GameAmp: Profile: Articburn

Game History Profile: Articburn
	Articburn Level 39 Mutant City of Heroes Pinnacle Server

Origin Story

Madilyn Frost began life as a great kid. Suburban America. Straight A’s. Honor roll. Gymnastics. Many a day was spent reading the great works of modern literaries. Lewis Carrol, L Frank Baum, J.M.Barrie and Comics. J.M.Barrie and Comics.
In college, Madilyn discovered a new world. Not the one based of education, philosophy, and politics. But, one of discovery and worldly adventure. Madilyn longed now to “see the world”.

She traveled with expeditions to the frozen Arctic to the hellish wastelands of the Sahara Desert, and all points in between. Her travels linked her with many contacts. Some good. But many belong to the dark underbelly of society that people don’t want to see or believe exist.

Madilyn, believing her newest acquaintance, Kasai Koori, a Japanese Activist, dealt with good intentions in his protest against massive corporations of the world. Kasai started Madilyn with simple protest, picketing the large corporations and their abuse of mother earth and humanity. Slowly, Kasai taught Madilyn the teachings of Science, Martial Arts and other activities that seems strange to her at the time to learn for protesting.

As Madilyn continued to learn the teachings, she felt compelled to question the reasons for her advance training. Kasai exposed his reasons for teaching was that he along with a band of previous soldiers from Japans army was a continuation of the Black Ocean society. A WW2 secret society once bent on expanding Japans overseas influence and collecting intelligence from China, Korea, Manchuria and Russia. They now turned their focus on crushing corporations that conceal their rival criminal activities under the guise of legitimate business, through vigilante engagements.

One night, to be her initiation, Madilyn and the New Black Ocean society, raided a Crey Cryogenic Laboratory in the Tempest Sector of Firebase Zulu in Paragon City. Unknowingly, the Crey’s were aware of the raid and set into motion, a trap to annihilate the New Black Ocean society. Several proximity bombs were placed surrounding the cryocore and a detonation wire attached to the interior doorframe leading to the chamber. The band of vigilantes never saw it coming. ***BOOM***

Madilyn being the last in line to enter received several internal injuries and death seemed certain. She staggered, stunned and confused, to the exit door where her last vision was of a masked man in red, white and blue catching her as she collapsed towards the charred concrete pavement.

--- BLACKNESS---

Madilyn awoke in a wooden play fort under a large shady oak tree that seemed like it must have been two hundred years old. The sun was rising; yet, she felt a chill, on what should have been a warm summer day. As she sat up, she was greeted by a funny little man with a hat three times too big, cradling a snow white rabbit with devilish red eyes. ‘How did you sleep?” the man asked as he handed her a cup in what appeared to be her childhood Dora the Explorer tea set. Confused, Madilyn drank and nodded favorably.

“What gives?” Madilyn asked.

“What do you refer to as “what”, child?” the man puzzled. “What has many definitions. But, in this case, perhaps that which you seek to understand can only be found in yourself.” The funny man hands her a small mirror and in an instance, the man with his rabbit jumped down and ran away. Madilyn looks at the small mirror, but does not see her reflection. Instead she sees herself as a younger innocent child; dancing and singing in a great room built with cards. She recognized them as a deck her dad would show her card tricks with daily. The younger self stops, turns and stares at Madilyn. Pulling a harmonica from her dress front pocket the younger self sachets closer in the mirror, playing what sounds like white rabbit from Jefferson Airplane?

They are now face to face as a reflection should be, as the innocent stops playing. The child smirks and then gives Madilyn a wink. Creeped out, Madilyn throws the mirror down covering her face with her hands. Not hearing it smash, she lifts her head to find that she is now in the room of cards! There is no door only a window.

This is a nightmare! As it is deathly quiet, she screams in frustration and throws the harmonica out the window, smashing glass outward. But, wait! The glass pulls back together to reform as the original face of the cards, no window.

More screaming!

“What’s that?!” Hearing a muffled silent crackle through her high-pitched screams, realizes the house of cards is on fire. The house set ablaze with no means of escape, Madilyn hugged her knees and shivered in fear from the flames, which had the odd sensation of bitter cold.

She kept thinking,”Damn that rabbit! Damn his snow white flurry of fur and devilish red fiery eyes!”
What if she did not look into the mirror?
What if she played the harmonica instead of throwing it?

Scared and cold amongst the blaze, she knew this was an impossible situation. She bowed her head.

“TAKE MY HAND!”

As she was whisked through the flames, she set her eyes upon a superior looking policeman. He was tall and strong. She noted the accolades on his chest from the many heroic deeds of a man who layed it on the line for the greater good. He reminded her of her father.

With a low voice with a distinctive southern drawl, the policeman said,” I am sorry Madilyn, but this is not where this ends.” The policeman reached into his duty belt and pulled out two pills; one red and one blue. Holding each in one hand he stated,” Should you decide to take the blue pill, this begins the end. You’ll believe whatever you wish to believe. You take the red pill and...”

Madilyn, not waiting to hear the rest, hurriedly grabbed both pills and swallowed them whole.

The policeman disappeared in flash of bright blue flames.

At that moment, a great tornado in the near distance, racing at great speed pulls her into it. Inside Madilyn glimpses pieces of her past. Swirling images of her childhood home, members of the Black Ocean, and the supernatural man that caught her outside the Crey lab. Without moments notice, the tornado stops and she falls from the clouds, hurling towards the Earth. She closes her eyes and has visions of lost boys flying through the air and waits for the inevitable. Nothing happens. She opens her eyes cautiously to see the ground far below. She’s flying!

She enjoys the flight for a while. Swooping over and through the lush forest below and up to the highest peaks of the nearby mountains. At least until an image appears on the horizon. Flying toward her with the sun at its back like and angelic fiery aura, she could not make it out until it was upon her. A Phoenix! But somehow it reminded her of her mother. “I am sorry munchkin. But here you can not stay.” She falls again, like a comet destined to create a crater in the hard ground that now looks like shifting desert sands. Just before contact….

---BLACKNESS---

A long screeching sound is in her head, nonstop and malicious sounding. She overcomes with manic panic. “What’s that sound?” “What the…”

Madilyn begins to wake again. Her eyes were sore and felt as if they had acid for tears. She was crying. All she could see was a bright white light ahead of her. She relished in the sweet agony that she was not in eternal damnation and figured this was her pathway to heaven.

“She’s awake!”

Madilyn tried to focus and look around. The light was emanating from the fluorescence in the ceiling. She could make out figures around her, mom, dad and others. There were cards and flowers from other family and friends and a snow white bunny doll she cherished from a long ago Easter laid by her side. Madilyn learned of the explosion and the deaths of her fellow society members. She was relieved and saddened to be the sole survivor. Statesman had brought her to Bell Medical Center where she was in a coma for three months. What followed was the sweetest, longest, devouring embrace. “Mom I had a dream. You were there and Dad, too!”

She’s interrupted.

“Uh hem. Hello, I am Nurse Darling and this is Dr. Pan. You have been out for a while. Thank the Lord, Statesman brought you here in time. You received several injuries. At least our first test showed you did. Dr. Pan prides himself in working his “magic” in the operating room. By all rights, the doctor even thought you were beyond saving. But you’ve got “something”, kid!” ”Now folks, she needs her rest. We’ll have to ask you to leave. Her parents turned to leave, blew her kisses and exited. As Dr. Pan began to leave, he turned back to hang his forest green lab coat. He pulls a chain watch from it’s pocket and said,” Tick tock... Time keeps nipping at our heals. Got to go save a life.” He headed for the door, turning to flash a Cheshire cat grin, nodding a knowing nod.
Nurse Darling tucked her in. ”You’ll be back to your normal self in no time.”

But, something about her was not normal.

Her reflexes, sight and strength were all greater than before the explosion. Everything in the world seemed richer and she saw it like never before. She felt healthy as quick as she woke and cleared her mind. She felt different, like something had awakened inside her. She looked different, too. Her unusually great tan was now pale. Almost, light blue. Her golden hair had turned to gray and white. And her body felt cold. No freezing! As she rubbed her arms to warm herself, slowly at first; then faster…Faster…FASTER! Her hands set afire! First scared and then amused at the power and no harm to herself, she toyed with the new ability. Freezing her cup of tea then boiling it. She remembered the dream and vowed to use her new power to brave a new life of justice. Righting wrongs and helping others.

At that precise moment of thought, a clan of Skulls attacked the hospital grabbing whatever they could; burning the rest. She jumped from the bed and donned her clothes. Amongst the blaring fire alarm, Madilyn walked to the front door of the hospital, figuring it was time to get to it.

As she marched through the door, with employees, patients and citizens running in anarchy, the clan of Skulls escaping, you could see a smirk from the corners of her mouth, then a wink in her eye.

She thought to her self…

Look out Paragon City. Here comes ArticBurn!

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