Origin: The New Heroes

First came the Marked Alliance, the earliest generation of graduates of the Mistry Academy, and they were the stuff of legends. The Marked Alliance saved lives and confronted incredible threats, and all the students wanted to be just like them.

Among those students were four teenagers who found their way to the Mistry Academy from disparate walks of life. Technique, who learned to wield their massive telekinetic force with the elegance of a scalpel. Songbird, a former singer whose voice could shut down the powers of other Marked. Spriggan, a charming soul wrapped in a body covered in bark and vines. Jury-rig, a half-alien super-intellect in the field of technology. They trained together, learned together, and grew into a surrogate family.

Graduation gave them an opportunity to prove themselves. Beacon was on the rampage, and Dr. Mistry asked them to join in the fight. And that’s when it all went wrong. The battle was long and brutal and ended with the deaths of both Beacon and Dr. Mistry.

Dr. Mistry’s death has ended a chapter; who better to start a new one than her students? They’ve returned to the Academy, taking up the roles of teachers and staff members left vacant after the battle. It’s time to design the future, though exactly what that looks like is still in flux. How will they teach a new generation of Marked when they’re barely more than students themselves? Are they part of the Marked Alliance now? Is there even a space for the Alliance in this new era? What lessons have they learned along the way that they want to impart to their new pupils?

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51: B. Mahelona // Songbird

Age: Staff, Origin: The New Heroes, Training Team: Lightning /

Subject: Power Control
Power: Power Dampening

Mahelona was born on Oahu, Hawai’i to a small, loving family, and if you believe their father, Mahelona was born singing. Mahelona’s Mark first appeared during a school recital, where they sang in front of a packed house. Mahelona’s power travels through their voice, shutting down the abilities of other Marked, but when not kept under control it can do so much more. The audience convulsed and fell into unconsciousness as Mahelona’s song echoed throughout the auditorium.

Mistry Academy came to Mahelona’s aid. Though they would never be able to sing again without unleashing their power, the Academy helped Mahelona find the strength to harness their abilities. They quickly made friends with the other students at the Academy, and happily volunteered for every “field trip” mission.

When Mahelona and the others were drafted into the battle with Beacon, they were happy for the chance to prove that they could help others. Instead, it all went horribly wrong; Mahelona froze in the moment and now Dr. Mistry is dead. In the wake of that death, Mahelona has returned to the Academy as a teacher to try and pass on the lessons that Dr. Mistry taught them, and to maybe atone for the fact that they couldn’t prevent her death.

51: B. Mahelona // Songbird Read More »

54: R. Haley // Spriggan

Age: Staff, Origin: The New Heroes, Training Team: Drizzle /

Subject: Survival
Power: Bark Skin

Haley can still remember the exact moment it happened. Walking home from the pub in Cork City, Ireland, a sandwich dangling from their hand, thinking back on the good craic, when a bus just came out of nowhere and plowed into them! The next thing Haley knew, they were upside down, their skin was made of bark, and they’d even grown tiny roots into the ground. Dr. Mistry found Haley hiding in the woods a week later, an axe stuck in their butt by a very confused camper, and brought them to the Mistry Academy.

The Academy taught Haley how to live with their new body, and how to use their barky exterior and weird roots to help. And help they would. The battle against Beacon was a dismal failure; but it taught Haley one thing: how dangerous the world is. Haley’s learned that final lesson well, and they’ve returned to the Academy to pass that lesson on to the next generation of students.

Still miss that sandwich though.

Content warning: Physical deformity

54: R. Haley // Spriggan Read More »

57: Q. Oliveira // Jury-rig

Age: Staff, Origin: The New Heroes, Other Staff /

Position: Computer Technician
Power: Gadgets

Oliveira’s super-intelligence doesn’t come from any Mark; it comes from their parents. You see, Oliveira’s mother is from Northeast Philadelphia, and their father is from Gliese 667 Cc. Growing up with super-intelligence was tough, especially in the American public school system. Oliveira often felt disconnected from their fellow students, and their teachers couldn’t keep up with them. Standing out felt uncomfortable, so Oliveira just did the bare minimum. They found their joy online, absorbing incredible amounts of information and just learning everything and anything there was to learn. After a couple of years of reading all of the internet they noticed something that no one else had: a hole in the information, something intentionally missing. Oliveira was able to discern its shape and purpose from what was lacking – a hidden world of superpowered people, and a school for them. So they texted Dr. Anya Mistry and asked her if they could come to school there.

The Mistry Academy became their home, but it also became their project. Olivera saw each student’s abilities as a new opportunity to test their skills. They crafted the holo-emitters and personal assistants that dot the school grounds. They designed the special gear that the Marked Alliance used in the field.

They saw the battle with Beacon first hand, saw all of the death and the bloodshed. This all needs to stop, and they might be the only person smart enough to invent a solution.

57: Q. Oliveira // Jury-rig Read More »

60: M. Novak // Technique

Age: Staff, Origin: The New Heroes, Other Staff /

Position: School Medic
Power: Telekinesis

Novak’s childhood was spent in the foster care system. It was a tough childhood, the constant changing of homes and schools made it feel like nothing was stable. When their telekinesis first manifested and ripped the back off of a school bus, it just sealed Novak’s fate that they would never have a home.

The Mistry Academy proved Novak wrong. The teachers there showed Novak how to channel their abilities from torrents of crushing power into the finest and most elegant of touches. Just as Novak had been helped, they wanted to use their powers to help others, learning how to use their telekinetic skills with such finesse that they could literally conduct surgery with their mind.

Novak wasn’t ready for what was to come. The battle with Beacon left only death and destruction in its wake. All of the hope that had been instilled in Novak fled them, and in its absence grew one a dark and cold conviction–that war was coming, and the only way to win it was to fight the hardest. Novak has returned to the Academy to make soldiers for this coming war.

60: M. Novak // Technique Read More »