Nico Minoru

Prequel
Born into a life of priviledge in Los Angeles, California, Nico Minoru was the daughter of two prominent socialites, Robert and Tina; The two of them were practicing Christians, as was Nico, but they harboured several dark secrets. The two of them were Dark Magicians, which contrasted their practiced religion. Even more surprising was the fact that they had been part of a twelve-man cabal known as the Pride, an eclectic gathering of mutants, thieves and scientists, amongst other criminal archetypes, with two people forming each of the factions. They had initially been gathered together, with no prior knowledge of each other, by the Gibborim, an ancient race of giants, who claimed man had spoiled the earth, and wanted to use their vast power to change the world.

They wanted the Pride to gather souls for them, in exchange for ruling over Los Angeles for twenty five years, with benefits including increased power, and immunity from the authorities, which, with the rise of SHIELD, was incredibly important. The twelve agreed, on the grounds that some of them could enter the 'changed world' the Gibborim desired. The giants agreed to allow six to enter paradise, and no more. And so, the Pride was formed, each year using magic and science to steal the souls of innocent men and women, which they offered to the Gibborim on an annual basis. Eventually, after five years, the Steins, mad scientists of the Pride, revealed they were having a child. Geoffrey Wilder, the 'Thieves' of the Pride, theorised that all of them should have children, so each of their six families could be guaranteed a place in paradise. And so, the Pride's priorities subtly changed. Though the families argued they were doing what they did for themselves, all of them knew they were now harvesting souls to make the world a better place for their children. And this was how Nico came to be. They raised her as best they could, keeping her blissfully unaware of their activities in the Pride. Nico, and her friends in the Pride's children, assumed their parents had boring brandy parties, or something along those lines. The little charade continued for years, until one of the kids, Alex, revealed he had discovered secret tunnels around his parent's home whilst looking for presents the previous Christmas.

Betrayal on Both Fronts
Conviniently, his path around the tunnels led them directly to a view, behind one-way glass, of their parent's meeting. And for the first time, Nico and her friends discovered that their parents were, in fact, supervillains. Having discussed their plans for the next year, the Pride, unaware of their audience, proceeded with the ritual to gather the Gibborim's next soul, and murdered a young woman before their very eyes. From that moment on, the six children were convinced their parents were evil, and after feigning ignorance, went on the run that very night. Alex, assuming the role of leader, led them in discovering their unique talents so they could fight back against their parents. Finally coming into confrontation with them, Nico forcefully and unintentionally took the Staff of One from her mother. Escaping, the young Runaways then took on a different grouping of their parents to rescue the youngest of their group, Molly. After this initial success, they went and hid out in Los Angeles, taking refuge in the Hostel, a dilapadated mansion built by an eccentric, which had collapsed into a crevace decades ago.

From there, the six youngsters resolved to wage war on their parents and their misdeeds, but were promptly way over their heads when they encountered a trio of actual vampires, one of whom promptly wormed his way into their group and immediately began to break them apart. Finally, it was Karolina, Nico's best freind and daughter of the Pride's 'Colonists' that destroyed the vampire with her sunlight-charged alien blood. Unbeknowst to them, their parents murdered the other two, after a harsh interrogation. After mopping up more street crime in Los Angeles, Alex and Nico resolved that they should stop their parents before they offered the young woman's soul to the Gibborim. And so, the children infiltrated the underwater sanctum of the Gibborim, and after a vicious fight, detained their parents. Only then did Alex reveal that he had been manipulating the other five all along. He had learned of various traitors within the Pride, seeking to murder the others and take the places of their children in paradise. When the children had gathered during their parent's meeting that year, he had deliberately shown them murdering the girl, causing them to perceive their parents as villains, whereas Alex beleived them to be heroes, changing the world for the better. He had given the other five children the keys to their powers, getting them to use their abilities, as he put it, like any good dungeon-master would. Having defeated the Pride and exposed the traitors in their midst, he now expected Nico and her parents to join him and his in the Gibborim's new world. Disgusted, Nico rejected him, despite having loved him, and rallied her friends to fight back. In the battle that followed, the container hold the girl's soul was destroyed. The Gibborim, angered, promptly began to kill those present, starting with Alex. Nico and the others were forced by their parents to leave, and they emerged, battered and bruised, but victorious, on one of Los Angeles' numerous beaches. The calamity caused by the battle had brought onlookers, and the five children were promptly taken into custody.

You're a WITCH nico
Nico tried to get in touch with her friends, but none of them showed at her favourite meeting place, where they'd run away the night they found out about their parents. Alone, Nico decided to start running again. Her experiences as she went across nearly the entirety of America changed her significantly, darkening her outlook despite her attempts at optimism. The lack of someone like Karolina, someone to love and who loved her, was fairly significant here, as Nico fell into a rut upon reaching New York, slipping into a dead-end job until a mysterious flyer found it's way into her apartment, advertising Stephen Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, insisting he could aid her in her magic and harnessing it further than she had. Curious, she visited the Doctor, and began to learn more than she could possibly dream of, about magic and the occult and the supernatural. She even began to learn more of her heritage, and trying to track down her relatives, discovered a new staff, which she quickly adopted as her own. Her talents soon earned her the equivalent of a degree with Strange, who told her he would've offered her a permanent place in the Sanctum if not for the darkness within her which he continued to sense. Nico promptly left, and returned to the life of a vigilante in the early hours, when she was eventually approached by Norman Osborn, who wanted her for his team, the Thunderbolts. Uncertain, Nico nonetheless agreed to join, especially when Osborn insisted he could help her track down Karolina Dean.

Powers & Abilitis
Magic through the use of the Staff of One


 * Staff of One: an arcane rod said to be able to make even the dreaded Dormammu tremble. The rod is released by her shedding blood, accompanied by the now familiar legend 'When blood is shed, let the Staff of One emerge', at which point, it literally emerges from her chest. Apparently because of her inexperience in magic, the Staff operates on the concept of buzzwords - i.e. Nico declaring 'Freeze' would stop an opponent in it's tracks. There seems to be no upper limit to the Staff's level of power, but perhaps again speaking of Nico's inexperience in magic, the Staff only allows her to use one spoken spell once. For instance, 'Freeze' the first time round would stop an opponent in their tracks. 'Freeze' a second time would do something completely unrelated, like releasing a flock of pelicans.
 * Having since developed her talents in magic, Nico has found an upgrade for the Staff of One in the Witchbreaker's Staff, an even more powerful device that apparently once belonged to her great grandmother. This acts exactly the same as the Staff of One, seemingly, with the concept of buzzwords for spells still intact.

Abilities
Nico has learned a variety of spells at the side of Stephen Strange, a secret master of the mystical arts. Whilst not nearly as practiced as him, Nico has mastered a variety of spells that don't require the use of the Witchbreaker Staff to be done by Nico. These largely include healing spells and the ability to step onto the astral plane, plus the ability to generate images for reference.

Weaknesses
The use of the Staff of One, and now the Witchbreaker's Staff, also comes with some negative effects, in that Nico has to think of something overly negative in order to use it. She has also suggested there is some sort of presence inside each Staff, that it likes it when people talk, but it also feels like whatever it is strips away part of her soul, each time she uses the rod. This has long since not been a concern for her, and she isn't hesitant to use magic anymore, but that doesn't mean she necessarily wasn't right, does it?