Cast of Characters

[Charles Warren]

THE MICRONAUTS

The Micronauts were a team of freedom fighters, explorers and adventurers dedicated to fighting the tyrant Baron Karza who enslaved most of their planets in the Microverse.

The Micronauts came together as a direct response to Baron Karza's subjugation of Homeworld and most of the Microverse. Upon the completion of his 1,000 year exploration, Commander Arcturus Rann arrived at his home planet Homeworld, the central planet in the Microverse and the new seat of power for Karza's empire, only to find himself arrested and enslaved by his former teacher Baron Karza. Karza jailed Rann in anticipation of sending him to the gladiatorial pits, where he would be forced to fight all manner of monsters and warriors from every corner of the Microverse for the entertainment of the rich elite of Homeworld, now virtually immortal thanks to Karza's Body Banks.

Prior to his first gladiator fight, Rann was attacked by a group of fellow prisoners. He would have been overcome save for the timely intervention of Acroyear and Bug who were already veterans of the arena. The three men soon realized that they all had a common enemy in Karza, and with the help of Marionette, a disguised princess Mari of Homeworld, the Micronauts escaped in Rann's spaceship The Endeavor.

After many years of fighting, the Micronauts finally overthrew Baron Karza.

The original Micronauts line-up consisted of:

•Arcturus Rann
•Bug
•Acroyear
•Marionette
•Biotron
•Microtron

comicvine.gamespot.com/micronauts/4060-10980/

[Charles Warren]

BARON KARZA
Real Name: Baron Karza
Affiliation: Former dictator of the Microverse
Powers: none

1000 years ago, Baron Karza was the head scientist of the royal academy of Homeworld in the Microverse. He was one of the first instructors of Prince Arcturus Rann, and helped him prepare for his 1000 year mission to explore The Microverse. In the intervening years while Rann was away on his mission, Karza killed Rann's parents King Dallan and Queen Sepsis, and used his super advanced technology to completely subjugate Homeworld and a good portion of the Microverse. Karza's creation of the Body Banks allowed him to harvest limbs and organs, recycling corpses and living beings alike to extend the lifespan of anyone who was willing to pay. He created a military force of Dog Soldiers to enforce his will and to help maintain order within his empire. Over the years Karza has proven himself a master strategist, and a source of pure unadulterated evil that has a nasty habit of turning up again just after it seems everything is recovered from his last resurrection.

Baron Karza was defeated by the Micronauts, which ushered in a golden age for the Microverse until Homeworld was invaded by the Sub-Atomicans.

comicvine.gamespot.com/baron-karza/4005-31861/

[Charles Warren]

PSYCHO-MAN
Alias: Revka Temerlune Edifex Scyros III
Affiliation: Former dictator of Sub-Atomica
Powers: none

Psycho Man was chief scientist and ruler of a government controlling five planets within the Sub-Atomica system of the Microverse, able to be accessed via the energies of shrinking. Worshiping the Earth Goddess Nox, Psycho Man learned the true nature of the secrets of fear. His planet overcrowded, he chose Earth, believing them to have no defense against his technological might. Controlling criminals with his Control Box, he successfully gathered enough pieces to build his ultimate weapon, only to have his efforts defeated by the Fantastic Four and the Inhumans.

Escaping to Sub Atomica once more, Psycho Man clashed again with the Four, as they sought the Silver Surfer. Psycho Man himself once captured the Surfer, to power weaponry designed to tackle the hordes of Annihilus. After he escaped, the Psycho Man was exiled following the defeat of Annihilus.

Clashing with the Micronauts and the Four on several occasions, Psycho Man then attempted to steal metal invulnerable to his powers, before attacking New York as the Hate Monger, eventually transforming Sue Richards into Malice. After the Invisible Girl was freed of the Malice persona, she still had to survive Psycho-Man's torture. This story had Psycho-Man put Sue through one horrendous nightmare after another. Her parents even appeared to her as skeletons. She also had to witness the deaths of her teammates. Fortunately for her, just when she was on the brink of a total emotional collapse, Mr. Fantastic was able to escape from his prison-like tube and defeat Psycho-Man. Her suffering at the hands of Psycho-Man is what caused Susan Storm Richards to change her SuperHero Name from the Invisible Girl to the Invisible Woman. Once he was defeated again, in FF #284, Psycho Man was left in the hands of Sue, who usurped his Control Box, and subjected him to all three emotions - Fear, Doubt, and Hate, all at once, leaving him withered and crippled.

When the Muir Island New Mutants travelled to the Microverse, they learned that Psycho-Man had somehow recovered and had successfully taken control of Homeworld and Karza's Body Banks.

comicvine.gamespot.com/psycho-man/4005-7112/

[Charles Warren]

BUG
Alias: The Last Shadow Priest
Affiliation: Former member of the Micronauts
Powers: Insectivorid Physiology, Wall-Crawling, Danger Sense, Antennae

Bug is a master thief from the Insectivorid homeworld Kaliklak based in the Microverse. Bug was a jokester and rogue by nature but always a professional when it came down to the job. Once he escaped from the Deathpits, he joined with his fellow escapees to become the Micronauts and to fight against the tyranny of Baron Karza.

When the Muir Island New Mutants travelled to the Microverse, they discovered that Bug and Microtron were the last remaining Micronauts. Bug had taken the mantle of the last Shadow Priest. The New Mutants rescued him from the Body Banks and took him to the last Time Temple in Aegypta. There he sacrificed himself to become a Time Traveler so that he could assemble a fleet of those who sought to oppose Karza.

marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Bug_(Insectivorid)_(Earth-616)

[Charles Warren]

THE ENIGMA FORCE

The Enigma Force is a mystical energy field that permeates the Microverse, a subatomic universe. As the name implies, no one truly understands it. In a sense, it is the Microverse, and its first priority is survival. It does not (and perhaps cannot) act directly; rather, it works through the Time Travelers to protect and preserve the Microverse.

One million years ago, the Wanderers came to Earth from many worlds. There they faced extinction at the hands of spectral beings called Whirldemons. With a magical blade called the Sunsword, Prince Wayfinder created a new universe for the Wanderers and imprisoned the demons. Wayfinder became the first Time Traveler.

One thousand years ago, Commander Arcturus Rann set out on a voyage to explore the Microverse. While his conscious mind spent a thousand years in suspended animation, his subconscious made contact with the Enigma Force. At intervals, astral copies of Rann would appear and become new Time Travelers. Some of them became Shadow Priests, who set up churches devoted to worship of Dallan and Sepsis (Rann's royal parents). All this activity prepared Rann to confront Baron Karza when he returned home. At the proper moment, the Shadow Priests shed their disguises and reunited with Rann, giving him the power to defeat Karza.

THE UNI-POWER

During the Karza Wars, a Time Traveler first bestowed the Uni-Power on someone in the Macroverse. The Uni-Power is not the Enigma Force itself but only one facet of it. It allows anyone anywhere to become Captain Universe in times of great danger. Like the Enigma Force, the Uni-Power is sentient to the extent that it will not willingly allow itself to be used for evil.

TIME TRAVELERS

Time Travelers typically appear as glowing green ethereal figures that strongly resemble Commander Rann. They are almost as mysterious as the force they serve. They observe, but they do not interfere. They hold great power, but they give it to others to use. The Shadow Priests claimed that they were only shadows next to the light of the Enigma Force.

Obviously, the Time Travelers can move forward and backward in time. They see possible futures, and when they detect a threat to the Microverse, they take steps to counter that threat. In their Temple of Time, they sift through clues and formulate strategies. They are not omniscient; often, their plans do not bear fruit until the last minute, when the fate of the universe may hang in the balance.

They are limited by the abilities of their agents. In Rann's case, when he lost the ability to tap into his subconscious, the Time Travelers had no way to communicate with him, much less manifest their power in him.

As individual entities, they are vulnerable. Karza was able to capture several and drain energy from them.[4] They are also able to act independently of the Enigma Force and travel to other universes.

RECENT EVENTS

When the Muir Island New Mutants travelled to the Microverse, they discovered that Baron Karza had returned, using Psycho-Man and his Sub-Atomicans to retake Homeworld. Karza had also discovered a way to siphon the power of the Enigma Force off of the Sword Star in order to open Prometheus Gates to the Macroverse in preparation for his invasion of it. Karaza also claimed that he was also siphoning the Enigma Force to strengthen himself.

marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Enigma_Force

[Charles Warren]

CAPTAIN UNIVERSE

Captain Universe is the generic name for the recipient of the Uni-Power, a special kind of energy that endows an individual with a host of superhuman powers. The Uni-Power is a manifestation of the Enigma Force, an extradimensional energy originating in the subatomic realm called the Microverse, wielded by the ethereal Time Travelers. The Uni-Power appears to be a floating globule of luminescent energy that appears seemingly from out of nowhere to engulf an individual, conferring upon him or her the costume, powers and knowledge of Captain Universe. The Uni-Power only manifests itself at a time of crisis - be it personal or worldwide - and withdraws when the crisis has abated. How it chooses the individual who get full possession of the Uni-Power to solve his or her crisis is yet known. The Uni-Power does not remain unmanifested for very long. It transfers from one person to another across the face of the world with no perceptible time lapsing between. At all times somewhere on Earth there is a Captain Universe (once, a pair of twins were Captains Universe simultaneously).

The Uni-Power can be manipulated by each Captain Universe in a variety of ways, dependent upon each recipient's imagination and strength. The Uni-Power amplifies strength about fifty times Thus if a person can normally lift (press) 150 pounds, he or she would now be able to lift approximately 7,500 pounds. Each Captain Universe is also granted the ability to fly by harnessing the Uni-Power's energy to generate antigravitions. The Uni-Power also grants the ability to manipulate structure of objects, changing one shape into another, or even transmuting the elements of an object from one substance to another. This power of molecular manipulation extends to both organic and inorganic matter. Thus the Uni-Power can be used to heal wounds by rearranging the molecules of flesh, tissues or organs, or it can be used to alter the physical characteristics of a person (enlarging the hands of changing their features). The Uni-Power can also be wielded like an energy-beam, generating a luminous burst of energy with a concussive force determined to an extent by the user's ability. The Uni-Power also grants each Captain Universe Uni-Vision which enable the user to see the molecular structure of an object, to see through walls, or to see long distances away. The Uni-Vision is emitted by Captain Universe's eyes and produces a visible beam of energy. This energy has certain hypnotic-side-effects: a skillful wielder of the Uni-Vision can use it to hypnotize people into telling the truth.

So far, the identities and exploits of but a handful of Captain Universes have been disclosed. The first was ex-astronaut Ray Coffin (MICRONAUTS #8) who wielded the Uni-Power to help battle the Microversian tyrant Baron Karza. Other recipients have been Steve Coffin, the son of the original Captain Universe (MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #9), the twins Clare and Ann Dodgson (MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #10), the cat burglar Monty Walsh (MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #11), the Hulk's alter ego Bruce Banner (HULK ANNUAL #10) and the sorcerer supreme Doctor Strange (MICRONAUTS #35).

Most recently, the Muir Island New Mutants were made Captain Universes by the Enigma Force to stop Baron Karza from inadvertently destroying the Microverse.

www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/c/captainuniverse.htm

[Charles Warren]

THE SHADOW KING
Real Name: Amahl Farouk
Affiliation: None
Powers: Astral Projection, Emotion Control, Mind Control, Psi-Screen, Psychic Blast, Telepathy

One of the oldest and more powerful mutants ever, Amahl Farouk has been a threat to mankind at least for decades. He was the first evil mutant met by Charles Xavier, convincing him of the need of the X-Men. He has since been tried to recover and take over the world, always confronted by the X-Men, but never utterly defeated.

Recent discoveries suggest that the "Shadow King" was born "when the first dreams came in night, in the first nightmare". The Shadow King might have been a being of telepathic energy existing only through the astral plane, but taking human hosts for a time to have a link to the physical world. Alternatively, the "Shadow King" might have been a shared identity used by different people through the years, or the remains of an original telepathic mutant who have been possessing people since his first body's death.

Anyhow, the Shadow King (using the name of Farouk) worked in 1936 with Wolfgang von Strucker and Geist, agents of Hitler wanting to dethrone King Edward of England in favor of a fascist relative. To do so, the Shadow King performed a mystic ceremony which accidentally pulled back in time Rachel Summers, the host of the Phoenix Force, alongside with Summers' friend Shadowcat. Due to the failure, von Strucker began to doubt of the Shadow King's power. The Shadow King captured and tranced Summers but Shadowcat escaped and found an ally in Alasdhair Kinross. Farouk captured then heir to the throne Lilibet and, taking control of the Phoenix, escaped to Edinburgh.

Shadowcat tried to reach Summers telepathically, but she found Farouk controlling him. Shadowcat only escaped by surprising Farouk using his secret name, Shadow King, with which she was familiar due to their previous encounter with Farouk in her past - his future. Farouk tried to make Kinross crash, but Shadowcat used her phase powers to save both of them, and also to disrupt Kinross's nervous system, which knocked him down.

Shadowcat tried to rescue Summers again, but Farouk found her and forced her to run away. Farouk then tried to sacrifice Kinross to some demons in exchange of a spell to annihilatte the monarch bloodline of England (as Kinross was related to that bloodline), using a sacred crystal knife. Shadowcat rescued him using her powers and the blade shattered.

The demoniac forces entered then in Farouk's body, but they were too powerful to be contained. Farouk then tried to disperse the spell's power before it consumed himself: He destroyed the Nazi soldiers and then tried to kill the Nazi-supported heir, incinerating her to close the gate. Von Strucker, considering that Farouk had committed treason, tried to shoot him. Farouk them metamorphed into a monstruous "Shadow King" form and promised to use his power to favor the Führer's plan.

The Shadow King then tried to use his psychic powers against Shadowcat and Kinross, to make them fight each other, but they were eventually rescued by a young Logan. At the same time, Rachel Summers unleashed all of her power against the Shadow King, but he managed to retain her control over her. However, Geist and von Strucker still retained doubts about their alliance with that non-Arian monster. Lilibet escaped and fled to Holyrood House, but the Shadow King sent Phoenix after her and telepathically took control of all of the servant in the House, who would them pusue Lilibet.

Logan ambushed Farouk, von Strucker and Geist, but he only captured Geist. Farouk then sent the servants and Phoenix against Logan, Shadowcat and Kinross. He took control of Lilibet and Shadowcat, and then relaxed his control to taunt them. Shadowcat then talked about the future, explaining the defeat of Hitler, and then Lilibet attacked Farouk causing him a minor injury. This was enough to stun him, and Shadowcat used this chance to disrupt Farouk's nervous system. She herself was stunned too because of the psychic backlash, but Farouk's temporary defeat allowed Rachel Summers to free herself.

Farouk recovered in time and tried to re-captured his prisoners, but Summers fought and defeated him in the astral plane. She would have killed him but Shadowcat used the Sword of Scones to strike them both, returning them to their respective bodies. Farouk's body, however, was being consumed by his powers and was destroyed by an energy blast from the sword.

Someone, the Shadow King survived and duplicated Farouk's body. In 1971, Farouk met with a John Watkins, Jr., leader of the V-Battalion. Watkins offered Farouk the help of the Battalion in exchange of information about the Everlasting. A simple telepathic scan provided Farouk with the name of Marduk. Farouk gave this name to Watkins.

As a young man, the mutant telepath Charles Xavier visited Cairo, Egypt. There, his wallet was stolen by the child Ororo, who would later join Xavier's X-Men team as Storm. Xavier used his psionic powers to stop Ororo and took his wallet back. Suddenly, Xavier himself was struck by a bolt of psionic energy. Recovering, he realized that the source of the psychic attack lay within a nearby tavern.

Within the bar Xavier met Amahl Farouk, the crimelord of Cairo, who was himself a mutant with vast telepathic powers. Farouk had sensed the presence of another powerful telepath and had struck him with a psionic bolt as a warning to leave the area of his domain, the so-called Thieves' Quarter of Cairo. Xavier and Farouk sat at different tables in the bar and communicated solely through telepathy. Farouk asked Xavier to join him in his criminal activities. Xavier sensing Farouk's evil and depravity, refused. Contending that mutants like themselves had a responsibility to use their superhuman abilities for the benefit of others, Xavier vowed to bring Farouk to justice for his crimes. Xavier's and Farouk's astral forms then began a battle which ended when the former defeated his foe with a powerful bolt of psychic force. Xavier's astral form rejoined his body, and he left the bar.

Farouk was the first evil mutant Xavier had ever met and the experience taught him how dangerous people could be if they used their powers for evil. Hence, Xavier's encounter with Farouk was one of the factors that led to his later founding of the X-Men.

When Farouk's physical body died, however, he shifted his astral form to another plane. Weakened by the intensity of his duel with the crimelord, Xavier did not notice that Farouk's consciousness had thus escaped. Farouk wanted vengeance on Xavier, but believed him too powerful to challenge safely.

The Shadow King is one of the more powerful mutant telepaths in the world, and has used mental bolts and probes, as well as a powerful psi-screen. He also manipulated the astral plane, being an expert fighter while in astral form. Since his physical death, he existed entirely as an astral creature but he could also possess or subliminally control a physical body, even using the host's psionic powers if any. He could also use his powers to cure physical injuries on his host body. He is said to be immortal and feed on negative emotions.

Recently, the Muir Island New Mutants discovered that the Shadow King had been feeding on Silent Knight's negative emotions. With help of Emma Frost, Silent Knight was able to expunge the Shadow King from her psyche.

marvel.com/universe/Shadow_King

[Charles Warren]

AMY AND BOB MARTIN

Fractal is the son of Amy and Bob Martin, a middle class American family who live in Burbank, IL, a suburb of Chicago. Amy is a nurse at the Holy Cross Hospital, while Bob owns a Pest Control business. When Billy realized that his being a mutant was endangering his family, he left home and travelled to Muir Island.

When Billy learned that there was a mutant disturbance in his home town, he immediately teleported back to his family home to make sure he family was safe. Although he found his parents there, he was ambushed by Freedom Force, who appeared to be waiting for him.

[Charles Warren]

SABRETOOTH
Real Name: Victor Creed
Affiliation: Freedom Force, Formerly the Marauders
Powers: Claws, Body Armor, Enhanced Senses, Regeneration

The full origin of Sabretooth is unknown. However, his real name is believed to be Victor Creed, and he is a superhumanly powerful mutant. Sabretooth is said to be the ultimate warrior and survivor, and for years he has been driven by psychotic needs to hunt, fight, and kill other human beings. Apparently Victor Creed was psychologically abused by his father, who confined him to the dark basement of their home. At one point Victor Creed became the student of the man called the Foreigner, who became the head of the world's leading organization of assassins. At some point over thirty-five years ago Creed had an affair with another superhuman mutant, Mystique, and they had a son, Graydon Creed, who headed the anti-mutant organization called the Friends of Humanity and ran for the presidency of the United States before his recent assassination.

In the early 1960s Creed was a special operative for the Central Intelligence Agency, who apparently gave him the code name "Sabretooth." In the CIA Creed frequently worked in partnership with two other superhuman mutant agents, Logan, code-named Wolverine, and David North, code-named Maverick. Other special agents with whom they were associated in "Team X" included John Wraith, Mastodon, and Silver Fox. All had been subjects of the still mysterious "Weapon X" project, a program seemingly run by the United States government to create a team of "super-soldiers." Apparently the Weapon X project scientists introduced an "age suppression" factor into the DNA of Sabretooth and the other Team X members that retarded their aging, as well as having another operative, Aldo Ferro, give them false memory implants for reasons that remain unclear. Hence, Sabretooth cannot trust all of his own memories.

Creed had a falling out with Logan and North during a mission in Berlin in the early 1960s. Since then, Sabretooth and Wolverine have been mortal enemies. In Sabretooth's first recorded exploit as a costumed criminal, he held the celebrated lawyer Jeryn Hogarth captive. Hogarth's client Daniel Rand, in his costumed identity of Iron Fist, fought and defeated Sabretooth, thus helping to rescue Hogarth.

Later, Sabretooth formed a partnership with another costumed criminal, the Constrictor. However, driven by his psychotic needs, Sabretooth disguised himself and stalked victims in New York City, murdering them with a knife, thus giving rise to newspaper reports of a mysterious "Slasher." Private investigator Misty Knight happened upon one of Sabretooth's attacks and fought him. This led to subsequent battles between Sabretooth and the Constrictor on one side and Knight's friends Iron Fist and Luke Cage, alias Power Man, on the other.

Later, Sabretooth sought to join the Foreigner's organization. Sabretooth tracked down the costumed adventurer the Black Cat, who had clashed with some of the Foreigner's men, but Spider-Man saved the Black Cat and defeated Sabretooth.

Subsequently, Sabretooth joined the Marauders, a cadre of superhuman assassins who worked for the mysterious Mister Sinister. Mister Sinister assigned the Marauders to massacre the underground community of mutants called the Morlocks. In the course of helping to carry out this massacre, Sabretooth once again encountered and fought Wolverine. This led to a series of subsequent battles between the two longtime enemies.

Fractal discovered that Sabretooth had been recruited by Freedom Force, when he teleported back to Burbank, IL to check on his family.

Fighting Skills: Excellent hand-to-hand combatant, trained by the Foreigner, the CIA, and others

Strength level: Sabretooth possesses the normal human strength of a man of his physical age, height, and build who engages in intensive regular exercise

Known superhuman powers: Sabretooth can regenerate damaged or destroyed areas of his cellular structure at a rate far greater than that of an ordinary human being. His "fast healing" ability makes him virtually immune to poisons and to most drugs. Sabretooth also has a limited immunity to the fatigue poisons generated by bodily activity; hence he has greater endurance than any ordinary human being.

Sabretooth has superhumanly acute senses (of sight, hearing, smell, and taste, although perhaps not of touch), comparable to those of certain animals. For example, he can track someone by smell just as a dog or a wolf can. In part Sabretooth's superhuman senses comprise a separate superhuman power of his, but they are also due in part to his power of fast cellular regeneration. Sabretooth's night vision is preternaturally sensitive, containing twice the average human being's area of light-gathering retina, and extends into the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. His hearing is extraordinarily acute, able to detect light breathing in a cave at 200 feet. His sense of taste can detect 1 part of foreign matter in 10,000. His highly developed olfactory sense and memory allow him to detect and track a scent over eight hours old (possibly a concentration of 20 parts per million) that he had not been exposed to for up to several months previously. Dilute, common odors of perspiration, perfumes, cigarettes, candies, and food are beacons to his senses.

Sabretooth's claws and teeth are strong enough to rend through substances as durable as bone


www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/s/sabretooth.htm

[Charles Warren]

SPIDER-WOMAN
Real Name: Julia Carpenter
Affiliation: Freedom Force; former Federal Agent
Powers: Psionic Web, Wall-Crawling, Enhanced Physiology.

An athletic young single mother, Julia Carpenter was drawn into a covert double life by an old college friend, federal agent Valerie Cooper, who believed Julia would be an ideal test subject for a secret government super-agent program. Cooper promised her cash-strapped friend lucrative employment and manipulated Julia into undergoing a series of experimental treatments, including injections of a formula incorporating rare Amazon jungle plants and spider venoms. The formula gave Julia superhuman powers, and she became an operative of the Commission on Superhuman Activities (CSA) as Spider-Woman.

Spider-Woman was present in a suburb of Denver, Colorado when it was transported to a distant location in outer space by the alien Beyonder to become part of the Battleworld he created as the setting for the first of the so-called “secret wars.” Spider-Woman has claimed she has “good friends” living there; but in truth it was she who was living there. Seeing evidence of the fighting taking place on Battleworld among the superhuman beings that the Beyonder had brought to the planet, Spider-Woman, in costume, sought out the team of superhuman champions from Earth and offered her assistance, which they accepted. She served as an effective member of their team, and, at the conclusion of the “secret war,” was, like most of her teammates, teleported back to Earth.

Julia's ex-husband Larry had lost custody of their daughter Rachel after Julia divorced him for cheating on her; but when Julia's secret Spider-Woman career led to frequent unexplained absences on her part, Larry sued for custody of Rachel and won. Meanwhile, Spider-Woman served reluctantly with the ruthless CSA-sponsored super-team Freedom Force under the command of Valerie Cooper.

When Fractal teleported back to his family home in Burbank, IL, Spider-Woman was present when Freedom Force ambushed him.

Spider-Woman possesses superhuman strength enabling her to lift (press) at least 10 tons, although the limits of her strength still remain unknown.

Spider-Woman apparently has the ability to mentally control the flux of inter-atomic attraction between molecular boundary layers. This ability to affect the attraction between surfaces is limited to Spider-Woman’s body (especially concentrated in her hands and feet) and another object, with an upper limit of several tons per finger. She can use this ability even through her costume’s gloves and boots.

Spider-Woman can also create a “web” of psionic energy through a combination of mental concentration and physical gesturing. She cannot cause the web to materialize instantly; instead, she must “weave” it through the means described above. The psionic web has great strength, but beings with sufficient superhuman strength can break through it.

Spider-Woman’s superhuman strength enables her to leap to great heights. The Limits of her leaping abilities are as yet unknown.

www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/s/spiderwomanii.htm

[Charles Warren]

SPIRAL
Real Name: Unknown
Affiliation: Freedom Force; former agent of Mojo
Powers: Additional Limbs, Magic

Spiral is an interdimensional mercenary who sells herself to the highest bidder. She is a highly magical creature with six arms, two of which were severed at some point and have been replaced by bionic ones.

Her first known venture to our dimension was leading a team of hunters that Mojo sent to kill the escaping Longshot. She then spearheaded an invasion of Earth, but that effort ultimately was thwarted by Longshot.

During her time on Earth, Spiral also created a guise as "pro-priestess" of the Body Shoppe, a place where genetics and technology are used to alter people in the same way that Spiral herself was altered. She is responsible for the transformation of Lady Deathstrike, as well as, presumably, many of the cyborg Reavers. Also during this time, Spiral lured Rachel Summers of the X-Men to capture and slavery in Mojo's universe. Similarly, she also helped Mojo capture Besty Braddock, at which point Betsy was given bionic eye implants. The New Mutants rescued Betsy with the help of her brother, Captain Britain, but Mojo had planned all of this from the start, so that Betsy's new eyes would broadcast images of the X-Men to the television-obsessed society of Mojo World.

Spiral appears to enjoy spending time on Earth and has recently begin working for Freedom Force.

Spiral has six arms, one of which is fully cybernetic; she also has enhanced strength, speed, and reflexes. She has the ability to teleport, become invisible, and she also has shown the ability to remove superhuman abilities. She can stun others to the point of causing a concussion or paralyze others. She is a proficient magic user and usually dances when she casts spells. Spiral for some unknown reason is immune to certain types of possession.

marvel.com/universe/Spiral_(Rita_Wayword)

[Charles Warren]

U.S. AGENT
Real Name: John F. Walker
Affiliation: Operative for the U.S. government's Commission on Superhuman Activities
Powers: Superhuman Strength and Stamina

The son of Caleb and Emily Walker, John F. Walker was born and raised in Custer's Grove, Georgia. His older brother, Mike was a soldier and helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War, in which he died. Wanting to live up to his brother's memory, John Walker enlisted in the military himself, but America's involvement in the war had ended, and Walker's hopes of becoming a hero while in the service went unfulfilled.

After leaving the military, Walker was told by a friend about the Power Broker, a mysterious individual who claimed he could endow people with superhuman strength. Walker and his friend signed up with the Broker for his treatment and gained superhuman strength.

Walker now had to find a way to earn money to pay the Power Broker for the treatment and was planning to try out for the Unlimited Class Wrestling Foundation. But then Walker met a man named Ethan Thurm, who became his manager. Thurm urged Walker to pursue his goal of becoming a hero rather than wrestling. Thus, Walker became the costumed Super-Patriot, a self-proclaimed hero who claimed to stand for American ideals. Thurm helped Walker design the Super-Patriot costume, found him financial backers, and devised a public relations strategy to make him a hero in the public's mind. As the Super-Patriot, Walker toured the nation, held patriotic rallies, and participated in community service projects.

At a rally in New York City's Central Park, the Super-Patriot publicly criticized Captain America, the hero who was generally held to embody American ideals, as being out of touch with contemporary America. During the rally the Super-Patriot was attacked by men calling themselves the Buckies (the Bold Urban Commandos) who wore variations on Captain America's costume and claimed to be supporters of Captain America. The Super-Patriot easily defeated his assailants and then demanded that Americans choose whether he or Captain America should be the nation's living symbol. In fact, the Buckies were wrestlers who were working with the Super-Patriot, end their attack was staged as a public relations ploy.

Soon afterward, Captain America confronted Walker, who challenged him to a "contest of might" to determine who would remain active as a hero. Captain America declined the challenge, but warned the Super-Patriot he would bring him to justice if he found him engaged in illegal activities. Shortly afterward the Buckies attacked Captain America, who fought them off.

Later, Captain America confronted the Super-Patriot again, accusing him of being behind the Buckies' attacks on and intimidation attempts against foreigners, which the Super-Patriot had intended as an "antiterrorist campaign." The Super-Patriot then attacked Captain America, who briefly fought him.

Shortly afterward, to gain good publicity, the Super-Patriot captured a terrorist named Warhead who had threatened to detonate a nuclear device in Washington, D.C.

The federal Commission for Superhuman Activities had demanded that Captain America stop acting as a free agent and begin working directly under government supervision, inasmuch as the identity, costume, and shield of Captain America had all been originally created by the federal government. Steve Rogers, the original Captain America, declined, and gave up the Captain America identity.

Dr. Valerie Cooper, a member of the Commission, suggested that the Super-Patriot become the next Captain America. She met with the Super-Patriot, who revealed his true identity to her and accepted her offer. Thus, John Walker became the sixth man to take on the role of Captain America.

In reality, the Commission's chairman, Douglas Rockwell, was secretly an operative of the original Captain America's archenemy the Red Skull. The Skull's intention had been to force Steve Rogers into giving up the role of Captain America and then making certain that his replacement dishonored, the image of Captain America that Rogers had maintained over the years.

The Commission did not approve of Walker's association with Thurm or two of the three Buckies and forced him to drop them as associates. However, the Commission approved of one of the Buckies, Lemar Hoskins, who became the new Captain America's partner using the name and Costume of Bucky (The original Bucky was the first Captain America's partner in the 1940's). Later Hoskins took on the new identity of Battlestar.

Walker and Hoskins underwent a rigorous program of training under Cooper's auspices. One of Walker's instructors was the Taskmaster, who has learned to duplicate the original Captain America's fighting style. They then began going on missions for the government under the direction of another Commission member, Adrian Sammish. For example, they were sent into combat against the criminal forces of the late Professor Power.

Walker considerably moderated his extreme political views in his new role of Captain America in an attempt to live up to the image and ideals of the original.

As for Steve Roger's himself, he eventually adopted a new costumed identity, calling himself simply "the Captain."

During the public ceremony that announced the appointment of a new Captain America, Walker's former associates, two "Buckies" now calling themselves the Left-Winger and Right-Winger, publicly revealed the new Captain America's true identity.

As a result, the right-wing vigilantes called the Watchdogs, who sought vengeance on the new Captain America, murdered Walker's parents. Driven temporarily insane with rage, Walker brutally killed many of the Watchdogs in retaliation. Holding the Left-Winger and Right-Winger responsible for his parents' deaths, Walker captured his two former comrades and left them to die in an explosion. The Left-Winger and Right-Winger survived only due to the affects of the strength enhancement treatment they had undergone, but were left terribly burned and in critical condition. The members of the Commission were disturbed by Walker's increasing ruthlessness and seeming lack of control.

The Red Skull's consciousness now inhabited a body cloned from that of Steve Rogers. The Skull lured Walker to his headquarters in Washington, D.C., confronted him, claiming to be Rogers, and to be behind Walker's recent tribulations. The Skull then had Walker attacked by various of his operatives, representing Walker's most recent adversaries, including a Resistant, a Watchdog, and a man dressed as Scourge. The Skull then arranged for the enraged Walker to confront Steve Rogers, who had also arrived at the Skull's headquarters investigating the Skull's murder of Rockwell. Thinking that Rogers was out to kill him, Walker attacked the Captain, but after a furious battle, Rogers succeeded in defeating Walker. The Skull then entered and confronted the Captain, revealing his true identity and his plans. Walker revived as the Skull continued his discussion with Rogers. Just as Rogers realized that the Skull was attempting to kill him with his "dust of death" contained in his cigarette smoke, Walker hurled his shield at the Skull, striking him down. The Skull thus inhaled his own gas, causing his head to take on the appearance of a blood-red skull. The Skull fled.

Rogers and Walker made their reports on what had happened to the Commission. The Commission offered Rogers the post of Captain America again. Rogers, however, declined, until Walker himself asked him to reconsider. Walker knew that the Commission would fire him from the role of Capitan America whether or not Rogers accepted.

Rogers thus returned to the role of Captain America. However, at the press conference announcing the return of the original Captain America, Walker was seemingly killed by a man wearing a uniform resembling that of the Watchdogs. The apparently assassin was then slain by a vigilante in the guise of Scourge.

In fact, Walker was still alive. The seeming assassination had been arranged by General Haywerth, a member of the Commission. (However, Haywerth had nothing to do with Scourges murder of the "assassin.") Believing that Walker's more brutal activities as Captain America had permanently discredited, him in the public eye, Haywerth intended to allow the public to believe Walker had died as a hero, and then create a new identity for him. Haywerth established a new cover identity for Walker and had him undergo speech therapy and training to replace his old mannerisms with new ones. Walker took on the new costumed identity of the U.S. Agent, in which he wears a costume identical to the one Rogers wore as the Captain. The general public is unaware that the U.S. Agent is actually John Walker. As the U.S. Agent, Walker continues to operate on missions for the Commission.

The Muir Island New Mutants were confronted by US Agent when they traveled to Area 51 to free young mutants apprehended by Freedom Force.

www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/u/usagent.htm

[Charles Warren]

AMERICAN DREAM
Real Name: Mystique
Affiliation: Operative for the U.S. government's Commission on Superhuman Activities
Powers: Shapeshifting

When the Muir Island New Mutants travelled to Area 51 to free young mutants captured by Freedom Force, they encountered American Dream, who was actually Mystique in disguise.

www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/m/mystique.htm

[Charles Warren]

DR. VALERIE COOPER
Real Name: N/A
Affiliation: U.S. Commission on Superhuman Activities
Powers: none

Dr. Valerie Cooper, a Special Assistant to the United States President's National Security Adviser, was perhaps the most important figure in the United States government's ongoing efforts to cope with the growing number of superhuman beings in the nation.

Dr. Cooper's primary concern was the danger that she believed superhuman mutants posed to the United States. Cooper recognized that superhuman mutants were emerging throughout the world and that both governments and private interests had begun to exploit their abilities. She believed that superhuman mutants in the employ of unfriendly powers could wreak havoc with the national security of the United States. Hence, she wanted the United States government to be able to protect itself against superhuman mutants and to strike back against them if necessary. She saw the United States as engaged in the equivalent of an "arms race" with other nations to find and develop an effective corps of superhuman mutants of its own before they do. Furthermore, Dr. Cooper disapproved of the activities of superhuman crime fighters who did not have the approval of the United States government.

Hence, Dr. Cooper was a supporter of the Mutant Power Registration Act, (passed in the later 1980's) which required mutants possessing superhuman powers to register them with the federal government. Thus, the government would be able to keep track of those mutants who registered. Mystique, leader of the second Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, approached Cooper with the proposal of offering the Brotherhood's services as government operatives. Cooper accepted Mystique's offer, and the Brotherhood then operated under government auspices as Freedom Force, which Cooper supervised.

When the Muir Island New Mutants travelled to Area 51 to free young mutants captured by Freedom Force, they were confronted by Valerie Cooper.

marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Valerie_Cooper_(Earth-616)

[Charles Warren]

THE SQUADRON SUPREME

The Squadron Supreme were a team of super heroes from Earth-Squadron (also called Earth-S), a parallel reality of Earth-616. The team initially formed to stop a mad alien robot. They clashed with the Avengers on several occasions. During one of these battles, they became aware that US President Rockefeller of their reality had come under the control of the Serpent Crown[1]. They publicly denounced the government, causing Rockefeller to be ousted from office[2]. Nighthawk was then elected new President of the United States. After the Overmind and Null the Living Darkness left their world in chaos, Hyperion and Power Princess decided that the best option was to take control of the world.

They used behavior modification devices to forcefully rehabilitate a number of criminals and force them to join them in their mission. They called this the Utopia Program after Power Princess's race, the Utopians. Nighthawk immediately resigned as a member in protest of the unethical leanings surrounding Utopia Program and later formed his own team, calling them the Redeemers. Several members infiltrated the Squadron and undid the behavior modification. The Redeemers then confronted the Squadron at their headquarters in Squadron City. The teams battled and had several casualties on both sides. A dying Nighthawk was able to convince the others their idea was wrong, and Power Princess surrendered for the Squadron and the Utopia Project was dismantled. Tom Thumb soon died of cancer.

Due to the Scarlet Centurion and Grandmaster's manipulations, the Squadron has also journeyed to Earth-616. On quite a few occasions they have been forced to battle the Avengers, although they have since become allies.

The group was stranded in Earth-616 after battling the Nth Man.

When the Muir Island New Mutants travelled to Area 51 to free young mutants captured by Freedom Force, they encountered the Squadron Supreme.

marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Squadron_Supreme_(Earth-712)