Phase

Phase
The ‘’’Phase’’ is an extra-human hero in the ‘’’Four Colour Collective’’’ (FCC) Modern Day Universe.

Origin
Pieter Romanoff was born sometime in the early sixties in Communist Russia. At the age of three, however, he was smuggled out after defecting to America, an act that would one day haunt him. Pieter, under the more American-ised moniker of Peter, never fully knew his Russian heritage, and lived most of his life as a Westerner. His parents pushed on him from an early age to be as much of an example and asset to the world around him, and as such was a star student, both in the classroom and on the field. He was soon granted a scholarship to university to study Nuclear Physics, and also to run as the star track runner. The first of many tragedies began to deeply effect Pieter at the age of 20. His parents, discovered by Russian agents, were assassinated brutally in their family home, and his sister Lula vanished a few weeks later. He also found his attempts to further study in his chosen field of Nuclear Physics blocked by the American government, afraid that he would betray their secrets to the Russians. He quickly feel into a deep depression, the first of many in his life. He instead used his ability on the field to make his impact, in the hopes that he would be able to continue his studies. After winning several state championships, he was destined for the Olympics, until once again his heritage caught up with him. Members of the Russian Mafia, contracted by the Communist Government, drove Pieter’s car off the road, to make an example of Russian defectors everywhere. Amazingly, he survived, but was left a paraplegic, without complete loss of ability in his legs and limited function in his hands and arms. Perhaps sadistically, seeing that he was unable to travel long distances to defect back to Russia, only now did the American government allow him full access to his chosen studies. Pieter fell into a depression that many who knew him say he still has not yet recovered from. His mood grew darker and darker, and it was now that he first attempted suicide. Having access to the universities’ particle accelerator, he placed the activation on a timer and wheeled himself into the tube. He had first loaded the tube with all the unstable matter he could find, hoping that he could atom smash his way to oblivion. Discovered too late to stop the machine, students and teachers could only watch as the particle accelerator fired, smashing wave upon wave of hyper-accelerated matter into Pieter’s body. It is said that the first wave tore his blood through his skin, only to have it loop around and smash back into him almost instantly. It was then that Pieter’s extra-human heritage came to him. He survived this suicide attempt, and the saturation of faster-than-light energies activated his extra-human abilities. His simple survival in such an environment marked his as something unique, and soon he was approached by DEHA, who granted him the means by which to utilise his new-found super-speed (notabley, legs) Pieter also later joined the Ascendency, for reasons unknown but still backed by the American government. Rumours to a connection with his fellow team mate the Russian Bride are unconfirmed.

Powers And Abilities
Pieter can exist outside the established time that we all exist in. This grants him, to the outside observer, the ability of super speed. Time is relative to his body, and he can consciously distort and dilute his personal time-space and that of people and objects within his vicinity. Whilst his powers seemed to have a minor regenerative ability on him, Pieter still has limited use of his limbs, due to injuries sustained from a car accident as a youth. He employs an experimental exo-skeleton and a series of electrical implants that allow him enhanced mobility. The effectiveness of these implants, ironically, diminishes over time, forcing Pieter to conserve the energy within the suit.