Cerebra's Files
Mysterious Fan Boy
Real Name: Arnold ("Arnie") LundbergAffiliation: X-Statix
Relatives: Mother (unnamed)
Status: Deceased (Lacuna)
Alternate-X Versions: None
Codename Etymology: Pronounced mĭ-stîr'ē-əs făn boi [From French, mystérieux: "secret"] [From shortened form of fanatic] [From Old French embuié: "servant"].
Powers & History: Arnie had high-order reality-warping abilities, which he unfortunately used mostly to harm. The right side of his face was completely "melted" covering his eye and making him look very freakish. Whether this was a side effect of his initial power manifestation is unknown. In addition, Arnie had a heart condition, again possibly part of his warped genome.
At one point, Arnie was beaten by other teens in his rural hometown. Somehow this came to the attention of U-Go Girl (possibly because Arnie was already a huge X-Force fan?), who sent Arnie a recorded get-well message and an autographed picture. When Edie died, Arnie blamed the rest of X-Force (soon renamed X-Statix). He grew moody and began warping people and things that irritated him, like his teachers and classmates. He basically turned the town into his own personal playground. At the same time, Arnie may have been projecting images of U-Go Girl into Orphan's head, to lure Edie's last lover to his vengeance.
The reality show super-team "O-Force" was sent to stop Arnie. He made mincemeat of them, using reanimated zombies, but at least some (including Ocean) were saved by the Orphan. After dealing with Arnie-induced visions of Edie, Guy confronted Arnie and tried very hard not to kill him or tick him off. Eventually they talked it out, and Guy got Arnie to undo much of the damage he did to his town. Guy then wanted to send Arnie to Professor X for counseling and training, but Arnie had other ideas, and before anyone knew it, he was inducted into X-Statix anonymously under the sobriquet "Mysterious Fan Boy."
Orphan, however, realized the danger that Arnie's incredible power and unstable temper posed, and kept plying him with dinner and other fanboy fantasies to keep him calm. Then the paparazzi time-stopper Lacuna unmasked Mysterious Fan Boy on national TV, and the X-Statix were suddenly the focus of moral outrage. Arnie proposed that he participate in a mission that would prove his repentance to the world, and Spike Freeman set it up. Meanwhile, Orphan contacted Lacuna, and hired her to inject Arnie with poison during the mission, making it appear that his already weak heart gave out. Arnie was buried with full X-Statix honors.
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