Spoopy Scary

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

The Dreadnaughts, Sulfur, the Agents of NEST, and Lihua Vuhong

_{by @Spoopy Scary and @Mr Allen J}

---

'Shit, okay, now I'm here. Just gotta bring 'er back now.'

"Follow me, eh!" Grit called as he set his feet on either side of the railing on the ladder and slid back down to the alleyway. He had go back the direction he came while not looking suspicious, or at least, try to make it look like he was on her side. Maybe he could throw off the police department. That'd at least make his own odds of surviving more likely. He reached inside the fanny pack that he wore on the back of his get-up and grabbed what a smoke bomb. Pulling the pin, he launched it in a direction away from the direction they were supposed to be heading, with a white smoke trailing behind it.

"Smoke bombs," Washe always said, "good for covering escape, even better for diversions."

If he could mislead their pursuers as to where their location is, the further he can lead Sulfur without being interuppted.

"Come on!" He called again as he darted off through one alley with his gun in hand.

Sulfur didn't know where this nut was taking her, or what he was even doing, but at least he seemed like he knew what he was doing, and where he's going. Compared to most of the other drugged out fools that make up this gang that thought the underpass is a good hiding spot. Regardless, Sulfur kicked it into high gear, and started running faster than before. She pretty much ignored the smoke bombs he just tossed.

Grit looked behind him, surprised that Sulfur was able to catch up as easily as she did. One of the more athletic ones, eh? Regardless, he couldn't just downright sprint through the city. That's what Washe said at least - how all the druggies wouldn't have the kind of stamina he had.

"I'm takin' ya to them storage things down th' way! Should be able to lose their trail there, eh?"

It only took a quick minute for them to reach Grit's destination. There, Sulfur saw another man dressed like a Fiend. Only that this one looked much bigger than Grit, and was only an inch or two or three shorter. Beside him was a closed garage door and a broken lock on the ground beside him.

"I got 'er man, let's go!" Grit told him.

Washe rolled his eyes. Whatever persona that Grit decided to adopt was really annoying as fuck... whatever worked. With Grit's helped, both disguised Dreadnaughts bent over and stuck their fingers between it and the walkway. The sounds of the VPD were drawing closer. Working together, they got the garage door to life, and inside was a dusty old storage unit. The door on the other side was closed - though for Sulfur, likely a good thing. To remain concealed.

Sulfur came to a screeching halt right inside the garage. She heard the police and every NEST in the Estella isle drawing closer and closer. Jesus, she had to get the hell out of here... only problem was that her "hiding spot" was an old storage unit. Sulfur glanced at the two Fiends for a moment, and turned her attention back to the storage unit. There was no way in hell that she was going to run in there headfirst. She reached into a pouch that was hanging off her belt, and pulled out various pieces of metal (Nuts, bolts, needles, bullet casings, etc). She grasped it tightly in her hands, and created some of her sludge - which instantly melted the metals, and created a yellow gas.

On command, Sulfur made the gas go into the storage unit - regardless of if there was any Fiends inside or not, these idiots should have told her first. She dropped what was left of the metal, and pulled out another handful of metal, and did the same thing. Creating more gas, however, this was enough to fill the unit with the gas, and surely draw anyone smart out, and kill anyone stupid enough to stay in.

Washe approached the unit calmly a smoothly, still behind their unwitting captive. With a quick flick of a switch, the lights in the unit flickered on and all three ceiling fans began running.

Which is when the fun began.

A shiny, dark powder began to fill the room. A massive, heavy cloud creating a haze even amidst the yellow smoke. Both of the Dreadnaughts made their distance and aimed their respective firearms towards the floor of the unit where Sulfur stood.

"Allow me to explain the situation to you, Sulfur of the Fiends!" Washe yelled out.

".... THE FUCK?!" Sulfur turned around, hand on her own weapon, but she took her hand off the second she realized they had already drawn their own weapons. Fuck, this was a trap. She was stupid to fall for this too-good-to-be-true escape plan. Now, she's staring at two... whoever the fuck they work for.

Naturally, she put her hands up in the air, very begrudgingly. "Who the fuck are you two?!" She screamed at them.

Washe ignored her question and chose instead to proceed with his explanation. "You filled the room with a sulfur-based gas. Each blade of those three ceiling fans were piled up with iron that we powdered down into dust. If you remember high school even a little bit, then you would know that sulfur and iron create a volatile chemical reaction when ignited. Except this time, it's airborne dust, where we have enough oxygen between particles and the particles are close enough together that it can create a chain reaction."

Washe paused.

"An explosion. The whole floor has also been covered in tin metal sheets. This reaction, when in contact with tin, the gas increases in toxicity and becomes corrosive. Make one wrong fucking move, we'll shoot the floor and sparks will fly."

Grit looked at his superior somewhat appalled by the plan he had cooked up this time. "Damn, Caesar, you have no chill."

The weight of the situation, and what's clearly going to happen next, nearly made Sulfur break down into a fit of rage. She was twitching, but clearly trying to hold it in. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction of winning... but she'd rather live. Even though she's probably going to get shanked to death in a maximum security prison.

"You fucks... fuck all of you if you think you can pull this shit on me and get away with it! Khan will bust me out!" Sulfur shouted at them.

"Yeah, I know." Washe growled at Sulfur. "That's stage two of this plan, here."

Behind all of them, the garage door was pulled upwards by a strong, revealing Agent Michelle Gallus, and behind her was a group comprised of various National Guardsmen, Police, and NEST Agents. Michelle raised an eyebrow, and took a few steps in. She pointed her shotgun at them, and shouted, "Everyone, on the ground now!" The rest of the officers behind her aimed their guns too.

Washe and Grit looked each other, slightly annoyed that they had been caught in this situation in the end. Both of them, in sync, slowly knelled on the ground with their guns set in front of them - Grit's .50 BFR, and Washe's .45 colt and sawed-off triple threat. However, as they did so, Washe said as calmly as he could (which means some semblance of anger and annoyance lacing his voice), "just whatever you do, keep some of your guns trained on this bitch's head."

The two set their hands behind their head. However, this position was also a good opportunity to pinch the back of their masks slip them off their heads. Fortunately, the contained space of the storage unit was enough to keep all the gas contained like a miniature ecosystem.

They might not have worked with agent Michelle Gallus just yet, but it wasn't far-fetched that they might have developed any kind of profile that would help identify them. They have security cameras in their HQ lobby, after all.

"You're... Oh God," Michelle thought out loud, as she realized who these two "Fiends" were: Dreadnaughts. Sam and (after a rather annoying conversation) Lihua told her about them, and she reviewed a few things. Good God, looks like she was beaten to the punch by mercenaries. That annoyed her quite a bit, since she was looking forward to breaking Sulfur's spine for what she's done to those Agents. All that'd happen now is that Sulfur would look forward to a lifetime of rectal thrashing behind bars - if she doesn't get shanked by a rival gang member by them.

Michelle put her gun in her other hand, and ordered the rest of the Agents, "Those two are on... our side." She hesitantly spoke about the Dreadnaughts. Because they really work for whoever gives them money. No honor, or convictions.

However, every Agent trained their guns on Sulfur. "You, don't move a muscle," Michelle said, her shotgun aimed dead into Sulfur face as she took more and more steps closer. With her free hand, she reached behind her and pulled out a power inhibitor collar, and clamped it around Sulfur's neck. Removing that problem. And Michelle quickly reached into her belt, and disarmed her of her pistol. Removing the other.

A pair of NEST Agent had walked around her with handcuffs, and put them onto Sulfur, before they hauled her out of the garage, and into a NEST truck.

"Well... gotta say," Michelle started off, looking at the Dreadnaughts. "Thanks for the assist."

The two stood back up and rearmed themselves with their weapons. Washe brushed the dust off his pants. "I recommend waiting for all the dust to settle down, and later, getting a team to scrub this place clean if you don't want the place going up in flames."

"Yeah, yeah, we got that covered." Michelle said, silently feeling sorry for whatever idiot has to clean up this mess. "Alright, I gotta report this." Michelle nodded her head, and turned towards the garage door with her hand on her communicator.

"I got a man that can handle the interrogation for you." Washe claimed. "Guaranteed results."

"Hmph..." Michelle grunted, "I'll keep that in mind."

Washe turned around dug into his pocket for a cell-phone, and began dialing a number.

---

“Oh, thank you. You've a lovely dress, yourself.” Baron responded endearingly. He made a pleasant glance up at a casually-dressed server who came by to take his order.

"Also, I would like my files back, thank you." Lihua said.

However, as Lihua made her request, Baron was in the process of speaking with his server, prompting a brief moment of confusion. “An espresso, please – uh, hm? I'm sorry, what was that? Your files? Oh, oh! Pardon me, I thought those were copies that you let Caesar have. Why would you ever want those back?”

'Looks like she caught on already - I've got a sharp one on my hands.'

"Oh? From what I remember, I only gave him the information on the Fiends, and the Undercover Agents - not the shipping records." Lihua couldn't help but grin. He was either playing dumb, or he didn't have any idea what she was talking about. But, she was certain that he was the one who made off with the shipping records. She kept her eye on them, and neither of them got close to her desk. "And, in my line of work, you can't make rookie mistakes like giving someone the wrong information by mistake."

"Shipping records..." Baron repeated curiously. "Why would we ever... oooh! Okay, that must be it, it makes sense now. See, when we turned in last night, one of the papers had a bunch of time logs and company names and we couldn't make heads or tails of it without any context. Shipping records... that makes sense now. I must have taken it by accident when I set my papers down. I must have mixed them up! My mistake, I'll own up to it. I'll see if I can drop it on your desk at headquarters soon today."

Lihua didn't exactly buy Baron's story... but she wasn't going to raise a big fuss about it either - because there was no real need to. There was nothing in those files that were incriminating, or top secret. Just something that pertains to her investigation. Long as she got them back, she would be happy.

"I need those files, they are relevant to a separate investigation the Director assigned me to." Lihua said,

"Yes, of course." Baron conceded, bowing his head and pressing his palms together in apology. "I am so sorry for inconveniencing you like that. I'll get them back to you as soon as I can, cross my heart."

"Thank you." Lihua genuinely said, taking a sip of her coffee. Like she said before, long as the files got back to her. Though, she was personally wondering what he'd do with it if he intentionally took them. They were just shipping records useless to his mission.

Regardless, she wasn't going to mull on the subject any longer. It was a date, after all. She took one more sip of her coffee, and said, "I have to say... it is surprising that the Dreadnaughts got involved in all of this," Lihua started off, "Taking on a gang of drug addicts seems... below your pay grade."

Baron laughed quietly and softly to himself. "Yeah, I suppose so..." He admitted. 'So now she's asking about our mission. I supposed it wouldn't hurt to tell her as little as possible. Enough to lead her in a faux direction.'

"You see... the mission, as its core, is to help return Verthaven to stability. For the government to regain control of it."

The server returned with Baron espresso, who gladly took it from him and took a sip from it - guaging its flavor and how hot it was. He set it back down on the table.

"...And I think we both know that a couple of drug gangs aren't really the problem causing this instability."

"Of course not," Lihua answered. She understood his first statement (while wondering if this mission was really above him). "It's more than obvious that someone is pulling the strings... because, since when did a band of worthless meth heads get enough weapons to arm a small nation? Or get drugs that give them pseudo-powers?"

"That's right." Baron agreed. "My mission pertains to activities within the city, though I have no problem deviating from that boundary if it is to my benefit. Calling for my back-up now might take some time for them to mobilize. I don't know if this is within NEST's or this city's jurisdiction, but here's my suggestion: once you get your logs for your investigation back, and you think you found a shipping route that supplies the enemy, terminate the source before you hunt down the receiver to starve them."

Once again, Lihua couldn't help but grin. Of course. She thought to herself. "I will do everything necessary to put an end to this." She said. "I have a lead, in fact," She said again, quietly. Hopefully drowned out by the chatter of the cafe. "During the Fiend's attack, there was a shipment arriving in the Eureka Harbour... that strangely has no information on it."

She took another sip. "So, that means that someone got a little... sloppy." Lihua wasn't going to say when she was going to investigate it. That would be rather idiotic, even if she was hoping that their conversation would be inaudible.

Baron took a sip of his own drink, his smiling face dimming to a colder, serious demeanor. "If it wasn't a gang that was on your hands, I'd consider looking at the other shipments from other routes. A blank spot in a sea of information. If your target is someone clever, then they just lured you right into their trap. It's an obvious lead. Have you considered the idea that some of those apparently filled records might be forged?"

Hmmm... Yeah, she hadn't considered that. It could be a trap, and she couldn't afford risking her life for this. "I... hadn't thought of that." She said, speaking in a lower, more hesitant tone. Like it hurt her pride to admit. "But... I have little other leads... hmmmm...." She thought out loud. She was still considering going - just not alone, perhaps.

"Think of this like chess." Baron explained. "You make your moves based upon whether or not your prediction is true. If you walk straight into their trap, they're not gonna be just one step ahead of you. They'll be two steps. Three steps. Five. Ten. If you follow their prediction, they set the playing field for the rest of the game."

"... You are very correct there, Baron." Lihua admitted. Walking into their trap would screw NEST over, and possibly get her killed (or permanently taken out of action). "This means that I'll have to change the game." She said, starting off. "Come up with a different method of going about this investigation of mine."

Baron couldn't help but laugh to himself. "Look at us," he started, "on a date and all we can talk about is work."

"... You can say that I'm really dedicated to this job." Lihua said, with a smirk on her face.

Baron just grinned. "Well since it doesn't look like you'll be asking..." He said as a joke. "I'm a neuropsychologist. I come from Quebec, have a history in the psychology, psychiatry, and investigative fields, and I like really old wines. I have a shelf full of them... and I have a Great Dane I named Pavlov, though I didn't bring him with me. Hobbies include traveling, collecting music records, and linguistics."

Looks like they're done talking about business... which Lihua was perfectly fine with. It started with her asking about the files, and went on from there. Baron told her about himself, and she figured that she should do the same at least.

"I enjoy wine every now and then, too." Lihua started off. "I figured that it's my turn... I'm a Chinese immigrant that served in the PLA for a long time, before I was booted because they found out about my ability. I came to America at the suggestion of my brother, and joined NEST as an intelligence officer." That was somewhat incorrect, but she hoped that Baron couldn't read minds. "And... I have two daughters, and I enjoy yoga, and the finer aspects of life." She finished.

"Amen to that." Baron said raising his espresso at the mention of the "finer aspects of life". Though a flag went up at the metion of her daughters. Not necessarily a problem for him, but in Lihua's line of work, that was a liability. A liability that Baron personally could not afford.

Before he was able to take a drink of the espresso, his phone began to ring. He reached into his pocket, and there it read "Caesar" (best to keep the identities of his comrades safe in every medium), and he raised one finger to Lihua in a request to pardon him. He answered his phone.

"Zombie speaking." He answered at the risk of an enemy getting a hold of the phone, or if someone tapped the line.

"Sulfur's been caught. Meet up with us at NEST HQ, we could use ya."

"Right, heard that. See you there."

He hung up the phone with a click and gave Lihua a friendly smile. "Well, that was one of my colleagues. Looks like they apprehended Sulfur."

Two Fiend lieutenants out of commission in barely the span of a day? Well, this is good news at least. Not surprising, however, as they are all drug addicts. They can't be that clever in a gang like the Fiends. Though, that line of thought is why they became a problem in the first place.

"Excellent," Lihua said, "I think I'll head over to the Headquarters, I want to see this for myself. And who knows? Maybe she knows something."

"Then it works out perfectly. I've been called in as well..." Baron informed. He seemed to hesitate at first. "Miss Vuhong... if it looks as though she doesn't intend on talking... please, let me ask you to leave for that time being."

Lihua nodded her head, "Affirmative." She got the idea of what he planned on doing.

Baron's smile returned to his face. He shot back the espresso, set it on the table, and stood up from his chair. His eyes glimmered as he offered Vuhong a hand. "We'll be off then."

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

Prepare your asses.

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

gotta getta piece o dat asss _assssss asss

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

And laying mind-control eggs.

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

I mean, you're not just restricted to mind related powers. Any power will do. But you can do a lot with anything if you attribute it to a loser or a class clown of some sort. It brings both entertainment, and the character itself has a huge potential for development. When that happens, you're not just writing a character anymore - you're writing a person.

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

Meh I will ditch Jacob them and think of something different.

Yeah sort of sounds like Batman...

@Blackmist16

I had an idea for a character that had a sort of mind control ability - though it wasn't really mind-control. He has the power of suggestion, but instead of saying it, it is more like imposing a desire or mental command upon your target. Like super persuasion. The methods of doing so are like (for lack of betters terms): a game of mental Red Rover, where the person with the power, does a single, abrupt, mental assault in order to punch through the barriers surrounding them (good for catching them off guard) - and a longer, but often more reliable method if the person isn't as clever as the user: something like a mental chess match where the idea is to dodge and weave through these barriers, and put their mind into a sort of "check mate" if that makes sense.

That way, the mind control isn't really mind control. It's persuasion with certain parameters.

And my idea was to use that power with a character who is a total loser. A 30 year old man who works as a bagger at Walmart. Then used it to become the Walmart's store manager. And that is about as high as his aspirations go. Plays WoW and LoL at home.

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

(woops, will edit this with a fresh post soon)

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

The Dreadnaughts

_{@Mr Allen J}

---

“Now, for the fourth God damn time, has the plan finally fucking made it into your thick skull yet?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Geez, you know what old man? You could really tone it down with all the insults!”

“We're about to apprehend a fucking big Fiend, don't you start acting like a pussy now.”

“Nah man, seriously. It's really starting to get to me. You know, all I want is some of your–”

“Some of my what?” Washe interjected. “Some of my wallet? My social security? Because you're already draining away my fucking will to live on this damn planet.”

Grit's face twisted up in frustration. “No! Your-- you know what? Nevermind.”

Baron walked up behind the bickering two with two gas masks in hand. He had already been watching the two exchange jargon like this for past ten minutes, all the while NEST was busy waging an all-out war against one of the Fiend lieutenants. Against one person. Clearly a frontal assault wasn't going to work. That's why they had to lure Sulfur into a trap – NEST didn't know about their operations. Any hint of them working with someone else that was flanking them would ruin the whole operation. Unfortunately, internal conflict might jeopardize the mission before even were to that happen.

Honestly, as not just a psychologist, but also has one of the Dreadnaught's counselors, he was hoping that Grit would get whatever he had to say to Washe off of his chest. Perhaps that would settle some of turmoil storming on between these two's relationship.

“You should get it off your chest.” Baron said calmly to Grit as he offered him one of the gas masks he was carrying. “It's no good to keep everything pent up inside if it's only going to eat at you.”

He offered the other gas mask to Washe.

“It's no good.” Grit muttered as he began pulling the mask over his head. “The old man only cares about the mission. Let's get this over with.”

Washe pulled the gas mask over his own head, rolling his eyes behind the tinted lens. “Just keep your head screwed on right so we don't fuck this up.”

“Well, I'll leave you two to it then.” Baron said, taking a few steps back. “If I'm not mistaken, I have myself a date with a certain NEST intelligence officer. Good luck.”

“You too, Zom.” Grit said waving his hand.

“Ring me once you've captured the lieutenant.”

“One step at a time, please.” Washe grumbled.

Once the three have finally parted ways, Grit and Washe began moving towards the sound of commotion. They finally stopped in between a t-intersection in an alleyway by some of the public storage units. Washe turned to face Grit and began speaking.

“Alright, one more recap: you're a Fiend mook. You're gonna run up to Sulfur, alert her to a safe escape route. These storage units have two doors: a back door and a front door, and the other side is completely cut off from the main road, so it makes it ideal for getting away. There is also a chance for civilians, so it makes complete sense to hide there. Lead her to this storage unit. Sulfur is known to be very cautious, that's why she hasn't been caught yet. We're going to take advantage of that. Once she gasses the unit as a precaution, I'll spring the trap.”

“Clear.” Grit said.

Washe was slightly taken back. Only one word? No enthusiasm? Huh. Well it was about time.

“Alright, get going then.” Washe ordered.

Grit turned about and made a sprint through the alley, banking left towards the commotion erupting from the city in full Fiend gear. A risky move, considering the place was swarming with NG, police, and NEST agents. Looking up, he saw a silhouette across the sky. On top of a convenience store? That must've been their target. He hurried up the scaffolding ladder across the back of the building. Peering his head over the edge, he saw the back of their target and... oh, yeah, so their target was a woman, wasn't she?

For a druggy, she's got one hell of a butt.

The yellow gas in the area was disconcerting, but as long as he kept his gas mask secure, he should be alright. He finally pulled himself up to the top, his .50 BFR drawn in the air as though he was just taking part in the battle.

“'ey boss!” He yelled in his best school dropout loser voice. “I found me a good escape over 'long this way! We can lose the fuzz!”

---

Meanwhile, Baron was heading someplace completely different. Much, much farther away. After all, there were stories about bullets that had missed their target flying far and high and, of course, they had to land somewhere. It'd simply be embarrassing if a man of his composure who had endured so much and had built up such a career amongst the Dreadnaughts were to get caught up in something like that. To had fallen at the hands of a stray bullet? No sir. But that wasn't just the only reason, however...

The man looked up at the logo above a building. “Sunny Delights Cafe'”. Supposedly at the nice end of town, and Baron looked down at a flashing neon sign saying “open”, “open”, “open” - over and over again in its metronome. Lihua Vuhong... a charming woman in her own right, perhaps more respectably deserving of the honesty that Baron was incapable of providing. As their intelligence officer, there was a lot to glean from this date. But at the same time...

That doesn't mean he can't enjoy himself here while he was at it.

He set his hand on the doorknob and let himself in, hearing the bells jingle as he entered the cafe's light-hearted atmosphere. A quick scan of the room let him catch the agent quickly, even amongst the clatter and crowd of this place. Popular, indeed. While talking about private matters might jeopardize NEST's security, there was also something to be said to let your words be drowned out amongst the chatter of everyday life. Vuhong just had to hope that nobody here would recognize her, or were enemies of NEST – provided she had any intention at all of sharing information.

Baron suspected it would be more difficult than that. She wasn't the intelligence officer for nothing, after all. As far as he knew, at least.

He paced his way through the crowd, with his braced leg somewhat dragging him behind – but despite that, seemed to weave his way through the crowd with abnormal ease and calm. He finally approached the table and gave Lihua a smile in greeting – he was dressed in his typical dress-suit, but unlike the salmon shirt that he wore beneath his jacket the other day, this one was a mint green, and the tie that went over it was tightly secure between it and his jacket.

“I must say,” Baron began, “the atmosphere in here sure is something. It almost makes it feel like it's Christmas... in the middle of summer.”

He had to admit; when agent Lihua Vuhong was all dressed up, she looked fairly stunning.

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

Reyna Baker

Basic Information

Name:

Reyna Baker

Nickname/Alias/Etc:

“Big Buff Cheeto Puff”, “Rain”, “Rey (or Ray)”, “Sweaty”

Gender:

Female

Age:

20

Height:

5'6”

Weight:

134 lbs.

Home District:

From outta town

Appearance

Hair Color:

Natural red head

Eye Color:

Gray-green.

Ethnicity:

Irish, French, Norwegian

Physical Appearance:

The worst mistake you could ever make about Miss Baker is that she would fit the modern expectation of the “ladylike” stereotype. While she is still perfectly capable of working her “feminine wiles” (aka 28Fs), though it is not a side of her practiced often, or even so much as occasionally. On top of that, she hardly even looks the part. Reyna is athletic, and it shows in her body. Her arms and legs are toned well, and she's even got a trace of abs outlined on her torso. She isn't super tall, standing at the modest height of 5'6”, and she weighs in at just over 130 lbs. While she might be heavier than some girls her age, clearly it is attributed to her fit condition. Her body has little fat, and what she does have adds minimal padding over her body. She has a sturdy frame, just a few curves where it counts, but by no means should anybody see her feminine features and exclude the possibility of her punching you out. She packs a lot of strength in her figure, and you can see her confidence and pride in her poised posture.

If a person made the mistake in misjudging her, it was likely due in large part to her face. Button nose, thin eyebrows, and very faint hard-to-tell-they're-there freckles on top of her pale skin (a result of genetics as opposed to being sickly or house-locked), she has the typical media-blown cutesy feminine face. Her soft facial features are sometimes tarnished by a scowl – which is not her standard go-to disposition like her enthusiastic and full of life demeanor, but is often the product of circumstances which urban environments typically put her in. When you do get to see her when she is excited, you witness the emboldening her green eyes and the stretching of her lips to form a toothy grin that shows well taken care of teeth. Her natural bright red hair (or ginger, if you're that kind of twat) is fashioned into a pixie curly faux hawk, and is well groomed. There is little oil that naturally accumulates in her hair, so it often remains lightweight. She combs her fingers through when she is tired or stressed.

She has scars over her knuckles from the various fights she has gotten herself in, on her fingertips from climbing on rock, bricks, and concrete, but overall, doesn't have too many. She tends to recover well.

Attire:

Most of her clothes look like they come from the boys' section. Her favorite set of apparel goes as such: she wears a slim-fit, red unisex tank top made from the same material used by thermal shirts, which goes down to her hips, where it meets her baggy camouflage pants (providing immense comfort and rustic charm), which is fastened by a black fabric belt to her hips. These pants seem rather faded from use, but is still strong and can withstand many more months of use. The ends of the pant legs are either lazily tucked in or lazily sleeved over (or often times just caught in, but always lazily) her black combat boots that crawl up over her ankles and up mid-shin. They are, of course, steel toed and she often times just kicks random structures (like brick buildings, big rocks, trees) just for the fun of it (and because she can). Naturally, not feeling the impact of such a kick is pretty neat. The shoe laces on her boots are always tied tight so that the boots are firm and comfy on her feet. Over her tank top is a black leather jacket. The bottom half of the torso appears to have been torn and goes down to just her waist, although the sleeves and rest of the jacket are fine. The apparent damage seems to be more for the style of it than some horrific scissor accident.

She has a couple of accessories, which compose mostly of piercings.. She has two piercings on her left outer brow (left brow, left side – further from the nose bridge), one tongue piercing, and half-ring nipple piercings, but nobody knows about them and nobody is ever going to have the opportunity to see them while she still draws breath. On her right shoulder blade is a simple tattoo of a compass, which she got without her mother's knowledge when she was 14 (she still does not know to this day). It's somewhat special for her. It has part to do with her love of adventure and part to do with, despite its simplicity, loving the design. She has a military-style backpack; good for hiking and carrying necessities and whatnot. She has stored quite a bit of dried fruit in it, and a number of other camping equipment in it, lugging stuff around with her that you would normally think is a bad idea (a gas lantern, hand axe, skinning knives, live .22 rounds and shotgun shells – the works). She has three hemp necklaces which are hopelessly tangled together, and on each one, is a thin silver-colored steel heart. On one, it says Merry, on another, it says Mia, and the third depicts a raised fist symbolizing empowerment.

Personality

Innate & Outward Personality:

She is as sharp and unwieldy as as you'd expect from a double-ended meat cleaver, and much like using one, will have as much of a detriment to herself as it can be to others. She doesn't really have a winning personality when it comes to handling other people; she doesn't really make friends easy. She's loud and boisterous to the extent it can simply repel others from wanting to be near her. She's snarky, sarcastic, abrasive, and at times, insensitive. On the contrary, she is nothing if not known for her virtues: naturally a determined, valiant woman, she has set her nose to the grindstone through all of her labors and has built herself a sturdy foundation on which she has built her character, and so her heart has been thusly hardened by various trials. Her standoffish disposition earns her enemies, and while carrying the appearance of being unapproachable, she also carries a curious energy: she naturally gives the impression of synchronous intimidation and reverence. She earns her intimidation through tongue and scowl, and her reverence through action and expression.

This is not to imply Reyna isn't a happy individual, but rather she finds her peace outside the contact of the common folk. This is also not to say she dislikes people as a whole. She is very confident in social situations, and her attitude stems mostly from her expectations of people and how their words or actions can easily rub her the wrong way or be taken as a slight, and at the same time, her boisterous disposition, bluntness, and view on others being too sensitive can similarly end conversations before they begin. Much of this stems from growing up in the city where being tough meant survival. When appealed to her interests however, she reacts in what many would consider almost an exaggeration of her excitement. For reference, she is an explorer at heart. She loves discovery and – surprisingly enough for a city girl – enjoys nature, especially at sites of caves or cliff faces or rivers and streams, or a remote location untouched by mankind.

There also exists a fascination for bugs, fossils, and bones. When these interests are appealed to, she shows a complete change in character: her eyes light up, a toothy grin from ear to ear, and her stern voice is replaced with what turns out to really be a talkative, excitable girl who has still looks to be a child. This child-like giddiness often offsets anyone who is not wholly familiar with her and has only met with her abrasive side. This trait is not often displayed in front of strangers.

Further, as one would expect from not just a young woman, but from also her personality, Reyna is very proud and competitive. She is proud of herself and of her accomplishments, and minimizing that, disregarding that, or invalidating that can wound that pride, and it also happens to be a one-way ticket to making her your enemy. Her pursuit in remedying that damage is unrelenting and unquenchable until she has reached an achievement or milestone that can satisfy that gap which often involves the conquering of her roadblock. This is not to say this is the end of her aggression, as a lasting disdain would lead her to brag over that victory in order to validate herself and her accomplishment. This often puts her at odds with her extended cousin, Mia.

As it may suggest, it takes a stubborn, tenacious, and headstrong personality in order to meet her goals. Repeated failure to meet them warrants breakdown and the destruction of her spirit... but instead of relenting or hesitating, she meets her fear of failure with determination as her method of avoidance, as opposed to passive idling. Unsurprisingly, the only celebrity of any kind whom she idealizes is the MMA fighter, Ronda Rousey, because of her fierce determination, take-no-prisoners attitude, and her ability to arm bar into submission every bitch who ever walked into the same octagon as her.

Taking all this into consideration, know still that Reyna does possess a soft spot for her family and for the vulnerable. While by no means a vigilante, seeing crime and strife as of no concern to her for the most part, she is very close to her relatives and and threatening them can bring out the nastiest possible side of her. In conjunction with this, while it may be hard to garner her sympathy, it is easier for her to freely lend it out to the weak and vulnerable on their last legs and without the means to defend themselves. This includes children, the sick elderly, the malnourished homeless – she might not actively search them out to help them, but if she does come across any of these folks during her travels, she finds it difficult to say no.

Hobbies/Interests:

Adventures, exploring, nature, and competition are all things that Reyna finds interest in. Like mentioned previously, letting her loose in the wilds is the best way to see her in her best condition. A wide-eyed, child-like curiosity overtakes the reigns and shows you an entirely different girl than when you met her. It is also a reckless curiosity. Take that curiosity and combine it with her natural determination and athleticism, and you get a girl who would try to scale up a sheer twenty-five foot cliff face without rock-climbing gear or cables, or even a helmet (although that alone probably won't save her life if she were to fall). Most of the time though, she miraculously conquers such daunting tasks and relishes in the thrill of it.

Competition is another of Reyna's weaknesses. Everything is a race or contest, and it all gets her blood flowing when winning is on the line. In many circumstances, she can take a defeat in stride as long as she recognizes it was something she wasn't particular strong or talented in. However, in the subjects and areas she does excel in, she competes rigorously, and it is in those events that if she were to lose, she does not take the defeat well. A lot of it comes from pride in her talents.

Skills/Talents:

Okay, so there are a couple of things that she is obviously good at, so let's get out of the way so I don't act like it is a big surprise later: Reyna brings on the pugilism. Much like her extended cousin, she does have martial training, but it is more western. She has a thing for boxing and kickboxing. As long as it has an octagon and she can wear big gloves and is allowed to punch people, she gets excited. This should not come as such a huge surprise; for an active and competitive girl like her, this comes natural. Fighting is essentially the epitome of competition, and whoever comes out on top is the true victor, standing over the defeated – the experience of such a defeat being inescapable – and proclaiming dominance. Western martial arts is obviously a much more aggressive style than eastern martial arts, which suits Reyna perfectly in contrast to her extended cousin. Over time, her style has come to more closely resemble MMA.

Now, more alarmingly, her other skills are a lot gentler. Aside from her knowledge of reading survival books as a kid, she is also an artist. At least, to some degree. She has talent in it, and she is confident, but not so confident that she'd consider herself as a professional or would be ready to make a career out of it. But her work is good, there's no doubt about it. She wants to be good enough so that she can give tattoos to people, and to be a reliable artist to do so. Though there is some hesitation in using her own body as a practice canvas, obviously. Otherwise, she can draw, paint, sketch, both traditionally and on a digital format. And, while not terribly gifted in the music and whimsy department, she does have a terrific singing voice from the years of practice of singing her sister to sleep – if only she could seriously partake in that activity in public and not shut down if put on the spotlight. This is the only area where she isn't confident and suffers from stage-fright, and she'll fake or pretend terrible singing otherwise as though it were a joke. If it is only her, her sister, and her cousin, then she feels comfortable to sing her heart out.

In order to purchase her motorcycle, she got a job back in Maine at a fireworks store. Long story short, she knows how to make a couple of different kinds of fireworks, knows some trivia about fireworks, she loves it, and she can easily tell what kind of explosion one is when she hears it. Reyna also had the bad habit of forgetting her keys, so she was forced into the position of learning how to lockpick her own front door way late at night.

Prized Possession:

She took a trip to Florida to one year and got three necklaces braided with cheap stainless steel hearts. She does recognize it is a pretty cheesy thing, but she does treasure its meaning. There was an impulse buy she did get, though: instead of a car, she got a stripped black Kraus motorcycle, which she thought would be way more fun, but instead became more of a bother when getting groceries.

Quote(s):

“Come oonnn! You're such a slowpoke.”

History/Bio:

Reyna was born to an unmarried family in Maine, a product of an accident to be honest, but they agree to birth her in the end. It was a typical babyhood at first, but with the dynamics in the family being rather conflicted, the relationship wasn't able to work and her mother left the house when she was young. Despite the disagreement between her parents, they never tried to separate her from either of them or alienate her. They mutually encouraged respect for both parents. Though being a single parent was a little rough on her father, they managed to truck right through the hardships, even though the father was never really certain on how to raise a girl the traditional way. So he rose her as he would any child, or what would be typically considered befitting of a boy. Being raised this way, she was never told to shy away from what was considered to be boys' toys or clothes or whatnot, and through all that, still maintained her “femininity” as typical people would call it.

During that time, her mother found another man, married, and had another child two years after her own birth. Her new half-sister was named Merry, and her surname, Bennet, took after her father's. Naturally, having already visited her mother every weekend, Reyna got to meet Merry at a very young age and got to spend much of her time growing up with her. Her young life went this pattern for a very long time. Every night she got to spend with her sister, she'd spend it singing lullabies until Merry fell asleep. It was a typical pattern. The next biggest change in her life was the year Reyna turned 13 years old and, when her powers developed. It was noticed when she was able to dog physical activities for a long period of time without wearing out, and that she'd easily dehydrate and performed greater feats of strength. She decided to take up boxing as a way to help cope with the energy she had and to better control herself and her power – though another large part of it was that Reyna thought it would be fun, which explains why she didn't choose any eastern martial arts which were less aggressive and would have made more sense.

That same year, Reyna's father introduced her to her extended cousin – their closest related family member being their great grand-mother – Mia, after convincing them to come into town. Her father knowing that Mia came from a town that was highly populated with meta-humans thought it would be good for his daughter to make friends with her. A crucial difference was that Mia came from Mendel, Lousiana, which meant a much dirtier and more crime-ridden city, which had an influence on Mia and her disposition, despite her kind demeanor. The relationship was a little tense at first due to their conflicting personalities, but they managed to befriend each other in due time. Mia made it a point to visit Maine often, for about a week or two every two or so months, even as cold as it was compared to the southern heat. She fortunately had the money to do so since both of her parents owned their respective tourist traps. They eventually grew to be inseparable. When all three could get together, they sung and played music together, fought together (or with each other), ate, slept, the works. When Mia missed one of her visits, and came by the next round blind in one eye, Reyna shared her rage – though it didn't seem to do much to hold Mia back when Reyna tries to instigate sparring matches with her.

With the coming summer season, all three decided to go on vacation via a cross-country road trip in Mia's pickup truck. Started taking I-95 down to New Jersey then riding on I-80 all the way to California. It was a crazy long trip with several mishaps, a couple break downs, dozens of near accidents, and many stories to tell. Now they've finally made it to Verthaven. Finally. Take some time to rest their, build up funds, and return home later this year.

Relationships

Family:

Father: Connor Baker / Alive
Mother: Vivian Bennet / Alive
Half-sister: Merry Bennet / Alive
Extended cousin: Mia Jones / Alive

Dynamics:

Mia Jones | Extended cousin | BFF | "She's a stick in the mud sometimes, but I wouldn't trade her for any other crazy bitch in the whole world!" |

Merry Bennet | Half-sister | Little cinnamon roll | “Eeeee! I love my baby sister to death! She's like an itsy bitsy cute wittle puppy I just wanna squeeze all the time! Ahh! ...Ahem. Umm, yeah. We're cool. Don't even think about fucking with her.” |

Abilities

[Power Class:Super System

Power:

Reyna possesses minor enhancements to her physical performance, such as strength, endurance, speed and so forth – as expected from someone with a power under the super system power class. They are only minor, however, and these factors do not appear to affect her appearance as they exist in a supernatural medium as her metahuman energy. These are just simple modifications as a result of her energy and does not constitute as her power. They serve to supplement Reyna's actual strength.

Augmented Adrenal System (Passive): Reyna's adrenal glands are swollen to greater sizes than regular people. This means the glands are able to produce more adrenaline in a shorter amount of time. But the power is not so simplistic as this – the adrenaline itself is more potent than usual – by about five times. Regularly, adrenaline can increase an adult's strength by about 30%. This means that at Reyna's peak, she is 150% stronger than usual. Which means if she can bench 190 pounds under regular circumstances, she can bench 475 pounds at her peak. This doesn't necessarily put her on the same playing field as dedicated strength-based powers, but adrenaline serves to do more than simply make her stronger.

Adrenaline also allows Reyna to run faster, have sharper reaction times, ignore pain, and the ability to make split-second decisions in intense, high-pressure situations. This means she can race with a greyhound, shrug off an assailant stabbing her arm with a pocket knife, and keep her ground toe-to-toe with three different guys at a time provided that her glands keep pumping her with those delicious hormones. Adrenaline also helps to stave off other ailments that may effect your body, such as hunger or exhaustion. Summed up: her adrenal glands are turbo-charged and all bodily inhibitors are turned off.

Body Furnace (Passive): Adrenaline affects her body in many different ways, but there is one part of her system that seems particularly affected by it. When in an adrenaline rush, her body temperature spikes. The temperature doesn't seem to stop, though, and will keep on rising and rising until it begins to plateau at a certain point – 525 F, where her skin is as hot as a cast iron skillet kept on a gas stove set on high. At this point, she can deliver burns on touch, whether or not it was intentional. As one can discern, reaching this temperature requires Reyna to possess a good deal of heat resistance for her to even function properly. To her, it feels as though she's just working out on a hot summer's day.

This high body heat does mean that her body is going to try to cool itself down however it can. When her adrenaline rushes persist, she begins sweating like crazy. Drips of sweats beads all over her skin. And as hot as her skin gets, it is going to evaporate pretty quickly. So when she begins to peak, she is also surrounded by steam as a result of her own sweat being instantly vaporized. This sweats also soaks her clothes, which honestly is the only thing keeping them from going up in flames. Speaking of flames... it is best that you don't try to fight her in the forest or any dry area with foliage or combustible material. Her heat radiates off her body, and if around dry grass or dead leaves, she can actually begin to burn the ground around her.

Her high body heat also does wonders for killing off bacterial infections and viruses and whatnot. Her whole body is resistant to heat, but any alien that decides to trespass is in for a big surprise. What this does mean, however, is that her immune system is a little weaker than average given its lack of exercise. And any virus that can infiltrate her cells can cause damage.

Limits:

Adrenaline can only do so much for the body. She won't be dead lifting any cars, she won't bend a steel construction beam – her power is not devoted to super strength. She cannot summon her extra strength on-demand and is limited to situations that excites her, warrants a flight or fight response, or anything else that allows for adrenaline responses or increased heart-rate. Her body heat also caps off at a certain point, like stated, and it takes a last stand-esque amount of pressure and exertion for her to push past that limit. As well, her heat resistance is not an immunity. She can stand the heat of hot metal, but she is not going to survive being through into a volcano or an incinerator. She might last a couple seconds inside an inferno, but nothing short of an immunity can keep a human from being burned at the stake forever.

Weaknesses/Drawbacks:

Take a gander back up the sheet for a moment, right around the power section. Look for the part where it says she has super durability. Did you see it? Right, you didn't. And that's the big thing about adrenaline. You can go absolutely ape-shit crazy, tip over a car and not feel a thing, but you are going to feel it later. Adrenaline can numb you to pain, but does absolutely nothing to keep your body from getting damaged. The ever-present endurance from her meta-human energy does little more than mitigate what damage she can cause herself, but if she does something as foolish as punch a brick wall, the bones in her hand will shatter. The stab wound is still bleeding all over her good clothes. She still ripped a ligament pushing herself too hard.

And as for her body heat, there is only so much water she can sweat. Pushing herself too hard for too long will lead to dehydration which causes dizziness and shortness of breath. She will be drinking a lot of water fairly regularly.

Intimacy can also be fairly awkward.

Other:

Foods that are very high in acids gives her some uncomfortable heartburn. Notoriously bad liar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGGQRJkNutA

Mia Jones

Basic Information

Name:

Mia Jones

Nickname/Alias/Etc: "Machete", "God Damn Bitch" -Reyna, "Not Mom"

Gender:

Female

Age:

22

Height:

5'10”

Weight:

145 lbs.

Home District:

From outta town

Appearance

Hair Color:

Black

Eye Color:

Brown

Ethnicity:

Sudanese, Egyptian, Arabian, and some French

Physical Appearance:

Mia, as a 5'10” woman weighing 145 lbs, reasonably appears well built and physically toned. While not having a body builder form, her muscles and bones are thick enough to accentuate and tone her modest curvature. She isn't as lean or lithe in the way her extended cousin in, but she definitely has more meat on her bones and with just enough fat in his body that it keeps her condition from looking as toned – but all the strength is still there. As implied above, she is fairly tall for a woman – not terribly tall, though nor is she short enough to give the vibe that Mia is weak or vulnerable. Her skin is mostly clear of blemishes, save for the obvious scar on her face over her right eye - and speaking of her face, it is particularly pronounced and gives the impression of an independent woman. Her jawline is strong and symmetrical and meets up at a pointed, yet squared off chin. This feature is accentuated by thin cheeks and sharp cheek bones, and lips several shades lighter - a trait hidden by dark makeup that is applied to her lips, a gentle black that doesn't shine or gloss under light, nor sticks out like a sore thumb on her brown face. Her nose is also sharp. It's length isn't pronounced, and appears proportionate to her face and her bridge long and straight, though thin in width. Given these sharp features and fierce, striking appearance, her eyes are an alarming contrast. Her left eye is a deep brown that lets the white of her eyes stick out on her face. Her right eye is covered by an ugly scar that goes down to the top of her cheek. The same ugly scar rips through the center of her eye, making her blind in that eye as well. Her face alone is an unnerving combination of royalty and danger, despite her disability.

Her black hair is usually well-managed and clean (meaning very little oil, if any), kept in just a simple pixie cut, generally done with very little product. Given how it's easy to do, where the hair doesn't bother her face and isn't impractically long, Mia found it to be well suited for her. She has a soldierly posture: her head held high, firm soldiers, straight back, and a heavy footstep. It suggests she knows discipline, a factor that likely sculpted her in her early childhood. Her abdomen is strong, surmounted by 30Ds, and her legs are also strong with only a few scars from minor injuries such as scraping a shin or knee by accident every now and again. She has to her chagrin, as the kids back at school made fun of, man feet. They're pretty big. She has a couple of piercings on her body, where one is a half-ring septum piercing and an industrial bar on her left ear. They are both made of brass.

Attire:

Mia has a pretty weak sense of fashion. At the bare minimum of clothes, she always wears a sports bra and men's boxer briefs, thinking they're more comfortable than other under garments. Over that, a plain white v-neck undershirt is worn over her torso, and she dons a pair of Lee's boot-cut jeans. Over her white shirt, she tends to wear a fleece flannel shirt due to the comfort and warmth it provides ( her favorite one having a yellow and black color scheme). Should the weather get any worse than that, she has an old brown denim jacket she got from her fiance when they were younger. She tends to wear this pair of light brown/mustard-colored unstylish work boots because they're comfy and firm and she has no clue how ugly they actually are.

Personality

Innate & Outward Personality:

Strangers often characterize her as enigmatic and scornful. She is quiet and somewhat somber; she reveals nothing and manages most people with apathy. This apathy, however, is mysteriously sourced and gives the impression it stands less as a disdain for mankind and instead as an aloof get-the-job-done attitude. Other times, she simply ignores them or gives them the silent treatment. On any other occasion, she simply shares short, brief words and returns to her thoughts. She lacks the arrogance or overconfidence some morons who share these particular traits with her may come to don, however, and rather has the tendency to peg others as fools – to lower others instead of elevating herself. She bides and listens, and she isn't one to put her trust into another very lightly. Moreover, Mia is an immovable force. She chooses to follow the flow as directed by her life, but is free to make her own decision and change that path should she decide it isn't the path she wishes to take.

She has a good deal of morals, and though her attitude and outlooks aren't immediately apparent, they still stick with her through her ups and downs. While not really interested in politics, she'd still be more prone to vote liberally given how they often coincide with her values. While not necessarily interested in most peoples' welfare, she'd lend a hand to who needs it should they cross her path – a nd while hurt feelings don't bother her, she does not go out of her way to offend or cross anyone, but neither does she bother to sugarcoat her words. What she has is a loose set of morals which are flexible in how they are applied to her environment. She thinks little of any of the factions or gangs in whatever city she may reside in. Back in Mendel, there are the the Skulls, who are too loud and too stupid. Then there is the Vanguard, who pretend they're more righteous but are in fact just one side of the same coin.

There aren't many people who Mia places her admiration in. She believes there isn't any bred obligation any individual has to their family – the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, and all that – or to any celebrity, and any shred of her devotion must be earned through the trials they share. That said, Mia's distant extended family are some of the closest people in her life. She butts heads with Reyna, her extended cousin, often enough, but acknowledges in the end that they are very similar to one another and share very similar values. Reyna's half-sister, Merry, who Mia has literally no blood connection to, is still treated as a little sister to Mia, who tries very hard to tap into whatever maternal instincts are hiding inside her in an effort to help take care of the little tyke.

Mia has been through her fair share of suffering over the years. She has proven to have quite a bit of willpower, and her experiences have granted her a cynical sort of wisdom, but still has been left somewhat bitter and resentful because of this. Mostly it is directed at the law enforcement after a particular incident, and at the NEST agency. Though like a cat, if you get her attention while she is in this mood, you may find it redirected at you.

Hobbies/Interests:

There doesn't seem to be much to say – a look at Mia might prompt you to think that while she has an exciting life, she has a boring and less-than-stellar personality. She doesn't let on much to what she's enjoys. However, her family knows better. When she's not working the day away, she's reading a book. Sure, sometimes it might be fantasy, but it is usually something informative or a piece of writing that shares or explains ideologies and viewpoints or complex world views. She's got a love for learning, and a deck of trivia cards would be a suitable birthday present for her. Additionally, she likes learning about cultures, and enjoys travel, and would learn dozens of languages if she ever had the opportunity to do so.

Skills/Talents:

First and foremost, Mia grew up with a family of mechanics and engineers. Growing up around it, she too has become interested in the art. Yes, art, she does her work with pride and is good at what she does despite lacking a formal education. Years of practice in the workshop on dingy old cars, luxury vehicles, and even helping the family perform modifications for competition-grade sports vehicles. Mia isn't just a mechanic though – she is an excellent driver and knows how to keep control of a vehicle and figure out their quirks. She is admittedly less adept at riding motorcycles, however.

She's got her share of whimsy, and so is well practiced in playing the acoustic guitar. She carries over her practice to the bass, and can play the two interchangeably. She has years of practice, so while she wouldn't be selling out on tickets, she can still hold a candle to most people who haven't made music their life. Our woman has even managed to teach herself some broken South American Spanish. She's good enough to hold a conversation, but still doesn't quite understand all the nuances of the language.

Mia has also taken self-defense courses in krav maga to help defend herself on the streets of Mendel. Krav maga is an Israeli self-defense course – self-defense cannot be stressed enough, as it the martial art isn't used in sports. There aren't any rules in its practice and is ruthlessly efficient and easy to learn, giving Mia time to make her body a dangerous weapon and still have time to pick up on some aikido, though she is less knowledgeable in all of its forms. It is mostly there to fill in the gaps left by her krav maga training. She is good enough that she is able to beat almost every time her super-system meta-human extended cousin who has taken up boxing, which says a lot for her proficiency.

Prized Possession:

She's got a drab-looking black 1991 Ford F-150. So yes, it is a pretty old truck. The nice thing about, though, is the fact that its old. It is all muscle, and therefore inexpensive to fix and easily fixable and easily modified. Naturally, there are some modifications on it that makes it run much better and much stronger than you'd expect it to. Unfortunately, the transmission acts a little funky sometimes, which puts the truck at risk of stalling out on the open road. Mia is good enough to get it running again for a little while, but the transmission is tricky business and you're usually better off replacing it. She also has a gold band on one of her ring fingers.

Quote(s):

“If you two don't tone it down, I'm driving all of us off the cliff.”

History/Bio:

The layout is simple: Mia had a pretty good life, early on. She was happy as a little girl. She got attention from her parents, and was pushed into more boyish activities by her father, who had wanted a boy. As naive as Mia was, this didn't really bother her very much and she led a pretty normal life. She had a fair amount of friends from elementary and throughout high, was adept at taking apart her dad's truck and putting it back together, was persuaded by her mother to take up guitar (and much to Mia's surprise, she enjoyed it). When she got into high school, Mia was fairly pretty enough to grab the attention of a couple boys and tough enough to keep them in line. It was that same year that she learned that her father came into contact with a very distant relative of Mia's mother, Connor. Connor had a daughter, which meant that Connor's daughter was a far extended cousin of Mia – related only by means of their great-grandmother. So over the Summer after school let out, she was flown all the way up to Maine to visit them and met Reyna. With Reyna was her half-sister, with whom Mia had no relations with at all. Reyna was far more rambunctious than Mia had anticipated, which lead to them bumping heads pretty often. But sooner or later, they began to grow very close. Since then, she made it a point to visit them when she could whenever she had vacation.

At sixteen, she met a boy named Roy and started off as friends before she discovered she liked him halfway through the year. A lot. Taking him to meet the folks was a bit odd, since interracial relationships were a bit iffy to her parents, but she went ahead and scoffed at their conservative ideologies. It turns out that the two fit together like puzzle pieces. The two crucial pieces of a complex jigsaw where each individual piece of the map had to be worked around the two.

There was little to stop the two young and starstruck lovers from planning out their future. As fate would have it though, the explosion of gang fights irreparably damaged a section of City and harmful radiation – a by-product of one meta's power, flooded her and her parents' townhouse in uptown Mendel. Roy was "lucky" enough to live in the downtown section, further away from the blast. Mia's parents worked nearby, leaving Mia alone when she had to be rushed to a hospital. When Roy checked on her, there it was discovered that while she didn't suffer immediate damage from the firefight, the radiation had brought damage to her ovaries and one of her kidneys.

She would be able to live happily with only one kidney as long as she didn't drink, but any chance of bearing a child was gone. Having kids was never really something they thought about anyways, and that news wouldn't bother them until their later years when they realized what it actually meant. Her parents, who worked right next to where the fight broke out were permanently hospitalized - her father was put into a coma, and her mother suffered so much radiation she was forced to stay on life support to survive. Roy and his family offered to help Mia and by allowing her to live with them downtown. She let his folks know about her family in Maine and that she made it a personal tradition to visit them when she could.

It was only when Mia and Roy were nineteen did they decide to move out. They were done with school and they rented out a small apartment in the residential district just off Watson road for just the two of them. Mia worked at a garage and Roy worked kitchen jobs. Even with their small incomes together, they couldn't afford college for even one of them, but they decided to just save their money and be happy with what they had. They finally engaged that year.

The following year were fine. They excelled at their jobs, they got hobbies, they biked around town (Mia always being a couple lengths in front of Roy), and all seemed fine. At some point during the next year though, when Mia was 21, normal life seemed to fall apart. There had been increased gang activity further down town, and Mia must have made a wrong stop or bought groceries at the wrong store - something must have been a front or connection that made a branch of the MCPD who worked in unison with NEXT crack down and target Mia, who believed her to have ties with the Skulls - she figured they either had to have been pretty scared or itching to exercise their authority to target someone without any solid ground (she always said it was because she was WWB; walking while black).

Regardless of their reasons, they interrogated Mia. They asked her all sorts of questions - about the Skulls, about her ties - having no connection with the Skulls, she denied any knowledge of them or their intents. They didn't believe her. They suspected her of lying and deceit and was promptly subjected her to torture. Most of their methods had brought no scarring, but another over-enthusiastic cop brought up a method of scare tactics. An accident had occurred – a knife slipping or something that caused it to cut into her eye and down her cheek. Mia doesn't really remember if it was an accident or not, she was too busy crying in pain and freaking out.

Roy finally discovered she had been arrested due to allegations of association with the Skulls. Along with vouching for her, he provided her medical records and legal records where there were no signs or ties with the local Skulls. She was released, and at the sight of half her face being bandaged up, he flew into a rage. While the police did promise insurance benefits in the form of large sums of monthly payments as long as she remained quiet about the misunderstanding, they also warned Roy to calm down and accept the apology lest he was charged with the assault of an officer.

Mia was by no means willing to satisfy the police department, and neither was Roy. However, they decided that they were best off to accept the compensation and avoid further trouble with the department, despite the couple's seething rage for the local police force, they also needed the money. The next four years went somewhat smoothly, despite the burning hot bouts of rage she felt each time she looked in the mirror and saw her blind eye. She was forced to keep a cap on it lest she do something stupid and create more problems for herself and the MCPD.

Everything after that was smooth, though. The MCPD never made contact with her again, and even the people on the street didn't seem to mess with her. Word of what happened must have gone around and they felt sympathy for her. She learned how to move around and grab things without her right eye, she became a little more reliant on other senses - most notably her hearing - and she found an outlet for her aggression in a martial arts class. Her and her husband both that that signing up for a krav maga course was a good idea, but that she should be careful with letting off too much steam. Mia agreed and so the twenty-one year old went on to visit the dojo whenever she was off work.

Now 22, the couple decided it was best that Mia escaped Mendel for the time being to go on vacation. So she contacted her family up in Maine and collaborated with their families for a cross-country road trip. Being naturally articulate and famously responsible, she got them to agree. Mia made a joke when she got there about how she got a head-start on the trip by driving from Louisiana to Maine. With a bunch of packing being done, they threw it all in her truck and even got a bunch of buckled straps and a stand to set Reyna's motorcycle into the bed of the truck. After a long, eventful trip, now they're just minutes away from rolling into Verthaven!

Relationships

Family:

Father: Dataj Joyce / Alive (comatose)
Mother: Sasha Joyce / Alive (on life support)
Fiance: Roy Jones / Alive
Extended cousin: Reyna Baker / Alive
Adopted sister: Merry Bennet / Alive

Dynamics:

Reyna Baker | Extended cousin | Practically sisters | “I've been an only child my whole life by the time I met her. I thought I'd never know what sisterhood was like before then. This is nice." |

Merry Bennet | Adopted sister | Almost makes me feel like a mom | “I trust that Reyna is good to her own little sister, but I still get concerned that she might not be the best role model. I do what I can to help take care of Merry.” |

Abilities

Power Class:

N/A

Power:

N/A

Limits:

N/A

Weaknesses/Drawbacks:

N/A

Other:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxIdHvFemxg

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

<Snipped quote by Dragonbud>

No. All you need is love DB.

@Maxx