Grace of Spades
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Grace of Spades | |
| Player: @Spade0014 | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Grace F. Michaels |
| Known Aliases: | Spade Retenra |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 23 |
| Height: | 5'10" |
| Weight: | 192 |
| Eye Color: | Green |
| Hair Color: | Auburn |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Manager of The Fringe |
| Place of Birth: | Fairbanks, Alaska |
| Base of Operations: | Talos Island, Paragon City |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Known Relatives: | Heather Michaels(Mother), Justin Michaels(Father), Russel Michaels(Brother) |
| Known Powers | |
| Regeneration | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Vast knowledge of various martial art styles; Spade-fu | |
| Equipment | |
| Miscellaneous gadgetry | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
From Spade Retenra to Grace of Spades
Out With the Old, in With the New
Grace of Spades was formerly known as Spade Retenra. She has since filed for and completed "name-of-record alteration" paperwork. When asked directly, reasons cited for the change of name revolve around the desire to put the past completely behind her and make a serious attempt to start anew. Grace has maintained her security level with the city, as well as her clearance levels with all current hero organizations.
A new look
Grace has also decided to change her typical costumage, which traditionally included multiple cumbersome layers of padding and deep red tones, to a more lightweight and sleek material based on metal/polymer fabrics similar to the material her husband the Magnetic Guardsman uses, although she must use a less-concentrated metal weave. Her personal color palette has changed to a darker silver/black scheme as well.
Past & Current Affiliations
Past
The Reciprocators - Grace of Spades began her formal heroing career with them as Spade Retenra, and quickly rose through the ranks from the position of Defiant Fist to one of the trusted senior officers second only to the top co-leaders of the hero group. After it became clear that her personality and outlook no longer fit in with the changing face of The Reciprocators, the heroine ended her association with many of the fellow heroes she had called friend and family for so long.
The Shield of Paragon - As a member of The Reciprocators, she was also a part of the encompassing coalition known as The Shield of Paragon.
Portal Corp - For roughly six months, ending in October of 2007, Grace of Spades, still known as Spade Retenra at the time, was under contract with Portal Corp as a test subject for various technologies and tools brought from other worlds and dimensions. The goal of the project she worked with was to provide Paragon's heroes with better, safer technology to augment or create powers. When given the option to renew her contract, Grace declined.
Current
The Heroic Fringe - A group of misfit and misunderstood heroes that frequent a bar and strip club known as The Fringe. The club is co-owned and operated by Grace of Spades and The Magnetic Guardsman. The basement of the club has been converted into a base of operations for the group.
Personality
Grace is remarkably easy going, and yet nearly always speaks her mind even if it goes against common thought. This combination has gotten her into quite a bit of hot water in the past, but whatever guff she gets for it is taken on the chin with a smirk. She is generally good humored, with a fairly dry wit and an appreciation for most forms of "funny", but is completely capable of becoming a force to be reckoned with if she or those she cares for are harmed. Despite attaining the honorific of Hero of the City, Grace is actually a bit shy when the cameras and reporters start to appear, instead choosing to let others soak up the attention that often comes with being a hero.
Abilities and Powers
Spade-Fu
Grace practices no particular type of martial arts, and instead jokingly calls her unique eclectic style "Spade-fu". Grace is largely self-taught from various kung-fu movies, both old and new. Because she has no natural inclination to super-strength or similar, she relies on frequent patrols to keep herself in a workable fighting form.
Other Abilities
Regeneration
Grace of Spade's regeneration is based on oxygen intake and the oxygen content of her blood. Her body uses the "extra" oxygen she is naturally able to take in to fuel a hyper-intensive healing factor. This ability was inadvertently augmented to levels usually attributed to mutant-regenerators after a large explosion that involved highly concentrated Superadine during the early parts of her career as a hero under her original hero moniker. She has remained classified as "natural" in the Hero Registrar to maintain her security level and other clearances.
Caveats of Grace's regeneration:
Spade cannot regenerate limbs, removed organs, or very badly damaged areas when there is nothing to repair. For example, if she were to lose a finger, she cannot regenerate a new finger from nothing. If the finger is recovered and reattached with even simple stitches or bandaging, however, she can regenerate the appropriate muscle, bone, nerves, and so on to regain full and normal motor control and sensation.
Empathy
Grace of Spades is also a low-level empath, with the ability to pick up on the emotions of others around her if they are strong enough. However, she is mostly a Broadcast Empath, meaning that if she experiences sudden severe shock or trauma her emotions can actually be felt by those in the area, either as an ambient "impression" of the emotion, or something more akin to a shockwave or direct blast depending on circumstances. These ocassions of empathic outburst are very rare.
Further Information on this type of Empathy:
Further information on Broadcast Empathy is available in an article by a scientist of TERA - the Telepathic and Empathic Review Agency. The article is the only one of it's type available for public consumption at this time.
Weaknesses, Limitations, and Character Notes
- Grace originally lost her right arm and both of her eyes through rather brutal circumstances involving the Council and a splinter cell of the Lost. For months after being recovered by friends, her vision was limited to 16-bit color implants with a lifelike facade over the internal cybernetics. Similarly, her arm was a metal frame with a "glove" of lab-grown skin overtop to allow he some sense of normalcy. Due to magical interference, this is no longer the case and her arm has been restored, although she still experiences "phantom limb" phenomena from time to time despite this, which evidences itself through generally brief flashes of intense pain or stiffness.
- As mentioned previously, Spade's regeneration is based heavily on oxygen intake. Where there is less oxygen, she is less able to properly regenerate during combat situations. As such, she has a fear of drowning, intense fear of enclosed spaces, and mild fear of fire.
- Spade must work to keep in top fighting form. She needs to remain active and in shape, so long periods of bedrest, confinement, etc bother her quite a bit.
Dabbling in the Occult
Tired of putting up with pounds of whirring metal in her body, Grace turned to magic in an effort to regain what she had lost. She was able to enlist the help of a magic practitioner, and succeeded in replacing her metal arm and false eyes with real flesh and blood once again. There was a slight unexpected side effect in the form of a small collection of new, weak powers of questionable origin. It is speculated that Ophelia, the woman who helped Spade regain her lost flesh, used an inexperienced, "young" demon or spirit as a focal point during rituals. The new powers were likely a side-effect of an incantation or point of ritual that was misinterpreted between Ophelia and whatever otherworldly being was involved.
