Diya Behari
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Get that camera out of my face | |
| Diya Behari | |
| Player: @A-Muses | |
| Origin: | Mutation |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Threat Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Diya Behari |
| Known Aliases: | N/A |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 17 |
| Height: | 5' 0" |
| Weight: | 100 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Brown |
| Hair Color: | Dark brown |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Indian-American |
| Occupation: | Runaway Detective |
| Place of Birth: | Cherry Hill, NJ |
| Base of Operations: | Port Oakes |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Marie Behari (mother), Jack Behari (father) |
| Known Powers | |
| Muscle memory | |
| Known Abilities | |
| various martial arts skills, Olympic-level gymnast | |
| Equipment | |
| ' | |
| ' | |
Disgraced athlete. Runaway teen. Entrepreneurial detective.
Contents |
Discovery
Diya strode into the official's office, head held high - or as high as a 14 year old gymnast can hold her head. Everyone else in the room towered over her, literally and figuratively. But Diya didn't care. She knew what the results of this test would read, and she'd go back to the dorm, laugh it off with a few of her friends, then go show those jealous bitches what was what when she won the gold medal in the competition.
Again.
"Diya. Thank you for coming," the head official said, sitting behind his large mahogany desk. Clearly compensating for something. "As you know, you've been selected for genetic screening per very serious allegations that you have metahuman abilities that make you ineligible for competition in International Federation of Gymnastics events. You deny these allegations. Today we have the results of your test."
The air was thick with tension. Even Diya was beginning to feel it. Her coach stood at her side, as her parents were half a world away, back home in New Jersey, barely aware of the allegations their daughter was facing on her own in a foreign country. Other coaches were there too, for other US gymnasts and foreign competitors alike. Everyone wanted to know the outcome of this case.
"It is my duty to inform you, Diya, that your test results have come back positive. You are, in fact, in possession of metahuman abilities, though this test was too rudimentary to discern what exactly your mutation entails. A copy of these results will be provided to you, your coach and USA Gymnastics. Further decisions regarding your medals are pending. Thank you."
And that was that.
It was over.
A lifetime of preparation...and all her dreams were gone.
Biography
Early Years
Diya Behari was born on September 15, 1994 to newly-naturalized citizens Jack and Marie Behari. Their only child, the Beharis were doting parents, convinced like many that their child was going to be a genius. But they actually had evidence to back up their dreams, as Diya hit every physical development milestone several months early. By her first birthday, the proud parents were already saving for her Harvard tuition.
At age 3, Diya was first enrolled in gymnastics classes, as a way to channel the young child's boundless energy into something productive. Diya was a quick study in gymnastics, and by 5 was put into classes dedicated to training potential Olympic athletes. Lacking genius-levels of academic skills, her parents raided the Harvard fund to pay for the best private lessons for Diya.
When school began, Diya had trouble focusing in the classroom. Teachers complained of her constant fidgeting and drifting attention span. She was tested for ADD, but ultimately it was concluded that Diya was simply an exuberant child. By fourth grade she was dangerously close to falling behind, due to her vigorous practice and competition schedule making completing homework difficult, especially for someone whose attention tended to wander. By the end of the school year, Diya's parents pulled her out of school, leaving her to be taught by a succession of private tutors for the next several years.
Competitive History
At age 11, Diya won her first gold medal on an international platform at the Junior Olympics. From then on, Diya was often a fixture for Team USA's many travels. Those in the know had their eye on her for the 2012 Olympics, the first year of the Games she would be old enough to be eligible. Diya was especially promising for Team USA due to her high scores on the uneven bars, traditionally the US' weakest event, though she was also a strong all around competitor.
Mutation
The next day, grainy cell phone footage showed up on Youtube of Diya's dancing prowess. In video format, Diya's skilled moves stood in stark contrast to the other gymnasts, who were certainly graceful and powerful dancers, but lacked the technical skills specific to salsa dancing. The footage was used as the basis for the allegation that Diya was, in fact, some kind of mutant. An emergency genetic test was ordered, and before the competition started, Diya's status as a metahuman was confirmed. She was immediately barred from competition, and a series of court cases ensued where various gymnastics organizations sued for the relinquishment of her medals, on the grounds they were won under false pretenses.
Diya spent the next 10 months in virtual seclusion with her parents, as her mother used her pharmaceutical research connections to submit Diya to test after test in a search for a cure to her mutation.
Paragon City
After multiple attempts at a cure failed, Diya's parents enrolled her in a boarding school in Paragon City. While Diya felt this was her parents abandoning her, her father in particular insisted that they hoped she would find happiness in learning how to use her abilities and being around other children who may or may not have struggled like she had. She had been utterly miserable being under her mother's care constantly, but initially resisted the move to Paragon.
While Diya never became popular during her time in Paragon City, she did fall in with a tight-knit group of friends, led by Roach Copeland, who dubbed themselves "Villains" to denote their outsider status in contrast to their straitlaced peers. Diya also attained some local fame for several well-played football games for her new school, in which she played the role of kicker.
After nine months in Paragon City, Diya found herself on the move again - this time as a fugitive from the law after assisting in Roach's escape from Paragon Police Department custody.
Etoile
Diya has settled in the Port Oakes neighborhood of the Etoile Islands, along with friends Roach Copeland and Cassandra Finch. The trio kept mostly to themselves at first, as the two girls learned the ways of the Isles from the native Roach. This was also to avoid attracting the attention of anyone that wanted to "rescue" the girls from their "kidnapper," as a campaign by the girls' parents back in the United States is claiming. A generous reward is currently being offered by Jack and Marie Behari for the safe return of their daughter.
After scrimping and saving for months, the trio has recently opened the Mind's Eye Detective Agency. Diya is known as "the Muscle"
Powers
Muscle memory - any physical action Diya witnesses she can replicate with technical precision. She struggles with mimicking fine motor skills, such as folding origami, but it is unknown whether this is due to a limit in her mutation, or merely in her inability to pay attention to minute detail. She also rapidly loses the ability to mimick a movement after approximately 24 hours, and must practice in order to retain proficiency.
Psionic bond - Diya and Roach have developed a mild psionic bond. The pair often wordlessly share thoughts and feelings, and have been known to speak in tandem with a frequency that goes well beyond coincidence. This bond often annoys Diya, but it has saved her butt more than once.
Appearance
Despite not training competitively for two years, Diya still looks very much like a gymnast, if just slightly softer around the edges. She's 5' 0" and packed with muscle - something she's occasionally self-conscious about, especially her thighs. Diya had long hair all of her life, starting to dye it purple as an act of rebellion after she was kicked out of gymnastics. Once she moved to Etoile and no longer had spare cash for hair dye, Diya's hair soon reverted to it's natural brown. Recently in a fit of jealous, drunken rage after watching the US women's gymnastics team win gold in London, Diya has chopped her hair into a short pixie cut.
Diya's fashion choices tend towards the utilitarian, favoring jeans and T-shirts. Even in summer she often wears an old, faded leather jacket, and she is never seen without a pair of gloves - usually fingerless athletic-style gloves that cover her wrists.
Personality
Diya has a major chip on her shoulder. She is often blunt, bordering on rude. She's always had a healthy appreciation of alcohol, having grown up with parents that believed allowing her a glass of wine with dinner was healthy and responsible. Since moving to the Isles, Roach and Cass keep threatening to stage an intervention to get her to stop drinking.
After being hounded by paparazzi for awhile after the discovery of her mutation, Diya has an almost pathological aversion to cameras. She will grudgingly pose for pictures with her friends, but otherwise tries to avoid being caught on film.
