Celeste McCauley

History

Born in the 30th Century, Celeste McCauley was the niece of Leland McCauley III, one of the richest men in the United Planets as well as the cousin to Leland McCauley IV. Both men have been long-standing rivals with R.J. Brande and as a result, also been involved with the Legion of Super-Heroes, usually in a negative way. Celeste however found her family's obsession with wealth distasteful and their attitude that "Money isn't Everything ... It's the Only Thing," to be morally bankrupt.

During a vacation on the planet Twilo, Celeste witnessed the crashing of a Green Lantern, and tried to assist him. Although she had been unable to help, the emerald energy from the Power Ring remembered her and it's energy would follow her across the galaxy.

Afterward, Celeste decided not to follow her family's path and abandoned her wealth and even her last name to avoid getting special favors by adopting the last name of "Rockfish". Embracing a life of altruism and public service, she applied to study at the Science Police Academy. But before she could graduate, the Science Police on Earth split from the main organization. She then chose to pursue a career as an independent detective in Metropolis rather than work for EarthGov. She opened up the Rockfish Detective Agency and placed an ad for a partner, ultimately becoming partners with Bounty.

Celeste first encountered the Legion of Super-Heroes during the course of a paternity suit investigation against Dirk Morgna, the former Legionnaire known as Sun Boy who had abandoned his heroic career to become a Public Relations Officer for the increasingly corrupt EarthGov. Her tenacity and resourcefulness as an investigator resulted in Morgna remembering her vividly and when the Dominators secretly hired Roxxas the Butcher to murder the remaining Legionnaires, Morgna decided that he needed the best, the most tenacious detective he knew to track him down (although Morgna himself was unaware that EarthGov was secretly complicit with the Dominators themselves).

Her investigation led her to Winath, where she was surprised by Roxxas who savagely beat her nearly to death. Roxxas himself indirectly played a role in the reformation of the Legion with his revelation that the Dominators were now in control of EarthGov.

In the hospital and dying, the emerald energy that had been following her finally caught up with her and merged with her. The green energy healed her fatal wounds and bestowed upon her with energy manipulation powers. She didn't quite know how to control these powers, which made Brainiac 5 extremely nervous, but she didn't like him that much anyway.

She was subsequently invited to join the reformed Legion of Super-Heroes and accepted, continuing her path of altruism and spent much of her Legion career with Kent Shakespeare on Quarantine and helping others who were always in constant need of a friend such as Legionnaires Kono and Furball; who it was later discovered was a mutated Timber Wolf.

During a battle with Glorith, Celeste's body was aged to the point of death...but as it turned out, the body was only being kept alive by the emerald energy. Freed of her physical form, the green energy reshaped itself into a body solidified in the form of a woman. When the Legion was hunted down for assisting the Khund Empire, she went on the run with the rest of the team and adopting the code name of Neon.

Amid the time fluctuations of Zero Hour, Celeste's identity inexplicably changed from her Green Lantern form to that of a Darkstar. In this revised history, Celeste had apparently witnessed the crashing of a Darkstar; the intergalactic police force that had replaced the Green Lantern Corps after they were destroyed by Parallax (Hal Jordan). The Darkstar's Exo-Mantle adopted her as it's new owner and would heal her injuries from Roxxas.

This change was one of the few actually noticed, helping Rond Vidar plead his case that their time-line was in peril. Soon thereafter, Celeste was among those who were erased from the timeline in the events of Zero Hour.

Celeste has not appeared in any other Legion timelines, but did make a brief appearance in the Legion of Three Worlds story arc, helping the Legionnaires against the Time Trapper.

Powers & Abilities

Previously, Celeste McCauley possessed the power to discharge emerald energy and bend it to her will, much like a Green Lantern's Power Ring. Her limitations on what she creates are inhibited only by her own imagination and force of will. Celeste never demonstrated any of the other limitations of the Ring; such as the 24-Hour Recharge Limit or the Yellow Impurity.

Primarily, Celeste took a traditional route with her power and used it mainly for force blasts and solid shape energy constructs. The emerald energy also granted her the ability to fly. When she utilized these powers severely, her body becomes transparent. The emerald energy also could repair and heal her injuries.

As it was later discovered, her body was simply being animated by the emerald energies. When her physical body was rapidly aged through the time manipulation powers of Glorith, the emerald energy was simply no longer capable of maintaining her shell and instead Celeste was revived as a glowing mass of energy that she could manipulate at will as Neon.

As Neon, she no longer needed food or air and could survive in the vacuum of space without impairment. In addition, she could also affect her solidity and render herself intangible at will. She still retained her ability to fly, project force blasts, and create solid shape will-based energy constructs.

Celeste later lost all of her energy manipulation abilities and regained her physical body during the events of Zero Hour.

Celeste was also skilled in art of investigation and deductive reasoning making her an adequately skilled detective which she supplemented with her dedication and tenaciousness.

Weapons & Paraphernalia

When wearing the powerful Darkstar Exo-Mantle, Celeste gained all of the standard powers and abilities of the battle armor. The Exo-Mantle granted her superhuman strength, speed, and enhanced agility.

It also generated a protective forcefield that shielded her against energy weapons and high impacts, as well as allowing her to withstand the effects of wind friction or survive unaided in the vacuum of space for short periods. She could also expand the forcefield to include other people and objects for brief periods.

The Darkstar Exo-Mantle also allowed her to fly at extreme speeds in air or space and generate devastating maser blasts.