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Post by spideyfan914 on Jun 22, 2012 12:11:04 GMT -6
PREVIOUSLY on Heroes and Villains....
The True Society is a religious cult which worships the demon-lord known as Nouda. It is believed that some chosen individual will someday lead a series of sacrifices culminating in the summoning of the demon. But alas, most of the True Society has strayed, turning to it instead for power and dominance. The highest-ranking members, after all, are ritualistically granted great power, as though a demon has been bonded to their soul.
Many years ago, young SHAWN CASPER was born with a bizarre devil-shaped birthmark which ostracized him from most communities. Ultimately, the family found acceptance within the True Society, who instead interpreted the mark that he should be this chosen individual. They gave him the power of the Phantom, and trained him from youth.
But as Shawn reached his teen years, he grew wiser and came to see the True Society for the hypocrisy it is, and for the evil at its core. He left in a dramatic display of power, killing the Highest Council at the time in order to escape - unfortunately, his mother was also caught in the crossfire, and his father Arthur was severely scarred.
Shawn continued to live in New York City, and attended school, one of the smartest kids in his class, along with DOUG URSON. He had trouble making friends, and was bullied by NICK SANCHEZ and his crew. Nick has his own troubled background, as his parents were members of the mafia, until Mr. Sanchez was asked to murder his own brother. He refused, and both parents were then killed, leaving Nick in the care of his uncle, far from the best guardian.
Finally, though, Shawn did find an ally.
This is JAKE BRADLEY. Jake isn't the brightest kid in the grade, nor the strongest, nor the most popular. But he and Shawn became inseparable for a time. And as such, it wasn't long before Jake became swept up in the entire mess of everything.
SEASON ONE: HEROES AND VILLAINS
Our story begins late one April night when Jake is out on the streets. He heard a mysterious voice calling his name, and was drawn into it like a trance. Sneaking into an old abandoned basement, Jake came face-to-face with the devilish REAPER. With blood-red eyes and a Grim Reaper look, Reaper was known for his ability to paralyze victims with fear, and then kill them. Fortunately, this occasion marked an exception, for PHANTOM swooped in and fought the creature off.
Jake tried to tell others about the event, but no one believed him, and laughed him off. But Jake hadn't heard the end of Reaper, for after the incident he found himself haunted in his dreams. Every night, he'd look through the eyes of Reaper's victims - dead or surviving, it didn't matter. And they became increasingly clear as time moved on. They'd established a spiritual connection. But there was more, for it appeared that Reaper was going out of his way to attack those close to Jake - including the failed murder of Nick the bully, and the abduction of BLAKE BRADLEY, Jake's younger brother.
Jake began to learn about Nouda and the True Society from his fellow classmate ZAMXUS ZANE, who lived in a disappearing house and was himself perhaps just as creepy as Reaper himself. Zamxus also stressed that both Reaper and Phantom were human.
Fed up with it, Jake went out on a whim to find Reaper, not even sure what he would do when he found him. Instead, he found Phantom, who questioned Jake's motives. "Are you sure you don't just want to die?"
But just then, they were attacked by what appeared at first to be Reaper. But as the sun rose, the creature changed back into Blake. It was learned that Blake had been abducted and transformed into what is known as a Wraith, a weaker version of Reaper created by the blunt end of his scythe. While Reaper can transform using chalk runes like most other demons, Wraiths change with the sun, and have trouble controlling or sometimes even remembering what they've done over the night.
As such, it was soon discovered that Blake was not the only Wraith - Doug Urson, the quiet genius in Jake's class, has been turned as well. Jake sought to inspire Blake to take back control, that it was all about will, and it did help for a few seconds - and then Reaper came to capture them both. He killed Blake by the next morning.
Jake went to Zamxus for answers, demanding an explanation of why they were after him - quite simply, he enjoyed it. Zamxus revealed himself as Reaper and chased Jake out of the house, located in Nouda's Realm, an alternate dimension to our own. Reaper then left to attack the school.
At this point, their spiritual connection reached a new level, as Jake could hear Reaper's every thought - including his plans, and even it would seem inheriting some of his fighting skill. Jake made it to the school in time to hold Reaper off just long enough for Shawn to change into Phantom, revealing his identity to Jake, and defeating Reaper. As a means of escaped, Reaper faked his suicide, but Jake never let go of the idea that he was still alive.
SEASON TWO: INTO THE TRUE SOCIETY
Jake and Shawn had a few more friends now. Though Nick refused to admit what happened when he was attacked by Reaper and come to Jake for help, his girlfriend ROSE BIELLE was also attacked, and subsequently saved by Jake. She dumped Nick and now became a vital member of Jake's circle of friends - though Shawn continued to hate her. Furthermore, Doug Urson, still a Wraith even with Reaper gone, went to them for help controlling his demon.
But alas, the worse was yet to come. Reaper was just one man, after all, and there was still an entire True Society - a far more organized system than Jake realized. There is one Highest Council, the leader of the cult, followed by two Higher Councils, and then ten Grand Councils. The three at the top all have demons, as well as a few other individuals.
The roster was as follows: SORCERESS, a seductive witch with elemental power; TARANTULA, a giant spider and master of fear; GOBLIN, a man with great agility and a wicked taste for blood; and NOSFERATU, a vampire with the ability to control the body of her dead husband, now a ZOMBIE. Each came equipped with an impressive array of power, but nothing could prepare Jake, Shawn, and Doug for the Highest Council, who revealed himself only upon their capture.
After Shawn escaped the True Society years ago, it was Sorceress who succeeded the past Gargoyle as the Highest Council. But it was Shawn's father, ART CASPER, who showed the most perseverance in the years to come. He made his way up the ranks, outvoting other contenders, and finally becoming the Highest Council himself. He's now out for revenge for the death of his wife - or, more to the point, a "cure" for the wrong his son has committed. By death.
In his first instinct to escape, Phantom brutally murdered Goblin, literally sucking the breath out of him even after he was down. But the True Society had another trick up their sleeve, using Doug's vulnerable state as a Wraith in order to brainwash him and turn him against his friends. On top of that, it is always nighttime in Nouda's Realm, and so as long as they stayed there, Doug could never change back.
Also against them was JONATHAN CRADLE, a spy who had been sent to Shawn's school to learn of what he's been up to. Jonathan was once attacked, and it was Casper who saved his life. To pay off his debt, Jonathan believed that he had to join.
The mayhem of the final showdown began when Jake got through to Doug, and convinced him to rebel against the True Society. But he wasn't the only one - Nosferatu finally learned the truth of her husband's death, that it wasn't a mugger but Art Casper himself in a ploy to get her to join. She and Zombie thus also betrayed the True Society, and helped to battle with Sorceress, until they were finally struck down. The fight seemed over, with Shawn still unable to transform, and with several foes still left, but Sorceress made her final mistake: She made a move on Art Casper. Furious by the suggestion that he'd betray his dead wife, Casper killed Sorceress, and revealed his own powers: SPIRIT.
Harnessing the same powers as Phantom, Spirit was a worthy foe. But Phantom recognized the ritualism of the fight, in a large coliseum and all, and found that the best way to defeat his father was to simply refuse to fight him. Jonathan found his own moment of sway there, and helped Jake, Shawn, and Doug to escape Spirit and Tarantula, and leave Nouda's Realm behind. However, Jonathan himself did not follow them out, still owing the True Society a debt.
But Spirit had failed in his goals, and left the True Society in shambles because of it. He would face the consequences, and the remaining Higher Council would now take over: Tarantula. Jake, meanwhile, was came home to his own father, HARVEY BRADLEY. Harvey, an NYPD officer, had been worried sick about Jake, who'd been missing for over a day, and was too relieved and upset to be angry.
SEASON THREE: THE LONGEST DAY
After Reaper's attack on the high school in Season One, many students had been killed, and many left grieving. But after a couple of weeks of downtime, everyone had to pick up the pieces and try to go about their lives as though nothing had happened. And most did - except for one, BEN WOLF.
Ben had been a great guy with lots of friends. But now they were all dead. He couldn't move on, and seeing everyone else act normally only made him lonelier. He tried to kill himself, right in the basement of the school - but before he could, Reaper came. Reaper transformed Ben into a new being, giving him the power to control the walls of the building itself, a SPECTRE. Of course, Ben's own warped mind perceived events slightly differently, believing that Death itself had brought back from the beyond to wreak havoc on those who do not understand what it means to die.
He struck on the last day of Jake's junior year of high school, sealing the doors and trapping everyone in their classrooms, blocking off cell phone and radio transmissions and keeping all police at bay. The result was a slow picking off of the population one by one over the entire day, keeping those saved for last wrought in fear.
With too many witnesses, Shawn had no way to transform into Phantom without giving away his secret. Instead, Jake helped him try to figure out who was behind whatever it was that was happening, with the added support of Doug and Rose. The obvious suspect was QUENTIN LAKE, a dark and creepy student and the only known friend of Zamxus Zane. Supposedly, Lake believed that Zamxus had been killed by Reaper. But as time went on and they couldn't prove anything, Shawn grew more and more helpless, and all the students became increasingly paranoid.
Among the deaths were Nick's best friend BARNEY and Barney's girlfriend ALICIA. No one was safe, and even ELLEN TEEVES, the usually optimistic cheerleader, became suddenly grim and even accused Jake of having some association - they all remembered his warnings of Reaper and Phantom from before they went public.
The worse, however, was when sundown came and Doug transformed into his own alter ego of the Wraith. Doug knew that people would mistake him for Reaper, and he admitted that he was a monster - he had, after all, killed many people, and it wasn't too hard for Art Casper to brainwash him into attacking his own friends. After transforming, Doug disappeared into the night and would not be seen again for quite some time.
Quentin Lake began to associate with Ellen Teeves, and together they came full-on against Jake, a known friend of Doug Urson. There were some who still defended Jake, but not many. When Ellen herself was killed, Lake grew even darker.
An unexpected twist came when Nick spoke to ALEX WOLF, a kinder football star and cousin of Ben Wolf, of Jake's innocence, and together they convinced Jake that he knew far more of what was happening than anyone and had to take charge. This backfired when Lake protested, and rallied the class together into a mob attack on Jake, beating him near death. Just then, Jake noticed that the building was now going after Shawn, and warned him just in time for him to change.
Usually demons need a rune to change, a mystical symbol drawn in human flesh, or blood, or dust. Chalk dust is the most common (and practical) usage. Here, Shawn tried an experiment, drawing the rune on his own hand in case he needed to transform - and it worked.
Phantom had everyone back off of Jake, confirming his innocence, and proceeded to break them out. Some, Nick especially, were angered that he didn't change sooner, but it was irrelevant when Ben Wolf revealed himself. Quentin Lake, or Quen for short, helped the rest of the students out as Phantom went after Ben.
They found themselves in the courtyard, and though Ben struck Phantom with everything he had, he hadn't any attacks that wouldn't just phase through Phantom. He took teacher D. M. FANGYE hostage, but Jake helped to save him as Phantom supplied the distraction. Finally, Ben made a run for it, even though his powers are useless outside of the school building.
He ran for a long while, out of the city and into the Catskill Mountains. There, he encountered Reaper, who deemed that Ben had outlived his usefulness, and killed him.
Many did not like Phantom, associating him too strongly with Reaper. Even Jake's father, Officer Harvey Bradley, was not happy with how strongly Jake had become involved.
SEASON FOUR: FULL MOON
After the all the events at the end of the school year, Jake and Rose decided to take time off, going on vacation with Rose's mother and sister, MARY BIELLE and ABBY BIELLE, into the Catskills with Rose's older cousin JARRETT BIELLE. What they didn't suspect was that Reaper himself was in those woods, waiting for them.
There had been a few disappearances at night lately, leading Jarrett and Mrs. Bielle to urge the kids not to go out at night. It was Reaper, of course, killing around the mountain in a very precise formation - he was forming a rune. Not many can pull it off, but Nouda's favorite followers can draw these massive runes where the points line up with murder sites, though he needs a full moon for it to work. This rune served two purposes: the first to deepen his connections with Jake and Rose over the course of the summer, and the second to create a WOLF-MAN.
Rose, just as Jake, had been having dreams of Reaper after her encounter with him. But now, Reaper was planting thoughts into their minds, thoughts which they would mistake as their own and do things they'd never normally do. They continued to search for the Wolf-Man at each full moon, but when they began to attack each other on Reaper's whim, they eased up.
On the domestic side, Abby was thrilled to hear that Jake and Rose were not actually dating, and developed a rather annoying crush on Jake. Shawn in the city, meanwhile, had been hoarding off groups of haters in the aftermath of his identity reveal, even kicked out of his apartment. He was also running into a strange Shadow creature, and had begun to suspect that Doug, still missing, was killing again.
The worst came on the third full moon, when the Wolf-Man's identity was revealed via dream: Jarrett Bielle himself. Mrs. Bielle went out to search for him, telling Jake and Rose to remain behind, but they went out anyway, urging Abby to stay behind, but she followed them. Before they could find Jarrett, they had their own romantic moment (partially pushed by Reaper) and kissed - much to Abby's dismay, as she ran off back to the house.
But before Jake and Rose could make another move, the Wolf-Man arrived and attacked. They tried to run, but the Wolf-Man got on top of Rose. Jake got on top of him, and had a chance to kill him, but hesitated on account of it still being Jarrett, and was as such rendered helpless to stop the Wolf-Man from mauling Rose. Jake himself was only saved by the last-minute coming of HUNTER ATLAS, another civilian in the wood and brother of Harvey Bradley's captain, CORPORAL ATLAS.
The hunter only saved Jake though, unable to carry them both and deeming Rose too badly injured to have any hope of saving. Jake was furious to hear this, and under Reaper's influence seized Atlas' gun and ran off. He returned to the site of the attack, and found a trail of blood from where Rose was. He would've followed it, but Reaper intervened and convinced him to go after the Wolf-Man instead.
When Jake's first attack on the Wolf-Man failed, he used his remaining gunpowder to spark a fire, one which quickly grew into a raging forest fire. It spread across most of the mountain, undoubtedly killing anyone in the woods: namely Jarrett, Mrs. Bielle, and the hunter, and Rose if she wasn't already dead. Jake only snapped out of it when he returned to the cabin to find Abby. She was shocked, and declared hate for Jake, then ran away.
Jake then turned the gun on himself, although it was by now empty and useless.
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