Margaret Ross

Benjamin Harrison, Charles Harrison, Miles Harrison (brothers)

Numerous half-siblings

Margaret Ross is a metahuman who likes to take it all in.

### Superhero-Soldier

When Margaret came of age, she made her first debut as a superhero named Shockwave, mainly from the fact it was assumed she primarily controlled electricity. She was, of course, a popular one, thanks to the FOA's promotions and her charisma, despite having a foul personality behind the scenes. Margaret was very much the government's mouthpiece, whatever decision they made she would try to sell to her fans and the public. When the Vietnam War began, Margaret was undoubtedly one of the few major metahuman supporters of the war. To the point, she went as far as to even slander Supreme's name, which certainly earned her more enemies than allies, due to Supreme's superior reputation and renown.

On the battlefield, Margaret was one of the more formidable metas of her group and popular amongst the soldiers, giving a much-needed morale boost to the front lines. But, her meta teammates despised her, for she had a domineering personality and tended to bully her teammates, especially ones on the weaker side, her slander of Supreme did not end either. Even worse was her treatment of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians, which only earned her more ire, topped off by her assistance in exterminating the Thunderguard.

At the end of the war, the reputation of "Shockwave" was completely down the drain amongst most of the general public and fellow metas. She was seen as a heartless war criminal, many protested for her to be arrested and charged for the atrocities she had committed and boasted about. Eventually, Margaret was forced to resign as Shockwave and live completely away from the public eye. Occasionally, she'd have a minor role in a few movies her father starred in thanks to his influence in the film industry, but Margaret opted to spend most of her downtime with almost all the indulgence money could afford. Essentially watching the world go by until she's needed for another war or until it's been long enough and she feels ready to be a public superhero again.

And Margaret did indeed wait an incredibly long time, a little over two decades in fact, until she debuted as a superhero once again. As a masked hero with a slightly ironic alias of "Backlash", with no mentioned connections to Captain Invincible to avoid any clever sleuths from discovering her past identity. Thankfully, Margaret had learned her lesson and cooled off since her time in the Vietnam War, making sure to watch her behaviour when it came to public appearances though continuing to speak in favour of the US government most of the time. She does attempt to appear "neutral" and "honest" to gain appeal from all sides of the political spectrum. The criminals she primary targeted were rogue metas and ichor abusers or pushers as she was powerful enough to take on most of them, undoubtedly becoming an even more valuable asset to the FOA.

#### Cold War Loves & Unexpected Motherhood

At some point, Margaret met with the Russian superhero, Aleksandr Menshikov. What was initially a simple fling eventually formed into a serious relationship that Margaret very much did her best to keep under wraps from everyone, including her father. She felt that a relationship with Russia's most influential superhero would lead to tensions between the US and Russia, which contributed to her decision to end the relationship with him. As her luck would have it, Margaret found out she was already a few months pregnant with Menshikov's child then.

She took a hiatus from her superhero duties and hid from the public for a few months until she gave birth to her daughter, Charlotte Ross, using the excuse of being out on a "secret mission" to avoid suspicion. Margaret never revealed who the real father was, nor does the general public know she even gave birth. She raised her in secret and hopes that one day her daughter would manifest superpowers soon enough.

For now, Margaret will continue her career as Backlash, being one of the most formidable superheroes alive. She has her enigmatic motives and goals.

## Physical Appearance

Margaret is very much a woman in peak physical condition and looks much younger than her actual age. She's leanly built, with blue eyes and naturally blonde hair that she dyes in a different colour or wears a wig over if she's doing a civilian disguise.

## Personality

Margaret is not a nice person by any means. While she might be a superhero in the eye of the public, she does not have everyone's best intention at heart and is very much a "the ends justify the means" person. She enjoys getting and being in power, she does not like being "undermined" by those she deems lesser. Being known as one of the most formidable metahumans alive greatly feeds her ego. Furthermore, Margaret has a way with words and is skilled at hiding her true intentions, making her a capable manipulator, especially having learned her lesson from the Vietnam War days. She retained her devout patriotism to the United States of America, though it has wavered a fair amount through the decades and changes in the government.

She does have her pitfalls, Margaret is deeply plagued by hidden fears and insecurities. The major one is the existence of Supreme and his family, almost being envious of them in a way, but is mostly immensely annoyed by their continued existence in the superhero scene. Her fame and the adoration given by her fans are also something does not want to lose as it meant having a level of influence over the populace. Margaret is still fully capable of love and genuine attachment, but most would be sorely disappointed if they think it is easily earned.

## Powers

Metahuman Physiology: Having survived a potent dose of I-3 ichor, Margaret was endowed with potent superhuman abilities.

* Energy Absorption: Margaret is capable of absorbing various types of energy through her skin. Kinetic energy is the easiest energy to absorb, be it from blunt punches, bullets, or the stabs and cuts of a blade. She is also able to absorb energy from other sources, such as fire, explosives, and electricity, though the efficiency of absorption compared to kinetic energy is decreased. When subjected to some form of energy based damage, Margaret's body reflexively absorbs it, but she is also able to consciously draw on an external energy source, usually by pressing her hands to it and drawing in nearby energy from there. This allows her to absorb a fire, or draw energy from an absorbed power cable.
	+ Energy Expulsion: After having absorbed energy from an external source, Margaret is able to expel it from her body, be it from from her hands, eyes, or in an omnidirectional blast. The energy leaves Margaret's body in the same form that it entered in, meaning if she absorbed heat, she would expel it as heat. While Margaret cannot alter the form of the energy she expels, she is able to condense and direct it to a fine degree as it leaves her body. This allows her to perform such feats as granting a fingertap the force of a punch or even a bullet, or allow her to create force across a wide surface, allowing her to shift about grossly large objects. The amount of force Margaret expels is down to her choice, allowing her to release it in increments or all at once.
		- Superhuman Strength: By manipulating the manner in which she expels kinetic energy, Margaret is able to produce her own version of superhuman strength, such as by adding extra force and momentum to her blows or jumps, as well as being able to enhance her gripping strength.
	+ Energy Storage: When not expelling energy, Margaret is able to store it within her body until such times as it is needed. While her storage capacity is not unlimited, it is quite high, and calculations by FOA scientists have predicted her maximum storage capacity to enable her to store an energy yield similar to the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb detonated at Nagasaki.
		- Regeneration: While she is generally unable to convert one form of energy to another, an exception exists in the fact that Margaret's body automatically metabolizes a small portion of her energy stores into chemical energy. This allows Margaret to heal tissues at an advanced and accelerated rate, provided she has an energy store to draw on. Margaret's healing abilities allow her to survive numerous adverse conditions that would be life-threatening to normal humans, such as low oxygen levels and exposure to certain toxins.
			* Delayed Aging: Thanks to her regenerative abilities, Margaret ages exceptionally slowly. FOA scientists calculate that she ages around fifteen times slower than an ordinary human.
		- Self Sustenance: In the same function as her regenerative abilities, Margaret is able to go without the need for food or rest so long as she has a sufficient amount of energy stored up. Psychologically, however, she does still require sleep.
	+ Superhuman Durability: While Margaret's body is not actually any tougher than an ordinary human's, her ability to absorb the energy from most incoming attacks renders her largely immune to most forms of bodily harm. Trauma inflicted by blunt force, cuts, heat and electricity are almost all insufficient to overcome her energy absorption rate and storage capabilities, and it is theorized that a nuclear explosive would be necessary to do so. However, despite her numerous immunities, Margaret's otherwise human form is vulnerable to certain specialized forms of harm. Low temperatures are capable of harming her, as are various corrosive substances.

## Skills

Multilingual (German, Russian, can understand mandarin but can't speak it fluently), adept at CQC, experienced leader, good memory, extensive knowledge on how to take down metas, a good understanding of military strategy.