Erica Ramirez

Erica Ramirez is a main character in the Striker V series. She previously served as the third Hero to bear the name Ventrica, retiring during the events of In Memory.

## Early Life

Erica was born to Gloria and Antonio Ramirez in El Paso, Texas. The family lived in a small suburban house. Erica was extremely impressionable at an early age. After her father came home from work one day, and told his wife about a racial slur used by a customer, he referred to that customer as, "asshole." Erica quickly picked up on this word, shouting it as loudly as she could.

Not long after, her father was murdered by a gang. It was at this point that Erica's abilities activated. After she saw her father lying dead, her coldfire activated, vaporizing the gang members.

## Career as a Hero

After Erica was adopted by the Caretakers, she was brought to the Greenville Training Facility in North Carolina where she honed her abilities. At the age of 16, she became the associate of Phoebe, Ventrica (II). Only four years later, Phoebe would die by suicide, a result of trauma from the September 11, 2001 Attacks, ceding the name of Ventrica to Erica when she was 20 years old.

At some point prior to 2017, Erica took on Allie Gunter as her associate.

> *While it is not stated explicitly, it can be assumed that Allie began her training under Erica sometime in 2015, since she is 18 years old during the events of "Elements of Change."*
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In June of 2017, Erica discussed the possibility of asking the Administration of Superhumans for additional freedoms, as they viewed the program as being overly restrictive.

### First Time Travel Incident

During the cooking class, Erica replicated a chicken taco that she remembered her mother cooking. Between sessions, she spoke with Mike Brodsky about her mother. it was at this point that Mike showed her moments from her past, including one moment where her mother was cooking.

## Retirement

Erica settled into a sedate lifestyle after the death of Kyle, choosing to live with her mother in San Diego. She briefly considered returning to help paint a portrait of the Forgotten when asked by Neil, though she declined. She attended the funeral of Kyle, alongside her mother.

At some point prior to February 2022, she did ultimately paint a portrait of Ivy. This would be used as the Hero's personal ID since she could not be photographed by conventional means.

### Second Time Travel Incident

Despite her retirement, Erica would still get involved in Super-related incidents, most notably when she and her mother jumped into a temporal portal in an effort to visit her deceased father. Because the portal was not configured for travel, they accidentally ended up in the Cretaceous Era. While there, she fought a Superpowered Spinosaurus. The fight was paused by Charlie Cameron, the Temporal-class Co-Hero of Mike. Charlie assisted the group in returning to a more recent era, bringing them to El Paso, moments before her father would be murdered.

True to her nature, Erica decided to alter the timeline, saving her father and killing the would-be murderers. This major differentiation in the timeline (along with the numerous small spacetime perforations caused by Mike over the years) tore open a new portal that forced the group, along with Antonio, into an alternate universe.

## Personality

Erica's most defining feature was her single-mindedness. When she set a goal, she would often do anything to reach it, including shattering established norms and breaking any rule or regulation she saw fit. She was also highly impulsive. Charlie Cameron noted that her timeline split 2% more often than other Heroes, which compounded across the Multiverse.

Erica could also be pushy and had a habit of gaslighting her friends and family. She was well known for apologizing in a way that would make it seem like whatever she did was the fault of her friends, rather than fully taking responsibility.

## Abilities

### Coldfire

Erica's most pronounced ability was the use of coldfire plasma. Even from an early age, she was able to create a field powerful enough to selectively vaporize adult humans.

### Flight

Erica had the ability of flight, often using the Hero's Layer of the atmosphere for travel. She usually wore a flight visor to protect her eyes. On occasion, she would get carried away and break FAA regulations on both height and speed.

### Artistry

Erica was a skilled artist. She was well-known for her ability to create almost lifelike images. One of her paintings was good enough that the Department of Homeland Security allowed it to be used as the official ID for Ivy, since she could not be photographed by conventional means.

## Relationships

### Romantic Partners

#### Neil Harris

Erica's became friends with Neil Harris during their time in training. Eventually, they developed romantic feelings for one another and started a sexual relationship when they were 15. Their first encounter was during Hurricane Floyd. During this encounter, lightning struck nearby power infrastructure, resulting in an electromagnetic pulse that abruptly severed Neil's sift. Neil would later break up with Erica when he realized he had burgeoning feelings for Jeffrey Lyons, a fellow trainee. Despite this, Erica remained closed with Neil with the two considering each other to be best friends. Neil and Erica remained extremely close over the years, despite disagreements and arguments of varying seriousness.

#### Michael Brodsky

Erica's long-term boyfriend is Mike Brodsky. The two began their relationship in August 2018 after the events of In the Meantime after he helped her find her biological mother. Mike would occasionally use his temporal abilities to allow Erica the opportunity to spend more time with her mother.

### Friendships

#### Allie Gunter

One of Erica's closest friends was her associate, Allie. The two balanced each other out, since Allie was relatively sedate in comparison to Erica's short-tempered methodology.

#### Julia Cromwell

A native of San Diego, Julia became one of Erica's close friends after she moved to the city after the death of Kyle Song. Julia viewed Erica as a close confidant and mentor in her path to becoming a Superhero.

## Alternate Versions

There have been several alternate reality versions of Erica Ramirez that have appeared or been mentioned in the series:

* **Mini-Me**: A younger version of Erica is split off from her primary Multiverse path during the events of The Time Traveler's Guide to the Multiverse. This version would eventually become a Hero, but would know both her parents while growing up.
* **Regent Ramirez**: Regent Ramirez is second in command of the American Union in Universe VRL-59650-A.
* **Chef Erica Ramirez**: This version of Erica is only mentioned during the events of The Roads not Taken. She is a head chef at a steakhouse in Cleveland, Ohio, and is the wife of her universe's Neil Harris. She is only mentioned and does not appear.