Calcya ;; Anti-Hero

[KANE]

TARYN CUTHBERT FERN

an empty stage
with nothing but this girl
who's singing this simple melody
and wearing her heart on her sleeve
and right now...

"Sticks and stones will not break my bones."

THE BASICS;;
NAME: Taryn Fern
AGE: Sixteen years
SEX: Female
CODENAME: Calcya (pronounced kal-see-uh)
ALIASES: --
AFFILIATION: Anti-Hero
STATUS: Keeping Jump City clean and one eye on the Titans.
CANON: No
PLAYBY: Liselotte Werckmeister from 11Eyes



THE GOOD STUFF;;

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:

The most noticeable feature of the sixteen-year old is definitely her hair. Though she doesn't have it colored something unearthly, the color white on this teenager makes Calcya stand out in the crowd. Her bone-white hair falls to her waist, and is rarely tied back, generally when she doesn't want it to get in the way of things. Her bangs are cut in a way to keep the longest portion between her eyes, and the slightly shorter sides about the length of her eyebrow. Framing her face are two long locks of hair that she keeps over the front of her shoulders. When she fights, her hair (save for her bangs) is often pulled back in a high ponytail.

Standing at five-feet-eight-inches tall, Calcya is slightly above average height for a girl, though rather shocking weight, weighing in at about one-hundred-eighty-three pounds (she passes for about fourty pounds lighter, though, and this is later explained). Her skin is relatively pale, and the only distinct color on her besides what she chooses to wear are her eyes. That being said, Calcya is generally dressed in a pair of loose, dark blue denim jeans that have horizontal slits in the knees and decent-sized pockets, nothing skimpy like in normal girls' pants, but like a boys. For a top she generally wears a gray tank-top shirt with a button up, collared plaid shirt pulled atop of it. The sleeves on the plaid shirt generally fall to her wrists but it can be rolled up to above her elbow. The color of plaid varies depending on the day or what color she feels like wearing.

Lastly, on her feet, she wears a pair of shin-length, lace-up black combat boots that have moderately thick soles and steel toes.

As a note, a side-effect from using her powers is that her holes are always left riddled with holes wherever the bones protrude from her skin and through her clothes for the sake of combat. Since she doesn't actively buy clothes, she often walks around in holey outfits. What she would love is to get an outfit specifically for fighting that retains its shape after likely being torn up.*

When she uses her powers, she only experiences the physical change of her bones protruding through her skin and clothes. It is a painful experience for her to activate her power, but once activated for the time, the pain stops. Be it bones from her arms, legs, shoulders, or ribcage, they are solid white and remain spiked through her skin. The shorter bones are generally only about six inches, while the longer bones can reach up to eight-teen inches, possibly longer, though she has yet to see. Generally, they stay about one foot long as this is the optimal length for her to fight with.

The final touch to her appearance (no matter if she's using her power or not) is a barcode tattoo on the small of her back (think tramp stamp location) identifying her to the laboratory in Gotham City. It contains her birth date, the Gotham City initials, and the year she began living at the laboratory.

---

_{* - similar to something like Beast Boy's outfit. I mean, he changes into a T-Rex for crying out loud and his clothes are always the same, every time. The only instance I can think of where they were ripped apart by his werebeast infection. Given that I'm assuming it's made of some special material. Lol.}

PERSONALITY:

She holds on to the dream that one day she will be able to make more public appearances (i.e. during daytime in the presence of others) when she takes down a criminal rather than simply going around at night and letting only police know, and to be met with fear or disgust by others when they see her power. Calcya generally dislikes being in a situation where she is surrounded by others, partially out of fear that someone will touch her and activate her unconscious defense, but secondly because of reactions to her power when it activates. She feels as though she can be a danger to others, and therefore likes to try to distance herself between innocent people and herself...physically, at least. Criminals she chases down, on the other hand, she doesn't have a problem with coming into physical contact with.

Though she has a taste for showing off her power at times (because she thinks it looks pretty kick-ass), she is also concerned about how others - even other teenagers with powers - will react to seeing something as gruesome as bones popping through her skin, or pulling bones straight out of her body.

Through her life she has maintained her almost 'tomboyish' attitude towards things. Calcya's unafraid to take on new challenges, or strive to accomplish goals she sets for herself. Her determination is something that keeps her pressing forward to keep taking down as many people as she can handle. Although she may not always win at something, the experience is what matters to her. Something she says often is "I'm wrong often, it's how I get to right" if at first she doesn't succeed with accomplishing her goal. Although she keeps in mind a certain regard and respect for others, she's not afraid to speak her mind, even though sometimes it has come back to bite her in the butt.

That being said, if she senses the gravity of a situation will not appreciate what she has to say, or something she may consider humor to lighten the mood, she will more heavily consider staying silent. Overall, she feels a bit awkward speaking to others her age, simply because she's never really spent much time around them in the first place.

Digging beneath the surface of Taryn's personality, there's more to define her than just a few simple things. She shows concern (maybe too much) for people she has no problem with and has talked to enough to consider them an ally, and fears that she may risk hurting them if they get too close to her. However, she doesn't have any issue with coming in contact with people she considers bad. If hurting someone (or something) and making them bleed is what will stop them, she'll do it. If there is no obvious weak point to someone (or something) she will target what she can see or considers vital (for example, what would be Cinderblock's eyes if she ever saw him, or Overload's chip-body), she will aim for that with no questions asked, even if it may result in their death. She hasn't had anyone to tell her 'no' or 'hold back' in her time, so practically any time she fights, she fights to survive and at 100%.

Basically, she sees each fight as a possible fight to the death. If she can subdue an opponent before then, then she will. If not, then she will do what it takes to bring them down and to justice. This being said, she has yet to kill a criminal or harm them to the point of maiming just to stop them. If she loses a fight, though, and the criminal gets away, she will grow increasingly frustrated with herself the more she loses until she finally defeats them.

Also, if she sees someone or something suffering that she feels will not know anything but pain the rest of its life, she will think it best to put it out of its misery.

This being said, it's safe to say she likes fighting. No bull, really likes it. When it comes to combat, Calcya is a bit of a loose cannon. She is the only one that commands herself, and there has never been anybody to control her or give her orders. Her only leadership and responsibility is enough to keep her alive and sheltered, but beyond that she doesn't know what to do with herself. It's likely her independent nature will make her someone that finds it difficult to take orders from someone until she learns to trust them, or knows they understand how she works. Since she doesn't think things through and does just what she thinks is best, she often charges in head-first to things without completely analyzing a situation.

Needless to say, it gets her in to trouble sometimes.

You didn't think this girl was all about being a protector of Jump City, right? She has some "normal" aspects to her as well. She likes any range of video games and is quite good at them, seeing as it was the more entertaining of the two sources of fun in her upbringing. Also, she loves activity. Given the chance she would participate in any sport. She's well-read in any number of fiction or nonfiction books, and also likes to play chess and checkers. Thanks to the scientists at the laboratory in Gotham City not wanting their experiment to be a complete airhead, she's not stupid either. Generally when she's discussing something, you can be assured she knows what she's talking about.

Also, like any girl her age, she has her own secrets. She believes secrets should stay a secret, but if she ever managed to get help to do so, she would want to find her parents. Don't believe that reunion would be heart-felt and touching, though. She would be raging. That, among a few other things about what she wants or feels, are what she doesn't go broadcasting to the world.

POWERS AND/OR ABILITIES:

Calcya's ability centers around her bones and being able to use them to her advantage. This ability is possible by Calcya manipulating her osteoclast and osteoblast cells at an alarming rate.

When her power activates, the irises and pupils of her eyes turn white. They don't glow, though.

[/b] The ability to (re)generate bone mass, the re-arrangement of bones, and projecting - or even pulling - bones through or out of her skin for use. Unfortunately, though, Calcya is currently unable to control this to a certain extent. She is able to willingly force bones through her skin with no problem, but her bones also protrude when she comes in physical contact with another person, even without her intending to as though it is an unconscious defense. Also, on occasion, her bones may protrude through her skin no more than three inches when she stretches. She is getting better about controlling that, though. The shape of the bone itself within her body has little bearing on what it can be shaped like when it appears outside her body. For instance, the carpals of her wrist, which are normally round, can be forced through her skin in a manner of spikes, the same goes for her radius and ulna. Also, if she uses bone(s) to make a weapon of her own, it can be roughly shaped like the weapon, and not like the bone. For example, if she makes a sword from one of her arm bones, the lower third of the sword will be shaped like part of the bone. The handle will also be shaped like the head of the bone. Then, the rest will be long, rigid, and sharp as though she splintered it from the base.

The second part of this is naturally strong (but dense) bones. Because of the changes made to her body to give her this power, her bones were made permanently strong and dense. They regrow at the same strength and density, but it makes a natural defense. The main drawback of this is that she's a fair bit heavier than she looks because of this.

HEALING - Basically a given from her powers and the fact that it actually harms her when activated, she has accelerated healing ability. She is able to heal any physical wound (that wouldn't prove instantly mortal) within the span of a few seconds to a few minutes. More minor wounds like those caused when her bones stick through her body heal sooner than forty-five seconds after the bones recede. More severe wounds like lacerations take closer to three minutes, even longer if she's still moving around after being wounded. Although she can heal superficial injuries, she can get sick and will stay sick until her immune system fights it off just like any other person. Also, bones are bones. Although hers are denser and stronger than those of a normal humans, they can still be broken. More force is required obviously, but when they break, they cause her just as much (if not more) pain than a normal human would experience having their bones broken. She still heals rapidly from this sort of injury, though.

ENHANCED STRENGTH, SPEED & ENDURANCE - Though she's no speed demon or even so much as quick as an Olympian, she does have greater speed than the average person. It's a nice addition to helping her fight against faster and stronger opponents. She also has respectable endurance, able to continue fighting after normal girls her age would have dropped from exhaustion. Also because of the strengthened bones in her body, she can withstand a number of hard hits. Mixed with this is her greater-than-average strength to make her an all-around decent fighter when it comes to hand-to-hand combat.

MARTIAL ARTIST - To make greatest use of her ability while taking down criminals around Jump City, it has basically forced her to become a martial artist. Although speed, strength, and endurance make a good fight for an opponent, some proper form and training to use her ability to the greatest extent is helpful. She's nowhere near a master martial artist, and has more or less been trying to learn on her own in order to be more of a threat to those who threaten Jump City.
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WEAKNESSES:

[/B] That's right, she doesnt have quite full control of her power yet. Though she won't go exploding bones if she's startled or falls on her face, she does lack absolute control over when her bones do or don't spike through her skin. As mentioned above, sometimes when she stretches, the bones in the part of her body she stretches poke through slightly. Also, if she lets herself lose focus of what she's doing when irritated she'll instinctively start growing bones out of her body and often needs to have it pointed out that she's letting bone(s) grow.

UNCONSCIOUS DEFENSE - Tying into the fact she doesn't have full control over her power, and the fact that sometimes her bones grow unintentionally is that the bones grow rapidly whenever someone (or some other LIVING object) physically touches her. She hasn't yet been able to control this, as it seems like a bodily reflex that's been programmed into her system. The harder the grip (like the difference between aggression and a light hand resting on her shoulder), the faster the bones will come out (in an attempt to either stab or press the hand away) of her body. Also, if she falls unconscious because of an injury, a number of her bones will stick out of her body as far as possible as a means of trying to protect her unconscious form. They'll stay grown until she regains consciousness, but won't try to harm anybody that touches her, just stay the same length and completely still. She is working on finding a way to at least reduce the reactions she has to physical contact, if not eliminate it entirely.

POOR AGILITY & FLEXIBILITY - Calcya would probably be a better fighter if she practiced more often or broke out the Yoga mats every now and then. Even though her speed, strength, and endurance are in respectable condition, she has paid more focus to those (not by choice for the most part, seeing as she only escaped from the lab only a little less than a year ago and their routines emphasized heightening those three aspects over Agility & Flexibility) than others. She wants to be a better fighter so she knows she'll have to work on these to improve. Right now, even bending over and touching her toes without bending her knees is a challenge. If she moves instinctively to doge something but bends in an unnatural way, she'll be feeling it for more than a couple of minutes.

SLIGHT MENTAL INSTABILITY - It's not like she's about to lose her marbles or anything. However, due to constantly being poked and prodded at by scientists, and had any number of ethically questionable experiments done on her practically her entire life, she often experiences rather distracting flashbacks if something gets her thoughts rolling that way, or night terrors from these memories that manifest as dreams. She also dislikes laboratories, scientists, needles, beeping machines, etc. to the point of almost being afraid of them. She also doesn't currently have anyone she can consider friends or family so she has nobody to turn to whenever something seems like it's going wrong.

POOR LONG-RANGE FIGHTER - If you haven't noticed by now, hand-to-hand combat is the fighting niche Calcya fits in. She has nothing going for her in the long-range department. She doesn't carry weapons, and although she can make something comparable to a sword or dagger from her bones, she can't very well shoot them like bullets at her opponent. If someone fights from a distance they're likely going to be able to overwhelm her. Also, since her power activates when she wants it to or upon contact with living organisms, she can be struck by things such as knives or darts being thrown if she doesn't see them.

FAIRLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO INTANGIBLE ATTACKS - An attack that is composed of energy, electricity, or any other intangible object (think: Dr. Light's blasts, Cyborg's Sonic Cannon, etc.) will hack away at Calcya far more than any physical, tangible attack. She has a resistance to things that can be touched, but when you can't touch something, it gets a whole lot harder. Being struck by something like energy will quickly wear her down and force her to retreat sooner rather than later if she even remains conscious after more blows than she could take.

AICHMOPHOBIA + TRYPANOPHOBIA* - It's almost to the level of absurd with how bad she is with these. Her extreme dislike of needles and other sharp objects with a straight edge has manifested as a phobia courtesy of her years of being so used to them they barely even hurt anymore. If she sees something similar and it's not being used for cooking, Taryn will quite literally freak out. She'll forget about fighting and defending herself and re-direct that energy into trying to get away as fast as possible because of a psychosomatic understanding that anybody with one in their hand advancing towards her is a scientist wanting to experiment on her. It quite literally makes her run away from a fight. Guns and weapons like a throwing star she's fine with. Knives, needles, scissors, scalpels? Not so much.

_{* - I put both here because while Aichmophobia is the fear of knives and other sharp objects, Trypanophobia is the specific fear of needles, I figured that if there's something separate from the phobia 'umbrella' it needed separate mention here}[/size][/ul][/blockquote][/blockquote]

GOALS:

[/b] Although the Teen Titans pretty much umbrella the entire city, she does what she can with the smaller-scale person she sees trying to break into buildings or apartments, or attempting to mug people on a street corner, or even so little as vandalize a street. Basically, she tries to stop crimes before they happen.

2. TAKE ON SOME OF THE "BIGGER" BAD GUYS - She thinks taking down someone like Plasmus, Cinderblock, or Overload would be beyond satisfactory and good experience for her personal resume. Small-scale criminals are starting to get a bit boring.

3. LEARN MARTIAL ARTS FROM SOMEONE MORE EXPERIENCED THAN HERSELF - Pretty self-explanatory.

4. BECOME A TEEN TITAN - Yeah, basically something she thinks is a dream that won't be realized. She looks up to the current Titans (from all branches and Honorary) as people and unique individuals of great power that she truly admires. She tries to pay attention to what they're doing and help however she can without officially announcing her presence as someone with powers, or that she even exists.

5. GAIN CONTROL OF HER POWER - As read earlier, she doesn't quite yet have 100% control over her interesting ability. She wants to learn how to control it so that she can hold someone's hand without her bones poking them away. If she needs someone to help train her, she'll gladly accept their help. Given the fact she fled the lab and scientists when her familiarity with her powers was only a few years old, she currently doesn't know the limit of what she'll be able to do once she has more constant training.[/ul][/justify][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

HISTORY:

She was born Taryn Cuthbert Fern fifteen years ago in the summer of Gotham City to Noah and Pamela Fern.

From the start, Taryn wasn't normal. Before she was even a functioning human being, she was different. Her parents are, in fact, her biological parents. However, the sperm and egg cell were forced together artificially in a laboratory, and the cell development was monitored. Once the blastocyst formed, the DNA was modified and transplanted into her mother's body, where she grew to full term and was born nine months later.

She spent two and a half years with her parents before she was separated from them by the same scientists that 'created' her in their lab. She would later learn that she was basically sold to the laboratory by her parents to be their experiment for a healthy sum of money. To this day she swears she remembers their faces even though she hasn't seen them since she was taken from them.

The next eleven years were spent in the skyscraper science building for research in Gotham City. The only view of the outside world she got was out of the two windows above her bed that she occasionally climbed to look out, or when she was walking from her room to the laboratory. Her room wasn't anything over-confining, surprisingly. It had a full-sized bed, books, a TV, a couch, practically a small apartment. She was brought food every day that had god knows what vitamins, minerals, and chemicals mixed in to it by the scientists, and wasn't allowed to eat anything they didn't approve of.

Her daily routine either consisted of incredible workouts in which all of her bodily systems were monitored closely as though she were under a microscope, or being schooled (very well, actually) by the same scientists that tested her. Anything from running on a treadmill hooked up to an IV and a plethora of monitors, to being timed while she had to find her way through a maze with neurosensors to watch the changes in her body as she rounded each corner was her daily workout, while her schooling was nearly top-grade with all subjects students would need to learn in normal school.

At the age of twelve her power activated.

She woke one night from a night terror to find bones sticking out of her body at all angles. The scream from the terror brought the scientists running out of fear their precious experiment was hurt. Needless to say the bones sticking out of her body and the fact that she was still alive called for a scientist field day.

It was then explained to her the process that took place from when her parents first signed up for their contract with the lab. The modifications to her genetic structure were meant to make her stronger - keeping her bones much stronger than an average humans and considerably more dense, seeing as her family history on both sides was riddled with bone disease. However, the scientists wanted to go one step further and proposed a deal to her parents, which they accepted. Once she reached the age of thirty months she would fall into the care of the lab. Over time, in addition to keeping her in top shape and loaded with vitamins, they periodically exposed her to low levels of radiation. This radiation over time gave the extra jump to her modified DNA, granting her the ability to produce bones from her body.

The next two years were spent drilling Taryn in any way possible to see how she would use her power to react to danger. Artificial intelligence units that were designed to rough her up a bit (though not kill her) were pitted against her day after day, and each day she learned something new about her body. That she could use the bones to puncture soft parts of the enemies and take them down, that she could pull the bones from her body in the form of weapons and use those in order to fight, and using her strengthened bones to defend herself, both consciously and at physical contact.

When she was fifteen, the teenager had long grown sick of being a lab rat. She wanted to live her own life, without people constantly experimenting on her. She used the opportunity when she was taken to the president of the science corporation for her yearly assessment, on the top floor of the building. Once she passed the emergency exit with the two escorts, she attacked them, giving them a few non-life threatening (though still incredibly painful) puncture wounds to worry about. She made it to the roof but didn't stop, knowing people would be on her tail soon enough. She flew down the fire escape fast as possible and made her escape.

Taryn stayed in hiding for a few days until she was able to get some 'normal' clothes and head out of the city. She kept wandering, asking for directions here and there until she got to Jump City.

She didn't want to do nothing with her life. On her travels she learned that good deeds get rewarded when she stopped a man from stealing a woman's wallet. This inspired her to try to do good wherever she went, stopping 'bad guys' to keep the public safe and happy. Currently, she lives in an abandoned warehouse on the docks and generally only comes out at night to hunt down people doing what is viewed as less than good in the city (she will, though, make an appearance in the day if she visits the arcade for some entertainment, needs to get food, or finds an oddjob to make some money).

She picked up the alias Calcya as a play on the word Calcium. Also, needless to say if Gotham City is looking for someone by the name of 'Taryn', she isn't going to keep that obvious.

THE NITTY-GRITTY;;
SCREENNAME: Kane
Time spent roleplaying: Been RPing for about...dang, seven years now.
Other Characters: n/a

RP Sample:

Lights. Flashes. White coats everywhere.

Her blue eyes betrayed only a hint of apprehension while they widened, watching all the machines under the careful hands of the scientists start up for their day of monitoring and showcasing how her body reacted under the pressures of various situations they would put her in today. Most of them were familiar, no cause for alarm, but one was different. It was tall and vertical, with sides that could extend out like a pair of wings. What is that?

The question echoed in her head. She liked to know what these scientists were doing to her. The answer to her question came as though she'd projected her thoughts into the mind of the female scientist who stood next to her. "That's a bone density scanner, Taryn." The twelve-year-old looked up. "Your evolution last night was not entirely unexpected, but we are excited nonetheless. This will monitor if your bone density changes even more when you activate your power. It grants us nearly instantaneous feedback as well, no waiting for results."

My power...

The girl looked at her hands. The bones. She remembered waking up in the night and freaking out. The night terror was what had scared her, seeing her ribs curved upward out of her skin and arced slightly inward like parallel vertical rows of teeth had shocked her into silence. Clearly, the scientists wanted to see it again. "We want to see what more you can do." Taryn swallowed, curling her hands into fists tightly. Even if it's scary, I guess it is pretty cool.

The scientists appeared to be done setting up the machine, as they called over to the woman standing next to the girl. "Come Taryn, time to start the --" She had placed her hand lightly on the front of the girl's shoulder, and cut off with a gasp while backpedaling away some. "Ack!" It was her first word that morning. A bone had pressed outwards at a diagonal, as though her clavicle had grown a second branch, out straight rather than curving over as normal. It hurt, feeling the bone press through the skin, but it was something she couldn't seem to stop.

Her blue eyes watered slightly as the bone slowly slid back into her skin.

...but I didn't ask for this power.

[KANE]

CALCYA

_{TARYN FERN ⌘ 15 ⌘ HETEROSEXUAL ⌘ BONE MANIPULATION}

Presenting your average teenager with inhuman powers. Meet Taryn Fern. She doesn't use this name anymore for her own safety rather than protecting her "secret identity" as she fights to keep the streets of Jump City clean. Instead, she goes by Calcya and the only people that know her name are those that she's told (nobody), her parents, and the scientists at the lab in Gotham City where she was raised. Now, instead of sitting here and telling you about her, how about we throw our characters together in a thread?

[/b] Friends are wonderful, right? Well, Calcya can't really say that. Given the fact that she's only been on her own for roughly a year, and the greater part of that has been spent getting from Gotham City to Jump City, she hasn't had the time to get to know that many people. Also, since arriving in Jump City, she hasn't actively attempted to get in contact with others because she assumes they'll be afraid of her ability. It won't be the most challenging thing in the world to become Calcya's friend. She is hesitant to trust people (long-term) because she hasn't been given the chance to trust others on her own in the past, but so long as you don't start off with a poor first impression, you should be fine eventually. Truth be told, Calcya wants some friends, she's starting to get lonely. Friends of any sort would be great.

ADVERSARIES - Anybody that is any sort of criminal falls here. Calcya has absolutely no tolerance for anybody that makes Jump City a less-than-safe place to live. Despite the fact she doesn't like them, Calcya loves hunting them down and fighting them. She's completely satisfied with as little as a would-be-mugger or attempted-bank-robber, but truth be told she's getting a bit bored with low-grade people like that who don't have anything but a weapon and ski mask on hand when they try to do that. Some bigger and badder enemies are much liked. Maybe someone that has already made a name for themselves in Jump City.

Also, generally Calcya is bad about swaying first impressions to make way for a new one. If somebody strikes her negatively while first meeting them, she probably will take much longer to warm up to them than somebody else.

ROMANCE - At fifteen, Calcya's at the age where girls generally begin to think about boys as more than friends (or if they're a bit behind the curve, more than "eww! a boy!"). However, the only males she's ever spent more than a few hours with were Scientists in the Gotham City laboratory that monitored her constantly. She's unfamiliar with the opposite gender, but it would be quite good for her to learn. Right now, there's no romance being looked for, but male companions would be good for her to get used to the opposite gender and learn more about them. She won't be like Goku from DB(Z), I promise. Don't worry.

OTHER - Normally there's not much in this section for people to read, but this time there are. For some in-character plot development in the future that would be just as fun for you as it will be me, some Gotham City Scientists* hunting for their lost experiment would be very good. Also, I don't know how Gotham City works, but I will tell you that the company that kept her in their laboratory can definitely afford a person with power(s) for hire* to help hunt Calcya down if the Scientists turn up empty-handed one too many times. Lastly, I still haven't decided if they're alive or dead (but Im assuming alive), Noah and Pamela Fern* would be good. Meeting the child they sold thirteen years later is bound to be an interesting reunion.

_{* - If the characters mentioned aren't taken and they're ever mentioned in a thread (relatively unlikely) I'll NPC them unless otherwise directed.}

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