Lyla Michaels-Diggle

Lyla Michales: 1978 - 2017
Lyla Michaels was a small town girl from Blue Valley, Colorado. The daughter of a war hero turned politician and his trophy wife, Lyla was a sick child for much of her youth. As a teenager Lyla’s father was elected to the U.S. Senate and took her for a fishing trip to Florida, hoping to get her some sun as he wined and dined some southern politicians. While her father and his fellow statesmen got wasted, Lyla fell overboard and her cries were not heard over the raucous, drunken laughter. With her limited strength, Lyla may have died that day but somehow she washed up on shores of Themyscira.

We'll get to how that happened, but anyway she wasn’t the first stray human to wash up Paradise Island’s beaches. However she got there, Hippolyta and Donna discovered her while out for a stroll. Due to Lyla’s frail form, Hippolyta took great pity on the child and instead of forming a team of warriors to send her back to man’s world, Hippolyta put the girl in the care of her daughters.

Once the girl was nourished back to health, Hippolyta sent Nubia and Andraste to take Lyla back. In accordance with Amazon custom, Hippolyta ordered Lyla to drink a potion to could her memories of Themyscira; but when her mother and sisters were not looking, Donna had Lyla drink of another potion, one that gave her the abilities of an Amazon (I only know of this because of a bottle of Martian wine and the loose lips of a tipsy Amazon).

When Lyla was found with no memory of where she had been for weeks and with her chronic illness gone, there was much talk about miracles (and yes, her father is still winning elections from this). With new strength, Lyla joined the U.S. Naval Academy after school and with her new Amazon physique and political connections; Lyla soared through the ranks and was one of the first female Navy SEALs.

It was during her time in Special Forces that Lyla met John Diggle, the man she married (then later divorced, before marrying again in 2007). The two even had a child together (Note to self: I still need a DNA sample from Sara). In 2009, Lyla was handpicked by Maxwell Lord to head up the Operations Division for A.R.G.U.S., a position that has been natural fit for Lyla.

Harbinger: 2017 - Present
Sometime in late 2016, Lyla was contacted by the Monitor and selected to become the cosmic being's Harbinger. Apparently Lyla had agreed to this as the Monitor had been discreetly preparing her for this her whole life, having been the one to rescue Lyla from drowning and placing her on the shores of Themyscira at a young age and having appeared to her several times in her dreams via telepathy to covertly direct her path in life, inspiring her to join the military and later ARGUS. Lyla even chose her ARGUS codename to be Harbinger due to faint recollections of the Monitor's dream-given messages.

After working with the Monitor for several months, Lyla finally agreed to become the true Harbinger and was granted an endowment of cosmic power so potent that it would likely have killed any being who had not been truly chosen. Now, as the Harbinger of the Monitor, Lyla oversees the Challengers and acts as the Monitor's right hand in his upcoming war against the Anti-Monitor.

Abilities

 * Military Training: Lyla is a skilled special forces operator. In the Marines, she was a Major before her retirement.

-Telepathy: Though still learning how to use this ability, Lyla can glean telepathic insights from those around her. -Invisibility: Lyla can choose not to be seen to the naked human eye. -Energy Manipulation: Lyla can manipulate the forces and elements of the universe and generate cosmic energy from her eyes and hands. -Teleportation: By opening cosmic rifts, Lyla can "teleport" through space at hyper-light speeds. This ability also seems able to cross all dimensional thresholds at will. -Force Field Generation: Lyla can generate and manipulate Force Fields constructed of Cosmic Energy for a variety of effects such as protection or containment of hostile forces. -Flight: Lyla can fly using psionic energies. -Cosmic Conscience: Lyla has very sharp cosmic senses, which allows her to see the unseen, hear transmitted frequencies, and even gift another with insight through touch. -Cosmic Power: Lyla holds more potential power than that of a mature Apokalyptan, Genesisian, or Kryptonian; and the primary source of this immense power is the ability to shape cosmic energy. Lyla is only a novice with with power, however, and her skill with it is rather basic. -Enhanced Physicality: Though not a being usually driven to exert herself physically, Lyla's strength, resilience, and durability scores all appear to be in the realm of at least Class VI. -Bio-Fission: Lyla can literally be in several places at once through creating cosmic duplicates of herself. However, when doing so, her original form and each duplicate only contains a fraction of her power. -Chronokinesis: As a cosmic being, Lyla is theoretically able to halt the flow of time, but has yet to demonstrate this ability or even a passive immunity to time disruptions like other cosmic beings.
 * Cosmic Physiology: Having been born with certain genetic traits and later given an enhanced anatomy through Amazon rituals, Lyla was able to be given a significant investment of the Monitor's cosmic energy, which fundamentally altered her DNA.

Weaknesses

 * Loved Ones: If you were an idiot, you could try to go after Lyla by way of her family, but I would warn you that John Diggle is no slouch.


 * Occult: Magic is magic. It may be possible to use powerful occult methods to interfere with her cosmic energy manipulation.


 * The Monitor: As Harbinger, Lyla's cosmic powers are at the mercy of the Monitor's discretions. As a result, she cannot use her powers to defy him. If she were mind controlled to against the Monitor, her powers would not respond. Likewise, when the Monitor is significantly weakened, this effect may make Lyla powerless as well.

Trivia and Notes

 * Lyla practices speeches and planned confrontations in the mirror or in elevators if she is alone.


 * Lyla is a huge Christmas fan, going overboard with decorations for the holidays and usually taking her vacation around this time of year in order to spend as much time as possible with John and Sara.Even Lyla's favorite drink is, of course, egg nog.


 * While she can tolerate it, Lyla hates resorting to text messaging when she can just call someone instead.


 * Watches cooking shows when home alone, but is herself a horrible cook.


 * Tells "mom" jokes and if she finds a joke funny, she might snort while laughing... even if she is the one who told the joke.


 * Hates shoes and socks. Often works barefoot in her office in ARGUS or puts slippers on to walk the halls.


 * Orders her drinks on the rocks so she can chew the ice.


 * Is a secret fan of Young Adult literature.

Links and References

 * Appearances of Lyla Michaels-Diggle
 * Character Gallery: Lyla Michaels-Diggle