Introduction: I used several supplements with recurring characters to create a group of Champions Universe antangonists for the Defenders. The members of CSI were meant to create moral quandries for the players, provide drama and comedy, and as a framework to hang adventures. Starting with the events in the Adventurer's Club article "Castle Security, Inc" in issue #22 by Brannon Boren, I introducted Citadel, Ultraviolet, Piledriver, Rachel, and Linda to the characters, followed up with the events in the Dystopia supplement by Chris Avellone (published by Atlas Games) all the while weaving in elements of my own (such as the Star of Nigeria and the adventure with Eurostar). In the course of the scenarios I re-wrote the character writeups for all the major characters, combining their abilities as described in "Castle Security, Inc" and Dystopia. The character write-ups below are my own interpretation, and are published with the permission of their original creators (given some years ago verbally--hope you guys remember and aren't offended).
Membership:
Updated Background: Things were going so well for CSI. A few successful celebrity contracts from stars who liked the tabloid press generated by hiring the ex-supervillains was enough to launch more successful contracts from more respectable quarters. Citadel, Ultraviolet, and Piledriver proved to be a resourceful and effective team, utterly reliable and discreet. The three were delighted to find the memories of past misdeeds fading in the wake of their new endeavors.
Then came the disastrous contract with GeneTek. Their failure to protect the lab, and the deaths of the scientists there raised new questions about the backgrounds of CSI members. Although nothing came of the official investigation by local authorities, CSI now had a new stain on their records.
Fortunately, in the world of "what have you done lately", Citadel had already landed a lucrative contract with Lloyds of London to protect various valuable art objects when they went on tour in the United States. Lloyds was unable to break the contract, as Citadel had adhered to his end of the agreement to the letter. CSI had another chance at redemption.
Two years later, the GeneTek incident was also fading fast into the background. CSI was given the assignment to protect the fabled Star of Nigeria, a flawless star sapphire belonging to the ancient royal house of a major African nation. The tour went without a hitch-until it reached Hudson City.
There, CSI ran into difficulties with the Defenders of Hudson City. The Defenders were not happy with CSI's presence in their town. They disliked the idea of supervillains handling security for such a valuable item. Two of the leading Defenders, Justice and Joe Superhero, were further angered when Citadel refused to discuss sensitive security arrangements with the Defenders. "Protecting the Star is our assignment," he told the pair. "Feel free to add whatever security you like: outside the museum."
The Defenders doubts seemed vindicated when Eurostar attacked the museum, and stole the Star, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages in the process, and sending dozens of innocent bystanders to the hospital. The Star had now become a law enforcement issue, and now it was CSI that found itself shut out of the investigation.
The investigation stalled. The Defenders could find no trace of Eurostar or the Star. Desperate to save his contract and his reputation, Citadel put his team to the test. Find Eurostar. Piledriver came through, and located the new Eurostar base in Mt. Vesuvius, Italy.
Citadel knew better than to take on Eurostar by himself. Taking a chance, he contacted the Defenders and offered to share information. If the Defenders would help CSI recover the Star, he would tell them where to find Eurostar's new base. Not liking being beaten publicly in their own city, the Defenders agreed. Their mission was successful: Eurostar was stopped in the process of trying to reignite the ancient volcano, and the Star was recovered undamaged and returned to the tour. CSI got a bonus for recovering the Star quickly and intact. The Defenders returned home to good press. CSI returned to Los Angles to take up their next assignment.
Six months later, everything changed.
"Revenues are down six percent from last quarter," Rachel Farnol informed Citadel, Ultraviolet, and Piledriver. "And down another three percent from the quarter before that. We've got to do something, or we'll be drowning in red ink before summer."
"But we're working all the time," Ultraviolet protested. "We just got back from an assignment in San Francisco. We should be ahead."
"But we're not," Rachel said. "Expenses are outpacing our income. Liability insurance, corporate taxes, auto insurance, rent for the office, salaries, the phone bill-all these are running expenses that aren't covered by our per assignment fees. Then there's hospital bills for on the job injuries-we can't use Workman's Comp because the three of you are partners and owners of the company, not employees. Then there was the expense of replacing Piledriver's prosthetics earlier this year."
"But that's a business expense," Piledriver protested. "The tools it's outfitted with are directly related to my job. That should be tax deductible."
"It is," Rachel replied. "But your cosmetic arm is not. I know you want to have as natural an arm as possible, Richard. But your last one was only six months old. Did you really have to replace it?"
"Cut off your own arm, and then answer your own question," Piledriver snapped.
"I authorized the expense, Rachel," Citadel interjected smoothly. "It is helpful for Rich to be able to meld into the background, and his artifical arm does stand out. I think the company can afford a few perks every now and then, and neither Rich nor Martha have abused them."
"That doesn't help, Robin," Rachel said, shaking her long blond hair. "The point is, unless we do something drastic, we'll be chapter 11. Period."
"I'm sure we're all willing to work together on this," Citadel said, glancing at the fuming Piledriver, and Ultraviolet. "What did you have in mind?"
"We have to move," Rachel said bluntly.
"Move?" the three echoed.
"Move. Look, I know you've all worked hard. It's a lot to ask for you to cut back on some, ahm, perks. And a certain image is required in your line of work. I'm not accusing anyone of going overboard on their lifestyle on company accounts. Richard, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. But . . . we've got to cut somewhere. Rent is a good place to start. We travel so much these days-do we really need an office in Orange County?"
"How are clients supposed to find us?" Piledriver said. "Southern California is where the money is."
"It's where the money used to be," Rachel corrected. "I know the economy has gotten better here in the past couple of years. But it's still bad. Rents are way out of proportion to property values. Taxes are driving us to the wall, both personal and corporate. And many of our clients are not located in Southern California. We don't have to stay in Southern California anymore. We can maintain a phone number with call forwarding to our 1-800 number. We can continue to advertise in this area, for potential clients who think this is where to hire a private detective. And we can use the Internet to attract customers to our new location. So we don't have to risk losing our client base. As far as local customers go, well. The competition here for the local customers has been getting so stiff, we'd go under in a month if that's all we had to rely on. We need a better market area for our services anyway."
"You wouldn't be bringing this up if you didn't already have a place in mind," Citadel laughed, tossing his head back. "You reserached this beforehand, didn't you big sister?"
Rachel allowed herself a rare grin. "Yes, I did. All right. Let's cut to the chase. I think we should relocate our offices to Hudson City, Georgia."
Ultraviolet's jaw dropped, her violet eyes going wide with surprise. "Hudson City? Why there?"
Rachel shrugged. "Lots of reasons. For starters, the Deep South has been the center of industrial expansion steadily for the past fifteen years. It's a growth sector of the country, despite the jokes about rednecks. For the right industries, the South is a gold mine. Ours is one of them: there's been a lot of Genocide and VIPER activity in the Deep South for years. Hudson City is one of the largest and fastest growing metropolitan areas there, and they've been having supervillains problems for years. That's why the city went to the extraordinary step of hiring a superhero team to provide paranormal law enforcement, and gave them full police powers to do it. It's the only city in the Union that's done so. Every other superhero group in the country functions as a volunteer effort, usually with sponsors, sometimes without, but even with sanctions they have no official connection to local governments. Not in Hudson City. The Defenders have a contract, and get paid for their efforts. They've added four new members just in the last year, and they still can't keep up!"
"So there are people there who feel the need for services like ours to fill in the gaps, is that it?" Citadel asked, frowning.
"Exactly. I've had five inquiries from Hudson City based clients in the past month alone. We're still in contract negotiations with two of them for long term services. Best of all, Hudson City's tax rates are designed with corporations in mind. Next to the State of Delaware, they have the lowest corporate tax rates in the country. We can get better offices than we have here for two thirds the cost, and the property tax rates are a fraction of California's. Plus our liability insurance, health insurance, auto insurance, and so forth will drop substantially. We'll have more work than we know what to do with. There's only one drawback to the whole scenario."
"The Defenders," Piledriver said, glumly. Absently, he reached his hand under his sleeve and scratched at the joint where his artificial arm met flesh.
"We'll have to mend our fences with them." Rachel nodded.
"We didn't do anything wrong!" Ultraviolet cried. "We were just doing our jobs, and they gave us grief about it."
"Doesn't matter," Rachel said. "We all knew we'd have to get past other people's misconceptions because of our jaded pasts. This is no different. We are going to have to find a way to work with the Defenders, or they'll drive us out of town on a rail. But if we don't move, we'll be out of business anyway."
The relocation went off better than the assorted members of CSI could have hoped. Although the rank and file of the Defenders remained hostile, Citadel had a relatively congenial meeting with the teams aging sponsor, Iceberg. Iceberg was a veteran Golden Age super, and a shrewd politician. As long as CSI kept it's nose clean, and followed the rules, they'd have no problems from the Defenders, Citadel was informed. But you will be watched.
This suited Citadel fine. It was no different from relations with other superheroes, especially when he'd first gotten started. The Defenders could watch all they wanted: no one in CSI would be doing anything to complain about anyway.
For a year, that's how things went. Rachel was correct: CSI soon had more work than it could handle. Hudson City welcomed the services of a private agency capable of handling complex paranormal problems. The Defenders had their hands full with Genocide, political activism by the Pure Earth Society, and a pro-mutant terrorist organization called The Elementals, and had little time to devote to meddling in the business of three ex-cons.
Then things took an unexpected turn for the worst.
Ultraviolet began having a persistent, severe rash that gradually spread to her entire body. Her doctor was unable to provide an explaination or a cure. At first she was able to hide the problem from her friends. But the ever watchful Linda Landis soon discovered the problem when Dart paid his ex-wife an unexpected visit. He had recently been released from Stronghold Federal Prison, and was working as a security consultant (of all things!) for Allied Automation Industries (AAI). He had recently begun suffering weakness and a loss of weight. Doctors for his employer had found a strange virus in his system which Dart suspected was a parting gift from their former employer, Dr. Lirby Koo. Although Ultraviolet wanted nothing more to do with Dart, he finally convinced her to undergo testing. Shortly thereafter the results confirmed her worst fears: she also was falling victim to Koo's virus.
Ultraviolet become terrified, not only for herself, but for her twin daughters. Despite her clean record since her release, her efforts to gain even limited visitation had been continually frustrated by government prosecutors. She began to fear the twins were infected, but without access, had no way to discreetly investigate. Dart's employer, Terence Bridge, seemed sympathetic, but he had a price for his help. In return for footing the bill for a cure for her, Dart, and the twins, Ultraviolet would have to leave CSI, and join his supervillain team, the Coalition.
Ultraviolet was torn. She had worked very hard to turn her life around, and she was reluctant to throw her success away. In addition, her friendship with Citadel was turning into something stronger. But in the end, her mothering instincts proved stronger, and she agreed.
Dart and Bridge were not satisfied with her capitulation, however. Dart was jealous of Citadel, seeing him as a threat to his efforts to win back Ultraviolet's love, and wanted him removed. Bridge wanted superhuman subjects to test his new formula of hypermetrazine on for his Utopia prison project. Unknown to Ultraviolet, the two hatched a scheme to accomplish both goals. Dart planned an ambush on Citadel and Piledriver as the two combed Hudson City for their missing partner. The situation became complicated by the mechanizations of Linda Landis, who had tipped off the Defenders to problems in CSI's ranks, hoping the Defenders would involve themselves without bothering to learn the true details of what was going on. They did, and managed to save Citadel from Dart's ambush, although Citadel was so seriously injured he fell into a deep coma. But Piledriver was captured, and brainwashed with Bridge's hypermetrazine into becoming yet another member of the Coalition.
Piledriver was captured a short time later by the Defenders as he broke into a bank vault. The Defenders were puzzled by Piledriver's strange, agitated behavior. Withdrawal from the drug affected Piledriver's mind, and at the end of the so-called Dystopia Affair, he was judged not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to Toddberry Asylum for treatment of the hypermetrazine induced psychosis.
Meanwhile, Ultraviolet's condition deteriorated. The transformation process begun by Koo's virus accelerated, turning her into living ultraviolet radiation. She was unable to control her emissions without technological help. As time went by, she realized what Dart did not: that Bridge was playing them for time, taking advantage of their powers and skills, but had no intention of keeping his promise to cure them. When she discovered what Bridge had done to Piledriver, she was overcome by guilt and remorse. She had to find some way out of the trap she had put herself in. Bridge knew where her children were-she didn't dare go to the police directly, as she had little direct evidence of what Bridge was planning.
She went to see Citadel instead, in his hospital room. Devastated, she poured her heart out to him as he lay in his coma. Her presence attracted the attention of the Defenders. Sobbing, she told them what little she knew. She told them about the virus, and the drug. She promised to help them-but they had to protect her children. She had given up on herself.
Determined to uncover the mystery of CSI's fall back into crime, the Defenders researched Ultraviolet's claims. They discovered medical reports confirming Ultraviolet's story. What affect the virus would have on the children was uncertain, as they had not yet entered puberty, when most mutant powers manifest themselves. They arranged for the Protectors to watch over the children in California-in vain. Two days later, they disappeared without a trace.
Following the leads they picked up, the Defenders infiltrated Bridge's construction site, secured evidence of his misdeeds, and were able to arrest Dart, Diamond, and Hammerhand. Ultraviolet agreed to turn State's Evidence, and Bridge was arrested shortly thereafter. Dart was dying from the virus by this point, but nonetheless returned to Stronghold. Ultraviolet was placed in the Defender's holding facility in protective custody.
CSI seemed destroyed. After leaving the hospital, Citadel disappeared. Without the three core members to fulfill their work, Rachel Farnol was forced to close shop. Linda Landis obtained a job with the Defenders as an administrative assistant, based on her excellent "record" with the former Gold Coast Guardians and CSI.
Updated Background: CSI has been a dream come true for Citadel. At long last he has finally gotten the thing he wanted most out of life: self-respect. No one believed a supervillain could turn a new leaf and go straight, but he proved them all wrong. Not only that, but he found two others, and took them for a ride on the right side of the law. Not only haven't Citadel, Piledriver and Ultraviolet gone back to their old habits, but they've built CSI into an organization to be proud of. Once derised, now CSI is sought after in the security field.
He hardly noticed the other lack in his life, he was so busy with work.
Then one day, his world came tumbling down. Ultraviolet disappeared.
He'd known something was wrong. But whenever he asked her about it, she became evasive, and assured him everything was fine. He didn't want to intrude on her privacy. But he continued to worry in private. His fears became justified when Ultraviolet failed to show up for work one morning. Calls to her home went unanswered. A check of her apartment turned up an unslept bed.
Citadel became frantic. It took all the effort of Piledriver and Rachel to calm him down, and keep him from turning the city upside down in his search for her. Piledriver's cool head soon turned up leads to Ultraviolet's doctors office. Then came the tip they'd been waiting for. When they went to meet with the tipster, however, they were met by the Coalition (minus Ultraviolet). Although VIPER's surgery had enhanced his strength and toughness, without his namesake, Piledriver was no match for three tough supervillains. Caught off-guard, he went down quickly. Citadel put up a good fight, but fell to one of Dart's drug laced well, darts. Dart looked down on his helpless victim and laughed.
"So this is the jerk who thinks he can steal my wife," he taunted Citadel. "Here's what I think of jerks like you who muscle in on my woman." And Dart proceeded to beat Citadel within an inch of his life, and left him broken and bleeding in an alley to die. Citadel fell into the blackness, trying to scream Ultraviolet's name, but he couldn't find his voice.
He woke from the blackness to great pain. His head throbbed terribly. Every joint, every muscle ached, and he felt weak and sick to his stomach. But through the pain, he felt his heart bursting with joy.
Ultraviolet had returned to him. She told him everything that had happened: about the rash. The virus. Dart's deal. The Coalition, and Bridges plans. She told him what Bridge had done to Piledriver. She begged him to forgive her. She told him she loved him, and had for years.
Painfully, he opened his eyes. She had changed. He couldn't see Martha Bradshaw, the shy, delicate woman he'd worked with for six years. He could only see a female shaped purple figure. She truely had become Ultraviolet. The wires in his jaw kept from speaking, but the tears in his eyes told her what he wanted to say.
As his body mended, the anger in him grew. The injustice of what happened to him and his friends burned in his soul. The old impulses of his younger days returned, and only the broken bones kept him from going out and killing Dart and Terence Bridge for what they did to Ultraviolet and Piledriver. His temper cooled as he watched the news reports. The Defenders, with Ultraviolet's testimony, were able to uncover Bridge's evil scheme, and lock the whole bunch up. Piledriver was cleared of wrongdoing based on the testimony that he'd been drugged, and forced into committing criminal acts. Rachel came by, and told him Piledriver was receiving good medical attention-he would be all right in time.
When he got out of the hospital, Citadel had to decide what to do next. CSI was in ruins, not from damage to it's reputation, but because his partners were either jailed or hospitalized. Rachel suggested recruiting new members from the new crop of supers coming out. He rejected that idea out of hand. Martha and Rich had worked too hard on CSI to be cut out now. They were a team, and he was going to put it back together again.
But first things first. Citadel knew his first priority was to find a cure for Ultraviolet. He went to California, and talked to the foster parents, neighbors and friends of Ultraviolet's daughters. He talked to the Protectors. He hacked into the medical records. And he tracked down every jot of information he could on Dr. Lirby Koo.
He discovered the Defenders had tracked down one of Koo's secret hideouts in the Sierra Nevada's. Going there, he found the remains of a computer system. And he found clues as to where Koo planned to go when the base was abandoned. It took another six months of searching, but he finally found the old man, still plotting and hatching schemes, in a secret jungle lab in the Phillipines.
Koo was ready to kill this interloper, but he soon became impressed with Citadel's cleverness in finding him, and determination. He coldly told Citadel the truth about his virus. It was part of his master plan for controlling the world. He sneered at old fashioned has-beens like the nefarious Dr. Wu, who were incapable of understanding or coping with the modern world. Control the mechanism by which humanity worked, ie DNA, and one controlled humanity. If he could introduce a virus by which he could re-program an individual's genetic structure, he would be in a position to remold humanity into any visage he liked. To create a worker class, a fighter class, a scholar class, and an administrative class: all who answered only to him.
Citadel was horrified by Koo's revelation. Koo spoke of nothing less than genetic conquest. The Geodesics represented his first attempt to bring his theories to life. Sadly, the experiement was less than a total success: Orb was killed before the transformation could take effect, Dart was dying from the virus, and the ultimate effects on Ultraviolet and Diamond, tho not totally unexpected, did not place them under Koo's control. For his part, Koo was delighted to finally be able to collect empirical evidence on the virus's progress: most of his original research was destroyed when UNTIL raided his Texas base in 1985. Most importantly, he now had a new source of his original virus: Ultraviolet and Dart's daughters. That was why he tolerated their romance, he informed Citadel. He wanted them to have children, so he could study the effect of the virus as it progressed into the next generation. His was no fly by night scheme, but one which demanded time and patience.
It was coming very close to succeeding. Nonetheless, Citadel swallowed his principles, and made a Deal with the Devil in an attempt to save Ultraviolet's life. His plans were worthless, he informed Koo, without the original Geodesics. Without the ability to study his original subjects and how the virus affected them first hand, Koo still had only theory. In return for a cure for Ultraviolet, and the release of her daughters, Citadel promised to provide Koo with genetic samples from each of the original Geodesics.
Koo found the offer interesting. Citadel had a point: he needed to make further study of the Geodesics to further his work. But he exacted a further promise from Citadel. If he wanted to save the lives of Ultraviolet and her twin daughters, he would have to enter Koo's service. Forever. Without an oath of loyalty, Koo could not be certain Citadel would not betray him to the authorities as soon as he got what he wanted.
Reluctantly, Citadel agreed. As a test of his loyalty, Koo gave Citadel an assignment. Steal the Scarab of Mahkre, an obscure Egyptian artifact on display at the National Museum in Cairo. The Scarab was made of materials with unusual properties he needed for his research into Ultraviolet's cure, he told Citadel.
Citadel agreed. He left Koo's base and headed for Egypt, stopping in Hudson City only long enough to recruit some expert help . . . .
Updated Powers/Tactics: Going to work for Dr. Koo has it's advantages and drawbacks. Koo, once he felt secure in Citadel's service, if not loyalty, decided his new minion needed an extra edge in order to complete his mission. Although a competence private investigator and security consultant, if Citadel returned to a life of crime every superhero in the world would come gunning for him. Citadel needed to be able to actively compete solo against some of the world's most powerful superteams.
To that end, Koo gave Citadel back his old powers. Well, almost. Knowing that Citadel's powers had been triggered by a lightning strike, Koo invented a belt which stimulated his genetic structure with a series of controlled electrical bursts. These bursts reactivated Citadel's powers on a temporary basis. Once again, Citadel became a "brick among bricks," and was able to teleport and turn invisible. However, there was a price: the belt cost Citadel a great deal of pain. He has the advantage of his sharpened martial arts prowess to add to his former glory, and years of experience and tactics. He knows most supers believe his strongest powers to be defunct, therefore he will use the belt sparingly in combat so as to surprise his enemies with his returned versatility. He also wishes to avoid the pain the belt gives him.
Updated Personality/Motivation: Citadel is driven by desperation. He does not want to commit illegal acts, but feels he has little choice. He does not believe the police or superheroic community will help him, or if they did that they would sacrifice Ultraviolet and her children to stop Koo's evil plan. Citadel plans to accomplish both missions: he's not about to let Koo design a virus to take over the world. But first he has to take care of the human factor.
Updated Background: Richard Donaldson was not really much of a supervillain. His aquisition of superpowers from a VIPER cyberneticist was accidental and involuntary. His use of the same after winning free of VIPER was less than stellar. It was primarily through stupidity, he later concluded, that VIPER was able to pin him down and retreive his namesake.
At the same time, his venture into supercrime wound up opening a lot of doors for him. Once he got out from locked ones that is. His life before VIPER hadn't been any more stellar than his life as a supervillain. He'd pretty much been an ignorant redneck, and would have spent his life on minimum wage jobs and his pay on beer.
But prison gave him the time and motivation to look for better in life. Citadel gave him a chance to put his newfound resolve to good use. CSI was the start of his real life. He had purpose. He had a dream that he could watch grow. And it was his. He had friends, real friends he could count on, and who could count on him. People with similar problems and beliefs. People he could understand, and who understood him. CSI became his whole life, and it was a life well worth living.
Now, if only he could stop the damn nightmares.
His perfect world, the one he'd worked so hard for, the one he'd earned, was a shambles. The dark past of the Geodesics had come back to haunt Ultraviolet, and had dragged him along for the ride. He'd been ambushed. To Terence Bridge he was nothing more than a guiena pig. He'd pumped Rich full of those damned drugs, and before he knew what was happening he was doing terrible things again. Hurting people. Hurting himself. He could have wept for joy when the Defenders arrested him.
Not that it made things any better for him. Impulses raged out of his control into action. His heart raced, his thoughts were nearly incoherent even to himself as his body pounded the walls of his cell until he collapsed from exhaustion. The courts decided he had not acted of his own free will in joining the Coalition, and that was something. But it also decided he was dangerous to himself and others, and sent him to Toddberry Asylum.
Rich hated the Asylum. He hated the noise. The constant chanting, moaning, giggling, and screaming. Most of all, he hated that damn whispering, in his head, all the time. As the hypermetrazine worked it's way out of his system, his ability to control himself returned. He felt fine. He wanted to go home. But the doctors refused to let him. His moods were swinging from excited highs to suicidal lows. He was diagnosed with Bi-Polar disorder and given Lithium.
A year later, Citadel finally came to rescue him from Hell. He had a mission for Rich. A chance for redemption. They were going to save Ultraviolet and the world from Lirby Koo.
Updated Powers/Tactics: A call to an old friend on the Hudson City PD who owed Citadel big yeilded wonderful dividends for Piledriver: the new pnuemantic piston AAI had designed for him when he was "working" for the Coalition. Piledriver is still deeply affected by the aftereffects of the drugs Bridge forced into him. Out of combat, he is calm and capable of rational thought and deductive reasoning. In combat, however, one of two things can happen. Either he goes into a beserk frenzy and pounds everything in sight, or he retreats into a deep depression and does nothing. Piledriver tends to avoid combat as a result, knowing that he can't be depended on to do what he is supposed to do.
Updated Personality/Motivation: Piledriver is still suffering the side-effects of hypermetrazine withdrawal. He really was not ready to leave the Asylum, but Citadel again called in old favors and got him released into Citadel's custody. Piledriver will do everything he can to help Ultraviolet. He is committed to helping his friends. If he can destroy Loo in the process, it's a bonus. He no longer cares about his own life. He has no ambition beyond his current mission, no thoughts for the future. Only the mission matters, and he will let nothing, no one stand in his way. He defers to Citadel because he is the only person Piledriver trusts, the only person who's never abandoned him or let him down. Piledriver comes off alternately as a nervous wreck, or with sulleness. He's gone from being the group's eternal optimist to a fatalist. There's still enough personal character left within him however, to wish for something better. He sees his mission as his last chance for salvation, and he will work very hard even in the midst of his worst depression to help Citadel.
Updated Background: It was all going so well. Then she got sick. The kindly old Chinese gentleman who helped her escape the law as a teenager was reaching out from the grave to yet again destroy her life.
Not that she had anyone but herself to blame for that. Martha could have gone straight years before. She could have tossed the purple power projectors into the nearest ocean, like she promised herself to do time and again in prison, and never committed another crime. Instead she let herself believe she was worthless, and undeserving of a normal life, and it was therefore all right to hurt other people because she was worthless. She'd put that crap out of her life years ago. Why did it have to resurface now?
First was the rash. She didn't think anything of it at first. She went to the doctor and got some pills. They helped for a while, but soon she was asking for something stronger as the rash spread from her wrists, up her arms, across her torso, and down her legs. Her doctor was mystified. He suggested not using the bracelets. Sounded sensible to her, even though she couldn't understand how she could become allergic to them after so many years of near constant wear.
They wouldn't come off.
Now Martha was frightened. She hid her condition from the others as long as she could while she talked to expert after expert. None could answer her questions, or provide her with a cure.
Then Dart reappeared.
He'd come back for her twice before, and twice she'd told him to get stuffed. She wanted nothing more to do with him, especially as long as he talked about reuniting the Geodesics. This time, however, he had more of an enticement to offer. He told her about Koo's virus. He told her how it was affecting him. He told her their children were infected. Then he told her Bridge's offer: Join the Coalition, and Bridge would pay for a cure for all of them.
Martha wrested all night with her conscience. She no longer loved Dart, she was in love with Citadel. How could she betray him, and all he'd done for her by returning to a life of crime? How could she let down Rachel, Rich, and Linda, who all had been her steadfast friends?
How could she abandon her children?
Martha was filled with self-loathing as she once again became a supervillaness. She despised herself for the terrible things Bridge forced her to do as a member of the Coalition. And she was filled with unimaginable grief when she discovered what Dart and Bridge had done to Citadel and Piledriver. That drove her over the edge. Bridge had done nothing to fulfill his promises. Her body turned into living ultraviolet radiation. Dart continued to weaken. Diamond had turned into an emotionless thing. She went to Citadel as he lay in a coma, and took this last chance to tell him everything she'd ever wanted. About the virus. About her betrayal. And that she loved him. That she was sorry for ruining everything. When the Defenders caught her at the hospital, she made only a token attempt at flight before she told them everything. She agreed to turn State's Evidence against Bridge. The Defenders promised to find her children and cure them.
For a year, Martha has languised in a holding cell in the Defender's base. Their attempts to locate the twins turned up nothing. With no clues, all they could do was wait. Then one day, she saw on the news an article that made her weep anew. Citadel had reappeared, and with Piledriver had stolen an ancient artifact from a museum in Cairo. Warrant's were issued for their arrest by the Egyptian government, and UNTIL was actively hunting the both of them.
Who would save them? Who would save her children?
Powers/Tactics: Koo's virus has turned Ultraviolet into living radiation. Her cell in the Defender's stronghold is specially equipped to contain her emissions, which at times reach nearly lethal levels (eventually Ultraviolet will purchase a Damage Shield). By concentrating, she can alter the spectrum of her body and fade in and out of the range of normal human vision (Invisibility). She usually prefers to become Invisible, take cover, and bathe her target in her emissions from a safe distance. She will attack any character with UV vision to defend herself. If pressed, she will become Desolid, retreat, and get back into the thick of things when her attackers are distracted by another target.
Updated Personality/Motivations: A year in a solitary cell has made Martha impatient and frustrated. She's had regular visits from Rachel, but almost none from Linda, to her great puzzlement. The only other visitor she's been permitted is the Defender's technical genius-the young and impetuous Lionheart. The two struck up an unlikely friendship-and Martha badly needed friends. Although Lionheart was careful never to cross the line between guard and inmate, he often brought Martha technical magazines which have allowed her to keep up in her field. His incredible skill and talent awed Martha. Talented herself, she quickly realized Lionheart was nothing short of genius. She envied him-so full of himself, full of life. But any resentment she might have had quickly faded. Lionheart was just so full of joy, and so willing to share it with others, that she found herself drawing strength and hope from him. When she learned how he had been a prisoner of his own body for much of his life, she came to understand and admire his exuberance. "Don't give up, Martha," he encouraged her one day when she was feeling particularly sorry for herself. "You've worked too hard on yourself. Don't throw it away now. We'll find a cure for you. We'll find your kids, I promise. We Defenders, we always beat the bad guys in the long run. We'll beat this. Just hang on a little while longer." He was so innocent and sincere-she couldn't help but believe him.
Martha has clung to that thin hope. She realizes that if she can just keep her head above water a little while longer, the tide will eventually go down. She stifles her impatience, and waits for her chance to turn things around for herself and her family.
Updated Background: Great. Just when things were going good, disaster strikes. And it's always the hated accountant who has to be ready to pick up the peices.
Rachel is ready. She's nurtured and garnered CSI's resources from Day One against the day things might fall apart. She knew the chances were good that the superheroic community would find an excuse to bust CSI up, and she wasn't going to let all her hard work go down the toilet.
On paper, CSI is bankrupt. In reality, it's stronger than ever-it's assets hidden in a maze of dummy corporations, trusts, and false faces. The effort of building a fortress around CSI's future was almost like old times-outwitting the competition, playing mind games with figures. Although Rachel has been careful to pay all taxes owed, and avoid breaking SEC rules on trading, the challenge of finding things to do with all that money was almost erotic.
Still, Rachel is terribly worried about her friends. Friends. What an odd word, yet without CSI there is a black hole in her life. She worries constantly about Robin. Rachel is not out of the loop on the Koo virus, and while she understands Citadel's desperation, her first loyalty is to her brother.. She worries equally about Piledriver, knowing his mental instability is getting worse not better. And she pities Ultraviolet who longs to get back in the world and make right what she has done wrong.
Powers/Tactics: Rachel is no fighter. She's sensible. When Citadel contacted her after the botched theft of the Scarab, and told her to go into hiding, she did him one better. She went to the police. Specifically, the Defenders. Although officially the Defenders and CSI are wary of one another, Rachel took the time to get to know the Defender's leader, Iceberg. The two traveled in similar political circles, and it took very little effort to develop a mutual understanding. Rachel trusted Iceberg. When she received Robin's frantic call, she went straight to him with the whole story, and begged him to find Citadel before UNTIL, Koo, or another supers team did.
Personality/Motivations: Rachel has gotten over some of her hang-ups in approaching people, but at her core she still thinks like a mover and a shaker. She's not above manipulating the rules to get what she wants-in this case her brother home safe and sound. The legal issues are simply another mental puzzle to be solved, and it's not the first time she's had to do that.
Updated Background: It's all been going perfectly. Linda is the only member of CSI who can honestly say she's truly pleased with the way events have turned out. Of course, she can't actually say that . . . yet. Yes, it's been perfect. A few leads and hints to the Defenders, a little false information to make them run in circles and distrust CSI even more than they already did-by the time the Defenders got involved in the Dystopia Affair, their facts were so backwards, it was a wonder Joe Superhero didn't simply blast Ultraviolet out of the sky when he caught her fleeing from the hospital. A pity more than a wonder, actually.
And what a perfect opportunity! Rachel's insistence on trusting the Defenders led her to the perfect opportunity to ask Iceberg for a job when CSI folded. Her superiors at both PRIMUS and Genocide couldn't be more pleased. Yes sir, Linda Larson is definately flavor of the month in the spy circle. So far, she's done little more than report on the Defenders abilities. Their ability to distort facts on their own, and their own fumble-footedness has made any other action unnecessary at this point. She's done a good job of making herself indispensible, and invisible. She now feels perfectly confident in attending high level planning sessions, knowing the Defenders rely on her organizational skills so much her presence is second nature.
Linda is glad she's been so careful in maintaining her cover. The involvement of the Defenders in Project: Lifeline was an unexpected bonus. Her superiors at Genocide had been hearing rumors for months that Dr. Paul Gresham, aka Lifeline, was planning to move Sanctuary from it's home in California, to a new complex in a secret location and make it a haven for mutants around the world. Genocide desperately wanted that location, fearing it would eventually become the center of a mutant army with the power to withstand Phase Alpha.
However, even the Defenders haven't been told the actual location. They were hired to provide security for an "Underground Railroad" transfer point, and to provide security at the construction site, to which they've been taken only under conditions of great secretcy. But Linda isn't without other avenues of uncovering the information. One of the Defenders, Commando, has become involved with the Project's head of security, Elsie Marino. Linda can't understand how Elsie could betray humanity by helping mutants. However, Elsie is hard to dislike, and forming a friendship with the gregarious computer expert is probably her best chance of finding Sanctuary . . . .
Powers/Tactics: Although a fully trained PRIMUS agent, Linda is a spy, not a fighter. She will not do anything to expose her cover. She also will not take any direct action other than pure self defense, and presents herself as a helpless female to make herself appear innocuous. Linda does not hate to simulate friendship with those she desires information from, and is zealous about reporting significant information to her Genocide superiors. She gives PRIMUS just enough about the Defenders to keep them satisfied. Only in cases where she thinks she has more to gain than lose will she attempt to actually undo a mission by giving the Defenders false information, or leaking sensitive material to the "wrong" people.
Updated Personality/Motivations: Linda's committment to Genocide has not weakened. Yet at the same time, she spends much of her time with people she is devoted to betraying. Linda does actually feel some guilt over what has happened to Rich and Martha, although she doesn't feel the slightest bit sorry for Citadel. She has gotten friendly with the ever cheerful Lionheart, who is so pleasant and positive, he is impossible to dislike. She also pities him above all the other Defenders, because his mutation was involuntary: he was born with a heart defect, and given the heart of a dead mutant. The transplant gave him superpowers. Of all the Defenders, she sees Lionheart as the most "salvagable"-if his mutant heart were removed and a normal heart put in it's place, she's certain he'd revert to "normal."
Linda has also been fighting a simmering attraction to Commando. His only major mutant power is a extremely fast healing factor, and despite her prejudice, she finds that aspect of him easy to ignore in favor of his positive qualities: his patriotism, his love of children, and devotion to helping others impresses her greatly. In spite of her better judgement, she finds herself becoming jealous of his attentions to Elsie Marino.
Of all the other Defenders, Linda hates Emerald the most. She hates Emerald's insistence that she is a normal human being, "Gifted," but normal. Cursed is more like it, and the destructive power of mutant kind curses all humanity. Linda detests Emerald's political activism, and attempts to win laws favoring mutants. It's because of mutants like Emerald, that mutants like Caustic were able to murder her father.