Brandish

<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Brandish</default></title>

<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>

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<label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox> Carol Dallon, known publicly as Brandish is the Wife of Mark Dallon and the mother of Victoria Dallon. She is also the adoptive mother of Amy Dallon, and a member of New Wave.

Personality

Carol was a skilled lawyer.<ref name="I2">Interlude 2</ref><ref name="8.6">Extermination 8.6</ref> She worked for the same firm as Alan Barnes, and the two were friends.<ref name="15.x"/> She promised herself that she would strike a balance between her two careers when she joined New Wave.<ref name="15.x e4">“When I agreed to join New Wave, Sarah and I both agreed that I’d keep my job, and I’d strike a balance between work and life in costume.” - Excerpt from 15.x (Donation Interlude 1; Carol)</ref> She tended to cope with stress by focusing on the business side of her life.<ref name="II1.6"> - Excerpt from Daybreak 1.6</ref> She was sometimes afraid of the dark as a result of her trauma.<ref>She was glad for the sunlight that streamed in through the window, the glare of the florescent bulbs overhead. Recent events had stirred her old fears of the dark. - 15.x (Donation Interlude 1; Carol)</ref><ref>“I know it was hard, honey. I get it, I really do. But you can’t dwell in the past. It’s not good for you. You can’t carry that.”

“You say that, when you still sleep with the lights on,” I said. - Excerpt from Daybreak 1.7</ref>

Carol had severe trust issues, stemming from her Trigger Event - she had grown to trust one of her kidnappers to an extent, and felt betrayed when he tried to execute her. Something about Marquis reminded her of him, perhaps the fact that she liked him on a level. He didn't fit with her view of the world - criminal, yet with a code.<ref name="15.x"/> Carol felt she was only able to trust her daughter, Victoria, because she was hers - a part of her from the very beginning.<ref name="15.x"/> She was willing to believe Glory Girl's excuses about having difficulty holding back with her power.<ref name="I2"/>

Amy Dallon, her adoptive daughter, felt - correctly<ref name="I11h">Interlude 11h</ref> - that Carol never really wanted her.<ref name="15.x"/><ref name="I11h">Interlude 11h</ref><ref name="I3">Interlude 3</ref> After her husband received a head injury, she blamed her for not healing him.<ref name="15.x">Interlude 15 (Donation Bonus)</ref><ref name="I11h">Interlude 11h</ref> Carol was constantly wary of Amy.

She disliked using abbreviations such as "lol".<ref name="II.1.1">Daybreak 1.1</ref>

Appearance

As Brandish, Carol wears a white costume with orange trim<ref name="Cast1">Brandish – Member of New Wave, mother of two. Wears a white costume with orange symbols. Can fashion weapons out of energy and transform herself into a nigh-invulnerable, sphere, but can’t move of her own volition while transformed. - Cast (spoiler free)</ref> and a crossed-blade symbol.<ref name="Cast2">Brandish, Carol Dallon – Flashbang’s wife. Civilian identity is that of a high profile lawyer. Has the ability to create weapons and martial shields out of hard light, and can condense herself into a bouncing sphere of hard light, being effectively invincible and untouchable at the cost of all mobility. Wears a costume of white and orange with a crossed-blade symbol. - Cast (in depth)</ref>

Abilities and Powers

Carol Dallon has the ability to create simple weapons and martial shields out of burning 'hard' light, or light augmented by concussive or kinetic force.<ref name="WoG1"/> Further she can condense herself into a bouncing sphere of hard light, effectively invincible and untouchable at the cost of all mobility.<ref name="19.5 c1">Ranked 1 powers mentioned thus far include Shadow Stalker and Brandish (Mover 1 and Shifter 1, respectively).

For Shadow Stalker, that’s the ability to float or jump a good distance (12-15 feet from a standing position). Somewhat more versatile than an olympic athlete might be able to maintain.

For Brandish, it’s the ability to become an immobile, nigh-invulnerable sphere. - Comment by Wildbow</ref>

She described her ball form as "condensed into a point, surrounded by a layered, spherical force field".<ref name="15.x"/> It could fly away whenever it was hit, or she could exercise some control over the direction.<ref name="I11h">Interlude 11h</ref> She could choose what posture she was in when transitioning between forms, allowing her to more easily recover from falls.<ref name="15.x"/> It was orange-yellow in color.<ref name="I11a">Brandish flicked her hands out, and beams of light drew into vague sword shapes. As the dogs stampeded towards her she flicked them out to double the length. They drew closer, almost reaching her, and she reconsidered, banishing the weapons to condense herself into a beachball-sized ball of orange-yellow light. The dogs hit her, there was a spray of sparks, and the ball was sent careening down the street and through the wall of a building. - Excerpt from Interlude 11a</ref>

Brandish is martial combatant capable of delivering explosively powerful strikes or letting her weapons shear through flesh and bone without resistance, burning and cauterizing any wound. They could slash through Marquis' bone plates<ref name="15.x"/> and could even shear through steel.<ref name="WoG1"/> The weapons "looked as though they were made from lightning."<ref name="8.5">Extermination 8.5</ref> They could be a sword,<ref name="15.x"/> a pair of swords,<ref name="I11h"/> a crude bludgeon,<ref name="15.x"/> or a pair of axes, among other things.<ref name="8.5">Extermination 8.5</ref>

History

Background

Carol triggered while kidnapped,<ref name="15.x e1">He’d tried to attack them? Carol couldn’t understand it. He was the one who’d taken care of them. When he’d appeared, she’d been happy. And now it felt like that had been ruined, spoiled.

She felt betrayed and she couldn’t understand why.

Again, the gun fired. She flinched, and not because of the noise. It was like she’d been slapped.

Then silence.

Silence, no hunger, no pain, no sense of betrayal. Even Sarah and the wall of light she’d put together were gone.

A flat plain stretched out around her, but she had no body. She could see in every direction.

A crack split the ground. Once the dust had settled, nothing happened for a long time.

More cracks.

It’s an egg, she realized, just in time to see it hatch.

The egg’s occupant tore free from the crack, unfolding from a condensed point to grow larger with every moment and movement.

Others were hatching from the same egg, spreading out like sparks from the shell of a firework. Each unfolding into something vast and incomprehensible within seconds of its birth.

But her attention was on the first. She felt it reach out and connect with another that shared a similar trajectory. Still more were doing the same, pairing off. Forming into trios, in some cases, but most chose to form pairs.

A mate? A partner?

Each settled into a position around the ruined egg, embracing their chosen companions, rubbing against, into and through one another as they continued to grow.

The egg vibrated. Or did it? No, it was an illusion. There were multiple copies of the egg, multiple versions, and they each stirred, deviating from one another until subtle double images appeared.

Then, one by one, they crumpled into a single point. The egg at the center of the formation of these creatures was the last, and for the briefest of moments, it roiled with the pressure and energy of all of the others.

Then it detonated, and the creatures came alive, soaring out into the vastness of the void, trails of dust following in their wake, each with a partner, a companion, traveling in a different direction.

And she was back in the dark room, staring at the man. - Excerpt from 15.x (Donation Interlude 1; Carol)</ref> about to be executed by her captors, feeling betrayed that the captor who had fed them, whom she had liked, tried to kill her. She killed him with her power.<ref name="I11h"/> Either she or Lady Photon(who triggered first) had a connection with a shard, which then budded to the other.<ref>WyldCard4: Do Brandish and Lady Photon have closely related or bud shards?
Wildbow: Yes. Bud shards. One had it, then the stress they were under prompted it to bud, it found the nearby host who met the prerequisites. - Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref>

She tried for a normal life and began a career as a Criminal lawyer.<ref name="WoG1"/>

She joined the Brockton Bay Brigade during a period when there were few heroes in Brockton Bay, without the Unwritten Rules. There she met her husband, Mark Dallon. They joined New Wave when it was founded.<ref name="15.x"/><ref name="I11h">Interlude 11h</ref><ref name="3.2">Agitation 3.12</ref>

She was persuaded to adopt Panacea when they found her in Marquis' lair, out of worries that another group might seek to use her for whatever powers she developed.<ref name="15.x"/> She accepted in the end because she had a job, while her sister already had two children.<ref name="I11h">Interlude 11h</ref>

With the change over from the Brigade to new wave and subsequent tragedies Carol effectively forced to act as manager for the team; handling legal affairs, public relations, and media contacts.<ref name="WoG1"/>

Story Start

When the E88's identities were revealed Brandish and Flashbang confronted Krieg and his subordinates with new wave.

Carol fought Leviathan alongside the rest of New Wave.

Post-Leviathan

Following the deaths of much of New Wave and her husband's head injury, Carol considered disbanding New Wave. She received a letter from Dragon warning her that Marquis believed his daughter was in danger.<ref name="I11h">Interlude 11h</ref>

Post-Slaughterhouse Nine

Lost both of her daughters.

Gold Morning

Got both of her daughters back; she saw them for only a short time.

Trivia

• Brandish was initially classified as a Changer instead of a Breaker.<ref name="WoG1"/><ref name="19.5 c1"/>
• Brandish's "colour" in New Wave is orange-yellow.

References

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