Keeper of Infinite Earths - The Protectors
Created by Tony Crain
Ace
Alter Ego: Vincent Cobretti
Occupation: Formerly Thief, Super-hero
Known Relatives: Donna Maria Cobretti, mother
Group Affiliation: Protectors
Base of Operations: New York
Background/History:
His father died when he was a baby and his mother raised him as a strict
Catholic, but growing up in Little Italy, Vincent became accustomed to the mob
lifestyle. You didn’t cut lawns to make money, you ran packages. He was not a
bad kid and never really wanted to hurt anyone. He learned how to be a thief,
more for fun than anything. It was a thrill and he was good and often lucky
enough that no one ever got hurt.. The mob had contracted with a renegade
scientist to build an armored suit but the scientist decided to raise his price.
So, they sent Vincent to retrieve their property. Cobretti saw the advanced
security system as a challenge and stole the suit. His "uncle" Vito
had made numerous visits to his home over the years and left them money and took
care of things. Vito was "repaying an old debt" as he put it. Vito ran
a restaurant and Vincent ate lunch there every Tuesday. As he was coming in,
Vito was coming out. Suddenly, Vito appeared to have been shot and Vincent
looked back and saw a man in the armored suit on the roof across the street. He
had never seen anyone die before, especially not someone he had known all of his
life. In that moment, he realized that this life was not just fun and games,
people got hurt, and people died. He went to his mother and admitted what he had
done. She cried and said that the mob had taken his father, she would not let
them take her son as well. He assured her that he was done with them, but he had
one piece of business to take care of. He stole the suit back, made some less
lethal modifications, and began to fight against the mob with their own suit. In
many cases, he would get large sums of the mob’s money and donate it to
charities or use it to finance his own crusade. The mob hired Mutant Force to
get rid of Ace and the ensuing battle drew the attention of the Protectors.
After soundly defeating Mutant Force, Soundwave invited Ace to join the
Protectors.
Personality/Motivation:
Ace was really a good guy at heart, raised by his mother to be strong and fair.
He grew up quickly and did not think through some of his actions, but seeing
his"uncle" die before his eyes forced him to think. He now uses all of
his skill and luck to make up for the sins of his youth