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"Of course I believe in ghosts, I am one." - Tristan to Marcus
Tristan is relatively new in town. There isn't a whole lot to know about him yet, other than the fact that he always seems to look a little lost. Not in a sad, lost puppy way, not that kind of lost. It's more a 'seriously, wtf, I'm confused' lost.
Poltergeist isn't known at all to the general public yet. A ghostly apparition, nothing with any real witnesses. Maybe an urban myth or some vigilante, pretty rough on the criminal element.
Background
Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, they were all real to Tristan Reese when he was a wee little tot. That is to say, he had a happy and normal childhood with two loving parents that lived to give him everything he needed and most of what he wanted. That isn't to say he was a spoiled child, Emeline and Michael Reese made sure their son was raised with compassion, humility and empathy. Tristan's start in life was a bit on the 'weird and bumpy' side. In the first forty-eight hours of his life, he slipped in and out of a 'coma' twelve times without explanation, rhyme or reason. The answers may never have been found if it hadn't been for a night nurse that just happened to be able to see the astral plane. Imagine her surprise when one of its inhabitants was one of her little newborn charges. Life was good, even with Tristan's powers beginning to manifest the day he was born, life was good.
Raising a child with early onset Astral Manipulation wasn't an easy task, but Tristan's parents were determined to do the absolute best they could for their son. They were absolutely elated when he was accepted into a prestigious preschool for 'gifted' children. They even found Michael a job and paid for the family to relocate. It was almost too good to be true, but everyone knows what they say about things that are too good to be true. They couldn't possibly have known the school's real intent.
Preschool turned to grade school in the same institution and Tristan was taught all the normal stuff a child is supposed to learn in school, but he was also taught how to harness his powers and control them, how to push himself to expand them. It wasn't long before his 'educators' realized that Tristan was on his way to becoming a master with all things Astral. ...if only they could push him harder.
He was ten when his parents were murdered, brutally stabbed in their own home while little Tristan was forced to watch. He was ten when he was saved from the same fate as his parents by a mysterious stranger named Marcus. He wouldn't find out that it was all a ruse and that, in fact, Marcus was as responsible for the deaths of his parents as the men weilding the blades until he was well into his twenties.
Fourteen years, fourteen long years of being groomed and trained and manipulated; his powers grew through torture in the guise of training. "It's for the greater good, Tristan. One day youll be able to face your parents' murderer and give them what they deserve, Tristan. We need you to kill that person, Tristan, he's evil and bad. He wants all mutants to die just like the men that killed your parents Tristan." So he suffered at the hands of his Handlers and loved them for it. He loved them for preparing him for what was to come, he loved them for allowing him to help them rid the world of evil men and women set on the extinction of the mutant race. They turned themselves into his family and him into a trusting fool that never thought to question any of it.
During those fourteen years, Tristan's powers continued to grow and expand and develop in ways his handlers couldn't have believed possible. From astral projection to creating contructs from Astral energy to the manipulation of life forces to even being able to project himself into the past or present to bear witness to events therein, Tristan mastered aspect after aspect of his powers. He even developed telepathic abilities to a much lesser extent. Anything for his family, anything for the cause. He would often push himself to his absolute limits even without 'help' from The Handlers.
Tristan was twenty before he did something while he was flexing his immature telepathic muscles that would change his world forever, he made skin to skin contact with Lucy, the neurologist that was the mother figure to him in their twisted familial unit. It was just a brush of his hand against hers, but it was enough. The truth exploded inside his head like an atom bomb. THEY had his parents killed to kick it all into motion, the people he had killed through the years weren't evil, they were just people working against the Weapon X agenda; they were just 'in the way'. He saw it all and he nearly lost his mind. It would be four more years, four years spent as a hostile test subject, three years spent collared, controlled and conditioned. The Alpha was born in those three years. What he once did willingly, he now did only when they called on The Alpha. When he wasn't 'working', he was caged and collared like an animal, beaten and abused. Family became the enemy.
When Tristan finally got a chance to run, it took one of the organization's best to catch him. But Isolde had to touch Tristan to do her job. His truth became her own. With her words ringing in his ears, "What are you waiting for you fucking idiot?! Run! Run before I catch you again!", he ran. But even as he did so, he knew he would return to the facility that he once thought of as home. It was time for him to get what they had promised him from the beginning, justice for his parents.
The night of his return is nothing but a blur of emotion when Tristan attempts to recall it. It was easy for him to get in, he just popped right on out of his meat suit and got right down to business. His plan was a calculated, controlled attack but plans don't always go off, well, as planned. Maybe it wouldn't have ended in a clusterfuck of a completely destroyed facility and dozens upon dozens dead or missing if he hadn't seen Isolde, if he hadn't FELT Isolde. But he did and the injustice of her being back there as a, now unwilling, pawn to Weapon X after she had let him go made his vision blur and the world turn red. He didn't stop until the building was crumbled around his incorporeal form. It didn't really occur to him until much later that he very well could have killed the woman that had told him to run. In the heat of that moment, he was lost in his vengeance. Before it was all over, somewhere in the middle of it all, Tristan had one single moment of clarity and he used that moment to get the one thing he needed to continue his new mission. After the dust settled and he was back in his body and awake, Tristan would find The List, exactly where he 'persuaded' Marcus to hide it and then forget. He could have easily killed the man that he felt had betrayed him the most right then and there, but there would be no fun in that. He knew The Handlers, the artists formerly known as his family, would come for him and he would wait until they thought that had him lock, stock and barrell before he served them up a platter of bloody vengeance.
Personality
- Childlike Wonder - Tristan's life, until recently, hasn't allowed for much in the way of actually //experiencing// life. He tends to see things that other people take for granted with the eyes of a child.
- Vengeful - Tristan wants vengeance, not only for the horrible things that were done to him but for the people he was manipulated into doing horrible things to. Try as he might, he can't keep this overwhelming desire to cause pain where pain was caused from creeping into his daily life. This makes him an easy target for anyone that might want to manipulate him further by offering him the vengeance he seeks.
- Compassionate - It's an odd thing for a trained assassin to possess, but Tristan has compassion in spades. It hurts him to see others suffer needlessly. It's his compassion that drives him to try to right the wrongs in the world, particularly as they relate to his own past.
- Naive - He can easily become the brunt of a joke and not even realize it. He can be easily manipulated at times and often seems a little lost at the party. This is likely to change as Tristan gets more of a chance to live life and learns to understand people more.
- Mistrustful - It might seem a direct contradiction to Tristan's naivety, but he doesn't really trust easily. The people he trusted his entire life turned out to be only using him for their own personal gain and profit. It stands to reason that completely gaining his trust might be a difficult task now.
- Loyal - ?but once his trust is earned, Tristan is loyal to a fault. He would lay down his life for the people he trusts with his own without hesitation.
All of the above relate directly to Tristan, but there's another distinct side to him, another complete personality that lurks beneath the surface. To Tristan, this other persona is known only as The Alpha. It's The Alpha's job to handle the things that Tristan cannot. The Alpha is a cold blooded, calculating, manipulative killing machine. It's a good thing he doesn't get out much these days.
Logs
- 2019-03-16 - They're Always After Me Gold! - It's a St. Paddy's Day Magical Adventure when Kara, Cassie, and Peter are coerced into helping a leprechaun find his gold. (Ran scene)