Individual Character's full name: Sophia Stratford
Alias/ Nickname/ Code name: Sophie
Gender: Female
Age: 27
Date of Birth: April, 29th, 1985
Birthplace/ Home/ Place of origin: Los Angeles, California, USA
Nationality: American
Ethnicity/ Cultural Heritage: Caucasian (French/British)
AppearancePhysical Appearance: Link to PictureHair color and style: Blonde, long wavy, down to lower back.
Skin Tone: White, no tan.
Eye Color: Blue
Height: 5'6"
Build: Slim, non-athletic.
Scars/ Tattoos/ Piercings: two piercing per ear.
Other features: Wears glasses, shape of the frame often change with her mood.
Everyday clothing style: Sophia wear noticeably feminine clothing. She prefers modest articles of clothing that show only a moderate amount of skin. Sophia prefers outfits that give the impression of sophistication to others, choosing longer skirts with more mature patterns or designs, along with tops that give the show off her shoulders or only a small bit of cleavage, while also being sophisticated. If cold, Sophia will wear heavier or more insulated clothing, though will continue to wear skirts. Sophia tends to stay away from pants or shorts, preferring skirts instead when applicable, but will wear shorts or pants when necessary.
Uniform: Sophia's uniform is a modified version of the typical X-men uniform. While a standard blue with a gold X over the chest, it has no sleeves and a long skirt with slit running down the middle past the knees, hidden behind a single bar of yellow which runs down the length of the uniform, starting just under the bust. Sophia also wear a long coat with larger than normal sleeves over her uniform. Sophia's uniform also has glass balls which dangle off the belt like a chain.
Sleepwear: Sophia will wear long, elegant sleep gowns, or shorter baby dolls. Sophia rarely wears typical pajamas, except if they are exceptionally elegant in nature.
Miscellaneous clothing: Sophia enjoys a rich and assorted collection of undergarment in various styles; all of which are silky or with lace or ruffles, very few have prints. Sophia enjoys trying on clothing and have a wide selection of dresses, though she prefer evening wear, and has many ball gowns and formal dresses.
CharacterPersonality:After years of a privileged life, including living in mansions, the finest instructors, private schools, and everything a spoiled rich kid could ever want, Sophia has developed a sense entitlement and refinement over others. This generally takes the form of desiring to be, or otherwise believing that she is, better than others around her in certain fields of her choosing. In most cases, Sophia will actively try to be a model for whatever function or title she has chosen for herself, and believes that by setting the best example possible, others will naturally follow her lead. Because of this, Sophia will try to be the best in something, striving to do so at the expense of others in some cases, though usually to the benefit of others when possible.
As woman, she believes it is important to represent her gender in the best possible light; to this, Sophia walks and moves in a graceful fashion and carries herself in an otherwise sophisticated manner. She is an overly feminine individual, preferring to take advantage of all aspects of femininity whenever possible; the most noticeable of this, is her belief that she and all girls should wear skirts when ever acceptable or possible over shorts or pants. She will also, whenever possible, try to get other girls to dress or appear more feminine if she deems them lacking. To this extent, Sophia generally dislikes girls who aren’t feminine, or atleast has a more difficult time accepting them as friends. With men, Sophia is initially cautious with men, fearing they want something physically out of her because of her appearance, but isn’t afraid to push them away or confront them if necessary to do so.
During her modest life in her teens, Sophia developed the ability to fend herself outside of mansions and servants, developing some respect for others, and generally not believing she is the best at everything, and admitting that others are better her in some regards. Though with older individuals who are much older than her, Sophia sees them as role models, people to look up to and eventually surpass. With people her own age, if they seem to be similar or better at her in a field that she participates in, Sophia will see them as a rival, even if a friendly one, Sophia will attempt to become better that them until she alone stands on top.
Sophia is a prideful person, and Sophia does not hesitate to back up her pride with words or actions. Most of the time, these actions will result in her trying to prove she is better than another, or in some cases, lashing out violently at a person. Few had bested her enough to invoke the later, though it has happened from time to time. If she such that’s Sophia’s ego or pride is hurt badly, she may retreat, a sign of defeat, which causes her brood on her own or become incredibly silent and meek for a period of time until she find a way to overcome it.
Opinionated to a fault, Sophia hold high expectations and judgments of people, believing those she associates with must be the best, and that friends of hers would expect the same of her. To this extent, Sophia may subtly try to change or impress changes on to others to make them better in her eyes. Whether they accept her changes or not are up to them, but Sophia will not stop unless good reason is necessary. However, with truly trustworthy friends, Sophia can be a bit more relaxed that she might otherwise naturally be. This will cause her to be less prideful around them and treat them better than she might normally treat someone else. A good sign that Sophia trusts or believes a person to be a true friend, she will only joke with them and tease them, going so far as to pull pranks or even give meaningful advice. Though if betrayed by someone she trusts or believes in, she will not hesitate to enact revenge in a meaningful way. If betrayed, it will take a long time for Sophia to trust in a person again, even going so far as to ignore them purposefully, even when they attempt to apologize.
Hobbies/ Interests:Sophia enjoys looking good, and will play dress up for hours for leisure if she can. She is often seen shopping for more clothes and taking long periods of time to look good for occasions. She’s not afraid of taking up other people’s precious time to make them fashionable or best dressed for events. But she will naturally do people just a step down form herself, so that she still appears the best dressed.
Sophia moves in a graceful fashion, taking small steps, feminine mannerisms, and generally moves in an elegant fashion which speaks to her natural pedigree.
Sophia is an avid reader, but enjoys watching movies and television shows too. Sophia enjoys shows which are actually shows which are outside of her interest generally, including some sci-fi shows. In some respects, Sophia has some geek like qualities, and regularly enjoyed dressing up in costumes for fun if they are unique or distinctly feminine.
Though not classically trained in art, Sophia can appreciate sculptures and artwork, and can even do some sculptures with glass as her medium. She naturally enjoyed refined arts and tastes, including robust and sophisticated food.
Job or part time job and description: Astronomy Teacher, telescope technician
Fears/ phobias/ concerns:Sophia doesn't late large bodies of water, namely because she is a bad swimmer. She will avoid oceans or pools with water too deep for her to easily stand in. She does not do well on boats either.
Sophia does not enjoy sporting events, or particularly any activity which isn't necessary sophisticated or ladylike. She will often pass up the opportunity to join others in the events, or begrudgingly go, but will visually appear uninterested and upset. Sophia dislikes physical work, her body being fairly weak, does not like running, jogging or any otherwise intense or prolonged physical activity, and will search for shortcuts whenever possible to avoid it.
Sophia doesn't like to be cold, and gets particularly annoyed when she is cold or in a cold place, which causes her to complain about being cold. She can even abandon others in order to find warmth if it is too cold.
Sophia is a naturally calm person, but if forced to do too many things she doesn't like, she will get upset and can easily walk off.
Sophia is prideful, and things which break her pride or otherwise cause it to be judged differently by Sophia will make her very upset and confuse her. This can lead to begrudgingly accepting new idea or thoughts, but not without Sophia putting up a great deal of resistance.
Special talents:Plays the Piano, Violin, and Tennis(albeit not very well).
Master's Degree in Astrophysics and Astronomy.
Expert in various levels of fashion, including clothing, accessories, jewelry, and beautician.
Weak to Moderate Skills in Aviation.
MoralityGood/ bad/ neutral/ other: Sophia believes in justice, but isn't interested in it enough unless it affects her. If it serves the greater good or purpose, Sophia will involve herself, but if it does not involve her, she will generally let it go.
MutationsMutation description: Hylokinesis
Sophia has the mutant ability to manipulate glass. Sophia does this by telepathically identifying the glass through vibrations in the air, feeling it with in her skin and ears as soft vibrations. Once Sophia identifies the glass, she can then telepathically causes it to vibrate as such a high pitch speeds and frequencies that it begins to float in place and move at Sophia's whim. Sophia does this naturally with her mind, and is generally unaware of the high speed of vibration other than the ringing in her ears being louder with more glass she manipulates. The glass generally appears not to be vibrating or moving on any level, aside from its movement as Sophia guides it. While it is vibrating, Sophia can begin to manipulate it in to different states:
-Vibrating the glass at high speeds, Sophia can begin to meld various pieces of glass together and give them new shapes. Sophia does this to create objects from the glass, forming physical structure for various purposes, including sitting, eating, and of course, fighting and defending. Common objects include chairs, disks, various melee based weapons, and even armor for herself to wear. These objects are roughly as strong as the glass used to make them.
-Using her telepathic ability to identify the glass, Sophia can instantly recognize the tensile strength in glass and can choose to weaken or strength glass by thickening or condensing the glass together. Glass which is strengthened is thickened by pushing glass in to itself in order to make it strong and thus giving it properties similar to some metals, such as aluminum. In the process to strengthen glass however looses a portion of the glass she has to work with, thus if she wishes to have something strong, it will be smaller as a result.
-Due to the nature of the high speed vibration, the glass can take on qualities of weightlessness, allowing Sophia to move the glass physically through the air. This allows Sophia to break glass and have it fly around her or come to her if it is outside of her reach. Sophia can also use this to create objects and force them at other people or lift/push/pull things as well. Sophia can move many piece of glass without any physical control, though can use her arms and hand to direct glass for better accuracy or control.
Sophia hears the vibration of glass as though a slight high pitch ring in her ear. The ringing is not so noticeable that it is distracting. Sophia can also feel the vibration of the glass as though a small vibration from a phone in a person's pocket, although much softer and less noticeable generally. Both the sound and feel of the vibration intensify when more glass is being manipulated by Sophia at any given time. Sophia can recognize if any glass is present simply by hearing it, thus if there is no glass or very little glass present, she will notice right away due to the lack of ringing in her ears.
Strengths:Sophia uses her ability to strengthen, form glass pieces together into new shapes, and levitate glass. This generally consists of making disks and other simple shapes relatively quickly with glass, with more complex shapes and actual objects taking longer, depending on the size, complexity, and concentration. Sophia will use the disks and simple objects to defend herself, but similarly, throw them at people from various direction or speeds in attempt to injure or cut them. Sophia can also take multiple shards of glass and manipulate them to float around her like a shield or launch them at a person as well.
Sophia carries a chain of glass beads with her, which she forms in to various kinds objects when there is no glass present with her. Sophia is known for wearing glass jewelry and even using her own glasses when there is no glass present to work with.
Weaknesses and Limitations:Sophia can manipulate a wide range of glass and the more she has, the more she can manipulate. Though generally, the more glass Sophia is manipulating at a time, the harder and more difficult it becomes. Sophia's control and speed goes up considerably with the use of her hands to physically points or guide the glass. As well, when there are more pieces of glass, it takes longer for Sophia to meld or form it together.
Sophia can manipulate up to a volume of four cubic feet of glass(1/2inch thick, ten feet wide, ten feet tall pane) without the aid of her hands without noticeable problems. Sophia's range for using her powers is roughly 30 feet radius around her. Sophia's lifting power with the glass is roughly that of an average human adult, ranging roughly 100-125lbs. Despite Sophia's ability to create things, she can only use roughly 1/6th of her glass to make an object at a time. This is due to Sophia being unable to lift any singular object over a certain weight in glass with her mind while under pressure or external influence; given proper focus and lack of external influences and pressure, Sophia is capable of lifting objects over a certain weight, but not relatively well.
Sophia's ability are tied in to her ability to hear in order to identify glass. If Sophia cannot otherwise hear for whatever reason or the area is too loud, her powers are diminished and are less effective. Examples of being too loud can be a front row of a rock concert next to the speaker, or on the runway of an airport.
Sophia must maintain visual contact with the glass to manipulate it. If Sophia, for whatever reason, cannot see the glass she is working with, she cannot manipulate it. Sophia would be able to launch or throw glass in a generalize direction that she cannot see. The exception is calling glass to her, since she can hear the glass, though this will take longer since she cannot physically see it and if something is blocking its path, will not reach Sophia.
Manipulating glass in to different shapes takes time, with smaller/simpler objects easier to form than complex/larger ones. It would take Sophia roughly 5-10 seconds to create a man hole size disk, with simple geometric objects or shapes taking roughly 15 seconds. The more complex or larger the object, the longer it takes to create it. Strengthening glass works on the same principle.
Sophia can manipulate multiple objects at once, but the more objects she works with at a time, the more difficult it takes. If working with lots of glass shards, Sophia must mold them in to a master piece of glass for easier manipulation, rather than individual pieces. Sophia can control individual pieces to move about, but does so in a wave motion, rather than each piece individually.
Sophia's ability to use her mutant abilities is dependent on her physical condition. If not at her peak, distracted, or confused, Sophia's ability to use her abilities are diminished based upon her condition. Sophia is also susceptible to telepathic attacks to her brain and if done so, can put her out of commission. If in an extreme emotional state, Sophia's powers may react on their own, ie, if she were very mad for whatever reason, windows may crack and or shatter as she walks by.
Physical AbilitiesGeneral Physical Capabilities:Sophia has poor physical skills and generally has the strength, speed, stamina, and flexibility of woman who performs minimal exercises daily. Sophia does however have good reflexes generally. Sophia has poor eye sight, facilitating the need of glasses or contacts at all times in order to perform daily activities.
Fighting Style:Sophia will generally create disks and simple shaped objects to do her bidding, using disks for defense by using them to absorb attacks, or turning them sideways and launching them at people like buzzsaws to slice people by sharpening the edges to be razor sharp. Sophia is also known for taking hundreds of glass shards and launching them at her opponent directly, or having them circle around her as an impromptu shield. Sophia will generally keep her range from an opponent, using any possible means of keeping an enemy at bay from her, or moving out of range of an enemy. Sophia will stand her ground more often than not if she feels she can win or has a purpose to her fight.
Fighting Style Pros/Cons:Sophia needs to maintain a range from her enemies at all times, as her body is not physically strong enough to withstand an attack directly against her. If surprised, Sophia has little defense if there is no real chance or time to react. Sophia is limited by the amount of glass around her, thus if there is little to no glass, Sophia is weakened by her choices of what to do. Destroyed glass cannot be replaced, and if she runs out of glass, she is otherwise defenseless.
History Of Your CharacterBorn in Beverly Hills, California, Sophia was the daughter of Charles and Marianne Stratford. Charles was a movie director and business man who frequently traveled the world to work on major motion pictures, while Marianne was a trophy wife who pampered her daughter with everything she could have ever wanted. Sophia spent a majority of her youth being neglected by her mother, though sporadically loved and taught the finer points of being a lady whenever possible by her busy mother. Most of Sophia's early childhood revolved around violin, piano, and ballet lessons, along with social parties and gathering with required Sophia to be on her best behavior and most dignified in order to impress others for her parents behalf. As soon as possible, Sophia was enrolled in prestigious All-Girl elementary and middle schools, with a critical role in being the pretties and popular girl, as well as being the smartest, a sense instilled by her mother who constantly impressed upon the idea of being smart and beautiful.
During the summer of 1998, her father disappeared under rumored strange circumstances. All traces and sight of the father gone and seemingly lost from existence, Sophia's mother confided in her daughter the family was actually broke and bankrupt form her father’s lack of recent successful movies. Marianne sold the family mansion and most of the family's possessions, including much of Sophia's own wardrobe and belongings. Sophia and her mother moved to a small apartment in Brentwood, a district not too far away from their former Beverly Hills, where Sophia got a rather sudden slap of reality. Now forced to join public schooling, Sophia's pride and her otherwise privileged mentality and lifestyle made her the enemy of many students, whom all looked down on her and made her the frequent target of bullying from the other girls.
Despite the criticism from other students, Sophia proved that she was better than everyone else by studying and dressing better, due to the remaining clothing she did own being among some of the best labels that you could just not sell. However, during this period in Sophia's life, she also began to develop her mutant powers, with hints of hit coming in the form of mirrors and windows shattering when ever Sophia had an emotional outburst. Sophia would notice the shattered glass, or see it in passing, and would look at it again a moment later to see it repairing herself. Just prior to leaving middle school, the school's administrators held an assembly regarding students becoming mutants and developing powers beyond their control. It was then that Sophia realized that people didn't like her, listening to the assembly being spoken in a negative tone, and realizing she must keep these powers to herself.
Back at home, Marianne continued to life a very posh and upscale lifestyle thanks to reporting on her Hollywood friends. Though there was just barely enough money for food and keeping the lights on, Marianne continue to spend money on clothes, and thankfully by the time Sophia was 16, she fit into much of her mother's clothes, though the two would never quite be as connects as there were while they were in the mansion.
In high school, Sophia kept to herself initially, but would eventually befriend Caroline, president of the Astronomy club that happened across Sophia fixing a mirror she had accidentally broken one day. Caroline initially blackmailed Sophia in to joining her ailing club so that it could remain intact, but later blackmailed Sophia in to practicing her mutant powers, seeing Sophia needed a friend and not an enemy. With Caroline's help, Sophia was learned she could make glass float and reshape it into new things, such as balls, disks, and even smaller figurines with enough time. The two ended up becoming friendly, and while Caroline helped fill Sophia's imagination and brain with Sci-fi and astronomy, Sophia lent her clothing and gave her tips and pointers so that she wouldn't be nearly as nerdy or geeky as she was. Combined the two made more friends than either initially planned on making, and were able to make the Astronomy club a big hit at school. The two decided to live Caroline's dream and become astronauts after graduation, and stand together in space.
When she graduated from high school, Sophia had a great deal of control of her skills, capable of lifting quite a bit of weight off the ground, and making various shapes in just a minute or so. Sophia also garnered a full scholarships to UCLA thanks to her stellar grades in high school, and with her friend, enrolled in the Astrophysics studies at the university. While both were very popular and admired by many, Sophia focused on her studies, but Caroline opted to quit mid way through, falling in love with her future husband in the process. While Sophia understood, she didn't like the idea of her friend passing up on her dream, and vowed to continue the dream for both of them. Much like high school, she graduated with top honors thanks to a custom built telescope that was more powerful than a number of consumer & professional telescopes, using her mutant powers to finitely perfect the telescope's lenses.
Realizing that to be an astronaut took a lot more study, Sophia opted to continue her education and follower her bachelors with her graduate studies and masters, using the time to continue her research and publish a string of through provoking papers in her field, and even learn to fly small planes in anticipation of joining NASA and the Airforce. After getting her masters, she felt it time to take the qualifying tests for NASA's astronaut program. While she initially passed the intelligence test and marginally eked through the physical, she failed the examination. During the testing process, all applicants were given rather rigorous background checks and monitored, which led to examiners finding out about Sophia being a mutant. Examiners later changed the records to reflect that she had failed the physical examination, despite initially passing it, and she was thrown out of the program immediately. Sophia attempted to appeal the decision, but was told she continued to pursue the appeal, it make become difficult for her friends and family to find out she was a mutant. Unwilling to involve those she cared about, Sophia dropped the appeals and begrudgingly accepted that she wasn't going to be an Astronaut.
Needless to say, the news that she wasn't going to be an Astronaut was a blow to Sophia's ego and pride, but it was only the beginning of her problems. Caroline had shared Sophia's mutant powers with her new husband and while showing him one day in good faith. Little did she realize that he had taped her doing so, and would blackmail her in to giving him a big payoff to keep this information from passing over to anti-mutant groups in the area. While Sophia had initially agreed to pay him off, he had already released the information unknown to her. She would return home one day to find her home, social media, and even her phone vandalized with anti-mutant graffiti messages and sentiments. The following morning she confront both Caroline and her husband about it, seeking revenge and threatening to take his life if he ever showed his face to Caroline or here every again. After this point, she broke her friendship with Caroline and decided to leave Los Angeles and find somewhere that would accept her now that it was known all over that she was a mutant.
Sophia opted to move across country, hoping that the stigma of being a mutant would not follow her. Despite initially getting a job at the Rutherfurd Observatory at Columbia University, the anti-mutant stigma followed her to her new job, with the observatory being vandalized multiple times before a fire was started in the observatory. Sophia opted to leave the University so that she wouldn't cause it additional problems, though was pressured to leave by administrators. Ousted as a mutant, Sophia began openly using her powers, realizing the stigma wouldn't leave, and that she might as well be what she was. Sophia now openly displayed her powers when it was convenient to use them, defending herself from physical and verbal abuse when necessary, launching shards of glass at her attackers and scaring them away generally. During an attempt to protect another group of mutants, Sophia was mistaken for a member of the X-men and despite never hearing of the before, decided to seek them out to see what they were all about.
RoleplayWhere did you learn about this site?: Basic google search(X-men Forum RPG)
Do you have any other characters on MRO, if so who: None
Sample RP:"Wha…." perhaps the only thing Sophia could say as she returned home, finding her studio apartment in ruins and past its former glory. Her pretty walls of celestial charts and star guides had been torn and ripped, replaced with various Graffiti with tags saying 'Die Mutant', 'Go to hell mutant', along with similar sentiments and slogans. Her closet ransacked for much her clothing burned or torn to shreds. Even the kitchen wasn't safe, as most of the articles in there were broken or damaged badly.
What did remain was the resemblance of what looked like Sophia's computer, as though it were the only remaining piece of material that was otherwise left mostly undamaged, the desk and chair that were bit were not as fortunate. Police walked her through the apartment and took assessment of the damages, Sophia having to write of a rather large collection of clothing and objects, including a one of a kind telescope which had garnered her such attention and prestige in college and her first step in to a professional science world. It was ruined, the frame and casing were bend and ruined beyond repair, the glass however, was something she could savage, though why a normal person would want to was another question. At first, the police questioned if Sophia really belonged here or not, Sophia was statuesque, obviously very fashionable and sophisticated by her clothing chooses which once existed in her closet and from her appearance before the police as well. With her long blonde hair and blue eyes hidden behind glasses, most would have assumed she were a secretary or some sort of corporate person, few outside of a science magazine would be able to recognize her, but those that did, knew she was a bright star in the world of astrophysics. A star that would normally be treated very well, but now as nothing but a pariah to her own neighbors and community.
The police took as much information as they could, many of them asking if Sophia really was a mutant or not, Sophia of course scoffing at the notion of being such a thing, bring people to her look and asking if anyone would think she a mutant. A bit of charm and no one suspected anything but a sophisticated and graceful woman with a promising future, but few knew who Sophia was, and she was intent on asking about it. When they finally left, Sophia took inventory of everything that was there, packing up what wasn't ruined or destroyed and savaging as much as she could before packing it in to her car and driving away to a hotel. While Sophia could only attempt to be calm during this, deep down she wanted to explode, but knew that time was coming quickly, best to think of how she was going to explode, and just make it in to the hotel as though there was nothing wrong.
In her room, Sophia took a quick shower, having been in the same clothes all day long and sweating after being in her apartment with all that happened, the shower was relaxing, but she was still very upset about what had happened. Afterwards, Sophia got as best dressed for bed as she could, but she couldn't sleep, even if she tried to there was no going to sleep and there was even less hope in trying to get and rest at all. Sophia turned on the television, hoping to atleast have some noise playing, opening her notebook in hopes of trying to navigate some of this stuff online. Remarkably it was undamaged, which seemed odd considering they had even broken the plasma TV rather than try to steal it like they did the jewelry, and after navigating the hotel's internet service she was online. She began to check a few sites, but noticed all of her sites and history had been changed to different locations, much of it profiles with websites about her!
Each of these shots had various details about Sophia, people with cameras had documented her coming and going, people have apparently been listening in to her phone conversations, but even worse, her social pages, all the forums she went, even the university page, all of profiles went in to great deal about her being a mutant. Even her Facebook had about thousand new friends, all of them telling her to die and describing horrible things that they would do to a mutant like her. She closed the notebook hard, and tossed it to the opposite of the room. If it hadn't been broken before, it was certainly going to be now.
Sophia had time to pace in her hotel room, even getting calls from the hotel's security asking her to quiet down, but Sophia would have none of it. This was the kind of angry that few people ever got, it was an anger fueled by betrayal, fixed with desperate fear only a mouse knows when cornered by a vicious cat, and tainted with friendship. Friendship was the worst part of it, knowing that a friendship Sophia held dear would probably end today, that was enough for Sophia to know that it was for nothing. A scorn Sophia was enough to set the place on fire, but thankfully the fire controls in her hotel room never went off.
While Sophia waited for the sunlight to appear over the horizon, she made she to contact her bank and canceled all her credit cards, suspecting identify theft since someone had been all over her computer and in her house. When it hit six in the morning, Sophia was already dressed in a rather nice sundress, one of light blue numbers with the ruffles along the hems and light sweater that matched it, luckily it hadn't been ruined in the vandalism. Sophia would wait until a store opened and bought a brand new phone before heading out, even calling the police to advise them of the new number she could be reached at now. Sophia wasn't going to take any changes and wanted to be prepared, part of her knew that she wasn't coming back, and knowing that, Sophia was prepared to dip in to her trustfund, a modest saving that had over twenty years to gestate in to a modest sum of money. It wouldn't be necessary, after this point in her life, Sophia would continue her work, that trust fund would be filled back up after this, but for now, the cost of her safety, either online or offline was absolutely necessary.
It took probably an hour in traffic to drive to Glendale, it wasn't a far distance, but traffic in Los Angeles was always bad in the morning. Sophia would stop at a hardware store along the way, and purchased a pair round glass disks for a table. Though they were heavy, Sophia moved them with little effort, and when anyone asked, she was going to be doing some decorating and need them for it. No one took a second look at Sophia, and if they did, it was only to admire her beauty and charm as she strolled through the massive home improvement store as though it were the street sidewalks of Rodeo Drive.
Inside a nice bedroom, there was an unmade bed, one person sleeping in it, though was partly awake, watching TV, hoping she'd go back to sleep in a bit, but she understood she needed to get up. Meanwhile there was another man, getting dressed in a suit, admiring himself in the mirror, taking carefully crafted glances at the beautiful woman in bed who had been otherwise pleasantly smiling back, even teasing him while she wore her babydoll in bed, hinting at part of her body that he could come back to. She stretched outward, her short orange hair a bit of tangles from bed head, yawning as she stirred awake for the morning news, "There's… never anything good on the news. Why don't you come back to bed, can't be anything good out there either…."
"Now, now… I have a meeting this morning, you wouldn't want me to," the man paused, suddenly hearing a banging on his door, what sounded like some pounding the back of their fist against the door really hard. The doorbell followed suit, and repeated presses as though whom ever it was at the door was in a hurry. The girl went to the window first, using the curtains to hide her unmentionables from the casual viewer, but looking down from the second floor, she recognized something, and then could hear shouting.
"Greg! You bastard! Get out here!" a very angry and loud voice was outside.
"Who is it?" the man questioned aloud, picking up the phone as though to dial the police right away.
"It sounds like Sophia, her Lexus is outside too. What did you do?" retorting to the man, as thought she got the suspicion that something was up.
"Why do you assume I did anything?"
"Because my friend doesn't pound her fist on any door, much less mine. She sounds real angry," looking back out through the window, the shouts and screams were very bone chilling to the girl, as though she could tell something was wrong. This wasn't normal for her friend, "I've never seen her this angry. Tell me what you did."
"I didn't do anything!"
"Promise?!?"
"Caroline, I didn't do a thing to Sophia."
"Alright," she paused with concern, unsure what might have caused Sophia to act this way, but she wasn't too sure her husband was being truthful either, something in his voice hinted that there was more going on. She didn't care, she quickly found a pair of sweats and got changed, "Okay, I'm going to calm her down."
A moment or two later, Sophia was still pounding at the door, but her body stood perfectly still, as thought she wasn't doing anything at all, merely yelling and screaming. She would only stop once she heard the locks on the door being undone, a sign she knew that she was getting in just a moment, assuming it was who she expected on the order side of the door. When the door peaked open, Sophia opened up her hand, and into it dropped a fortune teller's crystal ball, or atleast what looked like one. it was strange that one should fall right in to her open hand, and that when she caught it, it didn't disorient her or even cause her hand to move, as though it had been as light as a feather to her. Caroline however looked on to the other side, peaking through the door rather innocently, as though she wasn't aware Sophia had been banging on the door just a few moments ago, "Sophia?"
"Good morning Caroline, can I come in," in a very matter a fact tone, Sophia wasn't so much asking to come in so much as she was merely asking for permission to. She had ever expectation to gain access to the house, and didn't question for a second that she wouldn't get in, "I need to speak to your husband."
"Yeah, I think it's best you come inside," hoping the neighbors weren't too observant of the guest coming in to her home. Granted Caroline had been very good friends with Sophia for a number of years, high school friends and college roommates, and in all her years, she'd never seen Sophia this upset or angry, so she knew something was up. Once inside, Caroline pulled her robe in closer to her to keep her arm, asking Sophia rather quickly after she saw Sophia scanning the house for her husband, "So what do you want with Greg?"
"Your husband's a liar and a thief, but not very good at either," Sophia spun back around toward her friend, a look of contempt written her eyes as though she were out for blood.
"Calm down Sophie… tell me what's going on?"
"Remember lunch last Wednesday? Greg taped it and told me the next day that if I didn't give him two hundred thousand dollars, he was going release the tape some people knew," even when Sophia said it made her blood boil, just to think that someone would betray her like that. The feeling in her was new and unexpected, the kind of thing you never know you will react to knowing and learning, but the kind of rage where you aren't overly concerned with happens after it, "but it's too late! He gave them the info and this past week, they've been watching me, taking pictures of me. And they even have a journal all my moments, they've posted it all online for anyone to see and read. Want to see it for yourself, I can pull it up pretty damn quickly."
"No… you wouldn't be like this if it wasn't true. But calm down, it can't be Greg…"
"Greg called me and told me about the video, even sent it to me in an e-mail. Why else would he want two hundred thousand dollars? Worst part is, I was going to give it to him today, but looks like I don't need to… anymore," before Sophia could really finish her thought, footsteps from the stairs could be heard, as though someone who was big and tall were coming down stairs. Sophia knew who it was, she didn't even have to guess at all, "Speak of the devil…"
"Greg, it's not true is it?"
"Yeah…" but before he could really confess, Caroline slapped him across the face, pretty forcefully for a woman too. The slap echoed through the house, you could hear it from a few rooms over for sure, but it didn't matter to him, "Are you done?"
"Why would do that? That's my best friend!?!" now Caroline was just as upset as Sophia was, though she couldn't have ever been as upset, she only mimicked Sophia's anger.
Grabbing his wife's wrists, he held her close and grasped on to her so tight that even if she fought, Caroline couldn't resist. Though his tone changed some too, he was calm and there was a sense of guilt in his voice, but now he was loud and even threatening, "Best friend? That's suppose to be me, your husband, not some
Mutant who comes in to my home and does that… thing…"
"Don't speak like that! Don't speak like that! Sophie never did anything to you! Why?!?"
"No one is going to miss one less mutant, she's a freak! She can't even do anything without using her mutant powers! If it wasn't for them, she'd be just another star dweb…"
"Just like me?"
"Honey, your pretty and all, but your head is up in the clouds when it needs down here on your husband. And in reality," the rage and anger in his voice was replaced with charm and love, as though trying to woo her in his point of view. Caroline resisted, but even his charm had some effect on the girl, how else had they fallen in love at one point, "Mutants are a threat. All they do is cheat and steal things from people like you and me. Sophie didn't deserve any of it, you did. You were the genius, you should be the one with everything she has."
"She gave it up because of you," Sophia had heard enough, motioning forward some, instantly drawing the attention of Greg within an instant.
"Shut up! This is your fault! I had the perfect wife, except for her mutant friend," by this point, he had thrown his wife to the side, letting go her wrists as she was toss aside like garbage. Despite not having really done anything, she pushed up against the wall, rubbing her wrist as though to get the blood flowing again, but Greg continued, "The world doesn't need you, all you do is cause problems! Your kind is better left gone from this world!"
Sophia walked closer, her hand no longer clasping the crystal ball that had once been in her hand, now it was floating beside her, as though kept in the air all on its own, defying gravity on multiple levels. Despite Sophia walked Greg stood still, Sophia stopping just within a foot or so of him. It was clear she was a bit nervous, but the hatred in her eyes more than enough to stare up at Greg. Even if he had been a member of the football team in college, and even over six feet tall, he didn't care scare Sophia, not now she didn't, "I lost a friend because of you. And now I've lost my own life because of you. And the stupid part is, I was going to give you the money. But you couldn't wait; your own stupid hatred for something that you don't even understand over rode your own sense of greed. Of all the people in this room, I wish you never walked into Caroline's life!"
Greg had enough and grabbed Sophia's shoulder and pushed her down to the ground, and as she fell, her butt landing on the ground, her cries of pain were deafened by sudden shattering of glass in the house. Ever window, ever clock face, the microwave's screen, the table, the vase, even the glasses in the cupboards shattered in to pieces. All of it when Sophia landed on the ground, except for the crystal ball which continued to float in the air.
When Greg looked around, he was in shock, and partial horror, his hatred had blinded him once again. It was obvious he was stupefied by his own actions and the consequences which followed. Sophia looked back up at the aggressor, a look as though she were shocked he did it, but again, a little too confident that this had happened at all. Sophia wanted a reason to not be the aggressor in this, if she had to claim anything, it was self defense, surely her friend would back her up, hopefully. But in any case, Sophia wanted vengeance, she was ready to have it.
"You like to push girls around do you?" the crystal ball launched forward, ramming in to Greg's chest and knocking him back a step. Greg then tried to take a step toward Sophia, using his own chest to push the ball out of his way, but it wouldn't budge, not even move. And as Sophia began to get up, "Let's see how you like to be pushed!"
Once again the crystal ball launched forward, hitting Greg in the chest and knocking him on to his back this time. As he fell to his back, his dress shirt now crisp with dust long the floor, Sophia could hear Caroline crying just a few feet away, but her tears of fear were not necessary right now. Sophia wanted vengeance; she wasn't even sure what form it would take, but new she wanted it more than anything right now. While Sophia had risen to her feet, her glass ball hovering just above Greg, Sophia looked down on to him, wondering what pain or torment she could extract from him to make her feel better. Sophia couldn't think of much, simply holding her hand up by her body and motioning her fingers up and down, the crystal ball following her finger's path as it slammed down on to Greg as far as Sophia could move her fingers. At first, it was just a little motion, but it soon became flicking and even her entire hand got in to it. Each motion was a punch from a prize fighter to Greg, each merciless punch to him landed on his arms, maybe his legs, certain a number of chest shots, but they were fairly tame.
"You know something interesting about glass, its strong, tempered accordingly, you could fire a gun in to glass and it would never break or even consider shattering from a bullet. I had some time to temper this glass in the same way, it won't… at… all!" her voice was harsh but disciplined, her movement were well decided, as though she had thought about it some. But she wasn't sure how it would end at all either. Though she had an idea, "You… you've destroyed me. I worked my ass off to get to this point, to a point where I had a career, where I had stability, and a friend who I cared about. And now I don't have any of it! But I have you…"
As Sophia crafted her words carefully, trying to find the best answer in them to express her hate right now. All the while, the crystal ball that floated just before her was slowly changing in to something else; at first it looked like something out of a movie, a strange ball of water reacting somehow to changing forces, but slowly its shape from a ball devolved and instead took on the form of a triangle. Its masterful appearance then took the shape of a cone, the tip initially just a nub, but becoming a sharp point, until it could have pricked even the hardest of skin with the lightest of breathes. This all took a matter of seconds of course, probably no more than twenty for Sophia, who's masterful abilities included shaping glass and other crystal objects in to things of her choosing. This was an easy task for her to accomplish, one had done hundreds of thousands of times before, but what she was going to do next, it might have been her first time doing it.
"… And you know what... I don't know what do with you. Because you destroyed my life, I think it only fair I get a new one in return, and since you have only to give, I believe I shall take yours…"
"Don't do it Sophia! He's not worth it…"
"That might be true, but he also just might be those red leather shoes in the window… hell with the costs!" and the cone slammed down toward in to Greg!
Greg's breathes were shallow at first, he was having difficulty breathing, some dust littered the air, but only for a moment. Even just the slightest tilt of his head was difficult right now, though as it looked upward, what surprised him was not so much that this cone of sharp glass was in him, but rather that it was not stuck in to him at all. With the exception of his beating heart racing faster than it ever had before, the cone had instead punctured the ground beside him, leaving a rather sizable hole in the ground beside him, but never the less, he was uninjured by the glass. Then Sophia's voice addressed him as she knelt down to him, her hands cupping her hair behind her ears so it didn't hang down to his face. Polite as she was, it wasn't for his benefit, "Get up. I own your life, I get to dictate it now. You're going to get a divorce from Caroline, she's going to get whatever she wants, and you'll be happy with it. Then, you're never going to see each other ever again. Because if I ever learn of any of your games again with her, I will kill you. You think my friend deserves better… you're right… She deserves someone much better than you. Now, get, out."
Despite hearing her words and understanding them, disliking what he heard, and even hating them, he was in position to disobey Sophia's words at all. He rolled to his side, and lifted himself up off the ground, hobbling toward the exit and departing the hours. Thankfully, a set of keys and his wallet were in his pocket and once outside, he disappeared from sight as quick as possible. With that over, Sophia went about fixing the glass in the house, each shard of glass floating off the ground and returning to their original configuration in window settings. Other pieces such as cups, tables, and even the microwave would take a moment to fix, but even that was done in a matter of minutes. But what wasn't easy to fix was Caroline, the friend who Sophia had scared half to death with threats of murder and violence against her husband. When it was said and done, even Sophia wasn't certain she had truthfully done this kind of damage, she was even more shocked that could herself get to this point, a bit scared she could, but a bit more relaxed that it was over.
"Caroline, sweetie," kneeling before her friend with the sweet tones of as though she were talking to a child, it was way of trying to relax her friend, much in which she done to her years before. Sophia may have never been the 'Alpha' friend, but she was the one right now who was taking charge of the situation, "Caroline… I'm going now. I'm going to take the job at Columbia and manager there telescope there. I'm leaving on a plane this afternoon, and I'm going to continue to try to be an astronaut. I'll get stronger, do my exercises, and maybe, you'll see me up there one day. If you need me, I left my number at the bottom of the fishbowl. Take care Caroline…"
True to her words, Sophia etched her new phone number in to the fishbowl in the living room, the only piece of glass in the entire house to now shatter with Sophia's rage. Perhaps Sophia had planned on doing it this way, perhaps she knew that she wouldn't have to hurt anyone and indeed planned everything out. What was for certain was that Sophia picked up her crystal ball and departed from the house as though she were saying she'd see friend the next day. But Sophia had little desire to want to see Caroline anymore. To her, this event meant that being around her wasn't safe, perhaps it wasn't safe for her to be around anyone, for fear that they might get hurt by her being a mutant. Caroline never had any objections to Sophia being a mutant before, but bigots like Greg were another matter, and Sophia didn't want to cause a problem like that ever again for her friend. Even if the departure from the house was physically easy to do, tears formed in the sockets of Sophia's eyes, droplets falling just to her feet as she walked toward her car and headed back to the hotel. She'd leave the west coast, and depart for the east coast, leave the clean up to others and write off the expense with the insurance company. There was very little in Los Angeles now, and she was going to have restart anyways, why not somewhere far away, where no one knew about Sophia Stratford.
