Shaw

Shaw is a Zalak firefighter from Lungmen, and also a fugitive from the multiverse. She has existed in MM since April 13, 2021.

Appearance
Shaw is a short, humanoid figure with short brown hair and fair skin. She is rarely if ever seen without her fireman's uniform on, complete with a helmet with two pointed earholes at the top. Her tail is long, brown, and bushy, as well as prehensile.

Personality
Though she’s tiny, and very nervous, Shaw's energy is boundless when it's time for duty. She's the kind of fighter who refuses to go down until there is absolutely no power left in her body, and even then she'll try for last hits. To her, every life saved is as precious as the feeling of having a big, shiny apple. This Zalak would absolutely lay down her life for the sake of others and would only regret being unable to do more.

She's consistently on the alert for any new danger, and will leap into protocol at the first sight of something going wrong. Shaw is good at paying attention to the details and will often notice flaws nobody else would've until it was too late, especially where fire hazards are involved. Nothing makes her angry like deliberately ignored safety protocols, which she could rant about for minutes on end.

Unless it's an absolutely desperate situation, Shaw will not disobey the commands of her authority, as she looks to them for self-worth. She even feels strong remorse whenever she does need to go against orders despite it often having been for the greater good.

This socially awkward little squirrel often tires herself out just choosing the right words to say, at the same time being a total chatterbox once her mouth is opened. She's timid but caring, selfless despite a more introverted and frantic nature. She would appear a lot more outgoing and knowledgable if she was just a better speaker, as highlighted from the time she attempted to give a presentation on fire safety.

Shaw also seems to be something of an optimist, as her failure to educate on fire safety only left her downbeat for half the day before she realized that depression is the death of passion.

Powers, Abilties, and Weaknesses
Though she lacks powers, she does have skills in engineering and equipment maintenance. Her main battle moves are Steam Pump and High-Pressure Water Cannon, both of which involve the summoning of a fire hose. Both attacks push enemies away, but Water Cannon is significantly more effective than Steam Pump, being able to knock enemies three tiles away as opposed to Steam Pump’s slight nudge. She’s also incredibly resourceful, able to create safe passageways within minutes.

Weaknesses
While she doesn’t have a confirmed item or element weakness (aside from Originium, possibly, but she rarely comes into contact with it and is not infected), Shaw is a situational Operator compared to others. She doesn’t do melee or direct attacks very well, and could be damn near useless in areas with no hazards to exploit.

History Before MM
Shaw chose to become a firefighter in memory of a beloved fruit vendor who had been killed in an act of arson. It took her a while to be accepted to Rhodes Island because fire safety wasn't seen as a priority, but her skills in rescuing multiple people from a building set ablaze won them over. As a special OP, Shaw developed new combat skills to go with her mastery of a fire hose. She also drastically improved fire safety protocols across the island, having been left daunted by the state of the fire escapes alone.

The main enemy for the Operators was and still is Oripathy, a disease caused by too much exposure to a valuable mineral called Originium.

Some years later, Shaw was abducted from her home in Rhodes Island to become a Shacklebearer against her will. She performed many acts of terrorism during her time as a villain, most notably participating in the assault against Pandora and destroying a special Throne that kept space and dimensional travel stable.

Some silly old bear and his friends managed to hit the Shacklebearers with a massive beam of rainbow light, casting Shaw into MM, where she found that she'd been temporarily purified. She wandered the landscape as a fugitive, eventually discovering a parallel version of her team who had no clue what she'd done and took her in.

The Combine Invasion
After being denied a plotline twice, Shaw appeared in the Combine invasion event. She was too late to fight in the first round, but was able to oversee the damage and recieve word from Ghost Rider that everyone who participated is alive, albeit scattered. She decided to take it upon herself to get stronger warriors to help in the second round, travelling across the globe and hanging up flyers discussing the issue.

Along her way, one of Shaw's tires burst. While she fixed it, Byakuya and Megumin came out of hiding to approach her, asking her if she could travel with them again. Shaw refused, explaining that she had real duties again, nobody she works for knows about the atrocities she's committed, and that it'd be suspicious for three people matching the identities of the fugitives to start traveling together. Megumin was furious and retaliated, but Byakuya broke up the fight and ragged her back into the shadows with him, coldly telling Shaw that she is selfishly hiding behind authority instead of fighting for survival. He reminds her that the Nefarious Virus is still within their bodies before leaving, which troubles Shaw.

Unfortunately, by the middle of the second and final fight against the Combine, Shaw succumbed to the virus, reverting to her Shacklebearer self. She went primal with energy and slaughtered many of the Combine troops like an animal. At the same time, she became enamored by Giffany's powers, believing that the AI is what they needed for the team. As soon as the Combine were defeated and driven out, Shaw kidnapped Giffany and brought her to the reuniting Shacklebearers.

Once Giffany was reprogrammed into a fighting unit, Shaw steered her back to New York to test her new abilities, but the girls were stopped by Vaultpool and Murpool. Shaw was captured in an Ultra Ball.

The Symbiote Invasion
(Event hasn't happened yet)

Tidbits
-Within the game, Shaw speaks so quickly that her words lack spaces. This was done away with in the RP proper because it made her dialogue difficult to read.

-There is a bounty of $7,000 on Shaw's head. This is actually one of the lower bounties because in the grand scheme of the attacks, Shaw didn't do nearly as much damage as her peers.

-While serving under Emperor Nefarious, Shaw murdered multiple people with her axe. She also helped sabotage spaceships and weapons companies, escalating tensions across planets.

-She is on the lam from her original team; The team of Operators she works for now are a parallel version who do not know (yet) what Shaw has done.

-Nefarious considered having her killed due to her uselessness in comparison to the other traitors.

-After being defeated and purified, Shaw managed to stay in control of her virus with various medicines and happy thoughts. The longer she keeps her heart open, the slower the virus redevelops.

-Shaw was one of the first to succumb to the Nefarious Virus the first time.

-She has stolen weapons and artifacts from various planets, keeping them somewhere secret until she finds a way to return them.

-Shaw trained the most alongside her fellow traitor, Nearl. Her attacks were described as "rabid" and "reckless".

-Shaw is planning to shoot herself back into space when the virus takes control of her again, or when she is outed as one of the traitors.