JJ Doe

[closed]

[closed]

---

SOLIDER Base; Council Room

---

“Henry, by God, when was the last time you used some fucking soap. . . or even showered? I swear, every time I'm around you, I feel like I need to wear a damn nose plug.”

Hal turned to the man with crimson eyes. James Lockehart was his name, although Hal has not called him James or Lockehart in a very long time. Not because Hal had forgotten the man’s name or even because they have never been properly introduced to each other, but because, to Hal, James Lockehart was “Sparkles.” Even Hal who chose the sobriquet acknowledged that “Sparkles” was a nickname that did not particularly fit James’s image; it was, in fact, not Hal’s first choice. He was initially going to choose something that matched James’s vampiric mien —Dracula, Batman, Vampi, Bloody-Broody, Ashes, or something along those lines—, but then, after the most trivial debate about the types of vampires depicted in various entertainment and which one should be crowned the king/queen of vampires, Hal realized that if James were to be a vampire, he’d be pretty enough to “sparkle” in the sunlight. Hal wouldn’t say this out loud, of course. He already made plenty of people upset by merely mentioning the sunlight-twinkling vampire; James might do more than be upset. Hal would rather not become a mummy, thank you. Although, based on how difficult it was for James to stand in the same room as Hal, an attempt at getting any amount of blood or organs out of his body might just turn James into ash. That’s how the vampire looked at the scientist: like he was made purely out of garlic and/or wild roses. Hal hoped it was the latter, no matter how unlikely it was.

“Is this your way of telling me I smell like roses, Sparkles? I literally took a shower less than 2 minutes ago.” It turned out, however, that it was not how James told others that they smelled like roses, a fact confirmed by Matthias’s request.

“Alright Hal, let's have a deal. I'll cook something special after this and have champagne to top it all off but,” when Matthias paused, Hal started to feel kind of bad as he watched the younger man combat the force that dominated the air —also known as Hal’s smell. “You need to tidy yourself first. I'll allow you to borrow any soap I possess as I have an assortment of them. You may even want to consider on owning one but that's up to you.”

Hal sniffed himself, but could not smell anything. Then again, he was the one living in what Athene had dubbed a pigsty; the stench probably seeped into the core of his very being. In which case, it was too late for Hal, but if it would make Matthias and James breath a little easier, he’d take a second bath. Plus, food made by Matthias. Win, win. There was, however, one little problem.

“I might need to borrow more than your soap assortments. I’ve been exiled from my own place. Unless you can convince judge Perth and Ramirez, I don’t think I can use my shower legally.” Hal smirked at Matthias, “I don’t have money, so it’d be pro bono. Wanna represent me, Lawyer?”

“Lawyer,” how original. He really needs to give Matthias a new name. Unlike, James, Hal had never actually called Matthias anything other than “Lawyer.” The name, simply stuck since the first time he said hello to Matthias. Not that “Hey, aren’t you that lawyer who killed that vice mayor on TV? I remember watching that! Terrible way to start the morning, by the way. Then again, I guess you had a sh*ttier day than me. Ahaha!” was the most appropriate “hello” he could have said to the newcomer.

Before Hal could hear Matthias’s response, Hal felt something slam right into him, punching out any air he had in his lungs. That something was Evangeline. Hal wondered where the lass was. It seemed like Athene and Haziq came to Hal’s room because the blonde asked them to, but neither of his ex-protégés gave him the chance to ask where exactly Evangeline went. They’ve known each other for so long, it didn’t feel like the day started without seeing her.

After some of their usual high-energy banter, their giant commander scolded them as if they were rowdy children disrupting class —not that the comparison was inaccurate— so they promptly took a seat. Hal tried to pick a seat farthest away from the others, especially those who were sensitive to Hal’s smell, to decrease the chances of someone fainting from lack of oxygen, but when he did, Evangeline sat right next to him. He wondered if she’d be okay, but she looked like she didn’t care, so he decided that he would only care as much as she did.

Before the debriefing began, Hal looked around the room to see who was there and noticed the President across the room. Hal’s eyes narrowed at the man’s presence, but he did nothing more beyond that before turning his head away.

Hal listened to the debriefing with little to no interest. At one point, the scientist had pulled out a pen from his pocket and started to play tic-tac-toe on the table. After he lost to himself about eight times, Bubbles also joined the game. The only time he looked up was when the President interrupted the meeting.

“You will put down any of these rebels that you come across, that is a direct order from me. I will not tolerate these SeeR to infiltrate Galbadia and I will not give them a chance to slip away. Fail to locate and dispose of them will result in a punishment that will befall upon you,” the President shot a piercing glare to each and every SOLDIER in the room. During that moment, there was split second where the President and the scientists locked eyes. Within that split second, Hal’s brained started to get into high gear, imagining, calculating, formulating hypotheses on the 101 ways to annoy the heck out of Rayne Morgenstern with the resources, or lack there of, he had at his disposal. Within that split second, his mind selected on gesture and Hal executed it. Hal kissed the air and winked in the President’s direction, mockingly. Based on his disgusting expression, the President got the message and by the time the man turned to face the Elite, he was angrier than ever, “And you.”

Hal might have snickered at the President’s displeasure if Evangeline hadn’t grabbed onto Hal so hard her fingers started to dig into his skin. He didn’t stop her, or even respond to the pain, when she did, however. Instead, he smiled at Evangeline and jokingly said, “Oh, just ignore Rayne.” His voice emphasized the name Rayne, reminding the blonde that the man was no one other than the President, “He’s just IMSing.” She didn’t respond; she probably didn’t hear a single word he had said. So he did the next best thing to calm her down by touching her arm with his free hand and gave it a light squeeze, “Breathe Bubbles, he can’t hurt you.” Seeing that he did the gesture only a few moments before the debriefing was over, it was difficult to tell if one or the other —possibly both— helped, but when the council was adjourned, Evangeline regained her energetic self.

Hal watched the woman jump about like a child excited for the upcoming trip before he walked over to Matthias with equal enthusiasm, but for vastly different reasons. His eyes glittered with anticipation just like a dog would at the promise of food. He grinned.

---

---

SOLIDER Base; Deployment Dock Number Four

---

“Are you not taking this mission seriously, or do you have a death wish or something?”

Hal was stuffing his face with the food Matthias had so graciously provided him at dock number four when the twin Commanders came over to him. The scientist glanced down at his breakfast. “I’m pretty sure Lawyer doesn’t hate me enough to kill me just yet… Unless he thought I stink so much that he decided the world would be better without me. Or maybe I’m going to die from the food being so good… Huh… not a bad way to go.”

Rene rolled his eyes and stole one of Hal’s desserts as he sat down next to him. Ignoring Hal’s protests, the giant took a good bite out of the sweet, “I’m talking about your stuff. Why aren’t you wearing armor and where’s your stuff, in general? Don’t tell me you’re going on this mission wearing civvies and bringing nothing else?”

"I have been forbidden to enter my realm. Not even the mighty warrior of justice could help me take it back." Afraid of any more of his food being stolen, Hal moved his breakfast farther from Rene’s reach, “Weeeeell, even if I did, I still wouldn't have equipped the armor. You know that if I wore anything heavier than cloth, I’d faint from fatigue before any battle started.”

“You say that as if you’re planning to fight.”
“AHAHAHA! Oh, Ghost, you’re such a comedian!”
“Yeah, I thought that was a good one too.” Rene threw the rest of the dessert into his mouth, “But really, where’s your armor?”

Hal stood up slowly as his eyes looked into the distance. Leaning on the most convenient object near by, he began to sing, “Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high. There's a land that I heard of once in—… Hey! Hey! Hey! Get your hands away from my food! They’re mine!”
“Then just answer the f*cking question, you jackass.”
“I don’t know where that thing is. I misplaced it the day I got it.”

“Of course you’d loose it the first day it’s assigned to you.”
“It can literally be anywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was taken by the great civilization Verts Gris.”
“I’m… going to regret asking what you’re talking about, aren’t I?”
“I don’t think so? Maybe? Well, at least you’ll know why Athene is pissed off?”
“Because of you?”
Hal contemplated on how to retort the comment, but ultimately gave up on the idea entirely, “Okay, yeah, because of me.” Hal sat back down, “To answer the question you technically haven’t asked yet, Verts Gris is the name I gave to the bacteria colony that’s been growing behind the dresser.”
“I thought your room was cleaned four days ago.”
“It was.”
“How are there bacterial colonies growing already?”
“Magic!”
“Or?”
“Or, I found and cultivated a bacterial colony for study.”
“Ah, yes. ‘Found.’ Learn to clean your own damn room, Al.”

Kimberly, who had been quiet the entire time, spoke up, concern written all over zher face and ever present in zher voice, “Dr. Rainer… you… should take better care of yourself.”

At first, Hal wasn’t sure what the doctor was talking about then he realized that zhe was talking about his room. “Oh? I think I spoil myself more than most people.” Hal smirked, “Spoiled. You know… spoiled? Like… the stuff in my room? Eh? Eeeeh?” Hal tried not to snicker at his own joke, waiting for Kimberly to smile. Zhe did no such thing. Zher expression did not change, if anything, it felt as if zher mood got even gloomier. The pun was bad as the ones Rene would say on occasion, yes, but the problem laid somewhere else.

Kimberly opened zher mouth to say something, but after a moment of consideration Hal noticed that zhe decided to say something else, “You need to treat yourself better than this.” Hal rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable of how seriously Kimberly was worried about his filthy room.

“Rainer!”

The group of three turned their heads to the source of the voice. Athene and Haziq were walking towards them with boxes occupying their hands. In addition to the unknown boxes, Athene had an electronic clipboard and Haziq was holding a bag.

Rene was the first one to greet them, “They live!”

Haziq smiled, “Barely. We had to fight our way out of that place.”
“Let me guess! You were attacked by the great civilization Verts Gris?”

The two scientists exchanged quizzical looks at each other, “What?”

“Shhhhhhhh!” Hal cut in, “Verts Gris is supposed to be our little secret!”
“Really? Sorry, man. Ignore what I said then.”

Athene gave a particularly dirty look at her old mentor. Convinced that she’d do more than just glare at him if he let the silence continue, Hal quickly changed the subject, “So! Seeing that you guys are here, does that mean I can return to my room?”
“No.” Haziq said.
“Aww...”
“We brought you gifts!”
“YAY!”

Haziq smiled as he gave Hal a full traveling bag, “To start off, here’s you’re stuff. We only packed what we thought you’d need during the mission.”
“Thanks. I feel like it would have been a lot faster and easier if I went into my room and packed the bag myself, but thanks.”
“Oh, oh,” Haziq opened one of the boxes and fished out a familiar bottle. “And don’t forget this. Remember to keep record of—…” Haziq watched Hal take the bottle and chuck the expensive drug as far as he could while booing. “You ASS!” Haziq said as he ran off to the side retrieve the prescription bottle.

Athene was waiting for Kimberly to verify the list of medical supplies when Hal threw the bottle off into the distance. She glared at the man and crossed her arms, “What’s the matter with you? You know how valuable medicine are these days?”
“That’s why I threw it over there and not outside. You know, like a reasonable adult.”
“A mature individual wouldn’t have thrown it anywhere.”

Haziq came running back to the dock with the bottle in hand, “Found it.”

Hal smiled and reached for the bottle, “Good boy! Now let’s see if you can catch it again.” Before Hal’s fingertips could even touch the plastic, a mist of air freshener attacked him from the side.

“Haziq! Quickly! While you still have the chance!” Athene shouted as she continued to spray Hal mercilessly with the air freshener. While Haziq ran over to the head doctor, Hal screamed, “You cursed woman! Look what you've done! I'm melting! Melting! Oh, what a world! What a world! Ohhhh! Ohhhhhh....” The man felt to the ground and lay there motionless with his tongue hanging out.

Rene glanced over at Hal’s breakfast, “Does this mean I can have the rest?”

“Oh, hell no!” Hal jumped right back onto his feet to go defend his breakfast.

While zher twin brother attempted to take what remained of Hal’s breakfast, Kimberly inspected the medicine bottle. Zhe looked up when Haziq called zher name, “Dr. Faye, is everything all right?”
“Yes, everything is all right. Everything seems to be in place.”

Athene walked over to the group, “Except that we can’t rely on that insufferable man-child to take the medication.”

Kimberly gave Athene a soft smile, “I have already contacted Miss Young on the matter, Dr. Perth. She will make sure that the individuals in need of medication will receive them when they are needed. As this team’s medic, it will be her responsibility to keep records her team member’s mental and physical conditions. She will be providing periodic updates on the SOLDIER’s status. Including whether or not someone does not take their medicine.”

Athene turned around to see that Hal and Rene’s tiff over food turned into a full-on hand-flailing scuffle. She sometimes questioned why she even tried putting up with her old mentor. “I wonder if I should give Young a box of air fresheners.”
“Why? Evangeline’s will be there. He wouldn’t be able to skip bath time even if he wanted to.”
“I mean, for when he has to take his medication. I have a feeling he’s going to give her a hard time.”
“Nah, I wouldn't worry about it. Quill could totally whip Henri into submission.”

[closed]

---

SOLIDER Base; Residential Quarters

---

Far from the morning hustle and bustle, two figures were standing silently in front of a particular door with grim expressions. “A-are you sure about this?” the young man asked the brunette next to him. Her eyes were staring at the door that separated them from the room’s resident. “He hasn’t come out of his room yet. We have to get him out of there.” Her expression softened for a moment, “Besides, I promised Evangeline that I would.”
“I know, but--…”
“Haziq, you don’t need to go in there with me. I can do this by myself. Just wait out here… just in case--…”
“No, Athene! I can’t let you do this alone! I’m… I’m coming with you.”
“Are you… certain?”
“Yes. I am. We’re in this together.”

The two scientists looked into each other’s eyes and nodded to one another before turning their full attention to the door in front of them. Athene took in a deep breath as her hand reached over and placed itself onto the handprint scanner. Within a few seconds the lock light on the door turned from red to green. She glanced at her partner, “Are you ready?” No. He wasn’t, but neither was she. There was, however, no point in prolonging the inevitable. So Haziq nodded and Athene pressed the button to open the door.

When the door slid open, the two could almost see the stench flooding into the hallway. Athene was pretty sure she had fainted when foul smell stimulated —and probably burned off— her smell receptors, yet the smell was so bad that it snapped her back to consciousness as quickly as it made her unconscious. Haziq, on the other hand, was so overwhelmed by the feeling of nausea that he not only felt like regurgitating everything he ate this morning, but also vomit out his entire digestive system. It was through sheer willpower that he didn’t do either.

Athene pinched her nostrils closed, “Are you okay?”
“Pretend I said yes.”
“Last chance to turn back.”
“I said we’re in this together and I meant it… But I’d also greatly appreciate it if we could get this over with as soon as humanly possible.”
“Agreed.”
With the knowledge that breathing through their nose was a terrible idea, Athene and Haziq ventured deeper into room —far enough that the door automatically closed behind them, cutting them off from the rest of the world.

Aside from the tiny lights emitting from a number of machines, darkness dominated the room; if objects had not melted into the abyss, they were shadows that were impossible to correctly identify where there was little to no lighting. One of the first things the scientists tried to do was turn the light switch on, but when they did finally find the switch —after a good amount of fumbling— it had failed to produce any light. “Damn it Rainer,” Athene cursed her old mentor for not changing the burnt out light bulbs. Sighing, she began to guide her way to where the window should be with her colleague right behind.

On their way to the window, something in the darkness moved. The scientists froze, unsure what it was. “Henri?” Haziq offered. Silence. Haziq broke away from Athene to take a closer look at the thing, only to stumble on something he could barely see. “Let me open the window before we trip over something and break our necks.”
“Don’t you know what happens in horror movies when people split up?”
“We’re in the same room.”
“It still counts.”
“Good thing we’re not in a horror movie then,” Athene said as she continued her quest for the window. When she finally did get to the window, she pressed a button, which began to lift up the heavy-duty roller shutters outside. Slowly but surely, sunlight found its way into the dark room, revealing what was once hidden from their eyes —and perhaps should have remained a mystery. Calling the room “messy” would an understatement; the room was a disaster: all sorts of things where scattered on the floor—including, but not limited to clothes that never found its way to a closet or washing machine, empty containers that should have been in a garbage bag, garbage bags that should have been taken out long ago, and perishable items that were starting form colonies of microorganisms and were also the prime culprit to the stench in the room—, paper with writings on them covered almost every inch of the wall, and piles of files, books, and more paper formed a mountain range that made the room feel smaller that it actually was.

Meanwhile, Haziq managed to find his way to the thing he thought saw moving. There, sitting at the desk, was a figure with his head on the surface, in a puddle of dark liquid that dripped off the table. Haziq’s breath caught in his throat. He rushed towards the figure, shaking it once he was in arm’s reach. The young man’s face paled when his eyes had enough light to see what the dark liquid was. “O-oh no! No!” the man shook the figure more fiercely, just enough to make the figure stir from it’s slumber. It groaned and moaned before looking up at Haziq. For the first time since he entered the room, he saw how serious the situation was —that a “very serious crime” had been committed— and Haziq let out a shriek. The noise was so sudden and ear piercing, the figure —a man as it turns out— screamed like a little girl in response. Although Athene initially jumped at the noises two grown men were making, one annoyed glance at them was all she gave to them before she opened the window to let some well-needed fresh air into the room.

“HOLY CRAP! YOU LOOK LIKE A PIECE OF SH*T, HENRI!”
“THANKS! GOOD MORNING TO YOU TOO!” the man who Haziq called Henri, but also known as Hal, paused for a moment before screaming again, “WHY ARE WE YELLING?”
“Because you’ve committed a serious crime, Henri. I can’t believe you did this!”
“Huh? What? What did I do this time?”
“Oh, playing dumb are we? Then tell me that’s not the silk shirt we gave you last year!”
Hal looked down at the shirt the younger man pointed out, “It… might be?”
“What’s that stain?”
Hal sniffed his shirt, “Coffee?” He turned to look at the black liquid was all over his desk. “Coffee,” he confirmed before jumping out of his chair to repeat what he had just said, “COFFEE!? Ah, sh*t!” Hal quickly picked up his coffee drenched paper work and scrutinized each loose leaf, hoping that one of them might be salvageable. Alas, the world was not kind enough to give a damn.
“Screw the papers! Take off that shirt, right now, you fiend! I might still be able to get the stains off! You know how expensive this was?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Athene cut in, “why were you not up already, Rainer? Didn’t you hear the announcement?” Hal stared at his ex-protégée with a blank expression. “You didn’t hear it, did you?” Hal shook his head and she sighed. “You and a number of other soldiers were summoned to the Council Room. It seems like you have a mission. Hurry up and get ready.”
“You mean I have to do actual SOLDIER work? Ewwww!”
“Shut up and get ready. You’re going to be late if you don’t hurry.”

Hal groaned, “Oh fine.” He picked up his glasses and started to navigate his way out of his room before Athene’s cold voice reached his ears, “Stop.” He halted in place and turned around, “Yes?”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“You just told me to go to the Council Room.”
“I said get ready.”
“I am?”
“No you’re not.”
“Yes I am.”
“Take a shower. Put clean clothes on. THEN leave.”
“Its just Rayne, right? The silk shirt might be over dressing for the occasion, but it does have a nice coffee stain on it.”
“It’s not just the President so go clean yourself and the shirt isn’t the only thing that has a coffee stain on it. Also, you may not have noticed, but Haziq is getting teary eyed. Give him the shirt so that we don’t have to see him actually cry. We both know it’s not a pretty sight.”
“Hey, I am no where near an emotional break down just yet!” Haziq retorted. All Athene had to say was “Expensive branded shirt. Brown stain. Eyes. Starting.” and Haziq was already on the brink of a sobbing. She smirked at Hal as he glared right back at her.
“You’re a terrible person.”
“Anything to get it my way. Now hand over the shirt and go clean yourself.”

Shaking his head, Hal made quick work of the buttons of his shirt and passed the overpriced clothing to Haziq. His ex-protégé frantically grasped at the silk cloth, which apparently granted Haziq magical hurdling powers since he jumped over the book mountain ranges to catch it midair and was out of the room in a matter of seconds, just to save the precious shirt. Athene just barely had time to request Haziq to bring extra trash bags and a ton of air fresheners in time before he was out of sight and out of earshot.

“If he likes the worm spit shirt so much, I should probably just give it to him.”
“Silk.”
“Silk worm spit.”

---

With great confidence Hal can state that the military is not his true calling, but if there was one thing he learned from this life, it was how to military shower: he was in and out of the shower in three minutes. As he was changing into the cleanest clothes —well, truthfully, even while he was in the shower— he could hear Athene complaining about how dirty the room was as she was doing her best to clean said room. “I honestly don’t get how you can stand living in this filth. Really, Rainer, when is the last time you cleaned this place up?”
“The last time Bubbles cleaned it?”
“And when was that?”
“Uh… Hmm… four days ago, I think?
“Your room became this dirty… in four days?”
“Ahaha! I know, funny, right? I think it’s a talent.”
“No wonder Evangeline asked us to check up on you.” There was a moment of silence before Athene yelled, “Gods damn it Rainer! What the f*ck is this!?” Confused, Hal hastily buttoned up his last piece of garment before walking back to his room. Athene was waiting for him holding a moldy sandwich, “WHAT IS THIS!?”
“Oh, so that’s where my lunch went.”
“From when!?”
“Uh… three… four days ago?”

This man. This man was going to make Athene’s head explode one day. The brunette messaged her temples, “I can’t believe, we can’t trust a full grown man to live on his own for even four days.” She took a deep sigh before glancing at the time. Her ex-mentor had little time to waste, “Whatever. It’ll have to be a discussion for later. For now, get your butt out of here. If you run, you might make it in time.”
“But what about breakfast? It’s the most important meal of the day!”
“And you have no one else to blame, but yourself for missing it. Now go! Shoo!” Hal made no attempt to leave, however. Instead, Athene caught Hal’s eyes glancing down at the garbage bag where she had tossed the sandwich in. Her eyes narrowed and her gut told her to slap the first thing that came close to her. When Hal’s hand reached for contents in the bag, she was ready.
“Ow!”
“Seriously?”
“What? It’s totally eatable! I just have to pinch out the moldy bits.”
“No. You know how fast mold spreads and you know it can be anywhere even if you can’t see it.”
“I’ve eaten worse.”
“I don’t care. You’re not eating moldy sandwiches under my watch.” Her finger pointed directly at the door, “Now leave! Be gone! Korfred’s at the meeting; try begging him for food! Just go and don’t come back to this pigsty until I say you can!”

The name of the ex-lawyer was enough to make the hungry 33-year-old man’s face light up with childlike glee, “Lawyer’s there? Why didn’t you say so!?” Hal dashed out the room without looking back. He sprinted down the halls, up the stairs, and straight to the Council Room. The the first thing that came out of his mouth when he slammed open the door was, “Lawyer! Feed me!”

[closed]

@RocketteThank you Rockette~! Good work, as always :D

[closed]

@JJ Doe

You only say that becouse you are afraid he will poison the water.

Kefka knows what I am talking about..

@Hellis

Uh................................. No? I have no idea what you're insinuating.

[closed]

I agree with Kefka.

[closed]

Hal! We've been busted! She knows who you are! Run while you can! RUN! RUUUUUUN!

[closed]

Hal: It's DR. Hobo, thank you very much! Geez. Get it right, guys. I didn't get a PhD in dumpster diving for nothing.

(Edit: Ah, just in case it's not apparent, anyone can call him whatever they like ;D)

[closed]

^{"Uh... Pretend I said something impressive."}

Henri "Hal" Rainer

33 | 21 December | 188cm | First Class

---

Appearance:

With an overall disheveled appearance, it is hard for some people to believe that Hal is a man of intellect and not just some random vagrant who found his way into SOLDIER's base of operations. He wears whatever happened to be lying around the place --pray to whatever higher power you may or may not believe in that whatever he picked up is clean-- and the last time Hal property done his hair or beard is a mystery of the century. Lucky for him, Evangeline is around to cover for him and, unlike him, she has standards. He can be seen wearing the same old eyeglasses off-and-on; the only thing that not even Evangeline can convince Hal to throw away.

Despite proclaiming that he prefers to stay indoors, Hal has tanned skin and a number of scars that were unlikely to have been made by indoor activities. It is true, however, that the only reason why Hal has any muscles to speak of is because it was the bare minimum required to pass SOLDIER training. Hal has brown eyes and equally brown hair with strings of gold; suggesting exactly how long the hair shaft has been sunbathing and how much Hal doesn't give a damn about hair care.

Personality:

Hal is a man who never forgets to smile and never stops trying to bring a smile on others, though he is far from being an expert at it. He will take every opportunity to crack a joke, even if it's not actually funny, clever, or appropriate. He will also laugh at every joke, again, even if it's not actually funny, clever, or appropriate --sometimes even when the "joke" is not a joke at all. All in all, it's fairly easy to please the man. It is also likely why many think that Hal is a simple minded man.

As much of a surprise it may be to some, Hal does have an IQ and EQ (emotional intelligence) greater than 0. He is a compassionate man, who cares deeply about the needy, his family, and close friends --although the latter two will always take priority above all else. He is especially empathetic towards and supportive of individuals who are determined to accomplish a difficult task, downtrodden, altruistic, and/or family-oriented. When something bad happens to his family or friends, Hal takes it personally, but when something good happens to them, he is just as happy for them as they are.

Like many other scientists, Hal is a curious and adventurous individual not afraid of trying new things and not particularly opposed to change as long as it is beneficial to as many people as possible. Though he may not agree to every idea or belief, he tries to keep an open mind. As adventurous as he may be, however, this does not mean he enjoys placing himself in danger. In fact, he has a tendency to run and hide at the first hint of danger. Some may say he does this because he is a coward or because he is a pacifist --both are true, to a certain degree--, but the truth of the matter is that it was the most effective way to survive the slums when he was younger and it has been a hard habit to break.

"But isn't that what we all do? Cover our ears, shut our eyes tight, and tell ourselves that nothing is wrong? People like to do that you know: we like to dream that we're not living a nightmare."

Biography/Background:

Hal was born in the slums; a part of the city where the pariahs naturally migrated towards even before the war began. Normally anyone born in these slums and were not lucky enough to get a minimum wage job made a living in one of two ways: crime and prostitution. Sometimes both. Neither was what Hal's family wanted for him. Although it may have been too late for them, they all did what they could do for him to get out of the slums. Hal didn’t want to disappoint them, so he also did what he could do to make their dream come true. He studied rigorously for years and despite having no formal education, Hal managed to enroll into a university and, later on, work as a genetic engineer for a prestige organization. His career as a scientist took an abrupt turn when the monsters of destruction, which seemingly appeared out of nowhere, annihilated everything in their path: including the slum Hal came from. His family was slaughtered along with the thousands of other people. Hal had just barely completed the first few stages of grief when anger took over his mind and he decided that there was only one course of action: revenge. He'd find those responsible and he'll end "this" once and for all. Gravely concerned of the war's recent intensification, Hal's superiors agreed to Hal's request to transfer to SOLDIER as a science expert.

Hal has been a family friend of the Dashelle's long before Evangeline came into this world. After Evangeline --who Hal dubbed "Bubbles"-- was born, he has been taking care of her like an older brother; when her parents weren't there for her, Hal was. People who know the two, however, would proclaim that it is the other way around: Evangeline was the one who's been taking care of Hal. A claim that Hal has no intention to outright affirm --he does have some pride, you know-- or deny --he'd rather not lie, because he knows more than anyone that it is true.

Weapon:

Hal does not like to fight and will do his best to avoid it, but if he is forced to engage in combat, he will fight using a scythe made out of bones and ice, which can be summoned at anytime.

Skill Set:

• Genetics
• Medicine
• Engineering

Ability:

Able to summon his weapon at anytime.

Aeon:

Marzanna

Blue & Black┊ Water & Death

Known as the "Aeon of Winter," Marzanna is best described as a corpse kept together by ice. This ice lich is a rather lanky giant with long talons and is thought to be a digitigrade based on "her" --or so they assume-- bone structure. Most of Marzanna's "undead" body is covered with a very extravagant, though somewhat tattered, black and dark blue dress protected by what seems to be armor made out of bones. Although a majority of her face is concealed by a black veil and a "skull helm" with large icicle like horns, scientists described her having silver hair and moonstone eyes with black sclera. Every inch of Marzanna, including her garment, is covered in frost, which glitters in the light.

Limit/Overdrive:

Winter is Coming

Those not adequately protected, friend or foe, will freeze to death by the sudden arrival of a mighty blizzard. The dead are reanimated and act as Hal’s minions, attacking any remaining enemies.

[closed]