Villains

The story of Ezekiel Gray II was an inspiring one. Born to wealthy industrialists who had built their multinational biotech conglomerate from humble beginnings in Windmill City, the younger Gray became CEO at 18 following their tragic deaths. His age, money, and business successes kept him a tabloid favorite for the next decade.

Parts of the story were conveniently less well-known: the mysterious circumstances surrounding his parents' demise; the numerous shell corporations conducting illicit research projects and weapons contracts under the umbrella of Gray Pharmaceutical; the white-haired, ex-special-ops mercenary serving as Gray's loyal personal assistant.

The accident almost revealed everything.

An experimental nuclear reactor powering the company's primary research complex suffered a catastrophic meltdown while Gray was onsite. Trapped in the rubble, seared by radiation, and doused with an unstable supersoldier formula he had been there to evaluate, Gray was left catatonic. His lieutenant found and evacuated him before the press arrived.

Gray awoke to find he was still burning, his body constantly emitting fluctuating levels of radiation. Concentrated efforts by his best scientist helped keep his appearance and powers under shaky control, but Gray could feel his condition slowly worsening. In pursuit of a permanent cure, he began using his powers to steal advanced technology from competitors. During these thefts he came into conflict with the hero known as Vanish, and learned that she had been present during his accident. Gray's fraying mind could not accept this as coincidence.

A new mission of revenge began...