Pay-Dirt

Origin

They pooled their money and stumbled across King Brain, newly escaped from prison after his organization, the Intelligencia, had been defeated and scattered by one of Paragon’s heroes. In need of a financial boost to re-group his henchmen, King Brain greedily accepted their money in exchange for trying to induce super powers in them.

King Brain put the men in a chamber with a small piece of mutagenic mud he had obtained from Mr. Mud as a payment from an earlier scheme, and bombarded it with omega particles in the hopes of unleashing its energies once more and empowering the criminals. The resulting wave of mutagenic particles had varying effects. Two of the gang were petrified within seconds, turned into lifeless statues. A third lost molecular cohesion and trickled into a pile of dust. Eddie and another man, Kent, were the only two to survive the process, but they discovered that they had indeed gained powers. Furious, they threatened King Brain who agreed to refund them some of their money. He offered them a job, but Kent refused, eager to make his mark on the world with his newfound powers.

Kent spent his money on an unstable molecular costume so that he could transform himself into stone and have the costume change with him. Deciding to start his crime spree, he held up a liquor store by smashing through the toughened glass with his stone fists, but got so excited that he lost control of his new powers and accidently turned his brain and all of his internal organs to stone as well. The store clerk was bewildered to find his assailant had turned into a grinning garden ornament.

Eddie, being somewhat smarter than his colleague, agreed to help King Brain while he mastered his powers. He found that he could transform his body so that it was a sand-like cloud that let punches and bullets pass through without harming him. He practiced carefully so that he could gradually dis-integrate and re-integrate at will. Lacking the superhuman strength and granite fists of Mr. Mud he needed a weapon, so King Brain furnished him with an Impervium tipped spade, capable of slicing through solid steel.

He named himself Pay-Dirt and began his new life of crime.

Weapons

Pay-Dirt carries an Impervium tipped spade which he uses as a weapon. The razor sharp edge can slice through metal, and the flat edge can be used to slam or concuss opponents. The shaft is made of a synthetically enhanced wood capable of deflecting metal blades, although mostly Pay-Dirt lets attacks pass through him rather than blocking them.

Abilities

Reform Pay-Dirt can dissipate and reform a large amount of his body while in combat, surprising his foes and restoring his integrity and regaining lost mass. He is only able to do this periodically, but it replaces his body’s natural healing functions and makes him a good deal more resistant to injury. Using this technique he can mend broken bones and purge toxins from himself.

Ageless Although his transformation occurred relatively recently it appears Pay-Dirt’s cells are no longer dying. Effectively he no longer ages. His hair and nails no longer grow, but instead each time he reforms he is restored to the same fixed form that he was in at the time of his transformation.

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.