Ash

Ash, also known by her superhero alias **Ashen Moth**, is a current member of the Young Bloods. She was an orphan that ended up being mutated by a malicious superhuman and was later captured by the Wonder Foundation. She was eventually rescued and recruited into the Young Bloods where she is adjusting to society.

## Biography

### Pre-YB

Ash hardly remembers her past life, recalling flashes of memories as if through the haze of a half-forgotten dream. Before her transformation, Ashley Phillips was another scribbled name in the registrar of the State’s wards. Her parents both died when she was young, their faces having faded in her mind even when she was still herself. Her childhood was spent being moved throughout the system of charity-run orphanages that dotted the state, occasionally punctuated by a brief stay in a foster home which inevitably never quite seemed to work out. Life was always a struggle, money often falling short and a dog-eat-dog world reigning supreme among the orphans. Many fell into gangs, others ran drugs in order to earn some extra money on the side, all felt the oppressive ticking of the clock as they approached the inevitable cliff-edge of “ageing-out”.

As her own time increasingly grew close, Ashley and a few of her friends eventually talked each other into running away. They had some friends on the other side who allegedly could offer them jobs and shelter, a welcomed promise of security and finally a chance to gain some control over their own lives. Slipping out of the orphanage was hardly a challenge, with the staff stretched thin even without needing to look for children who were actively trying to avoid being found. When their disappearance was discovered, little effort was spent in trying to locate the runaways. It was an unfortunate fact of the industry that a few orphans always inevitably fell through the cracks. And who-knew, maybe it was better for them than being kicked out on their 18th birthday. Regardless, there was a process in-place for such situations that had to be followed. Ashley’s name was submitted to the local sheriff’s office, and her name was scratched from the list of local resident wards. No-one was surprised when she was never heard from again, the young girl swiftly forgotten.

In reality, as is all too often the case, safety and security didn’t await the runaways out on the streets. Their friends and contacts turned out to be gang members who roped them into acting as drug mules or lookouts during their dealings. The pay they received in return was pitiful, but beggars could hardly be choosers. A few months after running away, Ashley really fell into the wrong crowd. She knew the risks, but the pay was just too good to turn down. However the job ended up going south when an unidentified superhero burst onto the scene and captured the gang members. Ashley managed to get away, although she never found out that the masked hero would eventually be identified as a “Kabuto” making his grand debut. Uncertain of what to do, Ashley and the other kids did all that she could think to: head back to the abandoned apartment which the gang used as their old hideaway.

Waiting there in the hope that they would run into someone who would know what to do next, and terrified that the police would somehow identify and find them in the meantime, Ashley and her friends were surprised when the leader of the gang himself eventually returned. He seemed to be just as surprised to see them as they were to see him, but Ashley’s initial relief soon turned into unease as she saw the drying blood on his clothes and the wild look in his eyes. The gang leader, having just discovered his ability to mutate others, held a gleam in his expression as a plan began to dawn in his mind. He would be able to get his revenge on Kabuto thanks to his powers, and the kids would be the perfect means to this end.

None of them were able to escape from the former gang leader as he lurched at them, a bone-like needle shooting from his arm. Ashley tried to turn and run, hearing her friends crying out in pain and surprise as the criminal injected the mutagen into their system until eventually her number came up. All of the orphans were left as little more than mindless animals, sent to fight and be defeated by Kabuto as part of the gang leader’s single-minded plan for revenge. Ash never had the chance, however. Instead of mutating immediately, her body morphed more slowly than the others, enveloping itself in a hardened cocoon in the far corner of the abandoned apartment. There she remained until after Kabuto managed to defeat the gang leader, and the aftermath of the horrific attacks began to really settle into the town. The police and authorities immediately began to tackle the mountain of paperwork and clean-up that the mutants’ rampage had left in its wake, but a few more unsavory groups also moved in - seeking to take advantage of the situation.

The Wonder Foundation was one such group. They had been working on genetic engineering and manipulation for years, and when word of the mutants that had been attacking the town reached them, an investigative team had been dispatched immediately. Their instructions had been simple: to discreetly observe and gather samples if possible. They were hoping to snag some blood or tissue from a corpse ideally, but were blown away when they found the forgotten cocoon with Ash still inside. Immediately taking her into custody, the Foundation's science division wasted no time in beginning to study her, cracking open the cocoon and revealing the mutated girl within. With most of her memories gone, Ash was poked and prodded by the researchers, sealed away from the world as the Foundation sought to gain as much information as they could from their experiments. Drawing out her powers, they realized the potential in having a creature such as her under their control, with Ash’s abilities being well suited to certain clandestine operations that the organisation occasionally saw fit to carry out. And so it was decided that she would be an assassin for Lycan, as well as a simple lab rat.

Until that is, a certain young superhero team stumbled upon the facility in which she was being held.

## Powers and abilities

Ash's powers comes from her mutated moth physiology which she acquired from being mutated by a superhuman.

* **Moth/Insect Physiology**: Ash’s modified physiology grants her a number of abilities, chief and most obvious among them being her ability to fly thanks to her set of double wings. She is able to move more swiftly than a human of her size, her agility both on the ground and the air proving especially useful in a fight. She is also able to grip onto ceilings and walls, climbing and moving along them if she so desired. Her antennae also grant her a number of enhanced senses, allowing her to build up an effective mental image of her surroundings through scents and sounds. While her physiology also allows her to produce silk, it is not especially useful in battle.

* **Insect Influence**: Ash is able to communicate with insects in her local area to an extremely limited extent (they are just insects after all). This is a power that she is far from practiced with and is mostly limited to feeling certain vague feelings that mimic those being felt by the insects. For instance, she could get a forewarning about some kind of danger, although would not be able to scry with insects or issue them obligatory commands.
* **Strong and Resilient**: Ash is somewhat stronger than your average human, and she is able to lift a small car (or a large refrigerator) with a good deal of effort. Durability-wise, while at superhuman levels, her main defense is still avoiding the main force of any attacks leveled against her through superior agility.
* **Acid and Poison Creation**: Glands beneath Ash’s skin can produce and secrete acid of variable strength, which she can use to great effect in a fight. While some of the glands are stronger than others, in her hands she can create an acid concentrated enough to eat through stone and metal. Retractable stingers in her wrists can also inject a paralytic poison if they pierce the skin. In low doses, dizziness and fatigue are the consequence, although higher doses inevitably result in cardiac arrest and death.
* **Camouflage**: Able to change her skin colour to match her environment, Ash is able to camouflage herself to a certain degree with her surroundings. Although Ash can adapt her skin to camouflage herself, this ability hardly makes her invisible and it has little effectiveness during the day or when her surroundings change rapidly. A keen eye, or someone actively looking for her, would be able to see through the disguise.
* **Cocoon Healing**: Ash is not aware of this ability yet, but she is able to encase herself within a webbed cocoon. While in this state, she can gradually heal even from grievous injuries including - but not limited to - severed limbs. Both before entering a cocoon and immediately afterwards, Ash requires a large amount of sustenance in order to sustain herself. Failure to gather enough food and sugars would lead to her body perishing in the process.
* **Blood Hound**: After ingesting a creature’s blood, Ash is able to track and pinpoint them with significant precision. The accuracy and duration of this ability is dependent upon the quantity and freshness of the ingested blood.