[/font][/size][/color]




Full Name: Cole James Alexander Cash
Code Name: Grifter
Age: Thirty
Date of Birth: September Twentieth
Sexual Orientation: Hetero (straight)
Species: Mutant; "Chosen One"
Alliance: Some call him an anti-hero, but he really is a freelancer.
Citizenship: DC
Canon or Original?: DC/Image Canon... It's complicated.





Hair: Cole's hair is a yellow-blonde. To the naked eye it appears silky-smooth and fine; however to the touch it is rough and the individual strands feel coarse. He always keeps it medium-long to long. Sideburns and a light beard and moustache complete his signature look.
Eyes: An azure blue, Cole's eyes are a wonderful thing to stare into. You could have adventures all day in those two pools of water. Behind them are memories, lies, faraway, foreign places, and escapades untold.
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 195 lbs.
Distinguishing Marks: A tattoo of a sai on his back, the handle of it bent into a Z- for Zealot, or Zannah.

Appearance: Cole Cash to say the least is a dashing man, not easily forgotten among women. Many a time has his straight smile induced a swoon, or a raised eyebrow brought a self-proclaimed 'Boy-hater' to her knees in adoration. There was a scientist a few years back that discovered the face ratio for beautiful people? Cole was the model for his conclusion.
No, he's not quite that brag-worthy, but some have to admit that he comes close.
Most notable about Cole is his long head of hair and facial features. From almost the moment one meets him they are implanted with the vision of him being a rugged man, and that he is. This is part of what makes him so attractive, as well as his indomitable spirit.

Face Claim: Charles Kelley





Likes:

[/color]
•Guns- he's an expert in all types
•Fighting
•Sports
•Parties
•Alcohol- all types, but his favorite is a good Irish Scotch[/ul]

Dislikes:

[/color]
•Extreme heat- he says that he had enough working for the Army.
•Coke Products
•Loud, blaring music[/ul]

Personality: Grifter, well, I have to say can only be described one way: flippin' bad*ss. Stuck-up, arrogant, powerful, he's your classic sharpshooter, complete with trenchcoat, cigarette in one hand, and small pistol up his sleeve. Never backs down from a challenge: could be described as very bull-headed. He shows no mercy against his enemies, and has killed one or two in his existence. There is one small problem with him and this generalization, though: his attitude toward his true powers. He is reserved on this topic, and just refuses to show anyone or sometimes even acknowledge that they are present.
Under the Mask Cole Cash is two-faced. Toward most he acts tough, and because of this he has a reputation as being vengeful and mean. But to some he's one of the kindest men ever to walk the earth. It depends on wether your heart is in the right place, and if you have done him or society wrong. Also, whose stories you are willing to believe.
Though Cole is mostly business, he knows how to have fun as well. He loves sports, especially football, and if things had turned out right in his childhood, he probably would have gone to college to be a pro football star. He's never one to turn down a good sports game. He'll also never turn an invitation to a party or bash: especially if there's alcohol involved. Heavy drinker.





Powers: Grifter has telepathic and psychokinetic powers, but these are usually kept latent. He still feels guilty about the death of his comrade, Maryann (see history) and that's why he doesn't use this aspect of his abilities.


Weapons Weapon(s) Cole is expertly skilled with all types of projectile weapons and firearms. Especially skilled with guns: he knows a lot about them, and is an expert on their cleaning and use. Almost never at a loss for something to use as a weapon.


Strengths/Abilities:

Weaknesses:

History: Cole's simply interesting reputation is famous throughout the country, and starts not long after he was born. Let us inspect the facts:
Cole Cash was in short a miracle baby. Five years earlier, Mrs. Cash had been declared barren, and was told she was never going to be able to have kids. However she knew that the diagnosis was wrong so despite her doctor's warnings she and Mr. Cash tried over and over to concieve. Much to the experts' surprise, it worked several times, but none of the first five babies made it to birth.
Cole James Cash, the sixth to form in Mrs. Cash's womb, was the first baby that didn't miscarriage. So when he was born, the little bundle was the pride and joy of his parents.
He also was said to be the prettiest baby born at that hospital in years. Even when Cole was still in the nursery at the hospital people admired him, maybe a little too much.
The night of his second day of life, one of the nurses snuck into the infant room, meaning to steal the baby from his crib. She hadn't counted on Cole being as unique as he was, however. The moment she tried to pick him up, Cole awoke, and started crying. Panicked, the nurse grabbed the boy and ran to the back fire escape. Cole cried even harder, and when the kidnapper tried to step out on the metal stairs, they suddenly, unexplicably ripped from the stone hospital and fell with a gigantic crash to the ground below.
Faced with fifty-foot drop, The little blond nurse screamed, and turned back to the open corridor. She was struck again with a stupifying sight, and her eyes widened. Coming down the hall, floating on their own, were many surgical and kitchen knives, picked up from places as far away as the bottom floor of the hospital. The lady trembled in terror, and tried to flee. Later in prison she would aimlessly babble about all the pointy knives and how they were coming to gore her. They sped up as Cole's cries got louder. In vain the nurse tried to quiet the screaming baby but somehow he seemed to know what was happening. This wasn't his mother; and he wasn't happy.
The police caught up with them in the hospital parking lot. The nurse fell on one of the cars and gave herself up. The cops were shocked silly as they saw the wall of cutting instruments following her and the stolen baby. It was something that none of them would forget, and remember as they saw the name of Cole Cash later in the papers.
The baby's mother carefully slipped through the many bladed utensils and claimed the child back, hugging him and comforting him. As he settled down, the knives one by one fell to the ground.

The rest of Cole's toddler and Elementary school years were uneventful, but when he got into Junior High and High School, it quickly became clear that he wasn't going to grow up your average kid.
He was teased and picked on a lot, because of his then-small stature and skinniness. As a result Cole became angry, depressed, and violent for a period of about three years, from seventh grade to the beginning of Sophomore year. In this period the Cashes had to find new schools about every month and a half, because of the scary things that would happen and kids that would get hurt, seemingly inexplicably. Knives would appear out of nowhere or float down the halls to Cole. Lights would completely go out when there was no storm, and nothing seemed to be wrong with the electrical systems but the school would be without power for months. Once the wells ran dry for miles around, and then came back to life again so hard, so fast that every toilet overflowed. The chaos was unstoppable, it seemed, as long as Cole Cash was angry at someone or something. These events were always unexplainable, and no one could ever completely blame the kid. Cole was always named the perpetrator though, so he was expelled from school after school.
His parents finally just had enough. He was told that if he messed up one more time, he would be mailed to his aunt and uncle in Florida.
The scariest thing happened next. This last school had an especially big gang of tough, rowdy seniors that loved to pester the freshmen and bring them grief. Cole was their newest favorite freshie.
At first they started soft: teasing, and light punching; the stage where you didn't know if they wanted to be friends or enemies. But soon it escalated. The boys started demanding lunch money from Cole. This led to fights in the schoolyard after school. All involved came home bruised and beaten. Sometimes the boys would follow Cole home and taunt him the whole way.
Soon they found they couldn't break Cole's spirit, and so they started trying harder to break his body. Switchblades and knives came out, and brass knuckles to deal extra damage. Cole began to live in hate of these boys. He brought a few damagers of his own to school, and one day he came back so bloody and cut that he had to be rushed to the emergency room, and there was a huge bloodstain on the carpet forevermore.
But even this didn't get anyone expelled. The day came when the Seniors decided to confront Cole on school grounds, during class hours.
It was Cole's first day back to school. His body was laced with cuts still, and he could barely do anything but listen and sit there.
During lunch the familiar voices caught up with him. "Ah, there you, are, *sshole."
"We were worried. You ran back home to your mummy and we thought you had died."
"Yeah, that wouldn't be good for our ego. You know that you're our favorite ragdoll."
Suddenly a huge fit of barking was heard across the street to the east, facing where the boys had cornered Cole.
A pack of vicious dogs, rabid and skinny, licked their chops. The seniors turned and their eyes widened. They tried to run but it was too late.
When the pack was done, there was nothing but rags of shredded clothing and bone chips scattered throught the grass.
Seven boys, brutally murdered.
Again, the blame fell on Cole, who was untouched. He got expelled and nearly sent to prison. But his parents were able to save him and with a huff did what they said they would- carted him alone off to Florida.

As Cole went through the airport, and watched himself leave the home he had always known, he never had felt more depressed and angry. It wasn't his fault, none of it; he had never wanted to hurt anyone but his anger had seemed to spark these unfortunate chain of events. It was all connected to him; he knew that much but he wasn't exactly sure how.
Little did he know he was soon to find out.
One of the flight attendants was a tall, pretty blonde: a striking resemblance to the nurse who had tried to kidnap him as a boy. "Hello, dear, would you like some ginger ale?" The lady asked, cocking her head.
"No." Cole responded and just kept staring out the window. "I don't want any stupid Ginger ale. I'm not your son either, so stop calling me dear. Bug off and get the f*ck out of my face."
"It's not proper for a boy to speak the way you do. I better wipe your existence off the face of the earth." the woman's voice went weird and low. Cole whirled and his eyes went wide. She was turning into a monstrosity of a creature, horrible bug eyes and long, razor-sharp claws. The people in the row behind them screamed and clung to each other in terror. Cole dug in his coat pocket to find the switchblade that he had snuck through security.
Flicking it out, he raised it just as the scary thing leapt for him. It went for his throat, but he was quicker. He drove the knife into its chest. Dripping with red blood, the thing gave a final sputter and died.
When Cole looked up, all the passengers were gone and he was the only one left in the plane except for the ugly monster and a tall, white-haired woman in a revealing red outfit. She bore a large handgun. At Cole's scared glance she stopped and put the gun away. "I mean you no harm." She nodded to him and bowed.
"Who are you? What happened to the other people on the plane?" Cole knew he shouldn't ask questions too much, so he glanced down at his dead assailant and formed his last. "What was this?" With a giant heave, he shoved the monster's dead body over onto the other seat.
The tall lady laughed. When she spoke, her voice had a twinge of a Russian accent. "My name is Lady Zannah. I am of the Coda- a secret society of women Warriors based in the Russian Alps. The people on this plane were just hallucinations that we the Coda put in place to fool the Daemonite that you have killed there. And I believe that answers your last question as well."
"Why did it come for me then, the only real person on the plane, if everyone else was to fool it?" Cole glanced up at the woman again and wiped the blood that remained on his hands onto his jeans. Then he glanced out the window again, and much to his shock he realized that they were not heading to Florida. A huge mountain range loomed beneath them, and a castle that absolutely dwarfed the plane appeared on the horizon. "And what the hell is THAT?!"
Lady Zannah's smile remained on her face as she started to explain. "The Coda has been looking after you for many years, Cole Cash. We decided that now would be a good time to take you in and school you, while your parents wouldn't miss you. So we put you on a fake plane. We knew that where you went the Daemonites would, too. This is the first one that you yourself encountered but many more have died trying to get to you. Either we, or your exceptionally strong powers as a Chosen One, have kept them warded off."
"Chosen one? Strong powers? Daemonites? Is this why my life has been so crazy?"
Just then the hard bump of landing rocked the plane, and eventually they came to a stop. Lady Zannah beckoned with a finger for Cole to follow, and they stepped out of the plane together, the tall woman leading the way.
Cole was led across a patch of smooth concrete and past a few other, also scantily-clad Coda warriors, who turned to whisper to one another about him. This made his anger swell up again. He was tempted to leap at them but he held himself in check.
One grand, tall Coda with flowing robes pulled up beside Lady Zannah. She talked quickly and curtly. "Zannah, what on Earth do you have the boy here for?"
Suddenly Cole spoke up from the back. Because I know about the Daemonites, and I killed one with my own bare hands." His pride broke through, and his eyes flashed at the new Coda.
Lady Zannah flashed Cole a smile. "And he's the one we've been checking up on constantly. He could show you if you wanted."
"Have him do it, then." It was clear that the other woman wasn't impressed. She stopped and turned around. All three of them formed a circle.
"Show Lady Nyambi what you can do." Lady Zannah grinned and crossed her arms.
Cole hated being in the middle like this. He was about to yell at them both and protest that he didn't know how to control his abilities when he checked himself. Bowing to the taller Coda, Cole said simply this: "Lady Nyambi. You will see my talents in time."
Nyambi huffed and turned. "Bah. Zannah, you were foolish. He will be of no use to us."
She just barely missed getting a sword stuck in her forehead, right between her eyes. Cole hadn't noticed, but when he had bowed the hidden saber at Lady Nyambi's side had unsheathed itself and floated in the air, ready to kill the unprepared and unbelieving Nyambi.

From that day forward no one doubted Cole Cash, by the order of the high priest Elite Nyambi. A huge discussion was held about who was to train the chosen one; in the end Lady Zannah was assigned to the job.
Cole worked his *ss off to reach perfection in his studies. Combat, martial arts, swordsmanship, gunmanship, and peace tactics were among his lessons every day. To this day no one knows why he flipped a one eighty and actually cared about this when it was possible he couldn't have and completely flunked the training. He had full permission to: after all he was the only boy to be taught at the Coda base; the rest of the cadets were girls. There was no one to talk to and no other testosterone in the Coda. Some say that it was because of Lady Zannah that Cole stayed; but only one thing's for sure: that he left because of her.

Cole spent six years training with the Coda. In that time he advanced faster than any other trainee had ever managed to. A typical Coda warrior starts when they are five and goes all the way to twenty-five years of age. Cole started when he was sixteen and stunned everyone by even being able to beat Lady Nyambi, the supposed best warrior in the Coda, at the age of twenty-two. Nothing seemed to be against him- he was limber and strong, and had an amazing eye and a power that always worked in his favor, especially now that Cole had been taught how to control it. It was a psychokinetic and telepathic power too, though the latter did not show itself until the former was really brought out.
However there was one challenge he could never hope to beat. And that was his teacher, Lady Zannah. She was the ultimate when it came to combat, nearly unstoppable. She was most of the reason for Cole's success. After a while you'd think that he would be able to beat her, but it seemed that as Cole got better, even on his own, she got better still.
Zannah was one hundred and seventy-five years old when Cole became her student and she still only looked like a twenty-year-old. The Russian air made the Coda stronger and aged them slower. Cole was sixteen. At first he was skinny and gangly but then he matured into a strong, handsome young man with long blonde hair and a knack for finding ways to use his trademark cocky attitude.
It was one night in his last year of training that Cole and Lady Zannah realized, their feelings for each other were more than just a student-teacher thing.
It was the night of the huge feast that the Coda called, Galaxie Redstar. It was solely in honor of one of the founding members of the Coda, a supposedly-beautiful woman by the same name, and an ancestor of Lady Nyambi's.
Usually on this night every year a big fight was held, open to anyone who wanted to test their skill against others', and the winner would get the highest honor until the next year. However, every hundred years, which just happened to be that one, names of the best fighters in the Coda were pulled out of a sacred moonstone box and read. These fighters would fight instead of ones that just showed up or wanted to volunteer.
Last time, Lady Zannah had lost to Lady Nyambi in a long, hard battle. Both women had come out bleeding and tired. This year, most of the crowd hoped for a good show but mostly that Lady Zannah would win. Though Lady Nyambi was higher in rank, Zannah was more well-loved, and everyone knew that she was the best fighter in the Coda.
The moonstone box was brought out, and ancient cave-dweller prophetess Dresa Luminos started pulling slips and reading them.
"Lady Wella"-
"Elite Nyambi"-
Everyone waited in expectation as the Prophetess read emotionlessly through slips.
Finally the inevitable came, in the second to the last drawing. "Lady Zannah". Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
And then the last one came out. The Prophetess did the one thing that no one had ever seen her do, when she read this last slip. She smiled broadly, and had to chuckle for a second before voicing the name aloud. "Brother Cole."
Cole really hadn't been expecting this. The circle around the Prophetess went dead quiet, and everyone looked at him, quizzically, stunned. This fight was for women only! This whole festival- and the moonstone box had chosen a man as the last competitor.
There was another thing too. Lady Zannah had been hiding Cole's progress. Her isolated training field was so hidden that no one knew what went on there. Spies couldn't even find out: the place was guarded by Lady Zannah's powerful magic. But when people talked to her in public, and asked her about Brother Cole's fighting, she just shook her head and said it would take him a little while.
Everyone thought that Cole wasn't good enough even to be called Brother Cole- and here he was picked among the best warriors in the Coda! Had the Moonstone box been completely wrong? It never had!
But Zannah, Cole, and Nyambi just looked at each other and shared a secret smile.
Despite the confusion the night's games went on. All the contestants got a wreath of Nightshade on their heads and a special place on the bench, in order from first choice to last choice. Cole and Zannah were on the end, and they shifted around uneasily as Lady Wella fell to Nyambi, and the tall high priest outfoxed her way through the other eight contestants.
Finally the time came, and the crowd cheered enthusiastically. This moment most of them had been waiting for for one hundred years. Nyambi versus Zannah. I'm not going to bore you with the details, but it was close. The younger, white-haired Coda prevailed in the end, though, and went on to the last round with Cole. He was dead calm as he stepped into the ring with his teacher. So was the crowd; they sat in total silence, looking forward to the impending final battle. Cole knew he was going to go down. She would probably take him back in his room after and explain everything he did wrong and chide him for getting so angry like he always did.
On the signal, Zannah and Cole drew one bladed weapon of their choice and dived for each other. Zannah was faster, but Cole was better at guessing actions.
Teacher and student fought each other in the ring. The crowd, jaws agape, watched and marvelled at the two and how well they fought against each other. Elite Nyambi and the Prophetess stood up in awe.
It took thirty minutes for a victor to finally be proven, and when the dust cleared, Cole was smack on top of Lady Zannah. For a long time, as the rest of the Coda cheered, the two sat and looked at each other. Emotions raged. Cole knew he was in love with Zannah, but he felt like it was a sin because of her status as a warrior.
Finally he stood and reached out a hand to help her up, which she gladly accepted. Despite her tough-looking stature and muscle mass, she was actually pretty light.
The Coda rushed into the ring and scooped Cole off the ground. With barely enough time to look back at Lady Zannah, he was carted off.

Later that night, after everyone had left him alone finally, Cole heard a knock at his door. "Come in."
Lady Zannah poked her head in. "Hey Cole. Just wanted to say good job." she choked a little in mid-sentence.
"Something wrong?" He asked, and glanced up at her worriedly.
"I don't know what to think..." She answered slowly, and stepped in the room. "I don't know why I'm doing this."
Cole gasped. She was wearing a beautiful nightshirt, half-opaque, very tiny and sexy. And, nothing underneath.
Zannah shut the door behind her. "I supposed... I wanted to sleep with you tonight." She smiled a bit, and a little ray of her usual sunshine slid through the cloud cover that had settled over her heart.
Inside Cole was trembling. But somehow he felt like it was right. He nodded and beckoned her over. "Alright. C'mere."
She came over and sat down on the bed next to him. Cole eyed her luscious curves, and looked up into her beautiful eyes. "How... How did you fall in love with me?"
Zannah's eyes widened a bit. Cole could tell that she was shocked at his question. "I-I don't know." All at once she looked down, and relaxed. Leaning forward, she whispered, "I knew I had tonight when you walked into the ring, and your eyes met mine. It was then I knew that I... I was mad for you. I just wanted to run forward and have you hold me... But my Coda sisters would destroy me if they knew. So I unconsciously decided to wait until tonight, to surprise you..." She looked at the moon out the window. "I suppose I shouldn't have come, though. It's a little girl's dream, and you don't love me... Do you?" Her eyes met his. They pleaded for his every fibre, his whole heart and soul, and to have Cole James Alexander Cash to hold.
The next thought that crossed Cole's mind was to take her, and kiss her. And that's exactly what he did.

The next morning they woke up in bed together. Cole's eyes were the first to open, and all he could do was sit there for a few minutes, watching her sleep and the steady rise and fall of her chest.
But it was then he knew that he could not stay. The Coda honor demanded that none of its members fall in love. Or else they were to be executed.
If either him or Zannah were to be caught making love or even touching lovingly, they would be dragged from the room and executed on the spot. If Zannah died, he would never forgive himself.
"Hmm, Cole?" Zannah opened her eyes slowly and lifted her gaze to him. With a bright grin, she wiggled towards him, and wrapped her arns around his naked torso. "I'm afraid that this is the last I'm going to see of you... I know what you're thinking, and you're right. I couldn't bear to lose you."
A single tear fell from Cole's eye and he leaned down and kissed her passionately. This isn't the last I'll see of you. I'll be back one day. Or, maybe, you'll be the one who finds me."
Warm lips against his neck made his heart go nuts again. "Yes. I'll see you soon."

And so Cole left the Coda, making the excuse that he was now feeling a bigger devotion to his country. His heart was heavy with the thought of leaving Lady Zannah, but nevertheless he did.
Thankfully, the Prophetess let him leave, and Cole's solo career began as he want out into the world.
He joined the US army, and sped through boot camp like no one else ever had before. It was all a breeze compared to what he had undergone with Lady Zannah. Whenever he thought about this fact Cole always felt a pang of homsickness for the Russian Alps and the girl he loved.
The new friends he made, however, dulled the pain a little. Early on he had been assigned to a program for advanced soldiers, and it would take him straight to the front lines as a Black Beret. In this program he met several people that he would keep in touch with for the rest of his life: Marc Slayton, codenamed backlash, still with the army at the time; Matthew Sellers, a comedian and fit techie-bookwormish-sorta guy, codenamed Hotwire; Deth Vaughn, A no-nonsense bully who only Cole could stop when he got mad, codenamed Tough; and most of all Maryann Winters, a white-haired beauty that reminded Cole a lot of Lady Zannah, codenamed Frostbite. Cole was given the codename Grifter for his habit of cheating at poker. As they went through boot camp together, the five discovered an innate ability to work together, and their chemistry as a team. Marc leading, eventually they would be assigned together as a unit, a last resort when the US Government didn't want to lose soldiers.
It was a good deal, and soon enough they were all constants with the Black Berets, working in war-torn zones that no one could hack through. It was a satisfying job. Cole enjoyed it very much.
He would have stayed for his whole tour of duty if something very unexpected- and disasterous- happened.
Maryann and Cole had been dropped off in the African jungle. There was a set of terrorists that were hiding in the miles of uncharted wild and making slaves of the tribespeople.
It was too quiet as Grifter and Frostbite crept silently through the trees. They passed one abandoned village, then another, then an abandoned airstrip. It seemed the so-called 'Terrorists' had been hard at work- and, Cole suspected, a lot more than the team had been told.
He was explaining it telepathically to Maryann when suddenly there was a gunshot. It hit the tree right beside Cole, and his first reaction was to dive to Cover his friend. Cole concentrated, and scrambling could be heard as he pulled the AK-47 out of the hand of the turbanned guy that had it.
Along with the gun the terrorist was dragged out too, and he got a boot to the face from Cole. "He's one of the terrorists, alright." Cole said, aloud, to Maryann. "Careful, there's probably more around."
His teammate nodded and they continied on.
Another mile down the path, there was another gunshot, so barely detectable that Cole barely had time to spin around before Maryann collapsed on the ground in a pool of blood.
Cole gasped in horror and picked her up. She was dead already, but Cole didn't want to believe it. He ran ahead, yelling obscenities and tearing through whatever people he came across, mostly terrorists with handguns and sniper rifles. He finally got to the center, a place called Datestree, and he single-handedly tore through everything there, in a fit of anger, all with Maryann on his back and the only weapon to his credit the AK-47 he pulled off the first guy.
He was almost insane when they pulled him out of that godforsaken jungle and talked him through that Maryann was dead. Eventually he got over the trauma, but one of the things he cannot face quite yet is his powers. He refuses to use them and blames himself for not saving his partner in time.

He resigned from the team among lots of commotion and protests. When he returned to American soil for the second time in his life he felt depressed and lost. Cole wandered around the country, before finally settling in Vegas, where he lives to this day.
He has never forgotten Lady Zannah, and hopes someday that he finds her- or vice versa.






Writing Sample:

I really want to do an original. Maybe I will later but for now I'm running out of time. See Clint Barton (Hawkeye)'s form.

Your name/alias: Bry ^_^
Timezone: Mountain, as always.


Template created by chainedANGEL of CAUTION! 2.0. Please leave the credits intact and do not rip and claim as your own.