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KOTC Database Entry: SCREAMING SKULL, THE
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| QUOTE: | "Let me see, I think it was back in '75. No it was '77; I remember because of the..." "You didn't make coffee. Let me explain carefully; the only thing keeping my ancient heart beating is my morning coffee. Get the picture?" |
BACKGROUND: |
INTERVIEW. The offspring of Detective Sean Stewart and Rachel Wertzer, daughter of the brilliant inventor Hans Wertzer. In his younger days, Victor Stewart had a penchant for robbing banks to fund his experimentation into the sonic sciences. As a member of the original Injustice Gang, he partook of many of their plots, including the infamous attempt to subdue the city by means of a giant tuning fork. When the Injustice Gang disbanded, he returned to his life of bank robbery, where he encountered and was eventually taken into custody by Crucible, after passing on a piece of philosophy which greatly affected the novice superhero. Having served out his sentence in Stronghold, Stewart was released in late October, 2000, having apparently reformed (although this was denied by his parole officer, Harvey Fain) and was hired by Crucible to continue his researches on the side of good. The star employee of Sirenos Inc., Stewart has aided the group on a number of occasions. Recent events, however, have threatened Victor's status both within the group and without. At the instigation of Fain, Victor was arrested and charged with conspiracy following the break-out at Stronghold. The resulting chain of events left many of the group questioning where his loyalties lay, and whether or not they were being played by the former mastermind. When the Injustice For All affair was at last put to rest and the dust settled, the matter came to trial. Gravely ill as a result of attacks made against him by the upstart Sonic Skull and with his health declining further as a result of cellular damage arising from his exposure to untested sonic devices, Stewart was unable to testify on his own behalf and was found guilty of one count of escaping custody, and also of violating his parole. Although his sentence was light and still allows for him to continue supporting the group, lingering suspicions and fractured trusts might make that relationship problematical. Currently, when not serving his weekend sentence at Stronghold, Victor has taken some time off to go on a book-signing tour for his autobiography; "Mastermind: Memoirs of an Evil Genius". He is a man broken both in spirit (by the recent death of his estranged daughter), and in body (by his own technological devices). |
MOTIVATION: |
Pursue his researches. Honor the traditions of the super-powered. |
TACTICS: |
While in his youth Stewart partook of many a footchase and brawl, his increased experience has taught him to plan more carefully. He will seek to be possessed of the right tools to complete a job before beginning it, and acts intelligently to maximize his chances of success. |
KNOWN STRENGTHS: |
Intelligent and cunning. |
KNOWN WEAKNESSES: |
Honorable. Stewart was taken into custody during a situation that he could easily have escaped were he not so honorbound. |
OFFENSIVE POWERS: |
Sonic gadget pool. |
DEFENSIVE POWERS: |
Sonic shield. |
NON-COMBAT POWERS: |
Extensive ability to manipulate/detect sound/radio waves. |
FOCII/EQUIPMENT: |
Anything he can rig up. He is particularly known for Screaming Sally, Wailing Willy and more recently, Pinging Pete and Voxbox Vicky. |
LOCOMOTION: |
Normal. Some capacity to rig sonic-based teleportation devices, though these seem to retain a few bugs and might not be safe for regular human operation. |
KotC ENCOUNTERS: |
- met Crucible while robbing a bank. - after his release, was hired by Crucible to head Sirenos Inc. (reporting to Lawrence Schexnayder), and formed a close relationship with the younger man. - met Cipher at the lab after she joined the Knights, and has likewise mentored her. - the testimony of many of the Knights at his trial revealed an ambivalent side to their relationship with Victor. Although some, like Hazardman and Cipher maintained the utmost faith in Victor's newfound loyalties, others like Sub-Zero and Phoenix cast doubt against the value of his assistance or wondered about the influence this former villain had over the collected heroes. - after accompanying the group to New York for the meeting with the Gentleman's Adventurers Society (and the events that transpired therein), ended up stuck with them (technically in the custody of Agent DeSalvo) as they investigated the The Emile F. Chopin Home for the Criminally Insane, and ended up the pawn of his old teammate Phantasm. |
KotC COMMENTS: |
- Crucible: "This man - more than any other - taught me what it means to be a Super Hero. I owe him a great debt." - StarSeed: "[He offered] no help that we couldn't have gotten at the Radio Shack." |