Theatric

Envy, lust, and greed. Three things that'll drive any man to kill. You put them together? Well you've got a murder just waiting to happen.

My name is Parker Langely, and I'm a mutant. For the record, I'm only documenting this because Liz suggested I should. She said it'd be "thereaputic" writing my story down since I'm not confiding in anyone else. I figure if I finally bite the bullet one day and get done in, at least someone will know why I do what I do. So here goes.

Like I said, I'm Parker. I'm an actor by trade. Stage actor to be specific. Not one of the Hollywood types. I used to live in a ratty apartment in upper Manhattan, in fact. I got into acting and drama early on during high school. The only reason I joined the drama club at all was because of Liz (My on-again off-again ex-girlfriend. Wow that's alotta' hyphens). I'll get to that later, though. The teacher, Mrs. Dover, said I had potential. She was pretty big in her time with a lot of experience. I wasn't good at much else anyways. My grades were pretty shoddy and I wasn't interested in sports at all. After I graduated, my teacher vouched for me and I went to a few auditions. First role I ever scored was in Othello at a cozy theater in Alphabet City. Played a clown, heh. Not much, but it was a decent start.

I made the mistake of studying a bunch of things that I thought would make me a better actor. Gymnastics, body building, those kinds of things. My dad gave me a hard time about my 'prancing around in tights and funny costumes on stage' at first but it was all in jest. Both my parents and my sister were pretty supportive. But I knew my dad was somewhat disappointed. He never said anything to lead me to believe it... but I'm pretty sure he planned on me becoming a lawyer like him. But it all worked out. I found steady work at an upscale theatre not far from my apartment. The pay was alright, but the money didn't really matter. I enjoyed what I did, so much so that it never really felt like work. Who else can say they get paid to sing and dance with their friends night after night? Scratch that. Makes me sound like a stripper.

Now I can finally and honestly say this without her mocking me; Elizabeth Fray was the first girl I fell in love with. We met freshman year and were friends long before we started dating. Blonde and incredibly cute, she was pretty much irresistible. The only reason football players weren't after her was because she was a bit of a geek. There's no way you could tell by looking at her, but she was into Star Wars and comic books and all that stuff. Which was just fine with me, 'cause there's nothing better than a girlfriend interested in the same things you are. We must've hooked up at the beginning junior year, I think (My memory is pretty crappy. She'd kill me if she knew I'd forgotten) and that's when she dragged me along with her into drama club. But it was fun and I can't imagine what I'd be doing now if she hadn't.

She followed me into the city (although she'd tell you I followed her) after we graduated and we moved in together. As friends first, a couple second. We got a lot of weird looks at first. From friends mostly. Our families were just as close as we were. But I never told her about my ability. About me being a mutant, I mean. I've got a very powerful healing factor, you see. That means I heal really quickly. If I slash my arm, it'll heal in a few seconds. Break my neck? I'll be up and about in a few minutes. It's hard keeping something like that from your best friend for years, but I was pretty sure she'd think of me as a freak back then.

So we move in together in this small apartment after we graduate high school, take a few college classes and we hit the ground running in regards to our acting "careers". We'd audition together and ninety percent of the time, we'd both get parts. Not exactly equally large parts, but parts nonetheless. That Othello play? She landed the part of Desdemona, one of the leads which was pretty great. I wasn't jealous at all. I swear.

Fast forward a year later. We're both still performing at the same theater regularly, and still dating as well. Things were pretty good. It was around this time when we all met Reinaldo Lara for the first time, but his reputation preceded him. The guy wasn't very popular because of his temper, but he was very determined to make it to Broadway. No matter who he stepped on along the way, that much was clear. You see, Reinaldo has a few cousins with mob ties. He was made the understudy of the lead in 'All's Well That Ends Well'. A week later, two days before the performance, the actor in the lead "fell down a flight of stairs" and was unable to perform. A producer once told him he'd need acting lessons after one of his auditions. They're still finding pieces of him around the city. Great guy, huh?

It was no secret why or how Reinaldo stole the show in most of his performances. People just weren't dumb (or brave) enough to stand up against him. What Reinaldo wanted, Reinaldo got. He's lucky he happened to be a halfway decent actor to begin with or else he wouldn't have been taken serious in the first place. I'm not exaggerating as I write this but everyone in the room must've rolled their eyes during his audition. But he got the part anyways. What're you gonna' do, y'know? We all put up with his crazy demands while quietly snickering and laughing at him behind his back.

Eventually, Liz caught Reinaldo's eye and suddenly she was his next conquest. Only thing standing in the way was me. And her obvious distaste of him, but apparently, that wasn't an issue to him. Heh, I'll never forget the day it started. It was late, two days before one our performances when he approached me in a dressing room and flat out told me that he was going to steal Liz away and there was nothing I could do about it.

Now I didn't take him serious at first. But he started making passes at Liz during rehearsal and I wasn't having any of that. And neither was she. She told him off right in front of the producers and the rest of the cast. He backed off after that. For awhile at least. He and I were moving stage equipment a few weeks later when I, the klutz that I am, tripped and fell on a column of stage lights. Big metal rod went right through my shoulder. It was awkward enough moving things together silently. Now I'm on the floor, bloody, and impaled by this big hunk of metal. Most awkward thirty seconds of my life. Him staring down at me and me staring up at him. He turned tail and ran after that. Didn't call for help either. Probably figured I was already dead. One less thing standing between him and Liz.

He confronted me about it the next night and threatened to out me as a mutant to the producers unless I broke it off with Liz. I told him to go to hell and stormed out. Half an hour later as I was leaving he came back with his cousin and cornered me in an alley. His cousin was a big guy. Looked like Vin Diesel but a bit taller.

Long story short, they beat the crap out of me. I've got a dark sense of humor, so it was almost comical. This went on for fifteen minutes until it finally sunk in and Reinaldo realized that there was nothing he could really do to permanently hurt me. I could see the frustration building in him as he kicked me over and over again. I looked up through the blood and laughed "Maybe your mother could come down and help?" They left after that. I guess nothing kills the mood of a beating like finding out your victim can't really be hurt. I never told Liz about his threats. I didn't want her to worry about it. Or get involved. The lengths a man will go to to get what he wants has always amazed me. They say envy's the most powerful emotion and who can argue? Wars have been started over it. You throw a beautiful woman into the mix and you've got the recipe for conflict. The Trojan War ring a bell?

Reinaldo wasn't exactly a smart or tough guy. A few weeks pass until he falls back on the "I'll ruin your career unless you split" threat. I brushed him off again. We're performing 'Love's Labour's Lost' later that night when a piece of stage equipment loosened and swung off it's hinges. I was able to jump out of the way in time. Two of my cast members weren't as lucky. One didn't live through the night and the other's still in a coma. They were good friends of mine.

Now I'm not stupid. I knew that accident was meant to kill me. Or at least expose me to a crowded room full of people. Those people died because of my stubbornness and Reinaldo's envy. If I'd handled it differently, they might still be alive.

I had to tell Liz everything after that. I don't know why I had to. Maybe I thought I'd feel less guilty. Maybe I finally felt bad about lying to her. Either way, I came clean. She broke it off. Trust me, the irony's not lost on me. She didn't run off with Reinaldo though. It was awkward the first days. Still living with her, I mean. There were a few days where we didn't talk at all. I never left the couch for some of them either. Eventually I stopped wallowing in my own guilt and realized that it wasn't my fault. Not entirely. It was everyone who'd ever let guys like Reinaldo get away with whatever they wanted. Everyone who never stood up to scum like him. So someone had to, right? Why not me?

Why not use my god given abilities for someone good. And I was used to 'prancing around in tights' anyways. So I put together an outfit. It was no trouble sneaking into the costume department after everyone left. It was time for those gymnastics classes to finally pay off.

Wasn't hard finding Reinaldo and his cousins. They were practically cliches. Eating out night after night in an italian restaurant. Staked the place out for about a week, just like in the movies. I didn't really have much to go on. I took the straightforward approach. Why dick around, right? I can't remember how many times I got shot that night but I hadn't felt that exhilarated since the first time I stepped foot on a stage. There was no way to pin the theater murder on him, but they were all carrying unlicensed weapons. Better than nothing, eh? I made sure Reinaldo wasn't hitting Broadway anytime soon.

It all just made sense after that. Someone needed to punish the guilty. It sounds dramatic I know, but, That's my line of work. When I wasn't on stage performing at night, I was out fighting crime. Not particularly well, mind you. But good enough. One thing's good about healing ridiculously fast; you don't have to hide bruises from anyone. Even still, Liz found out after I left my costume on the couch one night. I just didn't expect her to come home so early. With a date no less. Talk about awkward. I figured it wasn't long before someone else found out about my alter-ego. So I decided to move out of the city. Paragon, Rhode Island was the most logical choice. What other city would not only condone my late night activities but support them?

Found a pretty nice apartment in Galaxy City. Landlord's a bit eccentric, but she's nice enough. And who knew there was a law against fighting crime without a license? Does that even make sense? Registering with the government? Screw that noise. I trust the government and all, but... you never know when some super-villain with delusions of grandeur hacks a federal database or something and gains all your personal information. I've had enough trouble with identity theft already, thank you very much. But I've been operating for about a couple months now without a license and well... no one's approached me or anything yet. So whatever, right?

I scored a temp job at Snow Enterprises as a file clerk. Pretty boring, I know, but there's only so much a rapier-wielding amateur hero with a healing factor can do and I know my limits. So right off the bat I focused on the street-based crime. The gangs, the drug dealers, and the mob. But these guys... man. I felt like the new kid at a brand new school. Out of my league. The first "super-villain" I faced was a mob boss called Sammy The Man. Typical gangster in a suit. He dealt in pretty much everything illegal - Money laundering, racketeering, bribing and extortion, you name it. Sammy packed quite a wallop too. I dunno where those Family thugs gained their super strength from but he knocked me into next Tuesday, that's for sure. But like they say, skill diverts clumsy raw power, and precisely applied force solves many problems. I took him down and brought him in in the end and I felt a rush like no other.