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xxxxxNicodemus was born to Deborah and Rugal Montoya on a bright October afternoon in San Jose California. His childhood was pretty normal, at least as far as Nic was concerned, though truthfully someone looking in from the outside might have a different opinion. Nic's father was never around, leaving the boy to be raised almost entirely by his mother. She would occasionally have a nanny or a friend to help out, but the biggest burden bringing up Nicodemus was hers. His mother always smiled, and never complained, she didn't accuse or blame her husband for never being around. She simply did what she could trying to raise Nic up to be a good and proper person.
xxxxxNic's father was never Daddy, or even Dad to Nic, it was always Dr. Montoya as he insisted everyone including his wife called him, Nic could occasionally get away with calling him sir without being corrected if he was in a particularly good mood Nic could even get away with calling him father. Dr. Montoya was a respected scientist he won a bunch of awards for his work in genetic research all of which he would name off for Nic whenever he asked, but the young boy could never remember the names let alone what they were for. His father was one of those all work and no play types the vast majority of his time was spent away from home either long hours at the lab, or out of town attending sermons, conferences, and various lab visits around the country. A few times on the rare nights that his father was at home, and deemed to have time for his son's silly questions, Nic had tried to ask about his father's work. Dr. Montoya was very passionate about his research, and was happy to talk about, and explain all he could, he would say some things were classified and he couldn't talk about them. To poor little six year old Nic the words his father said explaining his job sounded like mumbo jumbo to him, even when he was older Nic couldn't tell what his father did, he decided you would need at least a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences to have any idea what the man was talking about, Nic only managed to pick up that it was something to do with Genomes, Stem cells, and mutant hormones, but he wasn't even sure if they were supposed to go together, or if these were completely separate things his father was working on. Nic only really understood enough to get him interested in mutants. So Nic grew under his mothers watchful eye his father supporting the two of them.
xxxxxNicodemus went to school, made friends without difficulty despite the occasional awkward attempt trying to explain where his father was and what he did for a living, he found for the most part simply saying he's a scientist was enough. Nic progressed through elementary school quite well, his grades were never excellent, but they were enough that his teachers had no complaints. Nic's mother felt he was missing something, he was doing fine in school, but she could tell he wasn't really passionate about anything. Determined her son would find something he could be as passionate about as his father she enrolled Nic in clubs and activities one after the other. Nicodemus enjoyed most sports and clubs he tried, but didn't find anything he really loved, at least not until he discovered gymnastics. Tumbling, jumping and flipping through the air was the greatest thrill he'd ever felt, and he took to it like a fish to water. Throughout the rest of elementary and middle school Nic spent a good deal of his free time practicing gymnastics, though he himself would refer to it as playing rather than training.
xxxxxNic found would could be considered his second passion in 7th grade during a social studies assignment about races and cultures, each student was to research and write a paper on a race they were unfamiliar with. It was an assignment Nic in fact failed. Nic was shocked at having failed the assignment and complained to his parents, it was one of the rare times that his father was home and not overly busy. Dr. Montoya requested to read the paper Nic had written for the assignment. Nic hesitated, his father had occaisonally read over Nic's homework before, he was always incredibly strict and critical he was far harder to please than any of Nic's teachers, after a moment Nic handed over the paper. Dr. Montoya silently and calmly read over the paper, when he had finished he looked at his son and simply stated 'You chose mutants for the assignment.' Then his father sighed and lightly tapped the paper with his fingertips 'This is the best paper you have ever written, and your research is thorough and accurate. This is well above 7th grade level.' This praise completely confused Nic if his father approved how could the teacher possibly have failed him. Having never experienced prejudice, or realized it was going on around him Nicodemus couldn't understand that was the reason behind the failing grade. That night Dr. Montoya took the time to have a long talk with his son to teach him about discrimination, he made sure not to focus on discrimination against mutants specifically, but the boy was so facinated with the mutant race that all his questions were about mutants anyway. THe following day Dr. Montoya went to the school to protest his son's failing grade.
xxxxxThis experience jump started Nic's fascination with mutants, and his hatred of discrimination. He joined some online groups, and forums that were supporting mutants, or anti-discrimination, and made some very good friends online. Though he was occaisionally harassed about being a mutant lover, and got into a few fights due to that, he would not be discouraged.
xxxxxHe progressed into high school with very little difficulty, still working hard at his gymnastics winning quite a few competitions by highschool he had a personal trainer working with him insisting Nic had the potential to compete in the olympics. Everything was proceeding quite well, that is until his mother found her calling. She decided she wanted to be a pilot with his mother following her dream she would be away as much as his father and there would be no one to take care of Nic. So his mother and father decided that the best course of action would be to enroll Nicodemus in boarding school, or send him to live with family. They discussed many options for schools, but Nic could only think of one he really wanted to attend Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. One of his best friends that he'd met online went there, and raved about it, and exclaimed how welcoming a place it is. Nic's father steadfastly refused, and would have nothing to do with talk of his son attending such a school. His mother was the voice of reason between them she could understand if Nic wanted to get out on his own and live in an exciting city like New York. His mother proposed a compromised, Nic could live with his uncle in New York, and attend Rye High School in Westchester county, from there he would be close enough that he could visit his friends, but still be under the relatively safe watch of his uncle. Rye was a prestigious school though, the entry exams were quite difficult he would have to seriously buckle down.
xxxxxThis was no joke, Rye wasn't exactly generous about who they let in, they had an incredibly low student to teacher ratio with less than 1000 students and about 80 faculty members, students were expected to excel and 95% of Rye graduates went on to University or college. Dr. Montoya may have thought the bar too high, that Nic would fail, and give up on New York. When he saw his son attack this obstacle with such an animated dedication however, he was sold. Nicodemus worked feverishly to increase his grades, took any extra credit assignments he could, he even did volunteer work, and made sure to keep completely out of trouble; anything he could think of that would increase his chances to be accepted. Finally when the time came to apply Nic had pushed his grades up as promised, he'd managed to get straight A's and maintain them in the short time before the exam.
xxxxxNicodemus eagerly sent in his application to Rye High School, his father, despite his reservations about Nic's school choice, had given his word and couldn't help but admire the determination Nicodemus had shown; either the boy was genuinely convinced he was destined for New York, or he was even more stubborn that Dr. Montoya himself. Either way Nic had earned his father's support and Dr. Montoya did all he could to push the application, it was up to Nic now to pass the entrance exams, although Nic being an olympic hopeful gymnast, having a recommendation from a renown and decoration geneticist such as Dr. Montoya, and a sizable donation in his father's name didn't hurt his chances. Nic did well on the exams, but not flawlessly, it was enough however to earn himself an interview with a faculty member, the interview went very well, and the teacher found themselves taking to Nic quite easily they were convinced Nic would make an excellent addtion to the school. With the strong recommendation Nic was accepted and able to begin attending the semester starting January 2017. The flurry of moving clear across the country left little time to say goodbye, his mother and father both promised to come see him any time they were in New York, and Nic was on his way.
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xxxxx-Gymnastics: Nic is a talented and passionate gymnast, he has been enthusiastically training since he was about seven years old, and when his parents found he was genuinely serious about gymnastics they hired a personal trainer. With his trainer instructing him and pushing him to even greater heights Nicodemus excelled, although Nic hasn't fully understood his trainer has been conditioning him for the Olympics and is hopeful Nic will make it into the next Olympic team.
xxxxx-Mutant relations: Hard to say if it is exactly a skill, but Nic is facinated with mutants, and abhors discrimination, he gets especially frustrated seeing the abundance of discrimination against mutants and tries to aleviate it in any way he can. He has had to accept that there's no way he can put an end to it on his own, but has taken an interest in psychology. If gymnastics doesn't count he's considering entering a career in counseling or social work working closely with mutants in need.
xxxxx-Capoeira: Nic has only recently taken up Capoeira, but thanks to his years of training gymnastics he already has almost the perfect conditioning and flexibility for it he has taken to the martial art very quickly. His Mestre has been amazed by his progress in such a short time.
xxxxx-Athletics: Thanks to years of training Gymnastics Nic is blessed with great coordination, flexibility, stamina and over conditioning which easily translates over to other sports and athletic areas. He also tends to pick up rules and the flow of the game quite well, he certainly won't be able to compete professionally, but he does quite well in most athletic events.
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