Mysteriant – GAY LEAGUE (original) (raw)

Contributed by Mike McDermott

As a child Qaari Beck was very close with his mother’s cousin Quentin Beck, whom he thought of as an uncle. Quentin was also the super-villain known as Mysterio, and when he died he gifted Qaari a ring that contained his powers of illusion. Qaari used these and his own aptitude for technology and special effects to become the costumed criminal Mysteriant!

Mysteriant functions as a modern day “Robin Hood”, stealing from wealthy corporations to help the poor and disadvantaged. He raided a Hexus Pharmaceuticals outlet to steal their stockpiles of life saving drugs and medicines that were being allowed to expire while the company drove up the prices, but was interrupted by Aaron Fischer, the Captain America of the Railways. Qaari expected the teenage hero to try and stop him, but was surprised when Fischer offered to assist him instead. Mysteriant asked Aaron if he was sure he didn’t want to fight, since Qaari had an elaborate illusion based on classic movie monsters all set up to deploy in a fight. When Aaron mentioned that he hates mummies, Qaari obligingly edited the mummies out of the illusion before playfully deploying it.

Together the two of them delivered the stolen medical supplies to Night Nurse’s clinic, who gratefully accepted and didn’t ask any questions as to the source. Afterwards the two men went dancing at The Invisible Light gay nightclub, where Qaari also works as their tech support technician. Qaari wanted to take the evening further but Aaron declined, saying he had to get back to Avengers Academy before curfew, but did promise to see him again soon.

Mysteriant was recruited by Squid Kid (Calvin Cuttle) to be a member of his new incarnation of the Sinister Six. Qaari agreed since he approved of Squid Kid’s intent to attack corporations like Oscorp, Alchemax, Hexus, Stark, etc, to redistribute their wealth and products to those that need them, and to steal their data and expose their dirty secrets and illegal or immoral business practices. However Qaari grew concerned when Squid Kid went beyond the previously discussed agenda, making unhinged declarations and kidnapping Stanley Osborn to harvest the Goblin Serum from the boy’s blood.

Aaron Fischer exploited his relationship with Qaari to convince him to turn against the Sinister Six, although truthfully Qaari did not need much convincing given his own concerns about Squid Kid’s unstable behaviour. Qaari came up with the plan for Aaron and his Avengers Academy classmates to rescue Stanley Osborn and foil Squid Kid’s plans.

Qaari is HIV+ and attends support meetings at the Arnie Roth community center, where Aaron Fischer works as a volunteer — the two of them met for the first time in their civilian identities at the center just hours before the first time they crossed paths as their costumed alter-egos.

Mysteriant first appeared in Marvel’s Voices: Avengers Academy Infinity Comic #5 by Anthony Oliveira and Carola Borelli.