Switchblade

Switchblade is an original fictional character who first appeared in New Mutants: Last Class.

Background
Owen Prince rarely discusses his life before Xavier's except to say that he was originally from London, England, that he developed his powers at the age of 16, and that his parents were swift to disown him when they found out he was a mutant. Most describe him as a "good listener", though the truth is closer to the fact that he has a natural talent for deflecting conversation away from himself. Solitary and laid back by nature, Owen at least seems to have adjusted well to life as a mutant.

The rest of what is known of Owen's story begins when Julian Keller - better known as Hellion - found him in London's Camden Town district busking for spare change with his guitar. He had been living - happily, it seemed - out of a broken down van, and initially turned down Hellion's offer to join the team he was forming. It was only when he met Andie Picton, another young mutant who had already joined up, that he changed his mind.

As it turned out, Hellion had been approaching mutants from around the world since they started reappearing just two years after M-Day. His partner, Ruth Aldine, known to the team as Blindfold, was a precognitive who had apparently coaxed Hellion into assembling his team after claiming to have seen it in a vision. Andie had been the first, and Ruth promised there would be others.

New Mutants: Last Class
Hellion's telekinetic powers were sufficient to fly them around the world (he seemed eager to boast about being the strongest telekinetic on the planet). Together they would visit Japan, and then Portugal, adding Koji Watanabe and Antonio Oliverio to their roster before Blindfold declared the team complete. "The Hellions", they were dubbed, in addition to being allowed to choose individual codenames. Owen passed on the generous offer of some dorky super hero name, but when Andie suggested "Switchblade", he somehow found himself relenting once again.

But for what purpose had this makeshift team of young mutants been assmebled? Even Hellion didn't really seem to know. Blindfold's answers were cryptic at best, but promised that everything would become clear in Belarus.

Minsk, to be exact, at a church in the west end. "You'll know it when you see it," the seer had said - and sure enough, they did. They could see the smoke even before they arrived: the church was on fire, and Purifier soldiers were swarming all over the place, surrounding a small group of civilians. Owen had had his first tastes of combat in clashes with protestors and even a couple Purifier soldiers in Japan, but Hellion had mostly mopped those up with his telekinesis; this was a battle on a far larger scale.

But the Hellions were not alone. A team of young X-Men had just arrived and were already engaging the Purifiers. Owen could tell they were far more organized than the Hellions, with color-coded uniforms and a huge black stealth jet, and they seemed to be coordinating their moves without even having to say a word. Owen did his best to keep up, fighting shoulder to shoulder with Test throughout.

In the end, the two teams victorious, saving the civilians and escaping together in the Blackbird. The reason for the Purifier attack became obvious: two of the civilians were actually mutants, and the rest were supportive family and friends. It was a hard world for mutants - much harder than Owen had anticipated. What if a mob like that had found him before Hellion did? What if they'd found Andie?

The X-Men invited the Hellions to stay at their school for mutants, the Xavier Institute, and Owen found little recourse but to accept. Andie was eager to join the school's "squad system" training program, and quickly roped him in along with Koji and two young Xavier's students, June Kent and Parker Fry. They were once again dubbed the Hellions, and competed with other teams throughout the school year for a trophy called the Xavier Cup. While Owen enjoyed a good scrap - especially against Nathan Jacobe, who had come to admire and think of as an amicable rival - he had minimal appreciation for the hollow thrill of competition or the lure of of some gaudy cup. His lack of enthusiasm would be the subject of many an argument with Andie, his squad leader.

Timeskip and the Last Stand
Despite vigorous petitions to stay with the X-Men, Owen was among the small collection of young mutants who did not participate in the climactic battle known as The Last Stand of the X-Men. He only agreed to follow Anole into the teleporter to Wakanda because, like Anole, he believed the portal would remain open and lead right back to the fight. Little did he know that that it was a one way trip 2 weeks into the future, and that by the time he arrived, the epic battle that he so strongly wished to join was already history.

Crushed, Owen saw no alternative but to remain in Wakanda with Anole to help found Unity. While he could easily have passed for human and could have chosen to lead a relatively normal life in hiding, Owen insisted on sticking with Unity. There he has continued his training independently and has furthered his mastery over his powers.

Powers and Abilities
Owen is a Beta-level mutant. His mutant power allows him to generate a personal forcefield composed of panels of violet energy. Each panel is so thin that they behave almost as though they were 2-dimensional. By stacking them around himself like a suit of armour, Owen can render himself impervious to physical attacks; he can also use them as weapons by slicing with their razor-sharp edges - a potentially deadly ability that inspired his codename.

Owen has had extensive training in martial arts and is a capable hand-to-hand fighter even without his powers. He is also a talented guitarist, singer, and song writer.

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