He's born with them. Can't help it.

They don't care though. Orphanage

After orphanage after orphanage 'til

He's old enough to run. Life on the

Streets. Have to steal to stay alive.

Years on the streets. Four birthdays

Come and gone without recognition.

He's the best. They all know it.

Confidence is his downfall, and always

Will be. Didn't choose his next victim well.

The man spins around and grabs him.

He can see the orphanages returning,

Feel himself locked behind bars again

On a hard cold floor. Listening to the others

Play.

But instead of steel bars in his eyes

This man is smiling. Offers his hand. Why

Not take it? The man is speaking. Telling

Him his name. Then his title. This man is

His king. He has food.

Trusting, he follows. His king won't

Mistreat him. Wrong. Decades later he

Knows this. Shouts in his sleep,

Don't trust him! But to no avail. His words

Do not penetrate the years between them.

As he trains with his new family

Other talents develop. Ones that match his

Eyes. Diable Blanc, they call him. Able to

Explode any object he chooses, he is a

Formidable opponent.

Now a professional, a prince, he is to marry.

The bride's brother does not agree. Stabs him

In a church! He fights back, kills the brother.

A strange feeling in his hands. They're glowing,

But out of control. The glow spreads to the church.

Barely gets out in time. Now other things catch the

Magenta fire he can no longer control.

As he brushed past rubble from the ruined house of

God, they explode, covering him. He is happy to

Lie there, but his cover explodes.

A man offering help. An echo of the first man.

His sleeping self shouts louder, NO! NO! NO!

But still pointless. He goes, following meekly,

Traitorous hands covered,

Just like the demon eyes.

The man helps him regain control,

But at such a cost. Pain, from his own experiments

And from the others in that wretched place. He'd

Do anything to get out. Even betray others

To this sinister doctor.

While with his Marauding team, he hears of someone

Else. Someone who will give him back his life.

This man is looking for recruits for an army.

He has paid the doctor back enough, he decides.

The bucket head will set him free.