Julian Keller

This character is currently unplayed, but is open for applications. If you are interested in applying for this character, you can contact the mods at x_moderators @ googlegroups . com and you can find the application form here.

PHASE 1

PHASE 2

Julian Keller
Portrayed by Thomas Sturridge
Codename:	None
Affiliations:
Birthdate:	October 29, 1991

Journal:	In It For The Green
Player:	Available for Applications

Son of a wealthy California family, Julian was rejected by them and his friends when he refused to hide his mutant gifts. Xavier's offered him a place as an alternative to military school. The changes of M-Day gave him a second chance and he is helping his mother run the east coast branch of Keller Industries, following a return to the mansion to act as mentor to Generation X and a life-changing accident.

Details

Character Journal: In It For The Green

Real Name: Julian Keller

Codename: LazyBones

Aliases: Jules, Scion

First Appearance: December 5, 2008

Date of Birth: October 29, 1991

Place of Birth: Beverly Hills, CA

Citizenship: United States of America

Relatives: William Keller (father), Elizabeth Keller (mother), James Keller (younger brother)

Education: High School Graduate, 4 Semesters at Stanford University (Business/Physics), transfering to New York University (Business/Physics)

Relationship Status: Dating Tandy Bowen. Formerly dated Angelica Jones, Nico Minoru.

Occupation: Dilettante

Team Affiliation:

Biography

Childhood

Julian Keller is the first born son of the self-made billionaire William Keller and his trophy wife Elizabeth Keller. In his early life, Julian was doted upon by his father and as soon as he could walk William began to groom him to be his heir. When his younger brother, James, was born, Julian was four. The two became inseparable for the rest of their young life. Growing up in Beverly Hills, Julian and James had every advantage afforded to them from private schools to foreign language tutors. By the time he started school, Julian could understand Spanish, Russian, Japanese and French- though he never had a tongue for them and had a hard time pronouncing even rudimentary phrases.

Phase 1

Adolescence

Family life was good for Julian until he turned thirteen and his powers manifested. He awoke in the early hours of the morning, and after an intense nightmare, to find himself floating a few feet from his ceiling, his bed ten feet below him. He fell and broke his bed, fortunately he was physically unharmed. He began to be able to move things with his mind and immediately told his parents. While not members of any mutant hate groups, William and Elizabeth didn’t have any particular care for mutants and advised their son to keep his abilities quiet. Ever the dutiful son, Julian obeyed, but his powers were still very active while he slept, moving things around the house and, on one occasion, blocking his parents in their room. As he grew older Julian’s telekinetic abilities grew with him, things around the neighborhood started to move around in the middle of the night, once, all the cars in a neighbors garage were turned upside-down. The community suspected vandals at first, until someone saw their car flip over first hand and claimed a green glow surrounded her vehicle when it flipped. Julian turned from favored son to black sheep in the blink of an eye and Elizabeth’s reaction was to send him to a counselor to curb his rebelliousness- regardless of the fact Julian had no control over the nocturnal incidents.

The counselor enlisted him in a mutant support group aimed at helping those with parents who didn’t accept them. Julian began to learn about the struggles of others like him and started to understand he wasn’t alone. When he was fifteen William and Elizabeth enrolled him in a public high school, since they had attended one themselves. The handsome, young and rich Keller had no trouble making friends, but kept his abilities secret. He joined the basketball and swim teams, threw parties and became very well known at his school. During his sophomore year, Julian quickly discovered one of the school’s favorite pastimes: Pick on the Rodent.

Doreen Green was a freshman at the time and the only known mutant in school and a feral. Because of this, the school would pick on her; stuffing her into lockers, throwing spitballs and calling her names throughout the day. Whenever others weren’t looking, Julian would do what he could to help Doreen, had he been caught he would have been branded with a target as well.

The Lords of Justice

During this time, he continued his counseling in secret. The summer before his Junior year of high school, Julian met Dean Alwin, an astral projector who recruited him into what was supposed to be a superhero team. Wanting to do something positive with his abilities, Keller was quickly indoctrinated into the group. With the help of one of the set’s members, Simon Gutierrez, he began to secretly practice his abilities; unfortunately years of repression had stunted them. As he continued to practice, the nocturnal events started to curb off, no longer affecting the entire neighborhood. Julian’s training progressed and he soon found himself able to lift weights over thirty pounds with his mind.

Soon he was actively taking down crack houses and meth labs around the city. Simon and Julian made an excellent pair both providing the necessary muscle in the missions given to them by the charismatic leader of the team Gordon McPhearson. For the entire summer Julian and Simon would swoop in on a target and sufficiently disarm them before Gordon and the rest of the team moved in to clean-up, which the duo didn’t stay for. But at summer’s end, there was no difference between the flow of drugs in the city and it finally dawned on Julian during the group’s final mission that they were actually the bad guys.

McPhearson had recruited impressionable teenagers and given their abilities boosts with his power. He had been using them to consolidate his hold on drug traffic in Los Angeles County. No longer satisfied with the pretense of heroism, Gordon sent the group to rob an armored car at a bank. Once it dawned on Julian that they were attacking security guards, he quickly stopped the group from completing their mission. Unfortunately, the police happened to show up and everyone scattered. Making a rash choice, Julian held the cops off while Simon escaped, only to be arrested himself. In an attempt to escape, he pinned an officer against the brick wall of the bank, breaking both of his arms in the process.

In custody, the Keller’s discovered their son’s activities and were furious. The family lawyer made a plea deal that required Julian to give up information on all the members of the Lords of Justice drug syndicate (in addition to a generous donation to the precinct by William to keep the media’s attention elsewhere). The only member of the gang Julian didn’t give up was Simon, who he didn’t see again during his time in Los Angeles. Once home Elizabeth Keller, usually the soft touch of the family, grounded her son until school started.

Just after the start of his Junior year, Julian decided that he could no longer live “in-the-closet” and came out as a mutant at school. Julian lost his friends and support networks, including those in the support group who had a strict confidentiality agreement. The only person who didn’t hate him at home was James- who was being groomed to take over the company in his place and wasn’t able to show the support he wanted to. At school, Doreen Green and Julian became friends and he made it clear that anyone picking on her would have to answer to him.

Unfortunately, he only lasted another two weeks at the school before he was expelled under false accusations of fighting. Before William could enroll Julian in a school out in the middle of the Nevada desert, he received a phone call from someone named Charles Xavier and was quickly sold on his private academy in upstate New York.

Living At The X-Mansion

Julian arrived at the mansion a day earlier than scheduled at the start of December. He quickly made friends with many of the other kids and had no objections to the school aside from the weather. Karolina Dean and he formed a special bond, since they were both from Los Angeles. In his first week, she taught him how to make hot chocolate, a skill he’d spend the next two months perfecting. Having arrived too late to enroll in new classes, he finished out the semester with similar classes to those he’d been taking back out West- finding them harder than any he’d ever taken before.

Being the only boy enrolled in his class, Julian quickly became the object of many a school-girl crush. Most notably were the crushes by Inez Temple and Angelica Jones. Enjoying the attention, Keller shamelessly flirted with both of them, finally kissing Angelica on New Years Eve- though it would be months before they officially began to date. At the same time Inez had opened up to him and when she found out he’d kissed Jones, began to avoid Julian. In a more platonic way, he made connections with Catseye and Noriko Ashida- as well as the other members of the New Mutants team, most notably with Callie Betto, who serves as an anchor to his inflated ego and a reality check.

Almost a week after his arrival, Julian began powers training with his mentor Nathan Morrow. Wanting to spare the younger telekinetic the pain he’d experienced during his youth, Nathan began to teach Keller how to use his abilities responsibly and effectively. His training continued through Nathan’s absence the next semester as he practiced independently in the weight rooms and in the quarry.

So You Want To Be A Superhero?

During the time after his brief incarceration in California, Julian developed an addiction to online Flash games. One site in particular offered better graphics and game play than any other: Screwtop Games. After moving to New York, he was still able to keep up his addiction and eventually won the monthly prize giveaway, a full day with as many friends as he wanted at Laser Haven. Of course it was too good to be true and the group found themselves locked in Arcade’s Murderworld, themed around reality-television shows.

After a harrowing ordeal Julian was made an offer by the villain himself, to fund the winners of the competition as a corporate team of superheroes. The first to decline the offer, Keller smashed the monitor that Arcade had been speaking to them from. Shortly there-after, the winners discovered that everyone whom they thought had died was actually just being held in power resistant cages.

After returning home, Julian asked Angelica out and the two made their relationship more public. Unfortunately, this started the short-lived feud between Keller and Inez Temple- which was partially resolved when he apologized for being an ass and told Temple about his criminal past. Meanwhile, the new couple literally took off on their first date, as the young and handsome rich-boy chartered a private jet to fly them over New York City while they enjoyed a four-course meal onboard. The fallout from this date was two fold, firstly that Angel and Julian reached an understanding that such extravagancies weren’t expected. The second was a letter from home stating that he would be disowned if he ever made any more excessive purchases.

The long term fall out for Julian began the first week after the trip to Laser Haven. Things began to be moved around the mansion at night and it didn’t take long for Julian to be singled out as the culprit for these nocturnal pranks. Though it has subsided over time, there is usually something changed around the mansion every morning- usually something small like a painting flipped over. Keller has also taken steps to occupy his ‘gremlins’ (as he calls them) by putting a number of unsolvable Rubik’s Cubes in his room by the door- they tend to try and solve them before any other mischief can happen. Julian has an agreement with Kyle Gibney that the young telekinetic will take care of any damage he creates, and the older feral will let him know if he’s stumbled on anything.

A Midsummer’s Nightmare

When the Professor announced that the school would be working with a local public school in their spring production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Julian wasn’t immediately thrilled. However, he, like most of his fellow New Mutants, found themselves trying out. To his surprise, Julian received the part of Demetrius and discovered- to his further astonishment- that he really enjoyed acting.

Strange things started happening around the set after one of the chaperones cursed the production by saying Macbeth during rehearsal. Julian fell prey to a number of these accidents, including having his script switched and costume hidden. In the end the New Mutants saved the day by catching a local student who had the mutant ability to turn himself invisible. Just prior to opening night, Angelica and Julian attempted to trigger Julian’s ability to fly by having him jump off the room. During this unsuccessful test, the couple made their relationship official.

Half-way through the production, Julian received a midnight surprise in the form of Fred Dukes, his roommate. After a bit of a rocky start the pair discovered a mutual passion for video games and bonded over frequent bouts in Street Fighter Four fueled by Red Bull.

Red X: Dangerous Load

While biweekly training sessions with Nathan were going well enough, Keller found himself in the precarious position of using his powers on a scale he wasn't entirely comfortable with. A train derailment caused a propane spill and Nathan and Julian were called upon to serve as barriers as John and Angelica burned off the excess spill. Though he was simply serving as a back-up for Nathan, Julian attained a new level of comfort with his powers in the wake of managing the explosion.

Pas De Trois

Over the months leading up to prom, Angelica and Julian found great comfort and familiarity with each others company. The couple was so comfortable with their relationship that when Manuel De La Rocha called in a favor, Angelica didn't see a single possible problem with it. Manuel owed a favor to the Stepford girls and intended to use his influence to send Esme Stepford to the prom with Julian. Angelica agreed to this and all the arrangements were made- the only thing that was unforeseen was Esme's attraction to Julian.

On prom night, Esme and Julian were out on the balcony overlooking the north lawn when she suddenly made her move. When Julian rejected her, not wanting to hurt Angelica, Esme used telepathy to get what she wanted: a kiss. Of course, as fate would have it, Angelica walked out onto the balcony just as the two were kissing and assumed the worst. Though Julian chased after her, she took off to the sky and never looked back. It would be another month before Julian discovered the truth behind the night and even after that, there was nothing to be salvaged of his romantic relationship with Angelica, though they agreed to be friends.

Mutation Sternutation

Not long after the fateful night of prom, Julian found himself at an art exhibit with Callie Betto and Jean-Phillip Colbert, as well as a smattering of other mansion residents. Little did he know that while there, he was exposed to a power-swapping virus that left him with their electrokinetic chaperon's abilities. Of course, he wouldn't discover this until after Callie found herself with Rouge's abilities and put Julian into a comatose state for the better part of a day.

With the help of Nori and Doctor Grey-Summers, Julian learned how to use his new abilities, but was very grateful when his telekinesis returned.

Reefer Madness

During a routine field trip to observe a controlled burn of a state park, Julian found himself on the wrong side of a literal fire wall along with his fellow New Mutant team mates. When the fire burned through a marijuana farm, the team suddenly found themselves rescuing the hippies whom were growing it and experiencing a major high.

To help the hippies get the money they would need to pay off the crop (to their mafia investors) Julian quickly volunteered to be part of a team that would count cards at a local Indian casino.

Malibu Madess

On a brilliant July day, William Keller showed up at the mansion with an offer for Julian. Spend less than $500 in the next month and he'd be allowed to return home with his new friends at the end of the summer for a couple weeks. The senior Keller didn't think his son had it in him to accomplish the task, but was quickly proven wrong as Julian spent as little as possible over the next four weeks.

On their way out to the beach house in Malibu that his family owned, with a majority of the New Mutants in tow, the team ran afoul of a rather overzealous TSA agent, who detained them for the better part of an hour. Then, upon their arrival, a discovery was made- the Keller’s had left town for the duration of the group's stay to avoid seeing Julian. The news came as quite a shock to Julian, who sulked most of the rest of the trip. After seeing Nicholas Gleason with his former flame Angelica Jones, Julian found himself seeking comfort in the arms of Inez Temple.

Nearly a week later, Julian's criminal past caught up with him, in the form of an attack on the beach house by his former Lords of Justice teammate Simon Gutierrez. The fight was brief but ended up destroying the beach house and costing the Keller’s an exorbitant amount in repairs and insurance premiums. Relocated to the West Coast Annex, the New Mutants learned about Julian's past for the first time.

Carry On

Going to stay on Doreen Green's grandfather's farm for New Years was supposed to be a relaxing trip back to the West Coast for four New Mutants, but after discovering that his old team mate from the Lords of Justice- Dean Alwin- was going to die, things became complicated. After saying his goodbyes at the hospital, the four teens found themselves confronted again by Julian's old friend, Simon. After tracking him to a drug deal, the teens barely escaped with their lives and agreed to keep their activities that day a secret- though Pixie would later break the silence.

A Growing Rivalry

A routine training activity with his rival Nicholas Gleason turned ugly, when Gleason slashed Keller across the hindquarters in a feral rage. Despite numerous attempts to apologize, Julian and Nick hadn't seen eye to eye since their performances in Doctor Jeckyl and Mister Hyde, performed in town, where Nick also nearly lost control and ate one of the New Mutants.

A month-or-so later, the pair were matched up in a training exercise designed to teach Nick how to dodge things while in his wolf form. After Julian mocked the boy repeatedly and smashed several eggs over his head, Nick entered a feral rage and scratched Julian across the buttocks, leaving a permanent scar from the incident.

Noise & Confusion

Not long after the training accident, or attack depending on who you asked, Valentines Day came around and Julian and Nico found themselves at a local cafe. While there several of their friends came by and were in the process of leaving after a rather public display of affection by Nico when a Moped crashed through the storefront window.

The X-Men trainees and Nico sprung into action as Simon Gutierrez once again made a move to kill Julian and anyone who happened to get in the way. The group of super-powered teenagers took the boosted adversary down easily and for their efforts found themselves arrested by the Salem Center Police Department. An unconscious Simon was taken off to a nearby hospital where he eventually woke up and broke out; sparking a small scale manhunt.

Since the SCPD's motives in the hunt were questionable, the X-Men intervened and made efforts to find the boy first. Julian was paired with Monet and the two managed to find and subdue Simon who then told them, in great detail, the reason why he was trying to kill Julian: an old mutual acquaintance had his mother hostage.

Going to War

Not long after the destruction incurred by Simon in Salem Center, an unfamiliar face returned to wreak havoc on the X-Men's lives by possessing one of Julian's classmates. Selene needed to be taken down and in his first unofficial mission, Keller saw action when he fought the god-witch while protecting Emma Frost and the others involved in the ritual from her wrath. The price he paid for this was, in his own estimation after the fact, worth it. Selene grew iron vines up his legs and under his skin until she was dispatched- which kept him off his feet for sometime.

A month or so later, his next mission was to the land of India where an actual war was about to begin. Spurred into action, Julian was hesitant to leave his New Mutant peers behind at the refugee camp- particularly Nico- as he went with the X-Men to fight the good fight. Confronted with a massive tank battalion, Julian helped Husk and Lorna destroy as many of the destructive vehicles as he could. Eventually, the strain of using his powers continuously and under extreme conditions got to him and Julian blacked out, nearly clobbering himself with Paige in the process. Comatose for some time after this, Julian found himself waking up back in New York with Nico at his side and a new surprise, the ability to see lines-of-force.

R&R, D&D

After a great deal of rest, Julian was convinced by his girlfriend to join her in one of Dori’s games of Dungeons and Dragons. While enjoyable, the game took an interesting turn when Nico accidentally activated the Staff of One, transporting the group into the game world. The only way out was to find the staff, and the only clue to where it was involved a dragon. The team had to work together to survive, and in the end, Nick Gleason gave his life protecting Julian- despite their differences. Fortunately, upon exiting the game, they discovered that Nick was fine, effectively ended the animosity between Keller and Gleason.

Childhood’s End

Not long after, Julian, as part of the senior class, graduated from high school. The commencement ceremony was held off campus, his family conspicuously absent from the attendees. Mid-ceremony, the Purifiers, assisted by the Reavers, attacked. During the battle, Donald Blake, the Reaver leader, closed in for the kill on Julian- but the swift intervention of Nick Gleason saved him, at the cost of his new friend’s life. Enraged, Julian smashed the cybernetic components in Blake’s arms, literally disarming his foe before trying to save Nick. But when Keller turned back to his fallen comrade, the body was gone and the battle was over.

That summer, a dark humor settled over the mansion, Julian was among the effected by Nick’s death, blaming himself for it. Little occurred in his life for months, his relationship with Nico brought him a little comfort, but he was effectively neutered in any emotional capacity. It was at this time that Julian was connected to a new mentor, Jean Grey-Summers, who took a more no-nonsense approach to her tutelage than Nathan had. Julian eventually recovered from his depression, with the help of his new training regiment and the fact he and Nico began to sleep together regularly.

There Will Be Peace

Over Thanksgiving Break of 2010, Warren announced a ski-trip to Colorado. Following several recent events, mysterious letters and interviews by government agents, Julian discerned the fact his family was in trouble and a resident of the Vault had the information he needed to save them- so he went. Ditching his friends the first day, Julian accessed Simon Gutierrez to discover that Gordon had kidnapped his family to lure him home. That night, Julian left for home- keeping the reason for his journey a secret- bringing- under the insistence of Jean- Angelica Jones. Before departing, Julian told Nico and Doreen what was going on, the two insisting on joining him. Keller put his foot down, thinking the two of them to listen as he departed in a Jeep southward. Upon their arrival at the Keller’s Malibu Beach House, Julian was surprised to discover that Nico and Dori had teleported out to the property to help- which scrambled the response of the X-Men, who were now underway. Gordon showed up in the middle of an argument between the four of them- informing Julian he needed to do a series of jobs for him to get back his family members. When Jean and Jan arrived, the crime lord was long gone. After a thorough chew-out by Jean, a plan was formed for rescuing the Keller’s.

The next day, Julian met with Gordon to request resources, but was promptly declined. Unbeknownst to the criminal, Jan hitched a ride back to the villains mansion-com-bunker to discover the locations of the family. Later that day, Nico and Dori were escorted back to New York, but disappeared along the way, which Julian presumed was another attack by Gordon. Before the deadline for the jobs passed, the X-Men divided and rescued the family members, with Julian helping the charge against Gordon. The criminal mastermind was captured , but not without incident. During the final confrontation, McPhearson tried to overload Julian’s powers in an attempt to escape. Lacking control of his abilities, Julian began to involuntarily rip apart the mansion around them. Jean acted quickly, entering his mind and discovering an entity inside that seemed to have control of Julian’s powers. The only solution was to vent the excess energy skyward, destroying the manse and making the rest of the team dig Julian and Jean out. After the battle, the Keller’s were reunited and finally gave their son the acceptance he had long wanted from them. In the chaos of the resolution though, came the revelation that Gordon had nothing to do with the disappearance of Nico and Dori. The X-Men sprung into action, discovering them in a cave complex in the middle of no-where. Julian went with the assault team, still not fully over his injuries sustained in the Los Angeles raid. The teens, along with Ariel, were discovered with Nico’s parents, who were attempting a summoning ritual to protect themselves from Arcana Minoru, who showed up and possessed Nico anyway- though Julian was unconscious at that point.

After the rescue, Nico’s mutation triggered, putting a strain on the young couple’s relationship since they were unable to engage in physical intimacy. They agreed to stay together though, Julian admitting that he loved her for the first time. Jean also had a resolution for Julian- in order to stay on the team as a trainee, he was to be grounded indefinitely, asking permission to leave the mansion grounds.

Returns & Farewells

After the start of the new year, Julian was finally able to return home to L.A. to see his family, but a runway accident at the airport led to an interesting discovery. One of the paramedics looked strikingly like Nick Gleason! Excited, he broke out of a cop car and made his way across the tarmac to give the stranger a hug- though it did turn out to be his lost friend. He and Kurt slowly brought Nick-suffering from amnesia- back to the mansion, in an attempt to jog his memory.

A few months after, Julian and Nico were getting frisky in his bedroom when they decided to go for it. This resulted in Julian’s chi getting siphoned off and him being knocked out for half-a-day. Soon after, the couple broke up, at Nico’s behest, sending Julian into a depression spiral. His solution, go get drunk and laid, as he emailed Jean while she was away from the mansion and headed out to the Hellfire Club.

Over the following months, Julian mostly lay low, occasionally surfacing at the behest of his friends. Eventually, in September 2011, he made that trip out west to see his family, and wound up staying at his father's behest, interning with his father's company and joining the team at the West Coast Annex to hone his teamwork skills.

California, Knows How to Party

Arriving at home Julian felt whole again- his family welcomed him back, the fortune that had been denied him for so long was now legally his again, and best of all- no one was trying to kill him. Immediately, he tried to reconnect with the friends he'd had while in high school; only to find that most had either moved on, or were violently opposed to admitting they once knew him. The few who did want to reconnect either wanted his money, or a token mutant friend to show how open-minded they were. Instead of dwelling on this rejection, Julian funneled his energies into assisting with the youth program at the West Coast Annex- where he also continued his powers training. Julian's nights were a sharp contrast to his upstanding pillar of the community role he was cultivating, as he began to hit the club scene where he made waves among the city's social elite. Despite his full schedule, Julian always made time for his little brother; he and James were closer than ever.

Not happy about his new dilettante life-style, William and Elizabeth made the decision that Julian would be enrolling in classes at Stanford for the Spring Semester in 2012. While Julian was on board with their decision, Stanford resisted since Julian's diploma was from a relatively unknown school on the other end of the country (it had 'nothing' to do with the fact he was a mutant). William made an impassioned plea to the admissions board and he was admitted; so thankful was the elder Keller that he donated a sizable amount of money toward the construction of the Keller Library, slated to be completed in 2015.

If his parents had been hoping that Julian's life-style would be mellowed by higher education, their hopes were quickly dashed. He slacked off, skipping classes and serial dating his way through the student body. Raucous weekend parties were a norm, which usually ended with the family lawyer convincing the campus to drop the charges for under-age drinking. He still spent a fair amount of time at the WCA, helping with the kids there- making sure they wouldn't follow his path- but his 'scholastic' endeavors ultimately left no time for clubbing. For a brief period, Julian joined a Mutant Pride group on campus, but found that their philosophy clashed with his own and left soon after. The group was led by a rampant supporter of Magneto's doctrines- this did not prevent Julian from sleeping with her. Despite being back West, and living a carefree life, Julian didn't feel like he was where he was supposed to be- something was missing.

After Julian's first semester ended with passing grades (if only barely), William pulled Julian away from his plans to take a summer road trip back to New York and gave him a low level job within his company; as the Executive Assistant to the Director of Acquisitions. Summer rolled by with meetings across the globe, culminating a weekend before classes were to start again with their final trip- which led to something that would change Julian's life forever.

The Mountains Are Calling, And I Must Go

While in Beijing to finalize the contracts in the acquisition of a factory, Julian found himself captivated by a woman he spotted on the street. He left his entourage to introduce himself and hit it off with her almost immediately. Her name was Cassandra Guan, a student at a Buddhist Temple miles from the city, which devoted itself to mutants. Post-Genosha China was worse than it had been previously for mutants, and she was in the city to take part in a demonstration. Naturally, Julian had to go with and, of course, the peaceful protest got out of hand and the two ended up arrested. A fun afternoon was cut short as he found himself in a foreign prison- where his boss and the American consulate bailed him out. Julian refused to leave unless Cassandra was released too and a few hours later, she was released to their custody. He offered her a bed for the night (his) which she politely refused, instead offering him the chance to join her at the Si Huanying Quan- which he had to refuse due to the morning flight and classes starting in a couple days. They parted ways with her informing him the offer was always open.

The fall semester began and Julian could not get his mind off Cassandra; and so, with several lies about where he was traveling, when fall break came around, Julian boarded a plane to the Hunan Province and made the trek into the Zhangjiajie Stone Forest to find her. The temple was like something out of an old Kung Fu movie- complete with robed monks sparring in the yard. He was ushered before a very old abbot, named Sifu Paris, who to his surprised spoke perfect English with a slight French accent. The master informed him that Cassandra was in the wilderness on a training exercise and would not be back for two days time. Julian was given a bed to sleep in and was invited to study with Lama Paris, a fellow telekinetic of astonishing power. With the master's help, and a freedom from distraction Julian advanced with his powers more than he had in the previous six months at the WCA (he learned to levitate himself). Cassandra returned and they spent some limited- supervised- time together before he had to depart, with Julian promising to return soon.

He came home to an irate father, his flight plan fake-out getting discovered almost immediately after his departure. William forbade him from going back, but Julian told him- for the first time in his life- no. The younger Keller informed his father that he would be returning to the temple regularly in the future and that there was nothing he could do to stop him. With Julian reaching the age of majority on his trust in a week's time, he was technically correct- there was no time to legally divest him of his money and William had to accept that his son was now his own man. Mutual respect blossomed, which helped when Julian picked up a second major in Physics upon his return to school the next day.

Julian's classes suffered as a result, and he ended up dropping most of the business courses. His party-boy lifestyle ceased, his time at the WCA became sparser and he began to read more, mostly about Eastern Philosophy. Throughout the semester Julian took short trips back to China- and as time went by, these trips became more about powers training than seeing Cassandra. The two young mutants never dated, nothing ever happened between them as they were rarely alone- but it was fairly obvious that they were both very fond of each other's company. As the Fall 2012 semester came to a close, Julian made the decision to take a semester off to travel to China and study there for a few months.

The months spent there, studying and training with Sifu Paris, were some of the most productive of Julian's life- his powers developed to levels he'd only dreamed of achieving. Cassandra and he grew closer still and as time slipped by towards his departure, they managed to find some time alone in the guise of a flying lesson. Atop one of the pillars of the Stone Forest, they shared a chaste kiss before having to return to the temple. When it was finally time to head home, Julian found himself not wanting to- but Lama Paris was adamant that he either needed to dedicate himself to their order full time, or depart. Cassandra promised she'd visit him when able.

The Times, They Are A'Changin'

Julian returned home a changed man- more disciplined and more motivated. He returned to Stanford for his third semester and actually seemed to apply himself in classes. Cassandra wrote often, in her letters she spoke of increasing animosity between Lama Paris and the local governor. There were rumors reaching the temple of mutants disappearing from the streets in some of the larger cities, she was afraid that the temple presented too tempting a target if the government was responsible. Julian offered to use his wealth to buy land for them in California, to reopen the temple in friendlier climes. In her final letter, Cassandra said she was trying to find the right moment to ask Lama Paris about the possible move. After that, the letters stopped coming and as Christmas came around, Julian made arrangements to visit himself- only to find himself barred from entering the country.

Given the rumors, and seeing no other option, Julian used his money to arrange to be smuggled into China. He traveled to the Stone Forest and found the temple in ruins- no one was there. Gathering a few artifacts, Julian returned to the pirate vessel who he'd hired for his excursion. Back home, the young scion used his wealth to fund an inquiry through the state department, but the Chinese government claimed to have no knowledge of any actions taken against any temples in the Hunan Province.

Dejected, when the Spring semester came, Julian buried himself in his studies. He stopped visiting the WCA and did little else than read, watch the news and go to classes. As summer neared, William offered him a summer internship with the company, which he accepted. On his first day, he found the main entrance of the building mobbed with reporters- several SHIELD vehicles were parked outside with suited agents keeping an eye on the crowd. Julian parked in the underground garage and took the elevator inside, just in time to see a SHIELD extraction team escorting his father into the media circus! A familiar face stopped Julian from doing anything rash, Agent Phil Coulson was leading the operation and may have prevented the young mutant from joining his father in prison.

He was given an escort home where Agent Coulson explained to Elizabeth, James and Julian that evidence had implicated William in tax evasion, title fraud and contributing money to terrorist organizations- both pro and anti-mutant- over the past ten years. The family was shocked- calling the charges outrageous and funding a small army of lawyers to form William's legal defense. Ultimately the defense proved fruitless, as William was given a sentence of 35 years and the majority of the family's assets were seized by the government. Julian's trust was untouched, which he promptly cashed out and split with his family before moving back to New York.

Bowler

Upon his return, Julian began searching for an apartment in the city while staying at Xavier's Mansion. He volunteered his services as an adviser to the New Mutants and planned to live in the city while visiting to help out. Unfortunately, the place he'd originally wanted rejected his offer- which led to him renting the penthouse out for a major party, which is where he met Tandy Bowen. The two danced the night away, only to find that the press was now listing them as a snappy-celebrity-couple named Bowler.

Originally shunning the press, the two agreed to be friends and had coffee and hung out several times before deciding to run an experiment. The two began to flirt with the press, raising their image through the Bowler name, ultimately trying to remain relevant by introducing the newly single Susan Storm - Phase 1 into the mix, creating Sulian. Sue's involvement created a rift between Julian and Tandy, which ultimately destroyed their friendship and the experiment. This may have well been the end of them, were it not for the timely intervention of Rogue, who invited both Tandy and Julian to Thanksgiving with her family down south, without telling either of them that the other was coming.

Trapped in a car with each other for such a long time, the two eventually came to realize that they liked each other, and that was why jealousy had ripped apart their fake relationship. They returned from the trip as a couple and have been happily dating since.

The Dark Phoenix Saga

During the Dark Phoenix Saga, Julian volunteered to help find Jean Grey, trying to leave Tandy with a note in the night before departing- ultimately this tactic failed, as the two nearly admitted their love for each other before he departed. During the mission he received a severe concussion that made it difficult to use his powers. Upon their return to the mansion, Julian helped a small team face off against the Dark Phoenix- which led to his near death after being skewered by shrapnel when her telekinetic field was disrupted by Rogue. He passed out from blood loss in the woods shortly thereafter.

Phase 2

Brave New World

Julian awoke in the woods to discover Tandy's death. Mourning her, he buried himself in working with the newly formed Generation X. Julian and Angelica Jones brought on Jessica Jones to handle the influx of new students. Julian further discovered that this new world had some surprises in store for him. The first was that he was no longer publicly known as a mutant and his family still loved him- enough to put him in charge of their East Coast operations. While his farther was still in prison, his mother had seized control of the company and was keeping it afloat. He also discovered that an older Susan Storm was his best childhood friend, and he was part owner of The Jack O' Lantern nightclub with his roommate, Harry Osborn. Finding it difficult to adjust to his new role, Julian began to plan a trip back to China, to see if the new world included the Si Huanying Quan. His trip was cut short by the seeming resurrection of Tandy Bowen.

Since Tandy's return, Julian has happily been splitting his time between his relationship, his two jobs (with Keller Industries and the Jack-o-Lantern), and his mentorship role with the Generation X program, as well as his place in the new incarnation of the Hellfire Club. He became comfortable in the new world, and has been truly happy for the first time in a long while, although in August 2016 he assisted Garrison Kane in an investigation of the murder of a mutant acquaintance. A kidnapping and murder ring was broken up, but the suspect was killed during a prison transfer by a mysterious third party who had apparently set everything up. Julian paid no particular mind to this, however and continued his life at the mansion untroubled. Towards the end of the year, Julian was given two puppies- Harley & Nick- for his birthday, from Tandy.

industrial espionage raised its head at Keller Industries when Julian's assistant - and friend from the mansion - Hope Abbott was [[Two Sided Coin of Ambition}accused of a security breach]]. On top of the official investigation, Julian hired X-Factor Investigations to look into things. They were able to establish that Hope had indeed been set up by someone at rival company Hammer Industries but had no solid proof to exonerate Hope. Reluctantly, Julian had to let Hope resign as his assistant, but welcomed her into the Hellfire Club's White Court many months later when she became the White Herald.

Scourge

In April 2016, Julian was once again called on by Garrison, Logan, Sharon Friedlander and Kitty Pryde to assist in the capture of an escaped mutant from Roxxon Corporation. It appeared the mutant had been experimented on as part of a weaponisation project and had escaped into the sewers, however things were much more serious when the group encountered not only the mutant - called Death Adder - but two mutant criminals who had been hired to break Death Adder free. In the battle that ensued, Julian was stabbed through the hands with the highly poisonous barb on Death Adder's tail - as the only way to save his life, Logan was forced to cut off both of Julian's hands at the wrist. Sharon F.took Julian for treatment at the mansion while the remaining group subdued Death Adder and the two criminals, handing them over to law enforcement... only for them to be found dead at the hands of the man calling himself Scourge and who they had encountered the previous August.

The injury was shattering for Julian and he was slow to return to a semblance of normal life. His telekinesis proved invaluable and he made many advances in fine control in the course of trying to make do with regular prosthetics, modern technology clashing with his powers. His relationship with Tandy grew strained as he took out his frustrations on her. He eventually managed to heal the breach with her and in January 2017 a reprieve of sorts appeared in the form of a pair of intricate clockwork hands that Garrison 'acquired' in the wake of an X-Men mission to stop a hostage situation. Lester Verde, a former associate of Jacob Lowenstein and the inventor of many of his Murderworld robots, attacked Lowenstein's latest building with his latest clockwork creatures - he escaped but from the debris came a pair of hands Julian's powers wouldn't short out and which he could eventually use as well as the real thing.

While the rest of the year was relatively quiet, Julian found himself entering another dimension as part of a group to rescue mansion residents Topaz and Clea Lake. The experience shook him up for some time and in October Tandy decided a beach vacation for his birthday was in order, taking him to Bora Bora.

Another year, another rescue - this time of the Generation X high schoolers where decidedly strange happened at their school. Then, only days later, Julian found himself engaged in a search and rescue operation with Reed Richards, when an android set fire to swathes of New York. The irony wasn't lost on Julian - only two months before he had been extremely unhappy about Tandy's decision to join the X-Men, something which he had resisted since the end of the world and the deaths of so many of his trainee teammates. They resolved their differences and Julian tried to be supportive when Tandy deployed with the team.

Return of the Dweller

The biggest threat to Tandy's safety came not from an X-Man mission but from a source long thought defeated - the Dweller was released from its prison and possessed Tandy again, using her as part of a joint plan with Asgardian exile Cul Bor'son to conquer two worlds, Earth and Asgard. It was Julian's worst nightmare and for the most part he could only watch helplessly as the Dweller used Tandy's body without any concern for her safety. He joined the team in several missions to try and stop the Dweller, finally succeeding in knocking Tandy's body out and Jean Grey and Amanda Sefton using a combination of magic and telepathy to help her fight the possession. Eventually Cul Bor'son was defeated and Tandy, with the psychic help of her friends, was able to imprison the Dweller inside her own mind. It wasn't the best solution, but the only one available and she would have to stay alert to possible incursions for as long as it remained there.

With Tandy back, Julian focused on her recovery and being her support in the days that followed, however they eventually broke up. He withdrew from the bulk of mansion life and spent more and more time at his apartment in New York. In September 2021 he made the decision to relocate there on a more permanent basis - with the last of the high school age members of Generation X finally graduated, there was no real need for him to remain.

Physical Characteristics

Height: 6'0"

Weight: 180 lbs

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Black

Other Features: Square jaw, lots of scars (two most notable, claw marks across his butt and sub-dermal scars from barbed wire on his legs). Lost his hands during a mission in 2016 and now has a pair of detachable, complicated clockwork hands built by Lester Verde which he manipulates with his powers.

Powers

Telekinesis, with a green energy signature: Julian’s first manifestation occurred during a nightmare when he was thirteen years old. At the behest of his parents he suppressed his powers and they ended up manifesting as nocturnal outbursts- these outbursts still occur during particularly intense dreams and during times of great stress. When Keller finally did start to develop/train his abilities he concentrated on heavy objects, ignoring the fact that fine motor control was just as difficult. Currently he is able to lift up to three-dozen objects that weigh thirty pounds- or up to a ton of singular weight- the heavier the objects the fewer of them he is able to lift. At one point, Julian tried to float a basketball across the court, only to pop the ball- this discouraged him from experimenting with light weight objects. When confronted by the police, Keller attempted to pin one officer to the wall, only to end up breaking both of the man’s arms- in short he lacks gentleness or finesse. He has been practicing levitation on himself, though the results have been poor. With proper training and instruction, this could be developed to flight.

Julian can create telekinetic shields and bubbles that are as durable as to deflect conventional explosives. When shielding, Julian is only able to focus on one other task. His shields appear as a bubble shape, and cover an area with a ten-foot radius. Keller’s active range has been tried to fifty feet without showing signs of over exertion- during nocturnal episodes, there were reports of incidents from up to a half-a-mile away. Julian is able to lift half-a-ton of material with his telekinesis and can split his attention between up to 20 different objects within the space. Due to his studies at the WCA and in China, Julian is now able to create telekinetic waves that can knock a person several feet into the air. These fields seem to disapate about 20 feet away from him. He has also learned to lift people without breaking them; this knowledge has enabled him to learn to fly, though landing for him and passengers are both tricky. Julian is able to fly at 40 miles per hour,up to 20 miles before needing rest. He has also been learning how to disarm people without hurting them- but this is a skill in development.

When he uses his abilities in excess, his eyes begin to glow green- he can push himself to this limit for about 30 minutes before collapsing into a comatose state. Keller possess quick reflexes and has shown a clever acumen at solving problems with his abilities instead of with his hands.