Matthew Forrester is the son of a simple labourer, and was happy to take up the mantle. He breezed through high school on mediocre grades, and quickly powered through vocational college, all the while working with his father to build up his experience. This resulted in his graduating at the age of twenty, and moving on to the work force only a few months later. Matthew worked as a roofer for two years, and couldn't be happier with his work. The salary was of little concern to him, second to the joy of his occupation.

It was a hot summer day in Claychester, and Matthew was working alone on the roof a small bungalow a dozen kilometres from down-town. A sudden, crackling boom thundered through the sky, startling the labourer and drawing his eyes to the sky. His eyes darting over the clear skyline, Matthew scanned for the source of the sound. Perhaps a super sonic plane was flying overhead?

What he saw was nothing short of breath taking. A bright, blue light was slowly growing bigger over his head. As it grew bigger, a hissing screech grew louder until, in a shatter crash, the light struck the ground with amazing force. Matthew dove down, shielding himself with the peak of the house from the blast. Chunks of concrete and asphalt flew over his head in the deafening explosion, and a large chunk of the road struck the roof of the house, crashing into the room below. Matthew rushed to his ladder, which had luckily not been knocked over in the event, and quickly climbed down.

In the aftermath of the impact, a smouldering crater was left in the road. Pieces of asphalt littered the road, and car alarms blared, set off by the shock-wave of the explosion. Matthew approached the smoking crash, and noted that there didn't seem to be anyone else on the street- it was mid day, and everyone was at work. Finally arriving at the edge of the crater, Matthew looked down into it in awe.

The hole created by the impact must have been at least 20 metres wide, encompassing the full width of the road, the side-walk, and into the lawns on either side. At the centre of the shallow hole lay a cylindrical capsule. (TBC)

Standing at 5'11 with silver blue eyes Jacob is 180 of lean human flesh. He has little to know muscle and has more of a runners build. Most of his body due to his ability, can be changed at will which is why he cannot seem to really remember what he looked like, but his current for is closest to it. His hair is a dark brown and his eyes are a piercing silver and light blue, more blue in sun light and more sliver in the dark. He has a runners lean build, with little to no muscles, and only weighs 175 lbs. When he is not saving someones life, you can catch him some casual clothes or another. He is in love with graphic tees of all types and wears them when he gets the chance. Jacob hates to be confined or restrained so suits are not his thing. When it is hot you will see him in shorts and a t-shirt, or muscle shirt, and when it is cold jeans, or joggers, and long sleeve tops like sweaters and shirt. His super suit is a made of spandex and the same material that they make dry fit shirts out of, it is also laced with organic fibers so that he can control it. (http://www.tribomb.com/reviews/huub-wetsuit/image02.jpg

Jacob was born in 1915, in a small village in between, Berlin and Potsdam. He had 5 other siblings and only a mother to raised them, because his father was killed in WWI. They all lived in a small one story house with small rooms and one bathroom. As a child Jacob grew up alone, he was the oldest and had no cares in the world. He was an avid reader and soccer player, and helped his mother and father out with house work and farming.

He did not start to have siblings until his father enlisted for WWI, and as a parting gift he would leave a child every time he came home for leave. It is even known that his father may have had some children with women he met during the war. When he did not come home at the end of the war he was presumed dead and never heard from again. Jacob had to take his place and get a hard job in a mill factory, just to make meets end for the family. Because of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had a major blow to their economy and this lead to people losing jobs, unemployment rising and Jacob have to turn to more moral defining sources of work. By his teenage years he had two focuses in life; education, not only for his family but for him self as well, and the other being money, the best ways to save, get, and invest it.

When he exited secondary school (high school), everything was starting to look good for his family. His mother was happy, his sisters were doing well, and he would be turning 21. That year WWII came and the Nazi party swept over Germany. He was to busy to concern himself with politics, and his mother was not a supporter, but they still had to follow the norms of society (at the time) and deal with the prejudices going around in the country. One night after his job, he was walking home from drinking with his friends, he was hammered, and got abducted by the Gestapo.

They took him to a secret facility in Luneberg. It was one of the Nazi S.T.E.M facilities, were they worked to better their military prowess and improve the over all functions of human beings. Here is where the experiments started, he was apart of a group known as Project Braniac. The purpose was to unlock the higher brain functions of humanity and make a more perfect human. They only had 12 subjects in order from arrival time, he was subject number 5. They did all kinds of experiments on him the entire duration of the war. He was only ever known by his number along with the other "subjects" and that's how they called to each other.

Towards the end of the war, the Nazis created the "Cradle of Life". Its main purpose was to act as a crib and allow for the injection and direct exposure of the cells to nuclear, atomic, and solar energy to activate the triggers that were set in place by the experiments. This was done for the last few months of the war and when everyone was done the Nazis would unleash their new creations. Well the project was cut short and only the first five were able to receive the treatment, which brought about their powers safely and naturally with no scars, while the last seven had to endure pain and some kind of deformity, wither it was metal or physical, to get their powers. Jacob was mid procedure (it was at 90% completion) when the US stormed the base and tried to take over.

Soon after being liberated the "original five" decided to destroy the facility and everything in it to make sure that no one could get their hands on the research and try to duplicate it. In spite of that Jacob kept the files on the "originals" and the blue prints on the cradle. He returned to his family that were no split in Berlin and Warsaw. His mother was living her last few years in a old folks home in Berlin, the cause was cancer. soon after she died he left Germany in altogether and moved to America. By now he was well off, the German government was (still is) paying him off to keep his mouth shut about what he went through, and the US government was (still is) paying him off to allow them to get a yearly "check up" om his well being.

He continued to raise his sisters and watched them grow and have their own children, and so on and such forth. No his family is one of the last Aryan lines left that are from Germany. By the modern date all but one of his siblings is dead and she lives with him in New Orleans. Right when he came back he told his sisters what he could do and how it happened, and they told their kids and soon he became a legend among the younger generations. Many who visit his sister Alice, only see him as her care taker or butler but that is not the truth.

After his sister died two years ago, he found did not know what to do with his time, taking care of his family was already done so now he could just waste away. But that was until he heard about someone who matched the description of Number 3. Number 3 was an older man who hated the Germans and had been at the facility longer than Jacob had. The reports had said that he was using his abilities to rob banks. Bank robing turned to grand theft, which turned to mass murder of anyone who had ties to Germany. Jacob knew this would pose a problem so he stepped in and combated him the entire way. He saved lives and got a public name because he wore a #5. The crusade ended with the death of Number three at the hands of Jacob and Number 4.

Soon after he had gained a hero background and now had something to occupy his time, saving the lives of the truly innocent.

Cesar was born in Rome, on the night of the 12 of December of 1992. His father worked as an ancient history professor in the University of Rome, and her mother was a doctor who had the weirdest work hours ever. Throughout his childhood, he has no recollection of spending time with his parents outside his house. When he was two years old, his sister Martina was born. They grew up together and are really attached to each other. One night, when Cesar was nine, his father arrived at his home and started packing. He gave no explanations to Cesar or his sister, got them in the car and drove directly to the airport, stopping only to pick up a strange woman from the hospital his mother worked in. They also stopped in a badly illuminated alley were his father told them to switch cars with the one that was parked in front of theirs and wait to their mother in there. They did. A couple of seconds later, his father drove off and his mother opened the front door of the car and sat to the wheel. During the time they traveled, their mother told them that they were going to move to the USA, that something she could not explained had happened and that if by any chance they were to see their father in the airport, they should act as if they didn’t know him. Almost a day after they had left their home, they arrived at Grimmarch. They met with his father and started a new life there. He had a little trouble adapting to this new life. Partly because of the language, partly because of the culture, but mostly because he missed his old friends.

When he was fourteen, he met Sam, his new best friend. He introduced him to Sarah and Lisa. The four of them became friends and have been very close from that day on.

From that day on, his life went just like any other adolescent life. With its ups and downs, but nothing out of the ordinary. Until one night of August, when he was 18. His parents had flown to New Skywell and he had been left in charge of the house and his sister, even though she was big enough to take care of herself. During that night, he had a dream. He dreamed with his mother. She told him that people would tell him that they had died in a car accident. That he shouldn’t believe them. That they had been murder and that one day that people who murder them would come after him. She said she didn’t have much time. That she loved him and that she will miss him. That she hoped he could bear the responsibility she had just left him, and that she was sorry about it. “Don’t worry, the gods will guide you…”

He woke up to the sound of the ringing phone. It was the police department of New Skywell. They told him his parents had died in a car accident that night. He didn’t cried about it, because he had already cried in his dreams and because he needed to be strong for Martina. The following weeks were hell for them. Luckily, they both had great groups of friends that supported them and took turns to look after them.
Exactly 24 nights after his parents’ death, Cesar had another weird dream. This time it wasn’t his mother who visited him; this time was Mercury who did. Not the planet but the roman god and messenger of the gods. He said he had a message from Jupiter. “We’ll explain everything to you, kid, don’t worry. You’ll just have to be patient. And I’m sorry about your parents, I really am. I really liked your mother.” He was speaking Latin, and even though Cesar didn’t speak it, he was able to understand him perfectly. That day he wasn’t capable to focus in anything else. He usually wasn’t able to remember his dreams, but this one he remember to perfection, every last bit of it. When he went to sleep that night, he was sure that he was going to have another dream of the sort. But nothing happened, and it kept like that for exactly 23 more days. He had almost forgotten about the gods when he suddenly had a dream. He was in the middle of circle of people. But when he took a better look at them, he saw Mercury. One of the men stepped forward and said to him: “Greetings young human. My name is Jupiter. I believe you already know who we are. What you probably do not know is who you are. You are part of a very long chain of guardians of the earth. Your mother was one; your grandfather was one, and so on until the very begging of our civilization. Each guardian has a very strong power hidden inside, that will only be freed with his progenitor death. Your mother’s death had freed yours, and so is our responsibility to teach you how to use them. What you do with them is not our problem. Although we believe that you will use them wisely, given that you are a descendant of the very first of the guardians. I know it might sound confusing, but you must try to understand. You’ll be granted with the power to invoke a human form of ourselves into your body. Every time you do it, you’ll change your physiology and gain certain powers that you’ll be able to use as you please. To do so, you’ll just have to try to fill your body with the desire of being one of us. It’s not easy to do. It usually takes between a week and ten days to conquer the ability. You must also take into account that the people who killed your parents will be also willing to kill you and your sister. Luckily for you, your mother did a great job covering up the fact that she had two children. But they are not stupid, as soon as you start acting, they’ll realize who you are and will try to kill you and anyone you care. That’s why we advise you to protect your real identity and use one of use when you are using your powers. That way, anyone you care for will be safe. Go now, kid. Try to take all this in and start exploring your powers. Oh, and one more thing. Since this is the darkest of ages since the one of your kind were created, you’ll we granted the name of Hercules among your equals, the most important guard ever, and my very own son.”

It took him a couple of days to convince himself of what he has been through. Once he did, he started trying to invoke the gods, just like Jupiter had told him. And the seventh they had passed and nothing had happened at all. He started to get worried. Perhaps, he wasn’t worthy. He became trouble about the fact that perhaps he wouldn’t be able to use his powers, or perhaps that everything had been nothing but a dream. Or even worse, perhaps he was going crazy. And that was when he really started wishing to transform into one of the gods. He couldn’t afford to go crazy because he had his sister to look after. If he went crazy, what would become of her? Without even noticing it, he suddenly felt a rage going up and down his body and when he opened his eyes, he wasn’t himself anymore. He was wearing a golden armor that was as light as silk, a roman skirt that made him feel a little ridiculous and a couple of sandals that were actually really nice. When he looked in a mirror, he didn’t see himself, but a very handsome young man who starred back at him. He was taller, more muscular and felt much more athletic than he had ever done in his life. The sound of a slamming door took him out of his reverie. His sister had just arrived home, and he couldn’t let her see him like that. So he tried to transform back into himself. But he couldn’t do so. Full with fear, he climb down the window as his sister entered his empty room looking for him. He ended up in an alleyway, and with that costume, he wasn’t going to go unnoticed. When he was about to come out of the alley, he run into a three guys who started laughing at him because of what he was wearing. He tried to keep walking but they corner him into the alley and started making fun of him. He pushed of them away and the guy landed quite farther than he actually thought he would. Suddenly, one of them tried to punch him in the face, and he, out the blue, blocked the punch and started fighting the three guys at the same time. It took him a couple of seconds to have the three guys lying unconscious in the floor. He left the alley, shook at what he had done and started walking back to his home. The street was deserted, and when he arrived at his house, he realized that somewhere in the way he had become himself again, and thanked the gods that nobody was there to see him.

That night was Mars, the god of war, who talked to him in his dreams: “I’m glad that you had picked me at your first “call-in”. As you might have learned, when you do, you’ll become some kind of an expert in every kind of close ranged combat, both armed and unarmed. You might also have noticed that every god has a connection to a different state of mind. That’s what you should use in order to “call-in” each one of us. With the time you’ll learn to control it. By now, you should keep in mind that you have to be really careful about this responsibility. The others will like to explain you about his powers now.” And so they did. They also advised him to “call-in” Apollo every time he wanted to use his powers. This will make everyone think that his real identity was Apollo’s. He should only make sure not to be seen in Apollo’s form around his friends and relatives.

It took him more or less four months to fully understand and control his powers and his transformations. Each time he wanted to call-in a god, he had to concentrate in a specific state of mind. And every time he transformed, he would experience a different sensation. With Jupiter was like an electric buzz that ran all over his body. With Vulcan was like an inner fire that grew from his core. With Pluto was like the hollow emptiness of death… He came to like more some gods than others. While Jupiter, Neptune and Mars are among his favorites, Pluto, Janus and Fortuna are the ones that he calls-in the least.

Nowadays, at the age of 22 he has committed himself almost completely to the fight against evil. His parents left him and her sister a lot of money, really, a lot. As it seems, his mother wasn’t as reluctant as Cesar is about using Fortuna’s form to win money from the casinos. So he doesn’t really has to work, he just do it to avoid any type of suspicions. He works as a writer, which has very flexible hours and can be done from the comfort of his precious bed. Mostly he writes sci-fi novels, and the occasional novel about roman gods and some kind of human-kind-protector. Two times a week he meets with Sam, Sarah and Lisa to have some beers and spend some time together. He also separates some time of the week to spend with his sister. All the time he’s not doing any of these activities or sleeping, he uses to fight evil.

In Combat Suit
Outside Combat Suit.

Scout was born out of the love affair of a pastor's daughter and an upcoming rockstar. Rachael, wanting to have a bit of fun before she finally gradutated college, had met Ned, the lead singer for his upcoming band, the Skinners. She met him at a party and had had a few too many drinks. Within the next couple of months, she'd graduated thinking she'd never see him again. But, things wouldn't end so nicely for Rachael. She began throwing up in the morning. Luckily, she was in her own apartment so she didn't have to worry about her parents finding out but her sister found the payment sheet from the doctors from when she'd gotten her ultrasound. Rachael had been planning to abort the baby and just let it be swept under the rug her parents refused her, saying that if she didn't have that baby, they'd disown her. And so, she had the baby. But, she refused to name her, telling the doctors of her father. "Just let Ned know. He'll take her."

The next few days, Ned spent his days traveling back to his old hometown to visit a doctor who said he had Ned's child for him. The other band mates were very supportive and even happy for him. Ned wasn't so thrilled. However, that was before he saw her. He saw his baby girl laying in that room with the rest of them, and his heart filled with love for the poor girl. When he picked her up, the deal was sold. He looked up at his mates with the biggest smile they'd ever seen on his face. From then on, she was called Scout and was often joked to be the bands "Talent Scout" and sometimes even came on stage as their mascot. The fans were very receptive to Scout as well, they all loved her. At the end of shows, she'd come out on stage and 'dance' for them in random outfits and even sing for them sometimes.

Then, Scout's accident happened, and Ned saw his life flash before his eyes. From then on, he kept close tabs on Scout, much to her irritation. He even stalked her when she started dating guys. However, Scout soon figured out that she didn't really like guys. They all just reminded her of the guys in the band. Soon, she began dating girls in secret behind her dad's back. She'd always tell him she was just hanging out with her friend. He never even suspected a thing until he walked in on her and her girlfriend at the time in the living room of the Tour Bus. He'd screamed for the girl to get out and had a rather long talk with Scout about lying. She'd expected him to be mad about her preferences but he never even mentioned anything about that. He was more upset that she'd lied to him about it.

From then on, things went fairly smoothly. Ned watched his daughter idly, a soft smile on his face. The other band members started trying to hook her up with 'hot chicks' and stuff like that. It was all pretty nice until it happened. He was on a normal average run to the store from the bus, took a cab. But, the small store was robbed that night and... Ned never made it out. She'd never gotten the full story on what happened, no one seemed to want to tell her even though she was 18, seemingly old enough to know. She was home schooled, so the other band members took charge of her and sent her to school, where she studied vocals. She quit about half way through figuring she already knew all this crap and came back to try and take over the Skinners but by the time she came back, they had all split up. It also didn't help that with her powers, it was a bit hard to make friends. Going to the bathroom was easy and everything sounded nice because she could alter the sounds and she'd always sing perfectly, but she'd lost her drive. Now, she simply wanders, as if something random would spark her interest and give her something to do for awhile.

Do you shower often?

"I... I guess? I take a shower every other day. Don't see much reason to bathe everyday..."

When was the last time you brushed your teeth?

"Last night, why?"

What did you have for dinner last night?

"Uhm... Chinese take out. What I have pretty much every night."

Any children at all?

"God forbid, no."

If yes, what is/are his/her/their name/names?

If no, why not?

"I'm 22 and lesbian. And single, mind you."

What was the name of your last lover?

"Samantha. She sure was pretty too, but Scott found her stealing stuff from the Bus, so that ended quickly. I haven't dated since... well... since the band split up without telling me."

Are you two still together?

"Did the past tense 'was' not tip you off?"

If yes, how long have you been together?

If no, why did you split up?

"See other question."

..:: || Phase 3, Winding Down || ::..

What's your favourite drink?

"Whiskey."

How about a favourite snack?

"The blood of small children. No, but really. I like those little mandarin oranges, you know? They come in those little cups..."

Do you consider yourself to be an amicable person?

"Lemme just google that real quick... I guess so? I'm pretty chill and uncaring, so I guess that counts as friendly and shit?"

What's your usual mood like?

"Someone once told me I look like someone just ran over my cat. Not sure how I should take that. But I guess I lean more towards the 'don't care' attitude? I don't know. I make jokes a lot usually to hide the sucky stuff."

Do you like your creator?

"Would you like someone that gave you freak powers and then killed your dad in a robbery accident? Yeah, no. I'll pass."

What's your most over used phrase?

"Dude."

Interesting. How about your least used phrase?

"Uhm... I guess... 'I love you.'"

..:: || Phase 4, Packing Up and Moving On || ::..

Do you have many friends?

"Sure. I guess."

Would you say your well liked among people?

"I uh... I don't know. I guess? Most people give me nasty looks but my friends are nice enough to me."

What's your lineage/blood line like?

"Shit."

Are you happy with your lineage/blood line?

"With my Dad's, yeah. But Mom? Her family can suck my d-"

How far back does your lineage/blood line go?

"Hell if I know. Nor do I care to know."

Almost done. If there was one thing about yourself that you could change, what would it be?

"I want my ass to be bigger. Please."

What's your line of work?

"Professional loafer? But no really, I do some performances on the street every now and then. I make enough off of those surprisingly, to keep myself afloat.

What's your preferred tool of the trade?

"My voice..."

Last question. What would you do if you suddenly appeared in your creators world?

"Go after her, of course."

Alright we're done, you can go now

"I appreciate it."

When he was a teenager he learned about all of the problems around the world that were caused by people forcing their rules on other people. He got involved in protests against the police and government policies, hoping that peaceful protest would get their attention. At one of demonstrations, however, things turned violent and the police sent out the riot squad to disperse them. When a group of protesters drew weapons and started shooting at the police a firefight broke out. He was hit in the head by a bullet and spent the next week in the hospital undergoing stem cell treatments to repair the damage. He couldn't move or speak for the next week, but he could listen and watch. After a few days he found that he could move slightly, though the doctors said that his motor cortex wasn't repaired enough yet, and that he should be a paraplegic. They chalked it up to a medical miracle, and, when his recovery was complete, he started his rehab. He found that he could do almost everything they wanted him to without as much practice as they thought he would need. In time, he even surpassed what he could do before the accident, reacting to stimuli faster and able to lift more weight than his muscle mass should allow him to.
While in rehab he met a man from a country in South America that was run by a dictator. They talked about all of the problems with the country which such a dictatorship caused and, when he was finished with the rehab, he decided to go down there to join the resistance. He traveled there as an American tourist and soon found himself captured by the rebels who hoped to ransom him back to his government for money to fund their rebellion. he explained to them that he had come here to help them and, when they dismissed it as the ramblings of a frightened hostage, he broke the ropes they tied him up with and disarmed anyone who attacked him. He told them that he was a Superhero, there to help free their people from tyranny, and many of them decided to follow him. He made a few rules for his group, including not taking hostages unless they were in the regime and only attacking government targets, and soon he lead his group to the top of the rebellion, hitting military bases and government offices to help the people. They even freed members of other cells from police custody and most of them joined their ranks as well.
One of the rebels they freed was a woman with the somewhat comical name of Maria Garcia. She was also a Super but, when the government found out, they killed her family in the effort to capture her. She only had her photosynthesis left, as she blamed the others for the death of her family. John talked with her and they became friends. She became one of his lieutenants and lead troops in several raids. One day, however, after they had spent hours talking about her family, she leaned over and hugged him, and soon started to glow. It was then that they discovered he could cure trauma and, because of that, could help Supers recover their suppressed powers. He also helped treat psychological problems within his men, earning even more respect. With her powers restored, Maria spent the next few years leading many more attacks, and John eventually promoted her to being his second in command.
After a raid against a government records office they found records which showed that a US Senator was helping the Dictator monetarily. As the one with the most knowledge of the US, John decided to go back and find this Senator, to bring him and anyone else who was helping oppress these people to justice.

Hat-kina Medyn Soor comes from the distant world of Xamenid, a peaceful, spacefaring world with a kingdom built on interplanetary trade. The Xamenidians are somewhat notorious for their strict caste system, which generally serves to separate the wealthy elite ruling class from everyone else, with said wealthy elite living in luxurious and beautiful locations on the planet surface and the lower and middle classes living in less desirable locations on the planet or in sprawling, cosmopolitan satellite cities far overhead. Medyn Soor was born to one of the wealthy families, and after a brief succession crisis put her childless aunt on the throne, she was named the crown princess of Xamenid. This of course meant that she grew up in the lap of luxury, with every need and want fulfilled and a guarantee of safety and comfort for the rest of her life.

Strangely enough, such a life was never appealing to Medyn Soor, even at a young age. She never much enjoyed all the rituals and appropriate recreational activities for someone of her social status and craved something more exciting in her life. Such an idea seemed hopeless, but when she was eight years old and attending yet another gala thrown to impress and entertain a foreign dignitary, she happened to meet the dignitary's teen-aged daughter, who promised to show her something really exciting. Smuggling her off the planet to one of the massive urban satellites overhead, the dignitary's daughter took a disguised Medyn Soor to see the Stellaris Racing competition held that day. The Stellaris races were an immensely popular sport all across the known galaxy, involving high-speed and incredibly dangerous starship races across strange alien worlds and landscapes, and Medyn Soor fell in love with them almost instantly. She began following all the races with a religious fervor, regularly sneaking out of the palace to watch them in secret , learning by heart all the technical terminology behind the races, and secretly dreaming that one day she would get the chance to race herself. She also became more comfortable with the crime-rife, squalid environments of the satellite cities, over time even beginning to see them as a second home and even making a few friends with the "unwashed masses", as some of her auntie's courtiers called them. Then when she was thirteen, she heard rumors that her favorite Stellaris pilot was going to be debuting an experimental prototype engine, she knew she just had to get a look at it before everyone else did.

Her plan was simple. She would "borrow" a pilot uniform to wear, sneak into the hanger where the car was kept, and fawn over the fancy new hardware. Everything went as planned, and donned in the form-fitting red suit, she crept into the secret hanger and saw the blue glow of the new engine for the very first time. Mere sightseeing wasn't enough for her though, so she quickly jumped into the pilot seat to switch it on, eager to see the new engine running. The engine roared to life, and Medyn Soor was ecstatic, happily gunning the engine a little bit to listen to the sound of it running. When she got out of the vehicle, however, her foot caught on one of the control levers which accidentally backed the vehicle into the wall, cracking the engine casing, throwing her against the wall, and alerting the staff two rooms over to her presence. Panicking and shell-shocked, Medyn Soor scrambled to her feet and tried to scan the room for an escape route, before hearing a strange hissing noise and turning to look at the damaged engine. She barely had time to utter a swearword before the engine block exploded, showering her with the blue plasma powering the ex-engine, transforming her body and propelling her through two sets of walls. The blue plasma worked quickly, and in her blind panic Medyn Soor didn't even realize that the she was unharmed and still on her feet after being propelled through the walls, and simply ran away, only pausing when she realized that she had been running nonstop for much longer than normal, and wasn't even out of breath yet. Overwhelmed by her new super-senses, she tore off the helmet and clutched at her head in confusion, then got a glance at her reflection in a puddle of fetid water on the ground. She didn't have a scratch on her from the chaotic explosion, and her eyes were glowing blue.

It took her a month or two to come to terms with her strange new abilities, and learning to use them while also learning to control them and keep them hidden from her royal family took even longer, but when she felt she had mastered said abilities, she began thinking of what she could us them for. Looking at the pilot suit she still had from when she was involved in the accident that gave Medyn Soor her new abilities, she got a very interesting idea. She had come to terms with the fact that she would never be able to become a Stellaris pilot a while ago, understanding that by the time she became old enough to even begin training, she would not be able to balance that with her royal duties, and even if she could, such a huge breach of class structures would create a scandal big enough to bring down the entire monarchy, and Medyn Soor would never forgive herself for doing that. But now? With her new abilities, she could easily be a match for the honed reflexes and veteran instincts of the best Stellaris pilots, perhaps even surpassing them, so why not use them for a few years of living out a pipe dream before she settled into monarchical rule? Realizing she needed a disguise, Medyn Soor planned out her alternate identity as a mysterious new Stellaris Racer from a distant planet far beyond known space, tailored the "borrowed" pilot suit to fit her and match her new blue color scheme, selling some of her ugly yet expensive dresses to get the money for a starship, and entered in the next Stellaris Races as the mysterious and heroic Blue Shift.

Blue Shift became an overnight sensation in the Xamenidian League Circuit after the very first race, coming in third place ahead of many experienced Stellaris pilots. No newcomer had ever finished so far ahead on their first match, let alone one that was as young as she was. For five years Blue Shift became a public sensation, appearing only to compete in the races, wowing spectators with death-defying stunts and impossible come from behind finishes, and vanishing shortly afterwards. Medyn Soor could not be happier with her secret identity of a famous Stellaris pilot, and she loved not only the thrill of the races or the prestige of victory, but the inspiration that her victories gave the downtrodden people of Xamenid. And of course her royal family had no idea what she was doing, they were just happy that she was so happy all the time. But of course, this was an arrangement that wasn't meant to last.

Most of the other Stellaris pilots liked or at least begrudingingly respected Blue Shift, admiring her commitment to the sport at such a young age and her charismatic attitude. The Stellaris pilot and noble Merco de Vesocia, however despised the young upstart, no matter how talented she was. She had snatched first place from his clutches one too many times, and his hatred for the populist brat knew no equal. Unafraid to resort to dirty tactics, he had his servants investigate Blue Shift, and quickly discovered her identity as the crown princess of Xamenid, Hat-kina Medyn Soor. It would be so satisfying to reveal her identity to the royal family and watch the brat be dragged kicking and screaming back home, but his hatred was so intense that he felt the need to punish not only her but the entire royal household as well. Thus he leaked her identity to the Aaru Dominion, an empire inhabiting a nearby system that was in a power struggle with the Xamenids over control of trade in the region. With Vesocia's help, they plotted to kidnap the princess during the races and use her as a bargaining chip to force the Xamenids to transfer their trade power for her safe return. Then the Dominion would kill the princess anyway, the Xamenids would collapse economically and politically, and the Dominion would swoop in and conquer them. They sent their best starfighters and a squadron of troops to apprehend Blue Shift. The plan failed when the crowd swarmed the soldiers to protect their hero, and the other Stellaris pilots interfered with the Aaru starfighter's pursuit, letting Medyn Soor escape via lightspeed travel. The damage taken during the fight and the sudden jump to lightspeed, however, meant that Medyn Soor couldn't quite control the ship, and she managed to crash hard on a tiny blue planet called Earth.

Medyn Soor and her starship were quickly apprehended by the extraterrestrial affairs agency Overwatch Twelve, who nursed Medyn Soor back to health after her traumatic crash, managed to repair the damage to her ship, and established communication with her, letting her explain who she was and where she had come from. She realized that she couldn't leave the planet because the Dominion might still be looking for her, and she asked for asylum, which was granted without hesitation. Boredom soon set in again without the exciting distraction of Stellaris racing, and even her occasionally assisting Overwatch Twelve in their activities wasn't enough to shake the feeling of dissatisfaction. An agent she complained about this to couldn't understand why, in his words "you would ever be bored with these kinds of powers. I mean, you're like a superhero, aren't you?"

A superhero. The concept was intriguing to Medyn Soor, and she began to study the idea more thoroughly. It never occurred to her to use those amazing abilities she got from the exploding engine to fight crime, and she couldn't understand why. Being a hero looked like just as much fun as being a Stellaris pilot, and the inspired cheers for the superhero who saved the day reminded her so much of the cheers Blue Shift received when she made a narrow first place finish. Working with a few field agents she had befriended during her time at the secret base, she convinced the O12 High Command to set her up with a place to live and work as the superhero Blue Shift based in New Skywell. The High Command agreed, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Superhuman strength - Many martial artists and body builders are said to have muscles of wood, or legs like tree trunks. For Gorm, this is true, and with his extra weight he can both pack a mean punch and easily move or lift things that humans would need advanced machines for.

Plant growth - Gorm is a living plant, and can therefore grow as he wishes. He can even transform his own body entirely if there should be a need for it. So far he has kept a basically humanoid body, but could create an extra pair of arms, a tail, spikes, stingers, vines… Anything, given enough sunlight and water. This growth is super-accelerated compared to the natural growth of plants in this dimension. An arm would take about three minutes to grow from scratch.

Dimensional travel - Gorm’s race can travel to other dimensions at will. This is because they are rooted into the essence of the earth and the dimensions are only different perspectives to his race. While he moves in one dimension he will also move in all the others.

Melding 1 - The cells that make up Gorm’s body is fundamentally different to those found in this dimension. They can change at will into pretty much any substance or material, ledning all pros and cons of that material to Gorm. There must be present a large enough sample for this to work. At least enough to be held in both hands.

Melding 2 - This more advanced technique builds upon the first melding. Gorm’s cells will take on the properties of the material, and this will allow him to “go into” the material at will. Note that the material must exist in enough quantity to allow Gorm’s whole body to fit.

Biology A-student - While Gorm is not in detail familiar with this dimension or its flora and fauna, he does possess a deep understanding of its basic principles and can therefore deduce much information from very little, but he might be using the wrong words for humans to understand as well..

Plant empathy - Because Gorm is a plant, he shares an empathic bond with many plants just like a human would with a dog or a cat.

Sapling - Gorm can combine his anatomy with any plant in any dimension and “take over” their properties permanently.

Nothing to speak of.

Gorm never chose to be hero, he still hasn’t. He never became superhuman, he was born this way, just like millions of other dimensional travellers that have visited the human dimension in the past.

Gorm comes from a dimension of earth where the entire planet is dominated by plant life, animals are very few, and most of them are not even as evolved as our insects. this earth is stable, and rides around the sun in a smooth circular orbit, flanked by two moons. The moons orbit perfectly on each side of the planet, making floods almost a non-issue. In the middle of the largest continent stands the world tree. A massive thing several kilometers high and with a crown large enough to cover almost half the continent in darkness. Seven large roots seeks out each of the world seas to provide the tree with an almost unlimited amount of water. On land these roots are as tall as the highest wall, effectively dividing the land into six countries.
On the ground underneath it huge crown falls the seeds, and these are swallowed by the earth for many years before they too take root. They spew out long tendons which seeks out one of the seven great roots to share the water. As these seeds grow, they will eventually lose the need for these tendons, and once they are cut, the plant gains the ability to move around freely, unbound by the earth. Every seed the world tree drops has a mind, but it is empty, and naive. With the water from one of the seven seas comes experience, and the body of the grown plant is altered. Plants that has sucked salty water are pale and gangly, but rich with expressions, while plants that has drank from the clean underwater lakes grow big, but their minds are still young.
It is unknown to Gorm and his fellows if the world tree itself is sentient, it has never given any sign of it.

A few hundred years ago an asteroid hit earth, it landed in one of the world seas and caused a terrible tsunami that swept far into the large continent. Many plants drowned in the water, of were ripped apart by the force of the wave.
After that, the space rock sat at the bottom of the ocean for a while, not long, then it cracked, and something seeped out. The ocean turned pink in only a few weeks. Seaweed and plankton died en masse, and were replaced with tiny bacteria that fed on their bodies. Once they had fed, they started to fill the air with chemicals. A heavy smog rolled in from the sea, blocking the sunlight and killing smaller plants. Gorm and his companions climbed high up into the world tree to escape, and saw the entire planet enveloped in the noxious fumes. One by one trees, bushes, flowers, grass and weeds died, only the world tree and its children were spared, for now.

High up, a meeting was held, a solution must be found, or else they’d all die as well. The world tree already showed signs of illness. To save the tree and themselves they would all leave this dimension and search for one which could still support life, and bring the world tree there.
Gorm and his fellows travelled for many years. First in groups, but as they travelled through an infinite number of alternative earths they scattered. Gorm met many unusual things during this time, and he remembers it fondly.
One day Gorm stepped through the barrier into an empty planet. There was nothing around except for land, mountains, lakes and rivers. He had stumbled upon a perfect earth, one that for some reason hadn’t been able to spawn its own life even though everything needed was there.
He remembered where he was and set out again. He found his people and melded with them so that they would know as well. Each kept travelling for some time, to make sure that everyone still alive had heard the wonderful news. Then they all met at home.

The plan was as simple as it was unbearably hard. They would travel to a watery world and fill themselves with water. Then they would go back, and cut off the seven huge roots that connected the world tree to the earth. This was the dangerous part. If the tree died, no one knew what would happen, once uprooted, would they still be able to travel to a safe place? They had to take the chance.
Once the tree was free, everyone would hold on, and at the same time travel to the sanctuary and there they would set the world tree down and use their water to grow new roots for the tree.

Life felt strangely boring after that. Before, the days were filled with gardening, philosophy, scientific study, mapping of the planet and stars (all of which had to be redone) and many other things. But after spending the better part of a century jumping from one strange place to the next, staying in one place, doing the same things as before, it just felt boring. Also, being the only form of life on the planet didn’t help.
Many of his companions agreed, they needed more life, otherwise there could be no real ecosystem. Some of them began to travel again, Gorm one of them. They wished to find interesting plants and animals to fill their new earth with.

Gorm stepped into the human dimension late at night and managed to slip into trouble within a minute. He was in a large jungle somewhere, and it was filled to the brim with strange and interesting life forms. In the distance he heard a rumbling sound and walked toward it to see what it was. As he was about to walk through a large bush a great metal sword came through and took his right arm clean off.
Terrified, Gorm instantly turned and took off at his best speed. He didn’t even worry about the arm, he had plenty of water and could grow a new one later.
A scream pierced the droning sound and made him turn, that was not a good scream.
You could tell a lot from a scream, even if you didn’t hear all of it. For instance, there was a world of difference between a scream that said “Help, I’m backed in a corner and he has a knife!” and a scream that said “Help, I’m drunk out of my skull, have stepped on my own fingers and can’t get up!”
This scream was closer to the first one.

Not one to ignore someone (or thing) in danger, Gorm turned around and headed back. From afar he now saw great metal machines with sawblades attached on long arms, one of them had poked through the bush. All of the machines were lined up nicely, but one was in front of the line, and still going. In a glass compartment on top was some form of biological life form, but it seemed to be asleep, unconscious or dead. Other, similar life forms left their machines and came running for the rogue, but couldn’t seem to find a safe way to climb onto the thing. There was a river not far ahead, a pretty deep one as well, if they couldn’t help their companion it would probably end up in the water and drown.
Gorm did what he had to. He stepped into the river and rooted himself as far as he would go. He had placed himself directly in front of the machine and as expected, the thing hit him with full force. The machine nearly broke Gorm in half, but somehow he managed to hold it. The creatures were able to get their friend out, and were breathing easy. Thanking luck that a tree was growing in the middle of the river just like that. Gorm let the machine go, and ran away as the huge thing was half swallowed and half carried away by the water.

Gorm spent some time in the jungle, learning about this earth. Then he stepped out and made his presence known. Surprised that the humans he’d revealed himself to hadn’t been very surprised. They said that superhumans walked the earth. Mechanical monsters, visitors from other planets, ancient gods and mutants.

Interesting...

Herbert West, eminent surgeon, had heard all the jokes and for a few long years his fondest wish was finding a practice where no one had ever heard of either H.P.Lovecraft or Jeffrey Combs. That was before a group of vampires took over his hospital and forced him to perform experimental surgery on one of their own (the creatures head had been violently severed for its body and its cohorts insisted he "put it back"). This traumatic experience with some of the most famous monsters of Gothic horror perhaps piqued his curiosity and pushed him toward finally deciding to embrace his destiny. One dark, stormy night in his stately New England manor house he cracked open an old book to see if maybe Mary Shelly had been onto something.

Using John Does from the local morgue he set about his dark work, experimenting in his basement to create life. He succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

The first year was rough. He obviously couldn't let Danny out of his house because, let's face it, that would raise some very uncomfortable question about where he'd come from. Fortunately he'd recognized where Frankenstein had gone wrong. What he had here was a child, and he resolved to treat it like one. His development was remarkable. In six months he was coordinated enough to let out of the basement, within the year he was speaking. within the next he and his father were talking shop about vintage cars and arguing about the quality of giant robot television shows. Despite these mutual loves Danny eventually grew listless, wondering about the world outside their door. Herbert realized that he had to let his boy spread his wings come what may, and sent him off in the car they'd built together to seek his fortune. Since then he's been riding across the country, occasionally foiling evildoers in the towns he's passed through. He's never actually been in a big city before.