Mosquito
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Mosquito | |
| Player: @Mosquito | |
| Origin: | Science |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 50+3 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Aaron David Kramer |
| Known Aliases: | ' |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 28 |
| Height: | 6'2" |
| Weight: | 132 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | Green |
| Hair Color: | Brown |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Full-time Superhero |
| Place of Birth: | Boston, MI |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City, RI, Kings Row district |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Franklin Kramer (Father, Deceased), Barbara Shelby-Kramer (Mother), Christina Shelby (Aunt), Vern Kramer (Grandfather, Deceased) |
| Known Powers | |
| Negative Energy, Super Reflexes | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Stealth, Investigation, Bomb Defusal | |
| Equipment | |
| Specialized Suits | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
History
Before The Bug
Aaron Kramer knew exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up - a policeman, bringing justice to criminals and protecting the innocent, just like the superheroes that even back then dominated the imagination of children everywhere. In truth, he dreamt of becoming a hero himself, but didn't have much of a chance at it; his parents were normal people, he hadn't been trained from birth in some form of combat, and he had no real mechanical or magical aptitude. Said childish dreams eventually faded, of course, but there remained in Aaron the spark of something truly heroic. As soon as he was old enough, he joined the Paragon Police Academy, drawn to the city due not only to its abnormally high crime rate, but because of the high concentration of the heroes he still idolized. He became rather disillusioned by his experiences as a cop, however; this was long before Kheldians, robots, and psychics were integrated into the force, and most of his time not spent being held hostage by villains was passed waiting for a hero to come by to brief them on the situation, then standing back while they solved the problem. He quit in disgust after only a few months.
Aaron put his training to work as a private detective, setting himself up with a small office in Kings Row. It probably doesn't need to be explained that he didn't think this through. In a city full of heroes who work for free and are eager to help, hiring a guy who at best has a revolver and a computer for a modest fee wasn't the first choice of anyone. He managed to get by working petty cases - cheating husbands and wives, tailing troubled teens for overprotective parents, hunting down small-time thugs beneath the notice of the heroes. Then the Rikti War happened.
If pressed about his activities during this time, Aaron might sheepishly mention taking a few potshots at Rikti from his window. Business was actually slightly better - with the heroes distracted, people with minor problems needed someone to help them. By the time the war ended, though, everyone was focused on rebuilding the city. Down on his luck and low on funds, Aaron returned home one day to find an eviction notice on his apartment door. As if to mock him, a mosquito chose that moment to deliver a painful bite to his neck.
This wasn't any mosquito, however. It had its own backstory. Crey Industries, then still a completely legitimate-seeming company, had a minor operation in the works codenamed "Project: Malaria". The plan was to create a painful, but (barely) non-lethal disease, and spread it throughout the city via a batch of altered mosquitoes. A week or two later, after giving it time to become an epidemic, they would release their pre-prepared cure on the market, making a hefty profit. Things had progressed well, and the batch of test mosquitoes were packed into an armored truck and shipped to a Kings Row laboratory for later release. Unfortunately, due to employee incompetence, the mosquitoes in the lab broke containment. Dr. Frederick Crest, the head of the project, shut down and "purged" the facility of both insects and said employees. One mosquito, escaped, though. And that brings us up to speed, as one story ended with a quick slap to the neck, and another story began.
Aaron Kramer, despite his life-long belief of being nothing special, did have a dormant mutant gene. Something in the Crey-developed virus must have activated it, however, and the next morning, Aaron woke up feeling better than he ever had in his life. His reflexes had gone into overdrive - it was almost like he could slow the world down around him by flipping a mental switch. That was nothing compared to the reddish energy he could suddenly generate from his hands; it could drain energy from others to replenish his own, which came as a great surprise to both himself and his cat. After coming to terms with this new development (which didn't take long - it was, after all, literally a dream come true) he excitedly went outside to try flying - not because he had a feeling that he could, but more because it was the most obvious thing to attempt. Needless to say, it went swimmingly.
Swarming Of The Hive
After a month or two of this, fate intervened, as a chance glance at the classifieds in the paper informed him of a proposed meeting of insect-themed superheroes. The hero BugBite was interested in starting up a team, and Mosquito answered the ad along with half a dozen others. The Hive was formed that day, by BugBite, Mosquito, the diminutive Gnat, a cyborg called Ant Droid, the weather-controlling Papillon, a martial artist known as White Widow, the mysterious Mr. Mantis, and the monstrous Dynastes.
The team worked well together, and were active for the months leading up to the official reopening of Paragon City. The Hive wasn't one of the most prominent supergroups in those days (or ever), but they made some small name for themselves, most notably in being some of the first heroes to encounter and bring down the previously mysterious Clockwork King and the insane Dr. Vahzilok. They also managed to gain their own arch-nemesis, a technological genius called Pesticide, who literally built his villainous identity around tormenting the heroes. BugBite and Mosquito in particular encountered him in several of his first few appearances, and their ceaseless mockery of him may have driven the villain to insanity.
Special mention could be made of an adventure to recover a stolen amulet known as the Scarab of Anubis. Prompted by a newspaper article seen by Mosquito (and driven entirely on the stolen jewelry "fitting their theme"), the team followed clues from the Paragon Museum all the way to Egypt, where the artifact was held in the clutches of a cult of sorcerers hidden in one of the pyramids. Mosquito managed to retrieve the Scarab in a violent game of keep-away, taking an arrow to the chest for his trouble. Donning the amulet in a last-ditch effort to survive, the unlocked magic of it flowed through him, and an arcane costume change transformed him temporarily into the Scarab. Healed of his wound, he flung a few lightning bolts, threw up a couple force fields, and subsequently teleported the cult to prison. Following a feigned display of being corrupted by power, he gladly removed the necklace, and the team returned home. They kept the Scarab for safekeeping, a questionably legal decision.
In another case, the Hive found themselves inexplicably wanted by the police, hunted by their fellow heroes, blamed for a crime they didn't commit. Investigating their supposedly villainous turn, they encountered a team of roughly-identical clones. Stranger things than clones happened in the city of heroes, and the Hive's name was quickly cleared. The Anti-Hive, as their counterparts were dubbed, abandoned their charade almost immediately, taking on their own identities; Malaria, Mosquito's clone, the sinister leader of the team; the mindless and horribly deformed PlagueBite, the defective original clone that had failed to properly integrate with BugBite's toxic powers; Yellow Fever, the psychotic, garishly-dressed Gnat analogue; the Termiteator, a cyborg physically similar to Ant Droid, if not as advanced as the original's alien implants; Blooderfly, Papillon's alternate, and Rhino Beetle, a genetic experiment meant as a counterpart to Dynastes. Widow and Mantis, to their annoyance, apparently didn't warrant their own mirrors. The Anti-Hive managed to become regular adversaries of the team, but in time simply disappeared entirely.
Roughly a year after the city reopened, the team hit their first real rough patch. BugBite disappeared, leaving the Hive leaderless; Bugs had never wanted to command his friends, but the others had still looked to him for leadership. Mosquito and Ant Droid stepped up to replace him, at the same time attempting to investigate the mystery of where their comrade had gone. They didn't have to wait that long; in a few months, Pesticide made his big move, infiltrating the Hive's base and planting explosives. Taking credit for BugBite's murder (as well as the murder of the Anti-Hive, as "practice"), he proceeded to vaporize Mantis as the gunslinger covered his teammates' escape.
This event signaled the Hive's decline. With a sociopath bent on killing each and every one of them, they refused to recruit further heroes into their ranks. They didn't stop helping the city, but they mostly faded into obscurity. Over time, several of the remaining members retired, or became part-timers, or disappeared just as mysteriously as BugBite had, forcing the others to assume the worst. After a few years only Mosquito, Ant Droid, Gnat, and Widow remained, and Pesticide had seemingly given up his mad obsession with them. It was possible that the violence and conflict of the Rogue Isles had finally claimed him.
Time Off
Again facing disillusionment with his job after years of serving a city that barely recognized him, Aaron decided to leave the constantly-imperiled city. He spent a year traveling around the nation, occasionally working as a hero in small cases. He knew starting out, though, that he'd end up back home. How could he not? When Praetoria initiated its all-out invasion, and Ouroboros began evolving heroes into Incarnates, the Mosquito returned, to find only Ant Droid remaining as a full-time hero. The two accepted the increased power that Incarnatism offered, and set out to harass Praetoria.
The Present
Mosquito has seen everything. Well-versed in confronting anything the city has to offer against him, he takes on all comers with a cool confidence. He sometimes lends his advice and experience to newer heroes, but mostly remains aloof, a lone hero content to be in the background.
Powers and Abilities
Negative Energy
It was explained to Aaron once that his body (specifically, his hands) acted as portals to a dimension of pure negative energy, somewhat similar to the Praetorian Black Swan. This was a little esoteric for Aaron, who just refers to it as a life drain power. When Aaron has physical contact with someone or something, he can drain energy from them. The drainee suffers from increasing exhaustion the longer he touches them, or the more blows he lands on them. Eventually, they fall unconscious, or shut down from lack of power in the case of mechanical enemies. Aaron has always theorized that he could kill with extended contact, but he has never once experimented with it.
Super Reflexes
Aaron has a split-second reaction time, plus incredible agility and flexibility, dodging not only fists and knives, but unlikely attacks such as bullets and lasers, as well. His mind can similarly speed up, to allow him to actually use his agility to his advantage; to his perspective, the world is as slow as molasses when he's "in the zone". This is seemingly self-triggered; he doesn't always experience life in slow-motion, only when he chooses to.
Flight
Able to break the laws of gravity, Aaron is able to fly at a brisk speed. He has practiced to gain very fine control over it, to the point where it can almost look like he's simply swimming underwater.
Strength
Although not nearly as obvious as his other powers, Aaron was also granted a boost to peak human strength by his powers, though he sometimes demonstrates true superhuman levels, such as being able to lift a small car with difficulty. With this strength also came an increase in toughness, durability, and stamina.
Fighting Style
Although not trained in any particular style, Aaron uses his reflexes and flight to make up for it. He focuses on quick punches and jabs, letting his energy drain build up on his enemies over time. He is extremely mobile in a fight, dancing from enemy to enemy, kicking off the face of one foe to spin a fist into another's face, flipping around and preventing anyone from taking careful aim at him. He sometimes uses his powers to recreate otherwise-impossible moves he sees in kung-fu movies or fighting games.
Stealth
Despite his bright outfit, Mosquito can be subtle when he wants to be, lurking in the shadows, crawling along walls and ceilings with liberal use of his flight. If given the choice, he almost always enters a fight with a surprise attack, instantly taking at least one enemy out of the fight before it begins.
Specialized Suits
Mosquito is known for having multiple outfits beyond his basic suit. His most used alternates include:
- Stealth/Aquatic - A dark blue/olive yellow/black variant of his normal costume, this suit features webbed gloves, airtight seals, and a built-in supply of air for up to two hours of use.
- Vanguard Armor - After becoming a member of Vanguard, Mosquito gladly had a suit built for him out of Vanguard armor pieces, with his own custom colors. He rarely wears it even when on Vanguard business, but it comes in handy if he really feels he needs the extra protection.
- Roman Centurion - When in Rome, Mosquito simply wears a suit of Centurion armor over his costume. Thanks to the brightly-colored tights underneath, it doesn't really help him fit in.
- Holiday Outfits - Although originally Mosquito would create an entirely new, alternate color scheme for holidays (black/white/orange for Halloween, or red/white/green for Christmas) he's gotten lazier now, simply adding accessories to his normal outfit, such as a scarf, Santa hat, boots, and gloves for winter.
Personality
Mosquito is flippant, sarcastic, cautious, and sometimes panicky. The panic is generally for the enemy's benefit, so that they underestimate him; he's more confident than he lets on. The problems the Hive faced sobered him up from his original, outright playful and cocky attitude - he now considers the consequences of his actions, and takes his duty to protect others seriously. He still cracks jokes, though, and generally tries to keep the mood light until things get dire. He also tends to express a certain cynicism towards the city and his role, knowing that no matter how hard he tries, there will only ever be more to do, but is driven to continue anyways. He also likes to comment on his obscurity among the public; he's not in it for the glory and fame, but a little recognition would be nice. Of course, he contradicts himself on this point; he always seems quite content to be a background character in others' stories.
Relations
The Hive
- BugBite - Mosquito and BugBite were early friends. Still relatively inexperienced, Aaron looked to Felix as a sort of mentor, and took the man's death hard, when it was finally revealed to him.
- Papillon - Papillon and Mosquito were probably the closest friends in the Hive, and the two regularly bantered and competed. Aaron still keeps in touch with Adrien, who has largely retired from heroics.
- White Widow - Aaron and Veronica were close, and dated for some time until Aaron left the city. In the interim year, Veronica returned home to California, to work for her father's business, Ellesworth Enterprises.
- Ant Droid - Mosquito respects Ant, and as the only other remaining member of the Hive, they look out for each other and remain good friends.
- The Rest - Mosquito was on good terms with his other teammates.
Pesticide
If Aaron hates anyone in the world, it would be Stephen Verman, the man who calls himself Pesticide. Pesticide, for his part, has a particular hatred for Mosquito, who along with the already-taken-care-of BugBite, was supposedly directly responsible for his spiral into insanity.
Family
Aaron is close with his remaining family. His mother moved to Washington state shortly after her husband's death, but they keep in touch regularly. Barbara is, as far as Aaron knows, unaware of his heroic identity, though in reality she suspects it, even if she's not sure which hero he is. His other two family members were aware of his life as the Mosquito, however - his aunt, Christina, who lived in Galaxy City until her tragic death in the Shivan invasion, and his sister Clarissa, a graduate of Paragon University's Founders Falls campus, who now works as a therapist in Steel Canyon.
When Aaron managed to find and download his own file from an Arachnos database, he learned an interesting little fact: his grandfather, Vern Kramer, was a prominent leader in the old Kings gang that ended up on Arachnos's payroll in the '30s. Vern was found and arrested by the Statesman in his early days, and was subsequently put to death by order of Lord Recluse himself, in an attempt to cover up his growing conspiracy to take over the villainous organization. Vern apparently did a decent job of covering up his day job; his father, at least, had never mentioned anything of the sort.
