Angel

Pre-Accident
"Hey. Your car is dying."

- Emma Stevens

"Huh?"

- Paul Matthews

"I said, your car is dying."

- Emma Stevens, when they first met.

The oldest of the three Stevens, Emma Stevens was born in 1980 in Queens, New York, to Patricia and Daniel Stevens. She grew up on Hillside Ave, near Southside. Her father was an anesthesiologist, while her mother was a nurse. Her parents had met when her father was doing his residency.

Put through the public school system, Emma showed exceptional talent in the field of science. Her excellent grades allowed her to get a full scholarship to the University that she wanted to go to. It was there, that she met James Matthews and his younger brother Paul Matthews. She joined the research team that they were putting together and helped bring her younger sister and younger brother into the team. Another person on the team was Nicolas Leiter, a friend of James. She also eventually accepted James' romantic attentions, though she herself had fallen in love with his younger brother Paul.

It was about this time that her parents died. The car crash took both her parents though they suffered in the hospital for some time. When she found out that her parents had been arguing and going through a fight shortly before the car crash, she took her position of peacemaker in the team even more seriously. She was able to prevent quite a few fights between the two Matthews brothers. It affected her outlook on life greatly, making her much more of a pacifist than she was before. She considered becoming a negotiator and diplomat, but James Matthews convinced her to stay with the research group. The car accident also made her closer to James.

As the team's list of accomplishments grew, their financial situation expanded and James was able to get them out of the small research area they were in, and into a much grander building. It involved however, a move to Metropolis, the fabled home of the Daily Planet and Superman. At that point he proposed to Emma and she accepted. Complications with projects and James' general nature would keep them at the engagement stage for over two years.

The Accident
"Just for luck."

- Emma Stevens, to James Matthews

It will always be contested who caused the Energy Recapture Experiment to fail, most especially by the two Matthews brothers. The full blame should fall upon the shoulders of James Matthews, though to James, the blame falls solely upon his younger brother Paul Matthews. The experiment would have drastic effects upon the five who participated in it.

Some time back, Paul came up with a theory. Using sophisticated equipment, they could recreate the flare that caused the original Fantastic Four's creation. Utilizing this, and the suit of the former Mr. Fantastic, they could, theoretically, harness the energy trapped in the suit. It would be a renewable source of energy, one that could help power the world. He saw the experiment as a way to help people. His brother saw the experiment as a way to increase the group's financial standing and his own personal fame.

James and Paul began to work on the formula together. The exact cause of the problem would never fully be found, but there was a flaw in the formula. When the experiment began, covered by the media, there was a chain reaction and the flare could not be contained. As before, each member of the team was given amazing, or in this case, fantastic powers.

During the experiment's failure, James Matthews was thrown from the building and sent hurtling miles away.

Post-Accident
"I don’t know. Damnit, I don’t know. Everything was going right. My formula was working. My plan was working. I just…I must have miscalculated somewhere. Something I did went wrong."

- Paul Matthews

"It wasn’t your fault. There was nothing you could have done. It was everyone’s formula and everyone’s plan."

- Emma Stevens

James Matthews was given up for dead, after a manhunt failed to locate him. The rest of the research team was confined to a hospital where their wounds were treated. Also at this point, they discovered their powers. Emma, who had taken the blast after the flare had moved through a few support beams and equipment, was given the ability to turn her skin into a white organic steel like substance. It granted her superhuman strength and an inordinately strong resistance to bodily harm. The steel is like normal skin, and when one touches her, it feels as if one was touching her without the power on. In addition, she was granted the ability of self sustenance. When she is in her Steel Mode, she requires no food or drink or air. Neither can she rust.

When she found out about her powers, Emma went through a natural shock at the changes in her body. She realized, once she was over the personal shock, the drastic changes that would be soon in coming to her own and her friends and relatives lives. She helped her siblings deal with their own new powers. When they were released from the hospital, she and the rest of the team moved into the Cascade Building, given to them by an anonymous donor.

The Cascade Building is fully owned and controlled by Fantastic Five Inc., and would provid the group with a guaranteed source of income through the rent of the building, and in addition, a testing ground for some of the consumer products that they would design and build.

The Formation Begins
"Think about it. There are others out there, with powers like ours, and-"

- Carly Stevens

"They’re not powers, they’re reactions from a failed experiment."

- Paul Matthews

"My point is that there are others who have abilities like us and are using them to help people and fight bad guys and stuff."

- Carly Stevens

"Yes, but do any of us look like super hero material to you?"

- Emma Stevens

"I’m not saying it would happen over night, but it’s a thought."

- Carly Stevens

At the Cascade Building, Emma underwent tests administered by Paul Matthews, that enabled her to fully understand her powers. During the tests on her siblings, Carly came up with the idea of resurrecting the old Fantastic Four. Obviously, they'd be known as the Fantastic Five, due to the presence of five, not four. While they were in the hospital and in the Cascade Building, a city wide, and state wide manhunt was undertake to find the whereabouts of James. During this time Nicolas Leiter left the group for personal reasons

While this was going on, Emma went through a personal crisis. She was engaged to James Matthews, but she'd never stopped loving his younger brother. Now James was gone, and Paul was stepping up to the plate as the group's leader and spokesperson. She was forced to address her feelings for the two brothers. She realized that while she cared for James Matthews, it had more to do with caring for his wellbeing than love or anything like it. Deep down inside, she'd harbored the general neutrality towards him that her brother and sister felt.

She would never understand Paul Matthews' animosity and outright hatred for his older brother. She did realize as well that she'd only dated James Matthews in order to stay close to his brother. Comming to terms with her feelings meant for Emma that she had to act on them. So she told Paul Matthews how she felt.

His stunned reaction had her reeling and running away, thinking that she'd made a fool of herself, had ruined the rebuilding of their group, and more importantly, forced Paul away. Little did she know, but he'd started a plan to show her how he felt. He went to her and told her that he felt about her the same way that she felt about him, and had felt that way for some time.

She moved into his room, and would remain there for the next few months, until James Matthews returned.

More Coming Soon

Powers
"Paul, what…what’s wrong?"

- Emma Stevens

"Emma…l-look at your hands!"

- Paul Matthews

''Angel's body was altered during the accident that created the Fantastic Five. Due to this, she gained considerable powers.''


 * Organic Steel Skin: Angel has the superhuman ability to convert the tissue of her entire body into a white, organic steel-like substance, granting her superhuman strength and a high degree of resistance to bodily harm. She is able to transform into this armor-like state at will (the process is virtually instantaneous) and remain in that form for an as yet undetermined amount of time. Once in her armored form she remains so until she consciously wills herself back to normal. If she is rendered unconscious, however, she spontaneously reverts to her normal form. Angel can become partially or selectively armored. Even her eyes become steel-like and are capable of resisting a .45 caliber bullet. In addition, her skin is, to the touch, like normal skin, the only evidence that she's changed the visible coloring difference and the enhanced durability. She takes her name from the smooth, white, almost angelic, look she has while in her armored state.


 * Superhuman Durability: In her armored form Angel is highly resistant to most forms of bodily harm. Her armor is capable of withstanding ballistic penetration, including that of a 110 millimeter Howitzer shell. She could survive a collision with a loaded, one-ton flatbed truck at 100 miles per hour or an explosion of 450 pounds of TNT. She can survive extremes of temperature from 70 degrees above absolute zero (-390 degrees Fahrenheit) to approximately 9000 Fahrenheit. However, it is theorized that above the latter temperature, her armored form would begin to melt.


 * Superhuman Strength: Angel possesses vast physical strength, the exact limits of which aren't known. However, she is capable of lifting at least 90 tons under optimum conditions. Her strength may or may not continue to grow, as her powers develop further.


 * Self Sustenance: Angel's armored form cannot rust under normal Earth conditions. Angel, while armored, has no need of food, water, or air.

Abilities

 * Pilot: Emma is an excellent pilot, the designated pilot of the Fantasticar, as well the majority of the Fantastic Five's vehicles. She remains the groups best pilot, despite her brother's ever increasing skills.


 * Scientist: Emma is also a highly acclaimed scientist in her own right. She specializes in the fiels of Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry.  While she does hold a few patents and discoveries to her name, her general reputation is often looked over in favor of the leader of the Fantastic Five, Paul Matthews.