Name of Character: Gerald Finnegan "Marisa's Phantom of the Theatre."
Gender:Male
Age: 32
Appearance:
Faction: Corrupt Other
Base Corruptivity Level: 67
Biography: The way fate unwound itself made it seem as if destiny chose him to be the mirror of the ever popular Phantom of the Opera. As soon as he reached the age where kids began to think freely, they began shunning him for his odd affiliation to knots. His father was a sailor, or more specifically, the one who ties the ships down. He knows almost every one. But no one else seems to share his affiliation. They called him a freak. His school counselors noted this and tried to get him into a different hobby.
He chose to be a stage hand. With his knowledge of knots, he managed the stage handily. He was also quite light on his feet. But this mattered not, for some of the kids in musical theatre made fun of him still. He felt horrible. Especially after one of the more popular kids made him question his whole purpose of life and how his 'knots' meant nothing to anyone in the end. After that he went home. He was so distraught he was in tears. He was on his bed for the entire day, lingering on that question. That's when he snapped. He knew that he ropes and knots define the safety of those around it. So he wanted to show that boy what he means. First hand.
It was the night of the show. They were playing Shrek the Musical. But Gerald was out of context. He wore the phantom's half domino mask. As usual, everyone made fun of him for it. Then, the play began. Gerald made haste. He carefully tied the rope in such a way that the rope would untangle itself in time due to its weakness. The managers of the catwalk were on the other side of the stage, chatting up a storm. He slipped into the catwalk and locked both entrance doors. He waited. Soon, he felt the time was right. He noticed that the managers tried to get in, but realized that the doors were locked. Then, he spoke with a booming voice which everyone could hear.
"Welcome to my stage! Here, I control everything! And you on stage have decided to waive my value off a a joke! I will show you, first hand, my level of power on the stage!"
He ran to his side of the catwalk and opened the door. He jumped all the way down silently and the pulled a string on the knot. One of the beams crashing down. It hit the popular one and gave him a concussion. Teachers rushed in. He pretended to fumble. He said that a mysterious man ran in and unwound the knot. The entire system was cancelled from thereon.
But he didn't convince the rest. The next day he came to school, still wearing the mask, he got attacked by the more aggressive of the theatre kids. They blamed him for the incident, and it was his fault, but one of the girls stopped them. She told them it wasn't his fault and that she'd like to think that he fought doing his job. The theatre kids left him alone for the time. He stood up and thanked the girl. But as she walked away, something possessed him to say this: "Why did you defend me? Don't you have the slightest bit of doubt?" She paused for a minute, then responded. "... I never liked that guy anyways. He was a jerk."
She walked away without another word. He knew at that moment that she may be the one for him.
Soon after, however, he moved away. He could tell that some were rejoicing in his absence. One thing that bothered him, however, was that he never saw that girl since that day he met her. Perhaps she was in another period class and happened to stumble upon him. Either way, he was sad he had to leave her, but he decided that fate will draw them together again somehow.
Every day, he wore his half domino mask to hide his shame, much like the phantom had, He taped a thin black cloth over the eye piece so that no one can see into his eye. He refused to take it off, and whenever someone tried to take it off, he grew violent. He had grown so attached to it, he never went a day without it, to the point that he sleeps, eats and bathes with it. He never took it off. No one tried to take it off. He was content.
Several years had passed. He became the stage hand he was set up to be. And fortunately, everyone respected him. He did his job so proficiently that all of the famous auditoriums wanted him, and he happily obliged. One time, though, his life changed. He saw her. The girl who helped him that day. She was a beautiful young adult now, and when she sung, her voice soared. He was never so enchanted by one's voice, the voice of grace instead of hatred. After her performance, he walked up to her. He asked her if she remembered him. However, she denied knowing him. He tried giving her hints, but she never remembered. So he decided to do the one thing that would jog her memory.
When he figured out what her next performance was, he willingly offered to operate at that theater. Knowing who he was, the managers accepted the proposal. The night of the performance came along. A musical for the Beauty and the Beast. He was amazed once again by her voice, her acting, her grace, it was as if the story were unfolding right in front of his eyes. Then, he found the opportune moment. He did his fault tie. He ran up to the catwalk. He locked the doors. He began.
"Welcome once again! The stage now belongs to me once again, as it did oh so many years ago! I shall now demonstrate my power!"
His knowledge of knots grew so intense he began to understand them to a hyperphysical level. He knew the exact resistance force of a rope, the force of a knot, and he could accurately determine when a knot will fall apart. For example, the minute he stopped talking, the knot fell apart. A beam was starting to fall. However, he modified it to stop just before it hit anyone. Then, he spoke.
"Do you remember me now, madam?"
Much to his dismay, however, she ran off. He chased her down, careful not to be seen by anyone exiting the catwalk. He called to her, and she stopped. He asked her why she left. "... I remember you. All these years... And you are still the bitter man I remember." "You sound hoarse, madam. What stresses y-"
"You do, Gerald!" She cried. "You ruined the show. Ruined it for everyone, the same way you did so long ago. I knew it was you. Only you could do something like that and have a reason to. I overlooked it then because you were tormented, and I know you are now because you are so different, but how can I overlook this incident? How, if you have done it the same way so many years ago, and may be so demented you may do it again?! Gerald... Please, stop this. I know you're better than this. But you decide that shutting yourself the same way everyone else shut you out will bring you happiness. But it only denies your chances of having any emotion."
She left him there. He was so confused. He went to his house then. He was so torn that he began to rampage among his furniture. He stumbled into his bathroom and looked into his mirror. He wanted to see what he had become... But his mask prevented him the chance to look into his own right eye. He was torn. He slowly rose his right hand towards his mask, prepared to remove it. But he realized what he was doing and he stopped himself. He went to remove it again, but he couldn't. He was so confused, he screamed. It woke the neighbors nearby. One of them walked over to his house and knocked on his door, asking if he were okay. But he bid them to leave. He ran out the back door, running away from society.
He returned the next day. Just in time to hear the infamous speech of Vector Lyre. He thought about what he had said. He became a verge corrupt.
He went to his next job in spite of this. As fate may have it, the girl was there. He basked in her grace, but made sure he wasn't seen by her. Suddenly, he heard someone come in the back. It was a corrupt. He hid. He saw the corrupt prepare a handgun. The corrupt aimed it at the girl. At that moment, Gerald knew what to do. He tied in a special knot. The Phantom's noose. He grabbed the corrupt by the neck and began choking him. No one noticed. No one stopped the show. Soon, the corrupt died. He took the body out back along with the gun as quickly as he could so that he could return to his job. That's when he knew what he wanted to do. Protect the girl. Kill anyone who wants to hurt her.
This would place him under normal... If it weren't for the fact that the girl was affected by Vector's speech. After the show, a DCERT officer rushed in, looking for the corrupt that was already disposed of, but instead found the girl, and the CR radar picked her up as a corrupt. He pointed his gun at the girl, asking her to be taken in quietly or be shot. The girl was terrified. She began to take out a knife that she had hidden in her thigh band, but Gerald beat her to him. He tossed the noose at the DCERT officer and choked him out. He struggled, but eventually died. Gerald faced the girl. She hugged him, and was in tears.
"... All those people... They wanted to hurt you... Because you were different. But no more. I understand you."
Gerald was so happy that she finally accepted him.
"My dear, I have seen you attacked by that demon officer. But no longer. I shall protect you. In exchange, you will sing. You will sing your beautiful songs for me. And together, we will change this world. We will show the world grace. Tell me, my angel of music, your name."
"My name is Marisa Hera. But you may call me by that title, the Angel of Music."
From that day on, whenever Marisa was hired to play a role, Gerald followed as a stage hand. The companies began noticing the pattern and decided that if they were to buy one, they must buy the other. And so a beautiful relationship flourished. And any DCERT officer who came in was killed by the Phantom's noose. This was the story of Gerald, Marisa's Phantom of the Theatre.
Personality: He isn't very vocal with anyone but Marisa, but when he is, his speech pattern is theatrical. He is generally kind, but if you hunt Marisa down, he will consider you his enemy and will try to kill you.
Reason you're in that faction: It would normally be neutral, but since Marisa is a corrupt and he hunts down anyone who tries to kill her, he kills DCERT officers. He is called a verge corrupt because he may be corrupt... But there is a chance of bringing him to sense...
Skills: He is very nimble and flexible. He can seem to disappear in the dark background of the preparation room. But most notable is his sense of hyperphysics in roping. He can tell the strength of a rope and the resistance force of a knot. He can create a perfect mechanism using his ropes and chains.
Weapons: Thick rope, chain and a dagger.
