<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/c5saKix.jpg)(http://i.imgur.com/cuLMTPz.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span class="bbc_u">Basics</span></span><br/><strong>Character name:</strong>Noriko "Nori" Ashida<br/><strong>Alias:</strong>Surge<br/><strong>Gender:</strong>Female<br/><strong>Orientation:</strong>Pansexual<br/><strong>Status:</strong>Single<br/><strong>Age:</strong>18<br/><strong>Height:</strong>5' 7"<br/><strong>Weight:</strong>137 lbs<br/><strong>Hair color:</strong>Naturally Black (usually dyed electric blue)<br/><strong>Eye color:</strong>Brown<br/><strong>Hometown/Place of birth:</strong>Tokyo, Japan<br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span class="bbc_u">More Personal</span></span><br/><strong>Family:</strong><br/><br/>Seiji Ashida (father, living), Suki Ashida (mother, living), Keitaro Ashida (brother, living)<br/><br/><strong>Personality:</strong><br/><br/>Loyal, head-strong, willful, caring are all good words to describe the mischievous youth.  She says what is on her mind, and often times jokes about things that don't make sense to her--typical the decisions that so-called leaders make.  She does not respect authority inherently, instead she judges the authority figure by the virtues of their own attitudes and actions which can cause a great deal of friction between her and those in positions of authority.  While she doesn't necessarily actively disobey, she voices her opinions about their decisions in whichever way is most direct.  If necessary, though, she has a propensity for disregarding directions that she inherently disagrees with.  This also means that she doesn't believe that any one person is more important or better than another (until they've proven otherwise by their actions), meaning she actively dislikes bullying of any kind.<br/><br/><strong>Hobbies:</strong><br/><br/>Annoying authority figures<br/>Art<br/>Soccer<br/>Baseball<br/>Movies<br/><br/><strong>History:</strong><br/><br/>Born in Tokyo, Japan, Nori was the first of her family to display any kind of mutant powers (and the only one to her knowledge).  She was close to her brother, Keitaro, but the manifestation of her powers around the age of 13 drove a wedge between her and her parents.  She ran away from home shortly after and lived on the streets.  She managed to find her way to New York over the course of a couple of years and continued to live on the streets there for a time.<br/><br/>Things became more and more difficult for her living on her own as her powers began to grow.  The mental stresses that it placed upon her as well as the near-constant discharges made life difficult.  In order to alleviate these problems she turned to drugs.  Cigarettes helped only marginally but prescription drugs--pain pills, anti-psychotics, etc.--helped a great deal more.  Keeping a regular supply of them, however, was seemingly impossible for the young mutant.  She was forced into petty theft to help pay for the drugs when she was able to get them, but as her powers began to harm people around her she knew that this pattern wouldn't be sustainable.  She never wanted to hurt anyone, and so when she finally did hurt the young owner of a coffee shop during an attempt to steal from the register she became horrified at herself and went into hiding for a short period of time.<br/><br/>She couldn't hide forever, of course, but when she finally put together the details that there was a school for mutants she made her way there to try and find some help.  By then she was already so far gone that it was nearly impossible for her to speak normally.  When she arrived at the gate she happened to run into Julian (Hellion) and was promptly turned away (http://imgur.com/rxQEsQ4) by the student.  Perhaps fortunately for her Julian later mentioned the encounter to one of the teachers and a team was sent out to retrieve Nori.  Unfortunately the retrieval did not go entirely well.  Distressed and hopeless she returned to the streets in a vain attempt to try and buy more of the drugs that she needed to help keep her powers in check.  Unfortunately she couldn't communicate clearly enough with anyone which only caused further emotional strain on her already fragile temperament.  When the team of mutants arrived she could only assume that she was somehow in trouble which seemingly "flipped a switch" inside her.  She turned into a ball of lightning as everything she'd been storing for so long suddenly burst out.  Thankfully no one was seriously injured and after managing to subdue (and tranquilize) Nori she was taken back to the Institute.<br/><br/>She was held in the school infirmary for a few days as her condition was stabilized by Dr. McCoy (Beast) and her mutant powers analyzed.  She was mostly in and out of consciousness during this time.  Dr. McCoy consulted with Forge to have something designed to help Nori control her powers, to which Forge designed and built the gauntlets that Nori now wears.  Still alone and with nowhere else to go she was accepted into the school after she was fully returned to health.  She was initially accepted into an advanced high-school curriculum since she has gone so long without any formal education.  At the age of 17 she was behind most of her peers, but was quickly catching up.<br/><br/>Near the end of her first year at the school was when the attack happened.  It was strange to her to suddenly be surrounded by a war that she wanted no part in.  It was in this moment, though, that her colors really revealed themselves to her peers and to the teachers.  She fought back, tooth and nail, to keep her fellow students safe--defending those that couldn't defend themselves, organizing impromptu teams to help evacuate the younger children to safety, and generally trying to minimize the damage to her new home and new family.  It was the briefest of flashes that anyone ever saw of her potential to lead in stressful situations, but it was not something that she ever thought highly of herself for, nor gave much thought to.  In the end she saw that she failed to help everyone, some people sustaining serious injuries during the fighting, and thus retreated back into the shell of casual mischief and antagonizing authority.  She sustained only minor injuries as she managed to avoid most of the heavy combat, and was back to full health soon after the battle.<br/><br/>Now, some time after the suddenly explosion of battle, the Institute has been marginally repaired and classes have resumed.  Still somewhat behind--but catching up quickly--she takes the highest-end High School level courses in addition to having been enrolled in some of the more team/combat oriented classes.  Despite the changes from the attack everything seems to be continuing as it ever had, which helps keep Nori contented for now.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span class="bbc_u">Mutations and Powers</span></span><br/><strong>Classification:</strong>Beta<br/><br/><strong>Type of mutant:</strong>First of Family<br/><br/><strong>Powers:</strong><br/><br/>Electrokinesis:  Nori's power comes in the form of the ability to control electricity and channel it through her body.  Her body functions on a biological level as a battery, absorbing and storing the energy for later use.  Her powers manifest in the following ways:<br/><br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>Electrical Absorption:  The only power she has no direct control over, Nori is constantly absorbing electricity from her surroundings.  This can cause interruptions to electrical appliances/equipment near her.  Consequently she is also immune to electrical attacks, but they can potentially "overload" her.  She has a pair of gauntlets made by Forge that allows the absorption to be regulated.  Overloading herself with too much electrical energy can cause her other two powers to manifest spontaneously and erratically.</li><li>Lightning Blasts:  She can project the electrical energy that she has stored into powerful discharges--similar to shooting lightning from her hands.  The upper limits of this ability have not been truly tested, and she is concerned about pushing herself too far in the even that she might "burn out" like a light bulb.  She can manage a good degree of control over this ability, allowing for jolts like a defibrillator, or passing electricity through wires.  When overloaded she will eventually begin to unconsciously discharge as her body tries to stabilize itself.  While she can hold back these spontaneous bolts for a while, if she waits too long she will eventually break down and release a large explosion of electrical energy.</li><li>Superhuman Speed:  The electricity that she stores also seems to speed up her synaptic processes (see weaknesses below) which can be harnessed in a way that gives her bursts of superhuman speed.  She can run approximately 500-600 miles per hour and can sustain that speed for several hours.  As she becomes overloaded her mind begins to race as the synapses in her mind begin to speed.  Furthermore her speech will begin to speed up until she's nearly unintelligible to anyone that can't perceive much higher speeds--it begins to sound almost like crackling static.  Finally her moods become volatile as the electricity running through her begins to upset her brain chemistry, settling into a manic, unpredictable state.</li></ul><br/><strong>Abilities:</strong><br/><br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>Bilingual:  Fluent in Japanese and English, having only a minor accent when speaking English.</li><li>Hand-to-Hand Combat:  She has had some training in hand-to-hand combat.</li><li>Leadership:  She has an aptitude for leadership, but it is underdeveloped.</li><li>Physical Traits:  She has the typical fitness of a girl her size/age that partakes in regular moderate-to-rigorous exercise.</li><li>Power Gauntlets:  She typically wears a pair of metal gauntlets that were designed by Forge specifically to help regulate her electrical absorption ability (see powers above).  The gauntlets slow the drain she places on nearby electronics, preventing things like flickering lights or microwaves not heating food well.  While this doesn't prevent her from overloading (see weaknesses below) it allows her to more easily discharge excess electricity at a reduced rate.  Finally they allow for a finer control of her electrical discharges, theoretically she could develop this skill naturally but this crutch makes it easier for her in the interim.</li></ul><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span class="bbc_u">School Information</span></span><br/><strong>Classes Taken:</strong><br/><br/>High School Senior classes as well as:<br/>History (Human and Mutant) with Ororo Munroe<br/>Power Control with Professor Xavier/Layla Bayoumi<br/>Strategy and Tactics with Scott Summers<br/><br/><strong>Clubs/Extracurriculars:</strong><br/><br/>Tai Chi<br/>Martial Arts<br/>Track<br/>Art<br/>Works part-time at a nearby coffee shop<br/><br/><strong>Student Relations:</strong>TBD