[CYOA] Capes and Crawlers:Re [OoC]

[Master of Squirrel-fu]

Protectorate Dallas - Indepth

Spoiler: Minerva

Minerva - Born Elizabeth Rikki, Minerva is a veteran cape and current leader of the Dallas Protectorate. She is a tall woman of Mediterranean decent in her mid 30s, though she has aged gracefully. Her features are rather strong, handsome even, with medium length curly black hair and grey eyes. Her costume is Greek in appearance, reminiscent of the Legionnaire armor, complete with a mirror like shield and gladius. Her mask is a stylized diadem mask combination.

Minerva has the ability to move at light speed in a single direction, during this movement she is made of light and completely invulnerable, able to move through transparent objects and be reflected off shiny surfaces. She has to remain moving at full speed during this state and can only exit it by contacting an object she cannot pass through. When she makes contact she can control her momentum, though due to being made of flesh once again there is an upper limit her power allows to prevent self injury. While moving she is able to adjust her position as she wants, landing in different poses or in the middle of an action, this is often used to catch herself at the end of a "jump" to allow her to stop herself without having to impact a wall. She also has a secondary sensory power that grants her the ability to see clearly regardless of distance.

Minerva the leader of the Dallas Protectorate team. She's a serious and hardworking hero, a woman of few words in or out of uniform. She often prefers to use short or clipped replies that usually do not stretch more than a handful of words, or simply stays silent if she feels she doesn't need to speak. She is very direct, and while she is aware of tact she often does tend to have her intentions misunderstood due to her tone and naturally sharp expression.

Minerva is the second most experienced member of the team after Mouse Protector, and the two often share responsibilities and power as leader even if Minerva is the official captain. The two often contrast each other, Minerva the more serious and stalwart hero and Mouse Protector being the more affable and approachable variety. The two often act in sync, having a good understanding of the other, and while the they do often split up to have leaders on multiple teams the two make a devastating combination.

Minerva is rather earnest in her ideals regarding justice and selflessness, her views on such when summarized can often be confused with being foolish in their simplicity, or too idealistic. Everyone is deserving of a chance and trust, and that it is the duty of one with the ability to do so to help others. She is an advocate of reform programs, and believes that real good is the prevention of crime rather than the punishment of a criminal. She does not hold grudges nor judge one for the crimes they committed, though will prevent said crimes if needed. Despite this she is extremely pragmatic and acts without hesitation, where others may freeze from moral conflict or personal attachment she is capable of ignoring such things to complete her goals.

Spoiler: Mouse Protector

Mouse Protector - Maevis "Minnie-Mae" Travis. The second in command of the Dallas Protectorate. She is an incredibly short and petite woman, barely reaching 155cm. Despite being older than Minerva at 36 appears young enough to pass for the woman's daughter. Maevis, or Minnie as she's more often called, is a petite woman of fair skin and very drab short and light brown hair, her face is heart-shaped with brown eyes and a rather prominent front teeth and a wide mouth, often being called mousy when described. Her costume has changed many times over the years, often consisting of either armor or stylized casual cloths. The current rendition was fitted more to the theme of her partner, consisting of a a simple leather vest and skirt over a cotton shirt and pants as well as a pithy broad-brimmed hat which has mouse ears on them. She also carries a sword and shield like Minerva however they are a buckler and estoc combo.

Mouse Protector's power is very diverse, a grab bag of various extras centered around her most well known one, teleportation. She is capable of teleporting near anything she has touched and "marked" in the last day and within about a mile. She is also able to track those that she has marked as well. In addition to this ability she also has increased dexterity, stamina, and agility. The combination of these ability leads to a cape who can constantly harass her who cannot escape.

Mouse Protector is the second in command of the Dallas Protectorate, after Minerva. This is despite of her longer career as a cape and her being one of the original Wards, though Mouse Protector has no arguments against the decision. The two often split the responsibility, usually taking charge of separate teams while on the field. Mouse Protector, or rather Minnie, is a very cheerful person with a great "Joie de vivre." She's very playful and joking at all times with little care and often can be very crude and childish. She cares greatly for her younger sister, Jerri, who is in the wards.

As a member of the original wards team, and thus one of the most experienced Heroes around, Mouse Protector has a lot of contacts and friends among the Protectorate through various bases. Even after she had gone independent once graduating from the Wards she had kept in contact with her friends, most notably Miss Militia and Chevalier whom she insists are the perfect couple.She is a braggart when it comes to her past, and very obviously embellishes her stories. She was independent during the mid 90s to mid 2000s, only rejoining the Protectorate after learning her younger sister was one of the Wards and wanting to be closer to her.

Minnie dotes very heavily on your younger half-sister Jerri, looking to make up for lost time as she very rarely interacted with her due to previously living and working in Illinois where she was born while her mother had moved to Texas when she she was pregnant with Jerri. Minnie tries to act like a good role model, and preens under the adoration her sister gives her, though finds the younger girl far to straitlaced. A lot of effort is spent trying to get the girl to act more rebelliously or improper which often fails.

Her sense of morality is strong, a tried and true hero. However she's not one for rules and regulations, a big reason for her going independent. She considers the law very much secondary to the health and happiness of the people and is willing to overlook victimless crimes when she can. She rather ironically has a fascination with snakes, keeping one as a pet.

Spoiler: Pluto Starblast

Pluto Starblast, real name Jack Bastian, is the tinker of the Dallas Protectorate. He is a rather normal looking man, short black hair, brown eyes, and wearing glasses having nothing in the way of distinguishing features. His costume is a rather bulky and retro looking armored space suit. Pluto has themed his tech around very old interpretations of the Future.

Starblast is a Tinker who's specialization is rather unclear. All his creations tend to be rather haphazard and clumsy, some incredibly inefficient, and a few simply falling apart soon after being built. However where his craftsmanship on the mechanical level may be shoddy the components he's able to build are incredibly resilient, requiring little to no repair unless damaged and the materials often being very sturdy as well. The way he's able to build his machines, being so simple also leads to the benefit of requiring no Tinker supervision for most people to be able to make repairs to his devices when they break down, as it is usually a matter of reattaching wires or replacing simple mechanical parts that have come loose.

Pluto is a jolly, if shy fellow. He has a hard time dealing with people and often speaks softly with a stutter and built his suit with a means to compensate, the voice coming out clear, strong, and masculine as well as completely hiding his face and body language. This leads to two very different seeming personalities when in and out of costume, one of a strong and powerful hero and the other of an awkward and well meaning but forgettable everyman.

Pluto doesn't take too many patrols, often only doing the minimum outings needed and spending most of his time Tinkering in his lab. This is generally allowed as he is one of the few suppliers of reliable tinker equipment the PRT has access to. As such he's rarely seen around the base. He has an assistant that is often seen with him, Juniper, who is studying for a degree in engineering and acts as his intern.

Spoiler: Mr Smith

Mr. Smith, Hercules Rockefeller out of costume, is one of the odder members of the Dallas Protectorate. He's a rugged older man in his 60s with a sharp beard and distinguishing scar covering the right half of his face. He also has a well trimmed mustache and his hair is starting to grey. He is well built but not overly bulky.

Mr. Smith is a somewhat controversial figure due to his powers, or rather his apparent lack of powers. He is extremely fit and coordinated though not appearing to be beyond the abilities a human can achieve with dedicated training. Physically he's about as fit and athletic as a person can be expected to reach through training alone. He has shown no incredible insight or mental abilities even if he's not a genius he has perfectible intellect. Yet despite his comparatively mundane nature he is able to match, and even in some cases outperform his clearly empowered peers.

Smith is a rather grandfatherly type of man when off the clock, and generally a bit goofy. However he is a retired soldier, well decorated as well, and is very disciplined and expects similar professionalism from his peers. He's considered one of the more popular members of the team after Mouse Protector.

Smith is a very well known figure, even outside of Dallas. There are endless debates over his status as a cape and what it means that a normal human can be seen to stand shoulder to shoulder with them. He has a well documented "Achievement List" online of all his most notable actions. It archives many things, to his debut as a hero when he was able to box a robot to death and even extends into past actions such as news clippings regarding a story of him wrestling a bear into unconsciousness to save a child before scions appearance.

Spoiler: White Pantera

White Pantera, hero by night and single father Rodolfo Rivera by day, White Pantera is a Mexican hero who immigrated to Texas for personal reasons. He's a man in his 40s, rugged and handsome. His costume consists of a white suit combined with a red and gold Luchador mask.

White Pantere's abilities are those of a simple brute and mover, tough, fast, and well coordinated. However the majority of his strength is focused in his legs. The difference is great enough that while he is unable to lift more than a couple hundred pounds easily he was able to destroy an armored vehicle with a single kick.

White Pantera is a divorcee, having custody of his son and works as a hero to support them both. He a very moral and upstanding citizen, being the only other member of the team besides Mighty Mouse who fully believes in classical golden age interpretations of heroism and justice. He does not lie, he upholds all the laws gladly, and happily embraces helping others. He tries his best to bond with his son, though the two often do have some friction due to Manny's rebellious nature.

Born in Mexico prior to the introduction of heroes White Pantera recalls fondly the days before open villains were able to control cities and the government. He was the son of an established cartel boss, who then became a villain upon gaining powers. He did not know of his father's business at the time but slowly grew to understand it. He eventually gained powers in his teens and became a Hero of Mexico City and trying to keep the city safe, both from the cartels and from the government they eventually seized control of. His father eventually retired, and despite his normal moral obligations he did end up building back up their broken relationship and even naming him as Manny's Godfather.

White Pantera moved from Mexico after learning of his son being a parahuman, something of a villain or at least a delinquent. Fearing for the boy's safety as well as his moral compass he took his son and moved them to Texas, believing the more stable environment as well as distance from the rest of White Pantera's family would keep him both safe and on the road to being a Hero.

 

[Master of Squirrel-fu]

Mighty Mouse - Leader of the local Wards team, Jerri Travis of Dallas and despite being a Ward is one of the most experienced capes in the city, having an 8 year long career at the age of 19. She is a mousy young girl of short stature and petite build coming in at about 160 cm. She has freckles on her face and light brown hair she dyes gray while in costume. Her outfit consists of a Victorian style tweed jacket and pants with a capelet and dear stalker hat with attached mouse ears. It should be noted that her round face, husky voice and petite build confuse some of her actual gender despite her making no denial of being a girl.

Jerri's ability is a type of teleportation that works by bending space around her to propel herself forward as a sort of alcubierre drive.Providing there is contiguous open space between herself and her target she could reasonably squeeze through in ideal circumstances she can appear between locations over a mile apart in a single step. She is also able to bring along passengers and items however the distance shortens significantly based on the increased mass. Using this ability she is also able to pick up large and heavy objects by warping the space around them to make them move so long as she is in constant contact. Due to the nature of her Mover ability Jerri has to physically transverse the location between two points and thus can theoretically be interrupted before reaching her destination.

Mighty Mouse, even before becoming a Parahuman was a gifted girl, and despite her increased abilities she remains capable even without them. Her most prominent skill is her incredible aptitude for investigation and deduction. Her mystery solving ability being enough that internal files tag her as an Thinker, albeit without a rank. She is both capable of cold deduction as well as reading peoples intentions and thoughts from their unconscious actions. Often she's called in on investigations to assist in determining the facts.

Jerri Travis is the younger sister of Maevis "Minnie-Mae" Travis, better known as mouse Protector. Jerri is an energetic and boisterous person who often acts in a larger than life manner in costume, and generally friendly and outgoing outside of it. Despite her silly antics she's incredibly perceptive and often hides subtle signals and actions behind her flamboyance. Because of both her gregariousness and her intelligence she was pointed as the leader of her Wards team over her more experienced if younger teammate Cheshire.

From a young age, having idolized her sister whom she believed was a PRT agent at the time, Jerri had a love of Heroes and cape culture. And from this her enjoyment of mysteries and detective work grew. Having a natural talent for investigation and wanting to be closer to her sister she considered faking being a cape, claiming Thinker status. The likeliness of this working would not be answered as she eventually triggered as a Mover before attempting it.

As a hero and the leader of the wards Jerri does her best to act as a good example of what a hero should be. She has an idealized image of hero in her head, being someone who inspires others to act and uphold justice and low by their own actions. Despite her fun-loving attitude she is a stickler for the rules, especially those concerning capes. Because of this she often acts like a mother hen and tends to pressure her subordinates to act appropriately. She firmly believes in the system, and while she can see it has it's faults shes convinced it is the best option and ultimately a force for good.

Relationships:

• Mouse Protector: Jerri's older half sister, the two were raised separately and Jerri was unaware of her sister's career until shortly after joining the Wards and Mouse Protector moving to Dallas and rejoining the Protectorate. The two are very close despite living separately and it was Maevis who inspired Jerri to be a hero. Jerri idolizes her sister.
• Cheshire: Alice Margas, being Dallas's longest serving Ward is the closest person to Jerri who has had a similarly long career. Having known each other for nearly 8 years the two have formed a very strong friendship in spite of their their age difference and drastically different world views. The catalyst of this being an incident in Jerri's early career where she was captured by a villain, having been abandoned by one of the then Wards who fled without her on orders that Jerri disobeyed at the time. Cheshire, despite their antagonistic start had willingly remained behind and risked herself to remain with her and break her out once the villain was distracted. When Jerri had asked why Cheshire had replied with "Trust" that despite their differences that in any situations Jerri can trust someone will have her back. The two were close every since, to the point that there is some speculation on nature of their relationship.
• Artemis: Jerri often has to act as a mediator and exercise more of her authority with her prideful teammate Artemis and her more aggressive tendencies. The two are capable of being professional though often but heads pretty heavily. Most recently Jerri has objected to the other girl's recent choice of company, a local Anti-hero with a history of overly vicious take downs who is believed to not be entirely stable.
• Siege: The youngest member of the group whom often causes Jerri no end of headaches dealing with their antics. Despite their troublesome nature the two are friendly and playfully banter with Jerri occasionally humoring Siege's flirting. Jerri acts as a sort of big sister to the troubled child and generally tries her best to help them get along with people despite their normally aggravating behavior. She has succeeded to some degree as unlike most other teams Siege has been a part of the group hasn't demanded the child be transferred nor has Siege requested the same.
• Flicker: The newest member and one who seems to most often act up even they're able to get along. Flicker's need to prove herself and show her maturity often leads to insubordination at the worst times and many times she reacts very negatively to the older girl's protective and somewhat busybody nature seeing it as patronizing and even getting annoyed with her more childish moments at how someone older than her and is leader could intentionally do things like get her face painted or wear bunny pajamas.
• Anima: A vigilante who started just before herself, he's often hanging around both her and Cheshire with them most often being a trio. The three are close enough to socialize outside of their costumes. Jerri, as the oldest, often tries to be the one giving the worldly advice to both though occasionally has to get a reality check by the two more experienced capes. However where she has the most experience to meddle is in matters of Love, at least in her opinion even when confronted with the fact that none of the three has ever so much as gone on a date. She enjoys meddling Anima's messed up love life, most often doing her best to steer the boy towards Cheshire even as she teases him for strange situations he finds himself in. She usually seeks Anima's advice for a neutral point of view compared to her optimism and Cheshire's pessimism and he often goes to her for advice for social maters.
• Renard: Anima's Case 53 partner who lives in his apartment. Despite the common belief Renard is in fact female. The two, despite meeting often for numerous years aren't very close. There is no bad blood, and both considers the other in a positive light there was simply nothing to click together the two simply finding the other's thought process too alien. In Jerri's case she often has trouble reading Renard who is not simply just serious but has trouble understanding concepts like humor and teasing which led to quite a few misunderstandings and unfortunate events when one acts towards the other without thinking.
• Yuusha: The de facto leader of the other main hero team she often interacts with. The twos' interaction often ends up with Jerri getting under the other girl's skin, many times intentionally, and getting very aggressive. Jerri hopes to worm her way into Yuusha's guard and get her to open up while Yuusha has a problem with authority figures and has a short temper. Usually there's a lot of one sided bickering and teasing. Thankfully there's not real bad blood between the two as the Wards are often able to cooperate with Co-Op both in training and on the field.
• Redstreak: The interaction between the two is very confrontational. they have such incompatible world views and methodologies that they often butt heads just after exchanging greetings. Where Jerri sees heroism as a means to help people Redstreak sees heroism as the means to punish the wicked. Redstreak is one of the few people Jerri not only dislikes interacting with but often attempts to avoid. She discourages Artemis' interactions with the vigilante though doesn't actively forbid it. She often butchers the blood controlling cape's name as a petty way to nettle her or Artemis. However despite their negative opinions and interactions Jerri doesn't consider her an enemy so much as a very unpleasant acquaintance.

Trivia

• Despite being relatives and similar in both builds and theme most of the public don't believe Mighty Mouse and Mouse Protector are related, instead thinking that Jerri was one of many young children who were a fan of hers and after becoming a cape was lucky enough to meet her. The most commonly used "proof" is that that Mouse Protector was only ever active in Chicago or the northwest prior to Jerri's debut and never had any ties to Texas.
• Jerri originally wanted to be called the Mouse Detective, however the name was under trademark from Aleph's Disney whom had managed to subsume their lesser Earth Bet counterpart and extend their copyrights interdemensionally. She had gone with Mighty Mouse, which while still under trademark by CBS they were willing to license the name to the Protectorate for use.
• Jerri had triggered during a home invasion that occurred shortly after a holiday visit with her family in Chicago.
• The ears and tail Jerri has as part of her costume are capable of moving and feeling and the ears are able to hear. They were specially made augments provided by a local tinker rogue that often works with the Protectorate, said rogue had provided the devices free of charge stating they would be great publicity and for all the jobs she'd been given already.
• Jerri was born November 11th 1991 and her blood type is B.

 

[Master of Squirrel-fu]

World Building - The Japanese Islands

In the wake of parahuman's Japan's culture underwent various radical shifts in very short and rapid bursts. The two major categories are often divided into before and after Kyushuu's sinking in November of 1999, though most often the division date is listed simply as being in 2000 both for ease of reference as well as being nearly all the post Leviathan shifts began. Of note is that there are a number of different names given to the event due to the social fracturing caused by the disaster. Names include: Impact, Lost Christmas, The Fall, and The Great Sink.

Pre-Impact Japan
At the start of the 1980s Japan was still in the middle of the Economic Miracle, with a steadily rising economy despite recent downturns. The two drastic increases in oil prices occurring so close together shook them though was something that could be weathered as the nation started to shift it's interests away from oil costly productions and more towards technology focused programs. It was during this pivotal time that Parahumans entered the scene. With the official disclosure of Parahumans occurring in 1987 the initial waves that were created were subtle but not minor, laying foundations for what was to come. During this time Parahuman's actions were in the shadows or often dismissed publicly even if in small communities there existed those who witnessed such first hand, in an era before wide spread surveillance even in the urban areas recounting such things often ended up only having word of mouth as proof. Beginning parahumans in japan were influenced by the media at the time and during their youths, and being the first few had any idea what was in store seeking any source of information even in the realms of fiction.

The first Parahumans, born before such things as Magical Girls and Sentai could really be popularized or codified, often acted on their own and forming small teams of like similar individuals. Popular media for the youth of the time painted a grim look of modern society, the more idealistic alternatives more often taking place in fantastical settings or not featuring empowered individuals, causing the majority to use caution. Villains of course were more obvious, uncaring, and so conflicts often times ventured into more observed areas until such time that it was quietly accepted that Parahumans existed even if such events were often played down or dismissed by media outlets as such things violated the "common sense" of a world that up until them had already dismissed such fantastical things. The first parahumans were ill prepared, often going out clad in thrown together outfits or striking fashions with their identities usually protected simply due to the sheer population and lack of omnipresent threat of recording devices that exists in the present. This in turn influenced media of the time, jumpstarting the Magical Girl genre's growth though changing it drastically from how it evolved on Aleph. During this time things were relatively peaceful though this would not last long.

Towards the middle of the 80's, after the Plaza Accord was signed and the economy started it's down turn, things began to change. Parahumans were out in the open and acted as vigilante's as they'd always had but faced government resistance as well as that by Yakuza and other criminals who did not like their existence. The Era of the lone hero was over, as most were found and arrested by the police or killed by the Yakuza. At the same time there was a large increase in parahuman crime as the economy started to collapse earlier than on Aleph. Many parahumans were snatched up by the government, pressured or enticed into joining the side of the law and so began the era of Sentai heroes, teams of uniformed masked parahuman police forces that acted not simply as guardians against villains but also to act in various emergencies as needed. It was considered to be the Golden Age of japans parahuman scene even if it was generally a bloodier one that managed to persist only slightly better than the nation itself as it soon found itself in an economic depression.

With the Sentai era underway the earlier acceptance of lone parahumans waned, most seen as a nuisance and tolerance for them only declined over time. A combination of the increase in more selfish or villainous parahumans, the lack of culpability for their actions, and the existence of a better alternative spelled their end towards the beginning of the 90s, with their vigilantism no longer being so handily tolerated forcing them back into the shadows. However the Sentai began to face their own problems as the depression affected their funding which drastically cut their effectiveness and the publics patience was being tried, stretched thin from various factors. Schisms formed and alternatives were created, sponsored Heroes started to make the scene towards the end of the 90s. These groups began to draw attention from the Sentai teams of the government lowering their funding more, but these new groups also had to compete with a resurgence of the lone hero in a new form of Idol Heroes, popular individuals whom ended up sponsoring their own heroics and often subsidized by fans or the area that had adopted them.

This came to an abrupt end soon after after Leviathan's attack.

Post Impact Japan
In the immediate aftermath of the Endbringer attack a large percentage of Japans population was lost, a substantially larger percentage of their parahumans among those casualties. The nation was broken, dying, and abandoned by the international community as a lost cause. While aid was given it often came at a heavy price, parahuman hunting from China or powerful political favor from the united states. This bred a heavily nationalistic lean in the population who were not blind to this. Parahumans roamed about in the devastated land, the laws of civility lost as everyone had to fend for themselves to survive and once beloved heroes often becoming ruthless dictators of small fiefdoms in the ruins of the cities they previously protected. It is often said that the aftermath cost more than twice the lives as the initial collapse did, and is colloquially called "The Red Year" due to the amount of blood that was shed, and is the first year of the Lost Decade during which Japan tried and nearly failed to piece itself back together.

Many events occurred during the Red Year that would set the stage for the future tragedies to come; The rise of Black Kaze and the disappearance of Masamune which marked inglorious end of the Sentai heroes as the last two Members (Black and Silver) of the Sentai Elite were seen as traitors for their actions in the wake of the cataclysm. The Island Nation of Yamatai was formed in the ruins of Kyushuu and soon collapsed causing many powerful parahumans groups to wander the ruined nation. Black Alice's first recorded sighting in the ruins of Old Tokyo which caused the death of thousands of the survivors in in a scant few days. The CUI were allowed to hunt the nation for parahumans both for national aid and to stop the widespread parahuman subjugation of the unpowered populace. Rumored resurgences in Youkai as small settlements vanished into the night or monstrous creatures being seen wandering about the ruined landscape. And the ghost fleet that began to circle the nation further discouraging trade and disrupting international aid especially from the CUI. This rapid fire of horrid disasters, all caused by parahumans bred an incredible animosity in the majority of the populace that only grew over time. The fiscal and political abuses by foreign powers bred similar hatred for the rest of the world as well.

Towards the middle of the 2000s things began to settle, 4 great powers emerging from the dust. To the South in Kyushuu Chugoku and Shikoku was Makai, the area controlled by Black Alice and devoid of human life and inhabited by monstrous shadow demons that devour any who enter. To the north in Hokkaido was New Yamatai and home to the Tenkai which is lead by a cape called Amaterasu who was a monstrously powerful shaker and revered as living Goddess, while the nation accepts those seeking asylum few are allowed to leave. In the West is The Greater Republic of Japan occupying much of more intact urban areas and technically is considered to own the entirety of the island though isn't able to enforce such in practice, they are military dictatorship and are ultra-nationalists. The rest of the nation, while considered under the control of The Japanese Republic is mostly just uncontested lawless territories where those who live would need to fend for themselves which lead to to the fourth party; The Ruin Kings. Rather than a unified power the title is simply given to Parahumans who have claimed some community or another as their own and act as individual micro-nations under the powers and sole authority and protection of the parahuman leadership.

Over the course of the decade Japan had closed itself off from the world as it tried to rebuild itself, rejecting the aid of foreign nations as it became a more obvious poison and the peoples patience finally ended. The new nation, the Republic, cut all ties with outside nations and became isolationists. The public's hatred for parahumans lead to a convenient partnership with the CUI as many were captured and sold to china or placed in a similar program for the Republic. Only Tinkers and Thinkers were considered "safe", a class of parahuman the people could tolerate enough for the government to make use of. This, along with the remaining technology of Masamune lead to a stronger technological base for the military, combined with other technological advancements from Tinkers lead to the creation of the FRAME (Fast Response Armored Mobile Exoskeleton), GEAR (Ground Effective Armored Reinforcements), and SLAVE (Standing Locomotion Autonomous Vehicle) systems which were extremely mobile and effective war machines. Giant mechs of varying size, shape, and effectiveness.

Parahumans of note:
Amaterasu - The Strongest Shaker. The specifics of her shaker effect are mystery, what is known it covers the whole of her territory which is the island of Hokkaido, the closer one ventures the heart of it the more control she has, effectively becoming godlike withing a few miles of the center of it.
Black Alice - A parahuman who can both warp the area around her into a nightmarish hell scape and summon shadowy intangible monsters that pray on humans.
Ho'oh Satsuki - One of the Shinten'oh. A powerful Pyrokinetic trump, able to alter her fire to achieve a variety of effects that borders on magical.
Kageri Kurona - One of the Shinten'oh. A Shaker Brute with control over a shadowlike substance capable of self enhancement, said shadow is alive.
Queen Azami - One of the Shinten'oh. A Blaster/Striker/Trump able to copy attacks that have struck her, some effects are altered to be striker or blaster.
Yakura Ranka - One of the Shinten'oh. A Trump Brute, Incredibly strong, tough, and able to bypass or nullify other powers on contact.

 

[Master of Squirrel-fu]

Spoiler: Image

Name: Aiowenobe Hjoltlhi (Eye-oh-wen-oh-bee Hee-yoht-lee)​
Alias: Gremlynn
Affiliations: Hero - Fort Worth Wards
Threat Rank: D+
Class: Stranger 4; Striker 2; Tinker 5
Powers: A Grab-bag Case 53, the main power is a combination of several Specialized Tinker abilities. One is an intrinsic and instinctive knowledge of Technology without a limiting specialization but lacks the ability to create devices herself. The second is the ability to connect to electronics or other suitably complicated technology and communicate with them while in contact with them, and lastly the ability to instantly take control of any electronic she has touched. Her other powers are purely physical or skillful, her body being incredibly strong and agile for her size. She has a prehensile tail, claws, sharp teeth, and horns as a means of enhancing her combative abilities. She can mimic sounds she hears near perfectly and is able to easily evade notice even from capes with enhanced senses.
Summary: A young street urchin Case 53. She spent over 5 years wandering both the wilds and the inner city streets before she was taken in by the Protectorate. She's was almost entirely feral when discovered, though in the past 2 years she advanced quite a bit, even if she is still very wild. Prior to joining the Wards she spent time with her partner cape Young Blood, the two are inseparable even after joining the Wards and often patrol together. This is both a concession and a matter of convenience as Gremlynn is unable to properly communicate, a complication brought on by both her severe lack of education and the inhuman shape of her teeth and tongue, while capable of speaking without resorting to her vocal mimicry it is often slurred or hissed and more often then not she communicates by gestures and chirps. The girl tends to be fairly simple, almost animal-like in her intentions and thought process. She has a weakness for food and physical affection from her teammates and can often be bribed with either, similarly she is easily tricked and has trouble even with basic problem solving when under stress.

 

[Master of Squirrel-fu]

Spoiler: Image

Name: Unknown
Alias: Young Blood
Affiliations: Hero - Fort Worth Wards
Threat Rank: D
Class: Brute 3, Thinker 3, Stranger 3
Powers: A very low grade brute, the power specializes in enhanced senses and his ability to avoid detection. There is a minor calming effect on animals, the cape is able to instinctively understand their intentions.
Summary: A young cape who grew up alongside Gremlynn on the streets and cares for the girl deeply, the two often being inseparable. He is heavily scared and wears a tribal style mask and armor with his skin painted gray or brown. Young Blood, despite his name and appearance is a very calm, intelligent, and a kind child who does not enjoy violence. Despite his expertise in hunting he does not enjoy the act beyond the challenge of catching an animal and dislikes the need to kill them for food. However his power had altered his physiology slightly, altering his dietary requirements to be purely carnivore. The boy is mute, only able to grunt though makes strange clicking or croaking sounds at times.

 

[Master of Squirrel-fu]

Name: Sangrea Perez
Alias: Selene
Affiliations: Hero - Dallas Wards
Threat Rank: B
Class: Master 8, Stranger 6
Powers: Selene has the ability to incite temporary bouts of insanity in anyone who locks eyes with her. This ability can be directed or manipulated to allow her to have some level of control over her victims or alter their perceptions and memories. Notable uses include hiding her presence, causing groups of people to erupt into a violent rage, and convincing someone they were their dead child. However despite this control she cannot turn her power off, any eye contact will always cause loss of sanity and hypnotism to occur in the victim that grows with exposure.
Summary: A meek young girl who was often bullied. She triggered with a tremendously powerful ability during one of these incidents causing a large crowd of people to engage in a riot, killing several of her bullies and civilians and further injuring herself in the chaos. She is a loner and prefers to observe things instead of act, due to the constant use of her abilities even her teammates often forget about her existence. Because her strongest abilities require eye contact and can be triggered unintentionally she often wears a thick pair of specially treated glasses to prevent accidents.

Selene is a rather strange and creepy girl, even her appearance is unsettling with unnaturally white skin, pale blonde hair, and red eyes. She has a strange fascination with horror, mythology, death, and knives. She is often paired up with Cheshire with the duo being called "The Creeper Couple" (or Creepershipping for those into that sort of thing.)

Her costume consists of a normal suit and skirt combo with a pure white mask that is capable of allowing her see through it and trigger her powers. She also has a pair of Rabbit ear shaped headphones.