[PyrosNine]

Well, I left my sign up sheet at home and I'm typing this at college, but I couldn't help but notice Raiden that your sign up mentioned a "James" in the society wanting to kill him.

That could not be farther from the truth!!! (much)

I would also like to point out that I wanted either a martial artist demon hunter, or some sort of biker, but those were taken whilst I was sleepin'.

So I must now announce the bare bones that i can remember of my revised character.

Character Name: Task Malben

Gender: XY!!!!

Age: 16

Organization: Vigilante/Society

Class: Thief!

Special Abilities: Knows Prince of Persia esque Parkour running, limited magic ability.

Bio: An orphaned thief, living it up in a mansion by himself. It certainly doesn't happen very often, but this was because it wasn't HIS mansion. The land had once belonged to a great wealthy old geezer tied to a strange lodge club of other old geezers, and they apparently wore robes and said incantations. Of course the old guy was dead now, having been killed by something or other. Word was he was killed by some sort of monster, and his place was haunted, but Task had always countered it was probably because he was OLD. Strong winds have slain greater old men.

On a dare after middle school, the often picked on Task was forced to enter the creepy estate and see if he could find a way in and bring out a sign of the man's horrible demise. A blood soaked bedsheet or shirt was preferable. This proved to be no hard feat, as Task was one who was always running, always looking for a way out of the things that menaced him. Especially the bullies giving him trouble now.

He'd fallen in with the some of the free running crowd, who ran along walls, ran up buildings, and slid down rails with their feet. They did it for fun, they did it for artistic expression. Task found himself doing it to get the hell out of trouble, and occasionally into it. Few things could keep out a thief who could run up a wall, leap over to a nearby tree and then rebound back up the building, right into an open window. Which was precisely how he got into the mansion.

The insides were empty, drafty, yet very brightly colored, with blindingly whitewashed walls and a deep crimson carpet over a marble floor. The place...she was a beaut. Statues, grand dining room complete with candles and preset tableware, a fireplace in every room, more than enough bathrooms for a diarrheatic convention, and there was even a private theater. HOOKED TO CABLE!

The place was delight to visit, and Task had a great time wandering it's halls...at least...at least until he saw the bloodstain.

It was splattered on the nearby whitewall, like a splash of red paint, and it dripped ominously. Task noticed the door opposite the bloodstain, and despite not wanting to, looked. The room was a mess. The place had been wrecked something fierce, the sheets ripped and torn and lying in an amount of blood that could not possibly have just come from an old man. The bed was in two, crushed in the center, and large claw marks raked everything. Including another flatscreen tv and a collection of solid gold statues of other famous old guys.

It looked like something out of a horror story. And little did Task know...it was. He knew he had to grab a sample of it. He didn't have to prove himself to anyone, but at least it might get those stupid jerks to leave him alone for sometime. Yeah. HE'd be the kid who brought back the ragged blood stained piece of cloth, and everyone else would think he was some sort of psycho. Of course, he could get in trouble with the feds for tampering with a possible crime scene, but what were they going to do? Prison seemed better than the orphanage.

He sauntered into the room, making sure not to get blood on his shoes and leave any bloody footprints for others to follow, and reached over to the bed. As his hands reached onto the sheets and tugged...he felt a sudden prick on his palm. He pulled the covers over, and revealed a large ornate dagger lying upon the bed, it's end poking through the sheets. Checking his hand, he felt a sudden moment of deep dread. It grew and grew to the point that he could no longer stand it, and then...a trickle of blood began to seep from his hand.

As if a billion klaxons in his head went off, the room suddenly became less "Awesome!" and more "Hellish". He thought he heard noises. He felt a billion eyes staring upon him. Deep breaths. Slithering. And then....a roar. Two eyes suddenly stared at him, their fierce intensity burning away every other eye and noise. Task instinctively ran out of the room like a bolt, and sensing as if something would follow him, he slammed the door behind him. Even then, that did not seem like enough...the presence was coming. It would rip right through that door. It would devour him.....

The door. It must be locked.

Task looked down to see there was key in the door handle he was holding. How fortuitous. He quickly twisted the key, heard the lock "click" and stepped back. The door, which once seemed as frail as particle board, now seemed stronger, impenetrable. A light green glow flowed from some ornate markings on the door Task had not noticed until now, and the sudden sense of dread was gone, replaced by a sense of peace....

After that, Task went home as pale as a ghost. But in the days to come, he found himself drawn to that place. He would return to amble through it's halls and and explore every nook and cranny, but stay as far away from that bedroom as humanly possible. It was possible too, what with 5 different ways to get to any spot in the building, from lateral elevators, outdoor paths, secret servant passages. No sliding bookcases, though. Or at least, he didn't find any.

With time, Task ran away from the 'home' he stayed in, with the dozens of other unwanted children and began to live in the mansion, alone. No one ever came to the house, servants, caretakers, cleaners or otherwise to cut the grass or clean up the mess in the master bedroom, and for that Task was thankful. The amenities never were cut off, and there was actually plenty of food stocked away in the many fridges and storage rooms about the house. (Granted, most of them using some form of Prunes)

Here he honed his free running techniques, safe from bullies and the law, and lived about as up as you could. I'll go more indepth in my posts however, as just describing how awesome it was for a young orphan thief living in a great mansion would make this already long post too long.

To make a long story short, eventually someone did come to the mansion. A lot of someones. Old geezers in robes, young men with swords and shiny emblems, and even a few handguns came to play. As a thief, Task was quick to hide and remain hidden, watching unobserved from corners and ceilings. Within minutes however, Task knew what they were after, and he cringed. They were concerned about that room. They knew what had happened in there and were returning eventually to clean it up, but something recently drew them there, and they had to investigate. Task was afraid. What would happen if they opened that door? Would that thing escape? Was it even real?

Would they be mind that he let loose something in the manor? Or ate all those prunes?

To his shock, their leader, a really old guy, did not open the door. He walked through it, the glowing symbol becoming what looked to be some sort of portal. Within a few moments, he returned, holding the ornate dagger carefully, with glowing gloves that seemed to protect him. But then, something bad happened. With a silent wave of his hand, there was a floating red dot in front of the dagger. And that red dot began to move, creating a line as it went. This glowing red line moved and snaked around...and headed for task. Task did not know what was going on. Only he knew that this thing might give him away, and that could only lead to trouble.

He inched away down the hall, quickly and quietly, until he felt a presence before him. It was less ominous than the one he felt in the room, but for practicality purposes, it was just as bad. One of those young guys with swords was there, holding his aforementioned weapon at Task's head. Task turned around to see the old guys in robes, and the red line snaking ever closer. Task recoiled back, only to feel the tip of the sword poking his spine, and suddenly the red line lashed out, grasping his hand.

His hand burned , the roar returned, and Task screamed as he collapsed to the floor.

The next thing he knew, he was lying down in a bed in another room of the mansion His hand was bandaged and throbbing, but even weirder was the glove covering the bandage and the headband upon his head, each adorned with another symbol, and colored green.

The next few days were a blur, rushed along by stern old men who scared the shit out of the normally very anti-authority task. There was harsh tutoring in algebra and literature of all things, teachings of symbols, lore, and of a very surreal history which a large part Task did not believe to be anything more than fairy tales. Then, there was some very real things happening. Photos taken. Haircuts. Fingerprints taken. Adoption papers, countless signings, and even at one point there was a body training instructor who scared Task so much Task ran up the wall, leapt over to the light fixture and swung his way into the ceiling boards. It was a shortlived victory however, as they soon caught him again and he was soon worked hard to improve upon THAT too. He was taught to use daggers, at such a speed that they used real daggers and hoped the bloodloss would be an incentive to improve quickly.

The point of all of this? The group who discovered him was it's own portion of the Society, suspecting that there were other factions seeking to put a stake either on or in the new mother of hell, and these did not trust the others. They needed a nobody with the requisite skills, but even in the super secret cults it was hard not to dig up something on someone else, either with money or magic. So when a literal nobody with some fairly decent skills pops up with a newfound magic ability....

He was placed into the same school as the mother, but not in her grade. He was to keep a Full Metal Panic distance away from her at all times, yet watch her, be the eyes and ears of the select few of elders. In return, he would be taken care of in the mansion, and trained to be a respectable member of the society. While this wasn't entirely all that great, he soon learned the reason for his newfound magic powers and the reason why he wanted to remain with the society.

His physical training instructor gave it to him as delicately as possible. "You're as demon possessed as hell. I mean, there are people who are pretty fucked out there, but you are beyond them. You are royally, majorly fucked. You have no chance in hell. An unnamed elder demon who knows only chaos, hatred, destruction, and pain beyond pain is connected to you by that knife cut you got like an umbilical cord. You are like a snowflake on the sun. You aren't gonna die, but you will suffer an eternity of such unpleasance that will make you wish you could kill yourself beforehand, but that would just speed up the process to your torment. Now, stop showing that retarded look and give me 100 push ups, and then Shit tzu over there is going to make you do some more of that kungfu monkey stuff."

Equipment/Belonging: Aside from his sneakers and his sneaking gloves, he carries around a pair of concealed knives on his person at all times, but can also carry a sword. In the way of magic, he carries about a stack of post-it notes carrying the sigil for "unlock" and for "explosion". The gloves and headband he wears keeps him from becoming possessed by a demon, and also allow for a bit of filtering that leaks him out an amount of magical energy for sigils and chants, and various other magic necessary stuff.

He only shares 2 classes with the mother of hell, a gym class and an extra course (whatever. Home Ec, Shop, Theater, Art. Spanish, etc. No matter what other class she's in other than core classes. No one notices this though.)

I'll pm you the Demon bit, He who B-burns toast, for your approval or rejection. I hope you approve, or Kitty will be sad!