July 26, 2016

207. ONYX HAZE

Verné Causwell had to learn how to fight from a very early age, because she possessed something that many very powerful people wanted: secrets. She was born with a strange peculiarity, in which every single thing she sees and experiences appears in a special book, which has come to be known as the Onyx Octavo. Virtually, the Octavo is a collection of all of Verné’s memories, which also means that if somebody writes something inside the book, she gains that memory or knowledge even if she didn’t experience or learn it herself. On the flip side, if a page is ripped from her book or something is crossed out, that memory is lost.

No one knows exactly where the Octavo came from. However, there are a select number of people who know of Sir Vellichor and his Grand Mystical Library, and the few of them that know of the Octavo speculate that the book may have originated there. Sir Vellichor has never confirmed, nor denied whether Verné and her Octavo are somehow connected to his realm, but he does have a vested interest, which we will get to in a moment.

Bio

Birth Name

Verné Causwell

Aliases

Onyx Haze

Species

Hyper-human; female

Birth Details

Bronx, NY, USA, Earth (Core Reality); Late 21st century

Powers, Abilities, Weapons & Tools

Onyx Haze possesses a mystical book called the Onyx Octavo, in which all of her memories and knowledge are magically recorded. The Octavo also allows her to instantly learn new things, and gain memories that are not even her own. She is also trained in a number of combat techniques and martial arts.

The Story

When Verné was born, her parents, Nicholas and Kameeka Causwell, a pair of hyper-biology researchers, had been working on a top secret experiment, in which they would almost literally incubate a supreme hyper-human, codename: “Tiberius Grey”. They continued to work from their home lab on the 27th floor of a high-rise apartment building in the North Bronx, and even when Verné was just a baby, anything and everything she saw was recorded in the Octavo. This became a problem, when a group of black-market researchers called “Nature’s Zenith” learned of the project and broke into the Causwells’ apartment, and kidnapped the scientists and much of their notes, including the Octavo. Verné was only 13 years old at the time. The kidnappers left her there alone.

But she wasn’t alone for long, as Cliché, a member of Sir Vellichor’s Book Club showed up, and teleported her to the Grand Mystical Library. There, Verné met Sir Vellichor, who talked to her about the Onyx Octavo and agreed to help her rescue her parents, if she agreed to let him have the book after she had passed away. He also promised to use his powers and his crew to protect her, in order to ensure she’d have a long, adventurous and prosperous life. Verné was young, but she wasn’t stupid; she agreed to the terms, but only if they could revisit the contract from time to time to discuss terms. There were other details to the agreement, but we’ll go into all of that when, and if necessary.

For now, it’s important to know that Cliché, along with other members of Sir Vellichor’s Book Club – Bookmarc, Binder and Lady Paige – teleported to Earth, and launched an attack on the Nature’s Zenith facility. It was heavily guarded by armed troops, but the strength and hyper-abilities of the Book Club eventually overwhelmed them, and they were able to break through. They found Nicholas and Kameeka, however, the previously brilliant scientists had had their brains operated on, and were now practically catatonic vegetables. They also found the Octavo, and after laying waste to the facility, they made it back to Sir Vellichor’s Library.

Verné’s parents would remain in vegetative comas. And she would spend the next couple of years being trained by Cliché and Bookmarc in a number of combat techniques, before being teleported back to Earth to begin the adventurous life that Sir Vellichor hoped she would have, for the more adventures she got into, the more interesting the Octavo would be, once he possessed it. She took on the name “Onyx Haze”, and began working as a vigilante in Platinum City, running into such menaces as The Disturbed (Hysteria, Kray Kray and Deleria), Anarchy, Kid Gen, Ecstasy and Fiasco. She also became a target for the City Watch vigilante squad. Though the leader of the team, Liberty Star didn’t have much of a problem with Onyx’s vigilante activities, others, like Brass Eagle, The Gavel and The Prosecutor, would often become obsessed with bringing her to justice – especially when she encroached on their territories, namely the upper-middle class neighborhoods in southern Platinum City.

Onyx did, however, gain some allies, including the Platinum City Knights (Black Jag, Night Bird and Metro), who would often lend her a hand in more dangerous situations, as well as in legal situations through their law firm, Greenwood, Archer and Pine, which they worked at when they weren’t doing vigilante work. Onyx’s greatest allies, however, would end up being the Platinum City supercops Ox and Brolic. The three of them worked together to stop numerous evil plots from Fiasco, Labyrinth and Qatastrophe, among others.

Onyx was definitely having the adventurous life Sir Vellichor had hoped she would, but things were about to get a lot more interesting – maybe even a little too interesting for the master of the Library. Onyx awoke one morning to find that the Octavo had been stolen. She immediately reached out to Sir Vellichor, but despite his plethora of mystical and cosmic powers, he was unable to locate the book, and thus they were all left in the dark.

It wasn’t long, however, before Onyx began to instantaneously gain new memories, for whoever had the Octavo was writing in it. But it wasn’t just nonsense that was being written; it was clues that would lead Onyx on a variety of missions. The mysterious holder of her book also suggested that if she followed through with the given instructions the book would eventually be rewarded back to her. Thus, Onyx Haze was tasked with finding or collecting certain items; taking down criminals, crime bosses and warlords; rescuing people who had been kidnapped or taken; and even carrying out some tasks that were a little more morally ambiguous for her, like the time she was led to take part in the fall of Malika El-Hashem, the Sultana of New Arabia.

But her most important adventure had nothing to do with the mysterious holder of her book; it had to do with her parents. It seemed that Nature’s Zenith had re-established a base of operations, and had also reacquired the vegetative bodies of Nicholas and Kameeka Causwell. Not only that, but they had also managed to begin repairing their minds, and interestingly enough they were beginning to regain consciousness. Onyx wanted to swoop in and save them – but she knew she should wait until the bio-engineers had finished the process. She spent several months spying on them. Then, when she saw that her parents had regained their intelligence, she set up a time to strike.

Onyx had hoped she would again have the help of The Book Club, but due to a couple of incidents detailed in the journal of the heroic Captain Noble, Sir Vellichor and his crew were on a sort of house arrest. So, she had to call on her super cop friend from Platinum City, Ox. The two of them traveled to the Nature’s Zenith facility, tucked away in the mountainous region of the United States. And over the next few days, Ox and Onyx infiltrated the base, taking down dozens and dozens of guards, and navigating several security obstacles. Finally, after a treacherous and tiresome ordeal, they were able to rescue Nick and ‘Meeka Causwell, and take them to New Hero Hospital in Seattle where they could be nursed back to health.

Onyx was eternally grateful for Ox’s help, and promised she would be on call to return the favor. After a few weeks of sitting by her parents’ bedsides, she got that call. Ox was distraught as his partner, Brolic, had been killed during a top secret mission with the Alpha Initiative. He had just gotten off the phone with close friend and current Vice President Lawrence Mitchell, who informed him that Brolic had died in the line of duty, during a confrontation with the extremely powerful hyper-being, London Omega. Furthermore, the villain Labyrinth had stolen the hyper-diamond from which Brolic derived his super strength.

Ox set out to hunt Labyrinth down, and Onyx Haze agreed to help. They also teamed up with the Sista Clique (Kharma Lucky, Cybernetica, Girl Six, Madam Deadhead and Ember Brook) and the Platinum City Knights, to confront the villain in a number of epic showdowns. So far, they have failed to take him down permanently, or retrieve the hyper-diamond. However, Ox and Onyx continue to stay on top of him.

Meanwhile, Onyx has continued to receive cryptic bits of info from the mysterious holder of the book… a being who would eventually be revealed to be Vincent Tiberius.