The_Masked

Mallory MacArthur has always been an anomaly. For all of his life, he had an accute sense for medical matters and a way with the sciences, yet he never found a way in life to make concrete use of those talents. No, no - where he actually settled was the circus.

Mallory's Maladies, they called it, an act where he showed off just what he could cause with the right chemical ebb and flow. A little of this, and a little of that, and then you'd have a governor with a nasty bout of colitis - right in front of a common crowd. It was always a successful way of beguiling, to some's chagrin.

This - perhaps foreseeably - stopped when Mallory put together a concoction that, in fifty years, would be better known as stomach acid. Inflicting such a thing upon an audience member('s face) had him cast out of the troop, and sent along to peddle for money from the unaware.

Mallory was quite successful at this. With his pre-exisiting knowledge of the sciences, he could pick up a job with any old researcher who didn't know him or his name. Light botanical work, groundskeeping, and even animal management had him well fed and supported. However, something in him longed for...more. Something more dangerous. Something more ambitious.

Thus, he ditched all pretense of working and went back out onto the street, with only some chemicals and supplies in hand. He had no idea where he would get his next meal from, but something in him knew exactly how he was going to get it - and why he'd get it THAT way, too. He'd prove his knowledge and save money, all in one swoop!

The whole town must be left wondering why he made such a choice, at this point, as several people have been...relocated, thanks to Mallory.

Mallory does not wonder why.

He, quite simply, wonders who's next.

Who's next, who's next, and who's next. As long as he gets that, he's fine - and he's been fine for a long while. Kidnappings and abductions and so on and so forth attributed to Mallory have become so old they have morphed into history, which has then morphed into legend, which has further twisted into myth. Nobody trusts what Mallory does, and nobody trusts what Mallory has done. Nobody truly -knows- him entirely.

Of course, that might just be because nobody can know him - at least, not truly. He's been alive for hundreds upon hundreds of years. Empires have risen and fallen and he has merely slept through their lives. He is far out of the scope of mere mortal man.

If one would like to learn why he's out of that scope, it is their choice.

Just know - the answer involves a lot more of his stomach acid than you'd think.
_______
Alts_Worth_A_Hoot