Faster Pussycat

Amanda Agostino

Amanda Agostino came from a family of thieves. Her grandfather was a jewel thief who had to flee Italy immediately after the Second World War to escape prison. Her father was a frequent contractor for a number of East Coast mob families during the 60s and 70s. She grew up to do her family proud. For several years she operated as a world-class burglar and thief specializing in art, jewels, and other rare items, often working for wealthy collectors and bypassing established fences altogether. She had a reputation for competence and discretion, gathering teams as needed (usually for only a single job) and costing a number of galleries and museums insurance companies dearly. This all came to an end the night she made a grab for a figurine of the Egyptian goddess Bast on display in Freedom City. A flu-stricken security guard whose illness made him run behind schedule arrived at the most inopportune time and his stray gunshot shattered the figurine Agostino held in her hands. The statue was more than a simple piece of art, it was a vessel used by an ancient sorcerer to trap a fragment of the goddess herself. When it shattered, energies released knocked the guard unconscious, letting Amanda escape.
She remembers nothing of the next week, except the vision of a glowing cat sitting on an altar surrounded by golden sand and the voice of a woman saying, “Yes. You’ll do just fine.” When she finally came to at one of her safehouses she was unharmed, but changed. She was taller, fitter, and where once she had been “merely” attractive she was now breathtakingly beautiful. Then she noticed the jewels and artwork that surrounded her bed. She had somehow stolen a good portion of the museum’s pricier inventory all by herself.
Agostino abandoned her old life and contacts then and there. A few weeks later, she made the first of her many high-profile robberies, stealing a set of rubies as they were being delivered to a gallery in Los Angeles. Agostino soon hooked up with a group of young data thieves who had become infatuated with her after seeing the video of her robbery. She had the young men set up the beginnings of what would become her online empire—something they gladly agreed to do because of the wealth and other perks she promised them. Shortly afterward, the various online shrines to the exploits of “The World’s Most Glamorous Thief” went live and Faster Pussycat never looked back.

Physical Description

Special abilities

Amanda Agostino is host to a fraction of the goddess Bast’s power. She is supernaturally alluring and charismatic. Her agility and speed are far greater than human and in times of need she can briefly increase her movement speed to superhuman levels. She is also blessed with animal-level perceptions and even a few of the extra lives legend attributes to Bast’s totem creature. Aside from her powers, Agostino is a world-class thief specializing in jewels and fine art.
In addition to her supernatural powers, Agostino is a master of manipulating the media and generating buzz. Instead of being just another super-powered thief, she’s turned herself into an Internet star with fans the world over. As one fan described her, “She’s like Madonna or Lady Gaga with superpowers!”

Mental characteristics

Intellectual Characteristics

Faster Pussycat has developed a number of archetypal feline characteristics thanks to the power of Bast. She is vain, self-indulgent, self-absorbed, obsessed with her own comfort and safety, easily bored, and dangerously playful. Agostino is also vivacious, charming, and effective at seducing and manipulating people into doing what she wants—which is mostly to adore her and make it possible for her to acquire the wealth and baubles she “needs.”

Social

Contacts & Relations

Faster Pussycat is very popular in the costumed underworld. She finds it easy to attract partners for any job she decides to pursue. She has made use of Tribal on many occasions, generally persuades Doc Otaku to help her with needed equipment for special jobs, and has a love-hate relationship with Magpie (currently in the love category).
The allies that most frequently provide her with assistance are the nameless throng of online fans that hang on her every word. They help her launder money through her paid fan sites, they sell her memorabilia (photos, t-shirts, etc.), they keep forums devoted to her (which she often uses to covertly pass information on to certain employers or partners), and so on. None of her fans have become directly involved in her jobs, yet. She’s toyed with the idea of setting up a flash mob as a distraction, but that’s so passe nowadays she can’t bring herself to do it.