Fourstrings - Restructure Redesign

At long last - a design for Fourstrings I actually like! Always loved the character - always hated his costumes. But now the hatred stopped!

Fourstrings' backstory only has minor changes, for the most part. Here goes.

Marcus Keith Bassman was abandoned by his parents prior to him having any memory of them. He was taken in by neighbouring family, the Trenaways, who had a daughter who was the same age as him. They grew up as a family, although Marcus soon came to know he was adopted. Around the age of 15, riddled with acne and a retainer, the gawky teenage Marcus was taken in by one of his parents' alleged friends, Gilmour Daltry. He became the young man's father figure, and he interested him in music. Namely, bass guitar. Having little social life outside of Sandra Trenaway and his adoptive parents (which he saw less often around that time), Marcus put a lot of focus in his bass playing, eventually becoming rather skilled. The first song he ever wrote was dedicated to his crush - Sandra. Her response to the song was a nervous laugh, followed by her coming out to Marcus. The young man laughed as well - there were worse ways to be turned down, after all. Besides, Sandra was like a sister to him, and quite literally for most of his childhood in fact.

Blooming into a man-childish young adult, Marcus discovered he had a power. Indeed, after his prom night performance with the school band, he realized he could move bass strings without touching them. They followed his commands, so to speak. Seeking to better himself as a man, he undertook the alias Fourstrings, and began a strict training regimen. He would become a vigilante, thought the young man, heavily influenced by the comic book heroes he looked up to. As time went by, his goal shifted and he instead became a sought-after personal bodyguard. Aided by his bass string gauntlets, the young man was not to be crossed. 

At the age of 22, Marcus, with the help of the Trenaways, paid for a surgery that would give Sandra the possibility of walking and using her legs as most people would. He wasn't in love with her anymore, but he would move the world around to see his "sis" be happy. And in a way, he did - the surgery to cure Sandra's localized muscular dystrophy cost him his life savings. It was later that year that he would accept a life-changing job...

African ambassador Nsia Okondo, visiting Canada on diplomatic business, hired Fourstrings as her bodyguard. For the most part, the job was simple - accompany miss Okondo to her meetings, keep the journalists at bay and from time to time, rough up a threatening individual. All was going well, until the night the ambassador was due to leave the country. Walking her to her limousine, Fourstrings noticed something didn't feel right, he couldn't put his finger on what though. He begged Nsia to reconvene in the morning, or at least let him escort her to the airport. Miss Okondo told him he worried too much, and sat in the limo, alone. The vehicle didn't go two meters forward before it exploded, killing the ambassador and gravely injuring Fourstrings.

Fresh out of surgery, the now-stabilized Fourstrings received a visit from strange men, saying they were recruiting agents for something called "the flood" Little did Marcus know what the F.L.O.O.D. actually was, and what a great importance it would play on his future. The men told him joining the flood would give him the opportunity to investigate Nsia Okondo's murder. Without thinking, he accepted the offer - whoever was behind this would pay. For Nsia, for him, and for the shattered diplomatic relationships this incident caused. 

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To be clear, Marcus' scars and "surgery ports" (the holes in his face and throat) aren't permanent. He is scheduled for a touch-up surgery four months after the story of Glenmetropolis actually begins. And the story begins with Nsia's limousine exploding. So... yeah.

Fourstrings ©