Svolta Sinistra
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Svolta Sinistra | |
| Player: @Svolta Sinistra | |
| Origin: | Mutant |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Stalker |
| Threat Level: | 11 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Sylvia Santora |
| Known Aliases: | Svolta Sinistra |
| Species: | Mutant Human |
| Age: | 18 |
| Height: | 5' |
| Weight: | 94lbs |
| Eye Color: | White |
| Hair Color: | Blonde |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Confidential |
| Occupation: | Hired Mercenary/Assassin |
| Place of Birth: | Confidential |
| Base of Operations: | Confidential |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Andrea [Mother] Eric [Father] Deliah [Younger Sister] |
| Known Powers | |
| Confidential | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Martial Arts, Agility, Acute senses | |
| Equipment | |
| Her fists and feet | |
| Mature Language Ahead | |
Contents |
Character History
Adolescence
My childhood? Svolta's mouth shifts into a tight thin line. Well.. It was normal, I guess. I had the average experience of any middle-class kid growing up. I went to school, learned, came home, did my homework, rinse wash and repeat. Nothing ever really changed for me. Nothing was really abnormal either. My parents were okay. Normal, I guess. They didn't let me eat sweets before dinner, didn't let me watch the telly. I had no real complaints. Mum was probably the worst, because we spent so much time together. She drove me to school, picked me up from school, drove me to all my after school programs.. Football, ballet, singing, that kind of thing. I didn't really mind, but we would have these crazy arguments. You know the kind. Things got worse when I was 6 years old. My parents had a kid. Yeah, I know, what the hell are they doing at their age. She leans back in her chair, arms folded across her chest and her legs crossed one over the other. I was pissed at first, but once the bugger popped out things changed. I looked after her a lot, babysitting for petty cash, teaching her words and all that. Deliah was cute as a button.. big blue eyes, long blonde hair. A younger me, if you will. I didn't care if she was their favourite, I could tell that she was. I was always a problem-child when I was a baby. My terrible twos lasted for five years, according to them. Svolta forces a smile, maintaining an even lilt to her speech. By the time things began settling down with Deliah, A corner of her mouth twitches at the mention of her sister's name, I was busy with school again. Loved PE. I was probably the only girl that did, she laughs as she speaks, all of my friends complained whenever we had to run the mile or do push ups. The guys and I were the only ones who didn't make a fuss. The gang and I would always end up going over to Shawn's place. His parents were real nice. Practically upper-class. I guess you could say I kind of had a thing for him, but the feeling was mutual. We were just kids, but we had fun. He'd get me ice cream or some cheapo bracelet bought off the street corner. Nothing official you understand, we weren't allowed to date at that age. Didn't even kiss. She sighs a little before shaking her head and mumbling, I wonder if Del has had a play-boyfriend yet.. She pauses for a moment before clearing her throat and resuming her previous volume.
Early Teens
Shawn and I were inseparable, and we were a devilish pair at that. We didn't do anything awful by any standard of the term.. We TP'd the house of a teacher or two, but that was it. When he hit 13 his hormones went off the charts. Seemed like every other day he was trying to make a play at something. A few times he and Mary snuck off together to 'play house' but I didn't care. He and I weren't officially dating see, we still weren't allowed to. My parents freaked out a bit when I got sent to the principal's office the first time for disorderly conduct. Shawn had set off a stink bomb in the auditorium during some Cape's speech on fire safety. She grins a little at the memory, wrinkling her nose. God it was foul. My parents said I wasn't allowed to date 'til I turned 15. I didn't care. What would I do with a real boyfriend anyway? I just wanted friends. Anyway, our stink bomb stunt got us detention for a month, but it also put us on the radar of the more popular kids in school. I guess they started to look up to us, you know? We all kinda started taking it a bit serious. The gang and I became our own little Super Group, but without the super part. Svolta chuckles a little. We were a bunch of vigilante 'normals'. Adults didn't take us seriously but the kids sure did. If someone stole lunch money, we were there to steal it right back. If a teacher held a pop quiz, we unleashed our own version of justice. We were the heroes of our year. The younger kids especially began to emulate us. Was fun, while it lasted. Not that it lasted long.
The Mutation
I was a late bloomer, I guess. Svolta's voice becomes softer as she continues. Was always short for my age. The kids all called me an imp, but I didn't care. Small things are cute, right? She laughs sadly. Right. Well when I hit 14, things started to change. I was in 8th grade, I guess. I should have been on top of the world. One more year, and I'd be in grade 9. One more year and I'd be allowed a boyfriend. One more year... Svolta's hand absentmindedly tugs on her thick blindfold. Normal is a funny word. I always assumed I was one. I was a little eccentric, but nothing.. unusual. People looked up to me, Del especially. She.. Svolta's voice catches in her throat for a moment before she changes the subject. Well what I mean to say is, normals are great. As long as you're one of them. I didn't stay one of them for much longer. I was sitting in English while the teacher wrote up some grammar structures on the board. My eyes had been itching all day.. Dry and watery at the same time. Everything was a bit light and fuzzy that day, like I had something stuck in my eyes... Or like I was looking at everyone through a smudged window. The teacher called my name to read the sentence. I couldn't read a word of it. She laughs, not a single damned word. She thought I was faking until she made me come up to the front of the classroom. She held out the chalk, yelling at me for delinquency and saying if I didn't fill in the correct punctuations I'd get detention. I couldn't even get to the front of the classroom. My foot caught a leg of a desk, sending me flying forward. I couldn't even save face in front of everyone. I was scared. I began crying, and I guess the teacher realized I wasn't faking. Svolta's jaw clenches and she mutters, stupid cow..
It wasn't long before I was almost 100% blind. A month, maybe. A lot of hospital visits told me that I inherited a whole handful of damaged and frayed DNA strands from my Mum. There are all of those doctors who publish ridiculous books to aid kids in their journey through puberty.. Her voice booms in a sarcastic tone, 'My Body is Changing and So Am I,' She laughs. Sure, my body changed. In all the normal ways too. My legs became slender, I stopped being a shapeless blob.. Hips and a waist appeared where previously I was about as interesting as a plank of wood, and I can't forget the tits. She looks down at her chest with an amused expression. These knockers got me into more trouble than they were worth, especially as the freak blind girl. It's disgusting how many of the normals will try to take advantage of a girl who can't even bloody see. I managed, though. I got one of those stupid canes and kept trying to go to school. Being blind sort of made me the outcast... Shawn was the only one who could give me the time of day, and it was lucky too. All those bullies I had subdued when I could see came back with a vengeance. Soon I couldn't go anywhere on the schoolyard alone. Teachers didn't care. I guess I threw one too many eggs at their fancy cars. Svolta bristles as she speaks, clenching her gloved fists with her arms still folded across her chest. But things kept changing.
The summer I turned 15, my life took a brighter turn. I hated being the handicap of the family. Mum loved it - she could park wherever she wanted to, but I was trapped.. Really trapped. My other senses were my only saving grace. They immediately began to compensate for my ruddy eyesight. I was almost 100% blind. Everything was gray and black, except for small pinpricks of fuzzy light... Hardly worth it. The light stung anyway so I took to wearing sunglasses everywhere. She sighs a little. Anyway, my other senses made life a little bit easier. I had always heard that overcompensation was normal when you lose one sense. The others fill in the blank... But my hearing.. It was good. Too good. I could hear Mum down the hallway, folding the laundry. I could hear Deliah in the playroom, the plastic of her toys hitting the carpet. Within weeks I could hear the flies buzzing. Loud noises weren't unbearable, but I became more attuned to the smaller ones. I could pick out a voice in a crowd, a pin dropping during a concert. It was unnatural. Not 'normal.' She sneers a little as she speaks. I could feel my ears changing. Growing pains like no other. They shifted and grew, and the larger they became the more I could hear. I could hear my mom across the street in the neighbor's house. I could recognize the sound of my dad coming home when he was still a block and a half away. First I tried to hide my ears from my parents... but that became impossible. They were large, and catlike.. and I hated the way they felt on my head.. but I could hear. My hearing made up for my lack of sight in ways I could have never dreamed... so I was thankful for them.
Running Away
Svolta shifts her weight in her chair, cracking her knuckles. My parents were less then encouraging. They could deal with my blindness. That was a 'normal' disability. My ears? That was mutant. My dear Mum, the one responsible for my mutant DNA treated me like a stranger. Like a freak. She took me to endless plastic surgeons, trying to convince me to cut them down so that I could look normal again... She hated me now. she hated the way I looked... she hated the blemish I became on her perfect family. But how could I give up that hearing? The one thing that made me better than the normals? Without eyes and without ears, I was at their mercy. And I was quick to learn that normals are never merciful. School started again, and I was all anyone talked about, without actually talking about me. They were too scared of the freak. Even Shawn kept his distance from me. The teachers ignored me. I didn't exist. That was almost worse than the students. The students were scared of me, and when normals get scared, they get violent. The beatings I took in those short months were worse than they had ever been when I was first blind... but adapting didn't take long. I could hear them coming. I could hear them plotting... Within a few weeks, I was avoiding all sorts of attacks. Right hooks, kicks, tackles.. even tacks on my chair. The teachers still didn't care. It wasn't until I started fighting back that people took notice. See, my new, mutant body was far more agile than my normal one. I could duck, weave, sprint.. and soon I could melt away into the shadows like I didn't exist at all.
Svolta's expression darkens slightly. But fighting back only makes the normals angrier. I was disabled and a freak. I wasn't supposed to have any fight left in me. Soon I had whole mobs against me. Even with everything I could do, I couldn't fend off them all. One kid.. Johnny Salinski. He led the last riot against me. It was lunch. Normally I hid in the girl's bathroom alone. I had to change bathrooms on a sporadic basis so they couldn't find me.. But he found me. I heard him coming. I heard them all coming. I slipped into the handicapped stall. Johnny found me in there. Things went sour. I locked the door behind him, trapping him there with me while other kids tried to climb under or over the walls. Some tried to break down the door, but the latch was strong. It was just me and him, and the occasional minion that managed to half-make their way into our arena, but the bottle-effect stopped most of them.. She leans forward, resting her elbows on her knees and holding her hands together. I beat the shit out of him. Him and everyone else who tried to come at me. Nearly beat him half to death... Heard his brain didn't work properly after that. Mentally handicapped now. I had to run away that day. Ditched the rest of school and ran home to get a set of clothes other than my school uniform. Mum was at home when I got there. The school had already got there.. She tried to keep me there, saying I had done wrong and needed to 'pay for my sins.' She was going to turn me in. The cops were after me to arrest me... I knew they'd put me on trial, and I'd fry. It didn't matter that I was just 15. I was a mutant. A freak. Freaks never do well in the courts of normals. My family wanted to turn me in, and my so-called friends had wanted nothing to do with me for a long time... So I did the only thing I could think of. I ran.
The Aftermath
Living on Mercy Island was a bitch, Svolta remarks with a laugh, but I knew no one would find me there. I disappeared. Gave up my name and faded away.. I learned how to live. Learned how to pick pockets, how to throw a man three times my size. Word of mouth traveled and eventually I started getting jobs. I lived in a shit flat high above the city, but the people that knew me knew how to find me. First I just robbed a few banks, killed a few of those despicable snakes.. She shivers. Vermin.. My first assassination job was a Joe Nobody. The average crooked businessman. I didn't know anything about him, I didn't care. I didn't care if he had a wife and family, I didn't care if he made the big bucks, I don't even care about why I was hired. He was just another disgusting normal. Another merciless bastard that deserved the death he got. It looked like an accident. A mugging gone wrong. That was how the guy who hired me requested it. I got paid a lot of money for that mark... and I found I was damn good at taking down marks. I figured I might as well make a living out of it.. it was better than selling myself on the streets like all the other teen runaways.
Does it ever bother me? She stops to ponder... No.. Helps that I can't see their faces before they die.. Sometimes... Sometimes late at night when I wake up and I forget the darkness is my eyes and not the night sky, I miss the way life used to be.. but then the dream fades and I remember that normals... They're the real scum of the world. They're the ones who don't deserve the lives they love so much. I'm on my way to hell anyway. Might as well take a few of the bastards with me. Besides. After three years of it, it's all I'm good at now. She grins slyly as she speaks.
Friends and Allies
Friends.. Well.. Svolta shifts uncomfortably. To be perfectly honest.. I don't know that many people. Haven't gotten close to anyone in a long time. Don't really plan to, either.
Villain Group
A group? Svolta laughs. No, GOD no.. I'm not a member of any group.. Despite her laughter, Svolta looks saddened by this. I'm a lone assassin, thanks. Never could stand people very much. Her body language seems to say otherwise as she shifts into a more closed and defensive pose. My family betrayed me once before. Why would I try to find another one?
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