Aaron Eric Cross (Voices Excluded)

Author's Note: As My First Story On This Great Site There Will Undoubtedly Be Some Growing Pains... So For Those of You Who Didn't Like The Original Version of This Chapter I Have Made Some Changes That Might Be More To Your Liking. As The Title of This Chapter Implies I Have Taken Out The Conversation Between The Imps and The Author At The End and Modified Certain Parts of and The Ending of The Chapter Slightly.

As In My Introduction, I Kindly Ask You For Your Patience and I Hope You Enjoy My Story!

Like most Great Men Our Friend Aaron came from humble beginnings....

Aaron was born to Cyndi and Marsellus Cross and he was always a very Happy and Active Child but as is so often the case this would soon come to an end. Aaron's Father Marsellus left for reasons known only to himself when Aaron was barely a year old leaving his mother to Raise Aaron and his Elder Twin Sisters... Kimberly and Michelle, on her own. And she did just that for shy of 5 years during which time she had a Fourth Child... A Daughter Named Monica by a man she met, had an affair, and would eventually marry. Her Husband Garrent Masters is a wealthy man 15 years her senior but utterly smitten with Cyndi. Many believe that she married Garrent for his money and influential connections but isn't that what they always say when a younger woman marries an older man with money and it certainly didn't help that Young Aaron has sick most of the time and waitressing can barely be expected to pay the bills for a shitty little two room apartment let alone allow her to provide for herself, three then four kids, put food on the table, clothes on their backs, keep a car 20 years too old to still be on the road running, and pay for utilities and other essentials. Now that I think about it.... Hell, if you won't say it I will. She was fucking the old bastard porno-style every night to provide herself with a better life and to keep her babies alive. Call her a whore if you want to but as a parent you more often than not have to do things that both sicken and disgust you, things that your Pride and self-respect would never allow you to do for yourself... Just to shelter and protect those you love from a cruel and unforgiving world.

Alright, enough of that deep, deep, depressing child psychology shit True Though It May Be. Let's not turn this into a suicide-inducing episode of The Dr. Phil Show and instead lets turn this back to Aaron our Hero or Villain depending on your moralistic leanings.

When Aaron was just Five years old he was diagnosed with a brain tumor that still has medical professionals all over the world scratching their heads. yep, it's a real medical mystery alright. This unusual brain tumor, or more specifically, a Cerebellar Pilocytic Astrocytoma had tendrils infiltrating every nook and cranny of his brain. The Tumor starved his body of vital nutrients and protein, replicating the symptoms of an advanced form of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or A.L.S., leaving him small, sickly and weak for most of his life but instead of dysfunction and destruction of brain function it appeared that the tumor was stimulating and increasing brain function to an amazing degree. By the time Aaron was Eight he already had more active brain use than anyone ever tested. His mind was literally drawing so much energy from his muscles that they began to wither. Complete paralysis and **** was estimated within 3 years once gamma wave activity in his brain exceeded 50 hertz and his Acetylcholine receptors began to draw away from his nerve receptors instead of toward them but he hung in there and fought tooth and nail every step of the way until the brilliant Doctors handling his unusual case declared his condition to be non life threatening though extremely debilitating.

Aaron is now Nineteen years old... Almost Twenty and since he began puberty a few years ago his body began to catch up to his incredible mind. Aaron is now six foot tall, athletic and lean muscled but there are certain things that set him apart from the other young adults in his school. For one thing his skin is chalk white with unusual red accents near the corners of his eyes, The irises of which are yellow.

Being a rich kid certainly had its advantages but the money that Aaron uses to buy both what he wants and what he needs is entirely his own. Money made possible by his own Genius, hard work, and a few smart investments. 1,273 That is the current number of patents Aaron holds. Patents that have already revolutionized the fields of medicine, computer engineering, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and a slew of other areas of Human Endeavor. At present, Unbeknownst to anyone Aaron is even richer than his obscenely rich step-father and he looked it to.

Aaron usually always dresses to impress in one of Twelve $15,000 Custom-Made, Hand-Tailored Suits from Savile Row in jolly ole' London, England where they have some of the best tailors in the world which he had specially commissioned when he started dating his long time friend Mary Jane Watson who has lived across the street from him for most of his life. For a long time, Aaron has secretly lusted after her since they were kids before he even knew what lust meant or what sex was. They have even gone out on a few platonic dates whatever the hell that useless word means but it just didn't work out. There seemed to be no chance more could develop between them because every date they went on she would inevitably have to leave early usually in the middle of their date when things were beginning to get fun and sometimes before the date even started because of some emergency or other that she would refuse to talk about or even acknowledge later. And then of course their was the immutable fact that they were from completely different worlds... He was the shy, Gangly Goth outcast and she was the vibrant, gregarious center of the school's social circle.

A circle that poor Aaron would never be apart of no matter what he did, who he knew, or what he accomplished. Because of his medical condition, shy quiet, demeanor, pale complexion, and almost supernatural intelligence he had been branded a "Squint," a disparaging and derogatory term for those who prefer to use their minds instead of their muscles or what's between their legs to solve problems. And in the high-class preparatory school Aaron attended, or any school for that matter... Once they have decided that you are one thing or another the masses will never allow you to break that mold for the rest of your time there.

In Addition to the twelve $15,000 suits Aaron regularly wears there's also the $12,000 white silk shirts, $1,000 Cashmere socks, $5,000 Italian shoes, $25,000 personalized Cartier watch, $800 cufflinks, at least two $350 monogrammed silk handkerchiefs, A $200 haircut, Another $3000 for regular grooming, A $1200 custom made Octopus ring (I know weird right and strangely specific but The Main Character has a thing for octopi... You'll understand why later I promise) which was his prized possession as far as his wardrobe was concerned because he would sooner go out in public naked than go anywhere without that ring.

It was the first thing he had bought himself, And he had designed it himself and had it especially commissioned through a well-known french Silversmith and jeweler. He absolutely Adored it.

The only other thing that Aaron regularly carried with him was a demonic-looking briefcase with a macabre three-eyed face set into the unknown smooth, black obsidian-like material that the case was made of that was apparently left to him by his father and even Aaron sometimes thought it was a little unnerving how the thing seemed to watch his and everyone else's every move.. And what's more their were times he swore he could hear the thing whispering or breathing and a heart beating inside the thing. But while he hated his Father for leaving him, His Mother, and his Sisters he really had no idea why he left and as unsettling as it was sometimes he really did feel a certain attachment to the briefcase which he affectionately nicknamed "Diablo."

When his mother, Cyndi first gave him the case he hoped it would contain a letter, some papers, a recorded message.. Hell Anything really that would answer at least some of his questions but the only thing it contained was what he later found out was an Antique One-of-a-Kind, Hand-Crafted LeMarchand Lock Puzzle Box. The Puzzle Box Itself was beautiful and of unparalleled workmanship with smooth black lacquered sides trimmed in brass and gold, and appeared to have some sort of arcane symbols etched on its surface as well as an almost imperceptible etching along the seams between the pieces.

After several days, Aaron quickly found that even A clever individual like himself might spend the better part of a week loosening the first piece. The interior surfaces were brilliantly polished and Aaron's reflection — distorted, fragmented — slid across the lacquer like skates across a frozen pond and then there was the sound it made... Like chirping birds, The box had apparently been constructed so that rearranging it tripped a musical mechanism inside. A short, simple tune emerged from the puzzle box and as he arranged and rearranged the pieces, Aaron found that the Tune continued to evolve as each additional piece was moved into its proper place.

Though with each piece moved, Each segment presented a fresh challenge to both fingers and mind, the victories rewarded with a further filigree added to the tune and the sound of a large bell could be heard tolling mournfully in the distance. Aaron was sure he was close But Try as he might Aaron simply could not solve the puzzle.. Hour after hour he studied each piece and its movement but he could not solve it. However, Aaron was bound and determined to solve the riddle of the box if only to prove to himself and that damnable puzzle box that he could.

There was something about that puzzle box that irritated him and not just the difficulty that came with trying to solve it... He felt like there was something important about it but he couldn't figure out what it was. But important or not Aaron swore to himself that he'd solve that DAMN thing no matter how long it took to do it.