Marcus "Ashes" Hart

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Marcus "Ashes" Hart; It's the origins of Ashes!...again!
Topic Started: Jan 20 2008, 05:43 PM (87 Views)
OminousShadow87	Jan 20 2008, 05:43 PM Post #1
Beginner Posts: 62 Group: Members Member #10 Joined: Jan 20, 2008	I felt like I didn't really get anywhere with this fellow on Heroes Unlimited, so here we go again! Chapter One “It’s In My Blood” Just another long night ahead of me tonight, I was thinking. Working for the CSI and examining dead bodies never was an easy job. Before I could even clock in, I heard some people muttering about finding three stiffs found out by the mountains near a golf course, and they were all kinds of messed up. I just knew it I’d be stuck with it. I was right. After I clocked in, I was immediately confronted by my boss. He didn’t even take the time stop his march as he barked at me, “Hey Hart, three burnt stiffs in lab four. Details are written already, they’re in the room,” Michael said. I asked, “What do you need me to find out?” He didn’t stop walking, but he answered, “Everything we don’t already know. Starting with the cause of death!” He rounded the corner and was gone. ‘Fat lard,’ I thought, ‘Always in hurry. How could he be so damn fat, running around like he is?’ I decided not to start right away, but go outside for a quick smoke. Donny, my closest thing to a friend around here, was already outside. He was a short guy, about 5’6”, with short, blond hair and dark brown eyes. He spent a lot of time outdoors, during the day, and always had a deep tan. I could never figure out when he has time to sleep, working the graveyard shift with me and everything. His voice was that of a typical burnout. “Hey, Ashes, welcome to the party. Looks like me and you are teamed up on the burnt stiffs from Red Rock,” Donny said. I lit my cigarette, took a long hit off it, and asked, “So they burnt to death? That’s shit.” Donny replied, in a low, ominous voice, “Well, that’s the thing man. The fire didn’t kill them. I mean, it hurt them bad, but I been lookin’ at those bodies for the past hour, and those guys weren’t killed by no hot flames.” Odd. There was a silence, and I really didn’t mind. I just wanted to relax for a couple of minutes and smoke my cigarette. After a few moments, Donny said he’d meet me inside, and then went in. I started to think about my nickname, Ashes. See, my first assignment when I got here was something of a practical joke. Donny arranged the whole thing, the prick. I was brand new, just fresh out of school, and the first stiff I got was hardly even a corpse. The guy was burnt to a crisp and all that was left, for the most part, was his skeleton. I had to find some kind of way of identifying the poor guy. As it turned out, the job had already been done, but Donny and the others thought it’d be wise to throw a curveball at me my first day. When I found out, I said was going to finish the job, I took the corpse out in the parking lot, and I cremated the son of a bitch. All that was left was the ashes. Ever since then, they just call me Ashes. I finished my butt and went back inside to check out the corpses. Donny was already intent on the man’s body, like usual. Sometimes I question his heterosexuality. I grabbed up the clipboard and breezed through the information. Three victims, found by a couple golfers who hit the ball way out of the way of the golf course. Burn marks all over the bodies. Presumed dead for at least 24 hours at this point. People with homes nearby said they saw flames out in the area of where the corpses were found, they just thought some teenagers were having a bonfire. There were many sets of footprints in the area, unable to determine if there was anyone else present. As I finished, Donny called me over. “I did blood tests and hair tests, they should be done soon. All their teeth and fingerprints are gone though, a professional took care of these guys,” stated Donny. “So there was someone else there?” I asked. “I’d have to say so, Ashes,” Donny looked at the clock on the wall, “Blood tests should be done soon…hey, man, look at this.” Donny lifted the man’s charred clothes off to reveal…nothing. His chest was perfectly fine. No burn damage, no scar tissue, nothing on his arms or face either. Donny pulled of the rest of his burnt clothing, no burns at all, anywhere on him. Examining closely, we discovered he had tiny little slits in his neck. Someone killed this guy with garrote wire. Donny asked, “So how does a guy’s clothes get all burnt up, but his skin is undamaged, only to be strangled from behind with garrote?” He looked at me like I knew. The hell if I knew. I told him I’ll go get the blood tests, and he said he was gonna check out the dead ladies for burns. I wanted a smoke, bad. I’d seen some strange things here, but damn. My brain was telling me that the clothes were burnt when he wasn’t wearing them, and then he put them back on. It was the only thing that made sense, and yet…my guts, my instincts, the feeling in my stomach told me this was not the case. I came into the blood lab and no one was there. I shut the door, turned off the smoke alarm, and lit a smoke. I took a big puff and just released a couple of smoke rings. I didn’t have time to be smoking, this is some hardcore shit. ‘Just grab the blood and get back to lab,’ I said to myself. I took the blood packet and began to leave when a man in a suit came in. He stopped me, looked at the label on the blood packet, and looked me in the eyes. “This case is closed. Understand?” I told him what I thought with my middle finger, and tried to walk past him. He grabbed me by my shoulders and shoved me to the floor. I dropped my cigarette and the blood packet. The man picked up the blood packet and shoved it over my mouth. He flipped out a pocketknife with his other hand and held it over the blood packet. “Now sonny, unless you want to choke on a dead man’s blood, you’re going to close this case. You understand?” I was scared shitless, I didn’t know what to do. On one hand, it’s my duty to solve this mystery as best I can. On the other hand, I wasn’t ready to die for someone else who is already dead. I didn’t make up my mind quick enough I suppose. He shoved the knife through both sides of the bag and made a tear it in large enough that I did, in fact, start to choke on the blood. I tried swallowing it all at first and just breathing through my nose, but the man took one hand and closed my nose with his fingers. I flailed about frantically, trying my best to escape. My vision was getting blurred. I could smell smoke, and bright lights were coming out of nowhere. The man choking me started screaming as more and more blood trickled down my throat. I blinked a couple of times, and shoved the man’s arms away from me. My vision returned, and all around me, and even on me were flames. But I felt no heat. No burning on my skin, although my clothes were toasted. I stood up and saw my assailant running away, screaming and on fire. The flames around me spread, and I heard a creaking noise. I looked up to see a lamp’s cord fail to keep it above my head and I was knocked out cold. Chapter Two “It’s In My Nature” I woke up in a hospital bed, in one of those gowns that leave you basically naked. The A/C was pumping and I was freezing, even with the bed’s covers over me. My head hurt like hell, and bitch of it all was, my head was shaved. I needed a smoke. I opened my eyes just a bit, enough so I could see but no one else could tell I was awake. Donny was over to my left, starting out the window. It was morning. I looked over to my right. My boss was standing by the door, arguing with the doctor and another man. The other man wore a nice suit and some funny looking glasses. Finally, the man in the horn-rimmed glasses said something to my boss that made him happy. ‘If that bastard’s happy, this can’t be good for me,’ I thought. Then the man approached my bed, and put something on the table next to me. Then he left, as well the doctor. I opened my eyes and announced, “Anyone got a light?” Donny turned around and smiled, then slugged me in the shoulder and said, “Damn, Ashes, you brought a whole new meaning to the word last night, man!” Michael then approached me angrily, “You burnt down three labs with that goddamn cigarette you were smoking! If you weren’t being attacked by that Italian mobster goomba, I’d sue your ass to kingdom come for smoking in my building!” I replied coolly, “I love you too, boss.” He gave a sarcastic smile, and then said, “Well, I can’t sue you for self-defense, but I can fire your ass! Great thing about Nevada, you don’t need a reason in the world to fire folks. I’ll make sure Donny gets your things to your place. Good day.” He left in a fluster. I looked over to Donny, “I almost gave his fat ass a heart attack,” I said in a mocking laugh. Donny took a look at me and started laughing. “What’s the problem?” I asked. He continued laughing as he replied, “No problems here, cueball.” “Aw shit man, hey why’d they shave off all my hair?” I asked. Donny said, “They had to, to put the stitches in. Don’t worry, you didn’t suffer any real damage. You’re lucky to be alive man, no burns or anything.” Was I lucky? I got the same feeling as when I thought about the burn victim last night. The burn victim with no burns marks… “Hey, good news. That suit says he can get you out in a few hours man. Then we can catch a long drag off a couple cigarettes outside,” he said. “Hey,” I asked, “who was that guy? The one with the glasses?” “Damned if I know. Here, he left you his card on the table,” Donny answered, handing me a business card. PRIMATECH PAPER COMPANY There was a phone number on the back. A couple hours later, the doctor came in, said my insurance agent (I have none) told the hospital to let me go with bandages on my head and a free beanie. I eagerly accepted and Donny drove me back to my place. I smoked three full cigarettes on the way back. I stepped inside my crappy little apartment and changed my clothes, jeans and black long sleeve. I dialed the number on the card, and a woman answered, “Primatech Paper, how may I help you?” “Yeah, um, some guy came to me while I was in the hospital and left me his card with this number on it. I don’t know who he was, some guy with horn rimmed glasses,” I asked, uncertain of exactly what I should do. “Oh, I’m sorry sir, I believe he just left on a plane, business trip to New York. We can send a representative out to speak with you in the next few hours however,” the woman replied. “Yeah okay. Where can I meet this representative?” I asked. “Oh, I suppose the usual place is fine. Go down Tropicana on the East side of town. Across from McCarran Airport there should be an empty lot where they are going to build condos. Be there at 8 o’clock pm, don’t be late,” the woman replied with her standard secretarial, matter-of-fact voice. I asked one last question, “Hey, um…is this guy gonna be able to answer any of my questions?” I didn’t really expect an answer, but I figured after all the crazy things I’d been through, what the hell, ask the secretary. She answered me firmly, “I assure you Mr. Hart that by the end of your meeting, all of your questions will be answered.” And with that, she hung up. This was suspicious. This isn’t right. I can’t go. It’s too dangerous. My brain kept telling me these things. But I rationalized, ‘When’s the last time listening to my brain ever did me any good?’ I knew I had to go. I needed those questions answered. I needed to know why I wasn’t incinerated. Why a paper company is so interested in me. Why I lost my job, and almost my life. I had to go…I knew I had to…my instincts said so… Chapter Three “In The Company We Trust” It was 8:03. I used my last match and lit my third smoke in the past ten minutes. I was anxious. Not a feeling I’ve grown especially accustomed to over the past years. It was cold out in the desert at night. It was a good thing I brought my black leather jacket. I had to sell my chopper when my parents died a few years back for some fast cash, but I never threw away my jacket. Good thing. Finally out of the shadows, two men in suits appeared to me. One kept his face hidden to me under a hat straight out of the Godfather. What did they call those things again…I couldn’t think of it at the time. He slouched a bit, and I couldn’t get a look at his face. Even slouching, his head was up to my nose, so I figured him to be at least my height, 6’1”. The other guy had long blond hair in a tail at the end, like Val Kilmer in Heat. He was about as tall as him too, but he had a smile on his face. An encouraging look to him. But I knew better. I knew the moment that secretary hung up on me that I shouldn’t trust this Company, Primatech Paper, as far as I could throw them. Val’s look alike spoke to me, “Hello. I understand you had a need of some paper?” I looked him in the eye as I took a long hit off my cigarette, then tossed it to the ground and snuffed it’s flame out beneath my shoe. “If I wanted paper,” I replied, “I’d call Dunder Mifflin.” He gave me a smirk, and said, “My name’s Lucas. Jonathan Lucas. And this here,” he indicated to his partner, “he goes by Chameleon these days.” I returned the half ass smile, and said, “If he’s Chameleon…call me Ashes.” “An appropriate name considering your gift. You have realized by now that the fire was set by you, right?” he said. I knew immediately Lucas didn’t mean the cigarette I dropped. I knew when he said that I set the fire, he meant me. I must have had a dazed look on my face, because he said, “That’s a lot to take in. Why don’t you have a smoke?” I fumbled around my jacket, pulled out the smokes, and then asked him for a light. “Ashes, you set that fire. I think you should be able to muster up a small light for your cigarette, no?” he said. What the hell, I thought. Give it a try. If you can’t do it, then what happens? Surprise, you’re on candid camera? I didn’t give two shits about embarrassment. But this… I put the cigarette in my mouth and put my fingers up to it. I focused as hard as I could. I imagined the fire in my mind, I focused on it harder than I did the SAT’s. I could feel a tingling in my fingers, but that was about it. I almost gave up, and in a last ditch effort, I snapped my fingers to get something going. Pfff. Between my three fingers had arisen a small flame, larger than that from a liter but not big enough to be from a Zippo. The Chameleon flinched. I put my finger to my smoke, lit it, then snapped my fingers again and the flame was gone. No burns marks. “That’s all I can do,” I said afterwards. Lucas looked disappointed, “What are you talking about? We’ve catalogued plenty of pyrokinetics in our Company files, and all them were capable of more than just lighting a cigarette. Why, just yesterday, we had an agent out investigating the murder of a pyrokinetic. That’s how he came across you!” “Wait a second. A pyro out here? Murdered? By garrote?” I asked. The Chameleon said in a raspy voice, “Yes. How do you know that?” He lifted his head to speak to me, and I saw a face ugly enough to be dead. The flesh was burnt all over. “I saw that man’s body. He had no burn marks, but his clothes were burnt…” I said, “I almost choked to death on the prick’s blood.” For a moment, nothing happened. Then after the two Company agents exchanged looks, I took a long, long hit off of my smoke, then doused it. “That’s what it was…it was his blood,” I said. I left with them that night for a trip to ‘the paper factory.’ On the way there, they told me there were many others out there with gifts, although to their knowledge, none like mine. There were others though, one who just had to walk a person to get their power. Another who killed for power. There were others without mimicry too. Chameleon had a power like his name, he could blend in with the environment. If he stood still, I couldn’t even see him even nose to nose. Lucas told me that the Company was founded to help people like myself control their powers and if necessary, restrain others from using them for bad purposes. He said they wanted my help doing so, and in exchange, they’d train me. I accepted, and they trained me well. My first lessons were basically to teach me that without others, I’m just normal like I was when I was born. They gave me a pistol, a damn nice one too, and trained me to shoot. Then they gave me blood. I got a container no larger that a cigar case, but in it were vials of blood I could drink. It turns out the powers were not about how much I used them but how long the blood was in my system. Drinking a small vial gave me about fifteen minutes before the ability was gone. For me to practice the abilities, they began giving other agents regular blood tests. By the time I was an official agent, I had mastered the use of lightning, alchemy (turning metals to gold), and Chameleon’s ability as well. I also had a mind-reading vial which was taken from a prisoner of the Company. Upon ‘graduation’ so to speak, they gave me the blood of a waitress who had what Lucas called ‘Adoptive Muscle Memory’. I had only one vial because she was only with the Company for testing, and nothing more. Lucas said, “Remember, the only physical actions you can replicate are things you have already seen after you’ve taken the blood, and possibly, just before.” Lucas told me everyone they bring in for testing from now on, it was mandatory they get a blood sample especially for me. They tried their best to make me feel at home. To make me feel welcome. All the things they did for me, I still knew there was something not trust in them. Something…not necessarily bad but…grey. I was ready for my first assignment. I was on my first operation, finally. Lucas and Chameleon accompanied me, but Lucas said they would just stick to the shadows tonight mostly. The Company wanted to see me in my full potential. I decided not to wear the traditional Company suit and stuck with the basics: jeans, t-shirt, and my black leather jacket. There was one new thing added to it all though: I now wore Kevlar underneath my shirt. My gun was underneath my jacket in the back of my pants and my Lifeline (cigar case) was in a pocket on the inside of my jacket. I pulled it out and double checked to make sure everything was there. There were three vials of Chameleons blood, with a green sticker on the tube. I needed three in case something went wrong and I needed to hide. There was the lightning in a bottle, with a blue sticker. The alchemy was labeled with a yellow sticker, and the mind reading was a white sticker. The ‘Adoptive Muscle Memory’ was red. I put it back in my pocket and looked around me. It was nighttime, very dark out. I was in shotgun of Lucas’ car. Chameleon was invisible in the back seat. I asked Lucas, “So what’s the job?” “We need to handle three sisters, each with different abilities. The first agent to approach them upset the youngest and…well, he’s no longer with us,” said Lucas. I asked, “Define handle. I’m not gonna break down some doors and shoot three little girls.” Lucas said, “You need to be prepared for the possibility that we need to put down some or all of them. We don’t want to hurt them, but their powers could present us with a problem in capturing them. The oldest is 19, Sandy, she can turn her flesh into any kind of metal. She’s the caretaker of the girls because the fourteen year old, Mindy, drove their father crazy. She has the ability to induce fear in a person. However, she can only do it to one person at a time. The youngest is 6, Cindy, she has enhanced body strength and reflexes, like a gymnast but even better. The mother died giving birth to that one. We need to take them quickly and hopefully we can take them safely to the Company where we can study them and show them that our intentions are much better than those of the last agent we sent.” ‘God damnit, this isn’t what I had in mind,’ I thought, ‘I wanted to help people, not mess around with this kinda shit.’ I guess it was a good test for myself though. We pulled up to the house. “There’s a junkyard past the fence in the backyard. I’ll cover that exit. I leave the rest to you two,” said Lucas as he turned off the car and left. Chameleon then said, “Alright Ashes, you got a plan?” I checked out the house. Two floors, and there’s a tree with a branch extending straight to a second floor window. “Chameleon, you climb that tree and use your power to scout out the house, see if anyone’s home and where they are,” I said. “How will we communicate?” he asked in his low, broken, raspy voice. I pulled out the vial for telepathy and took a hit. “Now I’ll know what you know,” I replied. He whispered, “Don’t go digging in my mind anywhere you shouldn’t be Ashes, or you won’t live long enough to do much good in this world.” With that, he took off. ‘Hollow threat from a hollow man,’ I thought. Then Chameleon’s voice came into my head, ‘I heard that, asshole.’ I lit a smoke and tried to think things through. If the oldest turns into most any kind of metal, then my lightning should be able to take care of her without killing her. That’s one. I’m afraid that shooting lightning at the other’s might hurt them too much though. I’d need Chameleon to suffer the fear girl’s wrath if I’m to get this mission done right. ‘No dead girls tonight Chameleon,’ I told him with my mind. ‘Drinks on me if we pull it off,’ he replied. The little girl will probably run out the back. ‘Lucas,’ I thought, ‘I’m guessing if Chameleon takes on Mindy and I shock the metal girl, the little one will run away. That’s your part to play.’ I listened for a response, never got one. I tried reading his mind but I couldn’t…find it anywhere. ‘Okay Ashes, the top floor is secure. I’m going to hide up here unless you need me. If you can drive any of them upstairs, I’ll knock her out,’ spoke Chameleon. I sent back to him, ‘Chameleon, I can’t get in contact with Lucas. I think they might know we’re here. Be ready for anything.’ Just then, I heard a crashing upstairs. I tossed my smoke and hopped out of the car. I took a hit of lightning and took a second to read Chameleon’s mind. All I could sense was fear. Just reading his mind made my own wander…I started to think of the night my only sibling brother died…he was only six…drunk driver in a head on collision, he’s only six…he didn’t have a seat belt… I felt the connection begin to fade, the power must have been wearing off. I snapped out of it just in time to see the oldest and the youngest run out the front door. They took one look at me, and the little one ran back inside. Sandy yelled at me and transformed to some kind of copper as she said, “You’re going to regret fucking with my family!” “The only regrets between the two of us is that you turned into copper!” I replied as I lifted my hand and pumped out tons of electricity into her body. She screamed a bloodcurdling scream, and eventually she collapsed as her body returned to normal. I stopped the lightning and immediately checked her pulse. Still alive, her heart was still beating. One subdued, two to go. I ran in the house and up the stairs to find Mindy concentrating very hard on Chameleon. I pistol whipped her in the back of the head and she fell hard on the ground. “Sweet dreams,” I whispered. Chameleon was still curled up in a corner. I knew I he was out of the fight. I ran down the stairs and out the back door. Lucas was on the ground, a bit dizzy but alright. “Did you have a nice nap pumpkin?” I mocked him. He replied, “The metal girl…she turned into some kind of silver or nickel…she laid me out with one punch…Cindy just ran past me, she climbed over the fence into the junkyard. Go get her.” I hopped over the wooden fence and spotted the girl right away. She was jumping all around, from pile to pile, swinging on pipes sticking out, and she was heading towards a warehouse on the far side of the junkyard. The warehouse was well lit and it was clear there were people there. If she reached the warehouse, I couldn’t chase her. It would be too public. I took out the vial with a red sticker, ‘Adoptive Muscle Memory,’ and drank it down. I then chased after the little girl, mimicking exactly what she did, chasing her step for step. I jumped on top on one pile, hopped over to the next and grabbed a pole in mid-air to change directions of the jump, landing just where she had been moments ago. The chase zigzagged around the yard, her trying to lose me, not understanding that I was doing exactly what she did. If Lucas had any motivation he could beat us to the warehouse, and unfortunately, he did. Just as Cindy made her last jump, the sound of a gun rang out through the night air and Cindy didn’t make the jump. Her body fell limp just short of the warehouse’s roof, at the feet of Jonathan Lucas. I ran over to him. I wanted to pump him full of lightning, I wanted to smother my cigarettes is his face, I wanted to go Chuck Norris on his ass, I wanted to choke the bastard to death with dog shit, I wanted to bleed him with pins and needles to death and see if he had anything useful for me. But mostly, I just wanted the little girl to be alive. She wasn’t. “Good job,” Lucas said, “Misdirection is a great thing isn’t it Ashes?...You performed well today. I look forward to working with you in the future. I’ll call in the Company cleaners. They’ll get the other girls to the facility where we can monitor them-” I cut him off. “Shut up. You don’t walk away from this,” I said. The prick gave me a quizzical look, and said, “I did my job. You did yours. We were sent here to subdue potentially dangerous people with supernatural abilities, and that’s exactly what we did.” I tried shooting lightning at him, but all I got were sparks. Time was up. “Oh now, Ashes, that was not a smart move,” said Lucas. He pointed the pistol right at my face and said, “It’s your blood that will be spilled tonight.” I noticed a blur behind Lucas just before Chameleon appeared and smacked the gun out of Lucas’s hand. The two began fist fighting, but Lucas quickly got the upper hand and Chameleon was out cold. I drew my pistol on Lucas. “You’re a monster,” I told him. He began to speak some nonsense about that’s we do, that’s what the Company does, but I didn’t want to hear it. I shot him right between the eyes in the middle of his little speech, and that was the end of Jonathan Lucas. Chameleon and I stayed with the Company. We covered up the murder, saying Lucas was going insane because of Mindy’s fear inducing powers and we had to put him down. Sandy and Mindy are still locked up in the facility. AlthoughChameleon and I still work for the Company, we do what’s right. We still work for the Company because we want to do what we were recruited to do, help people with powers understand and control their gifts. We’ll continue to do that as long as we can. Edited by OminousShadow87, Dec 13 2008, 02:53 AM.



HeroesFangirl	Jan 20 2008, 05:48 PM Post #2
You can't always get what you want..... Posts: 65 Group: Members Member #6 Joined: Jan 18, 2008	nice to see this posted again.



LuneFleur	Jan 20 2008, 06:22 PM Post #3
Dreamer Posts: 53 Group: Global Moderators Member #4 Joined: Jan 18, 2008	I really liked this story :) Shadow, if you are going to use this character in this board, you have to post his info (name, age, power and so on) in the Heroes RPG forum (below the subforums you can find the characters we already posted). If you decide to play with a new one here, then these origins go to the Time Machine subforum.



dman_dustin	Jan 21 2008, 01:29 AM Post #4
Administrator Posts: 221 Group: Admins Member #1 Joined: Jan 17, 2008	LuneFleur Jan 20 2008, 06:22 PM I really liked this story :) Shadow, if you are going to use this character in this board, you have to post his info (name, age, power and so on) in the Heroes RPG forum (below the subforums you can find the characters we already posted). If you decide to play with a new one here, then these origins go to the Time Machine subforum. Thanks Lune Yeah what Lune was said Edited by dman_dustin, Jan 21 2008, 01:47 AM.



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