FROSTBITE (Power Level 10)
Real Name: Benjamin "Ben" Altair
Height / Weight: 5’11” / 170 lbs.
Hair / Eyes: White / Blue
Place of Birth: Kansas City, Missouri (February 10, 1989)
First Appearance: Vindicators #1
Biography: Benjamin was born one cold, February day to Alan and Alison Altair- their first and only child. Early on, the couple debated with whether or not to tell Ben of his father’s dual identity. Alan Altair was more than a simple musician… he was the costumed superhero who defended Kansas City, Missouri.
Alan Altair was Firn.
Alison never approved of her husband’s double identity. Alan had worried that telling Ben would be the same as exposing himself- children had less restraint than adults and an excited Ben may have told everyone in his kindergarten class that he was the son of a superhero. Believing that telling Ben would lead to ending Alan’s alternate career, Alison told a young Ben everything she knew.
What she did not know was that Alan had been approached by Semyazza, one of the Seven Fallen, at Ben’s birth. She claimed Ben would one day blanket the world in frost and usher in a new ice age. The man lived his every moment in constant fear that the fallen seraphim would come to claim Ben and use him in her dark plot. He prayed no fraction of his ability transferred to Ben…
On September 8, 2001, Semyazza returned. Her last puppet had failed her and she was ready to move onto to Ben. She bound the Altairs with a terrifying ritual: when Alan touched Ben next, his power would transfer and Ben would become the destroyer. Seeking to spare his son from such a fate, Alan faked his death and fled the country.
Heartbroken, Ben carried on as best as he could. His mother appeared glad for his husband’s death, almost liberated, and quickly married into money. Ben felt truly alone and began to invent aspects of his life in an attempt to entice her to notice him once more- to love him the way his father did. The young man even went so far as to hide his Neo-Sapien powers from her, knowing how she had disapproved of his father’s talents.
As Ben reached his senior year of high school, his status was fully exposed and he was approached with the offer of joining the New Vindicators Academy of America. His mother, a perpetual jetsetter, approved of it without another thought and was as free of the child as she was of her first husband.
NEW VINDICATORS: Radix Malorum Est Cupiditas – Ben viewed many of his peers the way he viewed his mother- as people uninterested in him unless he could prove himself interesting enough. It earned him a reputation as a pathological liar and helped to steer many away from him. All but two- ironically neither of the school he was taken in by.
Katie Merrick and Ryan Mueller were not students of the New Vindicators Academy but rather of Eleanor Roosevelt High School. In band with Ben, Ryan quickly befriended him while Katie and Ben began a whirlwind relationship. To Ben, Katie became his world- she appreciated him while his peers at the Academy avoided him. However, their best friend Ryan had long harbored a crush on Katie that bordered on obsessive…
Ryan secretly began using his knowledge of chemistry to create incendiary devices he could detonate by phone. Installed in the homes of Katie’s former boyfriends- the New Vindicators began to assume Ben’s girlfriend to be the culprit. Indeed, even Neo-Sapien hunter ZERO believed Katie responsible. When Ryan’s actions were finally exposed, it was too late. ZERO attacked Katie unmercifully, and though the young girl’s Neo-Sapien powers had been revealed to protect Ben, the injuries she suffered left her comatose.
For months after, Ben remained by her bedside- until her body was abducted by the Affiliation as a bargaining chip to be used to turn Ben to their side. Ben refused them, instead entrusting Anomaly and Tripper to help him get his love back. The heroes began to plot against the Affiliation, but the villains struck first- attacking the heroes at their high school graduation.
Katie’s body was possessed by the tulpa of Lucas Howell during the battle, using her ionization powers to battle alongside the heroes. However, an explosion saw Ben’s leg badly broken and left him unable to join in on the climactic final battle.
NEW VINDICATORS: Sic Semper Tyrannis – After the battle ended, Lucas left Katie’s body, telepathically coaxing her out of her stupor. Despite his unwavering loyalty to her for so many months, Katie broke things off with Ben and left to put her tragic past behind her as college loomed closer. Ben attempted to move as well, filling the void she left with his new mission: Ben remained at the school and applied himself to catch up to his teammates. For months, he diligently trained, determined not to be a burden to his friends.
Indeed, time after time during the Trials Ben displayed that his powers had grown significantly. He used them to fight off attack after attack – assisting his team as they fought against Phobos’ group and then again when he fought Brickhouse alone. Still, he showed perhaps the most growth while he fought Quintessence – posing a threat to a man considered one of the more powerful graduates present. Though he didn’t win the battle, had won an unknown war- Ben was unaware that his matches were being watched by France’s headmaster… Firn, his father Alan Altair.
NEW VINDICATORS: Memento Mori – In the midst of the war with the Bisons, Ben was reunited with Katie Merrick. The young woman had dropped out of college and returned to him, citing him as the best thing that had ever happened to her. She also revealed that she was now pregnant, left in such a condition after a drunken one night stand. Simply happy to have her back in his life, Ben embraced her and Katie moved in to his apartment on campus.
Their reunion was short lived as another ghost from the past returned. Ryan Mueller was now the personal bodyguard and pilot for Noah Meinstein and had proved himself loyal enough to be given the 002 armor- also known as the Deus ex-Machina. Built to combat and apprehend ZERO and Portal, Ryan used it to enact his revenge on Ben Altair- tracking the man down and becoming enraged to find the couple together.
Ryan was able to best Ben in combat and abducted him- taking him back to Patriot Robotics to lay a trap for Portal. The New Vindicators and the armored hero made their way into the skyscraper to free their friend and teammate, aided by Katie (taking the codename Ion) and Blitzkrieg. Together, their forces freed Frostbite and forced Deus ex-Machine to retreat.
NEW VINDICATORS: Absit Omen – Months from her due date, Ben and Katie were up late one night when the power was cut across campus. Each of their friends found themselves facing a threatening foe- many from the New Vindicators’ pasts. For Ben and Katie, that foe was Ryan Mueller.
At the sight of the armor, Ben became enraged, using his arctic powers to turn into a hulking brute, covered in ice spikes. He pinned the armored man to the wall and viciously beat him into unconsciousness- ignoring the meager injuries the armor’s flame spurts provided.
However, one of the jets struck Katie and ruptured her amniotic sac. Doctor Howell was forced to induce labor on the spot and delivered Katie’s daughter, Neige. However, complications arouse and Katie died of a pulmonary embolism.
Following her death, Ben became more violent, showing no mercy in his battles as Frostbite. This darker side began to expose new abilities in the hero, revealing that his powers were not thermal as he had guessed, but rather were temporal.
With Coach Crag’s death Frostbite left the school to join Hikari’s rogue group, the Next Vindicators. Under the young man’s tutelage Frostbite began to learn more about his new powers.
NEW VINDICATORS: Para Bellum – After Apocatastasis was released, Loess recruited Frostbite to her team of rogue Vindicators and departed, determined to bring Lodestone back to their side.
NEW VINDICATORS: Et Spe – In the conquered New York City, Frostbite found himself working with Fathom and Hourglass and fighting their way through Brooklyn, only to have Firn stand in their way. A battle ensued between the father and son, one that resulted in Firn’s powers being transferred to his boy before he lost his life.
STR 10, DEX 12 (+1), CON 10, INT 14 (+2), WIS 12, CHA 12
SKILLS: Computers 2 (+4), Concentration 4 (+5), Disable Device 2 (+4), Knowledge (earth sciences) 4 (+6), Knowledge (popular culture) 4 (+6), Knowledge (technology) 2 (+3), Language 1 (English [base], German), Perform (stringed instruments 2 (+3), Perform (wind instruments) 4 (+5), Profession (educator) 4 (+5), Profession (musician) 3 (+4)
FEATS: Accurate Attack, All-out Attack, Attack Focus (ranged) 2, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Dodge Focus 2, Equipment 2, Improved Defense, Leadership, Luck 2, Precise Shot, Power Attack, Teamwork 2
POWERS: Energy Aura 4 (ice spikes; Extras: Linked [Protection, +0]), Flight 4 (100 MPH; ice platforms; Flaws: Platform [-1]), Protection 4 (ice armor; Flaws: Fades [-1]), Time Control 10 (Alternate Powers: Create Object 10 [ice; Alternate Powers: Blast 10, Drain 10 {Toughness; Extras: Range; Flaws: Affects Objects}, Environmental Control 10 {hamper movement}, Growth 20, Snare 10; Power Feats: Precise; Extras: Duration {Continuous, +1}], Ignite 10)
Equipment: cell phone, comm link, desktop computer, Vindicators Uniform (+2 Toughness, Immunity 2 [cold and heat])
COMBAT: Attack +2 (+4 ranged), Grapple +2, Damage +0 (+10 blast), Defense +4 (+1 flat-footed), Knockback -2, Initiative +1
SAVES: Toughness +6 (+4 flat-footed), Fortitude +3, Reflex +4, Will +7
COMPLICATIONS: Enemy (Deus ex-Machina, Semyazza), Honor, Prejudice (Neo-Sapien), Responsibility (Neige)
Abilities 10 + Skills 8 (32 ranks) + Feats 19 + Powers 94 + Combat 8 + Saves 11 = 150 points
Michuru81 wrote:One of the PCs, Frostbite is in the hands of Tribe, the player behind William Benson and Bluetooth.
