[Mutants & Masterminds] A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

[Davies]

Marlene

Jack tends not to have long-term associates, though not quite for the reasons someone might expect. While he does have a well-demonstrated tendency to execute minions who provoke his mercurial temper, particularly in his "soldier" personality, his "mad scientist" persona has been known to richly reward those who work for him, often allowing them to get out of the criminal lifestyle, at least for a time. One individual who has remained with him for the extremely extended period of seven years is his "moll" -- though their relationship is apparently not sexual -- a former stripper and kickboxer who goes by the alias Marlene.

When asked by other members of the crew how she has managed to stay alive and part of this organization for so long, she will generally make a joke how it is all about being flexible -- the joke being that her superpower is the extreme flexibility of her body. Marlene keeps an eye on those who asked that question; if it seems likely that they are going to investigate her background further, she usually arranges for their violent deaths, outside of the rare cases when they might be useful to her actual goals.

Twenty-nine years old (though passing for slightly younger) Marlene was recruited by the metasupremacist movement shortly after she dropped out of high school and ran away from her home. She was sent by their Milwaukee office to become a "handler" of sorts for Jack and his gang, influencing them towards targets that suit the goals of the movement. She has done acceptably in this role, with her handful of operational failures viewed as inevitable when dealing with an unstable personality like that of Jack. The fact that at least some of these failures were deliberate on her part, the result of her deciding to prioritize her personal goals over those of the movement, has not yet been recognized by her superiors.

Marlene views metasupremacy as the most oppressed and smallest minority group in the world rejecting the slave morality that they have practiced so far, striking back against their oppressors and taking what is coming to them. (Which is the world and everything in it, to quote one of her role models.) She has a sad and profound story about how she was cruelly abused by her parents when they realized she was superpowered. This is a complete lie -- while her parents were not enthusiastic about her adolescent expression, her decision to rob them blind and run away from home was purely motivated by greed. While not particularly violent, she never hesitates to casually murder those who are in her way, especially if they have the misfortune of being mundane.

She suspects that Jack (particularly in his "gangster" personality) has to have his suspicions that she is working for someone else, but believes that he believes that he can use this, if need be. She does her best to placate the "soldier" and "mad scientist" personalities, and avoids the "serial killer" like the plague that he is.

Marlene -- PL 7

Abilities:
STR 0 | STA 2 | AGL 4 | DEX 6 | FGT 6 | INT 2 | AWE 2 | PRE 3

Powers:
Flexibody: Insubstantial 1, Limited to escaping; Shrinking 4, Concentration, Normal Strength - 8 points
Striking Strength: Strength-based Damage 2 - 2 points

Advantages:
Attractive, Defensive Roll, Evasion, Grappling Finesse, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Skill Mastery 2 (Deception, Sleight of Hand), Taunt, Ultimate Effort (Sleight of Hand), Uncanny Dodge.

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+10), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+10), Deception 8 (+11), Expertise: Criminal 8 (+10), Expertise: Streetwise 8 (+10), Insight 6 (+8), Perception 5 (+7), Persuasion 6 (+9), Sleight of Hand 6 (+12), Stealth 3 (+7), Vehicles 2 (+8).

Offense:
Initiative +8
Unarmed +10 (Close Damage 2)

Defense:
Dodge 10, Parry 10, Fortitude 4, Toughness 4/2, Will 8

Totals:
Abilities 50 + Powers 10 + Advantages 11 + Skills 31 + Defenses 18 = 120 points

Offensive PL: 6
Defensive PL: 7
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 7

Complications:
Greed--Motivation. Callous. Secret (actual loyalties.)

 

[Voltron64]

Marlene views metasupremacy as the most oppressed and smallest minority group in the world rejecting the slave morality that they have practiced so far, striking back against their oppressors and taking what is coming to them. (Which is the world and everything in it, to quote one of her role models.) She has a sad and profound story about how she was cruelly abused by her parents when they realized she was superpowered. This is a complete lie -- while her parents were not enthusiastic about her adolescent expression, her decision to rob them blind and run away from home was purely motivated by greed.

If anything, I assume her issues stem from how the combination of her looks and powers made her quite popular in high school...

 

[Davies]

Eisenfaust

The first thing you need to know in order to understand Wilhelm Dietrich, "Saturn's" director for European operations, is that he is well-aware that the organization he helps to lead, devoted to the destruction of superpowers, is led by a superpower. Unlike some of the lesser lights of the organization who have realized this, the knowledge causes him no particular angst. While he does have a number of contingencies set aside to deal with Billie Zane should she, in his opinion, become too unstable for his liking, he otherwise considers her nature utterly irrelevant.

The purpose of Saturn is not to end the superpower oligarchy that currently exists; that will simply be a pleasant side-effect of their actual goals. The purpose of Saturn is to seize power for the leadership of Saturn, by any means necessary, and hold on to it, again by any means necessary. Dietrich is sometimes surprised at how few of his fellows are willing to accept this, fashioning elaborate fantasies about how, once they have won, everyone will see and understand (or at least made to see) how "right" they were all along.

Stuff and nonsense. For that to be the case, there would have to be a "right" in the first place, and there is neither right nor wrong, only power and the will to use it. His grandfather understood that when he worked for the Nazis. His father understood that when he worked for the Communists, and then with the Pythons. Ideology is ultimately irrelevant, something meant to appeal to those who are dominated by the emotions instead of the cold equations of power. Of course, Eisenfaust is not blind to the fact that the emotions can and do influence even himself, recognizing that he does have a temper. He will deliberately give in to it, at times, recognizing that such small blowups can prevent larger ones later.

His code name, in full Herr Eisenfaust, though he usually does not insist on the title, derives from his weapon, an energy projector shaped in the form of a gauntlet that projects a neuro-electric discharge which causes considerable pain in its targets. It is the sole surviving piece of a planned suit of powered armor that the Pythons in East Germany were building when a group of GSG-9 members, later dubbed the Illegal Army, attacked their headquarters, interrupting them. Eisenfaust suspects that the Illegal Army may have been informed of this situation by his father, playing both ends for his own goals. He thus wears the gauntlet as both a useful weapon and as a reminder to always keep his options open.

Eisenfaust -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 3 | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 5 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 3

Powers:
Iron Gauntlet: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 8 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed and Vulnerable, Stunned and Defenseless), Extra Condition, Limited Degree; Removable (-4 points) - 20 points

Advantages:
All-out Attack, Assessment, Connected, Contacts, Defensive Roll, Equipment 6, Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical 2 (agony gauntlet), Inspire 2, Leadership, Move-by Action, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Prone Fighting, Ranged Attack 2.

Equipment:
Body armor (Protection 3) and 27 points of equipment as needed (typically headquarters.)

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+5), Athletics 5 (+7), Close Combat: Unarmed 1 (+6), Deception 8 (+11), Expertise: Current Events 8 (+9), Expertise: Military 8 (+9), Insight 8 (+10), Intimidation 9 (+12), Investigation 7 (+8), Perception 8 (+10), Persuasion 6 (+9), Ranged Combat: Iron Gauntlet 3 (+6), Technology 6 (+7).

Offense:
Initiative +2
Unarmed +6 (Close Damage 2)
Iron Gauntlet +8 (Ranged Fortitude 8)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 6, Fortitude 5, Toughness 8/6/5/3, Will 9

Totals:
Abilities 42 + Powers 20 + Advantages 23 + Skills 41 + Defenses 16 = 142 points

Offensive PL: 8
Defensive PL: 8
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 7

Complications:
Power--Motivation. Subject to Orders. Temper.

 

[Davies]

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson

Photograph c. September 1890

By now, all the world knows them, though their image of them is largely influenced by the countless movies and television programs that never quite get it right. Their association began a pattern that has lasted right up until the present day -- an army surgeon invalided home from a land war in Asia met an eccentric student whose breadth of knowledge was matched only by its startling lacunae; together, they fought crime. The greatest of the great detectives and his dogged chronicler -- but never just his Boswell.

Sherlock Holmes was born in 1854, and had his first great adventure while attending Brompton Academy in London. A published account of these events grossly misrepresented them, suggesting that John Watson (seven years older than Holmes) was his schoolmate. Holmes was actually assisted during this affair was one Reginald Musgrave, with whom he would be reunited during his university studies. One detail which this account gets correct, however, was that this was the first meeting between Holmes and a recently minted Detective Constable Gilles Lestrade.

It is also correct that this was his first encounter with one Professor Moriarty, though the background presented for him within this tale is utter balderdash. Holmes and Moriarty clashed extensively through the 1880s until their final clash at Reichenbach Falls in 1891. Unfortunately, this caused greater problems than it resolved, for the youngest Moriarty brother seized control of the criminal organization that the elder had created, and continued to create problems for Holmes for years afterward. The younger James Moriarty was far more psychopathic than the elder, and may have gone on to become known as Fantômas, though this is disputed. (Some accounts of his activities under his own name were discovered and published in the 1970s by John Gardner.)

Holmes' greatest weakness was that he frequently failed to understand the emotional components of the cases that he investigated. While quick to understand motivations of greed and pride, he was frequently baffled by simpler, more human emotions. (This was how Irene Adler was able to defeat him ... repeatedly.) This was one area where Watson was often more acute than himself, though the latter often exaggerated his own folly in the published accounts of their cases in order to make Holmes seem even more clever than he actually was.

While largely retired after his activities leading up to and during World War I (during which he ran a counterintelligence operation that was not, "His Last Bow" notwithstanding, wrapped up before the war broke up) Holmes continued to be sought out to provide consultation on various mysteries, as well as providing tutoring to a number of other detectives. While Watson passed away in 1929, the circumstances of Holmes' death are somewhat ambiguous. One account portrays him as dying in 1947, another a decade after that. It has been suggested that he in fact did not die, but enjoyed extended life thanks to a chemical treatment provided by one of his more noteworthy students, a surgeon and philanthropist from New York. But it seems likely that eventually he set out on a journey into the last great mystery.

As far as can be determined, he never had any children. Any individuals claiming descent from the Holmes family are actually descended from his older brother (who, despite some accounts, was married with several children) or have been misinformed.

Sherlock Holmes - PL 8

Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 2 | FGT 4 | INT 6 | AWE 5 | PRE 2

Powers:
Deductive Glance: Senses 4 (postcognition); Feature (postcognition check made with Investigation instead of Perception) - 5 points
Master of Disguise: Continuous Morph 2 (Other People), Check Required (Deception, DC 13), Removable (–1 point), Standard Action - 5 points
Striking Strength: Strength-based Damage 1 - 1 point

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Chokehold, Connections, Contacts, Defensive Attack, Equipment 2, Improved Disarm, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Languages 2 (French, German, others), Power Attack, Skill Mastery (Perception), Ultimate Effort (Investigation), Well-informed.

Equipment:
9 points of equipment as needed.
221-B Baker Street: Size Diminuitive; Toughness 6; Features Laboratory, Library, Living Space - 1 point

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7), Close Combat: Unarmed 5 (+9), Deception 10 (+12), Expertise: History 4 (+10), Expertise: Science 4 (+10), Expertise: Streetwise 5 (+11), Expertise: Violin 4 (+6), Insight 5 (+10), Investigation 7 (+13), Perception 7 (+12), Persuasion 6 (+8), Stealth 6 (+8).

Offense:
Initiative +6
Unarmed Combat +9 (Close Damage 3)

Defense:
Dodge 7, Parry 9, Fortitude 5, Toughness 2, Will 9

Offensive PL: 6
Defensive PL: 6
Skill PL: 8
Resistance PL: 7

Totals:
Abilities 50 + Powers 10 + Advantages 17 + Skills 34 + Defenses 17 = 128 points

Complications:
Curiosity--Motivation. Addiction (cocaine.) Eccentricities (many.) Friendship (John Watson.) Ignorance.

Dr. John Watson -- PL 6

Abilities:
STR 1 | STA 3 | AGL 1 | DEX 2 | FGT 2 | INT 3 | AWE 2 | PRE 2

Advantages:
Equipment 2, Improved Initiative, Teamwork

Equipment:
Pistol (Ranged Damage 3), Medical Bag, and 3 points of equipment as needed.

Skills:
Expertise: Doctor 8 (+11), Expertise: Military 5 (+8), Expertise: Streetwise 4 (+7), Insight 8 (+10), Investigation 4 (+7), Perception 6 (+8), Persuasion 4 (+7), Ranged Combat: Guns 7 (+9), Treatment 6 (+9).

Offense:
Initiative +5
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage 1)
Pistol +9 (Ranged Damage 3)

Defense:
Dodge 5, Parry 4, Fortitude 5, Toughness 3, Will 7

Totals:
Abilities 32 + Advantages 4 + Skills 26 + Defenses 13 = 75 points

Offensive PL: 6
Defensive PL: 4
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 6

Complications:
Friendship--Motivation. Family (wife.) Old Injuries.

Note: This represents Holmes and Watson around 1889.

 

[Davies]

L'Ange de la Musique

Artist unknown.

The dark mother -- or possibly great-grandmother -- of all costumed crime fighters was born in 1860 in a small village not far from Uppsala, Sweden. Her given name was Christine Daaé. As a child, she was the occasional playmate of the youngest son of the Comte de Chagny. At fifteen her talent for music was discovered, and she began studies at the Conservatoire de Paris. This was a disaster. Over the course of four years, her spirit and love of music were almost entirely destroyed, and when she found employment at the Palais Garnier, it seemed likely that she would never know celebrity or success.

And then an individual who seemed at times both angel and fiend came to her and offered to restore to her what had been lost. Under his tutelage, she blossomed to become one of the greatest singers who has ever lived, as well as developing other talents in imitation of him. Most notably, she developed the ability to hear what she termed the music that underlay all speech, allowing her to perceive aspects of thought. Her mentor claimed to possess this ability as well. Later, much later, she would come to doubt that this was true, for if he had been able to perceive her thoughts in this manner, he would surely have recognized that she loved him only as a mentor and father-figure, not as a prospective romance.

The rest of the story is now well-known, though her role in it has often been twisted by unwholesome individuals who wished to portray her as naive to the point of idiocy and a simpering damsel in distress. She was neither. Perhaps the best demonstration of her actual character might be how she reacted to inquiries from a certain individual concerning her whereabouts during a period when she was missing. He assured her that he would ask her no questions if she would agree not to leave again.

"That is a pledge that I do not ask of you, and it is a promise that I shall not make you!" spoke the young woman proudly. "I am a free agent, monsieur de Chagny; you have no right to control my actions and I will ask that you desist henceforth. As for what I have done during the past fortnight, there is only one man in the world who would have the right to demand that I give him an account -- my husband! Well, I have no husband, and I shall never marry!"

And she never did. In the aftermath of the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera, she departed Paris with her monsieur and returned to Sweden. Two years later, however, she quietly returned to Paris and took up the position of a ballet tutor, professing to have lost interest in performing but wishing to remain connected to the stage in some manner. She refused to answer questions as to the whereabouts of the Viscount with characteristic stolidity, and he was eventually declared dead with the title passing to one of his nephews.

Such were her days. Her nights were spent running about in a mask, inspired by that worn by her mentor, and attempting to bring a small amount of justice to a grim and unjust world. By and large, her opponents were entirely mundane criminals, though she did cross paths with the vampiress Carmilla on one grim occasion, and had an encounter with an individual calling himself Count Brighella who was clearly more than mortal, and who would later trouble other defenders of Paris. While she overcame their schemes, she was only able to set them to flight rather than putting an end to the threat that they represented.

The activities of L'Ange were frequently interrupted by periods where she was forced to recuperate, often returning to Sweden in order to do so and to spend time with an individual who went by the alias Michel Allard and their two children, a son born in 1882 and a much younger daughter born in 1891, in the middle of an extended sabbatical. These periods of inactivity grew longer and longer as she aged, though she remained active much longer than she probably should have. L'Ange de la Musique is believed to have met her end in 1909, during a confrontation with the notorious Fantomas.

Her daughter, Carla Allard, married an American newspaper publisher named Reid, who had had an interesting life, and had two children by him, named Dietrich and Henry, and was a kind stepmother to the child of her husband's first marriage. Her son, who had inherited more of her talents and used a variety of names, also went on to some notoriety.

L'Ange de la Musique -- PL 7

Abilities:
STR 0 | STA 2 | AGL 4 | DEX 3 | FGT 3 | INT 2 | AWE 4 | PRE 5

Powers:
The Music of the Night: Mind Reading 7, Hearing Dependent; Senses 3 (accurate analytical hearing) - 10 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Assessment, Attractive 2, Close Attack 2, Contacts, Daze (Deception), Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Equipment 2, Evasion 2, Fascinate (Expertise: Performance), Improved Defense, Improved Trip, Languages 2 (English, French, Russian, Spanish, [Swedish is native]), Move-by Action, Prone Fighting, Uncanny Dodge.

Equipment:
Lasso (Enhanced Strength 3, Limited to grabbing, Reach 4; Enhanced Advantage 1 [Chokehold]) and 2 points of equipment as needed.

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+10), Athletics 6 (+6), Close Combat: Lasso 2 (+5), Deception 3 (+8), Expertise: Performance 7 (+12), Expertise: Streetwise 5 (+7), Insight 6 (+10), Investigation 4 (+6), Sleight of Hand 6 (+9), Stealth 7 (+11).

Offense:
Initiative +4
Unarmed +5 (Close Damage 0)
Lasso +7 (Close Grab 3, Reach 4)

Defense:
Dodge 7, Parry 5, Fortitude 5, Toughness 7/2, Will 8.

Totals:
Abilities 42 + Powers 10 + Advantages 23 + Skills 26 + Defenses 12 = 113 points

Offensive PL: 5
Defensive PL: 7
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 7

Complications:
Justice--Motivation. Secret Identity.

Note: That passage above is from the original novel.

 

[Voltron64]

It's like a gloriously demented blend between Andrew Lloyd Webber and Danny Elfman, and there's no way it couldn't be anything else.

 

[Davies]

The Wayward Son

Assuming that he was not the individual that many people assume that he was, the first well-documented activities of the individual usually known as the Wayward Son date from Kansas in 1885. While he used a number of aliases (a trait he shared with that individual), he claimed to be "just a wayward mother's son" when asked about himself, and the shortened name stuck. He had no fixed address and usually just used the earth as his bed, active throughout the American west in the last decades of the 19th century. However, while he never commented on it or offered any explanation, some of his associates noted that he deliberately avoided the state of New Mexico -- or anywhere else he might run into a certain lawman resident there. Whether he was there on February 29, 1908, is not clear.

He generally sought and obtained temporary work at a variety of ranches, supporting himself through gambling between bouts of employment. (Again, much like that individual.) However, he was also willing to put his skills to use for a variety of causes, preferring to support the underdog, whoever that seemed to be. His frequent impulse control problems sometimes resulted in his "help" causing more problems for his allies than it prevented, though he did seem to recognize and try to control these tendencies, having recognized that they could get him into trouble.

Owing to his reputation, the Wayward Son frequently encountered individuals who claimed to be time travelers from the future, wanting to know more about him. While skeptical about their claims and never confirming or denying any of their speculations about him, he learned more from them than they managed to learn from him. While misinformed about a number of topics (apparently believing that the Pythonian Insurgency would trigger a worldwide nuclear war, for example) he developed a reasonably good outline of the history of the next one hundred and fifty years from these encounters, sometimes using this to his own benefit or that of others.

As with many other noteworthy figures from this period, the exact fate of the Wayward Son is somewhat obscure. There are stories of him still being active in Kansas, where he had attempted to retire, in the 1920s. (Tales of these episodes are believed to have inspired the title of a song written more than half a century later.) Other accounts claim that he met his end in Mexico in 1913, or even earlier, in Nevada in 1901. Still others have him attending the funeral of one Brushy Bill Roberts in 1950 and being ejected for laughing during the solemn ceremony. The death of that last individual is at least well-attested; under the name Patrick Henry, Jr., he passed away in 1956 in a hospital in Silver City, New Mexico, and was buried in the graveyard there, not far from the resting place of one Catherine Antrim. Assuming that he was the individual many people believe him to have been, he would have been ninety-six years old at his death.

Not a bad run, all told.

The Wayward Son -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR 1 | STA 2 | AGL 3 | DEX 4 | FGT 3 | INT 1 | AWE 3 | PRE 2

Powers:
Trick Shots: Array (8 points); Easily Removable (-4 points)

• Arm Shot: Linked Ranged Damage 2; Linked Ranged Affliction 4 (Resisted by Fortitude; Close Attack Impaired, Close Attack Disabled), Limited Degree - 8 points
• Crease the Skull: Linked Ranged Damage 2; Linked Ranged Affliction 4 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed, Stunned), Limited Degree - 1 point
• Leg Shot: Linked Ranged Damage 2; Ranged Affliction 4 (Resisted by Fortitude; Hindered, Immobile), Limited Degree - 1 point
• Shoot The Wings Off a Fly: Linked Ranged Damage 2; Ranged Affliction 4 (Resisted by Fortitude; Hindered and Vulnerable, Defenseless & Immobile), Extra Condition, Limited Degree, Limited to targets with winged flight - 1 point

Ultimate Fast Draw: Enhanced Advantages 3 (Improved Initiative 2, Seize Initiative) - 3 points

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Assessment, Benefit (paired guns), Defensive Roll 2, Equipment 4, Evasion, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Initiative 3, Language (Spanish), Non-Lethal Tactics, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover AND Concealment), Quick Draw.

Equipment:
Six Shooter (Ranged Damage 3), Six Shooter (Ranged Damage 3).

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+5), Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+5), Deception 6 (+8), Expertise: Gambling 6 (+7), Expertise: Survival 5 (+6), Insight 5 (+8), Intimidation 7 (+9), Perception 5 (+8), Ranged Combat: Guns 6 (+10), Stealth 8 (+11).

Offense:
Initiative +15
Unarmed +5 (Close Damage 1)
Guns +10 (Ranged Damage 3 or 6)
Trick Shot +10 (Ranged Damage 2 and Fortitude 4)

Defense:
Dodge 7, Parry 5, Fortitude 5, Toughness 7/2, Will 7

Totals:
Abilities 38 + Powers 10 + Advantages 18 + Skills 27 + Defenses 13 = 106 points

Offensive PL: 8
Defensive PL: 7
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 4

Complications:
Survival--Motivation. Impulsive. Secret (is he or isn't he?)

Note: When I decided to create this character, I was unaware that Emilio Estevez is apparently making a second sequel to Young Guns, though appropriately dropping the "Young" from the title. It's an interesting coincidence.

 

[Voltron64]

Secret (is he or isn't he?)

My theory?


(Or something along those lines.)

 

[Davies]

Sakigake/先駆け

Almost as long as people have been searching for methods to reliably create superpowers, they have also been searching for ways to enhance the abilities of existing superpowers. This latter quest has been somewhat more successful than the former, especially after the psionic technology developed by Franklin Zane began to proliferate in the mid-1970s. Able to turn someone who had flashes of empathy into a full mind-reader or enhance psychokinesis able to move pounds into a talent moving tons, the technology was used by government sponsored projects in Russia, Israel and -- most recently -- Japan. Even with this particular technology, supposedly well understood, there are individual examples that defy ready understanding, cases where the limits of what was thought possible are not so much exceeded as exploded. Such is this case with Sakurai Soichiro, who now operates under the alias Sakigake, or "Pioneer".

Orphaned in one of the daikaiju attacks of the late nineties, the seven year-old Sakurai was rescued by researchers from what would become the Yokoyama Group, at that time part of the same nebulous government agency that became Project Super-Giant. Five years later, he tested positive for psychic powers -- demonstrating a telecommunication ability -- and "volunteered" to undergo implantation with psionic implants that would enhance his powers even further. They did this, exceeding the expectations of the researchers, and Sakurai envisioned himself as leading a group of his fellow psionic soldiers against the daikaiju, replacing what he saw Chokyojin, whom he viewed as woefully inefficient.

Unfortunately, no other experimental subject achieved the same level of enhancement as Sakurai, leaving him increasingly isolated. He was given missions, but nothing nearly as grand as he had hoped, instead operating in a subtle and covert manner. Sakurai seemed to come to terms with this operational strategy, and when the Yokoyama Group broke away from the Project in 2004, he went with it as one of its field operatives. A year later, he received his first major assignment, to monitor a high school girl named Nagase Aya, who had been identified as possessing latent capabilities of vast potential. It was enjoyable, as he soon grew fond of Nagase despite her eccentricities.

And then, before things could go too far, a self-serving moron wrecked the entire operation by revealing the truth to Nagase, making her powers manifest! (Sakurai has heard stories about some alternate version of Nagase showing up, but regards them as nonsense.) Before the Group could sweep in and take charge of her, Nagase was shipped off to a school in Wales, of all places. The entire affair was the first real failure that Sakurai had ever experienced, and he did not take it, nor the insults he received because of it, at all well. He found himself increasingly obsessed with Nagase, monitoring her activities at the Academy as best he could, and scheming to have her return to Japan and join the Group as its masterpiece -- its Queen, really.

His schemes did not go unnoticed by other members of the Group, notably by the members of a small cabal who referred to themselves as 'the Vision'. Unsatisfied with the efforts of the Group to control superpower and mystical activity in Japan, they had reached the conclusion that the only way to accomplish their goals was to become transhuman superpowers themselves. Sakurai was the ideal example of what they hoped to accomplish, and they now invited him to join them. He accepted with a false smile.

Ever since then, Sakigake has worked tirelessly to advance the goals of the Vision, who have since broken from the Yokoyama Group. He is the effective leader of the cabal, though some of the original membership still vacillate between being rivalry and alliance with him. They continue to pursue a vast variety of superpower creation methods, many of which would probably be considered crimes against humanity. Sakigake does not care; humanity is nothing more than the stock from which a finer, better superhumanity will be born under his benevolent guidance.

The Isekai no Miko, Nagase Aya, remains a key to these dreams. The Vision are well aware that the habitable worlds near Earth are largely occupied by other species, and that the cost of making other worlds habitable would be likely prohibitive. Thus, expansion across interstellar space is unfeasible, but expansion across the multiverse is a much more workable outcome, if an individual who can travel to such worlds joins their cause. This utilitarian goal is the only reason he remains fixated on her. Not out of any issues from his youth. Definitely not. Nope.

Sakigake -- PL 11

Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 3 | AGL 4 | DEX 2 | FGT 3 | INT 2 | AWE 4 | PRE 5

Powers:
Basic Telepathy: Mental Communication 1 (100 feet) - 4 points
Enhanced Telepathy: Mental Communication 4 (planetary); Comprehend Languages 2; Mind Reading 9 - 42 points
Psychotronic Force Field: Sustained Impervious Protection 10, Subtle - 21 points
Psychotronic Powers: Array (39 points)

• Crushing Telekinesis: Linked Perception Range Affliction 7 (Resisted by Will; Hindered & Vulnerable, Defenseless & Immobile), Extra Condition, Limited Degree; Linked Perception Range Damage 6 - 1 point
• Focused Telekinesis: Damaging Move Object 13 - 39 points
• General Telekinesis: Flight 7 (250 MPH); Perception Range Move Object 7, Dynamic, Precise, Subtle - 2 point
• Mental Blast: Perception Range Damage 9, Resisted by Will, Subtle - 1 point
• Mental Burst: Perception Range Burst Area Damage 7, Resisted by Will, Subtle - 1 point
• Telepathic Domination: Perception Range Cumulative Affliction 9 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Compelled, Controlled), Dynamic, Insidious, Subtle - 2 points
• Telereception: Remote Sensing 9 (all senses), Medium (conscious unshielded human mind), Subtle 2 - 1 point

Shielded Mind: Impervious Will 10, Limited to Mental Effects - 5 points

Advantages:
All-out Attack, Benefit 4 (multimillionare), Connected, Improved Initiative, Move-by Action, Power Attack.

Skills:
Deception 5 (+13), Expertise: Business 8 (+10), Expertise: Politics 8 (+10), Intimidation 7 (+12), Perception 7 (+11), Persuasion 8 (+13), Ranged Combat: Telekinesis 7 (+9).

Offense:
Initiative +5
Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 3)
Focused Telekinesis +9 (Ranged Damage 13)
Crushing -- (Perception Range Damage 6 and Will 7)
Domination -- (Perception Range Will 9)
Mental Blast -- (Perception Range Will 9)
Mental Burst -- (Perception Range Burst Area Will 7)

Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 7, Fortitude 5, Toughness 13/3, Will 11

Totals:
Abilities 50 + Powers 115 + Advantages 9 + Skills 25 + Defenses 18 = 217 points

Powers:
Offensive PL: 11
Defensive PL: 11
Resistance PL: 8
Skill PL: 8

Complications:
Power--Motivation. Extremely Overconfident. Intolerant (mundanes.) Obsession (Warpwitch.) Secret Identity.

Note: Except for Basic Telepathy and Shielded Mind, all his powers have both the Psychic and Technological descriptors, and can be affected by anything that affects either.

 

[Voltron64]

So evil Itsuki Koizumi with some Goro Akechi thrown in as well as a little bit of Griffith and/or Purple Man (going by the darkest implication of his plans for Aya Nagase).