Diao’s biography:
Diao was born to Wayne ‘Blazer’ Hoang and Caroline ‘The Vixen’ Hoang. Well to say that is not entirely true, while Caroline is her biological mother; her father was not the man that her mother would marry. Caroline was born in England after the opening of Pandora’s Box on the world, her father was of Scottish decent and her mother was of German Royalty but her fortune was taken by Hitler during the war to fuel his attempt at ruling the entire world. The only piece that was left of the fortune was a tiara worn by Caroline’s mother every day, the 4 small jewels embedded into it charged by Pandora box’s power mixed with magic long forgotten in the world bestowing anyone that wore the headband unimaginative strength as long as they were of the correct bloodline. This headband soon found its way into Caroline’s hands and after her family moved to Paragon City did she finally find a use for it.
While her mother had used it to fight in World War 2, Caroline used it to fight a much more common enemy on the streets of paragon city. She was only 12 when she first began fighting the many gangs within the city and shortly after that was she confronted by the Midnight Squad. Many of its members were magical in nature and while still young her strength made her over come many enemies with ease, however in 1988 Caroline was cornered by another member of the Midnight Squad, a mutant refugee from Vietnam. He knew where her power came from and without it the normally unmatched strength was nothing more then the average 15 year old girl. Several people heard the first scream but by the time they could find and get to the girl she had already been raped. 9 months later she had given birth to a daughter, a mother just barely 15 years old.
Her biological father, a man whose body had mutated to make him nearly indestructible even to direct assault from artillery, helicopter barrage, even surviving the chemical Agent Orange. He was found on a fairy leaving Paragon city by many of the growing psychics in paragon city, his brain paralyzed leaving his indestructible body nothing more then a shell as the authorities subdued and he met his trial. Found guilty of more then just what he had done to Diao’s mother, his sentence was life imprisonment within the Zig, his cell designed just for him as his body was placed into a modified iron lung, suspended from the ceiling by chains as four sets of 300 pound weights were attached to his neck and anchored to the ground. For the rest of his unnatural life he would stay like this locked within a cell.
In 1990, with her feet set in the soils of Paragon City and never letting go, Crey Industries was becoming a quick competitor in all things from military technology to pharmaceutical research. In it, within one of the secret labs a young tech geek and computer programmer was working hard on his newest invention, a device that would act as a defensive bubble which would use the very attacks that it was meant to stop, siphon away their kinetic and thermal energy within nanoseconds of impact with the barrier and use it to power the shield creating a nearly never ending supply of power for the barrier. The small id badge on his lap coat would read between sparks from the welding gun meeting metal as Wayne Hoang. There was not a thing super about the young man, except for his dark Vietnamese complexion and his fiery red hair that seemed to go everywhere. Small pieces of scrap, weapons, even what would eventually become the power tank armor, lay around the room in various heaps of disrepair.
Every day he would enter his lab and work diligently through the night with the only company he had being a small program he had created. The most basic of basic Artificial Intelligences would talk and chatter on pre programmed responses to the scientist, giving him reminders about everything and even when the sun was rising. Though most of these went ignored the red haired boy found one thing that he could never ignore was the blaring alarm produced when school was starting. The brilliant scientist working alone within Crey Industries was only a freshman in Paragon City High school, or coming to be one as he started his first day 2 hours late. Teenagers barely able to control their powers lined the halls as they were separated as best as they could be, to avoid disastrous injuries.
To say there was a spark at first was not easy; Wayne was so far out of it in terms of those around him he barely heard anything above the technological structure of everything around him. Caroline had withdrawn herself to be a quite wall flower, never speaking up nor talking above a whisper, the secret of what happened to her buried as best as she could with the baby being ‘adopted’ by Diao’s grandparents. Though Diao was too young to remember that far back there were pictures aplenty to show the starting relationship of her mother and soon to be adopted father. One of the first gifts brought to her by her ‘older sister’ and her boyfriend turned out to have been an experiment energy weapon from Crey Industries that caused the kitchen stove to explode into a fireball and nearly burned the house down.
Things continued and time passed, the first real memory Diao had was of her 4th birthday, sitting at the table with her grandparents and mother and her boyfriend. The soft humming and song making her bounce up and down as it slipped forth from her mouth without a second thought. The word mommy that caused Caroline to instantly turn her head and speak up to the girl, the horror that crossed her face as she realized what she had said caused all color in her face to leave. The half opened and covered mouth of Diao’s grandmother told the child all she needed to know, her mommy did a bad thing. Wayne left without a word and Diao didn’t see him again for several weeks, every night she remembered watching her mom cry. Wayne eventually returned and as for Diao as long as she got attention she was more then happy.
In 1994 Wayne proposed and the following year married Caroline, no more secrets between the two and Diao had a father, as funny as he looked. It was that same year, 1995, that the young girl last saw her grandparents, the truth never explained to her until she was old enough to understand. Diao’s grandmother had died of a brain tumor, brought on after several years of battling lung cancer and her grandfather had died shortly after that, death by natural causes peacefully in his favorite chair.
In 1998 Diao, now 10 years old experienced the first mutation of her body, her father’s DNA finally taking a hold of her genome. Her skin began to toughen and yet remain smooth to the touch, as if a secondary layer of skin had formed under the first. While the first layer was the beautiful tan from her time in the sun, the second layer of skin was nearly hard as rock and even after getting shot in the back with an arrow the arrow itself barely pierced the skin.
Time continued to pass, Wayne’s position in Crey Industries continued to rise until he stumbled across the horrors that were truly going on within the other labs. So much he could uncover and yet could do nothing with it he hatched a scheme and used the AI he had created as a boy as the base for a virus he named after the girl he took as his daughter. Data Interception And Obstruction, D.I.A.O. The basic function was to sit deep within the Crey mainframe and copy every single piece of data it could find, every piece of information and document and send the copy to a secure mainframe. This was the last thing Wayne did within Crey Industries as he quit soon after, resigning his position and taking with him most of his research. While enraged with this the Countess Crey took it as an opportunity to see what one of her top scientists could do on his own and began to siphon small funds into his account.
While the seasons changed, so did the city and so did the young girl, and on May 23rd, 2002 the skies began to fill with red lights all over the world. That evening as Diao stood and watched from the back porch of her families’ house the red lights opened up and out poured the most dangerous force the entire planet had come to witness. This evening marked the start of the Rikti Invasion of Earth. Caroline had never touched the headband since the events that led to Diao’s birth but from the many portals that were beamed down to earth one had found its resting place just a few feet from her fourteen year old daughter. The first of the Rikti invaders that had stepped forth from this portal had barely taken a step from it and began to draw his weapon on the teenage girl had his face cracked.
The alien’s body didn’t move for a moment as Caroline’s fist had connected with it, his protection armor beginning to crumble as the shockwave finally struck. Diao’s hair was blown backwards and her eyes shot open as she watched another of the Rikti invaders step forth only to have the sudden impact of the first connected and send them both crashing backwards into the portal. Diao’s head turned as her mouth began to open and she watched the smoke rising from her mother’s fist, the ground itself shattered at her feet and around her body where the force of her strike had connected. The former heroine had turned her back a split second too soon as the portal released another of the invaders, this time in a dead run with his weapon drawn as the bright green energy buzzed along the tip to remove any and all resistance of the object it struck and allow for one clean cut.
The blade struck a target that surprised even the wieldier of the large weapon as the sword barely managed to cut into the flesh before all of the momentum stopped. A red stream of blood began to slowly flow down the blade toward the invaders hand as he stared toward the eyes of the small girl, the his attack had barely dug through her shoulder toward her collar bone. The tip of the blade extending slightly past the girl had stopped just short of striking her mother as both sides played almost a tug of war. The frantic screams of Caroline for her daughter as she tried to pull the girl out of any more harm and the panicked gasps through the breathing device that covered much of the alien’s face as he tried to pull his weapon free but could not budge it even an inch.
The blue energy that lit up much of the yard caused the Rikti to raise his head up toward the source, his eyes growing wide as his face met the source head long. The energy burning away and through most of his face as his hands twitched before falling limp letting the mother take her child back with a sudden collapse. The frantic rush to remove the blade forcefully was stopped by a hand Caroline barely recognized, the wedding band reflecting in her eyes the red light above causing her to raise her head up toward the man she had married. His fiery red hair hidden behind a small mask covering from the bridge of his nose up and over the top of his head, the two armored sleeves covering his arms attached to a generator on his back causing Caroline’s head to tilt slightly.
What next few hours for the girl were fuzzy at best, she had slipped in and out of consciousness so much it all seemed to be a slide show of pictures, small bits of words and exchanges of looks standing out to her. When Diao awoke her head lay across her mother’s thigh with a blanket laying over them both but where they were was not home. It seemed to be just one big gathering of people, and while there were many that appeared like normal people the ones in costumes stood out. The more Diao sat up the more she could see and standing at the main stage of the assembly were 2 men, one who had come to be an icon of the city an everyone. His silver mask slightly tarnished from the fighting through the night and small scratches of his costume as he walked back and forth with a long flowing cape behind him.
The other man was the one speaking, his accent sounding much like her mother’s and for good reason, hanging around his neck and off his shoulders to flow behind him was a large British flag. His face hidden by a mask and his eyes concealed behind a red strip with one going up and over the top of his head as well. Before the girl could even speak to her mother the crowd seemed to roar with a thunderous applause and yells of agreement to a speech Diao hadn’t even heard fully. Without even a single word from the girl her mother gave a warm smile as she ran her hands through Diao’s raven black hair and began to explain everything.
“Before you and I were born honey, there was a war that nearly split the planet in to two halves. The World Wars caused such destruction no one had ever hoped to see it again but this time it’s far worse. The words World War have a new meaning now, no longer is it country against country, one nation fighting another but the entire human race fighting for survival. The entire planet is at war with an enemy that out numbers us and threatens everything. That man, known only as Hero 1, follows in the footsteps of a hero that I grew up admiring. And right now he and other heroes from around the globe are fighting to push back the attackers from our door steps and off of our planet.”
There was a lost look to the words that her mother spoke to her, Diao’s hand stopping at the end of the speech as if she was working up the nerve to say something but she never could. The husband and wife took turns, alternating between who would stay with the young metahuman and who would be on the streets fighting to push back the Rikti forces. Eventually a stalemate was met, both sides neither giving nor taking any more ground as the primitive versions of the war walls that line Paragon city were erected for defense. Wayne’s technological breakthrough with his barrier technology proved a great asset in many skirmishes with the surprise raids on human cities, his barriers proving to absorb even the energy of the Rikti weapons. Something that peaked Countess Crey’s interest very much.
The fighting continued for many months, and while time together was rare the news that was broadcast through every outlet made Diao dread every moment she didn’t spend with her parents through her entire life. The announcement of an assault of the Rikti home world itself, many heroes being called into duty prompted a response that caused Diao to cry uncontrollably for days. Without a second thought her parents enlisted to help, her father and his technology being put into the Alpha Squad, the group that would lead the draw forth the attention of every Rikti on the home world. Caroline and many of her former friends with the Midnight Patrol were enlisted as the 50 heroes and heroines that would head to the home world itself and destroy the power source there.
Both groups met for one last time before going their separate ways, the last time Diao saw her parents and without even knowing it the receiver of the same tiara that was the source of her mother’s power. While the Omega squad waited for the assault to begin, Wayne flew with the best his barriers acting not only to shield those within it but also set to repel everything that met it allowed Alpha squad to push deep into enemy lines. Many heroes were killed in the very beginning of the assault, the Rikti calling forth their best to push back Earth’s bests, and all Diao could do was stand and watch the fire work like display of war.
The mystics of the Omega Squad cut right into the Rikti portals and allowed the 50 heroes to slip in, hidden from sensors by old magic. Caroline could feel her strength dwindling down by the second as they moved the power within her slowly dying down without the magical energy of the tiara. In a move that caused the very heartbeat of the Rikti home world to skip a beat, Hero 1 let out a might yell as the heroes of earth charged the source of the portal’s power. The talisman’s spell wore off as every sensor on the planet lit up with the signature of invaders, many protected from harm by their own magical prowess. Some were not as fortunate as their bodies were broken by the energy based weapons, the magical artifacts exploding with violent force around the heroes as they ran. Near the front of the group was Caroline, the blood soaked sword of a fallen friend from the Midnight squad held tightly in her hand to replace her dwindling strength.
The 50 heroes had been reduced in numbers by the seconds, their goal seemingly out of reach as the vast number of Rikti began to pull back through the portal to their home world. The sound of one voice echoing forth throughout the planet itself, his words filled with hate as he commanded the invading armies, his shining gold and black powered suit decorated with a red sash to show his rank. The weapon fire stopped, the group of heroes now surrounded on all sides on multiple levels of buildings by a worlds army far beyond anything Earth could muster. He towered over his mutated brothers in arms, his eyes focused on the leader of the small band of heroes as he walked through the slowly parting army, there was no use in hiding. Dra’Gon, his voice slowly being chanted by the growing number of arriving reinforcements for their assault planet.
The long flowing cape of Hero 1 masked the look on Caroline’s face, her eyes closed as she thought of nothing else but one last memory. The chanting stopped as the scream echoed so loudly it caused every Rikti soldier to take a step back as the flag like cape of Hero 1 was pushed aside from the assault. Dra’Gon’s body was lifted off the ground, his hands clasping at the blade as it pierced through his armor deeper and deeper as he was carried like he was a small child backwards. Caroline’s hands were starting to bleed as she pressed forward harder, continuing in a dead run as metahuman and mutated human alike watched. Neither side could do much but bare witness as one of the most decorated General of the Rikti Forces was slammed into the pillar of a building.
The first shot to fire came from high above as a Rikti let loose one flowing green orb of energy toward the heroine, the strike hitting her dead center of the back burning away the flesh and exposing the bone of her spine along much of it. The sudden twist and wide arc swing of the mother caused the crowd of Rikti around her to duck and come back up firing. Every shot seemed to stop as Caroline’s arm continued in an arc, the magical blade cutting through the energy as Dra’Gon felt gravity take over and begin to pull his body to the ground. There was no pain at first as she had not pierced through his powered armor but that soon changed as the blade struck the wall with a sharp hiss, the blade scraping for several inches before pressure gave way and it snapped in half.
Hero 1 could barely shield his eyes even through his mask as the energy rippled forth in an explosion that shook the very planet itself, his eyes focusing through the shining light at the smiling face before it was the first to vaporize in the energy. The charred remains of Rikti soldiers lined the area as the building laid in a sinkhole of itself, the only thing left standing was the bleeding and hissing remains of the Rikti General. His right arm below the elbow had been left nothing more then a stub of steaming energy and evaporating blood.
The explosion that echoed through the portal had drawn the attention of all the combatants, the sound rolling across the city like thunder causing a full attempted retreat. Many of the Rikti soldiers would have escaped through had it not been for a single hero standing at the mouth of one of the large flowing portals. A heavy flow of blood was oozing from his lips and down his chin where he had met the ground too hard, a hand laying across his stomach trying to hold back the blood soaking his shirt as the short circuiting armband flashed. His fiery red hair was dirty with soot and one of his eyes was closed as he brought his left hand up toward the invaders. The chipped and breaking wedding band finally crumbled away as he leaned back against his rest, a mound of rubble that had once been the remains of a building.
One soldier was far too eager as he began to run past the fallen hero, his breath catching in his throat as he stopped running with a sudden jerk. Around his ankle was the blood soaked hand of Wayne, his eyes opening to show one eye filling with blood from too many popped blood vessels. All the built up energy that had been stored within the armbands and generator began to release and build up rapidly, a broad grin crossing Wayne’s face as he tightened his grip as the light started at the small of his back and worked its way out in all directions, the portal itself was engulfed in the energy as it traveled through the city leaving a large crater where he and several hundred other heroes had lost their lives fighting.
Diao didn’t care for the victory that had been won, the cheers and shouts of happiness as the portals began to flicker and finally seal off completely. The headband had been held close to the girl the entire time as the sudden dawning of events hit everyone, the dead that had to be recovered and the wounded found. It took months of repair for the city to find all of those lost, the 50 heroes that had gone to the Rikti Home world had empty coffins as the entire world mourned. Standing by herself there was little entering Diao’s mind as she stared toward the names of those that had died, the feminine hand that touched her shoulders nearly going unnoticed until the more brutish voice spoke up.
Diao’s head had turned slightly to the side to see who had spoke up; the first person she saw was a woman wearing what would count more as a business suit then something that you would wear to a funeral. She was just barely taller then the teenager and yet behind her was a man that loomed over the small girl like a mountain, his eyes hidden by dark glasses. This small woman had taken Diao in, providing for her, the entire thing appearing as nothing more then a ploy to make everyone approve of her company even more. Diao’s new found god mother, the great and powerful Countess Crey, provided Diao with an apartment in Steel Canyon. Everything the girl would ever need was taken care of as Crey had her scientist take every bit of Wayne’s research as her own.
If she had been wise enough to simply live her life as a normal girl things would have probably turned out for the better, but Diao like her parents heard the calling of the need for heroes. In 2004 Diao stepped up to the registration desk for her official paper work, signing in as one of Paragon Cities first new heroes.
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There was a small breeze blowing through the air as the short raven black hair blew in the wind, hanging loosely from the bun it was in, a set of gravestones were blocking her knee length sundress from blowing like her hair had been. Diao’s hand rose up as she touched the tip of her finger to her glasses pushing them up the bridge of her nose as she used her bare foot to finish smoothing out the blanket laid on the ground. Her body gave out as she dropped onto her butt and crossed one leg overtop of the other, her toes running along the small blades of grass that poked up as she rose her head up and smiled. “Hi mom and dad.. It’s been a while since I got to sit down and talk to you two, but I have a lot to fill you in on…”
“Life in the city is starting to get interesting. It sucks so much that I was put onto one of Auntie Crey’s forced vacations. I mean I am a hero; I can fight crime under that Citizen Crime Fighting Act just like everyone else. I’m registered in the city’s database. But as soon as something bad starts to brew it’s another trip to some unknown country in bumfuck Egypt.” Diao stopped and put her hand over her mouth glancing from side to side as if expecting to be scolded for her language before leaning back with a huff. “I wasn’t here when the Winter Lord attacked Paragon City; she had me whisked away in Hawaii for nearly 4 months. Don’t get me wrong it was nice but she’s like a vampire, I was on the beach 24/7, she barely even touched the light and I think she slept during the day in her coffin.”
Her head tilted to the side gazing down the long row of tombstones, every single one of them a hero, super powered or not, that had fallen in the many Rikti fights. Her parents were no exception to that, their lives lost in the many that had made up Alpha and Omega Teams. “When we first made contact with actually peaceful aliens, the squid guys, Auntie Crey had me enjoying some water puppet shadow play in China, Only after we found out their true intentions; I mean the world found out, that we have to make a ‘sudden return trip. Something has come up with the stock holders and they are raising all sorts of hell. Sorry Darling, you’ll understand one day.’ It was only recently that I finally had enough with it and…”
Diao stopped and blinked as if she had dawned on a realization, her head tipping back slightly as her eyes gazed up toward the sky but the object of her attention was more toward the top of her head. “I know I know, I’m getting there. The ears are from a Halloween costume I wore, I added the bunny ears to your headband mom, and I guess I grew attached to them and never bothered to take them off. And I guess you could say people have gotten to know me by them. Oh right! I forgot to tell you. I joined up with a group of heroes, a lot of interesting characters in there. I’ve become close friends with a lot of them, though there are some even I don’t like.”
Diao smiled and leaned forward crossing her hands in her lap looking back toward the tombstones. “Well where should I begin since I last talked to you. I um. Well I’ve helped some of those big name heroes now, you know. Manticore… that archer guy in the red outfit, and Positron… those guys that fought in the war. I’ve even helped Statesmen twice!” Her head shook slightly as she tried to collect her thoughts, the newly redesigned graveyard done with each individual tombstone to mark the unnamed and masked crime fighters. The original grave site for all those who had died in the arena now known as Dark Astoria, a hellish place unfit for even the dead to reside. Her hands came together in a hard clap as she fell back completely on the blanket, her eyes fixed on the sky as it flashed to the night the war started, the red portals making the sky glow like blood.
“Well anyway I…”
The voice continued to drone on through the small monitor on the lavish desk in a large office, the raven black hair hanging down framing her face huffed out as the sound was muted. One gloved hand moved to press her glasses up as a leg came up and crossed over the other causing the dress to strain in its already tight nature. A cold glare shot out of the corner of her eye toward the brutely man standing next to her, his bald head reflecting the light as a gush of wind cleared his voice box and he held the folder up to read from it. The red folder with the stamp of Meta-Human in big bold black ink on both sides as the small tag on the top read “Hoang, Diao”.
The gentleman everyone had come to know as the right hand man Hopkins to his employer the Countess Crey let his words come out in a quite yet firm show of professionalism. “Your Adopted Niece, Diao Hoang. Age 21. Classification as a Meta Human is ranked high on not on the security level but notoriety, classification as a Tanker- Mutation Type. She has inherited the Genetic Mutation of her Biological Father Resulting in near indestructible body combined with strength possessed by her mother but the means of this power is unknown.”
Hopkins stopped as he looked up toward the slowly turning hand of the Countess as she sat behind her desk, the obvious look of boredom drawing across her face. “Right. Skipping ahead she did not begin her career as a ‘cape’ for 3 years after she had signed up with the registry thanks to your involvement in her life. Although in…October of 2007 she finally started her career and began to work her way through city. Though she teamed regularly with other meta-humans she never found ones that she called friends, more times then not her natural resistance to damage making her a bit harder to stop then the rest of her team…even after they had been sent to act as floor buffers.”
“Up until.. December of 2007 she had met a lull in her activity. She had met routinely with the Doctors at Crey Laboratories for both a mental and physical examination. Her body while it appears like a normal teenage girl houses a few secrets…” His head lifted up as a small protector, no bigger then a playing card deck began to flicker to life with the dimming lights. The image was an X-Ray view of the girl’s body, her arms spread out for a moment before dropping to her sides for another shot. “One, a weakness. Although she may be immune to seemingly all forms of damage there is one that she has shown little aversion to and has resulted in more then a few instances of defeat for her.”
The image began to magnify on her brain as the computer generated image of small purple waves began to flow toward her skull. “A weakness shared by her Father, she has little in terms of mental training. Her mind to a psychic is just as easy to scramble as it is for me to break one the skull of one of those little fireball throwin’ type heroes. So it has been noted for future reference to use psychics to deal with her when she causes us too many problems.” Hopkins closed the folder and placed his hand on his forehead as the image zoomed out and then in once again. This time it was on her left collar bone, the skin being generated in the close up showing a scar traveling half way through her collar bone and out the other side.
The skin once again burned away as did the muscle revealing a large section of the girl’s collar bone to in fact be missing, cut through by the Rikti weapon that had caused the scar when she was younger. “This point.. If the doctors are right… could be hit with enough pressure to shatter her collar bone and thus break her invulnerable body. Just how much force is yet to be determined but a recent fight with a…quote unquote “Hero” from the Praetorian Dimension… was able to break Diao’s bones along her right arm in several places resulting in total loss of control.” The slides finally started to come to a stop as the lights returned to normal on their own, automatically controlled by the many programs running within the office building.
“Through the various exams by our medicinal staff we’ve determined a number of changes in her body. The first one being the gradual increase in her leg strength, she has slowly been growing faster and able to run longer as she has developed more stamina. Likewise her physical health has improved. Among one of the rarer things was this nifty fact, through her body’s on natural mutation through her father’s genes and one of the most surprising parts of her genetic make up is this. She has signs of the various Rainbow Chemical agents within her DNA, seemingly where it was absorbed into her structure through her biological father which triggered a secondary mutation in the girl.”
Hopkins had once again opened the folder and began to read, his voice shifting to show that he was reading a direct quote from a passage within the folder’s contents, his eyes skimming over as he read. “Through the various blood works taken and looked over from the Countess Crey’s niece was a strange discovery. Within the vary make up of her cells we discovered very minuet but trace amounts of the Rainbow Herbicides used during the Trail Dusting operation in South Vietnam in the late 60s. We tested again and again and each time we could isolate and verify the presence of Agent Purple, the toxicity of that alone should have resulted in abortion of the fetus and her turning into a cancerous mass then a walking breathing healthy girl.”
Hopkins stopped as he heard a small squeak, his eyes shifting up to see the hand had stopped and was now resting on the arm of the chair, his employer leaning forward with an intent stare as she said not a word. “We have come to suspect that these chemicals are actually the result of post mutations found within her body. For example we have found higher levels of the chemical known as Agent Green in her blood whenever she has shown her powers of levitation, allowing her to fly at moderate speeds. Whenever she taps into the teleportation ability to recall objects to her extremely high concentrations of Agent Pink are found within her blood and the mixture of Orange, Purple, and Blue resulting in an increased metabolism that literally causes her muscles to contract and allow for more rapid swings”
“Although further testing is not available at the time it is suspected that her body naturally breaks the chemicals back down before the toxins can harm her. But there has been testing done on her father who is still serving his many years time at the Zig, one of those unlucky few not bothered to be unlocked with Lord Recluse’s attempt at finding his destined one. His body seems to be holding quite a bit of various chemicals from back then, and our technicians were able to figure out just what makes him tick. It seems his mutation is the absorption of compounds into his body and making his skin react to resist future damage from that material. Each time our Doctor’s attempted to draw blood they had to switch to a different type of needle as his body reacted much like a shield to the previous metal. So from that they suspect that while her ability isn’t quite that it’s that her body uses genetic memory to produce and destroy the toxins, but aside from that they have no idea what exactly happens.”
Hopkins closed the folder again as the projector started to play once more, this time the lights did not dim but instead played clips from various recording devices and views throughout paragon city. “Her abilities thus far from our recordings show through her many months are the ability to hover in controlled movements, Flight at speeds clocking in at almost 60 miles per hour, Among other things her body, heart, liver, lungs, all of it even her metabolism works at an accelerated rate nearly constantly resulting in an increased rate of work for her body burning calories and fats quicker then usual.”
The video had once again switched but this time the palms of her hands had begun to glow, her hand pulling back with a sudden crackle as the body of another heroine appeared floating in the air in front of her. “One of the strangest things is her ability to teleport friends around, we know she has access to one of our more newer technology, a gift from Crey Corp to the heroes of Paragon city that allows her to active the emergency teleporters to the hospital in her allies and teleport them direct to her instead of the hospital. But aside from that we have no idea as to why or how she can recall allies to her without that technology.”
The squeak of the chair caused Hopkins to finally stop and look away from the image projecting onto the wall, his eyes focused through dark shades on his employer as she sat back running a finger down her cheek and toward her chin. Not a word escaped her lips as she reached back up with the other hand and pressed the volume of the monitor back up, the small 2 man group that had been following her still focused on the set of tombstones.
“So what else has my darling Niece been doing as of late?”
“Well, ever since she registered as a hero. She took down the King of the Clockworks… those things that keep stealing our light bulbs and power lines all over the city. Granted that isn’t much as I could probably take that oversized machine down a few pegs. She worked with Sister Psycho and took out Clamor, one of the higher ups in the food chain of the bodymod freaks. Reminds me of that Silver Bitch that hangs around the Scorpion in the isles. Anyway. After that she helped the Cittie, fitting that he was too busy to do it himself but anyway, after doing the routine with the council she and her group locked up Vandal, the “free thinking radical” as the politically correct term goes now…or as he was known before a Nazi. A small tidbit, she also recently broke into the Council’s base of operations in Striga and beat the shit out of that Bulk guy.”
“Burkholder Hopkins, and leave the colored commentary out of this…”
“Right ma’am… uh.. Skipping over that little incident with Manticore she…”
“She landed your ass in jail for several weeks while I had to spend millions bribing the charges off of your record. She knocked out several of your teeth and combined with the efforts of her little group in your UNATHORIZED fight… You nearly had my entire company locked in so many legal actions and inquires that we would have gone bankrupt. You’re lucky to even be walking around right now with a Job…”
Hopkins’ mouth was clenched tightly as he tried to think of a way to escape the current situation, the normally big man only truly afraid when he was being scolded by the Countess. A terror seeming to grip him so tight it never wanted to let go. “Ugh just get on with it Hopkins… don’t even think of mentioning anything else that I should have you shot over.”
“There are a few other heroes she usually hangs around with but aside from that it’s not much to mention. She’s gone through the list of the cities beloved Surviving 8, Numina, States, hell she even helped that hotty from Vanguard. Bet that was a bit of a touchy moment huh? Having to fight all those Rikti, even the beloved Hero 1… guess he wasn’t so tough as she walked away from it. She’s seen her fair share of work in other dimensions as well, she is regularly seen running to and fro portals at Portal Corp, and reportedly she’s taken down the Praetorian counter parts over there. Hey I wonder… if they are our exact opposites would mine have hair?”
“Yes Hopkins I’m sure he’s a Fabio with bigger muscles… GET ON WITH IT!” The broad grin that had begun to cross the large body guard’s face quickly died down as he glanced off to the side before opening his folder once again. “Recently reports suggest she has actually spent quite a bit of time in a dimension come to be known as the Shadow Shard, that place where we.. Misplaced a few prototype Paragon protectors. We don’t know exactly what she was doing there but it seemed like she was on a mission to stop something cause for several hours no one saw her then out of the blue she popped back into Paragon.. Trashed her way through some office buildings and then went right back into that hellish place.”
“Nemesis, Malta, Clocks, Freaks, Nazis… her little group of friends have taken a good beating to them, not to mention our own forces. She was pretty darn tough when I fought her but I think it was all of her little allies that helped. Aside from that there really is not too much to report on Boss, well aside from her birthday is going to be here in a few months. She did seem to like that vanilla perfume that you got her last year, the same stuff that you wear but she has been getting spoiled as of late by the city council. I mean she…”
Hopkins had stopped talking as he stared out the window; the all too knowing siren began to blare as the force field walls that had protected the city for so long after the first invasion began to flicker off. Like clockwork the ships began to part the darkened skies as the Rikti once again started their invasion, the genetically modified humans turned alien invaders trying to destroy the city from the sky. The lights of the lavish office began to flicker and dim as power lines broke and snapped with the explosions that rocked the city sending an angry huff of air to escape the Countess’ lips. Her heels dug into the carpet as she stood up and began to walk out of the office grabbing the file from her personal assistant and ever faithful bodyguard.
No sooner was she two steps away did his foot come down as he began to follow the small in comparison woman, their exit occurring simultaneously as the camera that had been fixed upon the bunny eared heroine began to rise up into the air. The muffled screams hidden by the siren as the camera traveled from the large talons up the body of a towering dragon. His mouth cracking in a large toothy grin as several other heroes stepped out from behind his wings, one after another they revealed themselves as the camera hit the ground with a static filled burst before going dead as the circuits inside broke.
Diao’s head turned to peer behind her, the sirens that had gone off were deafening as she simply shook her head and stood up. Slipping her gloves back onto her hands she ran her hand through her hair and turned back toward her friends and allies. Most of them were not on record for Countess but after two quick throws both employees for the corporate empire were thrown off to the side and left to sleep off their troubles as the group of heroes took off in various forms of travel.
[end]
Changes since then.
*She has removed the Bunny ears from her Tiara/Headband and the clip on bunny tail from the back of her clothes.
*Her hair as gotten a little longer
*She wears a necklace now that has a crescent moon and a full moon over it
*Her scar is a little more prominent from a fading tan
*She has several wounds that seem slow to heal even with her body, most notably are whip like marks along her back, stomach, and thighs. These were done during Torture she experienced at the hands of Mother Mayhem and Malaise.
*At times she’ll space, and her attitude may change at random but will usually revert back rather quickly. Another affect of the torture. This also has led to a slight fear of Psychics in general.
*She does have signs of injury on her right arm and left arm from a fight with her Praetorian counter part Hue.
