| Slipstream | |
|---|---|
 Koos van der Lught | |
|
Concept: |
Speedster/Energy Blaster |
|
Nationality: |
South Africa |
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Place of Birth: |
Capetown, South Africa |
|
Date of Birth: |
13 September 1976 |
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Hair/Eye Color: |
Blond/Blue |
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Height/Weight: |
6' 1" / 191 lbs |
|
Status |
Member of Projekt Utopie |
Background[]
Koos van der Lught idolized his father. He always had, for as long as he could remember. Ernst van der Lught had raised the boy alone since his mother had died, and like most doting fathers perhaps spoiled young Koos too much. An Anglican priest, Ernst spent as much of his free time with his son as he could. Zoo trips, trips to the shore, fishing, "photo safaris" into South Africa's bush country, kiting... any activity that struck up Koos's imagination was pursued.
The only time that Koos could remember not having his father's full attention was when Father was off being a hero. In addition to being the Right Reverend Ernst van der Lught, Father was also Dogfight, a great hero and a member of the Global Guardians. As Dogfight, his father protected the weak and the innocent of the world, something the older man felt he had to do. To Koos, though, it was just time stolen from him. He was resentful of the time his father was away, and as he grew and got older, his resentment only became worse.
When it became clear that Koos has inherited Father's powers, the boy decided to not do anything with them. He wouldn't be a hero... rather, he'd make his father proud by building things! Houses, workspaces, even a football stadium! And his work did make Father proud... but Koos couldn't escape the feeling that there was a shade of disappointment in his father, disappointment that his only son wouldn't be following in his footsteps as a hero.
And then came that horrid day. September 11, 2001. Koos and his father were going to the shore to celebrate Koos's twenty-fifth birthday on the 13th. The younger man had planned on introducing his father to the young lady he'd been seeing for months, and hoped to marry. But it wasn't to be. With the barest of apologies for missing the beach trip, his father was called away... some accident in America involving an aeroplane and a skyscraper. Ernst assured Koos that he'd be back before supper, then disappeared in the sparkle of the Guardians teleportation beam.
His father never came home. When the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, Ernst van der Lught used his last remaining strength throwing two fire fighters out of harms way rather than save himself.. Unable to continue moving from sheer exhaustion, Dogfight was crushed under the weight of the rubble.
Achilles, the leader of the Guardians, came to Koos two days later, on Koos's birthday, mouthing empty sympathies and well-wishes. But Koos wouldn't hear it. He didn't want "sorries". He didn't want "deepest sympathies". He didn't want "consolations". He wanted his father. And this man... this American "hero", so-called, had taken his father away from him.
They would all pay.
The Guardians would pay. All of them.
But especially this man, this "Achilles", who tore the hole in Koos's soul by stealing his father from him.
He had just begun his quest for vengeance when the well-known criminal mastermind Lord Doom contacted him, seeking to recruit Koos into his organization. Koos realized that Doom could aid in his quest for bloody vengeance, and so accepted his offer.
Personality and Motivations[]
Slipstream is strongly motivated... one might say obsessed, even... with making the world pay for the death of his father. Because he cannot take his rage at the world out on the true culprits behind his father's death (that is, the leadership of al-Queda, most of which are either locked deep in prison or have been executed for their crimes), he's moved his anger on to the next available targets: the Global Guardians, especially in the person of Achilles.
He blames his father's membership in that team (and thus the team itself, and thus the leader of that team) for his father's death, and will not rest until the Guardians have paid, and paid in blood. He has no qualms about killing people who get in the way of this quest for vengeance. No qualms whatsoever. That is not to say he is a vicious, mad-dog killer like his colleague Anole. Slipstream rarely kills his opponents. Its only when that person is standing in the way of his campaign to end the lives of the Global Guardians that he becomes murderous.
Slipstream has no idea that Lord Doom is the father of Achilles, nor does he have any idea that the entire point of his recruitment into Doom's organization is so Doom can keep careful tabs on Slipstream's campaign against Doom's son..
It will be a very interesting day when he figures it all out.
Quote[]
"They say that he who seeks vengeance must start by digging two graves: one for his enemy and one for himself. I'm fine with that..."
Powers and Abilities[]
Slipstream has control over kinetic forces that he inherited from his father. He can use kinetic energy in a variety of ways, from boosting someone else's ability to move to stopping their movement entirely. His primary use is to cause himself to move at high speed.
Slipstream can project raw kinetic energy as a weapon, or use it to allow him to fly. He can cancel someone else's momentum in relation to the Earth itself, flinging them away (always to the west, in the direction opposite of the Earth's rotation), or use that same effect to seem to teleport.