Beginings

This is going to be an ongoing thread of the origin stories of my main characters. Please tell me what you all think. Thanks.



Beginings – Part I: Rescue.

Paragon City – Talos Island

Robert scrambled up the debris as quickly as his tired arms and legs would take him. They felt like jell-o and he just wanted to stop, but he knew he couldn’t. He’d been on the run for almost two days straight and still hadn’t gotten safely away. If he didn’t get a break soon, things might not work out so well.

Glancing back, Robert could just barely make out the Jaegers clamoring over the remnants of the street. They were searching for him which was actually a good thing. It meant they didn’t know exactly where he was. He might actually be able to get away and find some place to hide for awhile.

Then the ground gave way underneath him, and he tumbled end-over-end back down the hill he had just climbed. He cursed himself and started to climb the hill again when he froze in terror. The whirring sound of a small jet engine was coming closer. Robert knew he had to find some kind of cover and he had to do it quickly.

He dove against the edge of a crumbling wall of a building that had been heavily damaged years ago. It’d help, but he knew it wasn’t good enough. If the patrol robot got to close, Robert knew it would detect him and he didn’t have the ammo left to fight this group off. His only hope was that the robot wouldn’t detect him.

Things were quiet for what felt like an eternity to Robert. Try as he might, he could not get his heart to slow down. He was afraid it alone would give away his position. Robert continued to concentrate on slowing his heart rate and his breathing while trying to formulate some kind of an attack should he be found.

Suddenly a claw crashed through the wall behind him. The three pincers grabbed Robert before he could move and they clamped down hard. His right arm was pinned by the claw and as it bore down on him Robert heard the unmistakable crack of bones breaking.

The claw jerked Robert through the wall and threw him against the ground. Between the sudden pain of the breaking bones, being jerked through a wall, and with being thrown violently to the ground, it was all Robert could do to avoid loosing consciousness. He pulled himself up on his good arm and looked directly into green liquid filled tank of a Warhulk. Robert let out a small chuckle.

“So this is how it ends….”

Robert glanced around and saw the various Jaegers encircling. Hearing the Warhulk move, Robert returned his sights to the abomination. He watched as the machine brought its left arm up and aimed its flame thrower at him. Robert closed his eyes, deciding he rather not the last thing he ever saw be the fire that would take his life.

But the fire and the burning Robert expected never came. Instead he heard a small explosion and glass breaking. He looked up just as he felt the liquid from the Warhulks tank then the body of its unwilling pilot crash against him. Robert mustered as much strength as possible to get away from the carcass of the Warhulk. He knew the things exploded if the connection between the machine and host was severed. Sure enough a second later the Warhulk violently exploded destroying one of the Jaegers.

That’s when Robert remembered the Jaegers that had surrounded him. Why hadn’t they attacked him yet? He looked around until he saw them. They were all scrambling up the hill he had fallen down earlier. They were after something, but what. And what had destroyed the Warhulk so easily?

Robert watched as a blue flash struck one of the Jaegers. The little machine flew into the air and exploded before it touched the ground. There was another bright flash, and then Robert noticed the Jaegers had all changed directions. He watched them all climb over the top of hill. Suddenly there was a bright blue explosion and they all went flying.

One landing right near Robert and he looked over at it. The thing had been decimated. Whatever had exploded up on the hill had really packed a serious punch. Robert only hoped it was human and not some kind of Nemesis trick. He returned his eyes to the top of the hill and waited.

There was another flash of light up on the hill. Robert started to wonder about the flash; when out of nowhere another bright flash appeared directly in front of him. A man appeared with the light. He was wearing solid black combat gear. Robert looked up at him and noticed he had short spiked jet black hair, a goatee the same jet black as his hair, and a black hook like tattoo under his right eye. The most noticeable thing about this man was that his eyes glowed and crackled with bright blue energy.

“Can you move?”

“I… I think so.” Robert replied as he painfully pulled himself to his feet.

“Good, we have to go and we have to go now.”

The stranger moved over to Robert and grabbed underneath Robert’s good arm. Robert felt pain at the thought of moving.

“Hang on.”

With the stranger’s words, Robert watched as his vision suddenly flashed a brilliant whitish blue. In the same instant the flash went away. Robert immediately noticed they weren’t on the ground anymore; they were over 100 feet in the air. Before Robert could panic the light flashed again and they were on a building rooftop.

“Amazing” thought Robert, they were teleporting. As they continued onward, Robert attempted to speak with the stranger.

“Where…”
“…are…
“…we…”
“…going??”

There was no response from the stranger as he continued to teleport them further and further from the battle site. It was apparent the stranger was not stopping so Robert tried another question.

“Hi…”
“…I’m…”
“…Robert!”

“What’s...”
“…your…”
“…name?”

Again there was no response from the stranger. But in between the flashes recognized parts of Astoria. They were heading to the one place Nemesis’ machines usually didn’t follow. Nobody went to Astoria very often; it just wasn’t a safe place for anyone.

Years ago a massive magical war was fought in this area. The whole place was decimated and unstable magic now created a kind of chaos throughout the area. The two cults that fought their mystical war also still roamed the area attacking anyone not of their cult.

Robert did not like the thought of entering this place, especially in his condition. But figured this guy must know what he’s doing. Just as Robert was about to voice his protests; they teleported near a cave with a simplistic wooden door faced them. The stranger let go of Robert’s arm and walked over to the wooden door. He placed his hand on it and muttered something. The door then opened slowly as the stranger turned and walked back over to Robert.

“My name is Epiyon. Come on in, we need to take a look at those injuries of yours.”

Robert went to take a step towards the door and fell to the ground unconscious.

Origins – Part II: Hope

Phoenix Arizona – St. Joseph’s Medical Center

“Mr. Jekada?” Dr. Gerome asked with a light knock on the hospital room door.

“Hiya Doc, come in. And please just call me Adrian.”

A tall African-American doctor entered the small hospital room as Adrian shut the T.V. off. Dr. Gerome pulled out a pair of glasses from his jacket pocket and began flipping through Adrian’s chart as his patient sat up in his bed.

“How are you feeling today?”

“About the same. Really tired. The cough is getting more painful everyday. So what’s the verdict?”

“I’m afraid it’s not good Adrian,” Dr. Gerome said with a frown. He then removed his glasses and sat on the edge of Adrian’s bed.

“Give it to me straight doc. I don’t want it sugar-coated.”

“Ok, I respect that son. This is going to be rough. The biopsy came back. It’s non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or NHL for short. It’s cancer of your lymphatic system. You’re tired because your body is having problems making any white blood cells or other anti-bodies to fight off infection.”

“Wow…. You’re weren’t kidding, that is rough.”

“I’m afraid it gets worse. The tests indicate it’s of Peripheral T-cell in later Stage 4. What that means is it’s a high-grade or fast spreading cancer. Stage 4 indicates that it’s spread beyond your lymph nodes into other lymphatic organs. It’s spread into your lungs and liver, and that’s where the cough is coming from.”

“Holy….” Adrian muttered in shock.

“Adrian, I’m sorry. I wish I could make this easier on you.”

“Yeah. What are my treatment options?”

“I’m afraid there aren’t any Adrian. The cancer is so wide spread, that treatment is impossible. Normal chemotherapy would only do more harm than good at this point. I truly am sorry.”

Adrian stared at Dr. Gerome in complete disbelief. He was dieing and there was nothing that could be done about it. How could things have gotten this bad without him noticing before now.

“How long?”

“I’d give it six months. A year at most."

Adrian sat quietly for another moment. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do. One thing was for sure, he didn’t want to give up. He’d fight this to his dieing day.

“There’s absolutely nothing I can do?”

“Well if you’re adamant about fighting this, then there is someone I think you should meet. He’s an old colleague of mine who is researching experimental cancer treatments. I can’t make any promises, but he might be able to help. I’ll contact him if you’d like.”

“Yeah… anything at this point. Thanks doc.”

With that Dr. Gerome bowed his head slightly to Adrian and quietly left the room; leaving Adrian to contemplate his situation. He couldn’t believe how bad it was. Just a couple months ago he was playing soccer over at Arizona State. Things were looking great for him. His courses in forensic science were enjoyable and moving right along. Now this, now his whole world was crashing down around him.

Adrian wasn’t sure exactly how long he sat staring out the window. But he was woken from his trance by another knock at his door.

“Excuse me, Mr. Jekada?”

Adrian turned to the door and saw middle aged white man wearing a doctor’s coat. He had grey hair and wore a pair of silver rimmed glasses.

“Yes?”

“Please excuse my interruption. I’m Dr. Gerome’s colleague and he told me you might interested in my research.”

“And you are?”

“Oh, yes, yes, where are my manners. My name is Dr. Edward Zekelias, PhD MRad and MBChB.”

“Sorry doc, you’re talking Greek to me with those.”

“My apologies, I hold a masters in radiology, medicine, and surgery. I specialize in nuclear research and cancer treatment. More specifically, I’m working on a method of radiation treatment that does no harm to body in anyway, but completely eradicates all cancerous cells with minimal treatments.”

“And you think you might be able to help me?”

“Well…” Dr. Zekelias spent the next couple hours explaining to Adrian to nature of his research. For the past 10 years he had been researching ways of isolating cancerous cells. Once isolated, he hoped a special isotopic radiation he developed would target and kill the cancer cells, while leaving the surrounding cells unharmed. If successful, it would mean fewer and less harmful radiation therapy could be used and more complete elimination of cancer from the body.

Two years ago he developed a serum that would attach itself to non-cancerous cells and act as a shield from the special isotopic radiation. The body could then be bombarded with massively lethal doses of this radiation. All the non-shielded cancer cells would be eradicated while the non-cancerous shield cells would be fine, thus resulting in a cured patient with little to no residual radiation effects.

The research was of great interest to Adrian. He listened intently as Dr. Zekelias showed him his research data. For the first time since this whole ordeal began, Adrian was starting to feel a sense of hope. Perhaps things would work out and he could go back to life the way it had been.

“So when can we begin doc?”

“Well Adrian, I must warn you. This is still in an experimental phase. There’s no guarantee that it will work. Worse, it might just kill you.”

“I understand doc. But what other hope do I have? And at this point I’m a dead man anyway.”