Surprise, verb: to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness
-to make an unexpected assault on
Surprise, noun: something that surprises someone; a completely unexpected occurrence, appearance, or statement
The nature of surprise is very adverse and unpredictable. What might dictate something being a 'surprise' in one scenario, could ultimately be the norm in another. This leads to the versatility and near randomness of Lenox's power. Both it's strength and it's weakness. Lenox will be able to utilize 'surprise' at different levels. The threshold to gain a new level of power will be dictated by a specific trigger that changes his way of thinking or perceiving, granting him access to a more diverse and unstable pool of abilities. The higher the level, the greater the risk and cost to himself.
Upon discovery, Lenox will be able to manifest the power of surprise in two forms.
Tangible and
intangible. Deciding between the two is a decision that can only be made once per day. In order to switch, Lenox needs to rest his body and mind for an equal portion of how long he used the power for. This makes deciding which version of his power word, crucial. This could change the more attuned to his powers, Lenox becomes. (and if the GM allows it)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________First level:
In the beginning the
tangible form of surprise will be the ability to take/strike without being seen. To better explain, Lenox will have the ability to strike someone in the face or steal an item from their hand while appearing to not move at all. The limitation to this ability being they must be within arms reach, as well he has the risk of hurting himself more than the person or object if he's not careful. The
intangible form of surprise will consist of telepathy. He can not read someone's thoughts, unless they openly accept a 'link' with him and even then his ability to accept mental words is only limited to what the person is actively projecting towards Lenox. The maximum distance he can communicate with someone via telepathy is as far as he can throw any given object.
Second level:
If Lenox is appropriately triggered and mentally stimulated, he will be able to tap into the next tier of 'surprise' as he perceives it. The
tangible form of this tier of surprise will be the ability to make duplicates of himself. These clones he can create are created by Lenox crating an image of himself and stepping away. This allows him to run in a direction and create several clones. Each clone he creates takes a physical toll on his body and there ultimately is a limit to how many clones he can create. Each clone is only as strong as Lenox himself is, but their general constitution is much weaker. A hard enough punch would make one disappear, exhaustion also will force these clones to disappear.
Intangibly, Lenox gains the innate sense of danger. Much like a spidey-sense, Lenox feels a severe shiver shoot up his spine if someone or something is about to directly act with the intent to harm or kill against Lenox. It doesn't give him any specific direction, or clues to what the danger might be. He just knows that something is about to happen to him.
Third level:
Upon a more significant and life threatening trigger giving Lenox a new perception of his word, Lenox will be granted a third powerful and dangerous tier of surprise.
Tangibly Lenox will have the ability to teleport. He can only teleport places he can physically see, or has familiarized himself with for a total of 12 hours. The range as well is how far he can throw any given object, he is unable to teleport with any living person. Only objects he can hold.
Intangibly the third tier of surprise allows Lenox to make people hallucinate. The only limit is his imagination, but he must maintain concentration and have made physical contact with the person prior to attempting this power. He can only make a person hallucinate if they are within sight of him. The longer he holds a hallucination, the harder it becomes to create that visual image.
Fourth level:
The fourth and final tier of surprise is the most dangerous and unstable level of surprise. This level can only be reached by reaching the three tiers prior and his being must be in grave danger to finally break this threshold. To unlock the fourth level of surprise, death must be an almost certain outcome forcing Lenox to look deep inside himself and re-imagine his entire way of thinking.
Tangibly this extreme level of power will grant him the ability to cause an area as wide as 15 feet around him to suddenly be deprived of gravity, or have extreme levels of gravity causing people to either float in the air or be trapped under pressure. Either version of this power, the stress will be extreme on his body. He can not extend or change the effected area around him. Maintaining this level of power will not be easy, or comfortable. He risks many hazards from breaking his own bones under pressure or causing objects to fall/rise and strike him or any other person.
Intangibly Lenox can have brief glimpses into the immediate future. He can not see past 15 seconds of what is going to happen. What he see shows only the immediate events of what happens to him, or anyone he has an emotional attachment to. To call upon this power, Lenox must deprive his body of his senses and meditate for a split moment. There is no guarantee that he will see anything.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Cost:
The risk of each tier increases as it involves more of his body and mind, leaving him vulnerable if anyone or thing could find a way to exploit it. The limits of his tangible powers are directly reflected by his physicality and any strain his body is put under. Whether he is harmed by making a personal mistake, miscalculation or is appropriately countered. Lenox is only human and therefore has his limits. Using his powers will generate several side effects; tangible symptoms could include illness, fatigue, soreness, cramping, sores or bruises along with many other symptoms. Along with other physical ailments, any damage he may receive. The intangible risks could results in mental scarring and damage if recklessly utilized or countered by anyone/thing else. If his intangible abilities were to actually harm Lenox, he would experience shocks within the skull, white flashes in his vision, dizziness, nausea, temporary amnesia, temporary partial/full blindness, paralysis, numbness and sudden sleepiness, nosebleeds and possibly more. As he progresses and uses his powers more in a given tier, the likelihood of side-effects will decrease as his body adjusts and becomes stronger. The fourth level of power guarantees several side-effects for Lenox no matter the degree in which he uses his powers.
"What's the look for? Did I startle you?"