5/7

5/7 Timeshadow makes it difficult to know how many opponents are actually in front of you. His mutation shifts him out of sync with ordinary time, producing overlapping versions of himself that make his movements and attacks difficult to follow. The effect gives the Alliance a way to crowd an opponent without adding another actual teammate to its four-person roster. He also supplies a moment of restraint during Michael Nowlan's escape. When Stinger wants to blast the fleeing car, Timeshadow reminds her that killing their target would defeat the point. Keeping Nowlan alive is essential to the team's own interests. That practical streak does not make him a rescuer. He is helping recover a man the Alliance intends to keep exploiting. The effect is often described through his shades, the overlapping appearances that allow him to confront someone from more than one apparent position. That makes him a different sort of obstacle from Tower. One expands to take up more space; the other makes a single position difficult to rely on. For a team like X-Factor, coordinating attacks depends on knowing where a teammate can move and where an opponent actually is. Timeshadow can disturb that picture while the rest of the Alliance keeps everyone busy. He does not need an elaborate explanation of his whole past to be an awkward person to fight. The immediate problem is keeping up with what his body is doing now. Nowlan's amplification creates problems for him, too, interfering with his ability to stay properly in sync. A power built around moving outside normal timing becomes an uncomfortable liability when returning to normal is no longer entirely under his control.