Lisette Aveline (Marionette)

History
The Avelines are a prominent family of the upper class, with Lisette’s grandfather having made their fortune through real estate and construction. Their first and only child, Lisette’s parents’ interest in their daughter waned quickly. They had only had a baby since it was the most fashionable trend among the super-rich at the time, but they discovered that they had little stomach for the tedious parenting that came after the wonderful initial attention from their friends. As such, Lisette was raised entirely by the house staff – although ‘raised’ may be too strong a word. Employees first, the staff had little incentive to offer much care to the spoilt child while their employers were away. They fulfilled their duties: cleaned the house, chauffeured her and made the meals, but did not offer one kindness more.

This isolation and separation from real compassion was all that Lisette has ever known, and so she never once considered anything wrong with it. She never hated her parents for their lack of affection, indeed they provided her with anything her heart desired if she asked, but she never truly loved them. They were merely two more actors that seemed to enter occasionally upon the stage of the world, only to depart with minimal impact upon Lisette’s own life. However, once she turned 8, Lisette’s parents decided – based of course on the fashions of the day – that it was high time to enroll their daughter in a school.

After having been home-schooled for her entire life, Lisette did not know what to expect. She had never been around so many people, all crowded together. Usually she would have had the entirety of the mansion and the estate grounds to herself, the staff wanting as little to do with her as they could get away with. Yet at school, Lisette was surrounded by the scents and sensations of humanity. In the classrooms and on the field, Lisette for the first time found that she had no control. Used to having her every whim and demand catered to, the laughter and mockery of the school-children terrified the young girl and caused her to withdraw within herself. It was at this age that she truly came to recognise the world of Supers and Mutants. The young girl engrossed herself in the stories of these nigh-on mythical beings, individuals who were separate from society because they were better. It was a comforting world for the heiress to get lost in, and whether it was fictional stories from the strips of a comic, or the very real acts that dominated the news, Lisette surrounded herself with her newfound passion. So much so did Lisette prefer the world of these heroes, that she tried to shut herself off from reality while at school, focusing on the calm, structured order within herself; it was the only way that she could last until she made it to the sanctuary of the family estate at the end of the day. However it was also a world that she could never be a part of, until fate decided to intervene on her behalf.

Like practically every family of their social strata, the Avelines had delved occasionally into the murky underbelly of the criminal world. Occasionally, the law proved to be too constraining on the bottom line and striking a backroom deal was simply considered good business sense. However, Lisette’s parents made the mistake of attempting to renege on their end of a bargain and an example had to be made. On her way back home from school, Lisette’s car was stopped, her chauffer executed on the spot, and the girl herself kidnapped.

Kept in the limbo of captivity for months, Lisette existed in a world of constant terror – snatched from a life of luxury and contentment to be plunged into a dingy cell where day and night blended together. Repeated requests for ransoms fell on deaf ears as Lisette’s parents – unbeknownst to the girl – stubbornly refused to give in to demands, lest they reveal their criminal connections. Eventually, a statement of intent needed to be made and Lisette was dragged before an old Shaman that was a favoured torturer of the cartel. Dressed in little more than rags, tired and fatigued from hunger and thirst, Lisette was held down on a table as the Shaman revealed his tool of choice: a thin, red thread.

Held in a pair of tweezers, the small string was hardly more than a few inches in length. But it seemed to wiggle and squirm as if possessed with a mind of its own, the deep shade of its colour as red as blood. Lisette tried to struggle as the Witch Doctor made his incantations, chanting his ancient spells. She was powerless to do anything but watch as the thread was brought closer, until when the Shaman reached the crescendo of his chant, it pounced. Lisette had never screamed so much in her life, the living thread boring itself into her eye as it dove towards her brain. Imbued with an ancient magic, the thin string threaded itself throughout its victim’s nervous system, creating the most horrific pain in the process.

Calmly, the Shaman allowed for the girl to writhe in agony until she lay motionless. Content that his grim work was now done, the man made to extract the thread to return it to his collection, but he would never get the chance as a caped figure burst into the room. Barely conscious, Lisette watched as the hero swatted aside any opposition in his path, the cartel members never standing a chance against the powerful meta. Her mind struggling to process the blurry scenes amidst all the pain, Lisette felt herself smile as the caped figure approached her, before finally slipping into blissful nothingness.

The doctors did all that they could for Lisette when she returned home, her parents sparing no expense as they seemed for the first time to display true concern for their daughter’s wellbeing. While she was eventually discharged, Lisette’s eye couldn’t be saved. No trace of the thread was ever found, and it was assumed that the physical damage had been caused with a cruder and more mundane implement. In reality, the thread had found in Lisette something which it had not found for centuries: a suitable host. The trauma of the torture had activated a dormant meta gene within Lisette and instead of rejecting the invasive thread, the girl’s body began to accept it in a symbiotic relationship. It wasn’t long before Lisette discovered the implications, and she began to experiment with her newfound powers. The thought of her caped saviour strong in her mind, Lisette decided that she finally had a way to join the world of heroes and villains. She had earned her place among them and was determined to exploit it to the fullest. Like her heroes, she was better than those whom had ostracised her. Lisette’s entire world view was shifted. She no longer saw herself as being unaccepted, but rather as being superior.

The first few times she confronted small-time criminals – burglars or muggers on the street – Lisette relished the thrill. No evil could escape her, as she swatted aside the non-powered criminals that were unfortunate enough to catch her notice. However, the initial charm soon began to wear off. Lisette became increasingly disgruntled with the uncooperative criminals who turned to run the moment she appeared, or threw up their hands in surrender once they realised her powers. It took all the fun out of it and Lisette was infuriated that they didn’t know how the story was supposed to go. How was she supposed to fight the bad guys properly if they so stubbornly refused to resist? The result was always the same of course: the evil-doer left as a shredded pile of flesh and blood in punishment for their deeds.

Eventually, Lisette had an epiphany: villains had become boring. The super hero teams were more than capable of ensuring a reasonable balance of order and peace – at least compared to the hey-day of meta villainy. Determined to help fix this tragedy, Lisette began doing jobs as a hired assassin or goon, eventually gaining the attention of individuals higher up in the underworld’s food chain. Quickly making a name for herself as a ruthless and efficient operator, Lisette rose in prominence within as the Marionette. Being a bad-guy, Lisette discovered, was easy. And after all, the least she could do for her heroes was to help introduce a bit more excitement into their lives.

Powers
[Thread Manipulation]: The symbiosis between Lisette and the Thread gives her the ability to produce the substance and project it outside of her body in combats. She is able to manipulate the Threads, using them as a formidable weapon given their magic-imbued strength. In battle, Lisette primarily uses her Threads as a cutting weapon, although they can also be used to restrain her opponent should she desire. However, once the Threads are disconnected from her body, they quickly lose their potency as their connection to the original magical fibre is lost.

[Puppet Mastery]: Using her Threads and varying degrees of concentration, Lisette can manipulate other objects (usually no larger than human in size and generally the objects themselves are humanoid) by embedding some of the fibre within them. This can be a time-consuming process if she wants the Thread to survive for a reasonable amount of time separated from her body, although if she retains the connection it can be done far more easily. To an extent she can use this ability as a means of motor-skill manipulation, however this is a more difficult process and its success is dependent on her target's will power. Also, while she may be able to control someone's motor function, she cannot control their thoughts or minds and her puppets will move awkwardly, as if they were being moved along by strings rather than by natural motion.

[Resilience]: The Threads within Lisette's body work to enhance her physical strength and toughness. While her strength is around peak human, her toughness is superhuman, especially with regards to blunt force trauma and the Threads also work to help repair her wounds. However, cutting attacks are able to cause more damage as they cut through her flesh and bone as easily as any other human's, with only the Threads resisting the damage. With enough force, or with magic, these Threads themselves can be severed too. Over time, if the Threads are not cut, Lisette can heal semi-severed limbs with this ability, although it can take days. Note that bullets generally fall into the 'cutting' category and can cause her harm.

Limitations
[Thread Limitations]: Lisette's Threads generally lose their magical properties once disconnected from her body - although they retain most of their strength. In the heat of combat this is especially the case, although given time Lisette can craft Threads that can exist separate from her for a few hours or days at most. Regardless, over time any Thread disconnected from her body will gradually decay and degrade.

[Energy Consumption]: When Lisette creates Threads within her body, her metabolism gets kicked into overdrive. This can result in a severe disadvantage in longer, drawn out fights as all of Lisette’s powers – be they healing wounds or launching attacks – involve utilising her Threads.

Weaknesses
[Lovestruck Fangirl]: Lisette is completely infatuated with the idea of Superheros and is a vocal fan of those who should by all accounts be her enemies. She aspires to grab the attention of her idols by committing increasingly noteworthy and horrific crimes and her desire to do so may jeopardise any other mission objectives. Ultimately, Lisette doesn’t want to emerge totally victorious – she wants the heroes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. A story isn’t fun if the villain wins, after all. Not to mention supporting one's enemies is not a good way to make friends with one's teammates.

[Ouch that hurts!]: Cuts and incisions can get around Lisette's innate increased durability. The Threads lacing her muscles and sinews are far more vulnerable to blades than to direct impacts, and likewise so is she. While she is somewhat tougher than a regular human, if someone is able to slice bone, then they would have no trouble cutting up Lisette.

In-game stats
The stats below are from the Young Bloods RPG version 0.3.



Enemy information
Encountered in: Marionette

Stats:
 * Health: 900
 * Energy: 0
 * Attack: 65
 * Defense: 35
 * Special Attack: 40
 * Special Defense: 35
 * Speed: 50
 * Luck: 40

Drops:
 * 100 XP to all characters who survived the battle
 * 200 $

Skills
Heavy Attack

Use superhuman strength to strike an enemy.
 * Type: Physical Attack
 * Cost: 10 Stamina
 * Damage: Atk*5 - Enemy Def*2
 * Element: None
 * Accuracy: 100%
 * Additional effect: None

Entanglement

Entangle an enemy with threads to stun them and slow them down.
 * Type: Status
 * Cost: None
 * Effect: 60% chance to Stun. Reduce Speed by one stage for 2 turns.

Object Throw

Throw an object at an enemy as an attack.
 * Type: Special Attack
 * Cost: None
 * Damage: Sp.Atk*8 - Enemy Sp.Def*4
 * Element: Physical
 * Accuracy: 100%
 * Additional effect: None

Thread Choke

Use threads to choke an enemy, ignoring enemy defense.
 * Type: Physical Attack
 * Cost: None
 * Damage: Atk*6
 * Element: None
 * Accuracy: 100%
 * Additional effect: 30% chance to Stun.

Overview
Though Marionette is not significantly stronger than the trio of villains the player had to defeat in the chapter beforehand on objective terms, her battle is made significantly more complicated by the fact that you only have Red and Yoshi in your team for the battle, neither of which are tanky or are even likely to take more than one or two hits from the villain. Combine this with Marionette's tendency to use Entanglement to slow down or even prevent your characters from acting and this makes for perhaps the toughest boss battle in YB RPG.

Strategies for fighting Marionette are numerous, though because of her high defense in both departments, the best strategy is to hope for a series of lucky shots with Red's Headshot skill, which ignored defense and deals a hefty amount of damage with each hit.

Trivia

 * Likes: Heroes, Comics, Being in Control, The NASL (and its official collectible card game), the colour pink
 * Dislikes: Fake heroes, dull villains, being told that she can’t have something, boredom
 * Greatest Fear: Being a bad villain and disappointing her heroes.