Ignoring his childhood dreams and aspirations, as Dante would have preferred, let’s just get to brass tacks.

A young Mr. Stabbington (actual name) enlisted in the United States Army directly following high school. Scoring well on placement tests, he easily enrolled in Officer’s Training and walked out a young, idealistic Lieutenant, attached to a combat unit where he served with distinction. Over the next few years, he rose to the rank of Captain, due to a mostly positive mission success rate. He and his unit volunteered for difficult assignments, be it open combat, reconnaissance, or infiltration. It came as no surprise when he was asked to be a part of something risky and experimental.

The government experiment involved psychogenerates. This particular scientific inquiry involved various invasive biological exposures in the hopes of imparting power to a talented and fit “normal”, in a manner that was stable with minimal detrimental side effects. The experiment killed many. Dante was the first and only to survive before the project was shut down. He survived, thrived, and became more than he was previously. He walked away from the <location undisclosed> complex at peak, human maximum physical condition and the ability to spontaneously self-heal at a greatly accelerated rate. For some reason, twist of fate, random mutation, extra blood getting to his brain, whatever, Dante found that his natural talent for melee combat improved. Dramatically. (details above, under Powers.)

After an intense training period, he was placed into Military Intelligence – Gathering, where he could be of immense use and could be properly observed. During this time much of his work revolved around the Fourth and Fifth Divisions, either to keep tabs on or run field work for them. He continued to take orders from his government superiors during this time, until his term of service came up for renegotiation.

It was at this time that the Director of Special Operations recommended him for the Sixth Division. While his powers weren’t as flashy nor as obvious, he training and experience made him very valuable. He served as a tactician, field operative, and covert agent for the Sixth, but still able to hold his own against more powered opponents due to pure perseverance and a good amount of prior planning, backed up by his own intel.

He was not one of the more mentioned or remembered affiliates of the Sixth, but his name is still spoken in whispers in certain circles. He is, to this day, an intelligence and counter-intelligence legend. Following AW, he sunk into obscurity. The government distanced themselves from him publically, but still threw him lucrative assignments as an independent contractor. All very hush-hush. They would even subcontract him out to their allies, giving him an extra paycheck and them plausible deniability. He otherwise lives moderately well off of dual government pensions in a state of semi-retirement.

He presently resides in a small mountain town in the Cascades, outside of Portland, OR. He selected for himself a moderate sized dwelling in a great expanse of woodland where he stockpiles weapons, electronics, and equipment, like a well-educated doomsday prepper who knows full well what kind of apocalypse could be any day now. He maintains his physical prowess and full range of training, and in fact doesn’t seem to have aged since he was 30.

Vorian von Traupitz was born in 1887 in Berlin to the von Traupitz family. He was raised primarily in the family estates some distance outside of the city. His parents were not the sort to be particularly involved in raising their son. Though they were mystified at their only child's seeming inability to become ill when illnesses frequently swept the household. As time went on his other more bizarre tendencies drew more of their limited attention. Among them were habits of dissecting animals and a fascination with how things fundamental things in life really worked. And perhaps the most revealing of his future was the way the youth had an intense interest in diseases and afflictions. When individuals on the estates took ill he would always want to examine them, though in his childhood years he did not yet do more than record what he saw.

When he reached the appropriate age, Vorian was enrolled in a rather prestigious school of higher education in Berlin. His education at his own volition focused primarily on the areas that could be referred to as natural sciences. He was easily the most gifted student in that area at his school and was the top of his classes. After completing his education and being qualified as a doctor of medicine in addition to degrees in numerous other subjects such as chemistry and biology he, funded by university grants began to work on private projects.

These projects soon attracted government attention after an accident in his lab released a toxic yellow gas that killed several assistants leaving them blistered both outside and in. Immediately seeing potential military applications for Dr. Traupitz's research the Imperial German government promptly moved to fund his research, giving him a new facility in which to perform his experiments in hopes they could use the compounds that the man had begun to work on creating. Being a nationalist as well as a scientist Vorian was more than happy to assist his nation, the generous funding and private lab facilities also had something to do with it. Within a month after the government took over funding on his research and he was relocated to a private facility there was an accident. Officially Vorian was recorded to have died when a train he was supposedly riding derailed. In reality the Imperial German government, seeing the progress and potential of his work decided that he was an asset that had to be protected and no one would go hunting for a dead man. In a moment of irony he was referred to in communications as The Good Doctor given his propensity for developing lethal substances rather than healing. This coded way of referring to the man who was officially dead became official and persisted for years through several regime changes.

Prior to the outbreak of World War 1 the majority of Vorian's research and experimentation went unused and while the government had been eager to scoop up the potentially valuable resource little funding was directed in his direction. The Kaiser's grandiose dreams of a navy that would wrest dominion of the seas from England and other projects that were given far higher importance were prioritized. In the early stages of the war as well he was largely ignored and continued his experiments within the lab facilities provided for him. However this would change with the outbreak of chemical compounds and agents in the form of weapons during the war. While the initial use of tear gas first by the French and then later Germany as well was not related to him it's ineffectiveness led to the high command looking over its resources relating to the matter at hand. The Good Doctor's early research had focused on such things and the regular reports and experiment logs filed with them by the man made it clear his talents could be of great use in the war effort.

Of course he was willing to use his skills and creations to aid his nation and if there was some enthusiasm at the chance to finally test his early compounds on humans rather than lab animals his superiors overlooked it in light of the potential value and the fact that the stalemate was dragging on with no sign of ending. The Good Doctor was not the only individual to be brought in with this decision, others included Fritz Haber, who aided in the creation of designs for the early dispersal systems for gases and later Wilhelm Lommel who provided insights allowing his early blistering agent to be stabilized and mass produced more easily. Prior to the first large scale use of any of his compounds and his first real appearance on the stage of history Vorian devised what would become his signature mask and for the first time donned it. Though this was merely the first iteration of it and without all the revisions that would later be designed in.

He first was directly employed when high command ordered a test of the dispersal system he and his by this point subordinates had designed. On January 2nd 1915 the Good Doctor oversaw the first test of his dispersal system using a more dependable and less experimental gas, chlorine. While the initial test was effective it took several more months to fully prepare for wide-scale usage. In April of that year widescale use began, first at the second battle of Ypres where the Good Doctor personally oversaw it's use again.

Following these successes he petitioned high command to grant him access to prisoners for testing as he needed to further refine his own compounds for use. Due largely to his earlier success and the increasingly negative state of the war effort they agreed. The other eminent scientists who had worked with him previously disagreed violently with his methods but he carried on and from his facility came the first samples of what came to be known as mustard gas and other less publicized compounds. The Good Doctor's star continued to rise as nothing he created did not function and more resources were allotted.

As the war began to wind down a prisoner was brought to be experimented on. Exposed to a far more potent and difficult to refine version of the earlier mustard gas compound the man appeared to expire and then reappear unharmed. Vorian was surprised by this unexpected turn of events and set about investigating what he initially believed to be cellular regeneration. This theory however was debunked when samples from the man did not regenerate, though interestingly they also did not appear to age. While investigations into the nature of the man's strange ability continued, the Good Doctor rapidly began to use him as a control test for compounds. This did eventually end when in the process of a test with a member of high command present to observe the man somehow slipped his bonds as he healed and managed to escape, impaling the Good Doctor with the high command officer's sword.

While this event might have spelled death for a lesser man the Good Doctor did recover, his own knowledge of medicine and the human body allowed him to perform self surgery in an extreme feat of will and while he would forever after be plagued by shortness of breath and constant bouts of coughing Vorian von Traupitz did survive the encounter. Due to the injuries he sustained he preformed extensive modifications to his mask and using methods only he could work and understand created a method by which the mask could constantly feed him heightened amounts of oxygen to enable him to function at his earlier levels physically.

It did however take the Good Doctor months to fully recover and in those months the Entente powers or the WWI allies had forced the capitulation of Germany and its allies. With the end of Imperial Germany and the declaration of the Wiemar Republic in its place Vorian abruptly found himself a forgotten remnant of the old regime. In the light of the extensive restrictions placed on the German military and the reparations the government was forced to pay very little funding would find it's way to the Good Doctor's facility.

It was during this period of scarce resources, limited projects, and a long, slow, recovery from his grievous injuries that made a lot of his work difficult at best that he began to change to some degree. He had moved beyond the norm to the point that very few provided him with any meaningful stimuli. In truth he had begun to become rather aware of how alone he really was in the world. This sparked a new project, an effort to create another like him, whose mind was unbound and who had the ability to be an equal.

This project would consume nearly a decade before he finally succeeded at something that few would have imagined outside of fringe science fiction. Using his own DNA and select alterations he created an artificial human, a daughter of sorts who in time would come to become very important to him. It was soon after this breakthrough that the Nazi party rose to prominence in Germany. In time he was sought out by those who sought to use the weapons he had created previously. The Fuhrer himself even tasked Vorian with the creation of the perfected human.

While he did not agree with the Nazi views on things funding was funding and research was research and after such a long period of making do with scraps Vorian was more than willing to channel his research down the desired avenues.

(WW2 history block WIP)

Following the end of the Second World War, he along with his teenage daughter were brought to the United States and he narrowly escaped charges of war crimes by offering to put his services to use and bargaining away many of the secrets that allowed the construction of his early compounds and inventions. For many years after this trade that preserved his life and a degree of freedom he worked largely in secret with the companionship of his daughter who shared his gifts.

It was the rise of the 2nd Division in 1994 that first dragged him back into the light. He was informed that his participation was not voluntary and that he was to provide the team with his resources, to equip and arm them and to serve a supervising role due to his experience. A role that he would reprise many times as the various Divisions came and went up until the successful one. This one endured and as it endured he became more involved taking on something of an actual leadership role as the world came to view him as a hero instead of the threat he had been in the past.

His daughter was even inspired enough to enlist in the Division as a combatant, armored in a high tech suit of power armor and outfitted with weapons they had built over the years. Things were positive and even if the organization was somewhat corrupt and many did what they did for less than altruistic reasons Vorian had never been one to care much about the reasons so much as the science and the work itself, work that was facilitated by his position.

The alien invasion changed everything. The forces of the Division met the invaders, and it was a bloodbath. While he cared little about the other casualties there was one that struck him to the core, the one true companion he had in the world, his daughter. She died in the initial stages of the conflict, torn apart despite the shields, armor, and weapons that were supposed to protect her, and the others who had relied upon his technology fared no better.

It was enough to make the old man snap back to basics. Donning his own old suit and mask from the days of the World Wars and armed with the terror weapons of the old wars, and the updated versions he had worked on in secret he took to the field himself in the city. Horrific mutated monsters, strains of plague that killed in mere hours, nerve agents, and all manner of other horrors were unleashed indiscriminately upon the city and the aliens that had landed within it. But for all the human casualties, and all the twisted science of man's darkest wars unleashed, there was little effect save torpedoing the already sinking ship of the Division's credibility as one of the chief members slaughtered thousands in an attempt to damage the invaders.

Following the fall of the city Vorian retreated into the compound that had been reserved for his and his daughter's work and barricaded himself within. He has not been seen since.

It’s hard to believe the exhausted, overweight brunette calling herself Kelsey Smith was once one of the most beloved psychogeneratives in both America and the United Kingdom. Samantha, or Kelsey depending on who she's talking to, looks like she’s been through a war. Standing at 5’8” and weighing nearly 220 pounds, the tanned woman has completely let herself go, though her hair and teeth are in remarkably good shape. For whatever that’s worth. The thirty-one year old wears her hair long in hopes of framing her round, doughy face in the best way possible. An adorable button nose, once the envy of women across the world, stands out as one of Samantha’s few redeeming features. Her pale blue eyes also have a certain pull to them. There is a weariness, and no small amount of fear, lurking in the gaze of the woman they used to call the Masked Magician. Even her puffy features can’t conceal the look of guilt etched across her face, and her overall physique suggests this is someone who saw something that nearly broke her. Maybe it should have. Moving past Sammy’s ample bust, a sizable gut has taken up residence around the former superheroine’s midsection. Wide hips and flabby, cellulite-studded legs ending in oddly dainty feet complete the image of a woman who no longer understands the meaning of the words “discipline” or “moderation.” Typically, Kelsey can be seen wearing whatever clothes she has on hand, which means wrinkly t-shirts that barely fit and sweatpants covered in old stains.

Gina Raynor-Trevon-Samantha's mother, a greedy opportunist who constantly projected her own desires onto her daughter, she expected Sammy to be perfect in every way and punished her for the slightest missteps, wanted her daughter to become an Olympic gymnast like she almost was, became her daughter's agent and manager when her popularity as Kazara was at its zenith, Gina then quietly copyrighted and trademarked anything to do with her daughter's alter ego, after Sammy fled Alien War 1 Gina exposed her daughter's secret identity to the world and divorced her husband, she also told Samantha she could no longer use the name Kazara, Gina currently lives in Los Angeles, California and is the chief consultant for Redwood Studios' trilogy of films based around Kazara's career, the first film Kazara: The Beginning was released on January 13th, 2024 to excellent reviews

Thomas Raynor-Samantha's father, a timid and unassuming man often overshadowed by his more driven and aggressive wife, was briefly in the spotlight once his daughter's secret identity was revealed, had no interest in becoming a media sensation and quickly faded into obscurity, Gina divorced him soon after, found Samantha in a homeless shelter after the events of AW1 and rented a small apartment with her in Orlando, currently lives with his daughter and is trying to be a better father

Alistair Crowley, also known as the Gray Man and the Curious Mr. Crowley (Deceased)-A skilled British Marked One who trained both Samantha Raynor and Stefan Anderson, came up with the term "Marked One" to differentiate between various types of psychics, a person possessing pyrokinesis would be referred to as someone "marked by fire" or a flame-marked, created "Crowley's Method" to spread his beliefs about being careful with one's powers and not hurting civilians, practiced hemokinesis and electrokinesis while serving in the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Divisions, encountered Samantha as a child and started her down the path that would lead to her becoming Kazara, after an argument the Gray Man dismissed Sammy in 2021 and they didn't reunite until AW1, Alistair died towards the beginning of the conflict

Stefan Anderson, also known as White Hat (Missing, Presumed Deceased)-A British Marked One who studied under Alistair Crowley alongside Samantha Raynor, wore a white top hat no matter where he was or what he was doing, skilled in hydrokinesis and was working on mastering his chlorokinesis abilities before AW1, never officially accepted into any divisions despite his close ties with both the Gray Man and Kazara due to his obsession with fame, Sammy's best friend and many American and British gossip magazines believed they were a couple, vanished after Alien War 1 and is believed to have died alongside his mentor

Pyrokinesis-Samantha Raynor is a Marked One, meaning she's a psychic with a very specific set of abilities. She cannot move things with her mind or read another person's thoughts. What she can do is control certain elements of the world around her through sheer willpower. Sammy is capable of wielding the forces of shadow and flame thanks to her innate gifts. Utilizing her pyrokinesis, the stronger of her two powers, the Masked Magician can control any source of fire she wishes and, if given enough time, can create flame from nothing. This is obviously more draining than using an existing fire. Fireballs, pillars of blue flame, and even wreathing herself in a crackling aura of fire are all abilities in Sammy's repertoire. She's also completely flame resistant. One of the foci she owns, the Ring of Flames, allows most of her pyrokinetic abilities to melt through anything short of solid steel.

Umbrakinesis-Besides pyrokinesis, Sammy was also born with the ability to manipulate shadows with her thoughts. She can force pools of shadow to harden into a durable substance known as crystalline darkness, which is sharp enough to pierce tank armor. One of her most well-known and useful umbrakinetic talents is the shadow disc, which creates a manhole-sized disc of crystalline darkness that can fly Sammy to any location she desires. It became Samantha's primary form of transportation between the United Kingdom and America during the peak of her fame. Another ability the Masked Magician has tried to master, but hasn't performed successfully, is the so-called shadow step. This power allows Sammy to step from one shadow to another as long as she can see her intended destination. However, this involves passing into what the superheroine could only describe as "the deepest darkness I've ever seen" and she was terrified of it. The Curious Mr. Crowley was trying to alleviate Sammy's fear before their falling out in 2021. The Ring of Shadows, a mighty foci given to the Masked Magician by Alistair Crowley, further amplifies the psychogenerative's impressive talents.

Power Sensing-Like all other Marked Ones, Samantha can sense when other psychogeneratives are within one mile of her current location. She cannot tell what gifts these individuals might possess, but she knows they have them. This talent has served her well throughout her life despite its limited range. Especially when it came to evading former members of the Sixth Division. Sammy's power sense cannot be blocked except by a psychogenerative with a power specifically intended to cloak their gifts.

Other Skills-Has a high drug and alcohol tolerance, one of the finest cooks in the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Divisions, was trained from a young age as a gymnast and can move well for a woman of her size, trained in basic hand-to-hand combat by White Hat but is out of practice

Whether it's food, drugs, or fame, Samantha has always struggled with self-discipline and resisting her gluttonous impulses. After spending time in rehab, she's largely kicked her drug habits, though the former superheroine does get intense cravings every now and again. Sammy also never quite got over her need for alcohol, and she drinks as often as she is able. This habit becomes more pronounced during moments of intense stress or emotional turmoil. Regrettably, this has led to her becoming substantially overweight, and it's difficult for her to engage in extended periods of physical activity. In addition, she's constantly tormented by horrific dreams of AW1 and the Curious Mr. Crowley's demise. It's rare for Sammy to sleep more than a few hours a night unless she's blackout drunk. Lastly, the way Samantha was raised makes her easy to manipulate and her guilt over past events has only made this worse.

Samantha Raynor's life began in the usual way. Born on March 5th, 1993 to Gina and Thomas Raynor, she seemed destined to be nothing more than the daughter of an anxious, meek father and a bullying, loud-mouthed mother. Gina's dream was to have her daughter become an Olympic gymnast like she'd almost been. And nothing would stop her from making this vision a reality. Sammy's days were filled with school, homework, and a rigorous training regimen intended to keep her in the best condition possible. In truth, the young girl was more interested in reading stories and watching old news reports about the activities of the famous Second Division. She must have watched The Fall of the Cult of Desecration, a movie depicting the division's battle against Desecration, at least twenty times before she was eight.

It wasn't until her ninth birthday, when her family was visiting Plant City to enjoy the Florida Strawberry Festival, that everything changed.

In the festival's lackluster midway area, Sammy found herself drawn to a game of four cup shuffle run by a gray-haired man with horn-rimmed glasses and a warm smile on his face. The stranger introduced himself as the Curious Mr. Crowley, a tourist from London hoping to taste the sweetest and juiciest strawberries in the world. And to eat as much strawberry ice cream as he could stomach. There was an immediate bond between this charming British man and the inquisitive Sammy, and she was eager to try her luck at four cup shuffle. The rules were simple. Four cups and two rings. All the nine-year old needed to do was figure out which cups had rings underneath. Shockingly, she guessed correctly. His eyes twinkling merrily, the Curious Mr. Crowley handed Samantha her prizes: an octagonal ring of the finest onyx and a hexagonal ring of citrine. The Ring of Shadows and the Ring of Flames. Clasping the child's tiny hands in his large, scarred ones, the elderly Englishman told Samantha he was quite pleased and, if she still wanted to be a hero, he might be able to help her. He would send her a letter when she was older and wait for her response. If she was no longer interested then she needn't reply.

Time passed as it always does and the Third Division, in what was to be their finest hour, ended North Korea's dreams of conquest during World War III. With her mother focused on sending her to a college that wouldn't interfere with gymnastics, Sammy's life didn't feel particularly different. And then she received a letter from the Curious Mr. Crowley on July 5th, 2011. According to this letter, Samantha was a "Marked One," a psychic with specific but formidable abilities. Abilities that could change the world around her in ways both great and small. The Curious Mr. Crowley wanted to train the young psychogenerative and possibly submit her to the newly formed Fourth Division as a potential member. In light of the recent war, Samantha's parents were concerned about sending her outside the United States to meet some man she barely knew. Surprisingly, it was Gina who, after reading the letter several times, declared this might actually be a brilliant idea. Sammy was ecstatic, but her father was concerned. In all their years of marriage, Gina had rarely changed her mind...unless she stood to benefit in some way.

Despite her father's misgivings, Samantha boarded a plane and flew to London to meet Mr. Crowley at his palatial estate outside the city. He introduced her to his only other student, the glory-obsessed but dashing Stefan Anderson, and gave the young psychogenerative his grimoire, which contained a list of mantras and techniques to help her channel her abilities. Alistair explained that Sammy was "marked by flames and shadows," and the rings he'd given her as a child would strengthen her powers. There was a method, however, called "Crowley's Method," that would separate Samantha from all the other superheroes and heroines with psychic abilities. It was simple but vitally important. First, you speak a channeling mantra, a phrase composed of psychically reactive words, in order to awaken your gift and delineate what you want to accomplish. After the mantra was spoken you would channel your willpower through your foci. The Rings of Shadows and Flames served this purpose admirably. Forcing a torrent of psychic energy through these objects was safer than simply lashing out with raw, uncontrolled power, though it was also harder. Thus, a Marked One needed to have a sharp wit and a healthy body in order to properly use their abilities.

Samantha remained in London for two years until the winter of 2013 when a group of Marked Ones attacked Walt Disney World of all places. Supposedly, an ancient and powerful foci was hidden beneath Cinderella's Castle, and the so-called Hidden Cabal intended to claim it for themselves. Unfortunately, the Fourth Division was too busy trying to deal with the re-emergence of the Cult of Desecration to attend to this minor issue. Deciding to test his new students, the Curious Mr. Crowley, accompanied by Stefan and Samantha, flew to the United States to deal with these rogue psychics. The Emerald Witch, Voldo, and the savage He Who Watches All were defeated and imprisoned after a lengthy battle, which ended with Walt Disney World closing for nearly twelve years. Still, the Curious Mr. Crowley, Stefan, and Samantha prevailed. It was after this momentous conflict, which became known as the Battle of Walt Disney World, that the Gray Man gave Samantha her "hero name" since he knew she didn't want her true identity to become public. For her family's sake. He dubbed her Kazara the Masked Magician after the woman who'd opened his eyes to his own gifts.

After Sammy briefly returned to the United States in 2014 to reunite with her parents the Curious Mr. Crowley presented her to the Fourth Division. Desperate for aid against the Cult of Desecration's madness, the leaders of the group accepted her, though the Gray Man also convinced them to let Samantha continue training while assisting the division. Despite realizing all her dreams, however, something changed as Kazara returned to London to resume her education. The media swarmed all over this mysterious young woman in a silver mask and, despite the warnings and rebukes of her mentor, Samantha fell headfirst into the dangerous mire of television talk shows, commercials, and partying with celebrities. Stefan, her closest friend at this point, nurtured this behavior and ensured she enjoyed every event she attended. After all, Kazara's popularity was doing wonders for his own reputation. As her following in London increased, Kazara often rode on her shadow disc between England and the United States alongside her master and Stefan to help the Fourth Division deal with the Cult of Desecration.

Then the Fourth Legion disbanded after the world realized what Sung Jin Lee had done.

While hiding in Mr. Crowley's estate to avoid persecution, Kazara received a surprise visit from her parents. Gina told Sammy she needed to come home. Not because she was afraid of what might happen if someone found out her daughter was a psychogenerative. No, Gina was convinced the Masked Magician could change the opinion of the entire United States. She was a fresh face, more known in England than in America, and this might be enough to show the world not all psychogeneratives were like Sung Jin Lee. After agreeing to try it and accepting her mom as her talent agent, Sammy nervously returned to the United States, leaving a furious and worried Mr. Crowley behind. Surprisingly, Gina's father and several of his close friends were movie producers at Redwood Studios. They were already talking about making a trilogy of movies about this new psychogenerative, an untainted soul standing strong in the face of Sung Jin Lee's brutality and lack of commitment to justice. Commercials, more talk shows, and constant partying became the norm for Samantha once more. While the overall attitude towards gifted men and women didn't change, the viewing public saw this lovely, charming new superheroine as a beacon of hope in these dark times. If Kazara was popular in London she was revered in certain parts of the United States, especially Florida and California. Of course, the stress of being a psychogenerative celebrity in a time when her kind were barely tolerated drove Kazara to embrace excess. Slowly but surely, her lifestyle began to take a toll on her body and her mind. While she eagerly joined the Fifth Division when it formed in August of 2018, Kazara's priorities were painfully obvious. She was more interested in her new status as a cultural icon than helping people.

Encouraged by her mother's reassurances, Samantha gradually stopped caring about anything except her reputation. The Curious Mr. Crowley visited her often and tried to continue training his wayward pupil, though a brutal argument ended their relationship in 2021. And then the aliens came.

All Fifth Division members, now called the Sixth Division, gathered to combat the alien menace and Kazara was forced to go. What would her adoring public think if she didn't participate in the coming battle? The fighting progressed slowly and horribly. Each day saw the loss of more and more division members, which took a serious toll on the Masked Magician's psyche. While she'd been peripherally involved with the war against the returned Cult of Desecration, this was different. This was personal, and Sammy lost many dear friends to the invaders. It wasn't until that final, awful battle in Canada that Samantha Raynor realized just how far she'd fallen. Mr. Crowley and White Hat were pinned down by several aliens, calling out for Kazara to help them. She flew towards them on her shadow disc and...stopped. Fear, mind-numbing and complete, washed over her, and the aliens obliterated the Curious Mr. Crowley. With a scream of terror and guilt, Samantha fled for her life and didn't stop until she was back home in Orlando. That was Kazara's contribution to Alien War 1.

After her less-than-triumphant return home, Sammy realized things had changed while she'd been away. Her mother, a cruel smirk on her face, told her daughter she intended to divorce Thomas. Furthermore, Gina had also taken the rights to the name and image of Kazara away from her out-of-control brat of a daughter. Gina's grin grew even wider as she opened the door to the family home, revealing a living room packed with eager reporters. Reporters who now knew Kazara's true identity. The name "Samantha Raynor" quickly became a byword for cowardice, the consequences of excess, and what it meant to fall from grace. Traumatized by this and other recent events, Samantha checked herself into rehab and emerged in 2022 only to find herself penniless and forgotten. The world only cared about Kazara and what she represented. Nobody cared about the woman behind the mask. Out of desperation, Sammy reached out to an old contact in Washington and was able to change her name to Kelsey Smith. She dyed her hair brown and did her best to hide from the world as well as any remaining division members.

A few weeks later, however, her father found Sammy in a local homeless shelter and offered her a place to stay. For the next two years, Thomas tried to help his shell-shocked and despondent child get back on her feet. Sadly, the loss of Mr. Crowley and the realization of her own cowardice scarred Samantha deeply. While she avoided doing drugs, Sammy quickly fell back on her oldest, dearest vice: drinking. Now, in 2024, the thirty-one year old psychogenerative finally feels ready to try moving on with her life. The key word being "try." Even as the public celebrates the release of Kazara: The Beginning in theatres, Samantha is doing her best to forget the past. To lock it away just like she locked away Mr. Crowley's grimoire and her two rings.

Before giving up her life as a superheroine, Kazara's costume consisted of a blue gymnast's leotard, black slacks, and black boots. She also wore a dark blue hoodie from time to time, and her face was hidden behind a smiling silver mask. The psychogenerative never allowed her face to be seen in public no matter how drunk or high she was. Luckily, Stefan Anderson, also known as White Hat, was willing to help her maintain her secret identity despite his love of the limelight. Of course, the Masked Magician would be nothing without her two foci, the Ring of Shadows and the Ring of Flames. The Ring of Shadows could always be found on Kazara's right index finger while the Ring of Flames adorned her left. Since moving in with her father, however, this costume has lain untouched in the bottom of "Kelsey Smith's" closet alongside a locked strongbox containing Alistair Crowley's grimoire and the two rings.

The Ring of Shadows-An octagonal ring made of pure onyx, which is one of the most psychically reactive materials in the world. Alistair Crowley claims to have found this potent foci inside an Egyptian tomb deep within the Valley of the Kings. Since the Gray Man only possessed the gifts of hemokinesis and electrokinesis, he kept the ring safely locked in a vault beneath his London estate until he stumbled upon a nascent Marked One who was "marked by shadows." That Marked One was a young Samantha Raynor. The Curious Mr. Crowley gave Samantha the ring and trained her in its use over several years. While wearing the Ring of Shadows, Sammy's innate ability to psychically manipulate shadows is greatly strengthened and she can actually create shadows where there aren't any. This is a very draining process, however. Without the boost provided by this foci, the Masked Magician must use whatever naturally occurring shadows are close at hand. It should be noted that Samantha can still use umbrakinesis without the Ring of Shadows. The foci just makes her already formidable gifts more potent.

The Ring of Flames-A dull, hexagon-shaped citrine ring that once belonged to the monstrous villain known only as He Who Watches All. The Curious Mr. Crowley took this foci from the hideous psychogenerative in 1990 during a raid on his stronghold in Germany's Black Forest. This ring was also given to Samantha Raynor by the Gray Man when she was young since he was incapable of using it. Utilizing its power, the former superheroine's gift for controlling fire with her mind is amplified, and any flame under her control turns a brilliant shade of blue. She can also conjure flame from nothing, though this is much harder to do than using a readily available fire. Again, Samantha is still capable of astonishing pyrokinetic feats when not wearing the Ring of Flames.

Alistair Crowley's Grimoire-A black, leather-bound journal containing pages and pages of notes about everything from channeling mantras to a delicious recipe for fried chicken. This book was given to Samantha Raynor by the Gray Man when she first visited him in London. Crowley's Method is also thoroughly explained in the crinkly, yellowed pages of this chapbook. Essentially, imagine trying to bend a spoon with your mind. Instead of pummeling the spoon with your telekinetic abilities, the Curious Mr. Crowley believed it was necessary to meditate until you discovered a mantra for bending objects. Then and only then could you bend the spoon. Over the years, Sammy added her own mantras and thoughts to this journal, though she hasn't touched it in over two years.

Born to Maurine and Malcolm Moreau just outside of Cleveland, Merle Moreau was the fourth and final family member to carry the “MM” naming trait – her older sister, Marcella, being the third. Mrs. Moreau worked as a nurse and would later go on to become “M.E. Moreau,” infamous for the “Charred Charter” trilogy. Mr. Moreau painfully worked his way up the ladder to being the district manager of a successful café franchise. Despite their stable income, Merle never knew how well off they were. She was raised to be appreciative and respectful of money, the hard-earned struggle to get it. She didn’t understand their wealth until living on her own and experiencing firsthand just how well-off her childhood had
been.

When The First Division first started circulating the airwaves and the world just started its frenzy over them, Merle had been thirteen. A gangly girl with a gaunt face, ratty hair and the unflattering nickname “Ostrich” due to her large eyes; kids said, like an ostrich’s, Merle’s eyes were bigger than her brain. She was a quiet, reserved girl who burrowed into books during breaks and after school. Though she had friends and there was no genuine reason for Merle not joining them in the cafeteria or to hang-out, she preferred the quiet escape of science fiction and fantasy. Oftentimes she would daydream about becoming a superhero – donning a cape, saving the world, being the hero everyone needed. It was a fantasy she lapsed into often, neglecting real-life duties in favor of writing tales about her superhero counterpart. From her early teenage years up until the time she was seventeen, it was a hope she entertained daily.

Merely days after the infamous death of Polar Storm sparked the rioting and arrests, Merle rejoiced when she first felt something foreign in her head. As if she had sprouted fingertips in the core of her brain, she could feel the warm smoothness of the mug on the bedside table next to her in her mind, like she had absorbed the object inside her skull. It held her curiosity for minutes until the unexpected crackle of thunder startled her and was immediately followed by the shattering of the mug. Somehow, in the split second Merle whipped around to gasp at the window, the mug had been launched across the room and long trails of murky brown coffee were leaking down the wall. As her sister Marcella had been one of her closest friends, it was she who first heard about Merle’s incident. Marcella instantly chalked it up as Merle looking for attention, clinging to the latest trend – until Merle telekinetically lifted the pencil from Marcella’s hands, and Marcella believed her. Instantly Marcella’s stance on it transformed into a protective, fearful one; she warned Merle to not let anyone know, to not let Merle become a target for the government to capture.

Sticking to her sisters’ wishes, Merle remained quiet about the telekinetic episode for the following year – dabbling with the minor elements of it she achieved (mainly just “feeling” objects) – until the Thursday morning at 2am in 1991 when there was a knock at the door, the faint murmur of muffled voices speaking to Mama Moreau. Merle pressed her ear to the door and listened, trying to pick up any significant bits and bites of the conversation, until her own bedroom door burst open and she scuttled away. When she regained consciousness, she was in the back of a moving vehicle, her wrists tethered together and a pounding migraine weakening her senses. That moment would always be a blur to Merle, the gap in-between when she woke up and when she was suddenly clattered on the floor, heaving for air, a sharp pain in her side, and the wails and gunshots of frantic men. The door to the vehicle was torn open – there was heavy smoke in the air slithering into Merle’s nostrils, suffocating her. Like the other woman next to her, Merle clambered onto her knees and ignored the motionless, unbreathing armored soldier. She made her way out of the vehicle, stood on solid ground, and first came face-to-face with the man who would redefine Merle’s life: Eugene Rice. She had known his face for years – the whole world had. And when he requested her help, Merle felt a surge of excitement inside her overlap the fear she was feeling. Suddenly, in the midst of chaos and wreckage, of bodies and bullets, Merle was needed. By The First Division.

Her time during The First Division was a short one. The death of Eugene Rice a short time after Merle teamed up with the leader cut the group’s duration short. However, with the only two other members – Amanda Weisz and Donna Tate – leaving for their own safety, and the other members still in prison, Merle had been the only active member for two weeks until Vivian Pang was released and took over the leadership role. Along with the other members, Merle rejoined and become an official member of The Second Division.

For months Merle’s parents developed an uncomfortable disposition around their daughter, unsure of how to react to their daughter being psychogenerative. Marcella was more supportive, allowing Merle to live with her and her fiancé during Merle’s off-time. Mostly, Merle spent her days at the various locations The Second Division operated at. Being a member of the crime-fighting group became her life. She was an obsessive fan living the dream she always wanted, but that quickly died. It quickly became real. The circumstances in which she joined The Second Division were simply because she was the only remaining member who fought by Eugene’s side during his final days. Even then, Merle was just a budding telekinetic; she never had been much help to Eugene Rice. Under the command of Vivian, Merle was expected to perform to the group’s standards. The young telekinetic spent most of her time practicing, straining herself to hone a skill she had never been taught was possible before. During the first rise of Desecration in the ‘90s, Merle was backseat member. She took on smaller tasks, solved smaller crimes. To a group that had hassled with fame, Merle was just a background extra for the time being. Rarely did she see the spotlight; most of the world knew of her, but the name “Zenith” didn’t take hold until 2003 when WW3 began. In-between The Second and The Third Divisions, Merle returned home and stayed with her parents who had begun to accept Merle after seeing the work she had done. For a year, Merle travelled with The Poet who, despite not being telekinetic, taught Merle a fair deal. When WW3 began, Merle had been more prepared; she was part of the first group of The Third Division members to head over to China. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Merle’s face was plastered over propaganda posters and in commercials. Next to The Poet and The Good Doctor, Zenith – the fair-skinned, bug-eyed woman in the dazzling gold headscarf – was pivotal to the group’s identity. The prospect of war stole Merle’s attention, but every now and then she caught the wandering eye of a soldier and felt the pressure of growing popularity.

After WW3 ended and Merle lost several friends, she followed the others and decided to retire. Returning home to America suddenly meant people wanted pieces of Merle. She appeared in several television and radio interviews, but the idea of publicizing that aspect of her life felt wrong after a while. Initially it was exciting; she wanted to tell her stories, embellish the tales; she was still a diehard fan underneath living the dream, but she had seen enough over the years that it felt wrong to still be that. She was in her thirties – she was a grown woman who had been to war and back. She had killed, almost been killed. It only became a tangible realization when she was sitting on couches or chairs in front of cameras retelling her half of the story. When the war was over and only real life remained. Suddenly there was no more fan gushing over all those times she fought for the greater good. It was just a battered, aging woman who knew nothing else in life. She had gotten so wrapped up in the idea of being something great that, when it was all over, she had nothing else except for the nightmares, the haunting memories, the blood embedded in her hands.

Like most things, her time in the limelight died down, and after a year of touring, Merle was once again left to find a life to nestle into. She found a home in the countryside of Kansas, adopted a bunch of dogs and painted the sunset. As much as she could, she struggled to forget the life she half-heartedly left behind. She saw multiple therapists, limited her use of telekinesis, and dated a normal, non-psychogenerative woman. Yet, at the end of the night when the television set played the nightly news well into the early hours of the morning, Merle sat up and watched the world still go on. No matter what The Divisions had done for the world, there would always be petty crime. Merle tried to pretend there never was anything wrong, but she always had the itch to fly out into the night and stop the robbers, the rapists, the wrong-doers. She didn’t know what else do to with her time. Life felt empty without Zenith.

There was a point when Merle contemplated she wasn’t Merle Moreau. She was Zenith, only Zenith.

The group was reformed by Sung Jin Lee in 2011, and Merle did not hesitate in rejoining. It felt right; there was an exhale of relief when she stepped into the center of the cramped, circular room, saw all the files sprawled across desks that Lee had been pouring over, and thinking, “this is where I am. This is who I am.” Merle fought alongside The Fourth Division to bring down the resurgence of Desecration and his Cult. At the end of it, she felt the same sort of emotional exhaustion. She lost Nicole Schuester, The Poet, and Sung Jin Lee himself. She had become close to Alex and Shirley Mackey, only to have them leave. When it was all over and Zenith found herself still standing in that circular room, alone and defeated, she didn’t know what came next. She gave up the life of Merle Moreau. She wanted Zenith – needed Zenith. It was the only way she felt whole, felt like what she did mattered. It was the only identity she felt mattered.

For the following two years, Zenith went solo, creating even more of a name for herself; she became known as “The Fashionable Fighter,” and headscarves with open blazers and muscle shirts became the new trend. On her own, Zenith stopped sex trafficking rings, child prostitution and drug cartels; she started, “The Zenith Zone,” an after-school program for young psychogeneratives to feel understood, to find help. At one point, Zenith was a popular joke suggestion for the US Presidency Elections. She felt broken, but accomplished. As one person, she achieved so much, and she didn’t even know that those were her glory days. That time, as a solo superhero, Zenith was at her best.

Eventually, however, important tasks beyond just her carried her to reunite with Vorian von Traupitz – The Good Doctor, the man responsible for backing The Divisions over the years with technology, armor, weapons, and anything else they would ever need. Along with others the two recruited and accepted, they started The Fifth Division. This time, Zenith didn’t feel like the back-up to call on when needed. She wasn’t the timid, quiet woman who went with the flow. She felt empowerment, felt strong. She felt pride and arrogance. It was not the same woman who supported The Divisions throughout all those years, it was a woman who wanted to lead The Divisions how she felt suited her. Rarely did Zenith embrace the fame – she entertained it, was amused by it. Finally, she saw it as power. She used it to her advantage.

It was pure self-righteousness until AW1 began. It still trailed along with her when Vivian Pang re-emerged and took over leadership duties alongside Merle herself and Vorian. Zenith felt that same strength and confidence up until the moments when she stared down the first alien ship that descended.

When she saw all her friends die around her, and when she stood in the emptied street with rubble and ruin all around her, Zenith wept. Harder than she had in years. She broke, wholly, crumbled into soggy pieces. There was no rejoicing in facing the others that survived.

After all things had settled and they left the mess behind, Merle wasted no time in heading back out to Kansas where her little home resided. She draped the singed and tattered headscarf with the “z .” sewn into it over the coat rack, collapsed on her bed, and slept. It was a sleep she wished lasted for the rest of her lifetime.

Two years were wasted to depression, anxiety, to crippling flashback and mourning. Isolated, unfriendly, prone to breaking into sobbing fits at the drop of a hat, Merle Moreau felt like a bruised failure that would never stand again. There wasn’t a lot of other direction pointing to how she should be feeling. At the same time, she finally came to terms with her age, finally understood she was in her fifties and was no longer a young thing that should be running around. Her body ached constantly, not able to keep up with the demanding lifestyle. All that was left in that former life was a small fraction of her brain clinging to the good ole days like it was a lost lover she could never let go of.

Just as she began to grow accustomed to the solitude, Merle found a letter on her doorstep. Simply, it listed coordinates and read: “They’re coming back,” and a small signature at the bottom reading, “Vault”. It took Merle another two weeks of the letter being the only thought on her mind before she wrapped the dusty “z .” headscarf around her and stepped outside.

Like every other time before it, Merle Moreau never was sure giving up on the only life she knew was something she could do.