Dark Storm



Dark Storm now known as Tao is the magic clone of Markus Hotaru, he was a brutal Dark MAge with a wild animalistic nature comapired to his daring adrenerline junkie counterpart. Made from a risky black magic spell to create a corrupted version of the target Dark fights to prove himself to all that he isn't just a copy but his own mage. Now he's joined his old enemies to kill anew one.

Appearence
Due to being a clone Dark Storm looks exactly like his genetic benifactor Markus Hotaru except for the altered hair colour and eyes. Also his eyes have dark rings around them. His body looks as if he's recovering from serious burns with light burn scars covering his body amoungst his other various scars. Fashion wise he has a similar one to Markus wearing dark jeans and sleeveless jackets. The only difference really is he doesn't wear trench coats.

Shortly after joining the Twilight Phoenix Guild he went to change his appearence but just cutting and dying his hair wasn't enough, he was shown a spirit who changed his look entirely. while his genreal build remained the same his hair became shorter and his tattoos changed greatly instead of a full body tattoo like before his tattoos now only cover the left side of his body the tattoos is basically depicting long serpentine dragons that cover his left arms and left side of his torso, his clothes remain the same as that is his prefered style.

Personality
Unlike Markus Dark Storm is a dark gloomy killer wishing only to surpass him and prove he's the true Storm Phoenix Slayer. He is blindly loyal to Daimon as long as he's able to hunt Markus down. Oddly enough despite his dark attitude he does have a soft spot for fellow Dark Mage Sakura Koshida and is willing to die for her, even betray Daimon to protect her.

After joining the Twilight Phoenix Guild his personality changed. Dark became lighter and more social yet still kept to himself alot of the time, he prefers to hang out and train with Markus, Yoshi, Star Buster and Titan. Those 4 seem to ignore the fact he used to try and kill them and just treat him as a member of the guild, that being said he doesn't mind the fact that he's not entirely trusted by everyone in the guild he understands why they are like that. Like Markus he is also highly protective of Joo Dee almost dieing to protect her when he first joined the guild and is more than willing to repeat that over and over again.

He also seemed to gain a reckless bloodlust for combat enjoying it alot more than Markus including the part where he kills. Though unlike most mages or warriors with that attitude he isn't obsessed with just fighting and killing he still remembers the reason he does fight and kill, to protect his new family and friends.

History
Dark Storm was created using the False Army's most powerful yet risky spell The Endless Doppelgänger. The spell took painful weeks to finish and during the process Daimon introduced Markus' blood and an sample of his magic to give the copy life and a copied version of Markus' main magic. However the copy was very weak and had to be enhanced with Daimon's magical energy and a Lightning Lacrima. After 20+ years he was taught how to use his Slayer Magic and Black Lightning Magic by his "father" and various other magics all in hope of being able to kill Markus and aid Daimon in creating a world where darkness reigns over the weak and inept.

Magic and Abilities

 * Storm Phoenix Slayer Magic: (暴風雨の滅鳳凰魔法 Bōfūu no Metsuhōō Mahō) Refered to as Dark Storm Phoenix Slayer Magic due to it's user's dark nature, this version is half the strength of Markus' but still devastating in combat due to Storm's brutality. Due to this being a copy of Markus' magic it has the same effect it would have on Markus as it would a regular mage. He is also able to access the Phoenix Force making him even deadlier, despite this he has yet to learn how to use the dual-element capabilities that Markus has. After 11 years of training with Markus in improving his Slayer Magic's power Dark gained his dual element form and increased his regular slayer magic to almost match MArkus'
 * Lightning Magic: After joining the Twilight Phoenix Guild, Dark learnt not  to fuel his magic with hate, anger or bloodlust this caused him to revert his Black Lightning into normal Lightning Magic. His power in this magic is immense as it is more controled than the Black Lightning, this gives anyone who knows his previous magic a nasty shock as they expect a bolt of lightning that flies at random.
 * Black Lightning: A sub-species magic Dark is still able to use but rarely does now after swearing an oath to save it for the worst enemies. The effects are brutal and cruel, when someone is struck by a black botl the wound never heals and causes constant pain. It however also damages the user's soul causing them to either die or become a creature lacking a soul.
 * Red Lightning: Another sub-species magic that only requires Dark's extensive anger to enhance his lightning's power. Dark's magic is also unique as the simpiler spells can bounce off objects and any unfortunate people in the way. When using this there is a chance he can become like a wild animal acting on instinct alone, he also seems to generate steam from his mouth. Oddly enough while in this animalistic state he still recognises his allies and will normally not attack them.
 * Fire-Make Magic: (火メイクの魔法; Hi Meiku Mahō) Over the 11 years after joining the Twilight Phoenix Guild, Tao learnt the molding magic Fire-Make and can create a veriaty of weapons and animals to attack his enemies. He common spells are swords and wolf packs, these wolves seem to be sentiant and act alone aslong as they aren't destroyed or detonated by Tao to create a pack of bombs. These however are the only animals he can summon that act like.
 * Static Fire-Make:
 * Burn: The most simple spell Dark can use. This allows him to set an area ahead of him ablaze creating a path for him to walk or keeping the enemy at bay.
 * Sword: Dark's prefered weapon to create, his swords are katana in design but can range from as small as a pocket knife to over 50 feet long. Normally though he creates them at the adverage length for dual weilding purposes.
 * Spear: Another weapon Dark has talent making. While not as common as the sword when Dark does make a spear he can again change the length to allow for great wide sweeps and long thrusts at the enemy keeping them a great distance away.
 * Axe: When making an axe Dark commonly makes a woodsman axe, a large single headed great axe designed for felling trees.
 * Wall: A group defensive spell used to block anything attack that might simply go though his Storm Phoenix Wall spell. When used he puts his hands flat on the ground and lifts them up quickly to make a wall of various sizes if needed.
 * Bow: When in doubt Dark creates a recurved bow made of fire and unleashes a barrage of fire arrows, these arrows can split into more arrows mid flight if he needs a quick way to cover an area.
 * Hammer: Dark creates a blacksmith's hammer out of fire to pound, burn and crush enemies into ash. It again can be sized for one handed or two handed combat.
 * Musket: A rarity but useful for long range shots. When summoned it appears as a simple musket in design but instead of a single shot it can fire near endless shots allowing for immense barrages from great distance.
 * Cannon: A bigger badder version fo the musket able to fire explosive fireballs as enemies.
 * Pistols: Dark makes two flintlock pistols that can unelash a barrage of fireballs at his enemies, he can also use the grips as burning clubs if needed.
 * Dynamic Fire-Make:
 * Wolf Pack: Dark's favirote dynamic fire-make spell. His skill is so great in it the wolves have sentience able to act without Dark's orders or direction. These fire wolves can also be turned into living bombs something Dark dislikes doing despite the ability to resummon them at anytime without memory of what he did.
 * Dragon: When using the dragon spell he pushes his hand out sending a gigantic serpentine dragon out that seeks out the target(s) and explodes on impact.
 * Phoenix:
 * Rhino:
 * Turtle:
 * Earth Magic: Storm's trump card magic second to only his lightning and Phoenix Slayer magic. His specialty is earthquakes and earth spikes, using them to deadly effect using each swing of his martial art to direct the earth's course against his opponant.
 * Sword Magic: Storm is a great swordsman and due to this he has taken up tutelage in the magic from one of his fellow Dark Mages. He seems to have great skill in switching from this to his other magics with lightning speed.
 * Telekinesis: Dark has basic skill in this magic enough to bring his sword to his hand with little effort. This magic is used purely as a support magci allowing him to recover weapons and items in some cases people.
 * Requip: Dark has basic skill in this magic able to requip his own mask, armour and sword similar to Markus. He actually has multiple copies of his mask and armor as he has yet to learn a magic for quick repairs mid combat.
 * Master Martial Artist: Storm is a brutal fighter using a style similar to Markus but uses wild clawing and brawling techniques giving his style a more animalistic angle to it. Like Markus his style is fast and deadly, he charges forward using powerful kicks and other strikes mainly the clawing techniques by focusing lightning around his fighter tips and rending flesh from bone. He dubbed his personal style Death Talon Kenpo. After joining the Twilight Phoenix guild he began to learn Twilight Phoenix Kenpo and used it to improve his own martial art style as well as giving him another style to fall bck on or support his own.
 * Skilled Tactician: Dark has always been skilled at tactics able to think up plans to try and overcome Markus. After joining the TPG he gained a more refined skill in planning combat manuevers out allowing him to switch between both his martial arts styles within seconds.
 * Expert Swordsman: Storm is a skilled swordsman and uses his Nodachi to great effect. Thanks to his sheer strength he's able to cut into the ground and let the cut carry on a great distance.
 * Immense Magical Power: Due to the basis of his magical power being Markus' and the further enhancements from the Lacrima in his body and the boost from his "father". Dark Storm's magical power is amazing, but it is wild and untammed due to the conflicting natures within him. Markus' magical energy constantly fights against the darkness that made him causing a degree of unbalance in his power. However due to Sakura's influence it is slowly calming down and the side from Markus is winning increasing his control and his ability to focus his power.
 * Immense Strength: Dark Storm has amazing strength matching Markus. When focusing his hate and anger he can surpass Markus easily, making him a true monster in combat.
 * Immense Speed: Like Markus, Dark is blindingly fast. He can close the gap in seconds and with his lightning based magic even quicker.
 * Immense Endruance: Dark is able to keep fighting evne when his body is near devastated.
 * Immense Reflexes and Agility: Despite focusing on raw power and speed Dark Storm has fast hands and a great deal of agility. He's able to acrobatically move and defend himself from attacks with little effort.
 * Senses: Like Markus' senses Dark Storms are amazing, he like his counterpart is able to uses them to track and hunt down his targets.

Equipment

 * Nodachi: So far unnamed this blade is amazingly powerful able to withstand Storm's raw strength with little problems. It does seem to be very heavy due to the fact every time Storm puts it down it does sink into the ground or cause tables to crack due to it's sheer weight.
 * Mask: A mask similar to Markus' but with different colours similar to his counterpart's vigilnate days. boasting black and red colouring it has caused some confusion amoung alot of Markus' old enemies who throught The Infamous Storm has retired for the vigilante game.
 * Armour: Dark's armour is similar yet different to his counterpart's armour, unlike Markus who has a open waist coat style chestpeice Dark's is more akin to a shirt or vest. and the shoulders more akin to a knights pauldrons.

Trivia

 * Oddly enough Dark Storm sucks at thinking of fake names.
 * Storm's fighting style uses almost the same martial arts style as Markus' but has elements of Iori Yagami's fighting style from KoF. The styles are Judo, Capoeria, TKD, Dirty Boxing, Aiki-Jujitsu & Wild instinctive combat (personal brawling style based around Tiger & Eagle Style Kung Fu). His stance is based of Iori's stance (http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/File:Iorikofxiii.gif).

Stats
Going by what was seen during his brief entry into the X791 Crescent Archipelago Tournment Dark proved to be a truely dangerous and brutal mage with no real human nature during combat.