Steeldriver
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Steeldriver surveys New Overbook | |
| Steeldriver | |
| Player: @aberrantpvp | |
| Origin: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 22 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Michael Clark |
| Known Aliases: | Clark Michaels, Steelsoul |
| Species: | Human Cyborg |
| Age: | 24 |
| Height: | 6'4 |
| Weight: | 357 lbs (320 without tech upgrades) |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Blond |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American Citizen |
| Occupation: | Drenched Donuts Employee, Licensed Super Hero |
| Place of Birth: | Cornhusk, KS |
| Base of Operations: | New Overbrook |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Unnamed Mother, Unnamed Father, Sister Caroline |
| Known Powers | |
| Superhuman Physique, Enhanced Senses, Hydraulic Legs, Nanoregeneration | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Natural Athlete, Immense Willpower, Leadership | |
| Equipment | |
| Nanoarmor, Dimensional Storage Belt | |
| No additional information available. | |
Steeldriver is the heroic alterego of former Supervillain Michael Clark. Formerly a college athlete who succumbed to demonic posession, Michael was eventually left for dead by his own demonic powersource and has since devoted his life to a quest for redemption as a hero in paragon city.
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Affiliations
None. So far, Steeldriver has not joined a Heroic Supergroup, despite having worked alongside many heroes, most notably Lunar Eclipse and Cityscape.
As a villain, Steeldriver was a moderately high ranking member of the Children of the Night.
Character History
Born in Cornhusk, Kansas, Michael Clark was raised with average Midwestern American values and grew up strong and fit, if not necessarily smart. An active, athletic child, his life was relatively mundane until he went to college for a football scholarship. Attending Kansas State, Michael was nominally a major in Business Management. This didn't matter as, during his junior year, Michael had an immense burst of doubt, afraid that he was no longer good enough. This led to his quest for a quick fix.
Demonic Posession
Seeking a way to improve his abilities, Mike started searching for means beyond steroids (they shrink your balls bro). Finding the campus Occult Club, Mike thought he had his ticket to the big time. Forcing them to summon a demon to grant him power (he gave them repeated swirlies), his life was changed forever. The occultists summoned a demon, Eyeronos, Dark Lord of Metal. This vicious general in the armies of Hell slaughtered the ritualists in the short amount of time he was able to stay manifested. However, noticing a powerful will in Michael, the demon bound himself to the young man, and the two were linked for quite some time.
The Supervillain Times
It was after this bonding that Mike was driven more than a little crazy, and was prone to immense violence and acts of general evil. For details on his career as a supervillain, see Steelsoul.
Redemption
After the demon Eyeronos literally ripped itself free of Michael's body, Mike was left for dead in an alleyway in Port Oaks. Using forcing himself to walk to the hospital, he slowly recovered and pondered the life he had led, the people he had hurt. Under demonic influence, he had driven away his closest friends and those he cared about, including Sibyl Noir, Strawberry Poundcake, and the rest of the Children of the Night.
Using his ill gotten gains as a criminal (robbing banks frequently, as well as many other lucrative crimes) and exhausting his contacts (working in the isles, he knew Arbiters, Family Bosses, Sky Raider leaders and more), he was able to purchase a new life: A new identity, a hero registration, and technological powers.
Real World
Now going by the assumed identity of Clark Michaels (witty, eh?), Steeldriver protects Paragon city and is working to redeem his former evil deeds. He works the night shift at the Drenched Donuts in New Overbrook, and has an apartment nearby. His neighbor, Elsa Fontaine has 13 cats and is very nice. Mike is learning about psychology by watching Doctor Phil as he falls asleep.
His current goals are to punch as many archvillains in the face as he can, as well as beat up several people he doesn't like.
Suicide?
On Friday morning, September 07, 2007, Steeldriver shut down his medical teleporter and his nanoregenerators and leapt off of the roof of his apartment building. No note was left, and his death was ruled a suicide.
Only time will tell if his death was fake or sincere.
Personality
Mike is loud, arrogant, and brash. He comes across as cocky, violent, foul mouthed and crude. However, no one could say he is anything but honest. And despite his apparent jerkishness, he is actually a pretty nice guy. Steeldriver loves women, and he loves beer, especially Samuel Adams. He has hit on numerous women at Pocket D, usually to comedic results.
Powers
Superhuman Physique
Through various implants, alterations and treatments, Steeldriver's entire body is decidedly superhuman. While not nearly as strong as some heroes, or even slightly bulletproof, he is slightly superhuman in most physical manners. His muscles have been enhanced with artificial tissue. His spine is coated with electrical signal enhancers. His bones are laced with ceramic composites, and most of his vital organs have been enhanced or replaces
Enhanced Senses
In order to better fight crime, one must locate it. As such, all of Steeldriver's senses have been enhanced cybernetically. His nasal cavity is lined with nanoreceptors, as is his tongue, enabling him to track by scent or identify the chemical components of a food by taste. His eyes can focus on objects up to 500 meters away, and, when his nanoamor is active, he has access to various forms of enhanced vision. These include
- Infrared Detection
- Low-Light Vision
- Telescopic Zoom
- Microscopic Zoom
His hearing is also enhanced. His audio threshold can be tuned to 10x normal human efficiency and clarity, and he can isolate or ignore sounds with a mental command. However, by default he does not keep his hearing more than 2x human norm.
Hydraulic Legs
In addition to his normal superhuman physique, when his nanoarmor is active, Steeldriver's legs are converted into immensely powerful limbs which include high-pressure pneumatic pistons. This enables leaps of around 200 meters from a standing start, and enhances the force of kicks to a degree which can damage reinforced vaults or armored vehicles.
Nanoregeneration
Every last bit of technological upgrade contained within Steeldriver can be converted back to it's component nanotech design. In addition, dedicated Nanoregenerators located in his skull, thorax, and each limb can release specialized repair machines to restore damaged tissue or hardware at a truly amazing rate. Since undergoing his transformation, Steeldriver has lost his spleen 3 times.
Abilities
Natural Athlete
As a kid, Mike played all sorts of sports. Baseball, Basketball, running, and especially Football. This is where he excelled. Eventually going to Kansas State on a football scholarship, Mike was their star Quarterback. Despite his immense size, Steeldriver is highly agile, has spectacular stamina, coordination, and is a natural gymnast
Willpower
While usually overlooked, it is Michael's stellar reserves of willpower that enabled him not only to survive demonic possession, but to, if only temporarily, control the demon within him. This same willpower enables him to fight on through immense pain, and to keep going when anyone else would have given up.
However, most would call Mike 'stubborn' or 'foolishly proud' rather than 'a young man possessed of immense character strength'.
Leadership
While Michael only really uses this skill on the ballfield, he has a natural knack to leading others. This is why he was the quarterback instead of a linebacker or anything else really. If he tries, he can mold people together into a fighting unit and direct their energy to victory.
Technology
In addition to his cybernetic and nanotechnological enhancements, Steeldriver uses some other gadgets to assist in battling crime.
Nanoarmor
Contained underneath his skin in several bodily cavities, Steeldriver's nanoarmor is capable of transmuting from a liquid to a solid form. When given a command, it swarms out over his body (and clothing) and forms into a solidified armor, including his hydraulic boots, visual enhancer, and cape and cowl. This armor helps resist physical harm, as well as (to Steel's eye) look really cool.
Dimensional Storage Belt
A portion of the nanoarmor is a highly sophisticated belt with several built in storage compartments. These compartments are highly advanced pocket dimensional storage devices, each containing an item far too large for them to actually hold.
These compartments generally contain weapons or high tech devices, such as:
- 12 gauge Shotgun
- Flamethrower
- Baseball Bat
- Personal Resuscitator
- Teleportation Device
- Jet Pack
- Jump Pack
- Paragon City Police Scanner
- Cellphone
- Shark Repellant
Trivia
- Took Astronomy in school as his lab science, is actually really good at it.
- Suffers from an undiagnosed case of Major Depressive Disorder
- Prefers Samuel Adams to all other beers
- Has a severe fear of tentacles
- As a villain, once fought Statesman. Didn't go well.
- Loves hair metal, especially Metallica and Twisted Sister
