for it. He can't keep actively trying to find someone who's going to at least initially wish he were someone else- and that fact tears him up inside.
Henry does find limited solace in those that do give him a chance, though. He’s a bit of a doormat in that sense- too afraid to stand up for himself to the people he cares about because he thinks that if he does they’ll leave- even if he knows deep down that they don't care about him. At least not in any genuine or meaningful way. He prefers empty company to crushing isolation- anything to not be alone. He tries too hard, picks up tabs where he shouldn't, desperately tries to stay in contact, overextends, and becomes protective or jealous where he shouldn't. At this point in his life, the idea of real friends that want to hang out with him for more than the beer in his mom and dad's wine cellar, that rhythm of separation and closeness is what he lives for. The reminders that they aren’t him, which is good since he's not a very good friend to him. If it came down to their life or his, he wouldn't even have to think- it wouldn't even be much of a choice at all.
If you ask anyone in school what they thought of Henry Olin, they'd say he's the fuckin' man, that he's the school mascot without the costume, a total party animal. Very few would be able to tell you much about what he likes, or who he is.
Bonds: What gets him up out of bed every day? Henry would say that his mother would be sad if he was gone. He's still trying to find something for himself. He hopes he finds it soon.
Activities: Henry can readily be found in local music/comedy and is very much an audiophile. Whenever a comedian or concert comes in town, he's there. He also regularly participates in school events, but has never been a big intramural sports kind of guy despite many in the town requesting his presence in football. The only time he has ever participated in that was for swimming in his Freshman year, in which he placed fourth. Henry is a musician first and foremost, and while he cannot play many anymore (aside from the piano), he has always had a love for music. As well he is a lifetime nerd, and has been working at the local Saturday Comics since he was sixteen. He has bloomed further socially as the superhero movie craze has begun to pick up serious momentum. As the local friendly giant, he is also fairly present at Ted & Ted's, which is the only place that offers workout equipment in his size/caliber.
Skills: Henry has an ear for music that few can match, in part due to his attunement to the sub-bass part of music. Henry also has an eidetic memory, which he uses to make it through school or work with relative ease despite his comparative lack of effort and is most commonly employed to remember special comic editions, character quotes, and TTRPG rules.
B a c k s t o r y
Backstory: Henry was born to an affluent Asian-American family in Leesburg. He was the last of three siblings. When he was born Henry was average weight, and had a full head of hair and looked like a little old man. He did nothing but scream and shit for three days after that. Typical baby behavior.
And for a while, Henry was a normal boy. This was abnormal given everything that had happened in Leesburg, but with mounting hostilities towards CL's, his parents were fairly thankful for it. He attended normal school, was normal height, had the same issues and problems as a normal person. Then, when he turned twelve in middle school, puberty hit him like a freight train. Unlike most, his awkward phase was extremely short. Also unlike most, his pubescent period was when his power manifested hard.
Within the span of a week he had eaten all the food in the house, had undergone excruciating and debilitating pain, and became the single most pissed off kid you will ever meet (brooding teenagers had nothing on him). He quite literally nearly took his sister's hand off for trying to swipe away a spare meatball. If this was Oregon trail everyone's diets were set to bare bones for about eight days for sheer survival purposes as he ate everything he could get his mouth around (there are still bite makes on the dinner table for evidence). Henry's mother took him to the hospital, and too many forms of therapists and none of which had ever seen something like him before.
Henry was taken out of school for a short time, and as he regained control over himself and his body calmed down, he wasn't anywhere near what he was when the transformation began eight days before. Standing at a staggering 6'5 from his previous 4'11, and weighing in at a gaunt 210lbs, Henry was unhealthy, and overall sick, but still much larger and stronger than his own father. His body was still suffering the effects of the chemical changes and metabolism shift from warm blooded to lukewarm. His awkward stage continued for another week or so as his body adapted, and gained weight. He ate as much as before, but he wasn't as violent in doing so. Eventually he calmed down over the next two weeks, being a solid 401 lbs. At the weight of 411, he was actually capable of passing urine and passed his first stool since he began the change two and a half weeks before. When school started up again he did online school, and when the 8th grade year ended and 9th grade began, he returned to in person schooling for the first time in a year and a half. What had once been Henry Olin was no longer. Despite his inhuman appearance Henry's social life boomed. Yes, he was weird, but he wasn't the only CL in town that looked the way he did, and now he wasn't the only kid in town his age without a power. Henry was always smart, having been at the top of his classes (middle school, less impressive, but he was gifted even then), but with his newfound social life he has begun coasting. He did not have to try hard to be marketable and his mere presence dominates many activities he participates in. It's hard to forget Henry Olin was there- be it drinking heroic amounts of beer at parties that he hosts when his family is away or simply working as a clerk in the local comic store. He has thus far avoided any major run ins with the law, but his socialite nature has more than once put him at risk.
Currently Henry has a full ride scholarship to UF, so long as he can graduate without incident. Who would've thought that the Gators would want a big lizard on their side.
P o w e r s
Description: Henry is a large, and very, very physically imposing CL, if not due to his sheer size, then to his power. Reptiles are extremely resilient for their sizes. His size and powerful build grants him incredible strength- Enough to damage structures, bend steel, and resist inordinate amounts physical punishment. Like most reptiles, Henry is covered in scales and while he is not armored like a crocodile, the thick interlocking scales produce a coat of dermal armor that is as puncture and tear proof as Kevlar- making him very resilient to small arms fire.
His front limbs are longer than the average humans, allowing him to move on all fours with no discomfort, and his torso is slightly elongated, allowing him to almost prowl like a large cat. Coupled with a leg structure that is very different to the usual humans (with his ankle joint extending out and giving him a second leg joint to work with), his strength, and the m. caudofemoralis muscles (the ones that attach his legs to his body and tail), he can effectively lunge at over forty miles an hour, and sustain a sprint for a short time capable of keeping pace with most Olympic runners. Mobile joints and powerful muscle attachments in his arms and legs allow him to be surprisingly agile for a creature his size.
Henry has an extremely acute set of senses (hearing, sight, and smell, etc). Especially smell. He has two ways of smelling the air, which is through his nose and then through his tongue like a snake. Also like a snake, he has two pits right in front of his eyes that allow him to heat-seek, and like a gecko has color night vision. His blood also has displayed a much lower pH than that of regular blood, making it un-survivable for most diseases, and will denature protein based compounds such as venom to the point where they function at a less potent effect, or simply do not function at all depending on the lethality. Henry also has several other less superpowered abilities in common with several species of reptiles, amphibians, and birds: An anticoagulant bite, claws, a nasty set of triple rowed teeth (some shark like, others more crocodilian), and some other weird things thrown in there.
Henry has a regenerative healing factor that allows him to regrow full limbs if they are lost, not just his tail, within a relatively short period of time. This healing factor is extremely potent, and while it does not have the speed of say, Wolverine, it does have the ability to redirect and reroute the flow of blood in his body with a complex set of muscles that close off and contract upon separation or damage. Small cuts and bruises heal within minutes, but things like crushing trauma or puncture wounds from high caliber firearms take much longer and will likely put him down and out.
Henry is a survivor. Like all reptiles he is incredibly resilient by nature, often not showing signs of illness or pain until it's either too late or he's gotten over it that, in combination with a natural accelerated healing rate, can make him very hard to kill. In times of trial and dire need for food and sustenance Henry has shown that he has ‘lukewarm blood’. His body temperature normally hovers around 80-85F at any given time, as he is warm blooded. However, he can slow his metabolism drastically, enabling him to brumate and survive on very little food and water for extended periods of time.
Limitations: Different levels of injury require different amounts of time to bounce back from. Being hit by a baseball bat could result in a few small fractures, which would mend within the hour. Being shot in the lung, if the bullet is high enough caliber to penetrate his hide, or falling debris could put Henry out. He might be a juggernaut of a person, but he is not invincible. On the note of bullets, while his body might be resistant to low calibre firearms, he is not resistant anymore than a regular man is to the major bruising and internal damage that the force that the bullet carries. Muscle damage and the ensuing recovery process could very well kill him later.
This ability to heal so efficiently and quickly has eroded Henry's instinctual urge to hold himself back in strength related activities. Under normal conditions most beings use only 20-30% of their potential muscle usage. Henry is very capable of using 100%- resulting in muscle fiber damage and other issues that would be crippling. Lifting and throwing vehicles, while possible, is taxing on his body. Sometimes too taxing. If he is subject to enough physical strain in a short time frame that his ability to heal cannot keep up with it, he is very likely to collapse and hurt himself further. Henry, while larger and heavier, is not Titus McArthur, and his strength comes from his size and is not directly his power.
Henry is a very big creature. This means that he has difficulty squeezing into some areas and his mass does befit him regarding endurance as his frame's size and build make him naturally lack locomotion stamina. He can only maintain such a fast sprint for a short period of time. Long periods of extended movement are not his forte because he's just not mechanically built for that- no matter how large his lungs are. He is heavy, and it puts a monumental toll on his body to keep up a fast pace. This however, is not nearly as much of a problem in the water.
Weaknesses: Because his senses are so powerful, sensory overload can be a big problem for him. He literally cant handle large amounts of bright light and loud sounds because they can cause him a lot of pain and confusion. His vision also gets fucked up when stuff gets into the heat sensing pits, he's pretty blind in those cases because that tends to give him a pretty trippy experience. Imagine your eyesight being flooded with nothing but blurs of red and yellow and being unable to see anything but that mix. As one can imagine this clashes pretty hard with his audiophile hobby... which is why he listens to music at very low volumes. It sounds wonderful that way to him. He regularly shows up to parties with ear plugs. It doesnt stop him from hearing conversation, but it takes the edge off.
Henry has thick, strong bones. While stronger than a human’s, they are not invincible. If Henry put his full strength into throwing a punch at a steel wall, he'd smash the steel alright. But he'd probably break all of his knuckles and give his arm about six fractures. He needs to be careful. He was a human once, as hard as that may be to believe and humans were not built to be as big as he is. The only reason he's able to survive and thrive is because his body changed with his size- but he cant throw himself around without seriously injuring himself. Impacts become more and more dangerous the larger the body gets, and Henry is a very large person. Because he is so large, Henry is also almost impossible to miss. He demands attention, and while he is quite a bruiser, focus fire and a lack of proper cover can quickly wear him down.
If he goes into a hibernation like state to last as long as he does, he will most likely do nothing but breathe once and hour for a very long time. It is an emergency thing to do and it really isn’t good for his body to do it for long.
I’d also like to point out once again that Henry’s regenerative ability is NOT like that of Wolverine’s. It’s several times as fast as a human’s, but he will NOT bounce back from any wound unless it’s minor, much like a normal human. It can take him months to grow back a limb, and weeks to recover from various other injuries (The average stab wound recovery time is the two to three weeks. Henry would recover fully over the course of a better part of a week).
Favorite Subject: TV Pro/Digital Art.
Least-Favorite Subject: AP US History. He's never been a huge fan of how the school has gone about teaching history.
Grades: A-B Student. Could probably do a whole lot better if he actually tried.
Embarrassing Moment: Henry got particularly belligerent at a party in his 10th grade and bragged about a girl he was talking to. Turns out it was an unknown individual preying on him for money. Henry doesn't talk about it much, and neither does anyone else. It's more embarrassing in a sad way than it is in a funny way.
Physical Description: At full height, Henry stands at a gargantuan 9'8, making him easily one of the tallest people alive. Henry is still distinctly humanoid in appearance though, and has scales are a dirty white coloration, with black, puma like splotches and stripes that liter his his body giving him a very interesting, Tegu-like coloration. His scales are thick and leathery in one direction but rough like sandpaper and sharp in the other, his skin being like that of a shark's- made of tiny teeth.
Henry's body proportions are off compared to a normal person, and are closer to that of a lemur or other old world simian with longer limbs relative to body size. Unlike these primates however, he is extremely muscular: every inch of Henry's frame is taut and reinforced with muscle; he is visibly one of the strongest people around- if you were to call him a person at this point. He has a long, thick tail, which is somewhat prehensile, and extremely strong as it is made up almost entirely of muscle. It can curl up like chameleons or drag along the ground like an iguana’s, most often it comes up and off the ground helping his massive frame balance more easily. Henry's hands have mutated heavily, his fingers elongating and growing huge six-inch sickle claws. With one, his pinky, becoming a rough nub, is degraded away leaving him with only four usable fingers. His feet have already warped, having lost his pinkie toe and all of his nails, instead having thick, heavily padded feet and massive claws. All of his toe claws are capable of extending like that of a cat's claw and releasing a huge sickle claws nine inches in total length.
Henry's mouth and jaw have extended outwards as his head warped with his transformation, his nose and face broadening outwards into a very saurian snout, with his ears and nose and other cartilage structures degrading away. He is entirely unrecognizable as the man once known as Henry Olin.
Clothing: As one can imagine, even the local Big and Tall struggles to meet Henry's size demands. He is well and truly enormous, and while his family requests formal attire from the store, his normal clothing is oftentimes hand made by his sisters or mother. However, due to his interests, he has received a few special pieces of clothing in his various adventures that he treasures dearly.
Voice: Michael Clarke Duncan, basically.
P e r s o n a l i t y
Character Traits: Because of his condition, Henry has developed some of the thickest skin around in a metaphorical sense. He has heard every insult under the sun thrown his way, and is almost impossible to visibly phase even if certain comments do get to him deep down. Growing up what most would think at first glance is a movie monster has led him to develop a strong sense of justice and empathy- especially for the downtrodden. Henry can be extremely charming, and outwardly friendly when a person is receptive towards him. Due to his size and appearance, he has developed a special type of intuition where- often picking up quickly when someone is uncomfortable around him, scared of something, or is feeling something that they are unable or unwilling to communicate for whatever reason.
Henry has a powerful voice and coupled with his large presence, he tends to command attention wherever he goes and to whomever he talks to. Henry revels in this, and has always been the kind of person to enjoy the spotlight. He inevitably receives the opposite simply by existing within the general vicinity of someone who doesn't like his organization, or what he is. Deep down, Henry wants to be accepted for who he is. The world can, after all, be a very judgmental place.
On the inside, despite all his social success and friendly relations, Henry is an exceedingly lonely individual. He has been all his life. When he was human he was and outsider looking in on the power craze. He wanted nothing more than to have a superpower like everyone else. Then, as luck would have it, when he got his ability it turned him into this. While so many of his peers were granted superpowers that did nothing but raise them up, the possibility of a 'normal' life was snatched away. Henry knows that he is ugly or at the very least undesirable, and has developed quite a case of body dysphoria. People with body condition like his is rare even among CLs. He firmly believes that he will never find love or be loved in that way. Desperation has led him down many paths of embarrassment, and some that he is particularly ashamed of. On days where he is reminded of his position, he teeters on the edge far more than he will ever admit to those that are close to him. He has watched his peers go to dances with dates and find young love where he found none- and coming home alone every day has taken a toll on his heart. Henry's parents and sisters love him because they're his family and it's... it's their duty. He's already got enough going against him and now when he finds his person, if he ever does, and the sees him, he knows. They're going to stare at him, at his massive frame and his tail and his toothy, reptilian face and think crap. They're going to be so disappointed. They're going to wish he was someone else.
He can deal with that. If they ever find him, he can deal with disappointment. But he can't go looking for it. He can't keep actively trying to find someone who's going to at least initially wish he were someone else- and that fact tears him up inside.
Henry does find limited solace in those that do give him a chance, though. He’s a bit of a doormat in that sense- too afraid to stand up for himself to the people he cares about because he thinks that if he does they’ll leave- even if he knows deep down that they don't care about him. At least not in any genuine or meaningful way. He prefers empty company to crushing isolation- anything to not be alone. He tries too hard, picks up tabs where he shouldn't, desperately tries to stay in contact, overextends, and becomes protective or jealous where he shouldn't. At this point in his life, the idea of real friends that want to hang out with him for more than the beer in his mom and dad's wine cellar, that rhythm of separation and closeness is what he lives for. The reminders that they aren’t him, which is good since he's not a very good friend to him. If it came down to their life or his, he wouldn't even have to think- it wouldn't even be much of a choice at all.
If you ask anyone in school what they thought of Henry Olin, they'd say he's the fuckin' man, that he's the school mascot without the costume, a total party animal. Very few would be able to tell you much about what he likes, or who he is.
Bonds: What gets him up out of bed every day? Henry would say that his mother would be sad if he was gone. He's still trying to find something for himself. He hopes he finds it soon.
Activities: Henry can readily be found in local music/comedy and is very much an audiophile. Whenever a comedian or concert comes in town, he's there. He also regularly participates in school events, but has never been a big intramural sports kind of guy despite many in the town requesting his presence in football. The only time he has ever participated in that was for swimming in his Freshman year, in which he placed fourth. Henry is a musician first and foremost, and while he cannot play many anymore (aside from the piano), he has always had a love for music. As well he is a lifetime nerd, and has been working at the local Saturday Comics since he was sixteen. He has bloomed further socially as the superhero movie craze has begun to pick up serious momentum. As the local friendly giant, he is also fairly present at Ted & Ted's, which is the only place that offers workout equipment in his size/caliber.
Skills: Henry has an ear for music that few can match, in part due to his attunement to the sub-bass part of music. Henry also has an eidetic memory, which he uses to make it through school or work with relative ease despite his comparative lack of effort and is most commonly employed to remember special comic editions, character quotes, and TTRPG rules.
B a c k s t o r y
Backstory: Henry was born to an affluent Asian-American family in Leesburg. He was the last of three siblings. When he was born Henry was average weight, and had a full head of hair and looked like a little old man. He did nothing but scream and shit for three days after that. Typical baby behavior.
And for a while, Henry was a normal boy. This was abnormal given everything that had happened in Leesburg, but with mounting hostilities towards CL's, his parents were fairly thankful for it. He attended normal school, was normal height, had the same issues and problems as a normal person. Then, when he turned twelve in middle school, puberty hit him like a freight train. Unlike most, his awkward phase was extremely short. Also unlike most, his pubescent period was when his power manifested hard.
Within the span of a week he had eaten all the food in the house, had undergone excruciating and debilitating pain, and became the single most pissed off kid you will ever meet (brooding teenagers had nothing on him). He quite literally nearly took his sister's hand off for trying to swipe away a spare meatball. If this was Oregon trail everyone's diets were set to bare bones for about eight days for sheer survival purposes as he ate everything he could get his mouth around (there are still bite makes on the dinner table for evidence). Henry's mother took him to the hospital, and too many forms of therapists and none of which had ever seen something like him before.
Henry was taken out of school for a short time, and as he regained control over himself and his body calmed down, he wasn't anywhere near what he was when the transformation began eight days before. Standing at a staggering 6'5 from his previous 4'11, and weighing in at a gaunt 210lbs, Henry was unhealthy, and overall sick, but still much larger and stronger than his own father. His body was still suffering the effects of the chemical changes and metabolism shift from warm blooded to lukewarm. His awkward stage continued for another week or so as his body adapted, and gained weight. He ate as much as before, but he wasn't as violent in doing so. Eventually he calmed down over the next two weeks, being a solid 401 lbs. At the weight of 411, he was actually capable of passing urine and passed his first stool since he began the change two and a half weeks before. When school started up again he did online school, and when the 8th grade year ended and 9th grade began, he returned to in person schooling for the first time in a year and a half. What had once been Henry Olin was no longer. Despite his inhuman appearance Henry's social life boomed. Yes, he was weird, but he wasn't the only CL in town that looked the way he did, and now he wasn't the only kid in town his age without a power. Henry was always smart, having been at the top of his classes (middle school, less impressive, but he was gifted even then), but with his newfound social life he has begun coasting. He did not have to try hard to be marketable and his mere presence dominates many activities he participates in. It's hard to forget Henry Olin was there- be it drinking heroic amounts of beer at parties that he hosts when his family is away or simply working as a clerk in the local comic store. He has thus far avoided any major run ins with the law, but his socialite nature has more than once put him at risk.
Currently Henry has a full ride scholarship to UF, so long as he can graduate without incident. Who would've thought that the Gators would want a big lizard on their side.
P o w e r s
Description: Henry is a large, and very, very physically imposing CL, if not due to his sheer size, then to his power. Reptiles are extremely resilient for their sizes. His size and powerful build grants him incredible strength- Enough to damage structures, bend steel, and resist inordinate amounts physical punishment. Like most reptiles, Henry is covered in scales and while he is not armored like a crocodile, the thick interlocking scales produce a coat of dermal armor that is as puncture and tear proof as Kevlar- making him very resilient to small arms fire.
His front limbs are longer than the average humans, allowing him to move on all fours with no discomfort, and his torso is slightly elongated, allowing him to almost prowl like a large cat. Coupled with a leg structure that is very different to the usual humans (with his ankle joint extending out and giving him a second leg joint to work with), his strength, and the m. caudofemoralis muscles (the ones that attach his legs to his body and tail), he can effectively lunge at over forty miles an hour, and sustain a sprint for a short time capable of keeping pace with most Olympic runners. Mobile joints and powerful muscle attachments in his arms and legs allow him to be surprisingly agile for a creature his size.
Henry has an extremely acute set of senses (hearing, sight, and smell, etc). Especially smell. He has two ways of smelling the air, which is through his nose and then through his tongue like a snake. Also like a snake, he has two pits right in front of his eyes that allow him to heat-seek, and like a gecko has color night vision. His blood also has displayed a much lower pH than that of regular blood, making it un-survivable for most diseases, and will denature protein based compounds such as venom to the point where they function at a less potent effect, or simply do not function at all depending on the lethality. Henry also has several other less superpowered abilities in common with several species of reptiles, amphibians, and birds: An anticoagulant bite, claws, a nasty set of triple rowed teeth (some shark like, others more crocodilian), and some other weird things thrown in there.
Henry has a regenerative healing factor that allows him to regrow full limbs if they are lost, not just his tail, within a relatively short period of time. This healing factor is extremely potent, and while it does not have the speed of say, Wolverine, it does have the ability to redirect and reroute the flow of blood in his body with a complex set of muscles that close off and contract upon separation or damage. Small cuts and bruises heal within minutes, but things like crushing trauma or puncture wounds from high caliber firearms take much longer and will likely put him down and out.
Henry is a survivor. Like all reptiles he is incredibly resilient by nature, often not showing signs of illness or pain until it's either too late or he's gotten over it that, in combination with a natural accelerated healing rate, can make him very hard to kill. In times of trial and dire need for food and sustenance Henry has shown that he has ‘lukewarm blood’. His body temperature normally hovers around 80-85F at any given time, as he is warm blooded. However, he can slow his metabolism drastically, enabling him to brumate and survive on very little food and water for extended periods of time.
Limitations: Different levels of injury require different amounts of time to bounce back from. Being hit by a baseball bat could result in a few small fractures, which would mend within the hour. Being shot in the lung, if the bullet is high enough caliber to penetrate his hide, or falling debris could put Henry out. He might be a juggernaut of a person, but he is not invincible. On the note of bullets, while his body might be resistant to low calibre firearms, he is not resistant anymore than a regular man is to the major bruising and internal damage that the force that the bullet carries. Muscle damage and the ensuing recovery process could very well kill him later.
This ability to heal so efficiently and quickly has eroded Henry's instinctual urge to hold himself back in strength related activities. Under normal conditions most beings use only 20-30% of their potential muscle usage. Henry is very capable of using 100%- resulting in muscle fiber damage and other issues that would be crippling. Lifting and throwing vehicles, while possible, is taxing on his body. Sometimes too taxing. If he is subject to enough physical strain in a short time frame that his ability to heal cannot keep up with it, he is very likely to collapse and hurt himself further. Henry, while larger and heavier, is not Titus McArthur, and his strength comes from his size and is not directly his power.
Henry is a very big creature. This means that he has difficulty squeezing into some areas and his mass does befit him regarding endurance as his frame's size and build make him naturally lack locomotion stamina. He can only maintain such a fast sprint for a short period of time. Long periods of extended movement are not his forte because he's just not mechanically built for that- no matter how large his lungs are. He is heavy, and it puts a monumental toll on his body to keep up a fast pace. This however, is not nearly as much of a problem in the water.
Weaknesses: Because his senses are so powerful, sensory overload can be a big problem for him. He literally cant handle large amounts of bright light and loud sounds because they can cause him a lot of pain and confusion. His vision also gets fucked up when stuff gets into the heat sensing pits, he's pretty blind in those cases because that tends to give him a pretty trippy experience. Imagine your eyesight being flooded with nothing but blurs of red and yellow and being unable to see anything but that mix. As one can imagine this clashes pretty hard with his audiophile hobby... which is why he listens to music at very low volumes. It sounds wonderful that way to him. He regularly shows up to parties with ear plugs. It doesnt stop him from hearing conversation, but it takes the edge off.
Henry has thick, strong bones. While stronger than a human’s, they are not invincible. If Henry put his full strength into throwing a punch at a steel wall, he'd smash the steel alright. But he'd probably break all of his knuckles and give his arm about six fractures. He needs to be careful. He was a human once, as hard as that may be to believe and humans were not built to be as big as he is. The only reason he's able to survive and thrive is because his body changed with his size- but he cant throw himself around without seriously injuring himself. Impacts become more and more dangerous the larger the body gets, and Henry is a very large person. Because he is so large, Henry is also almost impossible to miss. He demands attention, and while he is quite a bruiser, focus fire and a lack of proper cover can quickly wear him down.
If he goes into a hibernation like state to last as long as he does, he will most likely do nothing but breathe once and hour for a very long time. It is an emergency thing to do and it really isn’t good for his body to do it for long.
I’d also like to point out once again that Henry’s regenerative ability is NOT like that of Wolverine’s. It’s several times as fast as a human’s, but he will NOT bounce back from any wound unless it’s minor, much like a normal human. It can take him months to grow back a limb, and weeks to recover from various other injuries (The average stab wound recovery time is the two to three weeks. Henry would recover fully over the course of a better part of a week).
Favorite Subject: TV Pro/Digital Art.
Least-Favorite Subject: AP US History. He's never been a huge fan of how the school has gone about teaching history.
Grades: A-B Student. Could probably do a whole lot better if he actually tried.
Embarrassing Moment: Henry got particularly belligerent at a party in his 10th grade and bragged about a girl he was talking to. Turns out it was an unknown individual preying on him for money. Henry doesn't talk about it much, and neither does anyone else. It's more embarrassing in a sad way than it is in a funny way.
Physical Description: Dexter stands at around 5'10, putting him comfortably in the upper-average range for a male in the USA. While he might not stand out as the most straight up attractive man in town, he is certainly doing well for himself and often makes a large effort to look as presentable as possible by adhering to the smart casual clothing style. He's not jock-muscular, but he's got a masculine and youthful physique, which certainly earns him some bonus points for the opposite sex. Catching Dexter looking mussed up is like spotting a unicorn, and oftentimes if he is off his game, everyone else is too.
Clothing:"Dress like you're going to meet your match, even if you're not."
Dexter takes pride in his presentable appearance and overall it's no wonder he is leading the race for "Best take home to parents" senior superlative. Dex always dresses with a 'smart-casual' look to him. He tends to gravitate towards henley shirts, flannels, jeans or khakis, and closed toed shoes. During the colder days, he tends to like to dress with tasteful use of leather. He's renowned for oftentimes shopping with his mother (sometimes earning him a title of a 'mama's boy'), but it has paid off with well fitting clothing and a top notch sense of what looks good and what doesn't. To top it all off, the guy even manages to smell good regularly. Fancy that?
Voice: Imagine a younger Chris Pratt. Think his character in Everwood. A pleasant baritone with enthusiasm, and a slight country drawl.
P e r s o n a l i t y
Character Traits: Many people experience loss throughout their lives in ways that greatly impact them. Some for the worse, and others for the better.
Dexter has always been a nice kid. An extrovert, well mannered, easy to talk with. The kind of kid that succeeded socially. A boy who was and has been on the straight and narrow for most of his life. But first and foremost, with how recently his life was changed, he is defined primarily by what is missing more than what is there. He is still a kind young man, but those who know him or spend any time in his circles will have noticed a less good natured streak that has taken hold of his persona and has not disappeared in the years since his sister and father’s passing.
Outwardly, Dexter can be charming, forward, and proud. He's talkative in the right crowd and has very many stories to share regarding his adventures and mishappen that he has experienced throughout high school. However where before he once carried his jovial persona naturally with seemingly no signs of lethargy, a more slightly forceful presence seems to carry him in locations if he spends too long with too many people and too many voices. His ugly side isn't seen as often one might expect given everything that has happened- and while he has never had a history with aggression, he does not take jokes the same way he did before. Especially to those who’s punchline is of a certain subject matter. Innately, Dexter is agitated, and has learned to enjoy a stillness of surroundings and mind. He has a lot of pent up frustration with the situation he was handed.
But make no mistake, Dex is still who he once was, even if there is less of that and more of something else. He is easy to get along with, but hard to get close to. Oftentimes being good with strangers but bad with friends, but he does care. In fact, he cares a great deal. He just has difficulty expressing it, for fear of caring about someone enough to lose them the way he has before. Where he has developed an intolerance that he didn’t have before, loss also instilled a tenacity in him that few have. Dexter isn’t the smartest kid around, but he works harder now. He used to make passing friends easily, but now he focuses on the people who matter. He used to let it define him, but now he wants to be better. One day at a time. One foot in front of the other.
Bonds: Dexter is first and foremost, a mamma's boy. He is extremely close with his mother, in part because she is his only immediate living relative. There is almost nothing he wouldn't do for her. Dexter also regularly visits his father and sister's graves. In his freshman year it was daily, now it's closer to weekly. Activities: Dexter is a member of the JV track team, specifically long distance. He has long since been disqualified from Varsity, and mostly runs for fun and fitness. He also participates in the CL inter-mural sports events for both the one hundred yard dash and cross country, having taken first in the former for the past three years he has competed and placing top three in the latter. Beyond that, Dexter is an employee at the Manic Mechanic, and has been working there since he was fifteen.
Skills: Dexter is a generalized handyman and novice car mechanic, who regularly works on the simpler Jeep and Ford model vehicles that come into the shop. Dexter is also musically inclined and proficient with the acoustic guitar.
B a c k s t o r y
Backstory: Dexter was raised under a set of ideals: A warrior's spirit; a servant's heart; a fun-loving attitude.
Dexter was born into a middle class home in Leesburgh to a fairly youthful marriage. A year before Dexter was born, his older sister came into the world. Unfortunately, due to the unfortunate circumstances, his older sister was born with a plethora of crippling health problems. As Dexter grew up, he was taught many lifelong lessons by his family and sister. Namely, patience and empathy, as she was confined to a wheel chair. His sister's various disabilities and sickly predisposition made it impossible for him and his family to live a conventionally normal life for a long time. Just when things were starting to even out at the start of middle school, Dexter's father passed away while commuting home from work- killed in a car crash. Worse yet, his sister's breathing apparatus suffered a malfunction only a few months later. With her brain starved of oxygen, Dexter's sister had been left brain dead. The already broken family was forced to make another heart wrenching choice, and then the family of four had been down to two.
The family was never the same after that. Him and his mother bonded over such a time of trial, and he deeply cares for his mother as a result. He picked up his dad's dusty old guitar and began reading like his sister. It didn't fill the void they left behind, but it was a coping mechanism that worked and helped. Neither Dexter nor his mother let their loved ones' passing slow them down forever, choosing instead to live on happily in their names. Dexter and his mother still live relatively happy and somewhat normal lives all things considered. Due to health and life insurances his family had put in place before any of the incidents, what was left of his family was left very financially stable. Even so, he has been working from a young age and spends weekends working part time at the Manic Mechanic. Due to the necessary evil of commuting, he and his mother purchased a car for his own personal use.
A cherry red 1967 Mazda Miata. It's a lifestyle, baby.
So, yeah. Shit happens, and sometimes he wished it had happened to someone else. Life dealt him some shitty cards and he focused more on mastering his hand than complaining about a cruddy deck. He's been pretty happy through high school so far- made easy friends with most people, got a car, worked hard, got good grades, found a passion for music and work, and noticed that 'hey that some girls are actually really cute.' The first year was really rough, and there are still a lot of bad days- but the good have been outnumbering them. Progress, not perfection.
P o w e r s
Description: Dexter's superhuman ability can be summarized in two words: "Go fast."
Simply put, Dexter has a plethora of secondary abilities that function as one that allow him to move faster than the human eye can track for short bursts and run at speeds capable of easily outpacing even the most high end automobiles for a longer distance. In order to keep up with his body, Dexter's mind is able to read, interpret and process at a incredible speed allowing him to perceive and react to the world far more quickly than any human. His reflexes react much faster than a normal, having barely any lag or dead time before he reacts to the world around him. He perceives the world in a form of 'bullet time', and a great example of this would be that he perceives a bullet being shot at him in the same way that a normal person sees a 95mph fastball being thrown at them. This means that generally speaking his awareness of a potential problem is the most limiting factor when it comes to reacting to said problem. His metabolism likewise is also much faster, dissolving absolutely heroic amounts of food in short time frames leaving Dexter in nearly a perpetual state of hunger. Due to this accelerated state of being, wounds close and heal much faster.
Furthermore, moving at incredible speeds puts an enormous toll on the body and in a normal one would tear Dexter apart. However this is not that case as Dexter is proportionally much, much stronger and more durable than the average human. This enables Dexter to exert himself in the ways that he does, and allows for the absolutely monumental forces placed on his body to be dealt with in a relatively safe manner.
Limitations: In terms of limitations, no matter how fast or strong he is, Dexter still has to deal with the physical forces of nature. Meaning that while he can accelerate extremely quickly, running at three hundred and change miles an hour comes with a few drawbacks. Dexter cant brake one a dime, nor can he change direction on one. Moving extremely fast means wide turns and a pretty good distance required to stop. Dexter can survive high speed collisions, but doing so could cripple him for life.
Weaknesses: In terms of limitations, no matter how fast or strong he is, Dexter still has to deal with the physical forces of nature. Meaning that while he can accelerate extremely quickly, running at three hundred and change miles an hour comes with a few drawbacks. Dexter cant brake one a dime, nor can he change direction on one. Moving extremely fast means wide turns and a pretty good distance required to stop. Dexter can survive high speed collisions, but doing so could cripple him for life.
Favorite Subject: PE
Least-Favorite Subject: Calculus Honors.
Grades: B Student.
Embarrassing Moment:
It's fucking happened him while running mach 3. It hurt and was really funny.
Physical Description: Dexter stands at around 5'10, putting him comfortably in the upper-average range for a male in the USA. While he might not stand out as the most straight up attractive man in town, he is certainly doing well for himself and often makes a large effort to look as presentable as possible by adhering to the smart casual clothing style. He's not jock-muscular, but he's got a masculine and youthful physique, which certainly earns him some bonus points for the opposite sex. Catching Dexter looking mussed up is like spotting a unicorn, and oftentimes if he is off his game, everyone else is too.
Clothing:"Dress like you're going to meet your match, even if you're not."
Dexter takes pride in his presentable appearance and overall it's no wonder he is leading the race for "Best take home to parents" senior superlative. Dex always dresses with a 'smart-casual' look to him. He tends to gravitate towards henley shirts, flannels, jeans or khakis, and closed toed shoes. During the colder days, he tends to like to dress with tasteful use of leather. He's renowned for oftentimes shopping with his mother (sometimes earning him a title of a 'mama's boy'), but it has paid off with well fitting clothing and a top notch sense of what looks good and what doesn't. To top it all off, the guy even manages to smell good regularly. Fancy that?
Voice: Imagine a younger Chris Pratt. Think his character in Everwood. A pleasant baritone with enthusiasm, and a slight country drawl.
P e r s o n a l i t y
Character Traits: Many people experience loss throughout their lives in ways that greatly impact them. Some for the worse, and others for the better.
Dexter has always been a nice kid. An extrovert, well mannered, easy to talk with. The kind of kid that succeeded socially. A boy who was and has been on the straight and narrow for most of his life. But first and foremost, with how recently his life was changed, he is defined primarily by what is missing more than what is there. He is still a kind young man, but those who know him or spend any time in his circles will have noticed a less good natured streak that has taken hold of his persona and has not disappeared in the years since his sister and father’s passing.
Outwardly, Dexter can be charming, forward, and proud. He's talkative in the right crowd and has very many stories to share regarding his adventures and mishappen that he has experienced throughout high school. However where before he once carried his jovial persona naturally with seemingly no signs of lethargy, a more slightly forceful presence seems to carry him in locations if he spends too long with too many people and too many voices. His ugly side isn't seen as often one might expect given everything that has happened- and while he has never had a history with aggression, he does not take jokes the same way he did before. Especially to those who’s punchline is of a certain subject matter. Innately, Dexter is agitated, and has learned to enjoy a stillness of surroundings and mind. He has a lot of pent up frustration with the situation he was handed.
But make no mistake, Dex is still who he once was, even if there is less of that and more of something else. He is easy to get along with, but hard to get close to. Oftentimes being good with strangers but bad with friends, but he does care. In fact, he cares a great deal. He just has difficulty expressing it, for fear of caring about someone enough to lose them the way he has before. Where he has developed an intolerance that he didn’t have before, loss also instilled a tenacity in him that few have. Dexter isn’t the smartest kid around, but he works harder now. He used to make passing friends easily, but now he focuses on the people who matter. He used to let it define him, but now he wants to be better. One day at a time. One foot in front of the other.
Bonds: Dexter is first and foremost, a mamma's boy. He is extremely close with his mother, in part because she is his only immediate living relative. There is almost nothing he wouldn't do for her. Dexter also regularly visits his father and sister's graves. In his freshman year it was daily, now it's closer to weekly. Activities: Dexter is a member of the JV track team, specifically long distance. He has long since been disqualified from Varsity, and mostly runs for fun and fitness. He also participates in the metahuman inter-mural sports events for both the one hundred yard dash and cross country, having taken first in the former for the past three years he has competed and placing top three in the latter. Beyond that, Dexter is an employee at the Manic Mechanic, and has been working there since he was fifteen.
Skills: Dexter is a generalized handyman and novice car mechanic, who regularly works on the simpler Jeep and Ford model vehicles that come into the shop. Dexter is also musically inclined and proficient with the acoustic guitar.
B a c k s t o r y
Backstory: Dexter was raised under a set of ideals: A warrior's spirit; a servant's heart; a fun-loving attitude.
Dexter was born into a middle class home in Leesburgh to a fairly youthful marriage. A year before Dexter was born, his older sister came into the world. Unfortunately, due to the unfortunate circumstances, his older sister was born with a plethora of crippling health problems. As Dexter grew up, he was taught many lifelong lessons by his family and sister. Namely, patience and empathy, as she was confined to a wheel chair. His sister's various disabilities and sickly predisposition made it impossible for him and his family to live a conventionally normal life for a long time. Just when things were starting to even out at the start of middle school, Dexter's father passed away while commuting home from work- killed in a car crash. Worse yet, his sister's breathing apparatus suffered a malfunction only a few months later. With her brain starved of oxygen, Dexter's sister had been left brain dead. The already broken family was forced to make another heart wrenching choice, and then the family of four had been down to two.
The family was never the same after that. Him and his mother bonded over such a time of trial, and he deeply cares for his mother as a result. He picked up his dad's dusty old guitar and began reading like his sister. It didn't fill the void they left behind, but it was a coping mechanism that worked and helped. Neither Dexter nor his mother let their loved ones' passing slow them down forever, choosing instead to live on happily in their names. Dexter and his mother still live relatively happy and somewhat normal lives all things considered. Due to health and life insurances his family had put in place before any of the incidents, what was left of his family was left very financially stable. Even so, he has been working from a young age and spends weekends working part time at the Manic Mechanic. Due to the necessary evil of commuting, he and his mother purchased a car for his own personal use.
A cherry red 1967 Mazda Miata. It's a lifestyle, baby.
So, yeah. Shit happens, and sometimes he wished it had happened to someone else. Life dealt him some shitty cards and he focused more on mastering his hand than complaining about a cruddy deck. He's been pretty happy through high school so far- made easy friends with most people, got a car, worked hard, got good grades, found a passion for music and work, and noticed that 'hey that some girls are actually really cute.' The first year was really rough, and there are still a lot of bad days- but the good have been outnumbering them. Progress, not perfection.
P o w e r s
Description: Dexter's metahuman ability can be summarized in two words: "Go fast."
Simply put, Dexter has a plethora of secondary abilities that function as one that allow him to move faster than the human eye can track for short bursts and run at speeds capable of easily outpacing even the most high end automobiles for a longer distance. In order to keep up with his body, Dexter's mind is able to read, interpret and process at a incredible speed allowing him to perceive and react to the world far more quickly than any human. His reflexes react much faster than a normal, having barely any lag or dead time before he reacts to the world around him. He perceives the world in a form of 'bullet time', and a great example of this would be that he perceives a bullet being shot at him in the same way that a normal person sees a 95mph fastball being thrown at them. This means that generally speaking his awareness of a potential problem is the most limiting factor when it comes to reacting to said problem. His metabolism likewise is also much faster, dissolving absolutely heroic amounts of food in short time frames leaving Dexter in nearly a perpetual state of hunger. Due to this accelerated state of being, wounds close and heal much faster.
Furthermore, moving at incredible speeds puts an enormous toll on the body and in a normal one would tear Dexter apart. However this is not that case as Dexter is proportionally much, much stronger and more durable than the average human. This enables Dexter to exert himself in the ways that he does, and allows for the absolutely monumental forces placed on his body to be dealt with in a relatively safe manner.
Limitations: In terms of limitations, no matter how fast or strong he is, Dexter still has to deal with the physical forces of nature. Meaning that while he can accelerate extremely quickly, running at three hundred and change miles an hour comes with a few drawbacks. Dexter cant brake one a dime, nor can he change direction on one. Moving extremely fast means wide turns and a pretty good distance required to stop. Dexter can survive high speed collisions, but doing so could cripple him for life.
Weaknesses: In terms of limitations, no matter how fast or strong he is, Dexter still has to deal with the physical forces of nature. Meaning that while he can accelerate extremely quickly, running at three hundred and change miles an hour comes with a few drawbacks. Dexter cant brake one a dime, nor can he change direction on one. Moving extremely fast means wide turns and a pretty good distance required to stop. Dexter can survive high speed collisions, but doing so could cripple him for life.
It was supposed to have been a job. An in and out stay on the greatest space station that humanity had ever known. But it had ended up being more than that. Now, oh, now she was faced with so much more. She had never been one to have been put off by violence. Assassination wasn't beyond her, be it literal or of a person's character, this had simply been a job. A well paying one that had one end goal: Find a way to give her employer a parahuman ability.
It had taken months of research and an entire workforce to do it. Luckily she had bother. Then she had to find a way off planet and searched the stars only to find a boy, no... a god, who had shown her everything. She had been shown everything, if only for a moment.
She needed to get away. Somewhere where she would have the time to find a more permanent solution. That of her on earth would surely perish with the crashing of the red wave, but she would live on. She had to. In order to do that unnoticed, she would need a distraction.
Arianna moved through the corridors of the spire on her way to the master server room, uncontested and shaken to her core- her appearance and disposition not her own. A body was a change of clothes for her...
But until now she had never known fear.
Archie
"Lets go then. Please." Archie commented, donning his lab coat. The others followed suit, their motions brisk but precise. None of them wanted to be here any longer. Not with the remains of Tabatha reminding them of their fates.
Opening the door out of the room was perhaps one of the most harrowing experiences of Archie's life. There was something insidious about it, and not knowing what was behind it. The first door into the spire had been mysterious, sure. But knowing their fate now made this next passage far more threatening.
Fortunately, while the halls were busy, they were not out of the ordinary. Archie had the advantage of facial hair that gave him the appearance of being slightly older than he was, but the halls were filled with people dressed similarly to them, albeit with lab coats that were properly buttoned- a discrepancy the young man quickly picked up on and rectified. No, the most notable trait of these people was that they were all of such varying age. Young men and women, likely college age or interns intermingled with 40's something adults and senior scientists with gray hairs peppering their hair.
It was then that Archie was reminded how different the real world was compared to this bubble in the sky. On The Promise, parahumans were common. More common than people. The Spire was different- a reflection of the views of the world below. The indoctrination of 'Parahumans arent people' starts young, and by the time children were adults, it was normalized to view them not all that differently than a stray or dangerous animal. A nuisance and maybe even a threat if you got too close. Something to be avoided or destroyed, situation permitting.
Fortunately, they were literal wolves in sheep's clothing. They were young, but not abnormal. They were dangerous, but they looked human. The biggest giveaway way Lynn's hair, but she was a small and her natural fear of, well, everything had her place herself instinctually at the center of the pack where her meager height made it difficult for others to see her hair over everyone else.
Archie was just behind Keaton, who led them through with stoicism- speaking in short 'rights' and 'lefts'. It was good, the less they said the better. But what Natalie had said in the other room had concerned him. I....I'm gonna kill them. I'm gonna kill all of them. It was worrisome to hear from someone he cared about, never mind her history of instability. If she lashed out or lost control, it would all be for nothing. He slowed his pace to walk next to her, and reached out to grab her arm. He squeezed it, half with grounding force to reign her in and half in comfort. She was stronger than him, at least in this form and he knew it. She could break his grip and him without a second thought. But she wouldn't do that to him, he was convinced.
"Easy, Nat." he said, his voice low as if a warning. But it was softer than that, too. It showed his unease. He needed her to keep it together just long enough for them to make it to wherever they were going- which seemed to be up as they made it to an elevator and Keaton hit a button denoting the number '34' on it. He let her arm go, then.
They stood in silence for a moment as one or two others came into the elevator. Unable to speak, Archie positioned himself as close to Lynn as possible, unintentionally shepherding her into the corner where she was least likely to be noticed as an outsider. He bumped into her shoulder, offering her a sly smile and a sideward glance as if to say tag, you're it.
A few got on and off, and when they reached their floor they had only made it a dozen or so steps when an alarm began blaring over the intercom. Immediately, his heart rate went sky high, and he felt something clawing at the edges of his vision, desperate to get out. But he held it back. They were dead. They were so totally dead and they were found out and they were going to fail and-
"ATTENTION. PARAHUMAN PSYCHIATRIC WARD CONTAINMENT BREACH. ALL PERSONELLE RETURN TO NEAREST SHELTER AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTION."
The announcement played three more times before stopping, but the alarm itself continued. People were moving quickly around them, funneling in various directions. There had been another breakout, evidently. While morbid, this could be exactly what they needed.
"Move!" Archie said, raising his voice to jump start the group into motion. They were running now. Running to wherever Keaton was taking them. He was faster than them- he could feel it in his lengthening heels as his adrenaline fueling his accelerated heart rate. It was harder to force it back and down. He slowed to keep pace, trying his best to slow his vitals. They came upon the door quickly, and Archie could tell it was the right one just by how Keaton regarded it. But it was locked. Keycard access only requesting security clearance that none of them had.
"Lynn, Natalie, do you think you could break it down?" he questioned, turning on his heel to face the two. His eyes were undoubtedly not his own now. Definitely human, but not his. They would know that being out here where the alarm was loudest wasn't a good idea for long.
A letter of recommendation:
[center][img]http://imgur.com/yukmSQU.png[/img][/center]
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People on my junk mail list <3
[@Dragonbud]
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[@Skai]
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A letter of recommendation:<br><div class="bb-center"><img src="http://imgur.com/yukmSQU.png" /></div><br><br><hr class="bb-hr"><br><br>People on my junk mail list <3<br><br><a class="bb-mention" href="/users/dragonbud">@Dragonbud</a><br><a class="bb-mention" href="/users/maxx">@Maxx</a><br><a class="bb-mention" href="/users/the-ghost-note">@The Ghost Note</a><br><a class="bb-mention" href="/users/luminous-beings">@Luminous Beings</a><br><a class="bb-mention" href="/users/septicgentleman">@SepticGentleman</a><br><a class="bb-mention" href="/users/spoopy-scary">@Spoopy Scary</a><br><a class="bb-mention" href="/users/skai">@Skai</a></div>
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