Phantomasque
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| Phantomasque | |
| Player: @Metafiction | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Dominator |
| Security Level: | 11 |
| Server: | Everlasting |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Lucille "Lucy" Houdin |
| Known Aliases: | N/A |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 28 |
| Height: | 5'3" |
| Weight: | 125 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | Brown |
| Hair Color: | Brown |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Hero, fashion designer |
| Place of Birth: | Galaxy City, Paragon City, Rhode Island, USA |
| Base of Operations: | Founder's Falls, Paragon City, Rhode Island, USA |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Unknown |
| Known Powers | |
| Illusion control, psionic assault, telekinetic flight | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Creates illusory constructs to immobilize, confuse or frighten enemies; fires bolts of channeled psionic energy to mentally assault foes | |
| Equipment | |
| Carnival of Shadows mask (repurposed) | |
| ' | |
Phantomasque is one of many newly-empowered meta-humans roaming Paragon City. Her abilities are primarily of a psionic nature.
Origin
Lucy Houdin asked for none of this.
One moment she was on her way home from a long day at work, the next she was staring down the barrel of some street tough's pistol. Maybe it was her own fault for walking alone in the dark through Founders' Falls, one of the more dangerous neighborhoods in a city notorious for its ever-present crime problem, but in that moment none of this occurred to her.
Before the thug or his accomplice behind her could so much as demand her valuables, however, the world around them began to shimmer and distort, as though everything had been a mirage. With a scream of horror, the goon clutched his hands to his head, his gun clattering harmlessly to the street. He staggered backward as a trickle of blood oozed from his nose, before he crumpled to a whimpering heap on the ground. Behind her, his flunky fell onto their back, eyes wide with fear as they watched the goon writhe. As Lucy turned, the accomplice crawled backward, in a desperate attempt to create distance, before finally scrambling to their feet and fleeing in terror.
Lucy let out the breath she'd been holding. But she wasn't relieved for long, as only now did she spot the reason for the thugs' sudden loss of nerve.
Across the street, a shadowy figure stood, implacable, imposing. As if sensing its work had been finished, the figure stepped forward, and all at once was illuminated in the dim light of a faded street lamp. It was a woman--at least, it seemed to be--clad in an elegant bright blue dress, blonde hair cascading over her shoulders that seemed to sashay playfully with each step. On the woman's face was a mask, ghastly white, with an inscrutable expression etched into its porcelain. Everything from her exuded an indescribable aura of sadistic menace.
Lucy collapsed to her knees, a clammy chill enveloping her as terror overtook her mind. Being shot by muggers would've been bad enough, but an Illusionist from the Carnival of Shadows? She was practically already dead.
The masked woman continued to walk toward Lucy, crossing the street without heed for traffic. Cars honked at her, slamming on the brakes in an attempt to avoid hitting the odd jaywalker. One car noticed too late and plowed straight into the woman, only to pass harmlessly through her as though she wasn't even there. With every step, the woman drew closer--and so too, Lucy knew, did her doom. Lucy clenched her eyes shut, begging to whatever deity existed to just let it be over quickly.
The woman's footsteps drew closer and closer, coming to a stop just a foot or two away from her. And then...
Nothing.
Lucy cowered there for what felt like years, waiting for the seemingly inevitable. But the inevitable never came. Against every ounce of better judgment she had, she opened her eyes ever so slightly.
There stood the masked lady, as expected, but...she wasn't doing anything. She just stood there, peering down through her mask at Lucy, head cocked to one side, as if analyzing her. As if...judging her?
After a moment, the woman made her move. She reached out her hand to Lucy, seemingly to help her off the ground. In what would not be the last example of poor judgment she would exhibit on this evening, Lucy, shaking uncontrollably, reached out to grab the masked woman's hand.
And that's when her mind exploded.
In an instant, the world gave way to a tempest of lights and colors as Lucy felt her psyche being unraveled. An irrepressible energy rose within her, and pain coursed through her body as she tried desperately to keep it contained. Frightful images passed before her eyes, images of death, destruction, chaos--scores of innocents being sacrificed and their souls consumed by...something. To this day she can't remember whether she screamed. The sheer force of will bubbling up from inside her threatened to consume her whole.
It was over as quickly as it had begun. All at once, the power receded, and the familiar shapes of the cityscape reassembled themselves before Lucy, who was still collapsed on the ground. She gasped for breath, her entire body still aching from the exertion. She put a hand to her face to wipe away the beads of sweat that had formed on her bow. But rather than skin, her hands touched porcelain.
A mask.
Lucy pulled the mask off of her face. It looked almost exactly like that of the woman over her. Her head began to ache as she studied it, but when she put it back on, the ache immediately subsided. Was the mask...helping her keep the power contained?
The woman reached out her hand once more, this time beckoning Lucy to stand. A syrupy-sweet, yet ice-cold voice filtered through the mask: "Welcome to the Carnival, dear."
Lucy stared at the hand, then stared at the woman's masked face. As their eyes met, the images Lucy had seen flickered before her once more. For just a moment, the illusory face of one of the murdered innocents aligned perfectly with that of the woman's porcelain mask. At this point, Lucy made the second of her pair of incredibly poor decisions.
She scrambled to her feet and fled.
Even now, she wonders why the woman didn't pursue her. She could have easily ended Lucy's existence with a thought. But instead, Lucy escaped, and within a week she'd moved far away from Founder's Falls. She finally settled down in the neighborhood where she'd been born: Galaxy City.
That, of course, did not last long. Following the Battle for Galaxy City and her subsequent evacuation to Atlas Park, she ultimately decided to hone her powers as best she could, in the hopes of one day being able to stand up to the Carnival...as long as they don't find her first.
Powers
Phantomasque possesses an exceptional level of psionic energy, which she keeps contained using her repainted Carnival mask. Although the mask is not strictly required to keep her abilities in check, maintaining control without the mask places a far greater level of stress on her body and mind. In theory, once Phantomasque has become fully acclimated to her powers, the mask will no longer be necessary at all, although it is unclear when or if this will be the case.
Phantomasque channels her psionic energy through the mask, which manifests the energy into illusory constructs such as immobilizing spectral walls or intimidating "spirits" that provoke a fear response in most organic beings. These illusory powers are also capable of making Phantomasque's foes turn on one another by altering their perceptions of one another. In addition, Phantomasque is able to bypass her mask's channeling ability by firing beams of raw psionic energy at enemies, assaulting their minds directly.
As well as the above, Phantomasque has exhibited the ability to fly through localized autotelekinesis, though she seems to lack other telekinetic abilities.
Weaknesses
Phantomasque's mask appears to be the key to her controls. Though its absence does not deprive her of her abilities, as stated above, manual control places much greater strain on her mind and body. Theoretically, sustained separation from the mask could cause her to undergo physical and/or mental breakdown, the hypothetical results of which are unclear at this time.
On a more mundane level, Phantomasque has exhibited several instances of questionable judgment, whether due to inexperience or flawed decision-making. As such, she is occasionally prone to unforced errors that make her job much more difficult than otherwise. She also seems to be compelled to stop muggings and robberies whenever she spots them, which often results in her wasting valuable time during more urgent missions.
Associates
Phantomasque is not known to be affiliated with any organizations or supergroups at present. Though reports have linked her with the rising Kings' Row-based supergroup The Shining Stars, these reports have not been corroborated.