Rafael Medina

[Rafael Medina]

NAME: Rafael Antonio Medina
NICKNAME: He doesn’t mind if people give him a nickname but he prefers to just be called Rafael.
AGE: 18
GENDER: Male
ORIENTATION: Homosexual
POSITION: Bellefonte student
FACE CLAIM: Marlon Teixeira

POWER:
Necrosis Inducement
Rafael has the ability to cause the premature death of cells in living organisms, otherwise known as necrosis. His ability is channeled through his hands and contact with them will mean immediate cell death and rapid decay in the area touched. If Rafael were to only touch someone for a brief second, or with just a tap of his finger, the area affected would be rather small, about the size of a nickel, and honestly not that big of a deal so long as medical treatment is sought out. Using his whole hand or holding on for longer will cause a larger area to be affected. They way it works is that upon touching any living organic substance, his hands immediately release this toxic energy which almost has the same effect as snake or spider venom, except much more lethal and drastic as the onset of necrosis will begin within seconds. The longer he holds on, the more severe and widespread the necrosis will be initially, eventually causing death and total decay of the body/organism if he held on long enough. The amount of time required for such a result would depend on the size and complexity of the targeted organism. There is also the chance that if not treated right away, the dead tissue will invite infections and diseases, and that's just a whole other slew of complications.

Limitations
If anyone for whatever reason has some sort of enhanced immunity to toxins/toxic effects or regenerative abilities, they will generally be immune to the effects of his ability, or at least heal from them. Also, this ability does not mean certain death so long as Rafael doesn’t touch anyone for too long, and depending on where they get touched as well. It is painful, as the death and decay of parts of your body tends to be, but after the initial touch the effects act similarly to snake or spider venom in terms of how it affects the body. If it isn’t treated it will only spread and get worse. Usually the effects don't spread too far past the area of the body infected and it takes some time as well. For example, if your hand is affected, within about a month's time of going untreated, the whole arm will be affected, but not really anything beyond that. But on the bright side, it is usually treatable so long as you remove the dead tissue, assuming it can be removed. After all, there isn’t much you can do if your head starts to decay. Rafael can’t reverse the effects himself, but again, his ability isn’t immune to the abilities of others and could very well be negated somehow. However, if you don't have an ability to negate this ability, or know someone who does, the absolute only way to keep the effects from spreading is medically. And that involves surgically removing the dead tissue. His power is also almost always active. It can be “turned off”, but he’s yet to be able to do it for any extended period of time, maybe 15-20 minutes at maximum, but it takes a lot of active concentration. His power always being active doesn't mean he is always secreting this toxic energy, it means that his hands automatically secrete it when they come into contact with any foreign living thing. He can touch himself with his bare hands and they won't react. And it's only secreted from his hands, nowhere else on his body, it is completely safe to touch him in other places. But he still doesn't like people to touch him just in case something were to happen.

Side-Effects
This power is extremely taxing on Rafael, both physically and mentally. Because it is pretty much always active he is almost always at least a little drained of energy, if not completely exhausted. In fact he is always dizzy and light headed after exerting himself, and he even faints every now and then. This pretty much causes him to be constantly eating so as to not be dangerously exhausted all the time. He also refuses any and all human contact. Not a pat on the back, a kiss on the cheek, a hug, nothing. He doesn’t take any chances. He’s actually become kind of paranoid about it and goes out of his way to make sure the chances of human contact are minimal. And he has a horribly negative view of himself because he associates being dangerous with being inherently bad, and it is safe to say that he is quite dangerous. Also, the energy he emits from his hands isn’t really so toxic to him as his body has some natural resistance, but it does burn his hands. The burns are more severe the longer he’s secreting this energy. The reason his hands burn is because while he does have a resistance, he isn't completely immune, and so the energy does have an effect on him as well it's just much more mild.


APPEARANCE SECTION: Rafael doesn’t really give much consideration to how he looks as far as his clothing choice is concerned. Most of his wardrobe is rather plain and he doesn’t do things like dress up often. He never really dresses badly; he just never really dresses outstandingly either. He does work out though. He used to play sports but has since given athletics up and has now taken to the gym to keep himself fit, and he does keep himself fit. Though his chronic fatigue has impaired him slightly and limited what he is able to do and for how long. Rafael’s body is rather athletic and muscular, though most people don’t really notice because he isn’t one to show off or draw unnecessary attention to himself. Rafael is also a little on the tall side, standing at 6’2”.

Rafael’s hair is a dark brown color, and it falls in loose curls if he lets it grow out long enough. Though he usually keeps it at a medium-short length. His skin is always naturally tan thanks to his genetics and ancestry, and his eyes are a light brown/hazel color. He almost always has at least a little facial hair, though he may shave it every now and again just to change things up. All in all, he has a little bit of an exotic look going for him. His hands are a little scarred from burns he has sustained as a side effect of his power, though nothing too serious as of yet.

MUST HAVE APPAREL: The only thing Rafael wears at all times, all times, is gloves. No matter how hot it is, no matter if he plans on going swimming, no matter if he is going to bed. He is always wearing gloves. The only time he isn’t wearing gloves is when he is taking a shower. He has quite a collection so far. It’s how he keeps a barrier between his hands and everyone else and until he can control it better, the gloves stay on.

PERSONALITY SECTION: Rafael is probably one of the quietest people you will meet, and it sometimes mistakenly comes off as him being shy. He could be in a room with just one other person for hours and not say anything, but it isn’t because he’s afraid to say something. He just isn’t the kind of person to talk unless he has something to say, and he isn’t going to ask things like “how are you” unless he really wanted to know. He doesn’t do this to be standoffish or anything, and he’s still really kind despite his lack of verbal interaction with other people, he just doesn’t see the point in talking for the sake of talking and is perfectly content with just sitting in silence if no one has anything substantial to say. But when he actually has things he wants to talk about he can go on for hours on end.

Conflict is something Rafael hates and tries to avoid at all costs. If someone bumps into him, he’ll apologize to him or her. And it isn’t because he’s afraid of what they’ll do to him, but what he knows he can do to them. The last thing he wants is to accidentally hurt anyone, so he just avoids all conflict incase it were to escalate, though it’s a little easy for him seeing as how he isn’t really the type to have many problems with people. He usually keeps to himself, and when he does interact with others it is usually all smiles and he’s always tries to be extremely polite and respectful. He is sort of a people pleaser tries to go out of his way to help those who need his help, whether they ask for it or not. But to be honest, whether he realizes it or not, he tries to help so much as a sort of way to overcompensate for what he can do. He really thinks that having such a dangerous ability makes him a dangerous person, and therefore a bad person. He kind of hopes that being selfless and doing acts of kindness kind of balances him out karma wise.

Rafael really isn’t the sarcastic type. He gets it; he just doesn’t really find it funny or necessary. He’ll laugh when he’s supposed to though, just to keep anyone from getting their feelings hurt or to keep things from being awkward. Again, part of that whole “conflict avoidance” thing he has going. But as far as dry humor goes, Rafael really isn’t the guy to go to. He also really isn’t the guy to go out partying or drinking or anything like that. He’s more of a stay-at-home kind of person who likes to just eat popcorn and watch a movie on a Friday night. It isn’t that he doesn’t like to have fun; he just doesn’t like to have that kind of fun.

A big part of the reason Rafael has such a hard time controlling his ability is because he absolutely does not trust himself. He doesn’t think he is strong enough to handle it, he doesn’t think he should have this power; he doesn’t trust that he’ll ever get a handle on it. And all of this self-doubt kind of gets in the way of things like relationships and friendships. After all, how close can you get to someone who literally won’t let you get close to them? Not a hug, a kiss on the cheek, nothing. No physical contact unless absolutely necessary. This also comes from his protective nature. Rafael is very protective of those he cares about, and just in general. He hates to see anyone get hurt and will always try to keep it from happening. So if in his mind he thinks depriving himself of human contact will help to protect the people around him, then that’s something he is willing to do.

EXTRA QUIRK: Rafael loves barbeque chips. Absolutely loves them. He devours them by the bag full.


FATHER: Carlos Medina - 50
MOTHER: Alessandra Medina - 48
SIBLINGS: Isabella Medina - 19
PET: N/A
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: N/A
WORTHY MENTIONS: Kevin Lynn


CHILDHOOD: Rafael was born December 5th, in a small town in Montana, a few hours away from Kalispell. He was the second child of his Brazilian mother and Mexican father, who both immigrated to the U.S. when they were children. His mother was a schoolteacher and taught at the local elementary school and his father worked at the post office in town. Their lives were simple, but there wasn’t really much to complain about. They had given birth to a beautiful baby girl one year earlier and with the birth of Rafael they decided two babies, one boy and one girl, was enough. They stopped having children and just made sure they were able to provide the best they could for the ones they had.

Growing up in a small town wasn’t so bad. Since Rafael and his sister were so close in age they were always together and were pretty much each other’s best friend. In fact, Rafael didn’t really make friends with other kids in town until around fifth grade and his sister had moved on to middle school. They always kept themselves entertained, and being that there weren’t many attractions in town, that required quite a bit of imagination on their part. Rafael was also very protective of his sister, even when he was as little as five and she was six. He never let anyone really do anything mean or bad to her. And if they did then they would have to deal with Rafael, who at that age could have been accurately compared to a Chihuahua when he was angry. He was more really loud and annoying rather than actually intimidating or dangerous.

When Rafael started school, it was actually really hard to make friends for him. He was really quite and shy, and he didn’t really do much as far as activities went. He would always much rather lay in the grass or pick flowers or chase animals than participate in whatever games the other kids were playing. Some kids made fun of him, but he didn’t care about what they thought. His parents always taught him to never let anyone get him down and for the most part he didn’t. But as time went on he began to open up around people more, make friends, and by the time he got to high school he even began to really enjoy things like sports and physical activity. However there was always this one group of kids that always seemed to have some sort of target on Rafael’s back.

Their pack leader was this kid named Kevin Lynn who was a year older, and Rafael never really asked what his problem was with him. Though he was 99% sure the kid was really racist as he almost never missed a moment to bring up the fact that Rafael was, in fact, not white. But despite the verbal taunting they were pretty harmless and never really pursued any action beyond calling Rafael names and the like. So for the most part he just ignored them. But his indifference to the group’s efforts to try and work him up just caused them to work harder as the years went on.

ADOLESCENCE: Rafael can remember the exact day his powers came to be. It was the spring of his sophomore year, he was fifteen, and that morning before going to school he noticed a vase of roses on the dining room table. He picked one up and pricked his finger on a thorn, consequently dropping the flower. He picked it back up after tending to his wound, but he noticed that after touching it something began to change. The rose was beginning to wilt and turn brown in places, it was dying right in front of him. He thought it was weird but he wasn’t a flower expert and assumed that maybe that was just what this kind of flower did. He threw it out before heading off to school with his sister.

They usually walked and today was no different, but he wishes it had been. On their way to school they ran into Rafael’s favorite person, Kyle. When Kyle saw them he paid little attention to Rafael and proceeded to hit on his sister, which he always did and always made a big spectacle of it when Rafael was around. She denied his advances as she always did, though this time Kyle was much more persistent and much more aggressive. He actually got in front of the two and wouldn’t let his sister pass. But she still said no and after getting turned down again he began to get physical with Isabella and started saying some really inappropriate things. This was when Rafael stepped in.

There were a lot of things Rafael could handle, but he wasn’t going to let some creep treat his sister like that and just stand there. He pushed Kyle and the kid stumbled back, and that’s when fists started to fly and a fight broke out. In less than a minute Rafael was on the ground, Kyle on top of him, and Isabella trying to get Kyle off. Then, based on pure instinct Rafael grabbed Kyle’s right arm, which was holding the collar of his shirt. And to this day he thinks that was probably the worst decision he has ever made in his life.

Immediately Rafael could feel this heat on his hands, and that was followed by this horrible scream from Kyle who got off of Rafael faster than you could blink. He was clutching his arm and the sight of it caused Isabella to scream, Kyle to look horrified, and Rafael to just go pale in the face. Half of his arm was, well Rafael didn’t really know this at the time, but it was dead and decaying. It just looked disgusting. And everything gets fuzzy from there. Both Kyle and Isabella started to scream, asking Rafael what he did and how he did that and why. All Rafael could do was run and run fast. He didn’t really know where to go so he just went back home and locked himself in his room. He just stood there and the image of Kyle’s arm just kept coming to his mind and he just went to the nearest trashcan and vomited. And boy did he vomit. And then he passed out.

When Rafael woke up he was still in his room, but it was dark. He wondered if everything that happened was a dream and went to the kitchen to get something to eat because he was starving. But when he got there he could see that his family was in the living room with people he had never seen before and his stomach dropped as soon as he saw the look on his family’s faces, the fear in their eyes. It was all real and he immediately thought these people were probably the police coming to take him away, or worse, the government. He felt sick again. His first thought was to just apologize like his life depended on it.

He started to cry and walk over to his parents and sister who were sitting on the couch, but as soon as he got close they moved away like he was diseased and they didn’t want to catch anything. That’s when these unfamiliar people began to speak and explain that they weren’t the police or from the government. That they were from a school for people like him, not too far away, where he needed to go immediately for his own safety and for the safety of those around him. They spoke to him more about it and, by the end of it, Rafael was convinced. Though it didn’t take much convincing. He packed his bags and after an extremely awkward and unsatisfying goodbye to his family he left for Bellefonte Academy.

Bellefonte was different to say the least. He wasn’t used to what he could do, and he had no idea how to control it. He was instructed to wear gloves at all times until he was able to control his ability, and that was easy enough. He kind of reverted back into his ways of being rather closed off and quiet. It was a lot of changes happening to him and he felt really out of control, and just keeping everyone at a distance was his way of coping with that. Over time he has been able to let people in but he still literally keeps his distance from people. As a precaution he touches no one and doesn’t let anyone touch him.

As far as his training sessions went, they started small first, just seeing what he could actually do, and his full capability. Quite a few plants and trees have met an early grave thanks to him. And then came trying to control it, trying to stop its progression, trying to see if he could keep it from activating. All attempts were dismal at first and as time went on he got a little better, though hardly anything to brag about.

Now Rafael is eighteen and continuing on another year at Bellefonte, because lord knows he is nowhere near ready to be out in the real world yet. He just hopes he can get a grip on this thing. Well what he really wants is some sort of cure. But, short of that, being able to touch someone without the fear of causing him or her great pain would be a great consolation prize for him.


SAMPLE: “I,” a silence fell over the room. Nothing could be heard except the faint ticking of the clock and the exasperated sigh of those who surrounded the young boy. Hazel eyes stared straight ahead and landed on a delicate hand outstretched before him, belonging to a delicate woman. Rafael gulped and wiped away the beads of sweat that were beginning to accumulate on his forehead. ”I don’t think I can do this,” he said hurriedly, turning to the two men on his right with a pleading expression. This was always the part of training of his training that he never actually completed, because he never actually attempted in the first place. He looked back at the woman with an anxious expression, his breathing shallower as he thought about it.

”She won’t-“ they began to respond but Rafael cut them off, his voice raised in anger and frustration. ”I know she can heal, that isn’t the point!” He argued, but when they then followed up by asking him what was the point he was at a loss for words and the room fell silent once more. He didn’t know. He didn’t know why it was so hard for him to just simply hold this girl’s hand when he knew anything that resulted wouldn’t permanently scar her. He didn’t know why the thought of him willingly touching anyone made him physically sick. He didn’t know why after his years here he still refused this method of training. But the school insisted that at some point he needed to practice his control by subjecting himself to human contact.

”Fine…” he whispered as he stepped forward, slowly pulling the glove off of his right hand. He walked timidly toward his destination and outstretched his own hand to meet with the other. The few seconds it took to be within inches of someone else’s skin felt like hours, and while he was still a few inches away he felt like only a handful of atoms were separating him and her. As he inched closer he became more and more nervous. Slowly he became so close he felt like if he even breathed wrong he would accidentally brush against her. And then, at the last second, he pulled away. This wasn’t going to work.

He could hear the groans of the trainers, but he didn’t care. He told them he couldn’t do it. ”I think I’m done for the day,” he muttered as he threw his glove back on and stormed out. He wiped away his sweat once more and got his breathing to be steady again. As he made his way past other students he tried to avoid eye contact and he tried to get his mind onto other things. Maybe one day he’d be ready, but it certainly wasn’t today.

USERNAME: Raf

AGE GROUP: 19

EXPERIENCE: A while?

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