Carnival

An international criminal organization that uses the cover of a travelling carnival and freak show (be honest—you knew there had to be at least one, right?), Carnival started in the United States, organized by Psi-Phon as a platform for robberies and arranging contacts with ESPers to leech from. After several very effective years and the growth of his variant associates, Carnival met its match in the Detroit Warriors. A personal enmity arose between Daedalus and Psi-Phon, one that led to the parasitic variant stripping powers from his own allies to continue his war with the winged telepath. As one would guess, this shattered the Carnival organization, at least temporarily.
     In 1986, Madame Portent managed to contact all of her former allies and spirit them to Europe, fleeing what she had foreseen as an unstoppable Daemoniac invasion that would wipe North America clean. While the Daemonwar didn't turn out as she had predicted, her actions did re-form Carnival in Europe. After several months of disorganized activity, they were joined by Cecilia St. Cloud, a professional thief and former terrorist. She became their new plotter, giving Carnival cohesion and direction. While she has her own axes to grind, she is not the dominant force that Psi-Phon was, and the team makes its decisions by consensus, limiting itself to robberies and occasionally dabbling in blackmail.

Blindrazor
After the loss of his sight to an electrical accident, knife thrower Albert Janovitch honed the rest of his senses to superhuman levels (presumably variance made possible by said electrical accident). In addition to naturally high reflexes and extreme knife throwing skill, Blindrazor has a variant electromagnetic energy sense that compensates for his loss of sight. Mostly non-violent, Blindrazor will target to hit with the hilt of his knives, to pin his opponents, or at worst to wound.

Cecilia St. Cloud (the Bearded Lady)
Not a variant, Cecilia is legitimately a Bearded Lady. She is also a former European terrorist and professional thief. She is skilled up to Beta level with tactics, stealth and martial arts. While she still has political connections across Europe, she has lost her passion for changing the world and is now after personal wealth and comfort. Carnival fits into those needs nicely, but she has been known to focus her plans around humbling or harming her former political adversaries.

Madame Portent
A Beta level general mystic, Madame Portent can see the future through the use of Tarot cards, yarrow sticks and other fetishes. This is very tiring to do specifically, but she has an incredible intuition and instincts for what may happen. While her combat effectiveness is limited to giving people the evil eye (and mild misfortune), her abilities give Carnival a huge edge in knowing what to do and not to do. She is having an affair with Wild Man, liking them big and dumb.

Phreaque
Phreaque is a full bore variant mutation, having a variety of distinct and obvious physical quirks. These include: 1.5 times the normal number of vertebrae, making his spine abnormally flexible; a second set of fully functional arms; cat's eyes for low-light vision; a controlled pheromone emission system whose hallucinatory effects can change his appearance; additional digits on his fingers and toes, increasing his hand-eye coordination and climbing ability. Carnival is his home and family.

Psi-Phon
Founder and former leader of Carnival, Cyril Wembler had an axe to grind with all humanity. His variant powers included wall-walking and the ability to drain psychic energy and powers from others. He lost control of Carnival during his war with Daedalus of the Detroit Warriors. He is currently in jail following an encounter with Powerhouse of the Justice Defenders. (Note: This character's name and abilities are based on the character in FGU's Most Wanted Volume I.)

Troll
A midget ESPer whose sole power is the generation of gradations of fear, from slight unease and enjoyable carnival-ride fear to bone-numbing terror that causes the target to flee or collapse. He was Psi-Phon's right hand man, and it was his power Psi-Phon stole in the events surrounding Carnival's initial disbanding. He is a gruff, unpleasant man, but behind that is an intense loyalty to his "family," who risked everything to rescue him before their flight to Europe.

White Dwarf
The second of Carnival's European members, White Dwarf is a massive albino, weighing in at over 450 lb. While most of that weight is fat, there is significant muscle behind it. More importantly, White Dwarf is a Beta level gravity controller, able to increase or decrease gravity's effects on anything within his line of sight. He cannot produce anti-gravity, but he can reduce anything to an effective weight of 0. He and Troll are good friends, as they are equally unpleasant.

Wild Man
The team's other non-powered member, Wild Man is still a threat. He is a huge man (6'6", 320 lb) who is a lifetime bodybuilder. Wild Man is capable of incredible feats of strength, and is used to pushing his body past its normal limits. Carnival's bruiser, he wields a huge mallet in combat, ready to ring the bell of anyone who gets in his way. He is trained only to Alpha levels, and is little more than a distraction. He is also Madame Portent's lover, so he is luckier than he should be.

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