AMA: Carbon Copy's powers... and Dragonelle's tail

Q. How do Carbon Copy's powers work? Can Carbon Copy copy Elastic Man? Do they have the same level of powers? If Carbon Copy copies Conrad, Fireworx’ husband, does he have his own stamina...  or Conrad’s?

A. Let's start here. The Carbon Copy story was one of two special EiAD storylines that were written by Kickstarter backers of the Evil Inc After Dark book. (The other one was Dr. Zapp.) Those stories worked out so well, I definitely plan to offer that reward tier when I Kickstart the follow-up book to "Live Fast, Thwart Hard."

As such, the writer of the story may have the original version of how Carbon Copy works, but I can tell you how he works in the Evil Inc universe.

Carbon Copy can siphon off a portion of any meta-human's natural superpowers through touching that person's skin. This works on any superpower that originates from within the person's body — like a mutant power (Cyclops from the X-Man) or magic that is carried inside the body (Shazam, for example).

He cannot duplicate machines or technology. So, a superhero like Iron Man, for example, would be immune to Carbon Copy. Similarly, he cannot copy tools — so Thor's hammer or Dr. Strange's Eye of Agamotto could not be copied. However, he could mimic a portion of Thor's strength or any spells that the Sorcerer Supreme could cast without magical aids.

He is only able to absorb a portion of the meta-human's power — not the full amount. And this transfer does not weaken the "donor". 

And, finally, he is only able to use this power from the moment of the first touch onward for a limited amount of time. He cannot "bank" the power, not can he sustain it for long periods.

So, to answer your questions fully — yes, he can copy Elastic Man. However...

If Carbon Copy copies Conrad, Fireworx’ husband [EiAD #17], does he have his own stamina...  or Conrad’s?

That depends on which person has the greater stamina. Carbon Copy's super power is the ability to absorb power. Any weakness is, by definition, a lack of power. In other words, it's not something that CC can absorb. Rather, its an absence of absorbable power.

So, whose stamina does CC end up with? Whomever has the greater stamina. Is Conrad's stamina is greater than CC's, then CC gets a stamina boost. However, if Conrad has less stamina, CC retains his own stamina. In other words, he can never get weaker. He can only grow in strength.

Q. Is Dragonelle’s tail as prehensile as Desi’s? Can she penetrate with it? 

A. Dragonelle appears in Try Outs. Unfortunately, Dragonelle's tail has a very limited range of motion and flexibility.

So far, Desi seems to be the only character with a prehensile tail with the flexibility involved to allow penetration... as she displayed with Iron Dragon recently...

You'll notice that she's able to curve the flared edges of the tip of her tail around the center. By wrapping the ends like this, she's able to form a more comfortable cone shape — rather than a painful arrow shape.

Incidentally, the tip of Desi's tail has nearly as many nerve endings as the head of a human penis. It is extremely sensitive, andDesi can be brought to orgasm by merely rubbing and stroking the end of her tail.

...which, of course, gives new meaning to the phrase, "getting a little tail..."