AC Gonzalo
Role: Protagonist
Age: 24
Sex: Male
Affiliations: Paramystic. The Stringer.
Powers: Orange Aether. wire projection, body puppetry, lava touch, night vision, spider climb, fire repellent.
History:
AC's life was a living hell ever before he was born. The story begins in a rich district of Brazil. His mother was a housekeeper who became pregnant with him after she was raped by a wealthy businessman. In an attempt to prove the crime, his mother got a DNA test, confirming the businessman was the father. Furious at his victim, he hired notorious mercenaries to kill her and frame her for fraud.
However, the mercenaries proved to be better people than he thought. Not wanting to kill an expecting mother, the mercenaries instead escorted AC's mother across Mexico to the USA border.
They attempted to explain the situation to the border patrol, but they were not believed. Thinking AC's mother was smuggling drugs in her stomach, they arrested her and took her to the border police in Texas. The mercenaries were driven away.
When she was checked at the hospital, it was confirmed she was indeed 8 months pregnant. Cleared of any wrongdoing, she was free to go, but now she was trapped in a foreign country without knowing the English language. Fortunately, she was befriended in the hospital by a Spanish social worker and given a room at a homeless shelter.
A month later, she gave birth to AC, naming him Armando Cyrus. She was eventually encouraged by the social worker who befriended her to try to get official US citizenship. A year later, she had her opportunity.
Tragically, the government decided that his mother was not 'fit' to be a US citizen, ignoring her horrifying story of the crimes committed against her in Brazil. Even worse, the government insisted that AC stay in America as since he was born there, that made him a citizen. Heartbroken by her crushed hopes, AC's mother gave up and returned to Brazil. Outraged with the results of the trial, the social worker that befriended her vowed justice and took AC in, raising him as her son alongside her own children.
AC grew up his childhood and teenage years in a loving family household. Sadly, Texas was a harsh place for a Hispanic American. What AC hated the most was being mistaken for a Mexican, when he was in fact Brazilian. Since he was little, he was told stories of his true mother and managed to keep in contact with her, assuring her he was doing ok.
However, horror came back to his life when at the age of 19, shortly after graduating high school, members of a white supremacist group burned down his house. Furious at his loss, AC vowed revenge on all those who dared to hate him for his ethnicity. Refusing to listen to his adoptive mother's pleads for him to abandon his hate, he ran away from home and headed northeast.
Once he reached Washington DC, he joined a gang hell bent on punishing white people. However, the gang mistreated him for being so young and inexperienced. One day, after refusing to obey their orders, he was subjected to a forced tattooing of words on his neck and forearm.
Mentally shattered by this humiliating event, something strange happened. AC's hair formed bright orange streaks. Knowing all too well of the signs of gaining liminal powers, AC tested his hunch of his newfound abilities and managed to produce orange aether.
Fascinated by his newly acquired strength, he abandoned the gang and got a job delivering food. In his spare time, he found abandoned, secluded places to practice his powers. Over the years, AC used his powers to help locals in danger, learning new abilities all the while. He saved a woman from being abducted and rescued a child from falling from a balcony.
Eventually, his heroics were noticed by local social worker and secret legendary liminal Johnny Smith. He offered AC a chance to do better with his powers by forming a band of internet content creators called the Paramystics. AC quickly became good friends with the members of the group and his life finally reached a high point of joy.
Powers and abilities:
AC can control aether like most others. Forming it into energy orbs, beams, and more basic attacks and defenses. However, his preferred method of aether forms is whips and wires. With this, he can snare and strike opponents with bright orange, thick ropes of light. Restrain them, throw them, and lift them. He can also use it for grappling objects and strong surfaces.
By using more thin, precise wires, AC can also control people's movements. His body puppetry is what he is most infamous for. He has been known to make opponents dance themselves to exhaustion and beat themselves up. There is far more to his body control than merely fighting, though. He can easily disarm opponents and make them do actions that benefit him. However, the people he controls are fully aware of their physical manipulation, and powerful enough attempts to fight back could cause them to break free.
His hands can produce a super powered heat that melt metal. It is known as a lava touch. This power is much less effective on organic substances like flesh and plants, but devastating on metal, rock, and manmade materials. When used on a person, it can leave second degree burns in contact is more than ten seconds. A foot long and wide cube of metal can melt into molt after thirty seconds of touch. This power is handy for melting locks, dangerous weapons, prison bars, and glass windows.
Night vision is a useful sensory power for AC. Being able to see in total darkness makes him a master of the night streets. He will often darken a room to gain advantage over his opponents.
AC can climb any surface effortlessly like a spider. Combined with his wire projection, he can scale tall buildings and travel across them with ease.
AC cannot produce fire with his orange aether, but he can repel and extinguish it. By simply gesturing with his arms, he can blow out flames and push back fire aimed at him or anywhere else.
Like almost all liminals, AC also has a weakness that limits his powers. In his case, it is not emotional. When exposed to extremely bright lights, his powers are weakened to up to half their strength. Sunlight is often not strong enough to do this, but florescent, or UV lights have a profound weakening effect on him. When the light is bright and blinding enough, he can be left vulnerable.
AC has a healing necklace enchanted by Vivian that can save him from potentially fatal injuries.
Personality:
AC is a fun lover who enjoys parties, adventure, and excitement. He is the most energetic of his friends and allies. However, that energy can turn toxic with rage when he or his loved ones are hurt or threatened. This anger can sometimes lead to a desire for vengeance. AC is not afraid to severely hurt people if they truly are bad and dangerous.
He is generally a friendly person to all but has a hard time handling cruelty and hatred. Unable to brush it off, her verbally fights back against anyone who discriminates against him or threatens his loved ones.
Extras:
AC is an avid comic book fan. Especially superhero comics and manga.
He is heterosexual.
His favorite food is nachos with extra guacamole.
Despite being Brazilian, he grew up speaking more English than Spanish and knows both languages well, but does not have much of an accent.