Waypoint

    Up until his inauguration as the Alpha, not much is known about what Waypoint had done to achieve such a position.The Wardens of Ouroboros, a clandestine group similar to the Menders, were the first line of defense against a dimensional disaster, and Waypoint was prideful of his role. He had defended against threats across the multiverse, and had lived long enough to see the birth of several new dimensions.

    During a particular assembly, the previous Alpha was required to select a successor. The Alpha Warden was the central figure to the Wardens. The Alpha commanded the energy that binded them together, and issued commands through dimensional rifts. Due to his history and incredible mastery over energy, Waypoint was chosen as the next in line.

    Several months into his role, the sanctuary came under attack by the Lord of Dark Matter, Exadeus I. Through an unknown source, Exadeus had learned of the near limitless power that the Alpha had possessed, and came to take it as his own. Waypoint's instructor, the previous Alpha, knew that if the Alpha were to be killed, the Wardens would be finished. As a result, Waypoint was requested to leave the sanctuary, and head to a lesser known dimension: Praetoria.

    When Waypoint arrived in Praetoria, he had appeared in the forest surrounding the nation. Before he could begin his trek, he was attacked by the Praetorian Hamidon. Waypoint, knowing the monster would kill him, began his own assault on the creature. The battle waged for hours, until Waypoint demanded it to stop. The Hamidon acknowledged that the Alpha was indeed powerful, but he was not strong enough to stop death. The beast snaked a tentacle around the man, and warned him that there is something worse than death. The force that constricted Waypoint caused him to black out.

    He awoke in a hospital room, restrained to a gurney. Emperor Cole, known as Tyrant to the Resistance and Primal Earth forces, applauded Waypoint's ability to survive a fight with the Hamidon. Waypoint tried to convince the Emperor to let him go, as he was seeking refuge in the Praetorian dimension. Emperor Cole believed him to be a Resistance spy, and had Mother Mayhem erase his memory.

    In the next year, Waypoint had gone through several changes. At first, he had been a member of the Loyalist faction in Praetoria, under the name "Voltium." His abilities of dimensional travel and energy manipulation were unobtainable. Instead, Voltium had to combat the Resistance threat with his mastery over electricity. The Powers Division knew that coupled with that ability, he would make a prime deterrent for explosives.

    When the Emperor had requested him to leave a bomb in the sewers, Voltium began to question his role as a Loyalist. Upon learning that the target was a Resistance nursery, he turned his back on the Loyalist cause, and aided the Resistance in their mission to remove Emperor Cole from power. He had assisted them in blackmailing corporations into supplying the Resistance. Voltium also began to take hostages, but, against the wishes of the several Resistance leaders, he would never harm them.

    The similarities between the Resistance and Loyalist factions became apparent when the Resistance requested Voltium to trigger a high-yield explosive under a hospital. Voltium learned of an extra-dimensional force appearing in Praetoria, and made a plan to meet with them to escape the dimension. The force was the Longbow, a Primal Earth faction. Despite an insult to their costume design, a commanding officer had allowed Voltium to pass through to Paragon City, under the pretense that the act of kindness would not be spoken of ever again.

    While Voltium knew that Paragon City was a place of opportunity, he was quite content with playing stupid, and savored the moments when he didn't have to act like a hero. A mutant support group, the New Age Mutants, admitted him as a member to their cause. Though he didn't do much to support mutant rights, he somehow rose to the head position of the cause. Backing The Palladium Sentry and the Empire of Atlantis, Voltium was quite content with just coasting through their achievements.

    It was around this time that Voltium had become friends with Johnny Turbo and The Masked Renegade. Though not in the same group, Voltium would often tag along with them and goof off more than usual. When his two new friends joined The Infiltrators, Voltium left the New Age Mutants for the Lightning Strike Initiative, led by Xeden. Xeden asked Voltium to join to help the group get back on its feet. Again, Voltium exhibited little effort in getting the group to work.

    When Red Havok approached him with his friend Johnny Turbo and asked him to be a part of The Challengers, Voltium accepted it, as he knew he would be able to hang out with his friends more. The result was a bitter Xeden, who, to this day, still harbors that grudge.

    He stood along side the world's mightiest heroes, and continues to combat threats against the City that had given him more than he could ever ask for. (Continued here...)

    When Johnny Turbo entered therapy due to a S.U.I. (speeding under the influence), the speedster emerged somewhat enlightened. Ever since "Exploitation" (Issue #7 of The Challengers), Voltium began to question who he was and what he was meant to do. This, coupled with several other influencing factors (including some interest in Johnny Turbo's therapy), led him to seek a therapist to organize his scrambled mind.

    In an eight week program, his background became more and more apparent. He had learned of his position as one of the most powerful figures in the multiverse. He had remembered the crimes that he committed in Praetoria. Voltium recalled the events that forced him to leave the Wardens behind.

    In response to this, the hero was determined to prove himself a hero. There would be no more running, and there would be no more slacking off. He knew that he was surrounded by the world's mightiest heroes, and he would live up to the expectation that was set on him for being in the group. Because of the recent epiphany through therapy and his newest ambition, Voltium began to push himself with abilities, harnessing various forms of energy, and even recalling his dimensional skills.

    Due to his ever growing abilities with the use of energy and multidimensional travel, The Noisebomb had requested Voltium to go to an unheard of dimension to inspect some weird, psychic crystals. The young hero gladly accepted, as he owed The Loudest Thing There Ever Was a favor or two from previous events.

    When Voltium arrived at the Portal Corps in Steel Canyon, he was soon assaulted by The Collective, humanoids who were infected by the psychic crystals. The Collective exploited Voltium's fear of ghosts to subdue him, and took him back to their dimension. They had attached a series of tubes to Voltium, and began to use him as the human battery he had lived up to be, fueling their dimensional gateways to lead an attack on Paragon City.

    The Reciprocators, along with The Challengers and several other heroes, sought to save both The Noisebomb and Voltium. Noisebomb, however, went alone in The Collective's dimension, as he sent Voltium to the building that got him in the mess in the first place. While the Noisebomb saved Voltium, he could not save himself. Upon learning of the act of heroism, Voltium solidified his goals of being one of the best heroes the City had seen. Along with this, he promised The Crux Enigma that he would do everything in his power to save The Loudest Thing There Ever Was.

    After the final visit to his therapist, Voltium headed to a local sandwich shop in Independence Port. Before he could take a bite of his sandwich, a ragged-looking man entered the shop and headed straight for the hero. Before Voltium could help the man, the two were teleported to a new, or rather, old location: the Warden's Sanctuary. Voltium recognized both where they were and who the man was, and asked why he was here.

    His instructor told him that the Warden's are no more. When Voltium was teleported to Praetoria, the Lord of Dark Matter stopped at nothing to find his location. Exadeus brutally murdered each Warden he came in contact with. While it had been nearly two years between leaving the sanctuary and finding Voltium, the instructor did not rest until his goal would be complete. Before Voltium could ask what the goal was, the instructor lapped into unconsciousness.

    Stirred from the sudden event, Voltium teleported the former Alpha to the Phoenix Medical Center. The hero began to call for help, as he teleported inside an emergency room, as opposed to somewhere more suitable, like the waiting room. The staff flooded the room and began to work on saving the old man. During this incident, Voltium created a new civilian identity for himself, as the nurse wouldn't admit the man with only a hero name. Voltium rushed to think of a name, using "Walden Vaughn", both rushed and annoyed at the protocol.

    Over the course of the next three days, Voltium (under the alias of "Walden"), sat next to his instructor, forcing his energy into the man. The instructor awoke and smiled to Voltium, remarking that the energy transfer was unneeded: this was the last leg of his journey. The old man told Voltium that so long as he lives, the Wardens will live on. In his dying breath, the instructor passed on centuries of knowledge to Voltium, as the combined energy and mind of the Wardens.

    In that instance, Voltium knew what plan the instructor was referring to. He needed to find the Alpha to stop the Omega. Filled with grief from the death, Voltium began to scream out in anger. The collective mind of the Wardens could not calm him, and the energy went unchecked. Time slowed as the room went still, the staff frozen in a state of panic. As Voltium surveyed the room, six Menders of Ouroboros appeared. Before they could get to him, a man stepped out in front of him.

    The man, identified as the Veteran, took Voltium to yet another location. The Veteran commented that the was beyond the aspects of both space and time. When asked who the Omega was, the Mender replied that it was the Replacer, and that all of the Challengers would soon be in danger. With the collective mind of the Wardens, Voltium guessed that he would have to kill Grant. The Veteran denied that claim, stating that he would only have to guide the Challengers to stop the Omega.

    The Mender went on to say that should they be unable to stop the Omega, all would be lost. Voltium told him that they will stop him from hurting anyone. To the amusement of the Mender, the Veteran wished Voltium luck, and sent him back to the hospital. Determined to prevent the event that the Veteran spoke of, Voltium went back to the sanctuary to prepare, and harness the new powers that he possessed.

Coming soon! (Issue #64 or Issue #65: The Tower of Babel)

    Waypoint is an extremely eccentric character. From early in his hero career, he has been identified as being one of the most polite heroes in Paragon City. He frequently demonstrates proper manners, from common actions, like holding the door open for a woman, to more the more bizarre, like raising his hand before he asks a question. His polite demeanor often gives him a headache, as he feels he should be kind to everyone, even if they treat him poorly. Everyone except villains, that is. He takes pride in being one of the most polite heroes in Paragon City.

    Even when around a villain, though, he shows some form of trust. Unless the character provides an action to betray Waypoint's trust, it is unlikely that he won't trust the character. This has been exploited more than once, like when Doctor Aeon convinced Waypoint into giving him money from Johnny Turbo's multi-million dollar bank account.

    He is also known to be absent-minded from time to time. When he isn't paying attention, his actions range from staring off into space to talking about irrelevant subjects. This has been somewhat resolved, as Waypoint now holds the collective minds of the Wardens of Ouroboros in his own mind. The hive mind only shows itself in moments of combat or when he needs to act more mature, as Waypoint prefers to be in control of his body for social settings.

 The first ability Waypoint has ever demonstrated was the ability to manipulate, generate, and control various forms of energy. These have ranged from electromagnetism, to fire and heat, to quantum and celestial energies.

 Waypoint has utilized his energy manipulation to create different energy constructs, as well as combine hand-to-hand combat skills in conjunction with concussive energy strikes. On the defensive side, he has used his ability to create energy armor and energy prisons. He also has been known to absorb energy from a foe, thereby reducing their endurance.

 From his constant connection to quantum energy, Waypoint has been identified as a literal battery. He possesses enough energy to restart the City's power grid, should it fail, and can keep it active for more than a few days. This "battery ability" also gives him a unique skill of transferring energy to his comrades, soothing their wounds and reducing fatigue.

 After learning of his past, Waypoint began to rigorously work on honing his skills. At first, all he could do was teleport himself and others. Even with practice, he always felt drained from teleporting more than three people. This lead him to focus more on the dimensional manipulation aspect, as opposed to energy manipulation.

 Soon, Waypoint could teleport himself and others across the planet, and even through several dimensions. The Challengers often have him on transport detail, and are often grateful for that quick transport. His teleportation skills are also unaffected by telefrag.

 With his dimensional awareness, he can perceive threats across the multiverse, and even pinpoint the location of other dimensional presences.

 On several occasions, he has used this ability for his own personal benefit: the instantaneous retrieval of food.

 Before his instructor passed away, he transferred the collective mind and power of each fallen Warden to Waypoint. These powers and the knowledge attached has boosted his own abilities exponentially, giving him near total control over energy. The combined mind is only called upon during battle, giving him new tactics and a more defined way of stopping threats.

 Because there are several hundred personalities in the conjoined mind, Waypoint has been given significant psychic resistance.

 Waypoint requires a near constant supply of food to be at his peak performance. He has to eat at the top of every hour, otherwise he will show a significant decrease in his energy manipulation and control.

 If in the presence of Dark Matter, he is more susceptible to negative influences, and can be corrupted if exposed for too long.

 Despite the combined mental presence, Waypoint is still getting used to all of the chatter in his head. As a result, he only uses the collective presence during times of battle, or when he's required to be mature and intelligent. Otherwise, it's the same quirky Waypoint, with an added mental resistance.