William McCormick

William McCormick, better known as Shale, is a villain originally from Oakland. He was a player character during Inbetween: Oakland and Inbetween: A Quiet Place.

## Personality

### Story Start

He was loud, overly directed and hated being bested by others (something that happened fairly frequently). He held grudges easily and was not quick to bury the hatchet to the point it negatively affected his lifestyle. He was stubborn to a fault, not dropping a point out of pure spite. Despite this, he was genuine and friendly to those he trusts and would give his life to protect them.

Prior to the story start, he was the only member of the Outcasts to have killed others, something he wasn't particularly bothered with.

### KRN Bad Boys Takedown

Of the Outcasts, he was the most adamant for dismantling Baihu's human trafficking rings.

### Meeting Crux

Was adamant on rescuing Emily Beckett because she was a child, not because she was a dangerous.

## Relationships

### Parahumans

#### Crazy Kate

Prior to joining the Outcasts, William fought in parahuman fighting rings in Emeryville where Crazy Kate reigned supreme. He was never able to beat the young woman, losing handedly in every encounter.

## Appearance

### Civilian Identity

Even without his powers, William is a hulk of a man. Easily over two hundred and fifty pounds, his entire body is pure muscle. He is hard to mistake in a crowd.

### Parahuman Identity

In costume, William simply wears a pair of torn jeans and often forgoes a shirt. He covers his face underneath a simple plate of metal crudely fashioned into a mask.

#### As The Shamrock

Similar to his Shale costume, except he wore a kilt and had green granite.

## Abilities and Powers

William is able to absorb stone, crystals and similar materials into his body via physical contact then alter his approximate shape and composition. When within this form, his entire body becomes composed entirely of stone, including his internal organs and a 'slurry' of stone that functions as blood. While within this form, he becomes incredibly strong and virtually untouchable by conventional weaponry and all but immune to toxins. In terms of raw lifting ability, he is one of the strongest parahumans in the world, able to deadlift approximately 50 tons with middling effort. This physiology allows him to survive what would be fatal injuries to baselines humans, such as losing an entire arm or organ structures. His organs only approximate their intended purpose in this form. He still requires oxygen, though far less than a baseline human.

He is able to greatly manipulate the absorbed stone, shifting around impurities and bringing them to the surface to create harder stone. Further, he can turn his limbs in hooks, blades and axes which he uses in combat to devastating affect. He is able to slightly manipulate his physical appearance though has little practice doing so. This ability allows him to regenerate from otherwise life ending injuries, breaks and cracks within his form healing with more stone. This process is largely instinctual. Through concentration and considerable effort, he is able to pull more stone onto his body, further increasing his size and strength at the cost of maneuverability.

He is able to remain in this form almost indefinitely, but finds it uncomfortable, like wearing the same clothes for too long. When he leaves the form, the stone quickly flecks off his body in small chunks of gravel. By continually drawing stone into his body and expelling it, William is able to burrow through the earth.

He can draw in sand or gravel, but must take extra time compressing the material into sturdy enough material. It is possible he could turn his body into a vaguely amorphous structure, but has no practice doing so.

Unlike many Brutes, William is a fairly competent hand-to-hand combatant. He favors grapples and throws over fisticuffs, though this may be because of the sheer lethality of a direct punch. He is able to crack bone with minimal effort, even glancing blows crippling to baseline humans. He is surprisingly competent at throwing improvised weapons, such as cars or telephone poles.

## History

Prior to joining the Outcasts, William was a smash and grabber. He also fought in parahuman fighting rings where he maintained a losing record.

Was a member of The Seven, a superhero team in Manhattan, for a few months were he went under the alias of The Shamrock.