New Peaks Academy: Paradigm Shift (OOC/Signup)

[Salroka]

2017 Winner of RPA's Best General RP!

A continuation of New Peaks Academy: Fight School

Click HERE for the IC thread!

Introduction

Welcome to New Peaks Academy, also known as Fight School! Normal classes do exist, but I can assume that's not the main reason you're here. No, you're likely interested in the many fights to be had; officially sanctioned or otherwise, 1 vs. 1, team battles, and even tournaments... all taking place within the same continuity. Friendships and rivalries will be formed. Great victories will be attained and bitter defeats will be endured. For better of for worse, the memories of your adventures while attending New Peaks High for these four years will last a lifetime. They will mold you from an unknown fighter to a champion worthy of worldwide recognition.

English is the official language of communication at New Peaks. The high school is located on a private island in the Pacific Ocean, and was started by a wealthy group of investors from the United States. While English is the most commonly spoken language at the school, translators are on staff for any student who is not fluent in the language. As it is technically an international academy, any and all forms of martial arts are welcomed, if not already represented among the student body and staff.

This thread's IC will be used for both the fights and the normal character interaction. That being said, and Player-versus-Player fight posts should have a title at the top that states _______ vs. _______.

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Spoiler: The Story So Far 

The previous school year was ended with a large tournament, just as it is every year. There were many injuries and fights that were stopped by judge’s decision, and the end result was with the previously unheard of young man, Ethan Walker, clinching the spot of top Freshman fighter. New Peaks Academy’s top senior, Shotaro Yanmei, gave a speech at the graduation ceremony. His heartfelt words touched many students and encouraged them to strive for greatness. Even the students who had not placed well in the tournament felt compelled to cheer.

Now entering a new year, the students who had done so well just a few months before had to do it all over again. But they have a new faction to deal with. As the door closes on the artistic Khuzos faction, their former headquarters were quickly purchased by “The Parahuman Initiative” and redecorated to suit their needs. Now called “The Conclave”, it is lauded as a safe haven for any parahuman who feels they have been wronged, bullied, or been victim of prejudice. Some see this as a great thing and say it was sorely needed. Others feel it is the start of a supremicist movement. Only time will tell for sure.

Laughter and tears, friendship and rivalry, joy and sorrow, wins and losses… all of them await our students once more at...

NEW PEAKS ACADEMY: FIGHT SCHOOL

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The Challenge Board

Fights between students, from 1 vs. 1 to a team battle of any number of students, can be done at any time as long as someone submits a form to the Challenge Board, all student involved signs their name, and a stamp of approval is placed on the form. This will be represented in this OOC by the challenger posting something like this:

"I, (insert here the name of the student you will be using as well as any other allies), challenge (name of any opposing students listed here) to a battle at Arena (insert the number here of any arena not being used at the same time in the storyline)." … or something similar that signifies your challenge to another player. You can also just say: "Hey (player/member name). Want to have our characters scrap?"

The boards are posted all over campus, as well as directly to the smartphones/tablets/etc of any student who wishes to get notices that way.

Everyone involved must make it clear in the OOC that they will be participating, and then I or any other GM I may appoint will approve it.

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Tournaments

There's a school-wide tournament taking place every year at midterms and finals. All students are required to attend. I will likely use a tournament randomizer to make the brackets to ensure impartiality.

Special tournaments may be created through popular demand with specific attributes in mind. For example, MMA, kendo, and so on... so players can occasionally have different rule sets than normal. Not everyone has to attend these, but may submit their intention to do so.

Tournaments will be announced ahead of time, giving players time to wrap up any personal plot or interesting developments that are occuring for them. During the tourney, non-tournament IC activity should be kept to a minimum

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Unsanctioned Fights

This is always an option and you can ignore all the rules as long as everyone involved agrees on any deviations taking place. For example, you can agree on a fight to break out in the hallway, but if you want to pull a knife on them then make sure to ask for permission beforehand.

However... unsanctioned fights will have consequences if they are not done properly or if a player gets caught by an instructor. These consequences vary in severity depending on the fight itself. If you are caught in an unsanctioned match that breaks very few rules, then they will be fairly trivial. If you're being a bully, you might get suspended. If you actively tried to kill a fellow student, you might just be expelled.

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Ranking

Students are ranked between E to S after showing their abilities through various tests encompassing every facet of what makes a skilled fighter. It's still possible for a rank E to beat a rank S... but that would be highly unlikely. E-rank is for the average joe or below who has yet to receive much or any proper training. Every increase in rank is generally though of as being significantly more talented than the rank below it, much like a belt system in organized martial arts.

NPC Students are often rank E to D in their first year, D to C in their second year, C to B in their third year, and B or A in their forth year. Player Characters will likely scale higher than this, of course... they're player characters, after all. S-Rank are the exceptionally skilled, people who received additional training after graduation, and/or are instructors... so most NPC students never reach this rank.

There's an additional 1 to 3 ranking after the letter for even more precise ranking, so a D1 would be close to C in rank while a C3 would be among the weakest of the C ranks.

To increase in rank you must pass a test in a ceremony specifically designed to allow this. (that is to say, if you think your character can achieve a higher rank, PM me and we can talk about it) Even if you are as good as a C rank, for example, you'll stay a D1 until you pass. There's a ceremony every semester that you may take part in, as well as being awarded advancement for strong performances in PvP combat.

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Fighting System

Player Vs. Player combat is decided by a roll of the dice if the two players cannot simply agree on a winner... OR if they just want to randomize it, with the winner having the higher result. An example will follow.

Spoiler: Dice Mechanics 

Each letter rank grants a player one 10-sided die to roll. Each number is what that player must then subtract from the final roll. E-Rank gets one die. D-Rank gets two, and so on. All the way up to S-Rank with six dice.

Say an E3-rank challenges an S1-Rank for some reason. The E3 would roll one 10-sided die, then subtract 3 from the final result. The S1 would then roll six 10-sided dice, subtracting 1 from the end result.

The E3's chances for winning are ABYSMAL... but NOT nonexistent. If he rolls a 10 and subtracts his 3, his end result is 7. If the S1 rolls mostly 1s and then subtracts his 1, then the E3 would still win.

This system ensures that fights between characters of similar LETTER rank are fair and unpredictable, but also that any lower-rank foes have a chance for victory should they decide to challenge someone stronger than themselves.

That said, I don't want the person with the lower result to just half-ass it for the fight they get into. I WILL give rewards to people who can make a fight entertaining regardless of if they win or lose.

Spoiler: Read if unfamiliar with Arena-Style combat 

Every post besides the beginning three are comprised of first a reaction and then an action. The first two are introducing the characters to the battle where they cannot take any action against each other, then the third post is what starts the battle off, skipping the reaction step and jumping straight to the action.

Reaction is going off of what your opponent has written in their latest post. If they are swinging their fist at you, for example, then you may use this opportunity to respond to this attack in any manner that you feel fit as long as it can reasonably occur. A reaction could also be receiving the hit, more then likely because you didn't have any other reasonable options available to you... or perhaps you like a more cinematic fight where everyone gets a bit beaten up and the winner only emerges victorious by a small margin. This reaction portion of the post does not exist in the first post because there is nothing to react to.

Posts should be made as detailed as possible to avoid confusion. If you say something overly vague such as "I run up and attack him" then your opponent may ask you to clarify. If you refuse to do so for some reason, they can interpret your post however they see fit, assuming your attack can be a head butt to their shin and react accordingly if that's what they wish. That being said, the more you elaborate the less wiggle room they have..

Judges/GMs watch over fights to make sure nobody is abusing the rules. If no disagreements are made or able to be resolved between the participants then the judges don't have to be brought up. However, if there is something that can't otherwise be resolved then up to 2 judges for normal matches and up to 4 for tournaments (not controlled by any participants) may take part officially and any disagreement between them can be brought to the attention of the head judge (me or anyone elected to substitute for me). Unofficial input can be given by any number of people within the OOC. Judges can end the fight if they believe too much serious damage is being done to the students.

Spoiler: Read if familiar with Arena-Style combat 

Don't be a jackass, use your brain, and get banned if you godmod or metagame.

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Grades

This is just for fun, but may help explain why students fight more than just the giggles. They get 60 out of 100 points from their normal classes and 40 points put into the fighting portion. If they score a 70 in total... they pass, but if they want to fight as little as possible, that will require near perfect scores going into the 60 possible points out of 100 for the academic portion and at LEAST 10 points for fighting, ending them with a max of 10 if they had fought and scored 0 points in the tournaments.

For every fight you participate in, you receive 1 point toward your final GPA. This ensures that everyone fights at least a couple dozen times throughout the year to ensure their grades are good. However, you can only earn a maximum of 50 points through fighting. This ensures that prolific fighters cannot neglect their studies.

If your character ends up failing then they can make it up in a summer school training program. The lower your score is the more hard work you suffer through.

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Magic, Powers, and Martial Arts

Characters will be of similar power to what can be seen from many fighting games such as Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Tekken, etc. There can be magical abilities of varying nature as long as it isn't powerful enough to give you a definitive advantage over fighters without magic. For example, Blanka from Street Fighter can shoot electricity out of his skin, but he's still able to be defeated by someone without any such magical powers. His electricity cannot instantly fry their heart, it's not always on, not so fast nobody can see it coming and not able to avoid it, etc. There must be considerable disadvantages either to the magic or other qualities of the fighter to balance things out. Magic should also follow a theme, so no "I can do everything" magic.

As for non-magical fighting, it will involve some suspension of disbelief. The fighters will be able to act around peak human and not blatantly break the laws of physics, although may have some highly unlikely fighting ability being demonstrated. You can be knocked back dramatically and slam into walls and still keep fighting, do flip kicks, run along walls for brief moments, etc. Obviously, for someone without magic, they'd probably be better at this sort of fighting in exchange.

Vital Spirit is the energy of the soul that every living creature has. This can be used to hand wave certain normally lethal damage as only incapacitating then to help avoid accidentally killing each other too often. Of course people can still die, it's just harder to do so if they have plot armor given to them by this excuse. The energy that provides for magic is called chi/ki/aura, and is the detectible energy felt resonating from a person, especially more powerful individuals. Examples being if a D-Rank character angers an S-Rank character, they will be able to “feel” the strength and power of that person to some extent.

Martial Arts can be chosen from any of the hundreds of various styles that exist in the world today, made up (if described well enough), or hybridized styles like MMA or Kajukenbo. For a nice assortment of basic styles to choose from, click HERE.

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The Campus

New Peaks Academy is a sprawling campus, with several buildings that house the various classrooms. In addition, off of the school grounds there are same-sex dorms where the students live. Sorry... no Co-Ed stuff here. The staff knows you're all a bunch of hormone-ridden teens. Other than the dorms, there are several restaurants that the students and faculty can stop at to eat, shops to get books and games and trinkets, a couple parks to relax in (complete with those charcoal grills you see in some parks, if you feel like having a cookout!), and a grocery store where you can buy foodstuffs to take back to your dorm.

To this end, students are given a stipend of $200 USD per month to spend as they see fit. This means if you blow it all on that game console you wanted... you better have some way to get food for yourself. Students CAN take part-time jobs if they choose to.

Click HERE for a map of the campus.

Dorm Room Layouts

Male Dorms 1: Single-Floor Building, spacious studio-style dorms. Click HERE for floor plan.

Male Dorms 2: Used mainly for students attending on Scholarship or Outreach Programs. Two-Story building, Studio-style dorms. Click HERE for floor plan.

Male Dorms 3: Single-Floor Building, Luxurious Studio-Style Dorms w/ small deck. Click HERE for floor plan.

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Female Dorms 1: Single-Floor Building, Studio-style dorms. Click HERE for floor plan.

Female Dorms 2: Used mainly for students attending on Scholarship or Outreach Programs. Two-Story Building, Studio-style dorms. Click HERE for floor plan.

Female Dorms 3: Single Floor building, Luxurious Studio-style Dorms w/ small ground-level deck Click HERE for floor plan.

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Factions

As with many schools, there are students who get together in like-minded groups. These are called "factions" at New Peaks Academy. There are four main factions, as well as a fifth sub-faction. They are as follows.

Spoiler: #1: Imperius Gloria 

Founded during the inaugural year of New Peaks Academy, Imperius Gloria is all about personal growth and development. Faction members only have a loose affiliation with one another, and are often found doing whatever they can to one-up members of other factions. This behavior extends to members of their own faction as well, but to a lesser extent. Many a member of Imperius Gloria has been reprimanded for rulebreaking on at least one occasion. It is known the faction undertakes less than fair methods of ensuring they attain only the highest honors at New Peaks, including bounties, bullying, and even serious physical harm, but thus far no solid evidence has been procured against the group as a whole. Faction Mascot: Tassidus the Gladiator. Current Faction Head: Anna Jacobson

Spoiler: #2: The Janissaries 

This faction arose shortly after Imperius Gloria rose to power, in a full-hearted attempt to usurp their iron grip on Twin Peaks' inner-school society. Their innate values are of polar opposite to the Imperius; group success and growth is far more important to the members of this group than solitary progress. To the people who call themselves Janissaries, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. While the Janissaries failed in their attempt to bring a more permanent peace amongst the factions, they are not one to give up, and continue pushing a way of peace with few listeners. They will often go out of their way to make new students feel welcome, assist those in need of tutoring, and organize and run many of the school's public events. Faction Mascot: Yani the Horseman. Current Faction Head: Cameron Ballard

Spoiler: #3: The Parahuman Initiative 

The Parahuman Initiative was founded barely three weeks before the start of the new school year. Not much is known about its power structure or goals at New Peaks Academy, save that they only allow parahuman members. This has not stopped them from accepting donations from wealthy non-parahuman donors, nor from allowing their members to associate with normal humans. Most see them as a harmless group meant simply to encourage the parahuman minority at New Peaks, but a select few see them as a racist organization that will only spread disdain and hatred. Faction Mascot: Grigori the Dragon Current Faction Head: Alexia Kensington

Spoiler: #4 Hijos de la Sabiduría 

Founded only two years ago, Hijos de la Sabiduría does not generally concern itself with fighting. The average member fights as little as possible, often only participating in the bare minimum number of bouts and the exam tournament that takes place at the end of each semester.The reasoning for this is that they believe a sharp mind leads to a sharp body as well. As such, the Imperius Gloria particularly enjoy making examples of this faction with every opportunity they receive. Members of this faction are incredibly bright, and some are capable of quickly analyzing their opponents for errors or weaknesses. However, the lesser degree of focus on the physical aspect of fighting leads many of them to be unable to capitalize on what they figure out. Regardless, the group has grown significantly since being founded. Collaboration with the Khuzos is not unheard of for this faction, as the two seem to get along better than any other pairing. Faction Mascot: Genioso the Owl. Current Faction Head: Elias Palamara

Spoiler: #5 Mendicants 

Not so much a real faction as a catch-all for students attending New Peaks via the school's numerous outreach and low-income scholarship programs, Mendicants are only called such as an insult by the more financially-sound students of the school. Still, in recent years the lower-income students have begun to band together under this name and seem to wear it as a badge of honor, shoving it in the faces of their wealthy peers. Despite this recent mobilization, New Peaks has yet to officially recognize this group of less-fortunates as a true faction, a weapon Imperius Gloria holds over their heads daily. Mendicants can be members of the other four factions, though a Mendicant being accepted into Imperius Gloria is incredibly rare.

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Parahumans

Due to magical influences... or on rare occasions, genetic experiments, it's possible that some people have developed nonhuman features such as horns, tails, scales, etc. The term "Parahuman" is the politically correct one, but they can also be called things like half breeds, subhumans, beast folk, etc. Cases of alternative life forms are uncommon, but they are generally treated unfairly. Especially in "civilized" parts of the world. Just make sure they didn't get their abilities through drinking the blood of innocents, experimentation on unwilling test subjects, etc. and it should be fine. Well, legally fine, but you still might be treated poorly by other students.

Some animals are given intelligence and humanoid qualities this way, but due to how silly it might make things if kung-fu ducks start appearing, I'm going to have to disallow stuff like this in most cases.

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Rules

I may or may not add more rules to this list as it comes to my attention. I may have forgotten some things.

1. No weapons are allowed in standard battles with the exception of magically created/summoned weapons. You may bring out any sort of weapons in unofficial battles, but prepare yourself for the consequences when you are caught. There are a few special tournaments that allow certain qualified weapons, such as shinai for the kendo tournament, so if there are multiple characters who make use of the same weapon, ask me about it and I may organize a tournament or special event for them. The weapon cannot be overly lethal such as steel-blades swords, heavy maces, spears, etc. Such weapons will be blunted, wooden, etc.

2. No killing or severely damaging your opponents without approval of the GM and the player you're facing. This includes rupturing organs, splintering bones, snapping necks, severe burns, freezing, etc. If you carry out an attack with such a capability and have no intention of stopping, Any judge present can stop them without fail, no matter what. As a result, your character may suffer realistic punishments. If it was an accident and only something that would wound and not kill them then it will be pretty lenient, but if your character is intentionally trying to kill their fellow students then don't expect them to be around very long unless they're really good at covering this up. They can still take part in unofficial battles though. There will be a very talented school nurse on site who can pretty much magically heal wounds most people can't, but is not able to heal everything. Get kicked in the chest and crack your sternum, it's still going to take at least a few days to heal... magic or not.

3. No other official rules exist in battle besides the first two rules and stopping when the judges say to. Granted, rule number 2 does encompass quite a bit of things that would be illegal. Other mid-fight rules are to be decided between the players who are fighting.

4. New Peaks Academy follows the rules of the country it was started by, this being the USA. As such, no student may consume alcohol as they are all under 21, and no student may smoke tobacco unless they are 18. Staff members may do so, and can purchase such things at the stores on the island. Any STUDENT who is caught with this sort of contraband will be punished accordingly. There are also no drugs permitted on the island, and severe punishments are handed down to any student caught with narcotics or paraphernelia. This is in addition to the investigation that will commence to find out HOW they got it.

5. Don't keep your opponent waiting on a post for more than three days unless you give proper warning beforehand. If not then your opponent can deal moderate damage to them, but not enough to incapacitate them. If three more days pass and they still haven't posted, you may then be incapacitated and thus lose the fight.

6. Winning the battle can be stopping your foe from being able to fight, getting them to surrender, withholding what would have been a crippling blow but making it evident that you could have done so, or knocking them out. Unlike real life, suspension of disbelief allows people to be knocked unconscious for extended periods without suffering traumatic brain injury (unless that is your desired outcome). Therefore, knockouts are treated as perfectly normal, valid methods of winning.

7. Put “First Rule of Fight School, don't fail Fight School” at the end of your CS so that I know you read these rules.

8. You may have up to two characters. If you want one to be an instructor/teacher, PM me and we can discuss it.

9. You may have a student transfer to the school at any time or just pretend they were always there. It's a big school, so maybe your guy/girl just didn't get noticed too much before you made them into a Player Character.

10. Being a Private School, tuition at New Peaks is not cheap. Please note if your character is from a wealthy family, or at New Peaks on a Scholarship of some sort.

11. Players don't have to post every day, but I expect at least one post per week per player in order to keep things moving at a steady pace.

12. Cooperative posts are encouraged. If you do not know how to do a co-post or what a co-post even is, Just ask.

13. This is not a place for those who make short posts. Posts will be two paragraphs or longer unless there is almost nothing for you to respond to. If that is the case, talk to your fellow players and try to GET something to respond to.. Violating this rule once will result in a warning. Repeat violations may result in removal from the RP.

14. Players are free to come up with names for the various stores or restaurants on the island, as well as what KIND of stores they are. This is to be kept reasonable, of course. I am able to overturn the creation of any buildings that are too odd or don't fit the setting. Similarly, players may also make and control lesser NPCs to make their posts seem more interactive and realistic for a busy school setting. Major NPCs such as Teachers may not be made or controlled without prior GM permission.

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Fight School Fight Song

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School I.D. Cards and Background Checks

The following I.D. is for students

Name:
I.D. Number: (Come up with a random 8 digit number)
Rank: (D1 to B3, please. No 2nd-Year student may start higher than B-3 Rank. returning Players are exempt from this rule and may contact me for their ranks.)
Year: (I would like people to make 2nd-year students, but if you PM me with a cool concept, I may allow 3rd or possibly 4th year students. Returning players may keep their upperclassman students.)
Nationality:
Age: (Keep it high school range, 15-16 area, although some young prodigies or people who had to retake years can get a slightly wider age range then normal... but no ten year olds or full-on adults)
Sex/Gender:
Appearance: (Picture preferred, but descriptions are fine)

Fighting Style: (Students may have one martial arts style if they specialize in it, and be up to Second Dan Black-Belt Level, or two styles if they want to have a broader skill-set, but may not be black-belt in either one)

Powers: (Low-Tier neat powers. Nothing like “I can hurl fireballs that consume my foes” or “I can see attacks before they even happen, and react as fast as lightning”.)

Personality:(At least one paragraph of detail, please. “Shy and timid” means “please send this character home to their family”)

Background: (At least three paragraphs here, please. Include how your character is able to afford tuition or if they are attending under a scholarship or outreach program.)

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You may also submit an I.D. for judges/instructors. Rather than "Grade", type in "Occupation", exclude Rank and I.D. number, and up their age limit to whatever. These guys and gals obviously don't fight under most circumstances. The instructors can be used for training students, to further plots between players, etc.

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Student Roster

I will link everyone's accepted characters here.

Accepted Students

Troy F. Duncan, played by Standatrocity
Junkiro Iwazuma, played by Iwazuma
Cyst Voltromvskey, played by Dawscombine
Daniel Donovan, played by Daniel_Darkholm
Jack Henry , played by Kiro Akira
Mai Erskine, played by Organis
Evelyn Mayes , played by Opharum
Kyami Xiang Yi, played by RisingPhoenix
Xiao Li, played by Socks the God
Kaname Shibazaki, played by Gowi
Vincento Sarconni, played by Beta
Amaltheia Stavros, played by Dawscombine


S1-Rank Legends

Victoria Fuentes, created and played by Beta
Albert Bosko, created and played by Dawscombine
Tina Martel, created by Standatrocity and played by Cfavano
Nrajah, created by RisingPhoenix and played by Standatrocity
Greta Tannberger, created by Iwazuma and played by RisingPhoenix
Shotaro Yanmei, created by Beta and played by Daniel_Darkholm
Mike Overmeyer, created by Beta and played by Iwazuma*
Anna Jacobson, created and played by Beta*
* - See NPCs/Teachers below





Established Student NPCs

Spoiler: Elias Palamara 

Elias is a Fourth-Year student of A-2 Rank, the Chancellor Elect of the Hijos de la Sabuduria faction. He is a veritable genius when it comes to computers, and has strong ties to the Imperius Gloria faction. Originally hailing from Greece, his family later moved to Thailand when he was only six years old after his father's business moved their headquarters there. Elias is a practitioner of Muay Lert Rit, and holds a Black Band in the style.

Personality: Elias is a bit of a "snake-in-the-grass" kind of guy. He's polite enough in most circumstances, but there is always an ulterior motive behind it. Why? Simple. He enjoys knowing everything there is to know about a situation before taking action.

Power: Smokescreen - Elias can convert his aura/energy/chi into an opaque field similar to fog or smoke. This effect can fill an area as large as 2000 cubic feet (an area somewhat larger than there is within the back of a large U-Haul truck) at most before it thins drastically and is not as effective. He usually uses smaller and more concentrated bursts of smoke to directly obscure the vision of his foes by thrusting the smoke in their faces.

Spoiler: Siu Zhenzhen Lei Fong 

NPC Created by Cfavano



Siu is a Third-Year Student of Rank A-3, and a high-ranking member of Imperius Gloria. She is a natural at the martial arts, trained since age five by People's Republic of China after her parents put her up for adoption. Already having one child, they had no choice but to do so according to local law. Shortly thereafter, Siu was 'adopted' and trained by government officials. She was tested daily in the physical and mental arts, and taught only to accept the best from herself. Years later she was sent off to New Peaks to show the Glory of the People's Republic. She is a practitioner of Nanshequan (Southern Snake) and is 2nd Dan Black Belt.

Personality: Siu was mentally conditioned to love the Party and to take nothing less than victory. To that end, she will do all in her power to win, no matter the cost or the consequences. Noticeably, she lacks a self-preservation instinct, and has been sent to the infirmary many times, and usually wins fights through sheer ferocity.

She is cunning and calculating, willing to exploit any weakness, stoop to any level to win. That is all there is in her mind, nothing else matters. Win, and bring glory to the Party. Anything less is failure, and failure is not acceptable.

Power: Steel Keratin - Her hair and nails, while maintaining their lightness and flexibility, have taken on the durability of high-carbon steel, to the point where she needs to use power tools to cut her hair and nails. These, she uses as weapons. She keeps her nails sharp as a rule, but before sanctioned fights, she has them honed to a scalpel-sharp edge. She has also found a way to use her hair as a weapon, making many little whip-like braids that she can injure her opponent with.

Because of this mutation, her fingers, toes, and their nailbeds have also strengthened, to prevent/reduce accidental injury.

Spoiler: Kuàng Jié 

Kuàng Jié is a sixteen year old Sophomore student at New Peaks Academy. He is a ten-year veteran of the Wuzuquan (Five Ancestors Fist) style of Kung Fu, and has achieved a 2nd-Duan ranking in the style. His current ranking is C1, though some argue he should be ranked higher. A recent transfer student from the city of Shantou in the Guangdong province of China, Kuàng Jié has quickly asserted himself as a force to be reckoned with in the Sophomore class. His schooling has been paid for by the city of Shantou, as a sort of token of good will. He speaks fluent Mandarin and Cantonese, as well as simple English.

His father is a politician and his mother a housewife, and he himself was one of several dozen students of a local Shaolin academy displaced by a fire at the school. Hearing of the prestigious New Peaks Academy through the internet, Kuàng Jié's father sent him and a few other chosen students to the world-famous school. As a means of compensating the students whose school had burned down, the city of Shantou has paid for their tuitions. Jié feels as though he is a wolf among sheep, though he tries to remain humble about it. However, there are moments where his sense of superiority show.

Power: Kinesthetic Hyper-Awareness
Kuàng Jié's body is no more or less resiliant than the bodies of his peers. However, his mind processes information about his body and its surroundings much more quickly than most. For example, most fighters will consider where to punch or dodge, if even for a split second. Even among highly-trained fighters, Kuàng Jié's ability to react to stimuli is astonishing. He is by no means invincible, however. While his speed is superb and his reaction time equally impressive, surprise attacks and unorthodox techniques can still render him as defenseless as a child. However, it is rare for the same tactic to work against him more than once.

Spoiler: Francesca MacGregor 

Hailing from England, Francesca is a gifted 16 year old Second-Year student who ranks in at C-2. She is also a Yellow-Glove (Expert) Savateur. Crawling her way out of a rough childhood in Blackpool, she began learning Savate at the age of nine when she ran away from her abusive mother and hid inside a gym. After a lengthy court case, her mother lost custody and she was adopted by the gym's owner in a widely publicized gesture of human kindness. After all, the media eats that stuff up. It was this very thing that brought her to the attention of New Peaks scouts, who have since given her a full-ride scholarship as another token of good will.

Personality: While she is a nice girl and tries to be polite, being given so much for the sake of "looking good" as she calls it... has taken a toll on her demeanor. If she feels she is being patronized or mocked, she gets very vocal and even hostile on rare occasions.

Power: Low-Frequency Growl - Francesca can emit a sound far below the levels human ears can detect. These low frequency sounds can cause nausea and disorientation. However, she cannot release these sounds for more than a few seconds at a time without damaging her larynx.

Spoiler: Thabisa Greyling 

Pronounced Tah-Bee-Sah.

Thabisa is a Second-Year parahuman (Antelope) girl born in South Africa. Her parents are owners of a successful Safari resort in the northern region of the country, and very proud of how far their daughter has come in life. A skilled Engolo fighter, she has reached the rank of C-3. However, she must wear plastic caps on her horns during fights, for the safety of her opponents.

Personality: While she was initially a bit shy, given her status as a parahuman... Thabisa has made great strides in her life since coming to New Peaks Academy. Averaging a 3.5GPA and with a record of 16-11 in her Freshman year, she's shown that parahumans are just as capable as anyone else. As such, he confidence is booming and she is generally very cheerful and easy to get along with.

Power: None

Spoiler: Miranda Walsh 

Miranda Walsh is a sixteen year old Second-Year student at New Peaks Academy, First-Dan Black Belt practitioner of Kajukenbo, and holds a rank of C-1. An odd case, Miranda is a skilled young martial artist who was injured in a car accident the year before she enrolled at New Peaks Academy, and put into a coma as a result. Her father was told she would likely never wake up. Not content to let his only daughter die, Mr. Walsh (owner of several profitable casinos in Las Vegas) paid for a highly experimental procedure with only a small chance of success. The procedure would replace over 75% of Miranda's body with cybernetic components.

The procedure was a success, and Miranda came out of the coma shortly after it was finished. Only her head and upper torso remained from her original body. As a result, she has slightly enhanced strength, speed, and durability. While some might say it grants her an unfair advantage, her reaction times and range of motion are still very human. She also is not an artificial intelligence, as her mind is the same as before the accident.

Personality: Miranda now believes she can survive anything. After enduring a terrible car wreck, a coma, and a series of experimental surgeries... why wouldn't she? Now that she can run faster, jump higher, and fight harder than before, Miranda has all the confidence in the world. However, this only applies to athletic endeavors. Socially, she feels like a freak. She doesn't think any boys will like her (because she can't do things other girls can), she thinks everyone stares at her, and she refuses to join any factions for fear of being singled out or picked on.

Power: Cybernetic Body (Enhanced Strength, Speed, and Durability)
DRAWBACKS: While she has received an upgraded power supply that needs no recharging, she must still receive nutrition intravenously and undergo dialysis three times a week.

Spoiler: Matt and Brett Elspeth 

NPCs created by Iwazuma

Matt

Brett

Matt is ranked at C3, Brett Elspeth is ranked at C1. Brett is one year Matt's senior, but waited to join New Peaks with his brother so that they could learn and develop together. As such, they are both Second-Year students. After their mother died in Matt's childbirth, their father became the sole caretaker of the brothers. Unable to cope with her death, he began drinking heavily by the time Brett had turned six. As a result, much of their childhood was spent doing chores, being abused by a drunk father, and often caring for themselves when their dad went out drinking or passed out in a stupor. On Brett's thirteenth birthday, their father was admitted to the hospital after drinking far too much at his birthday party. He died of alcohol poisoning not six hours later.

Left to fend for themselves on the streets for two years, Matt and Brett would often find themselves in seedy restaurants and bars to find their food and drink. One night, the two of them watched a kickboxing championship on grainy, low-definition television in a dive bar. Though the definition was low, their interest was high, and soon they returned every Saturday to watch the fights. Brett never got over the kickboxing championship, and soon went to the library every other day to watch videos and train himself in the art. Matt, however, couldn't really decide on a fighting style; in the end, he partially copied his brother and visited the library with him, though there are hints of boxing and karate thrown in his fighting style as well.

The brothers got their chance in the spotlight when a New Peaks recruiter, already having completed his visit to London to interview a potential prodigy, spotted the brothers fighting off some rowdy hobos in an alley, sending them flying further than boys their age honestly should. Intrigued, he took the boys aside, offering them a chance to improve their lives at New Peaks if they could impress the instructors as they had impressed him. Leaping at the opportunity, the Elspeth brothers flew to New Peaks, showcasing their unique strengths to the judges. However, when asked to perform individually, both refused: They had decided two years ago that they would never fight alone, and they weren't going to change that rule just for the judges. This concerned them; after a controversial meeting, it was decided they would receive a 'young prodigy' scholarship to New Peaks. However, it is not a full scholarship; the boys are often pressed for money, and work shifts in the market area as often as possible to cover the remaining costs.

Personalities: Brett's your typical jock. Overconfident in his own abilities, loves meat and working out. He's got a soft spot for classical music and has a love for anything deep-fried. Matt's a coward without Brett around. Tends to look to him for all his advice. Has a thing for Mexican food, and is a distance runner. He's arrogant when he has his brother for backup.

Power: Brotherly Bond: When the Elspeths are within 2-3 meters of each other, their strength is increased a moderate amount. When separated, it decreases until they are close again.

Spoiler: Kensley Hagebak 

A Second-Year student of C3-Ranking, Kensley is the son of a wealthy Danish stock-broker. Losing his father at a young age, his mother's high-paying career ensured the fact they wouldn't struggle despite the loss. As a son to a wealthy family, Kensley always got the best education, food, and toys that money could buy. Like many young children, he developed an interest in the martial arts after seeing it on television. Knowing that learning a martial art would help her son develop a healthy lifestyle, Kensley's mother paid for a master of Hwa Rang Do to be flown in from Korea to live on-site and train her son in the art.

With frequent lessons and a strong interest in the art, Kensley reached "Cho-Dan" rank at the age of 14. It was then that he heard of New Peaks Academy. Knowing he wanted to learn even more about martial arts, he pestered his mother until she relented and agreed to send him to the prestigious school. To his amazement, many of the students were just as skilled or MORE skilled than he was. That cemented it in his mind... New Peaks was where he belonged. Now all that was left was to show everyone what he could do.

Personality: Kensley is rather arrogant despite his relatively average ranking. While he knows he isn't the toughest or strongest, he always brushes off his failures and claims some circumstance had hindered the outcome. In addition to the fact he brushes off failures like a child, he has been known to resort to unfair tactics on occasion. His favorite is acting like he is more hurt than he really is to take his foes off-guard... then deliver a punishing kick or punch. In general, he is the typical entitled rich kid.

Power: None

Spoiler: Alexia Kensington 

An eighteen year old Fourth-Year student at New Peaks Academy, Alexia holds the rank of A-1. She is a Scorpion Parahuman, a skilled practitioner of the American Armed Forces "LINE" Fighting Style, and feared by many students for her venomous tail stinger despite the fact she is required to keep it wrapped and covered at all times for the safety of those around her. Her fearsome appearance and intimidating demeanor serve her well, as many students do not dare cross her. Despite that, those within her inner circle say she is the nicest person they know. Well… if you’re a parahuman. Daughter of the Kensington family and hailing from London, Alexia's Mother comes from old money and her Father is an American Gulf War veteran and expatriate. It is from her father's teachings that she learned to fight. Many are convinced that it was by her resources alone that the former Galleria has been transformed into the Conclave.

Personality: Alexia is a force of personality. Headstrong and confident, there are few students who can stand against her. She curses herself for things such as falling ill before the Summer Tournament last year and thus allowing a human to technically best her by becoming champion, despite the fact that such a thing was beyond her control. Some might say she is a bit of a perfectionist, and they would be correct. She expects the best from herself and those around her. While a loss is usually treated as something to overcome, a forfeiture or disqualification is not something she will easily forgive or forget.
Power: None

Established Staff/Faculty NPCs

Spoiler: Anna Jacobson 

Anna is a 34 year old former New Peaks Academy Student and the current World History teacher. Before her graduation from New Peaks, she is one of only eight students in the school's twenty-one year history to reach the rank of S1. She was also one of the founding members of Imperius Gloria. Her father investing a large sum toward building Imperius Hall. Upon graduating with a teaching degree from San Diego State University, she returned to New Peaks and was hired into her current position. In addition to her teaching degree, she is ranked at 6th Degree Black Belt in Ba Ji Quan, a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Pi Gua Quan and licensed to teach Ba Ji Quan to others.

Personality: On the rare occasion she can be convinced to fight, Anna is a dangerous foe. While she was a student, no less than 40 fights were stopped by a judge due to her attempting to inflict severe damage to her opponent. Outside of combat, she is as tame as a nursing kitten. It is assumed she has a very deeply ingrained psychological problem that makes her behave differently under intense stress. Since graduation, she has been using medication to control her emotions, and it has worked wonders. However... she is still a force to be reckoned with if riled. As a teacher, she does not abide by goofing around. Many students have been fined or otherwise penalized for not paying attention or otherwise behaving improperly in her class.

Power: Blood Control - Anna can control her blood as easily as she can breathe, generally forming claws and a thin armor over her hands and arms. This blood is then solidified and becomes as hard as the iron contained in her red blood cells. When severely pressed, she has been seen to redirect the blood from these claws into a very thin sheen of armor over her entire body, tinting her skin a faint red in the process.

Spoiler: Layla Stritch 

One of the staff members of New Peaks not to have graduated from the school herself. After having discovered at a young age that merely her touch could help with healing even the most injured, Layla was immediately placed into nurse training at a young age. She showed fantastic affinity for the subject, entering the University of Washington at the young age of 16 and easily passing all her medical courses. Upon graduation, she went out in search of work, finding that an offshore fighting school was in search of talented nurses for their constantly injured fighters. She decided to give them a try, and wowed her recruiters with her unique power. Now, she serves as the head of the New Peaks medical ward, serving her students as best she can.

Personality: Layla is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. She has a shy air about her, though she has no issues with talking to strangers. She takes personal enjoyment in seeing students heal and recover, which makes her job truly satisfying to her. Though she received little formal training, watching the students and teachers closely over the years here at New Peaks has taught her many things about martial arts, enough to earn her a purple belt in Taekwondo. However, she despises fighting herself despite enjoying watching it, and will avoid it at all costs if possible.

Power: Clinical Hands
Layla can channel her energy into her hands, causing them to glow with a faint blue aura. When touching another person, her energy seeks out injuries and illnesses in the body, and stimulates the appropriate cells to speed up their recovery process. Healing is not instantaneous, but will take considerably less time; a broken bone may take only a few days to heal under her power, as opposed to weeks otherwise. This sped up healing continues until the injury or sickness in question is defeated, even if she is not touching the person. Once the healing process is complete, the body's cells return to a normal state.

Spoiler: Cameron Ballard 

Cameron Ballard grew up in Washington D.C. and was a common sight at an assisted living center when he was younger. His grandfather was a resident, and between school and savate lessons, Cameron spent most of his free time there assisting his grandpa and other residents. After his grandfather passed away, Cameron began attending New Peaks Academy. His final rank at graduation was A-3, and he went on to pursue a teaching degree and return to New Peaks. While he was obtaining his teaching degree, he met his wife, Mia Sandoval; and the two married three years ago in a ceremony held at New Peaks Academy's "Bokator Beach". Cameron is a highly skilled practitioner of Savate and a holder of the rank of Professeur (Gold Gloves), as well as a licensed instructor of the art. He is currently a Chemistry Teacher at the Academy.

Personality: Always worrying about others before worrying about himself, Cameron is a model teacher and role model. When he is not teaching or tending to his administrative duties, he can often be found tutoring students who are struggling; both academically as well as those who are struggling to win fights.

Power: None

Spoiler: Mia Ballard-Sandoval 

Mia Ballard-Sandoval is a former New Peaks Academy student originally hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She lost her right eye in a hunting accident when she was a child. Her rifle kicked back when she fired at a deer, causing the scope to hit her and dealing irreparable damage to the eye on impact. This did not affect her outlook on life, however. In fact, she showed that she was every bit as capable as anyone else. She obtained her Kadua (1st-Dan Black Belt) in Pencak Silat shortly after she began attending school at New Peaks Academy, reached the rank of A-2 before graduation, and has since returned after obtaining her teaching degree in advanced mathematics. In the process, she met her husband and fellow New Peaks Instructor; Cameron Ballard. Her skill in Silat also increased and she is now a Katalungan (4th-Dan Black Belt) in the art. She is currently the Calculus Teacher at New Peaks Academy.

Personality: While Mia shares her husband's desire to help others, she is of the opinion that people should first show they can help themselves at least to SOME degree before they are worth the help of others. Her demeanor is described by some as cold, but by others as kind and motherly. This is likely because she simply refuses to help students who refuse to try resolving issues themselves and prefer to rely on others, but is more than happy to help those who have given their best effort and just need a helping hand.

Power: None

Spoiler: Weiss LeBlanc 

At 6'11" and a very muscular 352lbs, Weiss is incredibly intimidating from a physical standpoint. Those who know him will tell you that the big man is as friendly as they come. Weiss is known for helping out students who are struggling, as well as just being there if they need someone to talk to.

Known for taking Janissaries members out to the various restaurants after they do something great, taking time out of his own workouts or training sessions to help others train, and generally being a well-meaning busybody... Weiss is popular among New Peaks' less wealthy students. This has drawn him some ire from a few wealthy investors who feel he is favoring the poor over those who keep New Peaks operating, but he always dismisses these accusations.

A skilled fighter, Weiss is a 1st Dan Black Belt in Jiujutsu and Tiger Kung Fu, and brings his past as a Professional Wrestler to the mix as well. The end result is an unusual but very effective combination of powerful strikes and grapples.

Power: Ki Infusion - Weiss may empower his hands, feet, knees, elbows, and even his head with an amount of Ki Energy. This somewhat increases the power of the blow or the speed of the counter-attack that he is empowering. He can only do this approximately twenty times per day before becoming fatigued, and further use of the ability causes more and more damage to his body.

Currently, Weiss is under administrative leave in order to pursue his wrestling career.

Spoiler: Mike Overmeyer 

Mike is the new Gym Teacher at New Peaks Academy, replacing Weiss LeBlanc for the time being. He is a physically imposing, much like the man he is replacing, measuring 6’7” and weighing 284lbs. He is generally friendly, but takes physical fitness very seriously. Any student found slacking off is made to run a minimum of five laps at the Keysi Track and Field Complex. Some students will likely not appreciate his less jovial demeanor when compared to Mr. LeBlanc, but he does have the best interests of the students at heart.

He is fully trained in Marine Hand-to-Hand, as well as a Fifth-Dan Black Belt in Shotokan Karate. He is a licensed instructor of Shotokan, but not of Marine Hand-to-Hand. Much like Ms. Jacobson, Mike is one of eight former students to have reached the ranking of S1. As such, he is one of the most respected individuals on the island.

Power: Supple Skin - Mike’s skin has the unusual quality of being both incredibly durable and surprisingly flexible. It is still up for debate if it is his skin or the tissue beneath that is the source of this, but his flesh mimics rheopectic non-newtonian fluids when it is struck. This means that it thickens and strengthens under stress and then returns to normal when the stress dissipates.

Spoiler: Timur "Tim" Leovich Zakharin 

Name spelled as "Тимур Левич Захарьин" in Russian



At 61 years old, many would think Timur to be insane for working as Head of Security at a huge Combat School. However, he is tough as nails and as serious as they come. In addition, he is an incredibly skilled practitioner of Systema, and a licensed instructor of the style.

Born to a Military family, Timur followed his father's footsteps by becoming a soldier. After fighting in the Soviet-Afghan war, he became a hand-to-hand instructor for the Soviet Army. Some say he earned the position by engaging six hostiles in melee combat simultaneously... and winning. Regardless... as the Cold War raged, Timur grew more and more frustrated by the lack of decisive action.

When the standoff ended, he was as relieved as he was frustrated. To make matters worse... the Soviet Union had collapsed and he was soon out of a job. Angered by this, he did something extreme... he sold his combat expertise to the Americans. For a few years, he was in the same position as he was in the USSR. A hand-to-hand instructor in the military. A few years after Operation Desert Storm, he was honorably discharged and approached by New Peaks Academy. He quickly agreed to work as their head of security, and has been in that position since 1999.

Personality: No nonsense and uncompromising, Timur is an ideal man to head up the security at New Peaks Academy. The rules and regulations are treated as military doctrine to him, and anyone breaking it under his watch is likely going to spend time in the Detention Hall. Thankfully, he is often very busy coordinating security details and is rarely out on campus. He does not afford himself many pleasures, save singing the Russian National Anthem every morning, in honor of the country he still loves... despite it having let him down years ago.

Timur speaks fluent Russian and English.

Power: Being Russian

Spoiler: Marie Giovinezza 

The 33-year old manager of the high end Sicilian Restaurant called "Siciliano Plaza", Marie attended and graduated New Peaks for her entire high school career, having been put there by her rich franchise-owning parents as part of their deal opening their restaurant on campus. Marie worked there for her entire time in New Peaks, and once she graduated and her brothers took over the chain, she stayed there as the manager of this particular branch. She was never very good with fighting, attaining a maximum ranking of B3 and only earning her 2nd Dan after she had graduated from New Peaks. Her style of choice is Kun Gek Do.

She has been managing the restaurant for a very long time, now, and has established a rather good standing with the other staff, as well as a wonderful reputation with the students. Despite being a little on the expensive side, her restaurant is one of the most popular places to eat in New Peaks, both with staff and students alike. Marie herself is known as one of the best service providers on the island, and is personal friends with much of the student body, as well as many of the staff members.

However, she is particularly infamous for her rather explosive temper and her willingness to fight even other staff members over her restaurants honor, despite having a poor track record with physical combat. While few complaints make it to her (mostly for this reason), she is known to handle problems very seriously, often doing anything she can in order to make a single customer happy. She trains her staff as well as she can and prides herself in how well they do, no matter who they may be.

Personality: Marie is a very kind and understanding individual, seeking only to please her customers as best she is able. She takes immense pride in her (rather successful) restaurant, and considers the other staff something close to family. While having her 2nd Dan in Kun Gek Do, she does not like to fight and actively discourages it while in her restaurant, though she does not mind it occurring outside. She will fight to defend her staff and her restaurant with her life, if necessary.

Power: Empathy - Marie has a psychic understanding of people’s emotions and their feelings, allowing her to read both her opponents and customers. She is able to understand a piece of what makes her target's emotions what they currently are, and is also able to find out how to influence them. This manipulation is not air tight, however, and can backfire occasionally. However, it does not happen often, as Marie is very adept at psychological warfare, be it pleasing her customers or throwing her opponents off balance.

[.Karma.]

That was really fast for this next chapter! You were on the ball I'm positive that this one will be just as awesome as the first one.

I just wanted to drop off some resources here to help you get your RP the most advertisement it can!

The staff advertise roleplays every week! You should totally submit this RP for it! It's called Roleplay of the Week. There are guidlines, but it's generally pretty easy. Then you can advertise is here and it has a chance of being chosen that week to be featured on the front page so other members can more easily see it!

It does require a banner though, so never fear! There is an RPotW banner shop, where one of our artists on the site will make you one so you can turn in your submission! You just give them a picture and they make it for you! Easy right?

We also have our directory if you want to add it there so members looking for a new RP can easily find you!

Last but not least we have our staff sig! If you would like us to put your RP in our signature, just post here!

If you have any more questions about how to get your RP advertised please give me or any of the other RP's a PM!

GOOD LUCK!

[Standatrocity]

Spoiler: Troy F. Duncan 

Name: Troy F. Duncan
I.D. Number: 81247359
Rank: D1
Year: 2nd year
Nationality: American
Age: 16
Sex/Gender: Male

Appearance:

Spoiler: Picture I Still Don't Like 

Troy often gives people the first impression that he's not a very friendly person, as his thinking face furls at the brow, making him look annoyed or even angry. It furthers the issue that, being a thinking type, he has a tendency to display said expression near-constantly. This works out for him, as he would usually rather not be distracted by anyone trying to approach him, and his expression makes him easily avoidable -- but he is fully capable of making a friendly face when appropriate. Though certainly not ugly, he isn't known for his charming good looks, and he often displays thin but noticeable rings underneath his blue eyes, implying a lack of sleep. Since starting his second year, he has changed his stance on clothing hygiene. He still wears the same orange jacket, but it is now kept washed and in good condition, and the same for any other clothing he wears. His blonde hair is always neatly combed and parted, and he tends to look as if he just got out of a morning shower; clean and refreshed, if not fully awake. He stands a moderately above average 6'1", but his demeanor -- usually quite jocular outside of a fight -- makes him look smaller and less intimidating even to short people, and he tends to slouch slightly as he walks to keep himself from getting tired going back and forth across campus.

Fighting Style: Troy's improvised fighting style hasn't changed much since his first year, with one notable exception. Having taken his parents' training more seriously over summer break, Troy's reflexive dodging abilities have improved greatly, giving him a bit more room to move and think during a fight. Aside from that and a subtle improvement in body strength as a product of exercise, he still fights in the same made-up-on-the-spot fashion as always, attempting to thoroughly read his opponent in the midst of the fight in order to form an efficient plan of attack.

Powers: Troy has no powers that stem from any paranormal force, such as Ki or magic. He does, however, have impressive acting talents, and a knack for calm analysis even with punches being thrown his way. He uses these skills primarily to subtly manipulate people, inside and outside of combat, to make them more paranoid, doubtful, or angry, among other applications, in order to give himself the advantage. So far, although his individual skills are strong, he has yet to get the hang of this fine art of careful manipulation; a flaw that can only be improved through experience.

Personality: Troy is an exceptional actor with a flair for the dramatic. His acting style during fights, however, has changed slightly since his first year. Rather than playing an obvious villain or a lovable goof, Troy has switched to something more nuanced. His appearance in the Summer Tournament, brief though it was, led to people realizing his heritage, making his previous behavior unimpressive and even confusing. Instead, he now goes for the image of a nonchalant, yet strangely intimidating type of character, letting his blood and his behavior imply him to be stronger than he really is, and often acting as if he is holding back for "some unknown reason". In essence, he portrays a person that acts relatively careless, yet in a subtly scary way that gives one an uncomfortable gut feeling and makes one question his true motives -- along with his true capabilities. In truth, he is as always merely acting, and when he loses he usually loses for real, as his observations have led him to take his fighting more seriously than before. Unlike his freshman year, Troy now truly fights to win.

When not in combat, however, he still usually portrays the lovable, incompetent goof type, which would obviously serve to make suspicious those who know him personally. This is intentional -- the somewhat drastic, yet still somehow fitting shift in personality from casual to combat is purposely engineered to raise alarms and make people question him, to which he will always respond noncommittally, as if it were an unimportant aside. However, the once notable artificial tinge to said personality has all but disappeared, seemingly an error he corrected through practice. His behavior could be said to have become natural to him, as if he no longer has to try very hard to keep up appearances; but he still thinks everything through thoroughly, just as he always has, his careful and planning nature still a part of him no matter how he acts.

Background: Troy was born the closest to fighting royalty that anybody can get in the US -- both his parents well-known champions in America and most of the world. Like Troy himself, they don't practice any recognized or defined discipline; they simply improvise on the spot, and surprisingly, it works. Their ad-libbed style is famous for its somewhat inexplicable effectiveness, and they are both exceptional wielders of Ki-based powers, using them in utilitarian fashion, rather than directly offensive or defensive, to influence their battles. Of course, the sort of people who'd have such lust for battle would obviously be eager to pass their knowledge onto their children, which made it unfortunate for them that their firstborn turned out to have hardly any interest at all in their career path.

Troy was always a fan of superhero movies, the sort where the bad guys came up with evil schemes and the good guys came along to save the day. As a toddler, that sort of plot was all he understood. His parents figured he'd be a natural; superheroes did nothing but fight, after all. In the end, however, it turned out he was more a fan of the drama than the actual fighting. He admired the unique styles of every prominent character, hero or villain, and found it fascinating how they'd interact in such a way that made the show so much more interesting than traditional, straightforward battle. Eventually, he moved onto action movies with gritty protagonists, and became increasingly fond of their stoicism and wit in the face of danger. He found himself enamored with the dramatic tension laced throughout the plot lines, the emotional monologues and overindulgent acting causing something to spark in the young boy's mind.

Troy, of course, still received the best tutelage he could be given by parents who didn't practice a real style, and it was for the first time that they cursed themselves for not learning something specifically teachable. They'd always assumed their children would simply have the genetics to catch on easily. To their dismay, Troy displayed very little talent in their trade, and no affinity whatsoever with Ki. Every time they'd tell him to practice, they'd simply discover him watching movies again, or catching up on hero cartoons. In the end, though they worked at him as much as they could through his early adolescence, he still came out a distinctly sub-far fighter; better than the average Joe, perhaps, but not competition material.

It was Troy's idea to be enrolled in New Peaks Academy. His parents weren't going to make him attend a fighting school if he didn't want to, but he insisted on it. They thought, rather naively, that perhaps he'd turned over a new leaf and wanted to take on the family name, when in reality he merely wanted to test the acting talents he knew he had, to bring them into the world and see how believable he really was, in the easiest way he thought he could get his parents to pay for. Nevertheless, it was a good deal for all parties. His parents did fear he might fail, but they weren't about to discourage the only interest he'd shown in their field, and he was insistent on it enough that they let him have his way, hoping against hope for the best.

Much to their surprise, Troy managed to appear in the Summer Tournament, albeit somewhat briefly. Stunned but delighted at their son's growth as a fighter, Troy's parents greeted him home with cheers and hugs, followed immediately by more training. They noted something seemed odd and different about the young man, not just that he was more motivated to learn than before, but also that he was oddly more cheerful, his strangely chipper attitude bringing an unfamiliar atmosphere to their home. In the end, they merely decided their son was changing for the better, be it for one reason or another. Over summer break, Troy did little else but practice, having pinpointed a major flaw in his technique. His parents gladly cooperated with his focus on fixing said flaw, impressed at his display of self-discipline. He learned to react and respond more fluidly, tracking his opponent by memory and familiarity far more efficiently than he could with simple observation, and although he wound up being socked in the face by a very apologetic world-class champion fighter on countless occasions, he ended up far more competent at fighting than he'd ever been, to the point that his father actually had to try very, very slightly in order to land his good hits. It was such that at the end of summer break, Troy returned to New Peaks largely improved in both fighting and acting skill, his first year having taught him exactly what needed changing and how.
--
First rule of fight school, don't fail fight school.

[Iwazuma]

That was quite a fast summer break, lemme tell ya.

Spoiler: The Winter Champion 

Name: Junkiro Iwazuma
Theme song: Deceiver-Disturbed
I.D. Number: 08061945
Rank: C1
Year: Sophomore
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 16
Sex/Gender: Male
Appearance:


Fighting Style: Kyokushin Karate, 3rd Kyu; Professional Wrestling, Trainee

Powers: Adhesion - Junkiro, like many of the gifted fighters at New Peaks Academy, has learned to tap into his aura. When he does so, he can make various parts of his body extremely sticky, allowing him to instantly adhere to objects. This can include walls, weapons, other fighters....as long as it is not extremely wet, it is fair game. This can be turned on and off on various parts of his body at will, but cannot yet be transferred to other objects for more than a brief moment (in other words, a post at most).

Over the summer, he developed an additional use for his stickiness; condensing his aura, he can fire it in a line, letting it stick to whatever it hits. The aura is translucent and hard to pick up if you don't know it's coming. It can be fired from his fingers or shot like a bola to ensnare an opponent. It takes a great deal of skill to drop this ability, so he can only do it once in a fight. These gumshots last either until Junkiro dismisses them, or until one full round after firing (opponent, then Junkiro).

Personality: Junkiro`s family history has left him an extremely conflicted individual. Does he adhere to family values, or does he choose to listen to the outside world? This debate has consumed much of his thoughts outside of the field of battle. As such, he rarely will be found socializing actively; more likely, he will linger at the edge of a group or be on his lonesome, either brooding, studying, or snooping around for his family. This is not to say he is a social outcast, however. Should his mind clear or he have no choice in the matter, Junkiro can still interact with others in a healthy and normal manner; he just prefers not to.

However clouded his outlook of the future may be, when in a fight, his objective is clear: Defeat the enemy using any methods available. Junkiro is a very perfectionistic individual and absolutely hates to lose, though, after he gets over himself, he usually does see the value in a loss. Nonetheless, he will size up to better opponents than himself with no fear (but will hesitate before challenging one), and also goes all out against weaker opponents. He does recognize and accept surrender, and will stop if and when a mismatch is obvious. He is the first in his family to see surrender as an honorable method of victory or defeat.

Guilty Pleasure: Dragonball Evolution. Not only does Junkiro recognize the fact that it's a horrible movie, it also takes Dragonball Z, one of Japan's longest and greatest animes, and just shits all over it. Doubly insulting to him, and one of the few areas where Junkiro agrees with his family that America can be horrible at times. And yet...no matter how many times he sees it, it always sucks him in and he can't stop watching.

Background: To tell the backstory of Junkiro, we must backtrack to an earlier time.

August 6, 1945-Hiroshima
The Iwazuma family has all gathered for a family reunion, one that they hold in Hiroshima each and every year. The family, having waited patiently all day, has just settled down to eat the family meal together. As food is served and the family digs in, a sudden silence seems to take over the area. The heaviness in the air is palpable; something bad is about to happen, and everyone knows it. A few uneasy seconds later, the house is thrown on its side from the force of a massive explosion from an atomic bomb. The United States has begun the final moments of the war by devastating the city of Hiroshima with mankind`s then-most deadly WMD. Furniture, food, and bodies have been thrown everywhere; blood and spare limbs have been scattered throughout the mess. Some bodies, however, have survived the impact. The several Iwazumas that survived were then rushed to the hospital for both grievous injuries and radiation poisoning. Once learning of what caused their family to lose more than half its total, the Iwazumas vowed revenge on the American populace, no matter how long it took.

Three generations later, Junkiro Iwazuma was born to Oichi and Yoshihiro Iwazuma, the youngest of four children and the only boy. From birth, Junkiro was taught the family way-destroy the Americans. In fact, his first sentence, as with all the Iwazuma children, was 'Death to America'. Junkiro, in addition to his regular studies in school, was forced by his parents to learn English, for the reason of, according to them, 'to blend in with their kind' and deflect suspicion from the Americans. From an early age, Junkiro was also introduced to Kyokushin style Karate, of which he was found to have a natural talent for. This is not to say he was a prodigy-far from it. However, he was more than proficient enough to advance to some of the higher junior levels at a relatively young age. While most students focused more on all the fancy moves that cause a great amount of pain, Junkiro focused more proficiently on the strength aspect of the martial art, training his body to take as many blows as it could without giving. That way, he figured, taking a hit that might cause another to flinch or be thrown back can open other opportunities to attack. Of course, this is not to say he didn't work on his moves along with it.

Most notable in the development of Junkiro as a freedom fighter was the day, at the age of nine, he got stuck to his family`s front door and required the jaws of life to free him. He was rushed to the hospital immediately afterward-while nothing was found to be 'wrong' with him per se, there was a strange viscousness of the air about him. It was known the Iwazuma family still suffered from radiation residue, even sixty years after the atomic bomb was dropped; a few of their clan had developed various mutations as well, but all were generally crippling and gruesome. Determined to turn this into a talent, Junkiro`s parents did all they could to help him control this strange mutation. It took four years, but he did eventually show signs of control over this power.

Flash-forward to the present day. With the opening of an American-made Fight School just off the coast of Japan, the Iwazumas saw a perfect opportunity for Junkiro-not only would the Americans teach him how to be a fighting machine, he could even do some sabotage to its owner on the side, just to stick in the Americans' craw. Junkiro, however, was conflicted-he was now a well-educated child and knew America was an innovative, world-leading country whose contributions to world health and development were crucial to Japan and the rest of the world progressing to where they were now. But what could he do? His family had pooled together a very large chunk of their savings just for him to attend-would he just throw the money away? Conflicted, Junkiro agreed to attend the school, but did not guarantee that he would sabotage the owner. Junkiro, now on his way, hopes to find his identity away from his family for the first time.

Since day one, Junkiro's had a rather incredible year. After being blackmailed by Shotaro over information about his terrorist family, Junkiro was forced into Imperius Gloria and worked to death by the senior members. His rank rose dramatically, as did his skill; as a result, he even managed to win the freshman segment of the mid-year tournament, a rather incredible feat for one who began the year in D-rank. What's more, his run also caught the attention of his semifinal opponent, Kyami. After a few meetings, the two decided to go out, and are currently happily dating. Needless to say, after a rocky start, Junkiro became quite the popular student, and his mood greatly improved.

But all great things eventually turn sour. Junkiro's second half of the year left the freshman run ragged; being the midyear champion did nothing to assuage his load of matches, and he quickly became buried underneath obligations to perform, study, and make time for his boyfriend. He juggled all these as best he could until it all came to a point in the summer tournament. In the quarterfinals, against one Ethan Walker, Junkiro suffered a Sartorial avulsion, ending his run and putting his entire summer on hold. In hospital, Junkiro found that a mysterious benefactor had gifted him an exorbitant sum, enough for both surgery and physical therapy during the summer season. During that time, he has worked nearly nonstop to rejoin his fellow students in the ring, but is still a week or two away from finally getting around to reclaiming his title. His family has not seen him in that time.

This is the second year, so here's the second rule of Fight School: You DO NOT fail Fight School.

[Salroka]

If you guys could put your character sheets in spoilers/hiders to help keep the thread tidy, that would be appreciated.

[Salroka]

So where are the rest of my returning players? And where are the NEW players? Come on, now. We don't bite too hard.

[Iwazuma]

So where are the rest of my returning players? And where are the NEW players? Come on, now. We don't bite too hard.

Did Mike Tyson go to New Peaks? We might bite if he did.

[Dawscombine]

Spoiler: Everyone's favorite soviet hobo! 

Name:
Cyst Voltromvskey

I.D. Number:
58375967

Rank:
C1

Year:
2nd

Nationality:
Russian

Age:
15

Sex/Gender:
Female

Appearance:


Fighting Style:
Krav Maga, informally trained with the skills of a Brown Belt

Powers:
Burst Step - After long periods of time spent training in solitude over the summer, Cyst learned how to channel energy into her lower legs so that she could allow herself quick bursts of speed that even she couldn't keep up with, for a while. She's got it figured out, but the maneuver puts so much strain on her legs that she can only use it once a week or her muscles snap from how hard she has to tense them.

Theme Song:
Remedy - Seether

Personality:
Cyst is what many consider to be an enigma. She very rarely expresses her intentions or feelings to anyone outside of her fighting. To what little people actually do know her on a personal level, she is curious and rather shameless, not caring about social standards or attempts at fitting in. She wants to know the world around her as well as she knows herself, and is willing to go to great lengths to do so. She can come of as a bit brusque, and that's because she is. Even with her little quirks, she really does try to be friendly. Nothing excites her like meeting new people, with the possible exception of fighting new people

Spoiler: Year 1: A free ride to opportunity 

Cyst showed up under the radar about halfway through the year. She fought hard to stay out of the limelight, and she did fairly well for a while. She had one friend and people avoided her, just like back in Russia. However, all that changed during the Summer Tournament.

She fought just as hard as she normally did, but along the way she ended up facing Vince, the one person who had given her the time of day. He had been injured and couldn't fight, even though he wanted to. She wanted to end it early, but he insisted on dragging on the fight. In the end, she was forced to hurt him. Bad.

She only placed third in that tournament because someone else was disqualified, and she didn't enjoy that. In the end, she decided something. Her next fight, she would win. Definitively. Conclusively. Against someone she had no right to beat. She needed to end this gnawing doubt in her mind. She needed a purpose.

She needed to get stronger.

Background:
Cyst didn't live in luxury. In fact, she was poor. Her family was incredibly poor before she was born, and her coming along didn't change that. When it was discovered his wife was pregnant, her father almost immediately stole all his wife's money and fled to america. Cyst lived most of her life without a name. She was unregistered, hidden from the government to keep rent cheaper. Shortly after her mother turned to alcoholism, she was named Cyst because that's what she was, to her mother. A cancer.

She lived on meager scraps and small amounts of water, never leaving the house for fear of punishment. One day, her mother finally snapped. She set fire to the house and trapped Cyst inside. The girl was eventually able to make her way outside, breaking open a window and falling into the cold snow. But unfortunately, her lungs were heavily damaged as a result, making her unable to speak. She was eventually able to mostly recover, but her voice never returned to her.

She soon found treatment. A free clinic that helped her to live through the smoke inhalation. She had problems keeping her stamina up at first, but soon learned to work through it. She lived in the streets with the rest of the unwanted children, figuring out how to survive off of nothing but her wit and her intuition. She was discovered by an aging ex-soldier who took her under his wing. He taught her how to fight off those who wished to harm her, giving her the basis for the Krav Maga she would learn to master.

After that she earned her money by participating in illegal fight clubs, perfecting her fighting skills and her natural speed. It also helped her with her stamina, as the exercises she had to do to participate in these fights were great physical therapy. Soon she was well known enough that the Fight School was contacting her about attending their school on an outreach program. She took the offer, of course, but wanted to say goodbye to the man who originally taught her to fight, first.

She left Russia with her last memory being his corpse slumped over in an alleyway, dead from the cold that claimed so many others. Another faceless victim. She didn't cry for him. She knew it would happen, some day. What she had to focus on was what was in front of her. Now, attending this school, she didn't only have the weight of her future on her shoulders. She had the weight of his spirit.

She would be damned if she let him down.

Also, “First Rule of Fight School, don't fail Fight School”

[RisingPhoenix]

Spoiler: Kyami Xiang Yi 

Name: Kyami Xiang Yi
I.D. Number: 00793266
Rank: B2
Year: 2nd Year
Nationality: Asian/Hispanic
Age: 16
Sex/Gender: Male
Appearance:

Fighting Style: Wushu (Chinese Martial Arts) hailing from the Northern and Southern Styles, Kyami is a practitioner of Tàijíquán (Tai Chi). He has studied Tàijíquán since the age of eight.
Tàijíquán (Tai Chi) – Jinying—san duan: Gold Eagle (2nd Grade)
**Mixes Southern Style and Northern Style, Northern Style being more graceful and involving kicks while the Southern Style being more forceful and involving fist and arms.

Powers: Electrical Impulse – Kyami has the ability to generate electricity within his body and force it to his hands and feet to deliver faster and stronger blows. Electricity generates heat, and heat can burn, so to can his, but only a slight burn that would leave a bruise and nothing more. It is strong enough to dry out spots of water on a table. The electricity is strong enough to cause electric shock that won’t kill, but give a nasty shock that can cause muscle spasms.

After training his bioelectricity, Kyami has amped up its power. Now his charged up fists contained an upped volt count of 500,000 volts.

He learned a new technique, covering himself in a current that is very discomforting to those who touch him. Roughly around 12,500 volts flow through him whenever he charges his entire body, and he is able to maintain this for at least 15 minutes.

Personality: Kyami believes in respect and honor and thusly will only respect those who have gained his respect and expects the same. He is strong, and dangerously intelligent. Kyami believes that everyone deserves a second chance, and in most cases will try to not serious injure anyone in a fight, but will simply try to subdue them. He knows he’s strong, he knows he can fight and he knows that others will know this, but he is humble.

Background: Born to a Tai Chi instructor and a doctor, Kyami has always been a hard worker and a determined individual. Kyami looks nothing like his mother’s Hispanic heritage, instead his father’s genes took over for the most part although some of the Hispanic beneficial genes from his mother’s side came through. Even though he comes from a very wealthy upbringing he does not take anything for granted. Kyami was raised differently by his mother and father. His father believed in hard work and perseverance. He started training Kyami at an early age in the art of Tai Chi. This was against his wife’s wishes because she raised Kyami to go to school and become something more than a fighter. Although his father agreed, he continued to train Kyami.

One day while he was training with his father and his mother was off doing who knows what, his father told him that he only wanted the best for him. He told him that all the training he was doing was to prepare him for a school that his father had heard of. Curious Kyami asked what school it was, and his father told him it was known as New Peaks, a Fight School for those all around the world who felt that they had what it took to make it through. Kyami was in his last year of middle school when his father told him this. He showed him the brochures, the website and any information that Kyami needed to see.

“We need to train harder Kyami, and we need to train that special ability of yours,” his father would say. Kyami was amazed that a school like New Peaks actually existed, but he was both excited and nervous.

“Dad it means I’ll have to leave you and mom, and look how much it costs,” he’d reply and his dad would simply laugh. “What about mom?” he had asked but his father simply smiled.

“I’ll handle it, don’t you worry, just focus on training and doing your part, that is if you want to go.”

He had left the decision up to Kyami to attend New Peaks, and how could the young teenager say no to an opportunity of a lifetime? The time came for his father to tell his mother and Kyami was not ready for the words that came out of his mother’s mouth directed to his father. She literally called him things he had never heard. Kyami stayed out of it, he didn’t want to make it any worse than what it already was. Eventually, and with heavy persuasion from Kyami’s grandparents, his mother finally agreed, and with only a few weeks to spare before registration. Kyami trained constantly, honing his skills, building his knowledge. It takes more than brawn to fight, one must also have brains. Kyami got all necessary paperwork and all done before the deadline and now he’s come to a point in his life in which he will have to literally fight to pass the prestigious academy.

A thing you should know about his parents is that they are extremely wealthy. Owning companies in nearly every country. They live lavishly and they expect Kyami to do the same.. They are strict. His father sent him to New Peaks with the promise that he would focus on school work and graduating. He didn't want him to focus on relationships or any type of factions or groups. His mother was the same way, and yet he had promised them he'd try.

Since his arrival at New Peak he has accomplished a lot. He dated Kyle for a while before they broke up. He was third place in the school wide tournament, and he slipped into depression. Shortly after his slip into depression he began dating Jun. Jun has helped him a lot in coming to terms with his depression; however, he does have moments in which his emotions peak and he has no control over it. He also joined Imperius Gloria, but doesn't know why he's there or what he's going to do. He's currently focusing on his studies and getting good grades, and he's been spending a lot of time with Jun and rebuilding the friendship with Kyle.

After the closing of the Summer Tournament, Kyami left to enjoy his summer before the new year. He had learned so much and was happy with how much he'd grown. He did a lot during the break. He trained daily, but he also went on a vacation with his family and had an amazing time. He spoke with Junkiro and Kyle nearly every day. Their voices gave him much needed assurance. Kyle was doing very well for himself. He had already landed a great job in a movie. Junkiro had healed and that was a plus for him, that meant he could smother him with love upon his return to New Peaks Academy. He had enjoyed the trip to Australia that his mother planned and was thankful for everything that had happened in his life. Now he is ready to start a new year, and of course a new year meant new students, and new obstacles to overcome, but he was ready to do what needed to be done.

Other: First Rule of Fight School….Don’t Fail Fight School……

[Salroka]

Looking good so far, guys. We are just waiting on a couple more returning folks now, plus I want at least one or two new people. Hopefully people are just taking their time making characters.