When people talk about cracks in the system, they're talking about Cordelia Lynn Holmes. Cordelia was named as such because she was the youngest of several girls received at the facility she was left at as a child, and, ironically, the sweetest. She quickly became someone bounced around in the system. Lynn didn't do well in school and stayed with several different foster families, all of whom struggled to tame her. Some thought that having a parahuman as a foster child would be a tremendous opportunity, but none were up to the task. Lynn was difficult to handle from a young age, prone to outbursts, and had a penchant for mischief. This created something of a feedback loop - as she wore down one family, she became increasingly convinced she just couldn't make family work, and was wasting her time trying. Lynn's time in the foster system wasn't easy, and her only semi-stable relationships were some friends she made with a few other girls in the system. Lynn was shifted through schools and classes due to her misbehavior and struggled to form any lasting bonds there. Most of her teachers, perhaps incorrectly, perhaps correctly, assumed Lynn was a failed case.
At a certain point, Lynn ran away. She got involved in petty crime and hung out with a few less than savory characters. This period lasted for a few years, starting when she was around 13. Lynn would occasionally come back to her foster family, occasionally not. She became involved with some less than entirely reputable individuals, who seemed quite welcoming, and did not do much to put her on the right path. Lynn picked up a few skills and was in a state of semi-homelessness for a while. She would crash on couches or return home when she couldn't find anyone else. Lynn was scared, a lot of the time, but learned to suppress that. Lynn attended school sporadically, but she was in a district with abysmal funding and not much in the way of resources to help support her. She did a brief stint in juvy, with the hope of hammering out her bad behavior, but at that point Lynn was pretty committed to her life path.
Lynn's powers had been both a blessing and a hindrance for her. Without them, it is unlikely Lynn would have been able to fare as well with the lifestyle she had - a small girl alone on the streets does not tend to do well. With her powers, she was able to defend herself, and become something of an asset for a few of the groups she ran with. At the same time, it did prompt a degree of alienation, and Lynn was an easy scapegoat when the police came around - as a parahuman, the natural paranoia and mistrust made her an easy target, and drew unwanted attention after a certain point. A short time after juvy, she was approached by the Promise, who confronted her with an ultimatum that even Lynn couldn't really budge from. If she continued on her path, she would likely be spending the rest of her life in a federal prison, and as a parahuman, she'd probably be kindly ask to hold still while they put the needle in her arm.
Or, she could try this stupid Academy.
Lynn had never once been on a plane, but she got to ride a rocket ship.
//Abilities:Superhuman Ability | The Phoenix
Lynn is a phoenix. Not literally, but thematically and in terms of her abilities. She cannot fly and does not have wings, but she possesses a number of other notable characteristics. To start at the most mundane, Lynn's hair and eye color changes like a flickering flame. This occurs passively and is difficult for Lynn to actively control. When she's not utilizing her powers, it occurs very slowly, but if she's angered or using her abilities, she may go through four to five changes a minute. Yellow, red, blue, white, orange - so be it.
Secondly, Lynn is not capable of pyromancy, but certainly has a pyromantic aura about her. To clarify, Lynn heightens flames, heat, and anything combustible in her vicinity. Boiling points, ignition points, and combustion points are all lowered around Lynn. Body temperatures rise and the ambient temperature slowly creeps up. Things overheat more easily. Firing a machine gun around Lynn is a good way to melt a barrel. Lynn herself, when drawing upon her powers, ignites to a certain degree. Her hair ignites and her eyes begin blazing. Smoke curls up from her form and she singes whatever she comes into contact with. As she activates her powers more fully, heat rolls off her and flames can spark up on her arms and legs, forming a bright corona around her. When she's really going, there's a mirage around her as she lets off heat, which doesn't have much practical effect, but looks pretty sweet. Lynn begins to glow brightly. She doesn't have much control over all of this - she couldn't, for example, shoot a beam of fire at someone, but she could definitely try to focus her energy and throw a fiery punch at someone. It is possible she could gain more refined control with training, but good luck with that. Lynn is immune to fire and heat and has a good resistant to concussive force.
Lynn does not have wings but she does have a curious effect in that she seems to fall more slowly. Lynn can survive drops from heights that should damage her, and also has a bit more oomph to her jumps than she should. I mean, she's fucking five feet tall, anything above like four inches is an impressive vertical for her.
Lynn also has potent regenerative capabilities. Lynn will recover from just about anything if given time to lick her wounds and such. Lynn needs nutrients and oxygen for this to happen, hence why Lynn still has a number of scars. Her body temperature is high enough that bacterial infections are not a particular concern for her, and she has trouble with denaturing foreign agents introduced to her system. Lynn's tears are also highly, highly curative. This is a power Lynn is entirely unaware that she has for some pretty obvious reasons.
Lynn, when channeling her fire powers, has, well, more firepower. She becomes stronger and tougher. Lynn isn't capable of flipping cars, but she can punch above her weight class, which is again, not saying a whoe lot.
Limitation(s) | Any fire needs oxygen. Lynn's abilities have a pretty high metabolic cost. If she's in an area with a limited air supply, she can't really fuel her fire to its fullest potential. Additionally, she needs a lot of calories to keep this going, which is why Lynn is so underweight. She's constantly got a physiological furnace running and puts coal in there once every two days or so. This causes Lynn's ability to sputter out pretty unspectacularly sometimes. Lynn also is a blunt instrument - if she gets her ability going and is letting off tremendous amounts of heat, she's not going to be subtle, quiet, or delicate. If Lynn needed to do something with precision or safeguard something, she'd likely just incinerate it, which isn't particularly helpful.
Weakness(es) | Lynn is not unkillable. She can take a mean beating, but Lynn has limits. When she's out of gas, Lynn's power sputters out. When that fails or she is critically damaged, Lynn burns out. Her hair burns away and Lynn goes cold. Her inner fire begins to wane and Lynn becomes hypothermic. Lynn can recover from this state if she's given medical attention and help, but otherwise she's stripped of any parahuman enhancements, which are most of what keep her up and running. This cripples Lynn and makes her a pretty easy target. Anything can kill her at this point, including just taking the blanket off. Lynn will gradually rebirth from this, but she's out of the running for the duration (and, worse than that, she's weak, and everyone can see it). Lynn also has to expend more energy in cold environments. A fire extinguisher isn't going to, you know, make her collapse screaming in agony, but it will have the same effect on her flames. Lynn's main weakness is energy - she packs a hell of a punch, but she doesn't have the fuel reserves to throw more than one or two.
//Skills:Toughness | I won't say that Lynn is a good fighter, because that may not necessarily be true, but Lynn is tough and tenacious. She has taken a beating on more than one occasion and does not shy away from it. Bitter conditions, physical or emotional pain, or rough goings do not deter Lynn in the slightest.
Hood Rat | Lynn has more than dabbled in the criminal world and picked up a number of skills in the process. She's evasive, suspicious, and very observant. Lynn is a good pickpocket, can pick a lock if you give her a few minutes, and familiar with more than one or two cons. Most valuable is her skill of observation - Lynn always has one eye out for danger and a keen nose for bullshit.
Freestyling | Every phoenix has a song; Lynn's just so happens to be pretty derivative of Tupac and Biggie. She is actually pretty talented at freestyling, although she's too shy to show it usually. If there is ever a rap battle, Lynn can dominate. She is also - unsurprisingly - a not half bad charcoal painter.
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