Flag Burner

The Agenda

"I pledge destruction of the flag
of the United States of America,
and the society for which it stands.
One Nation
under Statesman,
inexcusable,
with bribery and corruption for all."

Origin

Warren Appel was a political agitator from an early age. Growing up in the slums of Los Angeles, he ran away from home and joined the army. While there he served in the first Gulf War, where his powers manifested. When he used them to destroy a civilian shelter, he was pulled from active duty. He was discharged from the military, but the incident prevented him from obtaining a Hero licence when he returned to the US.

He repeatedly appealed directly to Statesman and cited Heroes such as M1 who had also served in the military and had been involved in incidents where civilian life was lost. He claimed the stress of combat and the emergence of his powers had led to the incident. The inquiry into the incident, however, cited Warren's actions as deliberate and malicious.

In return Warren mounted a political campaign endorsing the use of excessive violence and superhuman abilities in times of war. He began to train with extremist elements in society and frequently left the US to attend "training camps" of paramilitary organisations, including time spent on Striga Island, and the Etoile Islands.

Eventually Warren began carrying out anti-government attacks on US soil. He wrote again to Statesman, encouraging him and several other undisclosed superhumans to "unite and overthrow the government" for being weak. He wanted to transform the US into an anarchist paradise. Statesman passed the letter on to psychics who were able to locate Warren's base of operations and arrest him.

Warren saw Statesman's actions as corrupt, and came to believe that Satesman was already very much in power within US politics, and using Heroes as a personal army. He spread propaganda to this effect and made claims that the Task Forces organised by the Freedom Phalanx were little more than vigilante posses, many of whom took direct action against political enemies without being called to account.

In order to further his agenda, he posed as a Hellion thug, and allowed himself to be captured. During processing within the Zig, he used his abilities to detonate several bombs placed by Arachnos infiltraitors, sparking a riot and mass escape. Arachnos intervened to pick out those on a so-called Destiny List.

He committed the crime as a self-prolcaimed "expatriating act" to have his citizenship revoked, and adopted the name "Flag Burner". The US Government obliged him by removing his US citizenship, as well as placing him on an international wanted list. He has since engaged in several anarchist and anti-American campaigns, mostly as a mercenary. Currently he is closely tied to Arachnos, which he claims suits his anti-national stance, and routinely takes part in "Economic espionage" (or 'bank robberies' as most people call them) within Paragon City.

Powers

Flag Burner can emit a napalm like substance called bio-plasma which ignites in contact with the air, burning exceptionally hot. He has also displayed a degree of pyrokinesis in controlling this substance and is immune to the effects from it himself. He displays extraordinary strength, endurance and resiliance, matching or exceeding the human maximum.

Equipment

Flag Burner is a mutant, but he will use anything to his advantage. He has a wide collection of tricks, gadgets and artefacts that he likes to employ to carry out his acts of defiance.

Hardlight Catapult A gift from Doctor Crom in return for Flag Burner's actions against U.N.I.T.E, the Hardlight Catapult is really just a portable version of the hardlight weapon used by Cromdroids[1]. It throws a bolt of energy which is sufficient to knock most opponenets off their feet, as well as inflict some blunt damage. Flag Burner often uses it when he wants to down an opponent without killing them, or to help him gain a terrain advantage. Used correctly it can knock flying targets out of the air. The "Catapult" is a telescopic Cromtium metal rod for ease of storage and carrying.

Costume Flag Burner employs a shield to deflect some of the attacks, and can also coat this in bio-plasma to use as a weapon. Given all the flames thrown about, Flag Burner requires a special suit to help deflect heat and flame for his own safety. The material also helps deflect some impact (from knives, bullets, etc.).

Smoke Grenade Standard issue army smoke bombs are useful to distract his enemies. He generally carries a small supply at all times.

Web Grenades Arachnos issue web grenades help Flag Burner immobilise targets, as well as entangle flying-enemies.

Blackwand A common but nonetheless powerful magical artefact, this Blackwand draws power from the Mu bloodline and can unleash a stream of negative energy. The Wand magically shrinks to the size of a toothpick when Flag Burner wills it. It was a reward from the impish Red Cap "Finkledink", in return for the chaos that Flag Burner caused on a trip to Croatoa.

Tarot

Sand of Mu

Jetpack

Jumppack

Personal Teleporter

Detonation trick

Flag Burner often has a quick teleport arranged which allows him to swap places with a decoy made up to look like him. Typically he will teleport in the midst of a confusing battle, and leave his enemies to surround and shoot at the decoy. These animatronic dummies have hi-ex devices built into them, which then detonate to the surpirse of the surrounding enemy forces.

Gas pellets

Although a weapon of last resort, Flag Burner usually has a number of tiny gas pellets which can be thrown at an emnemy. The mace-style gas can briefly incapacitate foes (for a matter of seconds).

Weaknesses

Pay-Dirt has no defence and against mental attacks, and psionic energy actually disrupts his telekinetic control over his body. Pay-Dirt hates psychic enemies and will normally seek them out first in any fight.

Despite his physical resilience Pay-Dirt is not totally intangible and can still be disrupted by enough force: be it a super-punch capable of spreading him too thinly, or a barrage of energy that wears him down. It causes a physical strain and when he is exhausted he forms back up into a solid entity. Even in this form he is resistant to damage, but can normally be easily overwhelmed.

Pay-Dirt cannot shape-shift, and is very much bound to exactly how he looked at the time of his transformation. He is unable to absorb large quantities of material like Mr. Mud and exhibits none of the latter’s terrakinetic abilities.