Quasar (Avril Kincaid)

Avril Kincaid is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent stationed in Pleasant Hill. She is the leader of "plainclothes surveillance," the agents on the town posing as citizens. She is also in charge of the daycare for imaginary children and Kobik.

When Baron Zemo staged a revolt in Pleasant Hill, Avril was attacked by the Blood Brothers. Captain America and the Winter Soldier, two of the heroes on the scene, tried to protect her, unaware that she was planning on getting caught so she could be taken to the location of Baron Zemo.

She later directed Cap and the Winter Soldier in retrieving a powerful weapon from the Pleasant Hill museum. Later, Avril claimed the Quantum-Bands and was instrumental in turning the tide during the chaos at Pleasant Hill. She was offered the mantle of Quasar and instructed in the use of the bands by Wendell Vaughn himself.

Powers and Abilities The Quantum Bands allow the bearer to control all forms of energy and generate constructs of any shape including force fields, giant weapons and a suit of protective armor. The bands allow her to fly, create teleportation portals into the Quantum Zone and can be programed protect her from mental attacks/telepathy.

Primarily, the bands are tools for manipulating forms of energy. A bearer of the quantum-bands can affect, alter, absorb, and channel any form of energy found in the Electromagnetic spectrum, from Gamma Rays to Radio Waves, and this also includes visible light.

Energy Constructs: The bands can construct anything the wearer can imagine from "Quantum energy", This energy is derived from the Quantum-Zone, although the bands can absorb energy from all known sources. Flight: The bands allow the bearer to fly in atmosphere or in space (surrounding the wearer in an energy aura), and can achieve incredible speeds. Vaughn was often clocked at near light-speed. Teleportation: they also enable the bearer to quantum jump or create apertures between the fabric of space/time of various sizes. Allowing the wearer access to the realm of potential energy which the bands interface with known as the Quantum-Zone. A wearer can then travel through this trackless, featureless zone and emerge at a different point in our physical space light years away from his starting point only seconds later. The Quantum-bands would enable the bearer to keep their bearings while in the zone and thus emerge wherever they want to. A bearer can cross countless light years in a single jump if desired. Important note, however, a bearer cannot quantum-jump within an atmosphere without ripping a hole in its ozone layer. Communications: The bands can detect, emit, and receive radio waves; thereby the bearer can communicate with other radio receivers. The bands can also create a “Quantum-link” which appears as a glowing golden sphere about 2 inches in diameter, which travels to the point of contact at warp speeds and connects with any communication device present allowing the bearer to carry on near-instantaneous communications even over extra-galactic distances. Altered metabolism: One previous bearer of the Quantum bands (Marvel Boy) has been known to be able to augment his strength and stamina to unknown limits. William Wesley was shown to be able to lift an automobile (roughly 2 tons) when he was field testing the "Power-bands". Vaughn himself rarely exhibited this ability and only when it was needed. Mental protection: Despite the fact that the Quantum-Bands have no control over the mind or Psionics, at least one previous bearer (Vaughn) had "programed" the Bands to protect his mind for mental attacks and takeover. This however, did not protect a bearer's mind from being scanned or surface thoughts being read. Mental/Physical bond: The Quantum Bands bond with their bearer upon contact interfacing the bearer's mind with the Bands allowing for mental control. Permanently affixing themselves generally to the bearer's wrists, the flesh and bone within rendered indestructible so long as the bond with the bands persists. The bond can only be broken upon the bearer's death, at which point the bands could be removed easily. In recent times, this has been contradicted, showing the bands moving easily back and forth between living beings. Cosmic Awareness: When wearing the bands one is aware of thing happening throughout the universe, Avril had visions of events happening on the other side of the globe or even in outer space.

Limitations:

Worthiness: Similar to the hammer of Thor (Mjolnir), a bearer of the Quantum-Bands must be worthy. As the Quantum-Bands are tied to the station of the Protector of the Universe, the bands seem to require a calm mind lacking ‘killer instinct’ to learn to use them to their fullest potential. A bearer with the intent to commit acts of depravity and destruction will quickly find herself losing control of the energy output of the bands until they disintegrate her. Magic: The Bands cannot absorb it or resist it. However, an enchanted physical object will only be as strong as the object itself would otherwise be. Fortunately, magicians have no control over the energies she manipulates so, it evens out. Extradimensional energy: Quasar is susceptible to all persons using Darkforce. The Q-bands cannot create constructs to hold or resist darkforce energy. The Darkforce penetrates her energy like it wasn't even there. Also entities from the Negative-Zone (such as Annihilus) can corrupt the bands if wearing them. Kinetic energy: The Quantum Bands have no defense against someone manipulating it psionically. But a bearer can resist a kinetically imbued object (such as a knife or a deck of cards) If a bearer of the Quantum Bands senses the attack they can throw up a shield to defend themselves with. Psionic energy: A psionic blast will cut through any quantum constructs like paper mache'. Fortunately, most psionic manipulators are susceptible to the energies of the Quantum-Bands, so it evens out. Matter manipulation: Foes who manipulate matter, psionically or otherwise, the Quantum Bands cannot effect their powers. They deal with energy, not matter.