Andre Leonard grew up dirt poor. He had to scrap for every nickle and dime. His parents both worked, but since they were disabled Army vets, who suffered from a number of lingering aches and pains, they could not do much, and often found themselves in the hospital or on disability. That is why Andre hustled, selling drugs, and getting involved with other illegal activities, in the streets of Platinum City. He was doing quite well for himself, too. However, after a fallout with the most respected and feared hustler, Spliff, and his crew, Andre had to fend for himself. For the next few years, life was grueling in the streets. That was, until he came across Bajan Emerald.
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Andre himself has no hyper-abilities, but Oriens, the demon that possesses him gives him the ability to amass riches in the form of silver and gold. Oriens can also conjure knowledge of past, present, and even some future events through prophetic visions. He can also give Andre the ability to fly. Additionally, Oriens can provide familiar spirits, conjuring minions to assist Andre, and can also revive the dead. Along with the demon, Andre also has a ghost orphan living inside of him, which grants him increased physical abilities (strength, speed, agility and durability).
Bajan immigrated to the US from Barbados as an adult. Nobody dared to associate with her, as rumor spread she was a Voodoo priestess. They weren’t just rumors, however, they were true. Bajan was a powerful practitioner of the ancient magickal religion, and she often used it to communicate with spirits of the afterlife. They fueled her immortality and gave her powers, and it was this that caused Andre to seek her out. Pressed for luck after having a bounty put on his head by Spliff to end their rivalry once and for all, Andre rolled the dice on an alliance with Bajan, and essentially gambled his life. The priestess was very reluctant, but she saw flashes of his future, and was intrigued. She also read his spirit, and saw something special about him he didn’t even know: Andre was inhabited by a ghost orphan!
Antonious Braccus was the spirit inside of him, hailing from ancient Greece, as one of the earliest ghost orphans. He recently departed his previous host after an untimely death, and decided to join with Andre, due to the raw aggression and anger that fueled the young man. Bajan placed spells on Andre, allowing him to maximize his bond with Antonious, and then began cursing Spliff’s business. The combination of Andre’s increased physical abilities, and Spliff’s turn of bad luck allowed for Andre to surge forward in the drug game. Bajan then implemented the final phase of Andre’s transformation, and helped her demonic master possess his body. The entity’s name was Oriens, the Demon King of the East. He ruled the eastern gate in Hell, and finally had joined the ongoing Age of Serpents prophecy.
The demon instantly began feeding off the energy of the ghost orphan, Antonious, to increase his power, and true to his abilities, he gifted Andre with knowledge and know-how to amass great wealth. Additionally, Oriens gave him the spiritual ability to conjure spirits that could possess people. The evil spirit knew not to call forth minions from Hell, though, having recently been made aware of the demise of his fellow Hell kings, Egyn and Amaymon, at the hands of Seraph Solomon during the exorcisms of Walter Tubbs and Jocelyn Heredia. He knew the holy warrior could control lesser demons. So, he used Antonious’ spiritual nature, combined with his own, and directed Andre to extract ghost orphans from bodies in Platinum City. The maneuver was unprecedented, and Orien’s ingenuitive move provided Andre with an army of followers from The King Projects.
As the war increased in magnitude between Spliff and Andre, things became ruthless. Bodies were piling up, and for the most part the Platinum City Police Force opted not to get involved, out of fear for their own lives. That did not stop super cops Ox and Brolic, though. They refused to turn a blind eye to the war in the King Projects, and all of the collateral damage it was causing. Thus, they ventured in by themselves, going to battle against both sides, stopping thugs, and arresting them to bring the goons to justice. This ultimately placed them in the crosshairs of both Andre and Bajan. Consequently, the demon-possessed drug lord sent a wave of ghost orphans after them. A huge fight ensued, as the supercops were swarmed by the brutal squadron. Brolic was pushed to his physical limit, monster-slamming and power-punching thugs like a madman, while Ox sprayed his hands with the organic hyper-substance from his oral glands to create a rock-hard substance around his fists, and began wailing on their adversaries. Even with their powers, though, the supercops were being overrun… until Seraph Solomon, Peter Philadelphia and Valerie Philadelphia arrived!
The three burst onto the scene with a vengeance. Peter and Valerie moved with expert skill as they wielded their living-blades, delivering ghost orphans to the Pearl Gates by the handfuls. Solomon utilized his holy whip made by an Islamic blacksmith trained in creating ancient Damascus weaponry. It was constructed using material from the Shroud of Tourin – the blessed cloth Jesus was buried in, indelibly imprinted by Christ’s likeness. He thrashed and dismembered ghost orphans, rendering them immobile, so Peter and Valerie could finish them off with their special swords. After some time, Ox and Brolic were able to recover, and saw what was happening. Once they realized this battle was against ghost orphans, and that their new allies were the only ones with the ability to permanently put them down, the supercop pair rejoined the fight, and used their abilities to serve up the ghost-orphan-possessed thugs for The Veil members to eliminate properly. When all the ghost orphans were slain, a moment of victory was shared by all. That was, until Bajan appeared from a cloud of mist, followed by Andre flying in from above.
The orange, demon-possessed eyes of the drug lord were familiar to Peter and Valerie, so they told Ox and Brolic to flee. Sensing they were now out of their league, the supercops fell back to regroup, and called for backup to meet them outside the immediate area, in case an evacuation was necessary.
Bajan began casting spells, but Solomon raised his voice, citing an enchantment that permanently silenced the Voodoo priestess, and crippled her to the ground. She felt powerless and terrified. Never had she experienced such an enormous holy power. Frightened, she scurried off for good.
Andre went nowhere, though, as he laughed at Bajan’s fear. Solomon invoked the Rite of Exorcism immediately, and began engaging the demon. Oriens tried to use his greatest spells, but Solomon’s holy aura saw the curses simply smash against the white light and dissipate. The demon was baffled and grew desperate, seeing his best attack fail miserably. He then conjured evil spirits to attack, which prompted the seraph to raise his ring and cite God’s inscription, commanding the spirits back to Hell, just as Oriens feared would happen. The wicked monster grew furious and screamed, causing thunder to clap above and lightening to strike the pavement around them. Solomon was unfazed, though, and continued the rite.
Finally, when the demon was weak enough, the seraph demanded to know its identity. Andre shouted the name Oriens, giving Solomon dominion over him. Peter and Valerie did not need to be told what to do, as they knew that was their cue to strike. Valerie impaled Andre’s heart, as Peter beheaded him. The ghost orphan Antonious Braccus ascended into Heaven, as Oriens was ripped through a portal to Hell, concluding the exorcism.
Solomon looked at the two Veil members, and nodded in recognition. The three had formed a good team, and as they passed the rows of cop cars that were positioned far in the distance, they thanked Ox and Brolic, before moving on to the 666th possessed person; the last in the Age of Serpents prophecy.