M&M.EmeraldCityHeroes.PauloDeWalshio

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PHOTON [PL 10]

Real Name: Michael Rhodes

ATTRIBUTES [10pp]

Strength (STR) 8

Stamina (STA) 8

Agility (AGL) 0

Dexterity (DEX) 2

Fighting (FGT) 2

Intelligence (INT) 1

Awareness (AWE) 0

Presence (PRE) 0

POWERS [73pp]

Atmospheric Flight: Flight 5 (Speed: 60 miles/hour, 900 feet/round)

. . Space Flight: Movement 1 (Alternate; Space Travel 1: within solar system)

Enhanced Physique:

. . Perfect Physiology: Immunity 5 (Aging, Disease, Starvation & Thirst, Suffocation (All))

. . Super Strength: Enhanced Strength 8 (+8 STR)

. . Super-Stamina: Enhanced Stamina 8 (+8 STA)

Full Light Spectrum Perception: Senses 4 (Counters Concealment: Visual - Invisibility, Infravision, Ultravision; Sustained)

Solar Energy Attacks:

. . All Light, No Force: Cumulative Affliction 10 (1st degree: Impaired, 2nd degree: Disabled, 3rd degree: Unaware, Resisted by: Fortitude, DC 20; Cumulative, Increased Range: ranged; Limited: Visual)

. . Solar Beam: Damage 8 (DC 23; Accurate: +2, Increased Range: ranged, Precise)

. . Solar Flare: Burst Area Damage 10 (DC 25; Burst Area: 30 feet radius sphere, DC 20)

Solar Energy Shield: Protection 4 (+4 Toughness; Sustained; Activation: move action)

ADVANTAGES [8pp]

All-out Attack

Connected: ASTRO Labs

Improved Initiative 2

Interpose

Move-by Action

Power Attack

Takedown

SKILLS [33pp]

Acrobatics N/A (AGI)

Athletics 4 (+12) (STR)

Close Combat Grab 6 (+8) (FTG)

Close Combat Unarmed 10 (+12) (FTG)

Deception 0 (+0) (PRE)

Expertise: Science 7 (+8) (INT)

Insight 0 (+0) (AWE)

Intimidation 0 (+0) (PRE)

Investigation N/A (INT)

Perception 8 (+8) (AWE)

Persuasion 8 (+10) (PRE)

Ranged Combat: Solar Energy Attacks 8 (+10) (DEX)

Sleight of Hand N/A (DEX)

Stealth 0 (+0) (AGI)

Technology 7 (+8) (INT)

Treatment N/A (INT)

Vehicles 10 (+12) (DEX)

DEFENSIVE [26pp]

Dodge 8

Parry 8

Fortitude 10

Toughness 12

Will 10

OFFENSIVE

Initiative +8

All Light, No Force: Cumulative Affliction 10, +10 (DC Fort 20)

Grab, +8 (DC Spec 18)

Solar Beam: Damage 8, +12 (DC 23)

Solar Flare: Burst Area Damage 10 (DC 25)

Throw, +2 (DC 23)

Unarmed, +12 (DC 23)

Complications

Amnesia: Michael has no recollection of what happened to him during the test flight or where he's been for the past 10 years.

Fame: Michael's disappearance in the early 2010s was headline news, and so was his mysterious return a decade later, looking like he hasn't aged a day in the intervening time. It's made maintaining a secret identity pretty much impossible.

Man Out of Time: Michael was last on Earth in the early 2010s, so he has a lot of catching up to do with...pretty much everything.

Motivation - Doing Good: Even if doesn't know how or why he has these powers, Michael is still going to use them to help whoever he can.

Power Loss: Michael can run out of solar energy if he pushes himself too hard or if he's completely deprived of sunlight for more than a day. If this happens, he'll lose all of his powers and will need to be exposed to sunlight for at least a few hours to recharge. Additionally, if he isn't allowed to recharge for 48 hours, he'll die.

Relationship: Michael had a loving wife, Julie, and a son, Aiden. Although it's only felt like a few months for him, they've spent 10 years mourning him and then moving on. Naturally, things are...awkward between them now.

Relationship: After the test flight incident, Michael's best friend, Justin Williams, began working for ASTRO Labs so that he could determine what exactly caused Michael's mysterious disappearance. He has since become one of the Emerald City division's head researchers. He's currently allowing Michael to crash on his couch and acts as Michael's liaison to ASTRO Labs as a whole.

Backdown

Attributes 10 + Powers 77 + Advantages 8 + Skills 34 (68 ranks) + Defenses 26 = 155 points

History/Backstory

Michael Rhodes had about as close to a perfect life as most people can hope for. He had a well-paying job as a test pilot for Nolan Aircrafts, helping to develop and stress-test cutting edge aerospace technology alongside his best friend from college, Justin. He married his high school sweetheart, Julie, and they had a beautiful baby boy called Aiden together. His life outside of his career wasn't always the most eventful, but it was generally stable and no problems were so great that he could not overcome them with the help of his loved ones.

Then everything changed. ASTRO Labs and Nolan Aircrafts began collaborating on a new prototype jet craft designed to reach heights and speeds far beyond the limits of most other aircraft via an experimental fuel source, and Michael was one of the jet's primary test pilots. Preliminary tests were business as usual, but something very strange happened on the day of its first flight. Michael took to the skies with no trouble, taking notes all the while, but just before he was meant to come back around for landing, the jet's controls completely locked up. On the ground, readings of the jet's altitude and speed began fluctuating wildly, and Michael's transmissions were becoming increasingly garbled through their radio. The last words from him they could understand where "Oh my god, it's --" before the jet inexplicably vanished off of their radar. Neither it nor Michael was ever found.

Until ten years later, when a mysterious comet with a bright golden trail crash-landed right outside Emerald City. Authorities investigated and discovered the "comet" in question was actually Michael, comatose and completely unaged in ten years. When Michael awoke a few days later, he was under the custody of AEGIS, and they were very interested to learn where he had been all these years. Unfortunately, he wasn't of much help in that regard, as he had absolutely no clue what happened to him during the test flight or where had been for ten years; In fact, he was horrified to learn it had even been ten years since that fateful, to him it felt like mere days ago. AEGIS then did their best to acclimate him to the present day, informing him of everything that had happened in the previous decade, particularly the Silver Storm. They then helped get him back in contact with Julie and Aiden, though that was an extremely uncomfortable mixture of a touching family reunion and a harsh realisation that his family had mourned him and eventually managed to move on.

With nothing more that they could do for him, AEGIS set him loose out into a world he barely recognised anymore. Julie offered to let him move in for a while with her and her new husband, Richard, but Michael politely declined. He couldn't put her (or himself, if he was being honest) through that, especially once he discovered that his mysterious disappearance and equally mysterious return had essentially turned him into an overnight celebrity. Michael tried to get a motel room, but with no money to his name and a bank account that had long been closed, that plan didn't even get off the ground. Thankfully, he didn't have to sleep rough, as an old friend quickly got in touch with him.

Justin had never fully believed that Michael had died, and he had even started working at ASTRO Lab to try and prove his theories correct. Though his search was ultimately in vain, he wound up becoming a head researcher for ASTRO Lab's Emerald City division in the decade he spent with them. Justin let Michael stay with him for as long as he needed, which he was all too happy to accept. Just when it seemed that Michael might have been able to find some sense of normalcy again, however, he and Justin discovered something incredible.

At first, it wasn't anything major, except that Michael realised he never actually felt hungry or thirsty, he just ate and drank because he was accustomed to it. Then the signs became more obvious when Michael accidentally smashed an alarm clock to pieces just by hitting the snooze button too hard. Then it became impossible to ignore when he nearly blasted Justin in the face with an accidental energy blast. Somehow, Michael had gained superhuman abilities. Justin ran all manner of tests on him at his lab, and they discovered that Michael had strength and stamina well above the peak of an average human, that his physiology had been improved to the point where he no longer needed to eat, drink, or even breathe; and, most amazingly of all, he could harness solar energy and manipulate solar energy for a variety of purposes.

At first, Michael just wanted to forget these powers even existed, despite Justin's pleas to the contrary. To him, they were just another reminder of the time he lost. But this wouldn't last long, as one day, while Justin was off to work and Michael was left to stew in his thoughts, he saw a news report that some punk supervillain called "Explodo the Great" was holding a bank hostage and that several people had already been injured. Despite the rational part of his mind screaming at him not to get involved, Michael couldn't just sit by and watch it happen. And so, not even bothering to grab anything that could work as a mask, Michael flew to the scene as fast as he could.

After a brief and, even by his own admission, very sloppy fight against Explodo, Michael managed to defeat the villain and save the day. Justin was ecstatic to learn what he had done, and Michael finally relented and admitted that he needed to use his powers for the greater good. Justin soon got to work designing and producing a costume for Michael, and a few weeks later, he made his proper debut as the solar-powered hero, Photon!