Post by Weather Wizard on Jan 5, 2009 3:29:18 GMT -5
Name: Mark Mardon
Secret Identity: Weather Wizard
Age: Somewhere in his late 30s to early/mid 40s.
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 184 lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Build: Mardon has a surprisingly athletic build, though his build resembles the lean physique of a runner rather than the bulkier form of a weightlifter.
General Description: A surprisingly tall figure often armed with a dour look and his aptly named weather wand, Mardon's a figure who, despite his gaudy costume, has a tendency to fade into the background of things. The man has been a rogue and constant harasser of the Flashes through the years, and it seems age has begun to show itself on his already sharp features. The lines and hollows seem somewhat more prominent than in the good old days against Barry, and should his mask be removed, traces of age lines and wrinkles have begun to form around the dark-haired man's eyes. His hair is a thick windblown black mess that refuses to lay down and flat and neat, with only faint traces of grey making itself known.
In the instances in which he's out of his bright green and gold getup, Mardon seems to prefer the simpler ensemble whose style is more commonly found amongst the blue-collar types who reside in Keystone, but don't draw much attention regardless. Jeans and a simple, often plain shirt suffice, and depending on the temperature outside, it may be accompanied by a worn black leather coat.
Personality: Were it not for his disposition, Mardon could have easily made his way in the world as a teacher or researcher, perhaps even as a scientist of sorts. He is intelligent (though admittedly not very well-educated), well-spoken, and has long had an affinity for literature, particularly of Mark Twain. Yet Mardon has long had a penchant for crime and playing on the wrong side of the law, which is why he's even amongst the rogues int he first place. The man is a bitter one, and his almost reluctant sense of trust is extremely limited, even amongst the rogues and villains he's worked alongside with for years. Only the core group of rogues can really claim to have Mardon's faith, and even some of them can only say that tentatively.
With Mardon's quiet nature and painfully slow sense of trust, he is one who is often written off, overlooked, or simply avoided by those who tend to take the rogues lightly. He doesn't seem to mind, as he oftentimes fakes something of an arrogant attitude and tries to play distant from... well, everyone. Almost everyone. He'll come completely honest with Captain Cold, and probably ONLY Cold. He doesn't mind that his curt manners can rub others the wrong way. He actually prefers it, as he finds most of his peers nothing short of exasperating. And yet, as much as he seems to disdain most of the others, he is one that they can always depend on, and will even dispense advice if he deems it proper, be it wanted or not. He's one you want backing you up in a fight, if you've managed to go so far as to earn his loyalty. Mardon is not one for taking things lightly, and he places a high value on loyalty and order. Still, he's not often one you want to go out with as drinking buddies. A people person, he is most certainly not.
Powers: Weather control- Mardon can control the weather, primarily through his weather wand, though recently the veteran rogue has gained the ability to manipulate the weather without the usage of the device.
Weakness: When it comes to matters of family, the typically cool nature of Mardon's dissipates, making him almost surprisingly susceptible to reckless and hasty actions. He has also known, despite his intelligence, to be rather short-sighted on affairs, focusing too much on an object or goal as opposed to maintaining his peripheral vision and keeping his focus on the big picture of things. And then, of course, aside from his weather manipulation powers, he is a simple human with all the durability of one.
History: If there's one thing Mardon rarely (if ever) talks about, it's him and his past. As such, little can be discerned in regards to his early life, other than the fact that he's from Central City and that the only person who ever looked out for him was his brother Clyde. Unsurprisingly, Clyde was the one person Mark could ever trust and care for. And from that, it can be assumed Mark was shunned and most likely bullied as a child.
Was. Mardon's origins as the Weather Wizard are much more well-known. See, Mark's frustrations eventually manifested into criminal acts, and he wound up as a spectacularly unsuccessful burglar. Of course he was caught and shipped off to jail. However, luck favored him that day, for the transport taking him to prison crashed, allowing Mark to escape. Scared, and yet exhilarated from his new-found freedom, he fled to the one person he thought he could trust and would help him-- Clyde, who was working as a researcher in a lonely observatory at the edge of the city.
Unfortunately for Mark, Clyde would have nothing to do with his brother's desperate plans for shelter and assistance, and made effort to call the police, telling Mark that it was for his own good. Of course Mark panicked, and grabbing a curious wand-like instrument, used it to kill his brother in a blind surge of fear and anger. Once he came to his senses and realized what he had done, Mark fled. While the official records state that Clyde died of a sudden heart attack, rumors have long circulated about the truth of that. Mark, despite steadfastly sticking to the "official" record, has only confirmed the truth to one person, and only once- Captain Cold.
Now armed with his glorious little toy, Mardon became overwhelmed with glee and delusions of grandeur. Honestly, who wouldn't? He now had the complete mastery of the weather, and had a mind to use it for personal gain. Of course, this wound up bringing him into clash after clash with Central City's new hero, Barry Allen, and slowly, ever so slowly, into contact with the others who comprised of the Flash's rogues gallery. Once Barry Allen died, Mardon went into a state of semi-retirement.
Eventually Abra Kadabra approached Mardon and several other of the original rogues, offering them an offer that seemed too good to be true, with all the flowery promises of respect and wealth. It was too good to be true, as the magician from the future left out one oh-so-important little detail: it would cost them their lives. Of course they took it, and with their deaths, unleashed Neron to Earth. Neron then animated the corpses of the dead rogues to be powerful soulless monsters, though their wave of destruction and terror was short-lived. Neron was eventually defeated, the rogues' souls going back into their bodies. Of course once their souls were restored, they went back to their usual habit of crime.
After a time Mardon found himself teamed up with Blacksmith and her short lived organization of "New Rogues," where he learned that a one-night stand with a cop had resulted in him now having a son. Of course Mardon was well-prepared to ignore the progeny of a one-night stand, but when word got out that the child had exhibited odd lightning powers, even Mardon couldn't resist a closer look, and he took off to investigate. His initial plan was to open the child, Josh, up to see how he could control lightning without the use of a weather wand, though found that he couldn't go through with it when he saw that the baby's eyes resembled those of his long-dead brother Clyde. He was then shot by the police and arrested, Josh falling into the care of Iris West.
His stint in jail was a short one, and he eventually rejoined Blacksmith and her New Rogues once again. Once her attack on the Flash met a spectacularly bad end, he and a few of the other rogues managed to flee, falling in with Captain Cold as, once again, the Rogues. They continued about their usual dastardly ways, when Inertia showed up. He fell in with them, removing Mardon's mental blocks that prevented him from utilizing his weather control power without the usage of a wand. However, that team was to make a bad end, as Inertia tricked and goaded the Rogues into killing the then-current Flash, Bart Allen. Needless to say, things went bad, and the Rogues have been trying to keep a low profile ever since.
Sample Post:
It had been a long time since he had played the role as a stealthy burglar, and possibly longer that he had ever worked alone as he was doing tonight. He wasn't quite sure if he liked it.
Quietly as he could manage, the dark-haired rogue slunk through the halls of Central City's Gedde Natural History museum, his dark eyes on the sharp lookout for the night watchmen that were sure to be crawling all around the museum's elaborate collection of halls and exhibits. After all, there just so happened to be a sudden fierce thunderstorm outside that had knocked out the museum's main power, and the security cameras' backup power supply was undergoing a mysterious "technical difficulty." Huh. Wonder how that had happened.
Despite his wary eye for any disgruntled guards, Mardon moved quickly and easily through the museum halls. He knew the place's layout well, not only from the last month he had spent pouring over the layouts and blueprints but also from the simple fact that the place was a favorite spot for him to frequent and haunt. He knew where he was heading. The museum had managed to acquire the Blue Raja, a hugely magnificent blue diamond whose worth climbed high in the millions. And the Rogues had been hired to steal it. With Central City being in its current uproar, Mardon had found that so far the job had been almost disappointingly easy. Not like he was complaining, of course, but still. There really was no challenge to this.
Ahhh, there it was. Straightening from his stealthy crouch slightly, Mardon couldn't help but take a moment to admire the diamond. He'd never much appreciated jewels for anything other than their monetary value, but even he couldn't help but be slightly awed at the glittering rock that seemed to be almost half the size of his hand.
That momentary pause proved to be good for him, for it was then that he main power switched back on with a sharp click and a low hum. Suppressing a curse, Mardon scrambled to a spot safe from the cameras, though he noted with a sigh of relief that their power light failed to click on. Good. His number that he had done on their systems would make him safer for a touch longer.
But what of the other security features? Quietly pulling his weather wand from a pocket, Mardon gently coaxed a semi-thick fog to half fill the room. Aaah. Lasers. This could make things tricky.
With his free hand the Weather Wizard fumbled with another pocket, this time pulling out a small... mirror? Lifting the shimmering sliver of glass near his face, Mardon spoke, his dry voice barely more than a whisper.
"McCulloch. I'm in. Lasers are up, so this might be noisy. Have the Napoleonic mirror ready to be open for jumping through."
"Whut?" came the Mirror Master's heavily accented voice, loud enough to make Mardon wince.
"Napoleonic mirror," he began. He was to describe it more, but thought better of it, and: "The big mirror that faces a fancy vase and a picture of Napoleon. Be quick about it."
There was a grunt of acknowledgment from the mirror, and Mardon tucked it back away, raising his wand as he did so. He wanted to keep this quiet for as long as possible, so...
With a gentle flick of his wand he sent a small spark of lighting out to the sources of the tightly connected laser beams, hoping to disable them with a small electrical overload. It worked, and he pressed his luck by shooting to disable a few more. Not a lot, just enough to reach in and lift the case to retrieve the diamond. Once he was sure he had enough lasers out he crept forward, straightening even more to lift the glass display lid and snag the rock before splitting. Much to his surprise, it went perfectly. No alarms, no sirens, nothing. It was almost like a dream.
And with that, Mardon pocketed the Blue Raja and slunk off into the adjacent Napolenic display room and into the mirror, though he did set off the alarms in stepping through the mirror. Did he care? No. He was already halfway through the portal to their hideout by the time he heard rushing footsteps, and was gone by the time the guard appeared. The theft would be discovered only after he was safely away, leaving the museum guards and the police with a baffling case of a disappearing diamonds.
It really was nice to win once in a while.
Quietly as he could manage, the dark-haired rogue slunk through the halls of Central City's Gedde Natural History museum, his dark eyes on the sharp lookout for the night watchmen that were sure to be crawling all around the museum's elaborate collection of halls and exhibits. After all, there just so happened to be a sudden fierce thunderstorm outside that had knocked out the museum's main power, and the security cameras' backup power supply was undergoing a mysterious "technical difficulty." Huh. Wonder how that had happened.
Despite his wary eye for any disgruntled guards, Mardon moved quickly and easily through the museum halls. He knew the place's layout well, not only from the last month he had spent pouring over the layouts and blueprints but also from the simple fact that the place was a favorite spot for him to frequent and haunt. He knew where he was heading. The museum had managed to acquire the Blue Raja, a hugely magnificent blue diamond whose worth climbed high in the millions. And the Rogues had been hired to steal it. With Central City being in its current uproar, Mardon had found that so far the job had been almost disappointingly easy. Not like he was complaining, of course, but still. There really was no challenge to this.
Ahhh, there it was. Straightening from his stealthy crouch slightly, Mardon couldn't help but take a moment to admire the diamond. He'd never much appreciated jewels for anything other than their monetary value, but even he couldn't help but be slightly awed at the glittering rock that seemed to be almost half the size of his hand.
That momentary pause proved to be good for him, for it was then that he main power switched back on with a sharp click and a low hum. Suppressing a curse, Mardon scrambled to a spot safe from the cameras, though he noted with a sigh of relief that their power light failed to click on. Good. His number that he had done on their systems would make him safer for a touch longer.
But what of the other security features? Quietly pulling his weather wand from a pocket, Mardon gently coaxed a semi-thick fog to half fill the room. Aaah. Lasers. This could make things tricky.
With his free hand the Weather Wizard fumbled with another pocket, this time pulling out a small... mirror? Lifting the shimmering sliver of glass near his face, Mardon spoke, his dry voice barely more than a whisper.
"McCulloch. I'm in. Lasers are up, so this might be noisy. Have the Napoleonic mirror ready to be open for jumping through."
"Whut?" came the Mirror Master's heavily accented voice, loud enough to make Mardon wince.
"Napoleonic mirror," he began. He was to describe it more, but thought better of it, and: "The big mirror that faces a fancy vase and a picture of Napoleon. Be quick about it."
There was a grunt of acknowledgment from the mirror, and Mardon tucked it back away, raising his wand as he did so. He wanted to keep this quiet for as long as possible, so...
With a gentle flick of his wand he sent a small spark of lighting out to the sources of the tightly connected laser beams, hoping to disable them with a small electrical overload. It worked, and he pressed his luck by shooting to disable a few more. Not a lot, just enough to reach in and lift the case to retrieve the diamond. Once he was sure he had enough lasers out he crept forward, straightening even more to lift the glass display lid and snag the rock before splitting. Much to his surprise, it went perfectly. No alarms, no sirens, nothing. It was almost like a dream.
And with that, Mardon pocketed the Blue Raja and slunk off into the adjacent Napolenic display room and into the mirror, though he did set off the alarms in stepping through the mirror. Did he care? No. He was already halfway through the portal to their hideout by the time he heard rushing footsteps, and was gone by the time the guard appeared. The theft would be discovered only after he was safely away, leaving the museum guards and the police with a baffling case of a disappearing diamonds.
It really was nice to win once in a while.
Phrase:Stan Lee is a comic god!
