Jade Nguyen/Cheshire

Subject Facts

Full Name: Jade Nguyen
Codename: Cheshire
Age: 27
Gender: Female
Archetype: Rogue
Aliases: N/A
Marital Status: Single
Affiliation: Variable

Subject Attributes

Meta-Human Abilities:
N/A

Standard Abilities:
Master Martial Artist: Jade has been trained in numerous martial arts by renowned tutors world over. Her training was then perfected by members of the League of Shadows - making her a truly deadly opponent. She is proficient in a wide variety of styles, from basic combat sambo to Wing-chung, and is confident enough to combine elements from different arts in order to overcome enemies.

Weapons Expert: Cheshire has practised battle with numerous weapons and can use anything from katanas to rocket launchers confidently - though her preference is to arms designed for close quarters combat.

Acrobat: Naturally flexible, Jade Nguyen has been training in acrobatics from a young age. As such, she is an astonishing gymnast capable of impressive acobatic feats. These in turn are often combined with her knowledge of martial arts.

Stealth: The art of stealth is one mastered by Cheshire, and she is capable of sneaking into and out of heavily armed buildings without raising alarms. She employs a variety of stealth tactics, though most common is her use of fleet foot.

Peak Human Conditioning: Thanks to years of rigorous exercise, Jade's physiology matches that of an Olympic athlete, and she is as fast, strong and agile as a healthy woman, of her age and build, could possibly be.

Poison Specialist: One of Jade's favoured weapons is poison - and she is incredible knowledgable about their creation and application.


Paraphernalia:
Cheshire uses a wide variety of gadgetry and weaponry in her work as an assassin. However, there are certain items used more frequently, and these are as follows:

Poison: As a master of poisons, Jade often carries vials of various poisons on her person. She knows enough to mix the toxins to make them more deadly than they would be alone - and can apply her concoctions to weapons (or indeed her nails) with ease.

Cat Claws: Cheshire possesses gloves, that when worn, are tipped with 'claws' - metallic nails that can help her climb and cling to surfaces, and rend flesh with ease. They are often tipped with the potent venom she administers to other weapons.

Sai: Jade's weapons of choice are twin Sai - deadly daggers that are perfect for delivering precise, choice strikes to her opponents. She is able to throw them with unnearing accuracy, making them incredibly dangerous at range as well as in close quarters combat.


Subject Weaknesses:
Mortal: Cheshire bares no meta-human powers, and thus bares all the negative traits that come with being mortal. She can be injured, poisoned and killed, in the same manner as all other humans.

Loner: Cheshire doesn't work well with others, and while her services can be brought, her own motives and wants come first - even when paid should there be rare conflict of interests. As such, she's incredibly hard to trust, and doesn't fit well into a team dynamic.

Empathetically and Emotionally Stunted: Murder is second nature to Jade Nguyen, and she lacks much of the empathy felt by most of the human race. She is adept at tuning out emotions that could hinder her effectiveness as an assassin, and can seem completely devoid of them. However, she IS capable of emotion, though perhaps doesn't feel or express said emotions in a way many others would.

Slow to trust: As a loner, Jade rarely works as part of a team and keeps to herself. She lets very few people see the 'real' her, and rarely warms up to others. It takes a great deal of time and effort to get Jade to trust another - and there is no guarantee she ever would. As such, she rarely, if ever, relies on others in difficult situations and would rather risk facing dangers alone. This has become even more engrained in her persona following the death of her daughter, Lian.

Subject History

Jade Nguyen's origin is one shrouded in mystery. Thought to be born to a French father and a Vietnamese mother, she experienced a miserable childhood which saw her becoming estranged from both familial figures, and upon her mothers passing, her father sold her into slavery. This trauma ultimately stunted her emotional growth and development, and paved the way to her becoming one of the world's most ruthless mercenaries.

After living as a slave for a number of years, Jade plotted against and killed her slave master. After a rather daring escape, the wandering orphan was informally adopted by Chinese freedom fighter Weng Chan, who taught her all he knew about guerrilla fighting. She acquired knowledge of poisons from Kruen Musenda, a famed African assassin known as the "Spitting Cobra" - whom she actually married shortly before his death. Following his passing, Jade began travelling the world, taking the skills learned from Chan and Musenda and becoming a mercenary for hire.

In her work as a hired killer, Jade often clashed with the Teen Titans, and they became staunch enemies - the group of youngsters often putting a stop to her hits. However, unbeknowns to Cheshire, Roy Harper accepted a Government mission, going undercover, acting as a mercenary himself in order to gain Jade's trust and turn her over to the authorities on doing so. Unexpectedly, the two fell passionately in love. Knowing he would not be able to turn her in, he walked out; Cheshire would not learn his true identity until a year later. The result of their brief and passionate affair was a daughter - Lian Harper.

Despite her stunted emotional development, Jade instantly adored her daughter, and knew she couldn't raise her living the life she did. She left Lian to be raised by Roy, knowing that she was a mercenary through and through - something she couldn't change.

Returning to her former ways, Jade next allied herself with Deathstroke, and attempted to blackmail the world's greatest countries, stealing nuclear weapons from Russia. As they attempted to call her bluff, Jade unleasheed the might of her stolen arsenal on Qurac, destroying it - and indeed the many terrorists that were housed there. In doing so, she alerted the world's heroes to her plans, and the Titan's stopped her before any further damage could be done. She managed to escape their clutches, however, and fled, forming her own team of mercenaries: The Ravens.

The Ravens were a short lived group, but did serve a purpose. Indeed, when Jade was imprisoned for her crimes against Qurac, having been caught by the Titans during a battle with 'Tartarus', a Vanadal Savage led team with which Jade was affiliated, they broke her out of jail.

Following regaining her freedom, Jade disbanded The Ravens and joined the Secret Six. Working alongside them on a number of missions, Jade had a brief relationship with Catman, which led to her once again becoming pregnant. It was a very short lived affair, and not as deep or meaningful as her relationship with Harper. Indeed, soon after, she betrayed the Secret Six - working alongside The Society. Ironically, The Society then betrayed Jade, Deathstroke shooting her, not wishing to be associated with a traitor, however useful.

Believed dead,Jade resurfaced in the Himalayan mountains, living with her and Catman's child - a little boy named Tommy. After she and Vandal Savage attempted hits on the Secret Six (bar Catman, who she wished to keep safe), Cheshire's son was kidnapped and assumed dead. However, the kidnappers put him up for adoption - wanting to keep him safe from his mother. Cheshire was incarcerated once again, though this time, recieved visits from Harper and Lian. However, the prison wasn't strong enough to hold Jade, and she broke out, laying low after doing so.

During the events of Brightest Day, Jade learned of her daughter's death, following the destruction of Star City by Prometheus. Saddened and enraged, Jade attacked Roy, infuriated that he had not kept Lian safe: injuring him and threatening to do worse as revenge. With that done, she returned to her life as a mercenary - though soon crossed paths with Harper again. Indeed, on a mission to assassinate Ryan Choi, she blackmailed Roy into joining Deathstroke's Titans, explaining that he 'owed her' for Lian's passing. Though her assassination attempt failed, Roy and she did manage to infiltrate Deathstroke's squad. There, they worked together to take down a cult led by a man named Drago - and were eventually offered a chance to use the newly created Methuselah device to bring Lian back from the grave.

While Cheshire desperately wanted to use it, Roy refused the offer, explaining that they had gone through enough grief - and that their daughter was in a better place. Jade bowed to his wishes, understanding his sentiment, and then worked to destroy the device with Roy, realizing how dangerous it could become.

After the device's destruction, Arsenal and Cheshire are on better terms, though Jade has returned to her life as a mercenary.

Subject Interview

She watched the proceedings below from a high perch, crouched atop a stack of crates. Hidden by long shadows, she cleaned the blades of her sai on the black fabric sash wrapped about her waist, removing crimson spatter from stainless steel – blood of the guards she'd left in a heap outside the warehouse. Below, a circle of twelve men in suits stood locked in a discussion, voices low. They'd not heard the scuffle from outside the complex, nor had noticed her enter.

They were far too busy to note such things.

A large, heavy set man did most of the talking, the groups de facto leader – Pedro Guardo, one of Gotham's most infamous smugglers. The others were other criminals – each heading up an organisation loyal to Guardo, be it fraudulent banking or money laundering. For a price, they provided him a service, and in turn were granted the far-reaching protection of his empire. It was standard practice.

Sliding her sai away once spotless, she knew she had no need for them again. Guardo was paranoid – and he refused to allow firearms into any meetings he attended in case any of his own should turn on him. He clearly put far too much faith in his guards – the ones she'd already dealt with. There was no way anyone left had the means to harm her, even with more chance than they'd usually get. A sharp, loud cough focused her attention, and her sharp eyes fixed on Guardo, who choked on apparently nothing – though with a few hard huffs he seemed to regain his composure – if only for a few seconds.

The large man's breath caught in his throat once again, and he coughed loudly, spluttering and struggling to clear the unknown blockage that had closed his windpipe. Unlike before, a few harsh hacks did little to help, and he fell to his knees as he wheezed, clutching at the cold paving stones underfoot.
“A..are you all right, Pedro?” offered one of the suited men to his left, but the heavy-set smuggler waved a hand at the gathered dismissively, pudgy fingers directing all present away from his struggling person.
“I-I'm fine,” Guardo finally managed, falling to his side, gasping air into his lungs following the cessation of the brutal coughing fit.

“He isn't fine at all,” came her soft, languid voice from somewhere above them – and it was with that introduction she stepped from the shadows that had hidden her, dropping from a stack of crates to land neatly in a crouch on the warehouse's floor. Heads swivelled to the newcomer, and hands plunged under jackets, reaching for weapons at the sight of the intruder, grasping for switch blades and concealed kitchen blades.

Were she bothered by the sudden furore of activity her appearance caused, she didn't show it, slowly and gracefully rising to stand, facing the room full of criminals who were most certainly on edge. Then, there was a moment of silence, where a dozen mob bosses from Gotham's underbelly stared at the tall, feminine figure that had emerged from nothingness, lithe figure clad in jade green, her face showing little emotion beyond a self-confident smirk.
“He's dying,” she offered matter-of-factly, tone naturally husky. “Poisoned, to clarify. Judging by the sweat pooling on his forehead and the swelling of his already stubby digits...he has perhaps five minutes left to live.”

“Impossible!” shouted Guardo, his words echoing around the high walls and ceilings of the warehouse. “Utterly impossible!” Before he could clarify why, choking commenced once again, ever more harsh and rasping – and blood began to seep between swollen lips. The female, known more commonly as 'Cheshire', merely gestured to his floundering form. All eyes were drawn from her, down toward their boss.
“You didn't make it easy, but it wasn't impossible. For all the guards and personal aides you have swarming you, even you run to the aid of a girl in distress, one who tripped over her own feet.”
Guardo's eyes went wide, bulging, as recognition dawned. Jade Nguyen grinned, almost broad enough to match her namesake.

“I know apologised at the time,” she crooned, tilting her head a little, “But I'm still sorry I caught you with my nail.” Raising a hand, Jade flashed her nails - though they could more appropriately be described as claws – green-painted razors. Indeed, the crime lord had been so focused on her form, clad in the tight dress she'd worn, he'd barely noticed scratch she'd left on his wrist as he'd steadied her and prevented her from falling. He'd waved her feigned apologies off profusely with the same arm he now looked down to, the arm whose veins were black, the skin having been drained of all colour. With a rasp, Guardo moved to stand, balling hands into fists, but before he'd managed to reach his feet, he crashed back to the floor – his body going still.

“Don't call security,” Jade suggested, eyeing the shocked others, “They won't hear you.” She'd made sure of that. With their leader vanquished, those who had hold on their concealed weapon's laxed their holds. Confronted with her chilling presence, their initial bluster faltered. They had no desire to join their former overseer or the guards they assumed murdered – and they recognized hardened killers when they laid eyes them. They were, after all, thinkers – not fighters.
“W-what do you want?” stammered a tall, ill-suited man, with thick rimmed glasses who didn't look like much of a criminal at all – too nervous by far. Jade affixed him a blank stare.
“I don't usually like an audience. Death is a pretty private affair.”

Indeed, Jade believed the taking of a life to be an intimate moment between hunter and prey, one for which spectacle wasn't best suited. She operated out of the shadows, preferred remaining a shadow: unseen and unheard. But occasionally, even she had to put aside her preferences. Especially when a large pay packet demanded it.
“But the person that paid me wanted a message delivered.”

She looked between each and every member of Guardo's smuggling ring in turn.
“Your allegiances are about to change. Everything you gave to Pedro Guardo, you now give to Analina Perez. And you give it at a better rate. All who agree with those terms walk out of this warehouse alive – still breathing. Those that don't...well...”
Jade paused for effect, then looked pointedly at Guardo's corpse. The collective group of men gulped thickly, and nodded their understanding.

“Good boys,” Cheshire mocked, then gestured to the doors the men had entered through. They quickly made to exit – though were stopped when Jade spoke again – turned to statues by her voice.
“Oh, and if you even think about changing your minds...then we might have cross paths again, and I'd hate to have to get my claws into any more of you.”

Everyone present knew she wouldn't hate it at all.

Author's Notes

Player Alias: Star / Kory

Other Characters: Koriand'r/Starfire, Cassandra Sandsmark/Aquagirl, Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn, Stephanie Brown/Batigrl, Lorena Marquez/Aquagirl

How did you find ARFD?: Long time member.