Riptide

(Neil Saba)

From a very early age, Neil Saba felt right at home in the water. By the time he was a junior at his Southern California high school, Neil was already the captain of the water polo team and the boys' swim team. Naturally, there were many colleges interested in recruiting him, but Neil had another goal: the Olympics.

Then during his senior year, he was contacted by a representative from the U.S. Team that had heard of Neil's natural talent. After graduating, Neil began tryouts and training for the national team. Unfortunately for Neil, it was determined after a number of examinations that his natural talent in the water was actually the product of his super-abilities. This disqualified him from competing with the national team, as well as any of the schools that had once recruited him. Devastated by the revelation, Neil returned home only to discover that there was another option. It seemed that there was a science outfit called National Research Group out of Seattle that was researching the development of super-abilities. Neil, seemingly at the end of the road, signed up.

During his time at NRG, Neil Saba learned to use his water-based abilities. He discovered that in addition to being able to propel himself through water at incredible speeds he was also able to breathe underwater and survive the pressure of incredible depths. He also learned that he could create waterspouts and direct them, provided there was a sufficient amount of water nearby. Once comfortable with his new powers, Neil decided to join NRG's super-team Armor Security.