Real Name: Gustav Mahler, (former) Agent of SHIELD
Codename: Geomancer/Agent Mahler
Age: 29
Gender: A Man
Appearance: Gustav is 5'8", with a mundane body and rather fair skin. A beard covers his chin, and his chestnut colored is usually well groomed, though his occasional forays underground tends to mess it up.
Personality: He is a patient (when it comes to waiting) man with a low tongue and a great ear; Gustav doesn't seem to be extremely talkative. He is quite protective and a little too much so; he tends to scold teammates or friends that he sees to be reckless. Gustav is somewhat cynical, and has a pessimistic side. He seems to be crazy for cats and ferrets.
Powers/Abilities: Gustav Mahler is a mutant with geokinetic powers, along with a sprinkling of a seismic sense.
Terrakinetic Manipulation: Gustav possesses the ability to detect and manipulate earth based materials within ten meters; as such, he is able to use rock, sand, poorly refined metal, and stone. He is able to slide along the ground akin to a surfer by turning the ground below him into a small wave, and Gustav is also capable of breaking down rocks smaller than 10 inches wide into grains of sand, and vice versa. It seems that his geokinetic ability is reliant on hand and lower body movements.
Lavabending: Gustav is able to excite the molecules of rock to their melting point, turning up to 5 feet of ground into lava, which he is able to manipulate. However, this particular technique requires an absolute peace of mind and concentration; it could take a few seconds or more, at which point of time he is highly vulnerable.
Seismic Sense: Gustav senses vibrations on the ground that his feet are currently planted upon, allowing him to 'see' in a way similar to echolocation. This allows him to find his way underground or to detect incoming adversaries from at least a hundred feet away.
Avengers Sponsor: Black Widow
History: As official records state, Gustav Mahler is from Belfast, Maine. He was the second son of Mariah Mahler and Trajan Mahler, the latter of which was an physicist. Mariah, in the other hand, was a doctor and biochemist.
With his father being an esteemed physicist, and his mother being a bright medical mind, one could imagine that Gustav was brought up in a house of science and intelligence. In his childhood and teen years, Gustav would consistently get high scores in his schooling, though he seemed to dislike calculus. Nevertheless, the combined pressures and expectations of living up to the example set by his big brain parents had made him exceedingly competitive, and thus, maybe a little abrasive. In his younger years as a high schooler, he'd be mark with a massive intellect, and also an insufferable ego.
That was, until he manifested his mutant abilities.
It was just a normal day, indeed, when a group of three boys, who were rendered insecure by his massively insulting intelligence and damnable attitude to anyone who didn't get quite near to his own level, cornered him in the locker room. They started pushing Gustav around, making fun of his rounded glasses and weight until the ground shook, and the tiles split asunder. Stones fell upon their heads as Gustav's geokinetic powers manifested. Fortunately, his older brother Matthias, who was also a mutant (in secret), came in and teleported him out of the place.
Matthias had been studying in Xavier's Institute for two years now, and he brought Gustav into the school. All of this was a harrowing and humbling experience for Gustav, as the manifestation of his powers had rendered him blind (at least until a mutant with healing powers brought back his eyesight, but that was a year later; this blindness was also why their parents agreed to send him to a school of gifted people). Being forced to rely on others, and then on his seismic sense, to get around, the manifestation of his powers brought the arrogant Gustav low, and one could say it changed him for the better. Gone was the insufferable prick that looked down on others.
After graduation in Xavier's Institute, he'd be invited by SHIELD as an asset and agent; apparently, his father was actually part of its SciTech division, and already knew what he was, and his mother was the one from whom he got his mutant genes. However, at the nick of time, HYDRA reared its ugly head, and SHIELD smoldered into oblivion right at his first day at work.
With nothing left to do, Gustav settled to a more or less normal life... until he was approached by the Black Widow, who told him a man of his talents and abilities would be good for the NEO initiative...