Beast

[Beast]

Name: Dr. Henry Phillip 'Hank' McCoy

Alias: Beast / The Beast

Age: Early 30's

Gender: Male

Side: Neutral - Awaiting All The Facts

Appearance: X-Men Costume:

Beast. Hank McCoy's codename is even more fitting now, given his recent physical alteration to something more of cross between simian and feline. Standing just over 6' tall, Hank tips the scales at a rather charming 402 pounds, which is attributed to a denser skeleton, dense muscle tissue, and fur. Hank's frame features some rather impressive musculature, even though much of it is hidden beneath a coat of shaggy cobalt blue fur. Hank's somewhat crude handpaws feature three paw-like digits and an opposable thumb, each one tipped with a non-retractable razor sharp ebony claw. Hank's prehensile feetpaws are quite a bit more simian in appearance, but also feature a full set of ebony claws.

The most feline aspects of Hank's appearance can be found in his facial features. His headshape is clearly feline in configuration, even sporting a pair of perked triangular cat ears peeking out of his hair. The most prominent aspect of his face is a short muzzle, ending with a large blue feline nose. Hank's jaws are even fitted with a full compliment of fanged teeth and a rough tongue. The most striking aspect of Hank's features is probably the eyes. Just like a traditional cat's eyes, they glow a luminous yellow and feature slim diamond-shaped black pupils. The fur around most of his face is somewhat short, though it's complimented by large mutton chops that frame his feline face. His head is graced with a short mane of complimentary darker blue hair.

Beast's sporting his most recent X-Men costume. In keeping with Cyclops' recent reorganization of the X-Men teams, the costume is much more in keeping with traditional 'Superhero' wear. Composed out of unstable molecules, the costume is designed to offer protection, while not limiting either his physical abilities or movement. Consisting simply of three pieces, there is an optional X-Jacket that Hank rarely wears. Beast's lower arms are encircled by a pair of black bracers accented with yellow trim, granting him some added protection when blocking attacks. The main body of the costume are black pants which look more like something you'd see in the wrestling ring, sporting a rather unique V-Cut waist and which end just below the knee. The V-Cut of the waist actually plays into the design, a massive yellow 'X' emblazoned across the front and back. Like the majority of Beast's past costumes, it features no boots.

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 402 Lbs.

Eye Color: Blue

Hair/Fur Color: Cobalt Blue


Mutation/Powers:

MUTATION OVERVIEW:

Beast's original mutation was active at birth, and was far more subtle than it later became. He started out looking fairly Neanderthalic in nature, the most obvious aspect being the oversized hands and feet that he sported. After leaving the X-Men and taking a position at the Brand Corporation, Hank underwent a change of his mutation. Forced to drink a formula he'd been working on to disguise his form, Hank lost track of the time and was unable to drink the antidote in time. His new form featured a much more beastial look, complete with claws, fangs, and gray fur which eventually turned blue.

After his time with the Avengers and Defenders, Hank rejoined the original five by five X-Men by forming X-Factor. Shortly afterwards he was abducted by Dr. Carl Madthingys, who used Hank to perfect a means of de-mutating his son Artie. Unwilling to try the formula on his son, Hank was elected as a guinea pig. X-Factor stopped Dr. Madthingys and saved Hank before the procedure was complete, though Hank once more returned to a more human looking state, but with blue hair. During a battle with Apocalypse's Horsemen, Hank was touched by Pestilence. Oddly enough instead of growing sick from the attack, Hank started growing even stronger with every use of his abilities. Unfortunately it seemed that his increasing strength was feeding on his intelligence.

When Beast was reduced to nearly a child-like state, he prevented Iceman from being kissed by Infectia. Infectia's kiss was capable of transforming the victim into a monstrous thrall, but in Hank's case it simply restored his intellect and returned him to his iconic 'Blue Furry Apeman' appearance. He remained like that until very recently, when he was nearly killed by Vargas, a villain that the X-Treme X-Men team was after in Spain. In a coma and near death, Sage visited and jump-started Hank's mutation with her abilities, hoping to boost his body's natural healing ability. It worked, but it also caused him to devolve from his more familiar apeman form into a new feline one. The form required Hank to relearn most of the things he took for granted, like using a pen. Due to an attack by Cassandra Nova and Hank's new feral instincts, he often finds himself questioning his humanity.


ENHANCED PHYSIOLOGY:

Beast's body is dense with muscle tissue, even more so since his further devolution. Currently his form is almost totally inhuman, looking somewhat like a cross between a feline and simian anthromorpic being. Hank's current body weighs in just over 400 lbs., though according to body mass calculators it contains very little fat for someone of Hank's height and age. Most of it is due to a larger skeletal structure and increased muscle mass over the average human specimen. His body and skeleton are both incredibly durable due to his mutation, allowing him to take a blow up to 3 times his own weight without receiving a broken bone or sprain. Hank has even noted after recovering from being repeatedly beaten in the head with a titanium bat, that his new form seems tailor-made to grant his brain more protection. And his form is durable enough to survive a 3-4 story fall without suffering damage, provided that he manages to land on either his hands or feet. Which thanks to his agility and balance, isn't hard.


ENHANCED AGILITY:

Hank has always been agile, almost even from birth. His further mutation to a more feline-like form hasn't change that one bit. Were he to compete, he could most likely easily put the most accomplished circus performers or Olympic gymnast to shame. Even with the large mass of his body, he's agile enough to move quickly and smoothly, even quickly enough to deflect or avoid most evident attacks against him. He can be caught off guard of course, not possessing any type of danger sense or telepathy to warn him. His balance is astounding, being able to walk both tight or slack ropes with the ease that as a normal man walks the sidewalk. Walking is not limited to his feet however, as he can just as easily walk on his handpaws for several hours, if needed.


ENHANCED ENDURANCE:

Hank's physical mutations also allowed him to develop an enhanced stamina trait. He can perform at peak effort for approximately four hours, before the need to rest arises. A side effect of this is that poisons, drugs, chemicals, and other toxins only function at around 1/3 to 1/2 strength when used against him. This also has the adverse effect of requiring him to double and triple any medications that he needs to take. It also makes getting drunk much more difficult. His immune systems is perfectly balanced, preventing him from being sick a day in his life. Due to the increased metabolism, his daily food requirements are also roughly triple that of a normal person.


ENHANCED SPEED:

Beast's leg muscles were built for speed, even his weight doesn't have much of a negative impact upon his top running speed. Both swift and agile on his feet, he can run between 40-45 MPH in a fully bipedal stance. And alternatively can take a more 'four legged' running position, as seen in gorillas. This way he can uses his elongated upper arms and their strength to assist in locomotion. In this stance he can achieve speeds of up to 60 MPH, until he exhausts himself. Even when running full out, his agility and natural sense of balance help to ensure he doesn't lose much speed even over uneven ground.

ENHANCED STRENGTH:

Another of Hank's augmented physical traits, his body is blessed with an incredible strength. While he weighs alot, the fact that the majority of it is dense muscle gives him a level of Superhuman Strength. This was further augmented by his change from human-like to more animal-like. He's able to bench a maximum of approximately 3 tons of weight. Though he's rarely one to push this ability to it's maximum. Since additional weight must always be compensated for, this also has the added effect of hampering his agility. He's also able to apply a vice-like grip with his fingers and toes, allowing him to cling to and scale walls with ease. The additional use of his hand and feet claws, assist in making those two feats easier to perform.


FERAL SENSES:

The 'devolution' of his physical form, did offer a few added perks. The majority of his senses now work on a level above that of the average human or mutant. This stat features a breakdown of his heightened senses.

Sense of Hearing - Hank's perked feline like ears grant him a larger range of hearing than is common in humans. He can pick up sounds from a greater range than normal, upwards of 50ft for normal levels and 10ft for hushed tones. And he's also able to hear frequencies, such as ultrasonic, that are normally beyond the range that are capable of being heard by the normal human ear.

Sense of Smell/Taste - Hank has developed an impressive augmented sense of smell. This is due to his feline like muzzle and the larger and more sensitive olfactory centers that have developed in his brain. Hank's ability to detect and track scents, are now on par with that of a Bloodhound or Great Cat. Likewise, Hank's sense of taste is equally advanced. Both of these allowing him to detect foreign agents in food or air with increased efficiency.

Nightvision - While his basic eyesight has not been augmented enough to allow him to set asside his glasses, his feline eyes did grant his vision a boon. Hank now possesses a feline-like level of Nightvision. Allowing him to see in extreme low light situations, almost bordering on total darkness.


HEALING FACTOR:

Hank's physical mutation and his powers run the physical gamut, has granted him an augmented healing trait as well. Beast's advanced constitution trait has gifted him with an above average healing factor level. It allows him to heal at a level that appears to be consistent with 3x-4x that of the average human. This will not replaced lost limbs or completely destroyed bodily tissues. But normal healing does allow for a swifter healing time.


LEAPING/JUMPING:

The Bouncing Blue Beast. A nickname that really is quite fitting, when you see him in action. Beast's incredibly powerful leg muscles, combined with his agility and acrobatic skills allows for him to leap/jump large distances with little effort. His current maximum leaping ability is approximately 15 feet in a standing high jump. And 25 feet in a standing broad jump. He also knows how to calculate his jumps, being able to use the surfaces around him as a springboard to alter his path. Basically, he literally can be bouncing off the walls, even without the aid of caffeine or sugar.


MANUAL/PEDAL DEXTERITY:

Beast's incredibly large hands and feet are still incredibly dexterous. While the size isn't quite as noticeable as when they once where, they're still a fair bit larger then his build would typically sport. His feet are prehensile in nature, allowing them to function perfectly as a second pair of hands. Due to years of self training, they can now do anything that his regular set of hands can do. And the combination of both hands and feet working together can be quite astounding to some. For some strange reason, perhaps some curious wiring in his brain, Hank is actually able to split his focus enough to use his hands and feet to work on two seperate projects at the same time. Technically this ability would be considered, Quadridextrous. His reflexes are also, quite well pronounced. Equal on level to his dexterity in most respects.


NATURAL WEAPONS:

Beast's Feral Mutation has gifted him with natural weapons, somewhat like those that are found on many of the larger types of Great Cats. His hands and feet sport non-retractable claws and his mouth features fang-like teeth and powerful jaw muscles. The following is an over-view of both.

Claws: Henry's large handpaws and prehensile feet sport a full set of sharp non-retractable claws sprouting from the tip of each dexterous digit. These claws are strong and can easily tear flesh, metal, concrete and other similar materials with enough force applied behind them. They assist with griping on difficult surfaces. And both can be quite handy for assisting in clinging and climbing as well, especially combined with his vicelike grip. While having claws can be very dangerous, Hank takes special care as to not hurt people.

Teeth: Beast's large muzzle features a full set of very feline looking fanged teeth that would corrispond to those found in some of the larger cats of the world. This gives his smile a much more feral appearance than it once had. With full force behind a bite, Henry can easily tear thru flesh. And the pounds per square inch of his jaws could be enough to break a bone should he really put his heart behind it. Denser materials then the above mentioned aren't quite as easily bitten. Not only that, they usually taste terrible.

Non-Mutation Abilities [Specials]


GENIUS:

Wily Coyote, Super Genius.

While Hank's genius level intellect is not directly connected to his mutation, his retention and recall abilities are presumed to tie into a somewhat different wiring scheme that his brain employs. The only hints that his mutation may have something to do with his genius, was when he was suffering the effects of being touched by Apocalypse's Horseman, Pestilence.

Hank was shown to be clearly gifted from an early age, and has spent his life developing his intellect at every opportunity. While not some sort of mutant parrot, Hank does does posses an almost photographic memory for everything he's read, which he can recall with fairly uncanny ability. He's the sort of guy you definatly want on your team for Trivial Pursuit. It should also be noted, that Hank's an accomplished speed reader as well.

Beast falls near the upper spectrum of the genius level on most well respected I.Q. tests. His intelligence has allowed him to become both a great scientist and doctor, as well as explore several other avenues that interest him over the years. He holds a rather impressive 12 Ph.D's, many of which were gained by working in conjunction with researchers at other universities, including MIT, Harvard, Berkeley and Yale. Beast also holds an M.D., with a specialization in Genetic Mutations. He graduated first in his class, and performed his residency at the Muir Island Facility in Scotland.


FERAL INSTINCTS

With Hank's new feline mutation, he's found that he also is starting to develop more animal-like instincts. While Beast abhors his new form and all the problem associated with it, he's come to find a positive in so much negative. With a few moments preparation, Hank can actually suppress his intelligence so that his instincts are in chief control over his movements in battle. Like Logan's 'Berserker Rage', Hank becomes a great deal more dangerous and unpredictable, and even was shown capable of going toe-to-toe with Wolverine easily. Even Danger, who was programmed to anticipate and counter any of the X-Men's fighting styles was caught off-guard by Hank's wild tactics. Of course, the serious worry for Hank is that it takes time to regain control over himself after a fight, and that there may possibly be a time when the animal within' will resist Hank's attempts to suppress it.


MULTITASKING:

Beast possesses an astounding ability to multitask. Quite possibly his brain is wired differently enough that he's able to split his focus between two projects at once, while suffering no real loss of performance. It's almost as if both hemispheress were functioning separately, in charge of each task. Adding in his prehensile feet, and he can do just about any two things at once. He can also add additional simple things, as long as they don't require sharp focus to perform them. Such as carrying on a simple conversation, doing the crossword puzzle, or watching television. What a wonderful gift for someone who's often so full of ideas, and wants to see them all realized.


PSI-DEFENSES:

All members of the X-Men receive some level of training in resisting various forms of psi-attacks, especially those relating to mind control or mental domination. It's probably a good thing, considering how often that it seems to happen. Beast's received this training as well, from the eminent expert on the subject Charles Xavier aka Professor X. Beast has found that the best tactic to employ is to try to focus his mind on things such as complex scientific formulas, or run through a particular dirty limerick that relates to the periodic table of elements. While it's served to offer some level of protection when dealing with mental attacks in the past, when Beast was attacked by Cassandra Nova it only allowed a limited level of defense, given she was utilizing Xavier's high-order telepathic abilities at the time.

[Beast]

History/Background:

Mutation.

It's scientific fact that most children who develop to be X-Factor Positive do so at puberty. There are exceptions, as early manifestations have been observed in children who suffer early trauma which catalyzes their mutation. The rarest example of these deviations from the norm are X-Gene active births. Hank has deviated from the norm his entire life, so why should his birth be any different. Hank's X-Gene active birth is assumed to be due to his father's exposure to radiation while employed at the local nuclear power plant.

Henry "Hank" Phillip McCoy was born to Norton and Edna McCoy in Dunfee, Illinois in the early 1970's. Other than being a rather large birth, the only obvious signs of his mutation at that time was a slightly Neanderthalic appearance and the rather large hands and feet that he sported. As he grew into a well rounded young man, it soon became apparent that Hank was also rather gifted across the physical gamut. And not only that, he possessed an amazing intelligence and curiosity that often got him in a bit of trouble.

Of course, his appearance and intellect earned him no love from the so-called 'popular' kids in school. Hank likely would have grown up to be a very different young man, had it not been for Jennifer Nyles. She managed to see the 'prince' beneath the 'beast', while he was helping to tutor her in biology. In return, she helped Hank break out of his shell. She even dragged him to their junior prom, where she surprised Hank greatly by decking someone who was heckling them. Beast had found his Belle, it would seem.

During his senior year of High School, Hank found himself as the Quarterback of the football team. This was due in no small part to Jennifer Nyles, who had convinced the Coach into letting Hank play after he'd passed his challenges with astounding ability. It was here where Hank earned the nickname of 'Beast', in recognition for his superhuman agility and athletic performance. While he soon became the talk of the town as far as High School sports, what happened next cemented firmly who Hank would become in life.

While Jennifer went off to London to study genetics, Hank stayed in Dunfee to attend College. The couple kept in touch, deeply in love and with hopes for the future. A star football player in College, Hank made more than the sports page the night he stopped three men who had robbed the stadium during one of his games. His amazing physical abilities were on the nightly news, which attracted the attention of the villain by the name of Conquistador. He believed Hank was the key factor needed for one of his newest schemes.

The Conquistador kidnapped Hank's parents, using them to force Hank to help steal an experimental nuclear reactor. Hank complied to protect his parents, but afterwards the Conquistador refused to release them. After all, Hank's abilities were still valuable to him. Refusing to continue being forced into criminal activity, Hank attempted to escape. It was only thanks to the timely intervention of the X-Men which saved Hank from being killed. Together Hank and the X-Men made short work of the Conquistador and his men.

With the Conquistador taken care of, Professor Xavier invited Hank to join the X-Men. As a member, Hank would also attend Xavier's School for Gifted Youngers. The temptation to attend a private school with almost limitless avenues for academic excellence was more than Hank could resist. Unfortunately, Hank would soon learn that the offer came with a great cost. That night he called Jennifer in London, only to discover she no longer remembered him. Xavier had removed any trace of Hank from her memories.

Furious with the discovery of what Xavier had done to the girl he loved, Hank had to actually be restrained by his new friends from wanting to strangle Charles. Xavier simply explained that it was for Hank's own good, that just like his parents someone could use her against him. The logic was sound of course, and Hank had little choice but to accept what had been done. Hank choose to remain with the X-Men and Xavier's School, but to this day still harbors a great deal of resentment against Xavier for his actions that day.

Shortly after this Jean Grey joined the team, and they had their first of many public encounters with Magneto. Behind the scenes, the major battle seemed to be for the affections of Jean Grey. While Scott and Warren competed for her affections, Hank and Bobby typically ended up hanging out together. They soon became regular frequenters of the Cafè A-Go-Go in New York City, in no small part due to Bobby's attraction to one of the waitresses. It was here where Hank's rather oversized feet led to a bit of craziness with the regulars.

During one of Bobby and Hank's regular visits to the city, Hank was nearly lynched after risking the reveal of his real identity to save a child who was about to fall off a water tower. After a number of battles with the likes of Magneto, the Vanisher, the Blob, and Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants, it was something as simple as anti-mutant hysteria that shook Hank's faith in Xavier's mission statement. Unwilling to continue risking his life to protect those who hated and feared him, Hank resigned from the X-Men.

To make a living, Hank used his physical abilities and his X-Men training to his advantage by becoming a wrestler. Hank was easily able to hide his mutant status, fitting in fairly well with the rest of the corny and colorful wrestling personalities. "The Beast" quickly became a top-draw villain, ensuring that Hank was likely to become a millionaire within' the year. One of Hank's early matches in this new career was against "Unus the Untouchable", who Hank quickly discovered was a fellow mutant with ties to Mastermind.

After using his brilliant scientific mind to defeat Unus by super-charging his powers, Hank once more rejoined the X-Men. Things continued as usual for the collection of strange teens, their lives alternating regularly between the normal and the fantastic. Even with regularly foiling the schemes of numerous villains, Henry managed to continue his education. Thanks to Xavier's tutelage he even managed to complete his doctoral studies far ahead of schedule. Beast remained humble and fun-loving however, thanks to the antics of Bobby.

After countless adventures with the X-Men, Hank felt it was time to move on. With a heavy heart he left the team, soon finding employment at the Brand Corporation as a Genetic Researcher. While working here under Dr. Carl Madthingys Henry managed to isolate the hormonal extracts that were the basis for mutation. Before Hank could share his findings, he overheard a plot by Dr. Madthingys to steal top secret government documents being stored at Brand. Falling back on his X-Men training, Hank took it upon himself to stop him.

Not having his X-Men costume handy to disguise his identity, Hank did the unthinkable. In a scene right out of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, he drank his hormonal extract. The formula had the desired effect, heavily altering his appearance into a more animalistic gray-furred apeman. In addition it also increased his body's physical abilities far beyond their norms. Unfortunately after stopping Dr. Madthingys, Hank was unable to return to his lab within' a one hour window. Leaving him permanently altered into a true 'Beast'.

For a short time afterwards, Hank disguised his new form with the use of a wig and a set of latex gloves and a mask that he created to resemble his former appearance. He also made use of elasticized straps and bands to force his body to not assume a more comfortable gorilla-like posture. The latex nature of his disguise led to straining his growing relationship with his co-worker Linda Donaldson however. After all, he couldn't allow her to get too close or even kiss, as she would have noticed the unnatural texture of the mask.

During a visit by Tony Stark to Brand, an sudden crisis led to Iron Man believing Beast a villain. During the fight that followed, Hank mistakenly believed he'd killed Iron Man. This was just an illusion planted in Hank's mind by Mastermind, in order to get him to join the 'Brotherhood of Evil Mutants'. Unaware that Beast was the former X-Man they had fought before, he was accepted as a member. Soon after Hank overcome Mastermind's manipulation, resigning after soundly thrashing each one of them single-handedly.

Hank returned to Brand, but soon after had to contend with a new problem. Due to the numerous sightings of 'Beast', the Pentagon assigned General Buzz Baxter to investigate. To make matters even worse, Beast found himself in the care of the General's wife Patsy, after only just defeating the villain Quasimodo. Exhausted, drained, and delirious, Hank revealed his secret identity while under her care. The next morning after recovering and discovering that his fur had turned from gray to cobalt blue, she tried to blackmail him.

In return for her help in keeping Hank's secret, Henry agreed to provide a favor for her at a later date. Patsy refused to reveal the full terms of the deal, but Hank had little choice but to agree. Sadly, Beast's time at Brand was cut short anyway, when he was captured by the Secret Empire. To Hank's dismay, it was Linda Donaldson who arranged his capture. For weeks, Beast and other mutants were used to power a special machine. They were eventually freed thanks to the efforts of Captain America, Falcon, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl.

Unable to return to the Brand, Hank used the time to accept his new form. An open audition for The Avengers drew Beast to Yankee Stadium, in the guise of Edward G. Robinson. Always a fan of theatrics, Hank removed the disguise and revealed himself to be the former X-Man, The Beast. Hank explained that he had quit the X-Men originally to pursue his research of genetic mutation, which led to his current 'Beastial' form. However he began to miss the days of being a hero, and wanted to join The Avengers for the team dynamic.

Before Hank's membership can be discussed, the Stranger's voice echoes through the stadium. Having filled the stadium with mines, he challenges them to disarm the mines in six minutes, or they'll detonate. Thor, Iron Man, Wasp, and Yellowjacket each fail in their attempts to reach the disarm lever. In the end, only Beast and Moondragon remain. Realizing what he must do, Beast bounds out onto the field of mines. His animal-like grace, speed, and agility easily allow him to reach the lever in time to deactivate the mines.

With Thor, Iron Man, and Yellowjacket beginning to recover, the Stranger flees when Moondragon manages to defend against one of his attacks. Sadly the damage has already been done, as the Wasp is quickly rushed to a local Hospital in critical condition. Later as Beast, Moondragon, Iron Man, and Thor leave the hospital they're met by a large crowd who heard of Wasp's condition via news reports. The crowd doesn't react favorably to the sight of the two prospective members, many referring to Beast as the Avengers' "pet gorilla".

Beast once again proved invaluable in defeating the Stranger, who actually turned out to be Toad. One of Magneto's former lackeys, Mortimer had been using stolen alien technology from the Stranger's planet to masquerade as him. After this, Beast earned probationary member of the Avengers. Hank would prove to be an invaluable member of the team on a number of occasions. And even his bio-chemical skills proved important, such as when he saved both Giant-Man and Wasp from a mysterious illness that was tied to the Pym particles.

After several adventures as a probationary member of the team, Beast was offered full membership. Hank gladly accepted, though of course with his usual flourish for the dramatics. Being an official member of the Avengers led to some rather interesting changes in Hank's life. He began to notice that people no longer showed the same level of fear about his feral looks or paranoia and hate about his mutant heritage. Even nicer, he started attracting a large number of beautiful female fans, to which he had no objections.

Beast also developed a strong friendship with Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man. Since everyone else was often busy with other things the pair would often spend their evenings together. Going to the movies, discussion superhero life, and going out to local bars cruising for ladies. However when Henry Gyrich limited the team to just seven members which included Beast but not Wonder Man, Simon left to pursue a career as actor. The two remained close friends, with Simon occasionally offering his help as a stand-by member.

When Gyrich's attempts to regulate the team eventually fell through, a slot once again opened up in it's roster. Pleased with the turn of events, Beast called in Wonder Man to replace the departing Falcon. Beast's upbeat mood didn't last for long however, as an X-Men crisis tested Hank's duty and friendship with both teams. While pulling late-night monitor duty for the Avengers, Beast received a call for assistance from the police. The report indicated that the X-Men had apparently attacked the Hellfire Club in New York.

Wanting to investigate this attack himself, Beast erased the report from the computer records and hurried to the Hellfire Club. Finding the X-Men, Beast soon learned of Jean's corruption and change to Dark Phoenix. Wanting to be prepared for Jean's return from space, Beast built a neural scrambler that would hopefully aid them against her. Unfortunately Jean's ungodly power level burned out the device in short order. Had it not been for the might of Xavier's mind, Dark Phoenix would likely have killed the entire team.

With Jean back in control again, the team faced a new problem. The Shi'ar had decided that Jean was too dangerous, and had decided she had to die. Unwilling to allow such an action, Beast and the X-Men faced the Imperial Guard on the Blue Area of the Moon. If the X-Men emerged victorious, Jean would be allowed to live. During the battle, Jean once again became Phoenix and knowing that she couldn't always control her dark side, committed suicide. The team was returned to Earth, Jean was buried, and Beast returned to the Avengers.

Beast's active Avengers status eventually came to a close, when Captain America re-organized the team down to a more manageable six members. While Beast was originally one of the members chosen to remain on the team, he declined after speaking with Wonder Man. Hank had come to miss being a scientist rather than a comic-relief superhero. Beast departed the team, but soon after turned up at Dr. Strange's mansion, seeking his help to bring Vera Cantor back to life. She had recently fallen into a coma, after being poisoned by a Skrull.

Thanks to the aid of Mr. Fantastic, Dr. Strange, and Daimon Hellstrom, Vera was revived and rekindled a relationship with Hank. Drawn into Superheroing once again, Hank remained to help Dr. Strange save his missing teammates from the Secret Empire. Hank however wasn't too thrilled with the casual make-up of the Defenders' roster, and was convinced to reorganize the group into a more stable team. Beast even managed to convince his friend Iceman and Angel to join, as well as former Defenders Gargoyle, Valkyrie, and Moondragon.

Hank and Vera's relationship didn't last however, and the couple went their separate ways. The attraction was still there, but they decided that it was better to remain friends. As for the Defenders, after a number of adventures together, the other members of the team sacrificed their lives to defeat the Dragon of the Moon. Only Beast, Angel, and Iceman remained, as they had been otherwise occupied with the rescuing of friends and loved ones at the time. It was the end of the Defenders, but something was brewing on the horizon.

Jean Grey, the woman who had committed suicide on the moon was discovered alive. She was found in a cocoon at the bottom of Jamaica Bay by the Avengers, where she'd first emerged as Phoenix. It was soon determined that the Jean Grey who was Phoenix/Dark Phoenix was simply a construct of the Phoenix Force. Jean had been placed into suspended animation by the Phoenix to heal, while it took her place. Jean's rebirth brought the original five back together, even Scott who had been living happily with his wife Madelyne Pryor in Alaska.

Wanting to do something to try to salvage the current state of mutant affairs, and not trusting Magneto who was currently running the X-Men, the original five decided to form a new team known as X-Factor. They would pose as human mutant hunters, allowing them to secretly recruit young mutants they employed to deal with, and teach them how to control their powers. In addition, the group would also function as the X-Terminators, allowing them to use their mutant abilities in public without being connected to X-Factor.

While Angel's wings could be hidden by a backpack, Beast's appearance would have been more difficult to conceal in their public persona as X-Factor. However, shortly after the formation of the team, Hank was abducted by his old boss from Brand Corporation, Dr. Carl Madthingys. Employing Hank's genius to attempt to cure his son Artie from his mutation, Dr. Madthingys actually managed something that Hank had never been able to do, revert his appearance back from furry blue apeman to human, though he retained blue hair.

Soon after these events, the X-Factor team had it's first run in with the ancient mutant known as Apocalypse who was involved in a group calling it's self the 'Alliance of Evil' at the time. Though their encounter with Freedom Force was somewhat more shocking, given they were composed of many former X-Men enemies who were now employed by the Government. Things never seemed to slow down during the early days of the team, as soon they were involved in the so-called Mutant Massacre of the Morlock's by the Marauders.

While rescuing as many of the Morlocks as they could, Angel's wings were seriously injured when he was pinned to a wall by Harthingy. Hospitalized in serious condition, Warren's connection to X-Factor became public knowledge. A short time later his wings were surgically removed, sending Warren into a deep depression. With his connection to X-Factor revealed, Angel believed they would be better off if he were dead, and seemingly committed suicide in a plane. Unknown to his distraught friend, he was saved by Apocalypse.

X-Factor was soon dealt another blow, as Cameron Hodge was revealed to be a traitor, who had been manipulating the team from the beginning. Before they could even locate and deal with that problem, they were drawn into a fight against three of Apocalypse's Horsemen. During the fight, Beast was touched by Pestilence. Instead of killing Hank however, it reacted oddly with what Dr. Madthingys had done to him. Now when Beast physically exerted himself his strength would increase, with the cost of a decrease to his intelligence.

This affliction came at the worst time for X-Factor, as they were constantly dealing with problem after problem, leaving Hank little time to focus on finding a cure. When his friends discovered what was going on, they tried to convince Hank to take it easy. But time and time again Hank's physical abilities were required, causing him to grow progressively dumber. Eventually the team finally came face to face with Apocalypse once more, after being transported to his cloaked ship high above the streets of New York.

On Apocalypse's ship not only did they have to face both Apocalypse and his Horsemen, but also deal with Apocalypse's Faustian attempts to sway them to his side. In Beast's case, En Sabah Nur offered to cure Beast's condition and restore his intellect in return for his allegiance. Hank rejected Apocalypse's offer, as did the rest of his fellow teammates. However X-Factor was soon treated to a great shock when Apocalypse revealed his final Horseman 'Death', the very much alive Warren Worthington, who had been altered by Apocalypse.

During the fight, Hank is once again forced to use his powers several times to defend himself, continuing the decay of his intelligence. Things seem grim for X-Factor, until swift thinking by Iceman saves the day, snapping Angel out of Apocalypse's control. Turning against En Sabah Nur, Warren manages to help turn the tide back to X-Factor's favor. There's little time to celebrate however as Apocalypse flees the scene, and his ship crashes into New York and destroys most of X-Factor's Headquarters. Perhaps for the best.

X-Factor were hailed as heroes with the defeat of Apocalypse, even earning a parade from the thankful city. However Beast was harboring a great deal of guilt, and with his intelligence diminished spilled his guts to Trish Tilby. It had been his fault that Apocalypse's ship had crashed into the city, when he had damaged accidentally during the fight with En Sabah Nur. While Trish used the information in a report about X-Factor, she showed enough compassion to not name Beast by name. While Beast was hurt by what he saw as a betrayl, but Trish was able to convince him that she had meant well.

Beast's intellect continued to deteriorate, and soon he was functioning as little more than a child. However, an intercepted mutagenic kiss from Infectia which was meant for Iceman, reverted him back to his apelike blue-furred form, and restored his intellect. Trish at first had trouble accepting Hank's beastial look, but the couple eventually grew closer after Hank returned from an extended period in space. However Trish's position often put their relationship on a rocky slope, given that she often reported on mutant stories, which didn't always paint things in the most positive light.

The original five eventually rejoined the X-Men proper, after dealing with the Shadow King who had taken control of Muir Island. Due to the large number of X-Men that now called the mansion home, it was decided to split the members up into Blue and Gold teams. Beast was assigned to Blue Strike Force, but after the events of the X-Cutioner's Song ended up dedicating most of his time to the laboratory, searching for a cure for the Legacy Virus. It even caused him to break up with Trish Tilby, after she delivered a news story about the virus which contained sensitive information and led to anti-mutant hysteria.

Beast's every waking hour was spent focused on trying to find a cure the Legacy Virus. It became an obsession, and nearly led to Hank's death. Dark Beast, Hank's AoA counterpart, hacked into Hank's computer and easily lured him to the abandon Brand Corporation building where Hank had once worked. Here Dark Beast sprung his trap, capturing Hank and chaining him up. The Dark Beast would have likely just killed Hank, had there not been a slim chance that he might need information from him in the future. With Hank left to waste away walled up at Brand Corporation, McCoy took Hank's place with the X-Men.

Thankfully, Dark Beast's deception was eventually revealed when he sided with the villain Onslaught. While hunting down McCoy, the newest incarnation of X-Factor managed to locate and free Beast from his prison. Free from captivity, Beast rejoined the X-Men and joined the fight against Onslaught. In the wake of the defeat of Onslaught, Beast even rekindled his relationship with Trish Tilby. Their relationship was further strengthened when the pair were among a group of X-Men that were abducted and found themselves in space, dealing with the Phalanx invasion against the Shi'ar Imperium.

Even with everything else that was going on, Beast still dedicated the majority of his time to trying to cure the Legacy Virus. Any hope for a cure almost died with Moira McTaggart, but Xavier had thankfully managed to save her knowledge before she passed on. With Moira's work and his own, Beast soon was able to design a cure. However the cure came with a cost, it was required to bond to an X-Gene and with the death of it's host, the cure would be released. Hank wanted to find another way which wouldn't require a sacrifice, but before he could his teammate Colossus sacrificed his life to release the cure.

-- Continued In Next Post --

[Black Cat]

oh sorry,
I'll get on changing tht nw

[Beast]

History/Background Cont.:

Beast was one of the X-Men selected by Storm to form her 'X-Treme X-Men' team. The team's primary goal was to locate and acquire the thirteen diaries that were penned by the precog Destiny. The team would operate independently of the X-Men for the most part, as Storm held concerns over allowing someone like Xavier to get his hands on them. After all, even the most powerful mind on the planet could be driven by temptation to use the diaries in the service of doing good, but potentially become corrupted by the power.

While Beast disagreed with Storm's worries about Xavier, he willingly joined the team when asked. Unfortunately Beast's time with the team came to a tragic end, when they were attacked by The Civil Guardia in Spain and captured. While trying to escape from a maze meant to test them, Psylocke and Beast were separated from the main group. They run into Vargas, who also possessed one of Destiny's diaries and had just easily defeated Rogue. Vargas quickly manages to gain the upper hand, swiftly rendering Beast broken and bleeding.

Psylocke fights heroically to protect Hank, but proves to be no match for Vargas. Before Hank's eyes, Betsy is skewered by Vargas' sword. When the X-Men find them, Betsy is dead in Hank's arms and Beast is barely clinging to life. Hank is rushed to the Hospital, but with no hope of recovery a Priest is summoned to attend to last rights. Sage however dismisses the Priest, and uses an until now unseen ability to reboot/boost Beast's mutation. The process amps Beast's healing factor, stabilize his vitals, and allows him to recover.

Strangely enough while healing Hank, Sage witnessed a ghostly 'Lion-like' glow surround Hank's form. Beginning to recover, Beast was sent back to Westchester for his own safety, and during that time manifested what some have termed a 'Secondary Mutation'. Considering Beast's mutation has been unstable since he first turned himself gray and furry however, it's uncertain if this could be considered a true one or not. Regardless by the time he was fully recovered he's basically devolved into a more 'Feline' looking Beast.

Beast's new form led to a number of physical and psychological problems, all of which weighed heavily on his mind. Hank his his true feelings about his new form from others, using his naturally upbeat humorous side. Even claiming that it all seemed pretty normal to Jean. While Xavier was testing Beast's new invention Cerebra, the trio witnessed the extermination of 16 million mutants on the island of Genosha. Investigating the scene, Hank and Jean discovered Emma Frost alive due to a new organic diamond 'secondary mutantion'.

Hank and Jean returned to the mansion with Emma, at the same time that Scott and Logan returned with the monster responsible for Genosha. Beast theorized that Cassandra Nova could be the first of an new unforeseen species, praying on mutants to make way for her own species. He believed she didn't pray on humans as she was aware of what he'd discovered. An extinction gene buried in the human genome, forecasting that within' three to four generations, baseline humans would be extinct and mutants would be the dominant species.

Before Beast had a chance for further theorize, Cassandra Nova managed to escape the containment bubble she was being held in. While attempting to use Cerebra to boost her powers to a global level, Nova's neck was snapped by Emma Frost, using her psi-dead diamond form to get the drop on Nova. Before she could heal from a broken neck, Xavier emptied a full clip into her body from a gun he often secretly carried. To prevent Cassandra Nova from healing once again from the bullet wounds, her body was placed on stasis in the morgue.

Shortly after Xavier revealed himself to be a mutant on TV, and liberating the Chinese mutant Xorn from Feng Tu prison, Beast rejoined the X-Treme X-Men team for a short mission. Trying to transverse the Drake Passage that leads to the Savage Land with a group of Saurids, an explosion separated the team. Rescued by the Savage Land Mutates, Beast soon became enthralled by Lupa, a wolf-like woman with animal control powers. However Hank was able to shake off her control, turning on her at a critical juncture to save his friends.

Returning to the mansion afterwards, Beast began mentoring Barnell Bohusk aka Beak, one of the many new students of the school. Life soon delivered another cruel blow to Hank however, when he discovered a phone message from Trish Tilby, while preparing for a romantic evening with her. Hank's new form was certainly more animal-like than before, and the National Enquirer had ran a story that noted 'Bestiality' three times in regard to their relationship. Putting her career before Beast as usual, she broke up with him.

Later that evening while performing a virtual autopsy on Cassandra Nova, Beast discovered that her DNA matched that of Charles Xavier's. Bringing him down to discuss his findings, Beast was shocked to find that Professor X's mind had been replaced with Cassandra Nova's psyche. Cassandra psychically attacked and humiliated Beast, playing on his secret fears of his recent devolution and all the physical problems it had caused. The arrival of Beak distracted Nova for a moment, allowing Hank to regain control and attack Cassandra Nova.

Unwilling to kill Cassandra Nova while she was in Xavier's body, Beast was unprepared for the attack from behind. Cassandra had managed to take control of Barnell, and the poor birdboy was forced to beat Beast in the head repeatedly with the titanium baseball bat he had planned to present Hank. Cassandra-Xavier departed the scene quickly and left with the Shi'ar, before Hank and Barnell were discovered. Once again in a coma, it was only Beast's new more sturdy feline body that prevented the attack from killing him.

While the others were dealing with John Sublime and his U-Men, Beast was awoken from his coma by Charles Xavier who had managed to reach Hank's mind due to it's comatose state. Calling to Hank, Xavier psychically directed him to the morgue where Nova's body was being kept on ice. Beast removed it from stasis, carrying it to Jean and explaining what had happened. Back from the brink, Hank quickly recovered from the rest of his injuries. Meanwhile, Emma and Jean managed to free Xavier's psyche which was trapped within' Nova's mind.

Making a full recovery, Beast turned his attention to tackling the strange flu epidemic that was plaguing the school, while at the same time trying to find a way to prolong Xavier's life in Cassie's deteriorating body. During a press conference to try and repair the damage Cassie had caused by outing Xavier and the school publicly, Hank finally discovered the cause of the mysterious flue, nano-sentinels that were in their bloodstreams, destroying white blood cells. It was all part of Cassandra's plan to weaken them for the slaughter, which would come at the hands of the manipulated Shi'ar Imperial Guard.

When Cassandra's manipulation was revealed, the Imperial Guard chose to stand with the X-Men when she returned. While Jean was busy with storing Xavier's consciousness in her mind, Beast moved the civilian members of the press down to the Danger Room. Here he ran into Trish again, who tried to apologize. Still hurting from the way she'd broken up with him, Hank told her that he wasn't interested, and that he was most likely gay. Returning upstairs, Beast joined Wolverine and Jean in preparing to fight Cassie. Thankfully timely help arrived, as Scott and Xorn returned from being held captive by the Shi'ar.

Xorn's healing powers killed the nano-sentinels in their bodies, allowing them to face "Bad News Cassie" with renewed vigor. In the end, Cassandra was defeated thanks to Jean's tactics of storing bits of Xavier's mind in every mutant on the globe, as well as assistance from Emma Frost and several students. While everyone was recovering from this ordeal, Beast discovered that Trish had leaked the "news" of his sexuality to the media. Public reaction to Beast's outing was fairly positive, and Hank decided to continue the charade of being gay, hoping to challenge stereotypes and serve as a role model for alienated young men and women, mutant or otherwise.

After helping to deal with a takeover of the school by several students, another crisis hit the school. Hank had discovered Emma's diamond body shattered in the middle of her room, while trying to cheer her up from a fight with Jean. As Bishop and Sage investigated, Beast devoted his time to obsessively piecing Emma's jigsaw body back together. Hank's belief that she was somehow still alive proved true, when Jean detected Emma's consciousness within the nearly rebuilt body. Using Hank's medical knowledge, Jean fused Emma back together. Restored, Emma revealed that it was Esme who had made Angel shoot her.

However not much later, the true enemy chose to reveal himself. With the X-Men separated and off on various missions, well coordinated plans went into action. Wolverine and Jean were sent hurtling into the sun, Beast and Emma's X-Jet exploded while trying to rescue Scott. This left Xavier alone and helpless, and that's when the mastermind made his move. Removing Xavier's ability to walk once again, Xorn revealed himself to be the very much alive, Magneto. Taking Xavier captive and destroying the mansion, Magnus moved onto New York to begin his final battle against humanity with his New Brotherhood.

In true X-Men fashion, both Beast and Emma managed to survive the explosion and crash of the X-Jet. Floating adrift in the Pacific Ocean, Beast spent the time trying to work out all the troubling events as of late. Of course his work was also mingled with playful banter with Emma. Thankfully after three days adrift, the pair were rescued by Jean who had remanifested the Phoenix just as Logan and her were about to die by flying into the sun. Returning to New York and managing to get through the barrier that was keeping all the other heroes out of the city, the four regrouped with Scott and the Resistance.

Together again, the team made one final desperate assault against Magneto, hoping to stop him before his mad plans could be put into motion. Thanks to the help of both Beak and Fantomex, as well as others, the X-Men managed to defeat Magneto. Unfortunately for Jean however, Magneto retaliated by unleashing all of his built-up energies into her body in the form of a lethal electro-magnetic pulse. Suffering from the so-called 'Planetary-Scale Stroke', Jean died in Scott's arms. Her death also drove Wolverine into a berserker rage, and Logan swiftly decapitated the 'Master of Magnetism'.

Even in death, Jean still managed to save the day. With Magneto and Jean seemingly both dead (again), Xavier and Scott both chose to abandon the school to focus on other things. This led to Beast taking it over instead, and trying to run it while at the same time trying to find a cure for the Extinction Gene. The stress that resulted was the keystone which would develop into a series of events which would find the Earth in ruin 150 years later. Ruling over this dark Future was Beast, now under the control of Sublime, the same entity that was responsible for Xorneto's actions in New York.

Sublime/Beast even brought Jean back to life, manipulating her to help cleanse the earth of all life. Even though Logan managed to snap Jean out of Beast's control, Hank still emerged victorious in the end. Infused with god-like telekinetic powers thanks to Jean's Phoenix blood, Beast swiftly murdered the members of the newest version of the X-Men. Jean managed to rid Hank's body of Sublime, but Beast was killed when he was betrayed by his own former servant. To prevent this grim future from coming to pass by severing it, Jean used the White Hot Room to reach back 150 years to nudge Scott and Emma together.

-- Continued In Next Post --

[Beast]

History/Background Cont.:

With Scott and Emma now in charge of the school, Cyclops reorganized the X-Men once again. The leather uniforms were also retired, in favor of something a bit more "superheroic" in nature. Scott's personal X-Men team were also specially selected in an attempt to garner a more positive opinion of mutants. The same night that the so-called 'Astonishing X-Men' team made it's public debut dealing with a man called 'Ord of the Breakword', a colleague of Beast's Dr. Kavita Rao announced the development of a cure for the X-Gene. This situation led to a great deal of disagreement on how to handle it.

That night, Beast broke into BenTech trying to steal a sample of the cure. Caught by Dr. Rao, the two debated the ethics of a so-called "Mutant Cure". In the end, Kavita freely offered Hank a sample of the cure to examine for himself. Beast stayed up all night examining the sample, and confirmed he had it while in the pursuit of coffee the next morning. Hank's surface thoughts about considering using the cure on himself, led to a feral fight between Hank and Logan after Emma voiced her concerns to Wolverine. Both parties would likely have ended up hurt or maimed had Emma put a stop to it.

After a short discussion with the other members of the team, Beast returned to his lab and continued his analysis of the sample of the cure that Dr. Rao had provided him. Beast soon made the shocking discovery that the so-called 'mutant cure' was based off a very familiar sample of DNA, an X-Man believed dead. The X-Men returned to BenTech, where while the other members of the team were dealing with security and Dr. Rao, Shadowcat discovered the very alive mutant Colossus in a strange sub-level of the building. Thanks to him, Ord was eventually defeated and turned over to S*H*I*E*L*D/S*W*O*R*D.

With the defeat of Ord and the destruction of most of the mutant 'cure', things returned to normal for a time. Hank even was reunited with Psylocke, who's death had long haunted him. Hank's playful side of old even resurfaced, as he playfully flirted with Betsy during her medical examination. He even vowed that when she located Vargas, to join her in taking him down. But soon everything was back to normal again, even Jean returning and dying once again happened like clockwork. Things went from their usual bad to worse however, when the Danger Room came to life and attempted to kill the team.

In Danger's haste to go after Xavier, she left Scott's team injured but alive. And thanks to Elixir, those with serious wounds were soon healed. By the time they caught up to Danger on Genosha, they discovered she'd already been defeated by Professor X. Before the team could relax, one of the Sentinels that had been responsible for the slaughter of 16 million Genoshian mutants rose from the ground. Brought to life by Danger, the Sentinel attempted to destroy the X-Men with it's primary cannon. They were saved however, thanks to Kitty's quick thinking and ability to phase everyone at the last moment.

It's charge exhausted, the Sentinel instead released a swarm of mini-Sentinels from it's body to fight the X-Men. Meanwhile, as Hank was trying to extract Xavier to a safer location he came face to face with Danger in a new body. As Danger knew all his moves, Beast changed tactics and lept at her with pure animal instinct. Unable to counter Beast's attacks, Danger was swiftly torn apart and claimed by Hank's animal side. In the end, the X-Men emerged victorious, but departed Genosha with their faith in Xavier shaken, having learned he'd kept Danger prisoner within the Danger Room for years.

A short time later, Scott's X-Men team was summoned to a meeting at Avengers Tower. Here they were reunited once again with Charles Xavier, who explained that he had come on behalf of the Scarlet Witch. After Wanda's breakdown, Charles had been attempting to help her for months on the island nation of Genosha. Realizing that the case seemed hopeless, he had called a meeting to discuss the fate of Wanda. Deciding to ask Wanda herself what she wanted, the X-Men and Avengers traveled to Genosha. Unfortunately before Wanda could be questioned about her wishes, the world burned to white and was changed.

In the altered reality known as the 'House of M', Beast's form was never altered to it's classic blue furry form. A brilliant scientist, Dr. McCoy was placed in the employ of Tony Stark at Stark Industries by Magnus. Dr. McCoy was a great deal more pompous in this reality, often spouting off on mutant superiority even to his human friend Dr. Hank Pym. Hank oversaw most of the projects being conducted at Stark Industries, including the Vision project. When the House of M came to an end, Beast was one of the few who retained his memories of the altered reality who were not awoken by Layla Miller.

Upon the restoration of the regular reality, it was soon discovered that the mutation population had been neutered. With only 5-10% of their original numbers remaining, things have become more dangerous for the X-Men. And with their numbers weakened, the goverment has seen fit to turn the mansion into a relocation center for those mutants who are still powered. The mansion also now hosts Sentinel Squad O*N*E, a group of Sentinel robots that have been modified and are controlled by human pilots.

Even with the reduced numbers of mutants, things haven't slowed down for the X-Men. A number of crisis have revealed themselves striking at the weakned mutant numbers, including Scott's long lost brother Vulcan, the returning menace of Reverend Stryker, and the resurrection of En Sabah Nur. And now with the Superhero Registration Act on the horizon things have become even more dangerous for those mutants who choose to fight for a better world for both human and mutants, the X-Men.


Sample Post:

Beast glanced across the conference table to Iron Man and shook his head as he slipped the spectacles perched upon his muzzle off and rubbed the bridge of what had once been his nose. "Tony, I consider you both friend and colleague, but I'll tell you the same thing I told to Steve. I'm unwilling to throw my support behind either side.... at least before I've had time to go over all the facts. We already have Sentinels parked on our doorstep, isn't that under control enough for you and for the Government to be happy? Not that they've proven to be capable of living up to the promises of protection that they claimed to offer our poor decimated species."

Hank snorts softly, pushing himself up from his chair and replacing his glasses. Softly pacing as he considers Tony's words and assurances, Hank's crude handpaws softly stroke at his strong feline chin. "I'm a scientist, an intellectual. And while I require glasses, I assure you that I'm hardly blind enough to not see the pros and cons to this, and see both sides of the argument. But I'm a hero because I choose to be, not because I get a paycheck. I'm much more at home in the lab, so if all I cared about was a paycheck I could easily turn my attentions towards my scientific pursuits as a whole."

Hank sighs and ran his clawed fingers through his hair, before offering a deep grumble of annoyance. "What if backing this Registration Act leads to the Avengers becoming the puppets of the next ambitious Henry Peter Gyrich. I'm sure you remember the hell that man put us through. And that's why I won't back something I don't have all the facts on. Now... if you'll excuse me... I do have students that require my attention."

[Captain America]

<Round of Applause> With the most extensive bio I have... well, ever seen, I proudly accept you, mon ami. Welcome to the RPG>