Characters

Chapter 0

Characters and Other notes

AZUKI KURENAI

(Character Model: Dayana Crunk)

The main character of this story.

Despite her name, she has no Japanese origins.

Her real origin or nationality is not known.

She looks like a beautiful girl between 25 and 28 years old. However, it is not possible to know her real age because she has the power to change shape at will and can therefore freely choose her appearance.

Although the lifestyle she publicly shows is absolutely normal, she actually has an extremely vast wealth (not at the level of Jeff Bezos, but about at the level of Donald Trump).

Since she discovered her supernatural powers (see Below), she has always used them to defend others, facing creatures and criminals of all kinds, acting alone or collaborating with different groups of "superheroes" until she was welcomed into the

League of Guardians

(see Below).

Despite working closely with the leaders of the League, her powers have been assessed as medium/low level, so she has always been assigned supporting or secondary roles, but, following her field experience, she also serves as a trainer for metahuman recruits.

She is in a fixed partnership with

Cassandra

(see Below), who is both her work and life partner, although their relationship is not openly declared (but neither hidden).

SUPERNATURAL POWERS

SHAPE-SHIFTING

Azuki can change her height, weight, build, eye color, type and color of hair and body hair, voice timbre and tone, body odor, blood type, and even gender and details of the skin at will, including tattoos, moles, or scars.

Azuki can also change only parts of her body, and often chooses to manifest both male and female sexual attributes at the same time.

Azuki keeps this ability a closely guarded secret, and no one who has not undergone "Brainwashing" (see Below "

Touch of Madness

") is aware of it.

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COSMIC SHADOW 1

Azuki also has the power to manifest a psychoreactive substance around herself (i.e., one that obeys her mental commands) with density, hardness, shape, or color governed solely by Azuki's will.

Azuki uses this substance to simulate her own clothes or transform it into weapons or additional limbs (such as a pair of wings).

The substance can be any color or no color (transparent) or become luminescent in any shade or intensity, and it is also able to "copy" the surrounding image, making what it envelops inside invisible.

The substance can also become extremely hard (reaching a hardness equal to that of diamond on the Mohs scale) and is able to dissipate impacts with equal effectiveness.

Interwoven with Azuki's hair, it makes her seem able to move them like tentacles.

This is the only power that the League of Guardians is aware of, but Azuki still keeps its true potential and extent hidden.

As far as the League is concerned, Azuki's supernatural powers officially only extend to being able to animate the straps and chains of her clothes as if they were tentacles.

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COSMIC SHADOW 2

The psychoreactive substance, in contact with other organic tissues, has mutagenic powers.

With a sufficiently prolonged contact, in fact, the substance can shape the form of living tissues (for example, it can lengthen or bend a bone or change the shape of a nose) or change their cellular structure by modifying their functions (such as making a carnivore's stomach able to process cellulose or making an astigmatic or myopic eye able to function properly), or even mutate the genetic structure to accommodate substantial changes (such as adding a third eye or limb).

Similarly, the substance, at a faster pace, can replace damaged or missing tissues and bind to the host's cellular structure, copying it to remedy deficiencies or diseases.

In this way, Azuki can close wounds or cure diseases in extremely short times (a few minutes).

This application of the Shadow is also kept in great secrecy. When Azuki has to use it to help fellow heroes or recruits, she pretends to inject them with an unidentified substance of her own invention, the composition or origin of which she does not want to disclose.

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TOUCH of MADNESS

By physically contacting a creature or entity, Azuki can alter the target's perception of reality.

The change can be as simple as "I don't like the taste of salad" or as complex and invasive as "I am madly in love with Azuki and I would kill my child (literally) just to be near her, even if she doesn't love me back."

Azuki calls this procedure "Frying the Brain".

An unexplained "Side Effect" of this power is Azuki's mind/soul being unreachable by telepathic/mind control powers.

This ability is kept even more secret than her shape-shifting ability; only three people are aware of it (Cassandra being one of them), and all three have been subjected to the treatment to ensure their unconditional loyalty.

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TIMELESS

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CASSANDRA DE BLANCOURT (LASOMBRA)

(Modello del Personaggio: Overwatch Widowmaker)

(Art by: Breadblack)

Azuki's "Girlfriend". A girl aged between 23 and 26 with a slender yet curvy physique and strong Goth influences in both style and appearance.

She is of French descent from her mother's side (using her surname) and Spanish descent from her father's side.

She worships Azuki like a goddess and takes care of all her affairs and needs (financial and otherwise).

Her relationship with Azuki is EXTREMELY unconventional and almost symbiotic.

She often accompanies Azuki even on the battlefield.

Azuki has modified her body (see above COSMIC SHADOW 2) to enable her to manifest male sexual attributes as well as female ones.

She is not strictly part of the

League of Guardians

(see below), but she is allowed to use its facilities and participate in its missions as Azuki's attendant, in exchange for making her supernatural skills as a sharpshooter and infiltrator available to the League.

SUPERNATURAL POWERS

PERFECT AIM

Cassandra's competence and precision in firearms shooting (sniper rifles in particular) far exceed the maximum achievable by even the most gifted and perfectly trained human being.

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THE BANSHEE

(Character Model: Deadhaus Sonata Banshee)

A creature of unknown origins, found during an expedition of the

League of Guardians

(see below) in Antarctica, in a state of hibernation/catatonia inside a cocoon made of a material unknown to man.

Its behavior is completely feral and it interacts with the surrounding world based on instinct rather than reason. Despite this, it shows extremely high levels of intelligence, making it difficult to manipulate/deceive her.

Although generally not hostile, it has a very high level of aggression, reacting to any perceived threat with great ferocity.

Having demonstrated levels of psychic powers of the highest magnitude, the League Council has decided to keep it in "captivity" (although it is classified as a planetary-level threat) while studying its powers.

The conditions of its confinement are comparable to those of a mentally ill person suffering from severe psychosis hospitalized in a first-class psychiatric hospital.

Therefore, daily assistance is required to maintain hygiene and "social decorum."

Given its unique immunity to psychic powers (see below "

Banshee's Wail

"), the role of caretaker has been entrusted to

Azuki

(see above).

SUPERNATURAL POWERS

BANSHEE'S WAIL

When under stress or perceiving a threat, the Banshee's first defensive/aggressive action is to emit a powerful scream. Physically, this is already a significant display of power, as the howl represents a true sonic attack capable of shaking reinforced concrete walls and shattering crystals.

However, the real threat lies in the psychic wave that the Banshee releases simultaneously. The perception of reality of those who fall victim to it is horribly distorted, plunging the targets into their most terrifying nightmares and causing stabbing pains of agony.

Without any kind of psychic protection, experiencing this effect causes devastating mental damage and in some cases directly lobotomizes the subject.

The power of the Banshee is such that even the highest-level telepaths cannot completely shield themselves from its Wail.

SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH AND SPEED

Despite its slender and feminine appearance, the Banshee is capable of developing enough strength to lift 50 tons and can move at a speed that makes it difficult for the human eye to follow its movements.

The Banshee's claws are capable of penetrating and tearing through metal.

The League of Guardians has not yet been able to explain how Azuki has managed, without suffering serious injuries, attending to a creature with such a disparity in strength and speed.

THE GUARDIANS' LEAGUE

The GUARDIANS' LEAGUE is a supranational organization founded and comprised of Metahumans, whose founding (and most powerful) members make operational and directive decisions by convening in a small council.

This council then collaborates with another one formed by humans appointed by the governments of the various participating nations, which participate in the management and directive decisions of the LEAGUE.

In addition to international peacekeeping or policing missions, a primary objective of this organization is the training, education, and recruitment of new metahumans in order to rescue them from the isolation that often leads to power intoxication or psychosis.

The League's Headquarters is located in an Orbital Station built with technologies and materials far beyond those available to even the most advanced armies.

It is a truly impressive and enormous construction capable of housing the living quarters of the most prominent members, training and education facilities with space for their respective students, as well as all support installations for the most important missions.