Black Shade
Black Shade (Kelly Krause) is a fictional supervillian appearing in the Federation Comics Universe, based in the Republic of Megatridimensional Order. The character is a supervillian, and a member of RISE. She is a nihilist, and spends most of her efforts destabilizing governments and institutions. The daughter of a preacher, Krause turned from her family's faith in her teenage years, sarcastic and bitter because of a childhood accident that left massive scarring on the left side of her face. She is the sister of Miss Blaze, but is constantly attempting to undermine her sister's closely-held beliefs, and has attempted to murder her sister on multiple occasions. Dresses mainly in black, usually fireproof outfits, with dark makeup and various half-masks to cover her scars. She also has black eyes and alternates her hair color between gray, white and black. She is a master of martial arts, having spent several of her teenage years training with Vhen Schwu, the famous Viscuito warrior.
Origin
Born in Iudicium in 1997 to Reverend Jonathan Krause and his wife Shuyrie, Black Shade grew up in a loving, relatively happy home. She has one sister, Haley Krause, who is two years older. As a child, she struggled with breathing issues that were initially diagnosed as asthma, now believed to be a side effect of her smoke related powers. She was unable to participate in physical play, and felt removed from the other children. The first time her sister accidentally activated her firestorm power, Kelly was severely burned on the left side of her face, and permanently scarred. Already with few friends, the scars made her more of an outcast during her pre-teen years, and she began to have panic attacks and anxiety issues related to both the fire and her social awkwardness. Kelly had no awareness of her own powers until the age of 12, after her sister had already left to train with Vhen Schwu. She admitted her powers to her family and urged her parents to send her to Schwu to train with her sister. The Reverend agreed with Krause that her powers were a gift and she should use them to fight evil in the world, and complied with her request, sending her to train with Schwu. She and her sister spent four years training at Schwu's dojo until Kelly fell in love with Schwu, a married man, who rebuffed her advances. Kelly confided her embarrassment to her sister, who, shocked, unintentionally upset Kelly, leading to an argument and a fight. Kelly escaped, killed Schwu, and disappeared for several years until showing up in the public eye after assassinating a Quentinian ambassador.
Powers
Black Shade can create, manipulate and weaponize smoke from her hands. She can also create a powerful, toxic smokestorm, but like her sister's firestorm, it is so draining it requires nearly a day before she is able to use it again. She can also literally blow smoke from her lungs, which can quickly suffocate any enemies. If she is seriously injured, she gains the ability to temporarily turn into smoke in order to escape. However, reconstituting to solid form is extremely difficult and painful.
