Newton Destine

Background

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Powers and Abilities

Like all of his other siblings, Newton was born with mystical gifts. One is an extended lifespan. Despite being at least a century old, Newton has the body of an average man in his 30s. He possesses all the expected strength and vigor of a man at that age.

Most of his siblings have gifts that manifest in purely physical forms. But Newton’s gifts are turned inward. His is an unparalleled intellect.

His genius can only be rivaled by men such as Reed Richards, Victor Von Doom, Luthor and Tony Stark. His talents include a mastery of:

• Mechanical engineering.
• Chemistry.
• Medicine.
• Surgery.
• Physics.
• Spacecraft engineering.
• Electronics.
• Mechanics.
• Human biology with an emphasis on cognition.
• Dimensional travel.
• Teleportation.

Though Newton has access to a far more physically capable body on Ethera, he prefers his true body for intellectual pursuits. He finds it more comfortable.

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History

Like his brother Albert, Newton is one of the older Destine children. Thus, he became his younger brother Dominic’s guardian when he was a boy.

Newton was presumably present when Adam murdered his brother Vincent. But shortly thereafter he vanished to the alternate Earth-like planet called Ethera. He remained there for decades. Eventually, he was summoned when Dominic called during the family’s encounter with the mutated being named Lenz.

The Gryphon

Apparently, the young Destine twins (Rory and Pandora) had inadvertantly revealed the existence of the family. That happened while intervening in a battle between the forces of the scientist named Griffin and the minions of Lenz. The twins tried to stop them by taking the object of their dispute, the Gryphon, but soon fled the scene.

Pandora’s cape was torn off and retrieved after the battle. A label sewn into the fabric led Lenz and his minions to Jasmine “Cuckoo” Destine, and a search of her belongs revealed the existence and locations of the rest of the clan. With that, one by one, the Clan Destine were attacked by Lenz’s forces, culminating in the death of both Maurice and Florence.

Newton was summoned to Dominic’s side when Dominic was approached by their siblings (Walter, Rory and Pandora). Dom needed help to deduce the identity of their attackers and the reasons for the attack. After studying evidence that Walter brought with him, Newton was able to ascertain that their attackers were using advanced teleportation technology during their attacks.

He reasoned that he would be able to build a device that would allow the siblings to track the attackers back to their lair. With that Newton returned to his lab on Ethera and built the device.

A short time later, he returned to Ravenscroft (the Destine’s ancestral home) and was reunited with his other siblings. In moments, he had assembled a teleportation platform and sent his family into Lenz’s layer hoping to end the conflict peacefully.

The progenitor returns

Seconds later, Adam crashed into the clearing. He demanded that Newton reopen the gate and allow him through. Newton complied quickly and sent his father into battle behind his siblings. With Adam’s arrival, the Clan quickly defeated Lenz and his minions. They returned home without further loss of life.

With Adam’s return, and the sudden exposure of the Relative Stranger protocol, the gathered Destine siblings decided to remain in Ravenscroft. Their goal was to regroup and replan their next actions. Newton, having no interest in the everyday goings on of the family, returned to Ethera.

Demonic incursion

To his surprise, Newton was summoned again by Dominic. The demon Synraith was making a last ditch effort to enter Earth’s dimension once more. The demon had opened a dimensional door and transported both Cuckoo and Adam through it.

Newton, using his advanced technology, reopened the doorway. Alongside his siblings, he then leapt through. This led to a brief misunderstanding between the X-Men and ClanDestine. But after a short battle, but the two teams quickly realized who the true enemy was. The demon was eventually defeated and the two groups parted peacefully.

Raise the sword

Newton returned once more to the idyllic peace of Ethera, until he was summoned a final time by his youngest brother Rory. When he arrived he found Dominic in a catatonic state, and realized that it had been brought on by his senses becoming overloaded by a hostile enemy scan.

Newton took Dominic back to the extra-dimensional Ethera with him to remove Dominic from the signal’s range. Dominic eventually recovered from the attack upon Ethera, and after an accidental tumble through yet another dimensional portal, encountered the British team of mutants Excalibur.

Newton, along with Rory and Pandora, eventually tracked down Dominic and returned him to Ethera. The two brothers remain there to this day.

Description

Unlike the majority of his siblings, Newton is short and mousy looking man. He has a passing resemblance to Woody Allen. He normally wears large black spectacles and dresses in a semi-casual manner.

He can often be found wearing a black tie to go with a rather frumpy looking suit. The single time he was shown going into battle, he piloted a golden suit of armour.

As the Warlord of Ethera, Newton’s body changes dramatically. This body is easily 6’2” and looks to weigh around 240lbs. It is covered in layers of thick and heavy muscle. His formerly mousy hair is replaced with long straight brown locks.

It appears that this body is still nearsighted, but he wears visor-like lenses over his eyes instead of glasses. As the Warlord, Newton wears golden boots, bracers over his wrists and forearms, and a golden codpiece.

Personality

Newton is an intellectual that speaks his mind. He seems to be amused by the activities of his siblings, but is obviously detached from them emotionally. Perhaps it’s the distance, perhaps its the vast difference in their intelligence levels.

In either case, Newton doesn’t speak down to them. But he prefers to not be involved with the family from day to day. The only exception to this rule seems to be Dominic. The two share a close bond, and Newton will drop whatever he’s doing the instant Dominic calls and rush to his aid.

In addition, Newton doesn’t seem to bear his father any ill-will despite Adam’s murder of Vincent.

Quotes

(After teleporting into the room amidst a violent thunderclap of sound and a briliant burst of light) “Yes, it is me … I had this body engineered on Narcissus 4. It suits my lifestyle as Warlord of Ethera.”

“Hmmm ! Whatever we are up against possesses advanced technology. These are teleportation relay circuits. My laboratory on Ethera contains equipment that could pinpoint the co-ordinates of the transmitting station.”

(Newton teleports into the room amidst a violent thunderclap of sound and a briliant burst of light)
Dominic: “Newton, you’re back ?”
Newton: “Of course, were you not expecting me ?”
Dominic: “I meant you’re you again. What happened to your new body ?”
Newton: “It’s exercising on auto pilot keeping itself fit for… eh, purely physical pursuits. This body is more appropriate to scientific research. It’s more comfortable.”

(Newton teleports into the room… ah… you get it by now)
Dominic:”Hello Newton.”
Newton: “At your service and ready for action, Dom. Who has been kidnapped by the bad guys this time ?”
Dominic: “Kay and Adam.“
Newton: “Really ? I was joking. You all lead such exciting lives for fold who claim to avoid conflict.”

“We don’t want to fight. This was a mistake, or more manipulation by our adversary.”

Moira McTaggert: “Are ye a medical man then ?”
Newton: “Chemist, doctor and surgeon. Amongst many other pursuits. I like to think my intellect compensates for my lack of physical stature.”
Storm: “And your battle suit ?”
Newton: “I got the idea from an old comic book.”

“All part of my enhanced intellect. Clear quick thinking equals precision without hesitation.”

“… But this is between us. I don’t want Kay finding out… I need my space and recreation.”

DC Universe History

The clan is such a minor group within the marvel universe, they could conceivably be inserted wholesale into the DC universe with very little modifications to their backstory. Instead of encountering the Inhumans, they could have encountered the Amazons or some far flung group of Legionnaires on a trip to the past.

Lenz could have been created by Intergang or Professor Ivo or even been one of Luthor’s experiments.

By Bryan Gittens.

Source of Character: Alan Davis’ Clan Destine published by Marvel Comics.