(Inactive)

Back in '87 a scientist named Dr. Van Grimes was doing some amazing research in mutatation-regression therapy, which meant over a period of time he could remove harmful, debilitating mutations that sometimes afflicted adolescents.  Not all mutants were born with cool powers, and in fact in many cases the mutations that manifested were either useless deformities or fatal to the bearer.

Grimes' ran a government sponsored clinic that took in children to treat their problems.  And in many cases Grimes' patients showed remarkable improvement.  Mutations either disappeared altogether or were reduced to such an extent that plastic surgery could do the rest.

Only there was a dark side to Grimes' research.  In reality Van was attempting to enhance mutations in some subjects rather than remove them.  It could not be done in all cases, perhaps only in one in ten subjects, but in those he could dramatically expand on one's powers to an incredible degree.  None of his patients knew what he was doing until '91, when the special genetic triggers he implanted in each one activated.

The changes were startling and quick; overnight seven cases went from being on the road to normality to becoming incredibly hideous freaks of nature.  Their minds snapped and they first killed Grimes, then laid waste to his compound and slew a dozen staff and patients.  Along the way they wound up bringing Becky Quinn for the ride, a maladjusted girl with the ability to create a powerful psychokinetic entity.

The G.O.O.N. (Genetic Outasts Of Nature) Squad, as they called themselves, went on a rampage that finally ended when The Morrigan, Cavalier and the gadgeteer known as Task put an end to the rampage (Lionheart and the rest of High Justice had been involved in a case in the former Soviet Union and were unable to return to the U.K. to help).  The adult members of the G.O.O.N. Squad were each given a minimum of twenty years before they could be eligible for parole due to the death and destruction they had caused (it would have been more but their attorney had cited emotional distress).  Rebecca Quinn, only twelve years old at the time, was sentenced to a juvenille detention facility and was released at the age of eighteen.

Recently the rest of the G.O.O.N. Squad escaped from The Hole and are now at large...

PHLEM - Stephan Wanamaker was born in Liverpool with a horrendous, disgusting nasal condition.  He could not stop producing copious amounts of snot that came from his nose and mouth.  When the "gene bomb" in his system went off his mucus took on extra-ordinary properties and he could make it as slick or as sticky as he chose.  His ability to launch disgusting spit balls is incredible and more dangerous than one might think.

SHRILL - Hailing from a small town north of Belfast, Lyn Towns was born with a huge neck and vocal cords.  Everything she said was incredibly loud.  When her powers mutated further she took on the ability to scream so loud she could cause shockwaves.  The only bad thing is she cannot speak else her powers will go off automatically.

ROCK LOBSTER - Frank Sullivan's parents owned a fishing boat that sailed out of Cardiff.  He was born with deformed hands not unlike lobster claws.  His power mutated, making all his hair fall out and  turning his skin into a bony gray surface and his deformed hands turned into huge crushing claws.  His strength also inflated to easily super human levels.

FLASHER - Howard Kelly was a Cork native whose skin had an unnatural sheen to it, almost mirror-like.  Dr. Grimes' little surprise made the flesh into a light-absorbing surface that allowed Kelly to store and release photonic energy, only now he looked like an animated mirror-man!  Over time in prison Kelly learned how to manipulate his powers to create holograms, employing the little light the prison guards allowed him.

QUILL - Zoey Palmer had horrible, spikey hair that jutted from all over her body.  It was so stiff and tough it took the strongest shears to remove it.  Grimes' manipulations turned the hair into quills, quills that protected her flesh like armor and could be launched like missiles!

SQUID - Jack Avery's mutation may not have been so bad had he lived anywhere near the sea, or so he used to tell himself.  But he was born in Birmingham, almost as far from the sea as one could get in the UK.  His face and neck were hidden by a mass of squid-like tentacles.  His explosive mutation caused the tentactles to grow to huge lengths, turning him truly into a human squid with monstrous strength and resilience.  His features deformed further, making him look truly like a human/squid hybrid.  Squid cannot breath water but he can hold his breath a very long time.

KUDZU - Ashish Bhandari's parents immigrated from India to the UK for better job opportunities.  What they did not know was a toxic fertilizer spill the two were exposed to had mutated the mother's ovum while she was pregnant.  Ashish was born with plants for hair, namely vines and danilion-like weeds.  Follicle removal did not work, the plants grew right back!  When Grimes' enhancer activated all the hair all over Ashish's body turned plant-like, making him a walking jungle in need of lots of water and sunlight.  But he also developed the ability to hyper-grow his vines into powerful appendages and to have limited control of the plants around him.

BECKY (And her invisible friend)  - Rebecca Quinn came from a broken home; drunken father, abusive mother, the combination created an introverted young girl who played with imaginary friends.  One day one of those imaginary friends began talking back.  And one day that imaginary friend struck the abusive mother again, and again and again.  Becky was sent to Dr. Grimes' facility for observation the same day his genetic times bombs went off.  Becky was caught in the middle and when the rest of the 'Squad showed up at her dorm her invisible friend protected her.  The 'Squad decided to take the ten-year-old with them.

Becky's power enables her to create a near-invisible psycho-kinetic being of great strength and reslience.  It can be hurt and dissipated with sufficient force, and the backlash can knock Becky unconscious