Officer Trent/RP/Viva La Revolution
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Contents |
Overview
(Under Construction)
Part 1
After hearing that Claudius had broken out of prison, Trent—without orders—tracked his daughter Persephone Claudia to the Rogue Isles where she was seen entering the apartment of James Nelson, also known as Fearghas, who had set up the distraction for the prison breakout. Trent confronted the two and despite his prodding, neither of them knew where Claudius was. He wasn't sure if he believed them, but the conversation (read: interrogation) wasn't going anywhere and he had no choice but to leave. On his way out, he passed by two suspicious-looking Marcone-men.
Ducking behind a corner, he overheard that the two Family were planning to shoot up the apartment he had just left. Just as they were about to gun James down, Trent ambushed them. Though James was wounded in the attack, the assassination attempt was diverted and Trent learned of James's crusade against the Family in Port Oakes.
As Trent tended James's wounds and Persephone stood guard, the Marcone drove off—tails between their legs—but they had left behind a package. From its bloody wrappings, it turned out to be a human head—its face carved up and its eyes gouged out—a close friend of James who had nothing to do with the Marcone. It also had a note: give up or more innocents will die. James flew into a rage and immediately told Trent and Persephone that they had to leave the Rogue Isles at once. Fearing that James was throwing his life away on what he perceived was a quest for revenge, Trent initially stood his ground, but James assured him that it wasn't about revenge—it was about doing the right thing. Plus, he wasn't alone; he had his small resistance cell who had grown quite adept at taking down the Family. Realizing that this was not his fight, Trent reluctantly agreed. But James also made them promise to take Seiken with them, fearing someone might try to steal him and use him as leverage. Seiken was loud and vocal about not leaving, but what could he do? He was just a sword. (Well, a talking sword, but a sword nonetheless.)
And so the trio silently returned to Paragon City—Persephone deeply disturbed by the whole turn of events, Trent lost in introspection, and Seiken muffled by a thick, quilted blanket.
Part 2
Several weeks later, Trent received word that James was missing, so he returned to the Rogue Isles to try to find him. The detective had no leads, except that a group of Romanian brothers were looking for the killer(s) of James's friends. Tracking down these foreigners was easy enough (how many groups of Romanian brothers were running around Port Oakes these days?), but they didn't seem too terribly pleased to just let him tag along, thinking that Trent was a reporter and probably that he would just get in the way. He did manage to find out that they were looking for a Johnny Knuckles, however, and Trent happened to know exactly where this escaped convict like to hang out. He led them to a little Marcone-owned cafe by the docks.
Brushing Trent aside, the brothers pulled out their Uzis and Molotov cocktails and began to tear the place apart. A little miffed, the detective waited around back where getaway boats were clearly ready to take off at a moment's notice. Disabling one of the boats, Trent waited patiently until, as expected, Johnny flopped out of a window in an attempt to escape the brothers. Upon seeing Trent, he was more than willing to talk. He didn't know who was killing James's friends, but it certainly wasn't him. Furthermore, he was terrified of not only what the brothers might do to him, but also the captured Untouchable inside the cafe, whom the Marcone were just beginning to torture/interrogate. Phil, a former member of the Rogue Islands Police, had barged into the cafe apparently with Johnny Knuckles on his mind. Trent couldn't wring anymore information out of Johnny, so he let him go; he had more important things to worry about. Meanwhile, to Trent's utter shock, the cafe completely collapsed behind him.
As Trent came around front, he found the brothers admiring their handiwork and that they had already rescued Phil. But there was a problem: they seemed to think that Phil was the killer! Not only that, they were more than willing to do away with Trent as a witness! As Phil pleaded with Trent to find George, the other Untouchable who was in imminent danger, Trent pleaded with the brothers to just let them all go. Finally, three of the brothers (Gabi, Sergiu, and Virgiliu) were tasked with taking Phil to a safe place while the other three (Cezar, Remus, and Vasile) were to go to George's apartment. Meanwhile, Trent forgotten, the detective picked up Phil's katana and stole away into the night to find George before they did.
Trent arrived at George's apartment to find it being watched by Marcone, who were just waiting for the word to move in themselves. Narrowly evading the Marcone, Trent slipped into the building while the brother's arrived just in time to deal with the mobsters. Trent burst into the apartment to find it covered in blood and George dead—his face carved up and his jaw sliced off with what easily could've been a katana. Deeply disturbed, Trent cut open Phil's katana (which had been duct-taped shut) and unsheathed it. It, too, was covered in blood. As Cezar and Remus joined Trent in the apartment they all received word that Phil had escaped and would likely go after James next. Realizing that Trent actually knew James, they told Trent that he had to come along with them.
Part 3
The brothers led Trent to a warehouse on Sharkhead Isle, where James was not happy to see him—and the brothers themselves were not happy to learn that Trent was actually a cop! Only the intervention of their sister Daniela kept the Romanians from shooting Trent dead right there. Trent then had the sad duty of telling James that Phil had killed George, that he had betrayed them all. James was shaken to his core at losing the last of his friends, but now he was determined to get his revenge. Trent, thinking perhaps he could dissuade him, decided to play along.
James wanted to hit the Marcone hard, but Daniela and Trent were opposed to this "plan" as someone could get killed. They preferred to hit-and-run, hoping to draw Phil out. But then James suddenly remember that he had Phil's number. Trent made the call—as the last they met Trent had tried to help Phil—and told Phil to meet him at James's apartment. They would ambush him there. As James and the brothers secured the building, Trent went into James's apartment alone. He was led to the bathroom where he heard a faucet running and upon opening the door, he was met with the word "TRAITOR" scrawled on the bathroom mirror. Not only that, he had inadvertently triggered a time bomb! Running out as fast they could, James and Trent watched in horror as the apartment was demolished in a fiery explosion, untold numbers of innocents killed.
Almost immediately they were ambushed by the Marcone. As the brothers led them through another building and into an alleyway, Phil approached them from behind a nearby fence and James went ballistic. As the two exchange heated words, the fire escapes above them filled with Marcone snipers. Realizing they were trapped, Trent himself took a sniper rifle and began picking off the Marcone. Just as the rest of the snipers abandoned their positions, a Marcone car turned down the alleyway and revved to flatten the group. Gunning down the driver as well, Trent and the others commandeered the vehicle and sped off.
Unfortunately, they were still being pursued by the Marcone. As the brothers tossed their Molotov cocktails out the back, along with a hail of bullets from their Uzis, the driver (Gabi) drove the car into one of the Marcone office buildings downtown. Screeching to a halt inside, they abandoned their smashed vehicle and the brothers began spilling the ground floor with flammable liquids. As they make their way outside, they were met by Phil and several Marcone.
As the brothers disappeared off somewhere, Phil revealed the reason for his betrayal. He wanted to show James that he was still just a monster on the inside from his days as Fearghas. That was why he killed off the other Untouchables. "When push came to shove, you stabbed. Just like you were before." Furthermore, he wanted James to pay for the death of his brother. Trent watched the exchange unsure, but then James lunged at Phil with his own katana. Desperately Trent tried to convince James that he was not a monster, that people could change, that this was not justice, until finally... James dropped the katana, defeated. As Trent also relaxed his guard, Phil suddenly picked up the sword and ran James through the chest, all the way to the hilt.
Horrified, Trent rushed forward to help until the Marcone beside Phil open fire, forcing him to take cover. Trapped and out of ammunition, Trent awaited the inevitable... until a helicopter swooped in raining bullets on the Marcone. Cezar was about to pull Trent into the helicopter (piloted by Gabi) until the detective noticed that Phil was about to finish James off with a bullet to the head. Rushing out of Cezar's grip, Trent then rammed into Phil, fighting for the weapon. As Virgiliu dragged James back toward the helicopter (with the sword still in his chest), Cezar also had to pull Trent off Phil. They then made their escape.
Part 4
James was fading fast, but he manages to whisper something about a "Phoenix Program" before slipping into unconsciousness. Trent and the brothers are puzzled, but they realize that unless he gets help soon, he was going to die there in that helicopter. They decide to risk a visit to the hospital, which turned out to be swamped from the explosion at the apartment complex. They land on the roof and a doctor and several nurses rush out to meet them, but once they realize that the injured person was James Nelson—whom they view as the one responsible for the whole mess—they refuse to treat him. With the Marcone storming into the hospital, the brothers coerce the doctor into coming with them in order to save more lives from a possible shootout. They take off once again, this time for Sharkhead Isle to meet back up with Daniela.
The doctor is unable to do anything for James. With five bullets and a sword in his chest, he should've already been dead. They release the doctor and hook up with Daniela. Fortunately, she knows about the Phoenix Program—they are tied to his tech gloves—and she leads them to a warehouse only to emerge shouting that the gloves are missing. As if on cue, Phil steps out from the shadows, wearing the tech gloves. His Marcone henchmen are caught up fighting with the Scrapyarders, so he takes on Trent and the brothers alone. Pumping Phil full of lead, they watch in shock as he activates the Phoenix Program and charges at them.
Phil unleashes the power of the gloves, blasting them with fire and energy. The helicopter is destroyed, and their guns are no match for him (and Trent himself is unarmed from the battle at the plaza). They are easily knocked aside. But finally, while Phil was focused on Trent, Gabi stumbles from the wreckage shoots at him, catching him in the throat. They take the tech gloves from him and rush over to James. Putting on the gloves, James is revived in a ball of fire, the katana shooting out of his chest and landing somewhere nearby.
He looks over to Phil, still alive and gurgling on the ground...
Part 5
To be continued...
Author's Notes
(Under Construction)
