From Handbook of the Union Universe

I will not be denied
Mr. Sebastian
Player: @John Sebastian
Origin:	Mutation
Archetype:	Brute
Level:	Classified
Primary Set:	Electrical Melee
Secondary Set:	Electrical Defence
Epic Set:	N/A
Personal Data
Real Name:	John Sebastian
Identity:	Publicly known as John Sebastian, businessman
Aliases:	Mr. S, Don Sebastian
Species:	Human
Date of Birth:	May 14th, 1965
Age:	42
Height:	8 feet
Weight:	300 lbs
Build:	Muscular
Eye Colour:	Blue
Hair Colour:	Black with purple highlights
Skin Complexion:	Fair
Distinguishment:	Ponytail, clean shaven. Always wears round, dark sunglasses
Medical Status:	Peak of Health
Financial Status:	Rich
Religion:	Atheism/former Catholic
Sexuality:	Heterosexual
Marital Status:	Currently in a relationship with Mistress Jaqueline
Known Relatives:	Dominic Sebastian (half-brother), Ms. Madeline (adopted daughter)
Biographical Data
Nationality:	American
Ethnicity:	Caucasian
Legal Status:	Confidential
Place of Birth:	Paragon City
Education:	Hong-Kong Business Academy
Occupation:	Crime Lord
Group Affiliations:	The Corporation/Villain Wear/Sebastian Family
Base of Operations:	Sharkhead Isle
Residency:	Sharkhead Isle
Known Powers
The ability to control lightning and electricity.
Known Abilities
Extreme speed and jumping abilities as well as tremendous strength and business savvy.
Equipment
PDA and cellphone. Never leaves home without it.
Awards and Collections
None
Licenses and Certificates
Rogue Isles business license
IC Accessibility of Article
Piecing together this information is possible by using several different sources such as the PPD, Hall of Records, Customs Records and Arachnos archives

Contents 1 Affiliations 2 Personality 3 Motivation 4 Powers 4.1 Primary Powers 4.2 Additional Powers 4.2.1 Travel 5 Abilities 6 Vulnerabilities 7 Equipment 8 Character History 8.1 The Early years 8.2 A life of crime 8.3 A world of crime 8.4 The Corporation 9 Trivia 10 Fiction

[edit] Affiliations

Mr. Sebastian is the Founder and former CEO of The Corporation.

He is also the creator of VW, Villain Wear

Patriarch of the Sebastian Family

[edit] Personality

Upon first meeting Mr. Sebastian, he comes off as something of a bully. Arrogant, demeaning yet courteus, he has cultivated this facade for dealings with other criminals. Once you get to know him however, he easily opens up and can be quite charming when he wants to. Underlying all this is always a hint of anger. His words may be friendly but his eyes betray the rage that resides in his soul. He is also extremely intelligent, bordering on superhuman, and enjoys dicussing everything from art to high-tech weaponry. He does care for the wellbeing of a few individuals, most notably the members of the Corporation and especially his closest friend Headbreaker.

[edit] Motivation

Mr. Sebastian craves respect. Whether from loyalty, friendship or fear he does not care. He will go to any lengths to achieve his goal. Money and power are just means to an end.

[edit] Powers

Attributes
	Statistic	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
	Fortitude
	Stamina
	Speed
	Melee
	Blasts
	Support
	Control

[edit] Primary Powers

As the mutation took hold, Sebastian's body changed. He grew stronger, bigger and more powerful. He also became a living powercell, able to generate vast amounts of electricity within his body and channeling it into his hands. This allows him to cause tremendous damage to his foes as he literally electrocutes them. This power has manifested itself in several ways, most recently he learned to "Ride the Lightning" as he calls it and teleport short distances.

He has also mastered the ability to surround himself with electrical fields able to deflect attacks and absorb energy of many different kinds, including psionic. His mastery has reached such levels that he is now able to absorb the lifeforce of his enemies and use it to strengthen himself.

[edit] Additional Powers

[edit] Travel

Sebastian has developed the ability to jump over great distances and he uses this power to travel quickly across the rooftops of the Isles

[edit] Abilities

While extremely intelligent and knowledgeable in a range of subjects, Sebastian is not an expert in any of them. He knows a little about everything and can easily converse on a broad variety of issues but if it gets to technical, he is somewhat lost. His only real interest is economics and he has read extensivly on the subject and also worked for a period at the Hong-Kong stock market. In this field he is unrivalled and can easily turn the smallest business into a global empire given enough time. His methods may not always be legal but he gets the job done.

He has had no formal training in hand-to-hand combat and relies solely on his streetfighting skills and experience while in battle. He has had some experience with firearms but is by no means a marksman.

[edit] Vulnerabilities

Mr. Sebastian tends to overreach himself. He is extremely confident in his own abilities but can sometimes find himself in situations where he is outmatched. In battle he often tires quickly, due to the enormous strain his body endures while producing the energy needed to fuel his powers. His newfound ability to steal the lifeforce of his enemies helps mitigate this problem but it is not the perfect solution he craves.

His biggest weakness however is his anger. Sebastian has a fiery rage that burns deep within him and it is this rage that fuels his powers. If he were ever to become truly happy, he would lose his control and noone knows what the results would be. He is aware of this problem and has recently begun researching an alternative means to power his inner battery.

[edit] Equipment

Always carries a hightech PDA and a commlink. During the Rikti invasion he commissioned a battle suit from The Corporation's Technical Director Nega-Knight. The result was the Thunderstrike Mark I battle suit. He is sometimes seen wearing it when the occasion requires a little extra protection.

[edit] Character History

[edit] The Early years

1965-1980

John Alexander Sebastian was born on May 14th, 1965, in Paragon City, USA. His mother, Ann-Marie Sebastian, was a singer in a local speakeasy run by the Marcone family. She was a single mother and never revealed whom Johns father was, though she often claimed he was a man of great importance.

John was the younger of two children, his half-brother Dominic being four years older. Like John, Dominic never knew his father.

Though their mother was a good woman and a caring parent, she couldn't spend as much time with her children as she would have liked. They were not poor but never far off and she worked two jobs, a singer at night and a secretary in the daytime. The two boys soon learned to take care of themselves while their mother worked.

During their school years the brothers, though intelligent, were regular truants and were often found haunting the streets of Independence Port, raising hell and getting into all sorts of trouble.

As they roamed the neighborhood, they saw the rich people. These were the people with nice clothes, fancy cars and big houses, who never gave them a second glance as they walked by. The boys thought that it was unfair, their mother worked hard and was a good woman. Didn’t she deserve all these things?

Their mother was heartbroken the first time she had to pick them up at the local police station. They had been caught stealing fruit from a street vendor and the arresting officer had called their mother at work. This was not their first crime but the first time they had gotten caught. Anne-Marie punished the brothers but she went easy on them, feeling that part of the blame lay on her for not being there.

And perhaps she should have been harder on them for they were not discouraged. They vowed to not get caught again, as they loved their mother and did not want to see her in despair again. After all, they did it for her.

When John was twelve years old, the brothers joined a local gang. “Barker’s Boys” they were called, named after the oldest boy, Max Barker. The gang was mainly concerned with petty theft, pick pocketing and the occasional burglary. The money was good and the brothers spent their share mostly on new clothes and things for their home. Ann-Marie often asked where the money came from but her sons claimed to have gotten part-time jobs as errand boys. They even managed to bribe a local storeowner to vouch for them. Wanting to believe it, their mother accepted the lie.

A year later, when John was 13, Max Barker was arrested and convicted of assault. He was sent to juvenile detention and Dominic moved up as the gang’s leader, renaming it the “Double Ace gang”, after the speakeasy, Two Aces, where Ann-Marie worked.

That was also the year that John made his first kill.

A rival gang, the “Osbourne Street crew” invited them to a meet, supposedly to discuss a truce. The two gangs had scuffled before and it was getting out of hand. They agreed to meet in Liberation Park, neutral ground for both.

The Osbourne Street Crew consisted of mostly older kids, between 18 and 20, and it was rumored that they were connected to one of the major crime families. Their offer of truce was nothing but threats and bullying and the leader, Sammy Furtado, tried to get Dominic to submit to their rule and assimilate the Double Aces into their crew.

Dominic refused and made a brave stand against the older kids. That’s when Sammy shanked him. Seemingly out of nowhere he produced a small switchblade knife and stabbed Dominic in the abdomen. Blood flowed from the wound and Dominic dropped to the ground. John felt rage build inside him. How did this punk dare hurt his brother, he thought. He acted on instinct and flew at Sammy, dodged past the knife and grabbed him by the throat. In a unnatural show of strength, John lifted the other boy with one hand and tossed him several feet, sending him smashing into a brick wall. But John wasn’t done. He followed up with a running tackle, making the wall shake with impact. He then grabbed Sammy’s head and bashed it repeatedly against the bricks.

When Sammy’s head was clean trough the wall, John took a step back and looked at what he’d done. The boy was obviously dead, his brains splattered all over the wall and John’s hands. But as he watched the blood flow over his hands, he realized that he didn’t care that he’d killed him. Sammy deserved to die for what he’d done to his brother and for thinking he was better than them. He deserved it and John had made it happen. No regret, no remorse, no guilt.

By the time John turned to face the rest of the Osbourne Crew, they had already fled before his ferocious display. Dominic survived without permanent injury but always worried about his little brother after that.

The incident brought a lot of attention to the gang and new kids were streaming in, begging to be part of the gang that had “Killer” John Sebastian in their ranks. The gang grew and so did its reputation, other gangs keeping their distance. The money got better as well, as they pulled off bigger and bigger jobs. John enjoyed his new reputation. People looked at him differently, most with fear but some with awe. He was respected and got his first taste of what it was like to be somebody.

It came to an abrupt end however, as all good things do, when Dominic was arrested. The police had kept them under surveillance for quite some time and had made a case against him, hoping that he would turn on his fellow gangers if they offered him a deal. Dominic refused of course and was convicted of burglary, assault, larceny and fencing stolen goods. Having just turned eighteen, he was looking at 10 years in prison. But the judge trying the case took pity on him and converted the prison sentence into three years at Baxter Hill Military Academy in Connecticut. Dominic had no choice but to go along with it and he said goodbye to his family.

John was left hanging. He was respected by his fellow gangers but was too young to lead them properly. The role of leader fell to another, older, kid and John left the gang soon thereafter, not sure of what his place was anymore. Dominic sent letters every week, saying how they would get a new gang together when he got back and that John should keep his hopes up. Three years wasn’t such a long time. Together they would take over the whole city. After the first three months, the letters started to change. Dominic was starting to like the army and especially the discipline and simple routines. And he was good at it, getting excellent grades in every course. He started writing letters saying that John should give up the crime and go back to school or he’d probably end up dead or in jail. He urged his brother to come to his senses and settle down. But John would have none of it. He wrote back, calling his brother a sell-out. The brothers argued back and forth through letters but John finally gave up and stopped writing back. Dominic continued writing and pleaded with his brother to see reason and eventually John did.

He drifted for a while, unsure of what to do and eventually returned to school, much to his mothers delight. He did well whenever he applied himself but his heart wasn’t in it. Ann-Marie was devastated by her oldest getting sent off to military school and took a much greater interest in the life of her remaining child. She wanted to keep him close and eventually got him a job at the speakeasy so she could keep an eye on him. His tasks involved running errands, clearing tables and greeting guests. This is where he first came in contact with real criminals.

[edit] A life of crime

1980-1989

Lucio Marcone ran the Two Aces nightclub. He was a low-level lieutenant in the Marcone family and ran a profitable operation in Independence Port. Black market booze, gambling, girls; everything was available for a price. Lucio had of course heard of John’s reputation and was delighted when Ann-Marie asked him if he could find a job for her son. He saw this as an ample opportunity to recruit a new associate for the family.

So when young Sebastian started his new job, Lucio was there to greet him. He took him under his wing, teaching him the tricks of his trade and introducing him into a whole new world of vice and money.

John got to meet the real players in the underworld, the mafia families. He watched these men; these made men, and knew that he wanted to be one of them. They had all the things he had always fought for; money, power and most of all, respect.

The years went by and John found himself getting deeper and deeper into the world of organized crime. He learned to hustle, run gambling, extortion, smuggling and killing. Whatever Lucio could teach him, Sebastian was there to learn. They discovered that he had an affinity for numbers as well as violence and used this to their advantage. He gradually climbed the ranks and in 1985, at 21 years of age, he was Lucio’s primary enforcer. Together they had expanded the business and now ran several large operations around Paragon; speakeasies, gambling dens and brothels were their main source of income.

His mother was proud, still wanting to believe he was just a businessman, and accepted the money and gifts he gave her without question. Dominic was released from military school in 1983 but immediately signed up for the Marine Corp, wanting to serve his country. He came home to visit just once but seeing whom John and their mother associated with, he left after just two days. He didn’t want to get involved. He still sent a card every Christmas.

By 1987 Lucio had become a boss in his own right, claiming all of Independence Port as his territory. He made Sebastian his lieutenant and money just poured in. Together they ruled the local underworld and everyone paid them protection.

John was now a valued mafia lieutenant; his skill with numbers and his affinity for violence made him a respected member of the organization. He had cars, nice clothes, women and money. He was living the dream he had always wanted, yet still he wasn’t satisfied. He was not part of the family, not a made man, and that was what he wanted more than anything else. People respected him but not like they respected the “real” family members. But he knew it could never happen. He wasn’t family, he wasn’t Italian, he wasn’t a Marcone. But still he tried and fought to prove himself at every turn, working harder than everyone else. The bosses took notice and rewarded him but they couldn’t give him what he wanted. Lucio consoled him and said that perhaps one day, things would change.

As Lucio’s fame grew, other took notice. Bosses in surrounding areas began to worry if Lucio wasn’t getting to big for his own good. They decided to do something about it.

In 1989, on the evening of June 20th, Sebastian was brokering a deal with some smugglers down in the docks. Crates of contraband goods were waiting to be offloaded and he had just handed over the money when the police showed up. John played it cool, having been arrested numerous times over the years and he knew it was just a formality these days. A few bribes here and there and the charges would disappear.

He was taken to a local lock-up, booked, and put in a temporary cell to await his arraignment. But he knew it would never get to that. A lawyer would be by to pick him up soon.

A day went by and then another. John was getting worried. He wasn’t even allowed a phone call and the guards hardly spoke to him. Had something happened? Where was Lucio?

After a week, he received a visitor and was taken to a small conference room. His feet were shackled to the ground and his hands to the sturdy metal table. John thought he was finally getting out of here. The guards left him there and after a few minutes, a man entered. It wasn’t Lucio. John recognized the man immediately; Benny Marcone, lieutenant to Paulo Marcone, the family boss of Kings Row. They had met before a few times at “family functions”. Benny had always sneered at him and made quite sure that John knew what he thought about his status in the organization.

Benny lit a cigarette and sat down on the other side of the table, the chair straining to support his overweight frame. ‘Heya Johnny,’ he said. ‘Looks like you’re in quite a bind here’.

Benny smiled, showing yellowed teeth. ‘Waiting for uncle Lucio to come rescue you? Well, I guess you’ll be waiting a long time then, cause old Lucio’s gone I’m afraid. Packed up and left, said he was going south to retire.’

John knew what that meant; Lucio was dead, probably lying on the bottom of the sea. He started to get angry.

‘But then again, you won’t be waiting that long. It’s been decided that you need to retire as well. For the good of the family, I’m sure you understand, don’t you Johnny boy?,’ Benny said as he took another draw on his cigarette. ‘And don’t worry about your dear mother either. We’ll take care of her. That’s right, we’ll take real good care of her, Johnny boy’.

Benny began to laugh and John stared at the table-top. Lucio was dead, he was going to die and Benny just threatened his mother. He felt rage building inside him like he had never felt before. He strained and pulled at his chains, making Benny laugh all the harder.

And suddenly, a spark appeared. A tiny, red spark of electricity appeared on John’s left hand. And then another on his right hand and then on his arms and legs. More and more sparks flew from his hands until his entire body was covered in them. The sparks coalesced and turned into great arcs of red lightning that played across his body. Benny wasn’t laughing anymore.

The cuffs holding his hands snapped as his body began to grow, his wrists suddenly to thick for the shackles. The same happened to his leg restraints and he stood up, his whole body growing bigger every second. Benny started screaming.

The now 8 foot tall Sebastian reached across the table and grabbed Benny by the throat, lifting him clear off the floor. The lightning surged forward and into Benny’s body, making him shake in violent spasms. The room filled with the stench of burning fat.

John dropped the lifeless corpse just as the guards entered the room, responding to the terrified screams. Sebastian turned on them and charged.

His escape was fast and brutal. Dozens of guards lost their lives. Outside, he encountered the hero Brighter, answering the stations call for help. Even without total control of his powers, Sebastian was like a raging storm and the hero’s light-manipulation techniques were no match for his ferocity. Brighter’s electrocuted body was later found on top of a nearby building.

John raced through the streets, not caring who saw him or who got in his way. He had to get to his mother. He reached the building where she lived and went inside, taking entire staircases in a single bound. As he reached her apartment, he paused. What if he was too late? What if they had already been here? He pushed the thoughts aside and opened the door.

He found his mother waiting for him in the living room. She had her overcoat on and a packed suitcase stood next to her chair. She knew what had happened to Lucio and John’s escape was all over the news. She knew he would come for her and had prepared. Even though he’d changed, she still recognized him. A mother always knows her son she said. Together they made their escape.

[edit] A world of crime

1989-2006

A few weeks later they were settled in Spain. John bought a house in the hills above Barcelona for his mother and hired some local security to guard the residence. He emptied his bank accounts and gave all the money to her, leaving her with more than enough to live comfortably for the rest of her life. He knew the Marcones would be hunting him and he didn’t want to put his mother in any further danger, so he said his goodbyes and left.

There he was, without money but with new, strange powers and a powerful driven mind. He’d noticed that, since the change, he had greater understanding of the world and could easily learn things that had previously been beyond his grasp. He’d picked up Spanish on their first week in the country and now spoke it fluently. This was perhaps an even greater gift than his other powers.

Standing on the doorstep of a new phase in his life, he formulated a plan in three parts. First, he would travel the world, trying to understand his new abilities and expand his knowledge. He knew he was a meta-human like so many other, but what kind? How did his powers work? What could he do?

Second, he would build his own criminal organization, his own “family”. He would recruit other like-minded individuals, perhaps meta-humans and with their help he would construct the mightiest crime syndicate the world had ever seen.

And third, he would take revenge on the Marcones who had robbed him of everything he had. He would take their businesses, kill their men and utterly destroy their organization. Only when they groveled in the dust at his feet would he release them from their torment and grant them death.

So he set off into Europe, traveling from place to place taking on temporary jobs wherever he could find them, never staying in one place for long. He met other meta-humans and soon learned that he was mutant, the cause of his powers apparently genetic. He learned better control and his power over lightning and electricity increased. One thing puzzled him though. Why him? Had his unknown father carried the mutant strain? Had his father been a mutant? These questions burned in his mind like fire and he was determined to find the answer, one way or the other.

His first major stopover was in Moscow, where he found work as an enforcer with the local Russian Mob, the “Organitzya”. Despite being composed mainly of old Soviet military personnel, he found the mobsters brutish and somewhat amateur in their approach to illegal business. They had some interesting techniques he could learn however and he stayed for three years, soaking up their knowledge. When it finally came time to leave, he faked his own death and disappeared with a respectable chunk of the mobs money.

From there he traveled south, ending up in Turkey working for a crime lord named Abdullah Zafer. Zafer was also a meta-human and the two men got along well. Together they took his small black market operation and expanded it to become a worldwide business, specializing in the smuggling of meta-tech. Zafer was a spiritual man and abhorred violence. He and Sebastian often had long philosophical discussions and debated the finer points of living as a criminal and the consequences of that life. Due to this mutual liking, Sebastian stayed far longer than he had planned and it wasn’t until 1997, four years later, that he decided to move on. He had learned much from Zafer and had almost ended up marrying one of his daughters. But he still had much to do.

Next he headed for Jerusalem, wanting to see the ancient buildings of that fabled city. He roamed the area for a year, seeking out respected meta-humans in the community and sought their knowledge. He was rather taken with the city and still wishes to make a return visit some day.

Sebastian never flew anywhere, believing the journey itself important, and always traveled by car, train or on foot. He met many interesting people on the way and never regretted the decision.

He made his way now to the East, making brief stops in India, South East Asia and Japan. After two years, he arrived in China. He didn’t stay however and traveled on to Hong Kong, there enrolling in the Hong Kong Business Academy, determined to get a formal education. Using falsified credentials and grades he signed up for a five-year course, including Economics, Marketing, Trading and Logistics. He completed the course in two years, all the while working part-time at the Stock Exchange as a broker. Sebastian graduated with honors and quickly left Hong Kong, one step ahead of the authorities who had questions about his broker license. Once again he headed for mainland China.

During his time in Hong Kong, he’d heard about the Red Thunder Triad, operating out of Hangzhou in northern China. Never a man to put much stock in fate, Sebastian thought that the connection was too apparent to overlook and wondered if there was perhaps another meta-human with the same powers there. He had to know and therefore sought them out.

What he found was Fulong Dao. Also known as “Whispering Promise”, Fulong was an ancient meta-human with powerful psychic abilities. Dao was eager to meet another meta-human, especially one with such an advanced intellect as Sebastian’s, and they slowly formed a partnership. John was hired on as a peripheral associate, working as an accountant. He managed the Triad’s vast finances, making sure that everything looked nice and legal. He found that the name, Red Thunder, came from the Triad’s founding father, a great hero who according to legend could wield the power of lightning. Whether the stories were true, no one knew.

Sebastian stayed with them for three years, learning at the feet of Whispering Promise. Their culture appealed to him and he was fascinated by their codes of honor and approach to illegal operations. Besides being their accountant, he performed various tasks, traveling across China to settle business for the Triad.

And then one day in November 2006, Fulong Dao told Sebastian that it was time for him to leave. He had learned all he could from them and his destiny awaited him elsewhere. Though he didn’t believe in destiny, John trusted the old man and if he said it was time to leave, it probably was.

Saying his goodbyes, he made his way to Japan. There he paid for passage to America aboard a cruise ship headed for Los Angeles. He would make use of the time to think over the next stage in his plan.

For over 16 years he had traveled and he’d learned much. He’d studied with some of the greatest criminal minds in the world and had a formal education to back him up. His multitude of jobs had made him a rich man once again, richer than he’d ever been before. He still did not know exactly where his powers came from but that could wait. It was time to implement the second phase of his plan. It was time to move further and build a criminal empire of his own. And he knew just where to start.

[edit] The Corporation

2007-

He disembarked in LA and went straight for the airport, chartering a private plane. His journey was over, now only the destination mattered.

The next day, he landed in Cap au Diable airfield, Rogue Isles.

He made his way to Mercy Island and registered with the local Arbiter and began familiarizing himself with the scene. Even though thousands of super-powered beings operated in the Isles, it was clear that Arachnos ruled. He would have to stay on their good side. At least for now. There was no shortage of criminals in the area and Sebastian soon managed to secure a network of contacts consisting of information brokers, Arachnos operatives and meta-villains. Through this he established himself as one of the premier players on the scene and offers of employment and requests for his expertise just poured in.

On the 25th of May 2007, John Sebastian founded The Corporation, a crime syndicate dedicated to the accumulation of power and wealth. He knew that these simple goals would help attract others and was soon proven right as other criminals flocked to join him. He was very restrictive in his recruiting at first, contacting meta-humans with infamous reputations that he had heard about during his travels. Fighters such as Headbreaker and great criminal minds like Red Greivous, Nega-Knight and Longier. They all eagerly accepted his invitation and from there The Corporation grew. New members joined very day and word spread.

[edit] Trivia

Mr. Sebastian often refers to his best friend Headbreaker as his brother, but there is no actual relation.

Adopted a young girl named Madeline and raised her as his daughter.

[edit] Fiction

Precious Cargo