Ringster

Ringster, also known as "Cestus" and "Hardback," is a Chicago-born mutant superhero.

## Biography

George Ableton,Esquire, was once a normal young man working in his father's autobody shop, when an accident involving a Nissan Leaf resulted in the activation of his latent mutant genes. Determined to join the ranks of Chicago's superheroes, George utilized his new abilities to train himself into a martial artist in record time, then he hit the streets. Unfortunately, his early career was hampered due to a lack of recognition; he mostly fought petty crime on the south side, and his few notable arrests were usually confused for the work of The Pugilist, a much more widely-recognized hero.

His breakthrough came when he teamed up with Feywild to stop a raid on the FinServTech offices by a gang of mercenaries lead by Perfidy's protege. During the course of this raid, Feywild struck an almost mortal blow on Perfidy's protege, which was the first exposure Ringster had to a "Hero" using deadly force. After stopping the raid, Ringster found himself fascinated by Perfidy II's blade, one of the first instruments of super science and saturnite that Ringster was exposed too and Ringster took it home to study in his makeshift lab. Although this event catapulted him out of obscurity, it would have lasting repercussions that followed him for some time and shaped the way he viewed his role as a Hero.

### The Contenders form and Fighting Cú Chulainn

After his short term partnership with Feywild, Ringster continued to patrol South Chicago in the Ringstermobile (his bitching custom lifted truck, until he was met at his base of operations (a trailer in his parent's junkyard) by John Wolf and Powerplay, two members of the Temeraire Club, offering membership to the young hero as a way to smooth over the incident with Perfidy II and to retrieve the Saturnite Blade. After a long conversation, and some subtle threats to the integrity of his family unit, Ringster gave back the blade.

#### Meeting Cort

One day, while responding to a 616, Ringster met Cort, the mysterious movie cowboy. During this meeting they partnered with Moonbow, the holder of Artemis's Stone of Power, to fight and detain the wielder of Aries's Stone of Power, the Blood Stone. During this fight, Cort showed intense bravery in the face of the War-Blood avatar and Ringster soon became fast friends with the weird cowboy, showing him how to survive in the modern world. Cort was tasked by Moonbow to hold onto and protect the Blood Stone, as he seemed to be able to mask its location.This initial meeting would bound Cort and Ringster together as comrades in arms.

#### Meeting Mot Sknah

Ringster and Cort continued their partnership often going on patrol around the city stopping minor crimes until one day they received a call from a container ship under attack in Lake Michigan. Responding to the call, the team found themselves face to face with some of The Midnight Crew; Hellion, Onslaught, and Ultraviolet. Feeling out matched even with the enhanced security on the boat, the Hero's were soon joined by the Peruvian Alien Bounty Hunter, Mot Sknah and his powerful Octobot. Their combined efforts proved to be too much for The Midnight Crew, and the Contenders would be able to stop the attack on the ship. The ship in question turned out to be a secret prison transport for UNTIL, an organization dedicated to the policing and support of super beings. Unexpectedly, the hero Defender showed up offering his support for the young team. Ringster was immediately star struck with the hero and received his autograph before Defender took away the members of the Midnight Crew. It was later revealed that this Defender was an impostor, most likely The Midnight Crew member Facade, but this has never been confirmed. The new team of hero's quickly decided to work together for the betterment of Chicago and agreed to work together moving forward. This would be the first meeting of the crew by the fledgling Contenders, but would not be their last. This meeting solidified Ringster's decision to not join The Temeraire Club, and while John Wolf wished him well, there was a hint of pity in his voice as the message was delivered his well wishes.

#### The Dark Cowboy and Foiling a Bank Robbery

With a third member now in tow, The Contenders became a much more formidable team, easily stopping non-super crime across the city. During a routine patrol, the team responded to a disturbing call of a mass shooting at a McDonald. When they arrived, the McDonald's had bodies scattered everywhere. In the middle of this carnage sat the Black Cowboy, Frank. After a brief conversation and the killing of another innocent, the team leapt into action. Frank seemed to have powers similar to Cort's and himself looked liked an actor from the silver screen. The Black Cowboy was defeated but simply disappeared into static, leaving more questions than answers for the young team.

The Hero's decided to take "Defender's" up on his offer to get some answers, and journeyed to 1 Champions plaza. There they met the true Defender, who unfortunately did not have any recollection of the past events. He did take the young hero's under his wing slightly and offered them any help that he could. During their meeting, Defender was alerted to a bank robbery in progress and asked the Contenders to help. The Ringster jumped at the thought of helping one of his heroes.

At the bank, they found themselves faced to face with a multitude of demons controlled by a dark Mistress.

#### Attacks by Perfidy and the Stolen Bloodstone

The Dark Cowboy Returns and Teaming with the Champions

Mutant Equality

Meeting the Atlantean

### The Time Wizard

**Dream Girl and Powerplay**

**Enter the Bugaboo**

**The Russian Element**

**The Champions Expand and Nighthawk is worried**

**Satellites and UNTIL capier**

**The Time Wizard appears and a Hero dies**

**The Temeraire Club**

**Bugaboo 2, Electric Boogaloo**

*Time Wizard Arc goes here*

## Appearance

Ringster appeared as a very fit, if otherwise normal young man in his mid-20's. Later in his career, he underwent microsurgery to have a Saturnite-lattice inlaid in his body to increase his powers. When charged in combat, this lattice gave him the appearance of having a tracery of glowing white lines across most of his skin. This unique feature, along with the "gauntlets" of energy that the lattice produced on demand, caused the Ringster to change his name and begin his brief stint as "Cestus."

More recently, George's appearance underwent an even more radical change. Utilizing a serum devised by Bugaboo, he endured a further mutation into an insect-like humanoid based loosely on a locust from Bugaboo's alternate earth. He no longer resembles a human at all, having a hard carapace, mandibles, antennae and compound eyes. His Saturnite-lattice is still visible, however, though it is less prominent behind his thick carapace plates. In this new form, he has taken the name "Hardback," though it is unknown whether or not the mutation will be a temporary change or a permanent evolution for him.

## Personality

George began his career as a starry-eyed young hero with strong ideals, but being thrust into a position of responsibility has seen him become more jaded and willing to take extreme measures. Although he is more than willing to put himself in the middle of danger to protect others, he's also willing to cross any line in order to save lives. This puts him at odds with some other heroes, like Defender, who was once George's hero but whom he now regards as naïve and ineffectual. George's attitude has become steadily more coarse and angry as he feels more and more that the Contenders, and specifically himself, have to shoulder the burden of various crises that other heroes & organizations should have dealt with.

George's willingness to sacrifice himself, combined with his desire to win at any costs, has resulted in a growing obsession with gaining power and control. Although he doesn't desire power for his own sake, he feels a terrible responsibility to take *any* measure, no matter how ill-advised, to gain the strength he needs to defeat powerful foes. This obsession has worked in his favor so far, but it is likely to lead him into taking regrettable courses of action down the road.

George supports the cause of the Mutant Equality League, and is a vehement advocate for mutant rights.

## Powers

George's mutant powers allow him to learn at an incredibly accelerated rate. He can become an expert in almost any subject overnight via speed-reading, provided he has the reading material on hand to educate himself. This ability to learn also applies (albeit to a lesser extent) to his physical capabilities, and he trained himself into a masterful martial artist in a relatively brief period of just two years.

As his powers grew he gained nominal super strength and developed the ability to leap long distances as his body adapted even further. In combat, he primarily relied on his great strength and martial skill to defeat opponents.

#### Cestus

After undergoing surgery to have a lattice of Saturnite ore implanted in his body, George's powers expanded. Thanks to Saturnite's unique energy-channeling properties, George now has a potent defense against energy attacks and physical impacts that diverts the power of the blow into his body's reserve energy. He can use this energy to fire bolts of power from his fists, to fight with "gauntlets" of focused power, or simply use it to provide himself the chemical energy necessary to fight for long periods. The Saturnite lattice also has other useful effects, such as accelerating George's reaction time.

Due to the radical change in both his appearance and powers, George changed his name from "Ringster" to "Cestus."

#### Hardback

Much later, George seized the opportunity to undergo a mutation similar to that of Bugaboo. Although the serum appeared to affect him slightly differently, it still caused him to mutate into a humanoid/insect hybrid. He grew an armored carapace and his musculature was rearranged and enhanced in a manner similar to an insect's. He gained the ability to heal rapidly, and his compound eyes allow him sight into the infrared spectrum.

George has also gained the ability to 'bio-engineer' complex insects. He can essentially breed, grow, and hatch an insect with the malleable proteins in his own buggy flesh, and with the ability to adapt and evolve them quickly he can create almost any sort of insect he can dream up. These creations can be deadly, though they also serve a range of nonlethal utility functions as varied as George can imagine.

Once again, due to the extreme change from his previous form, George changed his name from "Cestus" to "Hardback," referencing his beetle-like armored shell.

## Weaknesses

George has few overt weaknesses, though his transformation into Hardback has resulted in an inability to speak and an addiction to sugar water (without which, his strength and powers begin to fade rapidly).

## Quotes

"No one escapes the Octagon!"

"I am not the Pugilist, nor am I Golden Gloves"

"I out-brained you. Deal with it."

"Less than a month ago there was an interdimensional barrier set here by the Intergalactic Inquisitor, so forgive me for not seeing how it is so far fetched that the Time Wizard is back." - Cetus as he defended the Contenders from the UNTIL Tribunal.