Roving/Powers

Perhaps the most basic, almost instinctual applications of telepathy, and the one that most, if not all, telepaths discover initially, is the ability to read the minds of others, and, further than that, project one’s own thoughts into the minds of various other individuals. And while these are very basic applications, they also happen to be some of the most potent, as far as Marshall is concerned; while manipulating the mind of a foe and possessing their bodies are incredibly useful, all of it is for naught if one cannot deduce when someone in their vicinity poses a substantial threat to their well-being. Almost sub-consciously, after all these years, Marshall is capable of delving into the minds of those around him, picking up on their surface thoughts at first, but on their ambitions and fears, pleasures and pains with only the slightest bit of effort. Moreso, years of practice have permitted him to perform these peripheral mind-scans on entire groups of individuals at once, permitting him a wonderful way to deduce whether he is in any immediate danger; a moment after entering a room, he is capable of figuring out who, if anyone, is dangerous, and, after a few seconds, what everyone happened to have for breakfast that morning. It is an unbelievably useful gift, and one that he will not hesitate to apply, so long as his applications of this ability are morally sound. Through enough practice, Marshall took the step beyond reading the thoughts of others, and learned how to project his own thoughts into the mind of any individual that he desires, so long as they are within a two hundred and fifty mile radius; his voice will be projected in their minds, in an almost ethereal way, permitting him the ability to communicate with others from a distance and speak to them when there are various sorts of barriers in the way, from walls to gags, floors to buildings. Even further than speaking to an individual is performing what Marshall likes to refer to as a ‘mind link’; connecting the minds of several individuals to permit them to speak to each other regardless of distance. Most often used when he and his allies are out on a mission, it is a far more practical, useful means of communication that actual communicators, as it will not short out unless Marshall himself is incapacitated. These ‘mind links’ are best described as an open phone line of sorts, where anyone’s thoughts can be heard by everyone who is involved; an immensely useful talent, to be sure.

Even further than that is his ability to literally absorb information and skills, experiences and knowledge, from those around him. Though morality would prevent him from doing so without the clear permission of the person in question, it must be acknowledged that this is something within his ability; by reading into the deepest parts of one’s psyche, he is capable of taking aforementioned things into his own psyche. As an example, if there were to be an individual with an extensive knowledge of Latin in his vicinity, it would take but a few moments for Marshall to essentially copy that information and add it to his own lexicon of knowledge. And just like that, he himself would possess the ability to read, write, and speak fluent Latin, with no effort of his own. More than that, he can do this to a variety of individuals at once, though the only times when he does so are those times when he and his allies are out on a mission; he will delve into their minds through the connection they all share and absorb their perceptions of their surroundings, only to allow him the chance to better understand the situation at hand. In reality, any knowledge in the world would be available to Marshall with the slightest bit of effort; it is his mortality that keeps him from stealing state secrets and the like, something that the government would be quite pleased with if the existence of mutants were to be made public. Also of note is the fact that this ability can work in reverse, permitting Marshall to pass his own knowledge onto others; it is due to this that those foreign members of he and his allies are capable of speaking English so fluently, making it one of his more useful abilities, to be sure. It is not just transferring his thoughts into the minds of others and reading theirs that Marshall is capable of; those are the applications that are reserved for those individuals who he does not wish to have any sort of personal connection with. Simply reading or broadcasting his thoughts is a highly impersonal affair, meant for those whom Marshall does not wish to delve into his own mind. No, if there were an individual with him Marshall would share a very close relationship, he is capable of literally linking their minds in a nearly irreversible way; known as a psionic rapport, everything is shared through it: thoughts, memories, emotions, fears, et al. This is a two-way connection, as well; if Marshall were to be thinking of something highly personal, his ‘partner’ would be capable of picking up on it, and vice versa. As well, this rapport permits both persons to know when the other is either in danger or dead, as their pain would be transferred in the first case, the rapport being severed entirely in the second. Due to the personal nature of the rapport, Marshall has yet to form one with anyone, but it is worth noting that this is something he is quite capable of, were he to desire to do so.

Through nothing more than his own force of will, Marshall’ mental strength can permit him to do so drastic a thing as literally altering the mind of another individual. There are various levels of severity with which he can do so, but the simple idea that he can alter someone’s mind is astonishing enough. The most basic level of this is the ability to delete, create, or alter the memories of an individual by focusing on their mind for a short period of time; in essence, this allows him to erase those memories that he does not want to exist, create new memories to serve whatever purpose he might have, or alter existing ones to cause an individual to believe that something happened differently. Though morality keeps this from being an often used aspect of his talents, it is an incredibly useful one; if someone were to discover his status as a mutant, or the location of he and his allies’s headquarters, he would be capable of forcing them to forget such facts, to keep himself and his allies safe and secure. On a greater level than this, he can alter an individual’s psyche entirely, causing them to believe that they are a completely different individual; he could make a lumberjack, for instance, believe that he is a five year old girl, or turn a superpowered criminal into an individual who would use their talents for the good of society. On an even greater level than that is the ability to wrest control of the mind or minds of an individual or a group, to serve a variety of purposes; the most often used application of this is to shut down the minds of a group altogether, thereby making it appear as though time had come to a halt. Perhaps the penultimate level to which this ability can be utilized is through literally possessing the mind of another individual, using their body as his own; through doing so, he can move from his own body into another, for a time, traveling about in their form whether they like it or not. Again, they would have to like it for him to actually do so, but that is certainly beside the point. Finally, if he were to be dying, for one reason or another, Marshall is capable of transferring both his mind and his powers into another body, taking it as his own and pushing the psyche of its’ original owner out. Though it is highly unlikely that he would ever do this, it is worth noting that this can be performed with those in comas, those who are considered human vegetables, or those who are on the verge of dying, which makes it at least slightly possible for such an act to be performed.

Marshall is a psychic, gifted by his mutant genetics with both telekinesis and telepathy. The former is more developed than the latter, though both are derived from the same source, a reservoir of considerable power. Marshall’s brain and mind are capable of generating and manipulating significant amounts of psychic energy, both hard and soft. When manipulating psychic energy, Marshall can only affect what already exists in his immediate environment, ambient psychic energy present in the ether. While not an inconsiderable amount, the amount of energy naturally present is usually not enough, or of the proper nature – passive energy rather than directed energy – for him to utilize. Fortunately, his mutation provided him with a way to compensate by means of creating his own psychic energy. This energy is ultimately created and channeled through Marshall’s mind or brain. The entire process, however, involves the entirely of his body. To create the energy, Marshall’s brain must draw fuel from a source. In his case, each cell of his body contains the basic building blocks of psychic energy. These building blocks are then drawn upon and filtered through the unique structure of his mutant brain. Depending on his intention, he can manifest hard psychic energy, commonly referred to as telekinesis, or soft psychic energy, commonly referred to as telepathy.

Telekinesis is the ability to mentally influence matter or energy without physically coming into contact with it. This is commonly thought of, with good reason, as the power to manipulate objects with one’s mind. Telekinesis can be seen as the power to give thoughts form, to give them life and the power to interact with the world on a physical, tangible level. It is the ultimate synthesis of mental and physical, of thought and action becoming indistinguishable. The very definition of mind over matter, a telekinetic has the ability to influence their environment with the power of their mind, their very thoughts, alone. All actions require some sort of stimulus, and the movement of matter via telekinesis is no exception. This feat is achieved using hard psionic energy generated by the body and brain of the telekinetic, which is then directed and shaped by their thoughts. Due to the very nature of this ability, thoughts and desires can easily become reality, even unintentionally. The full possibilities of this power are vast and incredible, though at their core, they appear to mirror the mind responsible for creating these energies.

The applications of telekinesis seem only to be limited by the imagination. Consequently, though the basic skill set might remain fairly constant – manipulating direction or momentum, pushing or pulling, levitation and flight – personal preference and specialization allow telekinetics to show off the more unique facets of this ability. When one hears the term telekinesis, most often, the application that comes to mind is moving objects with one’s mind. Following closely is not only producing sufficient force to move an object, but to exert some sort of long-term hold on it, most commonly in the form of levitation, though there are other many uses one can imagine if they put their mind to it. Marshall is a combat telekinetic. What he does best is destruction and deconstruction, and he is getting stronger all the time. His telekinesis, while impressive, is not about showmanship. Rather, it is about raw power and precision, about practical battlefield applications.

On a macro level, Marshall is able to lift and support weights of up to ten tons before his body begins to give out. He can easily lift large granite slabs, support falling buildings, and tear down structures with apparent ease. He can lift and deconstruct vehicles the size of vans and use those pieces to generate explosions. Blowing things up and making a mess comes easy to Marshall, and because he has found disarming his opponents and removing all weaponry and escape mechanisms is effective for both practical purposes and destroying enemy morale, he continues to focus on training and improving in this arena. With a gesture, he can toss and pin multiple subjects against a wall with enough force to cause common construction materials to wear and crack under the strain. He can also move himself, giving him the ability to levitate off the ground, and even fly. Beyond simply moving and rearranging matter, Marshall can actually use the hard psychic energies he generates without directly influencing existing objects. He can generate and shape this energy to create force fields and energy spheres. The difference between the two is an energy sphere is filled with energy while a force field is hollowed out, proving little more than a shell. Energy spheres are normally used for vaporization. An object is placed inside a sphere and then Marshall begins to compress the energy field, making it smaller and smaller until practically nothing is left. This process works best on less durable objects and as a byproduct it creates incredible amounts of heat, with the amount of heat directly related to the amount of matter being compressed.

While the big feats are impressive, finesse is regularly overlooked because it operates on such a small scale. However, the attention to detail a telekinetic can provide in utilizing their abilities can be more impressive than mustering enough brute force to push a tank. Precision allows Marshall to deconstruct larger objects, and his practice allows him both speed and ease that leave him second to none. The usually manifestation of this is taking weapons apart. With a thought, Marshall can disarm his opponents and other potential threats by rendering firearms unusable, going so far as to remove every last screw. While not destroyed, firearms deconstructed in such a manner require time and effort to put back together and are therefore no longer a viable consideration. He can easily go smaller. Marshall can manipulate particulate matter, such as dust or dirt, with his power. Marshall can lift a two ton slab of granite, crush it completely into dirt, take each and every speck of dirt and fuse them all together with his mind to form a drilling capable of boring through a foot of granite in under a second. While such a feat may admittedly not be the easiest for him, it is not by any means a stretch for his abilities.

Magic is a very unstable thing, capable of residing within any individual; from the most wealthy of royals to the lowest, most average individuals, magic can decide to house itself within their being, waiting to be harnessed. And while many fail to realize their magical potential for one reason or another, there are those who come to realize their magical potential, some of whom can learn to utilize it with deadly efficiency. Marshall is one such individual. While he was initially unaware of his potential for sorcery due to the complete and total absence of magic within Praetoria's walls, his time in Paragon, in the presence of a very extensive number of magically-inclined individuals, his magical potential manifested itself. Quite adept with fire magic in particular, Marshall is capable of harnessing the magic within him and channeling it through his fingertips, launching everything from minor flickers of flame to gargantuan blasts that will incinerate all but the most powerful of foes. This fire can even be utilized defensively, wrapping about his frame to protect him from harm; he is, in every sense, a very powerful magician, though he has yet to really grasp just how powerful he can be.

The mysterious golden mask that Marshall was given not long ago has granted him even more magnificent abilities, to the point that he often relies on these when in combat situations, rather than his telepathy. Tapping into his magical potential in a way that even he does not truly understand, the mask permits Marshall to channel a shimmering, unnatural golden energy from his fists to strike his foes, bruising and battering them just as much as any superhumanly strong individual would. He is deadly, even at his present level of strength, and is certainly a force to be reckoned with; a strike with that golden energy will leave a foe reeling, the same strange voices that whisper sweet nothings in Marshall's ears affecting them as well. There is something odd about this magic, something dark that makes Marshall increasingly dangerous to his foes with each passing day, but it truly grants him magnificent abilities, and he certainly isn't complaining.

Last Updated: 8/1/2011