The Cards You're Dealt
Jonathan Hart was born to a human scientist by the name of Philip Hart, and an alien woman from the planet Contraxia. Growing up in Haven Connecticut, Jonathan (Jack to his friends) had no knowledge of his half-alien heritage (his mother was a scientist sent to observe Philip Hart’s work). Jack’s life as a child was carefree and indulgent — he excelled in school, however, and majored in English and French literature. He loved his books. The only thing for which Jack was more popularly known, was his womanising.
His father, a brilliant man, was working on a new fuel-source that promised to be miraculously efficient (so efficient, that alien races had taken an interest in it). Doctor Hart had intended to make the fuel readily available to the world, but the Corporation sponsoring his efforts insisted he help them make a fortune in money. Doctor Hart refused — and he was assassinated for it. Jack hid in the laboratory to escape death himself, but the assassin’s laser cannon ruptured the vat of “zero fluid”, dousing the youth in the liquid. Jack absorbed it all. He began to glow, and in an outburst of grief and rage he vaporised his father’s assassins. After that, armed with his newfound powers, he went on a crusade of vengeance against the corporation.
The Hand You Play
Calling himself ‘Jack of Hearts’ (as a tribute to his father’s love of playing cards), Jack’s one-man crusade brought him into contact with other heroes, who intervened and helped him cope with the pain. After complying with them — and giving up revenge as a motivation — Jack realised the energies within him were growing well past the point of his being able to control them. He left for deep-space (able to survive in the cold vacuum due to this powers) and sought out other help.
In space, Jack encountered an alien capable of fashioning armour specifically designed to the contain the unstable energies that Jack continually produced. Exposure to a ‘Scanalyzer’ (powered by an Symbiot Energy Sump Device), around the same time, altered his encephalitic patterns to store data like a computer. With the new armour (psychically controlled), he found himself able to use his powers far more effectively (with even some more passive applications, thanks to the Scanalyzer), and actually accomplish some good in the galaxy. He also found that he could never take the armour off, not without dying (and killing most things around him). Jack’s travels led him to the homeworld of his mother: Contraxia, where, for the first time, he was able to learn something of his alien heritage.
Cash in Your Chips
Jack might never have returned home but for the judgement of the Spectre — robbing all meta-humans (including himself). He was on Contraxia when the ‘Day of Judgement’ occurred (and he heard of it), but found himself (as part-alien) unable to influence the world during that time. Distraught, Jack returned to deep space — visiting again several times, trying to ‘break through’ the Spectre’s judgement. It was to no avail.
In the Earth-year 2009, the Spectre finally relented, and once allowed super-powered beings to influence Earth’s development. Jack could have returned at this point, but affairs in the galaxy kept him away (as opposed to the Spectre’s prevention of his return). It would be a few more years before he would be able to come back…
…and once home, he has no intention of leaving again for a long time.
- Reluctant Hero - Jack had no intention of being a hero when he was first changed by the zero-fluid. It took a few encounters with other heroes to change his mind. Now… he does it because he can — and it has its rewards.
- Playboy - He was known for his womanising as a modestly well-off youth, long before he became “Jack of Hearts”. He is even known for wooing the females of Contraxia as well. Jack has a thing for fast cars, expensive restaurants, and doing insulting impressions of other heroes and villains alike.
- Flamboyant -”If you can’t hide — might as well shine.” Jack cannot make himself look entirely ‘normal’, so he compensates by deliberately standing out. His costume is loud, and so is his personality. He is very adept with a deck of cards in his hands too, and likes to show off.
- Poet - In university, Jack majored in literature — especially poetry. He cannot help himself but quote it.
- Bipolar - Jack’s powers have often forced him into solitude (extreme solitude) especially before he obtained the armour to contain his z-energy. He has also seen and done some rather spectacular things as well. For whatever the reason, his mood often shifts between both extremes of the emotional spectrum.
- Motivation - Jack is not an idealist, unless the ideal is Love. He would do anything for love. He would do anything to BE loved by others. Now that he is able to set foot on his beloved homeworld again, he intends to stay.
- Goal - To be a hero — rather, to be seen to be a hero. It is not what he wanted in the beginning, but this is his means of coping with a ‘necessary evil’. He also has to use his powers or they build up too much. Solution: be a hero. He’ll seek out other groups, with an interest in allying with them — and in the meantime, do things on his own.
- Zero-Energy Generation/Blasts - Upon making contact with the Zero Fluid, Jack’s body has undergone changes at the cellular level — changes that have him constantly producing this z-energy. He can project this energy as either a concussive force &/or heat from any part of his body (generally his hands), controlling the size, strength and temperature of each blast with conscious thought.
- Size: The smallest blast Jack can create is the size of a finger. The largest (which is extremely draining) is projected by his whole body. Most blasts are a foot or so wide.
- Range: Many miles, but with diminishing accuracy.
- Temperature: ‘Heat’ blasts have less range than his usual concussive blasts (several hundred meters), but can be concentrated to melt steel, titanium… (but not adamantium, vibranium or ‘living steel’, such as Colossus’ power).
- Force: Jack can put several tons of power into each concussive blast — enough to give a Kryptonian a run for his (or her) money. Prolonged blasts may be able to penetrate the Invisible Woman’s force-fields. Opponents such as Wolverine or Colossus could be forced through buildings.
- Duration: Many hours — depending on the size and intensity of the blast.
- Flight - Jack is only able to fly by directing his concussive blast down and behind him. In an atmosphere, he can easily achieve velocities well over the speed of sound. In space, he can use the z-energy to open up hyperspace warps to travel at faster-than-light speeds. His method of flight is much the same as the mutant known as Cannonball.
- Superhuman Strength - Jack’s entire metabolic structure has been reorganised and enhanced by the z-energy, granting him dramatically increased physical traits as well. He is strong enough to lift several tons at a time (but his physical strength is not as great as Superman’s for example).
- Superhuman Durability - Z-energy has increased Jack of Hearts’ durability to the point that he can survive in the vacuum and cold of space for a couple of days (he has to return to an oxygen-rich planet every few days or he will die). He has withstood bullets from high calibre guns, energy blasts as strong as his own, and physical blows from some very strong characters (granted, he’s no Hulk, or Thing, or Superman — any one of them could punch him into orbit, but without necessarily killing him). After about 24hrs of constant exertion, he become much weaker.
- Accelerated Healing Factor - This has been a blessing and a curse for Jack, as he has often sought his own death, when suffering severe depression. The z-energy is always replenishing him, healing him — minor wounds heal in minutes, whereas grievous injuries might take days. He is no Wolverine, but still somewhat difficult to kill.
- Z-Energy Scans - It is unclear exactly how this aspect of Jack’s power works, but he is able to bathe objects/areas with z-energy to scan for residual forms of radiation (all kinds). He uses the ‘Scanalyzer’ now coded into his brain-patterns (as well as his own knowledge of biochemistry) to identify what he finds, assuming he can at all.
- Resource: Containment Suit - Jack’s cells are constantly ‘leaking energy’, and they would do so on a very dangerous level were it not for his containment suit. An alien by the name of Torval built the suit to absorb the excess energy that Jack’s body produces, allowing him to function without being a risk to himself or to others.
The suit covers his entire body except for his hands and face, and is made from a boron-whisker-impregnated steel alloy cloth (or so Torval would say). The shape, size and design of the amour-suit can by psychically controlled to mimic other ‘looks’, however, Jack prefers his garish ‘deck of cards’ style.
- Contact: Contraxia - Assuming he could ever contact his mother’s homeworld (or travel there and back), Jack is well-known there as a hero and is regarded as one having ‘dual-citizenship’ with both Contraxia and Earth.
- Scanalyzer - It functions like a subroutine coded into Jack’s brain-functions, that lets him process information in much the same way a computer can. He can think fast, but he does not have more of a ‘genius intellect’. The Scanalyzer has helped greatly in fine-tuning his control.
- Hand to Hand Combat - Jack of Hearts has received extensive training both on Earth and on Contraxia. He has his own unique style now, that incorporates his special abilities.
- Astronavigation - Jack has been everywhere (well, a lot of different places) and making his way through the heavens is not a problem for him. He is highly skilled in handling an atmosphere as well, such as flying through city streets.
- Poet - Jack’s love of literature and poetry is something he shares in common with the mutant, Hank “Beast” McCoy. He also composes his own poetry, and is not shy about sharing it.
- Biochemistry - Although Jack is FAR from being the equal of scientists such as Hank McCoy, Reed Richards, Tony Stark etc… he has dabbled a fair bit in biochemistry both as a means to understand himself, and to honour his father’s memory.
- Bipolar Disorder - Jack suffers from severe bouts of depression and has tried more than once to end his life. His mood can also easily swing to the opposite extreme of joy and excitement. He has a tendency to mask his depressive feelings with flamboyant behaviour, indulging in various vices and beating up bad guys.
- Trapped in a Suit - While Jack can change the form of his suit, he cannot take it off — if he did, the zero-energy that permeates his every living cell would become unstable in a matter of minutes. He would reach critical mass in about an hour or two… and explode. This makes him feel like a prisoner, at times.
- Energy-Radiation - At all times, Jack of Hearts is emitting negligible amounts of z-energy. As his cells reach full saturation (and with the aid of the z-armour), they release the energy harmlessly into the atmosphere. However — it is theoretically possible that someone could devise a means to detect these traces, and thus track Jack’s movements. When Jack is angry, heart-red flames and lights can be seen around him. He generates ambient heat when this happens, meaning he can also burn someone who touches him.
- Oxygen - Jack of Hearts needs to breathe — even though he can survive in a vacuum for a couple of days WITHOUT breathing. He must make ‘pit stops’ or he will die. Trapping him in a vacuum… would be very bad (for him).
- Flight - Due to the nature of his flying capabilities (i.e. projecting z-energy behind him), Jack cannot ‘flight and fight’ at the same time (not unless one counts crashing into things). He can manoeuvre opponents into the path of his exhaust but that is about it, or stop flying for moments to get a beam off, then resume flying before he falls.
- Passionate - Jack has a tendency to throw himself wholly into situations ‘all guns blazing’. He is a very passionate man, and has trouble doing anything ‘by halves’. If there is one person in the group who would dive right into a conflict ahead of the rest — that person is he. There is always the risk that he will err on the side of ‘too much’, rather than the side of ‘too little’.
- Half-Alien - He is a unique creature, this Jack. He has human DNA, Contraxian DNA, and of course the alterations to his genetic structure made by the zero-fluid. He doesn’t always think like a human. He doesn’t always fit in. In addition, there are bound to be some nefarious organisations out there who would want to get their hands on the secret of his powers.
Jack is reasonably well-known out in the galaxy as the ‘exiled son of Earth’, given that for a long time he was not able to come back. He put a great deal of work into battling the forces of evil in space, and earned both allies and enemies from it.
On Earth he is less notorious, except that he did a lot of damage tracking down and punishing his father’s killers — and that he turned to super-hero work shortly thereafter. He cannot hide his two-tone complexion and given his flamboyant demeanour (and the brilliance of the zero-energy he wields), he tends to stand out.
