Mind Master II
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Mind Master II is the son of the original Mind Master. A powerful villain in his own right, Mind Master II seeks to continue his father’s tradition of grandiose supervillainy.
Contents
History
A mind is a terrible thing to waste
Miles’ was one of those individuals born into power, in his case, literally. The illegitimate child of Miles Masterton Sr, the first Mind Master and Swiftwind, a notorious villainess, he was gifted with his father’s considerable mental powers from birth. Abandoned as a child, he was raised in an orphanage; his powers first manifested when he was young; Miles chose to keep them hidden, instead using them to manipulate those in the orphanage to his advantage.
As he grew, he desired to find out more about his past and the source of his powers. Using his abilities to raise money through blackmail, he sought out his parents, only to be somewhat surprised to find the truth. While his mother had died some years ago, his father was alive and well, albeit imprisoned for his crimes. Attempts to visit him were rebuffed as the authorities viewed Mind Master as being too dangerous to even be allowed to have visitors while confined for the fear of what he could do to them.
Despite this, he managed to get into communication with his father by mail; it appeared that Mind Master was surprised to find out that he had a son and, more to the point, eager to find out how much of his powers he possessed. However, the pair also knew that they could not openly communicate such information even through prison mail. They would not meet, however, for several more years after Mind Master escaped as a part of a mass break-out.
However, their meeting did not go as planned; Mind Master was less then impressed by his son. While he could appreciate the boy’s burgeoning mental powers, he also felt that Miles Jr was wasting them by not using them; content to live out a normal life, albeit one that he supplemented with enough mind tricks to make things comfortable for himself, he had never considered engaging in full-time supervillainy.
None the less, Mind Master verbally lambasted the boy, pointing out the potential that he was wasting. Miles made numerous excused, but in the end was at a loss for words; his hopes and dreams had been crushed, and his father decided that he wanted nothing to do with him. It was at that point that Miles snapped, deciding that he could be a better supervillain then his father ever was, and would prove it.
Let’s have a meeting of the minds
A week later, Mind Master made a dramatic reappearance, using his powers to take over a high-tech research firm and steal valuable technologies. However, this was not actually mind Master, but rather, Miles Jr dressed in his father’s costume. Engaging in several other thefts, he assembled a psychic generator that would massively amplify his powers, allowing him to hold all of Millennium City in thrall.
However, a group of superheroes intervened, disabling his machine and driving him off. He vowed revenge, declaring that he would be back and that the city – and the world - would be his. Much to his surprise, though, he found that the taste of defeat was a lot less bitter then he had expected.
While he had been defeated, Miles found that he really, really liked being a supervillain; the power, the glory, the attention; all these things were thrilling to him, things that he had never had experienced before. He decided to maintain the Mind Master persona, intending to use it to its fullest to get the glory that he felt he rightfully deserved. He deliberately engineered high-profile crimes and plans simply to garner more attention unto himself. To further his own cause, he created an army of henchmen, the Psycho Pirates, with powers that mirrored his own.
However, as his plans progressed, he found a new desire growing within him. It was no longer enough to merely emulate his father; no, he had to exceed him in every way. He committed himself to a new course of action, one where he would do his utmost to gain power, both increasing his own abilities while, at the same time, using his powers to manipulate and control others. He aimed to use his mental powers to bring the world to heel and under his command; for when every single mind on the planet was slave to his own will, then none would be able to question him.
With the Psycho Pirates following his lead and his amazing mind fully focused on the task at hand, he embarked on his master plan, the one that would show the world his full power.
Time for a brainstorm
In order to implement his plans for world domination, Mind Master sought ways to enhance his psionic powers. Turning to various tomes of arcane lore, he found a rather unusual option. However, first he needed to acquire the resources to make it happen. In order to do such, he made a deal with a renegade Lemurian Warlord (and former forensic pathologist), Lord Hrung; in exchange for his cooperation and aid, Mind Master would aid Hrung in taking control of Lemuria.
Crippling a Soviet submarine, Hrung and a squad of Psycho Pirates boarded it, aiming to steal its warheads in order to create a titanic tsunami. However, a communications leak saw the submarine boarded by Skadi of the Lolcat Bgud. With the aid of the crew, Skadi was able to defeat the Psycho Pirates and Hrung’s soldiers (Hrung himself dying an ignoble death under a hail of bullets form the crew).
However, Mind Master was able to get what he truly wanted; he took the radioactive material stolen from the sub to his secret lair inside an abandoned gold mine in the desert. In there, he hatched his master plan – to release the Turkian era-terror known as Ghost Veil. Intending to enslave her mind and use her powers to amplify his own, his plans instead turned back on him when Ghost Veil instead killed the Psycho Pirates and consumed their souls. Only a hasty teleportation by Mind Master allowed him to escape his own demise. As if to add insult to injury, Ghost Veil was then defeated by Skadi and Red Comet.
Where are the simpletons?
Seeing as the mystic arts had failed him, Mind Master instead returned to his true love; Science. After endless hours of research he discovered one way to enhance his abilities further, being the Draysha gas that VIPER was developing. As the evil organisation was not going to simply lend him a supply of the Gas, he instead decided to seize one of their research facilities and take what he wanted.
The operation was, for the most part, a success; the Psycho Pirates entered the facility and took control of it, overpowering most of the VIPER defenders. With the base and its precious supplies firmly in their hands, the Pirates then made preparations to transport the gas back to their research facility on Monster Island. However, an unexpected and irritating complication emerged; the Lolcat Brgud again intervened, driving off his forces.
Fortunately for him, Mind Master was able to escape with enough of the gas to begin his research in earnest. Retreating to his secret lab, he began experimenting on the Psycho Pirates to see what effects the gas would have. As added protection against further unwanted intrusion, he hired Crimson Lightning, a supervillain who had a known hatred for one of the Lolcat Brgud’s members. Confident in his enhanced security, he began his research.
Instead, however, he again found himself thwarted by the infuriating actions of the Brgud. Disabling his defences (the sentry guns were poorly insulated and knocked out by the sprinkler system, of all things), the Brgud stormed the facility, destroying his research and his Draysha supplies. Both Crimson Lighting and several Draysha-enhanced Pirates failed to stop the heroes, and he was again forced to flee in humiliation.
Brainwave Overload!
The operation was not a total loss; Mind Master had gained some further information from VIPER’s systems during the attack, information that proved to be most useful indeed. He lead the Psycho Pirates in an attack on a bank in Millennium City, aiming not to steal the money in there, but rather an experimental power source that was being stored there for PRIMUS. While the Lolcat Brgud intervenes, this time, they were unable to thwart him; Mind Master escaped with his trophy.
Travelling back to a secret Volcano lair located on Monster Island, he began the construction of his ultimate weapon; a massive amplification device that would exponentially enhance his psionic powers, allowing him to hold the whole world in thrall. With the installation of the stolen power source, he would be able to take control of the entire planet with a mere though, transforming its population into obedient, mindless slaves.
Unfortunately, one of the captive Psycho Pirates informed the Lolcat Brgud of the headquarters and its location; the interfering superheroes again entered the base, aiming to thwart his rightful conquest. The last remaining Psycho Pirates, as well Crimson Lighting failed to stop them as they unleashed a cavalcade of destruction upon his base, destroying his devices.
Cornered, but refusing to give up, Mind Master unleashed every ounce of psionic power he possessed to destroy the interfering heroes once and for all. Creating psionic clones of himself, he unleashed them upon the heroes, facing off with them in an epic showdown. In the end, while his clones were destroyed, all of the Lolcat Brgud were disabled, save for one – Skadi.
The two of them clashed for one final time, however, the results were no different from their previous encounters. His mighty powers proved to be no match for her brutal savagery and raw strength. In the end, he was defeated and imprisoned. It was there that he was visited one final humiliation; he was unmasked as an impostor, a false claimant to the Mind Master title.
However, there was one secret that Miles refused to yield; he was impersonating the original Mind Master, his father. So then, where was Mind Master, and what had he been doing since his escape?
Powers/Abilities
Miles possesses a considerable array of mental powers that he inherited from his father; furthermore, he is skilled in their use. Like his father, he seems to have some sort of amplification device built into his costume, further augmenting his powers.
He possesses telepathic abilities, both in being able to communicate mentally with others, as well as being able to read minds. He can easily pick up surface thoughts, and, with concentration, can penetrate into the depths of a person’s innermost secrets. It also gives him an ability to know what his opponent is thinking and, as such, anticipate their moves and counteract them.
He also has an ability to mentally dominate others, controlling their actions. While powerful, his degree of control is limited by the will of his target as well as the actions that he commands them to perform; ordering to perform self-harming actions or those contrary to their normal beliefs or ones that make no sense will rarely, if ever work. Mind Master has worked to overcome this limitation, and has made use of various devices to help increase his mental powers.
If influence fails, he has a limited ability to directly attack the minds of others, lashing out with powerful psychic blasts. These attacks can weaken and stagger opponents while leaving them physically unharmed. Additionally, he can create solid psionic energy “blades”; however, he prefers not to, seeing close combat as being beneath him. Mind Master has demonstrated an ability to levitate, and can also psionically teleport himself; however, this ability is rather draining and rarely used.
Personality
In his day, Mind Master was considered to be one of the more capable of supervillains, one that was a considerable threat. Miles Jr wants to be seen as that same threat; one who is feared by his enemies and respected by his allies, one that demands attention and is known for his considerable power and abilities.
The truth is that he simply wants attention, feeling neglected and abandoned by both of his parents. As a result, he took the image of his father, deciding that he could trade on that reputation to make himself look good. Consequently, he plays to his father’s modus operandi, making dramatic, grandstanding speeches while engaging in elaborate plans not because they work the best for him but because it was what his father would have done.
Miles himself is a rather insecure man and, when out of his costume, somewhat introverted and inarticulate. He also gets very insecure around women, especially female superheroes. However, he is very defensive about himself and his costumed alter-ego, and doesn’t take well to criticism. When pushed, he likes to use his mental powers to embarrass and humiliate those who have angered him, taking out petty revenge on them. At present, nobody is aware of the change over between the two Mind Masters; most of the world is convinced that miles Jr is, in fact, his father, somehow rejuvenated and returned to his coals of world conquest.
Mind Master has a particular dislike for the Lolcat Brgud, owing to their continued interference in his schemes. He particularly dislikes Skadi for two reasons; the first is that she has always been there to thwart him, no matter what he tried. The second is more deeply ingrained into his persona; he feels that his superior mind is greater than her strength; however, so far, their battles have proven otherwise. He cannot stand the idea of being defeated by such a “brute” who resorts to such “primitive” means, and, as such, seeks to defeat her for the humiliation she has vested on him.
Appearance
Miles Masterton Jr is a rather unassuming Asian-American man in his late 20s with short black hair and brown eyes. He occasionally sports chin fluff or a small moustache, but it rarely seems to last terribly long, and certainly doesn’t seem to suit him.
As Mind Master, he wears a costume that is nearly identical to the original Mind Master’s, albeit somewhat streamlined. Predominantly blue and teal, the suit has a purple trim, with long sleeves, flared gloves and boots, a long cape and no pants. He wears a “seeing eye” insignia on his chest, and another on his belt buckle. His face is mostly concealed by a mask, while he wears a long cape. The head of his costume is adorned with an array of silver and purple tubes, obstinately a part of some sort of mind enhancing device.
