Tidewall

Origin

Marisol Reyes grew up on a beach and was a lifeguard by sixteen. At twenty-four she swam out past the flags in a rip current to reach two kids on an inflatable, got them onto a rescue board and pushed them toward shore, then went under herself. She remembers the water going dark and warm, and a feeling that the sea had noticed her.

She surfaced an hour later, breathing underwater without knowing how, in the middle of a rising wall of water that had lifted the kids' board gently onto the sand. The wall came down when she told it to. From that day the sea has done what she asks, within limits.

Powers

Tidewall controls the surface of water. She can raise a wall to block a storm surge, lay a bridge of still water across a flooded street, or send a current to carry a swimmer back to shore. She can breathe underwater and swim faster than any boat in the harbor.

Her limit is distance. Her power fades quickly away from open water, and she cannot make water appear where there is none. She also tires fast: holding back a flood for an hour leaves her shaking for a day.

Costume and look

Her suit is a streamlined sea-green wetsuit with foam-white shoulder plates, built to move through water rather than look good on a poster. Her hair is braided tight, lifeguard style, and she still wears a whistle, which the others tease her about.

She keeps a rescue board on the harbor wall and uses it more than her powers, because most people in the water just need a board and a calm voice.

Her rule

Tidewall's rule is the lifeguard's rule: watch the water, not the crowd. She is the member of the Universe who notices the quiet emergency, the person slipping under while everyone else looks at the big explosion.

She is an original character of the Next Level Universe, created for this brand with our own art and our own stories.

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