As a child, Peter Stork’s grandfather would tell him stories of a hidden city in the wilderness where warriors and assassins trained. Enthralled with the tales, Peter eventually set out on his own to find the city. His efforts resulted not only in discovering the City of the Cowled, but enrolling as a student to train as a warrior. After graduation, he enlisted with the Nitro Syndicate as a body guard, acquiring riches and bruises in turn while facing off against his past.

Alias: Peter Stork

Abilities: Expert in hand-to-hand combat, edged weapons combat, ranged-weapons combat, and close quarters combat; specially trained with the spear; physical peak of human strength, speed and agility; combat suit grants full-body protection and additional offensive capabilities.

Affiliations: The Cowled; The Nitro Crime Syndicate

Background

Peter Stork grew up listening to his grandfather’s stories of an assassin city secreted away in the Jungles of Brazil. Believing the old man, Peter jotted down every detail his grandfather could recall, and left on his own at seventeen to find the hidden city. Trekking through wilderness and hostile territory, Peter eventually discovered exactly what he was looking for: the City of the Cowled.

The Cowled interrogated Peter ruthlessly; unable to break his spirit, however, and confirming that his grandfather was indeed once a Cowled himself, Headmaster Wrathgar granted Peter stay and enrolled him in an accelerated training course. Peter then dedicated himself to the Cowled’s lessons while enlisted in the European House.

Peter befriended Gabriel Da’wan, Li-Ann Bai, and Kara Wong, but found a particularly kindred soul in Samuel Cor of the American House. The two sparred and often teamed up before Peter passed the Blitz ceremony and had to leave Samuel, who’d failed, behind. Peter, having trained with the spear as his primary weapon, opted for the codename Spike.

Transferring to the Middle East, Peter involved himself with the Maws of Set, a terrorist organization bent on ending modern human societies. He uncovered a connection between the terrorists and an American weapon’s manufacturer named Nitro. Spike moved to the United States where he encountered Issachar Nitrovar, founder of Nitro and leader of the criminal syndicate hidden behind it. Nitrovar offered Spike a job as an enforcer and body guard, which Peter accepted.

While serving Nitro, Peter faced off against former colleagues and friends Samuel and Kara who sought to dismantle the syndicate. Proving his loyalty to Nitro, he fended the two off on multiple occasions and earned himself high respect. To compensate for his lack of training compared to the others, Nitro gifted Peter an augmented battle suit featuring an array of blades and detachable spearheads. Spike also battled the likes of Mortem and Arctica (Li-Ann Bai), allowing the latter to join him and Nitro for a time as a way to get revenge on Samuel and Kara.

Behind the Design

Spike’s original design involved far more metal and a helmet fit with a respirator. While the look stayed for several years, I eventually returned and decided to rebuild the whole suit from the ground up. This newer iteration includes more realistic modern military elements like the cod-piece, ceramic bullet-proof vest, and underlying padding, which contrast the sand-yellow plate armor better than the first all-metal suit. The biggest change was the helmet, with a solid visor and several small upright blades arranged in a crown-like formation. Everyone like the remodel so much we decided to base Spike’s splash art on it, using the reference sheet below for the illustration everyone knows today.

Jir0, art director

Related Pages: Blitz / Issachar Nitrovar / The Nitro Syndicate / The Cowled / Katana / Arctica / The Maws of Set