Meggan Szardos
| Meggan Szardos | |
|---|---|
| File:Meggan.jpg Portrayed by Carey Mulligan | |
| Codename: | none |
| Affiliations: | New Mutants, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters - student |
| Birthdate: | December 22, 1992 |
| Journal: | x_meggan |
| Player: | Rachel (player) |
Adopted daughter of the Szardos Clan, Meggan has progressed from the small furry girl she was when found to a teenage girl curious about the world and her own powers.
Contents
Details
Character Journal: x_meggan
Real Name: Meggan Szardos
Codename: none
Aliases: "Monster"
First Appearance: April 10, 2005
Date of Birth: unknown, but she has been given December 22, 1992 as her 'birthday'
Place of Birth: unknown
Citizenship: German
Relatives: (Adoptive) Szardos Clan Margali (adoptive mother); Stefan, Kurt Sefton, Amanda Sefton and Jimaine (adoptive siblings).
Education: She has returned to Xavier’s after a hiatus to continue both her education and gain a better control over her powers. In the nearly 3 years since she has been gone, she has gradually progressed from barely literate, to an 8th grade reading level.
Relationship Status: Single
Occupation: None
Team Affiliation: New Mutants
Biography
Monster in a Cage
Meggan, whose origins are unknown, was one of the foundations on which was built a travelling freak-show, which, supplemented by magic tricks and a few other such things, provided the Grgic Clan with income. Eventually, though, poor diet and lack of fresh air and exercise took its toll and she started to get sick and feeble. Intent on making the most profit possible before 'the monster' died, the Grgics took the freakshow and their other acts to a gathering of the Rom clans, billing her as a 'half-demon' for sale. The Szardos clan also attended the festival that year, with Kurt and Amanda both present as a result of Amanda's fleeing the mansion after Manuel's reaction to his father's death. Margali heard of the Grgic 'demon' and, fearful for Amanda's safety, decided to investigate. Her healing powers were quite enough to tell her that this was no demon, but a sick child, and she wanted to help... but she was spotted before she could leave the show. The Grgic Clan could have made a lot of trouble for the Szardos family, and they knew all about Margali's foolish acceptance of monsters into her family. If Meggan disappeared or was taken away by authorities, they would have known who was to blame. They were, however, willing to *sell* Meggan, since she had almost outlived her usefulness... should a buyer appear.
Following a family conference, Amanda bought Meggan with the money she earned on a job with Domino. Meggan promptly latched onto her and refused to let go. Never having had anyone care and sympathize with her before, Meggan was determined not to let Amanda out of her sight and Amanda was just as determined to protect her and keep her safe. Determining the school was the best place for a child of Meggan's needs, Amanda returned with her. Formal provision was made for Margali to adopt the child, and Kurt and Amanda, as her siblings, became her guardians at the school.
Living At The X-Mansion
Meggan quickly adapted to life at the school. At the time she was found, she had barely more fifty words of German and Romany combined and had no socialisation, so it was necessary to teach her everything. She proved a fast learner, however, and began settling into her strange new life, with medical tests discovering her to be far older than she appeared - somewhere between thirteen and fifteen. Utterly devoted to her 'Manda, she was not impressed with Manuel, who at the time was still angry and hurt over his girlfriend's departure. Indication that Meggan was some kind of empath as well as a shapeshifter made things more complicated, and there was an incident in the kitchen where the small furry girl bit Manuel. Even after Amanda and Manuel reconciled, Meggan refused to like the Spaniard. She much preferred Amanda's best friend Angelo, and adored Kurt, Nathan and Moira, who assisted Amanda in raising her.
In June 2005, Meggan was targeted by Patches, a black magic dealer and kidnapped by him, to be used for sale. She was retrieved by Pete Wisdom, and the ordeal resulted in a developmental leap, progressing her to full sentences. Amanda began asking for more help with Megga, realising she was unable to carry the responsibility of raising her alone. There was an incident involving her synching herself to electricity that gave Moira a deeper clue as to her actual powers in June 2005. Then there came Amanda's relapse with her magic addiction, and she accidentally used Meggan as a power source when the younger girl synched herself to the magical items in Amanda's study. The incident resulted in Meggan being moved out of Amanda and Marie-Ange's suite and into one with Dani. Meggan took the separation badly and threw several tantrums, as well as becoming more and more withdrawn, unconsciously mimicking Amanda's own behaviour.
Further Information
Following the events of Lost In The Woods and Amanda's decision to leave the school, it was agreed with Kurt that Meggan would be better off returning to Margali, requiring the stability of a close family unit. She joined the caravan in December 2005 and had been relatively happy there, until it was decided in October 2008 that she could better learn to control her powers by returning to the school.
Returning To The School
In October 2008 Meggan returned to the school. She joined the New Mutants on a field trip soon after, learning first-hand about the supposed field trip curse due to the events of Day Zero. Once the team made it to safety, Meggan was reunited with her Kurk and Amanda, and engaged in some much needed bonding time.
During this time period, Meggan discovered that she was able to levitate--she continued to work on getting a handle on this in the ensuing months, managing to stop herself from sleep-levitating after quite a bit of trial and error. This little quirk made it an interesting time to be her roommate.
That Christmas, Kurt and Meggan (worried about Amanda due to Pete's apparent death) lured Amanda home to Berlin for the holidays. She confirmed Amanda's suspicions that Pete had indeed been her mystery "Rescue Man" years ago.
Revenant
The beginning of March 2010 was a good one as Meggan helped to welcome Nick into the family. However, within a scant few days she began to have strange nightmares of being chased, being drowned in increasingly violent scenarios, and a strange hunger. She dismissed them as having eaten something she shouldn't have, or stress from past events, when in fact it was Selene trying to get a foothold in her mind, through her empathy. Her behavior changed soon after, and she found herself unable to tell anyone of the nightmares.
Everything came to a head when--following her causing a disturbance during a test--a worried Adrienne Frost used her powers to Read Meggan's homework, and saw that Selene was controlling her. When she confronted her on the staircase, things took a turn for the worse as Selene possessed Meggan completely and shoved her down the stairs.
While possessed, Meggan broke Selene's cultists out of prison, before breaking into the American Natural History Museum, where the stones from Nova Roma had been placed. X-Force intervened, with Kurt teleporting her to the offices at Snow Valley, and placing her in a restraining circle. After a few failed attempts to get through to Meggan, he began to read Treasure Island to her...to comfort Meggan, if she were able to hear even a fragment of it.
Meggan was finally freed of Selene's influence with a ritual to remove the witch's essence at the Hellfire Club. Once she was herself again, Kurt teleported her out of the fray, and back to her room to recover.
Physical Characteristics
Height: 5' 5"
Weight: 119 lbs
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brownish Blonde
Other Features: When first found, Meggan was a small, furry creature, with bat-wing ears, fangs and long spindly limbs with only four fingers on each hand, reacting to the perception those around her had of her being a 'monster'.
Due to the nature of her powers, this is not her 'true' form, and she will eventually discover what that is for herself.
As she has continuously worked on not letting that get to her as often (and it is hit or miss at times) she now attempts to maintain the appearance of a regular person with brownish blonde hair, and nothing too out of the ordinary like fur or claws.
However, if it is too cold where she is (be it her room or the classroom) it is more than likely that she will grow a bit of fur, out of habit.
Powers
Meggan is not precisely an empath, although that was the initial assumption. Her powers are actually closer to, say, Synch's... only she doesn't synch herself to powers, but to other beings... or things. When she does it with people, she picks up emotions, instincts, and occasionally a thought or two if it's a very clear, simple, strongly held one... an obsession, or a goal. Animals work the same way, but a little simplified. Plants are more difficult, and she tends mostly to pick up physical attributes from them... bark, a few leaves, turning green, that sort of thing. Inanimate objects are very difficult, and she won't learn those for a long time. Electronics she can attune herself to, but shouldn't... explosions are more or less inevitable, given her patchy control and the energy involved. The easiest of all for her, after people, is the elements... fire, earth, air, and water are easy. Meggan's natural affinity with nature and the elements also gives her a very minor magical aptitude, since she can adapt to attune herself to any form of energy, including the magical. She does not, however, have much power, unless actually latched onto a leyline or some other supplemental source. Her body, until she learns to control her powers better, will automatically reflect whatever's going on in her mind, or whatever it is she's attuning herself to.
At the point she arrived, having had absolutely no conscious practice with her powers, she was very much at square one... although attuning herself to people is instinctive, she had to learn to control when it happens, and learn to do the rest.
Meggan can tune in not only to emotions, but to pretty much anything... although only one thing at a time, and she's going to need considerable practice before her powers are anything like under control. They are, however, completely passive, if that's the right word... although they can play havoc with her body and mind, she can't project at all. No matter how badly she loses control, it won't affect anyone but herself, unless she manages to inadvertently short something out.
Equipment
None.
Trivia
- When Meggan was first moved out of Amanda's room, she locked herself in the bathroom and ate Dani's oatmeal soap.
- Her favorite books are Treasure Island and The Hobbit.
- One of her favorite movies is The Princess Bride.
Plots
2005
2008
2009
2010
Meta
Player: Rachel (player)
E-mail: 
AIM: Calliopes Pen
Player Icon Base: Carey Mulligan
Meta Trivia
Meggan was formerly played by Dyce.
