Duplicate

__** Thomas Booth / “Duplicate” **__



__**History **__

Thomas is the son of two upper middle-class parents from Los Angeles. His mother was a homemaker and his father was a businessman. He had one older sister, but she was born with a heart defect. Through most of his childhood, Thomas remembers his parents taking care of his sister. She died when he was ten.

A few years later, Thomas woke up one day and was shocked to find that he had split into two overnight! He could process information from each of his two forms. At first he was freaked out by the change, but soon he realized he could send one of his forms to school and have the other hide out at home and play video games, watch pornography, or otherwise waste time. This trick worked for a while, as his mother was distracted with an affair. Eventually she caught Thomas at home. She believed he was skipping school. The second time she caught him, however, she called the school and discovered Thomas was in class. The jig was up!

Thomas confessed his ability to his parents. His father was embarrassed and told Thomas not to use his ability ever again. Thomas agreed, though he sometimes lost control of his power when sleeping. One day, Scott Summers arrived at the Booth household to recruit Thomas. His father said no, but Thomas argued that he should be able to attend. He didn’t want to live in shame and hiding anymore. Reluctantly, his father agreed.

Thomas enrolled at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters as a ninth grader. He quickly became a leader at his school. He found that his expensive private school education had put him ahead of many of his peers and he coasted through his freshman year with excellent grades. He was at the top of his class at this time.

In his tenth grade year, Tiberius had his first girlfriend, Jaime Vanderwall (a girl who could teleport). Jaime used her ability to sneak into Thomas’ room at night. Since Thomas’ roommate, Erik Hallgrimsson, slept like the dead, they could fool around. Emma Frost soon learned what they were up to and punished them. They broke up shortly after.

In his junior year, Tiberius’ grades began to suffer. He was more interested in his social life than his studies. He briefly dated Anne Moore and had an unrequited crush on Noriko Ashida. Then, towards the end of his junior year, the X-Men left for an off-world mission.


 * School’s Out / High School Never Ends **

Shortly after the X-Men left, the remaining teachers (Angel and Nightcrawler) were put into a temporal coma by a mysterious group called the Travelers. The remaining seniors took charge of the school. Thomas, as one of the more outgoing and self-assured students, was offered the chance to become a prefect. Thomas took the code name “Duplicate” due to his ability to split into two. Thomas served as a capable prefect, though he had one embarrassing moment. While doing rounds, one of the seniors caught Thomas “fooling around” – with himself!


 * Welcome to Paradise / Hotel California **

At the end of his junior year, the seniors that took over Xavier’s school were offered the chance to run a new west coast mutant school, Academy X. The seniors said Thomas could be a prefect if he transferred to Academy X. Since Thomas was from the west coast and preferred the weather there, he agreed.


 * My Generation / Children’s Crusade **

When Matthew Risman, leader of the Purifiers, is captured by David following the Purifiers’ attack at the mutant pride parade, Thomas holds him down while David questions him. Risman activates a bomb in his armor and David is forced to let him escape through a portal created by Amanda, another Academy X student.

Later, Academy X staff member Lucius asks Thomas if he can use his DNA to create mutant growth hormone (MGH). The MGH would allow another to mimic his powers. The staff of Academy X wants to give Thomas’ MGH to Daniel, another Academy X student. Daniel was recruited to a rival mutant school, Academy M. Thomas’ MGH would allow him to be at both schools at once, acting as a double agent. Thomas agrees and the plan works.

Thomas begins dating fellow student Chancy at this time. Chancy secretly buys MGH from “a guy” she knows and shares it with Thomas. They sample various mutant powers while fooling around (such as pheromone control to heighten their pleasure). This turns out to be dangerous, however. The MGH Chancy was buying was tainted. When the Purifiers launch their final attack, everyone with the tainted MGH becomes ill and almost dies. If it weren’t for Amanda’s healing abilities, Thomas would have died. When he graduates, Thomas begins attending school in Los Angeles with a major in government.


 * Valley of Lost Souls / Empire of the Damned **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thomas, now a graduate of Academy X, attends Samantha’s baby shower. While attending, Humanity Now! protestors storm the gates of the school and attack the building. They are wielding Reaver cybernetic weaponry and are attempting to kill the young Academy X mutants! Thomas helps bring the young mutants to safety while others fight the protestors.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bloodlines / Live Forever **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As part of his interest in politics, Thomas manages to get a job in the Los Angeles City Hall using connections from his father. He’s working as a page in the building, meaning he makes coffee, runs errands, and fetches whatever his bosses need. The job gives him a lot of inside knowledge, however. He notices lots of odd activity – blackouts, slow responses to fires, extra police patrols, underworld violence, new neighborhood watch groups, proposals for closing bars and nightclubs early, and more. Thomas had seen strange activity like this once before, when the Hellfire Club: Los Angeles members were being assassinated by Hellfire Club: Tokyo. He contacted Academy X to let them know about the strange happenings, wondering if another underground battle was going on again…

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Later, Thomas attends Sam and Matt’s wedding. Thomas watches their twins during part of the reception. At this point, Mystique snuck into the room and knocked him unconscious. Thomas feels terrible about this and volunteers to take Matt’s security shifts during the next week so he can go on his honeymoon. He returns to Los Angeles once Matt and Sam return.

__**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Powers and Abilities **__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Duplication//: Thomas can split himself into two identical copies of himself. He can process information from both forms simultaneously. If one of his forms is knocked out, there’s a chance his other half will be knocked out, as well. If one of his two forms is killed, the other half will be knocked out but he will not die.