| Aldo Ferro | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General Information | |
| Real name: | Aldo Ferro |
| Alias(es): | Il Topo Siciliano Sicilian Mouse Vole Psi-Borg |
| First Appearance: | Wolverine Vol 2 62 |
| Created by: | Larry Hama Mark Texeira |
| Affiliations: | Weapon X (formerly) |
| Powers/Abilities: | See: Powers |
| Portrayed by: | None |
History[]
Origin[]
Aldo Ferro meets with Weapon X.
Aldo Ferro was a male Mutant noted for a hyper psi-talent with such skill that he was not capable of being detected by Cerebro which he developed in time. He eventually rose to be a criminal mastermind with no scruples where he became known as Il Topo Siciliano or as the Sicilian Mouse though he considered it a joke title the way a fat person was called slim. It was known that his kind did not fade away easily and that he owned half of Cuba during the Batista years with all the crime families paying him tribute. During this time, he became aware of the Weapon X Program when it crossed the line into criminality and later met with Professor Thorton. In a test demonstration using Wolverine, the Professor was known to had told Ferro that he suspected Logan to be a special case by noting how his regeneration meant Logan was capable of sensory awareness on a cellular level. Thus, Ferro created mental images but allowed the subjects mind to assign value to them. Aldo Ferro later demonstrated his psi-abilities to the Weapon X Project and commented how painfully easy it was for him to control their subjects. His value came to the front when his talents allowed the program to avoid the expenses in sets, costumes or theatrical equipment by allowing the use of Ferro's powers.
Ferro's projected appearance.
Professor Thorton commented to Carol Hines that Ferro had the most powerful psi-talent that they had ever seen and it was a priority for him being inducted into the Weapon X Project. Ferro noted the profit from such a venture and that the money saved from the lack of expenses would be beneficial for the program. Thus, he promised a permanent and more reliable method of mind control by coming up with the concept of linking the false memories to the subjects pain receptors. This he claimed he theorised through the use of pseudo-scientific practices which he commented by linking them to the initiation rites of the Mandans, Australian Aborigines and South African tribal scarring that all involved pain with memory reinforcement as part of cultural survival. Carol Hines believed this to be garbage but the Weapon X project agreed to these practices as they were more effective than their own and became designated as Vole. However, in time, it was discovered that Ferro began to enjoy torturing and twisting the minds of the subjects. This he became the beginning and end of all the pain as well as horror they faced as he was responsible for their worst along with most terrifying of memory implants. Aldo Ferro claimed he did this for the Professor in exchange for a few crumbs from the table which included the artificial age suppression factor given to the Weapon X subjects which was promised to him by the Professor so that he could live forever.
However, he was cheated by Professor Thorton and thus forced to find a new means of attaining immortality. At some point, he constructed an elaborate suit of armor to keep him alive. With his psi-talents, it was known that he used to project a young muscular form to outsiders that hid his true appearance. Though he was denied his prize, Ferro managed to gain a biopsy sample of Logan to study. He also created an island base in Seattle that contained a secret underground chamber filled with computers. This spiral network of computers were devoted to the singular task of genetic decoding Logan's biopsy sample in a process across twenty years. The task, however, was incredibly complex due to the sheer number of combinations and permutations he had to sift through to discover it. The task would have been much easier if he had possessed a steady supply of tissue samples but was denied as all Weapon X subjects were hidden which meant they were inaccessible to him.
Reunion![]
Psi-Borg attacks Weapon X members.
By 1992, it was known that Ferro had not been seen outside his castle in years and decidede to search for the Weapon X subjects to recover the age suppression factor from their tissue samples. At this time, Maverick was hired by the federal government and placed Mr. Ferro under special protection on his island fortress in Seattle. In this point, members of Team X began suffering from memory flashes and problems with some of their artificial healing factors. This caused them to track down their origins to the Weapon X facility where they learnt of the false memory implants placed in their minds and the initiation of the S.H.I.V.A. program that was activated to eliminate members of the project. The help of the hacker Ornette allowed the gathering of Weapon X to uncover the filing system indicated a list of subjects Wolverine, Fox, Kestrel, Vole, Mastodon and Wildcat. Ornette's search program later discovered another list with the names of the Professor, Cornelius, Hines and Ferro. After meeting with Carol Hines, the group decided to confront Aldo Ferro who was also attached to Weapon X and believed to be the Vole. Upon arriving in their jet, their craft was targeted by the islands automated weapon systems which shot it down. Despite this being the case, the group survived and fought their way into the castle as well as past the guards where they confronted a young muscular man. Believing him to be the bodyguard, they demanded to know where Ferro was to which Aldo replied he was him though they believed him to be much older.
This led to a confrontation with Maverick who had been assigned as a bodyguard for Mr Ferro. Whilst arguing, Sabretooth commented about it being like old times at which point Aldo Ferro commented about Creed remembering about the old team despite suppression programs along with false memory implants. With the strength of those old bonds burning through, he asked Logan if he remembered the old team. This saw Wolverine beginning to relive some of the traumatic moments of his past. He similarly projected the bad experiences into the minds of the other Weapon X members leaving them helpless as they went through their own personal nightmares. This was until Jubilee throw a brick at him which distracted him for a second. With his past being revealed, Dr. Hines revealed the depravity of Aldo's actions by calling him a Psi-Borg and that he wanted to live forever where he desired the healing factor of the Weapon X subjects. Before she could complete her words, Ferro struck her down with a telepathic image of him pummeling her with a large fist. Though there was no physical bruise, the psychic death led her to being scared to death whereupon Psi-Borg began attacking the minds of the Weapon X subjects.
Disappearing underground, the brief surge in his abilities led to detection by Cerebro but was quickly masked once more though it did attract the attention of Professor Charles Xavier along with Jean Grey. Travelling underground, the former Weapon X team attempted to find Ferro but instead discovered the spiral network of computers where they learnt that he was attempting to decode Logan's genetic material. However, the computers telling them this led to Wolverine to believe that it was not really a computer whereupon a monstrous form of Psi-Borg formed which seemingly devoured Silver Fox. At the same time, on the surface, Ferro generated psychic images of Professor X and Jean Grey to fool Jubilee. In a rage, Wolverine started attacking the computers followed by Sabretooth along with John Wraith and Maverick as they believed they could flush Ferro out by attacking his genetic decoding computer. This enraged Ferro who removed his psi-constructs from Jubilee and decided to engage the Weapon X subjects where he revealed his true form encased in metallic armor which was able to deflect an armor-piercing shot from Maverick. Fighting with Wolverine, Ferro revealed that Logan was the true prize as he wanted to trick him into his laboratory to analyse his DNA. The two tackled until Wolverine caused the elevator they were in to fall with the rest of Weapon X attempting to rush him when he paralysed them with their traumatic memories.
Psi-Borg's true form.
Whilst this happened, S.H.I.V.A. had arrived in Aldo's fortress and sought Vole. At this time, Ferro had used his psi-powers to physically recreate Logan's traumatic experience of Silver Fox's death. This time, he mentally goaded Sabretooth in actually killing her and froze Wolverine in order for him to watch. However, his grip on Logan was broken when S.H.I.V.A. attacked and badly damaged Ferro's body armor leaving it ruined. This allowed Wolverine to attack Sabretooth to avenge Silver Fox at which point Psi-Borg renewed his mental attack him having Creed aid him. For the first time, Aldo Ferro's withered old body was witnessed but his powerful psi-powers allowed him to create an illusion of a demonic tree that seemingly devoured Creed before disappearing leaving an enraged Wolverine behind that wanted revenge for Silver Fox's death.
Death Hunt[]
Despite this encounter, Ferro would seemingly be alive by 1993 and was present in a limousine with Victor Creed in Vancouver, British Columbia. Sabretooth stated that he was not going to be nice to Aldo Ferro just because he drove him from Seattle as he still had not decided on whether to kill him or not. Ferro simply remarked that Sabretooth should refer to him as Psi-Borg. Dropping Creed at his place, he detected numerous hostile thought waves in the ether and asked whether Sabretooth wanted him to stay behind. Creed told him to simply get lost and Ferro departed in his limousine.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Body Armor : created after being betrayed by Weapon X, Ferro constructed an elaborate suit of armor designed to protect his aging body that was able to protect him from falls as well as from bullet-piercing projectile fire.
- Psi-Talent : Ferro was known for a hyper psychic talent which he developed over years making him a skilled telepath.
- False Memories : Psi-Borg's talents allowed him to implant false images into the minds of subjects and link them to pain receptors thus causing subjects to experience their own personal traumatic nightmares by linking them to actual events in their past which left the subjects in intense pain as well as unable to distinguish what was real to what was fake.
- Illusions : Aldo Ferro was able to create numerous illusions and create appearances to trick his enemies as well as project a different image of himself to outsiders. Some of these illusions were so strong that they killed a person through sheer fright and left no physical bruises on the body.
- Psi-Beams : Psi-Borg was able to generate powerful psychic blasts that sent people either flying backwards or knocked them out. In addition, he could create a psychic grip that froze a target in place and made them incapable of hurting him unless he had a lapse in his concentration which broke his hold over the subject.
- Psi-Detection : Psi-Borg was able to sense the mental wavelengths of nearby targets and determine if they were hostile.
- Psychic Mask : through enormous power and sheer concentration, Aldo was able to mask his psychic signature from telepathic detectors such as Cerebro though a distraction did allow him to drop this mask until he mentally erected it once more.
Notes[]
- Coming Soon
Trivia[]
- Coming Soon