Mindleech
Contents
Appearance
Emily DeMarche is a pale, attractive woman in her early thirties. In costume, she wears green and white tights with a face exposing mask. She normally wears a black wig as she can't grow hair anymore. The reason is apparent if she doesn't have her mask or wig on: a large, insect like creature is attached to the back of her head, replacing nearly a full third of it. It's legs can be seen stuck into the sides of her head and its tail has burrowed into her neck.
Background
Emily always wanted to get out of Sandstone. It's a weird place. And when it's not weird, it's boring. When she was a little girl she always had big dreams. A model? An actress? Maybe a scientist or some other academic field? None of this really panned out, however. Her father passed away from cancer and only a year later her mother died from poisoning caused by mutated insects that had taken residence in a barn she was trying to sell outside of town. At thirteen she was taken in by family friends who treated her as more of a house guest than a part of their family.
She grew up, graduated and moved out, taking a dead end job at a local diner and marrying a friend of a friend named Trevor Vardeen right out of high school. Her job was unfulfilling and her marriage even more so. After their first child Trevor started becoming verbally abusive and controlling. She often suspected him of cheating, especially while she was pregnant with their second child, but she couldn't work up the nerve to leave him.
Then something changed. An alien parasite that had escaped a nearby military facility by burrowing out ended up in her back yard. Hungry and confused, it ambushed the woman while she was doing laundry and ate through the back of her head and brain, implanting itself into place. Instead of killing her it bonded with her head to replace the missing parts, even allowing her to keep her old memories... while adding new abilities. And all it took was a few moments of indescribable agony.
It wasn't long after this that her husband ended up dead, rendered a lifeless vegetable due to 'unexplained circumstances'. The grieving widow wasn't suspected for a second and she had soon moved away. In fact, during the next few years she moved suddenly several times, each time leaving a mysterious killing in her wake. Finally she ended up in Millennium City where she tried to set herself up as a hero. With mostly disastrous results. Mostly because she had no real desire for it and it was a cover up for things she'd done in the past. Things that eventually caught up to her.
She made a few deals after the authorities caught up to her to avoid prison, but these deals fell through and after a rather large battle she ended up being taken in for killing and draining the mental energy of her husband and no less than six others, three of which were in other states. Now she's hoping for something else that will keep her from rotting away in jail or getting dissected or at the very least allow her to visit her children.
Personality
At one time, Emily DeMarche was a dispirited and meek woman. Quiet, sullen and given to bouts of depression. After the parasite though and the powers it brought her she became much more assertive and manipulative. She has never truly meant to kill anyone but she has to feed on mental energy to live and feels little (real) remorse for those she's harmed.
Despite this, she is a devoted and caring mother who would do anything for her children. She's not a monster... or at least she doesn't see herself as one.
Powers and Abilities
-The Al'graan Parasite: The bug attached to Emily's head gives her telekinetic powers, allowing her to lift and manipulate objects from a distance, shield herself and even 'fly' in short bursts. She has weak telepathy that allows her to communicate silently with one other person in sight and read surface thoughts if they aren't carefully guarded. Finally, it allows her to devour mental energy from intelligent beings, a process that can kill if too much is taken.
-Scheming Mind: DeMarche is a good liar, manipulative and is good at multi-tasking thanks to the parasite.
The Al'graan Parasite
Found by the US military and kept on a base in southern New Mexico until its eventual escape, the parasite is from the planet Al'graan. The world is mostly peaceful and the parasites are often used in positive ways to assist everyday life. Some Al'graan parasites have been in families for generations. The one attached to Emily was mostly dead when it found her, desperate and feral. The human mind is also ill suited to the bonding process, making it necessary for her to feed more often than usual for a normal host.
Weaknesses
-Symbiotic Blues: The parasite is the only thing still keeping Emily alive. If it was somehow removed, she would quickly die. It is also susceptible to the cold, quickly going into hibernation if exposed to extreme temperatures for too long. Emily must also take in mental energy from others around her to survive. This is more satisfying and effective with actual physical contact, but Emily has been able to feed off of 'scraps' from people around her, allowing her to go a long time without needing a full feeding.
Trivia
-Spends a lot of time reading cheap horror novellas.
-When not around other people, she likes to keep her wig off so that the parasite can 'breath'.
-Has a habit of straightening her gloves nervously while in costume. She is also very fidgety while flying and seems to dislike it.
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| Heroes: American Witch • Doll • General Freedom • Nightfang • Surova Grimwish Dobergirl • Violet Mask • Mercy • Lorekeeper • Impsblood • Midas • Greymist Wanderer Zee the Zombie • Ada Clover • Whitecloak • Ember • Tartolmec • Ultima King • Crash Fist • Bom-Pom • Aqualung | ||
| Villains: MetaCorp • Death Watch Beetle • Mindleech • Magpie Family • Other Villains • Cerulean Steel | ||
| Places & Things: PsyKiss • The Bracen Institute • The Forever Night | ||
| Groups: New Vigil (Leader) • Protectors of the World (Member) • Frontiersmen (Member) • Gen Prime (Leader) | ||
