Subject Zero

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

Aftermath

The moments immediately following their return to the beast were a flurry of motion. Chaos and confusion seemed to run through the civilian and science personnel who had no real experience of situations like this. The military forces quickly organised everyone though, doing their best to keep control of the situation. No one seemed entirely sure what was happening. Many wanted to get back to the Nyx and get the hell off this planet. Others, however, knew that they had to wait for those still unaccounted for or even head back out to search for them. Those in charge decided to wait. To allow some time for the others to arrive. Leaving them behind seemed like too barbaric an option to most. Amara Locke agreed with that sentiment and was itching to get back out. As she followed Chief TreVayne through the beast, she listened as he gave orders to everyone. When he ordered her to gather all the medical personnel she could find, she was gone before he was even finished speaking with agent Phillips quickly behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at the security officer as they made their way to the medbay and wondered just how much medical training they received in his department. If things were as bad as Eccleson implied, they may need all hands on deck.

Amara found herself wishing the rest of her team were here. Clara and Miles would cheer everyone up. Blake would be an emotional rock for everyone to lean on and then he'd probably go punch every one of those blasted bugs in the face. Hell, she would even take Marlowe at this point. The guy may have been a jerk but he was damn good at his job. It wasn't like she didn't like the other medical personnel that had been assigned to the mission. It wasn't even that they were bad at their job. They wouldn't be here if they weren't. It was just that Amara was used to working with her team. She knew their eccentricities and they knew hers. There was already enough confusion going around without having to work with a new team. It was how it was though, and they would work together regardless.

---

Moments Later

---

"Get them on the beast!" yelled Amara to her team over the screams of pain from her patients before moving off to check the other incoming wounded. She had done her best to treat the injured in the makeshift triage are just outside of the command vehicle, saving the small medbay inside for those who needed the most care. Amara wasn't the highest ranking medical personnel on the mission but everyone followed her orders regardless. She definitely had more field experience than the young doctor who knelt in the dirt with hands visibly shaking as he tried to sedate a poor young woman whose face had been badly burned. He looked scared out of his mind. It was a look Amara had seen many people carry on their first experience of combat medicine. No one was ever truly prepared for the things combat medics dealt with. As the sedative took hold and the patient drifted into unconsciousness, the doctor visibly relaxed. Amara placed a hand on his shoulder as she passed and squeezed ever so gently. "They need you inside." she told him, knowing he would be far more at home in a sterile environment than out here in the muck. He gave her a nod of acknowledgement before signalling for one of the military personnel to help him carry his patient inside.

Cody, meanwhile, was protectively nuzzled into a young researcher who clung onto him for dear life as his own sedative kicked in. Amara noticed this and was once again thankful that her canine companion was here. These people could really use some comfort. She also noticed another scientist sitting nearby. He didn't look hurt but he was looking at Cody as though he desperately wanted to interact with him. He turned to see Amara watching him and looked embarrassed until Amara motioned towards Cody with her head, signalling that it was okay. He hesitantly moved towards the dog, reaching his arm out but stopping before he made contact with Cody. Noticing this, Cody began wagging his tail back and forth. Taking it as another sign of approval, the scientist knelt down and started stroking Cody's head. The young researcher stirred at the movement and when his colleague noticed this, he placed a hand on his chest, telling him "It's okay. You're going to be fine."

Amara smiled lightly at this interaction. She was glad to see people banding together and taking care of one another. There were so few humans left now. If they had any hope of surviving at all, they were going to need to stick together.

It was only a moment later when Amara's attention was drawn to the sudden arrival of Kenzie and Edwards. Amara felt her heart jump into her throat as she laid eyes on her friend. She was so relieved to see Kenzie and found herself instinctively rushing towards her. She slowed before she reached Kenzie though, her attention instead being drawn to drawn to Edwards at her side. Clearly hurt, Edwards clutched his arm and winced, though tried to conceal his pain. A common trait among military personnel. Never show weakness. Amara admired that but was also annoyed by it. It made her job that much more difficult when people wouldn't tell her what was wrong. She was quickly by his side, inspecting his damaged arm. The wound looked bad but not life threatening. Not unless he continued to curse at her anyway. She refrained from murdering but did threaten to remove his arm. She was joking but it was always so hard to tell when Amara wasn't being serious, deadpan as she was. "It'll need treatment but you'll have to wait. There are a lot of people who need help."

Before Edwards had time to object, or even notice, a jet injector was shot into his arm. "Hey!" he complained, eyes wide in shock and mild anger.
Amara either didn't hear his complaint or just didn't care and said "That should help for now but you'll need more treatment soon. I have other patients who need urgent care but I'll come back around to you when I have a moment." Turning her attention then towards Kenzie, she pointed her in the direction of the triage area and said "Take him over there with the others and keep an eye on him." She glanced over at Edwards again and appeared to be thinking about something. She then turned back to Kenzie and spoke quietly but still loud enough for Edwards to overhear "If he starts to turn, you know what to do."
She patted Kenzie on the shoulder as she hurried away to check on another patient, leaving her friend with the deeply confused Edwards. His eyes slowly widened as he called after her "What!?"

He didn't get an answer.

The Nobodies (An Under-Dog Superhero Adventure)

Muerto.

The Nobodies (An Under-Dog Superhero Adventure)

@Sir Lurksalot Done. The bio is a bit darker than I had intended (not to mention a lot longer) but I like the overall character.

La Chica Muerta

La Chica Muerta

Name:
Carmen Vega

Alias:
La Chica Muerta

Age:
24

Gender:
Female

Nationality/Place of Birth:
Mexican / Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Base of Operations:
Tijuana & San Diego

Occupation:
Mechanic

Appearance:
Standing at 5 ft 4, Carmen has a small but athletic frame. She works out fairly regularly and it shows. She's a very good looking young woman but she doesn't seem to realise this and often doesn't wear any kind of makeup. She has long black hair and dark eye but as La Chica Muerta, she wears red contacts. La Chica Muerta wears candy skull face paint of varying styles and dresses in a black costume covered in stylised bone designs.

La Chica Muerta costume

Personality:
Carmen almost always seems either angry or hyper...Sometimes both. Even in her normal daily life, she seems like she may just snap at any moment and punch someone in the face. There's always that energy bubbling just below the surface. Carmen uses this energy the only way she knows how. By hitting things...and people.....Mostly people. She seems almost obsessed with violence and death and relishes any opportunity to fight, be it a physical fight or a verbal one. She has practically zero patience and can't stand waiting around for anything. She also has a tendency to screw with people, just for the hell of it. For instance, while she speaks perfect English, she will often speak only in Spanish around native English speakers for no other reason than to see the often confused look on their faces. Those who know her often describe her as “a rampaging lunatic” but she's not overly fond of that term and often informs others of this by punching them repeatedly in the face until they cry...and then punching them some more.

Skills:
Fighting. La Chica Muerta mixes Lucha Libre wrestling with straight up street fighting. She is a brutal fighter who attacks with reckless abandon. She strikes with a surprising strength for someone her size. She is also a highly talented mechanic and engineer. There are very few machines that she can't repair...or break into a million pieces, depending on her mood that day.

Abilities:
Healing factor – La Chica Muerta's body seems capable of healing from practically any wound. That said, she's by no means impervious to pain. Spray her full of bullets and she'll go down but she won't stay down. La Chica Muerta has been stabbed, shot, hit by cars, thrown off of buildings, exposed to the entire back catalog of Rob Schneider movies...and just like the killer in that movie, she just keeps getting back up.

Bio

Destino.

It seems almost inevitable that Carmen Vega would become La Chica Muerta.

Carmen was born in Juarez, Mexico. One of the most dangerous places in the country. Her mother worried about raising a child in such a place though and eventually decided to leave. So at a young age, Carmen and her mother moved to Tijuana. They had little money to their name however and they often struggled to make ends meet.

When Carmen was around six years old, her mother started dating a man named Bruno. Carmen didn't know much about Bruno. All she knew was that she didn't like him. She had never known her dad and when she asked her mom about it, all she would say was that he was a deadbeat and they were better off without him. Despite this, Carmen always had a picture in her head of dad as some great hero who would swoop in one day and rescue them from their miserable lives. Maybe that was why she didn't like Bruno so much. He was anything but a hero. A thug and a bully, yes, but no hero. He would often push Carmen's mother around, intimidating her into doing whatever he wanted. She basically became his slave.

Bruno had a tattoo of a skull on his steroid filled arm and routinely got in Carmen's face, telling her how how there was one just like it under her pretty little face. He would do this while generally running her down, reminding her that she was nothing and poking at her head. He continued doing this for years. All the while the anger built in Carmen until she finally snapped and punched him in the throat.

Carmen remembers how good she felt in that moment as Bruno fell to his knees in shock and surprise that a ten year old girl had just punched him. Finally putting a bully in his place felt amazing. She smiled at Bruno as he knelt in front of her but Bruno's shock quickly faded to anger. She doesn't remember much after the back of his hand connected with her face. Mostly sounds. Crashes. Something breaking. Bruno yelling. Her mothers voice and....another one...A voice she didn't recognize.

When Carmen woke up, she and her mother where in a place she didn't know. Her mom told her they had crossed the border into America. This seemed like a good thing to Carmen, yet her mother seemed angry.

“You need to be more careful.” she told Carmen. “One of these days your bravery will get you killed.”

Carmen didn't know about that but she did know that punching that bully Bruno had felt really good. Even if the bruise forming under her eye hurt like hell.

Life in America was different but the Vega women seemed to do a lot better than they did back in Mexico. Carmen enrolled in a school where her grades steadily improved to an impressive level and her mother got a decently paying job and even met a new man. One which Carmen actually approved of this time. It was no small feat to win the approval of young Ms Carmen Vega. Although buying her all those video games may have helped.

Carmen was occasionally difficult. In her teenage years, she would often get into fights for no other reason than she liked to fight. Again, her mother went off on a rant about how she was going to end up in the hospital or the morgue one of these days. Carmen paid little attention to this though. She knew how to handle herself and it wasn't like her grades were failing or anything. In her mind, she was just letting off some steam. She wasn't going to die or anything.

Overall, life seemed to improve for Carmen....right up until she died.

It wasn't long after Carmen had entered college that everything went to hell. She had gone out drinking with some friends one night. Carmen wandered off on her own, half drunk and unwittingly ventured into a bad neighborhood right as a conflict erupted between two rival gangs with a number of innocent people caught in the middle. There was one young man in particular with a terrified look on his face as bullets whizzed past his head.

Carmen, being Carmen, was hardly about to let someone get hurt and, without even thinking about it, tried to tackle one of the thugs with guns to the ground.

She barely even heard the bullet before everything went dark.

........

In a strange echo of the time after she had punched Bruno, Carmen once again woke up in a place she didn't know. Only this time, her surroundings were much less friendly. She had woken up in the county morgue.

Absolutely terrified of what this meant, she quickly got dressed, pocketing the toe tag on her foot and the file next to her and fled before whoever worked there returned. After this horrifying experience, Carmen became convinced that her mothers warning had come true and she was now dead. After hiding in her dorm room for what felt like forever and watching Adventure Time on a loop to try and calm herself down, she decided to run some tests. She learned that she barely bled at all and any wound would heal amazingly quickly. Nothing about this was normal.

She also learned that others died in the same shoot out. Surprisingly, this, more than her own apparent death, seemed to push Carmen over the edge. She decided that something had to be done about these thugs who thought they could just take someone's life without a second thought.

This was when Carmen adopted the identity of La Chica Muerta...The Dead Girl.

La Chica Muerta took the fight to the local gangs with a surprising ferocity. In her mind, she was already dead so she had nothing left to lose. Every time one of them thought they had put her down, she just got right back up again.

Stories of La Chica Muerta spread through the neighborhoods. She became an urban legend. The boogeywoman that haunted the criminals of the underworld. When tales of this regenerating woman who couldn't be killed spread far enough, members of the superhero community sought out La Chica Muerta, thinking that someone with her particular power may be useful. They quickly learned that she had gone off the deep end and was almost as dangerous as the criminals she fought. She was a liability to have around.

La Chica Muerta never much wanted to play in the same sandbox as the super men and women of the world but their assertion that she was a dangerous lunatic pissed her off. She has since begun to spread out from her comfort zone of punching gang members in the face and groin and has begun tangling with some actual super villains...C list villains, but it's a start. She'll prove those uppity capes wrong eventually.

Today, Carmen tries to balance her life as La Chica Muerta with what little life she has left as Carmen Vega, all the while trying to outwit a particularly nosey detective who has taken it upon himself to investigate the girl who supposedly died one day but is still walking around.

Theme Song:
The Arkhams - She's Lost Control

The Nobodies (An Under-Dog Superhero Adventure)

I may be interested in this. It looks like a lot of fun. Are you guys still accepting?

No Turning Back - Into the Abyss

Amara was in hell.

She could hear the screams in the static as the other teams were being attacked by the insects that were currently trying to exterminate the human invasion of their planet. The same insects that were currently chasing Amara and her team through the jungle. Not being able to help was killing her and Amara felt an urge to go running off to try and help the others who were screaming in pain. She knew that would be futile though, especially when Phillips confirmed that the GPS signal wasn't working. They had no idea where the other teams were anymore so the best course of action was to regroup at the Beast and treat any injured parties that made it back.

One of the science team stumbled as he ran but Amara was at his side before he even hit the ground, hoisting him back to his feet and barking at him to keep moving. His breathing was heavy and eyes were wide in fear. Understandable, given the situation. She knew that most of these scientists had never been anywhere near a combat situation and were more at home in their labs so the first hint of danger sent them into a panic. He hesitated for a moment as he looked over his shoulder in the direction they had come from but Amara shoved him forward and insisted that he keep moving. This was more her military training than her medic training. She didn't care if his feelings were hurt by being shoved around. So long as he made it back in one piece, she had done her job.

When they started moving again, Amara cast a glance over at Phillips and the wound on his face. There was no time to stop and treat it now. It didn't look life threatening anyway so he could wait. He was a big boy. He could deal.

Cody, meanwhile, had paused momentarily as he caught the scent of something in the air. He turned his head in the direction of the scent and gave a soft bark to alert the humans. Whatever it was was moving too quickly for him to get a good look at but it seemed to be racing around them in a wide circle and Cody felt dizzy trying to track it. His attention was quickly drawn away from the mysterious creature though as one of the humans alerted the group to something above them. Those damn bugs were back again. Cody heard Amara mutter something under her breath before the humans began running again and he followed after.

"What the...?" Amara asked no one in particular as the group ground to a halt in front of the net of bugs. She had never seen anything like this. She squinted at the bugs as she heard one of the scientists comment on how cool it was. She actually had to agree. Although she had the sense not to comment on it. That or their impending death. She noticed Cody move up beside her as he started to growl at the creatures. Cody's mood seemed to have shifted entirely. He was no longer the playful idiot. Body low to the ground and eyes locked on the creatures in front of him, he seemed like a much more dependable companion to have around in a situation like this. But Amara grabbed hold of him nonetheless, knowing exactly what he was thinking. Cody's instinct in situations like this was to protect his pack by any means necessary. Much like Amara. Even if that meant throwing himself at the bugs and trying to take down as many as possible. Amara knew that would do little good though, especially with that dumb helmet on. Cody jumped slightly as TreVayne and Phillips opened fire on the creatures but Amara felt him ease slightly. Unfortunately, the bullets seemed to have little effect on the enemy.

What happened next was both amazing and terrifying.

Amara's eyes widened and locked on the black shadows that emerged from the forest and began attacking the bugs. As fascinating as the bugs were, these things were even more so. While they looked somewhat like Earth canines, they didn't appear to be carbon based life forms. Amara almost forgot to be afraid during the chaos that was happening around her and wished she could somehow record these things. She snapped out of her thoughts on bizarre alien biology when an insect leaped at her and came within half a foot of latching onto her face before being swatted out of the air by one of the shadow wolves.

It was all over almost as quickly as it had begun and as things quietened down, the group stared at their mysterious saviors who stared back for an intense moment before disappearing again. Amara had barely noticed Cody scurry around behind her legs but now that everything had gone silent, the sound of him whimpering was painfully obvious to her. She dropped down to a knee and wrapped her arms around him in an attempt to comfort him. It seemed to work but not entirely and the group didn't have time to hang around so he would have to suck it up for now.

The group continued on and TreVayne finally managed to raise the Beast on the comm. The news from Eccleson was hardly what Amara had been hoping for.

She was going to have a lot of work to do.

Empowered!!! (Closed)!

Okay, as much as I would like to be a part of this, it's moving waaaay to quickly for me to keep up with so I think I'm just going to drop out now.

Empowered!!! (Closed)!

Name:
Jason "Jay" Jericho

Age:
20

Gender:
Male

Religion:
None (But open to the possibility)

Sexuality:
Heterosexual

Occupation:
Part time student, part time photographer

Abilities:

• Psychology - Jay studies Psychology in college. He has gained some knowledge in the area though not a full understanding.
• Perceptive - Having a very well trained eye, Jay tends to spot things that others overlook.
• Athletic - He may not be the biggest or the strongest but Jay makes up for it in speed and dexterity.
• Forensics - One of Jay's favourite subjects. He is well versed in the subject.
• Extrovert - Very easy to get along with and always optimistic, Jay never really has trouble getting people to like him.

Faults:

• Impulsive - Jay has a tendency to act first and think later, which can and often does get him into trouble.
• Overly talkative - While a nice guy, Jay rarely shuts up. This can get very annoying to those around him.
• Weak - Jay is not strong. Nor is he a capable fighter.
• Naive - As he tends to take people at face value, Jay is quite often oblivious when others are manipulating him.

Power:
Light Manipulation - Jay can generate and control light for various effects. He can fire it in blasts, he can form it into semi-solid constructs and he can use it to propel himself through the air. It also allows him to travel at incredible speed ("light speed") but he has very little control over this and it tends to be in short bursts in a straight line. (Think Tracer)
When using his abilities, Jay's body changes into a hard light form of shimmering colors, like a human rainbow. The more excited he gets, the brighter he gets. This power is anything but subtle.

Personality:
Jay is quite possibly the friendliest person you will ever meet. Relentlessly happy, he lets very little get to him. He's a happy-go-lucky kind of guy who will genuinely try his best to befriend everyone, even the ones who seem openly hostile. People have often said that Jay likes the sound of his own voice but he just has a lot of thoughts that he likes to convey by talking to anyone who will listen and even some who wont. Though he tries his best to help people, Jay does from time to time overestimate his own intelligence and ability with a slight hint of arrogance.

History:
Born in San Jose, California, Jay was raised in a happy home. The youngest of four kids, he was always treated as the baby of the family but still relentlessly tormented by his two older brothers who liked rough housing a lot more than he did. Jay's father and grandfather were both marines and it was tradition for the boys in the family to join the core. Hell, even Jay's sister had plans to join up. But Jay himself? Not so much. His interests were "nerdier" in comparison. As well as his continual obsession with photographing everything, he liked science in all its forms. He may not have understood it all but he liked it a lot more than all that "Ooh rah!" and chest pounding. He was proud of his family but that life just wasn't for him. Yes, Jason Jericho was by far the blackest sheep the family had ever seen.

By the time he left high school and entered college, Jay's general interest in science had become focused on two areas and he took up classes in forensics and psychology. He may not have been the brightest student in the class but he was determined to learn as much as he could, even though he was often distracted by his own thoughts and the cute girl sitting on the other side of the room. But the cute girl across the room was the least of his distractions after the lights around him started flickering and acting weirdly.

Empowered!!! (Closed)!

Okay, so I had no idea this had started already. Anyone care to catch me up?

Also, sorry for the double post.

Empowered!!! (Closed)!

Name:
Jason "Jay" Jericho

Age:
20

Gender:
Male

Religion:
None (But open to the possibility)

Sexuality:
Heterosexual

Occupation:
Part time student, part time photographer

Abilities:

• Psychology - Jay studies Psychology in college. He has gained some knowledge in the area though not a full understanding.
• Perceptive - Having a very well trained eye, Jay tends to spot things that others overlook.
• Athletic - He may not be the biggest or the strongest but Jay makes up for it in speed and dexterity.
• Forensics - One of Jay's favourite subjects. He is well versed in the subject.
• Extrovert - Very easy to get along with and always optimistic, Jay never really has trouble getting people to like him.

Faults:

• Impulsive - Jay has a tendency to act first and think later, which can and often does get him into trouble.
• Overly talkative - While a nice guy, Jay rarely shuts up. This can get very annoying to those around him.
• Weak - Jay is not strong. Nor is he a capable fighter.
• Naive - As he tends to take people at face value, Jay is quite often oblivious when others are manipulating him.

Power:
Light Manipulation - Jay can generate and control light for various effects. He can fire it in blasts, he can form it into semi-solid constructs and he can use it to propel himself through the air. It also allows him to travel at incredible speed ("light speed") but he has very little control over this and it tends to be in short bursts in a straight line. (Think Tracer)
When using his abilities, Jay's body changes into a hard light form of shimmering colors, like a human rainbow. The more excited he gets, the brighter he gets. This power is anything but subtle.

Personality:
Jay is quite possibly the friendliest person you will ever meet. Relentlessly happy, he lets very little get to him. He's a happy-go-lucky kind of guy who will genuinely try his best to befriend everyone, even the ones who seem openly hostile. People have often said that Jay likes the sound of his own voice but he just has a lot of thoughts that he likes to convey by talking to anyone who will listen and even some who wont. Though he tries his best to help people, Jay does from time to time overestimate his own intelligence and ability with a slight hint of arrogance.

History:
Born in San Jose, California, Jay was raised in a happy home. The youngest of four kids, he was always treated as the baby of the family but still relentlessly tormented by his two older brothers who liked rough housing a lot more than he did. Jay's father and grandfather were both marines and it was tradition for the boys in the family to join the core. Hell, even Jay's sister had plans to join up. But Jay himself? Not so much. His interests were "nerdier" in comparison. As well as his continual obsession with photographing everything, he liked science in all its forms. He may not have understood it all but he liked it a lot more than all that "Ooh rah!" and chest pounding. He was proud of his family but that life just wasn't for him. Yes, Jason Jericho was by far the blackest sheep the family had ever seen.

By the time he left high school and entered college, Jay's general interest in science had become focused on two areas and he took up classes in forensics and psychology. He may not have been the brightest student in the class but he was determined to learn as much as he could, even though he was often distracted by his own thoughts and the cute girl sitting on the other side of the room. But the cute girl across the room was the least of his distractions after the lights around him started flickering and acting weirdly.

Empowered! "Realistic" Superhuman RP

Link?