As Worthless as Rags...((Character Developement.))

My name...

I have no name.

All I know is that I was raised in a convent. Nobody there ever tell me where I came from. They just called me "Hey you," "You there," and "Oi!" After a while, I just stopped asking. Sometimes I don't think I even cared anymore. For a while, I was happy. I was fed, clothed, I had shelter, and I learned of our holy lord, Jesus Christ, and of the holy trinity. My only thought was that both my parents had died, and that the lord had saved me. HA! How foolish I was...

The convent had run into money problems, so they decided to take a loan until they got better funding. There was this little building right across from ours, called "Husk Corp. Finances!" Since it was so close, the convent loaned from there.

However, one day, a stranger came and knocked on the door.

-----

Sister Mater opened the door, which groaned as its rusted hinges bent and twisted.

In the shadow of the night, stood a man.

He was roughly 6'6, although his demenor made him seem much taller. He was pale as a ghost, and his head was bald. His eyes were always covered by a pair of sunglasses. Sometimes I swear I can hear soft clicking noises coming from them. He wears a large black trenchcoat, and a blue buisness suit under that, complete with black tie. Black cargo pants complete the look.

Sister Mater told us all he was a good person, but it didn't fool one of us for a second. He wore a blue bandana around his face. He was OBVIOUSLY a thug.

He said his official title was Lord Kuro, but Sister Mater insisted on calling him MR. Kuro. Almost as if she couldn't bear to utter the word 'Lord.'

"Good evening." He said in a stone cold voice. Sister Mater seemed to cower from the gaze of his mirrored sunglasses.

"I believe we have buisness to discuss, shall we retire to your office?" He said this with a somewhat menacing voice, which made me flinch.

"Oh...er...well...Yes, indeed Mr. Kuro..." Sister Mater said, letting him in.

I was there with her. I had been having trouble sleeping, so she had been reading the bible to me.

I accompanied the two to her office. It was a musty old room, the wooden walls and floor were grey and creaky with age, and there was not a hint of actual color anywhere in the room. Dust covered every available surface.

Sister Mater sat down at her desk, the chair creaking slightly beneath her. Her lower lip was trembling a little.

Lord Kuro stood, looming like a monster before the desk.

"Ah...Sister Mater...Bad news indeed. You are a late on a payment for your loan..." He began.

"But...but...It's only been a week!" Sister Mater protested.

In a flash, Kuro yanked out a slip of paper. "The details are all here. Care to look at it again?" He said.

Sister Mater gently took the paper, and scanned it.

"It says here every MONTH, not every week!" She declared.

"Nuh-uh. Use THIS, then check again." Kuro said, and pulled a monocle out of his pocket, handing it to Sister Mater. She slid it over her right eye.

"Observe the FINE PRINT. It clearly states that rent is due once every month EXCEPT in cases were the client has taken a loan for over 1 CENT. In such cases, there is also an INTEREST rate of ten trillion percent per DAY over the course of the week until pay is due." Kuro spoke in a cruel tone. It was obvious he was enjoying this.

Sister Mater looked shocked. At the time, I hadn't actually understood what the man had said. I simply knew it was horrid news.

"Bu...Bu...This CAN'T be legally binding!" She cried.

"Oh, I'm afraid it is. The print may be microscopic and only viewable via the aid of a electronic microscopic focusing device, but it is still PERFECTLY 100% LEGALLY BINDING UNDER THE LAW OF THE ROGUE ISLANDS." Lord Kuro stated clearly.

"You signed it, you agreed to the terms. You have not paid us what is due. Now you must face the consequences, I am afraid."

He started to reach beneath his trench coat, towards the hilt of something black.

"WAIT!" Sister Mater cried. "What about the children?"

Kuro paused at this, and considered.

"If they can get out in time, so be it."

Sister Mater suddenly looked to me. "RUN CHILD!" She cried.

I didn't need to be told twice. I turned, and fled.

I was halfway down the stairs when I heard the gun fire.

I was at the door when I heard the slight hiss echoing throughout the building.

I wad down the street when the convent exploded in a storm of fire.

I watched the man named Kuro walk out of the fire, seemingly ignorant of the flames. He walked down the street, and looked down at me.

"Well well. Looks like you survived. What a horrible accident, eh?"

His mirroed glasses bored into my eyes. I could see my own eyes in them, cold and blue, reflecting that image unto his, and unto mine again, creating an infinite expanse.

"STOP IT!" I yelled.

"Stop what?" He asked.

"Looking at me like that...It feels like your mere stare is hurting my eyes..." I told the truth. I had been raised to never tell lies.

What a STUPID, STUPID concept. If only had said something else...

"Really?" Kuro said, then chuckled. His voice sounded malevolent now.

"Well then. THIS should make your eyes feel better..."

He whipped a second pair of sun glasses out of a pocket, and before I could react, shoved them onto my face. I got a glimpse of a multi-colored surface, streaming with numbers and words...

Before everything went dark.

Then I didn't see anything. It wasn't until later that I learned I was blind.

I had fallen to the ground. I heard the man called Kuro laughing. I heard his foot steps recede into the distance.

I heard his voice, right before I fell unconscious...

"You're as Worthless as Rags now boy. I can only imangine how much suffering and torment awaits you. I'd stick around to watch, but I have places to go, universes to blow up...The usual."

I never heard or saw him again. To this day, I still remember his cruel laughter, and his last statement...

"You're as Worthless as Rags now boy."



To be continued.....

I woke up.

Darkness consumed all.

I blinked. Darkness.

I rubbed my eyes. Darkness.

"Stop rubbing them...It won't help." Said a voice.

"Who...Who are you?" I asked.

"We are the Lost." Said another voice.

I thought for a moment.

"The Lost?"

"Yes. We are those to whom life has been cruel. We descended into the darkness to find answers and happiness. We found it, but at a price. We are truely...Lost." Came another voice.

"Why can't I see?" I asked.

Silence.

"What is it?"

"...Are you sure you want to know?" Asked the first voice.

"Yes."

"Very well. You HAVE no eyes."

I barely remember going unconscious again from the shock.

-----

I woke up.

"Easy now, everything is going to be alright..." Said the third voice.

"But I can't see...I can't...Do ANYTHING!" I cried.

"Stop. There is a way...To fix you...Make you STRONGER." Said a second voice. My ears perked at this.

"Will I be able to see again?"

Silence.

"Yes and no." Said the first voice.

"You'll be able to see, but on a differant spectrum." Said the second.

"You will ascend." Said a third.

"What must I do?" I asked.

"Simply come with us to the god from beyond, bathe in his green mists, and be transformed!" Said the third voice.

I actually thought they had mean god.

Over and over again I curse my stupidity in that regard.

"By the way, what is your name?" The second voice asked.

I shrugged. "I don't have one. Nobody knows who my parents were, and we never really got to making me official citizenship documents, so...I'm nameless. What about you three?"

"Four." Corrected the first voice.

"I'm Jon."

"I was called Tonny." Said the second voice.

"Walter." Said the third.

"And our friend here, his name was...Timothy, I believe? Yes, that's it."

"Is he shy? Why won't he talk?" I asked.

".....Hold his hand." Jon said.

I stretched out my hand.

What it grasped was rough and rubbery. It felt like a spunge, complete with the pock marks. I ran my hand over the surface. It was long, and elongated.

To my horror, I felt something. HARD.

And smooth and straight...

Like bone.

I recoiled. "What's wrong with him?" I gasped.

"Don't say that...You'll hurt his feelings. It's a natural stage of the transformation. He'll heal, and ascend soon." Tonny said.

-----

Much later, we stopped.

"Oh great and powerful lord...We have brought you a willing and fresh vessel! Please, have him ascend..."

There was a slight hiss in the air. Something curled in my mind like a snake.

Then there was a feeling of floating...Free.

I was floating on a pillow of clouds...

I thought god had saved me again, protecting me from disaster.

Again, I curse my foolishness.

-----

I woke up.

I COULD SEE.

I held up my hand just to make sure-

It was clawed.

Slightly elongated.

A ridge of bone protruded from the wrist.

"Ah, you're awake!" Said Walter.

"Where is god?" I asked in a trembling voice.

I looked to the three.

Three bums stood beside my bed. (Little more then a stone slab protruding from the wall.) They wore trashcan lids on their chests.

They all glanced at each other.

"God?"

"YES. The god who did this to me!" I persisted.

I rubbed my eyes again. And I felt the empty sockets.

"You are seeing with your mind." Tonny explained.

"WHERE IS HE?" I aked again.

They fell silent.

"He's coming."

There was a whhhhhsssing noise.

Before me stood a tall figure, decked in white techno-armor...

A gigantic curved blade, glistening with green energy hung from his back.

A weapon of some sort glowed with potent force in his right hand.

His head was flat and elongated.

God was a Rikti Mentalist.

I screamed.

I don't know WHY I did it, but I leapt forward, and grabbed a gun-from where I don't remember, but I suspect it was from Walter-and I shot the Rikti.

The bullet slowed to a halt and dropped to the ground far before it hit.

All I remember from there was the Rikti's narrow eyes meeting mine...

I felt something seep from my ears, and then all fell to darkness.

-----

I was tossed out onto the street.

I looked up with my mind. Their mouths were moving.

I couldn't hear them for some reason.

They didn't notice my sudden deafness, and vanished.

Then Timmothy came.

A half mutated human-rikti hyrbrid, he could speech-think as well.

'You are as Worthless as Rags now boy. No eyes and no ears. Even I truely pity you. That is saying something. After all, I am Lost.'

Then he too vanished.

I fell unconscious again.



To be continued...

It was very rare to see an actual HERO in the Rogue Islands.

It was even rarer that a well known, WEAK, and STUPID hero went to the Rogue islands. That unfortunate combination usually led to the death of the said hero.

Ether was walking down the street, his famous long and flowing white hair trailing behind him. He then spotted a boy lying on the street, apparently unconscious.

"What do we have here?" The hero remarked in that irratating fassion heroes had to remark with random statements out loud.

"I shall bring him to the nearest-"

BZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

Ether fell to the ground, smoking.

"Another, just to make sure!"

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

A blue beam of energy smashed into the heroes figure, dancing about him and coursing over his figure.

Legendary Black 0-1-3, Malta Gunslinger, holstered his pistols. The five Zeus titans behind him dis-engaged, and the sappers lowered their still smoking sap rifles.

"What do you know. We didn't even NEED the titans!" Legendary Black laughed.

"Right, take him away." One of the sappers said. Two of them hoisted Ether's dead body between them, and faded into a nearby alleyway.

"What a putz..." Several of the other sappers said, following them. The Zeus titans clambered after them, trying their very best to not be noticed by EVERYONE on the street, and failing miserably. After being spotted, the street became somewhat vacant.

Only Legendary Black 0-1-3 remained. He was looking at the boy on the ground.

He observed that he had no eyes, and there was blood trickling from his ears.

Malta was not truely evil. The organization had been started with good intentions. Fighting heroes was one thing, leaving innocent people to die, helpless, was another.

Legendary Black 0-1-3 gently picked the boy up, and then he too, faded into the shadows of the nearby alley.

-----

I awoke. With my mind, I saw bright lights above me...But I couldn't move.

"What was I supposed to do? Leave him there to DIE?"

"You WERN'T supposed to bring him here, I know that!"

"What would YOU have down? Left him in the care of the Black Heart hospital? Yea, that's a really good idea, LET HIM by deemed legally brain dead the moment he arrives, and be "donated" to the face-maker."

"Well what are we going to do with him? He's BLIND for crying out loud! The specs here say he's also deaf!"

I couldn't help but be confused by that statement. I could hear perfectly well.

"Just look! We had to cut his ears off!"

That shut my thoughts up real good. I reached the conclusion that my new mind speech allowed me to hear as well as think.

"He can adapt! One of our best assassins is deaf and blind you know!"

"That boy is HARDLY an assassin!"

"Well, we could always use another monkey wrencher around here."

"Well...I suppose...Still, he won't ever be able to leave, you know."

"I know."

I fell unconscious again.

-----

I awoke, and found the strength to sit up.

"Ah, you're awake." Said the man.

He was dressed in a dark blue military uniform, wore a cowboy hat, and a bandana over his face. Goggles completed the look.

I immediately looked at him.

"Hmmm...Funny, seems like he can almost hear you..."

I turned, and saw another man. Dressed also in the same dark blue uniform, but had no hat, instead wearing a comm unit.

"Who are you?" I asked.

Both the men looked as petrified as possible, considering their faces were completely hidden.

"You can...Hear us?" Asked the second man slowly.

"Yes."

"How?"

I quickly explained to the two everything that had happened to me.

"Ah...So he ISN'T deaf or blind. Tell us, what's your name?"

"I don't have a name. Nobody knows who my parents were, and I never had any official citizenship documents made."

The gunslinger nodded slowly at this. "That's actually a good thing. It means we won't need to hunt down and destroy any records of you, and make sure you arn't missed. See there Fiction? Already an asset."

"Yes, yes..." The tacops waved his hand.

"Who are you two?" I asked suddenly.

They glanced at each other again.

"We are Malta." The gunslinger said.

-----

Several hours of explanation later...

-----

"So I have to stay here?" I asked.

"At least for now." Fiction Purple 5-3-7 said. (The Tac Ops)

"As soon as you get your nano injection, you can actually leave at any time." Legendary Black 0-1-3 added.

"I don't have anywhere to leave to." I said.

"Then welcome to the Malta Group." Said Legendary Black.

-----

Five years later...

-----

I had spent the previous years in a warehouse. I was only told it was in a place called "Warburg." The main function of the Warehouse was in the construction of what the Malta called, "Kronos Titans." My job was to squeeze into those hard to reach spaces within the mammoth machines that normal technicians might have trouble reaching themselves, and replace certain components, clean away layers of leaking brain fluid, or sometimes to weld a panel shut.

Now, however, I was eight teen. Old enough to be officially let into the Malta Group's military division.

-----

I was trained to be a sapper. I spent months learning on the proper ways to handle a sap rifle, clean it, disassemble it, rebuild it, reload its energy cells, and so forth. I was also given instruction on how to use my jetpack that all sappers were equiped with.

It was still a pretty boring life. My job was to simply gaurd the inner warehouse. Anyone strong, (and stupid) enough to get past all the door gaurds simply couldn't fight their way through the hallways leading to the main room. Since I gaurded the construction room, I never even got a glimpse of a single intruder.

Then, one day, I was offered a special propersition.

Malta had begun to experiment more with sniper tech, and wanted to implement their sapper technology in the field. I was recommended into the initial tests by Legendary Black.

-----

I stood there at the training course, sapper sniper rifle in hand. It was very small, truth be told. Barely larger then a pistol, with a large head sized oval tank attached to the back. It was supposed to be use in the same fassion as a rocket launcher-hoist on your right shoulder, aim, and fire. Simple.

Before us was a very long yard, with training dummies and bullseyes at the far side. We all stood ready, strange sniper pistols on our shoulders.

Our instructer arrived.

"Hello maggots. I am Angel White 7-7-7. Do any of you read the bible?"

My hand went up. A few others did as well.

"I'd like you to recall a certain passage in it..." He began.

"Thou shalt not kill."

He let that hang in the air.

"Well, you want to be a sniper?" We all nodded in unison.

"Then. [censored]. THAT. [censored]." He said in a loud and clear voice.

That was pretty much the day I ceased to believe in god. It felt so...liberating.

-----

Five months later...

-----

The sniper experiments had gone well, and now it was time for the first field test.

With live targets.

Live HEROES.

Each unit of the squad was assaigned a seperate hero to pick off. I was given a hero by the name of "Mrs. Liberty." It would be in Nerva Archipelago, near a university.

I got to the location an hour early, and hovered onto a nearby piller with a statue on it. I then waited.

Mrs. Libewrty then showed up with a large battalion of Longbow. My goal was to snipe her, then run away. It didn't even matter if the shot was effective or not, the higher ups simply wanted to make sure the sniper pistols worked in actual combat situations.

I took careful aim. Her head was centered in my sights.

Then, a loud booming voice echoed through the courtyard.

"WATCHER ON THE KNOLL!"

Mrs. Liberty immediately hit the ground...

Just as my sniper sap shot blazed right over her head.

All the Longbow looked up at me atop the piller.

'Aw [censored]...' I thought.

I quickly activated my jet pack and flew as fast as I could.

I turned around to make sure I wasn't being followed. There were a few Longbow Eagles behind me, but I could outfly them easily.

Then I turned back.

A large man, dressed in red and blue spandex, decorated with white stars, and wearing a silver faceplate floated in the air before me.

Thinking quickly, I aimed my sapper sniper pistole at him...

Faster then I could comprehend, he reached forward, and crushed the entire pistol in one meaty hand.

However, I had still pulled the trigger.

The pistol exploded in my face, bio-feedback energy coursing through my body at much more then the normal rate.

I fell to the ground.

"Villain trash..." One of the Longbow Eagles muttered.

"As Worthless as Rags."

Then I fell unconscious.


To be continued...

I awoke.

I was dressed in a orange jumpsuit, and I was in a brown room with a large metal monstrosity that was an excuse for a door covering the only exit.

I was in the Zig.

-----

Two years later...

Yea. The Zig sucks when it comes to Paroll.

-----

I had spent the following six months getting used to using cigerettes as currency, rotting on my metal cot, helping Mr. Verde sneak Superdyne into his cell, rotting on my metal cot, eating a colorless and tasteless sludge every day, rotting on my metal cot, and of course, going through the whole, "I speak and see with my mind." Routine every time someone new arrives.

Did I mentioned rotting on my metal cot?

I also learned during one of the daily brawls...

I couldn't feel anything anymore.

A couple of sledgehammers in the face testified to that.

Plus the knife that had gashed me...

And the various bullet wounds in my chest. Every time I took a wound, I never actually felt it.

The nurse speced me, and said it must have been a direct result from being on th receiving end of that much bio-feedback from the exploding sniper sapper pistol. So I couldn't FEEL anything anymore. Useful at times, but lethal at others. Once, I almost died of blood loss because I hadn't realized one of the inmates had slit my wrists while I slept.

One day, all the gaurds were really hyped about something. A mixture of nervousness and excitement. Apparently, a MAJOR villain had just gotten nabbed. One with REAL power in comparison to the usual trash thrown into the Zig.

-----

All of the convicts had gathered by the entrance of cell block fifteen to view the new prisoner being escourted in.

The door slowly opened, and out marched no less then thirty rent-a-cops. Behind them, being escourted by five cops at each side...

Was the Face Maker.

An additional thirty cops followed behind this procession. By this time, the little dingy entrance room had gotten cramped. So most of the convicts drained out of the hall.

-----

Three months later.....

-----

It's getting unbearable. The Face Maker really is one sick [censored]. Every night, we get to hear the tortured screams of her cell-mate, and the next day, we get to mop up his/her bloody remains. The gaurds apparently have not yet caught on to this. Bastards.

I've seen her talking to Mr. Verde a lot. Apparently, he's promised to sneak in several pieces of important tools for her-From scalpels to cleavers. Not the most pleasent thought. In exchange, she keeps giving Mr. Verde what she calls, "Home Grown Muscle Patches." He inserts these under his skin, and they fuse with his normal muscles, permanently increasing his strength. Of course, "Home Grown" is somewhat mis-leading.

-----

One week later....

-----

Well, the end is near. I'm the Face Maker's next cell-mate.

-----

One DAY later.....

-----

I sweated in my new cell as I heard the solid "CHCK sound of the door locking behind me.

The Face-Maker turned to me and smiled.

"Oh, simply marvelous! You're that guy with no eyes or ears, but you can still hear and see! Marvelous!"

I shifted uncomfortably.

"You know..." She started, edging closer.

"I'm working on a special...Experiment..."

She opened the grate in the floor, and after some swearing and grunting...

She pulled out a (mostly) complete Vahzilok Abomination.

"I've been building this gorgeous thing with the remains of my previous partners. You're next. Ready?"

And suddenly, there was a scalpel in her hand. She advanced on me.

I opened my mouth to scream, but she rushed forward in the blink of an eyeand caught me by my jaw. She then lifted me into the air, and looked into my mouth.

"Hmmm...What a slick, smooth tongue you have...And such rosy lips as well! You know, my little pet is missing those, now that you mention it..."

STCHK!

-----

"Wow...she did WHAT?" Asked a gaurd in the yard.

"Constructed an abomination from the little bits and remains of all her cell-mates. The next time she was let out, she and it beat the holy tar out of the gaurds, and escaped."

"Hmmm."

"You should have seen the last guy. Apparently, she tore up his head real good, took a nice big slice out of his brain and skull, apparently."

"Dude, that is seriously sick [censored]. Shut up. Don't speak about dead people like that."

"Awww, he was and is as Worthless as Rags now anyways..."

-----

I awoke.

All was darkness.

All was silent.

All was numb.

I tried to ask what had happened, but couldn't produce any sound. The required tools to do so were gone.

Why couldn't I see and hear? I eventually reached the conclusion that I must have gotten a head injury of some sort from the Face Maker. [censored].

I bump into something. My hands leap out, and connect with something.

Goody, it must be her.

I wring her neck.

-----

Everyone stared in horror.

The obviously DEAD inmate had walked out of the cell, half his head still missing, his grey matter still clearly visible. He walked up to a gaurd, and strangled him.

Most of the others ran then.

The stumbling abomination eventually tripped, trudged, and drunk-walked his way into Mr. Verde's cell.

Five minutes late, he came out with a freaking ninja sword.

Then Arachnos chose that moment to stage the break-out. That's when everything REALLY went to hell...

-----

I think as I tear into my enemies with my new weapon.

I must think, it is the only thing I can do now.

I sense.

I sense the presence of another person...No, wait, THREE.

How can I tell? I don't know. I am just aware that they are there...SOMEHOW.

Two Longbow agents, who have backed an Arachnos operative against the wall.

I tear them to pieces.

How though? HOW did I do that in my present state?

I'm as Worthless as Rags, how did I manage that...?

Then, the answer, like a light being flipped on, filled my mind with such clarity and grace...

You are so Worthless...

That you have Descended...

And now, YOU are the avatar of all that holds no value.

This one clarifying thought burns its self into my mind. Strangely enough, it isn't my own thought, but someone elses. Someone had come and deliberately put that thought in my head. But who? Who...?

-----

"Arachnosssss will be oursssss!" Cried Saphus from his underground pit.

"But bosssss, surely the will resent our intrusion?" Said the viper next to him.

"No matter, none of their filthy minionsssss can stand againsssst ussss!"

"But I heard there was someone special. One they call The Lord of Rags."

The cobra Saphus just laughed in a slithery and scaly manner.

"HA! Let him co-"

Then he died instantly as a blade penetrated his skull from seemingly nowhere.

-----

I am Blind to your Actions.

I am Deaf to your Words.

I am Oblivious to your Feelings.

I am Silent in Response.

I Hide in the Darkness, and I am the Lord of all that is Worthless.

And Everything.....

.....Is as Worthless as Rags.....

To me.....


So I thought as I cut down the enemy I sensed.