Name: Eugene Colburt
Code Name: He’s new to this “superhero” thing, doesn’t have one (poor guy)
Age: 25
Gender: Male (both in sex and gender)
Place of Birth: Elk Point, Alberta (resided in Edmonton from the age of three onwards) and currently living in Toronto, Ontario (because I can actually identify some places there LMAO)
Affiliations: Verona Academy (school intended to unlock the magical gifts of users). Previously aligned in a group with several former students before the eventual destruction of the school by another former student. Was in a relationship with another girl who went by the name Allison (real name is currently unknown) before she was “killed” (she technically can’t die due to the fact that, after several hundred years, he body will regenerate due to her monster nature, but Eugene will be long gone). Other members of this team consisted of “Riot” (ability to manipulate her body structure), Delphine (can alter chemical material, such as the amount of oxygen in a bloodstream), Katja (may be used in this RP; can create “silent points”; more TBA if she’s used), Oscar (can change the velocity of organics and objects), and Carullo (non-organic time manipulation). Team was not really used for anything but was disbanded all the same. Enemies with Olivia Whittaker and Raindancer Evers (she’s sort of a hippie LMAO) due to their (mostly indirect) parts in the death of Allison and the school’s destruction, as well as the disappearance and assumed murder of his headmaster and mentor, Silvana Fusetti, who wielded an incredibly powerful but possessive magic known as the Eye of Truth. Seeks to one day kill Raindancer, though her magic would likely prevent him from doing this (she can be gloriously OP, LMAO). Has a twin brother named Caleb who went “dark”, though he has not seen Caleb for many years and doesn’t know this. Father is currently still living in Alberta.
Occupation: Attending school to achieve his doctorate in North American history
Appearance: Eugene is what one would describe as dismally average. He has average dark brown eyes, average ear-length messy hair, and average slightly tanned Caucasian skin. His only not-so-average grace is his height; he is gangly and stands in at about 6 feet and 5 inches. He tends to wear simple clothing, almost exclusively jeans and a t-shirt and occasional hoodie. He is incredibly fond of baseball caps, and generally wears a simple blue one backwards on his head.
I always sort of imagined him as being an older and dweebier Hilbert from Pokemon Black and White, LMAO.
Powers: Eugene has a unique and often underrated power; however, its limitations also can inhibit him from being as powerful as anyone. In fact, Eugene is distinctly NOT powerful. However, his magic is incredibly useful as a supportive means.
Possessing psychometric-like abilities, Eugene is able to touch an object or an organic and see in its past and present. While this may not seem to others like it has much use, this allows Eugene to relive past conversations and thoughts, which permit him to plan against attacks, etc. However, since he’s really damn weak, he often will use his ability to transfer these images and snippets to allies, who would be able to use them more effectively than him.
Eugene can store these images permanently, as well as their sensations, which he can then transfer to others. For example, if he touches an object or person that has undergone serious burn damage, he will accept that pain and be able to transfer it to others. Unfortunately, this means that he’s usually in pain all the time, LMAO. This also does not transfer the actual injury, only the sensation, so the worst he can do is some nerve damage from extreme pain or something, LMAO.
Eugene has a photographic and perfect memory. If you lose your keys, he’ll find them for you with just a tap on your shoulder. :p
Skills: He has a fairly high pain tolerance at this point (partially from visions, partially because his friend Riot had a bad habit of slapping people on the back in a genial manner and sending them flying into walls). However, he is constrained by a weak physical form, so it’s kind of useless unless he is absorbing painful memories.
Again, perfect memory (which is good and bad, LMAO).
He also knows a s*it-ton of history, LMAO.
Equipment/Resources: None. He doesn’t have a superhero outfit either, since he doesn’t really consider himself one. He spends most of his time tooling around and rescuing old ladies purses…if he can catch up with the person (he’s not very fast).
Weaknesses: Has no “superhuman” strength/immune abilities, so pretty much any hit will one hit kill him, LMAO. He has no magical resistances, so any type of spell will hit hard. He’s not particularly strong or fast. Also requires physical contact with whomever he is using his ability on.
Psychological Profile: Eugene is the class clown type of guy. He’s laid back and pretty friendly with anyone who doesn’t try to kill him on their first meeting (though he makes exceptions on occasion *coughsALLISONcoughs*), and often jokes around. He doesn’t appear, on the surface, to take many things seriously; however, beneath that, Eugene has actually struggled with a lot of bad history, and he has a grudge match with the girl who started most of that history. And that’s another thing; Eugene has an absolute fascination with history, and loves handling ancient objects and absorbing their knowledge. For someone who is often kidding around, Eugene is highly intelligent, more so than his everyday conversation may make him seem.
Eugene is willing to get his hands dirty if it means getting a job done, but he is squeamish with harming innocent civilians.
Biography: Eugene grew up in a fairly normal home with his mother, father, and twin brother, Caleb. Both his parents were retired historians who spent most of their time writing novels on their respective areas; his father, Richard, on the Civil War and the southern states of America in general, and his mother, Agnes, on Asian cultures. Eugene, the younger of the twins by three minutes and twenty-four seconds, was considered the “baby” of the family, always being treated as such. He and his brother both got along exceedingly well, and his childhood was mostly spent reading books about history, which fascinated him. His parents were pleased to see their son take such a keen interest in their own field, and their home in Edmonton became a house of knowledge, with them taking frequent trips to the places that his parents described and studied. Caleb did not share the same interests, preferring sport and the like, the brawn to his brother’s brains. He generally didn’t go on the trips.
Eugene never really knew he had power. In fact, it was possible that it was a dormant trait, as it was never exhibited for the early years of his life. Sometimes when he hugged his mum before going to sleep, he could almost see her thoughts, or so he believed, and sometimes when he walked into a room or picked something up, it was as though something about it would fleet through his mind before going again. No, Eugene never discovered what his power was until his father and he took a trip down to an old, forgotten battlefield in Georgia. When he was walking around, looking for artefacts to add to his collection, he came upon a bullet shell. Pleased that he had discovered something, Eugene bent down to pick it up, and instantly it seemed like he was back on the battlefield the day that it was fought on. He could smell smoke and hear the blast of guns and the dying screams of men in starkly coloured uniforms. He could SEE it. In fact, after a few moments, he could feel a searing pain in his left rib – a feeling as though he had been shot.
Collapsing, Eugene dropped the shell, in shock as he curled his hands around his side, unaware that he was screaming. His father rushed to him, but the boy had no visible markings. Concerned that he was having some internal injury, he drove to the nearest hospital, the boy still twitching a little, but on the way there he sat back up, perfectly fine. Mystified, Richard took him to the hospital anyways, but he was deemed fine.
Eugene didn’t know what it was, but from that day forth, every time he touched something, he felt that same jolt, seeing everything there was to see. Once he touched a beam of his house, and he swore he saw the day that the tree was seeded, hundreds of years ago. His parents were still confused about the times he’d touch something and then cry out, grabbing his toe or arm as though he had somehow injured himself. He grew physically distant from them, as though he would be burned if he touched them; in reality, he just didn’t want to see their previous thoughts and actions. However, the family still got on well enough.
Eugene didn’t do that great in his first year of middle school. Other kids were afraid to play with him due to his perpetually confused attitude and the weird jolts they got when he would brush against them in any way. Whenever he would do something odd or space out, they would often call him names, and he was deemed as the “weird” kid. He struggled in pretty much every course except History, which he consistently aced. This behaviour continued into the later grades, but he didn’t mind at all. He had his brother, who would stand up for his twin no matter what. Due to Caleb’s popularity among his classmates, most people left Eugene alone – as long as his brother was around. However, being the only one with powers – and ones that he found he had trouble controlling – made Eugene feel lonely sometimes. He longed to meet other people who struggled like he did.
The choice arose in Eugene’s second year of high school, near the end of the year. He was asked to attend the prestigious Verona Academy, a school renowned only for accepting the most gifted, located on an island far away from the constraints of Canada. Not only this, but he was offered a hefty scholarship. His parents were exceptionally proud and Eugene, excited to perhaps find those who would accept him, agreed as soon as he saw the letter. Caleb, however, was left out cold, though he insisted his brother take the opportunity. Eugene, ever the favourite son, was given a large send-off party and departed for Verona at the beginning of his junior year of high school.
While Eugene may have been gifted in the area of history, this was not the gifts that Verona had meant. He had gotten exactly what he had prayed for – a place where he could learn to control his powers, a place for those with the gift of magic. Roomed with a large group of people from North America, Eugene found himself making friends suddenly and quickly; sharp but witty-tongued Delphine, polite Oscar, optimistic Katja, brash Riot, wildly intelligent pRoxii (who is now renowned among the Internet), hilarious Carullo, and the beautiful, mysterious, cold Allison, a girl he often found himself tongue-tied around, among others. It was a strange feeling to always have people to talk to, but two people among the group on their floor eluded them, Raindancer and Olivia, each quiet and preferring to be alone.
Not only did Eugene begin to excel his classes under the tutelage of his new teachers, he began to learn to control his power. While it remained wild and often left him disoriented, he began to learn to block against the visions when he touched anything, could focus on single moments in history more, and even transfer visions to others, to help or to harm.
When Eugene was first invited to the office of Ms. Fusetti, the headmaster of the academy, he couldn’t help but feel terror that he would be kicked out. It was quite the opposite; Ms. Fusetti, a strange woman with many secrets and an equally secretive eyepatch over her right eye, expressed interest in teaching Eugene privately. He knew she often met students in private (he had seen the two elusive girls from his floor there before) but he didn’t think she made offers like this to just anyone. He accepted this offer, of course, and began to also learn other things from her. These weren’t just things about his power, they were things about magical abilities as a whole, and he was fascinated by her.
He also began to strike up a more friendly relationship with Allison, and even when he discovered her true non-human nature, continued to love her. He was fairly certain he was going to explode when she accepted his invitation to the big end of the year dance, and was sure part of him did when she agreed to begin a romantic relationship with him.
Going home for summer vacation was the hardest thing Eugene ever did. While he enjoyed his time with his parents (and their delight at his willingness to hug and kiss them again), he couldn’t help but feel like he was somehow no longer a part of this mundane world. He missed his classes on magical history. However, the isolation had also cut Eugene off from much of the world, and he was surprised to hear that there were now many commonplace and known superpowered organizations, the largest being something called “The League”.
Realizing this, Eugene finally confessed his power to his parents, who were incredibly relived to finally hear why their son had had his “fits”. Now with such a gifted son, they were almost tempted to boast the town, but at his begging kept it to themselves. However, they did tell Caleb – and he was less than impressed.
Returning to his senior year, Eugene reconnected with his friends instantly. He also continued to see Ms. Fusetti, and eventually, she expressed her interest that, if he so desired, she was willing to make him the next history teacher of the school.
Eugene was overwhelmed with happiness; he would be able to stay at the place that he had found himself in, and instantly agreed. He worked even harder and managed to procure a spot at the University of Toronto in the history department, deciding to specialize in North American history. ESPECIALLY southern America history, where it all began.
Things were also going well with Allison. While she was by no means a SUPER NICE YAY PERSON yet, she had improved greatly, and was interacting with Eugene’s main circle of friends with much less animosity than before. In fact, he was pretty convinced that she actually genuinely like them. Eugene 1, Allison 0.
However, that was when things started to fall apart.
Eugene’s mother died in a freak car accident when she was on the highway with Caleb, though the latter was somehow unscathed by the accident, physically and emotionally. Eugene had to fly back to Alberta for her funeral, during which he and Caleb quarrelled. Caleb was tired of being the “unloved” son, and after a particularly nasty bout of words, stormed out of the funeral. Eugene has not seen Caleb since that day.
The worst, however, was what he heard on the news that evening.
Verona Academy, haven to all supernaturals, had been destroyed…and the main suspect had been a Miss Raindancer Evers, an emotionally unstable and exceedingly powerful supernatural. Ms. Fusetti, who had gone on a trip a week prior, had been declared missing. Many of Eugene’s friends had died.
That included Allison Hendricks.
His entire world had fallen through.
Eugene had nowhere else to go. He began drinking and smoking, almost in a binge like manner, and never showed up for his first year of university. He spent most of his time lurking in the basement of the family home until his father, though understanding of his son’s pain, kicked him out.
It was only when Eugene touched one of his mother’s old books that he began to remember everything he did have to live for as the memories surged through him of all the times he and his mother had sat down, reading that same book. There was a chance, now; a chance to begin Verona again, and a chance to destroy the girl who had torn it down. Possibly, maybe, even a chance to bring back Allison from wherever she had gone.
The best way to do this was through the League.
Though Eugene continued his studies at the University of Toronto (which he began attending) he became a member. He never looked back, after that day.
There was nothing to look back to, only forwards.