X-Men: Retribution Wiki : Brianna browse

(Inactive Character)

'Brianna'

Brianna is the music instructor at Xavier's School, as well as the unofficial tech-geek resource person both for the school and the X-Men -- she was the first person asked onto the team by Xavier when it was initially formed. She is also the squad leader for the squad GenX at Xavier's School.

Biography

Full Name: Brianna Flannery
Age: 22
Codename: Nexus
Family: Michael Flannery (father), Lynn Flannery (mother)
Religious Denomination: Wiccan
Astrological Sign: Aries
Reputation: She can be a real flirt with the guys, but has lately been suggesting that she might be taking her most recent 'fling' a little more seriously. As a teacher, she's struggled in the past over the transition between being a student and being a teacher at Xavier's School, but more recently seems to be a bit more comfortable with this more adult role. As such, it seems that in more ways than one that the rebellious goth has settled down a little bit since joining the school. However, she finds herself struggling more and more with balancing being an X-Man and training up for that, being a teacher at the school, continuing her own studies on the side and maintaining her professional (singing) and personal life outside the walls of the school. Something might break down the road.

Short Background

After being hit by lightning which triggered a massive occurrence of her powers (and landed her in the hospital), Brianna was sent to the school to get help dealing with her mutation. After a few years of work with Xavier and other faculty members, Brianna was asked onto the faculty team by Professor Xavier as the music instructor (specializing in piano, drums and vocal).

She is also the computer specialist at the mansion, monitoring and maintaining most of the school's sytems and keeping the network security up to par. School and X-Men email addresses are set up by her and she actively troubleshoots most IT problems for faculty and students. Brianna specializes in network security.

Powers

Energy manipulation and re-discharge. At this time, she displays an affinity for absorbing and manipulating electricity. Capabilities with other forms of energy are not known at this time.

Her powers display is impressive and the energy re-discharged is potentially deadly. If the government were aware of her potential, she would likely be ranked as a 'high risk' mutant. As a result of the sheer destruction she can cause, Brianna chooses when to use her mutation very carefully. Earlier on, she created more than a few issues for the school, but thankfully no one was ever hurt. For the most part, she keeps her usage to the Danger Room sessions with the X-Men.

Storyline

After witnessing their daughter's powers unleash uncontrollably after she was struck by lightning, the Flannerys began searching for help for their daughter. Fortunately for Brianna, she had understanding parents who accepted her despite her mutation -- she realizes very clearly that not every mutant is so lucky.

Doubly lucky she is that her mother actually went to Columbia and recalled a favourite professor of hers, Professor Charles Xavier. Lynn called Xavier for advice and was pleasantly surprised to find out that he was exactly the person who they needed for Brianna. As soon as the girl had recovered from the lightning strike, the Flannerys shipped their daughter out of Buffalo to Westchester where she was enrolled in Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

She went through the trials and tribulations that every young mutant experiences at the school, taking out a couple of walls and pieces of furniture as she learned desperately to gain control over her abilities. Brianna was found to be quite the little rebel, much to the faculty members' chagrin, but Xavier put up with her shenanigans because he believed in her potential (or so he said). In January 2009, he put his money where his mouth was and hired her on as a fulltime music instructor.

Now she finds herself torn between her rebellious ways and suddenly being thrust into a 'role model' position, having to enforce rules that she, herself, often broke or bent. Perhaps she's considered one of the 'cool teachers' or perhaps she's just an 'oddball' to some, but either way she doesn't seem to care too much. She drinks, smokes and parties, acting much the way she did when she was a student (except without the threat of being grounded), but despite all this and her nonchalant attitude about most things, she has taken her position to heart somewhat.

Brianna is very protective of the students at Xavier, growing increasingly angry and frustrated with how mutants are treated in the world; considering the protection she was given at Xavier's she feels an obligation to return that favour. Perhaps that's why she jumped onto the X-Men team so readily when she was asked. She wants to make a change so that the students will have a better world to live in when the finish at Xavier's.

More recently, Brianna has just returned from a good month away from the school during one of its busiest times: the start of a new school term. She had the foresight to at least leave theory homework for her music students, though she has a lot of catching up to do now, both with marking papers and getting the students up to speed in the practical work. Those who have encountered her since her return 'home' have noted a rather dramatic change in her demeanor: she is bitter, quick to anger and easily agitated.

Some murmurings in the hallways are suggesting something's wrong with a family member, while others hint that it's the effects of nicotine withdrawal from attempting to quit smoking, but she's been a bit tight-lipped to most people about what's really going on. Regardless of the reason, she has already been seen barking at students to get out of her way in a manner that is uncharacteristic for the 'old Bri' from last term.

She's more distant and evasive, perhaps a little less bombastic than she used to be. Over all, she's trying hard to make the transition from student (as she was in 2008) to teacher (as of 2009) and it's a tough thing for her. She's not used to being responsible for people and for being a disciplinarian where needed. But mostly, she's trying to move into that strange position of 'mentor', as a couple of students have already confided in her or come to her for advice.

She claims the break happened as a result of a fall but is rather ambiguous and guarded about the details of said incident. Despite her temporary physical impairment, she had been promoted to field leader of the X-Men in the absence of Jean. Although this was something she might have felt she was ready for months ago, she was not so sure once in the position, as this extra burden of responsibility seemed to have come at a very stressful point in her life.

However, now that Jean has returned, she's handed over the X-Men reigns.

And now that she's more mobile (read: completely recovered), however, it seems she's gearing up to get power training sessions going for her squad, dive into her local singing career and sort out her life to some degree.

Event Involvement

She was the key player in springing Adam out of the Bronx Zoo after he had been captured in his bear form and transported there. At the time, she was the only X-Men member and it was up to her to set him free and bring him back to the school.
Brianna has strangely enough missed most of the larger (read: crazy) incidents which have occurred in the city and surrounding area. She has mostly stuck to clubbing, learning Ninjitsu (and managed to interest two of the students in her squad in this martial art), learning to drive, teaching classes and offering the odd piece of advice to students, whether they want it or not. She has also been working with members of her squad with powers training, both as groups and as individuals.
Recently, she went on a mission with the X-Men to try to retrieve Jacob Peterson (jailbreak plot) back from the Brotherhood, inadvertently landing her the position as mission leader this time around. This was the first clash between the two teams and though the X-Men fought valiantly, it was a failed mission. As a result, several team members were injured, but Bri ended up seriously hurt, with her face bruised and swollen and her left leg set in a cast. Despite their best efforts, the Brotherhood won this battle.

Friends and Enemies

Friends, Students, Colleagues and Teammates:

Adam - Adam's introduction to the school was Brianna showing up at the Bronx Zoo to rescue him in his grizzly form. Since then, they've always had a relationship where they joked around and were more friends than teacher and student. Her recent transitioning from 'student to teacher' has left their friendship a bit strained.
Basset - One of the newer faculty, Basset has yet to have crossed paths with Brianna, leaving the music teacher with no opinion of her. All she knows of this woman are the rumours she's gotten wind of regarding the new gym teacher. Once she's done marking her music theory papers, she'll be sure to track her down.
Benedict - They met at Club Diablo and shared some small talk over drinks. Over the past few months, their relationship has grown into something deeper than their initial casual relationship and both recently revealed their mutant status to each other, removing some of the stress between them caused by being too guarded about their pasts.
Edward ? - Brianna hasn't formed too much of an opinion of this man simply because she knows very little of him. She knows that he's Welsh and was apparently brought onto the staff as a "hard-ass". He alludes to his history in the military and makes her promise not to "talk music" with him for some strange reason, but for the most part, he both amuses and confuses her at once.
Kurt - The blue fuzzy elf has gotten a special place of honour in Bri's eyes just for his mischievous but chivalrous nature. She has been impressed so far by any Danger Room sessions she's had with him either as squad leader and student or as teammates in the X-Men. He has also treated her to a very special up-close and personal view of his powers, teleporting the pair of them from outside the mansion to the infirmary (just in case she was disoriented enough to hurl). He's also in her squad, GenX.
Nikki - Another member of Brianna's squad, GenX, Nikki and Brianna surprisingly haven't had too much contact despite this and their shared musical backgrounds. Brianna's hoping to fix this. Unfortunately, recent events have no doubt left their relationship also strained before anything could really be formed. Despite this, Brianna remains hopeful that she can get to know Nikki better.
Rahne - Bri has a soft spot for this one and although the two don't get to hang out as much as she'd like, she's grown quite fond of the occasionally-fuzzy Rahne. She respects her for her honesty, early maturity and even her naivety to some degree and has been trying to get her to 'cut loose' a bit in their Danger Room sessions which have involved, of all things, pirates! (Arrrrrrr, matey!) Her recent performance in the X-Men's mission against the Brotherhood impressed Brianna greatly. She's also a member of her squad, GenX.
Tyson - Tyson's one of those students who Brianna truly likes. She thinks he's a good kid and that he shows a lot of potential. They've known each other for quite some time and she really thinks that he's been opening up to her a bit. For a while, he wouldn't even talk about his powers, but she's managed to get him into the Danger Room to show her what he can do. She's quite pleased that he accepted the Squad Monitor position for GenX.
Topaz - One of her squad members (GenX), Topaz is actually a near-stranger to Brianna, as the two have only actually met up once so far. The girl seems polite and respectful and has placed her trust in Brianna as a teacher who could remain professional, which validates her need to be a 'mentor and teacher' in her mind. She's hoping to have future meetings with this student if for no other reason than to get to know her as she knows many of the other students.
Xavier - Xavier is her mentor, employer and friend. She usually refers to him as 'The Professor' rather than 'Professor Xavier' and wouldn't dream of calling him Charles unless he insisted. (It's better than calling him Sir, as she initially did.) Until the day when he insists she calls him Charles, she'll likely continue to call him 'Professor' (and it's probably indicative of the difficulties she is having making her change from student to teacher). She looks up to him, even if she gives him a hard time about the rules sometimes, and will defend him vehemently.

(under construction)

(More, likely, but I'm running out of time.)

Enemies:

Aero - A default enemy on The Brotherhood.
Magneto - AKA Bucket-Head. An enemy by default on The Brotherhood due to his infamous broadcast warning 'humankind' to stay out of their way. Despite his apparent past with Xavier, she sees him and his organization as nothing more than terrorists who should be stopped.
Marrow - A default enemy on The Brotherhood.
Rogue - A default enemy. Anyone on The Brotherhood gets on this list. Brianna hasn't really had any direct contact with Rogue but has heard the story of how she stopped John in battle with but a touch. She and the others would be on file as 'people to watch out for', like Zachary.
Wanda - A default enemy on The Brotherhood.
Zachary - Though she doesn't know any of the Brotherhood by name and she never really saw much of him to begin with, Zachary has earned a top slot on her enemies list. Anyone who drops her from a storey or two up in the air to break a leg would certainly earn such an honoured position.

Wanted

Currently, no one in particular, but I'm open for discussion if anyone is interested in tying their character's bg to Bri's.

Brianna