cheshire backstory
It's pretty obvious to any Mobian or Overlander that both species do not get along. Though on the surface it seems as though the two have settled their differences and maintain a good relationship to the public eye, mainly the media, underneath all that is an ugly history. Overlanders that choose to live in certain Mobian cities are often deprived of their rights, harassed and the law used unfairly against them. On the Overlanders' side, not much is different, as Mobians who choose to live in urban and industrialized areas are often persecuted, given unfair trial, and often given more severe punishments rather than the norm. This has even led to many facing the death penalty despite suffering mental illness, or even committing lesser crimes.
This is one such scenario faced by Jimmy, a brown hedgehog who lived in a poorer district of Overlander Territory, namely a large industrial city with plenty of factories in the area. Jimmy's family history is unknown, when he was arrested no one really cared to do a background check on him. As for why he was arrested, he'd been trying to buy a pack of cigarettes and was denied, more than likely because he was a Mobian. Jimmy's short stature (2'11") would make him much easier to mock than other Mobians, since he was about the same height as a young Overlander child. Bullying was still bullying, however, and the effect it had on Jimmy to be denied something he was craving was not met with a good end. In other words, he killed the clerk, having jumped the counter and bashed the man's head in against the cash register. Grabbing a pack of cigarettes, Jimmy stared at the damage he'd done, staring at the blood gushing onto the floor. The man he'd killed was probably in his early 30's, and Jimmy felt some guilt in that moment. When the police arrived on the scene, they were shocked to find out that the murderer had stayed put, and had also been the one to call them in. When questioned of the crime, Jimmy muttered some things that were difficult to understand, but one of them was "What's the big deal? I just hit him a few times."
Instead of the city's main prison, there was also an Asylum for the Criminally Insane, namely Overlanders. The Asylum had a good name in the media, though in actuality, they were far more cruel on most of their prisoners, especially those that had committed severe felonies, often using excuses in order to test many enhancement drugs on their patients, especially the new Military Enhancement Drug "SKY". Jimmy would be no different, the possibility that his murdering of the clerk would be answered with a severe punishment, despite the Mobian's obvious psychosis. Having toured the building with several doctors before his confinement, Jimmy had been told that there were other Mobians in the facility as well, and he wasn't alone. Jimmy didn't really care about that, but figured it was comforting nonetheless. During his time in the Asylum, Jimmy shared a room with another Mobian, this one was a Fennec Fox by the name of Bart. Jimmy and Bart didn't get along very well, mostly because of their behaviors clashing. While Bart would tremble and be scared of someone out to get him, Jimmy would mutter at night and rant at Bart about people who annoyed him in the world, often shouting profanities, and this didn't help when his insomnia got worse from Bart's own crying and whimpering in the night. Jimmy had asked one of the doctors, Jordon, for a room change, but was denied without hesitation. Frustrated, Jimmy took out his problems on the already paranoid Bart in the form of verbal harassment. Often times, Jimmy told Bart to laugh for once, as he was sick of all the Fennec's whimpering. A few times, Jimmy seemed to confide in Bart, despite their quarrels, telling the Fox about his life as a child, only that he really enjoyed the story of Alice in Wonderland, sometimes laughing about how Alice took a 'drug trip' to get to Wonderland. Bart had confessed that the Cheshire Cat had scared him, but to Jimmy, the Cheshire Cat was his most favorite character.
About two years into confinement, Jimmy had already grown accustomed to his life in the Asylum and had been doing rather well when it came to group meetings that dealt with reformation. However, there'd been several large news stories in the media featuring prominent Mobian Criminals attacking Station Square, and such stories fueled the hatred many Overlanders had against Mobians. In turn, the courts began to re-examine previous trials concerning Mobians, handing out more severe charges where they thought most appropriate. When they came to Jimmy's case, his obvious dementia was ignored and he was considered a threat to society, even within the Asylum. It had then been decided that in three months, he'd receive the Death Penalty; a lethal injection. Upon hearing this news, Jimmy was terrified, not wanting to be killed. He began to voice his concerns in forms of continuous apologies, for every minute thing he'd complained about and done, though not once expressing remorse for the clerk he'd murdered. It was at this time that Jimmy met another side of Jordon, who was not just a doctor, but one of the scientists who worked on experiments within the complex. Jordon had told both Bart and Jimmy that they had a choice over what venue they wanted to go: be killed, or participate in an experimental drug trial. It was unclear as to why Bart was also being given the Death Penalty, but it could be assumed it was due to the sudden outcry against Mobians in Overlander Territory.
Jimmy had decided to take the drug trial, but he wanted to know just what it was. Jordon explained the drug as a Military Enhancement Drug that was Protein based, and basically it would improve a person's general strengths and remove their weaknesses, no longer having them rely on robotic exo-skeletons or cybernetics to do work in the battlefield. The drug didn't have an official name, but was given the nickname "SKY" as a reference to the old saying "The Sky is the Limit", a motto the scientists used for creating new enhancement drugs to better the Military and Overlander kind in general. Since Jimmy had already agreed to the experiment, there was no backing out. He was informed of security measures put in place should something go happen, but was reassured that the drug had an 87% success rate. (This was a lie, as really, the drug hadn't ever experienced a full success rate and the best outcome they could manage was in the 50% range, and that was only on Overlander subjects.)
Jimmy was then escorted to the lab, and on the way, he could hear Bart screaming in outright agony, recognizing the voice immediately. The hedgehog stopped, staring up at Jordon, "What's wrong with Smiley?" The nickname Jimmy had sarcastically given Bart when the two would argue at night about Bart's paranoia. Jordon hesitated a moment before responding, telling Jimmy that Bart had a fear of needles, and that's all that was about. Being strapped into the chair, Jimmy eyed the belts used to keep him down and questioned their relevance. Jordon reminded the Hedgehog about the security measures put in place "just in case" something "happened". Two other scientists were present in the lab for the experiment, their names being Rebecca and Stuart. Rebecca smiled down at Jimmy as she held a syringe, telling him to think of something that made him happy. As Jimmy thought, he couldn't help but think about how pretty her hair was, that her brown hair reminded him of his mother. The thought of his mother took him back to his time as a child, when she'd read him Alice in Wonderland. It was at this time that Jimmy thought about the Cheshire Cat, the exact moment that he was stuck with the Syringe by Rebecca, the drug pushed into his body. In the first twenty minutes, there was no change, except that Jimmy was finding it hard to sit still in the chair, eventually his fidgeting was replaced by outright writhing. Jordon took note, deciding the dosage they'd used was probably too high for a Mobian and should be adjusted accordingly during the next experiment. He nodded to Stuart, who handed him another syringe-- Seems this one was the same as the lethal injections used for prisoners on Death Row.
"Jimmy," said Jordon, "I'm going to put you to sleep. It's okay, everything's fine." As he moved to insert the needle, one of the straps snapped in two, Jimmy's arm flying up and grabbing Jordon's arm. The hedgehog was panting heavily, his eyes stark white with no sign of irises or pupils, his teeth more jagged than before. When he spoke, his voice was also changed, jumping around higher pitches than before. "No," Jimmy said, "You... Promised!" Jordon realized that Jimmy knew what the injection was, and to all three scientists' surprise, they saw their subject changing before them. Jimmy's quills began to grow and organize themselves in a way that made his spines look like a Jester's Cap, his own fur began to meld with his prison uniform, the white and black stripes spreading across his entire body, twisting into a mad design. SKY's effect on Jimmy had been overwhelming, giving him a grotesque change in appearance, a large, terrible grin now present on his face. Without a sound, Jimmy flicked his arm, sending a domino effect through Jordon's arm, causing it to snap at the elbow. Rebecca moved on instinct, wanting to pull Jordon away from Jimmy, but instead the crazed patient attacked her, whipping her head with one of the broken straps, hitting it with such force that her neck snapped, killing her instantly. Stuart, traumatized by what was happening before him, quickly ran from the room, voicing cries for help, pressing a security call button on his way out of the room. Jimmy quickly tore off the remaining straps, leaping off the examination table and looked over at Jordon who was writhing in pain on the floor.
There was silence in that moment as the two regarded each other. Jordon sucked in breath to try and keep himself quiet, Jimmy merely stared down at him, his grin having faded for that moment. Instead of killing the doctor, Jimmy fled the room in search of the one who fled. It didn't take long for Jimmy to track Stuart down, as the man had tripped on his own feet in his panic, lying a few meters away from Bart's room, and was struggling to stand again, but fear paralyzed his movements. When Jimmy found him, he lunged at Stuart, grabbing him roughly by the head and began to ram the man's head repeatedly against a nearby wall, blood spitting out each time, Stuart's choked screams soon dying away as death consumed him. Hearing a large amount of footsteps, Jimmy looked to Bart's room and hurried inside to avoid capture.
The Security Team entered the lab where Jimmy had been experimented on, finding Rebecca's corpse as well as Jordon's writhing body, several syringes lying about the room. One of the security soldiers knelt beside Jordon, asking what happened, and was told about what had come to pass. Shocked by the damage caused by just one hedgehog, the security captain ordered the unit to block off all exits in order to contain the subject. The soldiers were then sent out to locate any signs of where he may have fled to, one Soldier confirmed via radio the location of the third scientist and the possible hiding place of Jimmy. Surrounding the door, the Captain kicked it open but was soon faced with a truly gory sight.
Sitting in Bart's room, on an examination table was Jimmy, holding Bart's lifeless staring head in his hands, placing with the mouth, making it smile and frown, smile and frown. The lights were damaged, only one hanging bulb above the table lit. Several pieces of the Fennec's body were strewn about the room, having been ripped apart by hand. Jimmy was talking to himself, muttering things that couldn't really be understood, but some stood out more than others, namely "Smiley", "Laugh", "Miserable little..." The Captain of the unit stepped forward slowly, aiming his weapon at Jimmy, "Freeze!" The sudden shout caught Jimmy's attention, and he turned to stare at the Security Unit, his white, glowing eyes sending a chill down their spines.
"That's not my name." Jimmy said simply, before quickly whipping Bart's head at the unit and disappearing into the darkness. One of the soldiers, startled by the sudden disappearance, began to riddle the room with bullets from his FA-MAS, only to be silenced momentarily by a sickening snap. When the other security members turned to him, they could see his body on the floor, missing both arms from the elbows, and the experiment subject once again standing on the examination table. Fear filled the hearts of the soldiers, and few began to back out of the room, down the hall, anywhere they could to make for a hasty retreat, but all so quietly, not wanting to disturb the enemy further. Jimmy held up the FA-MAS, the dead soldier's severed arms still gripping the weapon.
"I'm the smiling, grinning Cheshire Cat."
The remaining bulb was knocked out, and the room was filled with cries of agony, the few flashes of light coming from gun shots lighting only snapshots of the battle at hand, the newly named Cheshire making short work of the unit before him. The soldiers guarding the exits could hear the turmoil and decided to flee while they could, leaving Jordon alone in the lab next to Rebecca's dead, staring corpse.
Currently, Cheshire wields a solar-powered Stage-Light as his weapon, and as for attire, he's often seen wearing a Jester's hat and collar. Cheshire suffers from acute loneliness; he wants to make friends, but ends up killing them practically immediately. Despite this, he has made two 'friends', his best friend being Whitney the Jackalope, who has an ability to not die, no matter how brutal the injuries. ( cantdie_whitney )
(Other "friends" include Dr. Finitevus and Lord Dimitri.)