Zombiedude101

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

Here we go, took long enough but here we are. Still might edit a few things if need be.

Reed Taylor

Basic Information

Name:

Reed Taylor

Nickname/Alias/Etc:

Gender:

Male

Age:

27

Height:

5’10

Weight:

178lbs

Home District: University Row

Appearance

Hair Color:

Black

Eye Color:

Brown

Ethnicity:

African-American

Physical Appearance:

Standing at 5’10 and of a moderately built physical complexion, Reed is a man in his prime, fit as most would come and arguably not too hard on the eyes. His eyes are a lighter shade of brown whilst his face is relatively smooth and clean-shaven, kept free even of stubble whilst he boasts a neatly trimmed head of hair.

Attire:

When he’s at work, Reed’s usually wearing the standard shirt and tie combo with black pants and a duty belt. Off duty, he's fine with wearing sweatpants or jeans with a shirt for when he heads down to the range or out for a run.

Personality

Innate & Outward Personality:

Strong-willed and brimming with determination, Reed is the kind of man with a motivated drive for seeing things through, almost to a fault given how stubborn he can be. Whilst the past six years on the force have given him a taste of how the real world works and helped to fade some of his naiveté, it's clear he's still got plenty to learn before he gets much further down the line. Whilst he maintains a relatively calm, professional exterior there's a sense of passion and drive just beneath the surface.

Well-intentioned at heart, Reed is prone to pursuing some things to a fault, partially out of a sense of duty and partially in order to do some justice to his uncle's name. There are times he'll be up late doing paperwork, trying to establish any links he can between aspects of a case, anything to show his worth and prove he's a competent detective. He also dislikes doing things improperly and is sometimes frustrated with how people are willing to let things slide instead of pursuing them, a fact that has driven a wedge between he and his brother whom he suspects has been in touch with the wrong kind of people and is falling back into old habits.

Having spent his early childhood and lost a mother to alcohol abuse, he's also sympathetic to the plight of the poorer lower classes living in places like Eagle-Rock Row and is disgusted at the prospect of the local gangs taking advantage of it, to the point his otherwise calm exterior can be compromised. Likewise he doesn't take kindly to signs of corruption or misconduct in the department, having worked his own ass off to get where he is and wanting to help dispel the public mistrust of police officers.

The other thing that's liable to piss him off is bringing up his family, namely his brother or badmouthing his mother and uncle. The former due to.... complicated matters and the latter two because they're a sensitive topic.

Hobbies/Interests:

Like his uncle, Reed doesn't mind heading down to the range for some target practice every once in a while and is a fan of most of the latest TV shows like Game of Thrones and the Walking Dead. Sometimes he heads out for a run when he's got the time to spare. On a lesser note, he can also appreciate a nice set of wheels.

Skills/Talents:

Having been through the academy and spent six years on the beat, Reed’s picked up a fair amount of skills in his time both through training and personal experience. For one, he’s quite analytical and decisive when push comes to shove and has been given a degree of wisdom from his time on the beat. He's not a half-bad shot either, and knows his way around most firearms and practice on the range outside of work has only served to cultivate this. He’s pretty damned athletic and knows how to take care of himself in a fight- a necessary skill for a man who’s job requires him to be able to apprehend fleeing and potentially dangerous suspects whilst staying by the book, so to speak. He also speaks a little Spanish though his pronunciation is said to be off.

Prized Possessions:

A graduation certificate from the police academy.

Quote(s):

”Doing the right thing isn’t always easy, but if you want shit to change it’s worth it.”

History/Bio:

Born towards the end of the ‘80s on Eagle-Rock Row, Reed was the youngest child of two kids born into crime and poverty to a single parent, surrounded by drugs, violence and the social tensions of the time. From early childhood, their mother quickly relied on a string of deadbeat boyfriends, minimum wage jobs and alcohol to pull the three of them through life and it took its toll on her from an early stage, often forcing her elder brother to step in to assist.

Whilst his older brother, Quentin got caught up with the local street gangs working the corners, Reed was left at home with an alcoholic mother who only seemed to be aware of his existence half of the time. Quentin did as best as a kid his age could yet all the same Reed’s early childhood was one devoid of any real parental figures. It was only after his mother’s death from alcohol poisoning that the closest thing to a parental figure he’d ever had showed up: his Uncle Cassius, his mother’s elder brother.

Having been aware of their situation for some time and having already made preparations to step in, Cassius took both of the Taylor brothers in as his own children and ensured that they’d never have to face the lifestyle he’d pulled them out of ever again. Years passed by and Reed grew closer to his uncle, having never had a stable parental figure to follow whilst Quentin, being older, continued to do his own thing in order to, in his own words, “be his own man”.

Reed wanted to follow in the footsteps of the only father-figure he’d ever had and eventually wound up in the police academy, wanting to be a cop. Persistent as anyone and hoping he might make a difference in addition to doing right by his uncle, he pushed on through his training and joined up with the VPD.

Wedging his foot in the door for the beginning of a successful career, Reed flourished on the beat and worked his way through things until finally, hoping to follow in his uncle’s footsteps, he earned a promotion to a position in the VPD's detective bureau as an Investigator, a placement he's held for the past seventeen months. With times trying as ever for Reed and his fellow cops, the coming weeks will bring a great deal of change.

Relationships

Family:

Helena Taylor - Mother (Deceased)
Quentin Taylor - Half-Brother - NEST ‘Agent’
Cassius Taylor - Maternal Uncle - VPD Detective

Dynamics:

Cassius Taylor | Good | Uncle | "I want to do right by the old man, make him proud of me." |
Quentin Taylor | Shaky | Estranged Brother | "Everything we went through as kids and what’s he learned? Guess some people never change." |

Abilities

Power Class:

None.

Weaknesses/Drawbacks:

Aside from his lack of powers, Reed is arguably still a young man and prone to all the mistakes that it entails. Stubborn and strong willed, he can be prone to making errors as any human would. Likewise, his family ties could also be considered something to exploit.

Other:

What's good.

Cassius Taylor

Basic Information

Name:

Cassius Taylor

Nickname/Alias/Etc:

“Cass”

Gender:

Male

Age:

54

Height:

5’9

Weight:

187lbs

Home District: University Row

Appearance

Hair Color:

Black

Eye Color:

Brown

Ethnicity:

African-American

Physical Appearance:

At 5'9 and of an average build, it's clear that Cass is headed towards the retirement age. Whilst he's managed to retain a full head of hair he's started turning grey and it's clear he's put on a little more weight over the years as his fifties settle in, though his arms still look pretty damn strong. His eyes are a typical shade of brown, weathered and speckled by the years whilst his jawline retains a short, neatly trimmed beard.

Attire:

On-duty, Cass wears the standard shirt-and-tie combination with matching pants and a duty belt, his badge tucked in nicely. At home he wears whatever he can throw together when he's talking casual whilst at formal events he's known for wearing a rather pristine suit.

Personality

Innate & Outward Personality:

Cass is the kind of guy that you'd expect an aging cop to be, so long as you stay on his good side at least. The kind of man who'll sit at his desk downing coffee and donuts (though they're probably bad for his health) between case files, grumble about the ever-mounting paperwork waiting for his scribbles and occasionally mutter about how he's getting too old for this shit, if only because repeating clichés over and over has its own ironic charm.

He's a good guy at heart with the right intentions in mind (which may not always be by the book) but even he's learned that you can't always be the hero, even as a cop. Wisened by his years, he can be driven and determined, willing to see things through to the bitter end when he feels the need to yet sometimes he understands the need to back down and let a few things slide if only because the alternative isn't the lesser evil, something he's done before with his nephew if not anywhere else. He's also got a soft spot for kids and pet animals.

Likewise, he's seen a great deal of things in his time as a cop, some pleasant whilst others were nightmarish, yet even now he's learned that even a veteran cop of his age can still be surprised given the right circumstances and to avoid judging circumstances off the bat. After all, you don't expect the traumatised teen across the street who stammered all the way through the witness report to be capable of sociopathy behind their well-constructed exterior nor do you expect the gruff ex-con to be the one who talks down a suicidal gunman from executing a hostage. As said, a lot of things.

Being a cop, Cass has learned to keep his personal feelings and temper below the surface for the sake of professionalism yet there are a few things which can trip the wrong switch. For one, seeing any major hint of corruption in the department or serious misconduct by fellow officers or people in a similar position of authority is an easy way to irritate him. He remembers (if only just) the days of race riots and mass protests against the department and wants to make sure they stay as that - faint memories. That aside, it's hard as it is to get by without having to deal with a populace that doesn't trust you. Call it being pragmatic. The other thing that sets him off is bringing up his family in a negative light, particularly if you badmouth his late sister or either of her two sons.

Seeing the ever-growing presence of metahumans in the world has begun to make him feel redundant, especially with the increasing rate of metahuman-related crime and NEST's insistence on taking the reigns, yet he holds no grudges against either and if anything sympathises with the situation some metahumans have found themselves in, having come from a background often subjected to discrimination himself.

Hobbies/Interests:

More than either of his nephews, Cass has a love for firearms and sports shooting, having been raised by a veteran grandfather who believed in a man’s rights to bear arms himself. He owns a small collection of vintage and classic firearms, including a Mauser C96 smuggled home from the Western Front by his grandfather (bearing in mind the discrimination against african-americans at the time, having it in his home bears great significance for him). He’s also a sucker for classic action movies and believes Terminator 2 is the greatest sequel to one of the greatest, if not THE greatest sci-fi film of all time.

Skills/Talents:

A veteran cop who joined the force in the eighties, Cass has over twenty-five years’ worth of experience under his belt. Having been on several different detective assignments in addition to years on the beat, he’s had a broad range of differing experiences relevant to law enforcement and that combined with his initial training his given him a great degree of analytical and intuitive skills in addition to the street smarts and wisdom a senior cop of his age would have. He’s a brilliant shot, even for a cop - though this is owing to his long term status as a gun owner with his own private collection of firearms - and despite his age can still apprehend a suspect once he’s got his hands on them. He’s also a damn good cook when he needs to be.

Prized Possession:

A Mauser C96 officer’s sidearm returned home from the Western Front of WWII by his grandfather.

Quote(s):

”Y'know what I miss? When Schwarzenegger films were fresh at the movies, not this constant edgy remake shit.”

History/Bio:

Born into the turbulent times of the 60's, Cassius and his little sister Helena were both orphaned from a relatively early age after their father died in Vietnam and their mother was killed in an industrial accident. Without them, their grandparents stepped in to raise the two as best as they could and it was during this time that Cassius' grandfather impressed onto him a sense of duty, having been a veteran who served on the Western Front and Korea.

It was through this that Cass joined the force in the 80’s and worked his way up through the ranks during a time when social tensions were at their height, earning himself a promotion to detective in the 90’s when he proved himself worthy of the placement. For him, it was a successful career.

Yet things for Helena had gone downhill. It wasn't too long after the death of their grandfather - who'd suffered from a heart condition - that she became pregnant with her first child despite being in her teenage years, a shameful thing for many families of the time. With her grandmother being as old fashioned as she was, she wound up being cast out of their home and had to rely on minimum wage jobs and social welfare in order to survive.

Cass did what he could for his little sister, even when she began her descent into alcoholism and after the birth of her second child started taking steps to ensure their wellbeing. At one point he was prepared to involve social services and force his sister to surrender her children into care, as much for her sake as it was theirs, yet before he could do so she died from alchohol poisoning.

Taking both of his nephews into his care, Cass moved the family to University Row in order to pull them away from the influence of the gangs, having noticed they'd had a sway on Quentin. Off the book, he also put his own career at risk by personally threatening at gunpoint one of the dealers who'd placed his nephew on the corners in order to ensure they'd never come after him again whilst at the same time covering up Quentin's childhood dalliances to keep the kid out of juvie.

Relationships

Family:

Helena Taylor - Sister (Deceased)
Reed Taylor - Nephew - VPD Detective
Quentin Taylor - Nephew - NEST ‘Agent’

Dynamics:

Reed Taylor | Good | Nephew | "I couldn’t be prouder of him if he were my own son." |
Quentin Taylor | Good | Nephew | "He doesn’t show it, but he’s been through a lot. I worry about him sometimes, hope he makes the right calls." |
|

Abilities

Power Class:

None.

Weaknesses/Drawbacks:

Aside from his lack of any powers, it’s obvious that Cass isn’t the same man as he was when he joined the force. Nearing the age where most cops retire, he’s starting to feel the burdens of an aging body and is prone to becoming lethargic far more easily than a young man would.

Other:

So that's that.

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

So I figured I'd also work on the CS for Quentin's Uncle whilst I was at it. Slowly but steadily it's coming along.

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

Writing up a CS for Quent's younger brother.

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

@Zombiedude101 No relation section updates, either?

Speaking of which, I made some changes to my character's relationships. If you want your characters to have pre-existing relations with mine, then gimme a shout.

@Mr Allen J

Give me a chance, I just wanted to get the CS up before I lost it again. Should be fixed now.

Verthaven: Days of Rain ☔ [COMPLETED]

Quentin Taylor

Basic Information

Name:

Quentin Taylor

Nickname/Alias/Etc:

“Quent”, "Agent Taylor", “Counterpoint"

Gender:

Male

Age:

30

Height:

5’11

Weight:

190lbs

Home District: Knightdale Rows

Appearance

Hair Color:

Black

Eye Color:

Brown

Ethnicity:

African-American

Physical Appearance:

Standing at a rough height of about 5’11 and of an average (if moderately built) build, Quentin comes across as your average security contractor doing the daily or nightly rounds at the usual gigs. His face often possesses a somewhat analytic property, with a set of sharp brown eyes, a short-trimmed beard and a very close-cut head of dark hair.

Attire:

More often than not, Quentin has a preference for wearing dark-coloured jackets with a t-shirt underneath (As a CCW holder it’s quite useful) whilst he tends to wear jeans or cargo pants, depending on whether or not he’s working a gig or not. He also has a preference for alternating between sneakers and boots, whichever’s practical for the occasion. Under his jacket he wears a shoulder-holster with a Glock 17 fitted inside.

Personality

Innate & Outward Personality:

Quentin is a relatively calm but outwardly pragmatic person by nature; he comes off as someone indifferent to most social trends and doesn’t seem particularly easy to anger. He’s had no qualms in getting involved in activities of a legally (and to an extent, morally) dubious nature; the business he once involved himself in necessitated getting his hands dirty. For the most part he keeps a level head and approaches most risky situations with a degree of caution, opting for the approach of avoiding tense situations where possible whilst dealing with unavoidable situations as cleanly and precisely as possible, as one would.

Likewise, he possesses a sense of morality that keeps him from going off the deep end as others would. For instance, he has a sense of sympathy for people who are born into poverty or are otherwise living in unfortunate circumstances and generally avoids unnecessarily doing harm where possible, occasionally going so far as to intervene in circumstances where he sees the vulnerable being picked apart by would-be opportunists.

Additionally, his sense of morality also encompasses a sense of loyalty. He’s not a fan of turning on people and likewise sticks by those he considers close, doubly so for his family - given his recent ongoing reconciliation with them.

On that note, his calm, collected exterior is somewhat diffused when it comes to dealing with close friends or family and bringing up the topic of the latter (specifically his brother) is an easy way to irritate Quentin at best and at worst earn a black eye, all for a number of reasons. This also extends to any reference to the Hands of Science, human experimentation or being held captivity - all three are sensitive matters that have caused him to lose more than just a little sleep. Vengeance is a subject matter often on his mind when it comes to the HoS and those who work with them.

Similarly, the notion of being turned on by those he considers close is quite infuriating and another method of incurring his ire. Aside from this, he also seems to have had a half-concealed sense of pride in himself for having gone from living in the poverty-stricken housing projects of Eagle-Rock Row to, in his own eyes, a self-made man - a point that once placed him at odds with his brother (who he feels that he had a hand in raising). However, recent events have slowly begun to humble him once more and his pride in his success is gradually turning into a pride for the good cause he works towards in NEST.

Hobbies/Interests:

Quentin doesn’t have many particular tastes in life; he finds modern music to be relatively dull and uninteresting whilst the same could be said for most TV shows that aren’t like Game of Thrones or the Walking Dead. Narcotics and alcohol are something he views with disgust in the case of the former and with care in the case of the latter as a consequence of having witnessed his mother’s self-destructive lifestyle first-hand. Surprisingly enough however, he enjoys a select few video games that catch his interest and also enjoys browsing the internet in his spare time when all else fails. Additionally albeit less surprisingly, Quentin also enjoys heading onto the range for some good old fashioned recreational shooting.

Skills/Talents:

Quentin’s experiences on the streets have given him a degree of wisdom, wit and pragmatism that did well to assist him in his self-made ‘business’. He’s familiar with how things operate in Verthaven’s criminal underworld and did well to keep on top of the latest rumours and chunks of information where possible, if only to keep his own interests in mind if nothing else. That aside, he’s picked up a talent in the usage of firearms (pistols, shotguns and a few select assault weapons come to mind) from a combination of experience on the streets and within the security sector and likewise is capable of putting up a solid front in a fistfight for much of the same reasons.

Prized Possession:

A photo of his mother in her teenage years, prior to her descent into alcoholism.

Quote(s):

”Everyone these days seems to have some kind of a sob story. At least I took my happy ending.”

History/Bio:

Born in the early ‘80s on Eagle-Rock Row, Quentin and his little brother Reed were yet another story of kids born into crime and poverty to a single parent, surrounded by drugs, violence and the social tensions of the time. From early childhood, their mother quickly relied on a string of deadbeat boyfriends, minimum wage jobs and alcohol to pull the three of them through life and it took its toll on her from an early stage, often forcing her elder brother to step in to assist.
By the time he was ten years old, Quentin found himself involved with the local gangs and wound up working on street corners as another peddler for some smalltime dealer in hopes of earning a little cash for his family. It was through this, incidentally, that he wound up discovering his powers - what would’ve normally be an exchange of packages with a metahuman enforcer for the gang led to him unintentionally removing the man’s ability to generate and manipulate fire and setting alight the money moments later. As it happens, it was through this that he found himself another source of income for the family; exchanging and selling powers and getting a cut from the gang for his involvement.

For a while, things seemed to go well, all things considered. The cut he earned from the gang, whilst nowhere near the amount kicked up to his bosses, allowed him to pay off the family bills yet there was no mistake that he may as well have been their property and not the other way around. A few times he found himself at risk as a result of the people he worked for and by his teenage years he’d learned how to use a gun. In fact, if tragedy hadn’t struck Quentin’s life sooner then circumstances might not have turned out as well.

One day returning home, Quentin found his mother passed out on the couch with yet another empty bottle of liquor nearby. Attempts to rouse her with words failed, so instead he left her alone, only to find her in the same state when he woke up in the same morning, albeit this time she’d turned pale and felt cold to the touch. The coroner’s report indicated that she’d died of alcohol poisoning, something of little surprise given the fact she’d been unable to kick the habit for a long time.

Lacking any other family, Quentin and his little brother wound up living in the care of their Uncle Cassius, a Detective in the Verthaven Police Department and a good man who’d often done as best as he could to keep his sister on track. Under his Uncle’s care, Quentin was able to cut off ties to his old gang (who, by this point had become increasingly demanding) with the aid of this uncle’s connections to the VPD and opted to push on through school so he didn’t end up like his mother. That said, the experience had taught him a couple things.

While his brother opted to one day become a cop like their uncle, Quentin had something else in mind. Perhaps it was the idea of avoiding the same poverty that had cost him his childhood, or perhaps it was the concept of having control over his life for once. Whatever the case, he decided he’d use some of the things he’d learned to make a profit and moved onto the streets yet again, this time operating independently as a “Switcher”, exchanging powers with those interested in buying or selling on occasion. At times, the work wasn’t always the safest, but his time with the gang had taught him how to take care of himself. This aside, he decided to put himself through the security sector and within a few years began working as a contractor, working whatever gigs were out there.

As of more recent times, Quentin had been living in relative comfort; living in a decent condo in Knightdale Rows, with enough income to keep himself afloat. Relations with his family, however, were another story. On top of that, he wound up falling afoul of the Hands of Science, who kidnapped him and forced him to participate in their experiments before he was able to escape with the assistance of Meifeng Vuhong and NEST. That said, the whole ordeal had left him far more cautious to the point of paranoia alongside some long-term trauma that isn't going to go away easily. If that weren't bad enough, he found himself forced to enter NEST's employ as one of their agents after his Metahuman status came to light.

Initially the prospect of becoming one of 'those' types was daunting, yet as tome passed Quentin slowly warmed to the role and, in the process, wound up reconciling with his brother.

Relationships

Family:

Helena Taylor - Mother (Deceased)
Reed Taylor - Half-Brother - VPD Detective
Cassius Taylor - Maternal Uncle - VPD Detective

Dynamics:

Cassius Taylor | Good | Uncle | "The old man still hasn’t retired, figures. Glad he's still taking care of himself, at least." |
Reed Taylor | Improving | Brother | "I guess opening up to him's helped settle things between us. Nothing certain yet, but I don't want to lose family." |
Lihua Vuhong | Good | NEST Colleague | "Stronger than she looks, scarier even more so. Have to respect her for that." |
Sonya Mayfield | Good | NEST Colleague | "She's got some skills, I'll give her that. Had my back enough to know she's reliable." |
Maximillian Cornell | Good | NEST Agent | "Seems like a decent guy to me. Definitely nicer than Vuhong." |
Meifeng Vuhong | Good | Affiliate | "After what she did for me, then for Cass and Reed... I owe her a lot. Guess it is a small world." |
Heartbreaker | Despised | Bitch | "After what she did with her people... I wish I'd broken more than just her hand." |

Abilities

Power Class:

Essence

Power:

Power Transfer - Quentin is capable of transferring powers between other metahumans and himself, and vice versa, allowing use of said powers for his own intentions or keeping them in ‘storage’, so to speak. In effect, he’s a literal walking bank of powers.

Limits:

First of all, Quentin’s specific powers are quite limited in their range. As he lacks the precise finesse that one generally acquires through training, he generally needs to make physical contact with someone in order to transfer their powers. It is possible for him to permanently strip someone of their powers, though the process is somewhat more taxing and requires either a severely weakened or otherwise willing subject.

Secondly, Quentin’s skill in utilising powers obtained from other metahumans can vary. Relatively simple actions such as channeling an electrical current come rather easily, whereas more complex actions such as healing a fatally wounded patient are rather difficult to perform and can often require a great deal of practice. In addition to this, extensive use of such powers can be quite taxing on a physical and mental level - particularly if he lacks skill in the use of a particular power.

Weaknesses/Drawbacks:

Incidentally, Quentin's ability to utilise his powers varies on whether or not he's undergoing the effects of fatigue. Excessive use of a replicated power is likely to make him ash out if he pushes himself too far and consequently he's quite reluctant to do so, with good reason. Aside from this, he's quite clearly vulnerable to being injured like anyone else.

Recent circumstances regarding his kidnapping have left Quentin with a series of traumatic memories stemming from being forced to assist the Hands of Science in their experimentation. The ordeal has left him with some permanent mental scars that aren't going to go away easily. This aside, any evidence of his past 'business' could prove to be his undoing should it come to light.

Other:

As a former security contractor, Quentin holds a CCW permit and is registered as owning a Glock 17.

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

---

Quentin Taylor and Lihua Vuhong.

_{@Mr Allen J}

---

Quentin had known it was coming one way or the other, getting out of that hellhole wouldn't have been an instant "get out of jail for free" ticket. NEST agents had flooded the place not too long after the one with the concrete powers had turned up and the ordeal with that... thing had left him exhausted. Everyone had been taken in for questioning and he'd been no exception, yet sooner or later something suspicious about him was bound to pop up. He hadn't told them he was a Metahuman just yet, though.

Part of him was uncertain of what awaited him, afraid. For years he'd dodged the government register, avoided having himself outed as "one of those people", partially out of fear of being labelled or placed on a list of people to be kept under tabs and partially because he was his own man, free from some kind of list. Part of him was consumed by... guilt? He'd seen things in that hellhole. Been made a part of them by those bastards. And now he was being questioned by the kind of organisation known for putting a leash on people with abilities like his, and he wasn't sure what to expect.

The door opened, and the NEST Agent who was doing the interview was Lihua Vuhong. Stepping in wearing a black pinstriped suit, with a red dressshirt that showed a bit of cleavage, and suit skirt that went down to her knees. She placed a steaming hot cup of coffee on the table in front of her, as she sat down, and crossed her legs underneath it. She looked at Quentin. Not saying a word as she reached and grabbed her cup of coffee.

"We're a little short handed at the moment, so I'm going to be questioning you about what happened...." Lihua trailed off as she took another sip of her coffee. She saw a little bit of him when she killed that monster. It didn't take a genius to note that he was apparently fighting it. But without a weapon? Quentin Taylor isn't registered with NEST, which is why they're testing his DNA. Thank God the Fiends didn't smash all the machines. However, she wasn't going to be direct. Never be direct..

"Now... I'll ask you the usual questions. What did you see down there? What did they tell you? What did they do to you? And when were you taken?"

Quentin had filled out a vague cover story for himself, one that seemed believable at that "I'd just got back home from work and realised I'd forgotten to stop by the shop to get my bike checked out, so I figured I'd get it out of the way and drop it off and call a cab home."

"... And which shop is that?" Lihua asked. Hoping to find a correlation of some sort.

"Levi's Autos," he answered, plainly as could be. Getting caught in a lie would be costlier than if he gave them a convincing explanation for why his bike had been left outside the place.

This was interesting. Lihua quickly looked up the location on her datapad, and got the location, the owner, etc... Except, the owner was recently murdered. Alec Lebedev. Quite brutally. She looked a little bit more into it and his cadaver appeared mutililated by a animal of some sort. Alec Lebedev also had plenty of crimes under his belt, and was associated with a few crime rings. Dealing arms. Which made Lihua question how close Quentin was to the group.

"...And are you aware he was murdered a few nights ago?"

"Murdered?" Quentin asked, arching an eyebrow. Even now, Quentin regretted the man's death, if only a little.

"Yes. I'll spare you the details... It wasn't pretty." Lihua turned the datapad off, and put her hands back on the table. This is something NEST will definitely have to look into. "Now, continue with your story."

"Can't remember much after that except those people - the ones running that place your people pulled us out of - they jumped me at gunpoint, dosed me with something potent. One of them was some crazy bitch, uh... I never heard a name. Other one there was that big bastard, the thing you smashed with a chunk of concrete.."

"Hmmmm...." Lihua thought for a moment. Other interogations with the scientists has brought up the woman who infiltrated the NEST Base. It was a stretch, but maybe this was the same one? She pulled the photo of Heartbreaker one of the cameras got out of her suit, and put it on the table.

"Is this the woman?" Lihua asked.

Quentin took a couple moments to match the photos to the brief glimpses he'd got of the woman whilst being held up at gunpoint, before he finally nodded, "Yeah, that's her."

Lihua pulled the picture away. Okay, she was with the Hands of Science, but who is she? The second Lihua finds out, there isn't anywhere she can hide where NEST can't find her.

"Anyway," he continued, clearly disconcerted at the notion of recalling the events that had transpired in the lab, "First thing I could remember after that was someone in a doctor's coat looming over me. It was.... surreal, I guess, like being someone's personal snuff movie. Guy had an accent that was strange, too, can't put it down.... European? I guess that's what it was, something like that."

"You're our newest asset, Quentin Taylor. You're going to be doing much work for us..." was what he'd said, and he kept his word. Quentin remembered what they'd made him do in that fucking hellhole and with every word he spoke his tone became disgusted, angry. "He knew my fucking name, of all things. Where I lived, the contractor I work for, even my fucking family!"

One thing that Lihua could understand was his anger. She had a similar anger inside of herself that they took her daughter like she was some dog on the street. She was more capable of controlling her anger, and directed it towards bringing down the organization. However, Quentin's anger only got in the way of the interview (Which meant she couldn't get as much useful information out of him).

"Simmer down. Would you like something to drink before we continue? Coffee? Water?"

Quentin stopped himself from going any further and took a deep breath. "Water would be appreciated, please." He couldn't recall the last time he'd drank something that didn't taste like the lining of the pipes leading into that cell.

Lihua raised her finger, and a NEST Agent behind the door peaked in for a moment. "Cup of water, please." The Agent closed the door, before she came back a minute later with a cup of water. Which she handed to Lihua, and Lihua handed it to Quentin. "Here you go." She said, before Quentin continued.

Finally, he began again "Look, I want to help you. I saw the things they did to people inside that place and I can't get any of it out of my head."

That's the sign of trauma, of course. Lihua thought to herself as Quentin spoke about what happened. She wished to help him only so that she could get more information out of him. She was no therapist, and didn't intend on trying to be one. She was wondering if she should show him the picture of Berlioz after... someone did work on him.

"Now..." Lihua said as she reached into her suit again. She slipped out a picture of Berlioz, taken from the morgue. A blue sheet had covered him, and covered the wounds done to his neck. However, it showed the nasty injuries to his head. "Is this the man? We've identified him as Berlioz Auxere, he was murdered by one of the escapees who we're trying to sort out."

"Yeah," Quentin answered coldly, recognising the corpse almost immediately. Seeing him dead gave him little joy, save for the relief that the bastard wouldn't be coming back to haunt him.

Now that she had her question answered, she pulled the photo back, and put it back in her suit. Personally, she was just stalling at this point for the Jarheads to come back with the test results. She already knew what happened after he escaped, she was just confirming a few things before she got to the real questions.

"Now, can you tell me how you escaped, and what happened afterwards." She asked, continuing with the story.

"Two girls found me in a cell, locked up. The one you knew, your d-," he stopped himself from getting personal out of some unspoken form of respect (Which Lihua appreciated), "The one with the water abilities broke me out. They were carrying another girl with them who was out of it, given an even stronger dose than they gave me." Meifeng said she'd been experimented on, yet Quentin had been made no part of it.

"Anyway, we headed out when the big one turned up, whilst at the other end we had these other.. things, turning up. Don't know what they were but they weren't human. One of the girls, the other one - she got attacked. It was a mess, shit.." Things had progressed so quickly, it had felt like a literal blur.

Recalling his fight with the Nemesis, he'd no idea how to explain the situation save that he'd probably been running on adrenaline at the time. "The big one attacked me, tried to smash me against the wall. Can't remember much after that, other than that you turned up and smashed it with a chunk of concrete."

Lihua was already fully aware of what happened. Though, standard for such situations, everyone had their own version of the story, and others noted things that others missed. Lihua took a sip of her coffee, and wondered if those jarheads would get finished with the test already. Things might be broken, but she couldn't continue to stall much longer.

"Understood." Lihua said, leaning forward, and wrapping her fingers around each other.

Someone walked up to the door, and started knocking on it. The Agent from before opened up the door with a hand full of papers. The Agent leaned in and whispered, "Here are the results...." and Lihua and the NEST Agent exchanged papers.

Good. This will decide whether or not this was a waste of my time. Lihua thought to herself as she raised a finger, telling Quentin, "Hold on for a moment..."

The papers showed information on Quentin, name, date of birth, residence, and that sort of information. However... there was a stamp on the bottom of the papers under the testing informative.

POSITIVE.

Half-smirking, Lihua put the papers on the table facedown, and slid them up to Quentin. "Read this, and politely explain it..." She was interested to see his reaction, and what he had to say to it.

Somehow, deep down in his gut, Quentin had seen this coming. Reading through the test papers, he wound up staring blankly at them for another minute. It was all there. Where he'd been born, his brother, his mom... even the certificates to indicate that Uncle Cass had become his legal guardian when she died... and they knew. Knew he was one of 'those' people. A Metahuman. It felt like a part of him had just disappeared in a snap. His face suggested he seemed resigned to whatever fate awaited him. Shit.

"What do you want me to explain?" He finally asked, wondering how she'd react to that.

"You aren't registered." Lihua stated blankly. "You should just come clean, and just tell me what your power is." Depending on how he answered, Lihua would have a new opportunity for him.

"And if I do? Do I even get a guarantee that I'm not going to end up in the same place as before, dragged off to some hidden facility?" He was no fool. He knew what it'd entail if he did confess.

He had a valid concern, and even if she did try to reassure him, it'd only be her word. Lihua sighed deeply. "... Do you take us for butchers like the people who took you?" She asked, blankly. "I shouldn't be telling you this early, but... we have a deal in place for you should you cooperate. A deal that should protect you, and your family, from the likes of those monsters. That is your guarantee."

"I get that in writing?" He asked again.

"We are formal, after all. I'll have that Agent get the paperwork, now." Lihua raised her finger in the air, and the NEST Agent (from behind the mirror, of course) nodded her head and grabbed the paperwork for the desk that wasn't too far away.

"You'll get your answer when it's here." He finally answered, knowing his options were limited.

It wasn't long before she came around, and handed Lihua the paper work, and a couple pens. Before she shoved it in Quentin's face, she figured that she should just say, "Verthaven's NEST branch is very short handed right now, and we're going on a bit of a "recruitment drive"...." She trailed off as she put the paperwork on the table, and slid it over to Quentin. "If you join NEST, we will keep you and your family safe. This will be preferable to jail time, if you value your freedom."

Quentin took his time to read through the paperwork, taking care to look through the smaller sections of print when they came up. It checked out, more or less. Just for good measure, he read through it again before he finally nodded, ready to sign.

She pointed at the line that said "Sign". "Just sign here." and handed him a pen.

After a moment's contemplation, he signed his name across the line. No going back now.

"You want to know what I can do?" He arched an eyebrow, before continuing "I can take other people's powers and use them." His answer was blunt and to the point.

"Power Replication....?" Lihua said, her eyes were more focused on the papers he signed. "... You'll be a great addition to NEST." She added on. Now, her job here was one. She raised her finger in the air one last time, and the NEST Agent came in.

"Quentin has accepted our offer." Lihua said to her as she got up, grabbing her cup of coffee. "I have other business to attend to."

"Oh Good." She said, facing Quentin. "If you'll come with me, I'll get you all sorted out..."

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

It's my god damn birthday today

how about that

@Mr Allen J

Happy B-Day, man.

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

I'm cool with that.

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

---

Jennifer Caspin, Meifeng Vuhong, & Quentin Taylor.

_{@ToadRopes@BurningDaisies}

---

Going with Jen's suggestion, Meifeng thought that they could slow down tall, and brooding here. She raised her hands in the air, and pointed her palms at the ground, and a jet of water came spraying out of her palm. It created a puddle of water, and she quickly knelt down, and the water turned into solid ice. The Nemesis walked on the ice, and nearly slipped. It quickly caught itself, and slammed his hand on the wall to maintain balance.

What threw it over was an operating table flying at it at high speeds. Courtesy of Ratchet. The operating table hit the Nemesis in it's head, and knocked it backwards. It created a loud slam the second it hit the ground. Ice and concrete shattered underneath it's back.

"Let's go!" Meifeng shouted, turning tail, and the rest of the girls followed her. Jen looked back, and saw the Nemesis slowly climb back up to it's feet - which prompted her to go a little faster. The group turned a corner, and Meifeng opened a door, and gestured for everyone to go inside - before entering the room herself, and closing the door behind her.

"Thank God..." Jen sighed, as she panted. Not that she was particularly tired - her regeneration cycles out the lactic acid - just scared out of her god damn mind. She took a look around the room, and saw that they weren't quite in one of the labs, or operation rooms, that seemed to be so common in this place. No... on one side of the room, there were bars, and a metal door. Like this was a prison of some sort. On this side of the room, there were cabinets, and the such.

Taking steps closer to the cell, Meifeng looked and saw that there was someone in the cell. Some older dude, had to be like in his late twenties, African-American, and had a collar on. "Hey... are you okay in there?" She asked, taking steps closer to the door. She looked down, and saw that the door had a padlock on it. She put her hands on it, and looked at it, searching for any crease or crevice for her to put water in and freeze. She was going to get this thing off, and get this guy out of here.

Setting Anna on one of the cabinets, Jennifer put her hands on Anna's shoulder to get her stable (and from falling face first). She turned her upper body around, and looked at the cell. "Be quiet, Meifeng." She warned her friend. "We don't know when that thing will come back around."

The cell's occupant stirred from his deep thought, glancing towards the door. It took a moment for him to realise he wasn't alone, prompting him to tense up in a defensive posture. Initially, he didn't answer the voice, instead analyzing the face staring at him through the gap above the cell-door. He glared at her contemptously for just a moment, before realising she was skulking around, unlike whoever'd seen him before.

"Who're you?" He asked reticently.

"Alright, I'm Meifeng Vuhong," Meifeng started off, pulling water out of her pocket dimension, and covering the padlock in water. Forcing as much of the water inside of it as she could. "Back there is Ratchet, blondie is Jennifer, and she's holding up my other friend, Anna. We've been captured too, but we managed to break out. I think their collars were broken, or something, I don't know." Meifeng said as she did her work.

Skeptical, the prisoner pushed both palms into his knees to stand, approaching the doorway cautiously. "These things?" He scratched at the metallic surface of the collar around his neck "If you can get it off, I'll take it as proof you're not fucking with me" he cynically added, approaching

"Yeah, alright." Meifeng didn't know what this guy's problem was - his attitude was a bit unnecessary - but if it was to get his trust, then she'll gladly do it. She kept fiddling with the padlock for a bit, before closing her eyes, and focusing. The water inside the lock snapfroze, and expanded. Breaking the lock open. The lock dropped to the floor, and Meifeng slowly opened the door to his cell. She nodded and he approached.

"Trust me." Meifeng said.

She summoned some more water out of her pocket dimension, and forced it into crease where the collar opens. She froze that water, too, and the water froze solid. Popping the collar right off. She nodded her head. She felt very dry... thirsty. God, the dehydration's kicking in. Meifeng thought to herself as she put a hand to her head, and took a step back.

"I got it off... do you trust us, now? W-we're just trying to get out of here." Meifeng said.

"Yeah, appreciated. You people, you're all.... powered, right? That's what all those fuckers are after, I think." Taking that collar off gave him the look of a man who'd just surfaced after almost drowning.

"Far as I can tell, I'm the only one here with a power." Meifeng said, grabbing onto her arm. She looked around for a moment, hoping to find a source of water. "I don't know why they'd grab some unpowered people."

Should I...? Jennifer thought to herself for a moment. Since, she never told Meifeng that she had a power of her own, and probably doesn't know that Ratchet has an ability, either. Then again, maybe she should keep it to herself for now. Don't ask, don't tell. Another part of her wanted to mention what she was told a few hours ago.

"Um, hold on a second." Meifeng eyeballed a sink. She quickly skipped over to it, and leaned forward over it, and turned the knob. She turned her head sideways, and started drinking water right out of the tap. The water tasted like it rust in it and the stranger suggested she avoid it, but she didn't care. She'd need to get rehydrated before the next monster comes out of no where to attack them.

Which meant that Jennifer would be the one talking while Meifeng was getting a dink. She coughed, before saying, "We're trying to get out of here. We were trying to spring as many people as possible so we can get some help... but we ran into some big thing. He had a helmet, and a coat, looked evil as hell... Meifeng and Ratchet knocked him over before we ran in here."

"That fucker?" He recognised their description of that... thing. "You'll need some firepower. What other powers have you people got?"

Meifeng raised her head... she probably caught something from the water - but hey, she's at risk of being murdered, why worry about a little bacteria? She turned back towards Quentin, and leaned up against the cabinet she closed her eyes, and shrugged. "As you can see, I can control water. The docs at NEST told me that I have a little pocket dimension that I can store water in, and I can pull it out at any time. I also have ice powers, but they're not that spectacular." She shrugged again.

Maybe it was time for Jen to say her power. "I'm... I'm a Regenerator." She said letting the words hang in the air.

"Yoooo, you didn-" Meifeng tried to say, before she got cut off by Jen.

"I know... I was just scared of the likes of the Pure, and NEST.... that's why I didn't tell you." She scratched the back of her neck nervously. "I haven't really tested it yet... but I can survive lethal wounds. I was... shot multiple times, and I healed it in a few minutes.... I know it won't help in a fight."

Meifeng would have been a little upset that Jen was giving her so much flak about hiding her power, when she was hiding an ability of her own, but she couldn't find it in her to get mad over the petty things. At least not now. Meifeng sighed. She figured that she should tell about Anna... since she doubted if she could talk on her own. Poor thing.

"My friend Anna over there is a little... out of it," And that was the understatement of the year. "She... might be a Metahuman. We talked about it, and she has something to do with other Metahumans. Like, she enhances them? I don't know."

"They experiment on her as well? I don't recognise her."

"I..." Meifeng said, unsure of what to say. She shot a worried look at Anna. "... don't know. She's been badly drugged. I hope she's... okay."

"They dosed me with that stuff, wasn't as potent though," It didn't look like he wanted to memorise the experience, "Just... these bastards have a lot to answer for. Things they did to... yeah."

"You're damn right." Meifeng said. She raised her fist valiantly to chin level. "And I promised I'll make every one of these bastards pay for what they did to Anna, and every other person here."

"Ummm..." Jennifer asked, after Meifeng heroicness ceased. "You're a Metahuman, right?" She pointed at the collar that was left behind. "What is your power? They wouldn't have put a collar on you otherwise."

"I can pick up other... MetaHumans' powers and use them myself... or give them to others."

"So... you can..." Jennifer thought to herself outloud. "... Take people's powers away, and give them to other people? That's..."Useful. Maybe I can get my powers removed so I can live a normal life. Without any of this nonsense. Jennifer thought to herself after cutting her sentence short. She disregarded those thoughts, since she should be focusing on staying alive. Her power might be the only thing that'll save her.

"Maybe you could snatch that big bastard's power, and beat him?" Meifeng suggested, shrugging again. "Because I don't have too many other ideas. He kept getting back up."

"If I can get in close enough, it's possible."

"Well, we knocked him on his ass a few minutes ago." Meifeng noted, shrugging. "Nothing says we can't do it again."

Verthaven: A Bloody Paradise [Completed]

Two questions. One, would Quentin be held captive within close-ish (speaking) proximity to the others? Two, would a character comprised of liquid metal/a similar material ala the T-1000 from Tw be considered too far, given the right backstory? Idea popped into my head.