Darkbolt

Darkbolt is the android body double of Loxley, his body is a Fandroid model that was heavily modified by Mal. He is unstable, paranoid and utterly dedicated to finding what *really* happened to Harvey's sister. A path that lead him to join the villainous ANIMA as an enforcer. When ANIMA discovered his deception he was partially disassembled but he was rescued by Loxley and Fahrenheit. Darkbolt was certain she was still alive and convinced Loxley to come with him to discover the truth. He was ultimately willing to sacrifice his humanity during the fight with Black Maiden, erasing his personality from the adaptive android body so it could act unpredictably and catch her off guard. His sacrifice posthumously revealed the truth about Black Maiden.

## History

### Body Double

Originally designed for use as a body double for Loxley- during the infiltration of the Institute Kid Spectacular, Firestorm and Loxley created new supervillain identities as "Orbit", "Coal" and "Darkbolt" respectively. To earn some villainous cred numerous fake stories were posted about them online and a battle was arranged between the trio and the heroes that had spurned Hammurabi weeks earlier. After defeating their robotic selves the trio were rescued by the Institute while 'escaping capture'. After this the androids were to be fully decommissioned and melted down- instead Mal put them into deep storage beneath his lab.

### Electric Sheep

The android was reactivated by an electrical surge when Atlas Academy was partially subsumed into the dream dimension by Scott Baker's Eidolon- along with android duplicates of Kid Spectacular and Fahrenheit. They believed they were the originals except for Kid Spectacular who quickly realised that he was not himself. The duplicates of Fahrenheit and Kid Spectacular were unstable and the team once again fought their android body doubles. This time after the fake Kid Spectacular was disabled, the fake Fahrenheit began to break down and ripped his synthetic skin off his face in the shape of a cross and the fake Loxley escaped into the woods.

### Adopting the Darkbolt mantle

The android fled to a library where he researched as much as he could about Loxley to fill the gaping holes in his memory that proved he was a fake. He dedicated himself to becoming the dark avenger that Loxley had pretended to be- intent on proving himself to be the superior Harvey by finding out what *really* happened to his sister. To this end he began raiding Sanderson-Shields facilities, spied on the Alpha Foundation and infiltrated ANIMA. He left Loxley a USB drive with valuable information that was incomprehensibly packed with articles and files that were difficult for even KS to decipher while also leading them into what seemed to be an ANIMA ambush.

### The Need to be Human

Darkbolt still believed he was human- despite his knowledge to the contrary. He didn't need to sleep or eat but he ultimately still had the mind of a human. Or a copy of one. He still had human needs and he craved social connection- to speak and spend time with others. So he took the name Hunter Steel and befriended other societal outcasts- he even learned how to skateboard. Between his missions for ANIMA while trying to buy their trust he spent his time as a person again. Or technically speaking being a person for the first time.

### Lacuna

Darkbolt's investigations into ANIMA were uncovered by his erstwhile allies and he was taken up to the Lacuna Satellite, where he was partially disassembled. His "creator" Mr Omega was tasked with finding out exactly what he was up to and how the android's mind worked. Omega never got the chance as Darkbolt was rescued by Loxley and Fahrenheit. Darkbolt told Loxley his convictions- that his sister was still alive somehow and that Black Maiden held the key to the puzzle. Loxley agreed to go with him if only to prove once and for all that his sister laid at rest.

Unfortunately Darkbolt was unable to help much during the fight against the telekinetic powerhouse Black Maiden, who deflected away his projectiles like they were nothing. He landed his first shot only after his legs were forcefully torn from his body barely preventing her from removing his arms as well. As he passed into unconsciousness- the first time since he awakened in that storage facility under Atlas Academy- he found himself in a strange cyberspace. He was faced with his body who demanded he give over control due to his suboptimal performance. The body told Darkbolt it could adapt to her fighting style thanks to it's programming, all it needed was for him to step aside and it would take care of the problem.

Darkbolt chose to be erased so that Loxley could find the truth and he could finally be vindicated.