Signal



Signal is a superhero born and raised in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada as Lucy Lagrange. Her powers were passed down from an old retiring superhero whose name, to this day, Signal does not know of. She left Vegas after her old job went kaput and was tired of being a bartender; she wanders the country in her father's old Winnebago looking for anything that will pay for the next meal or tank full of gas.

Unlike other heroes, Signal runs from any enemy she knows she can't take down (unless she's in a group) and is fearful of her own powers, all except her telekinesis and energy absorption which in turn fuels her telekinesis.

Signal, so to speak, only has one rogue in her gallery: her cousin, Virgilia/Virgie "Sigil" Balentine.

Background
Lucy claims to have grown up on the strip, her parents working in one of the most prestigious casinos in the city. Money, showbusiness, and working with customers was in her blood and it would have been that way for a long while were it not for her one day tending to an old man who enters her father's bar. He claims to be a well-renowned superhero, saving lives daily for over 40 years of his life. For reasons no one will ever know, he passes his powers to Lucy via psychic shockwave, dying in the process (his powers were the only thing barely holding him to the mortal coil). Word spread fast, and Lucy was hired by a corporation to pose as a mascot for the city, fighting crime under the name of Coin Girl. Lucy was 18 when she became a "superhero."

For a while, it was a good, if dull (and humiliating) job. She fought against robberies, muggings, and whatever else the police didn't want to deal with. Tired of this, she quit her job and went back to work at her father's bar. Soon, she got bored of that as well and told her parents that she was moving out and taking the Winnebago (since no one even uses the damn thing anyways). They had no objections, knowing the kind of trouble superheroes bring to them and those around them.

Lucy was 20 when she decided to leave home for good. In doing so, she rebranded herself as Signal once she left the city and wandered the country for four years, driving back home now and again to visit family and check up on Sigil, who fell into "villainous retirement" almost immediately after Lucy herself left.

Ultimate Character History
Signal's background in the Ultimate universe doesn't differentiate itself much from its /co/-2 counterpart except for a key difference in Signal's personality: in /co/-2 she's more cautious and fearful of power powers; in Ultimate, she's more brash and willing to use powers that may kill others (including herself) and she lacks the foresight of her more thoughtful /co/-2 counterpart. One can claim that Ult. Signal is actually rather villainous, or at least, her actions so far have been villainous; her becoming a vampire (albeit against her own will) may be a step away from heroism.

Most of her presence in Eagleopolis has been causing destruction and chaos wherever she steps. She befriended a villain or two, made enemies with the local vampire, and did her best to defeat any greater evils (e.g. Behemoth) imposing a threat to the city. So far, she's been more or less a failure at it. Then came the time when that vampire decided to gather a "cult following" at City Hall.

Sided with Synapse, she eventually fights Vladimir in order to (try to) stop him from subjugating the town. In the end, both go down in a burst of fire, but not without Vlad leaving Signal a dying gift. She wakes up in Hot Spring Harbor as a vampire, having been revived alongside the man she hoped would stay dead alongside her. Shortly after revival, she kinda-sorta comes to terms with what she has become and escapes the facility. Finding Gravity Lad here somehow, she is then greeted by a furious Zealot who, in both extreme disappointment and anger of seeing Signal fall so low, tears off her arm and really forces her to recognize what she has become. After getting some blood from a blood bank to grow the arm back, she and Zealot leave for Titan. Yes, that Titan.

Powers
Signal's power is Psionic Energy Conversion, the ability to '''absorb psionic energy from thought-waves and convert it into other forms of energy. '''This means, more or less, that Signal has a constant source for her powers and she rarely has to tap into her own energy (which tires her out, which then leads into passing out). This power encompasses: While this may seem like Signal is over the top when it comes to her powers, she has a massive limit placed on them: herself and her fears of them. After being turned into a vampire during both her death and Vladimir's, Signal gains minor Vampirism benefits, which include (but are not limited to): Over time, either through her sire or by sheer training, she would eventually gain access to other abilities such as Fog Mimicry, Shapeshifting (such as into a wolf or bat), and other things that would take hundreds of years to master without training. Like most vampires, though, she has a weakness to sunlight and possibly other things such as running water, holy symbols, garlic cloves, etc. (To note: in the Vampirism page of the Superpower Wiki, it's associated with Telekinesis. Would this mean Signal's own Telekinesis get stronger/more refined?)
 * Absorbing psychic energy and turning it into...
 * Sonic blasts (generating sounds at high amplitude)
 * Kinetic blasts (charging objects with kinetic energy)
 * Protection from mental attacks, e.g. scrying
 * Creating Fire and Electricity
 * Radiation
 * Physical strength
 * Being able to remove negative thoughts and unwanted memories
 * Telekinesis (She could fly using this, involving "carrying herself," which was at times a daunting task)
 * Rarely does she ever actually use her sonic blasts or kinetic blasts. The former she only uses for intimidation tactics, and the latter... never again. This was more or less how the Amarillo bank incident was caused.
 * Signal does not have heat nor electricity resistance, e.g. if she sets her own fist on fire, hell yes it will burn and hell yes it will hurt.
 * Signal has even less control over her radiation powers despite her insiginia being the sign for radioactivity; the most she can do within her control, and without bathing a large area around her in gamma rays, is place a very small charge of radiation on a single spot, marking it for anyone who has the right equipment to track it (hence her superhero name). And, amazingly enough, she herself does not have immunity to the radiation she generates. The previous hero had it, though...
 * Those with powers like Signal may need to stay away from individuals with particularly negative thoughts in the same way that someone who's dieting needs to stay away from foods with bad carbs. She can also overload if she tries to absorb too much energy, negative or not. For example, stuck inside Eagleopolis with most thought waves carrying negative energy due to looters, rioters, and terrified innocents, Signal had to rely mostly on the sweets produced by Sugar Shock in order to keep fighting and flying in the city; to avoid massive sugar crashes, though, she had to keep finding ways to re-energize herself or suffer a massive depowerment.
 * Enhanced Durability/Regeneration/Stamina/Strength/Senses
 * Night Vision
 * Actual flight, not that gimmicky "carries self with telekinesis" thing
 * A very minor form of Supernatural Survivability, if being able to survive in the vacuum of space at past the speed of light means anything

Appearance
Signal wears a white shirt with a royal purple vest over it, the insignia of radioactivity ironed on the right side. Along with this, she wears pants of a matching purple color, sneakers and wristbands bearing colors referencing her fire and lightning powers. On her head rests a pair of iron goggles with yellow glass.

After being turned, her skin is slightly more pale than it originally was, her hair and eyes have taken on a lighter/duller shade, and she has elongated canine teeth that may or may not be excused as "fangs." She is also missing her signature goggles as they have been left behind in the smoldering ruins of Eagleopolis. Her red wristband is also missing (as the arm it was sitting on was, well, torn off and discarded). After a while her white top changes to a full-sleeved shirt and the purple pants change to gray sweat pants. She also gets herself some teashades in the hopes of it replacing her goggles. (They don't.)