New Hero Background

So I created a new hero, The Purple Psychic, on virtue who is a member of ASSA. This group is very much into role playing and as such a lot of people have made some very detailed histories of their characters. This is my first RP supergroup and so I'm sort of new to this. Anywayz, here's the first installment of The Thoughts and Memories of Micah Levy who now has more background than Rox does.


"Sightless"

In the middle of the hallway stood Micah Levy, an average looking man. He was wearing an unorganized sunday dress, wrinkled pants and a distinctive reddish brown hair that was harldy combed at all. He seemed to be waiting for someone as he just stood there tapping his foot and humming some unrecognizable tune. A small child was standing there staring at his face. He had a look of disgust and also of curiosity while he stood there glaring ever so quitely. The man lowered his head in the direction of the child and then paused for a brief moment.

"Can I help you?" Levy finally spoke up after acknowledging that there in fact was someone there. The child was startled. He stepped back with his hands in his pockets and head ducked low, "How did you...?"

Levy raised his head a little and smiled. "I could hear you breathing. It's hard to sneak up on a blind man ya know," he said with a little laugh. He threw a long, straight cane that had been resting on the ground over his shoulder. There was an awkard silence for a few minutes. The child kept looking back and forth from Levy's eyes to the ground and back to his eyes. He seemed to want to say something but couldn't bring himself to do it. Finally, just before Levy was about to ask the child where his parents were the kid spoke up. "What happened to your eyes?" He asked still stepping back a bit as if the man would strike him for asking such a question. Levy turns his head toward a loud clang behind him and then begins to hear a drop of water hitting a pan and a room full of laughter.


<Begin flashback>
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There a young version of Micah sits with his family at the table eating what little food they had money for. It was a rusty old shack with pans on the ground to catch the endless rain leaking through the ceiling. Micah's family and three others lived there with only one bathroom and one decently sized living area. It was cramped but it was their home. Micah smiles at his parents when suddenly the door swings wide open and Nazi Soldiers rush into the house. They grab both of his parents first and soon after everyone else around them. Then they take hold of Micah's wrist and drag him out of the door...
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<Fades away as another memory comes forth>
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Micah sits curled up in a corner in the only building he's known for the last 2 months. His body thin from little to no food. His flesh tearing away because of the brutal attacks from the Nazis. There he sits with his legs to his chest and arms wrapped around them all alone and scared for his life. Then a man stumbles towards him and sits down. Micah looks up at him. He was a dirty old man with a beard as long as his hair. The man looked as if he hadn't had a shower in years, which would explain the knots in his hair and the reaking odor coming out of his pores. The man was terribly blind and had tripped on Micah's foot. "I appologize, I can't see very well these days." Micah sat there staring at the ground not making any notice to the old man talking to him. "Are you alright?" noticing that he what he had stumbled on was a mere child. Again Micah doesn't say a word but just stares at a rusty nail protruding through the rotted wood floor.

"I'm sorry," he says again trying to muster up some kind of conversation. Micah still sits there unmoved. "You must be starved sitting here all alone. Have you eaten anything recently?" Micah finally answers with a very weak no. "Here I've been saving this piece of bread, it's not much but it'll help," said the man rustling in his pocket and pulling out a week old bread covered in dirt and hard as the nail Micah had been previously staring at.

The beat up little kid snatches the bread away and scarfs it down like he hadn't eaten in ages. Micah finally raises his head and looks up at the man and gives his thanks. The old man smiles with a content look, "You're welcome." There was yet another awkward silence. After rustling around for a while trying to get warm the old man finally spoke up, "So what's your name?"

"Micah," the young weak boy whispered. "Well, hello Micah," the man replied back. He faced away for a moment as something sounded in the background. "I don't really go by anything these days. Most just call me Stranger." Once again the boy smiled and felt happy for the first time since he was seperated from his family.
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<Fades away again as another memory comes into view>
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Micah and Stranger sit at a large table among hundreds of others fighting for their dinner like hungry, foul savages. A soldier, very strong in stature, walks by the captives with an overconfident strut and sees a half-eaten roll by Micah's hand. He snatches the piece of bread and devours it down like it were his own. Even though it wasn't much to him, to a prisoner it was like a full course meal. Micah imediately stood up with a stern but still frightened look on his face. His arms went flat against his sides as he yelled out, "That was mine!!"

The soldier glared down at him in complete awe, "Excuse me?" Micah took a deep breathe. Even though he was terribly frightened he stood up even taller and repeated, "That was mine! I saw you take it!" The soldier stepped up to the boy, towering over his head. He clenched his fists tight as a loud discerning crackle drifted over the dreary camp. "Oh did you now?"

Moments later Micah was lying on the ground screaming, his hands over his eyes. Stranger tried to help but the boy just kicked him off continuing to scream. Blood ran down his face and hands as Micah curled into a ball crying.
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<End flashback abruptly>


The kid looks blankly up at Levy tugging at his pants, "Sir?" Startled Levy jumps and clenches his forearm tightly where a number tattooed into his skin is hidden under his sleeve. He then turned towards the child, "Oh, I'm sorry kid." He desperately thinks of an excuse so as not to bring back any more bad memories. "Uhh..." he said still searching for something to say "...too much T.V." The little kid looked him in disbelief, shook his head and ran off calling for his mom. Levy chuckled a bit and then asked a passing woman if she had the time. He again stood there as if he were waiting for someone that was never going to show.

Nice, it makes me think of Heroes for some reason. But that could be because I just watched the new episode online.

nice, just as a side question, is that the old man phase underneath the eyeless hood/mask?

Yes the uniform that he wears now is the one pictured above. While Micah is actually in his 60s he only looks 25. That's in a future installment though. Don't wanna ruin it for everyone.

It's interesting, but I don't get how he acquired his powers. Is that in part 2?

Yes part 2 is how he gets his psionic powers and part 3 is his healing abilities. This is just introducing the character.

Cool, I look forward to it.

I want to be in ASSA, too!

“Seeing Through Others’ Eyes”

There Levy sat, running his hand over the pages of a book that he’d been reading for several days now. Frustrated by all the noise around him he slams the book shut and gives a loud sigh of discontent. Levy was on the subway making his way home after a long day of answering phone calls again and again. Most of the time he was able to block out a lot of the noises by getting lost in one of his books, but today he was distracted by what a mere child said a few days ago. It’d been a long time since someone reminded him about his eyes. He knew most stared at him, but usually no one ever said anything.

Levy stirred around trying to block out all the sounds of the subway people. To his left there was an old lady complaining about being shortchanged at the grocery store. In front of him he could hear another woman trying to decide whether or not to buy the ham at the grocery store or the turkey. It was always like this when Levy rode the subway.

While trying to ignore everyone he heard a commercial come over the radio. “Do you like being safe on the streets of Paragon City? Have you ever thought about what you could do to help? Have you some extraordinary power that you believe could save the lives of others? Then join up with the ranks of The All Star Sentinels of America.” Then like all advertisements the really fast voice came at the end, “This is has been a paid advertisement of the ASSA funded by the US government of hero-like peoples.”

“All Star Sentinels,” Levy said with a brief pause. He thought for a moment putting his head into his hands. “Where have I heard that name before?” There was another pause as he scratched his head straining his brain to remember why that name sounded so familiar. “That’s right! General Archer…The General!” An excited look came over his face as he remembered all the heroic stories he was told about The General when he was in the camps. “He used to be a member of the All Stars. I remember!”

The train comes to a screeching stop, a very loud screech at that. “All passengers to get off at Boulevard Ave. are to exit immediately,” said the engineer over the intercom. Levy proceeds to the exit and the up the stairs out of the Subway. He walks home thinking about the advertisement the whole way. He rustles through his pockets trying to find his keys. He struggles for a moment to get the key into the door and then finally the door opens slowly with a creak. He walks into his apartment, puts his coat and hat on the coat hanger, and then immediately rushes into his bedroom.

He opens the sliding doors to his closet and begins checking all the Braille tags on his clothing. He gets a little frustrated, as he cannot find what he’s looking for. He then gives up on the shirts and feels above on a shelf at the top of the closet. He can’t reach far enough back so he storms into the kitchen to find his stepstool. He goes back to the closest and feels around for another couple of minutes. Finally he pulls down an old dusty box. He just holds the box for a moment with a blank look on his face before he finally sits down on the floor and opens it up.

Inside the box was a bunch of old memories that he had put away in his mind for several years. On top was an old newspaper clipping. He runs his hand over the top of it and suddenly violent thoughts of death stir up in his mind. Screaming voices, ambulance alarms, loud traffic going by, people honking through the traffic jam, and then the voice of his mentor and friend. Stranger’s voice becomes clear in Levy’s mind while everything else seems to fade away, “Never give up hope Micah. You can be anything that you dream to be. I love y…” Levy remembers the limp body of the only person that he knew and trusted in life. Slowly he lays the clipping on the floor and then feels around in the box some more.

He pulls out some folding clothing, much like a suit of some sort. He touches the unique texture of the outfit with his hands. He feels the protruding embroidery of an eye on the top of the shirt. His hands follow the stitching of long white stripes down the sleeves of the shirt. He holds the shirt close to his body as a tear falls down his cheek.


<Begin flashback> (Micah’s a teenager now)
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“Now listen to your surroundings,” Stranger said with a commanding voice. Micah turned his head over his shoulder giving the man a dirty look. “I am!” he shouted.

“No you’re not!” he shouted back with a stern look on his face. And with an even louder voice he told Micah again, “Now be quiet and listen!” There was a long silence. Micah’s face clenched and squeezed as he tried his hardest to gain control of his surroundings. Finally giving up he exclaims, “This is stupid. I’ve been doing this for years!” Micah turns around and faces Stranger. “I know how to do this already. I know how to listen to everything around me. I know how to feel the changes in air temperature. And I know how to smell unique scents. I KNOW ALREADY OLD MAN!”

With a smirk on his face and a slight disappointed but proud look as well Stranger asks, “Well fine then. Do you wish to learn a new way to see?” Micah seems baffled, “Hello, I’m blind.” Stranger asks again, “Would you like to learn or not?”

“Sure. Please. Show me oh wise one of blind seeing,” Micah said with a strong disbelief in his voice.

“Alright then,” Stranger said with a sigh. “Now let loose of all your thoughts. Picture a vast world of emptiness.” Micah shakes his arms and lets a deep breath. “Forget all of your worldly possessions, anything materialistic or special interest to yourself.” Stranger waited for a moment pacing around Micah. He waited until Micah was calmed down and lost within his mind. “Now…venture deep into yourself. Deeper…and deeper. Try to hear your own heartbeat with nothing but your mind.”

Stranger let him stand there in complete silence. He paced some more around his pupil waiting for the right moment. “Now listen.” Micah spins around furiously, “I can’t believe you!” he screamed. “All of that just so I could be told the same thing I’ve been told for the last ten years!” Micah was pacing very fast now upset and confused at Stranger. Stranger just raises his head with a smile on his face, “Aye, but I did not speak with my mouth.”

Suddenly Micah hears a dog complaining that his master won’t throw the Frisbee. He hears a very high pitched woman’s voice going over her daily routine. He then hears a rush of thoughts coming from every direction. Micah grabs his head and spins around in circles. The thoughts of others keep coming without hesitation. “How do you turn it off?” Micah exclaims. Stranger simply states to stop listen with your mind and to listen with your ears again.

After several minutes of near insanity Micah finally calms down. He turns toward Stranger and asks, “How did you do that?” Stranger laughs out before answering, “I didn’t do anything. I merely guided you.” He chuckled some more, “You did this all on your own, and much faster than anyone else I’ve ever known at that.”

Micah seemed confused, “Than anyone else?” There was a brief pause before he asked, “Who else knows how to do this? Where did you learn it from? How long have people been able to do this? Why don’t more people know about this?” Before he could spout out anymore questions Stranger stopped him. “Whoa there young one. Let me explain.” He sits down on the grass and Micah follows his lead knowing that this is probably going to be a long story.

Stranger tells of one of his great ancestor grandfathers from centuries before and how he cheated on his wife. Come to find out she was actually a gypsy and when she found out about his cheating ways she put a curse on him. The specifics of the curse were to make all the men from there on out blind. This way none of them could ever look at another woman and be unfaithful to their wives. Some where down the line one of his forefathers found a way to view his surroundings. “You see,” Stranger said, “Through others’ minds you can make a map of where you are and where everything is around you.”

Micah was in amazement. However, one thing was still unanswered. Micah turned toward Stranger, “So why is everything Purple?” Stranger explained that while he doesn’t really know what colors are or what they even look like everyone sees this way in a different color. “It all depends on what frequency you use to hear in this manner,” Stranger explained. “Yours just happens to be the same frequency as the color Purple.”
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<End Flashback>


Levy then lays the purple cloth back into the box, but just as he was about to close it he pulls the uniform back out. He thinks for a moment. Stranger’s voice rang in his head, “This is for you son. I made sure they made it purple. Use it well.” Levy put on the old uniform and headed out with a new sense of hope. His mind was made up; he would apply for a position on the All Star Sentinels of America’s team.

“Feeling the Pain"

Levy sat in the lounge of the Sentinel Sanctum when Cold Judgement's voice came over the intercom, “It's time to train Sentinels!” Levy let out a big sigh, “Why do we always have to do these things?” He picked himself up off the couch with a loud crack of his spine. “Oh man that felt good!” he exclaimed as he twisted his upper body side to side with a few more cracks filling the room.

Levy began to walk toward his locker and stumbled over a chair, “Damn it! Why do they always move the furniture! You know, is it that hard to put it back in its spot?” And then complaining under his breathe a bit more he said, “It's not like there's a blind man roaming around here or anything.” Finally after feeling over each locker in the base he found a braille name tag at the top of one of them. He felt around for the handle and open the door. After finding his suit he muttered, “Well, I guess I better put this thing on before I go.”

Now as The Purple Psychic, he made his way to the arena for the weekly training session. “The Purple Psychic reporting for duty!” he exclaimed after finding the other members of the ASSA. “Good for you to show up, Purple Psychic,” Cold Judgement told him. “Always willing to better the team, sir,” Psi responded with a slight sneer.

With a very emotionless face Cold Judgement speaks up, “All right. Since there's 12 of us here we're going to split into two teams of 6. Once we enter the training room I want one group to be offense and the other to be defense.” He pauses looking at each Sentinel present. “We'll then switch roles after about 30 minutes. I'll assign the teams and then we'll head in.” He looked around for a moment deciding which members would makeup each group. After a few minutes he said, “Twilight Silverblaze, Spirit Panther, Doctor Neutronic, Devil-Ray, and Ocean Blue you all are with me. Finale, Old Owl, Purple Psychic, Metallicon, and even the Miss Nightfall you five will go with The Hooded Cowl.”

Obviously with such fire power on his team there was no need for The Purple Psychic's psionic attacks, he would most definitely have to concentrate on his healing abilities. As the two teams prepared for battle Psi was getting nervous. “Okay this is nothing to worry about right?” he asked himself breathing rather hard, his heart pounding. “This is fine. Every thing's going to be alright, Micah,” he reassured himself. Psi glanced over his shoulder at the rest of what seemed like a very calm team. “Why am I so nervous? I've fought alongside these people for several weeks already! Why am I so afraid to fail now?” He knew the real answer deep down but just couldn't admit it to himself. He knew that he would have to step up now more than ever. His enemies now are his own friends, they know his strengths, they know his weaknesses. This will be much more of a test than some stupid skulls gang or the likes of the council.

Then the fight began. Psi's team was doing really good at first, and then it happened. Finale's phantom army distraction had been battled through and group one was now attacking head on. Finale sent Psi a telepathic message, “A little help here!” Psi suddenly felt her health go into the red. He stopped for a second feeling her health get worse. A moment later he reached deep within himself and merged a psychic link with Finale. He takes a huge breathe and with an outrageous outcry of agony Finale's health is restored to her. With all the time it took to restore her health all the members defending on the front line are taking a serious beating.

Levy starts to panic. He can't decide who's more important to keep alive seeing as it was about to become even more ugly. He turns toward Metallicon and heals him; then towards Owl and sends a heal his way. “Aaaaah!” Cowl screams as he hits the ground motionless. Psi runs over to him and immediately restores his life. Then Finale hits the floor, as does Owl and Metallicon. He then feels the pressure and concentrates real hard putting a regenerative aura around the other two remaining members of his team. It wasn't enough however, soon Cowl falls again. Now the only one left, besides himself, is Miss Nightfall. She managed to take out quite a few before she went down. After she lost consciousness it wasn't long before Psi went as well.

Soon the team's life force is restored to them and Miss Nightfall starts tearing into Psi. “Do you know what would've happened if this would have been a real life situation? What is it that I always say?” There's an awkward silence as Psi isn't sure if she's speaking rhetorically or not. “What is it that I always say, riff-raff?” she yells at the top of her lungs. Psi takes a big gulp and says quietly, “Don't die.” As she starts lecturing on and on about his lack of concentration during the training session Psi starts to fade out as if he was falling into a dream. The last thing he hears her say is something about feeling pain.


<Begin Flashback>
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Stranger seemed very angry and extremely tense as he raised his voice at Micah, “Boy do you even know what this training is for?” Micah stood there without any answer to his mentor's question. “Do you know why I am teaching you all this?” Again there was no answer. “I'm teaching you because I never had a son of my own and I consider you to be more of a son to me than any son I would have ever had. Also, because this isn't just a way to see, you know. This can be used to defend yourself and to fight evil as well.”

Stranger stops for a second and walks towards the park bench. He feels around for moment searching for something. Finally he picks up a bag and asks Micah to come towards him. As they both sit down on the bench Stranger grasps the bag tightly and takes a deep breathe. “Micah, I want you to have something.”

“What is it?” Micah asked sitting straight up in excitement as he rarely gets presents. “Well, I had it made for you. You did say that you see thoughts in purple, right?” Micah looked confused, his excitement not going away really, but slightly calmed down. He answered his mentor with a respectful yes and then Stranger told him about his gift. “Well I was hoping that you could become one of those heroes everyone's talking about. I never learned to use my powers as well as you have already and I thought maybe you could use it to do something good for this world.”

Micah let his head down and took it all in, “I will do my best to honor your family's powers and fight crime as you would hope me to do.” Stranger had a look of happiness that hadn't been there in probably his entire life. It was sad, however, that Micah couldn't see his happiness. He didn't need to though, he could feel it.

So Micah took the purple suit and as he pushed on the back of the bench to stand up he cut his hand. “Ow!” he screamed. “Wait, let me see that,” Stranger said feeling for Micah's hand. He took the hand and concentrated very hard. As he held his breath and clenched his eyes Micah's scratch faded away as if it were never there. The pain Micah had felt went away, “How did you do that?”

Stranger told him that to take away pain you must first learn to feel it. He said that this is the last thing he will teach Micah before he heads off into Paragon City and registers as a hero. “This will take much concentration and discipline. You must understand that to do this you may be able to heal others but you will feel their pain in order to do so. Once you've learned to heal others you may also learn to heal yourself, but only if you're willing to feel the pain over and over again.”

Micah looked worried but dedicated to his friend and mentor as he said, “I will do whatever it takes.”
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<End Flashback>


Once Psi finally came to and out of his dreamworld he realizes that Miss Nightfall is glaring at him waiting for some sort of answer, “Uh, yes ma'am,” he responds hoping that was the right answer. “You weren't listening to a word I said were you, riff-raff?” she asked him. “Of course I was, just in a way you'll never know.” Before she could get another word in he broke in with, “Well let's get this party started. Anyone ready for another go?”

This time Psi took in not everything that Miss Nightfall told him but rather what Stranger told him. He remembered why he took this job in the first place and why he must never accept anything less than what he is capable of doing. He must always strive to do better than he knows how. So Psi senses everyone around the room, they broke Finale's phantom army again and her health starts to drop. Instead of holding back and being afraid of her pain he restores her health and begins to look after the rest of his team.