Valentine Vox - Caduceus

by **Baobhan** March 16th 2020, 10:35 am

CADUCEUS

"Superheroes are born in the minds of those desperate to be rescued, all i wanna do's shed a little light on this damn dim world..."

The Bio

Real Name: Valentine Vox
Hero Name: Caduceus
Alignment: Lawful Good
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Race: Parahuman
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Sea Green
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 187Ibs
Blood type: O-

The Looks

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"From the top down in his Civilianware; Valentine's usually seen wearing mid length straight hair styled to one side sporting a high fade brandished boldly across his left temporal, a style in which his hair almost seems to retreat from like some kind of rolling wave. Yet that flourish almost seems to accent his angular, 0masculine facial features as well as the premature ridges that he hopes he'll hopefully grow into after some precious years. He's got Deamfires same Sea Green eyes and Endures chiseled cheek and jawbones. So, i guess Valentine sports a kind of Adonic facial construction that you don't see often these days... were it not ruined by those porous scars of his, old burns rippling across over one third of his face, he's always had them, beginning just past the temple on his right side and cascading until they breach the edge of his lips forming a small bridge across their very corner, pulling it into a kind of, smirk, i guess.

Valentine normally wears well fitting buttoned up silk clothing, usually the off-white shirt of his schools uniform emblazoned with its heraldry in vivid imperial blue. Paired accordingly he wears matching dark steely blue pants, pressed and ironed to perfection which grip tightly to the corners of Valentines muscles as he moves. He's built like a featherweight boxer, he has to work out, Valentine has a lithe yet strong stature conjuring images like that of a coiled spring, like he's ready to pounce with a strength that's delivered through refined momentum and technique, rather than raw musculature. He usually wears brown leather wingtips which match his book-bag, he likes to dress well i guess...

It's a shame really, such potential..." A Student's post on HeroScan.net, deleted, March 202X-

The Personality

"Now that we have that out of the way, how would you describe yourself?" - ???

"Well, I don't think I'm really anything special, I'm a hard worker, that much is true. I guess I've always felt like I have to live up to the legacy of my parents. They've always been doing their best, working hard... usually well into the night when they weren't looking after me or going about their day jobs. Its a lot of pressure, but, I like to think that the habits are good. I try to put everything I have into achieving my goals! I work like a horse and I'm proud to say that I do... Until I ware myself out. Sometimes I just get focused on something, and I can't see little things like, when was the last time I ate, or slept, or if i have other school projects that need my attention. Sometimes it gets so bad I get sick, and those are the bad days, then I feel guilty because Mom or Dad has to stay back and make sure I'm ok, that I'm eating and resting like I'm supposed to and not training or finishing the last couple of words on that next school project. "

"That sounds really stressful, but you did save that kid, people are calling you a hero. How do you feel about that?" - ???

"I... don't feel like a hero, never did i guess. My Mom and Dad always said that people get a little too into the whole hero worship thing these days. Heroes risk their lives daily to do what they do, fighting villains, some of them really nasty, deal with people with guns, powers and all the other crazy stuff that's out there these days. Sure, I helped, but... I guess it was just my duty of care, right? I was there, I had the power to help so I performed a little bit of triage for the kid, they were bleeding a lot so I stemmed it and moved them somewhere out of the way where they wouldn't get caught in that attack. It's not like I fought in the skirmish or caught the bad guy... "

I see... - ???

The Story

"So, Moving on, Tell me about your parents, how did they meet?" - ???

Oh? Oh! Haha, umm... well my Dad, Endurant was a bit of a grab bag hero back before he retired. His muscles were pretty cool, gave him the basic array for your bruiser/breaker kind of hero. Moves fast, hits hard, like, really hard. He never had to give up momentum so he could just wind up and keep going. Anyways, so, he was one of the first few heroes in the early days to sign up with the Government for the whole cape thing, helped blaze that trail we're walking now with the programs, working on cape-protection legislation on the side while he did it. My mum though, Dream fire she-

"Wasn't she a rogue for a while?" - ???

"Yeah, she was actually one of the Cloaks my dad had to deal with pretty often. Psionic fire which triggered and controlled a person's nervous system if it touched you. She made flaming zombies for a while and generally terrorized the place. Thankfully though she never really hurt anyone. My Mom's an adrenaline junkie. So yeah, they fought for a while, Dad worked out pretty early on that Mom wasn't in it to hurt anyone, with all the other hell going on, she became one of the good ones, more like a twisted game of cops and robbers. They became friends, then rooftop liason friends. Then eventually Mom surprised no-one and gave herself up. Some good testimony from dad and some of her victims got her off with a TONNE of community service, but no jail. Which was spent with my Dad on his team. She never left, and I was born soon after."

"That must be rough, living with two high profile people like that?" - ???

"Nah, they were great, really. They worked long hours, but as unmasked capes I got to live with honest people who cared about me and I always knew what they were up to. I watched them on the news and doing interviews with their team. When they were home they would look after me if I drove myself into sickness or just hung out and talked to me. They always wanted to know what my day was like and pushed me when I needed it. When dad retired due to his injury for a few years he got a little down, but he put himself really into the whole lawyer thing, and helped me out with a lot of my schoolwork! But he's back on the team now, so, there's that. "

"Yet, them being unmasked got you injured, aren't you angry?" - ???

"Oh... well... a little... sometimes. It wasn't their fault, identities get out eventually and people would have come after me. Right?"

"Right, well times up, better move on to your power evaluation. Sorry for cutting things short, see you soon?" - ???

"O-of course! thanks for your time. "

The Priority

1. Reaction
2. Agility
3. Strength
4. Endurance

The Powers

Case file 02387: Valentine Vox A.K.A. "Caduceus"
Valentine has the ability to activate, manipulate and enhance abnormal cells within another person's body. With simple contact, Valentine is able to activate those cells allowing him a grab bag of assorted skills due to the incredibly fine control he has over the cells he's activated, multiplying them exponentially to such an extent that he's considered a Low-Mid tier Biokinetic. It should be noted that Valentine's powers are known to have alternate characteristics when used upon those with inhuman physiology, more data is required.
Valentine's abilities can be split into two distinctive categories:"

Internal:
Valentines internal control of Cancerous cells allow him to weaponize them to act as an aggressive force similar to that of a toxin, radiation or fast moving necrotic tissue disease enhanced by his ability to attack certain internal structures or even foreign bodies in order to act as a sort of defacto panacea. The internal potential of his abilities' voracity can have enemies incapacitated in a number of minutes after contact is made, or can break down the protein or physical structures of biological or chemical bodies within a subject, be they foreign or otherwise. Valentine can use this ability to in theory cure other cancerous maladies or potentially cause them if it were his will.

External:
Far more Visceral to the eye, Valentines' external use of his ability allows him to manipulate and multiply the cells within the body to form hard masses of tissue in forms that he wishes, acting as a sort of rapid regenerative polymorph capable of producing its own mass as well as calcified structures that are hardened against impacts like armour or appendages. The growths formed this way can be used to create tissue that would repair physical wounds and injury as well as reinforcing a creature to be able to take multiple rounds of ammunition or even light blasts without being incapacitated.

The Weaknesses

Case file 02387: Valentine Vox A.K.A. "Caduceus" Known Weaknesses

1. Firstly, and this should be noted first above all, Valentine is incapable of activating, manipulating or multiplying the cancerous properties of his own cells. Meaning that while his healing and mutation abilities are considered powerful by some, they can not be used in order to reinforce his own body with his Tumorous Chitin, nor can he recover his own wounds. This is likely due to the low level of regeneration his ability affords. Likewise regeneration powers capable of restoring abnormal cells to dormancy once again, invalidate his power.

2. Valentine's abilities require physical contact in order to take hold of a person, while they can be controlled and manipulated at range, Valentine requires to touch a person to activate the dormant abnormal cells within a person's body. Against those with regeneration, he may require prolonged contact in order to use his power through them at all.

3. Valentines' A.K.A. Caduceus' abilities are on a timer, the cells he manipulates to spawn at superhuman rates cannot exist in the world for long, requiring intermittent physical contact to reassert control least they simply peel from the person or die internally. Though this process with maintained control can last up to an hour, there are known metahuman abilities which speed up this process, notably body augmentation powers, alien physiology etc.

4. Valentine is pyrophobic, due to a traumatic incident where a fire former teammate of his mother's attacked his home. While he is used to the visage of fire. Being surrounded by the 'heat' of fire to the extent he can feel it on his skin, causes him to become physically panicked, reckless and potentially dangerous due to desperation.

5. Valentine's power generally requires deactivation, while the additional cells which he manipulates into existence are on a limited timer, the activation of the cancer cells within a person's body is a very real health risk to people in the long term. This is currently a fact that Caduceus is ignorant of, and realization of this would result in instantanious and crippling trauma... not to mention the legal and ethical repurcussions.

The Items

The following are the descriptions of the registered and approved equipment and munitions of Valentine Vox, A.K.A. Caduceus under the Second Amendment and Article 230 of the Registered Capes Act 2017.

"Caduceus" Suit
A Government cape bodysuit lightly modified while being coupled with lightly armoured plates capable of deflecting small arms fire and a lightly padded carbon mesh over the remainder of the outfit. The protection offers moderate cover from blasts, rapid heat & cold, bladed impliments as well as penetration. The helmet also has lenses to protect itself from flashes and concussive waves of force, boasting a power pack, a standard tactical HUD covering some basic nigh-tvision and thermals, but nothing more than a person could get out of a military surplus store. All in all its a lightly armoured outfit is capable of dulling most mundane damage to non-lethal, but it will remain far from painless.

M40 Grenade Launcher:
A weapon custom built as a tool by an independent arms manufacturing company by his parents. The weapon has 8 tubes that are capable of holding a plethora of varying ammunition, these tubes are sealed mechanically while not aligned with the barrel while the weapon is ready to fire for the user's safety. Potential ammunition includes but not limited to, frag and incendiary grenades, flash and concussive grenades as well as tear gas and other chemical gas grenades such as fire eaters. However, the limitations of the weapon don't end there. The simplicity of the weapon also allows for Valentine to craft his own custom ammunition, including gel slugs for incapacitating blunt trauma. Valentines standard load-out is, 2x Gel shots, 2x Concussive Stun Grenades, 2x Tear Gas, 1x Fire eater and 1x Incendiary.

VIPERTEK M230 Stun Batons:
Two telescopic, electrified Stun batons which are capable of tapping into the power source of the suit for more power if need be. The weapons are capable of delivering a variable charge, able to disable most adults on impact. The variable controls of the amp and voltmeter allow the sticks to be altered to fight different opponents or even be used medically as defibrillators by a trained expert.

Isha:
Isha is a German Shephard which Valentine has been training for some time, She's a 4 year old dog taken in as a reject from a military service dog parent due to her anxious behaviors. Valentine often uses his powers through Isha in order to reinforce her body, sharpen her claws and expand her mass and strength in order to fight, carry or protect others.

The Minions

The Fluff

Regeneration:
Valentine has a very low ranking regenerative ability that's considered preternatural as opposed to supernatural. He's capable of recovering from serous wounds requiring stitches or stress fractures in a handful of days as opposed to weeks or longer.

PR Manager:
Valentine has a PR consultant who helps Valentine deal with legal issues as well as mentoring him in how to use his ghoulish power in such a manner that will inspire public confidence. He and his parents are the only people in this world who know the ins and outs of Caduceus' power, its nature, and the time bomb that is waiting to drop... yet even then many of those he has trusted to tell others has been half truths due to even Valentine himself not truly knowing the true extents of his abilities.

The RP Sample

Ephemeral moonlight penetrated the horizon, buildings looming above as towering shadows encircling him as he soaked in the infinite urban henge of the city. The air wet and heavy with humidity clutched at his lungs enough that it assaulted the senses and battered the will of the hero half buried into the side of the crumpled local metro station. Heavy breaths reverberated within the confines of his helmet as he willed his eyes into focus, searching the constrained vista before him with vain hope for the slightest sign of a hidden assailant. Shock faded, followed by a dull, pulsating pain which rolled over his body in a wave which threatened to drown his focus, dragging him under into the cold, dark depths of a lengthy, potentially endless unconsciousness.

'I need to move...' spoke an internal voice as for a fleeting moment, action hesitated in fear of the pain that was surely to follow that line of thought at the crossroads. After a long second the Hero hardened for the inevitable shock, scuffed armoured mesh that surrounded his fingers gripped whatever solid surface they could grip, his muscles tensing as new waves of pain strobed through his body enticing a low moan to escape his lips unabated. However, no sooner than the hero crested the divide, drawing himself to his feet his eyes caught a shadow in the distance. Silhouetted by the waxing gibbous moon behind it, a shadow of a lithe skeletal form hovered before it, thin almost viral tendrils probing at the air behind it absently as it hung otherwise still. A single eye implanted upon its brow beaming to life with a mechanical coldness as the moon behind soon followed suit, as if it were corrupted and stained suddenly crimson with its light, bathing the universe in its hallowed ethereal glow. The world silent, save for the distant sounds of sirens blaring in the background..."

Sirens transitioned louder, and louder before changing in tone, hightening in pitch and severity before Valentines' eyes exploded and he arose from his bed clutching his chest and sucking in the air with renewed desperation, cold sweat beading at his brow. Willing his eyes to focus, he was greeted by the ordinary sight of his high school dorm room, posters of known heroes. He was safe, at least for now. Valentines' mind strained to recall the dream that had spiraled him into the panic as he caught his breath, but the memories had faded as the morning mist which gave him a hollow sense of frustration at the entire matter, leading him to curse under his breath.

It took five minutes for his heart to return to a normal relaxed pace, but it allowed him to plan his approach for the morning as his mind focused on what tasks lay before him, allowing haunting shadows of the night prior to skulk in the shadows behind him for now. He needed o get dressed for school, his uniform was pressed and laid out at his study desk adjacent to his bed, breakfast had been packed and stored in the commons' fridge, assuming it hadn't been stolen again... To most, today looked like it was going to be any other day... but the frown melted off Valentine's face as his eyes moved to the wall at the foot of his bed.

Hanging from a hook was a mesh suit, green armoured helmet, chestplate, vambraces and greaves surrounded by silver highlights on the edges with an obsidian black armourweave mesh that made up the cloth of the bodysuit which connected them. Utility belt around the waist which bound the length of the coat safely behind him which would fall to the backs of his shins. Upon the breast of the suit was a symbol on silver, subtle, not tacky. Two serpants coiling around a winged staff, shadowed by the line-art of a solid cross which intersected the staff about one quarter and three quarters of the way down its length. Valentine had always like the aesthetic of the Japanese heroes, they exuded confidence and charm. And now, this suit was his, unmarred and fresh from the same arms designer as Endurant and Dreamfire. Just below the hanging suit, a silver case which housed his weapon, Baton and first shipment of munitions for it.

First, school... after

First Patrol!

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by **Chellizard** March 17th 2020, 4:06 pm

Approved and moved.

Looking forward to seeing how this character develops.

Is he going to be a villain?

A hero?

A little bit of both worlds? Let's find out. (:

Valentine Vox - Caduceus

Valentine Vox - Caduceus

Re: Valentine Vox - Caduceus