Biography
Born in Millennium City, Krysta was a frightening child. White as a sheet and eyes burning red, she was shunned before her life had truly begun. Despite that, her parents loved her. They cherished her above all else and in turn Krysta treasured her parents. They were the only ones who treated her as something more than a freak.
From the very beginning her eyes granted her the ability to see the talents of those around her; she could perceive everyone in their element, doing what they were best at. But when she looked in the mirror, she saw nothing but her own reflection.
She was talentless.
Jealousy festered within Krysta, a malicious envy that only grew stronger as time went by. During her teenage years these feelings induced an evolution in her sight.
She discovered she could steal the talents of others.
With this twisted ability she delighted in sampling the skills of her peers. Krysta's life became effortless. Every challenge was met with the fruits of someone else's labours, every opportunity snatched from those who deserved them.
Eventually she grew bored of regular people. Mundane talents had their uses, but true power belonged to the superheroes of the world. With her eye, those powers were hers to take if she dared.
It felt like fate.
Theft was etched into her very DNA. She was a parasite, leeching off the strong and capable. What else could she be but a villain?
Accepting her place in the world, she inserted herself into criminal underbelly of Millennium City. Without strength of her own, she needed to establish a network of allies. To do that, she had to gain infamy as a valuable criminal asset. This desire for allies induced another evolution in her sight, allowing her to transfer stolen power to others, or strengthen their existing abilities.
This aspect to her abilities made her far more desirable than she cared for. For months she was subject to multiple abductions, with gangs fighting to gain control of her power. She had become valuable, just as she desired. But that value was as a living battery, not as a villain.
The abductions concluded with the arrival of Ruin. He was a man with the ability to convert velocity into misfortune. A speeding bullet was enough to generate a fatal accident, so one shot from his rifle always spelled doom, hit or miss.
Ruin laid claim to Krysta as his partner in crime. He offered money, security and purpose. It was a chance to rise into the big leagues of villainy.
Krysta embraced the opportunity, taking up the alias of Guide's Eye.
Initially the partnership worked like a well-oiled machine. Krysta could disable heroes with her sight and Ruin could finish them off with his rifle.
But Ruin began to get bored. Krysta's ability made everything too easy. There was no challenge in hunting a powerless hero.
When the frustration became intolerable, Ruin ordered Krysta to stand down from his next hunt.
But once the fight began, it was clear to Krysta that the hero would emerge victorious without her intervention. If Ruin was killed or captured, the life she had begun to build would fall apart.
The only option then, was to save Ruin.
So she did.
As thanks for saving his life, Ruin gouged out Krysta's right eye, "If you're called Guide's Eye, why do you have two of them?"
He didn't find fault with her judgement, but her defiance was something he couldn't leave unchecked. With this act of mutilation he believed Krysta's obedience had been secured. Better still, with only one eye she was less effective, making some hunts more difficult.
Ruin's lust for challenging hunts drove him to seek heroes that countered his powers. Barriers, Temporal Manipulation, Good Fortune; anything that required him to get creative.
He would engineer elaborate traps to secure kills and outright refused to use Krysta unless his plans were foiled. His failures were Krysta's responsibility to clean up. She had become little more than a cheat code for Ruin to use whenever he screwed up. For months Krysta obeyed Ruin's commands in furious silence.
One night, Ruin's trap for a hero possessing the ability to reflect projectiles failed, leading to an order for Krysta to disable the hero and execute them herself. She had been waiting for an opportunity like this ever since Ruin had taken her eye. A moment to get revenge and escape the life she had made for herself.
When Krysta pulled the trigger, Ruin was surprised to find the bullet bounced off the hero and ripped through his own stomach.
With that shot, Krysta had set forth on the path of redemption.
