"Jamie" Marchetti
18
Gender: Male
Personality: Generally, Jamie is quite a kind and accommodating person. He tries to be friendly with others and usually puts himself as second priority. He does not always care about someone who he is prioritizing, but he was raised to be unselfish and he just finds it easier to live that way. He is not a very loud person typically, and takes a much more reserved approach. He maintains a very calm and steady persona at all times, as even when he feels a great amount of stress or fear, he does not express his emotions and will seem fine to others.
He struggles to open up to others, and has always been quite an introverted person. He probably doesn't seem anti-social to anyone, as he does struggle with showing others how he feels, but he does not enjoy spending time with lots of people. He never attends parties or anything like that, unless one of his friends begs him to go, in which case he will reluctantly follow. He feels much more comfortable in the company of a small group of friends.
Jamie is always quite alert. Although his awareness is often very positive, it has a constant negative effect. Even when he is relaxing, part of him is waiting for something bad to happen, so he struggles to completely relax. He might not let this show, but he rarely feels comfortable. He will attempt to seem relaxed to accommodate others, though.
Although Jamie constantly seems calm on the outside, he experiences a lot of internal conflict. He can be extremely stubborn and can often act on impulse, but he will not express his conflicting emotions to others. He still, however, can make stupid decisions in the heat of the moment.
He has few real friends, but those he chooses to befriend are very important to him. There are few people he cares for and has loyalty for, but to those people, he is completely invested in and unwaveringly loyal. This can be negative, however, as he reveals his weaknesses and becomes vulnerable to his friends. Those he is close to could easily exploit him and betray him.
Appearance: Jamie is around six foot tall. He is half-Italian, and has a slightly tanned complexion as a result. He is quite athletic, but was very skinny and sickly as a child. He has brown eyes and hair.
Biography: Jamie's mother was an Italian businesswoman who had migrated to New York with her family as a teenager. Jamie's father was also an immigrant, an Englishman who suddenly decided that he did not want to have to raise a child, so he packed up and left a few months before Jamie was born. Jamie took his mother's surname, and his father's first name: James. To this day Jamie cannot understand why his mother would choose to name him after a man that left her. He believed that she still loved him. 18 years on.
His mother was a loving woman, but an equally busy one. She was rarely around to raise Jamie. They lived in a high-end apartment due to the fact his mother earned a very healthy wage, but Jamie spent most of his days in his Sicilian grandparent's suburban bungalow. His grandmother was a very caring and kind woman, but his grandfather was strict and harsh. At the time, Jamie wished that his grandfather had been a little less intense, but on reflection, he was the only father figure Jamie ever had, and the person that taught him most of his life lessons. Without his grandfather, Jamie would have never became a "man."
Jamie was always a smart boy, and did fairly well in school, but he had very little confidence. He didn't have many friends and he never had the nerve to answer questions in class, so teachers got the impression that he wasn't very bright. He was quite skinny and frail as a young boy, so due to that, in addition to the fact he had very little self-esteem and confidence, meant that he was picked on and bullied often. He never told his grandparents or mother about it, and it continued for years, slowly chipping away at Jamie's already weak self-belief.
When Jamie was twelve he discovered his ability. It was the second or third time that one of the bullies at his school had picked a fight with him, and it had got to the stage where the bully was ready to throw punches. Somehow, he had no idea how, Jamie avoided every single one. It was like when the punch was thrown, something clicked in Jamie's head and gave him extra time to react. Within seconds, the bully was on the floor, with a black eye, crying.
Jamie's newly discovered abilities gave him a new lease of life. He began to work out, and to socialize. He was no longer a frail little boy with no friends. He could stick up for himself, finally. He then began to play sports - all of which he was excellent at. He wasn't too naturally talented, but every sport he involved himself with was dependant on reaction time - something that he had perfected. He instantly became one of the more popular kids at his school, his life completely turning on it's head. Jamie didn't really like spending his time with the popular kids, so he tended to stick to smaller groups, but he found that as soon as he became popular, he would never be left alone. They followed him like bees.
After a while, Jamie realised that he had been exploiting his powers, and he didn't know why. He didn't enjoy sports much, nor the attention that came from it. He just liked the feeling of being untouchable. That nobody could make fun of him. Nonetheless, he stopped playing sports, and stopped associating himself with the popular people in school. He still retained a solid reputation from when he had been a 'jock', but he much preferred being a normal guy.
On his 18th birthday he moved in to his mother's apartment full-time. There, he trained his abilities further, extending the amount of time he could slow down and such. He had ambitions to study law when he graduated from High School, but that never came to pass. His life was cancelled the day he took that blood test.
Power: Time reduction allows Jamie to move around at a normal speed whilst the world around him slows down. To others it would appear that Jamie is travelling with enhanced speed, but he differs to someone with enhanced speed. He has the same amount of stamina as a normal person and does not gain momentum as someone with enhanced speed would - i.e. he cannot run up walls or anything like that, or travel huge distanced without getting tired out. Also, his time reduction can only be used for a relatively short period of time.
Jamie has extremely heightened reaction times, as he is literally given more time to react due to slowing time around him. This means he could easily dodge a punch or bullet. If he himself is throwing a punch, he can slow down the world around him and punch, meaning the punch will have greater speed, and will therefore hit harder.To everyone but Bradley, the world moves as usual, but he can just see things and feel things a little bit slower if he wants to. There are many limits to his power - he can only sustain it for twenty seconds or so at a time, and cannot do it again for another twenty seconds. Also, he can only slow down time so much.
Skills:- Fitness: Jamie's power is more of a combat-enhancing power rather than something that directly benefits him. If someone totally unfit had Jamie's power, it wouldn't be as much use to them. However, Jamie keeps in good condition and can hit quite hard, so he's useful in combat.
- Languages: Jamie can speak English and Italian fluently. He is conversational in French and Spanish, as his mother has tutored him in both due to her line of work.
- Stability: In times of distress, Jamie maintains a calm aura which means he can help others.
Weaknesses:- Introvert: Due to spending most of his childhood alone, Jamie is uncomfortable in large groups and prefers to spend his time alone, or with a smaller group.
- Rash: Personal vendettas overrule logic for Jamie. Sometimes he can react before thinking.
- Unconvincing: He's a terrible liar.
