It's never wise to become a neighborhood superhero without allies who've got your back. For Red Howlet, these are Enver and Qitta. Enver's a Turkish-descended powerhouse, super-strong, super-durable, and able to create shockwaves that can level buildings. His powers are mystical in origin (he creates shockwaves by speaking a magic word), and he's been told that one day he will be forced to use them in a way that will harm or kill many people in order to destroy a great evil. For the most part, though, he's a nice guy who enjoys playing a white knight for pretty girls, though occasionally, he overdoes it, as in this pic.
Qitta, by contrast, is not so much of a powerhouse. Born in Somalia, her family came to America during the war and relied heavily on the charity of 'Allam al-Wafiyah. When the man called Beit took over the Boston offices, he decided that her family owed a debt, and took her as payment, using her in an experiment to see if his powers were great enough to bestow superhuman abilities upon others. He turned her into a feral creature and unleashed her in Little Yugo, hoping she'd be enough of a threat to make the Red Howlet turn to him for help. The transformation crapped out, however, and Qitta reverted back to human form. Of course, Beit has not called off the debt, so Qitta still has to go out in costume whenever Beit orders her to make trouble. She usually ends up helping Red Howlet fight crime. (Thankfully, Beit never bothers to send anyone to make sure Qitta is actually making trouble.)
Of course, every alliance has risks. Both Enver and Qitta have ties to Beit, and Enver in particular believes that, whatever Beit's personal intentions, the coalition that Beit has formed can help him in his efforts to clean up his neighborhood, and would help Red Howlet if she were to join (not to mention the fact that part of him fears that Beit may be the great evil that he is destined to fight.) As such, Red Howlet is constantly aware that one day she might have to fight her friends. |