Spiderman (Malcolm Jacobs)

Spiderman

The world will always need a Spider-Man, and Normie Osborn knew it. As he sat in hiding after seemingly haven been slain by his grandfather… he knew it. Though she was fighting the good fight as well as her father ever could, Normie recognized one thing about May… she’s was getting older and young Benjamin wasn’t developing the powers of his sister or father. Spider-man himself was already old and seemed to have lost the inner-strength that had always sustained him… he couldn’t go on much longer. Eventually May would hang up the webs too and the city would be without its hero and the world would be without its webslinger. Normie had access to the work of Miles Warren and knew all too readily how easy it would be to create a clone. But that was too imperfect, a clone could come out good or bad… and it’d never be Spider-Man… just a cheap copy. An heir needed to be put in place and Benjamin’s lack of powers had proven that if May ever had a child there was no guarantee it’s have spider powers either. There needed to be a double assurance. The son of Jessica Drew provided that insurance. By combining Parker D.N.A. with Drew D.N.A. a stable carrier gene was possible, guaranteeing the continuance of the webslinger line. Still there was the matter of placing the carrier gene in the right person. May had been a result of being Peter’s daughter and Peter had likewise been a result of his uncle Ben… to insure a new Spider-Man would emerge the variables would need to be the same. James and Tabitha Jacobs proved to be the perfect fit… James was a scientist and business rival of Oscorp… his tragic end was thus almost preordain… and Tabitha was a emergency medical technician constantly putting herself in harms way to help others. A child raised by them would provide the perfect personality to wield the webs of Spider-Man. Thus Normie arranged for the newborn child of the two to be injected with the gene during its standard inoculations. The gene would remain dormant until Normie triggered it with a specific wavelength of radiation… when the child reached seventeen… the same age Parker had been when he was bitten by the radioactive spider that started it all. Normie just had to sit back and let events play themselves out. His grandfather would of course come to view James’ work as a threat to Oscorp stock… and since James had too much integrity to sell out to the Goblin King… he’d be dealt with… devastating young Malcolm. Peter would empathize with the boy having lost someone to Osborn just as he had in the past and keep an eye on him. Eventually this would lead to the confrontation with the Goblin Gang and inevitably Peter would unknowing introduce his replacement to the world of Spider-Man. May would teach him to be a super-hero… Peter would instill his patent “With Great Power” ethic into the boy and make him understand what being Spider-Man meant… and when the time came… Normie would awaken his potential. Malcolm didn’t notice it happen… even with the suit’s sensors. He didn’t catch the strange hobo in the windows above watching as he fought the Wrecking Crew. But he did feel the sting… the pain of a beam of radiation striking the back of his neck. If felt like something had bitten him. Soon the change began to happen… Malcolm began to exhibit the suit’s powers even when he wasn’t wearing it. At first he thought it might be some kind of mutation created by the suit’s power source, but a genetic analysis revealed the truth… he wasn’t himself anymore. His D.N.A. read like he was one of the Parker clan, May’s son no less. Malcolm was furious; he believed Peter had done it with one of his toys… somehow turned Malcolm into a copy of himself because a kid in a suit wasn’t cutting it anymore. Malcolm was ready to quit and let the Parkers and the rest of the city rot until Normie revealed himself… explaining that he couldn’t let the legacy of Spider-Man die. The city needed him… the world needed him; and not because of the powers… the powers were just a gift… it was the spirit that mattered and Malcolm had it the same as Peter and May before him. Malcolm came to terms with this and decided to continuing being Spider-Man. Normie apologized to May for faking his own death, but insisted on vanishing again… if his grandfather ever found him… who knows what he’d do. Secretly Normie committed one last act of betray to the Parker family, by starting a research company called Alchemax and placing a sleeper program with hints at creating another Spider-Man within the main labs databases. Afterall… Malcolm would get old someday too.

Spider-man: PL 14

Init +15; Defense 24 (20 flat footed); Spd 30ft, Leaping 30ft, Swinging 30ft.; Atk +8 melee (+8S punch), +8 ranged (+6 Snare, Energy Blast); HP: ; SV Dmg +2/+12 Evasion [+6 Armor], Fort +2, Ref +12, Will +4; Str 15, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 18, Cha 16

Skills: Acrobatics +15, Bluff +4, Listen 7, Knowledge (Culture-Street, Current Events, Trivia) +6, Profession (Student Job-Bookstore) +5, Sense Motive +5, Spot +7, Taunt +8

Feats: All-Out-Attack, Attack Finesse, Connected (The New Redeemers), Dodge, Evasion, Hero’s Luck, Heroic Surge, Improved Initiative, Inspire, Leadership, Lightning Reflexes, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Power Attack

Powers:

• Spider-Powers +6 [Effects: Clinging, Combat Sense (Power Stunts: All-Around-Sight, Blindsight), Energy Blast-Bioelectrical (Effect: Energy Blast-Electric; Power Stunts: Drain Energy-Healing), Energy Control-Biomagnetism (Effect: Telekinesis; Extras: Line of Sight; Flaws: Range: Touch), Immunity (Chemicals, Disease, Electricity, Exhaustion, Poison, Radiation), Leaping (Super-Leaping), Snare, Super-Dexterity, Super-Strength, Swinging, Precognition (Power Stunts: Assessment, True Sight; Flaws: Uncontrollable); Extras: Additional Source-Super-Science (Flaws: Device; Excluded Powers (various)); Power Stunts: Attractive; Source: Mutation; Cost: 16; Total 110]

Equipment:

• Spider-Suit - Armor +6 [Extras: Visual Sensor Array (Power Stunts: Computer Analysis, Recording, Tracking); Features: Easily Repaired, Reflective, Sloped; Power Stunts: Radio Broadcast, Radio Hearing; Flaws: Penetrable; Source: Super-Science; Cost: 1pp; Total: 19pp]

Weaknesses:

• Driven (Major): Malcolm lost his father to Osborn… not to mention the city losing itself to him… and Mr. Parker losing his wife. Malcolm will keep fighting till the bitter end to make New York what it once was.

Antagonist (Major): Norman takes Malcolm deadly seriously now that he’s gained his spider-powers… and his paranoia is ever focused on the young man… especially since he found out his spider-sense nullifying gas doesn’t work on Malcolm. Not to mention the man-handling he received from the boy on their latest encounter that reminded him a little too much of the “good ole days”.

• “Greater Responsibility” (Moderate) – Malcolm has extended Peter’s philosophy of great power incurring great responsibility to include great acts and great influence. Malcolm has come to recognize that the more he does, the more others emulate him and he feels responsible for what happens to them because of that. New York is slowly gaining a new generation of heroes, but not all of them have what it takes to make it in New York… and will likely suffer dearly for following in Malcolm’s footsteps. Malcolm will thus go out of his way to prevent such tragedies from befalling would-be heroes.