Keeper of Infinite Earths - The Protectors

Created by Matt Parmenter

Arcanum

Alter Ego: Aaron Cromwright
Occupation: Independently Wealthy
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: The Protectors

Background/History:
Born in Wales to an older, wealthy couple, Aaron was born with a silver spoon as their only child.  His parents passed away shortly after he graduated front high school leaving him in charge of the family hotel business.  He decided to travel to America to go to college and met Chris Talis who quickly became his best friend.  Then came the tragic boat trip to the Bermuda Triangle that created Sound Wave, Revenant, and freed Crykill from his prison.  The malignant spirit of Crykill possessed Cromwright's body and beat his spirit into submission.  For nearly seven long torturous years, Aaron was only able to watch as Crykill used his body as a vessel to perform heinous acts of evil and countless times attempt to murder his best friend, Sound Wave.  Aaron's presence in the psyche of Crykill had an almost calming effect on the evil mastermind and a minor influence in his plans.  Some of the more outrageous things that Ian Troll would have acted out were softened by Aaron.  Oddly, while this kept Crykill from launching mass destructive acts against innocents, it also made him somewhat
more effective as the leader of the Anachronist Society because his paranoid insanity was kept in check.  Finally, the Protectors came up with a plan to exorcise the evil spirit from Aaron.  While the rest of the team kept the Anachronists at bay, Extension surrounded Crykill to keep him in place, Mage and Esper combined magic and mental powers to force him out of Aaron's body while Mammoth yanked the helmet off of his head and hurled it into space.  At last, Aaron's body and soul were his own to control once more.  The residual effect of both Crykill's magic and knowledge left Aaron a very powerful sorcerer himself.  He promptly dispatched Dark Paladin, Crykill's number one lackey, to the center of the earth for his crimes, such as beating Captain Freedom to death and putting him in the freezer for the Junior Protectors to find.  He decided to restrain his anger and follow in the footsteps of Sound Wave by joining the Protectors using the powers he had gained from evil to combat it instead.

Personality/Motivation:
The ramifications of his possession were, at first glance, relatively minor.  He was still a loyal friend and pretty laid back, but there was a hard edge that surfaced especially when facing Crykill and the Anachronist Society.  He is driven by a need to make up for the acts that were performed with his body, not by guilt, but as a form of retribution and revenge for the years he lost.

Quote: “When you dance with the devil, the devil doesn't change you do.”

 

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