Character Name: Zach Toran Alternate Identities: Laze Player Name: Zach
APPEARANCE
Hair Color:	Black with Red highlights
Eye Color:	Black/Red
Height:	6' 1"
Weight:	183 lbs
Description:
Zach
BACKGROUND
Zach Toran opened his eyes and stared up into the star splattered sky. What had happened? His hand felt the grass under him and when he tried to lift his head someone hit him n the head with a baseball bat. With a groan he lay flat again, the soft dewy grass as comfortable as any mattress. A rhythmic thump thump pop made him look around without lifting his head. A guy dressed in a muscle shirt and cutoff jeans with the sun bleached hair bounced the ball off the slate flagstone. It ricocheted up to the grey stone of the huge building then arced into the sky a good nine feet. A tanned hand shot out and captured it. “So, who brought you in?” the surfer asked without looking back. Zach looked up at the tall kid and realized he must be over seven foot. The kid bounced the tennis ball again and caught it. He looked back at Zach raising an eyebrow. “Hey, honestly, I don’t know. I don’t even know where I am,” Zach said. The taller boy turned to face him, leaning over to get a better look in the limited light of the rising sun. “This is the Lothlorien Academy.” “Oh,” Zach thought this guy was a font of useless information. “Like a school?” “Among other things,” he returned to bouncing the tennis ball against the wall. “We . . . um . . . learn how to use our powers. “Powers? Like super powers? A school for people with super powers,” Zach slowly sat up and looked around. Thirty minutes before, Zach had raced through a bayou in Southern Louisiana, stopping just long enough to turn and fire a beam of laser light into the dawn streaked sky. Each shot had the desired effect, drawing the gigantic robot after him. He had to keep that thing from going back to his home and hurting his family. He dove to one side as a ball of fire burst on the surface of a stagnant pool of water to one side of the path. Zach literally came off the ground a good three meters and wobbled along, actually flying. Under other circumstance this discovery of a new power might have thrilled him but right then, it was just a new way to lead that metal monster deeper into the bayou. Just as he figured out how to gain altitude, a steel mesh closed about him like a seining net around fish and he crashed into the mud. Giant boots landed beside him, the earth trembling with the massive weight. Zach looked up as the thing leaned over to scoop him up like a netted prize. “YEEEEEHAAAAWWWWWW!” A blaze of light sparkled in the monster’s face and it staggered back as though slapped. “Don’t TELL me yur pickin’ on a good ol’ country boy!” A figure ran by Zach and leaped into the air, fist drawn back for a punch. “Time fo’ a ass whoopin’!” The blow struck, further staggering the giant and the marshy ground of the bayou tossed in its two cents when the thing stepped into a bog and sank to the knee. A second figure flew over the bogged down robot, the day’s first rays glittering off the silver of a helmet. Coming to a hover, the flying man aimed a pistol at the machine’s head and loosed a ball of blue white plasma that struck it between the ‘eyes’ and burn through the metal. A cascade of sparks showered the bayou, hissing out of existence as a second ball of blue melted a crater into the chest of the robot. “Nah that’s wat Ah cawl kickin’ ASS!” A man in a costume fronted by a Rebel Battle Flag began to untangle the boy, whistling Dixie the whole time. The flying man dropped to the earth and watched without comment and offering no help. This man was wearing some form of padded tunic with a gold sash and a silver helmet that covered his entire head save for his face from the eyes down. “Are you injured?” the flying man asked. “Sheet, this here’s a good ol’ boy,” the Flag said. “Take more’d sum tin robot tah hurt him!” “Nevertheless,” the flying man said. “Are you injured?” Zack pushed aside the last of the steel netting and looked up at the two. “Who are you guys?” The Flag snorted, “Mebbe you ain’t a Southern boy.” “I am War Eagle and my associate is Rebel Yell.” The flyer told Zach. “What WAS that thing?” he asked them. “Minuteman Mark 8, I believe,” the one called War Eagle told him. “It is a Genocide capture robot sent to capture you and any other mutants that might be in this area. Zach started to protest that he wasn’t a mutant but shut his mouth at the remembered laser beams and flying. The swamp erupted as the remains of the robot exploded sending shrapnel in all directions. A piece the size of a dinner plate hit Zach in the forehead and the world went black. “I’m Nat Ryan, by the way,” the tall surfer said. “What kind of powers do you have?” Zach asked suddenly, climbing to his feet. The other rolled his eyes and said “God . . . same thing every time . . .” “Oh, sorry,” Zach apologized extending his hand. “I am Zach Toran.” Nat looked at the hand “Maybe you might want to think twice about that.” Between thumb and forefinger he popped the tennis ball as if it had been an egg. Zach pulled his hand back quickly and laughed nervously. Nat tossed the halves into a plastic five gallon bucket already half full of similar tennis ball victims. “Sometimes I don’t know my own strength,” Nat grinned. “Sometimes . . . I do.” Zach stepped over and snatched up a couple of the halves. “I control mine pretty well,” so saying, he tossed the halves into the air, burning a hole through all but one. Nat produced another tennis ball from a can and bounced it off the wall. “I am practicing to control mine,” he said. “You might want to do that target practice in the Danger Room, though.” “What do you mean?” Zach asked, puzzled. Nat grinned “Spock doesn’t like us using that kind of power out here.” “Ohhhh . . . okay,” Zach grinned back. “Who’s Spock?” “The computer,” Nat dropped the ball into the can and carefully sealed the plastic top. “He . . . umm . . .like runs the security and stuff.” “Oh,” Zach tried to be nonchalant. “Can you introduce me around to some of the people?” Nat picked up the three unopened tennis ball cans and dropped them in on top of the destroyed balls then picked up the bucket. “If anyone’s around . . . “ Nat started for the white building with dozens of huge windows, Zach had to quickstep to keep up with the taller boy’s long legs. “So, can you fly?” he asked the other. Nat grinned down at him “If Wren makes me.” “Wren?” “Well . . . Wren’s . . . a dancer . . . tall, about 6 feet . . . slim . . . elegant and quiet . . . “ Zach pondered Nat’s description and decided the tall boy had a thing for the girl. “Then there’s Jessy,” Nat’s tone changed, discomfort in his voice. “She’s like 5’ 6”, blonde or black . . . maybe red . . . Dresses in . . . er . . . very little . . . “ “Ahh!” Zach chuckled wondering just how ‘little’. “She’s big on bikes . . . her dad just gave her an OCC Chopper,” Nat continued. “Wow,” Zach was suitably impressed. He’d seen the show a couple of times. “Then there’s Brit,” Nat went on. “Little FAST girl with purple hair.” “Fast?” Zach’s interest perked up, “How fast?” “Blink of the eye fast,” the other told him. “Mach like twenty . . .” “So, are you associated with any of these girls?” Zach already had his suspicions and was curious if Nat would warn him off anyone. “Who are the other guys? Other than you and me?” “Matt . . . he’s a shapeshifter,” Nat said. That had to be a cool power, Zach thought. “Ian,” Nat added. “He’s an animal all the time.” Zach stopped then had to run to catch up. “Why is that?” Nat shrugged. “Just the way he is . . . “ “Can he come to a humanoid form?” Zach asked. “I don’t mean he’s a literal animal . . . that’s Matt,” Nat explained. Oh, okay,” said Zach, “He prefers the animal form?” “Matt usually goes around as a blue koala . . . gets the girls to pick him up and cuddle him.” Zach laughed “Good idea!” “Matt also does monkey a lot,” Nat told him. Zach caught a movement and turned his attention to a girl with honey blonde hair, wearing blue jeans and a tee shirt with a towel draped over one shoulder. Nat was ahead of him and out of the girl’s line of sight. “Who’s the girl,” he asked when he caught up to the other. Nat looked back and said “ That’s Jessy, heading for a swim in the ocean.” Zach lifted both eyebrows. “The one that wears very little?” Nat stopped and eyed the newcomer. “I think I’ll go take a swim,” Zach said. “Think she’d mind company.” He took off, flying just above the ground. Concentrating on the girl, he caught something from Nat about ‘her father’ but ignored him. “Okay, but the water might pull you down,” Jessy warned. Zach was waist deep in the surf having caught up with the girl and invited himself to her morning swim. She hadn’t seemed to mind. Up close she was by far the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen and when she’d peeled off the tight jeans and pulled the OCC tee shirt off, Zach had to step fast into the water where the chill of the ocean managed to cool him nearly as well as a cold shower. Nat had been right, she wore very little. Three tiny triangles of cloth covered the barest essentials leaving an incredible amount of tanned skin bare to view. Zach sank into the next wave on his back and watched Jessy step into the low surf, obviously testing the chill waters. Dropping his feet down to the sandy bottom, Zach drew and arm back and send a cascade of water at Jessy. She turned her back to it instinctually and shouted “HEY!” She gave him an evil eye and reached out with her powers and used the sand to grab him to the waist, pinning him in place. Very calmly she waded toward him, drew back both arms and thoroughly drenched him. Her giggle was like bells. “Gotcha back,” she said as the sand relinquished its hold on him. Zach wiped the salt water from his eyes and laughed. Beside him, Jessy’s slim body sliced into the next wave and disappeared. When he turned to look out into deeper water for her, she rose up behind him and landed with both hands on his shoulders, forcing his head beneath the coming breaker. Before he could recover, she backstroked away laughing. “So I take it you can hold your breath for a while since to can burrow through the earth?” As they’d walked down to the beach they’d exchanged their various powers. “I don’t really know how long I can hold my breath,” she said. He drifted further out and she reminded him “Don’t go out too far, the undertow is strong.” Rolling over he dove to the bottom, turned and using his legs, pushed off, rising out of the water over half his body length. At that point he summoned his new flight powers and lift almost completely out of the water, until only his feet touched the surface. He took off at a full run. “Wow!” Jessy sounded impressed. “You can run on water!” The tone of her voice made him stubble, hit the back of a wave and trip. He rolled three times like a skipping stone before gravity took over and he plunged into the sea. He came up laughing. “Can you surf?” Jessy asked from a few feet away. When he’d hit she’d used the sand to push her over to his side. Seeing he was okay, she started wading out of the water. Zach watched her barely covered ass and groan inwardly. “No,” he said, finding his voice. He followed her out of the water then soared into the air to do small circles around her. “What are you doing?” Jessy asked, watching his antics. “DRYING OFF!” he screamed with a laugh. Lifting a hand Jessy pulled a flat stone from the face of the cliff and dropped it onto the sand. As she leaped atop it, the sand beneath rose like a wave , lifting the stone surfboard and carrying it down the length of the beach. “WHOO HOO!” Jessy yelled as the wave crested and collapsed from under her. The girl and her stone board disappeared under a mountain of sand and Zach almost had a heart attack. He dropped to earth near where she’d vanished and began digging around for her. Not far from him, her head appeared as if from a calm pool of water. She ran her fingers through her long blonde hair and combed out the sand. Zach sat back on his heels and looked at her. “Your power is neat,” he said, admiringly. “Can you just command sand?” “Nope I can do earth too,” she said. “but my folks gets upset if I mess up the lawn.” Zach realized her previously soft golden skin was now the color of the sand making her look as if she were a sand sculpture. “Cool!” He couldn’t take his eyes off of her and as she rose from the beach her skin once again returned to normal. “That’s neat!” Her towel seemed to crawl across the beach to her and he snatched it up before she could. “Need help drying off?” he asked hopefully. She took the towel and tied it around her waist hiding half of her fantastic body from him. He sighed aloud and she gave him an odd look. “So, you coming on the camp out?” she asked. “Matt will like the company and he’s really sweet” “Yeah, I’d like to go,” Zach said thinking about seeing more of Jessy then of a sweet shapeshifter. “Then you better pack,” she said. He walked beside her as she strode back up the beach to her clothes. “Hang on,” she said, scooping up the jeans and tee shirt. A bubble of sand formed, one so thin as to be nearly transparent. Then an opening appeared, she stepped inside and let the towel fall. Zach closed his eyes and prayed for strength then opened them to watch her step into the jeans and pull them up over her hips. She wiggled slightly to get them up the last couple of inches and Zach thought he was going to faint. The tiny triangles covering her breasts did some very interesting jiggling but where soon covered by the OCC logo. As she stepped out, the sand tent seemed to lose all support and drop back into the beach leaving no trace. “You want to meet my mom,” Jessy asked. She will be looking for me by now.” The sun broke over the top of the Valley’s far Eastern rim and Jessy looked up. She pointed to a pair hovering in the sky. “There they are,” she announced. “Oh, mom and dad always fly up to meet the day.” Zach turned his back to the girl and hunched over. “Here, hop on and we can go meet ‘em” Jessy’s arms encircled his neck and with a little hop she mounted him piggyback. His hands caught her behind the knees and she wrapped her legs around his waist. With a bit more trouble than he expected he rose to the hovering couple and stopped a few feet away. The man was tall and ruggedly handsome, dressed in denim and leather with shaggy black hair and jade green eyes. Held against his side was a tiny woman of maybe five feet. At first Zach thought she was naked under all that black hair but when she moved he caught a glimpse of a costume nearly as tiny as the one Jessy’d been almost wearing. She smiled at him and he nearly had to revise his list of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen but with Jessy clinging to his back, her body pressed against his, he could only compare3 the mother to the daughter rather than the other way around. “Hi, daddy,” Jessy chirped. “Hi, mom!” “Hello,’ Zach said with a shyness he’d never felt before. “I’m Zach.” On his back Jessy pointed to his head. “New kid.” Raven jerked her head slightly, her mass of hair flipping back out of her eyes. She gave the boy a long look that was appraising while the man almost seemed to be glaring. “Can he come on the field trip with us?” Jessy begged in the way all daughters do knowing the answer before hand. “If he packs quickly,” the tiny woman said, her voice unbelievably musical and with a very strange accent. “Have Spock see to his needs.” At that point she seemed to disappear into the embrace of the man, her attention going back to the rising sun. Jessy squealed with delight and pointed to the distant manor house. “There!” she commanded. Zach sat on the edge of the bed in Nat’s room mulling over the events of the past few weeks. Nat was stuffing his few clothes into a gym bag, obviously still fuming. In the upstairs part of the school, the girl’s wing, Wren must be doing the same thing. “Where you gonna go?” Zach asked his huge friend. “I still own my mom’s place in San Diego,” Nat said. “I thought it was wrecked,” Zach reminded him. “Got someone to fix it up,” Nat slung the gym bag over one shoulder and tucked his board under an arm. “You know where we are, Zach. You are always welcome.” Zach came to his feet and followed the surfer up the stairs to the common room. Wren was waiting with a surprisingly small collection of luggage. Nat went to her and though he did not touch her, his mere closeness implied far more than a caress could have. Zach jumped when the man dressed in a business suit appeared before the two. “Shall we be going,” the new arrive said with a slight British accent. Nat looked over at Zach. “Party every night,” he said. “Bring something, a six pack of Coke.” Zach nodded and without warning the three were gone. Jessy had disappeared. Her parents were off looking for her. The courts had tried to shut the school down. It might be time to take a little trip south. Hefting his backpack, Zach spoke into the air “Spock, can you send me to San Diego?” “Quite easily,” the computer said and Zach felt the familiar feeling of having his molecules disassembled the transmitted across God knew how many miles. When he was solid once again, he looked at the small cottage with the sandy concrete walk to the door. “I guess the computer knew where I was going,” he muttered to himself. At that moment the door swung open and Wren stepped out, the door pushed open by Nat from inside the cottage. “Hello, Zach,” she said with a frown. Her hair had lightened in the sun and her skin was a deep bronze. She wore a black bikini that while far more material than Jessy’d ever worn, gave her an alluring quality that made Zach swallow hard. Nat stepped out from behind Wren as if to place himself between the girl and his friend. It was a very protective gesture that was not lost on Zach. “What’s wrong,” Nat said trepidation and concern both in his voice. “It was time for me to more on,” Zach said and instantly both relaxed. The reaction actually scared Zach. Anything that might make Nat wary had to be major league serious. Nat’s big hand came down on Zach’s shoulder, the touch very gentle. “You’re just in time for the party.” Zach held up a six pack of cold Coke. “I remembered the Coke!” Zach had stopped his pacing at Christiana’s pronouncement and watched Nat. The big man seemed to relax into thought and the rest of the team began to jabber about Dracula and movies. Stepping up beside Christiana, Zach put an arm around her shoulder and she sagged into him. “You know you have us all,” he whispered.
POWERS/TACTICS
PERSONALITY/MOTIVATION

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