Dr. Nick Mason

Nick Mason is a scientist currently employed by the Speedwagon Foundation. He is currently working towards creating a scientific theory that explains stands and all their effects. During the Worldwind Tour, searching for the treasure Once in a Lifetime, he was a member of Loca's Motions.

T2
Stand Research: Dr. Mason has spent a lot of time investigating and researching stands of all types, and as a result can very quickly gauge the powers and abilities of enemy stands he faces.

Appearance and Equipment
Dr. Mason has a slight build, with messy reddish-brown hair, and an overall unkempt appearance. He almost never takes his long white labcoat off, and always carries safety goggles, pens, and paper in his pocket. He typically wears jeans/khakis along with a shirt or sweater under his labcoat.

Personality
Dr. Mason initially appears to be a typical absent-minded professor, with messy hair, a desk covered papers with incomprehensible math on them, and a tendency to go off on tangents in conversations. He is very excitable, especially when it comes to topics he’s interested in, and will not hesitate to give hour-long lectures on the spot to any unfortunate soul who asks him about his work. However, he is very clever and a quick thinker, capable of rapidly analyzing a situation and thinking of a solution. He is not physically strong, but he is very strong mentally. This, combined with his unique stand ability, has caught more than one assassin off-guard. He is against lethal force, but will reluctantly do it when given no other alternative

Bio
Dr. Nick Mason is a theoretical physicist currently employed by the Speedwagon Foundation. Currently trying to develop a scientific theory on the nature of Stands, he also works as an agent for the Speedwagon foundation, and is occasionally sent out on missions that require his experience, quick thinking, and unique stand ability. His mission to peer into the very essence of Stands has made him more than a few enemies, and he has had to learn how to defend himself from the occasional assassin.

Mason did not always have his stand. After receiving a PhD in Theoretical Physics, he was employed by the Speedwagon Foundation, where he entered the tutelage of a senior agent. Always fascinated by the stands and powers he could not see, Mason jumped at the opportunity to investigate a strange cache of artifacts that radiated Stand energy. While the records surrounding the ensuing incident have been “lost,” Mason returned with a stand, the only survivor of the team that was sent. He soon rocketed through the ranks to become one of the top scientists at the SWF. After participating in the eventually fruitless search for the mysterious Once in a Lifetime, Dr. Nick Mason has been assigned to another mission…

Appearance
[Dark Side of the Moon] takes the appearance of a dark orb surrounded by many floating hands of various sizes (about 8-12). The hands vary in size from the size of a small child’s to larger than a watermelon. The orb emits dark smoke around it and appears to be insubstantial until closely inspected/punched. Two points of light resembling eyes shine out of the smoke. When idle, the hands will begin performing various tasks spontaneously: twiddling thumbs, mimicking the user’s movements, making gestures to accentuate the user’s speech, etc. The hands are not particularly durable and will usually evaporate into smoke after a little bit of damage, but they do not reflect damage back to Mason. Certain stand abilities may be reflected back to Mason, as the hands are still considered part of [Dark Side of the Moon]. Attacking the central orb will damage the user, however. The hands regenerate out of the smoke surrounding [Dark Side of the Moon] when destroyed, at a rate of one per second.

Ability: [Ability Inversion]
If one of [Dark Side]’s hands grabs hold of another stand or stand user, it inverts the abilities of the grabbed stand. There are no clear rules for exactly what effect the inversion will have, and [Ability Inversion] could affect any number of a stand’s abilities (though it usually results in something hilarious/awesome), and can have different effects on the same stand in different encounters. Possible examples include Star Platinum having its accuracy inverted and launching punches everywhere, Magician’s Red becoming a bird-headed squirt gun, ZA WARUDO freezing DIO in place for a few seconds, and Crazy Diamond disintegrating anything it touches.

[Ability Inversion] works best against stands with active abilities. Stands with passive abilities can have much more unpredictable effects and might not even be affected at all. The inversion can also backfire if [Dark Side] inadvertently inverts a weakness into a strength, or changes a relatively useless ability into one that is much more useful. The effect persists until the affected individual goes more than 50m away from Mason, Mason ends the effect manually, or Mason is knocked unconscious. Multiple targets can be affected by [Ability Inversion], and Mason does not need to concentrate to maintain the effect, but each inversion takes up a hand.

Stat Explanations
Power - B: [Dark Side] can pack a punch, especially since it's got multiple hands that can hit targets simultaneously (equivalent to a B-strength stand)

Speed - B: The hands can move surprisingly quickly to strike foes from unexpected angles (equivalent to a B-speed stand)

Range - S(3): The Orb can go 5m from Mason, and the hands can go 10m from the orb. The inversion effect has a 50m range but must be applied by a hand.

Durability - D: [Dark Side] does have low durability; the hands, while they can block attacks, usually dissipate after doing so, and the main orb is kinda squishy as well. The hands regenerate at a rate of one per second.

Precision - B: [Dark Side] is capable of manipulating objects very skillfully with it’s hands, and can pretty accurately land precise strikes.

Development Potential - Theoretically Infinite: Since [Ability Inversion] is based entirely off what stands Mason faces, there are essentially as many possibilities for it as there are stands.

Fighting Style
Dr. Mason typically tries to avoid combat, but when unable to, he is no slouch. He starts by trying to analyze what his opponent’s power is and predict what the inverse might be. If he can’t, he’ll usually just try to grab them with [Dark Side] anyway, since the sudden change in abilities usually throws the opponent off balance. After that, he usually then tries to use [Dark Side]’s hands to grab and immobilize the opponent, ending the conflict. He is also capable of punch rushes if necessary, since his stand is mostly made out of fists. He can use the hands to block incoming attacks, since damage to them does not reflect onto him. However, powerful attacks will usually go right through the hands due to their low durability. [Dark Side] can also create a medium smokescreen using the smoke the main orb emits, though its usefulness is limited.

The Bootstrap Technique
Exploiting the fact that [Dark Side of the Moon]'s hands are separate from its main body, Mason can use them as floating platforms to jump over obstacles, "levitate" through the air, and even climb straight up. Essentially, Mason takes a step forward as a hand forms under his foot, then boosts him upward. As long as Mason keeps moving, he can maintain or even increase his altitude. However, should he stop moving, both he and [Dark Side of the Moon] will begin falling.

Round 1, Match 23: Nick Mason and Null vs. Joey DeMaio
Arriving at the Roman Colliseum following a lead, Nick Mason and Null, of FLEAs, encountered Joey DeMaio, a vicious idiot of a stand user wielding the incredibly dangerous stand [Manowar]. [Manowar] was an insanely powerful stand, and could attach tethers of fate to objects, drawing them together. After a tough battle, Joey was eventually killed when the pair tricked him into pulling a piece of furniture onto his head, then being beat down by a savage double rush from both sides.

Round 2, Match 1: Nick Mason vs. DJ the Cheetah
Following another lead, Nick Mason found himself attending a Fancy Dress Ball, looking for a package drop. Little did he know that DJ, of Purple Team, was also attending and searching for the same package. The pair noticed each other after an unidentified Enemy Stand caused the rest of the crowd to erupt into a crazed riot. Mason was defeated by DJ, and was captured by Purple Team. However, Mason proceeded to befriend Purple team, and was eventually rescued by the rest of Loca's Motion, leaving on good terms.

Gallery
Dr. Mason and [Dark Side of the Moon] ponder a Stand Arrow - by Logic Sandwich [Dank Side of the Memes] - By Kantu