Archwing (Virtue)

Archwing

Affiliations

Peter DeAngelis is a member of Foundation X (Virtue Supergroups). He is also a recent graduate of the DIADEM (Virtue Supergroups) program in Paragon City, a specialized training institute developed especially for mutants. Peter also maintains ties with the Catholic Church and is involved with the Knights of Columbus and various charities.

Backstory

Peter DeAngelis grew up in a traditional Catholic family in Kansas City, Missouri. Although Peter never desired to become a priest he always remained close with the Church and his faith was always a strong influence in his life. Peter was always doing his part for the Church, whether it was serving as an altar boy or singing in the choir.

When Peter was 13 he began to develop odd growths on his back, centered between the blades of his shoulders. He was able to conceal them for several months by wearing baggy shirts, but his parents eventually noticed them when they became too big. The growths also began to grow fine white hairs that eventually began to resemble feathers. Not knowing what to do, Peter's parents prayed for their son - specifically that he was not becoming a mutant - but the truth was inevitable.

Peter checked himself into a GIFT clinic against his parents' wishes, but GIFT representatives confirmed what his parents feared the most - Peter was in fact a mutant who was growing angelic-like wings from his body. With enough time, likely by Peter's eighteenth birthday, GIFT estimated that he should be able to attain full flight. Peter's parents were distraught and inconsolable, and with the suggestion from GIFT he chose to remain in their temporary custody to learn how to cope with his developing abilities.

DIADEM

Peter remained with GIFT until 2003, after which time he enrolled in the Duchesne Institute for the Advanced Development and Education of Mutants, or DIADEM (Virtue Supergroups). During this time he befriended several other mutants such as Patron X, Matron X, Marchion, Archoness, and Danica King. Peter completed his studies with DIADEM in 2008 with a B.S. in Engineering.

Foundation X

Peter has adopted the heroic identity of Archwing and in 2008 joined Foundation X (Virtue Supergroups), a private security consulting firm that works for the Duchesne Foundation. Although he has kept in touch with his parents over the years Peter has become increasingly estranged from them. They have not returned his calls since he informed them that he was joining Foundation X. Despite their piety, they still can not accept the fact that their son is a mutant.

Powers

Wings

Peter has fully-developed wings that have grown from his back. These wings have caused several skeletal and muscular changes within his body to accommodate their use, and as a result Peter's physiology and metabolism are remarkably different than that of an ordinary human. Peter is not likely to hold his breath indefinitely and can not survive in a vacuum, but he can attain great heights above the Earth and reach the upper levels of the atmosphere without undo stress upon his body. This indicates that his body utilizes oxygen better than most people can handle, and the extreme cold in the uppermost layers of the atmosphere do not appear to harm Peter too much. Peter can not fly faster than the speed of sound or outpace bullets and other conventional missiles, but he is able to keep pace with or exceed the ground speeds of most ordinary motor vehicles.

Superhuman Reflexes and Senses

Peter's physiology and reflexive abilities have also mutated to accommodate the use of his wings. Peter has displayed a superhuman visual acuity and can, for example, read the license plate of a moving vehicle over 1,000 yards away even while he is flying several hundred feet in the air. He can also see clearly at night or in complete darkness through the ultraviolet spectrum, but he can not see into the infrared spectrum or detect thermal radiation. Peter also possesses a much higher degree of audio ability and can hear slightly into the ultrasonic and infrasonic ranges. He has displayed an ability to hear bullets discharging in their chambers and can sense when someone is about to grab or strike him just before they initiate their assault. Peter also has an enhanced sense of smell and can detect olfactory odors from miles away when he is downwind from the source. This combination of visual, audio, and olfactory abilities enables Peter to react more quickly to situations than humanly possible, allowing him to maneuver, evade, dodge, or otherwise block an incoming attack or potential source of harm with graceful ease.

Martial Arts Training

Although Peter's wings may appear to be cumbersome they do nothing to interfere with his maneuverability on the ground. Peter is an avid student of the martial arts and has been since he was a child. Peter's fighting style is quite unique in that he often uses his wings to blind or drape across the eyes of an opponent momentarily, and he can also batter his opponents with a spray of feathers to distract them them while he counters with a series of powerful kicks or hand strikes. He can fight as well on the ground as he can in the air, a fact that many opponents who do not understand him come to realize too late. Peter's superhuman reflexes make him extremely difficult to strike in hand-to-hand combat, and even those who use some form of missile or projectile weapon have a hard time maintaining their accuracy.