About this user
During the "Civil War", the New Warriors attempt to apprehend a group of supervillains in Stamford, Connecticut for their television reality show. Nitro, one of the criminals, creates an explosive blast that kills 612 civilians, including 60 children, as well as the New Warriors with the exception of Baldwin. This event triggers the push for superhero registration at the heart of "Civil War". Baldwin is presumed dead after the incident, but he is found alive after the blast launches him over 500 miles (800 km). Baldwin's kinetic field keeps him alive, but it "burns out" as a result.
After awakening from a coma, Baldwin is arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D. and placed in federal prison. After he discovers his powers are still functional, Baldwin is taken to the new penitentiary called Negative Zone Prison Alpha. Reed Richards, the facility's creator, offers Baldwin the chance to testify before Congress. On the Capitol steps, Baldwin is shot by an assailant and taken away in an ambulance. The panel in which Speedball is shot bears a striking resemblance of the iconic photo in which Lee Harvey Oswald was assassinated. Baldwin recovers from the wound (yet bullet fragments remain inoperably lodged near his spine), and Richards determines that Baldwin's powers are evolving. Baldwin thwarts an escape from the prison and says that he will comply with the Superhuman Registration Act.
Baldwin orders a new suit of armor that features 612 internal spikes (the number of Nitro's victims from Stamford) to trigger his powers. Baldwin then rechristens himself "Penance" and is assigned to the Thunderbolts.
---POWERS----
After the events of Stamford, Baldwin believed his powers to be burned out. However, they still exist, but now only manifest when he feels pain. While his powers are still kinetically based, they no longer appear to manifest as a "bubble field." Rather, his powers seem far more explosive in nature. In order to stimulate his powers, his Penance suit constantly rakes his flesh. Baldwin tolerates this to a masochistic degree, once stating that he would 'Wear [the suit] all the time if I could'. By wearing the suit he has developed a natural tolerance to pain.
Penance can achieve a variety of effects with his new found powers. The most commonly used are explosive energy blasts from his hands but he is capable of firing them from any part of his body via the conduits on his spikes. He can create storm-like fields of energy around him capable of harming those around him and smashing objects. He can focus the energy on parts of his body, often on his hands to form superpowerful punches. He can also engulf himself in an energy forcefield which gives him a degree of invulnerability and allows him to levitate off the ground.
Baldwin's powers are constantly evolving and his original Speedball powers are shown to be returning to him. Robbie no longer needs the Penance suit to activate his powers but chooses to wear it anyway to remedy the guilt he feels.
Country
United States
