Supers Character: Vamp

Background

Etta Mae Burns grew up on the wrong side of town. She learned to protect herself early on and never forgot the lessons of the streets. But unlike a lot of kids, she saw a way out. At 17 she signed up for the Army, and after her 18th birthday shipped out.

She did very well in the army, and was recruited into an infiltration team. After training, she was deployed to Werveristan (located between Northern India and Pakistan) to infiltrate the forces of rising leader, Ra-Iss Aadeem.

Her mission was successful and she gained Aadeem's trust becoming increasingly important to both his organization, and the man himself. She found herself tempted by his ideals, and understanding his goals for his people. She was a young girl in far over her head. This charismatic leader, skilled with words, skilled with weapons, and martial arts prowise bordering on the mystical, was able to see her ambition to do good like no one else ever had.

She and Aadeem became lovers, and her reports became fewer and less detailed. She was working for the organization in earnest. They were cleaning out the Opium trade from the lands, and building modern cities. She was able to do here what she could not do for the streets from her childhood home.

She served with Aadeem for 8 years before a team of Green Berets extracted her in the middle of the night.

She was tried and convicted of desertion and gross dereliction, though the court stopped short of treason. At only 29 years old she was sentenced to a life behind bars, with no chance to ever see freedom. That is, until she was given a second chance. If she volunteered for the Super Soldier program, she would not only be freed from prison, but reinstated and given a purpose again. The risks were high but what other choice did she have?

The scientists attempted to create a soldier impervious to the effects of energy weapons, an increasing danger on the modern battlefield. The result was a success, but had unexpected side effects. In addition to blurred vision, for three days she could not eat, unable to keep food down she was whithering away. Being fed intravenously was worse, with her body convulsing from the injections.

On the third day, Etta grabbed the arm of one of the researchers, and her hand passed right through him. He collapsed from the touch, but she felt better than she had in days. What had she done? How had she done it? When one of the guards came in to see what had happened she instinctively grabbed him, again passing through him like a ghost. Now she felt back to her old self. Fed, and rested.

They were able to determine that, in addition to absorbing energy, she fed on the biological life energy of others. Feeding by phasing through them. And her blurred vision wasn't that at all, but the ability to see the life auras of others. Her new powers gave her the ability to determine who would make the best "food". Though her draining touch would not kill, it would harm and severely weaken he target for some time, and by over feeding she could super charge her powers, gaining quickness and strength.

Because of her ability to absorb all types of energy, she became much more pale in complexion. That, combined with the feeding from the life energy of others earned her the code-name Vamp, which she isn't crazy about.

Heroes Unlimited Character Stats

Links

Images

Here are few alternate images I had cooked up for the character, mostly costume variants.

All of the images were created using HeroMachine 3, which is a fantastic, easy to use, character image generator.