Victoria Valentine

### Aliases

Paladin (formerly),Spitfire, The Messiah (Earth-199997), The Janitor (by Weapon X), Doll (by Weapon X), X-23 (by Weapon X), Nero (Earth-19994)

### Relatives

Maureen Valentine (mother), Inkblot/Father Paul Hermann (biological father), Remy LeBeau (genetic father)

### Affiliation

Taneleer Tivan/The Collector (formerly), Weapon X (formerly), Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men, S.H.I.E.L.D.

### Occupation

Cruxwife (former), Bounty hunter, X-Man, Avenger

## Physical description

### Eye color

Grey

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> You know, it’s kind of funny. I used to be so afraid of dying. Every breath I took, it felt like a battle just to be able to take my next. It was my whole life. Nothing but mind numbing, blinding fear. Fear to the exclusion of all else. But now…. I’m still afraid. I don’t want to die. But there are some things now that I think… if it came to it… they just might be worth dying for.
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>  —**Victoria Valentine** (to Vision)
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**Victoria Valentine** is the main character of the Valentine Cinematic Realm (VCR).

## History

### Early life

Valentine was born some time in the 1990s to Maureen Valentine in Bay City, Michigan. Growing up, Valentine did not know anything about her father, as he left just a month before her birth. Her father's abandonment of the family caused her mother to spiral into a severe depression, developing hoarding tendencies and alcoholism, causing her to neglect her child, and Valentine spent much of her childhood parenting herself. Two doors down from her lived Simon Ley, who she would befriend in kindergarten and would remain her closest and often only friend until her abduction.

At some point in her puberty (around 13, according to Valentine), her latent powers began to display, presenting as uncontrollable bursts of energy during emotionally stressful situations, and later absorption of sunlight. Valentine kept these powers a secret from her mother and most of her classmates, fearing rejection; the only person she shared the truth with was Simon Ley.

### Abduction

At 16 years old, Valentine left school one day with Simon Ley. Not far from the school, the two encountered an injured lost dog, and Simon split off from Valentine in order to find its owner, leaving Valentine to make the rest of the trip alone. Halfway to her house, she encountered an alien spaceship, which she would later learn to belong to Sakaaran slavers. Two beings exited the ship and forced Valentine onto the ship, overpowering her uncontrollable and still-developing mutant powers, abducting her. After a long journey, two Sakaaran Imperials were brought aboard the ship, speaking in a language which she did not understand. An agreement seemed to be reached, and she was disboarded from the ship with the two Imperials - she would later learn that the elder Imperial was Crux Vito-Nero, a Sakaaran senator, and the younger was Calixto-Caius, his advisor. She had been purchased from the slavers as a cruxwife, one of several wives to a senator chosen for their beauty, who often acted as little more than maids and servants to the men to whom they were wed. Despite her objections, which fell on deaf ears due to a language barrier, Valentine was married to Nero in the Sakaaran legal fashion.

Several weeks after her wedding, Nero prepared for a visit from an important foreign figure, and Valentine was selected to be the cruxwife standing at his direct side for the visit, a sort of accessory as well as a cupbearer. The figure turned out to be Taneleer Tivan, the Collector, who had taken an interest in a certain item, the Scarlet Athame, which Nero had recently acquired. During negotiations for the Athame, Valentine found herself with easy access to the casket in which it was stored. When the Collector briefly left the room, leaving her alone with Nero, she took advantage of the situation to strangle Nero with the silk shawl she wore, empowering it with energy to stiffen the fabric and attempt to suffocate him, and escaping with the Athame. She was chased by Nero's guards, but escaped into his ship, the *Theseus*, and fled Sakaar.

### Employment by the Collector

After escaping Sakaar, Valentine fled to Xandar in the *Theseus*, discarding her cruxwife clothing and using the little money she had to disguise herself as a Xandarian trader. After gathering information about the Collector's whereabouts and refueling the stolen ship, Valentine headed to Knowhere with the Athame.

On Knowhere, Valentine seeked out the Collector's museum, where she would attempt to sell the Athame to the Collector, under the guise that she was a trader present for the murder of Nero and had stolen the Athame in the ensuing chaos. However, Tivan recognized her from Sakaar, and threatened to turn her in to the Sakaarans - which would certainly result in her execution for the murder of a Senator. He remarks that he is impressed with the raw show of power she displayed and believes she has potential, and so he offers that in exchange for providing her asylum and protection from the Sakaar, she would come to work for him, in the retrieval of valuable objects and, when she is not busy with retrieval, in the protection of his museum. Effectively blackmailed, Valentine agrees to the deal, seeing no other choice.

After her first retrieval, the Collector commissions a special power suit to be made for her, which would run on her own energy powers, hoping that the suit would serve the dual purpose of disguising her from any Sakaarans Imperials who may recognize her and also strengthen her powers. Due to her still-developing powers and low energy reserves, Valentine cannot operate the suit for more than a few hours at a time at first without risking dangerous levels of exhaustion. However, as she uses the suit more frequently, her powers develop further, leading her to develop the ability to store more energy at a time, as well as learning to draw and harness energy from multiple sources, including solar and thermal energy, and some forms of radiation. At some point, Valentine also develops the ability to make solid-energy constructs, which she often uses to create broad shields and bubbles. The suit earns Valentine the nickname of the Paladin, as it becomes a semi-legend in some alien cultures, a neutral figure which appears mysteriously with an unknown motive, rarely speaks, and leaves immediately after obtaining an item. In this vein, Valentine names the suit the Paladin suit, and the ship which the Collector gives her the *Paladin*.

A short time after Valentine gains full control over the suit and her powers, Tivan sent Valentine on a mission to murder a Centaurian named Corus Orin. Upon arriving at the given coordinates on Centauri-IV, Valentine discovers that the target she was given is just a child; she contacts Tivan, believing this to be a mistake, but he confirms that this is the appropriate target, explaining that he intends for the boy's death to send a message to his father, Mado Orin, who holds an artifact known as God's Chrysalis but refuses to give it up to the Collector. Valentine asks the boy to guide her to his father's house. Once arrived, unable to stomach the idea of killing an innocent child, Valentine explains the situation to Mado, telling him that the Collector will never stop until either his entire family is killed or he receives the Chrysalis. Valentine helps Mado, his wife Leela Orin, and Corus fake their deaths, transporting them aboard the *Paladin* to a safehouse on Centauri-Six. As thanks, and to prevent the Collector from continuing to chase them, Mado gives the Chrysalis to Valentine, who hands it over to the Collector, believing it to be safest in his archives. Valentine seemingly regards this event as important and life-changing, as the memory was enough to return her memories to her after they were erased by Numinus, and she has told the story to J.A.R.V.I.S. She also seemingly holds the family in high regard as an example of the family she wished she had, as when the Numinus Shard imprisons her within her mind, Vision finds her in an altered version of this memory.

Around the first year anniversary of Valentine's employ with the Collector, Valentine encounters the Guardians of the Galaxy when she is attempting to retrieve the Sunspark, the Guardians having been paid by its keepers to protect it in anticipation of her arrival. During the ensuing battle, Drax demands she remove the Paladin suit, stating she is a coward if she cannot face him without the suit and is only a true warrior if she is able to hold her own with just her fists. Complying, Valentine exits the Paladin suit, and is able to defend herself against Drax by absorbing the kinetic energy from his blows and reflecting it against him. Eventually, she is able to stun him enough to return to her suit and escape, though she is unable to retrieve the Sunspark.

### Encountering Invidia and the Battle of Collecton

Two years after her first meeting with the Guardians, Valentine's ship is suddenly collided with by another unknown ship on the way back to Knowhere. The ship contacts her, and she learns that it is named the *Nemesis*, piloted by a female Sakaaran Shadow Person named Invidia. Invidia explains that she is searching for the Collector in order to destroy him, after he murdered her family when she was a child in order to obtain an object known as the Nemesis Sword. When Valentine refuses to give Invidia any information on the Collector in exchange for protection on her ship, Invidia leaves her to die on the failing *Paladin* and leaves for Xandar to search for intel.

Shortly after Invidia leaves, the *Milano* arrives in response to Valentine's distress signal. The Guardians hesitantly allow Valentine to board the ship, though Quill warns her that if she attempts anything they outnumber her. Aboard the *Milano*, Valentine pleads with the Guardians to help her stop Invidia, explaining the situation. The Guardians refuse at first, believing Tivan to be a traitor who deserves what's coming, but when Valentine explains that he is the only thing standing between her and death at the hands of the Sakaar Empire, and offers to pay them personally, they decide to agree conditionally - though still stating that if she attempts a double-cross, they outnumber her. With Valentine accompanying them, the Guardians head to Xandar, hoping to cut the *Nemesis* off.

While aboard the *Milano* and traveling with the Guardians, Valentine begins to form a relationship with Mantis, who is sympathetic towards her. In a show of trust, Valentine allows Mantis to make physical contact and read her emotions, sharing some of her history with them. The two begin to develop feelings towards one another.

When the Guardians land on Xandar, they discover Invidia has already left for Collecton, a hubworld home to much of the Collector's archives which are not on display, having learned that he is meant to be on the planet to receive a new addition to his collection. Rocket Raccoon becomes suspicious of Valentine and accuses her of colluding with Invidia in an attempt to lead them on a wild goose chase while the Collector targets an innocent. Mantis vouches for Valentine, stating that her intentions are pure, and convinces Rocket and the others to trust Valentine. The Guardians set off once again to Collecton.

Once the *Milano* arrives at Collecton, the Guardians discover the *Nemesis* docked at the Collecton Space Station Alpha, a station used primarily for defense of the planet and the archives therein. They board the station, and discover that Invidia has taken control of the robotic crew of the station, sending the crew in an attack against them. Struggling their way past, the Guardians learn that Invidia plans to self destruct the station, destroying the Collector alongside most of his archives. However, Collecton is also home to the Gatherers, a young species which evolved amongst the Collector's archives, affected by the powerful energies surrounding many of the artifacts held there. The Gatherers have built cities amongst the warehouses, and the explosion of the space station would also destroy Collectis, the capital city of the Gatherers. The self destruct activation mechanism is located within the control room of the station, which also houses the two escape shuttle (which can seat eight each); Valentine posits that Invidia plans to activate the self destruct mechanism and leave safely in an escape shuttle. Fighting through the remainder of the crew, the Guardians make their way to the control room.

As the Guardians and Valentine arrive at the control room, Invidia's escape shuttle launches, having already activated the self destruct mechanism and leaving only one shuttle left. Valentine tells the Guardians to load into the last shuttle, as it will be a tight escape. However, once boarded into the shuttle, Valentine explains that it is now too late in the sequence to abort the destruction of the station, and that the only chance now is damage control, and she begins the launch sequence of the last pod, locking the doors. Confused, Mantis asks what she's doing, but Valentine doesn't respond, only pressing a hand against the glass of the shuttle. Mantis presses her own hand to the door, but is unable to form an empathic connection due to the separation; the shuttle launches.

Seconds after the escape shuttle reaches a safe distance, the station's self destruct sequence ends, and Valentine, still on board, attempts to use her powers to absorb as much of the explosion's energy as she can. Her absorbtion successfully averts the destruction of the archives and of Collectis, but her body is unable to contain the amount of energy it is taking in at that rate, and she is killed in the process. The shuttle lands the Guardians safely on Knowhere.

Once on Knowhere, the Guardians immediately alert the Collector to Valentine's death. Shortly afterward, the Collector scavenges the damaged Paladin suit from the wreckage of the *Paladin* on Collecton. He seeks out Valentine's family on Earth, and once located, personally delivers the helmet of the armor to Maureen Valentine, explaining that her daughter was a 'very brave soldier'. He displays the rest of the armor in his personal collection on Knowhere, as he now considers it valuable as the one-of-a-kind armor of a legendary soldier.

### Encounter with Numinus

Valentine's body, which was protected from destruction in the explosion by a natural energetic shield surrounding it and preserved by the vacuum of space, floats in orbit around Collecton for several weeks. As her body slowly drifts out of orbit and slowly further into deep space, the guiding spirit of the universe, Numinus, emerges. She uses her cosmic powers to resurrect Valentine, keeping her alive even in the airless, freezing vacuum of space. Numinus explains that she has been watching Valentine her entire life, able to see every event in the past, present, and future of the universe all at once. She pities Valentine for the struggles she has endured, stating that no being as young as her should have to live through what she has endured. Numinus tells Valentine that she intends to give her the second chance she feels she deserves, but she doesn't want her past traumas to get in the way. As such, she will erase Valentine's entire memory and send her back to Earth, to have a completely clean slate for her next chance. Valentine attempts to plead with Numinus not to erase her memory, but as she is in space she is unable to draw breath to speak, and so Numinus proceeds, and implants an unknown object into Valentine's chest, explaining that she will need it when the time is right. With her memories gone, Numinus wraps Valentine in a shield of energy and sends her plummeting through Earth's atmosphere.

### Weapon X

Falling through Earth's atmosphere, Valentine crash lands in a rural area of Arizona. S.H.I.E.L.D. is alerted to the foreign object falling from the atmosphere, but by the time agents are able to arrive, the area is closed off by the Weapon Plus Program.

Unconscious from the impact, Valentine is taken in to the Weapon X program. Once awakened with no memory, Valentine's mental state reverts to the safest behavior she can remember; an instinctive, perfectly obedient state. This state is taken advantage of by Weapon X agents, and she is nicknamed the Maid, for her usefulness in 'cleaning up messes'. She is used to destroy potential whistleblowers and tie up loose ends of projects, as well as recapture escaped experiments.

At some point during her imprisonment by Weapon X, she meets resistance in an encounter with Iron Man, who intended to prevent her from murdering a civilian who had witnessed the escape of a Weapon X patient. During the ensuing fight, Valentine absorbs a repulsor blast and takes only superficial damage; her resulting counterattack damages the suit's communication array and connection with Stark's servers, temporarily disabling J.A.R.V.I.S. from communicating with Stark or the suit.

Within just a few months of Valentine's imprisonment, a new subject was introduced named Ellie Camacho. Upon meeting her, Valentine recovers a vague memory of a young blue boy, this memory being a dormant memory of Corus Orin, the boy whose family she helped save from the Collector. This is enough to shake her from the obedient mental state she has been in, and she helps Ellie escape the compound. Valentine escorts Ellie home from Arizona in stolen cars to the Prestons in Queens, but disappears before Emily Preston opens the door, and Ellie is only able to explain that she was helped by a girl who was 'from the stars'.

### Collaboration with Deadpool

Wandering Queens still with no memory of her life except for the vague memory of a young blue boy, Valentine eventually encounters Deadpool. Deadpool explains that he was searching for his daughter, Eleanor Camacho, after she went missing, suspecting Weapon X operatives. However, he was recently alerted by the Prestons that she had returned home safely, and told that she had mentioned she was rescued by a 'girl from the stars'. He tracked down the Weapon X facility Ellie had been held at and, after killing most of the agents there, searched the records for anyone who would fit that description. He quickly found files on a subject referred to as the Maid, who was described as having been found in a crater in Arizona. He tracked this Maid's whereabouts back to Queens, but lost track of her after Ellie's return, and found her by chance sleeping in a highway tunnel.

Valentine explains to Deadpool that she has no memory of her past, and is searching for clues which could elucidate who she is. Deadpool eagerly offers to help her, stating he has nothing better to do. While accompanying her, without a known name to refer to her by other than the nickname given to her by Weapon X, Deadpool decides to call her Red, after her hair and the color of the energy she produces.

Eventually, during their travels across the United States, Deadpool and Valentine encounter Sonicboom, one of several mutant disciples of a serial killer known as the Inkblot Killer, who recognizes Valentine, mentioning that the last time he saw her was when she was a young child. However, he does not explain anything else, and eventually manages to escape from the two of them.

### Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters

The two head to Manhattan to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, hoping that the alumni, particularly Professor X, will have useful information on Sonicboom and his master, the Inkblot Killer. Once they arrive and state their purpose, Professor X suggests that Dr. Hank McCoy run a DNA test on Valentine against their records of known mutants, to determine if she is either a former student or potentially related to a student. Valentine agrees, and in the meantime, she is given permission to search the X-Men's records on the Inkblot Killer to determine if she has memories related to him, with supervision from Jean Grey.

After a week of searching records, Valentine is unable to find any more information on her identity, but it is at this point the DNA test results return. Beast is reluctant to reveal them to Valentine and the Professor, but it is revealed that the test shows Valentine as matching the DNA of Remy LeBeau, seeming to reflect that she is his biological daughter; McCoy explains that he tested the blood sample three extra times just to be sure, and each came back the same. When the Professor brings Gambit in to question this, he denies any knowledge of a daughter, stating he has been faithful only to Rogue and there would be no way she could even exist. However, this revelation pushes a wedge between Rogue and Gambit, as with no other apparent answer to why Valentine would have Gambit's DNA, Rogue is unable to believe her husband's claims. At the same time, Valentine rejects Gambit as her father, disliking him immensely almost immediately after meeting him and frequently arguing with him.

Shortly after the revelation of Valentine's DNA, seven of Inkblot's disciples, including Sonicboom, Vitas, and Peace Dove, conduct a raid on the school, having tracked Valentine there and intending to capture her from the X-Men. Professor X, believing that for Inkblot's disciples to be so intent on her capture she may be important somehow to his cause, asks Valentine to hold back from the fight in order to protect her. However, after witnessing both Deadpool and Gambit injured in the battle, she is wracked with guilt and unable to stay behind, and enters the fray. In the ensuing fight, Valentine faces against Vitas, Inkblot's personal right-hand disciple. Vitas also recognizes Valentine, claiming that Inkblot is fixated on her, but she does not see how she is special at all. Wishing to cause as much pain to Valentine as possible before she eventually kills her, Vitas attacks Gambit, believing them to be close. This causes Valentine to experience a sudden, vivid recollection of Mantis on the Collecton Space Station Alpha, which returns her memories to her. The sudden rush of powerful emotions causes Valentine's powers to explode out of her control, accidentally killing Vitas in the process, but managing to drive back the disciples.

## Attributes

### Powers

As a mutant affected by the X-Gene, Valentine possesses inherent powers:

* **Ergokinesis:** Seemingly an evolution or mutation of her genetic father Remy LeBeau's powers, Valentine holds the ability to manipulate energy itself.
	+ **Energy absorption:** Valentine is able to absorb multiple kinds of energy from different sources. While this power was weaker closer to the development of her powers, it has grown stronger over time, resulting in her ability to absorb more kinds of energy more effectively. Examples of energy she can absorb include kinetic, potential, thermal, solar, and radiation.
	+ **Energy conversion:** Valentine's body uses a unique form of energy which is not found anywhere else in nature, deemed Valentinian Energy originally by Tony Stark (a name later also adopted by the X-Men). The attributes of this form of energy are not entirely clear; however, it possesses the ability to exist as a solid material form. Her body runs on Valentinian energy, as well as using it to fuel her powers. All energy absorbed into her body are "metabolized" and converted into Valentinian energy over time. Valentinian energy is visible to the eye, though it appears more faded and transparent to those without energy-based powers. It can be seen as a bright red aura or light.
	+ **Energy storage:** Valentine is able to absorb energy and store it for use at a later time. However, her reserves do become depleted over time, as her body will naturally use the energy as fuel. Her capacity for energy storage has also increased over time with more usage of her powers.
	+ **Energy sensing:** Due to her natural mutations, Valentine is able to see various types of energy. The most notable of this is her ability to fully see the range of Valentinian energy; however, if she focuses, she is able to see other types, such as kinetic, potential, thermal, solar, and radiation.
	+ **Energy manipulation:** Alongside being able to absorb and fuel herself with energy, Valentine is also able to control the energy her body produces and stores. Using this ability, she is able to release beams and blasts of pure Valentinian energy. Later, as her powers develop, she also gains the ability to create solid energetic constructs; she often utilizes this ability to create shields and protective bubbles, as well as to create flat surfaces on which she can step to cross gaps or dangerous territory. She also