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Powers/Power Stunts:
Union's body armor is lightweight aluminum chain-mail, hardened by the magnetic fields of his cyber-suit. This repels gunfire easily, but offers little defense against energy. The armor's helm ties into the cyber-suits energy grid, translating it into a visual of the surrounding EM fields.
Union's cybernetic suit is a matte sliver skintight and full-body (except his face). Without the gloves and hood it is easily concealed by long-sleeved street clothes. The suit enhances all of Union's physical abilities, most notably guiding and speeding up his coordination to inhuman levels. It enhances his strength while reducing his energy output, increasing his effective endurance. Combined, this augments Union's combat abilities—Toomes has no training, but is so fast most people can't effectively react. Watching Union move is interesting—he's inhumanly sure and fluid. Everything is done with total economy, total grace, and perfect timing. He never seems rushed or even fast—he's just suddenly there.
More importantly, the suit (with the hood on) gives Union control of electromagnetic fields. He can: Manipulate roughly 400 pounds of ferrous metals within a few hundred feet; Use the planet's EM field for flight—which he can greatly enhance when following man-made EM fields such as power lines; Release devastating electrical shocks with a touch; Manipulate elementary electrical flows or and short circuit electronics in his immediate vicinity; Sense the electromagnetic flows in an area, locating hidden power sources and the like. Finally, the suit automatically folds electrical energy around itself, protecting Union from Electrical Attacks.
Body Armor—Excellent (20) protection from physical attacks
- +2 CS (+15 pt.) to Fighting, Strength and Endurance;
- +5 CS (+45 pt.) to Agility
Flight (over normal areas)—Typical (05) (90 mph)
Electrical Manipulation—Incredible (40)
- Resist Electricity—Incredible (40) (Conductive)
- Control Electrical Flows—Incredible (40)
- Flight over EM Fields—Incredible (40) (400+ MPH)
- Shocking Touch—Incredible (40)
- Electrical Field Sense—Incredible (40) Power Stunt—One use
Magnetic Manipulation—Good (10)
- Control Ferrous Metal—Good (10) (400 lbs.)
- Magnetic Field Sense—Typical (05)
- Scramble Computers—Good (10)
- Entangling Attack—Good (10) Power Stunt—One use
History:
'The determination between heroism and villainy is usually one of circumstance.'
Adrian Toomes was born in 1901, one of the children of the 20th century. He had a normal childhood, showed an aptitude for engineering and a love of the new electrical sciences. He spent his life working with electronics—throwing himself into it at the expense of many other things, including his once-fiancée Julia Rand. Despite his losses, Adrian was successful: his skills protected him from the worst of the depression, and though he never came out of the shadow of the field's pioneers, he was respected. That was enough.
In 1939 Adrian was recruited into a special government program—FDR knew that the German war machine had produced some amazing pieces of technology, and he needed to have good, competent stable people on hand to analyze it. Toomes was one of these Top Men, and he loved it. The President had asked for his help! As before, Toomes never broke away from the pack or spearheaded breakthroughs, but he made contributions and he was respected. That was enough. (During this time he had contact with America's costumed heroes. Not much, but he saw them, spoke to a couple, and shook Captain America's hand once, after the Sentinel of Liberty saved the 'Top Men' from a saboteur's bomb.)
When the war ended he went to work at Roxxon's new electronics division, where he again traded his social life for his work and never really excelled. He got his name on a couple patents for electrical technology, put the money in the bank and kept working away.
During his early days at Roxxon he met Paul Wilson, who was heading up a labor movement at Roxxon's shipping docks, where products were moving in and out of New York and New Jersey on the companies massive tankers. Paul Wilson had been an idealist, a true believer in brotherhood and solidarity, and Adrian was still riding the emotional high of his wartime experiences. Paul's faith had caught the embers of Adrian's own, and the obvious truth and justice of the cause had brought Toomes back out of the lab and back into the church for the first time in years. Adrian helped organize the white collar (and, for that matter, white) workers in the corporate offices and labs to work with the nascent union, if only to put pressure on the larger company to move to the negotiating table and not use violence to break up the strike. While the affair was not bloodless, it ended with the formation of one of New York's first black unions. Adrian and Paul have been friends ever since, despite the rigors of time and tribulation.
In 1954 Adrian's department head called him into his office. The meeting was very polite, very pleasant. They wondered why Toomes never gave it his all. Yes, he came in early and stayed late. Yes, his work was up to caliber. But he never seemed to give it everything he had, never really innovated. They had had hopes when they'd seen the fire he presented to them in the 1947 'union incident', but that had never come up in his work again. They'd already had to promote three younger, hungrier engineers over him, and Adrian hadn't even noticed.
They were letting him go. Restructuring—the Roxxon energy sciences department was being spun off into as the Brand Corporation, for financial purposes. The severance package was quite generous. He had money coming in from those patents, which would continue for decades. The guys in the lab were apologetic, some quite angry—'Adrian was the grand old man of the lab,' 'Losing him would be like losing an uncle'—but in the end there was a little party, a little booze, a small cake the secretary brought in, and assurances that Someone would snatch him up. Something would come along.
Nothing did. No one wanted a 53 year old engineer who, to be honest, hadn't really invested himself in his work since the war. Adrian could simply retire, live off his savings and income, stop working altogether, but, but...electrical engineering was what he did, how he defined himself. Without it, he had, he was...Nothing.
Along came Gregory Bestman. Bestman had worked with Toomes at the company—a hot shot sales rep working his way up the ladder. He had sought Toomes out, giving the old man an opportunity: The old company was too full, an Bestman was never going to get any further in it. But his own company, that would get him ahead. He had the business savvy, and the experience with sales and promotion, but not the technical expertise. Toomes was a genius who the company had never really given a chance to spread his wings, and now needed the tools and equipment to prove to those bums that Adrian Toomes wasn't finished yet. They made a perfect pair. Bestman and Toomes Electronics would rock the world!
Bestman was a good salesman, and Adrian bought his pitch wholeheartedly. Greg had rekindled Adrian's faith in himself, gave him a new purpose a new place to work. Plus, he'd be able to follow his own ideas, and show that this old man wasn't fished by a long chalk. He never questioned when Bestman asked him to sign over the patents to the business -they'd need capital and collateral for the start-up loans, established products to get them noticed. He didn't question when Greg offered to handle all the finances and paperwork, so as to keep Adrian from getting distracted. He didn't even notice that Greg didn't put up one dime of his own money, but ended up with the controlling interest. He was in the labs, making miracles, and happy again. Greg respected his mind, his talent, and soon everyone would see that Toomes had what it took.
Things went great for years: the company grew at a slow, steady pace, and Adrian got closer and closer to a major breakthrough. He knew there were big things ahead. Adrian Toomes blossomed in the lab over those six years—with no one telling him what to do or overshadowing him, he made incredible strides in electromagnetic research. When he made this last step, he'd be remembered forever.
The he met his old Boss at the delicatessen by accident, and learned that Bestman hadn't quit because the company was stifling him—he was fired for illegal business practices. Suspicion gnawed at him, and Adrian had to see the books, just to reassure himself. Toomes discovered that Bestman had been lying to him about the firm's profits and had been effectively stealing Toomes's share. Enraged, Toomes confronted Bestman but quickly discovered that Greg had all of his bases covered. Papers that Toomes had signed put the lion's share of company control in Bestman's hands. Bestman had Adrian thrown out and fired.
Without legal recourse, Toomes took what little money he had saved and was able to secure financing to open up his own electronics repair business. He was SO close to the breakthrough he could taste it, but he couldn't work on his projects until he was sure Bestman wouldn't have any claim on them. His sense of self-respect shattered, Toomes needed to make that breakthrough to prove himself. That, along with his hatred of Bestman and his corrupt legal tricks, kept Adrian going. He got a young lawyer, Murdock, who talked him down from drastic criminal action and got the court order Adrian needed to reclaim his projects. The electronics business kept him afloat, but the projects at night and on weekends kept him alive.
Finally, he made that breakthrough—a cybernetic suit that enhanced his physical abilities and gave the wearer manipulation of electricity and magnetism. Aluminum chain mail covering it for the suit's fields to enhance and toughen. When he put it on, he no longer felt like a washed up old man, but like a hero! "Captain America must have felt like this!" he thought as he effortlessly performed back-flips and aerial acrobatics.
It was then that the radio reports of the strike busters at the nearby Williams Electronics plant caught his attention. Heady with the exhilaration of the new suit, unwilling to see the big guy grind down another group of the disenfranchised, he flew to the scene and routed the thugs with his marvelous...armor! It wasn't a suit, it was armor, and weapons! He was a hero! Or at least, he could be. The suit's Magnetic Resonance scanner hid his face, and he shouted that he was with the Union when asked, before flying off in exhilaration. He had found his way to gain respect without sacrificing his morals or oppressing others. Old Man? Hah! Washed Up? Hah! Take that Bestman, and WE, and everyone else who thinks that the law can be twisted and still masquerade as Justice.
Toomes knew that if WE had done this once, they'd do it again. Something had to protect the workers from another assault, preferably before it happened. Getting into the WE building was easy—who defends against flying men? When he looked for evidence of the businessmen's complicity for the papers, he discovered the WE plant's ties to the Maggia. Leaving with all the evidence he needed and an electrified Dreadnaught in behind him, Toomes flew into the city.
The next day Ned Leeds at the Daily Bugle had a big front page headline about Maggia Corruption at William Electronics, and the world had a new hero—Union. Toomes kept his identity secret, to keep the Maggia from exacting revenge. But when it looks like the strong are ganging up on the weak, when the wealthy are oppressing the poor, or when people of all creeds and colors are in danger, Union is there.
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