application ;

[retrogirl]

Name: Chasekat
DW username: chasekat
E-Mail: codename.chasekat at gmail dot com
IM: chasingkat on pm
Plurk: chasekat
Other Characters: N/A

Character Name: Calista Secor | Retro Girl
Series: Powers
Timeline: End of volume 2
Canon Resource Link: wiki link
Character History:

Powers Universe
Calista comes from a world where 3% of the population has super powers of some sort. It’s not uncommon to have them, and they can range anywhere from being alleged Gods, or just being able to change the colour of your hair every once in a while.

While some groups are government sanctified, all Powers are required, by law, to register their costume/identity. Because of the large population of Powers, there is also a Powers section of every local police force--similar to branches like the SVU, the BAU, and so on. Powers are categorized from levels 1-10, with 1s being absolutely harmless and 9 being on par with an immortal, or even a God. 10 has not yet been used. The series--and Calista’s journey--begins with the Powers section of an unnamed city, and with a rather terrifying standoff.

Who Killed Retro Girl?
Calista is 6 years old when she’s held hostage. Her mother, apparently having stolen money from her deadbeat Powers boyfriend, got into an altercation with him that went completely sour. Her boyfriend, being over the edge already, escalated the fight into something physical... It culminated with Finch, the boyfriend, throwing Calista’s mother out a two story window and boarding himself up once he realizes that Calista’s mom manages to call the cops. He demands to see Christian Walker and only Christian walker, as Wolfe--a rather powerful antagonist and Walker’s nemesis--told him that he has a soft spot for Powers.

Walker manages to talk Finch into letting Calista go, where the child has been oddly calm and eating peanut butter and watching cartoons, but Finch uses a jet pack to literally tear a hole into the roof and try to escape. He’s caught, of course, and Calista, free, is left to wander around the police station while Walker tries to figure out what to do with her.

There are no close relatives, as Calista’s family life is obviously a bit of a mess. Still, she seems unperturbed--she even goes so far as to ask questions such as “What’s a clitoris? I’ve always wondered,” while Walker finishes paperwork and tries to put her somewhere. Ever curious and perceptive, she pesters Walker with question after question until Walker finally points out that she keeps using very foul language for someone her age. Calista claims her mom lets her express herself because “[her mom’s] daddy used to smack the shit out of her every time she talked and that I can talk about whatever I want because she said he was an asshole." Walker, however, catches her trying to push her boundaries and testing what she’s allowed and not allowed to do in a situation like this (“You ain’t fooling me, your mom doesn’t let you swear every 30 seconds.”) and for the most part, she knocks it off.

It’s only when she compares her life to a “sucky cartoon,” using the analogy that the background/everyone else is painted really pretty but keeps repeating and she’s not drawn very well, signalling she feels lost with everyone else, that she gets serious and asks Walker to confirm that her mom’s not coming back. He confirms that she’s dead and is whisked away to meet his new partner.

While Walker's meeting his partner, she watches everyone and even answers the phone according to how they do once it rings ("Homicide, 4th, this is Calista"). That’s when she gets told that Retro Girl, a popular/one of the most famous Powers, is dead. Walker takes it and she stays in the station, but the event is something that changes the course of her life forever.

While trying to find her a family, the police help her out and send her to a temporary service, and Calista immediately entertains the rest of the kids. She’s actually the center attention, enthusiastically claiming she’s a Powers and using her imagination to think of scenarios. Socializing is definitely doing her good, as she not only gets to use all of her bright and clever ideas to help people, but she’s becoming more confident.

Walker, however, feels bad. He has Calista stay with him temporarily until he solves the Retro Girl case, and Calista immediately looks to Walker and Deena, his partner, as parents. She even goes as far to request both of them tuck her in. With her being so close to the scene and Walker, she begins to dream.

Calista starts to see snippets and patterns in things about Retro Girl’s death. Not realizing this means she’s the second incarnation, she asks Walker what one word that pops into her head over and over is: Kaotic Chic. Kaotic Chic was graffiti written by an Anti-Powers movement and the guy that killed Retro Girl, right at the scene of the crime. With this vital clue and more digging, Walker arrests the appropriate culprit--just a normal, everyday human--and closes the case.

Once the case is closed, Walker asks how she knew the words--Calista says a pretty woman appeared to her in her dream and told her a story.“The oldest story ever told” where there’s a girl, who‘s “literally the best girl ever.” Every once and a while someone stops the girl from being the best girl ever, but she always finds a way to go on. The woman in her dream--Retro Girl--also tells Calista that she told Walker this a while ago when they were dating, but she told him to forget so he did. Calista also asks why her, and Retro Girl simply says “that’s just the way it is.” and that “Everything happens for a reason.” With that epiphany, Calista also explains that Walker no longer has to worry about her, and is soon found a new family to live with and be raised by. Walker promises to visit her constantly, especially since Calista bluntly says she really wants to live with him.


The Sellouts
Calista is whisked away and lives a relatively normal life for awhile, drifting in and out of contact with Walker. She’s just entering High School when Deena and Walker are looking into a powers team called Unity who had long since disbanded. The result would be one of the members of Unity, a Powers whose level is just above 9, decides to fix all of the strife in the world. His Powers being nuclear-related, he sets off nuclear blasts in the Vatican in Rome and burns the Pope alive, the Gaza Strip, and his home of Story, Utah. He is taken care of by Deena and Walker, naturally, but this has the Government release an Act that makes all Powers whatsoever illegal.

Calista, beginning to gain actual powers and not just snippets of things, remains hidden and tries to ignore them. She attempts to live a normal life, even getting a job at a record store. Ever the misfit and rebel, despite her parents being affluent and full of love for her she begins to pierce her face and dye her hair blonde, though subconsciously it’s a move to look just like the first Retro Girl.

Legends
With the ban on Powers, super villains are on the rise. The good Powers obey the law and don’t use them--the bad ones, however, exploit this as a way to run amok and do anything from petty thievery to murder. Three big mafia-like Powers secretly rule: the Luck, the Bug, and the Lance.

Calista is, for the most part, trying to stay away from all of it. She’s cashing her cheque from her part-time job when someone with Powers holds it up and attempts to rob it. A voice --Retro Girl, the same one she’s been hearing on and off--tells her to put an end to it. Her powers manifest, and she knocks him out.

Calista immediately knows what to do. She makes a new costume and decides to call herself the next Retro Girl and let people think Retro Girl hasn’t actually died--which is true, technically, since Calista is her reincarnate. She rebels against the government without a second thought, following her intuition and what she believes the old Retro Girl would do. After that’s done, she tracks down the Powers she knocked out, wanting to finish the battle. Walker and Deena are there on a case that involves him, though, and so Calista swoops in to save them from a harmful blast. She quickly disappears, not wanting Walker or Deena to know it’s her, but she creates an entire whirlwind of media attention. Retro Girl is back.

Walker, a sharp detective and also close in relationship with Calista, immediately contacts her and demands to know why she made a costume. Calista, impressed, just seems proud of herself. Walker, however, is upset she’s using Retro Girl’s likeliness. Calista explains that she IS the previous Retro Girl, including showing off her powers and flying. She figures this is the most straightforward she can possibly be with Walker--besides, she’s excited as to where this will take her. Just before she takes off Walker grabs her leg and lectures her that people can probably see. Calista, not thinking of the consequences to her actions, literally picks him up and forces him to fly, thinking Walker just needs to remember what it’s like to have Powers. Walker, of course, not only lectures but gets angry. (”If anyone sees you, I’d have to take you in. I’d HAVE to. I’m a cop. What you’re doing is illegal--” to which she responds with “Yeah, so?”).

Calista, exasperated, explains that she’s not trying to piss Walker off--she feels like she needs to help him, not only because of his past relationship with the old Retro Girl, but because Walker helped her when no one else was there for her when she was younger. She’s scared and trying to impress him, and Walker seems like the only safe choice to tell. She’s hearing voices and (still thinks) she might be insane, but she’s also realizing that she’s helping people and that’s what Retro Girl and all of her past reincarnations want.

Her actions, dressing up as a hero and ignoring the law--becoming a true vigilante--inspires other heroes, including an entire team lead by Crystal and Queen Noir, to resurface and flat-out ignore the ban on Powers. Calista, standing up for what she believes in and following her destiny, has started a Powers revolution.

Psychotic, Cosmic & Secret Identity
The next few arcs has her under Walker’s mentorship, learning about how to be a proper superhero with her Powers and learning more about them. Walker is a father figure, of course, but Calista is still quick to act and prone to not thinking things through. She’s proven to very much be a typical teenager, even focusing on stuff like how big her butt looks like on news footage of her saving various people. Walker’s main issue with Calista is that she doesn’t have the patience to think things through but then quickly explains she can’t hesitate, either--it’s something Calista will always be confused about, and try her best to reign in. She does take one of Walker’s pieces of advice to heart, and it seems to motivate her to do better: ”Don’t get me wrong, you did good. You just gotta remember, everyone else in the world has a life they are trying to get through. Last thing they need is a big, dumb superbattle.”

The next time she’s called in by Walker, it’s a case where the wife of a Powers has snapped and killed her husband and his nemesis for putting away their Powers costumes once and for all, ignoring the vigilante heroes practicing again. The wife (and mother of a baby) uses the jewel her husband got his Powers from once she realizes she’s going to be taken to jail. The entire thing is incredibly reminiscent of Calista’s first time meeting Walker, with someone holed up with a kid. Because it’s an infant, Calista acts more careful than usual. She manages to win (in a “totally uncool way”) by tackling the mother to the ground and disarming her and in all of the kerfuffle Deena learns that Calista’s Retro Girl.

She continues to fight crime, mostly minor, and on a chance stop at Walker’s to use his bathroom as his is closest, she finds him in a superhero costume and unconscious. At first she thinks it’s just something kinky and private and begins to tease him, but once it’s apparent he’s not awake or conscious she starts to panic. In the midst of her mild freakout, Walker does wake up. Calista is the first to learn that Walker has a new set of Powers to replace the ones he lost, this time given to him by a guardian of the universe/galaxy. Immediately after waking up Walker is called to action by his new Powers. Retro Girl, not one to miss an opportunity to see some action, tags along. They venture outside Earth’s atmosphere and she sees Walker fight some aliens and narrowly win, falling unconscious once more. Calista helps get his body back to Earth, helps him recover, and keeps the entire thing a secret while she continues to fight crime, helping if Walker calls.


The 25 Coolest Dead Superheroes of All Time
Eight months later, a Powers virus breaks out. Those infected with it have electric Powers but, like a drug, they need to constantly shock other people to feel good and remain alive. Shocking someone either kills them or gives them the virus, in turn. The ringleaders are targeting teenagers, girls specifically. Deena Pilgrim, who has disappeared from the police force, has secretly contracted the virus. Deena is using it to kill other Powers Junkies, and is the prime suspect.

Calista’s school makes an entire announcement about it and it triggers her to take action. She immediately heads to the police precinct and announces she wants to go undercover to find whoever’s causing this. Walker immediately shuts the idea down, citing that Calista doesn’t even know the full extent of her Powers, but she insists. As time progresses, he sees that it’s the only shot they have.

Since the girls are mostly disappearing in a certain night club, Calista shows up there with a wire and everything needed to have the precinct spy on everyone. She learns nothing at first, just that the place is even more popular now that there’s dead people attributed to it. It’s halfway through the evening when something happens: Calista meets a stranger in the crowd who kisses her and gives her a jolt---the start of the Powers virus.

Chaos breaks out once it’s cited--Deena, still hellbent on vigilante justice, kills the guy immediately with her new Powers. One of Walkers old Powers friends, Triphammer, detains Deena immediately after that. Everyone starts running, and in the midst of all of the chaos, Calista passes out and gets taken to an old abandoned theatre. She’s jolted with the Powers virus on a larger scale, and her Powers amplify the effect. The Junkie ringleaders decide to up the price for who gets to zap her and feel that particular rush, since it’s “divine.” Calista plays along as being catatonic and weak to get as many names and information as possible until she notices Deena in the crowd. Deena had been using the fact that she also has the virus as a way to pose as a Junkie as well, and the two simultaneously start attacking to finish the huge pile of Junkies and the ringleaders off.

Calista, mid-fight, will wake up in Wonderland.

Abilities/Special Powers: Flight: Self-explanatory. Calista is able to fly, though her legs “feel heavy” when doing it. Depending on how fast she’s going, the bottom of her feet may glow orange, causing her flight path to look like an orange streak.
Invulnerability: Again, self-explanatory. As Retro Girl, she’s able to withstand going through walls or floors with nary a scratch on her, though it does hurt. Someone with an extreme level of strength--such as, for explanations sake, the Hulk--can still hurt her.
Super Strength: She is able to lift cars, people, and huge sections of fallen debris if necessary.
Reincarnation: Not completely explained, the mantle of Retro Girl--though she wasn’t always called as such--will live on. If someone manages to kill Calista, her powers will simply transfer to someone else. It is, at the moment, unclear how the other person is chosen.
Third-Person Sample:

She didn’t really expect ‘Welcome to Wonderland’ to be real. Figurative, maybe--okay definitely figuratively--but not follow the rabbit, holy shit look at this mansion. Walker warned Calista about a lot of things: dimension travelers, aliens (she saw that first hand), generally shitty people, but warning and actually seeing are two completely different things. She’s figured this is the dimension-hopping sort of deal.

Calista straightens up, wishing she had her costume, and brings a hand to her neck to press down so she can crack it. Once it makes a satisfying criiiick, the blonde nods to herself and begins to try to figure out a way from the hedge maze she miraculously wound up in. Sure, she could fly, but she’s not quite sure what’s kosher here or not. Last thing she needs is a witch hunt and--

“Oh, gross. When did I become Walker? “

Besides. Thinking about it, she doesn’t have time to try to figure out why she’s not in an an old theatre with a poster of Cosette from Les Miserable looming over her as she kicks the shit out of Junkies. That’s the last thing she remembers, at least.

“Shit! Deena!” It’s said without a hint of frustration, mainly at herself. Screw this waiting thing. Outfit or not, Calista lifts up off of the ground, trying to get to a higher vantage point to get out of the maze and try to find Walker’s partner. She’s got cops to save, now.


First-Person Sample: Hiiiiii. [ Yeah, this is awkward. Calista still doesn’t have her costume, so she’s trying to do her best lost-teenager-in-Wonderland impersonation, as opposed to her ‘I’m 90% sure someone with Powers zapped me here’ self. She grins, waves at her captive audience, and then immediately huffs a piece of hair out of her face. ]

Okay, so. Step one: be kidnapped. Step two: introduce yourself to your kidnappees? Is that how it goes? Is there a training manual, or instructional video, or like a series of things on Youtube to help a girl out? An awful lot of you guys look used to this whole shitty situation, which is one part worrying and one part kinda bad-ass, if I’m gonna be honest.

Any chance Retro Girl’s going to swoop in and save the day?

[ Calista, your ego is showing. ]