NOVA (Marvel Duel)

"Richard Rider. The guy who made the rest of the Corps feel like nothing."—Titus

An ordinary Earthling teenager Richard Rider became the human rocket Nova when dying Xandarian Centurion Rhomann Dey of the Nova Corps selected him to inherit the Nova Helmet after the fall of Xandar, becoming Centurion: 11249-44396. The infusion of power transformed an insecure, average student with a deep inferiority complex into a super hero even as he juggled school and family pressure. After serving with a rebuilt Nova Corps and briefly relinquishing his powers to return to a normal life, Rider was forced back into action by Night Thrasher, who shocked his powers back online and drafted him into the founding lineup of the New Warriors. He evolved from media-dubbed Kid Nova into a seasoned hero.

When the Annihilation Wave annihilated Xandar and the Corps, Rider became the last Nova and vessel for both the full Nova Force and the Xandarian Worldmind, rising to Nova Prime. He led the multi-species United Front and personally defeated Annihilus in battle. He then carried the burden of a planet's legacy through successive cosmic crises, from resisting the Phalanx during Annihilation: Conquest and operating out of Knowhere with Cosmo, to briefly wielding the Quantum Bands as the new Quasar before reclaiming the Nova Force, rebuilding a controversial new Nova Corps around a lobotomized Ego the Living Planet, and serving as a reserve member of Captain America's Secret Avengers. His refusal to abandon wider cosmic responsibilities during Earth's superhero Civil War and his apparent sacrifice within the Cancerverse alongside Star-Lord and Thanos cemented his role as one of the universe's primary first responders.

Thought dead, his consciousness persisted within the Worldmind and later returned him to life, allowing him to mentor younger Nova Sam Alexander while he resumed his duties as Nova Prime and rotated through alliances with the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Brotherhood of Arakko, and other cosmic coalitions. Plagued by survivor's guilt over fallen Corpsmen, the loss of his brother to the Fraternity of Raptors, and repeated deaths and resurrections, he struggled with depression and trauma even as he helped formalize the Galactic Union, supported the restored Xandarian Worldmind with his own resources, and acted as a de facto one-man Nova Corps and deep-space troubleshooter through events such as the Scourge invasion of the Negative Zone, the Dark Olympians, and renewed schemes of Thanos.

Richard Rider was born in Hempstead, New York, the first son of Charles and Gloria Rider, and older brother of Robert Rider. In his teenage years, Richard attended the Harry S. Truman High School where he became friends with Roger Cooper and Bernie Dillon. He also found a girlfriend named Ginger Jaye, but this caused him to be bullied by a jealous Mike Burley. Although his father was caring of him, he wasn't really supportive of Richard as he wished for his son to toughen up and solve his problems by himself.

One day, he was chosen at random by the alien Rhomann Dey, last surviving Centurion of the planet Xandar's elite Nova Corps, to inherit his power and succeed him in the rank of Nova Prime following the destruction of his world by the intergalactic pirate Zorr. Having been mortally wounded in the battle that tore Xandar apart, Dey succeeded in tracking Zorr to Earth, but he was unable to exact vengeance himself due to the extent of his injuries. At death's door, Dey had little choice but to transfer his power to an unsuspecting human on the planet below, gambling that whoever he found would be willing to take up his cause and prove worthy of the powers he had given their recipient.

The sudden infusion of power overloaded Rider's body, and he was hospitalized. While Rider was comatose, the moribund Rhomann Dey explained to him telepathically what had happened to him and what his mission was. Rider's recovery was as sudden as his incapacitation had been, being preceded by eye-blasts that knocked a doctor out of his room. Discharged, he tried to resume his normal routine.

But the very next day, Rider was alone in his bedroom when Dey suddenly transmitted to him Dey's last gift to Rider, his Centurion's uniform. Rider discovered that he now possessed super strength, near invulnerability, the power to fly, and a uniform with a sealed life-support system, but with little instruction as to how to use these new powers. Indeed, he barely had the opportunity to test out these powers before radio circuitry contained in his uniform's helmet alerted him to Zorr, who was on a rampage in the heart of New York City. Rider was able to locate Zorr and engage him in combats, although he was unable to fatally wound Zorr. Using a telepathic link Dey was able to use Rider to lock onto Zorr's location. Dey then teleported Zorr aboard his Nova-Ship and used the energies of its Computer P.R.I.M.E. to disintegrate Zorr, leaving behind only the alien's life-support suit. The energies of the Computer P.R.I.M.E. are so powerful that Dey's body was itself destroyed in the process.

Rider, having taken up the mantle of Nova, was enamored with his newfound abilities, albeit he did not have the any idea as to how he was supposed to use them. Still, he took up the life of a super hero, fighting costumed enemies such as the Condor, Powerhouse, Diamondhead, the Corruptor, and others in New York as he gradually learned how to use his new powers.

After a brief career as "Nova: the Human Rocket," he was called into space to serve in the protection of the recently reconstructed planet Xandar, where his powers originated. Eventually, his life of constant intergalactic war was beginning to become tiresome. Hoping to rejoin his high school friends, Richard Rider requested to return home to Earth. When he was told he had to relinquish his powers in order to do so, to which Rider agreed.

For a time, Rider lived a relatively normal life. Working in a fast-food restaurant kitchen, he was barely able to make enough money on which to live due to his disrupted education. He spent his time trying to pick up the pieces of the life he had left behind, all the while wishing he could find a way to regain the powers he lost. During this period, the planet Xandar was destroyed again in an attack by the space pirate Nebula, unbeknownst to him.

Rider led a languorous life. Depressed by the loss of his powers, and unwilling to go back to the high school from which all his friends had graduated, he settled on working odd jobs in order make ends meet. One day, he met Night Thrasher, who promptly kidnapped Rider and dropped him from the top of a building. As he plunged towards the ground, his powers were reactivated and he flew up, avoiding harm. With his powers reinvigorated, Rider lunged toward Night Thrasher, but was quickly subdued. It was later explained that after analyzing Richard Rider and his abilities, Night Thrasher came to the conclusion that if he could induce a high adrenaline rush, he could reactivate Rider's powers. However, when he performed his "experiment" he didn't know if it would actually work. After Rider calms down from his initial rage, Night Thrasher explains he is building his own super hero team. Rider eventually agreed to join his team. Nova proved to be a valuable asset for the Warriors.

Dubbed "Kid Nova" by the media after the Warriors' debut, Rider had to work harder to regain the respect of the public after his absence. Working with the New Warriors, Rider also began a flirtatious relationship with his teammate Namorita, although they did not move beyond friendly squabbling in the first few months.

When a woman claimed the power of Nova's old enemy, the Sphinx, she reorganized reality into a version that appealed to her. Here, Rider had achieved prominence as a member of the Avengers and the respect he craved as Nova. But Sayge, the Embodiment of Truth, nonetheless confronted Nova and made him see this reality was a lie. Recruiting the other original New Warriors, Nova fought the Sphinx and made her reverse her changes.

Nova and Night Thrasher finally buried the hatchet after this adventure, and Taylor provided Rider with an upgraded version of his original uniform, allowing him to cast off the media-given "Kid Nova" name completely and operate unchallenged as Nova again.

In an encounter with Garthan Saal, also called Supernova, Rider used the full power of the Nova Force to help restore Xandar and its population, through the planetary cloning banks that the Worldmind controlled. Although his powers were increased, Rider was reduced to being one of many personnel of the Nova Corps. With Xandar now under the protection of the Shi'ar Empire, Nova had superiors to whom he had to answer as a Corpsman.

Nova had difficulty in maintaining his duties as both one of the Nova Corps personnel and a New Warrior. He met an alternate reality Nova, "Nova O:O," who helped Rider develop his powers. He also saved Earth from destruction by absorbing the power of the "Deathstorm" bomb. But dealing against the Deathstorm bomb had meant ignoring a call from the Nova Corps, and that amounted to dereliction of his duties. Thus Rider was stripped of his Nova powers. His power was given to Garthan Saal, who came to Earth as Nova in his place. In response he attemped to repeat jump from a building again in an effort to reawaken his powers again or take his own life.

After several months as a powerless associate of the New Warriors, Rider and Saal confronted the Dire Wraith queen Volx, who fatally wounded Saal. The Xandarian passed his powers on to Rider, exactly as Rhomann Dey once had, and Richard Rider's identity as Nova was again reinstated.

Relationship with Namorita
From the first time they met, it was clear that Richard Rider and Namorita had a certain rapport. This bloomed into a romantic relationship, although a somewhat strained one at that. When Nita underwent a change, turning into the blue-skinned Kymaera, Rider was there for her, not caring about her change in appearance. Later, Rider began a separate relationship (in his civilian identity) with a girl named Laura Dunham, although they drifted apart when she found out about his super hero activities.

Nova and Nita continued their relationship, but it eventually fell apart. Nita, undergoing another change in appearance/powers, needed Rider's support, but this time he turned away from her because of his own personal problems. Rider later became jealous of Nita's relationship with Johnny Storm (the Human Torch), and almost began his own relationship with Mickey Musashi (Turbo) while also dealing with Ginger Jaye and her accusations he had killed her husband. Shortly after this the New Warriors began filming a reality TV show where they would travel to small towns across America and deal with their supervillain problems. Nova remained a member for a short time but left the team sometime before they began filming in Stamford, Connecticut.

Most of the Nova Corps and Xandar had been destroyed by the Annihilation Wave. Richard Rider now contained the Worldmind and Nova Force, giving him substantially increased power to fight against the threat. However, it was not known how long he could contain the power without going insane as others had and he found himself reluctant to utilize it. He soon met up with Drax and Cammi who he helped get to safety and who offered to assist him in controlling his power.

In an effort to buy more time for the evacuation of the besieged planet Nycos Aristedes, Nova and Quasar punched through the Annihilation Wave to meet Annihilus face to face on his own command ship. In the ensuing battle, Quasar was killed when Annihilus consumed his and, though Rider was forced to flee, his efforts, combined with the timely intervention of the Worldmind, succeeded in driving the Annihilation Wave to retreat from the sector and secure the planet's complete evacuation. Faced with the universal threat Annihilus now posed, Rider and the Worldmind agreed to abandon the search for a safe haven and remained joined together to fight the Wave head on.

To oppose the Annihilation Wave, 205 days after Annihilation Day, Richard Rider formed an army which he called the United Front. His land-based army included Drax the Destroyer, Gamora (whom he had begun sleeping with), Ronan the Accuser, and Peter Quill, while his outer-space forces consisted primarily of Firelord, Red Shift, and Stardust, former Heralds of Galactus. Rider and his forces fought valiantly holding off the wave as best they could, gaining small victories here and there. Other allies joined the United Front like Super Skrull and Phyla-Vell. The Front, ultimately, was made up of hundreds of species all fighting to stop the Wave.

After months of fighting, Nova finally confronted Annihilus and the two began a fierce battle. Phyla-Vell attempted to join but found that Nova had sealed her and Quill in an energy bubble, wanting to face Annihilus alone. Using the quantum bands, Annihilus proved to be too much for Nova. Phyla-Vell forced her way out of the bubble and attacked Annihilus, attempting to wrest the quantum bands from him. Annihilus threw her aside, but the quantum bands abandoned Annihilus and joined with Phyla-Vell. Annihilus fought on, but Nova surmised that the gap in Annihilus' armor was his mouth. Taking advantage of that, he forced his hand down Annihilus' throat and tore out his entrails, yelling, "THIS IS FOR NOVA CORPS!!!" Both Annihilus and Nova slumped to the ground as Nova looked up to see the veiled figures of the 'spirit' of Thanos and Lady Death looking over him and smiling. Nova told them, "Better luck next time."

The war was over, Annihilus' forces were defeated and treaties were signed. Ronan, who had now become the Emperor of the Kree Empire and ruled in the name of the Supreme Intelligence, offered to make Nova an honorary Kree. Nova was left debating his future and wondered if he should return home to Earth.

Richard Rider and the Worldmind went to maintain the duties of the Nova Corps by himself, but Rider found himself overwhelmed by his sense of duty. As he recklessly tried to shortcut one of the mission travels, he ended up crashing on Earth in wake of The Initiative.

He went to his parents, learning about the Stamford incident, involving the New Warriors accidentally causing the death of 612 people, most of them children, while chasing super villains. Then suddenly, S.H.I.E.L.D. stepped onto the front lawn, having presumed Rider to be an extra-terrestrial threat due to his high power level. Hostilities calmed down when Iron Man, who had become the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Nick Fury's absence. Rider asked for 24 hours before he would make a final decision. He then met Justice on the launch deck, who also asked him to join the Initiative. However, while Rider slept on it, the Worldmind secretly took over his body, frightening his parents. By morning, he decided to show the Worldmind his hometown, when he was attacked by Diamondhead who had been waiting since Stamford for him to return. He managed to subdue Diamondhead, but after turning his foe in to the police, he was confronted by Thunderbolts, the government's hunters of unregistered superhumans.

The fight was shortly stopped by Iron Man, and he was given a short tour of Rider's old school, where they debated the different ideologies between common purposes and abuse of powers. When he returned home, Rider's parents thought that he was crazy and asked him to register and get himself "looked at" by S.H.I.E.L.D., but he simply did not know what to do. Penance, revealing himself as Robbie Baldwin, came to Rider's house and urged him to register, to make things better. But Rider thought that his world had gone insane. Saying his goodbyes to Penance and his parents, he eventually went back to his Nova Corps duties.

I've wanted to upload this skin for a while, but I was very ill. Luckily, I can do it now. Enjoy!

I bring you the best member of the Nova Corps. Richard Rider, Nova. He's not Sam Alexander, he's Richard Rider. Remember that name. Put on the Nova helmet and find injustice to eradicate in San Andreas!