Member
BoreasMartyr
Name: Dean Ryder
Alias: Martyr
Age: 17
Alignment: Hero
Loyalty: Ward
Appearance: Dean is a slightly lanky but still a bit muscular young man, about 6' and 120 lbs. He has a smooth face and a small nose, along with small lips. His skin is quite pale, contrasting with his bright red eyes, marking him as an albino. His blonde hair is messily swept out of his line of sight, aided by his thin-lens glasses. He wears T-shirts he made himself almost constantly, and prefers not to wear a jacket to show them off, though he will if it gets cold enough. He wears mostly jeans ranging from blue to black, with the occasional pair of shorts thrown in. If he does wear shorts, he'll probably end up wearing long socks with his almost formal looking sneakers.
Dean's costume is very simple and basic. On top of his head lie a pair of red goggles, built by Decoy with a holographic display embedded in them. He also has a small earpiece that allows him to communicate with others. His arms are wrapped in a few bandages, since he's almost always sustaining some sort of injury out of combat. He also has iron elbow pads and leather gauntlets to protect himself from slight harm. Around his torso is a Kevlar-based sheathe that allows him to hold his weapon and take another hit in combat. His metal belt holds up some basic baggy shorts hiding metal knee pads, and black and red boots wrap up the outfit.
History: Dean was originally a surprisingly normal child. Although he had a propensity to make a mess of his shirts and liked finger-painting, he was completely average for the first 5 years of his life. Then he met his uncle, Derek. Derek was a superhero with the Protectorate, and Dean heard of his exploits constantly. This didn't mean that Derek was a good person though. Derek treated everyone around him fairly bad, not including the young Dean. But still, they stuck up with Derek because he was a hero. This experience stuck with Dean for years to come.
Dean was not very popular at school. After kindergarten Dean's long rants and slight pretentiousness removed much chance he had of making friends, and over time, most people began to dislike him. Then mock him behind his back. Than to his face. For years, Dean had no idea what to do. Every day he was sad at his lack of friends and retreated further inwards, turning to the internet and music for pleasure. He even began helping his father out with his textile production stuff sometimes. But this didn't make him feel much better, and his parent's advice of "be yourself" helped so very little. Eventually, he confided in his uncle. His uncle gave him some advice. "Be a hero, kid."
Dean began working out a bit. Not fully noticeable muscle, but still, he was stronger than before, and took Track at school in an attempt to increase his stamina. Eventually, he got enough confidence in himself to attempt it. The next day, in the hallways, he encountered a senior and a junior harassing a freshman. Dean almost grinned as he approached the group. He told them to stop. They asked him why. He told them why. They told him piss off. He asked him why he should. Then one of them threw a punch, and Dean knew exactly what to do.
He dispatched the two young men, albeit with a new broken rib and two black eyes. But he had did it, he became a hero. Even if it was just a small time one. The people at school thought he was awesome, minus some of the two's friends, and for once, Dean was accepted. Then he was tolerated. Then, the whole school was back to hating him. Why, he asked himself? Did he have to be a hero again? If so, he would be willing to suffer all the bruises and internal suspensions in the world.
Again, Dean went looking for trouble, and he found it. One of the bullies he had dispatched before was back to his ways, picking on someone. Dean smiled and went up to him, tapping his back. To his surprise, the bully smiled too, at the sight of Dean's face. Dean attempted to keep his cool, as the bully told him about how he was looking for Dean. Dean was confused, and looked around. A small circle was forming around the two, comprised of the very people that had called him a hero. The bully got closer, a flame in his hand. Dean was very scared. He called to the people in his crowd, those he knew the names of, but none responded with more than "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Dean backed up against the crowd but they pushed him back in. Betrayed by the people he tried so hard to get on his side, these feelings had been building up for months. He felt stressed, anguished, and most of all, alone. His executioner raised his fist, and Dean closed his eyes.
But that scream he heard wasn't his. It sounded exactly like him, but his mouth was shut tight. Opening his eyes, he was greeted by himself. His own corpse, face down on the tile. The bully stared at the the body, then back up at Dean, the Dean he was, and stared back down at the corpse. Dean, the one that wasn't dead, spent no time in pondering anything, and took action, quickly felling the murderer with an uppercut, courtesy of the adrenaline coursing through his veins.
Dean was astounded at his own ability, to generate another him. He quickly fled the school and made his way home, to test it out again. Locking his door behind him and focusing again, he called on another version of himself, and he appeared. This Dean seemed older, and sighed dejectedly, as he appeared.
"Where's the danger? I didn't get a message."
"Danger? I just want to test out my new powers. I can't believe I got superpowers! Oh man I bet all the kids at school will be so jealous! I should-"
"Shut up. I only have about 20 seconds, so listen. These other You's, you don't just make them. They're from another universe, sometimes different, sometimes the same. Every time you call us, it's a death sentence. We have to die. Don't, for god's sake don't call any more. Don't be a hero. Don't. Do you hear me? Don't. Don't... don't..." He hurriedly explained, before beginning to melt into himself. He seemed to try and want to say something, anything, but all he could do was look into Dean's eyes as he slowly died.
After this, Dean registered himself as an official Parahuman and decided to be a non-combatant, sufficiently scared of killing people, himself mostly. For a few weeks, Dean was taken an interest in, but once everyone realized he wasn't going to talk about it, they started ignoring him again. Dean deigned things were probably for the best, and decided to just wallow in a depressed slump while making a blog. He also began making his own T-shirts after beginning to bond with his father more. He also kept up with track, and even did a bit of weightlifting.
But just because this Dean didn't use his abilities, that didn't mean others stopped. Dean was summoned. Sitting, silently in missus Lalonde's literacy class, he was writing a paper on something inane when suddenly, he was hurtling through space and times, eerily silent except for his own voice. "Kill the fat woman" was all he said.
With a small rush of air, Dean was suddenly in an alley, surrounded by unfamiliar people and his own corpses. Upon the ground lie a sword, and Dean grabbed it up, charging the largest woman there. Quickly she commanded him to stop, but it was no use, somehow he seemed immune. By the time she called to her slaves, she had already been run through with the blade.
Dean stood there, waiting, eyes shut tight, waiting for his death. Waiting to become an amorphous blob, a fair representation of himself even metaphorically. But said transition never came, and some people came up to him, those he didn't know. Apparently, these were his teammates in this universe, a group of people called the Wards. He had heard of them before, a junior superhero group in his city. It seemed this was the universe of a Dean who had never gotten the message. This Dean accepted the Protectorates offer to become part of the Wards and fought crime with these people.
Dean didn't know what to do. He simply made his way home, or where he thought was home, and sat in his room for a very long time. This was earth shattering. How many differences could there be in this universe? He could have been a completely different person, must have been. Firstly, he informed his parents, and obviously hey were heartbroken. He also informed the Wards, and mentioned he would probably be retiring. After this, he spent a long time, about a month, trying to find differences between the world he used to inhabit, interspersed with sadness about not seeing his real father, mother, or even uncle Derek ever again.
It seemed there was only one major split point; Not receiving the message from a Dean that this was not a power to be trifled with. This lead to Dean joining the Wards as Spawn, and having a worse relationship with his father, but having some friends. There were many minor things that changed too, what he ate for breakfast and the like, but what mattered most to Dean was that there were about 16 years of his life now muddled up. His father wasn't his father, his mother wasn't his mother, and he wasn't even himself. At this time Dean thought back. How could he solve this problem? "Be a hero, kid."
There was no guarantee that Dean wasn't going to get pulled again, and he'd never have a truly amazing relationship with his father, so the only thing he could really ever hope to do was leave a good impression on this universe. He joined up with the Wards again, now having less qualms about himself and his place in the universe. He was probably always fated to do something like this, in fact the universe he was in was probably the real universe, the "alpha," and it was his duty to join the Wards. He just hadn't seen it until now.
Personality
Motivations: All Dean wants it to be remembered as a Hero and liked. So much so, in fact, his entire point of joining the Wards was to throw himself at danger until he died.
Sexuality: Straight
Likes:
- The Internet in general
- Keygen Music
- MySpace
- The N64
- Sprite Comics
- Making T-shirts
Dislikes:
- Popular Music
- Studying
- Celebrities
Derangement: Although Dean was already much to worried about others and not worried enough about himself, his powers have kicked that into overdrive. He barely has a will to live, just a will to propagate his existence enough to leave a lasting mark of good.
Parahumanism
Skills: Dean has been running track and lifting weights for a decent amount of time and as such, is faster, stronger, and has more stamina than your average man. Track in particular made him quite light on his feet, and he's quite fast for someone without speed powers. He's also been taking swordsmanship classes for just under a year now, and is learning at a steady but slow pace. Dean knows how to throw a boomerang okay, at above a novice's level. He can reasonably hit targets about 10m away without distractions. Finally, he has a bit of a passion for graphic design and would probably take up his family's textile manufacturer if he lives long enough.
Classification: Master/Breaker
Details: Dean may pull another version of himself through to his universe. Alt. Dean is informed of his job while being hurtled through to another universe as a beam of light, and is transported to an unoccupied space near O. Dean. Alt. Deans may only stick around for up to thirty seconds before melting into a biological sludge. It's been hypothesized by Dean that he may be able to extend this time in some manner through practice, but he refuses to practice because he is killing Deans while doing so. One interesting facet of Dean's power is that, if he's killed, the Alt. Dean will no longer melt. As mentioned in his history this has happened to Dean once before, and he hopes it never does again.
Dean can indeed summon more than one copy of himself, though every time he summons a copy before his previous one dies, he gets a more divergent alternate universe. Summon one would have had a different breakfast that morning and nothing else. Clone 4 would have been using a different weapon. Clone 7 may have a differing set of morals due to a different upbringing, while clone 12 may be a super villain that would intentionally try to kill O. Dean. Each of these Deans has the same time limit as the last currently alive Dean clone.
Limitations: No Deans share any kind of special connection or mental link with each other, with the exception of the message of purpose each receives before being sent off. Deans are also not forced in any way to follow said purposes, in fact, it's entirely possible for an Alt. Dean to try and kill O. Dean for his spot. Dean is also entirely a regular, well-trained human with no super strength or endurance.
Equipment:
- Protectorate Communication Earpiece - A device that allows Dean and his teammates to communicate. He can also use it to talk to his Alt. Deans, should they learn and input the frequency in their allotted time.
- Martyr Suit - A light set of armor designed to allow fluid, fast movement. The goggles were built by Decoy, allowing holographic interfacing and the such. Unfortunately, the only real protection is the two Kevlar straps along his torso, his gauntlets, his knee and shoulder pads, and his belt.
- Sword - A straight, single edged blade made from S7 Shock steel. Able to wielded effectively in two hands or one, it's an amazingly well built weapon.
- Grappling Hook - A handheld device that allows one to scale small buildings by firing a hook with a rope attached. Although some buildings are intentionally designed to slip these off, most buildings can be scaled in this way. The rope is about 40 feet long and can support about 150 lbs. of weight.
- Boomerang - A cast aluminum non-returning boomerang. Although it can't be thrown as far as standard plywood boomerangs, only about 20m, it packs a decent punch.