ILEANA RUIZ



===IDENTITY===

Full Name: Ileana Lorena Ruiz
Codename: Jalapeno
Nickname(s): Ily, Scoville Scale ;], Jala, Peps, Hot Tamale, Mace Face :[
Alias(es): None
Age: 15
Birthday: July 6
High school grade: Sophomore
Classification: Mutant
Affiliation: Neutral
Canon or Original: Original


===PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION===

Hair Color: Dark Brown (with colored streaks)
Eye Color: Brown
Height: 5'3
Weight: 115 lbs
Distinguishing Characteristics: She has 4 fake piercings. She wears fake hoops (clip-ons) in her nose and ears because she likes the look. Her hair is streaked in green or red (or both), a shout-out to her favorite peppers (and at least she doesn't have to dress up much for Christmas with hair like that).
Other: Her skin is waxy to the touch.
Play-by: Victoria Justice


===POWERS===

Power Class: Delta
Nature of the X-Gene:

Capsaicin: is the main component in chili peppers and jalapenos, and an active ingredient in pepper spray and other weapons for riot control. It is an irritating, odorless chemical that causes a burning sensation in any tissue that it comes in contact with. Ily naturally produces this chemical in her skin and saliva - and to a degree, her breath. When she comes in contact with others, prolonged exposure to her skin can cause a burning sensation, redness, or rash. Depending on her emotional state, the burning can take from five to ten minutes to grow unbearable, or it can be an instant, sharp pain to whomever grips her. The capsaicin seeps into the skin of her opponent, lingering for a couple minutes before fading - giving her time to wrench free and escape.

Her power is, more than anything, a defense mechanism to protect her from physical harm. The capsaicin forms a thin, waxy layer over her skin which makes it more durable to cuts and scrapes. It also gives her a better adaptability to heat; she can withstand the high temperature conditions longer than an average person before she becomes uncomfortable. This is not a resistance to fire, it's a resistance to the sensation of burning. It also affects her taste buds and stomach, naturally, as her body is adapted to withstand and digest hotter/spicier foods. To account for this chemical, her temperature also spikes in the 100 F range on a daily basis, depending on whether or not she is actively practicing her mutation.

When she focuses her ability, she can blow air out (or spit) with the capsaicin potency of mace. When it comes in contact with the eyes or mucous membranes, the chemical causes tears, temporary blindness* (which is rarer, and takes much more focus), stinging, and difficulty breathing* (strength of which depends on how much she puts into it), a painful stimulation of the neurons. Kissing her is the equivalent to sucking on a canister of pepper spray, which tends to dissuade most boys from getting too close. Her power does have the potential (not at present) to cause severe harm if it is continuous, potent contact with her skin. The capsaicin can cause bleeding of the mucous passages, nausea, vomiting, and as with any chemical, too much could kill you on a toxic level.

Limitations & Weaknesses:

The most obvious weakness is her inability to touch other people without causing them varied levels of pain. Like other mutants with powers that exist in the skin, she doesn't have the opportunity for normal social interaction and touch because her powers cause extreme discomfort. She doesn't have the self-control to flick her ability on-and-off; she might be able to do it as an adult, but right now it's an almost constant quality of her skin. If she's angry or afraid, or any very strong emotion that affects pulse or adrenaline, her body secretes even more of the chemical without much say from Ileana herself. She just has to deal with her body, she can't make her touch stronger or weaker by choice. As mentioned above, the more dangerous side-effects of her mutation - causing bleeding, nausea, temporary blindness, etc. are very difficult to access and take enormous concentration that she does not have. For the most part, you won't be seeing her cause these physical effects because her ability is recently manifested, she rarely gets that angry, and it causes a sense of vertigo and discomfort to her when she is overexerted in her powers (it's also just as dangerous as overexercising).

The capsaicin also affects her clothes, anything she wears or touches for an extended period of time (so if you want to borrow something she owns, you have to wash it repeatedly or risk irritation). Her ability does not in fact cause an actual burn, only the sensation of burning - so it's not a physical damage to tissue, just to nerves. Her ability is not permanent, and while it lingers for a couple minutes, submerging oneself in water or some sort of cooling liquid will chase the pain away. Because of the amount of capsaicin in her body and her craving to consume it, her tastebuds have been desensitized. Ily can no longer tell the difference between different types of food - only varied levels of hotness or spiciness. This is also negative in her tolerance for heat; because it takes her longer to register discomfort of a high temperature, it's easier for her to be burned or scalded. While her skin offers some protection, it is not enough to withstand fire.

Ileana is also hydrophobic in her skin - due to the waxy texture, it's both protective and detrimental to her health because she cannot sweat. Because her temperature is already in the higher range, a borderline-continuous fever because of her mutation, if she were to overexert herself in a sport, she has no ability to cool herself down and could pass out from heat stroke or, in extreme cases, go into a coma. Overheating can even cause brain damage if it isn't cared for. It's assumed that once she's older, she'll have better tolerance and knowledge of her limits (or an artificial way to keep her body cool), but at present she has to be careful not to wear herself out.


===PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE===

Likes:
- tarantulas
- competitions
- lying
- chipotle
- big-rimmed sunglasses
- Guillermo del Toro movies
- biology
- when she gets groped (because it's funny when they start to scream)
- hair extensions (green plz)
- birds (because birds are unaffected by capsaicin)
Dislikes:
- milk
- going to mass
- getting caught in a lie
- chain restaurants
- country music
- cold weather
- literature
- high heels
- gym class
- gloves
Strengths:
- oratory; granted, she's usually lying, but Ily is a very persuasive speaker. She can spin the most ridiculous stories and lies about things that seem otherwise unimportant - but she's very convincing while she does it
- durability; Ily gives a whole new meaning to the term "thick-skinned". She is, in both ways. It takes a lot to hurt her feelings and she's very adaptive in new situations
- memorization; having an aptitude for science (and an interest, considering her recent mutation), she's very good at straight memorization like charts, diagrams, and scientific names
- creativity; she's very hands-on with experimenting with food, music, clothing style, and hair. Ily is always trying to reinvent the norm and herself and likes to think 'outside the box'.
- helpful; so long as it doesn't involve her in a fight, Ileana is pretty nice. She'll cook for others, offer advice, tag along on late-night errands so nobody has to go alone, helping with directions or studying, things like that.
Weaknesses:
- honesty; she blurts things out habitually, and her lies often criss-cross or contradict eachother because she doesn't really plot, she just rambles. She never keeps her word or her promises, and she'd rather clam up and leave than tell the truth because she's uncomfortable with it.
- bravery; she's a coward, really. She doesn't jump in the middle of a fight to be all noble and save the day (despite the amount of attention she could get for that), mostly because she makes up a lot of the skills she has. What if someone came to her and asked for help diffusing a bomb? Yes, Ily might have said she was on a Jr. Bomb Squad or something, but it doesn't mean she actually was. She doesn't like the responsibility, and she will run from leadership positions. She will not fight, she will get help from people who can - but she lacks the confidence in herself to think that her skills, boring as they are, without any embellishment, can do much good.
- insensitive; since she lies about everything and treats even the most horrible things as side comments (e.g. complaining that her parents hit her, or that her sister was raped, or that she's a crack baby, etc.), she often doesn't see the problem in blurting out other peoples' issues too for everybody to hear.
- people; she doesn't date or make friends well. Initially, she gets along with others, but the complications with her abilities and her lying, defensiveness, and denial makes it really hard for anyone to put up with her for anything deeper than a superficial relationship
- frivolous; Ily is an impulse-buyer and she always buys random shit like flamingos or cheese graters, instead of things she actually needs
Skills:
- Cooking: Food is a very important part of Mexican culture, and she learned a lot from her mother and aunts. Stuffed tamales, enchiladas and tacos from scratch, and her own guacamole are just a few things that Ily knows how to cook. Predictably, anything she feeds you will be extraordinarily spicy - but that's the way she likes it (she finds anything less bland and tasteless).
- Music: While she isn't much of a dancer - at all, lacking coordination for sports and that ever-present fear of pushing herself too far (and growing ill), Ily is a musician. She has very good rhythm, and plays the acoustic guitar pretty well (despite her abhorrence for practicing). She started lessons when she was eleven, and has been sporadically continuing them since. Her mother constantly pressures her into taking up the violin as a 'prettier' instrument, but Ily avoids the demands.
- Impromptu: Public speaking, lying, acting, whatever, if you shove her in front of a crowd, Ily doesn't have stage fright. She makes up things on the spot on a daily basis, so instant inspiration is her thing. Often she procrastinates to the last possible second on everything because she performs better that way.

Equipment: Pfft, like Living Pepper Spray needs any equipment ;]
Habits/Quirks:
- Lactose intolerant (also a weakness, but more physical than personality-wise), she doesn't like milk or dairy products as they make her sick. Even the smell or sight of it makes her nauseas (psychological, really), and she has a deep loathing for all ice cream parlors. It makes her gag a little. Ben and Jerry's, ergh.
- She eats raw jalapenos and peppers by the bag; the way normal people eat apples? That's the way she goes after a massive yellow or green bell pepper. Delicioso.
- Lying. A lot. By which I mean, all the time. Ily is not cunning or manipulative, but she lies out of habit. She only ever tells the truth when she's been caught - and even that's in extreme cases.
- Ily can be morbid; she's really into tombs, and any time she visits a place, she instantly goes for the cemetary because she likes to see all the dates on the headstones. This mostly stems from how much her family involved themselves in the Day of the Dead festival back home.

Personality:

Pure Capsaicin: Like the Scoville Scale differentiates peppers, Ileana’s complexities span just as much a range. How does she react to her powers? They influence her personality by restricting how close she can physically be with someone else – as such, capsaicin is a security blanket. So what if she lies? So what if you catch her? There’s nothing you can do to her without getting a fistful of pepper. Her powers make her reckless, and she pushes the envelope even more now than she used to with the extravagance of her dishonesty. She’s lured into doing things for attention that she wouldn’t normally, be it shoplifting minor things or causing a disruption in class (or walking out of class altogether) – because her powers give her a sense of exception-to-the-rule. She needs discipline, because she doesn’t reign herself in. In a more negative light, capsaicin isolates her emotionally from people, so she feels more pressure to lie now that she’s a mutant for fear that people will figure out that she’s nothing but a fake (and a freak, at that). Even with her mother's acceptance, it isn't enough for Ily. She hates to be alone, and having not chosen a side – e.g. not having Brotherhood members or X-Men to befriend, makes her resentful and disheartened when she isn’t acknowledged. She’s not a loner by nature, so having a physically restrictive power is difficult.

Pepper Spray: Oddly enough, Ileana isn’t very hot-tempered (hence the reason she can’t access the more emotionally draining aspects of her ability on a whim) despite her mutation. She wants to be liked and accepted more than anything else, so she’s very needy in that regard – and can put up with a lot of insults without getting her feelings hurt. Attention is good, and while she’d prefer to make friends, she can also take condescension as a form of acknowledgment. Ileana only grows angry if she feels threatened – either physically or conversationally, particularly if she is criticized for lying. When confronted with the truth, Ily denies everything defensively, and will not admit that she is wrong until she sees physical evidence or proof to contradict what she’s said. Extremely stubborn to the point of desperation, Ily doesn’t take the truth well, growing hostile in stance (stiffening, lips pressed together, arms crossed tightly) and withdrawn (often storming off to sulk on her own). She never physically confronts people which does go along with her power, that it’s defensive, not offensive. Ily shirks confrontation and violence, preferring to run if she’s given an option. It’s just self-preservation, and the fact that she’s not a fighter. She has no skills in defending herself and relies on her mutation to keep her safe.

Habanero Chili: Habaneros thrive in hot weather and sunshine, extremely spicy with a floral scent. The whole concept of appearing to be something you're not (the reality being much less pleasant than flowers) is a main aspect of Ileana's personality. She is very gregarious and friendly (and also scorns all things wintery and cold), unafraid to start a conversation with someone else – and often asking extensive questions (both out of curiosity and a subconscious desire to relate better) about the other person. She is also insensitive with personal information; cracking jokes or casually tossing out a private thought or secret in public conversations – much to the annoyance or hurt of the person she ‘betrays’. Sometimes she doesn’t realize that such things are sensitive, since she goes to extremes (sometimes) with her lies – so the realization that someone is seriously ticked off at her about it surprises Ily, and she’ll press and poke to try to understand why her ‘friend’ is so bent out of shape. On other occasions, Ileana lets things slip intentionally. When she feels jealous or annoyed, she rambles, citing flaws or rude interpretations of secrets as a sort of underhanded passive aggressiveness. As a person, Ily is extremely passive aggressive. She’s not as blunt as pepper spray, but she’s capable of being borderline childish. Sullenness, the silent treatment, and public humiliation (through mentioning something private or blackmail-worthy) are her favorite ways to get back at people.

Cayenne Pepper: Cayenne pepper is used for spice as well as medicinal purposes – so peppers aren't all bad, not all fiery spice. Ileana is obviously petty and dishonest, but she does, at times, perform surprisingly selfless actions for others. While she would never jump in the middle of a fight to stop it, she’d call for help, and she’s far more likely to serve the purpose of ‘nurse’ than ‘warrior’, tending to injuries (granted, with gloves on) instead of causing them. Ileana listens, she thrives on the trust of others because it makes her feel – however briefly – important. If someone seems lonely, she will persist in her friendship under the impression that said person is just being difficult and they really do want help. She likes to cook – and not for herself, and she has a (bad) tendency to lie especially in circumstances that will make someone feel better. Ileana would never actively hurt someone just because – if she says something cruel, it is always provoked by something. Most of the time, she isn’t justified, but it isn’t just random spite.

Jalapeno: The crux of her personality issues come from her lying, which is as much a part of her as her codename or mutation. Ileana is very perceptive on the surface, often adapting her lies to fit with what she thinks the other person will like best. She has shaky self-confidence and a yearning for reinforcement and attention, which prompts her dishonesty because she doesn’t believe the truth is interesting enough. She's a particular kind of liar, compulsive, which isn't the same as a pathological liar. A pathological liar lies to manipulate, and works towards a goal, something they want. But psychologists say that kids who lie compulsively don't do it out of spite, but because they grew up in an environment where lying was a necessity. This is the case with Ily; she misleads people, but not to manipulate them, and not out of cruelty or amusement. It’s both a defense mechanism and a desire for attention. She tells people that her parents are dignitaries, or that they beat her, that she has a German nanny, that her nonexistent brother is a cross-dresser, that she's allergic to salad, that she used to do heroin, that she's a sky diver, etc. Some of her lies are outlandish (like the sky diver/heroin comments), some she uses for attention (that her parents beat her), some just make no sense whatsoever (such as claiming she can't speak Spanish - when she can, or bragging that her family is descendant from Aztecs, or that her grandfather was a fighter pilot in WW2). She'll lie about tiny things, that she is wearing mismatched socks (when she isn't), or that she walked to school this morning (when she took the bus) - it's a habitual action, she almost always exaggerates or outright ignores the truth in favor of a lie, no matter how small or insignificant it seems.

Bell Pepper: In the same way you can find red, green, and yellow bell peppers (which are often the most popular because they’re sweeter and lowest on the Scoville Scale), the first impression Ileana gives is extremely colorful and very in-your-face. She’s eccentric and creative, very dramatic with big hand gestures and exclamations over the tiniest things. She's very enthusiastic and optimistic in an overcompensating way - and it takes some time being around her before you realize what an unreasonable liar she really is. She prefers to rapidly change the subject in her evasion of confrontation and deep questions, she's impatient and likes to be entertained - but she has a lot of trouble entertaining herself. She finds other people and their reactions give her more self-confidence and a sense of worth than sitting around doing nothing, or reading a book, or watching TV. She likes to be active and involved in everything (which also translates to her love of gossip and social outings, no matter how meaningless the errand).


===PERSONAL BACKGROUND===

Family:
Rosa Lenzano - Grandmother, 67 [Human]
Rafael Lenzano - Grandfather, 70 [Mutant - DECEASED]
- Guadalupe Riuz (nee Lenzano) - Mother, 39 [Human]
-- Miranda Lenzano - Aunt, 41 [Human]
---- Laura Lenzano - Cousin, 25
-- Patricia Hernandez (nee Lenzano) - Aunt, 45 [Human]
-- Alejandro Hernandez - Uncle, 45 [Human]
---- Gabriela Hernandez - Cousin, 17 [Human]
---- Felix Hernandez, Cousin, 12 [Mutant, powers have yet to manifest]
Berenice Riuz - Grandmother, 68 [Human - DECEASED]
Cesar Riuz - Grandfather, 68 [Human - DECEASED]
- Lorenzo Riuz - Father, 40 [Human]
Mariola Riuz - Sister, 20 [Human]

Place of Origin: Guadalajara, Mexico
History:

Ileana was born in Guadalajara in July to her parents Guadalupe, who worked in the food service industry (serving lunches to kids in elementary school) and Lorenzo, formerly of the Mexican military and now in security. As an infant, she was diagnosed with the inability to sweat, a medical condition known as anhidrosis - and it was considered strange by the doctors in that the condition wasn't accompanied by any other disease or syndrome (it's usually a side effect of a deeper problem with the sympathetic nervous system). Of course, now it's assumed that anhidrosis was just an aspect of her mutation without any other cause. Her skin had a bit of a waxy tint to it (she didn't have much excess body hair at all, apart from her scalp) - but this only grew more pronounced, thicker, once her powers manifested.

Anhidrosis poorly affected her childhood during summer months in Mexico; she often had to stay inside because she was prone to heatstroke, and through trial-and-error, her parents learned not to let her do sports, or run around with other kids. It was an easy excuse to keep their daughter under control. Ileana was raised in a very strict, very Catholic household which meant that negotiation or compromise with their daughters was not highly prized by the Riuz parents. There was no sexual abuse, or habitual domestic abuse - but she was rather afraid of her father's yelling (and still doesn't like when people yell at her), and her mother's discipline.

Whenever the girls did something wrong - granted, it had to be pretty severe, not coming home after school and making her worry, leaving their rooms a mess after she asked them to clean up, temper tantrums, or fighting amongst themselves, their mother would tell them to go out into the yard, to the brambles, and a pick a switch (a sort of wooden rod). If the switch wasn't thick enough, the punishment would be twice as bad - so it was corporal punishment (similar to birching; the hitting wasn't nearly as scary as the anticipation of it, and the waiting, so it was stressful. Her mother always said, though, that Ileana was 'thick-skinned'. None of the marks were ever permanent, and it never split her skin). There were a lot of restrictions; the girls were expected to go to school and perform very well (anything less than an A was cause for disappointment), come home and do their chores, help their mother with dinner, go to Mass every Sunday and Wednesday, and there wasn't much socializing outside of the family - definitely not with boys.

The reason for her parents, particularly her mother, acting in such a strict way primarily had to do with Ily's aunt, who had gotten pregnant with her daughter, Laura (Ily's first cousin) at 16. It was an embarrassment for the entire family because she was unmarried and supposedly a 'good Catholic girl' so the scandal gave a very bad reputation to all the sisters. It even compromised Guadalupe's future relationships with boys from good families, and sometimes she feels that she had to 'settle' for the sake of domestic stability. Guadalupe never quite forgave her sister for doing such a foolish, reckless thing, and she was determined to keep her daughters from being lured into the same corruptive mindset. She was overly strict for what she suffered in childhood - and this was the root of Ileana's lying. She started to make things up from a young age out of an understandable reason of wanting to avoid punishment.

At the age of 11, in the middle of July not two weeks after her birthday, her father left. Ileana doesn't know why - it could have been fighting, or an affair, or that he was simply bored with the father role, or a new job. Her mother never talked about it - she cried, and then with a sort of tough, feminine resilience, rid the house of all his pictures and everything pertaining to him. Ileana made up fantastic stories about where he'd gone, that he was really a spy that had been called away on a mission that could not be deterred, that he was touring with a band, that he was looking for treasure, that he was on a safari in Africa, that he would come back, eventually, after he had all of these amazing, exciting experiences. She still lies about it today, either referring to her parents as together (despite not having seen her father in five years), or to her father as dead, or to him as on some exotic, rich adventure somewhere in South America.

Her mother could not afford to take care of her two daughters on the salary she was on, and her husband left her nothing when he abandoned the family. So Guadalupe decided to immigrate to the United States, and ironically enough, was forced to turn to her sister, Miranda - who'd managed to rise above her unfortunate past as a statistical teen mother, and who now lived in upstate New York with her boyfriend-turned-fiance while her daughter, Laura, attended Queen's College in NYC, pursuing a nurse's degree. The entire family up and moved to America, which was completely overwhelming for an eleven year old who spoke - at best - very broken English, most of which was slang adapted from TV shows. Things changed, a lot, once she got to New York - the girls were enrolled in a public school, the family lived in a very modest flat in one of the burrows, and Guadalupe took a job serving lunch to the students at her daughters' high school (there were certain benefits for working with the school).

It was embarrassing, for Ily, who didn't want to admit that she didn't have a lot of money, that her dad wasn't with them, that her mother had to work at such a, well, less than glamorous job. Mariola hated the school, but she was a teenager, she didn't speak much English (it was harder for her to pick up than Ileana, because she was older), and despite the cultural diversity of the inner city, it was really hard for her to find a place where she fit in. Ily didn't want to be like that, so she continued to make up stories, that her mom was really a famous supermodel who worked in the city and that she had a really big house but nobody could ever come over because they were always throwing fancy benefits and parties. She would start to experiment with her clothes and hair, claiming that it was fashionable in South America, or that she'd gotten tips from her mother's stylist, etc. - and after losing her husband Guadalupe became more lax with her daughters. She was busy working, and Ileana suddenly had free time and a lot of culture to take in.

She got away with lying - for a long time. It wasn't until her sister graduated and left home on a scholarship to study in Manhattan that things got a little shaky. Ileana no longer had anyone at home most days. Her mother was always working, having taken up a secondary job as a waitress in the evenings, and she and her sister had become much more distant thanks to high school (Mariola was almost as good of a liar as Ileana, considering how she managed to sneak out to meet various boys during that time); upon her sister's graduation, just before starting high school, Ily felt very isolated (even with her so-called friends). Ileana was more eager than ever to be popular and accepted, but her freshman year of high school was not the best time in her life. In fact, it was just a mess. The teachers knew whose daughter she was, whose sister, and despite all of Ileana's attempts to deny the fact that she was related to them, she couldn't. One of the girls in her class thought it was really weird that the teacher kept talking about Ileana's mother, and her sister, and while Ily tried to deny it - she really couldn't once she was in the lunchline, and someone bluntly asked Mrs. Ruiz whether or not Ily was her daughter. She said yes, naturally, she didn't know it was something to be ashamed of.

Things did not go well after that. It spread, that Ily was a liar, that her parents weren't rich or famous, that the reason she didn't invite people over wasn't because her parents were always throwing big parties but because she was too poor and she was too embarrassed. Everything went to hell, from Ily being pseudo-accepted (she didn't have close friends because, of course, she was always lying and couldn't keep a damn secret to save herself) to being humiliated and bullied. And naturally, on top of everything else, losing her friends, having all these crazily constructed lies fall apart in front of her eyes, her powers decided to manifest during this time. It was early March when this happened (so she's only gotten comfortable with her mutation for the last six months). Though to be honest, it was probably her X-gene that saved her. She was cornered after school one day by a group of kids who were ticked off, who thought she'd make an easy target, who thought it'd be funny - she had apparently pissed off the wrong people, spilling secrets, or abusing trust, and she was terrified. They could have beaten the crap out of her, if they really wanted to, nobody was going to stand up for someone who cried wolf on a daily basis - but the first person to lay a hand on her, one of the boys grabbed her arm - it was bare, she was in a short-sleeved sweater, her jacket tied around her waist - to shove her up against the wall as the others crowded around.

Suddenly, seconds later, he let her go, and started screaming and shaking his hand up and down like she'd set a flame underneath it. Shocked and scared, Ileana shoved at him to get him out of the way, her palms connecting to his arms - only making it worse. Two of the kids tried to grab her, one of them was smart enough to hang onto to the shirt-sleeve instead of her skin, and the first blow came as a slap and a demand to know what the hell she had done to their friend. Yeah, like Ily knew? She was just as lost as they were, and rather than answer, she spit at him, face stinging from the effects of the smack (and so were his fingers, but for different reasons). And they got scared, seeing as the other two were in so much pain from having grabbed her. Ileana didn't give them a chance to learn from their mistakes, she just ran home.

She dragged her fingers through her hair, touched her face with her hands, no effect, and the phone calls started - from outraged parents demanding to know why a little girl had mace with her - and for once, when her mother interrogated her, Ileana told the truth. She had no idea what had happened, it wasn't her fault, they started it. Disbelieving, her mother grabbed her by the arm, wrenching her forward to demand she tell the truth, and all Ileana remembers is being so terrified, and finding it so hard to breathe, and watching Guadalupe flush, eyes widened, as the chemical scalded her too, forcing her to recoil from her own daughter. The family was in disarray - thank God for Charles Xavier. He showed up early the next morning, offering help, offering understanding to the Mexican women who didn't know how to react. Her mother hesitantly wondered if it was something evil, if Ileana was sick, and although the girl instantly denied her mutant powers upon first meeting Xavier, it was pretty plain to everyone that she needed help.

She couldn't go back to school, the exposure was too high, Xavier suggested she transfer to Bayville, go to a school that also had a high concentration of other 'special' individuals, gifted individuals, so they could help look out for Ileana. Surprisingly enough, for a religious woman Guadalupe accepted her daughter's powers without much complaint. This is mostly due to the fact that her father (Ily's grandfather) was a mutant - not that they had known him by that term (and not that it was widely known outside the immediate family). His powers were just considered a gift from God, the fact that he had relatively strong psionic abilities, specificially telekinesis. Even though she was tolerant of this revelation about her daughter, Xavier was not nearly as well-received. At first, Guadalupe rejected the help out of a misplaced sense of pride, that, well, she could take care of her own child, she didn't need someone coming in and taking her away. It was a shaky month-long process to cajole her mother that switching schools might be good for her, and while Ileana also refused the option to move into the Mansion (out of a desire to stay with her mother, a fear of her mutation, and a fear of the telepath's abilities to read her thoughts), they moved to a small house in the suburbs of Bayville. The rent wasn't as expensive as it was trying to hold onto a flat in NYC, and although Guadalupe has to commute to work now, she quit her second job in the city and now works as a waitress here in Bayville.

Ileana lives at home, and while she has to retake some freshman classes at Bayville High (because she was pulled out for the rest of the semester thanks to the complications with her powers), she's happier here than she was in the city. Her English has vastly improved, apart from times when she simply can't think of the right word and switches to Spanish. Her biggest issues? She has to deal with the fact that when she sneezes, it's like a spritz of pepper spray, and the fact that her skin has become increasingly more waxy with a filmy layer over it - a side effect of her body's production of capsaicin. Other than that, things are going pretty well. They don't know anything about her here, she can learn to control her mutation, she can make an entirely new persona if she wants. Let the lies begin :]

******

RP Sample:

Ily crushed the chili powder in a separate bowl, the consistency thinning from paste to soup as she spilled stream after stream of Tabasco Pepperfest sauce into the mix. The kid across from her kept looking up and staring because she stopped, tasted it, and never seemed content with the flavor. "I used to have a whole barrel of naga jolokia," she remarked proudly, an underlying slur to the words indicative of her Spanish accent, "but the house was broken into two weeks ago, and they took my peppers. And my dog. Did you know I had a dog? His name was Carlos." She had not, in fact, ever had a dog. And despite the fact that she'd do just about anything for a chance to taste the naga jolokia peppers - the hottest chili peppers, arguably, in the world - she'd never gotten her hands on any. She didn't even know where to find them, but he didn't know that, did he?

Obviously not.

There was silence, at least until she shifted, flicking a flake of pepper off her green tank top and assessing her companion across the table. He made her grin. "Gri-i-ingo," Ileana drawled teasingly, raising her eyebrows as she watched the boy fumble with a tablespoon to dig the pit out of one of her avocados. He was one of the neighborhood boys whom she'd invited over because he was shy and didn't talk much, and she talked plenty for both of them. Not to mention he was pretty cute. It didn't matter, not when Ily knew she could make him cry with a carefully aimed sigh if her powers were coursing strong. She was just eager to get to know people in Bayville before school started. "What are you doing? This isn't rocket science or anything - you can just use your hands - did you wash your hands? Because if you didn't, then why didn't you just say so? Handling food with dirty hands can make you muy enfermo." She paused, pointing the slim, silver knife at him, no longer slicing the bits of onion on the white cutting board. She took a breath before launching into, "Uno de mis primos - cousins, si? He didn't wash his hands while handling oranges, and he accidentally cut himself and he got gangrene. They had to chop his hand off."

The poor boy widened his eyes, a bit of a queasy expression on his face, to which Ily just nodded, twisting a bright green strand of hair around one finger slowly, "Sí, es verdad, it was either chop it off or let his entire arm rot off. It was gross. Muy repugnante, because, you know, there isn't good medical care in México." Of course, the only male cousin she had was twelve, and he had both of his hands - but that was a minor detail. Ileana flashed a bright smile, "But I don't think you'll get gangrene. You're probably safe." He got up and mumbled something about antibacterial soap anyway, crossing the kitchen to the sink. Skittish boy, he didn't know anything about gangrene, did he? Ileana reached across the table, gold bangles jangling together on her wrist as she snatched up a half of his skinned avocado off the table, using her fingers to pluck the pit out - and dropping it into the wide-rimmed ceramic bowl. Sprinkled garlic, cubed tomatoes, salt, all she needed was to add the onions, a little lemon juice, crush the avocado, oh! And the chili sauce. Because guacamole was muy insípido without any spice.

She was excited, enthusiastic about using this kid as the first experiment. Ily believed that if they weren't crying, it wasn't spicy enough - so for good measure she reached for the thin slices of yellow bell pepper. A little overkill never really hurt anyone.
******

Player Information
Name: Jocelyn
Age: Like a good wine ;]
RP Experience: Follow the trail of Avvy's verbally abused characters.
Desired Member Title: H O T tamale
How did you find us?: Mapquest
Any other characters?: Raven Darkholme (Risty Wilde), Kitty Pryde
And lastly... the word?: Raspberry