BREAKDOWN

Real Name: Cecilia Chun

Identity/Class: Alternate Reality (Earth-93060/"Ultraverse") human mutate ("ultra");
    Asian (Chinese-American)

Occupation: Student

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Cole;
    Carlos and other unspecified classmates;
    presumably Cheryl Leong on some level;

Enemies: Bloodhounds, presumably Biotex;
    (presumably inadvertently) her father;
    bigoted/sexist classmates

Known Relatives: Mr. Chun (father), unidentified mother (presumably Mrs. Chun), two unidentified brothers

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unspecified neighborhood of suburbs in Denver, Colorado

First Appearance: Ultraverse Premiere#9/3 (January 1995)

Powers/Abilities: Cecilia can project explosive force (or perhaps it was a force that caused object to breakdown/shatter), although she can only do so by suppressing her emotions; however, due to her upbringing, she is very experienced with this.

    The power that she can generate is unrevealed, but she could at least stun a bloodhound -- who were superhumanly strong and durable -- with one of her blasts.

    Cecilia, at least when first seen, was a quiet, reserved, well-behaved young lady. She did well in school through a lot of studying, although she did not receive straight-A's.

History:
(Ultraverse Premiere#9/3 (fb) - BTS) - Growing up in a Chinese-American family in the Denver Suburbs, Cecilia was under a lot of pressure to behave well, do well and be nice.

     Everybody considered her to be a nice girl.

     At home, nothing about feelings or plans was directly discussed with her parents.

(Ultraverse Premiere#9/3 / Freex#13-14 (fb) - BTS) - Kept out of school while waiting for officials to review her situation, Cecilia had nothing but isolation and TV. She watched reports of teenagers with strange powers (the Freex battling the Night Patrol) "not far away."

    She wondered if she could find them, get help for them, and find someone who would listen to their feelings. However, her repressed upbringing led her to conclude that "nice girls" did not due that sort of thing.

    So, she bottled up her fears and got back to her homework, waiting for her parents to her what was expected of her. However, she was was surprised when a pair of Bloodhounds dove through her bedroom window and grabbed her, covering her mouth. She swiftly appreciated that they were too strong for her to get away, and she initially feared she was going to die, but when she considered that it was weak to be afraid and repressed that emotion, she unleashed a blast of force that flattened one of the Bloodhounds. Realizing that suppressing her feeling was what caused this, she blasted the other Bloodhound and fled.

    Fearing that the Bloodhounds were pursuing her in the dark, she went to the park where the Freex had been. Hearing a voice call out to her, she fearfully fled and found the cave the Freex had used, but they were long since gone; however, the person who had called out to her followed her there and called out to her again. Although she warned him to keep away or she would use her powers to break him apart, the teenage Cole calmed her down and noted that he had come there looking for the Freex just like she had done.

    Cole further told her that he had heard that the somebody like the Freex had been seen in San Francisco. Noting her destructive powers and his own light powers, Cole suggested that they join together to find the Freex, who would probably let them join them.

    Cecilia argued that she had never done anything against her family and that running away would be...but Cole interrupted, asking her what was going to happen if she stayed. Not having an answer, Cecilia considered going out into the huge and dangerous world outside the city, running, struggling, finding her own way, and finding others like her...something that a nice girl would never do.

Comments: Created by Gerard Jones, Scott Kolins, and Jon Holdredge

    The end of the story said, "to be continued in the pages of Freex," but, sadly, that never happened.

    Breakdown was the title of the story and presumably was intended as her codename, but she was only called Cecilia in the story. However, she did refer to the use of her powers as "the breakdown."

    The default source of powers for an "Ultra" would be a "jumpstart" from the Entity, although there were other kids that were empowered via wetware/nanotech, and given that she was planned to appear in the Freex series, wetware is an extremely likely option...perhaps she was injected with wetware by Wetware Mary (aka Contrary).
    I remember an editorial in the Ultraverse books that there were three sources of being an ultra (not including using technology without possessing powers): (1) Jumpstart; (2) Wetware; (3) Theta virus (a la the Exiles associated with Rachel Deming)

    After blowing up the dinner table in the main story, Cecilia noted, "this keeps happening when she bottles up her emotions too much."
    "Keeps happening" certainly sounds like a pattern, so I would think it had happened at least a few times, but we don't know how many times it had happened in the past.

They Float...They Flip...They Fly (off the shelves)...
Ultraverse Premiere was a floating series, with different issues of different series sharing each issue on the flip side. Ultraverse Premiere#9 was on the flip side of Freex#15.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Breakdown (Cecilia Chun) should be distinguished from:

• BREAKDOWN (Esme Fernado) - Derangers, mutant, former housewife until had nervous breakdown which triggered latent mutant powers, sent to New Life Clinic--Alpha Flight I#49, 53d
• BREAKDOWN of Earth-928 circa 2099 A.D. (Cesar ) - Freakshow--X-Men 2099#6
• other "Breakdown" characters, groups, events, items, races, or places...
  

An ultra, Cole could "do stuff with light."      He was only shown to glow, but he presumably had other powers beyond that. Cole has blue eyes and blond hair. He looked to be about (Ultraverse Premiere#9/3 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Cole realized he was an ultra and could manipulate light to some extent. (Ultraverse Premiere#9/3 (fb) - BTS) - Hearing about the Freex on the news, Cole traveled from Wisconsin to the park around Denver, Colorado (in which they had battled the Night Patrol) with the intent of meeting them.      Although the Freex had moved on by the time he reached the park, Cole heard that somebody like them had been sighted in San Francisco. (Ultraverse Premiere#9/3) - When Cecilia Chun traveled to the park, Cole called out to her, but she assumed him to be someone potentially dangerous and continued running.      After Cecilia reached the cave and found it to be empty, Cole approached her and called out to her again. Although she warned him to keep away or she would use her powers to break him apart, Cole calmly noted that he had come there looking for the Freex just like he figured she had done. He further told her that he had heard that the somebody like the Freex had been seen in San Francisco. Noting her destructive powers and his own light powers, Cole suggested that they join together to find the Freex, who would probably let them join them.     Cecilia argued that she had never done anything against her family and that running away would be...but Cole interrupted, asking her what was going to happen if she stayed.      Cecilia seemed to be preparing to agree to join Cole in this mission. --Ultraverse Premiere#9/3

The father of Cecilia and her two brothers and the husband of their mother, Mr. Chun worked two jobs to help pay for their "American dream" home/life in the Denver suburbs.      He was extremely demanding of Cecilia, negatively comparing her two a classmate who got all A's by telling Cecilia "Some daughters make their parents proud."      The Chun family did not speak of feelings or weakness, especially in a crisis.      Cecilia's parents did not see why she needed a social life until she went to college and met a nice Chinese-American boy with a future.      While possessing Western silverware, they ate dinners with chopsticks. (Ultraverse Premiere#9/3) - After what was at least the second time Cecilia's powers were unleashed unexpectedly and explosively at home, Mr. Chun called someone (presumably at Biotex), noting that she had strange powers. (Ultraverse Premiere#9/3 - BTS) - Whoever Mr. Chun called sent the Bloodhounds to collect her, but Cecilia escaped and ran away from home. --Ultraverse Premiere#9/3

The mother of Cecilia and her two brothers and the wife of Mr. Chun, she worked in telephone sales to help pay for their "American dream" home/life in the Denver suburbs.      Cecilia's parents did not see why she needed a social life until she went to college and met a nice Chinese-American boy with a future.      He was judgmental of Cecilia, negatively comparing her two a classmate who got all A's.      The Chun family did not speak of feelings or weakness, especially in a crisis. (Ultraverse Premiere#9/3) - After what was at least the second time Cecilia's powers were unleashed unexpectedly and explosively at home, her mother looked on disapprovingly while picking up the mess. --Ultraverse Premiere#9/3

Cecilia had a pair of younger brothers, the older of which, at least, helped her somewhat with chores at home. (Ultraverse Premiere#9/3) - Both boys were at the dinner table when Cecilia's powers were unintentionally released (not the first time) and shattered the table --Ultraverse Premiere#9/3

Presumably the daughter of friends or relatives of the Chun family, either locally or somewhat distant, Cheryl excelled in her school grades. (Ultraverse Premiere#9/3 (fb) - BTS) - Cheryl got all A's in one semester. (Ultraverse Premiere#9/3 - BTS) - Cecilia's mother reported this at the dinner table, and Mr. Chun noted that "Some daughters make their parents proud."      Suppressing her emotions and response, Cecilia unwittingly unleashed her powers, shattering the dinner table and plates, bowls, etc. --Ultraverse Premiere#9/3 Note: Cecilia may or may not have been friends of Cheryl...they may have been classmates, or in different years, different schools, different cities, or different states, etc.      The image included just shows the Chun family discussing Cheryl, who is NOT pictured in the image.

Appearances:
Ultraverse Premiere#9/3 (January 1995) - Gerard Jones (writer), Scott Kolins (penciler), Jon Holdredge (inker), Hank Kanalz (editor)

First posted: 06/07/2023
Last updated: 06/07/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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