Cosmos-Midas (Omni Books)

Cosmos / Midas is a main fictional character and superhero in Joe Graham's Omni series. He is currently the anchor of 1st team at the Alpha Academy. His first appearance is in ‘Omni – History Begins.’ His secret identity is Joseph Pringle and is a United States citizen and was raised in Michigan.

Lineage
Cosmos is the son of two perfect near misses. A near miss is someone who has gifted abilities, although not quite superhuman. A perfect near miss is someone with all qualities superior to a normal human. Cosmos was believed to be a perfect near miss during most of his child hood.

Pre-Alpha
Cosmos lived a normal life among humans, never thinking of himself as super. Even though it was stated he was stronger and faster than most professional athletes by age 11. The physical abilities coupled with a near superhuman intelligence separated Cosmos from most of his human peers at public school.

Cosmos’ super powers first manifest themselves in a potentially dangerous manner. His abilities to transmute matter ‘went off’ and turned everything to steel in a radius around him. Luckily his power did not effect organic matter the first time. The second time it happened the radius was much greater and organic matter was transformed as well.

Cosmos was originally known as Midas, but decided on a name change while at Alpha.

Alpha
At Alpha, Cosmos was selected to be the anchor for 1st team. This surprised Cosmos who had no idea the extent of his powers or what he would be able to do. Life at Alpha was especially tough for Cosmos, who was constantly injured.

Cosmos’ body was considered his weakness. While his powers over matter and energy continue to developed, his body is not strong enough for superhuman combat.

At one point some of Shi’s combat knowledge was transferred to him by the telepath Virtuoso. Virtuoso also sought to help him by making a set of powered armor. Cosmos’ powered armor is continually going through improvements.

While the other Alphas were away on vacation, Connors kept Cosmos from leaving the academy. During this time, Cosmos found out he was the next Omni. Upon learning how to tap into the Omni power, his position as anchor of 1st team has been justified.

Team
Cosmos is the anchor of 1st team, the 4th team trained by coach Connors and the 10th class to be trained at Alpha Academy. As is with every team, he has five other teammates, each having their own positions. 1st team is organized as follows.


 * Darkspeed, - Leader
 * Bioforce, - Healer
 * Olympian - Hitter
 * Shi - Stealth
 * Virtuoso - Brain
 * Midas/Cosmos - Anchor

Appearance
Cosmos is a white male 11 years of age of European decent. He stands 5 feet tall and weights about 95 pounds. Cosmos looks and carries himself like an 11 year old boy. He has short brown hair and blue eyes. He’s been told he was cute, in a boyish sense. At Alpha he participates in regular strenuous exercise and stays exceptionally fit.

Costume
Cosmos’ costume has gone through many improvements, settling on a version of power armor. The power armor does not provide super strength or other enhanced combat abilities, it is designed solely to increase durability.

The power armor he currently wears consists of all hard plates and articulated joints. Inside, energized liquid pockets absorb shock and inertia. Cosmos can now take an Ngun shot to the head without flinching. Other technical upgrades to his armor are similar to that of his peers, including the smart systems and in flight navigation.

Cosmos has adopted the same colors that OMNI used to wear, black and gold. Virtuoso did the artwork on Cosmos’ armor. She used a highly polished black base and the gold secondary color is in Celtic patterns down to the smallest detail.

Powers
Cosmos is an Omni. He has the ability to create and manipulate matter and energy. Manipulating kinetic forces seems to simulate telekinesis.

His powers have shown the following effects – transmuting, creating, and animating matter, producing lightning, producing super heated plasma, telekinetic blasts, and when given clear direction constructing new items. During civilian emergencies he has been invaluable in putting infrastructure back together.

His telekinetic blasts have proven to be enough to knock the wind out of Olympian or rip large holes in the ground. Cosmos also seems to favor blue lightning while in combat.

When channeling the Omni power through him in large amounts his eyes glow a bright pale blue. It was revealed to him that his powers will take a full 20 years to mature. During that time he will continue to become more powerful.

Combat Style
In combat Cosmos has proven to be his team’s Swiss army knife. From combat, to protecting, to changing the landscape; Cosmos has become an exceptional anchor to his team.

To add another layer of protection to himself, Cosmos has perfected his force bubble. He has learned to take a thin layer clear matter, like air, and hold it still. The Omni power allows him to hold it in place with great strength, like a force field.

While at Alpha Cosmos learned a focusing/combat technique called the gunfighter from coach Connors. Connors told Cosmos this was something that the original OMNI did. The drill called for the person to hang their head slightly, drop the arms to the sides, make fists, widen his stance, and find a good footing. Cosmos would then summon the Omni power and let it fill him. Then he would turn his hands palm forward and open them with energy crackling in his palms while raising his head to show his glowing eyes.