[hider=Malcolm Winters (Quarry)]
Name: Malcolm Winters
Super Hero Identity: Quarry
Age: 24
Nationality: American
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Location: Austin, Texas
Ultra Type: Psychic

Appearance: Malcolm is a man who appears to be in his mid-twenties, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He is above average height and has a muscular build with broad shoulders, something which seemed to become more prominent after his powers awakened. He has a solid, angular face, with a strong jaw covered with light stubble and thick eyebrows. 

His costume include a tight-fitting vest that leave his arms bare, coloured slate grey with a jagged white line like a seismograph recording an earthquake across his chest. His trousers, also grey, are baggy and made of a tough, canvas material and he wears heavy duty steel capped work boots. His mask covers the top part of his head, including his hair, leaving only his mouth exposed.

Personality: Quarry is a stubborn individual. It’s something he credits his survival to and something which defines the way he chooses to tackle life; he still considers himself fairly inexperienced as an Ultra and the villains he faces day to day are usually more experience, stronger or more skilled than he is. His stubbornness, his refusal to give up or stay down, his determination to keep going is what allows him to continue saving people.

And saving people is what is important to Quarry. He’d describe himself as a little idealistic, though his time as a costumed hero as tempered that a little, and his reasons for choosing to become a hero can boil down to wanting to be like the heroes he grew up reading about. It was pure comic book fantasy that led to him making his own costume and using his new powers for good, even though he should have been old enough to know better. He still kind of believes in the idea of good ultimately triumphing in the end even after all this time.

Backstory/Origin: Growing up in Austin, Texas was kind of a boring affair for the most part; the city was more than large enough to have things to do but not large enough to really have to deal with the Ultra issue that places like LA or New York seemed to deal with every other day. There were a few costumed heroes and villains in the past, the latter appearing all the way up to the late 80’s, but when Malcolm was a child at least they weren’t active anymore and no one seemed about to take their place.

Then Fuse showed up with a bang.

Fuse was a villain who just appeared one day, a made a pretty big deal out of himself in the process. Austin had apparently been growing complacent after a few years of not having to deal with Ultras so when one with the power to blow things up with his mind appeared no one was prepared to deal with it. The villain started off his career by robbing the largest bank in the city, not even trying to be subtle about it and sticking around long enough to confront the police when they responded; he blew up cars, tore apart building and generally just made a mess of downtown. Zero deaths, but a lot of injured.

That was the beginning of a new era in Austin. With no heroes to slow him down Fuse took over the crime element in the city, establishing himself as the top dog of the city. Suddenly, Austin was a hub of Ultra activity as villains arrived looking to either oust Fuse to take over for themselves or just looking to work for someone stronger and more successful for themselves; it should go without saying that the latter had more success. Heroes flocked to the city as well, either out of altruism or because they were looking to make a name for themselves; none of them stuck around very long after they realised how tough Fuse and his allies actually were.

All through this, the years of Fuse’s reign over the city, Malcolm’s life continued more or less as it had. He graduated High School and was accepted into the University of Texas in Austin where he studied engineering and materials science; something that would likely come in useful since the increase in Ultra activity meant that there was a lot more rebuilding going on. The city itself had become more hazardous and the chances of being caught up in trouble of some kind had increased, but the chances of property damage was far higher than the chance of being injured and Malcolm had managed to avoid everything so far. Until one day, one of Fuse’s fights took place in the University’s campus, right next to the building Malcolm was in.

The building Malcolm was in was damaged during the fight, the corner collapsing as the walls were blown open and the roof caved in. Malcolm himself was trapped under a couple tons of rubble, pinned to the ground but fortunately not crushed instantly. It was while he was pinned, while he lay there with a giant slab of concrete pushing down uncomfortably on him as he listened to the battle waging outside, that Malcolm discovered he was an Ultra. A psychic, to be specific.

Late bloomers weren’t unheard of, but they were certainly less common than those people whose abilities showed up early on in life or upon hitting puberty; it seemed that some people, while they had the potential for mutations, psychic abilities or even magic never reached that point. For a rare few, something later in life could trigger an awakening, without that person even knowing they were different until they suddenly started farting fire. It seemed Malcolm was one of those few. His new abilities allowed him to move the concrete off of himself with ease, freeing himself from the rubble and escaping before the rescue crews showed up and started asking questions.

It took a while for him to come to grips with his new reality and a while longer after that before he found the courage to find out what his power could do. Once he’d done that though, he started thinking. It seemed to him that Austin was in desperate need of a hero, a real hero, not just someone looking for publicity but someone who wanted to help the city and would stick around once Fuse was dealt with.

That was a little over two years ago. He’s still kind of working on beating Fuse, but he’s getting there.

Tools/Equipment/Weapons: N/A

Skills: Knowledge of engineering and materials science

Abilities/Powers/Mutations: 
Tactile Geokinesis – Quarry has the ability to move any earth and stone that he is in contact with. This allows him to lift multi-ton objects by simply placing a hand against it and move it as if it weighed nothing, provided it is made of the correct material. In order to activate this ability he must be in direct contact with the object in question, so placing his hand on a mound of loose soil and dirt will only allow him to manipulate exactly what he is touching and not the whole mound, as such his ability is most effective when used on large singular objects such as stone or man-made materials such as concrete. He cannot change the shape of the matter he is controlling only its position and orientation.

Stone Creation – In addition to being able to manipulate earth and stone Quarry is also able to create matter seemingly from nothing, in the form of a material similar to granite in appearance and weight albeit much harder and more durable; he does this by pulling energy from the Realm of Creation and manifesting it in the physical world. This ability is range limited, so he can only create matter within 20-30 feet of himself and takes longer the more mass is being created. He can control the shape and size of the matter while it is being created.

Increased Durability – On top of his other abilities, Quarry is considerably tougher than the average person due to his connection to the Realm of Creation allowing him to maintain a constant level of increased durability. He can survive a bullet from a small calibre weapon with nothing more than a bruise and survive a fall from a four storey building with a sprain. He is far from invincible, but he is certainly tougher than average.
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[hider=Richard Hardwick (Fuse)]
Name: Richard Hardwick
Super Villain Identity: Fuse
Age: 38
Nationality: American
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Location: Austin, Texas
Ultra Type: Mutant

Appearance: A man on the cusp of middle age, Richard is starting to show a few streaks of grey amidst his short cut brown hair. His eyes are a steely blue, deep set in a ruggedly handsome face with a neatly trimmed beard. His height is well above average at 6’ 3” and he has a somewhat stocky build, with a wide chest and a well-muscled physique.

Richard’s costume as Fuse is surprisingly understated for someone with the power to create explosions. A black head covering that hides his entire face. A tight fitting, long sleeved shirt with a black torso gradating to red along the arms until his forearms are a vivid crimson with similarly coloured gloves; this is then covered by a heavy, dark brown duster with shortened sleeves to reveal the brightly coloured sleeves underneath. His lower half is covered by a pair of plain black military fatigue style trousers and black combat boots.

Personality: Cunning, devious, intelligent and ruthless; Fuse is not someone to be underestimated. Ever since he made his first appearance in costume he has shown himself to be a devious individual, his actions well considered and thought out but executed with the level of brutality you would expect from someone with his power. He is not the type to shy away from violence as a means to an end; in fact he seems to favour it.

Those who interact with Fuse will find him well spoken, erudite and calm; he is more than smart enough to run rings around the people he usually deals with. However, he is not without a temper and not above personal grudges, even if he usually has the restraint not to lose control.

Backstory/Origin: Born and raised in Chicago to a middle class family, Richard’s early life was fairly easy going compared to most. He was a good student, with high grades, who graduated near the top of his class before moving onto university to study economics and accountancy. The only really notable occurrence during this time is that when he was thirteen he developed the ability to make explosions with his mind.

Richard falls into the category of mutants whose powers first develop when they hit puberty. It came as quite a shock to him, as you would expect, but somehow, through sheet luck or cunning, he was able to keep this ability quiet. No one, not even his parents or his best friends, had any idea what Richard was suddenly capable of. Keeping this hidden also meant he didn’t have much chance to practise or explore his ability, at least not until he left home to attend university at which point he began to learn as much as he could about his mutation.

In spite of the fact that he was now away from home and had more freedom to do what he wanted, Richard still kept his powers hidden and continued on as if nothing was out of the ordinary. He spend the next four years studying and finished university with a bachelor’s degree in economics, before moving south to Texas to find work; or at least, that was what he told anyone who asked. For years Richard had been planning what to do with his new power, even since he had first discovered it, and while most teenagers that age might have come up with plans to become a hero or famous or rich, Richard had a different plan in mind.

Upon moving to Austin, a city he had chosen very carefully for its complete lack of prominent Ultras, he waited two years before, at the age of 26, he made his debut as Fuse.

It went as well as he had expected; the police were completely unprepared for him, as were the existing criminal element of the city which he soon took over, and with an ease even he did not expect he soon found himself in charge. The next few years were spent consolidating his power, expanding his operation, and variously recruiting and dealing with heroes or villains who sought to challenge him.

For the next ten years things went off without a hitch. Not a single hero operated within Austin for long, there wasn’t a single criminal enterprise that earned money in the city without giving him a cut and even the major villains and crime bosses in nearby cities new better than to try and remove him from power. Fuse had built himself his own little kingdom and everything was running smoothly.

Then the kid with the rock powers showed up and started making a mess of things.

Tools/Equipment/Weapons: A criminal empire, Ultra subordinates and lieutenants, a small fortune in stolen wealth and a robotics genius to outfit him and his lackeys with equipment.

Skills: Accountancy, economics, expert negotiator, a good eye for distances and boxing.

Abilities/Powers/Mutations: 
Explosion Creation – This ability allows Fuse to create randomised explosions by visualising a line in the air within his range of vision. Once the line has been visualised, explosions will occur randomly within a certain distance of this line, varying in size and intensity; the positions of the explosions vary but are always within a certain distance of the lines and are triggered sequentially down the length of the line from start to end.

The explosions are caused by the rapid compression of reactive components in the air around these lines to cause an explosion; the randomness and imprecision of the explosions are in part due to the unpredictable nature of these reactions and it is entirely possible for Fuse’s power to occasionally be a ‘dud’ in some cases. The size of the explosions is somewhat dependent on Fuse’s perception of how large the line is, i.e. they can be either close and small or far away and large based on where Fuse perceives them to be in space, as well as environmental factors such as the quantity of reactive materials in the air as well as current atmospheric conditions.

Despite the randomness of this ability, there is a maximum range to it as well as a maximum size and power to the explosions. Fuse cannot create a line any further than 200 feet from himself regardless of how far he can see and the explosions themselves are never stronger than to be able to cause a concrete structure to fracture or chip. The explosions themselves are more flash than substance, being loud and bright but creating more fire and heat than a shockwave.
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[hider=Dominic Reeves (Payback)]
Name: Dominic Reeves
Super Villain Identity: Payback
Age: 26
Nationality: American
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Location: Austin, Texas
Ultra Type: Mutant

Appearance: Being slightly shorter than the average male and having a lean, lithe build Dominic doesn’t strike the most imposing figure, especially when compared to his boss Fuse. His hair is a dirty blonde, spiky and unkempt, and his eyes are blue; he has a short goatee that he keeps neatly trimmed. His narrow face is decorated with multiple piercings including several ear rings and studs, a nose stud and a few lip rings.

His costume is simple, designed to invoke images of a boxer approaching the ring; the main item is a long flowing hooded robe, similar to the kind boxers wear when entering the ring but made of a thicker material, coloured orange. Aside from this his clothing is fairly typical, often wearing a plain black t-shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans with a chain hanging from the belt loop over a worn pair of brown work boots. When expecting a fight his hands are covered by the kind of black padded gloves that martial artists use to protect their hands while sparring or fighting.

What his costume lacks, however, is a mask. He makes no attempts to hide his face while operating as a villain, probably because his identity was compromised a long time ago and he realises there is no longer any point in trying to hide it.

Personality: In Dominic’s world it is power, more than anything else, that rules the world. Power doesn’t come from respect or fear or money or anything else, it is the other way around; power, is the source of everything. This is the way Dominic was raised, the way he was taught, and the way he lives. He has seen what happens to those without power when faced with those who do, he has been both the powerless and the powerful and he would very much rather be the latter.

Currently Dominic considers himself powerful, though he also knows that he is employed by someone even more powerful. He is self-assured because of this, confident and cocky and sometime brazen in his actions. He is someone who lives in the moment, someone who likes to enjoy the pleasures of life while he can because he knows he can be made powerless at a moment’s notice. He doesn’t always think things through and can be driven by his emotions, especially his anger, if given reason to.

Backstory/Origin: Hailing from New York City originally, Dominic had a tough live growing up in one of the poorest areas of the city. He can barely remember his mother, who left when he was young, leaving him to be raised by a father who didn’t know much about raising a child and didn’t even particularly mean well. It should come as no surprise that Dominic fell in with a bad crowd under those kinds of circumstances and he was constantly getting into trouble both at school and with the law.

Trespassing, graffiti, shop lifting, fighting; Dominic led a life of petty crime from his early teens onwards and violence was often part of it, whether it be at home or on the streets. Things only escalated once his mutation kicked in and he started using his abilities to get back at anyone who had bested him in the past and started committing larger and more dangerous crimes.

It was only a couple of years later, aged sixteen, that Dominic found himself locked away. It was an armed robbery gone wrong, only with his power as the weapon and not a gun, which led to a stand-off with the NYPD that didn’t go in Dominic’s favour. Turned out his power didn’t make him as invincible as he thought and by this point the police had had years of practise dealing with Ultras of all kinds; his over confidence worked against him and he found himself in front of a judge with a rather harsh opinion of Ultras. He spent the next two years in a juvenile detention facility, the fact that he was a minor saving him as even though they wanted to impose the harshest sentence possible on the ‘evil and violent’ Ultra they couldn’t try him as an adult.

One consequence of his arrest however was exposure; with his trial came media coverage and after his sentence his name, face and even a description of his ability appeared in several newspapers and on websites both in the state of New York and even Nationwide. Now, anyone with an internet connection can find out who he is by searching based on a description of his appearance or his ability; both are likely to turn up a news story of his arrest or trial. This lack of anonymity poses certain problems for Dominic, especially given his chosen criminal career path, as his ability has become a glaring, recognisable trait that gives him away; making use of his power is like leaving an instantly identifiable fingerprint at the crime scene, meaning he has to give up on being a criminal or go completely off the grid.

About a year after being released from detention Dominic caught word of a villain in Austin who was making a name for himself on the national level. Fuse had seemingly taken over the city of Austin a few years ago and had so far managed to resist being captured by the heroes who tried to arrest him, or being ousted by the villains who wanted to take over; as the list of people who had lost to him grew the villain was being recognised more and more as a legitimate threat. With no other options and seeing an opportunity to put his skills to use, Dominic travelled to Austin with the intention of getting in touch with Fuse and offering his services. They have now been working together for six years

Tools/Equipment/Weapons: No permanent set of equipment, but he occasionally uses items provided to him by Fuse to complete a specific job or task.

Skills: Getaway driving, brawling, leadership experience

Abilities/Powers/Mutations: 
Momentum Manipulation – Dominic has the ability to generate a field around his hands that can steal the momentum from an object and store it after converting it to kinetic energy. These fields appear as a glowing orange aura surrounding Dominic’s hands and feet and extend a couple inches past his wrist and above his ankles respectively; whenever an object strikes these fields their momentum is almost entirely stripped away, roughly 90% of it, absorbing it and reducing that objects speed and force. Dominic is then able to release this stored kinetic energy at close range, often taking the form of a punch of kick with the energy released at the point of impact.

Each field is separate and has its own store of energy and Dominic is able to approximate how much energy is held in each one, at least to the extent of knowing which one contains the most and when one is nearly empty. The energy cannot be stored indefinitely and the stored energy has to be released before the aura can be turned off. Dominic has never reached the point where he has lost control of the energy he is storing, mostly because he always makes sure to begin releasing energy when he feels his control start to waver at all; his current max seems to be storing enough energy to allow him to punch his way through a bank vault door.
[/hider]