Path Crosser

Photomanipulation of actress Rosario Dawson, an approximation of the Path Crosser's actual appearance.
The Path Crosser
Player: @PathCrosser
Origin:	Science
Archetype:	Brute
Security Level:	32
Personal Data
Real Name:	Ashanti Destinee Jones
Known Aliases:	The Path Crosser, Path, PC, Shanté
Species:	Mutant Feline/Human Genetic Splice
Age:	20
Height:	Confidential
Weight:	Confidential
Eye Color:	Green
Hair Color:	Black
Biographical Data
Nationality:	African-American
Occupation:	Former Aeon Labs assistant, now an "independent contractor"
Place of Birth:	Port Oakes Medical Center
Base of Operations:	Marconeville, Port Oakes
Marital Status:	Single
Known Relatives:	Taina Hartford-Jones (mother), Chris Hartford (stepfather), Devonte Jones (younger brother)
Known Powers
Superb reflexes, impressive balance and coordination, a high jumping height, and particularly deadly retractable claws.
Known Abilities
She can fall from great heights and land on her feet without injury. She can also take a lot of pain.
Equipment
She has a scanty "suit" of "armor" made from red coral that enhances her powers, but leaves her a little... extra unhinged. (Her claws are a part of her body, and do not count as equipment.)
Footnotes
No additional information available. The Path Crosser in winter gear.

Ashanti (Shanté to her family) was born in 1990 to a single mother, Taina Jones, living in a small apartment in Marconeville. When she was six, she gained a younger brother Devonte, of whom she became very protective, and who was fathered by her mother's boyfriend Chris Hartford, who would eventually become Ashanti's stepfather. Though they were a reasonably happy family, Ashanti could not stand their neighborhood and living conditions. She strove to do as well as possible in school and "get the hell out of Dodge," so to speak. She got her wish in her senior year of high school, receiving a full scholarship to the University at Cap Au Diable.

After moving into her dorm, Ashanti began to lose contact with her family as she started to focus on her studies in full force, aiming for a degree in the field of science. She made no friends of note, only occasional study partners, and certainly didn't do any partying. After a couple of years, she was offered an internship at Aeon Labs, and eagerly accepted... but things didn't still didn't change. She remained driven by the prospect of advancement and success, to the point where nothing else mattered. It had become an obsession.

Her attitude put her coworkers off. They considered her stuck up to her peers and a brown-noser to superiors. They weren't entirely wrong, but Ashanti didn't mean anything by it. She was simply determined — so determined, that she often stayed after hours doing odd jobs for her employer, for very little extra benefit other than to be held in higher standing.

One of these odd jobs would change her life forever.

Dr. Stein had been working on a gene-splicing serum; in other words, an injection that would mutate and combine the subject's genes with those of another organism. (Ashanti thought the science behind it was rather shakey, but then, she found many experiments at Aeon Labs often contradicted her studies.) She had offered to assist him in his lab, and he accepted. While working, she had dropped a container of needles full of the latest batch of serum, which was imbued with the genes of a black cat. In her haste to clean up the mess, she was inadvertendly injected.

Over a period of two days, Ashanti underwent an excruciatingly painful transformation into a strange felid beast. Even the coworkers who had disliked her before were sympathetc now, and they and Dr. Stein worked quickly to devise a reversal serum. But at this point, a new complication had arisen: it turned out that the cat from which the serum was derived had been a mutant. Ashanti received incredible reflexes and deadly retractable claws, but also a sudden surge in aggression and bloodlust. Unable to see that her fellow scientists were trying to help her, she flew into a blind rage and slaughtered them all.

After about a year roaming the streets, she had learned to control her urges somewhat but refused to atone for prior actions. In fact, she embarked on a crime spree, still obsessed with the idea of success — whatever that meant to her at this point. In her rather unstable mind, she decided that since she had become a horrific beast, villainy was her only option. The name Ashanti Jones no longer fit, especially since her family was searching for her, and she didn't want them to know what she had become. Adopting instead the moniker of Path Crosser, in reference to the superstition around black cats, she began to earn quite a reputation as a violent and cunning criminal.

Ashanti is driven by a lust for fame and fortune — and blood. She considers herself an "independent contractor," and always refers to her work with appropriate business terms. Despite this formal tone, her attitude is usually fairly aloof, or at least appears to be; Her apathy is more a strategy she has developed to avoid feeling guilt for her actions. When she smiles, though she does so often, it's almost never a genuine one: it's either a smirk, or the expression doesn't reach her eyes. The only time one sees a real grin on her face is when something makes her laugh (and not in the maniacal way).

She has two particular sore spots, the first being the subject of family. Bringing this topic up in conversation, in reference to her or not, will depress her. It's not a dangerous mood, but she will become increasingly unresponsive and probably leave the room. In contrast, her other trigger — cat jokes — is one that most should not press... unless the joker wants to wake up in the hospital.

The feline woman is often self-conscious about her appearance, and doesn't consider her self attractive in any sense. If it ever seems like she is trying to be seductive, it's probably her idea of a joke. She doesn't actually expect anyone to be interested in someone that looks... well, like her. (Although she has been surprised in the past.) Despite this, she is quick to recognize the beauty of others, and has been guilty of (... wait for it...) "cat-calling" at either gender.

Claws

Fingernails

These have become thick and pointed in her transformation, and can cause quite a bit of damage, though they are slightly fragile.

Retractable Claws

These are the ones that get the job done. Each one almost a foot long at full extension, they are virtually impossible to break and incredibly sharp. She has three on each hand, rather than five as is the case with her fingernails.

Super Reflexes

Focus

In battle, she doesn't often let her attention wander.

Agility

She can dodge, sidestep, pivot, jump, flip, and tuck and roll like it's nobody's business. It's hard to land a hit on this swift cat.

Inherent Feline Traits

Balance

She could probably walk a tightrope without much difficulty. She can get knocked down when she's distracted — which, as previously mentioned, is rare — but she'll be back on her feet pretty quickly.

Speed

She is a fast one. Not as fast as the speedster heroes and villains you might see zooming around, but quick enough on her feet to outrun most enemies should the going get tough.

Leaping

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! ... Well, able to leap medium-sized buildings in a single bound. Tall ones take a bit of maneuvering.

Falling

Graceful, of course. She always lands on her feet.