Shriek: The Mark of Cain [M lf F, Story-Driven, Superhero]

[TheVillain]

You're listening to Rowdy Randy and Martini in the Evening on 98.9, Red Hot Radio. Bringing the Heat to Miami's Scene.

So believe it or not, Martini babe, I do think I owe someone an apology.

Oh really? Who exactly?

That nutjob we've been hearing on the news, the Shriek.

Alright, I'm listening - explain. You don't think he or she is a dangerous crazy anymore?

Nope, still nuttier then a Squirrel's Fruitcake. But the police seem to have known for a while that all of the Shriek's hits have had something in common, they all abuse kids. Apparently that got leaked this morning because one of the latest victims worked for city hall too.

Shriek, if you hear this, I still say you're a friggin' loon but you make way more sense. If you ever get caught and get the help you obviously need, your first beer is on me when they let you drink alcohol. Martini, want to give the token liberal line about peace and love?

...Nope. Shriek, I once saw my brother-in-law put out a cigarette on my niece's shoulder. [Beep] you, Fernando.

Heh, for the record I know I should be disgusted by that but I think I have a boner.

Boooinnnggg!

Why am I called the Shriek?

Funny story really. It was a few days after I got my powers, after I could keep things down again. I still didn't know what all was going on, I thought I was just crazy. It's my hearing you see. I can't see worth a crap but my hearing is superhuman, the trick is filtering. Maybe that comes with the powers too, better filtering. I don't know. I just know I was in my apartment when I heard it above the sound of my own vomiting. A little girl getting molested in a van only a few blocks away, her calls for help while he threatened her to keep quiet. At first I thought I was just hearing things but when I went to go try to figure out what it was - I found her, after the fact. I'm the guy that called the police anonymously while I got her home.

I listened for his voice, and three days later I found him. I didn't get a wink of sleep until then too, just the guilt that I'd let her down like that. Someone had to do something so I did, I spent three days listening to people talk to try and find his voice again. He was the preacher at a revival tent, would you believe it?

So I waited until he was alone in his car, and called a taxi to follow him. When I was close enough I started throwing my voice, making it sound like someone was talking to him through his car's radio. I thought at the time that I was going to be satisfied with just scaring him a little bit into confessing, but he surprised me. He pulled out his Bible and started trying to debate me that molesting little girls wasn't really that bad if you knew your Bible.

So I told him flat out that if he didn't confess to the police that I'd kill him, then I tried setting up a resonance with his windshield. Glass shards went everywhere, made him crash his car into the highway divider at 55 miles per hour. He was wearing his seat belt so he lived, but I'm told that beyond breaking both of his legs and several ribs the glass went so deep into his face and throat that it permanently messed up his vocal cords. He confessed to the police immediately as soon as he woke up in the hospital, claiming he was told to confess by a 'Demon's Shriek'. What can I say, I liked it and kept it.

Oh, after the car wreck? I just told the cabbie to hit a burrito place, ended up getting one for him too. Then I went back to my place and slept like a baby, slept so good I almost missed a gig.

What?

I just said I was a good guy, I didn't say I was the best good guy.



Sergio never had a good hand in the cards, he's lucky to get as far as he did. According to court documents he was brought to America as part of a black market adoption ring from Eastern Europe, already blinded from a vitamin A deficiency. The foster care system wasn't much better for him either, it wasn't until he was adopted by the Pearson family that anybody really tried and by then he was already 10 and with a record. Mostly for shoplifting to survive, the Pearson's promised him that he'd never have to live that way again.

It takes time to figure out what you have a natural aptitude for when you grow up in the system, but they found it with an answer right in front of their noses. Mrs. Pearson was a high school music teacher, and the first time they put a guitar in Sergio's hands, the first time he got some notes out of it - something about the vibrations and the tones in his hands. It seemed, right. Not many other ways to explain it.

You might of seen him on his one TV appearance, an appearance on a talent show during his freshman year of high school. He was 14 and he could already play blues, rock, metal, and classic guitar on request. Story goes that he left after the first televised round when the judges tossed out a fellow competitor that was musically superior but not physically attractive. Out of respect for the music, he set off a string of cherry bombs in the building's toilets and never looked back.

He's been playing professionally since he got out of high school, and that anger of his against the falseness of the business is the one thing keeping him from exploding onto pop culture. Hell, story goes that he once punched a pop star in the face for daring to suggest that they were somehow "Jamming" when they were just a face to sell records - though which one exactly changes between each telling of the story. That's the thing about Sergio Pearson that has to be said - he tries to be nice and be in it all for the music, but that rage - it's always just under the surface.

He doesn't know how exactly he started getting the powers. He just knew that one day his hearing started getting better. Too good actually, it wasn't too long before his hearing had reached superhuman levels, and evolved into full-blown audiokinesis. He tries to be a good person with his gifts, and ignorance is definitely no excuse for him. Not when he hears so much now.

That rage though, he can't seem to get rid of it. Using his powers, others might become villains and others heroes. Sergio almost couldn't help it, he became a ruthless vigilante targeting those who abuse children that's rumored to be a literal demon. After all, who would suspect a blind musician of being the Shriek?

A superhero RP, primarily story driven this time. A professional musician develops audiokinesis under mysterious circumstances but begins using the powers to target child abusers. He's less an Avenger or Justice League member, more something street level at least if he has the choice. He may not. Which may not be the best thing for them either, because with his powers he often hears secrets. [Possible Plot Direction - In a world where many "heroes" just have better PR behind them then the villains, he's invited onto a big name team but discovers that several members are involved in a trafficking ring. So the public thinks he's a hero gone bad attacking the teammates he's betraying, but if anything he's the only one doing the right thing.]

Any thoughts/interest?