Elixir

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Joshua Curtis Foley, commonly referred to as "Josh", and known by the pseudonym "Elixir", is the son of wealthy business tycoons Howard and Celia Foley. Originally groomed to take over their thriving empire, as the second born amongst three sons, Joshua realised his powers as an Omega-Level Mutant and was surrendered to the custody and guardianship of Charles Xavier at the Charles Xavier School for Gifted Youth eventually earning public attention and fanship as a budding member of the New Generation of X-Men and later the Brotherhood.

He is a recurring character in X-Men Volume 2 and SHIELD Diagnostic Files as well as a main character in New Mutants, Astonishing X-Men, and the X-Force series with appearances in Dark Avengers. He is portrayed by Dylan Sprayberry and also appeared in the fifteenth episode of Uncanny Adventure under the alias of Matthew Southside.

History[]

Childhood[]

Joshua is the second born son of billionaire Howard Foley and his trophy wife, Celia. He's the middle child between his older and younger brother. The Foley family's wealth, built on real estate and crude oil trade, dates back to the industrial expansion of the late 19th century and has grown exponentially over the last sixty years. At Joshua's birth, his grandfather, Thomas Foley, established a trust fund worth $57 million. Over 17 years, this trust accrued a 5% interest rate, locked in at term deposit, reaching a total value of $131 million by 2025.

From an early age, Joshua was the apple of his father’s eye, doted upon and groomed to be his heir as soon as he could walk and when his younger brother, James, was born at an age gap of two years and the two quickly became inseparable, they navigated the socialite scene of Atlanta, Georgia, side by side. They had every advantage and privilege afforded to them — from private schools with advanced security to foreign language tutors. By the time Joshua started school, he was already proficient in Spanish, Russian, and French. His education extended beyond academics; he trained in Judo and Fencing, exercised with olympic level boxers, and honed his musical talents through piano lessons.

Phase One[]

Adolescence[]

Early on, Joshua struggled with continual nightmares that haunted him. These vivid dreams, filled with fear and confusion, led to frequent bed-wetting, an experience that deeply embarrassed him. Jasper, his brother who was already a teenager at the time, was there when things got difficult. When the maids went home and the house grew quiet, leaving Joshua to navigate his overwhelming feelings on his own, Jasper stepped in. He would carry a distraught Joshua, still in his urinated trunks, back to his own room and Joshua would find solace in that. With a quiet understanding, he'd help Joshua get naked and use a wet towel to clean him, offering some of his own underpants from a drawer to use as fresh pajamas for the night even though they didn't quite fit. Joshua never felt ashamed with Jasper, their relationship had always been close and although it's a different kinship than with James, it's not by any means 'less than'. Inevitably from the proximity they shared in the same bed, sexuality irrupts strong for Joshua who experiences his first erotic dream as he felt his brother's body pressed against his and subconsciously his biology related abilities enhanced Jasper's own X-Gene down to the protein as a representation of Joshua's affection.

When Joshua turned thirteen, his powers first manifested during a class. It was a particularly boring day, and while watching a documentary about the Boston Tea Party, his mind began to wander. His rowdy daydreams, unrestrained by his still-developing control and budding hormones, started to leak into the world around him. Without warning, his latent telepathic abilities reached out, causing an overwhelming surge of emotion in everyone within a 25-foot radius with his brother first impacted followed by the still-standing teacher. The wave of intense sensation and sexuality swept through the students and faculty, leaving them disoriented and breathless as Joshua's puberty driven orgasm bounced around the class from his wild fantasies. The resulting scandal that followed was met with bewilderment. The source of the frenzy was a mystery to everyone including Joshua, who was still unaware of the full extent of his abilities, no one could grasp what had happened. The faculty and students, shaken and confused, ended up sending everyone affected home for the day and called the O.C.A — Outbreak Casualty Agency.

When Joshua arrived home, the weight of what had happened began to settle. He tried to brush it off, at first, convinced it was just some bizarre fluke or some mass hysteria. But the whispers in the halls, the glances from his classmates, and the hushed conversations between teachers was unshakable as he shamefully tried covering the wet patch on the front of his trousers.

The next morning, he awoke in the early hours after an intense nightmare, his breath shallow and his eyes dazed by the sunrise to find himself drenched in sweat. Feeling a strange discomfort in his limbs, he sat up abruptly and flipped the bed sheets off to find a body with smooth and flawless skin, without a blemish to be found. Muscles with fresh definition and an old hockey injury on his left leg had healed overnight. Hair had simultaneously disappeared and appeared all over. As he stood up, the changes seemed to ripple through his body. His senses felt heightened, sharper. He could hear the hum of the refrigerator from downstairs, the faint ticking of the clock on the wall and smell the faint scent of his father’s cologne lingering in the hallway mixed with the perfume of his mistress. Joshua stumbled to the bathroom, his heart racing. His reflection in the mirror was foreign, almost alien. It was him but a better him. Grown and plump.

With a shaky hand, he reached for the shower handle, turning the water on without thinking. The sound of the rushing water echoed in his ensuite, but it did little to calm his racing heart. He let the water pour over him, standing there for a moment in the cold, letting the chill of the shower bring him back to the present. He ran his hands through his hair and threw his back against the wall. Riding the tiles down to curl up on the shower floor with the water still running, they pressed against his skin as his knees were drawn to his chest and he noticed even the hair on his legs were different. Whether minutes or hours passed, he remained in there until his brother - not waiting for permission - stormed in to use his toilet. Mumbling conversation and chit chat as if he wasn’t sure if he was interrupting something but didn't want to make it awkward, Josh felt exposed and James felt guilty. James left in silence while Joshua frantically got clothes on for school.

Returning to class wasn't easy, for anyone. The air carried regret and humiliation with the lingering discomfort being almost palpable. For Joshua, it felt like all eyes were on him, even if no one knew he was at fault, it ruffled him. They had all shared the same embarrassing moment and the stress of knowing the O.C.A was going to be there didn't help. Officially, their presence was just a formality, an incident report to file, a form to complete but everyone knew the real reason they were there. Unofficially, it was a mutant hunt. The O.C.A. had a reputation for unlawfully targeting individuals with abilities, especially those who hadn't yet learned to control them and wasn't yet under the protection of the Mutant Care Act at the Academy. One by one, students were called in for interviews. Some left the room with quiet resignation, others with visible distress, but all of them knew that they were being scrutinized. Joshua's palms were sweating, avoiding eye contact and chewing gum quietly. He wondered if anyone else figured out it was him and when his name was finally called his body filled with dread as he slowly stood and walked over.

The room felt suffocating, it was sterile and cold, draped in plastic sheets and outfitted with medical equipment. The tension rising with each click and beep of the machines and the oppressive atmosphere only creeping on Joshua's back. Officer Muñoz’s voice cut through the silence, a steady tone that contrasted the ice in the air. Despite not knowing if it was him, they had to operate under the assumption it was: “Joshua, I know this is overwhelming, but we need you to stay calm. You’re not in trouble,” she said softly, though the hint of uncertainty in her voice betrayed the weight of her words. She wasn’t sure if he could control himself. None of them were. He sat down and they exchanged the usual pleasantries but felt as if every look was dissecting him piece by piece, figuring out what he is beneath the surface. Joshua clenched his fists under the table and his jaw, trying to steady his breath while his mind raced, memories of the outburst flooding back as his heart pound out of his chest. They brought up equipment to test him for any trace of an active X-Gene but under a misleading pretense that it was a lie-detector. They attached electrodes to his chest and a strap to his arm while Officer Johnson affixed devices on his index fingers and around his waist. It was all too much.

Something was rising in his veins, ready to burst. His powers operated under his subconscious as if they had a mind of their own. He tried profusely not to hurt anyone or have another accident like before, but his desperation only made it worse. His body betrayed him. Immediately, Officer Johnson's eyes widened as he felt the full brunt of Joshua's emotions ripple out. The anxiety crept up his spine like an electric shock, it was crippling as if a gun was held to their head. He instinctively reached for his sidearm, his hand shaking as he placed it back on his holster, as if the sheer force of Joshua’s presence made him want to react. Muñoz, however, remained composed. Her hand landed reassuringly on Johnson’s arm, gently holding him back. She had dealt with enough danger in her career to know not to let the fear of the unknown control her, but her eyes never left Joshua, alert to any shift in his demeanor. The console in the medical attendant's hand beeped, its cold clinical beep cutting through the atmosphere. The man looked at the monitor with raised brows, typing quickly into the system before confirming what they already suspected.

“The X-Gene is active, as expected,” the attendant reported, his voice flat, “but there’s more... the cortisol levels are abnormally high, indicating extreme stress. His body is in a state of mitosis, rapidly dividing cells at an exponential rate. It's... hard to say what exactly is happening, but his body’s reacting as though it's in a constant state of hyperactivity.” Muñoz exchanged a glance with Johnson, her brow furrowing in concern. The look on her face mirrored a realization she was trying to suppress. It was bigger than they thought. Joshua barely registered what the technicians words meant. The feedback from his powers just kept flickering more and more, threatening the fragile calm that had been re-established by Muñoz.

“Joshua,” Muñoz said, her voice steady but filled with the weight of concern. “We need you to focus. This isn’t your fault. We're just trying to understand what’s happening to you. You’re not alone in this. We have protocols to help you.” Joshua’s throat tightened as the weight of her words sank in, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was slipping through his fingers.

Charles Xavier[]

TBA

Phase Two[]

Living at the X-Mansion[]

TBA

First Outing[]

TBA

Brave New World[]

TBA

Hero Adventures[]

TBA

Phase Three[]

TBA

Appearance[]

Physically, Elixir appears as an attractive young man in his late teens, standing at 5 feet 8 inches tall. He has smooth, clean-shaven skin, piercing blue eyes, and an athletic body with a lean yet muscular frame featuring defined arms, a broad chest, and strong, well-defined calf muscles. His expressive eyebrows complement his tanned complexion, while his tousled honey-blonde hair frames his face, which has a straight nose, full lips that often curl into a charming, boyish smile, and an oval shape. He weighs 151 lbs (68 kilograms) and is often seen wearing comfortable attire like hoodies, sports shirts, jeans, and sneakers. However, on occasion, he opts for more trendy outfits, such as leather jackets and boots.

Elixir's distinctive scent is Flannel Musk—a warm blend of greens, bergamot, soft musk, playful citrus, and amber.

Personality[]

Charismatic and fun-loving, Joshua is a free-spirited individual with an infectious energy, though he remains somewhat reserved around newcomers. His ultimate defining trait is his deeply empathetic nature, he's a vulnerable soul with a soft heart and endless amounts of affection both physical and emotional.

His early days at the Charles Xavier School were marked by impulsive decisions, yet he also found joy in the creative freedom the school provided as an outlet. As both a human and a budding mutant, anxiety and depression were his greatest struggles, with his powers manifesting at puberty only intensifying the challenges of adolescence. Wrestling with hormones and newfound abilities, Joshua often felt overwhelmed and frightened. Wolverine once described him as both sensitive and distrustful, and he was frequently labeled an overthinker.

Despite his struggles, Joshua is extremely intelligent, fluent in multiple languages, and highly skilled in various disciplines. Yet, no matter how often he was chosen first in activities, he always felt like he came last, he was an outsider even among his peers. As he has grown into his abilities, his confidence and self-assurance have reached new heights, gradually mitigating his past anxieties and innocence. He has developed a calm and level-headed approach to crisis, excelling in time management and rational decision-making and, over time, he has come to understand his identity more fully, embracing his sexuality as a gay man. However, in matters of relationships, he remains somewhat inexperienced and underdeveloped, navigating this aspect of his life with the same uncertainty that once defined his youth.

Facing Elixir as an opponent is nothing short of terrifying. He is not one who rushes to anger, it's the last emotion in his roster, it stands in direct opposition to his fun-loving nature and deep-seated convictions, in a way its antithetical. But on the rare occasion that he gets angry, his powers shift from giving life and changing life to taking life and leaving nothing left. He can either be the embodiment of health and evolution or he can be the embodiment of decay. At times, he has proven an understanding of the depth to his abilities and a willingness to exploit that in intimidation.

Powers and Abilities[]

Powers[]

Mutant Physiology: As a Mutant, a member of the Homo Rectus genus, Joshua was born with a latent biological abnormality that distanced himself from the typical Human, popularised as the “X-Gene", positioned on his 23rd sexual chromosome. The X-Gene originated from the nascent Celestial, Tiamut, incubating within the Earth's geothermal core for millions of years. Joshua's X-gene manifested during his pubescent years, around the ages of 8-13, in response to extreme neurological trauma and emotional stress coupled with sudden hormonal imbalance impacting, on a fundamental level, his entire biology on the cellular level. Radically altered with the production of an exotic protein that infected the chemical signals of the helix structure causing mutations which subsequently empowered him. Elixir is one of the only 25 members of the "Omega-Level", also referred to as Class-5 Mutants, making him recognised as one of the most powerful beings on Earth with near-unlimited potential in his respective category. He was red-flagged by the O.C.A as a significant threat and puzzled their most intelligent scientists to his bizarre anatomy. As opposed to mutants with destructive long-range powers, Elixir's functionally make him the living embodiment and incarnate of life and death itself. He cannot even be accurately compared with his fellow mutates and mutants as he is a walking apocalypse, wielding god-like capability and a potential only defined by his willpower and only limited by his moral hesitation and non-combative nature.
- Life-Force Manipulation: Joshua's chief mutant ability is to sense, interact with and control life-force - the fundamental force that allows life to appear/exist, grow and flourish throughout the universe. He is able to control his own personal life-force dwelling within his body, allowing him to achieve untold power and great effects considered to be beyond that of normal beings and even most mutants. It was also revealed that Joshua was frightened, that he only “scratched the surface” of what he can do.
  - Biokinesis: Joshua is capable of controlling the biological structure of his own and other people's bodies down to the genetic and even cellular level. He can produce bio-molecular energy at will to affect any organic matter that he touches or interacts with allowing him vast capabilities and because of his control over his own biology, Joshua is incredibly difficult to treat medically through conventional science/medicine. At times, he has passed out due to pushing his powers too far too soon and remains in a pseudo-coma for some time as his DNA reboots itself. Joshua could interface with a person's biology by tactile contact, spreading a virus into their system allowing him full and total control over them but later this virus turned "airborne" granting him the ability to perform "long-distance" techniques even on multiple targets simultaneously. Xavier expanded on the danger of him altering biology - A mere scratch becomes a fatal wound, an ordinary poison can become a fatal toxin, and a small tumor can grow to a massive size. He is theoretically capable of rewriting someone's entire genetic structure at will, erasing or activating mutations and also boosting them. One of the deadliest techniques he has demonstrated is the ability to dissect someone with ease, separating every biological layer down to the skeleton, temporarily maiming and incapacitating them but could prove lethal if he wishes.
    - Healing: By transferring Life-Force energy from himself to another, he can repair all of their bodily damage and restore them to full health, perhaps even to the point of resurrecting them. At first, this required direct physical contact and was quite taxing, but later was able to just by being in the same area accompanied by extending his hands out. He also learned how to forcibly extract the life-force of another individual to heal either himself or another when his own reserves are low.
      - Anti-Venom Touch: Described as a form of 'mutant' antibiotics allowing him to administer certain amounts to heal others from the lethal effects of his original "death-venom". He uses this ability often in interrogations by placing his fingers on his target causing the dark blue-black veins of the paralytic venom to emerge causing pain and then alleviating the symptoms with the antidote, expressed as milk-white veins counteracting the other veins, promising a full dose of the anti-venom in exchange for what he seeks.
    - Venom Inducement: After coming back from the dead the second time, Joshua discovered he could poison others with tactile contact, resulting in paralysis and then death soon after. He first used this to kill Stryker, when he wrapped his hand around his throat to strangle him, dark green-black veins began to develop on Stryker's skin where his palms made contact. Upon being subjected to Project Weapon X, he grew the venom to be approximately ten times more powerful and could control the amount of venom that he releases and how quickly it affects his victims. The venom affects the victim's nervous system causing pain while shutting down the immune system preventing resistance and healing, blocking neuromuscular binding sites on muscles to prevent them from functioning thereby paralysing his opponent, and finally spreads to the lungs and the heart - affecting the diaphragm resulting in suffocation by delayed intake of air and inducing mild yet effective cardiac arrest.
      - Poisonous Bodily Fluids: Any direct contact with Joshua's bodily fluids, such as blood, sweat, saliva, or even sperm, can be made poisonous as he can use it to paralyze anyone it touches, with or without having a lethal effect. This is not automatically active, requiring conscious thought, analogue to being the physical contact that Joshua needed to engage his powers.
  - Regeneration: Joshua's mutation also affords him a form of rapid healing factor enabling recovery from physical damage, such as stab wounds, bullet through the chest, and poison. While hard to kill thanks to this, he is not beyond pain as severe enough injuries will temporarily subdue him and his physical body can be damaged to the point of death as his healing wouldn't be able to keep up. Furthermore, his powers constantly rejuvenate himself, restarting his life-span to stretch possibly for eternity rendering him resistant to ageing.
    - Self-Resurrection: If he does die, he is able to revive himself, full healed and restored to peak health as all injuries that his physical body sustained would vanish. Even if his body were to be disintegrated to dust, his powers simply materializes a new one or transfers his life-force into a baby causing it to take on his mutation, rapid-age, and regain his original memories and personality. Thanks to this, Joshua is essentially immortal with no known means to counteract his self-resurrection. Originally, he would stay dead for roughly one hour before he would revive but was trained to come back quicker and quicker. Eventually becoming near-instantaneous, around a few seconds.
  - Life-Force Sensing: Joshua has the ability to sense, feel, and perceive the life-force energy of himself and other creatures. Using meditation, he is even able to connect to all life-signatures on Earth and use them to sense the location of a certain individual. If he cannot, it means the said being he is seeking is no longer of this Earth, meaning they are either dead or their soul is trapped in another dimension.
    - Empathy: Another gift of his, Joshua is able to not only feel and interpret the emotions of those in his vicinity but also manipulate them such as to calm down a room of angry or nervous people, for example, or excite a lethargic crowd, conversely. Although this power is useful, the mood he inflicts only lasts for as long as his targets are within range.
  - Power Suppression Resistance: Mutant power dampening handcuffs and collars, while able to temporarily reduce and suppress his abilities, are eventually proven ineffective against him as his powers "want" to be used and so subconsciously rewrite his genetic code to augment his X-Gene thereby increasing his power-output to levels where the technology cannot hold him anymore.
- Dichromatic Steel Morphing: After Joshua used his powers to heal himself, he unintentionally activated a secondary mutation. This enabled him to transform his entire body into a form of organic-carbon meta-material, granting 'diamond-hard skin' with the 'softness', colour and malleability of Gold. Therefore, in this form, he maintains the same degree of mobility that he does in his normal form but gains near-impenetrable durability with only Vibranium and Adamantium known to be able to pierce his dermal armor. However, he still feels pain and is vulnerable to internal attacks targeting his organs or extreme force impacts as well as electricity. He has a hard time reverting back to normal after turning golden, though, the act of transforming doesn't seem to take much mental effort - more of a survival instinct triggered by fear usually.
  - Superhuman Strength: In his steel form, Joshua possesses vastly superior levels of physical strength compared to normal humans, greatly belying his workout routine, weight, and physical frame. It should be noted that since he is almost-invulnerable, none of the impact energy from his punches or kicks is absorbed by him, and all of the kinetic energy is directed into his target effectively doubling the force of his blows. Even when in his normal form, his strength far surpasses what it should - capable of bench pressing 180 pounds with fairly low effort.

Abilities[]

Equipment[]

Threat Level[]

Weaknesses[]

Name[]

Joshua comes from the Hebrew name "Yehoshua," meaning "God is deliverance." In the Old Testament of the Bible, Joshua was the Israelite leader who succeeded Moses and led the Hebrews to the Promised Land. Origin: Yehoshua is derived from yeho (meaning God) and shua (meaning to deliver or save).

Curtis or Curtiss is an English name of Anglo-Norman origin from the Old French curteis (Modern French courtois) which ultimately derived from the Spanish Cortés (of which Cortez is a variation) and the Portuguese and Galician Cardoso. The name means "polite, courteous, or well-bred".

Foley is a surname which originated in Ireland, in the southeast Munster region. The name is derived from the original modern Irish Ó Foghlú and older Irish Ó Foghladha, meaning "plunderer".

Quotes[]

"Life. Death. Taking it, giving it. I give life. I take it. With everything my powers can do... What can't I do?"

―Joshua Foley

"My powers, I'm aware of life and death around me at every second of the day. I just have to touch someone once, and I could tell them what was wrong and rather scarily how long before their bodies wears out of they continue living like they are. It freaks me out. And once people work out what I can do or heal them they look differently at me. Whether it's with aw, and I'm suddenly up on a pedestal and treated differently or its fear and people don't want me getting close. Even my friends."

―Joshua Foley

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Elixir sneezes at sunlight (a genetic condition called photic sneezing).