Maquina dai-Rojo

Physical Description

Name: Maq
Age: Unknown
Eye Color: Black-Pupil-less
Hair Color: Red or Black
Height: 2.44 m
Weight: 260.82 kg
Origin: Magic Daemonic

History

In 495 AD, a witch hag gathered the materials she would need for a complex ritual. Her redoubt, located in the Welsh Highlands, was to be the fulcrum of her attempt to gain power that would shift the heirarchy of Heaven and Hell. The first part of her ritual required her to drain the power and essence of a lieutenant in Hell's army. Then, she would use that newly captured power to make a living sacrifice of an Elven maiden.

Her choice was Maquina dai-Rojo, 1st lieutenant in Lucifer's Army, as the daemonic component of her coup. Unfortunately for her, she summoned him when he was in a bad mood, and she over-estimated her abilities. The magical battle that ensued shattered many of the surrounding trees and hill tops that encompassed her redoubt. Though she managed to match him spell for spell in the battle, she could not match the fury of his assault. And his powerful physical attacks shattered the wards she had raised.

However, before the killing blow could fall, she managed to summon the remaining magick she possesed and laid a curse upon Maquina. His cridhe, soul for lack of a better term, was stripped from his body and placed within the physical form of the Elven maiden. Then, the Elven maiden was cast forward in time by the spell. The Witch Hag knew that Maquina was now vulnerable. With the removal of his cridhe, his magical power would diminish and expose him to physical attack. And, if the Elven maiden were to die before Maquina's cridhe was returned, Maquina would suffer a physical death.

Maquina dai-Rojo, realizing his dilemma, was left with a small window of opportunity. His body still contained some residual magical power. He gathered that small sliver of power and forced open a second gate. Maq quickly stepped through before it collapsed and left him stranded in the past.

As Maq stepped out of the gate and into a dirty back alley, he felt a change overcome him as though it was a great wave of water crashing against the shoreline. To his amazement, something unusual happened. No, it wasn't the sight of the horse-less carriages that seemed to move by magical means. No, it wasn't the craft with large expansive wings that flew through the sky overhead also by seemingly magical means.

The unusual event was a woman who screamed for help, and he found himself running to her aid. When he reached the otherside of the street, Maq found a woman struggling with two young humans. He growled at them, but they simply turned their attention to him and said...

"Oh look. Another mask claiming to be some demon from Hell."

"Yeah. I'm getting tired of all these so-called Heroes trying to steal our schtick. Hey Ballbreaker! Won't this make the third one we have dispatched today and sent him running home to his mommy?"

"Yeah." Replied a third who emerged from the shadows of a nearby alley. His tall muscular form was a head shorter than Maq. "This is starting to turn into a trend. Maybe we can send his corpse back to Hero Corp and tell them to quit sending out these wanna-bes. Mask prepare to suffer at the hands of the Hellions!" And with that, the villain swung his knife at Maq. But the blow never landed. Maq had grabbed his hand and held the villain's fist at bay. Then, Maq slowly slid his thumb against the blade of the knife. A metallic snap echoed down the street.

"Now foul villain." And Maq's eyes locked with the eyes of the hooligan, "Suffer my WRATH!" Maq roared and the reddish-green glow of balefire flared around him. As he proceeded to pummel the hoodlum, the second ganger punk tried to run. But Maq smiled, gave chase, and easily caught the thug. After making short shift of the miscreant, the third fired a weapon. The bullet impacted against his tough hide and balefire shield causing a slight twinge of pain. Again, Maq roared his battlecry and surprisingly, the ganger fainted.

Maq turned and faced the young woman. In similiar situations, he had always taken advantage of the situation and simply fed upon the human's soul. Now, he found himself nodding and apologizing for scaring the young woman. She thanked him for his assistance and left. Then, another surprising turn of events.

"Maquina dai-Rojo, please come to City Hall in Atlas Park."

"And who are you to command me?"

"I am Azuria. A mystical guide who seeks to counsel you, not command you."

And counsel he got. Maq learned that his cridhe had been the source of his greedy desire for Power at all costs. Its corruptive nature sending him on a destructive path through the millenia. With its removal, his base nature was revealed. Now, Maq has decided to seek redemption for the Evil he has caused over time to Humanity. And then, Azuria dropped the "other shoe" so to speak.

The Elven maiden who now had his cridhe imprisoned in her body may not have the strength or capability to contain its intrinsic evil nature and maintain her own sense of identity. As a result, if she were to be corrupted by the cridhe before Maq could re-gain control of it, then she could prove to be a threat. The combination of her Elven mystical knowledge and power of the cridhe could be worse than any threat the Circle of Thorns or Banished Pantheon could mount against the citizens and heroes of Paragon City.

So, now, Maq has a two fold purpose with his arrival in Paragon City. First and foremost, he seeks to redeem himself by any means necessary in an effort to counter the millenia of Evil he has visited upon Humanity. His second purpose, to find the Elven maiden and extract his cridhe before any harm can fall to her or others.