For Peter Norman, life was an accepted fact.

Growing up under the care of an experimental research facility, he was subjected to horrors that no sane human would ever be able to withstand. He wouldn't even know his real name until later in life, going by the alias 'Umbra'.

However, it was his life.

Torture, pain, suffering; all of it was his normal. He knew no other way, at least, not until one of the researchers grew a conscience. Peter was far too entrenched to escape, but the researcher was able to feed him TV shows and movies. Peter eventually figured out that these shows were what was supposed to be normal. When he realized that, Peter began to silently resent the people who tortured him, who made him swallow poison and injected him with disease. He was being trained, being transformed into the perfect assassin. He would know the methods, master the techniques, create the ultimate form of silent killing. As Peter was educated to a Bachaelor's degree, he began to earn his freedom.

Then, at the ripe age of sixteen years old, Peter was given his first mission. The planning was meticulous, the preperation was micromanaged, and the execution was flawless. Peter managed to get his first glimpse of the outside world for the first time, the sprawling cities and loving rural areas. He willingly returned to his employers, knowing that he required more information before moving.

For five years, Peter planned his escape in his mind, never once giving any inkling that he might one day betray the people who had taken away his Brady Bunch life. In his mind, he pictured parents that would care for him, grandparents to smother him, brothers and sisters to jostle around lightly. It was a fantasy, but it was the only thing he had to himself. Mission after mission, kill after kill, Peter made sure that he could execute

everything without reprocussions.

The day came, the day the research lab that housed Umbra exploded. He escaped by mere nano seconds, catching some flak in the side for how close it was. After that, he trekked anonymously across the world, catching rides in whatever way he could. During his travels, he read the files that he had stolen from the research lab, the ones about his next of kin. He knew his parents faces, the bio's on his two sisters and brother, and even the dead Peter Norman that had died young.

Upon meeting his parents, Peter was overwhelmed at first. His fantasy came true, he got his loving family that he had only seen in movies. Learning that he was Peter was disconcerting, especially when he heard that his parents purposefully gave him away to whom they believed to be an orphanage. Peter was able to look past all of that, and he saw the Norman family to be his own.

Then, one day, it all caught up to him.

The people who had invested time and money turning Peter in to the ultimate killer had followed him. The resulting firefight cost the life of his parents and youngest sister. He was able to escape with his brother and the older sister, and thus he began a vast assassination streak worthy of Ghengis Khan's most hated offspring. He worked through the ranks of the organization that had birthed him, from janitor to CEO.

Finally, Peter ended it with a global warning, broadcasting across every information channel available. He called himself Umbra' (his alias from the lab) and he detailed his odessy from the birth. Then he warned the entire world, that if he was found; he should be left alone. His days of wanton murder were behind him, he only wanted to quit. The first person to come after him would be the first to die until the world at large understood he was not to be trifled with.

Someone didn't like that, and his house was napalmed while his brother and sister happened to be out.

What followed would forever be a scar on the people of the world, known simply as 'Red December'. Seven hundred of the highest members of government were killed within a single month, sometimes fifty in a single day. Parlamaints, Prime Ministers, and Presidents lay dead in unprecedented accounts of regicide.

It was then that the world understood, Umbra was not a simple assassin, nor a professional killer.

Umbra was a force of nature. He was darkness personified, under every bed and in every closet. He watched when you slept, and knew when you were awake. If you caught his ire, the best you could hope for was a quick death. He knew every trick, every trade, every weapon that would do the job. Umbra could not be stopped, would not be deterred, and was never late.

At the ancient age of one hundred and three; Peter Norman, the legendary assassin known as Umbra, died.

He was in a hospital, sorrounded by nieces and nephews, family that he wished he had. He promised, should he be given another chance, he would live it right.

Luckily, someone heard.

Crying as a babe once more, Peter felt sore all over. He was tired, in extreme discomfort, and could barely move at all. His voice was screeching violently into his own ears, causing serious pain that seemed tender to his skin. It was a mighty effort just to open his eyes, but when he did, he saw something that scared him sensless.

There was a giant woman leaning over him, as if clutching him in her arms. She smiled brightly, a brilliant shine with every tooth. A man came to her side, his blonde hair unbefitting the moustache and goattee he wore. He smiled as well, then spoke in a language Peter couldn't understand. The two smiled down at Peter, and then both said the words:

Paxton Byron.