Precious Stone always loved the irony of her parents’ last name being “Stone,” them naming her Precious, and then she growing up to ultimately be a diamond thief. It must have been destiny, or perhaps at least the machinations of a creative writer or comic book creator, that couched her in such a fun little niche of the universe. It was her love for comic books and fiction that additionally led her to imagine that she was indeed just a character, and she would often look up to the sky and randomly talk to whatever higher power she believed could be controlling her actions and life.
Sure, she sounds crazy, but what would you think if you were her? A woman named “Precious Stone”, who happens to be a diamond thief? Not only that, but when she was twelve years old, her best friend and neighbor, Patricia Starletta, developed the ability to transform anything she touched into pure, 100% gold! At that point, Precious had no doubt that she was the figment of somebody’s imagination – and she spent much of her teenage and college years trying to figure that out.
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Precious Stone has no hyper-abilities but is extremely athletic and crafty, making her a proficient car burglar and diamond thief. She has some limited martial arts training.
She feverishly studied a number of religions; visited psychics, and people who claimed to be in touch with the spiritual world; and even took classes in creative writing, in an attempt to understand the story beats of her existence. But ultimately, she could not figure out how to tap into the metaphysical existence of her “creator,” although she did begin to believe that most of her dislikes, likes, and aspirations MUST be stuff that whoever is pulling her strings dislikes, likes, and aspires to as well. Her love for hamburgers; her disdain of pickles; her insatiable appetite for movies and comics; her hopeless romanticism; her suspicion of organized religion; her desire to travel and see the world; her love for early 1990s hip hop and rap music… She was sure that she was a fictitious extension of her creator in some way, but could not put her finger on it.
And so she decided that instead of attempting to figure out the rules of of her existence through examination and contemplation, she would attempt to do it through trial and error. In other words, Precious Stone was going to live outside the box of normalcy, routine, regulations, and ultimately, the law. All of that was just a long-winded way of saying she was going to “rebel”, and “do her own thing,” which she, of course, realized was pretty cliché in its own right. But, who cares, right?
Anyway, by the time she was 23, she had established a pretty fun and lavish lifestyle for herself. She was traveling the world, pulling off diamond heists, figuring out ways to get invited to fancy and exclusive parties, having torrid relationships with powerful and wealthy men, and just living it up.
She had also continued to stay in touch with her best friend, Patricia, although they’d been separated at the age of 12, when the manifestation of Patricia’s powers forced her parents to send her away to New Hero Hospital, where she could learn to control her abilities, and be hidden away from anyone who would want to take advantage of a girl with the Midas touch. The doctors at New Hero Hospital set up a secret email and text server for Precious and Patricia to communicate, but Precious was not allowed to visit her. Patricia would go on to become an investment banker, and earned the nickname “Patty Banks” – but not because of her ability (that was still secret to everyone else in the world, except for a very few people); it was because of her hyper-human clientele. Patty dealt with the finances of such prominent individuals as Captain Noble and Ramses Hondo; and now, that Patricia and Precious were adults and able to see each other again, the chance-taking diamond thief took several opportunities to meet these highly powered people.
She would beg Patricia to take her along to the secret meetings with hyper-being clientele, where she would pretend to be Patty Banks’s trusted personal assistant. And all in all, these adventures ended up being mostly fun for the two of them. It was just like old times – playing make-believe in their backyards in Northeast Ohio; creating characters for themselves; using imagination without limitations… it was great. That was, until Patty was called to a meeting for her biggest client, Edgar Lockhart.
Patricia had usually dealt with Edgar’s financial surrogates in very efficient, and mostly quick meetings, so she didn’t think bringing Precious along as her “assistant” would cause any problems. However, when they walked into the room, Edgar Lockhart himself was sitting there, accompanied by a few members of his personal team of bodyguards, The Lockhart Force, including Rosko, Dezzie, and a man that Precious knew intimately well, the deadly sharpshooter, Doc Holiday. Precious was immediately petrified, as this was also not the first time she had met Edgar.
A few years earlier, Precious and Doc had been involved in a passionate relationship. They had traveled the world together, pulling off incredible heists and robberies, while living it up in the most indulgent ways. Doc, however, had previously stolen a hyper-serum from one of Edgar’s couriers, and after some time they’d caught up to him. They kidnapped Precious and held her hostage, until Doc agreed to work for Edgar as one his personal bodyguards, in order to repay the debt he owed, and to save both his and Precious’s lives. The two of them hadn’t seen each other since that day, and now they were staring each other down, as one of the most dangerous men in the world sat in their midst.
Edgar, because of his ability to read minds, immediately picked up on what was going on between them. He knew they wanted to speak to each other, but also knew neither one would dare interrupt the meeting between him and Patty Banks. In fact, he rather enjoyed all the frantic thoughts that were racing through the minds of Precious and Doc, and he got a kick out of watching them squirm a little.
The two former lovers continued to make desperate eyes at one another, for although both had definitely had romantic relationships in the recent past, neither had felt the same passion they felt since they were together. Finally, it was Doc who broke down, and blurted out the words “I still love you…” Everyone in the room – Patty, the accountants, the other bodyguards – were stunned. Edgar, of course, wasn’t surprised in the least at the initial utterance, but even HE was blown away, when Precious suddenly crossed the room and embraced him! Dezzie and Rosko brandished their weapons – Patty screamed, the accountants jumped under the table, and Edgar immediately told his bodyguards to stand down. As Edgar smiled with a bit of fiendish delight, Patty began to realize that this must be the “Doc” her friend had mentioned to her a few times. Despite guns being drawn, raised voices, men cowering in fear, and the presence of Edgar Lockhart, the scene was actually quite beautiful, as Precious embraced her true love in what she could only imagine was her creator’s idea of romance in its purest form.
They whispered secret vows in one another’s ears, before Patty was finally able to talk her friend into backing away from the side of the room filled with assassins, hyper-villains, and corrupt accountants. Precious looked at Doc one more time, then turned to leave, but Edgar demanded that she stop where she was. Precious’s heart rate went through the roof, as she was sure her creator had decided this would be how her story ends. She balled up her fists, and prepared to go out in a blaze of glory. But as she turned around, she found that no one was getting ready to kill her. In fact, Edgar wanted to offer her and Doc a gift.
He asked Dezzie to fashion a pair of rings for the couple. The hyper-strong bodyguard looked around, then grabbed one of the chairs the accountants were sitting in, and ripped off one of the metal legs. It took him about sixty seconds to peel off strips of the steel, and mold them into circular shapes. He then looked at Patty, and asked if she would do the honors. She was confused, until Edgar revealed that he had read her mind, and knew all about her ability to turn items to gold with a mere touch. He demanded that she use her ability to turn the rings into gold. She hesitated for a moment, but once she saw Rosko preparing to unholster her weapon, she decided that it would be the right thing giving this gift to her best friend. She peeled the specialized coating that kept her powers in check from her hand, and proceeded to transform the metal circles into the most immaculate pair of gold rings you’ve ever seen.
Precious and Doc each took one, then gifted them to one another. And with that, Edgar concluded his business with Patty Banks, and he, along with Doc, and the rest of his team, left. Precious would never see Doc again….
Actually, what am I talking about… of course they’ll see each other again! This is comic book stuff! And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Precious and I thank you for reading her story – yeah, she knows you’re out there. Say hi to Deadpool for us #esotericReference. Stay tuned for more! The Legend Grows!! HUZZAH!!