ZERO II
Real Name: Kenji Uedo
First Appearance: Generation Hope (Vol. 1) #1, January 2011
Powers: Zero II has possesses a mutant mass generating power which allows him to produce enormous amounts of bio-mechanical growth from his body. Although still outwardly human in most respects, his body is little more than a frame containing "raw materials" that he can shape at will. His body is animated and sustained by his powers alone now, making his skeletal structure and formerly vital internal organs irrelevant, and he likely no longer maintains even the illusion of them on the inside. This makes his mind difficult to read, although not impossible. Described as undifferentiated organo-techno mass, Zero II's body not only contains organic biology but also produces bio-mechanical components as a natural by-product of his physiology. Unlike techno-organics (who are composed of unique materials that have both organic and metallic physical properties), Zero II is more akin to a naturally-occurring cyborg, biologically producing hoses, cables, servos, plates, and scrap-metal patches on or inside his body at different points.
His mass-generating power, either through extra-dimensional access or rapid cellular reproduction, enables him to dramatically increase the amount of materials in his body. During his activation, Kenji's hands were amputated, leaving him with undulating tentacles in their place. His power would presumably allow him to recreate hands if he chose to, but he has not either as a form of penance or because it would require constant concentration to maintain them. He can cause his tentacles to grow in length and width, acting as prehensile spears or manipulators, and cause tentacles to grow forth from other areas of his body as well.
Zero II can cause complex shapes to form out of his flesh, forming shapes like a constricting net, a staircase, razor blades, or lifelike sculptures. His expanding mass can significantly increase his strength in all or part of his body, and he can create an exo-frame around his core body that can grow to several stories tall. Kenji can increase the production of both bio-organic and bio-mechanical mass in his body, and production of the latter allows him to create working machines with moving parts out of his mass. He can form telescopic binoculars to improve his vision, helicopter rotors that allow him to lift off the ground and fly, and some form of biological furnace vents that presumably provided him with additional raw power. Kenji also possesses the ability to shield himself from psychic intervention, and shield others in the same way by connecting with them through his tentacles.
He can also engage in psychic projection, creating three-dimensional multi-sensory displays and project them into the minds of other people through physical contact. Kenji actually circumvents the person's regular sensory impressions, causing them to essentially blackout and lose awareness of their surroundings in favor of his projections until his display ends. Kenji can also create bio-mechanical "bugs" that spawn from his mass, fly to a specific person, and inject them with a pre-recorded sensory display. Zero II cannot maintain his constructs once they are separated from his physical frame, preventing him from creating "lasting art" for future use. Therefore, his projection power can hold someone in a sensory display almost indefinitely so long as he retains contact, but the use of his "bugs" requires them to quickly reach their target and can only convey short messages before they disintegrate away from his body.
