The Spy
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| The Spy at Portal Corporation | |
| The Spy | |
| Player: Cybertooth85 | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Kevin Winters |
| Known Aliases: | Confidential |
| Species: | Homo sapien |
| Age: | late-20s |
| Height: | 5'9" |
| Weight: | 165 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | Grey |
| Hair Color: | Brown |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | U.S.A |
| Occupation: | Professional Crime-fighter |
| Place of Birth: | Rhode Island, U.S.A. |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Shelly Winters aka Energan 2.0 (Sister) |
| Known Powers | |
| Martial Arts, Super Reflexes, Leaping, Fitness, Concealment, Body Mastery, Teleportation | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Detective, computer hacking, surveillance | |
| Equipment | |
| Body armor, utility belt, night-vision goggles, rebreather mask, teleportation system | |
| Currently deceased | |
Contents |
Personality
The Spy was well-known for his dry wit and jovial character, even in the heat of battle. Many believed that Spy's attitude was his way of not only bouying his teammates' spirits but also his own. Underneath his puckish exterior, the Spy had a precise mind and unrelenting strength of will. When pused to his limits, the Spy could be a brutal combatant with little restraint.
Powers
Though not endowed with any extraordinary biology, the Spy's martial arts skills bordered on the supernatural. Trained by the Order of Shangri La, the Spy was adept at a mixture of numerous forms and techniques from across the world, though he prefers unarmed combat to using any weaponry. In the field, the Spy displayed exceptional reflexes, agility, and stamina. Amongst his other skills, the Spy was trained in mental discipline to guard against psychic attacks.
Abilities
Along with his physical training, the Spy was an expert at stealth reconnaisance, being able to infiltrate any enemy base without detection. The Spy was also highly skilled at computer hacking and detective work.
Weaknesses
Although highly skilled and well-trained, the Spy was still a mortal man, susceptible to fatal injuries, which was his ultimate downfall. Though his real identity was never known, he was very protective of Shelly Winters, a Paragon City reporter who eventually became the Kheldian heroine, Energan 2.0
Many suspect Winters was the Spy's sister, though she has never acknowledged these rumors.
Character History
Years before the Rikti War, the Spy was a Paragon City resident who dreamed of being a superhero like those he saw on the streets. However, not being blessed with powers, Spy sought to hone his body and mind to perfection, much like Blue Steel and Manticore. Travelling abroad, Spy trained with several expert fighters in Europe before mysteriously disappearing. It is believed, from limited accounts gathered later, that he was recognized for his latent talents and initiated into the mythical Shangri-La, described by Spy himself as an extra-dimensional temple where the greatest martial artists in the world train their bodies and minds to perform unnatural feats.
Near the end of Spy's hand-to-hand training, but before mastering weapons forms, the Disciples' Grand Master informed his students of the events of the Rikti War, and the grief of the world crying out for help. Spy was one of the heroes to immediately return to his home city to aid in the fight. Unfortunately, he arrived after much of the damage had been wrought, leaving him to pick fights with the ensuing civil violence and gangs. As the municipal authorities organized efforts to re-open the city, the Spy was among the first generation of new heroes to participate in the Beta Project, a program that allowed authorized superheroes to enter the city and perform missions to gain an early foothold before the re-opening. It was during this time he met Cueball, a cue stick-wielding barroom brawler who was interested in cleaning up Paragon's streets like Spy. Together, the duo founded the REGULARS, a small group of natural origin superheroes eager to to take back the streets. While operating cohesively during the Three Day Counter-Offensive before the city's re-opening, the group disbanded shortly after the city's opening.
During the first several months of his return to Paragon City, the Spy swept all across the city, aiding numerous new heroes and fighting against all manner of threats as he found them. In surveillance sweeps of the city he practiced and refined his later renowned abilities of stealth infiltration. This was also when he began his long war against the Tsoo, natural enemies of the Disciples in their flagrant misuse of martial secrets for criminal gain.
Some of the Spy's notable cases during this period were his aid (despite infection) in containing the Vahzilok Wasting Disease, disrupting the mystic artifacts trade between the Tsoo and the Family, and recovering (and being tempted by) the Wheel of Destruction. During this time, the Spy was also recruited by the Infinity Project, a legacy metahuman team with incarnations through various time periods.
With greater notoriety, the Spy only continued to increase his efforts, venturing into Oranbega in pursuit of Circle of Thorns mystics, arresting Freakshow scientist Clamor, and even taking down Countess Crey herself.
In the course of his investigations against Crey Industries, Spy had allied himself with former-Crey employee (and unwilling test subject) Proletarian. Pro had introduced Spy to Kurse Darkstone, who led the government-backed supergroup Omega Lance. The group was founded in memory of Hero 1 and Omega Team. The group had many high-profile assignments, including Spy's first liaisons with Portal Corporation, but it's greatest impact would be introducing him to several heroes he would continue to work with until his death.
The team's mission history, despite being a matter of "national security" is known to include halting the destruction of the Terra Volta Reactor (and by proxy the rest of Paragon City) by the Freakshow, putting an end to Crey Indsutries' horrifying Revenant Hero Project, and banishing the Envoy of Shadows from this realm. Despite these successes, political pressures had begun to wear on the team's members, and one-by-one they left.
Eventually, former member War Patriot formed his own small team, the New Patriots, intent on fighting the battles the government would not allow. Though Spy and Proletarian followed, War's post-traumatic stress after an encounter in Crey's Follow led to a psychotic break, resulting in bewildering split personalities, and the team had to disband.
After this, Spy spent a great deal of time working solo (often reconnoitering newly opened areas for the Freedom Phalanx) or allied with old teammates, such as working with Kurse and Proletarian as the Terrific Trio. He was now a Hero of the City, with the highest security clearance available and open jurisdiction of the Shadow Shard and the Praetorian dimensions. Spy, Proletarian and Kurse were instrumental in fighting back their evil counter-parts and freeing Statesman from imprisonment.
After re-uniting on these assignments, Kurse offered Spy membership in his new supergroup, the Legion of Freedom. The Legion was a multi-dimensional task force comprising the best of each world. Spy's position was under the DELTA team, an elite unit that handled black ops investigation and infiltration. As a part of this group, the Spy helped stop the Council's Archon Burkholder from launching a titanic Zenith Mech Man that would destroy much of the city, significantly reduced the actions of the Malta Group, and made in-roads to the Rogue Isles and Croatoa.
Spy was poised to aid in the major invasion of the Rogue Isles, but he was assassinated mere days before its launch, by the katana-wielding killer, Soen. A member of the Order of the Forked Tongue, Soen was already diametrically opposed to Spy as a Disciple of Shangri-La, but she was explicitly ordered to kill this troublesome intelligence agent by her Arachnos liaison, Scirocco.
Spy's longtime allies held a memorial service, spreading his ashes across Platinum Lake as per his wishes.
Known Adversaries
Captain Captivating - K'lr K'nt, an alien from a distant planet, was enamored with the deep space transmissions received from Earth, depicting bright-colored champions of great strength. A mutant among his own people, K'lr came to our planet to disguise himself as one of these square-jawed superheroes, Captain Captivating. Unfortunately, his actions often fell on the dark side of morality, and he was revealed by Spy as a dangerous criminal from an alien race.
Charred - An industrial accident permanently disfigured chemical worker Jonathon Hammond, but also granted him the ability to excite molecules around him and create fields of flame, as well as shoot streams of flame great distances. Jonathon's new powers also enabled flight, as well as immunity to extreme temperatures. For a time, Charred committed acts of corporate terrorism against the company responsible for the chemical compounds bonded to his body. Eventually, after repeated encounters with the Spy and other superheroes, he began hiring himself out as super-powered muscle for criminal organizations.
Daemon - Originally posing as Damien Cartwright, leader of a religious organization called the Cross of Eternal Light, Daemon is actually the son of a Baron of Hell, sent to Earth to corrupt and ensnare human souls. Daemon's abilities are confined to minor control of the Hellfire, spell casting to produce his illusionary "glamors" and the ability to open small portals to the Pit. His demonic nature is only apparent to those who are pure of heart, which enabled Spy to expose his true nature before his plans could come to fruition.
Dementia - Gregory Huxley, of the Founder's Falls Huxleys, hides many secrets in his twisted mind. The son of notable socialite Albert Huxley, Gregory was abused for many years by his controlling father, whose public persona hid a vicious and unstable human being. In his teens, Gregory outed himself as gay, sending his father into a rage. Gregory was sent to a medical center to receive treatment for his "condition," but he was only further abused at this facility. The head doctor was openly experimenting with dangerous chemicals on his unwitting patients, which lead to many dangerous side-effects. In Gregory's case, his latent psychic abilities to warp reality and invade minds was unleashed with righteous fury. Making his escape, Gregory vowed to tarnish his father's legacy, bringing to light all the years of torment he had caused the family. While the Spy tried to help Gregory heal his fractured mind, he was unsuccessful before his death, and Dementia remains an unstable and dangerous threat.
Dr. Feral - A psychologist fascinated by the repressed desires of his patients, Dr. Henry Ferzck eventually experimented on himself with banned substances that purported to abolish all personal inhibitions of a human being. The uncharted side effects of these treatments included releasing parts of Dr. Ferzck's dormant "junk" DNA, transforming his body into a more bestial, lycan form. With increased strength, agility, stamina and senses, Dr. Feral moved his operations to the wild of Woodvale, furthering his experiments in inducing uncontrollable emotional states through chemical means.
Dr. Reese - This cyborg genius was once a humble engineer, innovative in countless fields, but after losing his wife to old age, he was driven by an obsessive desire to prolong his life by integrating advanced robotics into his own ailing body. Reese's body incorporates plates of hyper-durable armor, strength enhancing limbs, an EM spectrum eye, and multiple organ replacements. Along with his own enhancements, Reese utilizes advanced robotic designs as armed henchmen in his attempts to pirate other scientists' work in life-extension research.
Father Time - Holsten Armitage is known in our time as a traveler from a disastrous future come back to help stop it with help from today's heroes. But THIS Holsten Armitage is from an even more dire distant future, which he claims was caused by the superhero community. Using his portable chronal displacer, the Time Piece, Armitage has gained virtual mastery over time, moving at superhuman speeds compared to statue-like civilians, freezing heroes in mid-step, and degrading inorganic matter. Lost in his madness, Armitage now sees himself as the embodiment of Time itself, and he seeks the death of every hero (whether fully grown or newborn infant) he blames for his destroyed future.
The Lo Brothers (Lo Quan and Lo Zhin) - Twin brothers who have fought and killed some of the greatest martial artists in the world. They seek the best, only to improve their own lethal abilities. They tangled with the Spy on various occasions, working as assassins for the Tsoo, but largely considered the Hmong ethnically beneath them, merely a means to an end. They feel cheated by the Spy's death, not having the pleasure of killing him themselves, and actively seek his killer throughout the Rogue Isles.
Persephone - Many powerful organizations sought to eliminate the Spy for revealing unpleasant secrets, but most used the path of hired superpowered muscle. It was a mysterious benefactor from Europe that ordered that shipment #281958 from the Weyland-Yutani Corporation be "misplaced" and lost from the cargo manifest. The highly-polished, highly-advanced, and highly-DANGEROUS mecha ended up in Paragon City with one programmed objective: Kill the Spy. Though a marvel of robotics and military-grade weaponry, the graceful machine was unwavering in its mission, always cutting a path of destruction straight to its target with no regard for collateral damage. It was eventually disarmed, and impounded by D.A.T.A for reasearch purposes, was mysteriously lost sometime later. Energan 2.0 continues her efforts to relocate it.
Soen (Silence) - The woman responsible for murdering the Spy hardly seemed remarkable or powerful enough to achieve what many had failed at. However, as a member of the Order of the Forked Tongue, Soen was a sworn enemy of the black clad Disciple of Shangri La. It was by utilizing her superior abilities of stealth she was able to ambush and skewer the Spy on the end of her katana blade. After making her kill, she disappeared, and while rumors persisted of a connection between Arcahnos and Soen's contract, she has not been seen publicly since.
The Dark Man - Among the many criminal factions, there are whispers about the dark shadows that seedy individuals lurk in, swallowing up those who spend too much time hiding there. Skeptics would brush aside such talk as paranoia from too much jail time (or too much 'Dine), but the Spy knew from experience that something is living within the shadows. Appearing in corporeal form as a midnight-black man in matching suit and fedora, the Dark Man wields the shadows like a cohesive substance. Shapes that can tangibly affect the world act out his will, and he comes and goes as he pleases in an instant. No one knows if he's a criminal who hid for too long in the dark alleys, a warlock consumed by dark magic, or even an embodiment of all the sinful darkness in criminals' souls. But all who've seen him directly know, the Dark Man is not someone you want to meet, because those that do are rarely seen again.
Valkyrie - In the numerous battles against terrifying enemies of seemingly unstoppable power, a number of heroes have claimed to see the avatar of Death in one form or another. But this one hadn't visited Spy on the battlefield. After a particularly grueling fight early in his career, the Spy was taken to a local hospital for severe injuries. He wavered between life and death, unconscious and helpless. An unseen spirit entered the Spy's room, intending to claim the hero for the realm of the dead. However, it was stopped by the timely intervention of the Green Knight, who performed a near-miraculous feat of fighting the wraith to a stand-still. Though the Spy recovered, ever since that day, he was plagued by attacks from what was dubbed a Valkyrie, seeking the soul that it believed belonged in the afterlife. With the Spy's death, it has not been seen since.
Vine - Alex Hollace was a scientist studying the bizarre mutated species coming from Woodvale. Of particular interest to him was a rare sample of a plant that seemed to take on the characteristics of any other nearby species, including some animals. A rival for Hollace's work murdered him, dumping his remains in Woodvale with all but one of his samples. Months afterwards, the scientist that killed Hollace was himself murdered and his entire research lab was destroyed. An eyewitness account reads like a description of the Devouring Earth, but garbled audio recordings picked up strange murmurings from the creature, "Revenge...revenge for us...." Vine's body is capable of altering its size and mass to increase its already considerable strength. Vine is also able to produce the characteristics of any plant species it comes in contact with, from the poisons of tropical roots to the hardy bark of ancient redwoods. Strangely, it also exhibits offensive ranged weapons of giant thorns which appear to be bone-like, rather than plant-like.
Wild Man - A time-tossed Viking tribesmen of considerable size, the Wild Man was an adventurer in his own time, seeking to destroy a powerful warlock that had taken over his homeland. Receiving special protective marks from a Medicine Woman, the blond behemoth attempted a frontal assault on the warlock's domain. While successful in decimating the evil spell caster's army, the Wild Man was hurtled through time before finishing off his adversary. A misunderstanding lead him to attack the Spy as an agent of the warlock, damaging much of Steel Canyon before he was stopped by Energan. With Spy's death, she has assumed the responsibility of fighting many of her brother's enemies, including the Wild Man.
Known Affiliates
- Kurse Darkstone
- Proletarian
- Xanatos
- Ascendant
- Poison
- No-Show
- Momentum
- CryoGentic
- Xyr
- Logi
- Cueball
Known Organization Ties
- Disciples of Shangri-La
- The REGULARS
- Infinity Project
- Omega Lance
- New Patriots
- Legion of Freedom
- Freedom Phalanx (Reservist)
- Legion of Freedom - DELTA Task Force/SpecOps
- The Terrific Trio
