Characters: Ruckus & Scrum

RUCKUS

Real name: Kalia Ana Ru

SCRUM

Real name: Kaleo Ana Ru

Occupation: Criminals

Identity: Unknown to the public

Legal Status: Citizens of New Zealand and Samoa, wanted for murder.

Place of Birth: Samoa

Known relatives: Manawa Ana Ru (father); Samaria Ana Ru (mother)

Group Affiliation: The Factory

Powers and Abilities:

Ruckus' possesses the ability to absorb kinetic and thermal energy directed at her and to release that energy from her throat and vocal chords as sonic waves. She can project sonic waves as deafening noise, low-frequency blasts or blasts of incredible concussive force. At her highest level of force her sonic blasts can shatter concrete walls and seriously damage heavily armored vehicles. She can modulate her voice to create a blanket of white noise or use her voice as sonar. She is immune to the effects of all her abilities -- abilities she is still learning to control.

As a result of Legacy's treatments, Scrum's strength and durability have greatly increased and he can lift a maximum of 15 tons. The regenerative cells and radiation also had another effect; he can now create perfect copies of himself by consciously multiplying his own cells at an astonishing rate. These copies are created with the same clothing that Scrum is wearing at that time (although the clothing is also comprised of his own cells). Whenever Scrum creates a duplicate or duplicates of himself, his strength is divided equally among himself and those copies, making him a formidable opponent in battle. Each of Scrum's copies is capable of independent thought and although the "original" Scrum can communicate with the copies telepathically, doing so leads to painful headaches. At present Scrum can create a maximum of 20 copies.

Both Ruckus and Scrum have received training in physical combat from Alice and Royce, although Scrum is the better hand to hand combatant.

Brief Personal History: Kaleo and Kalia Ana Ru are the children of Pacific Ocean crime boss Manawa Ana Ru and his wife Samaria, a former Samoan model and beauty queen. Manawa was a Maori from New Zealand who started as an enforcer and rose through the ranks of the Southeast Asian underworld. By the time Samaria gave birth to their second child, Kalia, Manawa controlled the most of the illegal activities that connected Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Oceania and the Pacific coast of South America.

Although there was only a year's difference between them, Manawa's children differed vastly as individuals. Kaleo was a deceptively charming, yet manipulative child who in later years would use his size and strength to intimidate younger or weaker children. Kalia on the other hand was born mute, which was a constant source of shame and disappointment for her father. Kalia became a meek child who gravitated to her gentle mother in the hopes that she could protect her from her brother. Kaleo took to playing rugby and excelled at the sport, finding it the perfect outlet for his natural brawn and athleticism. Kalia in turn found her voice in mastery of the violin.

Although their father had many enemies, he managed to keep his family distanced from the dangers of his profession -- until the day they narrowly escaped death in a brutal car bomb attack. While they cheated death, they did not escape unharmed and the siblings both ended up in comas, fighting for their lives. Their doctors informed Manawa and Samaria that due to massive internal damage, the children's chances weren't good.

Soon after the attack, Manawa was approached by a strange albino man and a statuesque, red haired black woman. The man informed Manawa that he could save the teens for a share of his operations. As Kaleo took a turn for the worst, his father was forced to agree to the albino's conditions. The albino, who was in fact Legacy, had the teens moved to his facility off the coast of Chile.

At his facility Legacy exposed the siblings to artificial cells that possessed enhanced regenerative abilities and experimental radiation. The treatments saved their lives but also triggered radical mutagenic change in both patients. Kaleo's strength vastly increased and he developed the ability to create clones of himself. Legacy's treatments not only healed the injuries that Kalia suffered in the car bomb explosion; they also healed her throat and vocal chords so she was no longer mute. However, her voice was now a destructive force that she could barely control. Pleased with his handiwork, Legacy delivered the teens to their parents and in accordance with his agreement with Manawa, moved some of his lieutenants into prominent positions in the criminal syndicate. He informed the crime boss that he would need to examine his former patients periodically to make sure their conditions remained stable.

In fact Legacy used these visits to turn Kaleo and Kalia against their father using subtle hypnotic suggestions and within a year they attacked their father at a gala held in his honor. After the fatal blow was struck the brother and sister returned to Legacy, who revealed what they had done and offered the shocked duo refuge. With nowhere left to turn and wanted for murder, Kaleo and Kalia joined The Factory.

For the next two years Kalia (now codenamed Ruckus) and Kaleo (now Scrum), trained under Alice and Royce. Kaleo reveled in his new abilities, while his sister detested and feared her own. They were often deployed as backup and support for other Factory operatives and were recently placed in charge of the facility housing the immensely powerful and often sedated behemoth known only as ONYX.

Written by Damion Gonzales
Character design by Sean Isaakse