Midnyte Flare/Chronology
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Flare and his sister Nova (Lilianna) were born April 13, 1986 to Michael and Mary Connolly of Carey, Idaho. They grew up on their grandparent's sugar beet farm until Flare accidentally exposed them to GC-6 radiation via a meteorite in August of 1993 at the age of seven. Both were taken into government custody for treatment and became Subject Zero of "Project Xenon Effect". Flare spent over three years in a medically induced coma while his body fought to integrate the new mutations being forced upon him with his original mutation of moderate regeneration. Eventually the scientific minds who were present to study him and his condition managed to create a medication to assist this integration along enough that Flare was able to survive on his own, however without the medication the high levels of radiation he constantly produces tend to attack his body.
In April 2005, they escaped from the laboratory facility where they had lived for the past five years causing massive property damage in doing so. The military pursued them under the guise of their being terrorists who had attacked a private research facility out of a misguided belief that it was experimenting on mutants. Flare and Nova were easy to track as they made a beeline for Twin Falls, ID to seek out their parents. The reunion went badly as the twins found them terrified of these red skinned strangers claiming to be the children they had been told had died eleven years before.
When Col Mays found them they had returned to the sugar beet farm where it had all started, though neither one was willing to surrender peacefully at that point. The fight left another fifteen soldiers dead before they were recaptured. Given the public nature of this second fight and the cover story they had used it proved difficult to have the pair vanish quietly. Added scrutiny from Capitol Hill, as well as a group of mutant rights sponsored lawyers who stepped up to defend Flare and Nova forced them to hand them over to the authorities for arraignment.
Footage of the heavily shackled and drugged pair being led into a courtroom under armed guard shows a defiant looking Lilly walking confidently while Leo stumbles along with his eyes glued to the floor and encased in a heavy containment suit. They both pleaded not guilty to the charges brought up against them which included: Attack on a federal facility resulting in death (10 counts), destruction of government property (3 counts), first degree intentional homicide while armed (15 counts) and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. They wound up in the Zig awaiting trial until Arcahnos broke them out in early November 2005.
It was after Archanos freed them from the Zig and deposited them in Mercy Island to be funneled through what bureaucratic nonsense existed in Etolie, that they took on the names of Midnyte Flare and Midnyte Nova. Partially in order to reinforce the feeling that this was a new start, but mostly to add a layer of protection between themselves and the things they saw happening all around them. Going from a sterile and limited lab environment to what some might consider a circle of hell was a bit of a shock to them both. But it was also a form of freedom and they took to it quickly and wholeheartedly. Flare picked up a few odd jobs here and there, mostly working with computers while Nova used her small size to her advantage and became a cat burglar. Between the two of them they managed enough income to get an apartment and live somewhat comfortably, at least for a few months. That all changed in May 2006 as Flare's health, which had begun deteriorating shortly after their escape, took a downturn and landed him in the hospital.
2010 was a momentous year for Flare. Beginning in January when The Mirror Shade proposed to him. He accepted, purchased her an engagement ring with a lovely pink diamond and began working on thinking of “us” before himself as well as trying to be there for his pregnant fiancée.
Valentine ’s Day was marked by Lilith suddenly appearing as her usually slim and toned self. She had enacted a ritual that transferred the twins to a magical womb in order to not be so burdened with the strains of carrying two. In order for the twins to be nourished she needed to kill with enchanted blades and Flare found himself joining her on the hunts in order to spend time together. Shortly before June when the twins were due Lilith drew the ire of Mikey Torentsa who somehow managed to reverse the spell.
Flare immediately acted to protect Lilith as well as the children she was carrying from both the demons that were pursuing her in order to reclaim the powers she had stolen from Mikky Torentsa, along with anyone else who might have a vendetta against his family. A few weeks later the twins were born, along with the woman Lilith had murdered so many months before. The demons did attack but were dealt with quickly. Assured that his fiancée, as well as Alfred and Alexia were in good health and safe once again Flare saw them all home and settled as quickly as he could.
Seeing no need to dwell on the past and overjoyed with caring for the babies Flare went out of his way to work at home in order to spend time with his family. He still did some work for Ares Corp for Magnus, though usually it was limited to data retrieval via hacking. He considered himself mostly retired from field work and was super busy with schoolwork, research for his Doctoral Thesis on Stretchable Electronics, projects for Biogenics as well as his own personal projects.
