Eight-Ball

Eight-Ball - Drawing by Daniel

## **Pre-Entropy History**

The Ragnaroc event destroyed the lives of hundreds of people directly and millions indirectly. Which for Maria, was a good thing. She watched all in rapt attention as a young girl when her parents left her in front of the TV for far too long. She got to watch it all, all the carnage that would make it past the censors, all the terror, the weeping, and sweet, sweet, sorrow. She ate it up, usually with popcorn.

Her parents never tested her, not believing in psycholgical studies for kids or vaccines for that matter. If they did, they might have been prepared for what they were raising.

Maria Octavia was a psychopath, and a smart one at that. While she did not go out and commit atrocities immediately, she watched, saw where people could be manipulated, and how. She watched her poor con-man of a father talk his way out of paying rent, getting out of bar bets, and even talked the bank into giving money to him, not even as a loan. She watched her mother control her father with affection and sex. She hid once to watch her mom pay the rent on her back and understood. Soon she learned how to manipulate the playground with little words, little shows of attention, and occasionally, violence.

She went to college, not for any major, eventually getting a degree in statistics mostly out of boredom. Every teacher was happy to bend to her tune. Every student bowed to her whim. And every boy was hers to do with as she pleased. However, a young athlete was none to plused with her attentions elsewhere. After he helped her get her grades up and made sure that her rival for the debate team didn't walk for a while, she turned away from him and told him to get lost. He, being that kind of guy, did not take kindly to that kind of treatment. He threw her out of the window, because he was also that kind of guy. His timing could have been better, but that might be the beginnings of her probability powers kicking in. When she hit the ground, her powers activated and she bounced right back up the window, where she grabbed him. They both fell to the pavement together while she whispered in his ear, "Your turn."

She bounced from the pavement. He did not.

Not wanting to get in any trouble or bad attention, she bounded back to her room, filled her final papers, grabbed her stuff and ran. She finished her degree by mail. On the road, she found that people were willing to pay for a girl all alone. They paid more for a girl who could not be hurt from a punch, and for a while she was willing to offer it while she accumulated a certain level of wealth. Maria needed to figure out what she was doing with her new powers other than play punching bag. But the thought of that boy hitting the pavement made her so delighted, she knew she had to do it again. She would enter bars, get into fights and bounce all over the walls, beating almost everyone to a pulp. Sure there was the occasional gun or knife, but they never harmed her, sometimes backfiring or they ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time. She could control the whole room like that.

When Chevron returned, she knew she had been small potatoes. When her younger brother found her, she had a much better idea. Her brother, Nino, also had a power that manifested. He claimed that the energy that made heroes before Ragnaroc had come again and now new metas were being born. Nino, a duplicator, showed off his ability to demonstrate. She thought of what she saw and realized she had a game changer on her hands. Power, real power, was possible. Chevron showed that.

Maria and Nino scoured the world for people not only like them, but who fit a certain mold she had been thinking about. After finding a disgraced italian bowler Luigi Caspar, a little locksmith Dwayne Geoffs, and a living laser named Gina Pope. These would be the foundation of the Arcade Gang, also known as Eight-Ball, Ten-Pin, Skeeball, Pinball, and Lazer tag.

They started as common robbers, though Eight-Ball learned she had a talent for murder and was more than happy doing a little side work her fellows wouldn't be interested, especially not Luigi. They fought Junebug, were brought in to harass Paramericans, and made life fun and difficult for the 13th Elf.

Eight-ball is a psychotic, hedonistic sociopath who knows it.  She frequently takes the occupation of thief rather than assassin but she enjoys the occasional murder.  Frequently she takes on Junebug who she sees as a match to her own powers.  She is also a power grabbing organizer, a remnant of her upper class heritage. She organized the arcade gang through intimidation, offerings of power, family, protection, sex, and wealth. The undisputed leader of the gang, she sees them as both pawns and brothers in arms.  It is suspected she saw her own family as such.  She can bounce phenomenal distances and take no damage whatsoever.  She uses the tactic of using the accumulated speed and power of the rebounds to brutalize her victims.

## **Post -Entropy History**

Psychos are Psychos and much of the history did not change much, though several differences came along. First, it was the Unicorn Blight which spawned her powers. Her brother Nino retired not long after starting the gang. They replaced him with Donny Vito, another duplicator, and eight-ball's common lover. After several successes and a build reputation for getting jobs done, Eight-ball wanted more. She got more. Soon she found others who shared her dream and the Arcade Gang is now one of the feared organizations in the world. The gang has taken on complex jobs, government leaders, assassinations, theft, superheroes, and even other supervillains. As of now there are only a handful of metas she would gladly bow to, Chevron, Lord Quantum, and Xander Scope included.

She, like a few others, have noticed a connection between certain articles of red and white silks and further power and she is curious about obtaining more.

## **Powers and Abilities**

**Powers**

Eight-ball has two distinct powers. The first, the bouncing. She is able to rebound any part of her body with more velocity than impact. This means she can bounce further and faster with each impact if she wants to. She can do this with any part of her body, so her favorite way of gathering information or attacking a prone target is to back against a wall, slam her elbows into the wall which impact the person in a punch which rebounds back to the wall... and so on. She can deliver a staggering number of punches in limited time.

She has fallen off most towers in the world and bounced unharmed. She will take people with her for the ride of their deaths. She sees Junebug, who's tough hide makes him hard to crack and who does bound from time to time, as a match for her powers.

Her second is a form of probability manipulation. Almost entirely this is self focused. Good things just happen to her. While bad things don't necessarily happen to others, she is seen as intensely lucky. Aim and attacks that should hit her sometimes miss by the barest of glances because she was at the right place at the right time. Most people just see her as lucky for her and unlucky for everyone else.

**Abilities**

Eight-ball is a master strategist, probability calculator, and an efficiency expert. she also likes to keep a neat and orderly criminal organization. Her parties, on the other hand, are the stuff of decadent legend.

**Strength level**

Eight-ball possesses the average strength of a female her size who engages in excessive exercise.

**Weaknesses**

While her bouncing does not cause her any harm, she wears protective goggles. She does this partly out of a mask and partly to protect her eyes from wind rash from accelerated bouncing. While blunt strikes do no damage, piercing weapons, if sharp enough, do slice her skin.

## **Paraphernalia**

**Equipment:**

None of note. she prefers her own powers and most other stuff she carries can get destroyed if not properly stowed. However, her base is filed with the best and most technological advanced systems (supported by her tech guru, Scoreboard.) She and the rest of the gang have used Scoreboard's gateway functions to arrive and depart quickly.

**Transportation:**

None of note

**Weapons:**

None of note

## **Common Enemies**

* Paramericans
* Glory
* Junebug
* Web girl
* The Thirteenth Elf

## **Common Allies**

* The Arcade Gang:

* Ten Pin
* Skeeball
* Pinball
* Laser Tag
* Scoreboard
* Red Racer
* Dartboard
* Punch-out
* Slapshot
* Foosball
* Freethrow
* Bingo
* Rollerball

## **Trivia**

* is sleeping with many of the Arcade Gang. Partially out of joy of sex, but also to keep the others in line.
* Admires Chevron and Lord Quantum for their organizational abilities.
* Has helped others in the gang get clean and sober. She doesn't consider this a mercy or helping but a matter for efficiency.
* Dreams of finally getting Junebug. Dreams of having sex in mid-bounce with a man who not only survive but won't notice the impact and just keep going.