Papercut, the Folding Girl (Barta
Malsen)
PL 10 (138 pp)
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 16, Con
14, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 14
[22 pp]
Attack: Melee +4, Hand-to-hand +8, Grapple +10, Ranged +4
[8 pp]
Defense: +6, +8 when ‘folded’ (+2 flat-footed) [8 pp]
Initiative: +7
Damage: +1 hand to hand (19-20 Crit),
+10 (penetrating, 16-20 Crit) when folded (+11 vs.
constructs or inanimate objects)
Saves: Toughness +2 / +12 when folded (+2 flat-footed),
Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +4 [5 pp]
Skills: Acrobatics 8 (+11), Bluff 2 (+4, +5 vs.
constructs), Climb 2 (+3), Computers 2 (+3), Concentration 0 (+2), Craft
(artistic) 4 (+5), Diplomacy 4 (+6), Disable Device 2 (+3), Disguise 0 (+2),
Escape Artist 4 (+7, +9 when folded), Gather Information 2 (+4), Handle Animal
0 (+2), Intimidate 0 (+2, +3 vs. constructs), Investigate 4 (+5), Knowledge
(art) 2 (+3), Knowledge (current events) 2 (+3), Knowledge (physical sciences)
2 (+3), Knowledge (streetwise) 4 (+5), Knowledge (technology) 2 (+3), Language
(Interlac, native), Medicine 2 (+4), Notice 4 (+6, +7
vs. constructs), Perform (stage magic) 4 (+6), Pilot 2 (+5), Search 2 (+3),
Sense Motive 2 (+4, +5 vs. constructs), Sleight of Hand 2 (+5), Stealth 6 (+9),
Survival 0 (+2, +3 vs. constructs), Swim 2 (+3)
[18 pp, 72 ranks in skills]
Feats: Accurate Attack, Acrobatic Bluff, Ambidexterity,
Attack Specialization (unarmed) 2, Defensive Attack, Dodge Focus 2, Evasion 1,
Favored Opponent (constructs) 1, Favored Opponent (inanimate objects) 1,
Grappling Finesse, Improved Critical (hand to hand) 1, Improved Grab, Improved
Initiative 1, Improved Defense, Improved Sunder, Instant Up, Power Attack,
Uncanny Dodge (hearing), Challenge (feint as a move action with acrobatic
bluff)
[21 pp]
Powers:
Alternate Form (two-dimensional) 10 (Insubstantial
1, Concealment 2 (visual, Flaw: Limited (treat as Partial when attacking,
Full when Passive), Strike 10 (Extra: Penetrating)), Elongation 2,
Enhanced Combat Feats 21 (Critical Strike, Chokehold, Defensive Roll 10,
Dodge Focus 2, Evasion +1, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Critical (hand to
hand) 3, Improved Grapple, Improved Pin))
[50 pp]
Originally rejected by the Freedom Legion because her
power was considered ‘too silly,’ Barta Malsen spent two years as leader of a team of similar
‘rejects.’ Studying an array of martial arts and tactical skills to compensate
for her fairly limited power, ‘Papercut, the Folding
Girl’ and her Freedom’s Rejects cut a swathe in the unsuspecting criminal
underworld, who operated under the assumption that the Freedom Legion would be
too busy with galactic threats to notice their small-scale operations.
After a crisis where the Freedom Legion was incapacitated
by a surprise attack, and the ‘rejects’ ended up saving the day, she, and her
team of rejects, were offered Freedom Legion membership, and she is now a
member in good standing.
Papercut is unnaturally thin (think Aeon Flux
thin), even in her three-dimensional form. Growing up on Mars, this ethereal
look is commonplace, and one of the reasons she was rejected initially was how
physically weak she became in Earth's higher gravity. She spent years not just
training in her powers, but also following hormone-accelerated exercise regimen
to adjust her body to the greater gravity of her new home. Pharmacopoeia's hormone
treatments weren't *perfect,* and she ended up gaining muscle mass at a
prodigious rate, but also having to shave quite a bit, changing hair color, and
her voice dropping to a rather manly tenor, which she still finds somewhat embarassing at times. Her hair has it's
own story-arc, having waist-length, gently wavy and light brown during the
tryouts, bleaching quickly to sandy-blonde (and becoming even frizzier and more
unmanageable) under the strong sunlight of Earth, and finally growing in
coarser and black after her hormone treatments. For a time, she had a 'frosted
look' of black and blonde hair, but quickly cut it all off and now has a
no-nonsense spikey black crewcut.
Thanks to modified treatments, she no longer has to worry about shaving, but
her voice never quite rose to it's original alto,
leaving her with a notably deeper voice than one would expect from such a slim
girl.
She's grown accustomed to this, as have her friends and
constant companions, but upon meeting someone for the first time, she still
gets the occasional funny look, and often gets irritated at this reminder.
During one conversation about her voice, Pharmacopoeia
pointed out that technically, she shouldn't be able to talk at all in her
two-dimensional state, as air molecules can't bounce around properly in a
two-dimensional voice-box. She stammered something about, 'Molecules, and,
harmonic, um, something to do with spinny-something,
friction-something. Shut up! It just works, alright!'
Barta wasn't born with powers, being a normal Martian girl, raised by
her scientist mother, with occasional visits from her seperated
police-man father. A laboratory accident literally crushed her out of our
three-dimensional universe, and her mother and father, in agreement on
something for the first time in 15 years (bickering about it the whole time,
nonetheless), replicated the accident and shunted themselves
into the two-dimensional reality that had swallowed up their only child. After
a series of harrowing and surreal adventures, they rescued Barta,
but she remained permanantly transformed by her time
'folded' into two-dimensional space. Their fractious relationship strengthened
by their forced time together, and shared adversity, in 'flatspace,'
her parents have since reunited, although they still haven't re-married, and
spend as much time arguing as 'making up.'
Barta eats like a horse, and her metabolism has changed so that she
seems to digest and utilize close to 95% of the foodstuffs she ingests.
Whatever microbes exist in her gut are extradimensional
in nature, and cannot survive out of her body (defying study in any event), but
are preternaturally good at their job of tearing apart organic matter to
unleash the energy within. Barta is constantly
somewhat cold, and snacks regularly to keep her energy levels up (often wearing
a sweater or some sort of jacket over her uniform). After a large meal, her
stomach throws off palpable warmth, as if she is running a high fever, and she
often feels pleasantly sleepy and warm. Still her body seems to use every bit
of this energy, and she never gains an ounce, no matter what she eats, and she
has a certain schedule for when she needs sugars and when she needs proteins,
carrying a dozen high-energy bars in the pouches that decorate her hips,
jackets and / or belts.
Due to various dramatic changes in hairstyle and costume
choices over the years, Papercut is not as easily
recognized on the street as some of her team-mates. She doesn't have a problem
with this, and prefers to stay out of the spotlight.