[Phantasm]

MANTRA

Real Name: Lukasz; legally Eden Freeman Blake.
Occupation: Sorceress, law enforcement officer, former warrior.
Identity: Secret.
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record.
Other Aliases: Over the past 1500 years, Lukasz has possessed thousands of people, assuming their identities. Some of Eden's friends call her "Eeds".
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, on Earth-93060 (Eden); unrevealed (Lukasz).
Marital Status: Divorced (Eden); widower (Lukasz).
Known Relatives: Gus Blake, Sr. (Eden's ex-husband); Gus Blake, Jr. (Eden's son); Evelyn "Evie" Blake (Eden's daughter); Marinna (Lukasz's wife, deceased); Marinna II (body inhabited by Thanasi, alias Necromantra, daughter), Barbara Freeman (Eden's mother).
Group Affiliation: (as Eden Blake) SHIELD, formerly Aladdin of Earth-93060 and Earth-95050; (as Mantra) associate member of the Order of Kamar-Taj, ally of Ultraforce of Earth-93060 and Earth-95050; (as Lukasz) former member of the Twelve Knights of Archimage of Earth-93060.
Base of Operations: Los Angeles, California, on Earth-93060, Earth-95050, and Earth-Reboot.
History: Approximately 1,500 years ago on Earth-93060, the warrior Lukasz was one of twelve knights who pledged their service to the wizard Archimage to combat his rival, Boneyard. During the intervening centuries, Archimage used his magic to transfer the minds and souls of the twelve to other bodies upon their physical deaths, displacing the minds and souls of the bodies' original inhabitants. Lukasz spent 1,500 years fighting the war from the shadows, working closely with three other knights – Yaron, Thanasi, and Hamath – until the day Thanasi betrayed the knights to Boneyard. While most of the twelve perished and Archimage was captured by their enemy, Archimage in a last ditch effort transferred Lukasz into the body of Eden Blake, a divorced woman with two children. Lukasz was given a charm by Archimage's assistant/familiar, Katinya, which provided him/her with mystic armor, a mystic cloak, and a magic sword – the Sword of Fangs – which could be summoned at will. Before she died of accelerated old age, Katinya explained that Eden had been born with the potential to become a powerful sorceress, and that Lukasz would need to learn magic to defeat Boneyard. To assist him/her, she told him to use a mantra: "Change. Growth. Power."

These changes did not set well for Lukasz, but events moved quickly enough to not give him him/her time to adapt. It wasn't long before Thanasi's treason was discovered. Due to a misunderstanding by bystanders of a comment Lukasz made during their fight, Lukasz as Eden was given the name Mantra by the press. Mantra became one of several "Ultras" (as Earth-93060's superhumans were called) to operate in the Los Angeles area. Lukasz eventually learned Boneyard had given Thanasi the ability to leap from body to body and, as Mantra, fought him several times.

Lukasz, forced to actually live Eden's life rather than cut all ties with his body's life as he'd done for fifteen hundred years, was never comfortable being Eden. As Eden, she joined the government agency called Aladdin, an agency charged with monitoring and controlling Ultras; Lukasz joined the agency to keep an eye on them and to subvert it from within should it become necessary. She also gained several friends in the Ultra community, although she turned down an invitation to join a newly formed team dubbed Ultraforce. During one confrontation, Lukasz was forced to reveal to Eden's daughter Evie that Eden was Mantra.

After several months, Lukasz learned that Eden's mind and soul still inhabited her body, and over time as they met in their shared headspace, the two fell in love. Determined to give Eden her life back (and return to being a man), Lukasz used his connections with other Ultras to arrange the creation of a "wetware" (cellular nanotech native to Earth-93060) body which resembled his original body. When his mind was transferred from Eden's body to his own, intending for Eden to return to her body, her body was hijacked at the last moment by Thanasi. Thanasi, calling himself Necromantra, fought the restored Lukasz before they were transported to a ringworld of both science and magic called the Godwheel (see Necromantra). While on the Godwheel, Lukasz and various allies managed to drive Thanasi from Eden's body and put an end the threat of Boneyard. In their proper bodies for the first time in over a year, Lukasz and Eden celebrated New Years Eve and shared an intimate encounter while discussing how to return to normal lives.

However, their plans immediately went awry. Eden ended up nine months pregnant overnight with their child, who proved to be possessed by Thanasi. Thanasi aged the child to adulthood almost immediately after birth, becoming a "new" Necromantra. Kidnapping Evie, Thanasi attempted to kill both Eden and Evie to absorb their magic potential (Eden's son, Gus, was deemed by Thanasi to have no potential of his own). Eden and Lukasz sacrificed their lives and happiness to stop Thanasi's plans; Lukasz's recreated body died, but Eden chose to die so that Lukasz could again inhabit her body. With her dying breath, Eden asked Lukasz to always care for her children, which he swore to do. Evie had witnessed the whole ordeal and eventually came to accept "Mantra" as a substitute mother, although the two agreed not to let Gus know the secret as yet.

Not long after (or possibly slightly before) those events, Earth-95050 diverged from Earth-93060. On Earth-93060, during the event known as Black September, Lukasz transferred much of Mantra's power to the kids' teenage babysitter Lauren Sherwood when Gus was gifted with incredible psychic power, resulting in Lauren becoming the new Mantra. However, because the Black September event did not occur on Earth-95050, Lukasz as Eden continued to operate as Mantra.

During a later encounter with Necromantra, Mantra and Evie, along with Eden's son Gus and the shapeshifting heroes Prime and Elven, were caught in a dimensional warp, landing in a universe similar to but notably different from their own (see Elven; Prime). (Gus was both thrilled and upset that his favorite Ultra was secretly his mother; he still is not aware that Mantra is not really his mother's mind the way Evie is.) This dimensional warp was investigated by the sorcerer Doctor Strange and his allies Clea, Wong, and Topaz (see individual entries). Faced with overwhelming mystic opposition, Necromantra fled. Upon discovering the warp had closed, perhaps permanently, Strange used his magic to create legal identification for the four newcomers. Prime and Elven, in their teenage secret identities, were admitted to the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters at Strange's recommendation, while Mantra, as Eden Blake, used her experience with Aladdin to qualify for entry into SHIELD as an analyst, with the intent of using SHIELD's own resources to find a way back to her home universe (see SHIELD; Xavier Institute). (Mantra is also wary of SHIELD Director Gyrich's Sentinels program, and is subtly feeding information on the program to Prime; see Gyrich, Henry Peter; Sentinels.)

Lukasz is currently dividing time between life as Eden and operating as Mantra, once again living in the Los Angeles area. She and Evie are currently spending every other weekend studying the magic of their present universe under the tutelage of Dr. Strange's master, the Ancient One, at his Kamar-Taj monastery (see Ancient One; Order of Kamar-Taj).
Age: over 1,500 (Lukasz); 31 (Eden).
Height: 5' 9" (Eden) (Lukasz's original and regrown bodies were 6').
Weight: 130 lbs. (Eden) (Lukasz's original and regrown bodies were 200 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue (Eden) (Lukasz's original and regrown bodies had brown eyes).
Hair: Black (Eden) (Lukasz's original and regrown bodies had brown hair).
Uniform: Metallic gold chest armor, white loincloth skirt, black opera gloves, black thigh-high boots with white trim, black hooded cloak with white trim, metallic gold belt set with a polished ruby, metallic silver mask.
Strength Level: Eden Blake possesses the normal human strength of a woman her age, height, and build who engages in moderate exercise.

(continued next post)