Birth Name

Jasen Rey

Born

November 1, 1960

Abilities

Sea Lion was a swimmer whose speed and agility could put Olympic athletes to shame. He was able to breathe underwater thanks to gills in the sides of his neck. It was said that he was able to influence aquatic creatures, although he has neither confirmed nor denied this.

Affiliations

The Gatekeepers, 1980-1983

Biography

Jasen Rey joined the Gatekeepers at age 18, being one of the founding members and a personal friend (and, briefly, boyfriend) of Invictus. His career was sadly cut short three years later, when his gills were irrevocably damaged in a battle. Jasen retired at age 21 and went to work in his father’s clothing shop. Gradually, Jasen introduced new materials and designs to his father’s business and took over the business when his father retired. Today, his shop is known as the place to go for super costumes.

Personality

Despite a meta career tragically cut short, Jasen has no regrets about it. His career in costuming has been lucrative and, he claims, very satisfying. He genuinely loves what he does and is genial to all his customers.

Excerpt from Reckoning

Scoutmaster was so serious about requiring me to change my look, despite my hesitation, that he made an appointment for me with a costume consultant. I’d had no idea such a profession even existed. Upon reflection, though, it was obvious that there was a need for it. 

“Oh, honey,” he said to me. “With eyes like yours, you simply must get rid of the shades. And leather is so yesterday. Yes, we’re going to remake you, from your snow-capped top to your very shapely bottom.”

When I protested mildly, asserting that I didn’t want to look slutty, he became quite defensive – and rightly so – of his work. He frowned when I told him I didn’t like the idea of much exposed flesh, but promised I’d look “classic,” yet still sexy.

And he kept his word. When the costume was complete, I stood in his private store, looking at myself in a floor-length mirror. The costume left no skin at all exposed, other than parts of my head. The blue mask left my hair flowing free, but covered most of my forehead and cheeks. My eyes were uncovered, allowing their bright blue to “pop,” as Jasen put it.

The rest of the outfit was, as expected, skin tight, with all the sensors fixed in place. The boots were stiletto heels. The color scheme was blue and white. (Over the years, we went through a few different patterns before settling on one with a nifty DNA double-helix design.)

And I got my cape. I hid my excitement pretty well, but couldn’t help examining it closely. Near the throat of the chest section of the outfit, there was a silver ornament with a large, light blue gemstone inset. This unsnapped and lifted forward on a hinge, revealing a hook underneath. Aluminum rings sewn into the ends of the cape hooked over the ring and the gem setting snapped back in place, securing them.

I liked nearly everything about it, with a couple exceptions.

“Why the cuffed gloves and boots?”

“Scoutmaster told me about how you seem to have energy coming out your feet or calves or whatever to stabilize you when you run in heels.” I nodded, beginning to understand. “The uppers and the turned-down cuffs are reinforced, which Scoutmaster suggested might help to focus the energy. I made the gloves match because, well, they should match. And because he said you expel energy from your hands, too.”

Expel wasn’t quite the right word, I thought, but nodded. Then I frowned. With no gaps between boot and pants, as I’d had up until this point, would I be ripping up my costume every time I used my abilities? I examined the glove material more closely and realized it wasn’t leather. “Energy-transparent fabric,” I said, impressed. “I’ve heard about it.”

Jasen nodded. “In fact, the entire outfit is made of it, except for those reinforcements, obviously. What do you think?”

I smiled. “It’s great,” I said. “Except for this.” The fabric of the mask fit well, for the most part, but I indicated the loose flaps at the forehead.

“Right.” He reached into his satchel and pulled out the solution.

Appalled, I pointed at the object in his hand: a silver band with a gem set into the front, the same color as the one on the chest. “Oh, come on… that’s a tiara!”

“Well, more of a circlet, really,” he said.

“Whatever!” My stomach dropped. I could only imagine the teasing I was going to get. “Princess Dinah” would probably be the least of it. I stood, dumbstruck, as Jasen slid the silver band into my forehead. It was snug, but not uncomfortably so. And it did the trick, holding the mask neatly to my head. “And of course, it multi-tasks.” Jasen reached up and pressed the gemstone. Immediately, a bright beam of bluish white light shot forth. The “gem” was actually just colored glass over a high-intensity LED matrix. “Takes flat cell batteries, which load in the back of the setting,” Jasen said.

“Great. I’m a princess… and I’m a miner.”

He reached into his satchel again and pulled out a metal belt, complete with yet another, even larger gem in the clasp.

“And what’s this do?” I asked.

“Makes you look stylish.”

I chuckled. “And?”

“The clasp holds a comm unit that will connect with your base computer. Built in USB port. The ‘gem’ holds the battery. It’s removable and plugs in for charging. And the belt as a whole acts as an antenna booster for your sensors.”

I had to admit, he’d done a great job.

I was going to look awesome on magazine covers.