Origins
During the events of Dark Nights Metal, Dereck and Helen were in Gotham City. While there, the Challenger’s Mountain sprouts up in the city that began to emitted energy throughout the city. Unfortunately for Dereck and his mother, they found themselves at “ground-zero”, where Dereck fell into the ground.
However, mysteriously, Dereck found himself falling through the ground instead, and ending up on the other side of town. It wasn’t until four days later that he saw his mother again as an unidentifiable John Doe in the hospital.
Creation
Sideways was created by Kenneth Rocafort, Dan Didio and Justin Jordan in 2018 as part of the The New Age of Heroes initiative. He was created as a way to fill the niche of a young teenage loner character, someone who was trying to discover themselves all the while dealing with the challenges of being a teenager. As a by-product, Sideways was the answer for some missing opportunities for stories and characters that the Rebirth initiative had not yet filled. Sideways’ first appearance was in Sideways #1 (2018).
Derek’s Puerto Rican lineage can be contributed directly to Kenneth Rocafort, being Puerto Rican himself, which helped cement an authenticity to the character’s visual presences, such as his style of dress, attitude, personality, and how he conveys himself.
Major Story Arcs
A month after gaining his powers, Sideways began to use his powers to become a live-streamer, using his powers as a vehicle to gain internet stardom. However, on his first outing Tempus Fuginaut, a monitor to preserve the boundaries between dimensions, tried to stop Sideways from using his powers haphazardly.
Sideways, making light of this, threw himself off the building to gain distance between Tempus Fuginaut’s scepter and himself so he may be able to rift and get away. However, in the process, he ended up dislocating his shoulder, and falling into the lake at a height that wasn’t much different than landing on concrete.
In his weakened state, he rifted over to Ernestine Edgar’s house to get her help. Ernie is able to get a “Carber” to pick them up and take to the Gotham City Hospital. The hospital is able to fix Dereck’s shoulder, and where he gets a lecture from his mom about being reckless. However, before they are able to get too much into it, Killspeed begins to cause havoc, attacking the hospital staff. This prompted Dereck to suit up and fight in his underwear and sling.
Young Justice
Derek along with Aqualad, Spoiler, and Arrowette was recruited by Bart Allen as a backup member of Young Justice to confront a S.T.A.R. Labs division gone rogue. He was also a key component to rescue successfully Kon-El, bringing him back to Earth after he was lost in Skartaris.
Personal Data
Characteristics
- Height: 5’11”
- Eye Color: Light Brown
- Hair Color: Dark Brown
Status
- Identity: Secret
- Place of Birth: Gotham City, New Jersey
- Citizenship: U.S.A.
- Education: High Schooler (Junior)
- Known Relatives: David Flynn (adopted father), Helen Flynn (adopted mother)
Powers and Abilities
Sideways’ powers originated from the Dark Multiverse after falling through the ground at Ground Zero of the reemergence of Challenger’s Mountain.
Rifting:
Sideways’ main power is his ability to open up rifts in space, allowing himself to either look through or step through and instantaneously travel to other locations wherever he may choose, which he calls “rifting”. Rifts tend to be blurry however, and his aim isn’t always exactly right. A side effect of rifting seems to be that it tears holes in the fabric of space and time, allowing The inverse to slip through. He is also able to bring people along with him when rifting, and trick people into walking through them, acting like portals. However, if a person isn’t fully entered when the rift is closed, the rift can dismember the person.
Sideways has the potential to open multiple rifts at once, and look through each of them similar to a surveillance system.
- Rift Tracking: When Sideways think of a person before opening a rift he can locate and jump towards them. He can also find and teleport to beings outside the universe.
- Dimensional Rifting: Similar to Tempus Fuginaut can travel through different dimensions and universes.
- Rift Construct: A rift can act like a physical barrier, almost like a shield, being durable enough to stop a large truck from hitting him.
- Black Hole Creation: By creating a second rift within an existing rift Sideways can create a black hole .
When he uses his rifting ability, it seems to effect the body in a physical manner, as he remarks that it took him a week to get use to the feeling of rifting, which caused nausea, blurry vision, and headaches. However, that seemed to be easily remedied after continual use.
Sideways seems unable to rift when in close proximity to Tempus Fuginaut’s scepter.
Superhuman Strength
While not as strong as someone like Superman, Sideways’ has enough strength to be able to lift more than the average man. His first display of super strength was when he lifted Ernie’s drawer full of clothes over his head with the simplest of ease. His upper limits have yet to be explored.
Superhuman Durability
Sideways is also extremely durable, as evident by his ability to survive falls that would easily kill a normal man. However, his durability doesn’t make him immune to pain, as he has had his shoulder dislocated and his body covered with bruises after a serious fall.