Lords of War

PHASE 1

Lords of War
Portrayed by
Known Aliases:	Lords of Justice
Affiliations:	Independent
Socked By:	Nathan
Introduction:	Malibu Madness

Julian Keller's former gang, the Lords of War are a group of young mutants who have been manipulated into assisting a drug dealer keep others off his territory, and who now apparently are out for Julian's blood.

First Appearance

August 28, 2009

Roster

Gordon McPhearson:	Raised in Santa Monica, Gordon didn't know he was a mutant until college. His entire life up until meeting his sophomore roommate was neither opulent or unpleasant. Things changed when his roommate, a member of a mutant pride group, started to not be able to control his abilities when Gordon was around. He tested positive as a mutant and discovered his ability to modify the level of someone's powers. Over the next five years of undergraduate work he learned how to control his abilities to the point he could remove powers from a target for a short period of time. After graduation Gordon moved into LA and fell into poverty. In order to make ends meet, he began offering his services to mutants who wanted to control their abilities or increase them. He was approached by a man who represented one of the organized crime syndicates who wanted him to buff up one of their soldiers. Gordon began serving exclusively to criminals, making a small fortune and living far beyond his means; but, when the DA started getting "tough" on organized crime he quickly found himself serving a two year stretch in prison. Following that he started his own gang, the Lords of Justice, tricking those who joined into thinking they were joining a 'superhero' group that took out drug lords. In reality, Gordon was removing the competition to his own operation. Upon discovering this, Julian Keller turned him in and he was jailed again. He was released in August 2009. Powers: Touch-based Power Augmentation: While maintaining skin-to-skin physical contact with someone, Gordon can augment any inherent abilities toward either empowerment or dampening. The boost or drain lasts no longer than twenty-four hours, but can turn a class one mutant into a class three- or he can near complete remove the abilities of a high level mutant. The repeated indulgence of Gordon's ability has a psychologically addictive side-effect, in which the subject needs Gordon to keep any control of their ability. PB: Sam Witwer
Simon Gutierrez:	Growing up in the South-Side of Los Angelas there were few options for Simon when he was starting to blossom into manhood. However, his parents provided a great many opportunities to him which kept him from joining local street gangs or getting involved in drugs. Ironically, it was one of these oportunities that led him into the company of Gordon McPhearson. Using a recruiter, McPhearson enlisted Simon into his plan to take over the city's drug trade. When the teen discovered the insidious purpose of the group - dubbed the Lords of Justice - he was threatened with the death of his family. It was in these days that he also became friends with Julian Keller, a boy from the other side of the tracks who his family took in. Unlike Simon, Julian knew nothing of the group's true purpose. When the Lords of Justice finally took on something too large for them, Julian learned the truth and in the course of a bungled job, was arrested and gave up the gang. Simon wasn't implicated, but showed up again in Malibu apparently hell-bent on killing his old friend Julian, for reasons unknown. Powers: Enhanced Strength and Durability: Able to lift an armored car off the ground without a boost from Gordon- Simon is made infinitely more dangerous with the extra jolt he gets from the head of the Lords of Justice. When in an enhanced state Simon is able to punch holes through high grade titantium alloys. As far as durability, he's able to take a bullet or two, or get hit by a truck, but again, boosted, he's able to have a shipping crate dropped on him and walk away. PB: Gus Carr
Ramona Simms:	The older twin, Ramona is in charge of Gordon's drug dealers and works with her Brother to distribute drugs around the city. She also runs a legitimate laundromat on the side, which occasionally gets used as a meeting point for her dealers. She uses her abilities to track where the drugs that she handles have been in order to ensure that she's not getting cheated. She also uses it on her dealers to see if they've been stealing from her. Powers: Psychometry: By touching an object, Ramona is able to see the past history of it. Boosted, she is able to reach further back to the origins of an object, deconstructing it piece by piece. PB: To be determined
Randal Simms:	- The younger twin is typically abroad working with Colombians and the Thai to bring drugs into the country. He's one of the only mutants who works for Gordon who doesn't actually need power augmentation. His ability to manipulate others by skin-to-skin contact is an asset when dealing with drug lords and law enforcers alike. The twins were recruited into the fold while already running their business in the city and abroad. Powers: Touch Based Manipulation: A simple touch followed by a command compels even the strongest willed to do the bidding of Randal Simms. Boosted, the touch doesn't even need to be skin to skin, which makes even the most careful drug lord the perfect pawns of Gordon McPhearson. PB: To be determined

Details

The Lords of Justice was started by Gordon MacPhearson following his release from prison for assisting various crime factions with his mutation augmenting powers. Most of the members were unaware of the gang's true purpose - they thought Gordon was performing a public service by directing them to take out various drug dealing operations. When individuals did find out, they were coerced to remain silent through a combination of threats against their families and the addictive effect of Gordon's powers.

In 2008, no longer satisfied with the pretense of heroism, Gordon sent the group to rob an armored car at a bank. Once it dawned on Julian that they were attacking security guards, he quickly stopped the group from completing their mission. Unfortunately, the police happened to show up and everyone scattered. Making a rash choice, Julian held the cops off while Simon escaped, only to be arrested himself. In an attempt to escape, he pinned an officer against the brick wall of the bank, breaking both of his arms in the process. The Keller family lawyer made a plea deal that required Julian to give up information on all the members of the Lords of Justice drug syndicate (in addition to a generous donation to the precinct by William to keep the media’s attention elsewhere). The only member of the gang Julian didn’t give up was Simon, who he didn’t see again during his time in Los Angeles.

MacPhearson was released from prison in August 2009. Around this time, Simon and a number of other gang members, mutant and human, showed up at the Keller's beach house and attacked Julian and his friends who were staying there. They were driven off, leaving Julian baffled by the sudden about-face of his former friend.

Another meeting occurred in January 2010 when Julian followed Simon from the hospital where a mutal friend was dying. It resulted in another altercation, this time in a mall, with Dori, Megan and Nico helping Julian escape. Simon tracked Julian down to Salem Center in February 2010 and attacked him during a Valentine's Day meal. The incident led to the arrest of Simon and the various Xavier's students who had been there at the time, and when Simon escaped, the X-Men tracked him down and detained him, handing him over to SHIELD custody. At this time it came out that McPhearson had ordered Simon to kill Julian, holding Simon's family hostage to ensure his cooperation.

Plots

Malibu Madness

Carry On

Noise and Confusion (Simon only)

Meta

Socked by: Nathan