Valintine
Posts : 12
Join Date : 2014-02-12
Exp : 244
Weapon Skill : Expert
HSM : Master
Reiatsu : Master
Hakudo : Expert
 |  Subject: Valintine La'Crow  Wed Feb 12, 2014 10:51 pm | |
| ~~~Fullbringer~~~ Name: Valintine La'Crow Alias: Snake Age: Mid-thirties Gender: Male Reiatsu Color: Violet Affiliation: Xtinction Rank: Council Member --------------------Persona-------------------- Appearance: - Spoiler:
He stands at a proud 6 feet tall. His skin is fair in all areas, clearly kept moisturized, and it's clear he takes very good care of himself. Looking at him, one can almost imagine the kind of condition he keeps his abode in. His brown hair is kept short, and his bangs are cared for with immense amounts of care to ensure they don't even subtract from his face. His left ear has a single piercing in it, a small crystalline structure that hangs from his earlobe, it's metallic look serves to add to the air about him. Valintine's eyes are blue. A bright, bright, blue that one could almost say is white. He also has central heterochromia in both eyes, and so surrounding the pupils of his eyes is a ring of gray. The human's over all body type is athletic. He is lithe, but the muscles he does have tell those who see that he isn't to be taken lightly. He despises those of a bulky structure, and so he prides himself on the fact that he has managed to keep his body is such a condition. Just like his face, the rest of his body is smooth and there isn't a single scar on him. There are a few tattoos, however, placed on his chest and back. On any given day Valintine can be found in a white suit with dark black Oakley shades adorning his eyes. As mentioned he also has a crystalline earring on his left ear. Every now and then he will have the piercing on his right brow in, but that isn't too often. His white suit jacket is laid neatly over a black undershirt with a white tie to finish it off. He can occasionally be seen with a watch on his wrist, but it's not that often (as time is a silly thing to him). His white slacks grace his lower body and it all comes together with a pair of white shoes. This style of dress is his most common form of dress. This is his business wear, and Valintine La'Crow is always on the hunt for business. When people are not making deals with the devil, he is dressed in a bit more...relaxed things. That is to say, he will go out wearing a white button down, open, with a black tee, and off-white jeans. Personality: As you may have noticed. White is this man's color of choice. Why? "Because white is the color of death..." That is his saying. Those are the words he lives by. Valintine is the man who shows up to a funeral or a wake in white garbs. Honoring the purity of death. Personal beliefs aside, Valintine La'Crow is a man not to be taken lightly. His position on the Council was earned through a multitude of backdoor dealings with minimal combat really, but that isn't to be taken as he is a weakling. He simply finds combat brutish and boring. "Why fight, when we can unite?" Of course that hasn't stopped him from going on various Hollow Hunts out of sheer boredom (he is aware of the irony there). Dealing with Valintine is like dealing with the devil himself. He plays his cards very close to his hand, and when he speaks it's obvious that he has carefully picked his words. Speaking of dealings, Valintine is a man of words. If he gives his word, it can be trusted. If he doesn't say something explicitly then he can and will run with it. Valintine, as has been stated, will drive a mac truck through a loophole in a heartbeat if he is given any sort of wiggle room. It is partially why he has been given the alias of Fox. Cunning, deceitful, manipulative. Valintine is a word weaver, never speaking unless he knows at least five responses his audience may give and then have five other responses for that, so on and so on. He cannot be bothered to deal in the world of "what if's" and "hypotheticals". Well...he can, and occasionally does, but he rarely has the time for such. "A man who chooses money over power, is not a man I wish to deal with." Not physical power. Not the power he wields, or that of the Quincy, the Bount, the Shinigamim, the Hollow. No. He means real power. The kind that binds someone to you. He will do a great many things if it gets him a favor. He enjoys them. Open favors to be called upon at any point in time. Those who make a deal with Valintine, more often than not, make open ended deals. Deals that end in owing him a favor. Of course, he isn't stupid. He can and does only make deals that he can revoke his portion at any point in time if his favor is refused. It's a lot easier to do than one would imagine. With an unreadable poker face, and the mind of a man who has spent decades training his body to be aware of every and any minor or major details (to control them), Valintine is a fearsome person to stand before. Not because of his supernatural power, not because of his temper, and not because of his dress, but because even a half-brained moron can tell that he is more akin to an ocean than a raging storm. Under the calm surface of his exterior, lays a pack of sharks waiting for their next victim. --------------------History-------------------- History:- Life before training:
What do you want to hear? A tale of star-crossed lovers? Or maybe a heroic adventure story where Valintine saves the day, risking life and limb for strangers who he doesn't even know? An underdog tale perhaps? If you said anything aside from the aforementioned (save for the second one), you're in for a bad time. Valintine's life was not glamorous and filled with college parties, wild nights, and caring people. Oh no. He was born in the back of a cab, and raised on the streets. His father was the only figure in his life, as his mother had (as she put it) "left for greener pastures". Valintine learned many things from the streets, he learned how to gamble, how to cheat, how to con, and, most importantly, how to survive. That's not terribly important to his history though. Although the time he had to run from a gang after conning them out of three hundred dollars did teach him to always have an escape route. So. What age did Valintine begin to use his powers?
Right after birth. A natural at manipulating his environment, Valintine's wails and cries in the hospital caused anything and everything in the room to begin morphing and changing. Of course his powers quickly fell into submission when he settled down, but whenever he threw a fit things would begin to alter themselves. By the time he was two though, such effects had subsided. His father, however, was left with a massive problem. He had a super child and had no way to raise him. How was he, a mere mortal, to raise a baby who could adjust the properties of the ground they slept on in the middle of the night because of a nightmare? Life was difficult for him. He had no where to go, no one to turn to. He didn't even know what his baby was! He just knew that he loved him with all his heart. It should be noted that until this moment in time, Valintine's name had been Jack Flint. The baby's father was approached one night though, during another of young Valintine's nightmares, by a woman clad in head to toe in white. Her blond hair was kept short, and her overall stature demanded respect and attention. She looked at the boy and then to the father and smiled, offering him a place to rest for the night. It was a suspicious offer (a stranger in white offers a room to you and your supernatural baby and you're not suspicious?) but he had little choice. At least there he may get himself a decent meal, and his baby wouldn't need to be so close to a fire for warmth. He didn't trust this woman. She felt different to him. He didn't know exactly what was going on here, but he didn't have much of a choice. If he had a chance that they may get some decent sleep tonight and not have to hide away in alleys then he'd do it.
Her house, if you can use such a plain word, was massive. Her property covered the better half of a hill, with a stone wall going around the property with two sets of black gates (one for entering and one for leaving). The building itself...well just picture a stereotypical mansion. Then make it about 50% bigger. She was clearly had some very deep pockets. The servants took the baby to the nursery, and the woman took the man to his room. She asked if he'd be so kind as to have an audience with her in the morning, and he agreed. It was the least he could do. The next morning, the baby still slept peacefully. His father got up and met with the woman in her sun room. She was still clad in white, wearing a white bathrobe and her hair was still kind of damp. She thanked him for the meeting and cut straight to the chase. She wanted to adopt the baby. His father stopped eating mid bite. A stranger had just said she wanted his son? He denied her. She nodded and slid him a file. Inside, it contained a background check on her, her business, and stock profile. He was confused. She said she wanted to prove to him, besides a fancy house, that she could provide for both of them and that she was not a criminal of some sort. She then went on to mention his child's...condition. She knew what was happening, she said she could help. She merely wanted to adopt the baby, give him a life that most children would kill for. Valintine's father was silent. He wasn't sure what to say. Clearly this woman was of a noble breed, but she was still a stranger. What was he supposed to say? Could he really give up his child?
"I'll tell you what, Mr. Flint. Stay with me for a year. Just a year. If you are still unsure, then you are free to return to the streets. If, however, you feel I would be an adequate parent then you know what I ask and what I can offer. I can even set you up in the guest house and keep on on as cleaning staff. You must only promise me that you will not reveal the boy's true parentage."
The offer was...well it was golden. He'd be a fool to not at least take free room and food for a year. He agreed to it. They never made it to a year though. At six months, there was a Hollow attack. The sound ripped through the air and shook the building. The woman was sitting in the nursery with the father and Valintine. The baby began to wail and Alicia La'Crow's face sunk while she looked up. The father heard a muffled cry. He wasn't prone to seeing Hollow or spirits, but he got..feelings. He got an inkling of feelings and he heard sounds. These sounds sounded like someone was held very deep under water. He had been attacked by something one day, had a scar on his back to prove that he survived the encounter. The woman placed Valintine in his father's arms and went outside. The father handed the baby off to the attending maid and rushed out to follow Alicia. What he saw surprised him. She removed her earring and, there was a green flash of light. She was gone. Valintine's father couldn't see what happened next but he did see SOMETHING huge. He couldn't make it out, it looked like heat. Nonetheless, in moments it was dead. He looked her as she suddenly appeared before him. He wanted to run. His heart was pounding. Why is he still here?! His legs wouldn't respond. She motioned for him to follow,and suddenly his legs for the will to move.
Back inside the nursery, she explained what she was. She explained Fullbringers, Shinigami, Hollow, Quincy, she told him all of it. She told him that if he denied her, then the baby and he would be in danger until they were dead. He didn't need to hear more. If she could raise his son in safety, then he agreed to the deal. He signed the needed papers the next morning, and thus Jack Flint died and Valintine La'Crow was born.
- Training Years:
Training began on Valintine's third birthday. Nothing serious, but since humans didn't live as long as others they had to move quickly. It began with the basics. Sensing souls. For this, Alicia found things that Valintine enjoyed. Blocks, money, bouncy balls, so on and so on, and she would keep it just out of his physical reach. Sometimes indeed he would manage to adjust the soul of the object, bringing it to him. Other times...not so much. As they continued this he got better and better. By the time he was four, he had no problem reaching out to the soul of an object. They still continued this, until he could call out the soul of objects at will in a moment's notice (accomplished by 5). When he was four-years-old, Alicia began to teach Valintine to fight. She had a friend who had a son that was a Fullbring who was just over a year older than Valintine. The two kids were made to fight each other. Of course it wasn't a smooth process, they were children after all...but it didn't last long. Six months into it, they were throwing actual kicks and punches. Around the time he was five, Alicia gave him a gift. Ever since he was a child he had always admired her crystalline earrings. She gave him one of them and took him to get his ear pierced. She had never heard a more head splitting scream before in her life, but she also had never seen a child so happy before either. Of course his father wasn't thrilled about this, but he dealt with it.
The years went by, Valintine and Scott continued to be sparring partners. As they grew, their fights got more vicious as their attacks became more accurate. The pair became very close over the years, spending most of the day with each other in one training session or another. When Valintine was six Alicia took him and Scott out to cleanse the town of Hollow. For the first few months they merely provided support. Giving her an extra boost by adjusting small portions of the ground's soul, or by playing look out. They watched her for the first few months to learn how to handle Hollow. She exposed them to a variety of dangerous situations and expected them to use their Fullbring powers to get them out of it. Valintine was more cunning and easily adjusted to tricky situations than Scott, but Scott showed more raw power. Together the two of them made a grand pair to behold. Alicia began to send them out to hunt and kill minor Hollow so they could get some hands on practice. Alicia was confident that they could do it, and they could for the most part. It was a bit...difficult since they hadn't fully realized their power but it was nothing that they couldn't handle. Of course Alicia was there to supervise. They WERE children of course, they just had super powers.
By age eight they were working on sensory abilities. Alicia thought this was important, but since it wasn't tied into their powers directly she didn't rank it terribly high. Valintine picked it up with little trouble, but Scott struggled a bit. In fact, it would only take Valintine two years to have a solid grip on sensory, picking up Alicia half way across the city, while it would take Scott three and a half. Over the years Alicia oversaw less and less of their training, but the training never once stopped. Not only did it never stop, and never did Valintine remove his earring either. It was his most prized possession. Valintine's real father spent some time with him as well. He waited on him, and always made sure that his bed was made. He would help his son with homework and listen to him when Alicia was being too hard. Flint was true to his word though, and never once mentioned to Valintine that he was the boy's father.
At age 10, Valintine and Scott, age 11, began to work on their high speed movement skills. Valintine enjoyed this. Scott enjoyed it too, and they proved to be just as adept at it. The pair would have races across the city and see who could dispose of the most Hollow along the way. Green light trailed behind them as they would move. Both boys picking this lesson up with little problem. Really, in about a year they had both completed this lesson and Alicia really began to turn up the heat. Having been able to even use High Speed Movement meant that the boys were on the brink of mastering their abilities. A year later, Scott gave Valintine his first kiss. It confused him. Wasn't he supposed to like girls?
"Why follow the flow of things? Like who you like, and do what you want. Be as thou wast wont to be, Valintine."
Valintine still wasn't sure what to feel. It would be another three years, when Valintine was 14, before he could return Scott's feelings for him. Until then, Alicia would bump up their training by setting up intense training sessions. They would fight her from now on, they would fight more powerful Hollow, and she would also steal them in the middle of the night and put them into deathly situations where they would need to utilize all of their skills to make it out alive. The pair met each challenge with excitement. They loved the thrill of the hunt, they loved her challenges, but most of all...they loved combating her. Or at least Scott did. Valintine got bored of the fighting. He preferred to hunt Hollow. They were mindless, yes, but they were all different. He needed that stimulation. He began to go out at hunt Hollows by himself which caused problems for him and Scott. Valintine was the weaker of the two, and Scott felt that meant he needed to be protected. Valintine felt differently. Alicia saw this not as a problem but as a gateway to a grand solution.
One night when Valintine was sixteen, she pulled him aside from his training. She told him she was going to be going away on business. She enlightened him about a meeting happening in New York that would require a sharp mind and a sharper tongue. She felt Valintine could handle the challenge. So she asked if he would like to be her aid. He accepted. The next day, before leaving, they picked up a few suits for Valintine. Scott came with them to New York but spent most of his time stalking the lands for Hollow. Valintine's father came with them too, but under the premise of being the man in charge of seeing over their things at the hotel. Once they landed they were greeted by a group of beings. Alicia smiled warmly and shook their hands. Scott and Valintine were all but paralyzed before them. They had never met people who were so strong before. Alicia introduced them as her proteges. The three men stared at them hard, and Valintine could feel their reiatsu flaring. He didn't like that.
"Please...if you truly insist upon such vibrant displays of neanderthalesque power, do so in the presence of someone who is actually and will actually be impressed. I was led to believe we are here on business. If not, then please say so now so that I may prep the jet for take off and return home."
The men were surprised. Alicia chuckled. Scott laced his fingers with Valintine's. He knew how his beloved could get. The men began to laugh and suppressed their power. They welcomed the boys to America and they all made their way to the hotel that they'd be staying at. The next day Valintine accompanied Alicia to every meeting there. Valintine learned she was apart of a group of super humans called Xtinction. He discovered that they were actually all very well connected. Alicia was on the council of this group and was rarely in America except for once a year or for pressing business. Nothing pressing was up currently, but she felt that Valintine would do well to experience their exclusive club. Valintine loved it there. He loved the atmosphere, the sharp minds, the meetings, but most of all he loved Alicia's job. It was her duty to oversee their public relations network. She got to hold meetings, make deals, and sometimes she needed to display her power. In the end though, Alicia always got what she wanted. By force or by manipulation, no one denied her. After all, smart men make good deals and dead men cannot deny requests. In two years, Valintine and Scott would join the ranks of Xtinction.
- Leaving Xtinction:
Fast forward several years. Valintine had grown much stronger. He still hadn't awakened his ability, but it was soon to come. Scott, however, had unlocked his fullbring last year. Valintine didn't mind though. He still trained hard, and never quit, but he was almost always at Alicia's side accompanying her to various meetings, setting up deals, and learning the art of manipulation. He did, however, mind that Scott insisted upon being with Valintine when Alicia was not there. He was terribly protective to the point of suffocation. Valintine often found himself in situations where he had to disable Scott in order to get a moment of peace to hunt Hollows. He was powerful, even for not having awakened his power he was strong. She taught him how to be strong without flaunting his strength. It wasn't needed. Physical damage can be drastic, but it's a shallow wound no matter how "grand".
"Remember, Valintine. Control is real power. You can strengthen your body all you want, but all you're doing is adding to someone's power base. Futile attempts to be 'the strongest' are as childish as a Disney movie. There will always be someone or a group of people stronger. No. Beating someone merely leads to more beatings and the world will be left in a bloody pool of it's own stupidity. Control. That is power. If you can give people a reason to heed your words, to jump when you command, then congratulations...you're one of the few truly powerful. Even a handful of our own kind realize this, but it's not their fault. It's just the world we live in today. Fists solve problems instead of words..."
Valintine has held that lesson close since she told him. Alicia also began to send him in place of her to meetings. Something that the others didn't really like, but she insisted upon it. It was a well known fact that Alicia was grooming Valintine to take her place. Even Valintine knew it. It was just unspoken of. What of Scott? He was uninterested in the life of being a Council member. He, of course, joined the organization but as a bodyguard more than anything really. He was called when muscle was required, but other than that he lacked the people skills and patience for a life of word play and backdoor dealings. Which is where things take a bit of a sour turn for our lovers.
It was supposed to be a routine trip to Pennsylvania. They were going simply to check on reports of strange Hollow activity, and they to make sure their assets in that region were secure. Alicia had a pending deal with some people there, and she couldn't have her clients getting eaten by brutes from another dimension. The trio, plus Flint, made their way to the outskirts of Philadelphia. The air reeked of Hollow activity. Valintine looked around. They all felt it. There was still a Hollow nearby. Scott and Alicia readied their Fullbring. Valintine picked up the trace of the Hollow and told everyone to move. chaos began quickly. There wasn't just one Hollow, but a whole group of large bee like Hollow. The group began to fight. Valintine did what he could but even so, without a Fullbring he was stuck with manipulating the souls of the surrounding area. His abilities without a Fullbring though were...limited. Alicia and Scott did their best, but it was clear they were being overrun. Alicia called out to Valintine to activate his weapon. They needed him. Valintine had no idea what to use though. He knew how to do it, he knew how to call upon his power, but he had zero idea what his focus was. Further so, was this really the best time to activate it? The explosive power could damage everyone around. Alicia had that covered though. Alicia had an idea as to what his Fullbring would be though. She commanded him to focus on his earring. Vai'el could have died at that moment. Of course.
He communicated with the soul of the earring. He brought it out, and allowed his own soul to mix with it. He felt it. The spark of power. Electricity ran through him as his nerves exploded with power. He was blinded by a light, and Alicia worked quickly to contain the explosion and kept his body in check with her Fullbring "Law". Her Fullbring ensured that any damage done to Valintine's body with be removed as it challenged the rules she set forward for the determined area. In doing this, however, she herself sustained some heavy damage. She could barely stand on her own two feet, but suddenly a metallic whip ripped through the air and cut the bee-like Hollow down. Valintine stood there with a liquid metal and a look of rage in his eyes. Alicia used Law once more to keep her body in check while she rejoined the fight, Scott and Valintine began to make quick work of the bees as well. In the end, they were victorious and Valintine had a Fullbring finally. As they all stood there, a stinger suddenly appeared through Scott's chest. Alicia had never heard Valintine scream like that. Even when he got the piercing. This wasn't pain, this wasn't rage, this wasn't sadness. This was something far deeper. It would leave a scar on Valintine's mind, on his heart, forever. He held Scott's hand in his and told him over and over again that it would be okay. Everyone knew it wouldn't be. Even Alicia was powerless. Law would suspend Scott where he is, but it wouldn't heal him. Even if they got him medical help, it wouldn't work while Law was in effect, and as soon as she removed it he would be living on borrowed time.
In Scott's final time, told Valintine he was sorry for what happened between them. For being over protective, for doubting him. He should have had more faith. Valintine told him not to say sorry. Someone had to protect him...and now who would? Scott just smiled as his body began to deteriorate. It fell apart in front of Valintine. He watched as the only man he ever loved literally turned to dust in front of him. Another terrifying scream tore through the air as Valintine cried out in agony. Alicia touched his shoulder and told him they had to go. The job was finished. Mourning could be done when they were in a safe zone. Valintine shrugged her off and vanished.
- The Return:
For ten years, nobody heard from Valintine. He had just vanished, even Alicia couldn't track him down after using all of her available contacts and using more than half of her favors. She had taught him well. He was truly a ghost a this point in his life. Then one day he just...appeared. He was there again in the lobby of Xtinction HQ. Where was he?
Valintine had gone underground as a Hollow hitman, so to speak, under the alias of Snake. How did he avoid Xtinction radars? It was simple. His price was only this. He was not to have his photo taken, and his service was to be spread by word of mouth only. Cameras and such were dealt with in every town by an accomplice he had. A techno wiz who managed to ensure that wherever he was, he wouldn't touch the web. Valintine was literally a ghost. During this time though he managed to keep the memory of Scott alive by becoming stronger, and then sealed that memory under layers and layers and layers of repression. During his time away he managed to fully awaken his Fullbring, completing his metamorphosis into an accomplished Fullbringer. As he strolled down the main lobby of his kind's HQ he politely asked if Alicia was around. The woman looked in shock at him. He had matured greatly, and it showed on his face. He flashed her a smile and she gave him the info. Valintine made his way to the upper floors of the building. He stood in front of her door and manipulated it to walk through. She nearly dropped her glass when he walked in. Standing there in a pure white suit, matching her attire, and smiling as if he hadn't just returned from the dead more or less.
They had a nice long chat about Valintine's time away. Alicia was glad to have him back. She wasted no time dwelling on the past though. It wasn't her style, and it wasn't Valintine's style either. He came back for a reason and he wasn't leaving until he had done what he set out to do. Alicia chuckled at this, and nodded. The next Council meeting was in two weeks. Which meant that Valintine had two years to prove to them that he was indeed worthy of holding a seat on the Council. He shrugged as if the mere idea of doing such a thing was trivial, but he understood his task. He spent the next two weeks rubbing elbows with the Council Members, chatting with other Xtinction members, and making deals. In no time two weeks had passed and he waited in the Council Chambers. Valintine stood there in silence. If all went well the outcome would be obvious. 10 years away hadn't done anything to his impact. Alicia was well connected too, but she had nothing to do with this. In this world, it was all about how well you could handle yourself. If you couldn't stand on your own two feet, then you didn't deserve to stand at all. In two week Valintine had reminded those present that he was the one best fit to replace Alicia. Yes, she was strict. Yes, she did things her way. She got results though. That's what matters. He made promises and deals with people, he called in a few favors he had held onto as well. In the end, his work paid off. The he was selected to replace her when she was finished at the end of the year.
Five months later, Alicia officially stepped down and Valintine stepped up. Before Alicia got on a plane back home she asked Valintine to visit her hotel room. He obliged her and there stood Flint. The two embraced and Valintine exchanged stories of his travels with the man. Alicia told Valintine the truth about his heritage and the Fullbringer just shrugged. He knew. He figured it out during his time away when he realized he looked nothing like Alicia and a lot like Flint. He knew how she worked though. He figured his father had been sworn to secrecy. Long story short, the duo left America promises to visit Valintine soon. The new Councilman returned to Xtinction HQ and was caught up to speed on all Council business. The current search for Terra. Valintine smiled. A challenge. Good. He was worried that his first few assignments would be boring.
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