Slowly the man opened his eyes, waking from what seemed like an eternal sleep. The room was bright, much more than he remembered. It was a warm light that filled his mind and warmed his skin. For a long moment he just rested there, enjoying the relaxation.
Then he remembered, he had no eyes.
It was a shock at first, then slowly he remembered. The eternity of pain, what seemed like countless days on end lost in this prison of flesh and metal. He had been here for a long time.
How long?
The memories just would not come. He slowly sat up and gazed at the room that had been his home for so vary long. Around him was a odd assortment of machines, some look as if they were brand new while others seem to date back 10 years or more.
Slowly he turned his attention to himself. For as long as he could remember he had no body, just the unending pain and inability to move. However things had changed, he now had a body. One arm was gone, replaced with a mechanical structure. The man was surprised as he touched his metal finger to the table that he was sitting on, he could feel the texture. The metal arm reacted as if it was the one he was born with, feeling so natural that he would never have known if he had not looked.
Slowly he stood up, his legs shaking under him. Walking seemed like a distant memory, something that he had done once, a long time ago. He made his way to a mirror covered in years of dirt and dust. As he brushed the dirt away he finally got to see himself.
He was no longer a man, though he was not sure he ever was. Most of his body was encased in an armor that seemed to link to his mind, allowing him to feel the air as it moved or the floor beneath his metal feet. Only his left hand showed any signs of humanity buried in the mass of metal. He was horrified at the site, yet it felt strangely natural to him, as though he was born to be this.
A gasp of breath caught his attention. He turned to see a old man on the floor, his body shaking and his breath short and fast. Without thinking he ran to the old man and knelt next to him, softly turning him onto his back. The old mans eyes were glassy as he stared at the metal man that stood before him. As he spoke he had to pause several times to catch his breath.
I
.I am glad to see you
I was worried the machines could not w
wake you.
Who are you?
Marcus Calash
Nobody really.
The man paused to cough before continuing.
I am a drifter
.. Been wandering for years since my family was killed
.. I found this place a few years ago and I have been working here ever since.
Who am I?
It was a valid question since the metal man could not remember much before the past few minutes.
I do
.I do not know. I found you here
..hooked to life support. Your body was rotting away, and yet you were
.we
.were alive. Kind of funny. I spent my whole life studying cybernetics and robotics
.and here I find you, needing somebody like me.
. Fa
..Fate has a funny way of working.
The man began to convulse and shudder as his body began to stop working. After a moment of rest he turned and looked the metal man in his eyes and began to speak again.
I rebuilt you
You are my lifes work
.my purpose of existence. Your body
You body is strong. I gave you the ability to shape fire
a simple plasma device I picked up after the war
.. Pl;
Please
Use them to help
The man began to shake again, his body trembling for several moments before he went limp, the life passing from his body. The metal man slowly stood back up and gazed at the lifeless form in front of him. For a long moment he paused, reflecting on the recent events. He did not know who he was before, but he knew who he was now. He had power, and the burning desire to use it to stop evil.
The doors of the warehouse flew open and the cyborg walked on to the street for the first time in years. His mission was now clear, and his first objective sounded in his mind, automated by the technology.
Report to City Hall. Get Required License.
It was the late 70s when Charley Mattersons story started. In the middle of the chaos, a small town was taken over by a street gang trying to prove there worth. Charlies family was killed and he was seriously wounded, losing his arm sight in one of his eyes.
His story would have ended there had it not been for an inventive scientist who was able to use some new technology to give him his sight back. From that point on Charley was addicted to cybernetic enhancements.
During the drug wars of the 80s Charley made his way to Paragon City. There he made a living selling drugs and hiding from the super heroes. Over the years his gang started to grow, though it never reached any status that would be noticed by the larger gangs. As his fortune began to grow, he spent most of it to give himself upgrades to feed his addiction..
It was in the early 90s that it all went wrong. His now former gang turned on him for spending there money, and with the new gangs starting up in Paragon City it was becoming more difficult to make any money, or even stay alive. It was at this point that Charley took all the remaining money to his trusted doctor. The doctor promised to make Charley the most powerful super villain the city had ever seen.
In the middle of the operation all hell broke lose. His former gang members had joined a faction of what would someday be called the Hellions. They broke into the warehouse and killed the doctor and took all the money. As a final act of defiance to Charley, they left him lying on the operating table and connected to the life support systems. They then boarded up the warehouse and left there former leader there to die, lying in pieces on the table and unable to move.
If must have been years that he was there, constantly in pain yet constantly kept alive. His body decayed around him as infection spread through him, eating away at the human parts that remained, Somehow he managed to survive until a stranger found what was left of him.
Charley never knew the name of the man who came into the warehouse. He tried to speak, but he no longer had a voice to ask. The man went to work as though it was his purpose in life. He expertly moved around the warehouse, gathering materials, shaping them, and finally merging them with Charley. Over the next several months the man rebuilt Charley, forging him into a living creature once again.
Charley awoke one day to find himself a new man. The years of pain had left him with few memories of his past self. Also gone was the man who saved his life. He no longer knew what motivated him, but he knew that he had fight evil, to make amends for past actions that he no longer remembered. His body was now complete, but his soul was still empty. He stepped onto the streets of Paragon City with a mission, a quest to redeem himself. A quest to repay the stranger who saved his life
He was no longer Charley. The loss of his memories erased most of what he once was. Only the word Calash remained, so that is what he called himself as he left his prison and returned to Paragon City to atone for his past actions.