"I'll keep that in mind." ~ Raina answering Morris during his "warning"
Raina traveled for several years after being disowned by her family. She sought a purpose and a place to live to call her own. Eventually, her travels brought her to Paragon. Here the groups of thugs that terrorized the streets were simply too much fun for the thrill-seeking werecat to turn down. To get paid for it while she 'worked'? Perfection! She made a few loose friendships but soon found the old desire for a 'family' to start coming back to her.
Eventually, simply bringing thugs to justice wasn't enough and she started searching for ever more dangerous pursuits. She pushed the boundaries of her own gifts from leaping off extraordinary heights to dodging through helicopter blades. The fact that it was a matter of time before her luck and skill ran out on her was irrelevant. During one series of jumps through chopper blades, she found herself being watched by a curious man who approached her with an offer that sounded to be exactly what she was looking for.
The man introduced himself as John Starkweather aka Arbiter Death. While unaware of his true history and affiliations, she found herself liking his description of his organization and his invitation to join it. Death explained that sometimes, simply capturing someone was not enough when they were truly evil, such as Lord Recluse. After a lengthy interview and some time to think, Raina agreed to join the Phalanx of Paragon and work to bring in those of true evil. She was happy to have finally found a place to belong and build a life. While being somewhat mistrustful, Raina was eager to start making friends among her new allies. She was a bit disturbed when one of John's subordinates, MSGT Morris, warned her to watch her back and that many of the people here were not what they seemed.
She passed this off for the most part, but agreed to be careful as she settled in. However, she was forcibly introduced to the "problems" of the group when the ever-more paranoid John ordered that they all be vaccinated against contracting the zombie virus currently plaguing paragon. Raina knew that her inner cat was usually capable of fending off any sickness, but she was reluctant to reveal that half of her to them. Even with her misgivings in taking the untested vaccine, she submitted to the dose. Her misgivings proved accurate when her body reacted badly to the vaccine, leaving her weak and nearly paralyzed. It took along time before she forgave John's subordinate, Agent Valos, for giving it to her.
The vaccine, thankfully, did not prove fatal and Raina did recover after a few days rest. However, the event proved to be a final straw for Morris who had been growing discontent with John's growing paranoia and lack of care for those who served him. In a meeting with Raina, Amorphic, and Darkress, Morris presented the idea of striking John down at a moment when he was weak. Raina pointed out that they would be badly outnumbered and she wasn't one to fight a war with no chance of winning. Morris answered that they would need to ferret out allies among the group and that if they did this right, the group would not resist a coup and change in leadership.
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