Cryocasm

From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

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Cryocasm
Player: Cryocasm
Origin:	Technology
Archetype:	Blaster
Security Level:	50
Personal Data
Real Name:	Zephyr (no last name)
Known Aliases:	Glacial Abyss
Species:	Human
Age:	23 (Birth:December 23rd 2016)
Height:	6'4"
Weight:	Changes too rapidly to measure accurately
Eye Color:	White (Normal color Blue)
Hair Color:	Bald
Biographical Data
Nationality:	'
Occupation:	Hero
Place of Birth:	Rhode Island
Base of Operations:	Confidential
Marital Status:	'
Known Relatives:	'
Known Powers
Energy/Ice
Known Abilities
'
Equipment
Power Suit
'

Personality

Tends to be friendly and outgoing, but his mood and real reactions always depends on who he is around.

Backstory

Primary Power: Energy manipulation/Power Suit - The numerous power suits worn by Cryocasm are both the source and gateway between himself and his powers. Origanaly the complete source of his energy manipulation, his suits now transfer the energy from his body into a usable source of power he uses to battle whatever may come. His suit(s) also give him numerous abilities his powers are unable to grant him. For example: The ability of flight, super speed flight, increased strength, increased agility, increase in general speed, increased agility, increased healing ability and other helpful abilities in and out of combat.

Secondary Power: Glacial Manipulation - These powers are to an extent more basic in nature, but just as helpful and useful in combat as any other powers or abilities he controls. Giving him the ability to do any number of things from laying down sheets of ice as traps to freezing surrounding foes in blocks of ice, each ability is useful in its own way. `

Occupation: Recently hired and soon thereafter fired as a time cop of sorts. Not considering himself a hero, but definately not a villain, he does what he needs to do with his secret Identity, but outside of his " Superhero Life " he is quite independently wealthy and actually owns a chain of high quality clothing stores.

Prelude -Frozen Fury- [ June 4th 2039 - Age 22 ]

...His vision was finally coming back into focus, seeing James step through the portal in front of him. The smoke burnt his lungs with each breathe, attempting to fight back naseau and the urge to scream, all he had come to know was literally going up in smoke all around him. He sighed loudly, as he moved through the energy of the portal, appearing back in Grandville, where it was oddly quiet for a change. Glacial Abyss surveyed the area for James, but he was nowhere to be found. This in its self was a bit odd as James made a point to wait for him after every mission no matter how small, but it wasn't so much his absence that worried him as much as the noise that soon echoed from behind him. He turned to see a small young child holding James in the air some how, with what seemed to be a ring of energy, but was barely visible to the naked eye. Luckily for him his eyes were anything but normal thanks to the power he recieved some time ago, and yet had no recollection of how he had recieved it...

As his mind struggled to remember those times, he once again got that sharp pain in his head as if trying to stop him from accessing any sort of memory, but at that moment the young child's face popped into his mind. Glacial Abyss starred over at the small figure holding James in the air, and it was in that moment he realized he somehow had met this child before. As he moved in closer, the child grinned, and in her young voice she giggled and turned her attention towards him, grinning the most maniacal smile he had ever witnessed. A single hand raised towards him, pulling him towards the child as if he was a rag doll with no power to do otherwise. Her small hand pressed tightly to his forehead with the same grin and fire in her eyes, as she spoke softly but eerily sweet to him. " I know who you are Zephyr, and it seems you don't anymore...tisk tisk. It looks as if I will have to jog that memory of yours." The voice faded as if it had never appeared, along with that smile that creeped him out beyond belief, leaving an awkward silence for a few moments, but shortly afterwards he would have begged for that silence. Like flipping on a switch it began, and a clarity washed over him as his memories flooded his mind.

Chapter 1 -A Dream Within A Dream- { Every End Has To Start Somewhere } [ August 15th 2028 - Age 11 ]

Sitting across the table from his parents, Zephyr starred down at his bowl of what looked to be tomatoe soup, but smelled of burnt...who knows. He looked up to his mom with those swirling pools of deep blue that were his eyes, almost looking dissapointed. She sighed and looked away almost as soon as her eyes met his, knowing it was all she could do to keep food on the table, and it was still never enough. His father howerver wasn't quite the picture of empathy his mother was, starring at him with a look that would tear down the wall if he willed it to be so. This alone was enough for Zephyr to grab his spoon and dig into his now whatever was obviously not tomatoe soup, doing his best to stare into his bowl. Little did he know that was the last sight of his parents he would ever get...

Without warning, a wave of dark red energy overtook the entire house, turning his parents into little more than an after thought. There wasn't time for Zephyr to realize what hapened, as he was instantly knocked unconcious, even if only for a few seconds. As his eyes opened, he saw a red headed figure standing over him with an oddly green colored suit, holding her hands towards him as a forcefield stood between him and the same fate his parents had suffered. Behind the woman was another female, but more familiar and less shapely, and much more pale from what he could tell. The new female floated towards them as her ghostly white hair flowed behind her and a red energy flowed from her hands, wrapping around the forcefield user, crushing her and tossing her aside with what was left of the house. The energy around him instantly dissipated and all that stood between him and the white haired woman was his fear and her cold breathe in the air.

The wraith like woman placed her feet to the ground as she extended a hand towards him slowly, speaking gently and almost soothingly, " Take my hand little one, I am here to save you from this life. You are meant for much more than this pointless exsistence. " There was an obvious hesitation to his reaction, as within less than a minute his world had been turned up side down and inside out. As his mind raced, the woman wasted no more time waiting for a response, placing a black fingernail at his hairline, bringing her others gently along his forehead, running them softly through his jet black hair. Her eyes finally met Zephyr's, and it seemed her gaze alone was enough to coax him to his feet, but it was the next action that gave her the victory she was looking for. Her blank look turned into a caring smile as she leaned forward to place a soft almost loving kiss upon his forehead that burned for a moment, leaving a black imprint of her lips before disspearing into his skin.

The look on his face told her she didn't need to preasure him to come with her nor explain what was to come next, turning from that of a frightened young child to a look of determination. " I am... ", pausing for a moment, pulling him close againt her. "Call me, Ghost Widow, and you Zephyr are now to do my bidding under any circumstances. " He made no words but simply nodded and starred deeply into her lifeless white eyes, speaking volumes. From that moment forward, she taught him everything she could to defend himself in the world they lived in, and taught him morals that may have not been the best, but kept him afloat in a world quickly sinking.

He was taught that the heroes of paragon city weren't heroes at all, but the ones who started the war that ruined not only Paragon City, but the rogue Isles, and for that matter most of the northeastern part of the United States. The normal world of only twenty some odd years ago was no more but a smoldering pile of ashes and war. Fights had long spilled into backyards and playgrounds, schools and parking lots... any where that a fight could be started, it could be finished and cause just as much destruction.

Chapter 2 -Glacial Abyss- [ March 3rd 2031 - Age 14 ]

Ghost Widow had a firm hand on Zephyr's shoulder, squeezing tightly and nodding, trying to reasure him that the process he was soon to go through was nothing to be worried about. He knew from the years with her that she wasn't one for reasuring words, but her actions towards him were enough to put him at ease regardless. On the other side of the large door in front of them, lay a network of halls and more doors, but the one they were so eager to get to, was the last one the other wanted to be behind. From ceiling to floor and wall to wall, stood a two way mirror that divided the all but silent room. On one side of the room rested a bed that resembled an operating table, fully equiped with straps to make sure anymone on the table wouldn't be going anywhere. On the opposite side of the room lay an exact replica of this table, but unlike its empty counterpart, it held fast to it a young man, no older than twenty years old and obviosuly scarred. A bloody rag lay over a wound across his throat, where moments before, his vocal chords were cut and no attempt was made to close the wound aside from the rag covering it.

Tubes, wires and all sorts of devices were either attached or wrapped around his body at differant points, all with a certain pattern to their placement, but any markings or words were covered in the fresh blood of the young man, or dried blood from another "patient" that was upon this same table at some point. With the obvious scars and gaping wounds left all over his body, it was evident that there was no intentions of keeping this man alive, but there was a purpose to him being in this position and the measures taken to keep him there. As the young man mad a futile attempt at screaming and moving, his noises upon the table were merely drowned out by the loud whirring noises of the machines in both rooms, echoing through the halls Zephyr was being lead down, only making the anxiety of the unknown that much more.

His master kept her grip on his shoulder, as they neared the charcoal colored doorway that was an odd change from the blood red walls they had been following. "Your own physical prowess can only take you so far, my pet. Today you will leave behind your name and be given a new more fitting title. The name of Zephyr will no longer float above your head like a weight to push you down, but will be torn away and tossed into the wind where it so rightfully belongs. You have proven that not only is your will strong, but a true strength lies inside of your heart and an ice through your veins. From this day forth, you will be my hand to strike at my foes and to take what they hold most dear, leaving them with an emptyness that only death can fill."

The now nameless young man took his solemn steps through the slowly opening door, as time seemed to slow to a crawl. He watched as a room full of what he assumed to be doctors quickly met him, leading him to the table and assuring his comfort upon it. As he was fastened securly to the operating table, a whisper rang out in his mind that felt like a thousand needles piercing his brain. He was drifting off quickly, as the mask covered his mouth, and the gas began to take effect on him, causing his body to go limp. "When you wake, you will be known by no other name but Glacial Abyss."

He could still feel the preasure on various parts of his body, as the tubes and needles were inserted under the skin with much more care than the man across the room from him. With his last moment of conciousness, he turned his head to see his reflection in the mirror, then he was out. Opposite his gaze was the man slowly losing his own conciousness, looking into his closing eyes, as the mixture of pain and blood loss was stealing what was left of his life. Just as his eyes began to close, he felt as if every part of his body was lit on fire, and then an overwhelming cold. His powers were being forced outward, and at the same time taken from his body, the tubes attached to his body all momentarily freezing over. The last thing he saw was a young child next to him, placing her hands on his cheek and smiling softly. "It's time to die now." She spoke to him in the sweetest and softest voice she could manage, carresing his cheek with the back of her hand, watching the life leave his eyes, and finally nothing.

Chapter 3 -With Great Power Comes Great Destructive Force- [ December 23rd 2032 - 16th Birthday ]

Nearly two years had passed since he had received his powers and his new title, and since then he had become quite infamous for being somewhat of an assasin for not only Ghost Widow, but for Lord Recluse. He was being integrated into the inner circle of the Arachnos elite, but he still wasn't fully trusted by anyone but Ghost Widow herself, doing any mission tossed his way to try and raise his status. It was the earlier part of the evening, close to three, when he was being summoned by his master to return home. He had completely forgotten about today being his birthday, but to his surprise, she hadn't. Above the door was a crappy attempt at a banner with the words happy birthday in big glittery letters, and a name marked out in black paint, with his name written in the same black underneathe. With a raised eyebrow barely seen behind the long hair falling in his face, he stepped through the open door, greeted by something even more bizare than the banner outside. Ghost Widow was standing a bit off to the right with a small box and a genuine smile on her face that caught him a bit more than off guard, stopping and crossing his arms wondering what her real intentions were.

"Ok, so do I even wanna know what's goin on here?" Taking a few steps closer and unclasping his arms, letting them fall loosely to his side, tensing up as she awkwardly put her arms around him, with what was obviosuly an attempt at a hug, but she was not exactly used to hugging people, so it came off more looking like an attempt to put him in a headlock. She slowly backed away coughing as if trying to break the silence, holding out her hand holding the small poorly wrapped box, with a red bow taped to the top. With little effort, he pulled off the wrapping paper and found the top of the box for some reason glued to the paper, snickering a bit and setting it on top a nearby table. Inside the box was a few piece of crumpled up paper and a key on top of that. " What is this? Am I finally getting a house key or something? " His demeanor made it painfully clear just how confused he was, and the smile that was becoming more and more obviously forced on the face of ghost Widow faded, her back turning to him and walking over to a door that had been locked ever since he had been in this place with her. It didn't take long for him to put two and two together and realize what the key went to, and his feet were already moving for him, and stopped short of him running face first into the door in excitement, fumbling with the key, trying to put it into a lock that hadn't been used for some time now.

As he inserted the key into the rusted looking key hole, the key was sucked into the door and a loud mechanical noise could be heard from behind the door. Taking a few steps back, he watched as the door pushed open with a loud sound of compressed air escaping out of the room, and a smell of dust and machinery fresh and pungeont in the air. The door finally pushed its way fully open, revealing an empty room no bigger than a hall closet, and possibly enough room for someone of his stature to stand inside of. Turning to give yet another confused look at his master, she raised a hand towards him, and soon after speaking words that didn't quite explain, but only confused him further.

"Step inside and wait for the door to close." Learning from past experiences, he knew better than to question her, and knew just as well that she had no intentions of doing him harm, so without any further delay, he moved back towards the doorway and inside of the closet, now inches from the wall. The door creaked and quickly slammed shut behind him, pushing the air back into the room and against his back and neck, leaving him now in total darkness. What seemed like minutes, was merely a few seconds, as the wall in front of him moved forward and then slid across to his right, revealing a room maybe twice the size of the one he was just in, but against the back wall was a large red and black armored suit...

Chapter 4 -True Power Unleashed- [ December 29th 2037 - 21 ]

A lot had happened in the passing years, with the new heroes of Paragon City on the rise, and the Villains of the Rogue Isles, the fighting had escalated and destroyed as many areas and cities as had been built. All but a few minor members of the Freedom Phalanx had been taken out, along with all of Vanguard and a large percentage of the other high profile super groups. After the third and final Rikti invasion, even a good bit of the Villain population had been wiped, killing not only Black Scorpion, but Scirocco, leaving a large gap in Recluse's inner circle. As tensions rose and the struggles for power on both sides had grown to major scales, heroes were turning to crime while the villains were turning to at least somewhat of a normal stance, fighting against both the red and blue siders. The largest blow to the villain side would come as a shock to both sides, coming in the way of Captain Mako starting up his own version of a super group to go against Recluse. Once he left, their were only a few Recluse and Ghost Widow felt they could trust, and the main two were Glacial Abyss and a young man by the name of James. Once they were integrated into the main fold, they were pushed towards the main part of the fighting, and sent on missions that otherwise wouldn't have been able to be completed by the lower powered and ranked soldiers of Arachnos.

It was when Ghost Widow was taken down that he completely lost it, and not only turned full force on the heroes, but on Recluse and Arachnos in general, going about killing any and everyone he could manage. It took not only his partner James, but Recluse himself to take him down and take him in, planning on not only detaining him, but wiping his mind of the prior events, and retraining him into his own puppet of sorts.

Glacial Abyss woke up in a very familiar room, strapped to a very familiar table, when he suddenly reaized that this was the same place he received his powers and was erased as Zephyr, and made into the person he was today. He made several attempts at screaming, but the same whirring of the loud machines drowned out his already muffled screams, through a bloodied rag. His eyes frantically surveyed the room looking for the doctors and scientists, but there was no one in the room but a young girl in a long blue dress and long blonde curls, smiling sweetly at him. "Hi Zephyr...it's not your time yet, but I regret that I must take your memories from you. I ask that you do your best to remain still and...not make any noise please." She grinned to him with her childish voice that gave a hint of joy about what she was about to do. As he lowered his eyes down, he was realizing that his body was becoming quickly numbed, but he could see that for some reason his armor was on and at full power, glowing with a bright blue aura.

His eyes darted back to the young girl, her hands moving towards his face, resting on his forehead, locking her bright green eyes onto his, the smile fading into a sinister grin, an evil giggle escaping her lips. As she laughed, he began slipping forcefully unconcious, feeling the memories of his slowly disapating into empty space, and a tingling throughout his body, as the aura surrounding his body began sucking inward. As the energy was pushed into his body, it sent some what of a shock through his body that connected with the young girl's hands, burning her palms and inadvertantly pulling a part of her own mental abilities into his mind, in an instant bringing back his memories, but locking them away in a box of sorts, in the back of his mind.

Chapter 5 -We've Created A Monster- [ December 30th 2037 - 21 ]

It went off without a hitch... His memory was wiped completely... He is under our control now...

With this new strength what if he rebels... He is nothing more than a puppet now... His new found power belongs to me...

...and he truly was nothing more than a marionnette with invisible strings. Above him was his eight armed master, dangling his arms above him and pulling the strings at will. There was nothing more of Zephyr, and barely anything left of Glacial Abyss, past the name, anyway. It had became quiet over the weeks, on into the months, and then it began... when the Orenbega and the Circle of Thorns made the deal with Arachnos, and more importantly Lord Recluse himself.

Glacial Abyss wasn't just a puppet of Recluse, but was a puppet of the mages who, unknown to Recluse, were holding their own puppet strings over his head. They had convinced him to begin construction on the portals that the heroes once used to travel back and forth through time, and more so, the portal that would open up an entrance to hell its self. Glacial Abyss was no longer running missions of assasination and destruction for Recluse, but was now doing so for the Thorns, and he and James became a permanent team finally, doing the bidding of the Circle of Thorns, and even helping in the contruction of the final portal.

He and James had become good friends, and even shared living quarters, learning each others attitudes and personalites, and each other's true fighting abilities. James was what you could call the brains of the operations. He was always the strategist, making sure his partner didn't run into battle half cocked and fully intending on getting himself killed. Glacial Abyss, on the other hand, was the type to totaly ignore James' words of warning and run into the fray without a care, making sure to take a few punches just to make it look like their enemies stood a chance. As a team, no one could take them down...or at least that's what they thought.

Glacial Abyss' powers and prowess in battle had grown in the short time he had been in the situation he was currently in, and his belief in these abilities had grown just as big, but he had never questioned how he had truly recieved these powers...

At least not until that night...

...His vision was finally coming back into focus, seeing James step through the portal in front of him. The smoke burned his lungs with each breathe, attempting to fight back naseau and the urge to scream, all he had come to know was literally going up in smoke all around him. He sighed loudly, as he moved through the energy of the portal, appearing back in Grandville, where it was oddly quiet for a change. Glacial Abyss surveyed the area for James, but he was nowhere to be found. This in its self was a bit odd as James made a point to wait for him after every mission no matter how small, but it wasn't so much his absence that worried him as much as the noise that soon echoed from behind him. He turned to see a small young child holding James in the air somehow, with what seemed to be a ring of energy, but was barely visible to the naked eye. Luckily for him his eyes were anything but normal thanks to the power he recieved some time ago, and yet had no recollection of how he had recieved it...

As his mind struggled to remember those times, he once again got that sharp pain in his head as if trying to stop him from accessing any sort of memory, but at that moment the young child's face popped into his mind. Glacial Abyss starred over at the small figure holding James in the air, and it was in that moment he realized he somehow had met this child before. As he moved in closer, the child grinned, and in her young voice she giggled and turned her attention towards him, grinning the most maniacal smile he had ever witnessed. A single hand raised towards him, pulling him towards the child as if he was a rag doll with no power to do otherwise. Her small hand pressed tightly to his forehead with the same grin and fire in her eyes, as she spoke softly but eerily sweet to him. "I know who you are Zephyr, and it seems you don't anymore...tisk tisk. It looks as if I will have to jog that memory of yours." The voice faded as if it had never appeared, along with that smile that creeped him out beyond belief, leaving an awkward silence for a few moments, but shortly afterwards he would have begged for that silence. Like flipping on a switch it began, and a clarity washed over him as the memories flooded his mind.

It was in that moment of realization, that he knew all of what happened to him over there years and who he really was. He was no arm of justice, but a simple puppet, being pointed in the direction of his audience and told what words to say. The child showed him visions of the portals, and all that had been done with these creations. Recluse was using these devices to turn the world into not only his own playground, but reworking it in his own image. The only one problem was what was shown to him next, as the young girl began to distort from his vision, and showed her true form as a mage of the CoT.

"Thank you for your help, Zephyr... Without your assistance we couldn't have opened up our final portal and released him upon your world, or... shall I say... our world. " The same maniacal grin that covered his face as a smile child covered his face now, showing just how pleased he was with himself and what he had done. As the smile faded, in what seemed normal fasion for this creature, something bad soon followed; without fail, the building around the two of them dissapeared. The sky had turned a shade of bleeding sky red, and just a touch of dismal black that was ever so beautifully accented with the dying sun.

Overhead was a sight that was much less comforting so to speak, as the face of a large demon loomed high in the sky, with that exact same ever present manical grin on this creatures face. It was in that moment that Glacial Abyss knew exactly what they had done and exactly what this meant for everyone and everything in this world. They had unleased a true hell on earth, and this demon would be their new master. Under the large mishapen demon, Recluse stood upon a golden throne, oddly placed in the middle of the street, laughing the deepest growl of a laugh that had been heard by Glacial Abyss.

Chapter 6 -A Hero Is Born- [ June 4th 2006 - 22 ] ... ( This being when Cryo came to paragon city and hence forth. )