The New Disasters: The Protege

The Protege

Alias: Hellion

Name: Riley Grant

Look: Man, White, Athletic Body, Casual Clothes, Protective Wear

Abilities

Shared Ability: Elemental Control

Your Own Ability: Impossible Fighting Skills

Your Mentor's Ability: Hacking

Mentor

Leonard "Patch" Starling, renegade AEGIS operative

Embodies: Savior

Denies: Mundane

Labels

Danger: 0

Freak: 0

Savior: +1

Superior: +2

Mundane: 0

Moves

Captain: When you enter battle as a team, add an extra Team to the pool and carry +1 forward if you are the leader.

Be Mindful of Your Surroundings: When you assess the situation before entering into a fight, you may ask one additional question, even on a miss.

Been Reading the Files: You’ve learned about the superhuman world through your mentor’s resources. When you first encounter an important superpowered phenomenon (your call), roll +Superior. On a hit, tell the team one important detail you’ve learned from your studies. The GM will tell you what, if anything, seems different from what you remember. On a 10+, ask the GM a follow-up question; they will answer it honestly. On a miss, the situation is well outside your base of knowledge; the GM will tell you why.

Mentor's Resources: Communicators, False Identities

Background

How did you first meet your mentor? About a year ago, I was stupid, angry, and trying to prove myself. I spent a lot of time at an underground fight club for superhumans, using my clairvoyance to win matches. One night, I was getting mauled by this girl named Mathilda when a scrawny guy in the audience cast a spell to help me move faster. It still barely kept me in the fight. She matched me hit for hit, even with the magical buff. The man running the show appeared and tossed a pair of swords into the ring. He wanted this match to be to the death.

After I told him to go to hell, I think he opened a portal there. A beast made of fire burst out of a tear in space and lunged at us. We grabbed the swords. Uh, to defend ourselves from the hellhound thing, if it wasn't clear. While this was going on, I noticed some weird, code-like runes scrolling across the portal. The scrawny guy limped into the ring with us and ushered us through the hole. Yes, I'm aware that would have been insane in normal circumstances. But for some reason, I felt I could trust this man.

In fairness, he got my opponent and I to a safe place. Just not on Earth. Stories say the archmages of old left behind a legacy for humanity to discover. Places of power where magic flowed like air. I saw a garden overgrown with rose vines, but I'm pretty sure my new friends were looking at something else. Mathilda was crying her eyes out, while the scrawny guy just looked confused. Acting on another hunch, I tried a spell to clear the thorns away. There was a gate back home on the other side.

Mathilda ran off as soon as we through the portal. She was still carrying the sword, but it now looked like a work of art, a saber with a golden hilt. Thankfully, Leonard stayed to introduce himself and help me try to make sense of what happened.

When and why did you choose to train with them? So, clearing a path through the garden? That was the second unaided spell I'd been able cast. Like, ever. Taking a detour through a Sanctuary definitely gave my powers a boost, but I still needed someone to teach me how to use them. I wasn't figuring that out too well on my own. Plus, the few other magic users I knew were my age and not interested in using their gifts for anything good (with one notable exception). I got quite a bit of practice through my run-ins with those idiots, but it didn't really help to develop my skills. Leonard offered to take me on as an Apprentice, right after our escape from the fight club. Needless to say, I accepted.

Why did they agree to train you? He said I had great potential, and not just as a mage. But I needed to find a purpose for those abilities. Patch needed my help, too. Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush. He was a mess. I don't know all the gory details about his past, but between his limp, spine injury, and a cursed wound that won't heal, he wasn't as spry as he used to be. Or too proud to admit it. Though Leonard was still in the hero (he prefers the term "vigilante") business, he needed someone to do field work in his place.

Who else, outside of the team, knows about your training? As I later learned, most of the supernatural community know Mathilda as Seraph. She's a member of a magical sect that cut ties with the community at large because of its policy of keeping a distance from mundane affairs. The superhero thing is acceptable, but frowned upon. On the other hand, running for a major leadership position or showing people how to make gold is right out. Leonard says she was already considered a dangerous radical. But after being exposed to the Sanctuary, her powers evolved like mine. Oops. Seraph and Patch have some kind of history together. One that he won't tell me about. ...he said he isn't ready.

Patch had one other Apprentice. No, she didn't turn to evil. Matter of fact, I don't completely blame her for leaving. I hadn't seen my sister since our parents broke up, and I was surprised to find Morgan at Leonard's office one night. In a lot of ways, she was a better magic user. But she and Leonard never saw eye to eye on what it meant to try and make a difference. Patch believed heroism was a painful, thankless burden. One people had to take up for the sake of those in need. Morgan couldn't accept that. In her eyes, heroes were symbols of hope, not lurking vigilantes. Morgan struck out on her own after their falling out. But I've made it clear that if she needs me, I'll come running.

Admittedly, she's doing okay for herself. If you call a contract with a huge media company "okay", that is. Morgan, or Reverie as you probably know her, is one of those heroes who does their thing with a camera crew in tow.

Why do you care about the team? Someone once said that without his friends, he'd be dead or insane. And I am right with him. The team has stuck by me through just about everything since became an Initiate. I couldn't fight the good fight without them.

Additional Notes

In lieu of a traditional disguise, Hellion wears a starmetal ring, enchanted to cause people and even surveillance devices to overlook his features. In case that doesn't work, he also has a pair of AR goggles (better than nothing).

His protective gear consists of weighted gloves and a discreet pair of greaves, all made from woven moonsilver, a magical metal that is extraordinarily durable and good at absorbing impacts.

Reverie's magic is based on light manipulation, but she also possesses the rare ability to amplify superhuman powers. This spell is cast through the medium of song.