Neuronomicon
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| File:Neuro1.jpg | |
| The Neuronomicon | |
| The Neuronomicon | |
| Player: @Der Wahnsinn | |
| Origin: | Mutant |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Controller |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Andrew May (Not publicly known) |
| Known Aliases: | Jeremiah Lawrence Cooke (Adopted name) |
| Species: | Mutant |
| Age: | 19 |
| Height: | 5'11 |
| Weight: | 160 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | Ice Blue |
| Hair Color: | Auburn Red |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | English and Psychology professor at Steel Canyon U/Neuroscientist |
| Place of Birth: | Steel Canyon |
| Base of Operations: | Steel Canyon |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Wilting Violet (Cassie May) |
| Known Powers | |
| Illusion Control/Kinetics/Power Mastery (Kinetic Overcharge) | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Confidential | |
| Equipment | |
| Confidential | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
Humble Beginnings
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Evolution-X
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The Rikti Invade
From an interview with PNN's Mary Nelson
"The streets of Brickstown were in turmoil. I had just returned home and put my key in the door to my apartment when I heard this deafening explosion. I looked up to see if some Crey suit had blown up, but in the sky were these huge alien ships. I knew they were alien right off the bat; Evolution-X had a long section on the Rikti in their educational curriculum. I digress. They were dropping these huge bombs all over my beloved Brickstown, and the raid sirens of the Ziggurat were at full blast. I knew the Rikti had just awoken a sleeping dragon within Paragon."
It was approximately 6 PM when JC felt the first shock of the Rikti's A-Bombs. His home of Brickstown was being destroyed by an alien menace. He didn't change or even put his groceries away, he simply dropped everything in his arms and flew into the sky, trying to find a way to stop the ships from bombing the city. He was nearly slain by the first dropship's energy cannon, but with quick use of his neurokinetics he was in the sky again. But this time he was looking to stop the bombs. Most of the bombs had hit the ground and begun a repair process. JC stopped this with the help of other local heroes. The sky had cleared of ships, and Brickstown felt safe again. Until the portals ripped open and Rikti flooded the streets. By now, hundreds of heroes and policeman had arrived to help in the fight. After almost an hour, the Rikti lay in piles. No hero felt mercy that day in Brickstown.
When the bodies and smoke had cleared, JC looked out over his home with sad eyes. Buildings smoldering and demolished, civilians dead in the streets, the wounded crawling to the hospital. The heroes of Paragon were aiding in every way possible, from carrying the injured to safety to putting out fires and cleaning up rubble. The forlorn thoughts of all the citizens of Brickstown swarmed JC's head as he made his way back to his apartment. With the roof missing and the stars over his head, he quietly let sleep pull him into it's dark embrace.
But not before he swore revenge on the Rikti.
Vanguard of Trials
It wasn't long before the Vanguard were sent to Paragon's major hubs in an attempt to recruit super-powered beings into the fight against the Rikti invaders. JC proudly stepped forth as one of the first heroes to sign his name to the war. With dedication and confidence, he tore headlong into the warzone and astounded both Borea and Levantera with his rapid feats of victory over the Rikti's futile attempts to secure the zone for their own. Without realizing it, his Security Level had risen several digits within a few weeks. As the months marched on, JC found himself wearing the full garb of the Vanguard (with a few of his own modifications of course). He had become a regular in the Vanguard's breifings, instructing new recruits on the best tactics to use against the Rikti menace. Soon enough, the operative known as Serpent Drummer had taken notice of JC's prowess.
Serpent Drummer had decided to test JC's tenacity by sending him on a personal mission to assess the presence of Nemesis in the RWZ. JC accomplished the mission, and served Serpent Drummer as an assistant for nearly a month before he was sent on a mission that would change his attitude towards the war for the worse.
Vengeance and Hro'Dtohz
Given a mission by Serpent Drummer to seek out the Rikti War God, Hro'Dtohz, JC had managed to sneak his way inside the more intricate Rikti fortifications. Using his adept illusions to both sneak past and defeat the Rikti troops along the way, he eventually found Hro'Dtohz musing over the impact "The Neuronomicon may: have on the war." With surprise on his side, JC sent a legion of his illusory minions to trick Hro'Dtohz into thinking he was injured. Before he could subdue the War God, a Rikti Mentalist broke the link to JC's illusions and Hro'Dtohz realized he was just fine. Looming over JC with fury in his gaze, Hro'Dtohz spoke with confident anger. "Irritation: heroic trickery. Soon to grace Paragon obituary: The Neuronomicon. Your death: painful. Say: goodbye, hero." Before he could strike JC down, the young hero fired every neurokinetic reserve his body had, channeling the energy into a powerful flash that overloaded the War God's synapses. In desperation, the War God swung his colossal sword-blaster, leaving a deep and long slash along JC's body (from his left cheek to his right hip). With a final cry, Hro'Dtohz fell in a heap, holding his head and shrieking incoherently. The Rikti troops ferreted him away quickly, leaving JC to hit the medicom patch on his arm.
Spending weeks in recovery, JC's relatives were not at all happy with his choice to face down Hro'Dtohz alone. A dispute between him and his biological sister ended in him locking himself in a Vanguard research chamber to study Hro'Dtohz and his patterns of thought. The wound on Jeremiah's body was simply, as he stated it, "the signature on the War God's death warrant." Realizing he may have a better chance at defeating Hro'Dtohz with more security levels to his name, JC was back on the front line the moment he was declared recovered.
(Fact! Neuro hit 50 in the warzone while rescuing a Vanguard soldier!)
Upon reaching the pinnacle of Security Level 50, JC was approached by Lady Grey to take part in Task Force Alpha, a direct strike on the heart of the Rikti's war effort.
The Neuronomicon couldn't refuse a chance like this.
The Honoree and the Resignation
((Note, any heroes mentioned in this section are purely fictional. ... unless someone made them as characters while I was writing. o_O))
Infiltration
It had been hell. For twelve solid hours Task Force Alpha had forged ahead in the RWZ, taking out supply points and routing Rikti units at every turn. After the Rikti's troops had fallen back to regroup, Lady Grey informed JC that she had sent a special forces squad out to disable the Rikti Mothership's shield. Within minutes, the blue oval around the ship jiggled and dissipated, allowing the Task Force to break into the mothership itself.
Another four hours passed as the group of heroes fought like warriors through the bowels of the Rikti's makeshift base of operations. JC's life was changed forever, though, as he watched a Rikti Magus encase his friend in stone. Art Mitchell, 'The Brilliant Stopwatch', was an adept controller of time and matter. In an attempt to defuse a Rikti explosive device, he was caught off guard by a Magus and his limbs were encased in stone. Maximum Malcolm, the Task Force's tanker, grabbed the remainder of the team and dove on them in an attempt to shield the blast. JC managed to peek out from under Malcom's huge frame in time to see Art's fearful face mouth 'goodbye' as the Rikti explosive vaporized him. In a show of pure rage, JC managed to throw Malcom off of the group and subdue over twenty Rikti mentalists, six headmen, a communications officer and the Magus responsible with a single blinding flash. His illusory army manifested from nowhere and cut the Rikti down, the defeated actually believing they had been killed.
The Task Force, now one weaker, pushed ahead as the groups empath, Lady Lilly Love, comforted and stabilized JC. Before she could fully calm him, however, a familiar voice boomed out from the far end of the corridor.
The War God's End
"Greetings: Neuronomicon. Noticed: addition of allies to try and stop: Rikti. Challenge: bring forth your best, hero. Impossibility: your success. I shall savor: your demise. Soon: Myself: cutting you down."
JC had heard enough. Infusing his heroic friends with kinetic energy and mental protection, the charge on Hro'Dtohz and his minions began. Rikti bodies were falling by the second as Jason Jade, 'The Emerald Speedster' cut them apart with his crystal katana. Finally, the War God stood alone. With a tremendous battlecry, Hro'Dtohz charged forward and clashed with Maximum Malcolm, the sword-blaster grating against Malcolm's impenetrably hard skin. Several green arcs around the War God signified Jason was doing his job, but Hro'Dtohz took notice immediately. With an arcing slash, a spray of blood was seen. Jason slammed into the adjacent wall, his left arm missing. The crystal katana and the arm gripping it rocketed past JC and stuck in a wall.
"Pitiful human," Hro'Dtohz boomed. "Needless repetition of previous statement: you cannot win. Now: die." The sword-blaster came down, and split Jason Jade's body clean in half.
Maybe it was Jason's scream. Maybe it was watching two of his allies die. Maybe it was the pressure of the war over the past year. Something inside JC's mind snapped. With speed second only to the late Jason, he rocketed towards Hro'Dtohz and slammed a kinetically driven right hook into the War God's temple. Hro'Dtohz hit the ground with incredible force, only to be met with the face of the Neuronomicon just inches from his. A horrifying scream erupted from JC as every synaptic explosion in his mind was force out through his eyes, flooding the War God's mind with images so disturbing that his life was instantly extinguished.
Standing, panting, whimpering in anger, the Neuronomicon spat on the War God's corpse.
Beliefs: Shattered
The time had come. Information had been sent from Lady Grey that the Rikti's final force, the Honoree, was being sent to earth in an attempt to perform a coupe de grace and finish the fight in the Rikti's favor. Task Force Alpha, now a band of six heroes, was assigned the duty of stopping the Honoree. Clashing with Rikti forces and infiltrating the underground portal chamber, the Task Force looked on in awe as the teleportation device crackled and hummed to life. All Rikti before them turned and fell to a knee as the Honoree materialized in plain view of the heroes.
Maximum Malcolm's breath caught in his throat. "... that's the Honoree? But that's--"
The bottom had fallen out of JC's mind. The man of legend, the hero of heroes, the legend among the righteous. He stood before them, cape, helmet and all, as the Rikti Honoree. "... that's Hero One." The ensuing fight tested the strength of Malcolm, the quickness of JC, and the restorative abilities of Lady Lilly. Raging against the Honoree for over thirty minutes, something broke within the Honoree's mind. "What: am I doing? What: have I done? Fight? Why: fight?!" But still, the Honoree assaulted the Task Force with vigilance immemorial. JC couldn't remember how long it was, but finally, it ended with the Honoree dropping to his knees.
"Thanks: to heroes. Apology: to mankind. Goodbye."
What do you mean, resign?!
Direct audio log from the Vanguard base
"I'm done being a tool for the Vanguard, madam Grey. For over a year now I have been in your services, promoted to Sergeant, and used as a weapon in the war against the Rikti. After the events of Task Force Alpha, after witnessing my friends pass away before my eyes, after seeing the truth behind the Honoree, I'm resigning from the Vanguard."
"... resign? What do you mean, resign?! You are a soldier, Jeremiah Cooke! You are here to protect mankind from a menace that comes from another world!"
"Maybe when I joined, I was. But now I feel like I'm simply a trump card for your organization. Don't get me wrong, I want the Rikti gone. But I'm done pushing them out of the warzone. I'm going to my home in Brickstown. If they come there, then yes. I will fight them. But until that happens, consider this my official notice of departure from the Vanguard's ranks."
"Soldier, don't you go anywhere, that's an--"
"I answer to Paragon, madam Grey. Her people are my commanding officers. When they need help, I will come. When you need help, you ask your army. Good day."
The World I Once Knew
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