Post by Matrix on Jul 28, 2013 16:06:52 GMT
Full name: Arkin Williem LaFontaine
Alias: Matrix
Age: 28
Birthday: February 6th 1984
Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana
Appearance: Rugged, if not plain down disheveled, Arkin is now a far cry from the respectable soldier he once was. Often dressed in days-old clothes, almost everything he owns is flecked with blood and dirt. Several scars adorn his body, often masked by new injuries. A staple of his wardrobe are his bandoliers, and several bullet belts that allow him to be armed without actually carrying a gun. There is generally at least one knife strapped to his ankle.
Personality: Cold and calculating, it takes a lot to truly irritate Arkin, but he is always up for a fight if the opportunity presents itself. He is a skilled fighter, and he knows it, so shows little fear of the world around him. Not particularily fond of conversation, he isn't uncaring for company and deep down still remains loyal to his family though he is estranged from them.
Powers: Matrix's powers are based first and foremostly in reality warping. While himself able to bend the laws of pyshics in his own actions, he can also affect the state of reality for five metres around him. With more training, this skill could develop until he was unbounded in the area he could affect.
He also possesses a secondary power that he intially believed to simply a bi-product of his reality warping but is unrelated. This power allows Matrix to force explosion from combustable materials. For example, he could throw a bullet towards a person and cause the gunpowder to explode and accelerate into them with the same force as if fired by a gun.
History: Born the second of identical twins, Arkin seemed set to live a life in his brother's shadow. The older twin, Grayson, was stronger, healthier and a generally happy baby while Arkin kept his struggling parents up all night with sickly, wailing cries. While the two boys grew to the same height with an unwavering consistency, Arkin remained the skinner of the two, appearing weak next to his twin who already seemed to have defined muscle tone before he was in double digits.
Despite this, the two LaFontaine brothers were incredibly close, rarely seen without the other one far behind. As both of their parents worked hard, they often had only each other for company but didn't mind at all. Grayson was the more artistically talented of the brothers, but they both had vast imaginations and dreamed of being innovators and creators. On nights when their dad was working late, they would build a tent in their bedroom and design all sorts of 'safety features' for their mom to use when they grew up and wouldn't be there to keep her company when their dad was working. They factored in all sorts of things; burglars, escaped mental patients, crocodiles - everything that seemed frightening and likely to their children's brains.
As they grew up, their understanding of the problems and dangers in the world only increased, and they both decided to follow careers where they could try and make things a little safer. Grayson went to college before following their father into the New Orleans Police Department. Arkin instead enlisted into the army. During his training, he was pushed hard and finally overtook his brother in terms of muscle and strength but found he was not a natural with firearms. While he could kick anyone's ass in their physicals and in hand-to-hand combat, Arkin was at the bottom of the pile with weapons and he knew he would never progress in the army unless he improved.
Feeling under pressure, Arkin spent every spare minute on the range, becoming more and more frustrated at his lack of progress. One night, having already put in over six hours, Arkin's skills, and his life, changed dramatically. In anger, he grabbed a handful of bullets and threw them towards the targets. Instead of falling to the ground, the bullets exploded, propelling themselves forwards into the target with a sniper's accuracy. Arkin was stunned, but all his sense told him it was a freak malfunction in the rounds. When his panic started to warp the floor around him into a thick mud that pulled him down, he knew it was more than just a bad bullet.
Arkin knew about mutants, but his knowledge was a little sparse as to what kind of mutations someone could have. Unwilling to make use of his new skills until he understood them, he cleaned up the range and rushed to the computer room to do his research. It took a lot of careful navigation, not wanting to submit his problems directly into the military-monitored computer, but eventually he began to discover that he had a reality warping mutation.
That night, Arking didn't sleep. He snuck out of his barrack and spent the night trying to learn a way to control and use his new found power. It was difficult to know how to start, but by dawn he had worked out enough to be able to use his power only when he intended, so he would not cause a scene in front of his colleagues. In training that morning, he was exhausted, but he out-preformed every man around him. Part of it was his powers, but the majority of it was the confidence of success that those powers had given him.
He quickly rose to the top of his unit, and looked set to have a long and successful career with the military. Within a year of enlisting, he was sent on an active tour of duty for the Invasion of Iraq. There he discreetly used his powers to save the lives of several of his comrades while using his learned skills to advance on the enemy. When he and several of his troupe were attacked, Arkin single-highhandedly saved their lives and was awarded a medal.
When was granted leave before his next tour of duty, Arkin decided not to go home, instead traveling across the world, looking for people who had powers such as his. Eventually he came across Catlyn Murier and her daughter Selinda. Catlyn had been born in Israel to an Irish-Arab couple but had fled to France after becoming pregnant with Selinda out of wedlock. Soon after Selinda had been born, strange things had been happening and she had quickly realized that Selinda had a powerful reality-warping mutation. Arkin felt an affinity to Selinda and promised Catlyn that he would help her daughter learn to manage her powers. Before he could really fulfill his promise, however, he was called up to perform another tour of Iraq.
This time, Arkin was not quite as ahead of the enemy as he had been, and after several months fighting was injured. It was not a severe injury, but nevertheless he was sent back to the US to heal up. He wrote to Catlyn to tell her he was going home but received no reply. Unbeknownst to him, Catlyn had fallen in love with him and saw his return to his family, rather than her, as a serious betrayal. But Arkin soon forgot all about Catlyn in Paris.
While he had been away, Grayson had gotten engaged to his college girlfriend, Alison Harper. For Arkin, it was love at first sight. Alison was beautiful and kind and despite how hard he tried, Arkin couldn't get her out of his head. If Grayson and Alison suspected, they never said anything and Arkin was appointed Best Man for their wedding. It broke his heart to help his brother plan his wedding when he was falling more and more in love with the oblivious bride each day, but Arkin gritted his teeth and pressed on, vowing to take his secret to the grave.
After watching his brother marry the woman he loved, Arkin returned to the army and was shipped out to Afghanistan. Distracted and heart-broken, he was not at the top of his game and during an ambush, was taken prisoner, along with several other members of his unit. At first, Arkin tried not to use his powers, knowing it would spell the end of his military career, but after torture and seeing two of his friends executed, he knew he had no choice. He lashed out, creating a moat of lava around him and the surviving members of his group, hoping to lead a retaliation attack, but instead he found himself hit with a dart. Waking up hours later, he found his powers cured and his body lying in the middle of the desert. There was no sign of his comrades or captors.
He wandered for hours until dehydration forced him back down onto the sand and he prepared to die. Watching the horizon, Arkin saw what he first believed to be a mirage. From the distance, a group was approaching. The closer they got, the more Arkin realized that they were not a figment of his imagination. Barely conscious by the time they reached him, Arkin had no choice but to go with the group. It took days for him to well enough to understand what was going on, but when he did, he almost wished he was back in the desert.
The group Arkin now found himself a member of was a violent, underground militia, bent on destroying as many institutions so they could to gain control for themselves. A rejected Catlyn had sought out the militia, promising them her loyalty and the use of Selinda's powers if Arkin was taken out of the military and given a place within their ranks. Her hope was that by driving her family and Arkin underground, he would realize his love for her and they could be a happy family.
Until they could guarantee his loyalty, Arkin was kept on the cure and subjected to an extreme 'initiation program' that was little more than torture. He was disgusted with Catlyn for exposing Selinda to this way of life but knew he would risk both their lives to openly object to the group. Eventually Arkin swore them his loyalty to ensure no revenge would be taken out on Selinda. The girl was like a daughter to him now, and her safety became his main priority.
Reluctantly, Arkin began to take on missions for the militia, fighting against the men who had once been his comrades. At first he covered his face, but eventually he began to fight without the camouflage, hoping someone would recognize him and send word back home that he had been snatched. He expected some sort of giant rescue effort, but none came. He became more and more embroiled in the militia and began to realize he might never escape, and even if he did, it was unlikely he'd be welcomed home after what he'd done.
Giving up on himself, he put all his effort into trying to save Selinda instead. Catlyn still pined for him and Arkin let her believe that her plan was working, feigning attraction for her so she stopped watching over him so suspiciously. He played his part well, but even his friendship for Catlyn was sour now, while his love for Alison still burned inside him. Secretly he taught Selinda how to fight and use her powers to survive. He could sense that danger was coming, as the militia began to show cracks and different men began to fight for control.
One night, an almighty fight broke out between the factions, turning the militia's base into chaos. Arkin took his chance and used the distraction to sneak Selinda out of the complex, telling her to run to the nearest town, hiding herself with her powers until he came for her. Returning to the bowels of the base, Arkin searched for Catlyn, but couldn't find her. Knowing he needed to flee before he was killed for helping Selinda escape, he abandoned the search and fled into the night.
After catching up with Selinda, Arkin fled for the United States, sneaking into the country on a cargo ship to avoid immigration and customs. He immediately sought out Grayson and Alison, who by now had a small son, Rex. Appearing in the middle of the night after being missing for so long and with a strange child in tow, Grayson and his wife were shocked but quickly ushered Arkin inside. He didn't want to worry them so kept his explanations brief. Luckily, his brother was anxious not to upset him after what he guessed was an awful ordeal, so asked very few questions. Alison mothered Selinda, seeing that she got a bath and giving her one of her long tops that worked as a dress on the young girl.
That night was the most peaceful Arkin had ever had. He was out of danger, and under a roof with the most important people in his life. He should have expected that things would not stay so blissful. The very next day, while Arkin showed Selinda insects in the garden, the CIA arrived. Arkin saw them speaking to Grayson at the door, and knew he would have to leave his family behind again. His brother deliberately stalled them while Alison gathered Arkin's few belongings and passed them to him. Realizing he might never see her again, Arkin threw caution to the wind and kissed her, disappearing with Selina before she could even process what had happened.
Knowing the CIA would only be looking for him, and not Selinda, Arkin made the decision to send her to the Xavier Institute where he knew she would be safe. Now an outlaw, Arkin did what he could to survive, taking on mercenary work without a thought for his employers morals. A few months later, he happened to be scanning the news when he saw a report about a New Orleans Detective being gunned down outside his home by unknown assailants. Arkin knew it was Grayson, even before he read his brother's name. He could guess that the militia was responsible, but didn't know if they had killed Grayson believing him to be Arkin, or if they had just done it to send a message. Either way, Arkin knew he was responsible for his brother's death.
He returned to New Orleans and tried to speak to Alison, but she shut the door on him, saying if he ever came near her again, she would call the police on him. She rightfully blamed him for the loss of her husband and it broke Arkin's spirit completely. Throwing himself into his work, he became ruthless and aimless, all aggression and hate. When news of the memory loss broke, her returned to New York to be close to Selinda.
Family:
Grayson Williem LaFontaine Snr. - Father
Emily Augusta Pilot-LaFontaine - Mother
Grayson Williem LaFontaine Jnr. - Twin
Alison Eve Harper-LaFontaine - Sister-in-Law
Rex Arkin LaFontaine - Nephew
Selinda Murier - Ward
PB: Josh Stewart
Alias: Matrix
Age: 28
Birthday: February 6th 1984
Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana
Appearance: Rugged, if not plain down disheveled, Arkin is now a far cry from the respectable soldier he once was. Often dressed in days-old clothes, almost everything he owns is flecked with blood and dirt. Several scars adorn his body, often masked by new injuries. A staple of his wardrobe are his bandoliers, and several bullet belts that allow him to be armed without actually carrying a gun. There is generally at least one knife strapped to his ankle.
Personality: Cold and calculating, it takes a lot to truly irritate Arkin, but he is always up for a fight if the opportunity presents itself. He is a skilled fighter, and he knows it, so shows little fear of the world around him. Not particularily fond of conversation, he isn't uncaring for company and deep down still remains loyal to his family though he is estranged from them.
Powers: Matrix's powers are based first and foremostly in reality warping. While himself able to bend the laws of pyshics in his own actions, he can also affect the state of reality for five metres around him. With more training, this skill could develop until he was unbounded in the area he could affect.
He also possesses a secondary power that he intially believed to simply a bi-product of his reality warping but is unrelated. This power allows Matrix to force explosion from combustable materials. For example, he could throw a bullet towards a person and cause the gunpowder to explode and accelerate into them with the same force as if fired by a gun.
History: Born the second of identical twins, Arkin seemed set to live a life in his brother's shadow. The older twin, Grayson, was stronger, healthier and a generally happy baby while Arkin kept his struggling parents up all night with sickly, wailing cries. While the two boys grew to the same height with an unwavering consistency, Arkin remained the skinner of the two, appearing weak next to his twin who already seemed to have defined muscle tone before he was in double digits.
Despite this, the two LaFontaine brothers were incredibly close, rarely seen without the other one far behind. As both of their parents worked hard, they often had only each other for company but didn't mind at all. Grayson was the more artistically talented of the brothers, but they both had vast imaginations and dreamed of being innovators and creators. On nights when their dad was working late, they would build a tent in their bedroom and design all sorts of 'safety features' for their mom to use when they grew up and wouldn't be there to keep her company when their dad was working. They factored in all sorts of things; burglars, escaped mental patients, crocodiles - everything that seemed frightening and likely to their children's brains.
As they grew up, their understanding of the problems and dangers in the world only increased, and they both decided to follow careers where they could try and make things a little safer. Grayson went to college before following their father into the New Orleans Police Department. Arkin instead enlisted into the army. During his training, he was pushed hard and finally overtook his brother in terms of muscle and strength but found he was not a natural with firearms. While he could kick anyone's ass in their physicals and in hand-to-hand combat, Arkin was at the bottom of the pile with weapons and he knew he would never progress in the army unless he improved.
Feeling under pressure, Arkin spent every spare minute on the range, becoming more and more frustrated at his lack of progress. One night, having already put in over six hours, Arkin's skills, and his life, changed dramatically. In anger, he grabbed a handful of bullets and threw them towards the targets. Instead of falling to the ground, the bullets exploded, propelling themselves forwards into the target with a sniper's accuracy. Arkin was stunned, but all his sense told him it was a freak malfunction in the rounds. When his panic started to warp the floor around him into a thick mud that pulled him down, he knew it was more than just a bad bullet.
Arkin knew about mutants, but his knowledge was a little sparse as to what kind of mutations someone could have. Unwilling to make use of his new skills until he understood them, he cleaned up the range and rushed to the computer room to do his research. It took a lot of careful navigation, not wanting to submit his problems directly into the military-monitored computer, but eventually he began to discover that he had a reality warping mutation.
That night, Arking didn't sleep. He snuck out of his barrack and spent the night trying to learn a way to control and use his new found power. It was difficult to know how to start, but by dawn he had worked out enough to be able to use his power only when he intended, so he would not cause a scene in front of his colleagues. In training that morning, he was exhausted, but he out-preformed every man around him. Part of it was his powers, but the majority of it was the confidence of success that those powers had given him.
He quickly rose to the top of his unit, and looked set to have a long and successful career with the military. Within a year of enlisting, he was sent on an active tour of duty for the Invasion of Iraq. There he discreetly used his powers to save the lives of several of his comrades while using his learned skills to advance on the enemy. When he and several of his troupe were attacked, Arkin single-highhandedly saved their lives and was awarded a medal.
When was granted leave before his next tour of duty, Arkin decided not to go home, instead traveling across the world, looking for people who had powers such as his. Eventually he came across Catlyn Murier and her daughter Selinda. Catlyn had been born in Israel to an Irish-Arab couple but had fled to France after becoming pregnant with Selinda out of wedlock. Soon after Selinda had been born, strange things had been happening and she had quickly realized that Selinda had a powerful reality-warping mutation. Arkin felt an affinity to Selinda and promised Catlyn that he would help her daughter learn to manage her powers. Before he could really fulfill his promise, however, he was called up to perform another tour of Iraq.
This time, Arkin was not quite as ahead of the enemy as he had been, and after several months fighting was injured. It was not a severe injury, but nevertheless he was sent back to the US to heal up. He wrote to Catlyn to tell her he was going home but received no reply. Unbeknownst to him, Catlyn had fallen in love with him and saw his return to his family, rather than her, as a serious betrayal. But Arkin soon forgot all about Catlyn in Paris.
While he had been away, Grayson had gotten engaged to his college girlfriend, Alison Harper. For Arkin, it was love at first sight. Alison was beautiful and kind and despite how hard he tried, Arkin couldn't get her out of his head. If Grayson and Alison suspected, they never said anything and Arkin was appointed Best Man for their wedding. It broke his heart to help his brother plan his wedding when he was falling more and more in love with the oblivious bride each day, but Arkin gritted his teeth and pressed on, vowing to take his secret to the grave.
After watching his brother marry the woman he loved, Arkin returned to the army and was shipped out to Afghanistan. Distracted and heart-broken, he was not at the top of his game and during an ambush, was taken prisoner, along with several other members of his unit. At first, Arkin tried not to use his powers, knowing it would spell the end of his military career, but after torture and seeing two of his friends executed, he knew he had no choice. He lashed out, creating a moat of lava around him and the surviving members of his group, hoping to lead a retaliation attack, but instead he found himself hit with a dart. Waking up hours later, he found his powers cured and his body lying in the middle of the desert. There was no sign of his comrades or captors.
He wandered for hours until dehydration forced him back down onto the sand and he prepared to die. Watching the horizon, Arkin saw what he first believed to be a mirage. From the distance, a group was approaching. The closer they got, the more Arkin realized that they were not a figment of his imagination. Barely conscious by the time they reached him, Arkin had no choice but to go with the group. It took days for him to well enough to understand what was going on, but when he did, he almost wished he was back in the desert.
The group Arkin now found himself a member of was a violent, underground militia, bent on destroying as many institutions so they could to gain control for themselves. A rejected Catlyn had sought out the militia, promising them her loyalty and the use of Selinda's powers if Arkin was taken out of the military and given a place within their ranks. Her hope was that by driving her family and Arkin underground, he would realize his love for her and they could be a happy family.
Until they could guarantee his loyalty, Arkin was kept on the cure and subjected to an extreme 'initiation program' that was little more than torture. He was disgusted with Catlyn for exposing Selinda to this way of life but knew he would risk both their lives to openly object to the group. Eventually Arkin swore them his loyalty to ensure no revenge would be taken out on Selinda. The girl was like a daughter to him now, and her safety became his main priority.
Reluctantly, Arkin began to take on missions for the militia, fighting against the men who had once been his comrades. At first he covered his face, but eventually he began to fight without the camouflage, hoping someone would recognize him and send word back home that he had been snatched. He expected some sort of giant rescue effort, but none came. He became more and more embroiled in the militia and began to realize he might never escape, and even if he did, it was unlikely he'd be welcomed home after what he'd done.
Giving up on himself, he put all his effort into trying to save Selinda instead. Catlyn still pined for him and Arkin let her believe that her plan was working, feigning attraction for her so she stopped watching over him so suspiciously. He played his part well, but even his friendship for Catlyn was sour now, while his love for Alison still burned inside him. Secretly he taught Selinda how to fight and use her powers to survive. He could sense that danger was coming, as the militia began to show cracks and different men began to fight for control.
One night, an almighty fight broke out between the factions, turning the militia's base into chaos. Arkin took his chance and used the distraction to sneak Selinda out of the complex, telling her to run to the nearest town, hiding herself with her powers until he came for her. Returning to the bowels of the base, Arkin searched for Catlyn, but couldn't find her. Knowing he needed to flee before he was killed for helping Selinda escape, he abandoned the search and fled into the night.
After catching up with Selinda, Arkin fled for the United States, sneaking into the country on a cargo ship to avoid immigration and customs. He immediately sought out Grayson and Alison, who by now had a small son, Rex. Appearing in the middle of the night after being missing for so long and with a strange child in tow, Grayson and his wife were shocked but quickly ushered Arkin inside. He didn't want to worry them so kept his explanations brief. Luckily, his brother was anxious not to upset him after what he guessed was an awful ordeal, so asked very few questions. Alison mothered Selinda, seeing that she got a bath and giving her one of her long tops that worked as a dress on the young girl.
That night was the most peaceful Arkin had ever had. He was out of danger, and under a roof with the most important people in his life. He should have expected that things would not stay so blissful. The very next day, while Arkin showed Selinda insects in the garden, the CIA arrived. Arkin saw them speaking to Grayson at the door, and knew he would have to leave his family behind again. His brother deliberately stalled them while Alison gathered Arkin's few belongings and passed them to him. Realizing he might never see her again, Arkin threw caution to the wind and kissed her, disappearing with Selina before she could even process what had happened.
Knowing the CIA would only be looking for him, and not Selinda, Arkin made the decision to send her to the Xavier Institute where he knew she would be safe. Now an outlaw, Arkin did what he could to survive, taking on mercenary work without a thought for his employers morals. A few months later, he happened to be scanning the news when he saw a report about a New Orleans Detective being gunned down outside his home by unknown assailants. Arkin knew it was Grayson, even before he read his brother's name. He could guess that the militia was responsible, but didn't know if they had killed Grayson believing him to be Arkin, or if they had just done it to send a message. Either way, Arkin knew he was responsible for his brother's death.
He returned to New Orleans and tried to speak to Alison, but she shut the door on him, saying if he ever came near her again, she would call the police on him. She rightfully blamed him for the loss of her husband and it broke Arkin's spirit completely. Throwing himself into his work, he became ruthless and aimless, all aggression and hate. When news of the memory loss broke, her returned to New York to be close to Selinda.
Family:
Grayson Williem LaFontaine Snr. - Father
Emily Augusta Pilot-LaFontaine - Mother
Grayson Williem LaFontaine Jnr. - Twin
Alison Eve Harper-LaFontaine - Sister-in-Law
Rex Arkin LaFontaine - Nephew
Selinda Murier - Ward
PB: Josh Stewart
