Random Factor
From Champions MUSH
Random Factor, AKA Kyle Gregory Maxwell, is a full-time hero and Starguard Operative, and leader of Starguard Gamma. He is a well known for his charity activities, especially for children's causes.
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Description
As Random Factor: Standing about 6'2" and looking like he weighs maybe about 185-195 lbs, this young man looks more like some Greek God in spandex than a "mere mortal". The tones of grey in his uniform are TRES CHIC and accented well by the black leather gloves, thigh high boots, utility belt, plastalloy helmet, and a small, dull gold ring set with stones you've never seen before in it. A hunter green chevron emblem brandished on his chest and matching highlights on his gloves add a needed "splash" of color without being garish or bright enough to give him away while he "travels the shadows". His short curly black hair and well trimmed mustache and goatee are quite stylish, and the wry smile bespeaks a fun loving sense of arrogance.
As Kyle: Standing about 6'2" and looking like he weighs maybe about 185-195 lbs, this blond haired, blue eyed, well-toned man looks vaguely familiar and seems to be drawing more than a second look from many of those around him. Usually dressed casually, perhaps in a burgundy polo shirt and a pair of faded, snug fitting, button-fly jeans, he wears an aire of confidence and authority without seeming cocky.
Origin
Kyle grew up an orphan, in Ohio. Never one of the "cool kids", he spent his days reading comics and mystery novels, LOVING being able to figure out "who dunnit" before the heroes! When he wasn't reading, he was watching old movies. Especially action/comedies. MOST especially if they included interesting accents. Eddie Murphy was his hero. All the voices he did, and mimicking other people though make-up, and costumes in those old movies... and the way he was always able to somehow manage to... well, DO things in those "Beverly Hills Cop" movies! He discovered the power of words and how to use them; not only to entertain, but as a tool. A tool with which he could get what he wanted. As a kid, it was candy, or money for the movies. (And the nuns at Saint Agnes were NOT an easy touch!) Later, it was dates, and where all the "cool" hangouts were. Some say he just started getting lucky, some thought it was just his glib tongue and sense of humor. WhatEVER it was, it followed him when he went to the East Coast to try his hand at acting, settling in Colonial Bay.
Even as an adult, he was just a kid at heart, a real "happy-go lucky" kinda guy. Emphasis on the word lucky! He was doing well when, one night, he saw some odd lights up in the sky over the Valley! He went to check them out and found an honest t' God flying saucer! They hadn't INTENDED to injure Kyle, they hadn't INTENDED to even come NEAR Earth! Apgar, the pilot, explained that they had accidentally strayed off-course when their navigation systems mysteriously malfunctioned, been struck by an errant meteor, crashed when the inertial stabilizers failed and the landing gear didn't deploy, then just HAPPENED to rupture the shielding for their fuel supply. It was a SERIES of random factors that combined to cause the accident, but that didn't change the fact that he was crippled for life. Luckily for him they were benign and conscientious and they had made enormous advances in medical science and could not only REPAIR the damage, but IMPROVE his physical attributes. They had NO sense of humor, but, (again) luckily enough, Kyle was just the one to TEACH them! He was an instant celebrity! So what if he had to go to an alien world to do it? And he had time. They told him that it would take 6 weeks to recover from the surgery.
Six weeks later, they handed him the surprise of his life. "We have seen much of ourselves in you, Earth man, as we scanned your neural pathways to repair you. We also see much that is missing. You have much to teach us as well. So we have not only restored what you have lost, but we have given you the means to aid others as well as yourself... and to teach us. We do this because we like you, and moreso, because we trust you. We need you. But use this power wisely, we will be keeping an eye on you."
They also gave Kyle a stylized skin tight suit in shades of grey.
Apgar continued explaining. "The suit will respond to your thoughts, and appear as anything you want it to. It can seem as it looks now... or as a clown suit, a military uniform, a wedding ring... even a tattoo. If you can think of it, it will comply." (Similar to the symbiote uniform Spiderman got in "Secret Wars") He then taught him how to use it, as well as his new powers.
And then, just like that, it was time. They took him to the ship and started back. The trip passed in silence and then, just like that, they were there, and then gone again. Kyle just blinked and stood there, staring out into space. A dream. Yeah. That's it. It hadda be a dream. But... his powers worked. He laughed. So, what was he gonna DO about it? ~Ah well. I guess I'll just have to deal with it. And the world is just gonna have to learn to live with... Hrm. What was he going to call himself? He thought back to what Apgar had told him about the night of the accident. All the bizarre circumstances that combined to make him what he was today. He's words rang over and over in his head. That was it! The world was just gonna have to learn to live with... RANDOM FACTOR!
Powers
Random has total control over his body on a molecular level, allowing him to control their every aspect, including density, transparency, shape, color, cohesion, and even speed and direction of movement. This gives him, among other things, the power of flight, invisiblilty, hyper-strength and toughness, intangeability, and the ability to shapechange. (This LAST ability he normally keeps pretty low-profile.) During his years as a Starguard operative, he has recieved specialized equipment, most notably a helmet that enhances each of his senses and is equipped with a two-way radio, mental defence webbing, and infrared vision lenses.
Personality
RF always seems very outgoing, gregarious, flamboyant, flip, and irreverent in a snide, roundabout sort of way, but will often go off to brood in private. But somehow, he always sounds polite. He may not always be in control of his emotions, and may growl and snarl, but he will NOT raise his voice in anger. While suspicious, he will generally give children, women and strangers the benefit of the doubt. He may taunt and jeer, but is rarely outright cruel, and NEVER in a physical manner. Even to a villain. He always helps innocents, even endangering his own life.
Random Factor's goals are fairly simple and straight forward. First, he suffers from APPS, "Advanced Peter Pan Syndrome". He want's to be like Peter. He doesn't wanna grow up. He wants to have fun. And now that he's a SUPER... Second, after growing up an orphan, being teased all the time, never being one of the "cool" guys, he needs to see "fair play". "Justice". Innocents need to be protected. And he'll see that they are. Period.
His chivalry does not only extend to heroes and innocents, but to villains too, to a degree. His obsession with helping others extends to them to, if he feels they are being abused. His code Vs killing is so total, that not only will HE not kill anyone, but will try to keep OTHERS from doing so as well. He doesn't believe in the death penalty as a rule. His DNPC depends on him more for moral support than physical, and is the need he most feels the need to fill.
Relations
Kyle has no family, but considers his team mates in Starguard Gamma and many of the heroes of Colonial Bay as such. He is particularly close to Wasp, Silver Spider, Barricade, Spirit, Lorelei, and Amber and Azure. He is particularly protective of the twins. He knows they are more than competent heroes and well able to take care of themselves, trusting them as much (if not more) than many other heroes, but in part due to their age, and in part due to his relationship to their mother, Steel, he considers them almost more as his daughters than comrades in arms. He has been linked romantically to Lorelei and Lightning by the media (as well as various other actresses and supermodels) and was(is?) engaged to be married to Psiren.
There is one other person particularly close to Random. On his first case with Starguard, Random had to infiltrate a group "recruiting" suspected superhumans from orphanages to train a "super army", and things went bad when they were surprised by group of the kids. They'd been ordered not to leave witnesses, so they were about to shoot them. Kyle, of course, tried to stop them, but was outnumbered and was about to be shot in the back, when young Casey Two Feathers tackled his would-be assailant from behind, risking her own life for his. Since then, he has looked after her as his ward.
