Night Witch

## **History**

### **Early Life**

**Yelena Vladislavovna Tereshkova** (Russian: Елена Владиславовна Терешкова), aka **Night Witch** (Russian: **Ночная Ведьма**) was born in 1989 in Minsk just before the Belarusian government declared its independence from the Soviet Union. Much else of her early life is marred in mystery, though it is known that at one point her parents were active in a Democratic extremist group. At some time prior to 1991 she was the final child kidnapped by rogue Soviet agents during Operation Upgrade. This secret military operation had been in place since the Stalin regime and was tasked with kidnapping children all over the Eastern Bloc, usually orphans or the offspring of prisoners, and using them for experiments and clandestine military operations. The exact scope of these experiments and Yelena’s abilities are unknown.

She and another female prisoner became Spetsnaz officers and agents of the KGB, which despite popular reports continues to be active to this day. They would also operate for an underground Pro-Soviet militant group, known as *Lenin’s Fist*, for a time. The prisoners were believed to be “test tube babies” and thusly the pride of Soviet ingenuity.

Yelena endured years of torture and experimentation from her kidnappers, even after the fall of the Soviet Union. After 21 years of subservience, in 2010, Yelena, with the aid of her Slovene lover Danijela Novak, escaped the Siberian prison they’d been kept in. In poverty, and with no formal records of their existence, the pair squatted in abandoned homes for a few years. After the pair rose to action and stopped a bank robbery, they agreed to put the abilities given to them to good use. Yelena took to calling herself *Night Witch*. Based in Ljubljana (the capital of Slovenia), the two would primarily work in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, mostly stopping petty crimes and larger organized crime rings. A few months into their career, the duo were contacted by a group of heroes asking them to join their burgeoning superhero team. Yelena accepted, while Danijela preferred to remain in Slovenia.

### **Blue Ribbon: Genesis**

During the events of Blue Ribbon: Genesis, Night Witch is first seen on stage during the admittance ceremony. Nick declares his attraction towards her. During Mister Machines attack, she is the one who finds the teenage heroes, and disarms the gas bomb.

Night Witch next appears at the scene of Strixa's death, assisting with crowd control. Once the Outcasts are brought to The Tower, Yelena shows them to the lab and teleports them back to the warehouse. During their walk, she divulges a few details about her life.

She is present again following the Outcasts defeat at the hands of Silver Tongue. She appears once more after the heroes defeat Johnny B. Badd and Cherry Bomb, before then teleporting to Slovenia.

Night Witch fights hard during the Fall of the Tower, at one point losing consciousness along with Chevalier, the two were carried to safety by their Minotaur ally, Asterion.

Following The first Flare, the explosion in New York, as it came to be known, Yelena was asked if Danijela would help the team. She seemed reluctant to ask.

## **Appearance**

Night Witch is depicted as a taller than average Eastern European woman with pale skin and an athletic physique. She has red hair, looking the color of blood in the right light, and eyes bluer than the sky.

## **Powers & Abilities**

* **Soviet Experimentation**
	+ **Fireproof:** Night Witch was given some form of dermal injection that rendered her skin completely flame retardant.
		- **Coldproof:** Yelena is also invulnerable to sub-zero temperatures.
	+ **Reduced Aging:** She was given a serum that reduced, possibly even stopped, her aging. These effects have not yet been felt fully, given her biological age of 30.
	+ **Enhanced Endurance:** Yelena possesses an extraordinarily high tolerance for pain, as well as an at least partial resistance to the effects of low-orbit flight.
	+ **Enhanced Stamina:** She has the stamina of an Olympic-level runner. She has been observed holding her breath underwater for a full half hour.
	+ **Enhanced Reflexes:** Her reflexes are said to be some of the fastest on Earth for a non-superhuman.
	+ **Athletic Speed:** She is able to run at speeds of up to 30 mph.
	+ **Disease Immunity:** Night Witch is fully immune to all known diseases and ailments.
		- **Poison Immunity:** She is also immune to all known poisons.
* **Knife Fighting:** Yelena is a highly skilled and accomplished knife fighter, often carrying a pair of large karambit-style knives on her person.
* **Expert Marksman:** She is an almost unrivaled marksman, though she refuses to use sniper rifles and instead opts for a pair of Skorpion machine pistols.
* **Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant:** Night Witch is nearly unapparelled in Sambo and Combat Hopak, as well as being skilled in Russian bare-knuckle fighting. She is also somewhat proficient in Finnish jujutsu.
* **Explosives Expert:** She is able to build a working bomb as well as disarm it in record time.
* **Skilled Spy:** Her exact expertise in the field of intrigue is unknown, though it is known that she was regarded as one of Lenin's Fist's finest operatives.
* **Learned Intelligence:** Her intelligence, while nowhere near genius level, is still markedly more advanced than the average person.
* **Aviation:** She is a very skilled pilot of both fighter jets and attack helicopters.
* **Indomitable Will:** Years of torture, war, and experimentation have given Yelena a nigh unbreakable will.
* **Multilingualism:** Yelena speaks Russian and English fluently, as well as Slovene at a conversational level. She never learned her native Belarusian.
* **Gagarin-3KA Flight Suit:** An experimental suit stolen from ex-Soviet Scientists aligned with Lenin's Fist. The term is umbrella for all aspects of the suit.
	+ **Retractable Wings:** The suit possesses a set of metal wings, the exact material is a mystery. Their length is a about one foot longer than her arms.
	+ **Goggles:** The goggles on the suit have a built in night vision interface, as well telescopic capabilities.

### **Weaknesses**

* **Sterility:** Due to the experiments she endured, Night Witch is presumably infertile.
* **PTSD:** Also due to the experiments, as well the actual deeds she needed to commit, Yelena has a form of PTSD. Hers is mostly related to night terrors and panic attack when around loud noises.
* **Protected Personality:** She shows a hesitance to get close to anyone besides Danijela, even being reluctant to involve her in Blue Ribbon.

## **Notes and Trivia**

* Her story is full of holes and contradictions and she is unwilling to talk about exactly what her time in Lenin's Fist was like.
* Due to being forced Soviet propaganda for much of her life, Yelena is a staunch atheist and has some communist leanings. Though she personally despises both capitalism and communism, defining her own beliefs as "some form of anarcho-feminism".
* Part of her experiments involved her having her breast size abnormally increased, and her lips being made fuller, as a means to make her irresistible to men. She would have both reduced as soon as she was able to do so.
* It is not known if Night Witch has any innate superhuman abilities, or if all her abilities are from her torture.
* Night Witch is one of Blue Ribbon author, Gage J. Tolin's favorite characters.