It all starts with the unfortunate event of Elena Ruiz meeting Abram Burns at a large business conference in Manhattan, New York. At the time Elena was only just a secretary to a big time Vice President of a mid-sized hotel chain and Abram was… well, she never really did know, did she? He was important, she knew that. Everyone knew that oddly enough, his name was known to anyone who was anyone at this conference and Elena found herself oddly fascinated by this man. So fascinated that with knowing so little about him and his success she wed the man after a few short years by his elusive side. Only after the vows were spoken and they made a home together did she begin to suspect what was truly inside the man she now called husband.
Soon, it wasn’t only a piece of paper that bound them but now two children only two years apart; Anastasia and Victoria Burns. What she once thought to be her two blooming roses in a dying garden became the instrument of her freedom in a marriage that had become terrifying to a woman who knew nothing of the world she had entered. A world Abram had so carefully hidden until his wife had given birth to not one but two children that gradually exhibited a mutant gene. It was then and the events that followed that allowed Elena to see who her husband really was; a powerful mutant, one that saw an opportunity to abuse the powers of two innocent children.
Once the sisters were old enough Abram moved his family to Paragon City without a discussion or prior notice and it was there the proud man took it a step too far, putting himself and his family at risk. While living in the city of heroes and villains Abram Burns began to make a name for himself in the business world. Corporate big wigs were filling his pockets, six digit figures being transferred into offshore accounts that could never be traced. He somehow convinced these men and women that he was a product they wanted but what he was selling would remain a mystery; to most.
As time went on more secrets began to show themselves. Abram had revealed himself as a powerful psychic not with words but through his actions and though Elena may be a slow learner, she learned. As did his own two children with whom he forced through rigorous training in the hopes of pushing their growing abilities to their maximum potential. In doing so revealed to the family the multiple mutant supremacist groups Abram had been secretly funding, the source of that income soon to be the first villain the sisters would encounter together.
It didn’t take long for Countess Crey to realize large sums of money were being moved to an account of unknown origin with no paper trail to follow. The one moving the money having no recollection as to why he did it, only knowing that he needed to. It also didn’t take long for the economic juggernaut to track down the source of the theft, a powerful psychic mutant being a hard thing to hide in a city of super powered beings. Abram Burns had just angered a known archvillain and leader of Crey Industries, a company with public ties to Aeon Corp. and Arachnos; she wasn’t going to let this go.
Through the events that followed Elena had become hyper aware of the trouble her husband had landed himself in and knew that his life and the lives of her daughters were now at risk. So she took action, gathering as much evidence as she could against the man she married and called the police. It was the very next day Abram found himself coming to slowly, body heavy and head pounding. He awoke to silence, blurry vision beginning to settle as what was around him became revealed. Abram Burns was inside a small jail cell and he could quickly feel the weight of a thick metal collar snug around his neck which he could only assume was created to inhibit his powers. Elena had made her husband a prisoner to protect him from those that wished to kill him and in doing so made her an enemy to him.
PAST, PRESENT, + FUTURE
Anastasia had never looked upon her childhood with fondness, her father had sought to ensure that. Her happy memories surrounded her mother and sister, but were easily overpowered by the pain and torment Abram Burns had caused with all his rigorous training of his only children and their mutant abilities. She could remember the first time she had lit a candle with the simple wave of her hand and beamed up at her father hoping to see pride in his eyes. Sure enough pride had been there, but as well as something a bit more self serving. Her training started the next day and her relationship with her father began going downhill soon after, all before she had even started kindergarten.
Victoria, her little sister, had suffered even more at their father's hand with her difficulty to control her wild flames. A particularly challenging training session had sent Vic's temper raging and the flames were soon to follow. In Anastasia's panic a latent ability sprung into action. Time stopped and with wide eyes full of shock, Stas watched as the flames went back to her sister's hands and everything that had been scorched was now pristine. Time had rewound itself right back to before her sister's temper tantrum and the moment she was free Stas ran up to Vic to calm her and offer a warning of things to come if she did not control her temper. Now, Abram had never known his children to be liars and watched with keen interest as Anastasia spoke to his youngest. If she did indeed have the ability to manipulate time that could prove to be very useful to him.
