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Name: Zachariah Anthony Averdale
Also known as: Zack Cross, Hellfire Zack, The Battledome’s King of Heavy Metal, Glam Queen (courtesy of Speedy)
Birthdate: December 10, 1987
Birthplace: Avercorp Labs
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 74 kg
Blood Type: AB (Rh-) mixed with alcohol, gasoline, and all other sorts of flammable substances
Alignment: Chaotic Good (normal), Chaotic Evil (Alter)
Likes: Fire, loud music (especially rock and metal), interesting books, coffee, tough opponents (unless they fall under his dislikes)
Dislikes: Imperialists, deities, the forces of kawaii and unkawaii, people who try to hurt the ones he is close to (usually the first three), superheroes, numbers, alcohol

Personality:
Zack is usually civil and even cordial to people he meets. Though it is a little difficult to gain his trust and friendship, those who have it can be assured that he will do anything within his power to keep them safe and make them happy. However, he has a bit of a short fuse, can also be moody and irritable on occasion, and is quite foul-mouthed when angered. At an extreme, this manifests itself in a pseudo-split personality known as Alter Zack, who is psychotically murderous. (see Alter) In recent times, though, Alter has been latent.

Zack openly expresses a cynical view of superheroes and other self-styled warriors of justice, dismissing the “justice” for which they fight as unattainable. Nonetheless, he cannot stand down at the sight of injustice, either, and will even do reckless things just to stop it. He also has a rebellious streak about him, and will openly defy people who attempt to impose authority on him.

In addition to all of this, he also has a rather mischievous side to him, which he only expresses occasionally. He has dealt some of his opponents a death by Rickroll. He also makes fun of certain weapons such as hammers and drills (which will automatically get references to HammerFall and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann), and he loves to annoy “warriors of justice” by pretending to be a villain.

Background: (Some details omitted on purpose)
Zack is actually a humanoid soldier created by the mad scientist/sorcerer Victor Averdale, using high-leveled pyromancy and genetic engineering. He was fertilized in an experimental chamber using human sex cells which were genetically modified to improve magic-carrying capacity, and endowed with some fire magic. However, Zack was unable to use these abilities due to his youth and inexperience.

Then, at the age of six, certain parts of his brain were strategically damaged in an operation in order to cause him to develop a violent, uncontrolled side that would be able to tap into his latent fire power better. The results of this were confirmed when Victor, without Zack knowing, released a hungry wolf on the young boy while he went out for a walk around the Averdale garden. Zack was mauled pretty badly by the creature, triggering the Alter state and causing him to burn it to a crisp. Victor was forced to send one of his aides to tranquilize the boy before he could turn his destructive intent on the mansion.

Soon after, Zack went to school, both for a formal education and so that he could learn to use his ability. Despite his relatively scrawny build at the time, he managed to astound many of his classmates with his high-level spells. It was also at this time that he seriously began discovering his love for music, and he managed to get Victor Averdale to buy him a cheap guitar. Eventually, he got drafted into the school’s private army in his first year of high school.

There, he befriended a small group of other students. In particular, he became close to two siblings, Maxwell and Amelia Blackthorn. The latter’s specialization, the ability to restore equilibrium using wind magic, was particularly helpful in taming Alter Zack. Their little crew was completed by Blaine Callahan, a quick-shooting self-styled cowboy whose claim to fame is his marvelous speed and accuracy on two revolvers, and Alex Altair, the eldest child of the renowned Altair clan, and possibly the strongest aeromancer in the land.

Now, Victor Averdale had a long-standing rivalry with Matthew Blackthorn, a fellow scientist/sorcerer and the siblings’ father, and did not like what was going on. Just a few days before the end of Zack’s third year, he sent his familiars to try and kill the two siblings. They were ultimately fought off by the five, but in the process, Max was captured (not killed, but that’s a story for later), and Mia desperately wanted to save him.

Despite the danger involved, Zack agreed to go with her to save him, even as Blaine refused. He also gave her a strong shield he had forged himself, which he proudly referred to as Troy. Alex went along as well. When they followed the trail of Hellfire familiars, they found, to their horror, Zack’s residence, where Victor Averdale was keeping himself locked in one of the towers and reprogramming Max to kill the other three. They managed to take out every single Hellfire familiar Victor sent at them, though in the process, Alex consumed all his energy trying to defend the rest of his team and fell into a coma. Then, Victor cast a spell that dematerialized Troy. The shield reverted back to its essential material, fire, and consumed its bearer, the unfortunate Mia. This last blow to his team caused Zack to lapse into the Alter State and attack him.

Victor sent Max at Zack, knowing full well that Zack would be able to kill him too. Indeed, Zack tore through the newly-rewired scion of the Blackthorn clan, and managed to get within striking range. What ensued was a battle of creature against creator, fire against fire. Though Victor Averdale was the more experienced and powerful pyromancer, Zack was running on pure hatred, giving his attacks a dangerous edge. Victor managed to send Zack into a comatose state, but Zack tore off one arm and destroyed about sixty percent of the older man’s magical circuits. As a result, Victor was forced to go on leave from his research work for a year and a half, just to recover. The Averdale mansion was reduced to a pile of rubble, beneath which Zack woke up two years after the battle.

When he woke up, he had extremely hazy memories of who he was and what had happened. Many of his magical circuits were also damaged in that battle, though already they were beginning to restore themselves. For a while he lived as a vagrant, occasionally hanging out at pubs in search of human company despite his disdain for alcohol. It was there he met a small band of warriors who couldn’t agree on a name. Their initials were H,A, L, and E, but there were arguments as to whether they should be called H.E.A.L., H.A.L.E., or L.E.A.H. To settle the dispute, their leader, a knight named Lucian Farrow, asked Zack for his name and, figuring it was just right, pulled him into the team, thus rendering their team name H.A.Z.E.L. Since then, Zack has been working miscellaneous missions with them.

Elemental affiliation: Fire

Attributes/Skills:
Navigation: D
Strength: B-
Intelligence: B- (but can hit as low as D when epically pissed)
Magic: B
Speed: C-~B
Dexterity: B-
Durability: B-
Valor: B+
Presence: A

Abilities:
Level 1:
Oculus Ex Inferni (The Eyes of Hell)
Cost: **
Rank: C-
This attack causes flames to consistently flow out from the pyromancer’s eyes, even while he is wearing shades. Apart from being a decent damage-dealing attack (akin to Superman’s heat vision), it also makes him more intimidating to some opponents.

Temper
Cost: **~****
Rank: C-~A-
A basic sharpening/hardening spell that raises any weapon it is used on by half a rank per use. Temper is most cost-effective on fire and metallic weapons. However, Zack has been known to use this technique on other things, such as his own body and the air around him. The former allows him to strengthen his own body to some extent and, with enough effort, even heal wounds.

The latter, he usually refers to as “Tinnitus Sanctus” and uses in conjunction with his guitar playing. Using this technique, he can create a “wall of sound” that neutralizes many ranged attacks, both physical and magical.

Anima (Imperfect)
Cost: ****
Rank: --
Ideally, this spell is supposed to be able to create puppets out of inanimate objects, usually hunks of metal. However, Zack has not fully mastered this technique; while he is able to bring “life” to inanimate objects, he is unable to control them fully. The result of his first (and only) successful attempt to use this technique is a robotic skirt-chasing version of Rick Astley. He has since generally abandoned trying to learn this spell, opting to concentrate on the much less stable but more promising Level 3 pyromancy, which allows him to create life forms out of flames without need of a stable material base.

Alter
Cost: --
Rank: --
Alter Zack is another side of Zack that has lost all restraint and all moral compunction. He is extremely bloodthirsty and destructive, and is able to tap into latent ability that would otherwise remain unused. The usual trigger is extreme negative emotion, though alcohol is known to have the same effect.

Level 2:
Ex Animo (The Twin Blades of Killing Intent)
Cost: **~****
Rank: C~A
The pyromancer’s trademark flame swords, which he constantly carries on his back even when they are not in use. Apart from Demona, this is the weapon which Zack has greatest mastery of, and it provides good offensive and defensive coverage at a close range.

However, the true power of Ex Animo is released when the two swords are combined, usually in the shape of a cross, and release a beam of concentrated fire energy.

Demona (The Spirit of Heavy Metal)
Cost: ***
Rank: B
The black-and-red guitar that replaced Zack’s old model, the Neverender. It carries six strings (but can be modified easily to accommodate a seventh), twenty-four frets, a whammy bar, and a flamethrower, and it does not require an amplifier to create distorted noise. Furthermore, it reduces the cost of Zack’s Temper skill by one level, and is the detonator of his strongest weapon, Jericho. It has some utility as a hammer, though Zack generally considers it too unwieldy for that purpose.

Jericho (The Walls of the Condemned)
Cost: **/*****
Rank: C- (regular) / S (Alter)
This weapon usually takes the form of a small black box full of flame magic, which Zack normally detonates, using Demona, like a bomb. This attack has the destructive force of a C4 charge, and is an excellent distraction and offensive option against swarms of low-leveled enemies.

However, Jericho’s true form is revealed when Zack falls into the Alter state. It is actually an extremely sturdy enclosing attack that can trap and crush everything within a 12-meter radius. Furthermore, the box is highly resistant to physical attacks, and only high-level magic attacks (of level at least B+) are capable of scratching it. The attack takes 60 seconds to fully commence before the contents of the box are totally crushed.

Mulciber (The Gun of the Forge)
Cost: **
Rank: C-
Mulciber is a high-powered cannon that is capable of blasting huge holes into most conventional lines of defense. However, Zack does not favor it much, due to its rather slow firing rate and tremendous kickback. He has let Robo-Rick use the weapon to fight abominations such as Nibbles and Fanperson.

Anteros (The Flail of Scorned Love)
Cost: **
Rank: C-
This menacing flail is a slow but powerful close-range wallbreaker, weighing in at about 60 kg. Interestingly, it has a red broken heart drawn on it, making it one of the few weapons of Zack to bear custom design. Nonetheless, due to the fact that it is as unwieldy as Mulciber, Zack dislikes it as well.

Kyrie Eleison (The Bow of Divine Judgment)
Cost: ***
Rank: B- (regular)/A- (Alter)
A black thorned bow that launches arrows made also of materialized fire.
While Blackthorn was still subservient to Zack, he had the ability to turn her into an arrow and fire her from the bow. This attack, instead of dealing normal damage, inflicted severe burning pain on the target’s mind as well as body. Ever since Zack released Blackthorn from his command, though, it is unknown if he can still use this form.

The bow’s nickname, Kyrielle, is a reference to the verse form from which its proper name comes.


Troy (The Shield of the Empire)
Cost: ***
Rank: B-
This sturdy shield has exceptional resistance to magical and physical attacks, and is unscratched by anything below C+-level. However, Zack has refused to bring this weapon out in six years, since the tragedy that occurred in connection to it.

Phlegethon (The Whip of Hades)
Cost: *
Rank: D
A basic whip of materialized flame. Due to the fact that Zack does not favor whips, this weapon is little better than a regular attack, and has thus seen limited use in combat.

Atrides (The Knife of Evil Inheritance)
Cost: ***
Rank: B
A dagger that can only be summoned by thinking extremely malevolent thoughts. It grants increased agility and strength, and cuts through all but the most fortified armor. Zack cannot use it for longer than thirty seconds without falling into the Alter state. For this reason, he prefers not to use it.

Averdale (The Hellfire Fortress)
Cost: *****
Rank: S (Alter only)
All combatants are surrounded in a fortress of swirling flames that is impervious to most attacks. Furthermore, all of Zack’s spells, weapons, and familiars are raised by two ranks, while all opponents suffer continuous physical and magical damage. This fortress can stand for as long as ten minutes, depending on the amount of magical energy invested into summoning it. This weapon is the mark of Zack’s being a creation of Victor Averdale, as Victor is also able to summon it and benefits from doing so.

Level 3:
Inky
Cost: *
Rank: D+
The imp seems to be little more than a useless winged ball of fat that does nothing but eat all day. However, it has two abilities that occasionally have come in handy. One of them is the ability to imbibe tremendous amounts of liquid, and the other is its extremely acidic vomit.

Goti
Cost: **
Rank: C-
The goat, though slightly less useless than Inky, is relatively unintelligent. It has a penchant for eating tin cans and headbutting anything that looks like it’s getting beat up. This makes the goat a bit of a liability at times, but it has decent ramming strength.

Smok
Cost: ***
Rank: C+
Easily one of Zack’s more reliable familiars, Smok is a baby dragon with the standard abilities of flight, fire breath, and physical and magical resistance. Furthermore, he knows a little about playing drums. He likes attention, and much to the chagrin of his master, acts cute in front of other people.

Invocatus
Cost: ****
Rank: B+
A ten-foot-tall dark-armored knight armed with a huge shield and sword, it is the fusion of Zack’s three other familiars. He has the intelligence and loyalty of Smok, as well as excellent defense, decent offense and a wide arsenal of support spells. Invocatus has the capacity for human speech, but rarely ever uses it.