Gaia name: Comioc_Book_Joker
Caracter name: Mark Seckler
Alias: Xanatos
Occupation: As Mark Seckler: World-Famous Stage Magician and Escape Artist, As Xanatos: Mercenary
Bio: Mark grew up with a great desire to perform for droves of admirers, and early in life determined that magic and illusions were the best way for him to do it. By his mid-twenties, he was performing in his own Las Vegas show, with a month out of the year set aside for a world tour.
While in Germany on his third tour, a crazed fan broke into his hotel room and nearly killed him, only stopping when Mark killed him first. Strangely, he felt good about killing the man. There wasn't a bit of remorse over it. He decided then and there that he'd found his true calling.
He changed his schedule around, and trained for two years, physically, and with various weapons. His expertise as a magician and escape artist gave him an ability to quickly determine how to get in and out of tight spots, and his more recent training gave him the ability to make any kind of kill, short of psychic powers; he was a magician, not a miracle worker.
He completed his first contract in the most blatant of settings: in broad daylight, in front of several news camera crews. A hostage situation took place in a private middle school, and Mark called the parents of one of the hostage kids; the news station had placed his number on the screen in case the man wanted to talk to one of the parents personally. He asked for one million dollars to kill the man holding the room of children, and the father agreed. A half-hour later, the children were running out of the school, and there were two men on the roof: the man who took the kids hostage, and a man in a costume, sporting a goatee on his chin (Mark was clean-shaven). A helicopter crew managed to get a look at his face, but it was obscured by a mask that covered the upper half of his head, and his eyes were red (contacts; Mark's were brown). The man in costume held the man at the edge of the roof by the back of his shirt, and then shot the man's head of with a gun in the other hand, letting him fall. Before the police got a chance to fire back, the costumed man was gone. While the helicopter was able to confirm that he went into the building again, how he escaped a building surrounded by police is a mystery known only to the man to this day.
When the police searched the dead man's body, a single photo was found: a close-up of the man who had killed him, in full costume, with the words "I AM XANATOS" printed on the back.
After picking up the money, Mark Seckler began a double-life that he's successfully held to this day. As a single man that habitually stays away from media attention, unless actively seeking it for a public trick or stunt (Or for a Xanatos kill), he has no one to answer to, and he still makes all his show dates.
His M.O. is to call someone, instead of someone calling him, and ask if they'd like him to kill someone who wronged them; he usually already has a particular someone in mind, as well as how much he should be payed. No negotiating. if they agree, they arrange a payment drop-off, and then he kills the target and picks up the money. There is no further contact.
Mainly targeting headline-making offenders, the people he kills tend to be considered far worse than he is by the public, since he essentially only kills bad people. To ensure that his employer knows that the kill is completed, his kills tend to also make headlines, whether it's because of his victim's notoriety, or because of news and/or police presence at the scene at the time of death. Anyone he targets, just in case of no news presence, are left in a state that makes it painfully obvious that the person was murdered.
His chosen weapons are not meant for stealthy use, as when he kills, he WANTS people to know that he made the kill. Twin .50 caliber A.E. Desert Eagles, which both bring enough stopping power to kill anything not wearing protactive gear AND cause some serious noise, aid him in this. The backs of his gloves have razor-sharp steel blades, 9 inches from base to tip, attatched to them, pointed forwards in the manner of claws. These are used more for getting non-targets out of the way, and are rarely employed to kill (that's what the really loud, really powerful guns are for).
Abilities:
-Above-average strength and agility
-Proficient with many firearms and close-combat weapons, but prefers his twin black .50 cal. Desert Eagles and glove-mounted claws
-Preternatural ability to escape nearly any setting undetected, honed by many years as a magician and escape artist
